My parents pointed us to this article in the Mercury News that is both a fun guideline for a vacation as well as a contest if you can document doing or seeing all of these things:
1. Covered bridge
2. Church with visible bell
3. Sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny
4. Black bear (not from the wild)
5. Lemonade stand
6. Water tower with writing on it
7. Festival celebrating food, vegetable or fruit
8. House that doesn’t have four sides
9. Mime
10. Someone feeding pigeons
11. Ice cream truck
12. Motel named for two people (i.e. Norma Dan Motel, Tenn.)
13. Obscure historical marker
14. Parked car with more than 10 bumper stickers? (Must be parked!)
15. Building painted purple
16. Blank billboard
17. Closed store with “We’ve moved” sign
18. Ferris wheel
19. Rainbow
20. Something unusual not on the list
Tie-breaker: How many participating teams do you think will find all 20 items?
Traveling overseas?
(You can sub out these for any three above; substitutions must be from a location outside of the United States or U.S. territories.)
1. Sign that includes foreign words and name of U.S. state
2. Windmill
3. Outdoor market selling food indigenous to that area
Consider that our upcoming vacation will take us north into Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Alberta I think we’ve got a great shot at a lot of these, including the “overseas” section in Canada.
We’re slated to travel all the way to Edmonton, so we’ve already have mapped our several “finds” for this list. The West Edmonton Mall has an amusement park with a Ferris wheel, for example. And we’re definitely stopping at Yellowstone Bear World for a little bear watching too.
As we check things off our list I’ll update this post with status updates. When we’re back from vacation we’ll have the full list of photos.
It’s been pretty slow lately on the Kevdo.com blog. I ran into some database corruption issues a few months ago and then kind of sat on trying to get it fixed for over a month. Once I did that, I got the site back up although the images in the older posts aren’t displaying. Kind of feel I should fix it… but then again I’m not sure I really care.
In any case, Julie and I were eating dinner at Panda Express and there was a song on the radio that sounded very new-wavey but it wasn’t one I was familiar with. I asked Julie if she recognized it and she said it sounded like The Fixx. I caught a couple lyrics, threw them into Google on my iPhone and faster than you can say Rock of the 80’s I found the song: “The Sign of Fire” (a minor hit from 1983).
It is at these opportunities that I decide to go back and pull out the old compilation CDs to catch up on a band that I haven’t heard in a while. So, needless to say, I’ve been listening to a lot of Fixx in the last couple days.
All which brings us to the headline (a reference to Ben Stiller’s character from Dodgeball). I decided to look at the old Fixx videos and see if any one stood out. Sure enough, you have to check this video for The Fixx’s first hit “Stand or Fall.” Â The video is a potpourri of 1980s video cliches. Most notably, all the scenes in the video are literal interpretations of the lyrics from the song (when the singer sings “fall” you see a horse… you know, fall).
Best of all, you can marvel at lead singer Cy Curnin’s feathered blonde hair. It’s a great song and a great video.
A professional photographer was taking photos at MacWorld. I thought they’d be using these for promo for the conference but it mostly was a way for a photographer to take photos in order to make money. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it wasn’t really advertised as such.
In any case, this is my photo, for which I paid $15 to get the soft-copy of. As much as I think $5 or $10 would be a fairer price this is such a good photo of me I guess I can spring for the $15 for this one. You can also view a horrible close up as well as an iPod-style silhouette from the same session.
This Thursday and Friday I participated in the annual migration to San Francisco for the MacWorld Expo. I’ve been going each year since the early 1990’s and it’s always a great place to see what’s happening in the Mac marketplace (and the iPod, iPhone, and iPad marketplace…). The big news this year was that Apple was not participating, causing some other companies to avoid the show as well.
This year, for the first time that I can remember, I actually went for two days. Mostly this was due to the Featured Presentations that were made available to all attendees, including those with just Expo passes. Â Director Kevin Smith was a big draw, and his Q&A session was hilarious but still very informative for those interested in film. I also managed to catch the Best of MacWorld session, Leo Laporte’s Late Night session, and bit of John Gruber’s session about Apple. All great stuff!
