If Computers Have A Sense Of Humor...

...then mine is certainly laughing at me right now.

You would think that after working with computers all day long that I would want to avoid them as much as possible when I get home from work but alas, I'm a sucker and I just can't get enough.

As an Apple user, I rarely have some kind of technical issue that I can't resolve [knock on wood] but I'll be damned if I'm not baffled.

A couple months ago, I noticed that the Superdrive [DVD Burning drive] was able to read/write CDs and read DVDs but it could not/would not burn a DVD. It would spit out some error about the device not responding properly. I struggled with it for a few weeks and then decided that the problem must actually lie with the physical drive itself. After much debate, I bought an external DVD drive a couple weeks ago and just opened it up tonight when we got home from seeing Tropic Thunder. My intent was to burn a copy of wedding photos for my mom since we're creeping up on one year and I haven't done so yet - yes, yes, I'm an evil child, I know this.

Anyways, I go to burn the disc tonight - same error.

I try a second disc - same error.

I try a third, this one by a different manufacturer - same error.

A fourth by yet another maker - same error.

Now, I'm perplexed. An error message that implies a hardware problem on two different drives seems near impossible to me. But if it's a software problem, where the hell is the problem and how do I resolve it?

And to make things more interesting, if the end result is a software problem, will the evil bastards at Best Buy let me return my drive? The plot thickens.

Stay tuned!

Bridge School: Reznor

In the past couple Bridge School posts, I talked about how great Trent Reznor was back in '06. Tonight, in desperate search of something to post so I can go tosleep, I found this clip from that show:

More Bridge School Rumors

Since the original Bridge School Benefit rumors post has proven to be so popular, I thought I'd do a followup since the lineup has yet to be announced - a fact that I'm more than a little surprised about really. I thought for sure it would be announced over the past week but nothing yet. The dates have been made official on both the Bridge School site and Pollstar though so I think this isn't the year Neil decides to cancel on all of us.

So... in the Comments section of the last post, some readers have suggested as possibilities:

-- Radiohead or Thom Yorke solo. There was some mention of the last time Radiohead played BSB they did a cover of a Neil song at a show shortly before it and I guess they covered Neil at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks back. This could be kind of cool. Admittedly, I'm not the hugest Radiohead fan [which shits all over my indie street cred for sure] but seeing them do an acoustic set could be a lot of fun.

-- Patti Smith was mentioned as a possibility today as apparently she has dates in town that week but nothing else on the books for that weekend. The same poster also shot down my Conor Oberst rumor since he has now added dates to that weekend.

Let's look for some other options...

-- Ted Leo
Could be possible for a Sunday set as he's in Portland on Sat but playing SF on Mon.

-- Tegan & Sara
In Los Angeles the week prior - nothing scheduled for BSB weekend

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but someone on the Coachella board had a list of "rumored" acts. I'm not sure if they really are rumors or a wishlist but...

Rage Against the Machine - I could see it, especially in an election year. And ordinarily, I'd shit on the idea of them playing acoustic but... well, Trent Reznor taught me to never do that. This, of course, lends itself to the other rumor that had been making the rounds of Morello performing solo in his folk project (which sounded a lot more likely to me.)

Pearl Jam - Seems like a good year for them to play but there are rumors to the contrary as well.

Jane's Addiction - That's an interesting one. I'd dig it a lot as I've never seen Jane's live - but I gotta think this is someone's dream pick.

Foo Fighters - Possible since they're playing a few shows.

Nine Inch Nails - Also possible since they're out there right now.

Brian Wilson - See above. Of course, if you get four of the people on this list, it's BSB '06 all over again.

Something that I have absolutely nothing to support but kinda popped into my head today. What about Beck? Also, Tom Petty is just wrapping up a tour this year and would be amazing at BSB.

Anyways... I guess we'll all know in a few days but to kinda wrap up this subject, I'm going to post my dream/logical BSB '08 lineup considering all the "rumored" names we've thrown out there over the past few weeks.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Pearl Jam
Tom Morello
Tegan & Sara
Radiohead
Wilco
The Kooks
Tina Turner

Of course, in the end, we can all hold out hope that The Boss shows up - solo or with the E Street Band - to rock the joint.

I Love It When A Jam Comes Together

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of unusual and creative covers.  I'm also a fan of crazy collaborations that you would not expect to see.  

So, this morning, I got a special treat while digging through mp3 blogs I've neglected for a couple weeks.  Apparently, My Morning Jacket does a live cover of Erykah Badu's hit "Tyrone" from a few years ago - a song that I probably only remember because I have this vague recollection of the Missus singing the hook over and over and over again.

Here's the formula...

My Morning Jacket - a band that I've never really checked out (but apparently should judging by stuff I've read) doing a wacky out-of-genre cover = awesome

When you combine that live cover with Ms. Badu herself showing up to slam down the vocals, the result is pure greatness.

Check it, yo!

Make Mine Marvel

Ahhh, Hollywood is so predictable sometimes.

It always amazes me that whenever a major blockbuster film hits, the studios fall all over themselves trying to make "the next "  We see it every once in a while with disaster movies - remember the summer of Volcano AND Dante's Peak?  Genres get it by the boatload - after Scream, how many horrific (no pun intended) teen horror movies did we get?  

Over the past few weeks here on the B-Spot, we've talked about various comic book properties that would do well to follow in the footsteps of this summer's amazing Iron Man and The Dark Knight runs.  We even discussed (I think) Warner Bros. decision to push on with the Green Lantern and Superman flicks.  Now, it's time for Marvel to get in on the fun with the folks at Fox.

A small excerpt from today's Variety...

Though Fox has no plans for a major overhaul, the studio has scheduled a strategy meeting to assess the status of its superheroes, a group sorely missed this summer. On the agenda, Fox will mull the possibility of more "X-Men"spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as "Deadpool," based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in "Wolverine." The studio is even considering reviving the "Daredevil" property.

