My big ol' head.

The Indiana Jones School of Management

Mon 31 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-31

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Sun 30 Dec 2007

Going HD

Filed under: — Geof F. Morris @ 13:49

Even as recently as a few weeks ago, when talking with Stephen about what they were going to do to replace the equipment they lost when their house was struck by lightning in August, I was saying, “I just can’t see doing the HD thing. Not only is there a capital outlay involved, but there’s a definite marginal cost of content involved, too.”

Yeah, well, I caved. Work took care of the capital for me with an unexpected bonus, from which I’ve bought a TiVo HD [with their offer to current subscribers of a lifetime subscription] that’s due to hit my doorstep tomorrow and a 32″ Vizio HDTV [okay, I haven't bought it yet, but I've decided on it and will get it at Sam's Club], amongst other things. [Thanks, Marty!] With my TiVo subscription costs going away [two TiVos at a multi-service discount runs me about $20/mo with taxes], I can justify it to myself.

I still haven’t decided if my non-over-the-air source of HD content is going to be DirecTV or Knology, the local cable company into which I’m locked in my neighborhood. I am leaning towards DirecTV mainly for their sports programming [sure, it's a monopoly, but it's a monopoly I want to tap], but I haven’t decided for sure. I will use over-the-air HD from the local providers and standard-definition from Knology [which I get for free, thanks to my HOA] in the meantime. Complicating factors will involve pairing up the TiVo HD with whatever receiver I have to use from either provider.

What kicked me over the edge? Well, it was the infusion of capital combined with the knowledge that 17 Feb 2009 is looming. Unless the WGA strike breaks the networks in the meantime, there’s too much network content that I enjoy in HD that I know that I won’t enjoy down-converted into 4:3, standard definition shots.

The other minor upshot is that I can slave my old [presently ailing, although hopefully back up to par] Mac mini to the new TV and offload the old Sony LCD I’ve been using on it since I got the new mini a few weeks ago. Between that and Screen Sharing in Leopard, I’ll be find to not have a traditional monitor slaved to that mini.

links for 2007-12-30

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Sat 29 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-29

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Fri 28 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-28

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Thu 27 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-27

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Wed 26 Dec 2007

Someone’s having a better night than me.

Filed under: — Geof F. Morris @ 22:52

Text received: “What do you use to make screwdrivers?”

Response sent: “3 parts vodka and 1 part triple sec to 5-6 parts OJ”

Response considered: “Cold-worked stainless steel and a petroleum-based polymer for the grip.”

Me, I’m working in the morning and am still a bit dehydrated from being sick, otherwise, well, I might have to fix myself a drink … :)

Tue 25 Dec 2007

Best Bootlegs of 2007, Part Two

Filed under: — Geof F. Morris @ 19:11

Yesterday was the old stuff, today’s the new stuff. Again, I’m tempted to just have the one bootleg on the list, the #1, because nothing else is even close, man.

  1. Wilco in Brooklyn on 26 Jun. Fred Wilson raved about this show, and he was right to do so. It’s the best-sounding Wilco bootleg I have, and the energy from the crowd is just excellent—rowdy in the right parts, silent in the right parts. Excellent. Almost as good as being there.
  2. Jeff Tweedy in Winnetka, Illinois on 3 Mar. The rest of the for-charity house shows that Jeff did sucked from a recording perspective. This … did not. It’s a huge bootleg—82 tracks, with over half of them between-song rambling or ensemble changes—but the people who fill in don’t suck, and for the most part, they let Jeff be Jeff.
  3. The Decemberists - 20070327 - cover The Decemberists in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on 27 Mar. There were many good Decemberists bootlegs in my hands this year, but this is the one that certainly sounded the best. Great crowd, too.
  4. Feist in New York on 12 Jun 2007. The Messiah College show is a close second, but this had more five-star ratings. And yes, I loved Feist before the ubiquitous iPod commercials showed up. This is the show that made me buy Leslie’s albums. [Proving that us Internet freeloaders do buy music.]
  5. 20071108 - Derek Webb - coverDerek Webb in Raleigh, North Carolina on 8 Nov. Neil McLamb always does a good job with his recordings, and Derek sounded really great that night … buoyed by seeing his song “Name” on Grey’s Anatomy right as the show began. [No, really, they put it up on a screen over the stage, showed the scene live, then played the song.] A cool moment for a good friend.

