Several years ago I began the process of archiving my CD collection I have over 4,000 CD’s and have been importing them into iTunes. I began the archival process by purchasing vinyl sleeves and cardboard boxes from Univenture, they’re high quality vinyl sleeves and the boxes are sharp looking. Before I had an entire wall and a half covered in those ugly plastic CD cases and now I have all of the CD’s fitted into 21 small boxes. I threw out the jewel cases and packed the artwork and the CD’s into the vinyl sleeves from Univenture. Here’s a picture of the outcome; I numbered the boxes in order from A to Z and the last few boxes compilations in alphabetical order. It was a long process but It looks much nicer than walls of CD’s.
John Beck
Athlete. Artist. Agnostic. Humanist. Skeptic. Unfinished.
Fever Ray wins best dance artist in Sweden
Fever Ray won the best dance artist in Sweden. As you know I’ve been following and blogging about Fever Ray all year and seeing them live back in September was one of the most amazing concerts that I’ve ever been to. Here’s a video of Fever Ray accepting the award for best dance artist in Sweden. I’m not sure who that is accepting the award, I don’t even think it’s anyone in the band:
iPhone 3G
Last weekend I got an unlocked/jailbroken 16GB iPhone 3G off of eBay to work on my T-Mobile plan. I had to install some tweaks to get things working properly. I had to install a tweak to get YouTube working, so that’s done. I’m still having trouble with MMS so if anyone has any info on that send it my way. I can send pictures, i’m just getting an error when receiving them. I also had to install a tweak to get push notifications working. And because it’s jailbroken I installed a few customizations as well, so far everything is working real nice!
So, what does everyone have installed on their iPhone? I’ve had my iPhone for just over a week and here’s what I have installed:
Facebook
Echofon (Twitter app with location based tweets)
NetNewsWire (RSS app that syncs to Google Reader)
iHandy Level (iPhone leveler)
The Weather Channel
Yellow Pages (with location based searching)
Amazon.com (complete access to Amazon.com in a little app)
Pandora (Internet radio, works wonderfully, even in the car!)
ESPN ScoreCenter (up to the second sports scores with push notifications)
Wikipanion (complete access to Wikipedia in a little app)
IMDb (complete access to IMDb in a little app)
AP Mobile (latest news headlines with push notifications)
Urbanspoon (restaurant finder and reviews)
Yelp (restaurant finder and reviews)
So, can anyone recommend any apps for me to check out? Or possibly better apps than I have listed.
What do you have installed?
I got a small package….
I got a small package. What? No really, I got a small package in the mail today. The package is from the beautiful and talented Rachel Case. The package contains a gorgeous set of cuff links that she made specially for me. Don’t believe me? Have a look:
Thanks a ton Rachel, you’ve provided me with a unique accessory that I can hardly wait to show off!
RHO – RAE
A lovely surprise was waiting in the mailbox for me today. My friend Rachel sent me a postcard. It’s no ordinary postcard. It’s a limited edition, #1 of 6, linocut that she and her companion made together. I feel so fortunate to not only receive one but receive the first one! It is truly an honor, thank you Rachel and Rhodes! Here’s a picture of me with the postcard followed by what is written on the card:
And the card reads “make more art, learn italian, go for hikes, keep in touch with friends, spontaneous road trips, drink more water, volunteer”
On the opposite side is what you’d expect from a postcard, a personal greeting to me! Thank you Rachel and Rhodes, you are both extremely talented and it’s privilege to have you both as friends.
Ryan Newman fan club 2010
I described last year’s Ryan Newman fan club package in my blog with great excitement. I just got the new one today and although I am excited about this year’s package it’s not nearly as awesome. Here’s the contents of this year’s package:
The official 2010 Ryan Newman fan club membership card, a Rangers Boats visor, a Ryan Newman fan club poncho, a Ryan Newman #39 round decal, a Ryan Newman fan club key chain, a Ryan Newman fan club pen, a Ryan Newman fan club t-shirt (which is nicer than last year’s) and a small stick of Old Spice deodorant all packaged in a Ryan Newman fan club tote bag.
Over all pretty cool for a fan club package, a fan club that is relatively inexpensive to join so just expecting all of that is awesome but last year’s package was even more awesome. Still pretty cool. GO Ryan Newman!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! 2009 has come and gone and has left us with many great memories.
My favorite film of the year was Inglorious Basterds. I also really enjoyed Moon. Sure I haven’t gotten to the movies that much this year but those two were my favorite.
I have watched a whole lot of TV this year though, that’s a fact! My favorite show of the year was Battlestar Galactica. I still think about that mind-blowing final episode. Wow! There were a lot of other great shows in 2009 so I have to also give credit to Dexter, Curb Your Enthusiasm, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Entourage. Some of the best shows on TV. Of course I have to give an honorable mention to Dirty Jobs, that show is always a sure thing.
I also listened to a bunch of great new albums this year and if you’re a regular reader of my blog you know that I’ve been talking about the Fever Ray album all year. It’s made many best of 2009 lists. Also, another album that is my favorite of the year is “Merriweather Post Pavillion” by Animal Collective. Those 2 albums are my most listened to of all the new releases of 2009. They’re both extremely unique and fantastic albums, not to mention the Fever Ray concert that I went to in September is probably the best concert that I’ve ever been to.
I also have to point out these other great albums, “Two Suns” by Bat For Lashes, “March of the Zapotec/Holland” by Beirut, “Eating Us” by Black Moth Super Rainbow, “Bromst” by Dan Deacon, “Veckatimest” by Grizzly Bear, La Roux, “Living Thing” by Peter Bjorn and John, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” by Phoenix and “Dance Mother” by Telepathe.
I should also point out that a new Depeche Mode album came out this year. Sure it’s far from my favorite of the year but I just felt that I should point it out because they’re one of my favorite bands.
That’s all, be sure to check out Fever Ray and Animal Collective, Inglorious Basterds and the final season of Battlestar Galactica! and Happy New Year!
The Loot
Here’s some of the stuff that Santa brought me for Christmas. I’m telling you, that dude totally rocks!
a Baltimore Ravens shot glass, the incredible book Sharp Suits, Jack Daniels coffee, a Baltimore Ravens lighter, a Ryan Newman license plate frame, a beautiful new pair of Doc Martens, a sweet pair of Kenneth Cole cuff links and a gorgeous Kenneth Cole tie bar, a stick of hard salami, Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe CD/DVD and a Baltimore Ravens toothbrush!
What did everyone else get?
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, my buddy James out in San Francisco sent me a Christmas card. Here’s what he wrote inside:
Thanks buddy! Merry Christmas to you too! I hope you come back to NJ soon!
2009 Christmas card
Here’s my design for my 2009 Christmas card that I will be giving out. What do you think?
Last year were hand drawn cards of sardines which came with a can of sardines. This year it’s a collage. I originally wanted to incorporate random images from Wikipedia entries. That was taking a lot longer than I had hoped so I just went with the minimal route, which is more my style anyway. What do you think?