Current reading: The Big Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

Recent listening: Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Jane Siberry, Sam Cooke, Donovan, Nanci Griffith, John Frusciante, Deadmau5, Florence & the Machine, Earth, Wind & Fire

Recent viewing: Dexter, Twin Peaks, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Winnebago Man, NFL Playoffs

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Temple Run

Recently accomplished: Mowed lawn to remove most leaves, taxi service, Christmas tree recyling

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, finish 2011 FY for Troop 820, clean office, pay bills, call DirecTV, Troop 820 can recycling

Current reading: undecided

Recent listening: Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Bonnie Raitt, Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations, Allman Brothers Band, Country Joe and the Fish, Pictures from Life’s Other Side by Johnny Dowd, Forever Changes by Love

Recent viewing: Raising Hope, Community, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, 60 Minutes, Stargate SG-1, Sons of Anarchy, South Park, The Office, The Walking Dead

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Bloons

Recently accomplished: Cleaned roof and gutters, outdoor winterization, iPhone LCD replacement, Christmas vacation planning, booked December work trip

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, put away hoses, organize recent garage additions, finish Xbox repair, reassemble Graham’s computer, Christmas CD burning

Current reading: Fahrenheit 451

Recent listening: Sufjan Stevens/Come on Feel The Illinoise!; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Frank Zappa; Ray Charles; Dinah Washington; Uncle Dave Macon; The Beatles/Anthology

Recent viewing: Breaking Bad, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Columbo, 200 Motels, True Confessions, Modern Family, Glee, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Sons of Anarchy, Wilfred

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends

Recently accomplished: Replaced Scion stereo, lawn care, invites for 40th birthday party

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, pickup new glasses, Troop 820 treasurer duties, 40th birthday party

Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Recent listening: Infected Mushroom, Foreigner, Primus, Greg Kihn, Massive Attack, Thievery Corp., Weird Al (new album!), Radiohead, Motown, Portishead, Canned Heat, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Recent viewing: Leverage (season 3 & 4), Frontline, The Planets, Pulp Fiction, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, The Story of the Blues, Super 8

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Mondo Solitaire

Recently accomplished: Both children advanced to next grade level, camping/biking in Idaho, acquired fireworks of questionable legality, paid bills, Roundup for weedy areas, weed and feed for lawn, mowing

Imperative To Do: Light fireworks, back to work, clean garage, clean gutters, new shelves for stereo, bark dust, doctor appointments

Sadly, a DVD release of those two seasons is reportedly held up by Michael Richards. Luckily, YouTube has most of their great sketches including the ones I’ve included below the fold:

I specifically remember turning to my friend, Dave, and commenting on how bad they were. His reply was, “it’s like they’re each playing their own song.” I have no doubt my favorite band at the moment was Queen and my second favorite was The Beatles. There was not yet room in my world for The Clash.

This video definitely illustrates the stylistic differences with Saturday Night Live.

In all seriousness, though, from the day Apple publicly announced it, my feeling has been that this device could be groundbreaking with the right software. The video below demonstrates just how powerful and remarkable iPad software can be. In the video, Robert Scoble interviews DJ Rana Sobhany, who demonstrates the software she uses with two iPads to create music.

In order to get the full context, you have to watch the whole video. However, I’ve attempted to summarize below just how amazing software on the iPad can look and feel:

• 3:00: Demonstration begins for the Korg software
• 5:20: Explanation of what the Looptastic app does
• 6:10: Demonstration begins for how she puts it all together
• 6:50: Notice as she adds more music on the left iPad, she uses two fingers to drag two different things into the mix.
• 8:00: Again multiple simultaneous finger interactions with the controls.
• 15:44: Demonstration of using audio effects like the high pass filter

What I find amazing about this demo is that how obviously simple it is to use this software. When she drags things in from the musical palette, the motions she uses look completely natural and it’s obvious she doesn’t have to think about how to get where she wants.

