I'm Soooo Confused!

Royal Canadian Air Farce used to have a skit called "The Confused Philosopher". Although I've posted one or two of these on Dan Brown's Blog on the London Free Press website , here are a few of my random observations of things that confuse me in modern life:

• When people go to Costco on a motorcycle, what exactly do they buy?
  
• If you are delivering fliers for lawn care, why would you leave one at a house whose lawn has a sign from another company already on it?
  
• If civic minded people want to "clean up" their downtown, where exactly in their town do they want all the drug addicts and homeless to go?
  
• Why does the "large" cup of soda @ Wendy's have the word,"small" printed on the side of it?
  
• If kids can't be failed in elementary school until Grade 6, doesn't that kind of make,"No child left behind" a slam dunk?
  
• I know that there is now "classic rock" and that there is very little big time current rock. So, does that mean that soon, we'll be subjected to "classic rap" and that current rap will become irrelevant?
  
• When Madonna has "the talk" with her daughter, does she just hand her that "Sex" book that came out in the early 90's & say,"let me know if you have any questions"?
  
• Are there any baseball players who DID NOT use performance enhancing drugs?
  
• Are there any rappers who DO NOT have a criminal record or is that just part of "street cred"?
  
• Why do golf commentators whisper?
  

Anyway, those are a few "top of mind" questions I've had in my warped mind lately. Do you have answers to any of these questions and/or have questions or your own? Post them here & thanks for reading.

Blues Fest

The other day, I stumbled across the Ottawa BluesFest website. It's got quite an impressive lineup of talent; many of whom I'd love to see (Lee Harvey Osmond, Colin Linden, Chris Smither, Blue Rodeo, Doyle Bramhall, Neko Case, etc.). I was wondering though if it's really appropriate to call it a "blues" festival, in view of performers such as KISS, Ice Cube, etc.? This is a common issue I believe, as festivals often play "loose and fast with the rules" in order to attract a broader audience.

What do you think? Have you ever made the trek to Ottawa for this festival? Are there any festivals that you've gone to that required a lot of travel? If so, was the attraction specific performer(s) or the overall festival? Should this festival rename itself to a "music" festival and drop the "blues" reference or is that just nit-picking on my behalf?

Work & Lack Thereof

Sorry that I haven't been posting more lately. Work has been extraordinarily busy and the weather in London is getting nicer. Between the 2, writing stuff here just hasn't been a priority.

One of the things that's occupied me is watching a co-worker get a severance package. This person is doing meaningful work, at a high level of performance and their skills aren't easily replaceable. Nevertheless, their job is being moved overseas. From a business level, I understand the rationale. Labour costs overseas are considerably cheaper and senior management become convinced that a worker is a worker (ie - skills can be re-learned and/or are transferable). Time will tell about that latter point in my friend's case.

I know that my friend is not alone. Many Canadians in many sectors of the economy are being hit with this reality. I personally think that this time, it's a little different for the following reasons:

• With most manufacturing and I/T moving offshore, where are the replacement jobs supposed to come from? In the 1930's Depression, when the economy improved, workers went back to manufacturing jobs that essentially existed before. That won't be the case this time.
• Jobs are being moved offshore because of cheaper labour costs. Unless we also export unions, does this signal the decline and/or end of much of our middle class?
• It appears that in some cases, the "bad economy" is being used as a rationale, but it's not the case for all companies. Many are still profitable, but (IMO) are using the downturn as an excuse to accelerate their outsourcing of jobs.
• Workers are not given the option to reduce their wages to compare with off shore people. They're just told that the jobs are going.
• Is it not a conflict of interest for senior management to be the decision makers that export basic workers' jobs but not their own? Surely, one could find some senior executive talent willing to work for less than what some North American corporate heads make?
• With corporations basically being autonimous (ie - not a citizen of any country), is there anything that our governments could/should be doing to retain these jobs? Should companies be offered tax incentives to retain their work force?

Tell me what you think. Have you had friends, family members or have you lost your job in the past year? Did the work move off shore, to the US or did the company just close? Does anyone have a good news story about finding new work at any sort of wage or skill level on par with what they were doing in their former jobs?

Thanks for reading and sorry for the delay in posting.

Do You Hi-Def?

Now days, it's pretty much impossible to find a CRT (tube) TV in retail. LCD and Plasma flat panels are the way to go, and for a lot of good reasons. Along with them comes the Hi-Def discussion. I can't tell you how many times I've been in Costco or other places and seen signs reminding consumers that they have to have a hi-def receiver to get the maximum effect from their TV. Apparently, people have been known to return their new purchases if they don't feel the picture measures up.
So, based on all that, do you:

1. have a hi-def TV?
   
2. have a hi-def receiver?
   
3. how much do you use it?
   
4. own a Blue Ray DVD player?
   
5. own any Blue Ray DVDs or just rent them?
   

We have satellite TV and have 4 receivers in our home. One is hi-def and the other 3 are not. We have 2 LCD TVs. We're not heavy hi-def users for a few reasons.

• Our house was built in the cable generation. To properly receive hi-def satellite TV signal, you need RG6 coax line running from the satellite to the receiver and on to the TV. Since we don't want to rip open our drywall, it means that we had to have new line run for the 1 hi-def receiver. It's just too much hassle to retrofit for us.
  
• We've had mixed results with our 1 hi-def receiver. It worked well for 11 months, then had to be replaced 2-3 times since then. Most companies provide refurbished boxes in such scenarios and based on our experience, I'm skeptical of their reliability.
  
• There is some extra cost. Each vendor is different but no one's giving away primo hi-def channels for free. If you don't pay an extra fee, it's buried somewhere in your cable/satellite bill.
  
