{ Monthly Archives }
I’ve run into “Error code unknown: 1001″ when trying to upload my files into a gallery on my web site, so for now I just have the Pando link with the entire set of photos and movies. Click on the friendly gents below to download the Pando package. Not familiar with Pando? See here.
Good news/bad news on the Apple TV front. Good news: Apple TV will soon support YouTube viewing via Apple update (not 3rd-party hacks). More good news: you can order a 160GB hard drive now for your Apple TV from the Apple Store. Bad news: why couldn’t I order that hard drive when my Apple TV came out earlier this year? Talk about breaking the news of your early adopters.
In other news, the Pistons look deeply flawed. I thought the best part of their team was the trifecta of guard/forwards in Tayshaun, Chauncey and Rip. Those three have taken turns looking ghastly against the Cavaliers this year, with generally two out of the three off their game. And the rejuvenated Webber? Gone. He looks like he is 45. Here are a couple columns from Brian at MGoBlog on the Pistons, covering games 2 and 4. Tha Rolla also sent me a column from TNT’s Steve Kerr that is worth reading, much as he is worth listening to on the broadcasts.
On the topic of NBA officiating, I do not agree with the MGoBlogger that Rip’s defense at the end of Game 2 was a foul. Maybe if I watched the clip a lot more, I would agree, but not as of now. In general, the officiating has been OK–I don’t see it as a reason for the Pistons’ two consecutive losses. One question I would pose: Are all the strips and turnovers created by the Cavs due to active defense, quick hands and ponderous Pistons, or are they getting away with a lot more chopping than normal? I do not know the answer to that, haven’t had the chance for film review. Given how slow Chauncey has looked, maybe the Cavs are playing great defense.
One thing I do know: it would be embarrassing to lose to a coach, in Mike Brown, who looks like the bad cop from Payback.
Hmm, that sounds like a great basis for new gun control laws proposed for San Francisco. Because clearly the legal guns in San Francisco are causing big, big problems, such as not being used in that attempted hit on 101 south, west of the Bay Bridge, last week. Let’s get serious–San Francisco gun violence is not committed by common citizens with legal guns.
And great: let’s monitor closely the one (one!) gun store in San Francisco, since it’s not like a gang member looking for a fire arm could just buy one from outside of San Francisco or, god forbid, illegally!
I will certainly admit that getting rid of all legal guns held by law-abiding citizens would reduce accidental gun-related deaths. I don’t see a need for people to possess hand guns and the like, although I support shotgun and rifle ownership rights for hunting purposes. (Whether banning gun ownership is unconstitutional is a separate point.) But these pointless laws–pointless because what’s the real effect on gun violence?–are, to me, just empty gestures that imply that San Francisco has so few real problems that it can waste city council time and government resources on discussion, adoption and implementation of empty gestures.
A friend and loyal reader of the Hopp Stop e-mailed several of us with an interesting e-mail from Wilco, as well as Guest X’s thoughts. I’m calling this person Guest X, since I’ve appropriated the e-mail chain, in case Guest X didn’t want to share its thoughts. See below for my thoughts, then Guest X’s, then the original e-mail. Discussion in the comments?
———————————
Doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to make this plea. As you say, it’s not consistent with what they’ve said before. Second, does it really influence anyone who is on the fence to get out there and buy the CD? Seems like there are those who are going to buy it and those who aren’t, and the most likely outcome would be to piss off a few in the former camp and move them into the latter.
A retort would be that the e-mail is addressing the free rider problem. A few economists, including the Freakomics guys, have considered free riders and social/community pressure. As found in the bagel man discussion in Freakonomics, smaller social settings cause people to act more ethically and cheat less, so perhaps Wilco is hoping that a non-buyer will say, “Hey, I’m cheating the band! I kinda feel like I’ve been called out in front of my brethren! Time to buy!” Two flaws with that are (1) how effective is this e-mail and the Wilco e-mail list at simulating a small office setting or other situation where moral suasion is more effective and (2) seems like the moral suasion is undermined by their former views (Lessig, etc. per Borders).
Thoughts?
-Hopp
Guest X wrote:
Wilco is streaming their new ablum, which comes out Tuesday, at http://wilcoworld.net/sbs/.
I found this out from the message below which I see as shameless and a little sad. Notice they borrowed the subject line from the satirical essay on the indifference to the suffering of the poor in an effort to encourage people to buy the album, which seems pretty preverse. The Wilco approach of the last few years has always been used (by Lessig et al) to support the notion that giving away music, creates friction to allow people to form an opinion, which led to record sales, and they seem to be abandoning that notion, at least philosophically.
—— Forwarded Message
From: Wilco HQ <hq@wilcoworld.net>
Reply-To: <hq@wilcoworld.net>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 21:13:32 +0000
To: <>
Subject: A Modest Proposal (from Wilco HQ)W I L C O
Greetings to you all from the east coast branch — where we’ve been burning the midnight oil for months getting ready for May 15. And it is finally upon us.By now, you know that next week is the official release date of Wilco’s 7th album (or 9th depending on how you count). Hence the slightly serious tone of this note. Tuesday, to be precise, marks the US release of Sky Blue Sky on Nonesuch Records. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the on-demand stream, by all means click here and take it for a spin. We’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy the ride.
