retroblog.net

Until recently, I was one of the last remaining holdouts from the glorious world of the iPod. I didn’t like the fact that Apple forces all iPod owners to use their proprietary software (iTunes). I personally hate being restricted in that sense and have been using alternative mp3 players these last few years. But while on a recent trip to CostCo, the sleek new design of the fifth generation iPod nano finally lured me over to the “dark side”. Plus, CostCo had the 8GB model at a price-point that I couldn’t resist. I’m pleased to report that the user interface as well as the sound of the new nano are both superb. The color screen is bright and sharp and the video camera is a nice added feature. The placement of the camera lens is a bit odd but I guess I’ll get used to it.

Since I’m your typical music buff with a blog, I’m constantly listening to music. I’ve already filled my iPod pretty much to the gills with my current music collection. perhaps, I should have sprung for the 16GB edition. Anyway, I’m now looking for an iPod-ready speaker system for me to use so that I don’t have to constantly wear my Bose in-ear headphones around the house. The recently released Yamaha PDX-60 is currently on the top of my list of affordable docking systems. The neat thing about the Yamaha system is that you can dock your iPod on a wireless base and the music is streamed to the main speaker unit. With the wireless feature, you can basically lounge back and change playlists right on your iPod without having to get up like you would on a typical docking system. The unit utilizes the proprietary yAired technology in which the music is transferred uncompressed that ultimately helps keep the sound full, rich and detailed.
I’ll have to hear the unit for myself before I can make my final decision but reading through preliminary reviews, it seems the unit is capable of providing a full and balanced soundscape for a broad range of music styles.

here are the specifications for the PDX-60:
Supported iPods: iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and iPod (5th generation)
features: iPod charging, remote control, wireless technology
speakers: Bass-reflex
Frequency Response: 60 Hz–20 kHz
Woofer: Dual 3-1/4″ full-range cone
Product Dimensions (W x H x D) : 13-3/4″ x 4-1/4″ x 4-7/8″
Product Weight (lbs.) : 3.7

Here’s an interesting rock news item. According to this morning’s press release, guitarist extraordinaire Nuno Bettencourt has agreed to be part of Rihanna’s live band. Talk about a head scratcher. But I guess in this economy, even a “rock guitar god” has to seek out these types of opportunities in order to pay the bills. Evidently, playing in Rihanna’s band is more lucrative than doing another tour with his main band, Extreme. Ya can’t blame the guy for trying to earn some bank … but really, with Rihanna? I’m not hearing a lot of scorching guitar leads in her music, at least in my mind. who knows, maybe Nuno’s presence in her band will completely change her sound…

here’s the official announcement – November 16, 2009
Guitar virtuoso, Nuno Bettencourt, has joined forces with Rihanna and will be her 2010 world tour lead guitarist. The unexpected combination of Grammy Award winning R&B artist, Rihanna, and Rock guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, has in fact become what Nuno says, “A great opportunity to blend our talents to create a high energy experience”.

It is clear Nuno has been one of the most influential rock guitarists of our time, and will continue to do what he does best, perform. As for the future of Extreme, Nuno explains, “NO… this is NOT the end of Extreme. We have a live DVD and CD coming out in early 2010 and we will be writing new material throughout the year. We had a great run across the globe on Saudades de Rock… and we’ll be back.”
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Speculation is at its peak now that there’s less than a week left before the world premiere of Banana Shpeel at the Chicago Theatre. With no sneak peeks or advanced reviews, most of us theater fans are pretty much left in the dark on what to expect from the brand new Cirque du Soleil show. Playbill.com recently reported that Serge Roy and David Shiner had to make the difficult decision to rewrite the whole show to streamline the plot. Unfortunately, the two love interests, Emmett and Katie had to written out of the show. The change was very unexpected especially when the initial press events heavily featured the two actors in those roles, Michael Longoria and Annaleigh Ashford.

But I suppose the creative team was simply doing what needed to be done to live up to “Cirque du Soleil” standards. And there seems to be a ton of interest in this show since Banana Shpeel is a bit of a departure for the successful entertainment brand. Cirque du Soleil is known the world over for their complex acrobatic trapeze acts and unique contortionists but with Banana Shpeel, they’re attempting to do a twist on vaudeville in a traditional theater-type setting.

My personal favorite show of theirs is “Love” but I’m sort of biased since I’m a life-long Beatles fan. The visual interpretation of Beatles classics was absolutely breathtaking and the newly remixed Beatles music in surround-sound was simply to die-for.

I can’t wait to hear more about Banana Shpeel once the show finally opens. With the show being promoted as being “light and fun”, expect big laughs and a lot of clowning around. Zany humor, clowns and slap-stick aren’t usually associated with the usual Cirque du Soleil show but I, for one, applaud the creative team behind Banana Shpeel for branching out and going for something completely different. Be sure to head on over to the Cirque du Soleil website for show dates and ticket information.

