Epiphone PR-4E

This weekend I popped into Allan’s Music while the girlfriend was shopping, simply to pass away the time. It’s been a while since I’ve gone into a music store with the actual intention of buying anything, past guitar strings… after all, it’s been a while since I’ve played seriously.

That said, something nearly changed all of that. I picked up the Epiphone PR-4E, and simply fell in love with this guitar. There’s something about it that just seems right. Which is strange, as I suspect it’s being marketed as a beginner guitar, and while I don’t play much these days, I still wouldn’t term myself a beginner.

Anyway, I didn’t buy the thing, as it was being sold for $349 (which is awfully strange, as I see it being sold as part of a pack here for $299… methinks you might need to check up on your Brisbane store, Allan’s Music… as that’s an awful markup considering that was for the guitar alone).

Anyway. Just wistfully posting this. Perhaps after the Christmas period, I’ll revisit buying it. But, for now, it remains on the wishlist.

You know, as an African, I really, really like Product Red… more commonly known as simply (RED). They’re a powerful force for bringing about change in Africa, through their funding and distribution of Anti-Retroviral medicine to those dying of AIDS in Africa. I won’t go into too much detail here, as you can learn more about them on their site here. But, to give you a brief idea of what they’re about, directly from their site:

(side note here… but to anyone involved in the (RED) site, you might want to reconsider the “SEO-friendliness” of it. With hardly any actual text on your pages, the search engines aren’t going to be able to index much of your content. So, when people like me are looking for more information on you… well, that’s bad).

But anyway… back to the point. As I was saying, I really like (RED) and what they’re doing. And I’ve always had a fondness for DELL computers as well. Although I’m traditionally a Mac kinda guy, Dell has always seemed to hold a certain sophistication for me. So it was with much delight that I learned Dell and (RED) were teaming up, offering customisable laptops in order to support (RED)’s efforts in Africa.
Yesterday Dell officially began their publicity for their range of Dell Art House – Special Edition Laptops, which you can now see on their website… and boy, are Dell customers in for a treat.

Now, to be perfectly transparent here… I do have a personal connection with the release of these laptops. One of the featured artists, Siobhan Gunning (creator of the “Shine Within” laptop edition, which you can see on the site), is actually a member of my family. So yeah, consider this an obviously impartial plug.

That said, even if there wasn’t that connection, I would still be plugging this. The designs are nothing short of spectacularly beautiful, from all the artists… and the work truly is going towards an effort that is trying to make the world a better place. And that’s no small thing.

So hey… if you need a laptop, why not get one that will make you a hero?

Today’s xkcd webcomic

Normally this is something I would post on my music blog, over at Burgo’s Music Blog. Unfortunately, this issue has been brought to my attention in the midst of a blog move from one host to the other… so, at this stage (as you can see) Burgo’s Blog is still in “Maintenance Mode” (god help me, I hope I don’t lose the whole blog… having never shifted a WordPress blog from one host to the other).
Anyway, seeing as I don’t have access to Burgo’s Blog at the moment, I thought I would use another avenue in this, my personal blog.

First thing’s first… please read this.
If, however, you have the attention of a blue-assed bottle fly, to put it in the Cliff Notes version, the situation in Boy Howdie’s own words is this:

1. Label rep contacts me about awesome new covers.
2. I write to label rep thanking her and asking for permission to share those covers.
3. Label rep excitedly grants permission to share those covers in a particular way.
4. I post those covers in exactly the way specified by the label rep.
5. In the same post, I include two other covers which are all over the blogs, and available for FREE on the MySpace page of the artist, who owns her OWN label.
6. The label rep writes to thank me for the nice review.
7. Blogger takes down the post.

This isn’t the first time Blogger has done this to Boy, and it’s clearly starting to take its toll in his willingness to continue blogging.
Let me make this clear… if the Cover Lay Down blog was to cease posting, that would be a sad day for the music blogosphere. It’s one of the most entertaining blogs out there, full of original thoughts in an all too often “rinse and repeat” music blog world.

However, as much as I respect Boy and the Cover Lay Down blog, the issue is far bigger than simply his case. Blogger simply taking down music posts without consulting anyone seems to be a case of far too many itchy trigger fingers, and there seems to be no avenue for the affected bloggers to offer recourse.
(Also, for more on this, please see my past post “The DMCA, and other random tidbits“)

It’s an issue that, as music bloggers, we need to pay attention to, lest we wake up one morning and find it the 300lb gorilla in the corner.

Anyway… if you can help in any way, then please visit the Cover Lay Down blog to offer your support. Boy, if you read this, I’m in the midst of moving my WordPress blog from one host to the other, so I might be able to offer some guidance in the future based on how this move goes. Of course, if you don’t see Burgo’s Blog as live again in a few days, then you might want to ignore that offer for help

For anyone who still doesn’t like at least the “Fix It” track from “Cardinology”… for your enjoyment I present to you Ryan Adams & The Cardinals performing live on Letterman.
If you can watch the emotion in this song that bubbles and overflows from the 1:35 mark without feeling something, especially when Ryan plaintively cries “Look at what I did to you, look at what you did to me… Fix It!“… well, in that case I salute you as our Robot Overlords.

This makes me sad…

As a user on Reddit put it: “California’s Prop 8 likely to pass. Michigan allows medical marijuana. Florida bans gay marriage. ARKANSAS BANS GAY COUPLE ADOPTING BABIES WHAT THE FUCK”

Indeed.
Seriously though… the discrimination in those votes seem to be in direct contrast with the open-mindedness that I experienced in that euphoria yesterday. Incredibly, incredibly sad. Although… as a commenter points out in that thread, Florida really shot themselves in the foot there, which made me slightly smugger (is that a word?).
****

This, however, made me smile…

Via The Onion.

(ps. Look, I know I’m not American, so this will be my last politically motivated post. But, honestly… can you blame me?)

… head here: Ryan Adams, Cardinology Coffee Shop Show…

Seriously. You will NOT regret it.

1) I remember being a young boy in South Africa when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. I was probably a bit too young to appreciate that moment fully, but I remember watching his first speech since the release and being transfixed. Then, when he became president in 1994, I watched him deliver his inauguration speech… and it gave me goosebumps.
That speech, today, gave me those self-same goosebumps.

2) Just so that you know… for the first time since i was a little kid playing cowboys… I want to be YOU.

CNN calls it.

… and unlike last time, I’m most certainly not going to miss it. Tickets have already been reserved, and excitement is already running high. Howie’s going to be playing at the Troubadour, and this will be my first time visiting that venue (although the pics of the place look great… see below… talk about an intimate venue)

And, just because I can, I’m reposting this vid from Howie Day’s “Madrigals” EP. One more time… I’m excited.