or how i learned to elevate the mundane

Ok, quick hits:

• Wii – thumbs up
• PS3 – jury’s still out
• Xbox 360 HD-DVD player – thumbs up
• Zune – thumbs down
• Xbox Live media downloads – could be thumbs up.  bandwidth problems and lackluster content selection make it “jury’s still out”.
• PSP game selection – still thumbs down.
• 2G Shuffle – thumbs up
• 2G Nano – thumbs up
• Gears of War – rocking exploding thumbs!
• Cingular Blackjack – thumbs up!
• Cingular 3125 – jury’s still out
• Samsung HP-S4273 – thumbs up!
• Comcast HD-DVR – still the worst piece of consumer electronics, in like, ever.  At least I’m still just renting it.

I don’t know how many of you read “The Closing of the American Mind” by Allan Bloom.  I did, just before I entered college mostly because Prof. Bloom taught at the university I was shortly to attend. 

But that book isn’t what this post is about (though I highly recommend it for those interested in powering through).  Instead, I look around and, by God, I think most people are just getting dumber every day.  Just look at what’s going on:

• Art is Offensive?  Apparently, when you’re talking about Texans.
• Until recently, pop (milk, too!) can assplode planes (too many links to link to), or so believes the TSA.  AND WE ALL GO ALONG WITH IT LIKE SHEEP.
• ADL must explain Borat (when you have to explain the joke…).
• People believe flight attendants wield Star Trek-like hand-held scanning equipment.

And to show that I’m an equal opportunity critic of dumbass-ness:

• Dems might actually run Hillary Clinton in ’08.

The ’08 Presidential Election should be shaping up as one of the most straightforward opportunities for the Democratic Party to win back the White House.  That is, if they don’t field a nominee that turns off half the country.  I’m a Dem and even I would have to think long and hard if it were to come down to a Clinton/Giuliani election.

So, I got the aluminum Nano (no tuner or XM), and the Shuffle update was a surprise.  The updated iPod video was a disappointment and there was no phone.  I did buy Zuma for my 60GB iPod, which is somewhat entertaining.  It’s a little difficult to use the click-wheel as a game controller.  All told, this announcement was 3.5 Stars (out of 5).

The rumor-mill is, of course, buzzing about what Apple will announce next week.  I heard today that Apple sent confirmation to all of its retail outlets saying only, “It’s showtime!”  Could that possibly mean that we’re seeing the “real” video iPod and the rumored $14.99 movies in iTMS?  T’would seem to be.

I personally would love to see a brushed aluminum Nano with a builtin FM tuner or builtin XM integration.  But those are probably not in the cards…..

These are bands who might’ve started in the 70′s and also may have lived on in the 90′s, but were really part of the 80′s Metal-outside-the-mainstream-but-getting-closer zeitgeist.  At least, IMHO.

• Judas Priest
• Iron Maiden
• Quiet Riot
• Motley Crue
• Metallica

Metallica is interestingly unique as they actually did break through and became quite mainstream successes.  You can almost lump Motley Crue into that category as well, but I think Tommy Lee and Vince Neil became famous for other things besides the band.

Yours truly,

Former 80′s metalhead

• K.I.T.T. – Knight Industries sure did make themselves a nice Trans Am.
• The Batmobile – Even though this show was campy and very tongue-in-cheek, it sported the coolest car on TV for a long time.
• Optimus Prime – Really all of the transformers, but Optimus went from a huge 18-wheeler to a huge robot with a big gun.  Plus he had that great voice.
• George Jetson’s Briefcase Spacecar – Oh the parking hassles such a car would solve.
• The Mach V – Speed’s Mach V still stands out as stylish and functional!

• Spectreman – The bad guys were talking apes.  One of them had blonde hair.
• Starblazers – How cool was the space battleship Yamato anyway?  Plus, all of the characters had groovy 70′s hair and were impossibly thin.
• Space Giants – A family of robots:  Goldar, Silvar, and Gam.  Silvar was one lucky lady, I guess.  And who didn’t want a friend who could turn into a rocket?
• Ultraman – This show was better than Spectreman.  The robot guy was cooler looking and the storyline was less hokey than the other show.
• Macross/Robotech – The king of space opera anime.

I got my Father’s Day gift a couple days early.  It’s 8 of these.  Really nice for doppios, though they’re not quite big enough for a little half-n-half.

I think at some point I want to swap out ALL of our glassware for these.

Today, after accidentally pouring the laundy soap into the washing machine instead of allowing Andrew to do it, Emma was banished from the laundy room.

Andrew drew up a sign and taped it to the door.  It “reads” NO WOMEN ALLOWED and is now only a place that Andrew and I can go into.

Emma was fine with that.

“The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden