My dad came into town this weekend on a business trip and decided to swing by for a short visit. On Saturday afternoon we were relaxing watching Apollo 13 on AMC HD and within a span of a couple commercial breaks two of the most ridiculous infomercials I have ever seen aired. The first one wasn’t that ridiculous I guess, but it still made me laugh and is worth a watch. Do people buy these? They look like ski goggles. There have to be better alternatives than these.
The second infomercial had me and my father laughing at first (the lady yelling bingo is a little funny – sorry if that’s wrong to laugh at), but then turned into absolute disgust when they turned a worthwhile product (help people with difficulty hearing) into a way for individuals with normal hearing to eavesdrop!?! Really? I would write more on this, but I’m feeling lousy, am on DayQuil and can’t formulate my thoughts. I’m sure you’ll find this just as ridiculous as my father and I did.
Also, for all you golf fans – in case you missed this – TIGER IS BACK!
Thought I would round out the week with something else short and fun. I’ve watched Can’t Hardly Wait a couple times recently and the below clip is just a classic that I’m sure you haven’t seen in awhile. It also includes Jason Segal’s first part in a movie. You now know him as Marshall on How I Met Your Mother or Peter Bretter from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Anyways, it’s a great clip from a great movie. And Velma was a hip hip lady – way ahead of her time.
So my friend Zach, along with Ampers & Dot has a smaller, “medium sized” site where he posts quick tid-bits that he finds interesting or funny. Over the past few weeks he has posted a few items that I have found either particularly cool or particularly hilarious. Check out the links below for some entertainment.
Lego Fun - Click the image once on Zach's site to see the full article
Mickey & Donald by Orioto - Click the image once on Zach's site to see all wallpapers by Orioto
Mitch Hedberg - Flossing
One of the funniest things I have seen in awhile
To buy the physical product or not – that is the question. We now live in the digital era where it seems that almost anything can be put into digital form. Music, movies, books, pictures….you name it and there is probably some digital form of it. As a music enthusiast I have grappled with the question, “to buy the CD or not” more times than I care to remember. For those of you who know me you know that the answer to that question has almost always resulted in a defiant, “YES!” I’ve always been a proponent of buying the physical product. I like having it. I like having something tangible when I spend money on it. I like looking through my CD collection, choosing an album, taking the CD out its case and putting it into my CD player – as stone age as that sounds. I like flipping through the CD jacket. There are a lot of things I like about having the physical thing. You know what I don’t like? I don’t like that it just doesn’t all make sense anymore. I want it to…I really do, but as the years pass I’m struggling to continue justifying buying the physical CD. A few years ago I wouldn’t even be having this conversation with you, but I think the time has finally come where it might be time to change my ways. And here are a few reasons why:
Have you tried this?
Amazon MP3
To put it simply it’s amazing. One of my biggest gripes against digital music (and hence why I continued buying CDs) was DRM (Digital Rights Management). I can’t tell you how annoying DRM is….I can’t tell you because you already know. It’s awful. Amazon MP3 has solved this. Digital music, without the annoying crap. It’s also incredibly simple to use and the instant gratification is wonderful. And did I mention it’s cheaper? A LOT CHEAPER. In some cases, the MP3 album can be $2 below the CD price (and that’s without shipping). When you’re talking about a $10 CD versus an $8 download…well that’s saving you 20%. If you buy a lot of music, think how much you will be saving over the years. All in all, Amazon MP3 just makes sense.
Microsoft Xbox 360 & Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
I own an Xbox 360 and along with its video game capabilities it allows me to do something else I really enjoy. Stream music from my desktop computer to my stereo system wirelessly. This means my entire music collection is just a few clicks away while sitting on my couch. And no awful computer speakers – I get to listen through my stereo. You know what else I like – Windows Media Center. Is it perfect? Absolutely not, but it is does what I need it to and does so in an atheistically pleasing way. You can browse your music collection any way you like (artist, album, year, genre, etc…) and WMC shows you the album art of each. When you finally choose something you can then leave the album art on the screen or choose to a view slideshow of your pictures if you like. I think the reason I like WMC a lot is because it fills the void of not having something tangible. I can go onto Amazon, download the album, and then there it is on WMC. I can see the album art – it’s not just a list of songs in a folder somewhere. This sounds ridiculous, but seeing the album on WMC does something for me.
Space
It seems like I’m moving every 18 months. I’m tired of lugging around my CD collection. I don’t really have anything else to say about that.
So those are the reasons why I think I may be finally giving up on purchasing CDs. It just doesn’t make sense anymore – I want it to, but it doesn’t. And as much as I like having the CD it’s just a lot simpler to……well…….not. I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this – I’ve had the debate with several friends and I think most of them will be happy to hear that I’m finally giving in. If you still buy CDs though….I want to hear why. If there’s a good reason – maybe I’m not done with it.
