Artists who's Entire Catalog I celebrate

I was thinking today about the musical artists who's entire catalog I celebrate.  Those where you can throw ANY song from an album or concert on and never hit the "next" button.

In no particular order -

Metallica (up to the Black album, at least)
REM
U2
Erasure
Cure
New Order
Depeche Mode
Pearl Jam
Breaking Benjamin
Evanesence
Paramore
Evans Blue
Sara Evans
Garth Brooks
Tim McGraw
Pink Floyd
Sting
Police
Peter Gabriel
Frank Sinatra

There are more that need to be added.  Those are just things that I've thought of off the top of my head.

These tend to be things I just throw on when I'm in the car cruising along.  Some, of course, better than others due to the tempo/tone of the music (a lot of Frank or Pink Floyd will put you to sleep - bad on the interstate at 2am!)

Social Media is predominantly just the modern incarnation of the Tabloid.

Social Media is predominantly just the modern incarnation of the Tabloid.  Yep.  I said it.

Yes, I know businesses and athletes and stars and even the average joe is trying to use Pinterest/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Reddit and the like to connect with friends, share stories and post the latest cat video (Va-kume can eat and yell at the same time, in case you missed it).

But what do we all think of Social Media as famous for?  Spreading "news" about some celebrity.  The more salacious the news, or the more famous the celebrity (and mostly some combination of above) the greater it spreads.

Today's piece that made me think about it is Tony Stewart.  The consensus on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook is that he intentionally ran over and killed a competitor.

Statements like "you don't see 7 police at a race track for an accident" are totally unqualified.  I've been at the track for deaths.  You get police cars at the track for people who die from heart attacks in the paddock.  Its just how it is.

Yes he hit the competitor.  Yes the competitor was killed.  He didn't run him over on purpose.  If you watch the video and know about racing and human behavior, what happened was a tragic accident.  The other driver should not have been running TOWARDS other cars on track, dressed in all black on a dark track.

Human tenancies are to steer towards what you are looking at.  Stewart was behind another car.  You're driving around and see motion out of the corner of your eye and you're head and hands are drawn towards it.

Dangerous, Dangerous thing.

But on Social Media, instead of lamenting the loss of life and using it as a teaching moment for the victim's mistakes, we're criminalizing an accident and  someone and rounding up a lynch mob.

Which is what the tabloids of the 60's and 70's did.  Take a celebrity and an event and turn it into a story when it wasn't.  Because that's what sold.  Headlines about drunken accidents and affairs sold!  If you told the truth... you'd go out of business.

You simply can't believe everything you read on social media.  Don't allow yourself to be whipped into a frenzy because "sex sells".  Review the facts (not others opinions) for yourself and seek out KNOWLEDGEABLE sources for your information.  

Walmart as your Primary Care Doctor

I've always thought of Kaiser as the Walmart of Healthcare.  In my experience, they do just enough to keep you alive and out of the office with minimal effort to actually cure you (from personal experience as well as the first hand experiences of several friends).

But now Walmart wants to do their own healthcare.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/business/in-ambitious-bid-walmart-seeks-foothold-in-primary-care-services.html

On one hand... its great that they can reach people who are otherwise unserved/underserved.  On the other hand... do I want healthcare from someone famous for selling cheap foreign made products and providing low, low income jobs?

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I also wonder if Walmart's own employees make enough to be able to afford Walmart Heathcare?

Where nearly 20% of GDP is spent on healthcare, it makes sense that Walmart would want in on that cheddar.

Did you REALLY think that $5 logo was going to be awesome and original?

The rise of creative marketplaces where you can solicit design/creative work for as little as $5 seems... appealing for small projects, startups and sole proprietierships.

But you should really think about what you get for such a small dollar amount.

Quality identity pieces (logo, cards, letterheads, name tags, banners, etc) take time.  Even the simplest might take a couple days.  Someone has to get to know you, you're market, your culture, your target audience and weave all that into something you can proudly display, stand under, attract talent to, etc.

Its your BRAND.  Its YOU!

Would you really think someone could do any kind of justice producing those for you for $5? or even $100?  What's a couple days of your life worth?  I bet its more than $100.

That's why good branding campaigns cost $5000, $10,000 even $100,000

Not $5.

Anyway, here's a great article I saw on Hacker News which goes into it in-depth.

https://medium.com/@sachagreif/in-the-past-couple-years-startups-have-started-realizing-that-good-design-can-make-the-difference-2fdeb90d390a

Suffice to say, you get what you pay for.  If you paid $5 you should expect low quality or forgery.

Dealing with burn out

I caught this article on Hacker News today.  It had a catchy title on there.


http://kentnguyen.com/personal/getting-rid-burnouts/
Who references teachings from Marissa Mayer

Kent sums it up as

NOT able to take break is NOT the cause of burning out. What I have learnt to be extremely crucial in looking at the matter is another way of defining it: burning out is result of not able to do what you love or important to you regularly.

