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Friday, July 03, 2009

Song of the Day: California One Youth and Beauty Brigade

California One Youth and Beauty Brigade - Decemberists

And the road a-winding goes
From golden gate to roaring cliff-side
And the light is softly low
As our hearts become sweetly untied
Beneath the sun of California one

There are too many things for me to write about this song. How this is the perfect two songs stacked together to make one song. How the length of the song is carried by the dreamy nature of the tune and playing. How the song reminds me of the stretch of the California Highway One between Carmel and Big Sur. How I fell I feel in love with this song while I was traveling alone in Europe. How the first time I heard this song I play it ten times in a row. How the song strikes the perfect cord about being alone. How this song in an amazing ending to an unexpectedly good album. How I cried when I saw them play it live.

We're calling all bed wetters
And ambulance chasers
Poor picker-pockets, bring 'em in
Come join the youth and beauty brigade

We're lining up the light-loafered
And the bored bench warmers
Castaways and cutouts, fill it up
Come join the youth and beauty brigade
Come join the youth and beauty brigade

What amazes me still is how they are calling to there listeners. They are calling to the misfits and losers of the world and saying "We are you, You are us." It caught me the very first time I heard this song. They are ending their first album by calling all their fans. it is a brilliant move.

There are lots of songs about California. I have learned that is because California is a millions different things to 40 million people. This song is about my California.

I figured I had paid my debt to society
By paying my overdue fines
At the Multnomah County library, at the library
They said "Son, go join up
go join the youth and beauty brigade"

Labels: music, song, song of the day, The Decemberist

- Rich, 12:06 PM

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Wrapping up the decade

I have been taking part in Aught Music blog. It is an music blog put together by Jeremy Bushnell. The point is for people to write little love notes or appreciations for the songs of the last decade. The project is broken up to be done year by year. We have just finished up 2000. I am sending my posts for 2001 songs that will be posted over the next couple of weeks.

If you like you can see my posts. I would suggest looking through all the posts. There is a lot to look at there. I would recommend it all.

Labels: 2000s, Best of, best of decade, blog, music, song

- Rich, 3:36 PM

Saturday, June 20, 2009

John Hodgman is a Nerd

Watch John Hodgman Roasts Obama and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

The more I see John Hodgman, the more I think he is a comic genius. I love him on the daily show, but he does not even show a quarter of his talent. Watching his above video really shows his skill. I was just amazed by this. His Ted talk about Aliens was really funny. When I see these clips I want to see more and more of John Hodgman.

The problem is that he is already on the best platform for his humor, The Daily Show. I cannot see how he can make use of what he does really well anywhere else in the mainstream media. I cannot see him getting a tv show of his own, a sitcom would not work, and I am not sure what else would work. There is so much in these clips. Maybe he will be able to make an internet future for himself, but will that make any money. I want to see more of John Hodgman, but I have the feeling I won't.

Labels: Barack Obama, CollegeHumor, comedy, John Hodgman, video

- Rich, 2:14 PM

Friday, June 19, 2009

The double edge sword of subscription mobile apps

I think that Apple is playing with a double edged sword when it comes to subscription iPhone apps. One thing that I have hated about Verizon is that they want to charge a fee for everything. Just about every add on app for my non-smart LG phone comes with a monthly fee. non of these apps are valuable enough for me to want to pay every month for it.

The reason that cell phone carriers have been very attractive businesses is because they get reoccurring monthly revenue from most of their customers. Most MBA's eyes get big when they think they can get the same kind of revenue for their business. Lots of people want to sell you service that you have to pay every month to get. Sometime I think business people see a greater ROI by having a subscription business and end up chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow they cannot find.

There are a class of apps that can come to the iPhone with a subscription service that would never come with a one time purchase model. Subscription apps really open up the kind of content based apps we will see. I think this is a good thing for mobile platforms and content providers.

The problem is that you run the risk of turning off your customers. For years now there have been backlash toward subscription services. People are already paying too many monthly bills. While a service like Netflix has done well, subscription music service and sat radio business have not done well. The value proposition has to be in line with customers expectations.

The reason this is a concern for Apple is because they have put themselves in charge of their ecosystem. The iPhone is popular in part because of the app store. It is not an open market, it is a market that Apple guides and controls. If developers start turn off iPhone customers, this can effect how people think of Apple and the iPhone in the end. It is a very tricky situation.

I am in a part of my life where very little is worth another subscription. I was willing to pay for the MLB app, because paying $10 at the start of each season is easier to budget, that playing $2 a month for the baseball season. I guess it is all about how the users thing of their finances.

Labels: apps, business, iphone, mobile apps

- Rich, 8:47 PM

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Pay for Hulu

Last week there was a lot of talk of Hulu becoming a subscription service. The reaction to this has been all over the map. Everything from it is a great idea to everyone will go back to being a pirate. Of course no one know anything until the details come out.

If you look at Hulu now, you will see that most of the A-level content only goes back a few episodes. You cannot catch up for a whole season on Hulu. It is there if you missed an episode or if you want to watch episodes on the internet around when they air on TV. The premium content, like the Showtime Show Weeds, you only get clips.

