Does this exist? November 29, 2007

Posted by Phineas in : Irrelevant, Music , 1 comment so far

I don’t think it exists, but let me know if it exists.

One thing I enjoy about Pandora or last.fm is its ability to turn me on to music I’ll like, or allow me to set my mood. So I can create a “station” that consists of music like the Clash — and I can expect some Clash plus a lot of other music I’ll probably like — some new to me, some not.

The thing I don’t like about these services is that they are low-fi streams for the most part, and require network connection.

I have a fairly large music collection on my hard drive. I can browse it, create playlists, etc. But that’s work and I’m lazy. I’d love to be able to have folksonomic behaviors applied to my own collection. I’d like to be able to tell itunes or whatever player I like to play songs “like X” and let it build a nice playlist for me. iTunes has a “smart playlist” feature but it’s not that smart.

The idea would be to draw upon the community out there which builds up these relationships. Your player could download just the relationships you’re interested in, and apply what it learns to your own collection.

I guess we’re almost there. Maybe it’s just around the corner. May be it exists and I’m revealing my ignorance. That’s probably it.

MPR: Select a Candidate 2008: President November 27, 2007

Posted by Phineas in : End Of The World, Irrelevant, Lies, Political/Editorial , add a comment

MPR: Select a Candidate 2008: President

This *would* be a cool way to vote for a candidate. Turns out I’m a Kucinich man. Guess thats no surprise.

Genocide, Part 2 November 26, 2007

Posted by Phineas in : Cartoon , add a comment

2 guys

Sure it’s horrible. But does it rise to the level of genocide?

That Sure Was Horrible, but It Doesn’t Rise to the Level of Genocide November 25, 2007

Posted by Phineas in : Economics, End Of The World, Giving, Lies, Political/Editorial , add a comment

What a phrase: “rise to the level of genocide“.

I know there’s a definition or many definitions, and because of this, some things are and other things are not genocide. But still, it strikes me as weasly, bureaucratic, dismissive. It’s almost always used in the negative. You hardly ever hear anyone say: “Well, how about that? This one *does* rise to the level of genocide. Yep. Sure does. It was just under that level, there’s the level, then it rose above that level.”

No — it’s usually, “that thing is horrible, but does it rise to the level of genocide?” (posed as a question but is really being answered in the negative). Or: “One thing is clear: it doesn’t rise to the level of genocide.” And then the argument hinges on a technicality or selective choosing of an operative definition of genocide. It’s like saying, “I’m indignant, but according to Webster’s dictionary, my indignation does not rise to the level of outrage. I’ll write one letter to my congressman, but I won’t write two, because this atrocity does not meet the two-letter criteria. I’ll send $100 to the relief of the victims, but I won’t send $200, because their suffering just does not quite rise to that level.” One’s suffering must rise to a certain level, after all.

“Ooo, so close! But it just doesn’t rise to the level of genocide. Try again next time!”

Fausse 2007 November 12, 2007

Posted by Phineas in : Alcohol, Environment, Irrelevant, Music, Outdoors/Travel, Photos, Wild Animals , 1 comment so far

Infinity view from Cabin 9

Lake Fausse 2007 Wrap up:

Gators? Check.
Pelicans/herons/loons, etc? Check.
Varmits? Check.
Paddlefish? Check.
Turtles? Check.
Lizards? Check.
Owls? Check.
Midnight kayaking into the infinity? Check.
Blazing constellations? Check.
Orion pursuing the Pleiades? Check.
Shooting stars? Check.
Copious quantities of expensive beer? Check.
Rock and Roll? Check.
All parties present and accounted for? This was our main failing this year, as the Arcturus was with us only in song.
Saints victorious over the winless Rams? Not so much.

Musicological/sociological experiment? Isolate four drunk middle-aged men away from their googles, wikis and twitters but with the entire Pink Floyd music collection on MP3 (no credits) and pose the question: Who sang what? David Gilmour or Roger Waters? Song by song/line by line. (Why is this hard? Listen to “Mother” from the Wall album. Consider: Waters sometimes sounds like Gilmour, but other times sounds like no one else.)

Photos? Check.

Videos? Check.