I’m still working on my lists for the studio releases. Be up later this week. :)

links for 2007-12-25

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Mon 24 Dec 2007

Best Bootlegs of 2007

Filed under: — Geof F. Morris @ 22:00

So, if you’re astute, you’ll note the absence of Geof’s New Music entries since I got back from KSC. Honestly, I haven’t even listened to any of the stuff I put out that week. I was burned out on it, and I wanted to look at putting together my 2007 best-of lists. Yeah, they’re ubiquitous, but they mean something to everyone.

Something I meant to do last year but didn’t get around to is listing the best of the many bootlegs I’ve grabbed. Ever since my friend Mark hooked me on this whole bootleg-over-Bit-Torrent thing, it’s become … a bit of an obsession. [To wit: part of my year-end bonus? Going towards more recording gear.]

I’ll be doing two top-five lists, just as I do with studio releases: one for concerts that happened this year, and one for concerts that happened prior to 2007. Each list is dominated by one that’s just so awesome, it’s good that they’re not in one list together. :) I’ll post the best new bootlegs of 2007 tomorrow, but tonight, it’s time for …

Geof’s Best Old Bootlegs of 2007

  1. Elliott Smith in Nantes, France, on 28 Sep 2000. Nothing else really comes close in this list; of the 38 five-star bootleg tracks from 2006 and older that I’ve added this year, this show has 13 of them. It’s really just flat-out outstanding: Elliott is clear-headed, distinct, and backed by a solid band. [I don't know who's in the band here, and the only complaint that I have is whoever was doing BGVs is just not ... well, not Elliott.] The only issue with the recording is that it’s a tad too treble-y, but if that’s the worst thing wrong with it … well, yeah.
  2. Caedmon’s Call in College Station, Texas, on 23 Nov 1998. Lance got this one to me, and it’s just fantastic—solid 40 Acres-era playlist here, plus classic Derek and Cliff banter. A fantastic find that I didn’t expect; I’m hoping that IndieRiver will get more vintage CC bootlegs out of MP3 and back into the lossless world as folks dig up old masters.
  3. M. Ward on Seattle’s KEXP on 14 Mar 2005. It’s a brief little set, but it’s poignant and classically good. KEXP and KCRW give me hope that I might could live on the West Coast if I had to do so.
  4. Beck - 20061022 - New York, NY, USA coverBeck in New York City on 22 Oct 2006. The sound is simply fantastic with this recording, and it’s just a lot of fun—even as I’m not fully conversant with all of Beck’s catalog.
  5. Wilco - 20011005 - Detroit, MI, USA coverWilco in Detroit on 5 Oct 2001. Every track on this one is just plain good; everything got at least four stars from me. “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” is a fave.

As I went back to look through these, I’m stunned that three of them come from the same week. That leads me to wonder if I was just in a really good mood that week, but … heh, it was August. Couldn’t have been that good. :)

Honorable Mentions: Collective Soul in Milwaukee on 4 Jul 1999, Derek Webb in Birmingham, Alabama on 17 Oct 2006, The Decemberists in Portland on 18 Oct 2006, Elliott on 21 Oct 2000 in Atlanta, and R.E.M. in London on 16 Jul 2005.

links for 2007-12-24

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Sun 23 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-23

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Sat 22 Dec 2007

A Lump of Coal for Me

Filed under: — Geof F. Morris @ 17:44

Got all the shopping done last night. Got most of the laundry done last night. Was finishing it this morning, when, about 1100 … WHAM. Felt like I’d been run over by a train. Putting my shoes on to drive over to the bank was an ordeal. Waiting in line at the bank, I couldn’t hold my head up—too shaky and weak.

Got home, and the fever kicks in.

Yeeeeep, I’m afraid I might have the flu. Slept the afternoon away, and all I do right now is hurt. The fever has subsided some, but … meh.

Hopefully I’ll feel fine in the morning and can pack up and go see family like I intended to do today. Otherwise, well, I’m gonna just be very pissed off at having the flu for Christmas.

C’mon, Santa! Even work said that I’ve been good this year. What’s the deal?

links for 2007-12-22

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Fri 21 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-21

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Thu 20 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-20

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Wed 19 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-19

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Tue 18 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-18

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Mon 17 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-17

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Sun 16 Dec 2007

links for 2007-12-16

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