Happy iPod Day

Five years since the introduction of the iPod. I didn't quite get it at first, but after watching the demo on Apple's web site, I realized that they were doing two things: a player with the sotrage of a hard drive-based player but the size of a flash player, thanks to new 1.8" hard drive technology (had I considered the usefulness of PCMCIA-sized hard drives before then? maybe...); and the versatility and organizational prowess of the database-driven iTunes interface (music geeks really love organaziation; witness the monologue in High Fidelity on the subject).

A new control scheme, the scroll wheel, was introduced to make the most of the interface. As a plus, thanks to Apple's FireWire standard (USB 2.0 not yet available), there were quick file transfers. There were more subtle innovations, such as the use of a large RAM buffer which meant that the hard drive didn't have to run constantly and that battery life increased from the typical 3 hours for a HD player to 10 hours. There were what must have been fan-service touches, too: the use of the old MacOS system font Chicago for the iPod's interface, and the emphasis on a high-quality monochrome display (a selling point of the original Mac). There were some less-desirable touches reminiscent of the original Mac, too: the high price and "closed box" design.

It was six months before I saw one in the Apple Store in Dallas, and I had to quickly fight the impulse to pull out my credit card right then and there and pay what was then a very large amount of money for me. A clearance Rio 600 (then made by SonicBlue) tided me over, but within a year the price of the iPod had fallen, and combined with student discounts, it made a good Christmas present. It kept me supplied with music all throughout that spring semester at school and through grad school interviews.

It's good that I decided not to get it engraved, because within six months the third generation was released, slimmer and with those nifty touch-sensitive buttons. I talked Nick into buying my barely-used first generation model and traded on up. That one stayed with me through Europe, through lab rotations, long walks to and from Rice, bus rides, and trips to visit Rachal.

Then, a year later, I got a fourth generation model free with my laptop and passed the 3G model on to Lisa. That one got me through quals.

Six months later the Shuffle model was released and seemed like a nice (relatievly) cheap model for me to use in my car, and served well until the release of the Nano six months later, whose larger size, display, and full iPod interface were what I had really wanted all along. I passed the Shuffle on to an internet friend who is probably using it around Thailand and picked up a nano.

Then the new nano was introduced a few weeks ago and fixed a few things I didn't like about the one I had (small capacity and scratchability), so I found a buyer (Angela) and traded up once again to the more capacious and durable new model.

So, five years and six iPods later (yes, I do admit that I have a problem), it's hard to imagine being without one. I can't remember the last time I actually put a CD in my CD player (actually, probably when I had a rental car six months ago). The iPod is a great example of a small, modest technological advancement making life definitively better. Its slow ascent to it current huge popularity almost obscures the modesty of the device itself, but the technology is simple, it's just the execution that makes it worthwhile.

Thanks Steve, and Jonathan, and the rest of Apple for making something that makes a music lover love music even more.

Car and Proletariat; Practice; Freebird's, BB&B, Holly; Tapatia, Village; The Village (again); Guitar Center and BBQ

7/24

Cindy and I left early to pick up my car from The Other Body Shop. It was way the fuck out west, near where Dan used to live (like a quarter mile away from his old house). I saw it sitting in the lot and noticed that a) they neglected to removed the tire rubber marks from the paint and b) they neglected to replace the cracked plastic on the grill. What, did they do the whole fucking repair blind folded? The incompetence is staggering. Simply staggering. Rather than let them do touch my car again, I told them that I was taking it and would let the other shop finish up their shoddy work.

Joke's on them, though, because I never actually paid the deductible.

I enjoyed driving it home, of course, though I was pissed about having to deal with more repairs, and all over a fucking tire tread from an 18 wheeler.

Anyway, later that evening it was another Monday night at the Proletariat, which I was free to actually drive to. What a luxury!

7/25

Another night of band practice. I got Whataburger for dinner on the way home, which is always nice.

7/26

Cindy's birthday was coming up, so I stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond and picked up the magnetic spice rack she wanted. Stopped off on the way home at Freebird's for a burrito, which I hadn't done in quite some time.

Holly, who I kind of sort of dated a year or so previously, was back in town and I caught up with her and her mom for a round at Two Row's, and I remembered why I don't ever go there for dollar beers anymore: it's fucking crowded.

7/27

Took the car back by Foreign Auto Body ("the good place") and they got the rubber off the paint, which was nice. They ordered the part for the grille, and told me that I could come back in when the part was delivered and they'd install it while I waited.

Got back home in time for Holly to pick me up, and we went to Tapatia for lunch and had a little more time to catch up before she dropped me off at school.