Kevin SmithKevin Smith
The Show Floor
A few observations. It was crowded, especially on Thursday. The show floor was smaller but it felt far more crowded. Many good companies offering their wares. I ended up buying a lot more stuff than normal this year (as a show of solidarity for the Mac community!).
Drive Savers Great Apple Logo
It was nice to see Microsoft at the show, but they didn’t do much with their floor space except to have costumed icons running around. They announced Office 2011 for Mac on Thursday but weren’t even demoing in their booth. In past years they have done a good job doing presentations about their products but this year they weren’t doing any of that. Gotta give Microsoft an “F” for that. Or, perhaps, an “E” as in Entourage.
Entourage Icon
I definitely enjoy the smaller vendors too. Nicknamed “Tiny Town” this is often the best place to see small companies with interesting products. This year, I picked up BusyCal and an iPhone app for planning trips to Disneyland. You can get up close and personal with the developers who can still have demo computers and such to help sell their products.
Tiny Town
On the other hand, there were problems in a new “Mobile Showcase” area that I am calling “Micro Town.” Â Rather than one booth, we had four app developers in the same sized place. This place was crowded, though as you can see it didn’t stop some from including “Booth Babes” to try and perk up interest. One vendor we enjoyed checking out was selling a Slingshot game that we really liked.
Micro TownQuinn Tries Slingshot
This year Julie and the boys had the day off from school so they spent some time with me on Friday. Here are the boys about to head onto the floor of the Expo. Quinn even found a (fake) iPad!
MacWorld Here We Are!I have an iPad!
The boys and I did also have some time to explore the Yerba Buena Gardens above the Moscone Center, including a very interesting play structure and their Carousel.
You may recall I created a video describing how much I love Mothers Cookies. This was part of a contest put on by the great folks at Mothers. And I am a winner. Check out the great care package that arrived today! Â Yes, not one but four packages of Mothers Cookies, including two Circus Animals – my absolute favorite.
As has been well-documented on this blog, I’m a big Disney Theme Parks fan. We go to Disneyland at least once a year and really enjoy our time there as well as in the sister park, Disney’s California Adventure.
DCA, as the park is invariably known, opened in 2001 and was met with overall lukewarm response. The park initially lacked the requisite number of “E-Ticket” attractions and the mix of attractions-restaurants-retail was skewed far too much in the restaurants-retail side. The lack of tourist travel after 9/11 didn’t help either.
Nonetheless, the park expanded in the intervening years. The former Bountiful Valley Farm section of The Golden State district was carved out and expanded in 2003 as A Bug’s Land with four off-the-shelf (but well-themed) rides appealing to young children unable to ride many of DCA’s signature attractions due to height-restrictions. Monsters Inc. replaced the poorly received Superstar Limo attraction in 2005. The park also added headliner attractions Tower of Terror in 2004 and Toy Story Midway Mania in 2008.
In other words, a lot has changed at DCA.
All these changes must be somewhat difficult to keep track of for the myriad guidebooks for the Disneyland Resort. But since there is always something new at the resort, the publishers are aware of the upcoming changes and are able to churn out yearly editions of most of the guidebooks (a yearly update is also an opportunity to sell a new book to someone who bought the previous edition).
The best Disneyland guide book is The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland. That book has detailed information about hotels, attractions, restaurants, and more. The book also has “touring plans” that guide you to go to certain attractions at certain times of the day to minimize waiting in line. The main problem with The Unofficial Guide (besides the fact that it is really heavy to carry around) is that the maps are not very realistic and certainly lack the “magic” that Disney provides in the map/guidebooks you receive when you enter the parks. No doubt, the fact that the book is labeled “unofficial” has something to do with not being able to license Disney’s drawings.
Enter another guidebook, Birnbaum’s Disneyland Resort 2010. Not only does this tome feature colorful photos, it proudly and prominently displays that it is “The Official Guide.” Wow! The official guide? This thing must be the best. Or have the most up-t0-date info. Or at least have great looking maps. Right? Wrong.
If you’ve paid attention, I went to great lengths to describe the substantial changes to DCA since opening. Unfortunately, a decade later, Birnbaum’s 2010 edition still features the a map of the park as it appeared when the park opened. Yes, seriously. The park map hasn’t changed in ten years!
