Olympics

A couple of days ago I thought of posting something about why I hate the Winter Olympics, aside from the fact that so many of the events are incredibly lame. The reason: that they're so white. Nobody but rich white Americans and Europeans play any of these sports. Major countries, like Mexico, don't even bother to field teams. It's fun to poke fun at the Jamaican bobsledding team, of course, but drawing from such a limited demographic means that these athletes just aren't as good as those in many of the summer events. What did Hans and Frans call them? The girlie olympics or the baby olympics or something.

I wish I'd posted it then, though, because something happened today that only amplifies my point: a speed skater by the name of Shani Davis of the U.S. team became the first black person ever to win an individual gold medal at the winter games.

iPod Quirk

I can't seem to get the iPod to "cross-fade" songs into one another like iTunes does on my PC. I checked the "iPod options" for it via iTunes and it's set (as it apparently comes from the factory) at six seconds, but it's not doing it. Anybody have any suggestions (Dave?).

Hmm, it looks like a lot of the options under "iPod options" aren't for the iPod at all, but rather for iTunes, despite being accessed by right-clicking my iPod option and clicking "iPod options." That's fucked up.

Super Lame

XL apparently stood for Xtra Lame. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves, including the Rolling Stones.

A few recent iTunes downloads:

Grateful Dead: Uncle John's Band
Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side
Hendrix: Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
Ringo Starr: Photograph
ELO: Living Thing
Bowie: Rebel Rebel, Fame, Modern Love
The Youngbloods: Get Together
Peter Tosh (with M. Jagger): Don't Look Back

So far I've downloaded 69 songs all together, and I'm starting to run out. Apart from iTunes downloads there are quite a few physical CD's of my very favorites I need to buy, many of them to replace stuff I've managed to lose over the years and other to have more complete coverage. People like Van Morrison, Warren Zevon, Paul Simon, the Clash, the Pogues, Dylan, The Band, Little Feat and a bunch of others. In some other cases I think I'm forced to buy CD's just because some things aren't on iTunes.

Super Bowl

Sunday is the Super Bowl. At first I wasn't sure who to root for, but I'm going to have to go with the Steelers. The reasons:

1. I sort of have the impression that Paul Allen is a douchebag.
2. In addition to the Seahawks, he owns my former-and-never-again cable TV provider, Charter Communications, which as a company is definitely a douchebag.
3. If Seattle loses, the people there are still living in a nice city. People from Pittsburgh don't have much else.
4. It doesn't get very cold in Seattle, and only drizzles lightly, but the latte-swilling weenies who pass for football fans there need a stadium with a high-tech cantalevered roof that covers the seats. Pittsburgh has horrible winter weather, but the fans sit out in the open, as the good lord intended.
5. I'm a Dolphins fan, so I generally favor the AFC.
6. I think the Steelers are going to win anyway.

Yet again, you heard it here first

Once again, as with the New Orleans levee break, markci.com is your source for future news. This from cnn.com today:

Lawsuit: iPods may cause ... eh?

Man claims decibel levels, earphones contribute to hearing loss

Thursday, February 2, 2006; Posted: 2:26 p.m. EST (19:26 GMT)

A California lawsuit filed Tuesday states that Apple's iPod players can cause hearing loss.

Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint.

The iPod players are "inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss," according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on behalf of John Kiel Patterson, of Louisiana.

Interestingly, the guy isn't claiming he actually has hearing damage, only that Apple sold him a device that makes damage possible. Another tidbit: Apple was forced to pull iPods off the shelves in France in order to limit volumes to 100 dB, which they haven't done in the U.S.

Dave, you may want read the fine print on any future iPod software updates carefully.