At the beginning and end she makes the point that iPad applications are going to get better now that developers actually have iPads. The initial influx of apps were created using Apple’s software simulator that runs on a Macintosh computer. While it gives you a good idea about sizing of controls and such, there are many lessons you learn once you pick up the iPad and try to use an app. In the case of the Korg app (the first she demonstrates), it is obvious that the developers were seeking to mimic a “real” (i.e. hardware) component by having things like dial controls. Although they look cool, such controls will likely morph into other controls that are easier to control on the iPad (for example, sliders).

You can follow Rana Sobhany on Twitter or visit her website, destroythesilence.com.

If you don’t have flash on your device, you can view the video on YouTube with this link. Why didn’t I just embed the YouTube video? Damian Kulash, Jr., one of the guys in the band, wrote a very interesting article on a fan forum a few days ago that did an excellent job of explaining the intricacies of the music industry’s DRM machine. Today Kulash followed up with a tremendous New York Times Guest Op-Ed.

Honorable Mention Albums for 2008
• Greatest Kiss by Kiss: I used to view with disdain those who purchased “The Best of” or “Greatest Hits” albums. As I’ve grown older, I come to recognize that sometimes the career anthology is the most economical way to “own” a band. Kiss is an excellent example for that approach. While never a fan (in fact, I hated them when they were proclaimed to be “bigger than the Beatles”), I do enjoy many of their songs. Several years ago I picked up an excellent tribute album called Kiss My Ass that I played incessantly for a time. Thus, when this album popped up as a two dollar special on Amazon one day, I couldn’t resist. I now have all the classic Kiss I will ever want including “Rock and Roll All Night” and “Beth“. Party on, Wayne.
• Greatest Hits by Styx: I know it’s not uncommon for people of my age to have a nostalgic love for Styx but I think my fondness probably extends beyond that of the average fan. When I was young my brother, Kent, loaned his cassette player stereo to me and my sisters for a time and included some of his cassettes. One of those cassettes was The Grand Illusion, which became one of the first albums I appreciated as a whole. Later it would be one of the first to arrive from the RCA Music Service (later to become BMG Music Service) along with Pieces of Eight and Cornerstone. Although I greeted the arrival of Paradise Theatre with the same enthusiasm that I had given their earlier work, it signaled the eventual departure of Styx from my life. Kilroy Was Here was even more disappointing and came at a time when my musical horizons were expanding. The fact that I never even bought that album says everything about my respect for it. Over the years I’ve encountered a number of Styx fans more rabid than I which only had the effect of reminding me of the pretentious excess of their work in the 80s. Finally, I came to realize that I missed the “album tracks” from The Grand Illusion and that I should have it in my CD collection, so I put it on my wishlist for a time but never purchased it. Eventually, after I reconsidered my position on the retrospective anthology, I investigated anthology options for Styx and found this gem. It has five of the eight songs from The Grand Illusion as well as the good songs from the albums that preceded it. Sure, it’s got the requisite 80s hits, but I suppose I can forgive them for that. The only downside is a new song called “Show Me The Way” which is totally unrelated to the Frampton song and is one of the few songs that I have unchecked in iTunes so it never plays again.
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience Box Set by Jimi Hendrix: I’ve purchased Electric Ladyland at least three times and recorded it more than that. I own all the studio albums, two live albums and several of the albums that have been released posthumously. I’ve paid for movies on VHS and DVD. I’ve sought out numerous documentaries and read several books. I am a lifelong fan of Jimi Hendrix. I offer that as context and an excuse for what follows: unrepentant raving about a box set release aimed at a niche market. When you listen to an alternate take and can tell the difference from the released song, it’s a sure sign that you know an artist’s work too well. I think it is only with that sort of rabid allegiance that one can enjoy a box set such as this. Even so, there are a few things here that the average fan can enjoy. For example, there are two separate versions of “Little Wing” that made me fall in love with that song all over. Alternate takes and live versions abound and there are all manner of previously unreleased songs including some great covers like “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Like A Rolling Stone“.