The Novel Approach of Radiohead

For those who haven't heard, Radiohead, the musicians behind the soundtrack to a good deal of my life, have decided to release their new album in a, "pay what you please" manner. No "suggested donation" or "free, free, free", but what you like. So pleasant and ultimately, how British, huh?

More than likely this will pan out okay for them. One reason is that Radiohead fans are loyal. We love all that they do (even the recent albums) and they're one of the few groups we feel like paying for. Admittedly a great deal of people just steal the albums, but I actually own real copies of all their CDs.

Another reason this is a good deal is because their distribution costs are nearly non-existent. Just paying for some server storage and bandwidth is about all that they've got to deal with.

The last big reason that I think this will work is because buying the album is problematic. No, not getting at it on their site, but doing any kind of conversion from British Pounds on the Oanda currency conversion site. That thing is completely inundated which tells me that people are looking up how much to spend and thusly spend once they know. Maybe I'm just guessing with this, but it really seems possible.

I am going to buy this album for download. What price am I going to pay? $5 USD. Seems like nothing, but if you figure that most artists only get $1 from any album they sell while on a label, then this is a 500% increase in what the artist is making and honestly, I find this to be a pretty good cost for music. Maybe I'm just cheap, but it's the way I see it. It would be good if Radiohead released sales figures and statistics a month after they "release" it, as I am very interested to see how this all goes down.

30 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: england, music, technology

Ass, Lots of Ass at the 2007 Folsom Street Fair

It was both male and female ass (mostly male unfortunately) but the yearly, Folsom Street Fair happened today and it was the first one that I've attended despite living in San Francisco for four years. You can see all the photos in my Folsom Street Fair Gallery.

It was pretty much everything I expected. Well, that's not true actually as I expected much fouler goings on than I saw based on what friends told me about it from last year. Sure, there's a lot of kink happening and you see what things a good many people need to do for sexual fulfillment in their life, but there are no open sex shows or any complete filth that I saw. I'm sure that after the fact or maybe when it gets dark, things get a bit more out of control, as people like the dark to do their sinful business.

The festival is not for the conservatively faint of heart though. There are great gobs of naked people everywhere (mostly men) and others who like to exhibit. There are also a good many with some pretty crazy piercings. Also, for the first time in my life, I had the "privilege" to see a cock ring not only work but in full action. Many a boy there liked to stroke what nature gave him for all to see, which made the naked guys at the Love Fest the day before incredibly tame.

I think the event is run excellently. They do a great job in cordoning off five city blocks and a couple of side streets to make this happen. There are plenty of drinks and some good smelling food as well as a huge swath of portable toilets (although I wasn't keen on using them). I also like the fact that the $5 you pay to get in goes to charity. And lastly, despite the fact that I was pretty boring bystander not wearing a leather, latex or generally kinky outfit, I felt well tolerated. I suppose this is only natural given how many people there were exhibitionists.

I don't know that I would go back next year as it gets a bit repetitive and I am only there as an observer, but I was glad that I finally got around to seeing this legendary festival in action. I'm just realizing now that I really lost a good opportunity to buy some ass-less chaps there, since they had some good clearances on used leather items items. C'est la vie.

29 09 2007      1 comment

Tags: gays, san francisco

Love Fest 2007 - My Bass Dosage for a Year

Well, it just happened again today, the San Francisco Love Fest, which is actually a branch of the Love Parade that started in Berlin in 1989, but there are some rights issues to the name that make it be the Love Fest here. Whatever the case, it's a good time and a good thing for San Francisco. Admittedly, I think that it's something for girls and the gay guys in town, but even still, it's entertaining. The costumes can get pretty wild. The people are all in a good mood. And man, is there a lot of techno and electronica. I'm not usually a tremendous fan, but what that kind of bass hits a large group of people who are all in to it, it's hard not to enjoy the thump, thump, thump.