Went to the village that night with Cindy. Had a couple rounds at the Ginger Man, then went next door to Woodrow's, where Char and some of the other usual suspects were. I was enjoying a beer when I saw a tow truck drive by with my car.

I had parked in a spot that was, technically speaking, signed as tow away, though the sign was pretty nonobvious, nailed to a telephone pole at the very corner of the street and about three feet off the ground. People parked there all the time, and still do. Dunno if it was a new pig, or if Houston was feeling poor, or if somebody was on a power trip, but I got fucked.

Took me a while to track down the car, but I eventually went to pick it up, only to see a ticket on the windshield. Grand total was about $250, which I have added to my karma list. This list includes the city of Houston for around $260 (the extra $10 is a recent addition that I'll explain when the time comes), the apartment complex for $50 (erased when I managed to get an extra month at my old rent, and get a cheaper rent than I was originally quoted when I renewed), and $2 at Sam's Roadhouse for making me pay a cover for their crappy bar (also to be explained later). Probably more entities that have screwed me out of money, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

7/28

Cindy had been talking up Reggae Hut for a while, so we settled on that for her birthday dinner. It was located on Almeda, and we parked in the lot behind the building and went in. The walls were brightly colored and the place sparsely but likably decorated. I felt very white, but in a culturally immersed sort of way, not a threatening sort of way.

We settled on an order of plantains as an appetizer, an order of jerk chicken, and an order of curried goat. The plantains were given to us immediately and had been cooked to a dark color. Our meals came next. Both were served with some very well-seasoned and tasty veggies, and black beans and rice. The goat was OK. It was very much like lamb, except maybe a bit stringier. The curry seasoning was fairly light.

The jerk chicken, however, was incredible. The meat was flavorful but also moist. The jerk seasoning was spicy but oh-so-tasty. The portions were generous on all counts, and we had at least a meal's worth of leftovers. Consider me a convert.

Afterwards, sraight to Little Woodrow's (carefully choosing my parking this time). We had a few drinks there before things got a little too crowded, and we recruited Char and Angela to go to Hans' Bier Haus. As always, I enjoyed the nice selection of beer but also ran my tab up a little higher than I might like to.

This visit, we decided to try out bocci ball, which I have concluded is the ultimate drunken game, combining positive aspects of pool (rolling and colliding balls), shuffleboard (distance-based accuracy), bowling (hand-rolling), and croquet (but with less frustration). Great fun all around.

7/29

Mom and Dad had agreed to fund a little birthday spending, so I opted for some implements of rocking. I got one of those x-style keyboard stand, which turned out to not be an ideal design for my small and light keyboard (which was later remedied), but also a little shaky on carpet. I also got a keyboard bag which turned out to be a little big, but the extra size ended up being useful in solving my stand problem. Finally, I happened to see the official songbook for Ben Folds' Songs for Silverman and figured I'd grab that, too.

Levi was working and he hooked me up, saving me (or I guess Mom and Dad) a ton of money.

Cindy and I were invited to a couple of barbecues that weekend. The one thrown by her friends started first, so we headed up to the Heights to partake, bringing with us chicken and sausage to grill. There was other good food around, including ice cream cake. We took off a ltitle while later, and I checked in with Anup to discover that his barbecue had ended, so we grabbed some movies and headed back to my place for films and cocktails.

First up was The Squid and the Whale, which was painfully and realistically awkward and had the air of a more serious, more caustic Wes Anderson flick, which makes sense since it turns out he produced the thing. Great movie, but not exactly uplifting.

We also rented (but didn't watch at that time) Sarah Silverman's Jesus Is Magic which was, frankly, crap. There was something else, too, that I watched later, but I can't recall right now.

Movie with Will & Ben; Rudyard's; Midlake @ the Proletariat, Rudyard's again, and GRAB; Thai and Clerk's II; Lady in the Water

7/19

Since I was stuck at home, I was glad when Will called about doing something. Only in the end, it turned out that he was going to be hanging out at Ben's place, which was in my complex.

We watched the very... um... poorly adapted Bulletproof Monk, which I can only imagine worked better as a comic book.

7/20

Cindy's a big Rudyard's fan, so we went for beer...

7/21

Denton-based Midlake was playing an early show at the Proletariat, so Cindy and I met Dan and Kristin up there to catch the show. Their adventurous indie rock showed definite potential, but I ahven't gotten around to really exploring them further. I was very surprised, though, to see the place completely packed.

