In Phoenix Right Now

I arrived in Phoenix this morning. The flight was uneventful expect for the fact I had a head cold and on the decent into Phoenix the pressure in my ears really built up. Not really painful since I was chewing gum like a cow chews chud. Unfortunately the rest of the day I was walking around with my ears stuffed up and having a hard time hearing things. This evening the hotel was really kind enough to have the shuttle van drive me to a Walgreens where I purchased Sudafed. I am going to be taking these EVERY four hours until my head is clear. It has to be unstuffed by Saturday night when I fly back, otherwise it will be painful descending into Oakland. I took the first two Sudafed an hour ago and it does already seem to be clearing things up.

Why am I in Phoenix? On business for the Phoenix Forum. The event is taking place in a hotel right next to the ASU stadium. The event has taken over the entire hotel, which is good considering some of the things that I have already seen. :)

I had a couple meetings already today, but placed calls to a number of people I need to meet with tomorrow. It is so odd where you find new business. On the way over to Walgreens an older gentlemen was in the van and we started talking and he and his daughter run a number of websites that would be ideal for online stores. On another trip in the van we met someone from Costa Rica who has original content they are looking to license.

Anyway, these events are always HUGE parties that last 24 hours. But, if you work them properly you can find real business opportunities.

Party at Avenue G

Tonight my good friend Tony invited me to the grand opening party at Avenue G, a new restaurant at Stockton and Union. The place was packed, with free drinks and food. In addition they had a New Orleans style marching jazz band. Met the owner Frank, nice guy. Was invited back for dinner, which I will do soon.

Check out Avenue G.

Prom Night Dumpster Baby

No words can describe this, it is taking TV to the limits.

Bob Lefsetz, Honest About Music

If you have ANY interest in music, the music industry and what's good or bad... alot of bad lately you need to be aware of Bob Lefsetz. Check out this video interview with Bob. Also visit Bob's blog and subscribe to his newsletter.

Interesting Tech Support Issue

My 14 year-old cat has beaten iBook security. Please help.
Posted: Mar 23, 2007 9:28 AM
Click to reply to this topic Reply email Email

I have this old cat that likes to sleep on my iBook while I'm not using it. I have set the screensaver to require a password in order to prevent her from entering random keystrokes into the documents I leave open while I'm away.

However, I've noticed that while the computer is still in the screensaver when I return, she has somehow managed to circumvent the password and, among other things, rename my hard drive, execute complex keystroke combinations changing my system settings and save over documents which I have minimized.

I mean, I'm not even smart enough to see what she's done without the password. How is this happening?

Any way to lock up my iBook so that the cat can't.. uh.. do this? Can't close the iBook, due to a cracked screen.. which I am dealing with. We all have our crosses to bear, right? I'm not complaining, I just want to stop the cat from trying to rewrite my novel.

Cheers.

Read the entire thread at Apple, very funny.

The Ultimate Treehouse

I want this!!

Tattoo #3

This is my third tattoo after two hours of work. There is another two of work required to finish it. The next sitting is scheduled for April 6th. All that remains is to add color and some details.

This tattoo hurt like a mother, but is so worth it!

What can you say about this!

Real, Dangerous, Rock and Roll

Remember this band? What happened to them? This was real, it was dangerous, it was rock and roll. Today it is just safe, a tribute to a once mighty band.

iRack iRaq

Boston Singer BRAD DELP - R.I.P

From Associated Press

ATKINSON, N.H. -- Brad Delp, the lead singer for Boston, a huge rock sensation in the 1970s, was found dead Friday in his home, police said. He was 55.

Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and that there was no indication of foul play. Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.

The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday. Delp fronted the rock band, who rose to fame in the late 1970s and had several hits, including "More than A Feeling." The group sold millions of records.

Can Not

This morning while reviewing blogs and online news at work I came across this amusing blog post by John Bone.

