Here and There

I hadn’t used Pandora much before today, as I mostly rely on a fairly extensive iTunes library that I’m content with.

But faced with possible eventual limitations of an 8 GB iPhone, Pandora makes so much sense.

I’ve only added a few stations (Led Zeppelin, The Cure) to get things started. Not sure if there’s a limit to how many stations you can have.

The point is: I can access the music I like from almost anywhere, freeing up storage space for more apps and photos.

Just installed it and got it working. This app will be very useful at parties, or when I get a house with rooms big enough to warrant it.

Almost makes me want Apple TV, though I’m pretty sure that comes with its own remote. My MacBook comes with a remote control, but there’s no real interface on it. iPhone allows me to browse the library visually, whereas the MacBook remote really only lets me play, pause, skip forward and backward, and access a menu.

Just a quick odd thought: It struck me as puzzling and anachronistic yesterday that iTunes still uses a compact disc as part of its application icon. That’s all.

A whopping 94 degrees here in San Francisco today. Which reminds me:

No, but seriously, on shameful day that started with news out of Israel of our (yes, sadly, still) president disgracing that body politic and this entire nation, let alone Barack Obama, and soon enough got wind of a group of Hillary Clinton supporters so incensed by NARAL’s endorsement of Obama that they’ve threatened to undermine his candidacy (and what, elect John McCain?), I feel that it’s only appropriate for a much-needed lolbreak (NSFW):

It’s not just Springsteen and Mellancamp.

Now North Carolina’s Superchunk is endorsing and performing for Barack Obama.

Huffington Post’s Rachel Sklar reports.

(Springsteen’s website)

And the rapper tells MTV why he switched.

I wonder who Eminem is backing this year …

Still political, though. You didn’t think you could escape, did you? Mwah, hahahahahahahahahahaha …

From AP.

No time to write just yet (work and gadget-drooling ensue), but I got me an iPod Touch!

Had an interesting prior 24 hours. In that time:

I think my attitude for today is to assume that nothing works. It would be amazing if this post goes live seamlessly.

Went to a fairly disgusting display of commerce and marketing otherwise known as a concert last night.

The main draw for me and my companion was South Carolina’s Band of Horses, a band I first heard at the Candy Store in San Francisco, quite by accident. I think it was the vocals that really struck me at the time. And an airy yet rocking quality to the music.

I eventually got my hands on their Everything All the Time LP and was instantly addicted. But then I missed two or three shows they played in SF. The last time I missed them, it prompted me to join Sonic Living, a great site for people who love music (isn’t that really everyone?).

So this time around, I got a notification almost as soon as the show was announced, and got tickets asap.

Wow, am I ever glad I went to that show.

The band’s performance was just so spot-on, so tightly executed, loud, and good, it gave me chills pretty much the whole time. They really are a perfect mix of straight-forward hard rock, blues, and even a little of folk and country thrown in for good measure. Added bonuses: a Lite-Brite-like lighting backdrop and the gentle, humble, kind rapport of the main vocalist, Ben Bridwell.

The band releases their second full-length, Cease to Begin, on October 9, 2007. Can’t wait.

This is one of those things I could stare at for hours:

In the 1970s, the seemingly never-ending war in Vietnam begat race riots, draft dodging, the Hippie movement, student uprisings, the sexual revolution, and more. It expedited feminism and civil rights, and changed music, fashion, and even the political landscape (and, I’m willing to guess, food, art, architecture, and flower arranging, to name a few).

Fast-forward 30 years, and the moral morass, the lethargy and indifference, the deep-seeded need for distraction caused by the seemingly endless war in Iraq has given us … lolcats.*

* Disclaimer: I’m in no way pretending that lolcats are a new phenomenon. Nor am I pretending the my ~April 2007 introduction to them was on the cusp of their popularity. I just woke up today and realized I’ve yet to chime in on them. Enjoy.

And from the looks of it, I will be proven thusly.