Hrmm.  More X-Men spinoffs.  I'm reserving judgment on more X-Men movies until I see Wolverine.  X-Men 3 really killed my love for that series so... yeah.  I'll hold off on being excited by the idea of more X movies.  However, I think a Deadpool movie could be a lot of fun.  It's too bad that Cable/Deadpool would translate really poorly, IMO, on the silver screen.  And more Daredevil movies?  Make it so!  Daredevil is badly in need of a franchise.  

A few other comic book movie related notes...

Someone left a comment on this blog today about a black Captain America being "racist."  I think it was a joke - maybe... sorta.  Marvel has obviously set a history in place for race-changing their heros [see: Nick Fury] when the mood strikes them so I'm not opposed to a black Captain America.  What I am opposed to is the friggin' Fresh Prince playing Captain America.  Oh, and if you're really curious, Marvel did an interesting [but horribly drawn] mini-series a few years ago called "Truth" which told the story of a group of black soldiers who were experimented on with the Super Soldier Serum before they gave it to Steve Rogers who then became Captain America.  It was actually a fantastic premise for a story that I think was poorly executed if my memory serves me right.

Michael Caine stirred the shit today when he told MTV that Warner Bros execs had told him that Johnny Depp would be playing The Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be playing The Penguin in a third installment of the Bat-Movies.  Of course, these are both now long-standing rumors that have been tossed around online so there's no telling if Mr. Caine really knows something we don't know, is mistaken, or is just jerking the chain of the Internet en masse.  Here's hoping the former because that's a movie I'd like to see.

The final thing was a Yahoo piece going over The Dark Knight's chances at an Oscar nod.  Besides the technical stuff, they seem to agree that the only shot is Heath for a supporting acting nod.  I... just can't see it.  I would love to see it but as Kate Winslet summed up so perfectly in her guest spot on Extras... you only win Oscars for movies about the Holocaust or if you "play a mental."  Hrm... I guess The Joker is kind of a mental.  We'll see!

  

Random Randomocity

Some thoughts about some stuff...

UFC Fighter Evan Tanner Found Dead
I guess this would somewhat qualify as "breaking news" since it just hit the wires tonight. Weird story. Evan Tanner's always been known as a kind of weird guy. He's had his demons chasing him for a long time and really always came off as a fighter who fought so he'd have enough money to not have a normal job. The most recent time he emerged from the shadows, he had this crazy, amazingly cool beard that I was envious of. Basically, he decided to go on some kind of adventurous camping trip and blogged somewhere telling people that it was the kind of trip where he could die if something went wrong. Well, something went wrong and they found his remains out in the desert somewhere. Like I said, weird story.

Dodgers Engaged In Match Play
I wasn't going to post about this out of jinxing fears but a loss tonight changed my mind. So, at this stage of the season with a 1.5 game lead, the Dodgers have their postseason hopes in their hands. If they win their games, it doesn't matter what anyone else does. Of course, when you decide to get shut out by the last place Padres, you have to do a little bit of scoreboard watching. Here's how it breaks down. If the other team wins, you need to win. If the other teams loses, it'd be real nice to win - but if you have to lose, make it on that night. Tonight, the D-Backs lost - the Dodgers used up their loss too. Hope you enjoyed it, fellas!

Chris Jericho - New WWE Champ
Eh. Why not? If you've got an amazingly over heel act right now, might as well hitch your wagon to it and see where it takes you. I liked seeing Punk with the title but Jericho as the smarmy heel champ is a lot of fun too. To be honest, I've been a little over the current wrestling scene lately. I usually skim Raw, I might occasionally watch ECW, I usually skim or skip Smackdown, and I almost never watch TNA. I think I'd watch my WWE 24/7 package if I had it back but so far, I haven't been bothered to get it back. Too much other stuff to think about lately.

New TV Season Begins
I haven't been as excited for this TV season starting as I have in recent memory. I think it might be because Lost and 24, the two shows I'm most eager to see again, won't start until 2009. It'll be nice to see The Office, 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother, and some of the others back soon though. So far? The Entourage premiere was underwhelming, The Shield's long-awaited return was solid, and the Gossip Girl premiere was fun. Everything else (Sons of Anarchy, 90210, True Blood) sits on the DVR unwatched so far.

Apple Media Event Tomorrow
New iPods? New iTunes? Deal me in. And you just never know if you'll get a "One more thing..." that knocks the gadget world on their collective ears. It should be an interesting couple of days.

Will Smith as Captain America
Robert Downey Jr... Ed Norton... Will Smith? One of these things is not like the others. I pray this is just a wild rumor with no substance.

What's The Deal With Wasting Money?

I know, I know - everyone's going to say, "Oh, the whole point is to get people talking about it and you're talking about it!" but seriously...

What the fuck is up with the Microsoft/Seinfeld commercial?

It isn't funny. It's isn't clever. It isn't witty. It isn't even mildly amusing. It just struck me as really, really dumb and really annoying. I felt like it was ninety seconds of my life that I'll never get back.

If this is the best they can do when trying to "combat" the Apple ads, we see yet one more reason why Apple continues to have the "cool" factor while Microsoft... well, is at the furthest end of the spectrum away from cool.

However, I will give them a slight nod for the Vista commercial I saw today. I don't believe it for a second but I think that people who don't dislike Microsoft by nature might buy into it. It just goes to show that it's not impossible for Microsoft to make an effective ad - which makes the Seinfeld bit even worse.

Against my better judgment to "spread their message," I kinda have to supply the "art" in this post to make it worthwhile for you.

I'd usually tell you to "Enjoy!" but you're not going to so... yeah.





And just to give the good guys equal time...