It made me think about the past 7 years of my life.  Since the economy fell and the company I work for started downsizing in 2008, I've been focused on work and not on me/life.  I nor my company have enjoyed the "recovered economy" everyone talks about.   Its tooth and nail.  Hand to mouth.

Its easy for me to point at things I love or are important to me that I don't do anymore.

I don't drive my race car anymore.  Its an expense/luxury I have a hard time justifying - but there's also not enough time to prepare it nor days off to go do it.

I don't go for walks in the neighborhood - the economic downturn caused me to move to a neighborhood that isn't particularly safe.

I don't work on or care for my cars anymore.  In part the neighborhood, in part time in the day.

I don't enjoy wine anymore.  Part heath (mostly stress related I suspect), partly being on call 24x7, part a shortage of time.  Same with Bourbon and Scotch.  I don't like to drink by myself, but my work hours and where I live have kept me from family and friends.

My wife and I don't have weekend get-aways anymore.  There's no money to afford it, and I work most weekends.


I don't ride my motorcycle anymore.  I actually bought a 2nd one thinking that would re-invigorate me, but it hasn't.  I don't work far enough to justify riding to work (and I never know when I might need to run out to an appointment that's better suited to the car).  Weekends when I could ride, other projects creep in and get in the way.  And when I want to ride... bikes need work anyway.  1 of the 2 needs major service.

BBQ/Grill/Smoke - I'd like to spend a lot more time bbqing, smoking meats and grilling.  It takes more time and preparation than I give.  Its not much fun to do for yourself (and I'm away from family/friends).  Meat prices have also doubled, and when you're watching dollars that kind of spending is inappropriate.

Finally, I don't drive my classic car anymore.  Its part time to fix it, part money to fix it (it needs work).

So... I do sort of fit the mold.

Next post... how to deal with those things.

The strange stuff you find at Gas Stations

Ok, for much of rural America, this is probably normal.

In Ohio and Wisconsin where my family is from, this was normal when I was a kid... well in Ohio they didn't have a gas station in town, and in Wisconsin there was no town - but tractors on the roads wasn't unusual.

I've NEVER seen this in the Bay Area, and I've lived here for 35 years.

On the way home tonight I pull in to get fuel and there's a tractor coming at me.  I make a left in front of him into the gas station and he pulls in behind me.  He's more crafty than me at navigating the cars at the pumps, though and pulls in just in front of me.

And proceeds to tank up.

The tractor is a 1969 he was telling another interested fellow who walked over to talk to him. The engine and transmission bolt to the rear end and basically make up the frame.

The owner said it was old and worn out, like him, and that he wasn't going to replace it. When it broke, he was retired.

I remember my grandfather having one in green just about like it when I was a kid.  Last time I saw it, I was 4.  His must have been 30 years older, because it was worn out 40 years ago...

It was neat to see and be taken back.

Proof that criminals are dumb

Uh, if you're trying to hide, don't give up ANY information about your whereabouts.  No matter how secure you think you are or incompetent your pursuers are.

Arrogance has been many a fellow's downfall.

http://news.kron4.com/news/fugitive-suspect-shares-murder-rap-updates-on-facebook/

Its time for music to stop disrespecting women

Recently I heard O.P.P. by Naught by Nature when channel surfing in the car, and was surprised that "kitten" was censored.

I mean, who hates Kittens. 

I posted that on Facebook and a friend came back with

"LL Cool J's song Doin' It. Similar thing, "make it last forever, damn the kitty cat's tired." Kitty cat gets censored."

I suppose what they're trying to do is not be disrespectful to women because of what the song is referencing... but if the radio station wanted to be respectful to women, they simply wouldn't play the song in the first place.

There are lots more songs and artists that way. Many I'm probably very unfamiliar with.  A few that come to mind -

Damn near anything by Akon

Some of Pit Pull's stuff, thought he's not as terrible as most of the above.

Jason Derulo's latest.

And of course Chris Brown, in general...

I suppose this is just me getting old.  When I was a kid, girls listened to this kind of stuff and it didn't seem to bother them.  when "Back to the Hotel" was popular, I worked with a girl who said it was her "favorite song".

I'm not going to go on a crusade or anything, I just think we should show more respect to women, and I won't listen to artists that produce music that portrays them in an unkind way.

Edit -

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Warning: the conversation is graphic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpESLdCKLQ

She is Hilarious.  Her come backs are brilliant, as is how she carries herself in the studio.  I'm offended by the content, but impressed by her manner of being.

Some flavors are best left unsaid

Let me say,  I am all for trying new things, but Cappuccino flavored potato chips?

Some things are best left off the menu.

I do give Lay's credit for actually creating them.  A team of scientists and chemists likely worked pretty hard to find flavorings that would work in the chips (and be good over time, stable, etc).

But, I don't see where I'd ever take a potato chip and dip it in my morning coffee.