Let’s take a look at Birnbaum’s official product description (with my emphasis shown in bold):
This updated edition of Birnbaum’s Disneyland Resort, the most respected and well-known name in Disney guides, takes readers through Walt Disney’s first theme park with ease and flair. Since our guide is the only guide that’s official, this book includes the most accurate and current information on prices and attractions.
Here are just a few of the exciting new features of this year’s guide: There’s big doin’s at Disney’s California Adventure these days. We’ll deliver the scoop on all the new shows and attractions that are headed its way. Disney’s Grand Californian has undergone a growth spurt. Check here to see what the new neighborhood of (Disney Vacation Club) villas has to offer. And as always, we’ll include current coverage of Disneyland’s beloved attractions and a peek at what’s to come.
Our guide is also the only one allowed to feature Disney characters. And Birnbaum’s DisneylandResort is the most comprehensive guidebook, offering complete information on the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s California Adventure, and Downtown Disney, as well as details about Anaheim area attractions, things to do in Los Angeles, and special driving routes around Southern California. This is the only guide to Disneyland that readers need, entirely updated every year.
Take a look at the map for yourself. Compare the 2007 map including most notably the Tower of Terror and Bug’s Land on the left side of the park, under the yellow “California Adventure” text. And then compare the map show in Birnbaum’s 2010 guide. Those areas, added to the park in 2003-2004, are not even present!
Disney's California Adventure (2007 map)Birnbuam's DCA Map for 2010
There’s simply no excuse for this sort of woefully out of date information (the Disneyland Park map in Birnbaum’s book is also ten years old but the changes to that park aren’t as noticeable as they are with DCA.). What is the point of being “the official guide” if the maps are so far out of date? And what else is out of date in the book when something as obvious and noticeable as the map is outdated?
Some might defend Birnbaums by reminding us that DCA is currently undergoing a major expansion and renovation where the Entry Plaza will be completely redone and a new Cars Land will be added. Maybe Birnbaums is holding off until that work is finished. Okay. But, that doesn’t explain why Birnbaum’s didn’t update the DCA maps in 2003-2007, prior to the announcement of this expansion.
I implore you to boycott Birnbaum’s guide until they update their maps. I will also be contacting the publishers of this “guidebook.”
We’ve all heard about the record companies’ claims that illegal downloads are costing them and their artists millions billions of dollars. I’m not going to say that “freebie” copies never prevent a sale but I thought I’d illustrate how an “illegal” mashup led to over $20 in sales for me personally.
I’m kind of a mashup fan. These are song that incorporate elements of different songs into one. Some call it an art form. The record companies call it ripping them off. In any case, the most popular of these mashups are “A vs B Mashups“, where the music of one song is used with the vocals of another. I used to hear a lot of these on Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code podcast before he dropped the show in early 2009. So, I hear about most of these now from Mashuptown.com.
A new Mashuptown track was recently released called I Was Made For Dreaming ‘Bout You [Beyonce vs. KISS]. The track from MadMixMustang incorporates the music from Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” with KISS’ disco-era hit “I Was Made For Lovin You.”  Check it out. It’s a really cool mashup.
And here is where the record companies should be paying attention.
I was hearing the Beyonce hit quite a bit (especially thanks to those Kidz Bop commericals that run ad-nauseum on Nick), so I grabbed that track from iTunes for $1.29. It’s actually the third song from her recent album that I’ve purchased, which is kind of surprising since I’m not the biggest fan of Beyonce’s music (or her acting! Have you seen Goldmember or Obsessed? The defense rests).
Next, I was thinking I should explore the KISS back catalog a little bit. I haven’t particularly loved them or hated them over the years but I was twelve years old in 1979 so it was pretty hard to ignore them in their heyday. I also liked the bit of nostalgia for KISS on display in Role Models. Seann William Scott’s description of the “actual meaning” of the lyrics to “Love Gun” is the best bit of musical education since Quentin Tarantino’s spotlight scene in Reservoir Dogs! Of course, KISS’ “Beth” is used pretty well at the film’s conclusion.
