last minute arrival to TMBG show!

They Might Be Giants at the El Ray Theatre in Los Angeles 3-26-2016

Coming from Wondercon to the show was only a bit stressful because I had left my tickets at home.  Luckily we got there moments before the show started.  Our late arrival didn’t help us stake a great spot.  Luckily my new camera has impressive zoom for it’s tiny package.  I even got some amazing video.

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Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix!

The MIM is an amazing place.  I just scratched the surface of its unbelievable exhibits. They have instruments and recordings from some of the most influential artists throughout history.  They even have a room where you can play some instruments yourself.  I saw an incredible collection of eclectic and innovative instruments from around the world. It includes a 2 ton dance organ called Apollonia from the 1920s that is played twice a day and John Lennon’s Piano used to compose Imagine.  Here are just a few of the images I collected.

be3n bangs a gongMIM blues harmonica collectionMIM 3D printed orchestra MIM accordionsMIM ukuleles
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Apple announces small changes that signify an exciting direction!

Apple Announcement 2015Apple’s big announcement today turned out to be more small enhancements that add up to exciting developments.  First off the rundown, iPhone 6s/6s Plus hits stores the 25th.  Faster, better camera, haptic feedback, force touch, and rose gold.  New iPad Pro with 2732?by?2048 12.9″ screen, a keyboard case, and a stylus!  Hits stores November. (also a new iPad Mini)  The Apple TV, got a complete rebuild with amazing looking features, but no delivery date.  Also some new Watch styles and bands or whatever.

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Boxee is here!

It finally arrived today and i quickly set it up. i left it scanning my massive media library, however i did note one glaring omission. presently netflix is excluded from boxee’s list of apps. will this be corrected or has M$’s DRM killed netflix for the Linux based Boxee? only time will tell. apart from that, it is totally awesome from remote control to interface and even startup effects. i cannot wait to see what 3rd party developers do with it.

Apple Announced. . . blah blah blah whatever.

Those of you who don’t know, apple announced a few new toys a couple of days ago.  my lackluster post is due mostly to the underwhelming release.  Mostly announcing features that have been obviously lacking since the iPhone first hit the scene over 3 years ago.

Among their offerings is Apple TV: a cheaper apple tv with a smaller footprint and no storage.  Designed to promote more rentals from the apple store, most of the exciting features are “Coming Soon” undoubtedly to coincide with iOS 4.1 or 4.2.  New iPod Touch with everything you’ll find on iPhone 4 except for GPS, (because that might actually be useful).  Cool to see FaceTime on the iPods though.  New Shuffle combines the inovations of the last model with the usability of earlier ones.  The Nano was a mixed bag.  joining the iOS family with this version they remove it’s camera and video playback capability.  It is unclear if it will ever get the benefits of iOS such as apps.  Touch screens are cool, but if there aren’t apps, i’d rather have buttons and play videos.   Lastly, iTunes 10.  As if iTunes wasn’t a bloated POS already, now it is it’s own social network: Ping.  Caught between wanting to be blip.fm and last.fm, Ping offers me nothing but more iTunes Store Spam.  At least i hear they’ve finally added some threading.  My biggest complaint about previous iTunes is that it does so much and often gets a little shall we say “Pinwheely.”  It’s usually when i’m importing new tracks or syncing/restoring an iDevice.  Of all it’s many features, the ONE thing i EXPECT itunes to do is control my music!  at that, it often fails.  Let’s see if this new version will improve their already abysmal record.

Jailbreakers or Unlockers Note:  iTunes is safe, but you will want to hold off on the inevitable iOS updates.  if you saved your blob you can always go back, but not with your baseband, so unlockers should especially be careful.

silence was golden.

After my great ol’ Carver died yesterday, my system was mute for more then a day.  Until i brought home a sweet new harman/kardon system.  Now i’m finally using the optical out i’ve had for years!  There is an adjustment to running optical vs analog.  First off, there is no pre-amp coming out of your computer.  This means no system volume.  all those media keys stop working.  Stopped until i repurposed them to control iTunes.  Best side effect is that all the media key conflicts (i.e. VLC) are gone forever now!

Media Key Hack
just check “Use all F1, F2, etc, keys as standard function keys” from the Keyboard System Preference pane and then setup  Sizzling Keys to control itunes:  http://www.yellowmug.com/sk4it/

Fishtank Ensemble at Malabomba!

i just got back from seeing Fishtank Ensemble.  A band who’s influences seem as diverse as their lead singer’s range. (Africa to Romania)  Their violinest could also give the devil a run for his money.  check em out!  The’ve got a new cd coming.  i can’t wait!

Fishtank Ensemble

also event info here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=317371504044&index=1