November 2005 Archives

Having just dinged Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc.'s "Whoop Ass Chili Mix" for being neither "chili" nor "whoop ass" hot, I feel like I now owe it to them to tell you about one of their products I really DO love, which is their "Original Ass Kickin' Habanero Popcorn".  And at a retail price of $1.95 (plus shipping) for a bag, it's not terribly expensive, either.

As you might be able to tell from the picture, this is a microwave popcorn like any you might buy at the grocery.  Unlike the ones you'd buy at the grocery, however, this one includes a moderate portion of habanero pepper to spice it up.

This could be a very easy review to write. I could sum the whole experience up in just two words... "It ain't." But if I did that, you'd wonder what happened to that wordy writer you've come to know on this web site. You might also start asking yourself "ain't WHAT?" Fear not, dear reader, I shall not let you down.

I purchased a can of Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc.'s Whoop Ass Chili Mix directly from their web site a short time ago. I bought it as part of a larger order of their products that I'd placed. I placed that order after having been on vacation in Arizona and picking up some of their spicy microwave popcorn. The popcorn was quite good and had just the right amount of heat, so I was hopeful that this product would be as good.  Sadly, this was not to be.

If you haven't heard Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back" cover, stop reading this review right now.  Go to his site, download it, and play it. If that doesn't convince you that you want to know more about what he's done, I'm probably not going to do much better in this review.

I've heard Coulton's work described as "geek rock". That might be the best description.  It's a soft, melodic, rock sound with great vocals.  The songs on this album are about "geeky" topics like mad scientists and Mandelbrot sets.  While music about these topics might sound like something that will never rise above the level of a "curiosity", Coulton's songwriting, instrumentals, and vocals combine to create a sound that is just plain catchy.  You'll find yourself wanting to sing them not long after you stop listening.  At least, that's what happens to me and at least a couple of other people I know.

Jonathan Coulton's album "Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow" is available online through CDBaby.com for the low, low price of $7.00 plus shipping.  Given that there are 5 songs on the album, that works out to a slightly-worse-than-iTunes price of about $1.40 a track.  The nice thing about CDBaby.com's site is that you can listen to a pretty lengthy clip of each song on the album before you shell out that "buck forty".  The disc you'll get back from CDBaby is real, commercially-pressed disc with silk-screened artwork on it that is shipped inside a full-color cardboard sleeve.  (You expected a jewel case for $7?!  I didn't.)

Since the 1980's, I've been pretty fond of the music of Depeche Mode.  Back then, their music was heavily loaded with synthesizer sounds and became pretty mainstream.  This 2005 release, "Playing the Angel" from Depeche Mode is quite a departure from their earlier sound, though the synthesizer element and vocals remain.

Playing time for the album is about 51 minutes.  Individual tracks range in length from about 1:42 to 6:09.  Most are in the typical 3-4 minute "radio length" range.

For a fan of the 1980's Depeche Mode, today's group takes some getting used to.  Along with the familiar vocals and synthesizer sound, there's a new edge to the lyrics and a screaming guitar sound that is a very sharp contrast to the Depeche Mode of 20 years ago.  I think I still like the older sound better, but I can appreciate that it sounds "eighties" enough that the band would have a very hard time attracting newer listeners to their music without this modern "grunge" element that is popular in a lot of today's alternative and hit music.  If you're not familiar with the band's sound today, this album might be too loud and edgy for your tastes. For me, it's pushing the limit.

A friend mentioned to me recently that the Pandora music service was a great way to listen to music online and learn if there's any similar music you might like.  It's actually a very neat service from the point of view that its creators have analyzed the characteristics ("musical DNA") of various artists' music and categorized them.  If you tell them that you're a big Morrissey fan, they look at the characteristics of Morrissey's music and identify artists whose music is similar.  Then they play music by those artists, giving you a chance to see if you like any of them.  If you do, more of their music will appear in the stream you receive.  If you don't, they stop the song and quit playing that artist. 

Earlier in the year I review The Bloodhound Gang's CD Single "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo".  It was definitely a good disc.  Thus it was with some enthusiasm that I fired up this album on Rhapsody and gave it a listen.

This recently-released (September 27, 2005) album is the latest from the group.  It contains the title song of the CD Single I mentioned above as well as a number of other tracks.  Overall it pretty effectively mixes techno sounds with rock and the standard Bloodhound Gang lyrical delivery.