How to describe this for someone who hasn't seen it, since this is only the fourth year for it in San Francisco and it's a bit new to us? Firstly, view my Love Fest Photo Gallery. Secondly, it's a parade to start with that ends at Civic Center Plaza for a big fat party. The parade is a bit raucous, but fun. The floats are all big trucks with massive sound systems and DJ's each mixing something different. This part makes it a bit akin to Mardi Gras. Otherwise, I would say that it's a lot like Bay to Breakers. The key differences being that the costumes in B2B are better (people seem to just dress in their underwear for Love Fest if they can't think of what to wear), there is a good deal less drinking of alcohol than B2B, a great deal more drinking of energy drinks, and a lot more drug use then B2B, which is an actual race after all. Also, the party rages on a bit longer.

I would say that if you're in town to check it out. Everyone is super, duper happy and it's one of those things that gets us labeled as the Whacko Left Coast. Of course, this is a good thing for those of us who live here.

28 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: san francisco

A Sliced Tomato Does not a Salad Make

This is another one of those tidbits that slipped through the cracks and I forgot to write about while on my jaunt through the Balkans. Basically, it's this: You walk in to a restaurant anywhere in former Yugoslavia and you see Tomato Salad on the menu. You think, "Well, that would be nice. It's hot out. A nice mix of tomatoes and greens would be good." Ah, but you when you get it, you see one half or maybe one whole tomato sliced and set on a plate. You are disappointed.

So, what the hell is this? Basically, it's the Balkan idea of what a salad should be, which is a great deal different than what the French, Spanish, or Italian idea of what a salad should be. This concept of salad we have inherited in the US and is what we expect when we see salad. But this does not get translated. It's like they took the idea of an Italian mozzarella plate and just handily left out the cheese, basil, and olive oil. It is pretty bad and pretty lame, because you'll pay something like two dollars for this "salad". People there know this and it's just something of a side dish. The real issue is that they call it a salad, but then again, who would order, "one sliced tomato on a plate", if that's what they saw in English?

So, what are the alternatives if you want to have an actual salad? One word: šopska (shopska). It is a badassed salad with cheese that is similar to feta, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and sometimes olive oil with other spices. It is simple. It is good. It is a meal. It is often not much more than the, 'tomato salad'. The best one I had was in Novi Sad, Serbia at a traditional restaurant, but they do it everywhere in the region, although sometimes it is called a Serbian Salad. Don't be scared of the name though. Try it, you'll like it.

27 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: food, the balkans

The Problem with My iPod Mini

First and foremost, my issue is not, as Borat profoundly says it, that, "Everybody know it for girls!" I am quite happy with the form factor and if that reduces my overall outward sexuality, so be it. I carried with me around Europe for almost four months and am quite okay with it, even the fact that it's green.

No, the big problem with my iPod Mini is that it still works very well and plays music. These are the two things that I need out of such a device. For the last three years that I've had this thing, The Jobs keeps coming out with supposedly newer and better devices. He even did away with the Mini. But, I still got mine and since I doubt I could get anything for it on Ebay at this point (couple of dings from dropping it once or twice) there really is no point but to hold on to it until it completely dies.

So, Apple keeps trying to tempt me with new devices because I am one of those people that they want to see upgrading all the time. I'm younger than 35. I live in San Francisco. I have a decent income. And of course, I'm a programmer by profession. I am supposed to upgrade. I am supposed to be buying The New. But yet, I don't. A good deal of this is because I believe in better buying and don't want to generate more E-waste in the world. The other reason behind this is that beyond playing music, keeping a charge, and being small, Apple hasn't really convinced me to upgrade. But, let's look at some of the things they've attempted to ply me with and why I didn't like them:

iPod Shuffle - Too little storage. No Screen.

iPod Nano - First generation was really bad. Second generation was better, but does nothing above and beyond what my Mini did. Third generation is much more interesting, but I don't really care about video all the much and I don't care about it on that small a screen.

iPod (Classic) - Whatever the version, while they've always had better storage than my Mini they were just too big and the video feature was really uninteresting given that screen format.

iPhone - Way, way too much stuff in a phone. Bad battery life. Only slightly more storage than my Mini. Too expensive. Locked in with AT&T who I really dislike.

iPod Touch - Now this is interesting. It provides everything that I have, plus some new features that I like, such as viewing horizontal. But like the iPhone, the price is just too much for 16 gigs of storage. You can buy almost terabytes of external storage for that price! It's also still kind of new and they're getting the kinks worked out. Once again, I really just like to play music and it doesn't do anything more than my Mini in that category and even a little less, since I can't tap the controls in my pocket like I do with my Mini.

