Took a little blog break there, myself. It seems that I'm letting the kids down by always forgetting to fix the darn server when I get home. Bear with me, folks, it will trickle through eventually.

One thing I have noticed that's kind of interesting is watching Wilson mesh his environmental technologist education with his current job of web site monkey. It's great to get the alternative news from Wilson, he probably comes across some pretty interesting stuff all the time in the normal workday. Robbie you need to post these little snippets of subversive culture to the blog too, it's better to have a platform on which you can place your soapbox, right? I mean he's practically a snake oil salesman already. I give you:

Must be how he won the lovely Ms. Lockrey, sheer charm.... well, that and his righteous fur coat.

 
Raindrops on roses, huh? I wasn't consciously going for that, but it just proves there's nothing original anymore. Who was it who said there are only 7 stories in the world, and all that varies are the details? Taking an historical view of my relationships with men, it would seem that this is true. Sure, the details changed, but the basic plot (Girl Meets Boy And It Ends Badly) has been repeated every time ;-)

Details details.

 
Wow. Alison "Joni Mitchell" Gibson. That is too good! And now that Vallentyne has got me thinking about The Sound of Music, that's the only way I can read it now, too! Way to go, Court.

I think you gotta relax on the whole stealin' thing, Court. I think the musicians and record execs are still feeding their families just fine. Look at it in a Robinhood vs. Sherrif of Nottingham kinda way. I wouldn't worry about the kids either. By the time they're old enough to care, this whole thing will be resolved and the record labels will be selling individual songs to you online for the low, low price of $8.95/song with a buy twelve get a dollar off you're next purchase incentive plan. Then everything will be right in the universe again...or, at least back to the way things were with the Labels bending us over the table again.

 
I have to agree with Courtney - VERY good poem Alison!
I did start by the middle to find a certain tune/rhyme and I didn't know what it was until I read Court's message. Funny.

 
Nicely done Ali. I can't help but read it to the tune of Julie Andrews' "A Few of my Favourite Things" from the Sound of Music. I'm sure that's not the tune you were shooting for.... was it?

In any case, I'm continually amazed by the companies that won't move for fear of upsetting the balance, when it's already blown wide open. Personally I avoid record stores for as long as I can because I think I'm getting hosed every time I walk in there. Eventually I do end up buying a few CDs here and there, sometimes because I want to get a solid copy for the MP3 library that I can't seem to get online, and sometimes because I like to support artists that I think actually try to contribute something to music, and aren't bands contrived by music executives.

But if I'm not picking up some good old CDs (out of the el cheapo bin, mind you) then I'm probably downloading it. I mean jeez. That's the way I listen to it, that's the way I want to consume it. It's even better for the environment for pete's sake. Just take my money, wouldya? Should I just start mailing in cheques for the stuff I steal? Where do you think that money would go? Probably nowhere even close to the artists, I'm betting. How do I rationalize this stuff to the kids when they are old enough to figure out what's going on? That's the doozy. I'm a big fan of "do as I say not as I do" but that's not going to wash, I think. Can I raionalize this? I guess not. I'm stealing, and there's no way around it, right?

Anyway, this is just a light bit of diversion from the weight of the world this week. I suppose I have already spent too much time thinking about it, really. Besides I will probably be arrested soon.

 
Labels and napster and fortune dot com
Lawyers and rapsters and good ideas gone wrong
A user's agreement that 10 pages long
When all I wanted was to buy one frickin song

Yeah that's what you get for your Commie ideals
Face it man, everyone lies cheats and steals
Take your gripe to the national court of appeals
If you've got a problem with these amazing deals

It's wireless, digital slick plug 'n play!
Hurry, you need it, buy now and don't pay!
NO INTEREST, NO PAYMENTS, sign up today!
Mastercard accepted, click Submit and OK!

Whoa what the fuck happened to me just now?
I think I bought a cellular phone somehow.
All I wanted was Cougar's "Blood on the Plow"
Not to feed the bloodthirsty corporate cash cow

But that's what you get for your Commie ideals
Face it babe, everyone lies cheats and steals
Take your best shot and see who squeals
We bet you can't afford the court of appeals

 
Of course I agree. Everyone agrees with you. Everyone, that is, but the record companies. There is an interesting little story on CNN today about the similar copying of DVD's. You should read it. Apparently this company -- 321 Studios -- has developed DVD ripping software and is preemptively suing some of the entertainment industry titans. Go see the article at: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/peterlewis/0,15704,432212,00.html

 
Geek alert yet again.

Just got Office 2003 beta 2. I must say that just when I think the mail client can't get any slicker, it does. I'm amazed how much better it is.

Anyway. Here's another thing. Why is it that the big record companies won't take my money? I have very modest needs and from my perspective they should be easily fulfilled. I want to pay for music that I can download and use as I see fit. That's it. But I've looked around and you can't do that, apparently. There are always strings attached, and that doesn't work for me. You can get music from bands you don't know, and I'm sure it's fine stuff but I don't really need to be scraping through a boatload of crap to find one good band or song. I know what I like and what I have heard, and I want to be able to buy that from the people that own it. Ideally, I would just give the artists the money but that's not usually possible.

I don't want to buy a CD for $20 in the pursuit of one song. I used to, sometimes, but now that I'm older I won't. I do want to pay for music I like, all napsters aside.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable, does anybody agree?

 
Must find out why passive mode ftp doesn't work to the server. On a geek note, if you want to blog today, use "the previous version" link. The Pro2 site won't publish to the server right now. I will try to fix that up tonight, maybe.

On a personal note, Cindy is 30 years old now and must grow up.

 
This here is a little test....