In the best of all worlds the current free content stays free. Subscription content is only for things you would otherwise have to buy the DVD to get or full episodes of premium content. If that was the subscription service Hulu offered, it might be successful.

The problem with this model is clear. A successful pay wall will cause more programs to go behind that pay wall. In part because networks control the shows, there are still lots of hands in those pockets. If someone sees a new revenue stream, everyone will want to swim in it.

This year people have been talking a lot about cutting the cord of cable TV. This works, as long as not many people do it. TV networks and producers count on the revenue from cable subscriptions to make their business work. If enough people stop paying cable bills the whole business model will stop working. Right now cutting the cord works, if you want less content to watch. Yeah, I cannot watch all the networks that get with my cable, but I sure watch a lot of them.

I think that people who are looking at Hulu as source of free TV will be upset in a while. If everyone wants TV for free we will be stuck like crap like I'm a Celebrity get me Out of Here and The Hills as the only new content to watch. That is not really the world I am looking forward to.

Labels: content, Hulu, video, web video

- Rich, 11:50 AM

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

The Future of Youtube and UGC

Mark Cuban talks about the problem with Youtube operating at a loss and what that means to the future of the internet. His point is that Google is subsidizing the cost of bandwidth for user uploaded video. He wonders what will happen when they stop. He gives a basic rule of gravity reason that they will have to stop someday.

This is supposing that YouTube and sights like YouTube will never make a profit. There will never be a cost effective way for people to put up user generated content and share it with other people.

Part of the problem is that the average person has no idea about bandwidth fees. They have no idea where the cost centers are. They assume that all this video is just a drop in the bucket compared to everything else Google is doing. Everyone know that Google as a Googolplex of servers.

People do not understand why bandwidth cost money. They do not understand the cost structure of the internet. They are not sure why Google would be paying for that bandwidth. Without knowing about those costs it will be hard for businesses to change money for these services. I will admit that once YouTube starts to charge for videos, the business of internet video will change forever. We just don't know how it will change.

Labels: google, Mark Cuban, youtube

- Rich, 6:47 PM

Friday, May 22, 2009

New Lost Questions

I have really enjoyed the last season of Lost. Even though I have a TiVo, I still tried to watch every episode as it aired. It is just so amazing, I wanted to watch it right away. I wanted to be able to listen to the Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack right after the show aired. It is the best show I have seen in a long time. It is worth watching right away.

Lost is all about questions, puzzles and plot twists. This is part of the show. I have done this a couple times before, now it is time to do it again. It is time for my questions I want Lost to answer.

Note: I wanted to post this so I would have a reasonable change not to spoil my readers. If you are not caught up on Lost, you might not want to read this.

1. How did Richard meet Jacob?
2. Is Jacob's Enemy the Smoke Monster?
3. What is the relationship between Jacob & his enemy?
4. How did Charles Widmore come to the Island?
5. Why is the Island special?
6. Who built the four-toed statue?
7. Who are Adam and Eve?
8. What is the state of the DHARMA Initiative now?
9. How did Ben become leader of the others?
10. Why does Charles Widmore want to come back to the island?


Here are the questions they do not need to answer.

1. What happened to Rose and Bernard?
2. How was the four-toed statue destroyed?
3. What is the deal with the whispers?
4. Why was Danielle Rousseau's Team changed after entering the temple?
5. What did Charles Widmore want Danielle Rousseau and Alex killed?
6. What is the story with the Black Rock?
7. Why did Danielle Rousseau lie to the survivors and tell them that she never saw the Others when they abducted Alex?
8. What caused the problem between the DHARMA Initiative and the Hostiles?
9. How did the DHARMA Initiative find out about the island?
10. Why were people drugged for the trip on the DHARMA Sub?

Status of the old Lost Questions

First Post

1. What happened on the island after the Oceaninc 6 left? - Answered
2. Where is Clare? - Unanswered
3. How did Locke die? - Answered
4. What is the Temple? - Part Answer
5. How will the Oceaninc 6 make it back to the island? - Answered
6. Where is the Island now? - Unanswered
7. What is Charles Widmore connection to the DHARMA Initiative? - Answered
8. Who found the island in the first place? - Unanswered
9. Why does Richard not age? - Part answered
10. Why is the wheel to move the Island in a frozen room? - Unanswared
11. What is the story about the Four Toed Statue? - Part Answered

Second Post

10. Who were the first people on the island? - Unanswered
9. How old is Richard? - Unanswered
8. How many "Log Carriers" are left? - Unanswered Oceaninc Flight 815 assumed 0 Ajira Flight 316 unknown
7. Will we see the Four Toe Statue while the island is bouncing in time? - Yes
6. Where is did "Jughead" end up when flight 815 got to the island? - Answered
5. Did Charles Widmore Use the Frozen Donkey Wheel? - Unanswered
4. What is the Smoke Monster? - Unanswered
3. How does Charles Widmore become an other? - Unanswered
2. How Many Different Ways have people come to the Island? - Unanswered
1. How Many People Died on the Island? - Unanswered

Labels: Lost, question, tag overload, television

- Rich, 10:53 PM

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