Afterwards, we went to Rudyard's (again) for some dinner. I stuck to appetizers, and went with the "nuts and bolts", which I had always wanted to try. I got my choice of several fried veggies (and other fried thingies), and I went with fried mushrooms, cheese, zuchini, and eggplant.

What I learned was that it was too much fried food for any one man. I made some crack about being able to do this since I had just been to the cardiologist. With some help, we put it all away.

The time came for a change of venue, so we went to check out GRAB, where there was more drinking, pool, and (gasp!) a little dancing, which was roundly criticized by Cindy. That's why I never do it, baby.

7/22

Since I was carless and couldn't go out to Susan and Jerry's, I decided to spend the afternoon with Cindy. We started out going to the Taj MaSpec's downtown. Cindy wanted to start a liquor cabinet, so we picked out some standards for her (vodka, rum, whiskey). I picked up some barware I had been wanting since seeing the bar episode of "Good Eats". I picked up a Boston shaker (the shaker itself with no strainer or lid; just use a pint glass as a lid and open slightly to strain), a muddler (good for julips and mojitos), and a great little jigger/pony. I picked up some beer, too, and we browsed the food selection.

We came back, had some drinks, and then decided to go for Thai at the Original Morningside Thai Restaurant. Sadly, we didn't realize it was BYOB. The restaurant was in a house. It was about 7:00 or so, but the place wasn't crowded at all, and in fact was maybe a little too quiet.

We started with the cheese spring rolls, which were good but had too much (read: any) onion. Next up was Tom Ka Gai, which was good, but I suppose hard to mess up, and then a red curry with beef. Everything was good, but nothing particularly unique or compelling. But I've felt simliarly about lots of other Thai restaurants in the village, and this one, somehow, is probably my favorite so far.

I'm not sure what other morningside Thai restaurants there are, but it's good to know we were at the original.

Afterwards, Cindy and I had settled on seeing Clerks II. I suppose I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but it really didn't add much to the original, except a new happy ending, which necessitated first destroying the original's happy ending.

I can't figure out if Kevin Smith just doesn't have it anymore, or if I've grown past enjoying his particular brand of dick and fart jokes, but something just wasn't working.

Also, watching conversations about "ass to mouth" with one's girlfriend can be awkward.

7/23

Cindy was up for seeing Clerks II but not Lady in the Water; Will was the opposite way, so he and I went to see Shyamalan's latest. We started by making a few trips to Double Dave's pizza buffet, and then played some arcade games before the movie.

The movie itself was probably the least interesting of M.'s that I've seen. There was no really mystery or no twist (or if there was, it was too obvious to be surprising). I didn't really see the point to creating an extremely simple mythology. The camera work, as usual, was great, and there were some reasonably funny character moments, although the characters were a little flat.

The film critic character, however, was a complete straw man, and was in the film only to server M.'s ego. That one left a bad taste in my mouth.

Dallas; Waco; Car Bullshit

7/14

The drive to Dallas was farily uneventful; some rain, some music, and a stop for caffeine and gas were among the highlights. I rolled into town, checked out Bryan's new place, and soon Phil joined us and we took off for Lower Greenville. Phil suggested Stout (Thanks to Bryan for the assist on the name) where we started the beer drinking and ordered a few appetizers (though they were disturbingly seafood driven).

The hour rolled around for the concert du jour, so we made for Deep Ellum (where I hadn't been since... oh, maybe the Guster show of 2003). We were there to see Camera Obscura do their best Belle & Sebastian impression at the Gypsy Tearoom/Ballroom. Phil and Bryan were confused by the number of people in full punk regalia going into the ballroom, but I figured there was no way a bunch of alternateens were showing up for a twee pop band. Turns out that Rancid (Bryan confirms) were playing in the ballroom (the larger of the two), whereas CO were playing the more intimate tearoom (which I preferred anyway). The two halves of the venue did share a bathroom, though, which made for an interesting juxtaposition of P!O!P! kids and punks.

I opened a tab and got to work. Phil had brought some cigaretes along so I indulged (haveing reached that level of drunkeness). I picked out a new t-shirt. The band was solid live; pretty much reproducing the album. It was enjoyable, but didn't really add anything to the experience.

Phil took us back to Bryan's, and then Bryan, Lisa and I made a TC run.

7/15

Slept nice and late before Bryan and I started the lamb we were going to have for dinner. The next order of business was lunch, so we went once again to Lower Greenville for some good mediterranean at Ali Baba, the highlight of which was the creamy humus and crispy falafel.

