escapevelocity
of random thoughts and pickled cabbage
‘When I was young the radio played just for me, it saved me’
Wed Mar 2 2005
(some) current things in my head:
Moblogging. Posting directly from my cameraphone has seriously revolutionized my blogging experience. God bless Verizon.
Sake. I’d never been much of a drinker….until sake. Cold, extra dry sake. Yum. And that warm & fuzzy buzz that only sake brings….ahh. I’m actually surprised by the amount of sake I can safely put away without the usual alcohol-induced repercussions. Had dinner with HH last week, and we split a bottle of Taru Sake…..though I think I think the actual sake ratio ended up as 60% me, 40% him. Afterwards, I went home, slept well and woke up refreshed.
Damn, I love me my sake.
Web design. I’ve been spending the majority of my non-sake-drinking time building and customizing this site. Slowly but surely, I’m finally getting a better handle on CSS, PHP and Dreamweaver. I’m loving the design process - it’s like working through a puzzle. I ::heart:: technology.
Work/Career. Me and my recurring mid-life crisis issues. This has been the topic of a number of long emails with friends. LD has been an especially nice sounding board, since he and I are in similar places. *sigh*
Gear. My gear wishlist:
- New Pocket PC. My Toshiba’s on it’s last legs, and will probably be eBayed or Craigslisted very soon. I really want to get this one or this one, but I’ll probably end up getting this one instead because of the price.
- MP3 Player. My RioVolt MP3 CD player broke, so I’m on the hunt for a replacement. I’ve got my little Rio Cali Sport for running (holds up to 1G), but I want something with more memory. I’m finally getting seduced by the iPod craze….but I may end up with another MP3 CD player because they’re so cheap.
- New digital camera. In this world of 5 and 6 megapixel cameras, my current Olympus is mere 1.3. That’s just not right. My fellow gearheads will understand.
- CD burner. The HP burner for my desktop is only a 12x speed, and requires a SCSI connection. Hello.
- New Desktop. I’ve got my trusty laptop, but my desktop needs some serious updating. I’m tempted to just buy a new Dell, but it would be cheaper (and more fun) to get a barebones kit to build my own. I bought the current desktop for $150 off of Craigslist, and upgraded the hell out of it…..added 512MB RAM, a second 90G hard drive, new video card, new sound card and the obligatory network card. But, it’s running on a PII at only 330Mhz….and those new P4s with 2.x+GhZ speeds make the gearweenie in me drool. Hmmm….all I’d need to do is buy a new motherboard and processor (which would represent the biggest costs), and maybe a new case ($30) and other minor parts….hmmm….I sense a trip up I-45N to Fry’s is in my near future…..
- Stereo system. Nothing too fancy….just something that will let me listen to music in the living room….instead of through my hollow-sounding laptop speakers.
Food. Damn, I’m hungry. It’s past 3, and I forgot lunch. Again. Maybe I’ll make bindaeduk tonight - now that’s some serious comfort food.
2 Responses for "‘When I was young the radio played just for me, it saved me’"
OMG. are you my gear twin?!!! i swear this list is nearly identical to my gear agenda. with the following exceptions. i’ve been lured to the iPOD (3G 40 gig) side already. and i recently resolved my PDA search and upgraded from my embarassing first generation visor deluxe to a dell axim x50. i considered the x30 too, but i’m not regretting the higher model and price. i’m working w/my brother to build the ever elusive computer, but that’s a ways off…
You do rock. This thread — “When I was young the radio played just for me, it saved me” — reminded me of a speech by Hungarian Ambassador Andras Simonyi at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on Nov 8, 2003 — �Rocking for the Free World: How Rock Music Helped to Bring Down the Iron Curtain�
http://www.hungaryemb.org/News%20Archive/ClevelandSpeech.htm
Brief synopsis —
The Ambassador, an accomplished blues guitarist himself, spoke of his personal experiences with rock music and the impact that it made in communist-ruled Hungary and other Soviet Bloc countries.
His central thesis was that the free flow of American and British rock music, and the revolutionary ideas it represented, over the airwaves into Central and Eastern Europe was instrumental in loosening the communists’ grip on power and contributed to the eventual downfall of dictatorships there.
Since most Hungarians could not understand the lyrics to British and American rock songs coming into Hungary via Radio Free Europe and Radio Luxemburg, it was the music that captivated them, said Ambassador Simonyi. “Listening to the these radios made us part of the free world,” he said.
Leave a reply