iHate iTunes

Like a sucker, I signed up for iTunes for today’s release of the Red Album to get access to the bonus tracks and ticket pre-order access that was promised to those who pre-ordered it through Apple’s infernal software.

I’m just glad I wasn’t the only Weezer fan out there who got this message while attempting to download the album this morning:

itunes message

I know Weezer likes to take some time in between albums, but this is ridiculous!

I also went around in search of a physical copy of the album. Target was sold out. Barnes and Noble was sold out and was charging double Target’s price.  And a few other places didn’t have it yet.  I’ll have my thoughts together on the awesomeness that is the Red Album soon.

King Tom

How To Use A Magical Island

Ben in the desertFor the past four TV seasons, the survivors of the crash of Oceanic 815 have been stranded on an island.

We don’t know much about the island. But we know it’s a special place. It was home to some culture which built a statue honoring a being with four toes. A nineteenth-century slaving ship somehow landed in the middle of the island. People with life-threatening diseases and disabilities have been healed once they’ve stepped foot on the island. And sometimes around 40 years ago, the DHARMA initiative built a series of stations to harness the powers of the island to conduct “silly experiments.”

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A "Lost" Episode

I’m an idiot.

Last night The Civee started and I started up the ol’ DVR to watch parts 2 & 3 of  ‘There’s No Place Like Home,’ as she wasn’t around Thursday night.  We were watching the episode in glorious HD, when we decided to get some ice cream at the next commercial break. I hit stop, then hit another button and the next thing I knew, the episode was erased.

– – – – .

Our cable provider recently changed the software on our cable box, so some of the buttons I had gotten used to in the past year have changed.  If it was a mistake she had made, I would have been fine with it, but because it was me, I’m a bit pissed at myself.

We finished part 2 on ABC’s Web site, but it wasn’t just the same.

Maybe I should review the instructions the cable company sent along when the system changed.

King Tom

Stop the Beep, Creep

One of my weaknesses is a sensitivity to noise, particularly when I’m trying to sleep.  As I documented back in the summer of aught-six, my life was nearly ruined by a malfunctioning carbon monoxide detector in my then-next-door-neighbor’s apartment.

A few nights ago, I thought the malfunctioning detector had tracked me down with the intent to finish what it started back in ’06.  It was after midnight, I was hanging out and I heard this short beep emit from somewhere on our ground floor every minute. It was a short, soft beep–just enough to drive me crazy, but not enough to be able to pinpoint the source of the beep, which is kind of self-defeating.

It took me a good 20 minutes of roaming around our ground floor like a lunatic hunting for the source of the beep before I found it: a cordless phone which had been off its cradle all weekend. I returned the phone to the cradle and the beeping stopped.

I don’t understand why, in a world where we have birthday cards that can play the audio of the first fifteen minutes of Star Wars, our more sophisticated electronic devices are limited to a beep when they need our urgent attention. I would have gone through a lot less hassle had my phone simply emitted a “your cordless phone is nearing the end of its power cycle” in a pleasing voice once or twice.  I would have known what was causing the noise, where to find the source and how to remedy the problem.

(The titular line of this entry was inspired by a line from a Saved By The Bell episode.  I’m not sure which one, but I believe Lisa said something to this effect to Screech).

King Tom

Lost: The Future

I’m not trying to turn the Kingdom into King Tom’s House of Embedded Videos, but this one was pretty cool.  Scenes from all of the Lost flashforwards in chronological order (although I’m not sure Ben’s visit to Widmore is in the right place).

All I have to say is I’m really looking forward to Thursday night.

King Tom

They Still Make Music Videos?

J-Dog only beat me to the punch here because I stayed late at work today.

Weezer has released the music video for their single Pork ‘n Beans on Youtube.

It’s only fitting they released it on Youtube, because the video co-stars YT celebrities, half of whom I don’t know.

Still, the video is well done (and it’s about time Weezer’s done a video with lightsabers), humorous and entertaining.

