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« Previous EntriesNirvana Unplugged on DVD
Monday, January 14th, 2008Why did it take so long for Nirvana Unplugged In New York to be released on DVD? I have no idea. Perhaps the best performance that has ever come out of MTV’s Unplugged.
As a longtime fan of Nirvana, I remember anxiously
awaiting the CD release of Nirvana Unplugged In New York. For die-hard Nirvana fans, to own the uncut video of Nirvana Unplugged is something of equal significance. And the DVD is more than just the raw footage of the performance - though that would have been enough satisfy.
Included in the DVD as bonus material are Nirvana’s rehearsals for their Unplugged performance. Perhaps the most significant gem from the five songs from the rehearsal is “Pennyroyal Tea,” which was rehearsed as a band arrangement, with Pat Smear doing backup guitar and vocals, and tried again with Dave Grohl doing backup guitar as Pat did backup vocals. This was clearly not working, which explains why Kurt Cobain ended up performing the song entirely by himself for the actual performance.
Seeing the uncut performance offers a new glimpse of Nirvana’s rare acoustic concert. While most fans were familiar with the MTV broadcast and/or the album release, the raw footage offers more chatter between songs by the band, video of songs “Something In The Way” and “Oh, Me,” as well as some short comical cover of “Sweet Home Alabama.” Other comical moments occur throughout the DVD, including a call for requests where one fan yells “Rape Me,” to which Kurt replies “I don’t think MTV will let us play that,” an obvious reference to Nirvana’s appearance at the 1992 MTV Music Awards when he started playing the controversial song in protest, then switching to Lithium just before MTV was about to cut them off.
Even if you’re a fan who taped Nirvana’s Unplugged performance back when it was first broadcast, you’ll have to get this DVD. The old VHS tape recorded off the TV can officially take the backseat to this superior DVD loaded with all it’s goodies.
Some iPhone Questions Answered
Sunday, July 1st, 2007I asked people for their thoughts on my other blog, and decided to answer them here.
How does it work? It works nice. Simply put. I had previously been using a Treo 650 that was more than two years old and that wasn’t performing well anymore. The iPhone was a refreshing improvement. Truth be told, I’ve yet to fully take advantage of all it has to offer. Though I have synced contacts and got email setup on it, It may take a couple weeks to be able to give a more detailed review.
A sealed battery? I am not familiar with that aspect. But I’ve had an iPod since summer 2004, and it still works. Apple products usually have a 3-year warranty, if I’m not mistaken, and I’ve personally seen people who had batteries die within two year get free iPod replacement.
Wary about the iPhone? I was a bit skeptical about the very first iPhone myself. But between my dying Treo 650 and an old iPod that doesn’t even have color, I was due for an upgrade.
$600? Who needs it? Who needs anything? I can watch movies on TV or even my laptop (a 17″ Powerbook G4) but I also travel quite a bit and found the opportunity to watch movies while waiting in an airport to be a good alternative to trying to read a book with tons of noisy distractions around.
Pretty big for a cell phone? it is thinner and lighter than my Treo 650. In fact, when I had it in my front pocket, no one noticed I had it.
So, now having been an owner of an iPhone for 24 hours, I still need more time for a proper review, but so far, I have to say it truly is worthy of the hype.
iPhone Envy
Friday, June 29th, 2007You know, I still really want an iPhone… so I can’t help but laugh when the Associate Press shows a picture of a friend of mine holding his new iPhone, when that same friend asked me to join him earlier in the day to go in line for it.
UPDATE, 7/30/07: Waiting sucks. I went to the Apple Store today, played with an iPhone for a while, and was convinced. I bought the 8GB model.
Waiting Longer For The iPhone
Friday, June 29th, 2007I really, really, really want an iPhone. However, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to hold off. The decision to avoid the Launch Day hysteria was a no-brainer, but I may end up waiting for the second generation of the iPhone before putting down $600 for the beloved device.
The bottom line is that after reading several reviews, it was clear that waiting was the right thing to do. Aside from the concerns surrounding Apple’s first entrance into the cell phone market, sometimes a little patience is worth it. The original iPod Apple first produced looks archaic compare to their more recent models. Of course, one can make the argument that if you keep waiting for the next better model to arrive, you’ll never end up getting of the gagdets you want.
The second generation of the iPhone will most certainly have various improvements made to it that will have all those people waiting in line as I type this wish they’d waited a little longer. Larger capacity, expandibility, faster hardware, etc. etc. And they’ll be cheaper and/or have decent rebates that will make the upfront cost less of a burden.
I’ll also have the benefit of reading reviews from actual iPhone owners who spent the big bucks to get one. There will be no lack of discussion on message boards and blogs about the iPhone and those reviews may be more helpful in pointing out various flaws that will be corrected in the iPhone 2.0
“Political” Dating
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Karol at Alarming News posts about a book called “Dumped” and mentions one story from the book called “How To Love A Republican,” a fictional story about an affair between a Republican girl and a Democrat guy. Karol writes, “The girl in the story reminds me of myself in the way she speaks and behaves, and of course her politics, but I’d like to think I would’ve kicked the boy to the curb much earlier.”
Anyway, the story is worth a read, if you can tolerate some racy scenes. She’s got the link.
Change Is Good
Sunday, June 10th, 2007Haven’t been around here in a while. Decided to test out a WordPress theme I found and tinkered with it a bit.
UPDATE, June 28, 2007: Decided to go with something new again.
Been Blogging Four Years…
Monday, March 19th, 2007So, it totally slipped my mind that March 15, 2007 was my four year blog-anniversary. I officially started blogging March 15, 2003, a few short days before the start of the Iraq war.
Fellow blogger Jason Smith also celebrates four years of blogging… he started a couple days before I did.
UPDATE: Jason is giving away a free iPod Shuffle to celebrate his blogging anniversary. I already have one, so Jason, I’ll take an iPhone instead.
I’m Still For jetBlue
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007As a jetBlue traveler affected by the chaos of last weeks crazy delays, I was pleased to see the airline own up to their mishandling of the situation.
Some people were quick to declare they would not fly jetBlue anymore. I am not one of them. I can honestly say that aside from last week’s debacle, jetBlue is still the best airline I’ve ever flown and I will continue to use them.
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