It was a simple request, “Go to the FedEx office and get a small box so I can send some documents to the States tomorrow”, except this is Thailand.
Chuck and Mook jumped onto one of the motor cycles and took off.
about 20 minutes later Chuck called from the FedEx office.
“They won’t sell me a box, they told me to go to the post office”
“No, they give them for free, just ask for a small box”
“They won’t give it to me”
“Why not?”
“Don’t know they just say, ‘can not’”
“You are in the FedEx office?”
“Yes”
“And they won’t give you a box?”
“No. I mean yes”
“OK, ask them if they will ship my documents to America,”
A moment of silence
“Yes”
“OK, ask them what they would like me to put the documents in”
“A box”
“OK, good now ask them for a box”
“Can not”
“What the fuck is going on are they stupid, let me talk to them”
A longer moment of silence
“They won’t talk to you”
“OK, ask them if they won’t give us a box how can they ship my documents”
“They don’t know”
“OK ask them for a box”
“Can not”
I am starting to get a little edgy
“OK ask them if they will not give you a box how can we ship the documents”
“They don’t know”
“Do you see any boxes”
“Hundreds of them”
“OK, ask them what the boxes are for”
“For shipping documents”
“Ask them if you can have one as you wish to ship some documents”
“Can not”
“Ask them how they ship documents if they won’t give you a box to ship the fucking documents in”
“They don’t know”
“Go to DHL”

My Next Tattoo

Tonight after work I stopped by Lyle Tuttle's to talk with artist Jeremy Kimzey about an idea for my next tattoo. He is the artist who did the cross on my left shoulder. I am going to have him draw something original around love for rock and roll. It is going to go on my left upper chest. My appointment is for March 15th and he estimates it should take 3-4 hours. Some of the ideas we discussed as part of the tattoo include a guitar, roses, a 45 rpm adapter. But, I am giving him freedom to use his artistic skills come up with something cool. More later!

Off The Rails by Rudy Sarzo

If you were a rock fan during the heyday of 80's metal you definitely know who Randy Rhoads is and his impact on rock and roll. Unfortunately Randy's life ended much too early in a tragic plane crash while he was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne. Rudy Sarzo was the bass player in Ozzy's band at the time and also was a member of Quiet Riot when Randy was also a member. Off The Rails is Rudy's account of living and working with Randy. He does an amazing job bringing you out on the road for the Ozzy tours, in the tour bus, in the hotel, backstage and on stage. Rudy says he is always asked, "What was Randy like?" Off The Rails is his answer to that question. I didn't put the book down until it was finished and it was a blast to read. Lots of fun and funny rock stories involving Ozzy. But, Rudy accomplished his goal; I got to learn more about Randy Rhoads the person. Randy is looked upon as a "guitar god", but he was really far from being that. He was a genuine and real person who wanted teach more than perform live with Ozzy. He loved to pass along his knowledge for the guitar.

If you a guitar player or just a music fan, Off The Rails is a book for you. You will not be disappointed.

USA Today, Exclusives aim to pull music fans into stores

Back on January 21st I posted a blog entry, "It's Not Cheap to be a Fan", that discussed the many exclusives versions of new albums being released these days. Recently USA Today posted a story on this topic, "Exclusives aim to pull music fans into stores".

The world of music distribution faces turbulent times. Tower Records is gone. Hard-copy music sales continue to drop year to year, and double-digit hikes in digital sales haven't offset the losses. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers search for new ways to lure music-buying customers, particularly adults, who still buy CDs but no longer have the time or the inclination to go to music stores — assuming they can find one.

As national music chains dwindle, big-box retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart are taking cues from Starbucks and iTunes by adding more exclusive music to their shelves. Target's new Spotlight Music Series offers 15 discs, including new adult-contemporary music, genre compilations and mixes handpicked by Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews and others.

"We know our guests don't have a lot of time to browse for their favorite music," says Target's Paula Thornton-Greear. "So the Spotlight Music Series makes it easy to discover, or rediscover, their favorite music."

"People are buying music differently, especially adults," says Jim Brandmeier of 180 Music, which developed the series with Target. "They're likely to buy music while looking for something else."

Retailers typically take a couple of approaches for exclusives. First, they work with labels or individual artists to create special packages. That could be as simple as Josh Groban's Valentine's Day compilation, With You, for Hallmark, which included two new songs. Or it could be as massive as Wal-Mart's exclusive deals with Garth Brooks (a multiyear pact) and The Eagles: The group's upcoming Long Road Out of Eden album will be available only at the chain for the first year.

Second, retailers extract exclusive content from labels. Buyers of John Mellencamp's Freedom's Road, for instance, had several bonus options, including a four-song CD at Best Buy, a DVD at Wal-Mart, downloads at Walmart.com and Circuit City, and a video and two rough mixes at iTunes. The permutations amounted to eight tracks and five videos. Jerry Lee Lewis' Last Man Standing album gave digital exclusives to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, CMT.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Urge and Napster.

READ the REST