The cover of Hefty Fine, as you can see at the right, pictures a very large and apparently naked man inside a cardboard box, along with a warning to parents that the album contains some explicit lyrics (which it does, and which Bloodhound Gang fans expect).

The album runs a bit under 40 minutes, about 3 of which are silence, and that feels pretty short for a modern release to me.  On the other hand, most of the tracks are quality stuff, so better to have a shorter album with decent music than a longer one full of crap...

The album starts with the track "Balls Out" which starts out sounding a little like a dance track, but picks up.  The lyrics are delivered in a rap-like format for the most part, but the instrumentals feature a strong bass beat and some very jamming guitars.  If you thought the "explicit lyrics" sticker was an exaggeration, this song would convince you otherwise before it's over.  I think I heard most of George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on television in here.  On a 1-10 scale, I'd rate this one somewhere in the neighborhood of a 6, mostly due to the strength of its instrumentals.  The lyrics don't impress me that much, probably because I've grown up enough that it takes more than a stream of 4-letter words in a song for me to get a kick out of it.

What can I say about one of my all-time favorite web sites, Woot.com?  A lot, really.  But first, you'll need a little background.  Each day, the fine folks at Woot list one item up for sale, usually at a drastically reduced price (compared to other merchants online).  For example at a time when the best price I could find on The Matrix Ultimate Collector's Edition was $39.99, Woot was selling it for $29.99.  They sell a little of everything, including electronics, clothing, computer products, and home appliances.  But there's more to Woot than just good deals on consumer goods...

Much like the rest of us, J.D. "Illiad" Frazer has been having a lot of fun with Sony's Digital Rights Management (DRM) woes in his comic strip "User Friendly".  Below are the recent Sony-related strips, which link directly to the author's web site.  If you enjoy these as much as I do, PLEASE make it a point to visit and bookmark that site to show your support!

I've been practicing meditation for several years.  For me, it has provided a number of valuable benefits.  It's helped me reduce the effects of stress on my body.  It's helped me reduce my heart rate.  It's provided something akin to rest when I couldn't actually sleep.  While the medical community hasn't had much to say that's conclusive about meditation, they are starting to come out with some evidence that it can be a very good thing.

(Consider this article from NewScientist.com.  It points out that based on a recent study, those who meditate (even if they aren't experienced meditators) derive benefit from it.  In one test, where people were tested on a task after a short nap, a light conversation, or some meditation, there were results that surprised the scientists.  While most everyone improved after some sleep, when it came to meditation "Every single subject showed improvement".  Another study showed that those who meditate regularly actually see growth in their cortex, in areas involved in attention and sensory processing. 

If you've never tried meditation, I'm recommending some products below that might help you learn and begin.  The Jack Kornfield books are especially easy to follow and understand.

As I've said before on this blog, I've been a big fan of Cyndi Lauper since her early MTV days.  Back then, I enjoyed her brashness and the silly videos she did.  Over the years that followed, I began to really appreciate her vocal talents and songwriting ability.  When I heard that she put out a new album (thanks to the Rhapsody music service), I had to play it immediately.  It's an entirely acoustic version of many of her most popular songs, such as "Money Changes Everything" and "True Colors".

(This, BTW, is one of the nice things about Rhapsody compared to iTunes and Napster... you can play an entire album from beginning to end without having to buy it first.  If you like it, then you can buy it and burn it to CD or whatever.  If you don't, it was covered in your $9.99 monthly service fee.)

I've been a fan of The Beatles since they were still going into the recording studio.  Granted, I was around 3-4 years old then, but I remember it well and have never lost interest in them.  They're still one of my "go to" bands that I'll sit and listen to for hours on end.  In spite of this, I have never really liked much of Paul McCartney's solo work.  I like a fair amount of George Harrison's, probably 80-90% of John Lennon's (except where Yoko is singing), and perhaps more than 90% of Ringo Starr's.  But with Paul McCartney, my interest in his music has always been something less than 10% of the total.  It might even be less than 5%, I've never really tallied it up.  Keep that in mind as you read my review of Sir Paul's latest work, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" (which appears below).

This is my mom's recipe for Red Velvet Cake.  If you enjoy this dessert, you should like this recipe just fine...

Ever wonder what actually got installed on your Macintosh when you applied an Apple Software Update, installed an application, or applied a patch?   Ever need to "completely remove" a Mac OS X application but weren't sure how to find everything it installed (not everything goes in the "Applications" folder!)?  This article will help you solve that little problem.