Much like 2001, it is a great time to be a Weezer fan. The band has the new album coming out June 3. To promote the album, they’ve started a series of webisodes starring band members (in addition to Rivers’ ongoing Let’s Write A Sawng project).  Along with the regular album, Weezer is releasing a deluxe version of the CD the same day (which would serve as the definitive album) and a bunch of other tracks (aside from the 14 tracks on the deluxe CD) to come in various markets, including:

  • The Weight (The Band Cover)
  • Life is what you make it (Talk Talk Cover)
  • It’s easy
  • I can love
  • Are friends electric? (Tubeway Army Cover)
  • Love my way (Psychedelic Furs Cover)
  • Oddfellow local 151 (REM Cover)

Lots of interesting musical choices. Like I said, it’s a great time to be a Weezer fan.

King Tom

That's His Name, Henry Jones Junior

Within 24 hours of its official opening, I caught Indiana Jones and the Kingom of the Crystal Skull. The theater was packed- and for good reason- the first new movie featuring one of the greatest action heroes in almost 20 years.

While I was a bit confused by some of the story points, I liked this movie. It had all the forumla points of a “classic” Indiana Jones movie, with great action and the feel of a real adventure while the Indiana Jones character (and Harrison Ford) were trying to keep up as they got older. That gave this movie depth and homages to previous Indiana Jones movies kept the die-hard saga fans happy.

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King Tom

A Nice Little Place On The Chee-Funky River

Tchefuncte River signThis weekend, The Civee and I went to Louisiana to visit my grandparents. We had a good time and went at the right time of year. The weather was in the low 80s, clear and dry.  Any later in the year and it would be oppressively hot and humid.

My grandparents live an hour north of New Orleans, across Lake Ponchartrain.  This was my first time to the area in four years. My grandparents’ area was hit by Hurricane Katrina (as was pretty much everything else down there), and while life is back to normal, things definitely look different than a few years ago.

We spent most of the weekend with my grandparents, eating breakfast (The Civee and I are not regular breakfast eaters) and doing family things, but for a few hours Sunday, The Civee and I had a few hours and a car to ourselves.  We didn’t have enough time to go into the city, so we decided to drive around in the backwoods and not-so-backwoods of the North Shore of the Lake. 

While driving around, we drove over a bridge spanning the Tchefuncte River (pronounced Chee-Funky) into a small town called Madisonville. On one side of the river was a large marina. On Madisonville side, a row of restaurants.   We parked and walked around for a while, eventually deciding to stop at Morton’s, a bar and restaurant with an outside deck facing the river.

Morton's Restaurant signI have to admit, one of the things that drew me to Morton’s (considering all the restaurants had decks facing the river) was the sign to the left, promising hot boiled seafood.  The Civee and I got an outside table and just enjoyed ourselves by talking and watching the boats and the moving bridge.  The bridge we passed over was a Swing Bridge (check out the wikipedia link for a cool animated image), which would open every half hour for about five minutes to let marine traffic through.  While watching the bridge was fun, the fulfillment of the advertised seafood was even better. 

Because we had breakfast a few hours earlier, I didn’t think I could finish off a whole tray of boiled crawfish, so I opted for two broiled soft shell crabs, which were damn good.  I also helped myself to some of The Civee’s Mahi Mahi, which was also superb. 

After eating and sitting around for a while, we found our car and started to head back.  But as we got the car going, we noticed we had just a minute or two before the next closing (or opening, depending on your point of view ) of the swing bridge. So we high-tailed it out of Madisonville, lest we be held up.

Even though we sped out of town, it was a nice place, one I wouldn’t mind going back to (if only to polish off a plate of boiled crawfish).

King Tom

Ben Linus Always Has A Plan

Not only did ABC decide to break the three-hour season four finale of Lost, No Place Like Home, into two episodes, but to add even more punishment, they’ve added a week break inbeween installments.  So this season of Lost won’t wrap up next Thursday, but rather, on May 29th.

Thanks a lot, ABC!

Tonight’s episode definitely felt like it was the first part of a larger story.  Characters got put into place and plans put into motion, but at the end, I felt like I was waiting for the action to happen.

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King Tom