To celebrate next week’s CD/DVD release of Paul McCartney’s Good Evening New York City, I thought I’d share some tracks from his 1990 tour. It was his first tour in nearly a decade and he basically traveled the world over to support his superb Flower in the Dirt album.

The following are from McCartney’s April 21st, 1990 gig in Rio, Brazil. A record breaking 184,000 people attended the show.

My Brave Face
Ever since you went away I’ve had this sentimental
inclination not to change a single thing.
as I pull the sheets back on the bed I want to go bury my head
In your pillow.
We Got Married
It’s not just a loving machine, it doesn’t work out
if you don’t work at it.
This One
What opportunities did we allow to flow by
Feeling like the timing wasn’t quite right?
What kind of magic might have worked if we had stayed calm,
Couldn’t I have given you a better life?
Put it There
I don’t care if it weighs a ton,
as long as you and I are here, put it there.
P.S. Love Me Do
Someone to love, somebody new
Someone to love, someone like you
Let ‘em In
Someone’s knockin’ at the door
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell
Do me a favor, open the door and let ‘em in

The live band featured: Paul, Linda McCartney (on keyboards), Wix Wickens (keyboards), Hamish Stuart (bass, guitar), Robbie McIntosh (lead guitar), Chris Whitten (drums).

enjoy!! happy friday!!

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It’s amazing when you think about how the internet has evolved over the last decade or so. I still remember those static HTML pages that were hosted on geocities way back when. Websites are no longer static and are dynamically rendered using powerful PHP scripts. Not only that but everything is interactive and constantly being updated with blog comments, tweets and status updates. I can’t even fathom the amount of new content that gets created on the web every minute of the day. How do we even try to keep track of it all? Tried and true search engines have been very helpful in this manner but even search engines have to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing web.

Take leapfish for example. LeapFish not only features real-time searching capabilities, their on-screen portal includes facebook, twitter and digg applications so that you can share info and interact with friends all in one place. Why go to all these separate websites to perform different tasks when you can do search, be informed, interact and share through the LeapFish portal.

I tested out the search aspect of LeapFish by using the term “AWATS”. It’s an acronym related to Todd Rundgren’s album “A Wizard a True Star” that he’s currently performing live in concert. Leapfish’s results are nicely organized in separate categories instead of just a straight list of links. There’s a section for web results and then a separate list of videos, photos and twitter feeds. the side bar conveniently displays related links from Digg, facebook and amazon. Leapfish correctly identified AWATS as a Rundgren album and gathered videos, photos and links from the recent shows in Akron. I like the look and feel of the website and think the added social networking apps are great additions to the search portal.

Head on over to LeapFish and check out the next level in search engines.

Kudos to the writers of Dancing with the Stars for bringing on the funny in the Dance Center segment on last night’s results show. The twisted take on ESPN’s SportsCenter featured Kenny Mayne and Jerry Rice, who were both former contestants of the show. Judge Len Goodman was also there to help out with the commentary.

The running gag on shoe sizes was hilarious along with some good natured ribbing of the current contestants:
Joanna Krupa – laughs like a seal
Donny Osmond – “acts like a three year old on sugar”
Aaron Carter – “has the lowest pain threshold of any man I’ve ever seen in my life”
Kelly Osborne – “she’s got a cute accent but she swears like a trucker”
Mya – “needs counseling, got anger problems”

And thank goodness Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff are finally off the show. their on-screen antics definitely got on my nerves this season.

At this point it looks like the highly sought after DWTS trophy will be going to either Donny Osmond or Joanna Krupa. at least in my opinion anyway. stay tuned…
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While booking a trip for my parents the other day, I came across a great deal offered by British Airways that I thought I’d share here with my readers. They’re currently running a promotion called the “World Sale” to help remind travelers their world-class service is not only for routes in and out of the U.K. but also for the rest of Europe, India, Africa and the Middle East. Along with their great fares, British Airways offer “upgrades” that you won’t find anywhere else including: more than 200 on-demand entertainment options, complimentary food and cocktails on ALL flights, ergonomically designed seating and of course their world-renowned customer service. You can save even more by combining hotel reservations and car rentals when you book your flight.

Currently, flights from JFK to London are only $659, round-trip. Flights to Madrid are only $755, round-trip. I booked a flight to Rome for my folks for just $749 each, round-trip. They had a fabulous vacation in Italy a couple years ago and they’re ready to go back and explore the country some more. It’s not too late to book your own vacation. Head on over to the British Airways website before November 19th to take advantage of the special sale.

