Short Bus Musings

One of my favorite bands has always been Van Halen. Didn’t matter if it was David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar singing the vocals - I liked them both. (Although that other dude they tried out really sucked.) I had nearly every album they put out, as well as solo stuff in my collection during high school and college. Saw them in concert twice, and I could listen to Eddie play all day. Since they kind of dropped off the face of the earth, I haven’t listened to them as much as I used to, but every once in a while I still like to pop in a CD and jam. I have fond memories for sure.

So now, after years of breakups, rehab, cancer treatment, drug use, more breakups, Eddie, Alex, Wolfie (Eddies son playing bass in the place of Michael Anthony), and Diamond Dave are heading out on a tour. For about .87 seconds I was excited to think I might see them again. But after this piece, I think I will stick with the memories…

Wow - can’t tell you how much that sucks. Eddies playing is good, but Dave sounds like he is singing is some crappy lounge just off the Vegas strip. (Which is prolly a good place for him.) I think I will stick to my CD’s and go rinse my ears out with something.

Amongst the technology driven set that I am required to hang with each day, new toys are king. So, when I showed up with my brand spankin’ new iPod Nano Monday morning, I was the talk of the cubicle town. (I had the first one here, some other guy got his delivered to him at 9:30 am - what a poser!!!) It was great to have bought my way into the in crowd, even if it was for a few minutes.

But I must admit - I didn’t buy it for them, I bought it for me!! So much fun, lots of space on the 8 GB model, plenty of room for my selection of music plus 3-5 movies. The screen, while tiny, produces a great image and the cover art and movies look fabulous. I also picked up a nice set of speakers for us (Jean) and connector cables to hook my iPod to the TV. One small issue with that - you can’t go directly from the Nano to the tv - you have to either have a speaker set that has A/V out (which we do) or the docking station. Kind of a pain in my opinion. None the less, it rules and I am happy with my purchase!!

This is the one I got - the colors in the add come across different, in real life they are more of a metallic color.

Apple announced the new line of iPods today during a press event. Items of note included video capability and a 2.5″ screen for the Nano, larger drive space for all models, and the new iTouch iPod. The iTouch is basically an iPhone with the phone ripped out but it does have wi-fi access and a browser. Visit Apple for views and specs.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed about the iTouch iPod. Should have had more memory offered, and since I don’t really have a need of all the other bells and whistles, I think I will go with the Nano. Now that it has video that means…

…I need to convert my favorite movies to iTunes!! Not sure how to do that? Try the ever popular Handbrake for Mac or Windows!! I just pop a flick into my dvd drive, locate it with Handbrake, and in a few hours, presto!!! Stacks of snacks!!!*** Er, I mean movies that can fit in my pocket!!!

*** Stacks of Snacks is a reference to an old Saturday morning public service add featuring “Time for Timer” called Sunshine on a stick. And yes - I can still sing it…

Wow - now that I watch it, what the hell is that thing anyway??? Ahh, the 70’s…