Photo Galleries updated

I added a number of photos to our galleries page lately:

Over the River Act One
These photos show I have an incredible talent: being able to close my eyes for nearly every shot. And I cut out quite a few of the worst offenders.

Over the River Act Two
South Lake Tahoe
These pictures are really late, mainly because they were on a disposable camera that we didn't finish up recently. You might notice by Megan's change of attire that these were two separate trips. No witty captions for these.

A look at McCain's '08 media strategy

McCain is realistic about the topsy-turvy nature of presidential politics, too much so to make any hard and fast predictions. Yes, he conceded, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was indeed the "odds-on favorite" to seize the Democratic nomination in 2008. "But we all remember Ed Muskie and George Romney," he added.

Actually, no, I don't. As to McCain v. Clinton in '08, that would make the vote very easy for me.

There are a lot of great interviews at SuicideGirls. Two I recommend include these (with some choice quotes).

Danny Elfman

Q: I read how you're not going to work on Spider-Man 3. Do you want to comment on that?

ELFMAN: Let me put it this way, there is no amount of money that anybody could offer me to do Spider-Man 3. I would sooner go back to bussing tables.

Tim Burton

"It's unfortunate that Disney closed down their drawn animation. They made a few drawn movies that weren't too successful and then they go, 'Well that's it, we're going to go to computers.' I think they forget that the reason why computer animated movies are successful is because Pixar made good movies."

UPDATE/CAUTION: I can't recommend the rest of the site, only the interviews area. I didn't note this originally because I thought it might encourage exploration instead of discourage it.

What Would Jesus Blog?

"As Christians today we are embroiled in the argument culture and we have forgotten this one thing: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' Wouldn't it be nice if we could say we brought a level of civility back to the conversation?"

My Songs, My Format

"One of the problems I see a lot is that people who are using iTunes-iPods have ripped their entire CD collection to the AAC format because that is the default setting in iTunes," said Grahm Skee, who runs the Web site AnythingButiPod.com, in an e-mail interview. "Now they are stuck with a format that can only be played on iPods."

This article is from The New York Times, so you may be prompted to register prior to reading it.

The AAC format, while superior to MP3, has not been adopted by many other digital music players. But it is an open format, not a proprietary one like WMA. The real problem is Protected AAC (and, of course, Protected WMA). I can't listen to any of my U2 songs through our TiVo's Music streaming feature. And instead of making it more accessible, Apple has made things even worse by taking away burning capability from Toast. Their claim that I "own" these tracks is patronizing at best and ridiculous at worst. I can still live with purchasing individual songs for 99¢ but I find little benefit in purchasing full albums when I know I'll have full quality and freedom with a CD. Of course, if the labels continue creating more "copy-protected" CDs, I guess they'll also lose those sales.

Stewart Smith has created his own music video for the haunting song Jed's Other Poem by Grandaddy. It was "programmed in Applesoft II on a 1979 Apple ][+ with 48K of RAM. Seriously." I think anyone who worked or played with an Apple ][ will appreciate it.

7.2MB QuickTime movie

World's Biggest Wi-Fi Cloud over Hermiston

While cities around the country are battling over plans to offer free or cheap internet access, this lonely terrain is served by what is billed as the world's largest hotspot, a wireless cloud that stretches over 700 square miles of landscape so dry and desolate it
could have been lifted from a cowboy tune.

Here's hoping that's the only big cloud over Hermiston that gets national attention.

Edge Comes Knocking

Turns out that playing nightly in the year's most popular rock 'n' roll tour isn't enough to keep a guitarist busy. When he gets back to his hotel after a show, he can often be found flicking open his Mac and writing songs on GarageBand.

Columbia Journalism Review: The Case for Comics Journalism

Now comics, or graphic, journalism is turning up in daily newspapers, where its inherent subjectivity contrasts sharply with the newsroom’s dispassionate prose — another round in the debate over what journalism should be in the twenty-first century.

... the ability to alternate between the realistic and the symbolic, is a major strength of comics journalism. It is also one reason why editors are likely to shy away from it — or, as with the recent newspaper strips, to relegate comics journalism to cultural coverage and human-interest stories. When it comes to the front page, newspapers favor plain language, in part to protect the readers from the seductions of rhetoric, of art. And comics are irreducibly artistic.

Bronfman Fires Back at Apple

The gloves are off in the battle between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the music industry over the price of downloaded songs.
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"We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don't have a share of iPod's revenue," [Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.] said. "We want to share in those revenue streams."

The music industry didn't create iTunes, they didn't create the iPod, and they didn't create the iTunes Music Store. They don't pay any money to maintain the store (which certainly requires a lot of bandwidth), don't pay any money for manufacturing or duplication, and they get 70 percent of every purchase made. Could anyone be making more money for less effort? And now they want to get royalties on the iPod?

PC Magazine columnist John C. Dvorak has some good thoughts on this at The New Music Download Battle

Jim Henson, Muppets, get stamps of approval

Lisa Henson characterized the stamps as fitting her father's sense of humor. "We are honored that the U.S. Postal Service chose to recognize our father's legacy with this fun and irreverent stamp collection - a perfect reflection of his inspired silliness and creativity."
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When applied to a white envelope, each of the individually photographed Muppet stamps appear to burst through.
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The back of each stamp sheet features humorous autographed notes from each of the Muppet characters.

Conan to Turn Entire Show Over to U2

NEW YORK - In his 12 years in charge of booking musical guests on Conan O'Brien's "Late Night," Jim Pitt always listed U2 and Johnny Cash as the dream artists he'd tried but never succeeded in getting.