Musings

General-purpose musings

There are 780 posts filed in Musings (this is page 41 of 78).

Amazon does it better

amazonI decided to retire my old laser printer when it wore out its latest toner cartridge and the thought of paying $80 to order another cartridge didn’t appeal. I bought a popular Brother model from Amazon Thursday evening, not expecting to see it until today.

Instead, it arrived on my front porch Saturday morning at 9 AM – and that’s with Amazon’s free shipping. I’m still blown away at how I can order a printer with a few clicks, pay 30% less than at the local warehouse club, pay no shipping on a 26 pound shipment, and 36 hours later it’s in my hands.

Amazon runs one tight ship, my friends. They beat all I’ve ever seen.

Australia

My friend Matt Leary is traveling to Australia today on business. It reminded me that it was this time three years ago that I was visiting Australia myself. It’s got me wishing I was there again.

Maybe next year we’ll be settled enough in jobs and routine that the family can spend a few weeks Down Under.

Video of Chinese Navy – USNS Impeccable dustup

I was checking through some of my bookmarked websites when I came across some Youtube videos [NSFW: Contains salty sailor language] of the incident with the USNS Impeccable and elements of the Chinese Navy. Sure enough, it shows the Chinese ships harassing the Impeccable, even going so far as attempting to steal the towed-array sonar and blocking its way, causing an emergency all-stop to avoid a collision.

Pretty bold stuff. If they tried that on an armed ship they would’ve earned a shot across the bow (or worse).

After that dustup, the Navy sent an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to accompany the Impeccable. The USS Chung-Hoon will take up station near the Impeccable and hopefully keep a war from breaking out before the two sides can hammer out an agreement on such activities.

Bring back acoustics to the studio

I was poking around the Mailboat Records site this morning and enjoying the version of Margaritaville that Nadirah Shakoor sang in the [auto-playing!] Flash music of the site. It was recorded live and it sounds like it. The acoustics are very warm. You can hear the music bouncing off the walls.

It made me recognize that these acoustics are part of what I admire in the old Squirrel Nut Zippers’ Hot record. It was recorded in a house in New Orleans – and again, you can hear the musicians in the room. Same goes for this Jolly Boys songs I have. The stand-up bass sounds like it’s right inside your head. And the O Brother, Where Art Thou record wall full of this – it’s a great record.

Recording studios think they’re improving the sound when they dampen the acoustics so that all you hear is the source. But that’s not the way music is really played, or enjoyed. The lack of these acoustic details puts a barrier between the artist and the audience, saying “what you hear isn’t real – it’s plastic.” It’s the audio equivalent of the airbrushed pin-up: sure she’s cute but she’s not real.

I think artists and producers should make an effort to put more acoustics in their recordings. It’s only natural.

Lulu

Ah, Lulu. What can I say? I love the business it’s in, I love the new office. I’m a fan of Bob Young. I even know some Lulus. It would seem like the perfect place to work … if only they hadn’t kicked me to the curb for no good reason back when I had an eight-month-old to feed.

That’s why I’m so conflicted. On the surface Lulu seems like a great place to work but in my experience it wasn’t. I hope things have changed since my all-too-brief days there.

If you want to try your luck, Lulu is hiring. I hope your mileage varies.

Optimism

It’s funny. We’re in the midst of a recession, unemployment in the state has reached 9.7%, and I don’t have a permanent job, and yet still I found myself daydreaming of the Good Life today. It wasn’t something out of reach, but actually something waiting for me. Maybe a glimpse into the future.

In spite of the uncertainty around me, I’ve got a pretty good life now. I have to say I’m happy with myself, my family life, and the things I’m doing. Could things be better? Sure, but I’m not one to look past the wonderful things I have now.

Where I’ve worked

Tonight I wrote the first of many posts about the places I’ve worked. I’ve worked so many dadgum places that this guarantees I’ll never run out of things to blog about!

I’ll start it off talking about my job at Carowinds – the first job I ever had.

Good business to be in

potholeI watched a pothole on Wade Avenue almost swallow an SUV Monday afternoon. I whipped out my phone and called the city to report it and was amazed to find it patched less than 24 hours later. The city’s Street Division is top notch.

That was one down, many, many more to go, however. The multiple threats of snow and the salted roads that resulted, combined with the municipal budget shortfalls (and the slump in fuel taxes) means that potholes are destined to become a huge problem on our roads.

Now is definitely the time to be in the car repair business, particularly one that does alignments!

Plensa’s “Sleep No More” … yawn

I drove by Durham the other night and saw the beam of light radiating from Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s “Sleep No More” piece. I consider myself a “patron” of the arts, but this Highbeam To Heaven does nothing for me. I can’t stop thinking it’s just more light pollution blotting out the true beauty of the night sky.