So, I thought to myself, I ought to invest in some KISS music. I looked around iTunes at the various tracks that I knew I liked, and the collections available. Surprisingly, I found myself drawn to the 80’s era material without the makeup and with second drummer Eric Carr who had a more bombastic drum style. So, I ended up “splurging” for an iTunes collection called The Complete Collection: Kiss that includes 45 songs for $19.99. Â Even if I don’t like half of these it still is a deal. But I’ve enjoyed hearing some KISS’ early raw stuff and exploring more from their misunderstood “middle period” as well.
I was thinking about the question every KISS fan is obligated to answer: “Who is your favorite member of KISS?” Â It certainly isn’t Peter Criss, who has flat drum style that isn’t really in step with the rest of KISS’ music. Probably not Ace Frehley either, though it was cool his solo hit “Back in the New York Groove” made the aforementioned KISS collection. I think Gene Simmons is a cool cat and Paul Stanley is a great frontman. I’m certainly not picking any of the nameless guitarists from the 80s and 90s. So, I guess I’ll pick Eric “The Fox” Carr. Sadly, Carr died of heart cancer in 1991.
So, there you go. Over $21 in sales because a mashup got me interested in the artists involved.
Thanks to NetFlix and a list of critically acclaimed films that I actually wanted to see, I managed to see quite a few films in 2009. Here’s the list of every 2009 film that I managed to see, and listed here in order. I’ve grouped them into several categories, in order to show that there were differences between the Very Successful group and the Disappointment group, for example.
Regarding my top tier, I’ve managed to see most of these a second time and they do hold up. I’d say that Inglourious Basterds is number one by a considerable margin, however. It was such an entertaining, thrilling, and suspenseful movie! It also featured my favorite performance of the year, Christoph Waltz.
The Best of the Year – Transcended their Genre:
Inglourious Basterds
Avatar
Star Trek
Up in the Air
Up
I Love You, Man
The Hurt Locker
Observe and Report
Funny People
Zombieland
The Hangover
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Monsters vs. Aliens
Very Successful (within their Genre):
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
Taken
Year One
He’s Just Not That Into You
State of Play
Sunshine Cleaning
Management
The Blind Side
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Bruno
Angels and Demons
Extract
Julie and Julia
Paper Heart
Adventureland
Watchmen
Sherlock Holmes
Duplicity
The International
Disappointments:
Land of the Lost
17 Again
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Terminator: Salvation
Away We Go
Fanboys
The Girlfriend Experience
Just Plain Awful:
The Marc Pease Experience
The Proposal
Obsessed (“very successful” if you view this as so-bad-it’s-good and love a good catfight)
The Top Songs of 2008 was the first post on the new Kevdo.com blog. Now, one year later, we’re ready to do the Top Songs of 2009. As with last year, this is based on iTunes play counts, not on other factors such as songs I heard on the radio, from CD, from ringtones, etc. Overall, I listened to 1431 songs at least once in 2009.
When I listen to music I tend to listen to either specific albums or my “current music” playlists that typically hold recently purchased music. So, it’s no surprise that my top 20 is clogged up with Franz Ferdinand songs as their 2009 album Tonight was my favorite of the year (and, importantly, was released early in the year when I wasn’t listening to much else). Thus, the playcounts for this album are really high compared to a lot of other songs. So, rather than a top 20 I have a list of top 50 songs.