Moral of the story? The iPod Mini was probably the best basic music player that Apple ever made and they killed it at the height of its popularity. Some saw that as a bold move. I just saw it as backwards, since the beat goes on for me in Mini style and it seems that many are getting unhappy with the new Apple Greed system.

26 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: apple, better buying, ipod, technology

Four Years in the Making

Good thing I looked up some stats on the site last night, because I realized that I've been at this for four years today. While it's still a hobby, it's grown a bit beyond that and has actually become something of a reference system for myself so that I can remember what the hell I did yesterday. But, it seems that people are finding some use out of the articles (for once) and also plenty of images to swipe.

I usually use these yearly anniversary posts to reflect about what has happened since the last one. This time, I really don't feel like going in to so much detail because things are going very well and it was a very good summer, that anyone can read about in The Europe section. I did turn 30 this year and with that realized that it's a kinda meaningless thing to get worried about, especially since so many things fell in to place this year.

As far as the site goes, I'm nearing 1,000 articles and 1,500 photos. The photos section is actually going to be growing in large leaps and bounds over the next month as I catch up with the 8,000 photo backlog from the trip. Obviously I'm not putting up all of thus, but a great many. So if you like my photos more than my words, you're in for a treat. As for the articles, I'll probably be slowing down a bit again. It's not that I don't have plenty to say or get on my 80-year-old man about the Academy of Art but more that I find my writing is much better when I do less. This is especially true given the professional blogging I've done over the summer and the book that I'm writing on.

So, happy day to you and enjoy the site. Hey, leave a comment every now and again if you'd like.

25 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: site update

The Spanish Sombrero

To all those visiting Spain, I have a message for you: The Sombrero is Not Spanish. Yeah, I know, you can get them in tourists shops and they seem like they're everywhere, but come on, those guys sell a caganer of anything that makes money. So, is it no surprise that they'd sell something that is much more Mexican than Spanish? No, no it isn't.

Oh yeah, for those who don't know it, 'sombrero' actually just means 'hat' in Spanish. We English speakers just went and incorrectly stole that up from Mexican Spanish (as well as the delicious word, 'quesadilla') even though it just means 'hat' in Mexican Spanish as well. We did something as dumb with 'salsa' which just means 'sauce', but we think it's a Mexican sauce.

But, feel free to get one when you're in Spain because it's funny in a truly stupid tourist kind of way. You'll find others like you. Lost. Clueless. Asking for a hat like them Mexicans wear when you're in Spain because Spain is just like Mexico, right? No, no it is not. But I know you can't hear me now as you're screaming olé as you run down out on Las Ramblas with your new found glory in your new found Mexican hat. Actually, while you're at it, get out of here and head on down to Mexico and get a proper sombrero. You and I will be much happier.

24 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: catalonia, spain, tourism

The 2007 Hudin Award for Worst Haircuts in Europe

I've said it for awhile, but I'm going to make it official: The Winner of the Country for Worst Haircuts in Europe for 2007 is Spain. There, I said it and I mean it. And this is a tight race. There are a lot of bad haircuts that get popular in Europe and they're so bad that they never make it to the US. I'm hoping that this is the case for Spain.

There are a great many cuts that are tolerable. Girls seem to love to have that little ponytail with the kind of sloppy bangs that don't tuck in the ponytail. It's quasi hippy and if you see a girl with this cut anywhere in Europe, you know that she's Spanish. But then there are the girls that get these whacked up things that look like their boyfriend drunkenly abused them with a pair of scissors. But no, they pay good money ($70 and up) for what looks like what happens when a parent leaves their five year old child alone at home, only to come back and find that "helped out" by cutting their hair themselves.