And speaking of British Airways, they put together a special website for frequent flyers of New York and London, highlighting the best of both cities called MetroTwin. It’s a handy resource that helps you find a great restaurant, attraction or place to shop. The best thing about MetroTwin is the interactivity. Add your own two-cents on various hot-spots, vote for your favorite places and even submit your own photos to the site. It’s definitely a must-see for New Yorkers and Londoners alike.

While browsing through the online destination guide that’s also available on the British Airways site, I was reminded a trip I took in my youth that I’d love to re-live again with my wife and kids. It’s a trip to Prague in the Czech Republic. I loved the incredible architecture, the intriguing castles, the food and of course their culture. Hopefully I can save up enough to take my whole family there in the near future.

here’s an update on my ongoing struggle with my former webhost. They still haven’t responded to my emails, support tickets or my formal request to cancel my account via their client area. can it get any worse than this? they should at least have the decency to address their paying clients on what’s going on? Apparently I’m lucky to have been able to get my websites off their servers.

and I’m NOT alone in this situation. there are others in the same boat. check out some of the comments left in various discussion forums about this company –

from webhostingtalk –
pkingtom: I have been a client of SolidInternet for exactly 7 years back since they were Myacen. I was able to deal with the fact that their customer service was less than desirable. It was a little better as Myacen but SolidInternet seemed to adopt the philosophy that customer service was less needed.
I was never able to access their forums because it would not allow me to register. For months ever since they changed their site I have not been able to access my account page. So they started to automatic bill me. I did not make a big deal of it because for the most part my site was staying up.
NOW, there is a BIG problem. My site has been down since early Monday evening. TWO of their servers (server 4 and server 8 ) were down in red on their server status page when I checked up until Tuesday night. Since then, they have removed their support page (and server status page) and replaced it with a page that says “Back Soon.” They have also removed their live chat which didn’t work once you entered it anyway.
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After listening to Bill Champlin’s latest album No Place Left to Fall, I think I now understand why he left Chicago. Champlin sounds so free and alive on this record. Chicago had become creatively stagnant, releasing only two albums worth of new material in the last twenty years. I’m sure the steady income from touring was nice and all but playing the same set year after year probably took its toll on Champlin. The new album is full of energy and ideas and it’s an absolute joy to listen to. It’s Champlin at his finest, running the full gamut of styles from laidback funk/R&B (Total Control, Tugging at your Sleeve) to acoustic pop (Look Away), gospel (Looking for You) to Chicago-esque ballads (Never Been Afraid, All Along).

The musicianship here is top notch with Champlin on keyboards & Hammond B-3, Bruce Gaitsch on guitar, Billy Ward on drums and George Hawkins Jr. on bass. The standout track for me is “No Place Left to Fall”. It’s tastefully restrained with Champlin and band holding back and keeping things at its bare minimum during the whole track. I love that tension that is built during the song and really serves the track well. It takes a truly mature musician to know not to “play out” on every song.

other favorites include: “Total Control”, “The Truth”, “Looking for You” and “All Along”.

retroGrade: A
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Bill Champlin – No Place Left to Fall
released in the U.S.: August 2009
record label: Dreammakers
official website: BillChamplin.net

TRACKLIST:
1 Total Control (Champlin, Graydon) 05:19
2 Tuggin’ on Your Sleeve (Caruso, Champlin, Champlin) 05:53
3 The Truth (Champlin, Gaitsch) 04:16
4 No Place Left to Fall (Caruso, Champlin, Champlin) 04:10
5 Lover Like That (Champlin) 05:39
6 Lookin’ for You (Champlin, Matkosky) 04:24
7 Never Been Afraid (Carlsson, Champlin) 04:56
8 Angelina (Champlin, Gaitsch, Hawkins) 06:16
9 Look Away (Warren) 06:34
10 I Want You to Stay (Burnett, Gaitsch) 04:51
11 Never Let Go (Carlsson, Champlin) 04:25
12 Stone Cold Hollywood (Champlin) 04:41
13 All Along (Champlin, Gaitsch, Hawkins) 06:41

listen to a sample of “Total Control” via Lala.com

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just to update those that are wondering.. retroblog.net has finally made it over to the new webhost. It would have been MUCH easier if my former host allowed cpanel backup/restores but like I mentioned before, they “conveniently” had the feature disabled. to make matters even more difficult, they disabled access to the mysql databases as well. So essentially, I had to manually transfer all my files via FTP and then transfer all my archived blog posts using the WP import/export feature. It took a lot more time and effort, but at least NOW I’m no longer hosted on that “sinking ship” of a web hosting company.

It’s absolutely bizarre. support tickets go unanswered. no replies to emails. Their client support area on their company website doesn’t properly work either. what is the deal?? I couldn’t get a straight answer from these people. weird stuff. So it was definitely THE TIME to jump ship.

I did put in a request to cancel my account but I suspect my request will go unanswered as well.