Song, Group, Playcount
Papillon, Editors, 61
No You Girls, Franz Ferdinand, 54
Twilight Omens, Franz Ferdinand, 51
Turn It On, Franz Ferdinand, 50
Send Him Away, Franz Ferdinand, 49
Ulysses, Franz Ferdinand, 48
Forget About What I Said, The Killers, 45
No You Girls (Christian Vorbau Remix), Franz Ferdinand, 43
Lucid Dreams, Franz Ferdinand, 42
Bite Hard, Franz Ferdinand, 40
You Don’t Know Love, Editors, 39
Slow Poison, The Bravery, 36
Decode, Paramore, 34
What She Came For, Franz Ferdinand, 32
In This Light and On This Evening, Editors, 31
Live Alone, Franz Ferdinand, 31
Can’t Stop Feeling, Franz Ferdinand, 31
Losing Touch, The Killers, 30
The Boxer, Editors, 29
Lucid Dreams, Franz Ferdinand, 27
Tick Tick Boom, The Hives, 26
Spaceman, The Killers, 26
Crushcrushcrush, Paramore, 26
Love Etc., Pet Shop Boys, 25
Robot, Stellastarr*, 25
Shut Up and Let Me Go, The Ting Tings, 25
Bricks and Mortar, Editors, 24
Call Me (Live), Franz Ferdinand, 24
This Used To Be The Future, Pet Shop Boys, 24
Magnificent, U2, 24
Go For It, Luccarelli Icardi, 23
Like Treasure, Editors, 22
I Am Your Skin, The Bravery, 21
Human, The Killers, 21
Did You See Me Coming?, Pet Shop Boys, 21
Freak Out, Stellastarr*, 21
Stand Up Comedy, U2, 21
Helicopter, Bloc Party, 20
The Spectator, The Bravery, 20
American Soviets (Cameron Paul Remix), C.C.C.P., 20
The Big Exit, Editors, 20
Feeling Kind Of Anxious (Ulysses Dub), Franz Ferdinand, 20
Kids, MGMT, 20
That’s What You Get, Paramore, 20
Beautiful People, Pet Shop Boys, 20
Vulnerable, Pet Shop Boys, 20
Building A Wall, Pet Shop Boys, 20
We’re the Pet Shop Boys, Robbie Williams & Pet Shop Boys, 20
Bat Fight (video version), Will Ferrell, 20
Golden Rod, Blondie, and Barracuda, Chelsea Girls, and We’re All Criminals Now, Pet Shop Boys and Male Prima Dona, Subtle Sexuality, 19
Some notes.
As with last year, there’s a lot of focus on “neo wave” groups like The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand, Stellastarr*, and The Killers. Had The Bravery album been released earlier than December they surely would have showed up differently. Â 2009 albums from 80’s stalwarts U2 and Pet Shop Boys were quite good and as you can see did well overall this year. Â You’ll even find some songs from vintage groups that I found time to rediscover (Blondie and C.C.C.P.). And, as with last year, a novelty hit from Will Ferrell made my (albiet extended) list.
Including remixes and different song formats, my play counts for my three favorite songs of the year are:
I wanted to celebrate the decade by noting some of the signature technology innovations of the decade. Obviously these are mostly consumer focused, so I’m not going to talk about obscure networking standards or have a religious war about operating system kernels. We’ll keep these things accessible for most of you readers. This list is really those products or innovations that defined the decade, and in some ways would blow the mind of someone we transported from 1999.
I’ve been working on this list for a while and then today Engadget comes up with a similar list with many of my choices. Oh, well… here’s my list anyway.
Canon Digital ELPH camera
For all the talk about the iPod or the Music Industry, there are few industries that were as dramatically transformed during this decade than the camera and film industry. I Â mean, does anyone even use film anymore? At the start of the decade most people hadn’t even heard of digital cameras! Â And while Canon didn’t invent the industry, the Digital ELPH was really the first super small camera that was really capable. If the adage “the best camera is the one you have with you” is true then these small cameras were a game-changer.
iPod
I know. Â It’s easy to pick this. And despite no longer being the shining star at a certain Cupertino company, it’s hard to argue there was a more signature device from the decade as a whole. Introduced in 2001 and not really perfected until the click-wheel was invented for the iPod Mini, the iPod changed the way we interact, consume, and transport our music. I still use one for hours a day. There are eight iPods (or iPhones) in frequent use in our household.
So, for fun… let me see if I can remember all my iPods this decade.
iPod Shuffle 1st gen
iPod 3rd gen
iPod nano 1st gen (4 GB)
iPod nano 1st gen (2 GB) – won this in a raffle and Quinn is still using today
iPod 5th gen
iPod nano 3rd gen – Riley is still using today
iPod nano 4th gen – my daily iPod for podcasts and music listening
iPod nano 4th gen – Julie’s iPod
iPod Touch 2nd gen – we have two of these in our household, used by Riley and Quinn. I got one free ordering a new computer and Riley got one from grandma for suffering through dental work
GPS
Combined with Google Maps, it’s pretty hard to get lost these days. It really is a revolution that we can track our location and that the hardware/software solutions out there can provide pinpoint directions whenever you need them.