• There's still that pesky matter of the aspect ratio. It doesn't matter if your TV is wide screen or not, it seems at some point, when you're watching hi-def, you're gonna have some black lines around the screen. I can't understand why standardization seems to be such an issue.
  
• There's so much content that isn't hi-def ready. US channels are still getting ready to go all-digital; let alone all-hi-def.
  
• I can't justify paying the outrageous Blue Ray prices for DVDs. I just can't. Maybe when they come down a bit. The players are starting to so we'll see.
  

Anyway, that's me. What are your experiences. Got any tips for the issues I've raised? As always, thanks for reading.

NFL Draft This Weekend

As most of you know, I'm a giant NFL fan. So much so, that I actually watch the first round of the NFL Draft in late April. The NFL's popularity has reached the point where the draft outdraws baseball regular season and basketball & hockey playoff games that compete against it in terms of TV viewers. Even I think that's sad, but it shows the NFL's dominance as the major sports league in North America now.
I don't have a favourite team but because I live close to Detroit, I always hope they'll do reasonably well. Obviously, 0-16 doesn't cut it and you have to feel for Lions fans. I really hope they don't take Matthews Stafford, the QB from Georgia #1 overall. There are 2 excellent left tackles sitting there, plus a solid LB that they could use. Their coach is from a system that likes to build from the lines out, so taking a LT, like Miami did last year, makes sense. Then again, who says teams follow common sense?
The thing doesn't start until 4:00 now, so they're obviously trying to let their fans get shopping, etc. done first, much like what they've done with moving playoff games on Saturdays so they start @ 4:30.
Do you watch any of the draft or is that too much for you?

Cool Album Covers

I think this is another post that will date me but remember when artists came out with really cool album cover art? When you bought the Molly Hatchet album as much for the medieval violence cover as for the music?

With mp3s, etc., the potential for album art is reduced and IMO, many of the current CD covers just don't cut it. Just off the top of my head, these are some of the album covers I'm talking about:

• 
  Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (hey, that guy's on fire!)
  
  
  
  
  
• Steve Miller Band - Book of Dreams (Pegasus with multicolour wings)
  
  
  
  
  
• Supertramp - Crime of The Century (prison bars in space)
  

Whatever happened to this concept? What are some of the other great covers that I missed in the samples above & why? Do you think the less flamboyant covers are a way for record companies to save money in the mp3 age or do people just not care now?

My Favourite Place To Buy CDs

As I ranted in an earlier post, I far prefer the CD to mp3 computer files. To that end, for those who are already not aware of them, may I recommend The Beat Goes On as a source to get good deals on used CDs, DVDs and video games. They also carry a selection of new copies of top new releases. They have locations throughout southwestern Ontario and will ship to pretty much anywhere. One of the things I most enjoy about them is their web presence. Their site lists their inventory but also allows you to create a wish list of titles you're looking for. When any of their stores gets a copy in, you get an email and can have it shipped direct to your home or to your local store. The shipping cost is $1.00 on the price higher than the tag price in the store. Their staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Plus, with today's economy, who isn't looking for a good cheap deal? I should add that they take trade in titles and give you cash or a slightly greater $value in store credit. Finally, their frequent shopper card can get you free stuff after you buy like 12 items. I am afraid to know how many cards I've gone through.

Anyway, check them out. It's amazing some of the really hard to find stuff I've seen traded in. For example, several years ago, someone traded in a used CD copy of the "No Nukes" show from 1980. Unbelievable find. I've seen copies of Indio's "Big Harvest" (goes for like $50 on Ebay, when someone sells one), etc.

Where do you buy your CDs? Do you prefer new vs. used? Ever shopped @ The Beat Goes On? Let me know & thanks, as always, for reading.

Recording TV Programs

I love TV. There are far more programs on than I can watch each day so like many people with busy lives, I record many shows. For the past 20 years or so, it's been the VCR. Like most tech, it started out pricey and became super cheap, as alternatives started to appear. Now, you can't give them away on Kijiji or at garage sales. That's because new digital alternatives have come out and are starting to come down in price. I just wanted to offer my 2 cents on the various alternatives out there and get your reactions and experiences.

• The PVR (Personal Video Recorder) is the one most people seem to be going towards. These are usually marketed by your TV supplier (cable or satellite) and allow you to record programs via easier recording methods to a hard disk drive (HDD). If you have satellite, in order to watch 1 show & record another, you have to have 2 lines going into the PVR from your dish. This can be a hassle for those of us living in houses with existing cable wiring.
  
• The DVD Recorder comes in 2 flavours. With or without an HDD. Personally, I love the DVD recorders with HDD. So much so that we have 3 of them (and yes i know how sad that is). The biggest downside to a DVD recorder without an HDD is that you essentially are replacing VHS tapes with re-writable DVDs so you are max'd out at 6 hours of recordings. Our DVD recorders have 160 GB and 250 GB HDDs so we're basically limitless. The big advantage of this for us is that if you record something and like it, you can edit out any commercials, etc. and write it to a DVD for re-watching later.
  
• TiVo is very popular in the US but I suspect won't be as popular here. What I don't like about TiVo is that in addition to buying a TiVo recorder, you have to subscribe to their service that gives you on screen guides, etc. I think it's somewhere between $12.99 and $15.00/month. TiVo also promises to help you buy choosing shows to record for you, based on your previous recording choices. That could fill up your HDD fast if you're not careful.
  

Now, I'd like to hear from you. What do you use to record TV? Do you record a lot? Had any good/bad experiences with any of the digital recording devices? If you're interested in the DVD recorders with HDDs, I can give you my experiences with a a couple of different models, but didn't want to make this post too long. Or, maybe you're "old school" and still rely on the trusty VCR? Let me know & thanks for reading.