"Celebrities" on Ice

While waiting for the best television show currently on (24) to come on last night, I had the misfortune to witness some of show "Skating with Celebrities". Is this what passes for entertainment these days? Washed-up celebrities skating with has been skaters? People, if you have enough time on your hands to watch pap like this, you need a hobby. Read a book, take a walk, play a game with your family or just sit there and think. Anything would be better than watching has beens make a last ditch effort for 15 more minutes in the spotlight. I just wonder if it is the money or just another chance to be on TV for these former celebrities.

iTunes meme

Saw this was going around and thought it was a fun diversion.

(Note: I excluded podcasts, videos, educational and sound effects)

Total Songs
2935 songs, 9.2 days, 12.61GB

Sort by song title - first and last
"'Til the Day I Die" by Third Day
"Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies

Sort by time - shortest and longest
Shortest: "Blank" (0:00) by John Mayer.
Shortest non-zero is "Prelude to the End of the Game" (0:20) by Sting
Longest: "Octavarium" (23:58) by Dream Theater

Sort by Album - first and last
First: 'Til The Medicine Takes by Widespread Panic
Last: Zoot Suit Riot by Cherry Poppin' Daddies

Sort by Artist - first and last
First: .38 Special
Last: Yarbrough & Peoples

Top five played songs
"A Boy Named Sue" - Johnny Cash
"Black Math" - The White Stripes
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" - Bob Dylan
"Liberty" - Steve Vai
"Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan (yes, I've been on a Dylan kick lately)

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 21
Death: 15
Love: 162
You: 326
Home: 20
Boy: 77
Girl: 23
Blue: 312*

*I added this because I have a playlist just for songs with "Blue" in the name.

Listening: Dust in the Wind by Kansas

Yellow Submarine

That's what I'm going to need to get home. It's raining cats and dogs out there. Just checking in with random thoughts...

On the way to work, I heard some lyrics that were appropriate for the weather...

"And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'."
--Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-changin'

I had a funny occurrence at the bank drive-through. The guy in front of my left, so I pulled up to the air tube thing. The little plastic container wasn't there. I hit the teller call button, but they were pretty busy. Then I see the guy that was in front of me come walking back with the container. We had a chuckle about it.

Listening: New Rose - The Damned

Free Speech for the Dumb

First off, who the hell cares what Harry Belafonte thinks or says? You may or may not agree with him. Personally, I do not agree. But he has the right to say what he believes, just as I do. What I find disturbing about this tempest in a teacup are the reactions of some people. Some of the reactions from here are simply nauseating. Let me be up front and say I am a white, male Christian and when making a choice at the polls between a Republican and Democrat, I generally choose Republican at the national level. If I had to choose a classification, I would pick libertarian. So I should be Fox's target audience.

"Harry Belafonte is an idiot, and should be deported." — Charlie (Newport Beach, CA)

"I think H. Bellefonte should be deported and have any U.S. citizenship revoked." — R.S.U.

"Belafonte should be ashamed of himself especially when the USA has been good to him, he is only digging himself deeper and deeper to the left, his US passport should be taken away from him." — Richard

So we are going to start deporting idiots? That will definitely cut down on traffic for my commutes.

Another "deportation" I had to single out…

"Harry Belafonte should be deported to his own country or better yet to Venezuelan where he can party with his buddy Hugo Chavez. The man is a disgrace. All the money and fame in the U.S. and treats the country like crap. Deport him, revoke his citizenship and no visa allowed." — George (Orlando, FL)

Belafonte was born in New York City (New York City!?!), so if we deported him to his own country, wouldn't that cause some kind of rip in the space-time continuum?

"Good job, Comrade Belafonte. You have always upheld the highest traditions of the Communist Party. After all, what has America ever given you? It's no wonder that millions of Americans are fleeing this rotten country to live in the socialist and communist paradises in North Korea, Cuba and Communist China. Good and faithful Comrade, your ticket is waiting." — Andy

This is great! See, this is how you should react to people when they spout socialist propaganda. Others in this vein…

"Mr. Belafonte should stick to writing and singing songs, and leave the politics for the nation's leaders." — Kelsie (Spring, TX)

"I think Harry Belafonte is a washed up, communist, bigoted, old man who wants the spotlight again. If he doesn’t like it here, by all means, go away!" — Fran

"I don't care. Most Americans don't really care and I can assure that Mr. Bush don't give Mr. Belafonte a second thought." — Richard (Washington, DC)

"Belafonte should take his act to Venezuela on a more permanent basis." — Ron

"Harry should move to Venezula, give up his US citizenship and learn how much of a democracy there is in Chavez-land." — Ron

"I don't give one darn 'Day-O' what Mr. Belafonte thinks. When he sings 'Me-wanna-go-home' -- he should, back to Venezuala!" — Matt (Kings Mountain, NC)

"Thanks, Harry! Now I have a reason to clean my shelf of all your albums. Oh wait, I don't have any and neither does 99% of America!" — Phil (Los Angeles, CA)

"Mr. Belafonte has the right to speak his opinion. MANY Americans have died so that he has that right. I think that if he believes Mr. Chavez and Venezuela are so great, he should really consider moving there. He would be much happier, I am sure." — Cathy

Then you have the people throwing around the "t" word: Treason. Speaking out against the government is not treason.

"Harry Belafonte is an idiot. I think he can be called a traitor!" — Bonnie

"This is outrageous! It borders on treason." — Bruce

"I feel he is a traitor! This country is at war. We need support and prayers. He is endangering our countrymen who are on the front lines." — Shirley (Mount Washington, KY)

I hear the ideas behind Shirley's comment quite a bit. That because we are at war, we should automatically support the president and the government. Should we support the troops and their families during war? Of course we should. Do our elected representatives get an automatic pass because we are at war? Hell, no. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. And are the Republicans who are saying this trying to convince me that if John Kerry were in office right now (and we were at war), they would shut up and support his decisions? Yeah, right. The radio waves would be overloaded with people complaining about everything he did.

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
--Voltaire

Out of the Silent Planet

It's been quiet around here. The holidays and readjusting to working again after being off for a week and a half have consumed most of my time. The other time has been spent importing every CD I own into iTunes since I got an iPod (Video/30GB/Black) for Christmas. It took a while, but now I can carry all my music in my pocket. Awesome.

If you are looking for an in-car FM transmitter for your iPod (so you can listen over the radio), check out the DLO TransPod. I first bought the Monster (can't remember the model) and it pretty much sucked. I realized that I really wanted a dock, so my iPod wouldn't be sliding around in case I had to stop quickly. Plus the FM transmitter either was very weak, or it was sensitive to positioning. I had to change channels several times during my drive home to keep a clear signal. With the DLO, I've had to change it one time. I keep it on 105.5 and if that gets a little interference (north of town), I switch to 106.3. $79.99 at CompUSA.

Listening: (Pretty Sure) I'm Over You - Will Hoge