December 4, 2004

Sideways

Katherine and I went out to see Sideways last night at the Aquarius. In our prior life (pre-parenthood) going to see a movie would hardly be a noteworthy event, but now our chances to see movies are few and far between, so we choose carefully, lest we waste our few silver screen bullets.

Sideways lived up to our expectations; both of us are still thinking and talking about it today, which is always a sign that a movie was worth the time. If you like dark and bittersweet comedy that is part buddy story, part romance and part wine tasting course and travelog, you won’t be disappointed. OK, even if you don’t care about wine in the least, you’ll still enjoy the movie a great deal, but wine lovers will be particularly entranced.

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December 3, 2004

Ringtone: Hell Sink Ye

In my previous post I mentioned that I recorded a song that is now the ringtone on my snazzy new phone, so I thought I’d let anyone interested hear the tune and provide a lite “Behind the Music” backgrounder…

The name of the song is “Hell Sink Ye” and you can download the short ringtone version or the full version.

I came up with the idea for this song while driving to the office and listening to NPR. In the background of a press conference, I heard several cell phones ring. Most of the phones were apparently Nokias, since the rings were the ubiquitous and annoying “Nokia Song” default ringtone, which has wormed its way into the world’s collective psyche over the years.

At that point I resolved to create an instrumental heavy-metal parody of the Nokia song and call it “Hell Sink Ye”. (Get it? Helsinki, Nokia). Jason & I found a few spare hours and wrote and recorded the tune. If it amuses you, feel free to share it or install it as the ringtone on your phone. And if anyone reading this post knows how to get a song distributed via any of the major downloadable ringtone services, let me know.

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December 3, 2004

New Gadget: Moto Razr

Since I’m a gadget guy, it is fitting that my first post is about a tech toy. I got a new cellphone a few days ago: the Motorola Razr. So far I’d give it a big thumbs-up (ignoring the typical UI problems caused by Cingular insisting upon changing the default menu items in a way that is guaranteed to impede usability). It is thin enough that I don’t feel it in my back pocket, voice quality is good, it has mp3 ringtones, a nice big color screen, plus I’m excited to use a wireless Bluetooth headset, though that is still on backorder and has yet to arrive.

My biggest complaint thus far is that Apple’s iSync software appears able only to sync contacts and calendar information via USB, not via Bluetooth, which is a serious drawback since I’d prefer to avoid bringing a cable with me wherever I go. I don’t know if this is due to a lack of capability in iSync or in the phone, but I hope it gets fixed soon.

I am, however, able to easily browse the phone’s filesystem via Bluetooth from my G4 laptop, so the first thing I did was upload a dozen of my favorite pictures of my one-year-old son, Quinn. The second thing I did was install an mp3 ringtone I created and recorded in my studio with my colleague and bandmate, Jason Mendelson.

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