Toyota Prius 2nd Gen
I’m more of a Honda guy, but if you were going to pick one single car to represent the decade it would be an easy choice. And, let’s face it, we could use a lot more hybrid cars out there. My next one will be a hybrid. My favorite Prius moment came in an episode of The Office when Andy was able to use the silent electrical motor to trap Dwight between the car and a fence. Perfect 00’s moment.
iTunes Music Store
I still buy a lot of CDs. I like the “permanence” of CDs, but also am looking at a giant shelf of them. If only there was a way to purchase that one great song from that obscure album. Oh, there is… Â Among the things we can thank Steve Jobs for the most is this invention that I think did save the music industry. There are other electronic stores out there but there is only one iTunes.
Someday Apple may be able to leverage iTunes as well. If only there was a way to easily buy movies or purchase apps for my cell phone…
Palm Treo 600
This one didn’t have a long shelf life as it looked really old really fast once a certain computer company decided to make a cellphone. But, back in the day, the Treo was the first device that you could really use for all your daily “pocket computer” needs. An organizer with web browsing, a phone, 3rd party apps, and ability to play music and videos. That was the promise of the Treo.
If only Palm hadn’t sat on Palm OS 5 for what seemed like forever…
Over the Air Wireless Broadband (Internet WiFi / 3G)
You’ve seen those commercials that talk about the broadband revolution and how back at the turn of the decade most of us were still using dial-up internet. Yep, me too.
It is ridiculous how pervasive wireless broadband is now. My phone has internet speeds that blow past my landline internet from the start of the decade. Not my cable modem. My phone.
Kudos to Apple for really pushing the wireless internet WiFi capabilities in some of their laptops early this decade. You can hardly go anywhere with people and not find WiFi available. It’s everywhere! And for shame those cellphone manufacturers who omit WiFi from the feature list in deference to the cellphone carriers.
YouTube / Podcasting
This is arguably as disruptive as digital photography. Services like YouTube make it easy to consume and share video (especially now that we all have excellent video cameras in our phones. Or, at least we have some sort of video camera in our phone). It isn’t that hard to remember the time when there were a million video formats and that uploading and providing those files for people to watch and consume was a big pain. All of that went away with YouTube. Now, admittedly, some of the videos on YouTube aren’t exactly quality TV. But there’s a lot of great stuff there and as a producer of content it makes it easy to share.
Podcasting is similar in that it allowed for the same kind of electronic distribution systems that “big media” used to reach people online. And with the quality of audio and video software it is very easy and affordable to produce something that has high technical quality. The quality of the “talent” might be another thing…
Wii
For all the talk about “virtual reality” in the 1990’s, the Wii was really the first system that created an interface that really brought you into the game in a way that was far superior than pulling a joystick or pressing buttons.
iPhone
You didn’t think I’d forget Steve Jobs’ Jesus Phone did you?
On a certain level, it’s isn’t that different from the Treo and other earlier smartphones. But, they say, the devil is in the details and detail-wise the iPhone blew them all away. It’s become such an integral part of my life that if you put a gun to my head and said I had to get rid of either my iMac (with a gorgeous 20″ display) or my iPhone it wouldn’t even be a contest.
You can take my iPhone when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Of course, the iPhone leverages many of the technologies listed above (but where is the gas-hybrid battery?). But this was the device that put them all together. Camera in my pocket, great music and movies, excellent “PDA” apps, plus a great phone experience and tons of internet-connected apps. Truly the product of the decade.
As has been well-documented on this blog, I’m a big Disney Theme Parks fan. We go to Disneyland at least once a year and really enjoy our time there as well as in the sister park, Disney’s California Adventure.
We’ve all heard about the record companies’ claims that illegal downloads are costing them and their artists 
Inglourious Basterds
Papillon, Editors, 61
I know. Â It’s easy to pick this. And despite no longer being the shining star at a certain Cupertino company, it’s hard to argue there was a more signature device from the decade as a whole. Introduced in 2001 and not really perfected until the click-wheel was invented for the iPod Mini, the iPod changed the way we interact, consume, and transport our music. I still use one for hours a day. There are eight iPods (or iPhones) in frequent use in our household.