Month: December 2005

Bulletins

Why do I keep reposting my bulletins? Because they’re solid gold and I don’t want them to disappear after 10 days. I know that things like this are transitory, but I like keeping track of things (well, at least keeping stuff around).

Me and music

Last week, I replied to a bulletin about the songs in my iTunes library. I determined that I have nearly 1,600 songs. Since there’s a Smart Playlist for the 25 Most Played Song, I wanted to see what my least played songs were.

I quickly found that there are 909 songs that I’ve played five times or less. On the surface, I’ve barely listened to the songs in my library. It’s not wholly accurate — many of the songs I’ve had on another computer for years. Needless to say, I’m trying to remedy the situation.

Aside from podcasts, radio shows, audio books and the hour-long Beethoven concerts. I’m listening to those at least five times because it would be extremely trying.

Here’s the bulletin:

I (heart) iTunes Body: Open iTunes, go to your library, and supply the following: Answer, no matter how embarrasing it is!

  • How many songs: 1596 songs (6.9 days, 8.13 GB)
  • Sort by Song Title: First Song: ¿Donde Se Fueron? by Ozomatli Last Song: Zydeco Boogaloo by Buckwheat Zydeco
  • Sort by Time: Shortest Song: cnn_sting_5a_copy1 (:06) Longest Song: 61804 (an episode of the “American Who” radio show), 1:40:36 Longest Actual Song – Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – BBC Philharmonic, 1:07:24
  • Sort by Artist: First Artist: 3Style Last Artist: Yoshikazu Iwamoto
  • Sort by Album: First Album: 1st Magic (D’Nell) Last Album: You’ll Disappear (Augustana)
  • Top Three Most Played Songs-BE HONEST: 1. Duel of the Fates (Star Wars Episode 1) – 100 times 2. The Breaking of the Fellowship (The Lord of the Rings) – 95 times 3. Theme from “Battlestar Galactica” (original) – Stu Philips – 93 times
  • First song that comes up on shuffle: Entire Library (No Party Shuffle): Saturday Night Fish Fry – Louis Jordan Party Shuffle (Entire Library): Ballad of Ted Clampett – From “The Beverly Hillbillies”
  • Search for… “sex”: 2 out of 1596 “death”: 2 out of 1596 “love”: 43 out of 1596

Singing and stuff

OK, I’ve done a lot more singing than my blog would show. The brief highlights include a drunken kiss (while I was singing “Radar Love”) at the Last Call, the horrible wait at the Abbottswood (2 songs in four hours, well three if you count the beatbox version of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”) and the power blackout at the Optimo last Saturday.

Monday at the Bear was probably one of the better nights at the bar in a while. Tim moved the setup inside after a chilly showing last Monday. People seemed to enjoy the songs I picked with people singing and dancing. That’s a rare occurance for me. Even if I’m the second coming of William Hung, at least we’re all having a good time.

  • Danger Zone
  • Man of Constant Sorrow
  • Cat’s in the Cradle
  • Soul Man
  • I’m gonna be 500 miles
  • Give it Away
  • Beast of Burden

My stab at MySpace humor

A couple of weeks ago, I replied to my first bulletin. Since MySpace (and Tom) delete bulletins after 10 days, I wanted to preserve this for posterity for all to enjoy (including Tom). – Ryan

Well, I’m responding to the most interesting bulletin I’ve seen in a while. Instead of the typical ’69 things I did to find good lovin’, someone is using the bulletins as a gauge to see if people are listening. Consequently, those that apparently didn’t post a reply to the bulletin may be dropped as a friend.

It’s an interesting approach, but it might be an imprecise tool. I don’t reply or repost bulletins because I’m just not into talking about ‘good lovin’ or propagating inane forwards about security breaches or promises of good luck. Oh, well. I’m here.

Since I’m on the soap box, I may as well respond to those burning questions. I hope no one’s offended — I’m trying to spice things up a bit.

Here we go:

  • Did you ever do it with a marsupial? Not yet.
  • What’s the last thing you saw before you blinked? This screen and my impending doom.
  • Could you please repost this bulletin so that Tom and the MySpace gang will know you’re still alive? No, for two reasons. One – I’m writing this darn thing. Two – if ‘Tom’ (if that’s his real name) needs users to repost lame bulletins to make sure a user account is active, then we’re all in poor shape.
  • Speaking of reposting this bulletin, what’s the most ominous threat you can conceive of to ‘encourage’ compliance? If you don’t pass this bulletin on, you will one day realize that you’ve lacked something for a long time. This feeling of loss is compounded by the fact that you didn’t miss whatever is missing until it was gone.
  • OK, now I need to ask a random, ‘wacky’ question: When was the last time you contributed to a compost pile? Never, unless you count using the bathroom. 😉
  • Seriously, nothing at all with the marsupial? I was tempted during a romantic cruise near Corsica, but the moment passed when I saw the marsupial for what it was — a pouched animal. I felt unworthy.

Lost on the U.P.: Guess I was wrong

Well, folks. I’m pulling the plug on my nascent project to document examples of people excluding the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from their maps. I’ve been told I’m wrong and I now heartedly admit the error of my ways.

Steven Colbert, of “The Colbert Report,” took a phone call from a Mustard County, Mich. resident last Monday. The resident pointed out that the show’s map of every congressional district omitted the U.P. (which is part of Michigan’s 1st). Colbert denied the allegation and told the caller that if it isn’t on his map, those people live in Canada.

Thanks for straightening that up, Steven.