Then we move on to the guys. Oy. Vey. Guys have taken being trendy to a whole new level. They spend just as much as the girls in Spain to get their hair cut, only to look twice as bad. There are some homohawks here and there, but these quickly drift in to the do-it-yourself, but actually done-by-someone-else cut that the girls have. It's this uneven thing that looks as if they ran out of money or called the stylist's mother a whore half way through the cut. I don't think you can even call it a haircut. But then, you actually can call it a haircut because there is the all time winner of bad haircuts: mullet with dreads. Guys get their hair cut in to a mullet on the top, but instead of having the waterfall down the back like Camaro owners like to home grow, they pay to get the length in the back turned in to dreads. Yes, it is as repulsive as it sounds. It looks like a cow crapped on their head, then they let it roll off the back and forgot about it for a few days at let it form in to what I call a dreadlet.

Now, everyone is free to do what they like with their hair. But the reason Spain gets the award of worst do for the year is because everyone is cutting their hair like this and paying scads of money that they don't have to get something that I can do at home for free. That my friends is just cultural blindness. I'm curious to see if this changes next year, but from what I've heard, and because of the slacker hippy ex-pats in Barcelona, it's been like this a good long time and it ain't changing anytime soon.

23 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: hair, mullets, spain

Back to the Same Old Streets

At first you walk out of the subway station and it feels like you've rolled in to yet another town. Yes, it seems very familiar, but so does Zagreb when you've been to it four times. Yet, each step gets more and more solid. The walls seem less like the illusion of life that you've been living in for the last three months. The walls seem real. They seem like home however flawed they are.

But even after the first few nights when you get home, it doesn't seem like home. You wake up in the morning, not knowing where you are, like when you woke up in Belgrade in a panic, only to fall back asleep again. But then slowly, the thoughts that there is a train to catch, or a plane to board, or a pension owner to haggle with fade away. A sense of stillness creeps over you and it's strange.

We adjust so well to new things, or at least some do. That feeling of movement became home for a whole season of the year. The spirit of adventure and any other platitude that fits the moment can be tied on to it, while at the same time, all of this is quickly wash away again.

But which is better, the life of traveling or the life of home? It's impossible for me to say because I don't have the resources to make a constant life of travel a possibility and home is the only way of living that's truly tangible, because I always have to return to it. I have to pay for the freedom that I've had and I have to look back on the trip that I've just taken and compare it with sitting still to realize all that I've seen and all that I've done over the the last quarter of the year. And it's once this stillness sets in and you get comfortable that the tickling of travel starts beckoning to you again.

22 09 2007      0 comments

Tags: travel

GMail is Much Happier Used in the US

I have a couple of GMail accounts that I use. I also have a Yahoo account that I don't use do much. The main reason being that I got on to the GMail a few years back and happen to like it. It's really a matter of preference over anything else. Of course, once traveling, all of this changes.

From what I've seen (and really, I don't use my Yahoo all that much), GMail really flounders when you're outside the US. I don't know if they don't have enough servers in various countries or any number of reasons. All I know is that doing simple functions like checking my email or pulling up a list of contacts takes anywhere from five to ten times longer. When in Western Europe, the issue is a little less. When in Eastern Europe, the issue is a little more. It doesn't make it stop functioning of course, like friends who have been in Africa have witnessed, but it does make it a less enjoyable system to use. Do I hop right back on it when back in US America? You bet I do. For here, it is very, very fast and (for the last year) reliable.

All of this really makes me wonder why it is so slow because last year when I was traveling it was a great deal faster; only bogging down when messages sent back and forth started getting long. This year however, it was noticeable slower and if messages were long, much slower. Is there some great firewall around the US that screens everything or is it just a matter of Google not keeping up with the user base overseas?

In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter and even at its slowest, GMail still beats the hell out of the old days of email on dialup. Oh and it's free too. Can't hate the freebies.

21 09 2007      2 comments

Tags: email, technology, us america