While I was back in Maine over the holidays my family and I went out to dinner……..a lot. It is one of my favorite things to do. Well, one evening after the New Year we were out to eat at the Frog and Turtle and the Australian Open was on television. Side tangent, if you live in Maine and haven’t visited Frog and Turtle you’re missing out – great food, one of the best wait staffs around, good live music, and my personal favorite – a large clientele age range (early twenties to seventies I’d say). Anyways, back to the Australian Open. My sister brought up how we never really pay attention to the it, but all the other tennis majors. Since it was just after the New Year I had recently completed a few Top 5 lists for 2008 and the following popped into my head, “what Top 5 sporting events do I look forward to each year?” I of course blurted this out to the table and we had a lively discussion each coming up with our Top 5. To be clear (and I must thank my sister’s boyfriend, Josh, for bringing this up) the lists are comprised of sporting events that we look forward to watching each year. This is not a list of which sporting events we would attend (if attending any event were possible) each year. So without further adieu, here were the table’s lists:
Ana Ivanovic at Wimbledon
Bailey’s (sister) Top 5
1. Wimbledon
2. First Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
3. Masters
4. U.S. Open Tennis
5. College Cheerleading Championships
Josh’s (sister’s bf) Top 5
1. UEFA Champions League Finals (Home & Home)
I think he's nervous he just messed up his hair
2. NBA Finals
3. New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
4. British Open
5. NCAA Men’s Basketball Finals
Dad’s Top 5
1. Masters
2. First Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
3. U.S Open Golf
4. Wimbledon
5. U.S Open Tennis Round 1
Simply put - he's the man
Drew’s Top 5
1. Masters
2. MLB Opening Day
3. U.S Open Golf
4. Wimbledon
5. First Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
My family’s lists are pretty homogeneous, but thanks to Josh there is some variety sprinkled in. So what are yours?
So did I expect to publish my 2nd post just a few minutes after my first? No, but I stumbled upon this SNL clip and couldn’t contain myself. I can’t describe how stupid I think this whole story of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana is. Don’t we have more important things to be worrying about than Michael Phelps’ party habits? It is absolute nonsense. Leave the kid alone. This SNL clip sums up my feelings perfectly (and it’s absolutely hilarious).
So here it is – the first post on The Daily Muddle – let’s address some “Inaugural Post Questions”:
- Why am I doing this? To be honest – I don’t have a definitive reason. The inspiration certainly came from my best friend Zach and his first blog (Yes, he has another one now). I’m not so arrogant to think that there are large amounts of people out there who care enough about what I’m saying to visit this site on a regular basis, but maybe there are 5 or 6. Maybe after a year it will be 10…I don’t know. What I do know is that I really think I am going to enjoy it and if I enjoy it then to me it’s worth it.
- The story behind the name. I like it so I’m going to tell you. I had been trying to think of a name for awhile and was getting rather frustrated because a) I couldn’t come up with anything remotely good and b) anything that I did come up with the domain was already taken. So finally while sitting at the bar of Gauchos in Portland, ME my sister’s boyfriend ordered a mojito. The bartender proceeded to break out the mint and of course, muddle it. My father asked her what she was doing and after she replied, “I’m muddling the mint” he responded with, “well, I muddled my way through the day today”. The Daily Muddle. Perfect. Once at home I checked the domain availability and it was shortly thereafter, mine.
- What will you find here? It is not just about alcoholic beverages. In fact, that will probably only be a small portion of the posts. To see what my friends and I are drinking these days try Buzz on Beer. There will be no common theme to the site – it will trend towards things I come across that I find interesting and want to share with you. If you read about me, you can probably get an idea about what the majority of the posts will revolve around. Some may be thought provoking, others not so much, but I hope you find them all at least a little bit interesting.
- Currently Enjoying? On the upper right portion of the page will always be what album I am currently enjoying along with a song or two that you may want to give a listen to see if you’d enjoy the music. It may change three times a week or once a month – it depends on a lot of factors. If you haven’t visited in awhile you can always find out what I have posted previously by clicking, “Previous Albums”.
- Lastly, a little disclaimer. I am not an expert on many of the things I will be posting about – it’s just my opinion. I am not a critic nor will I ever try to be. I’m just a guy with a pretty good idea of what he likes and what he doesn’t like. That doesn’t mean that whatever I’m talking about is “universally good” or “universally bad” – it’s just what I think about it.
So let’s start with something simple that you will find here from time to time – a music recommendation (beyond what I’m Currently Enjoying). If you haven’t heard Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago I highly suggest you go out and buy it or download it (more on this topic later). I cannot recommend this album enough. It is about a year old now (he just released an EP), but ever since I purchased the album it has not left my rotation. Give Skinny Love a whirl. Also, a comment on the album listed under “Currently Enjoying”. It is the latest New Pornographers, but was released all the way back in 2007. I own their previous 3 albums and have always been a fan, but not a die-hard. This is probably the reason I let this one slip past me. I received the album for Christmas and it is without a doubt their best album to date. Check out a review & a couple songs. There are only 2 songs on the album that I’m not in love with and they’re still great. If you let this album slip past you like I did, definitely pick it up.
There it is – the first post. Thanks for coming and I hope you will come back every once in awhile. Check back tomorrow for something fun.