Good Records' new digs were nearby, so we went in to check out the space. Space was one thing there was plenty of, particularly around their new stage, which I'm sure makes for great in store performances. As usual, the selection and curation of the stock was top notch, and I was wishing that I had some spare funds to pick up a few things.

Next to the liquor store, where we bought supplies for Mexican Martinis, I picked up a bottle of Lindemann's Framboise for Bryan to try, and I had a random encounter with Tromboner Justin Lewis from high school.

Then the grocery store to get some veggies to go with dinner and a few other items, and then back to Bryan and Lisa's palatial apartment to start the cooking. I did some grilled veggies tossed in olive oil, seasoning, and tequila, and we had a nice dinner.

Some Dr. Mario was played (I might have even won a game), and then we did some swimming over at the house of some of Lisa's relatives.

7/16

Slept in, and then Kelly and Phil came by after church and we went for lunch at Old Monk (thanks again, Bryan—do you remember what we drank?), a charming British pub-ish sort of setup. Phil, Bryan and I all ordered some good beer. After looking at the menu, I settled on the burger with my choice of fancy cheese. I couldn't resist trying the Irish whiskey cheddar, which did indeed make for a tasty burger.

After that, it was time to take off, so I got on the rode to Waco.

Along the way, an eighteen-wheeler about three cars ahead of me had a blowout, and the tire was pretty much unavoidable. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but after travelling 35 south to Waco, I made a turn only to hear a scraping sound. I pulled over and noticed that a plastic piece under the car was hanging down so I reached down and put it back into place, but then my eyes caught a rather large dent in my front bumper, and cracked plastic in my grille.

Damned 18 wheelers. Fucking NAFTA. If they're not trying to kill me, they're trying to fucking damage my car.

Anyway, I tried to ignore that for the time being and enjoyed some time with my parents. Once they had decided to call it an evening, I undertook the tedious task of sorting through some of my old comics to find some stuff that I wanted to bring to Houston to reread and to pass along to Will.

7/17

I had not made time for my yearly cardiology appointment in Waco over the Christmas holiday, so I took Monday off to accomplish that. Once I had gotten a clean bill of health and packed up my stuff, I met mom for lunch at Panera before heading back to Houston.

On the way I fired up the bluetooth headset and started making calls about getting my car taken care of. After dropping my luggage off back at the apartment, I went once again to take my car to the body shop. They informed me that they were busy but that they had a sister shop that would work on it, and I could even just leave the car there and that they would take care of everything. It sounded good to me (but too bad it wasn't). I called up Char to come pick me up, figuring that he probably didn't have anything better to do.

In the process I offended Cindy by not having called her first, which I did because I knew she wouldn't be able to get away from school. Of course, I was right, and I think she realized it after she thought through the logic of the situation.

So anyway, the Ward car curse continued to haunt me, and since the accident was classified as a road hazard rather than a real accident, no rental car this time around. On the other hand, the deductible was to only be $50, which was a huge relief. Still, two trips to the body shop within four months was not cool...

Cindy & the Prole; School bullshit; BW3's; Fellowship Service Project

7/10

No specific details stick out on this one. Cindy. The Prole. Probably Dan and Kristin...

7/11

Um, I have "school bullshit" written down, which usually indicates that I'm pissed off about something, but I can't recall exactly what. The summer was frustrating in general because I was trying to deal with the many idosyncracies of several databases to put a data set together, many of which required me to bring in other databases. That's probably what I wanted to bitch about, but I'm not entirely sure...

7/13

I'd been craving some wings from BW3's. Boneless were on special, and we went with Caribbean jerk, honey barbecue, Asian zing, and mango habanero, along with some potato wedges, celery, and beer. The Caribbean jerk had that nice kick to it; the honey barbecue were tasty, the Asian zing suitably exotic, and the mango habanero wer wonderfully sweet and fruity but very spicey. Good stuff...

7/14

Back around the Fourth, an e-mail went out from the group that runs my fellowship that they were organizing a service project to serve lunch at the local Ronald McDonald House. Having been classically conditioned to feel guilt whenever such things came up at the prospect of turning them down, I went ahead and agreed. Plus, it never hurts to look good in front of the people that write the checks.

Thankfully, Lauren and Sonia were both going. I picked them up at school and then, after only a little trouble, we got to the House, and discovered that we made it there ahead of most of the rest of the crew. They soon showed up, food in tow. Apparently we were serving tacos/fajitas, etc. I wen to work in the kitchen and impressed everybody with my mad kitchen skillz.

It actually turned out to be fun. The kids were cute and appreciative. I was glad I did it.

Once we had cleaned the place up, I dropped the girls off and made my way to I45 north.