But once you’ve done that we hope you’ll take a moment to reflect (see, I told you this was serious) on how this dynamic has worked over the years — the dynamic between us and you. We (and this “we” means the band, first and foremost) expend a lot of time, energy and other resources trying to make this something you are not just a witness to, but a participant in and we genuinely hope you can feel that.
We’ve been asked many times if we’d consider changing the way we do things, usually by people who are convinced we’d be more successful if we did. And either out of stubbornness or something else, we keep refusing. Instead, we just do what we do and somehow it all works. We continue to make lots of music available free to all in the road case, continue to allow taping/photos at shows, and basically just try to keep the things we do charge for of a quality that make you feel like you got a bargain. You know, mutual respect and all that. We like the way it works… a lot. We really do believe in trying to keep as much of it as free and open as is humanly possible. That seems pretty obvious… but somehow it remains a slight novelty in the modern day music business. So much so that people continually mention it in their stories when they write or speak about the band or the somewhat sad state of the music business.
Anyway, what we’re getting at here is that right now we need you to participate in a way that is part of what has made this nice little story work. We’re actually asking you to please go out next week and do the right thing for Wilco. That is, vote with your feet and prove the band’s faith well-placed and buy the record. It’s available from Tuesday at all kinds of retailers everywhere. Ask for it by name. It’s also available here, and for those of you who are more digitally inclined, here.
Okay, enough campaign speeches. You get the message. And we trust that you’ll act on it as you always have. Other things on this week’s extremely busy agenda…
This Saturday (May 12) Wilco are in Minneapolis performing on A Prairie Home Companion. It’s on too many stations to list… many NPR affiliates as well as XM, Sirius and online here. Note that there are also some tickets left for the show so if you’re in the North Country and wanna check it out click here. It’s gonna be fun. On Tuesday (May 15, release day) it’s New York City where they’ll be musical guests of David Letterman. Check your local listings. After that it’s on to the UK, then the continent, and finally back to the States in early June with a US tour to start soon thereafter. Dates and ticket info here. If you live west of the MIssissippi, fear not… the band head that way later in the summer. So be patient, okay? Oh and one last thing, both London Shepherds Bush Empire shows will be streamed live on 20/21 May via Wilcoworld. Info in the Roadcase.
That’s all folks. Tune in, turn on, and um, buy stuff.
yours with the usual loving embrace, the Wilco HQ staff.
Nice effort from the Pistons last night, they’re on a mission. Hopefully they can make it to the Finals and surprise everyone preaching Western dominance, just as they did in 2004.
Gotta love Rah-sheed’s quote about the Bulls’ offense:
“Detroit used [its zone] most of the second half, and the Bulls shot 10-of-41 — including 4-for-25 in the fourth quarter. And while Bulls coach Scott Skiles again downplayed its effectiveness, saying his team was “getting shots all over the place,” Wallace had another view.
“That’s just lying to themselves about things that we do,” he said.”
That’s how I would characterize anyone’s ownership of a Chrysler TC by Maserati. If you’re unfamiliar with it, skip down to the next paragraph. On today’s drive north on 101 from Paso Robles, south of King City (central California), I saw two together on the freeway–apparently the two gentlemen are TC “collectors” and take their shitboxes out for Sunday drives together. Then, as I was driving into Carmel, I saw another, with a very attractive hardtop on the vehicle. I like that last touch: you’re driving a garbage car whose only real appealing element is that it is a convertible, so on an absolutely perfect day, 80 degrees and no clouds, you cruise around with the hardtop on.
The back story on the TC: Chrysler worked with the Italian car company Maserati in the ’80s to glitz up a K-car based convertible with some surface touches and then charge way too much money for it. The vehicle was built partly in Europe and included a Maserati trident badge on the front grill. For additional detail, this web site has a very good history of it, including some hilarious photos. Maserati currently makes two appealing vehicles, but prior to Ferrari/FIAT’s purchase of the company, it was chronically underfunded and plagued by quality problems.
Back to the headline for this post: why would you buy this car and make it your special vehicle for weekend drives? It’s slow, drives poorly, bland in appearance, unreliable, has no history to make it interesting and is not a vehicle that you would buy as an investment. I’d rather get a used Miata. I wonder if there are TC owners’ clubs…yes!! Here’s a link. I’d like to go to a gathering and just make fun of all the stooges with their “special vehicles,” as the owners’ club page describes the TC. And it turns out that this year’s national meet is being held May 6 through 9 in Carmel, California…which is where I am right now. (That explains seeing them around.) I may be taking part of Monday’s workday off to go find these guys and mock them.
As a post script, Cadillac’s Allante convertible had a history that, on the surface, is similar to the TC. Cadillac worked with the noted Italian designer and coachbuilder Pininfarina, Ferrari’s designer of choice, on a convertible with bodies built in Italy and then air-freighted to the U.S. Cadillac then performed final assembly. The end result was a bland design with some initial quality problems and a very high price. What distinguishes the Allante from the TC is that the fundamental engineering on the Allante was much better from the start, as it was designed from the ground up on a new platform, and Cadillac continued to devote engineering resources to improving the vehicle and addressing its flaws. The final iteration, with a Northstar V8, was a solid vehicle. However, as GM has done before (see: Fiero), it killed off the Allante shortly thereafter.