Category: Music

America by Chicago

America by Chicago

I was feeling mellow this morning and listened to a little Chicago which is one of my favorite bands of all time. America from Chicago came on and I couldn’t resist looking up the lyrics and now I want to post them here.

“America”

America, America is free
America
America is you and me

The dream is fading before our eyes
Take some time to revive it
“We the people” must start right now
Don’t expect our leaders to show us how
They don’t have a clue what to do
If they knew how to stop the slide
We’d have seen some signs by now
To turn back the tide

We can’t keep havin’ you make our rules
When you treat us common folk like fools
It’s time we stand up for our rights
Put Congress in our political sights
Make them pass laws that help us all
The founding fathers echo will be heard in the hall
By the people, for the people, everyone equal
‘Cause this is

America, America is free
America
Everyone’s free
America, America is free
America
America is you and me

Our declaration tells us we’re all free and equal
No religion, no color, just people
No one better, no one worse
Everyone comes first

Time to unite as a nation
Go all-in with no hesitation
Let’s not shy away from what’s right
Let’s not shy away from the fight
If we work together at a steady pace
We will make the lane we love a better place
A better…

America is on Chicago XXXVI (yes, their 36 album and 24th studio album).

What did Apple do wrong with U2 album?

What did Apple do wrong with U2 album?

horse mouth photoI have read a few complaints about Apple giving away the U2 album Songs of Innocence. I don’t understand the outrage. I had ignored the ruckus until I read an article in one of my favorite blogs, Successful Workplace.

What did Apple do to incur this outrage? All the company did was give away an album that was going to be widely popular anyway. But instead people have come out against Apple for their generosity.

You may not love U2, but a lot of people do. Apple spent a reported $100 million dollars to give a gift to a lot of people.

Some are upset that Apple chose the new U2 album instead a new album by some other band that was struggling and trying to make ends meet. I am sorry, but these people that are complaining must surely be Democrats – complaining because they didn’t get to choose the free gift. In some cases, it is the bands themselves that are are yelling, “Unfair!” They feel jilted simply because they did not get paid a check that they didn’t deserve. If Apple had put some obscure band on my phone, I would be very frustrated since they would then be pushing their weird choices on many people.

Instead, they chose the new U2 album. U2 is arguably, the most widely purchased and honored band on the planet that is still actively making new music and drawing huge crowds. Sure, I would have loved it if they gave me a new cool album by Rolling Stones or The Beatles but the last I checked those bands aren’t putting out great music anymore.

The other major sin from Apple is they have created a service that allows convenience to consumers. They created the ability to have your music downloaded to your device whenever it becomes available. This is a great feature of the iTunes music service. It means that when you purchase a newly released album in advance of its release date, that album is downloaded to your device. This is true even if someone (like Apple) purchases the new album (like the new U2 album) for you. You can easily turn this feature off if you don’t like the convenience, but the number of downloads implies that the users wanted this to happen or didn’t understand their phone well enough to turn the feature off.

What happened to the days when people said thank you when given a gift? It used to be that if somebody gave you something you didn’t complain. My mother taught me that even if the gift was not perfect, I should be thankful for the thought. So Apple has given a gift that cost them millions of dollars. Now people are complaining about that gift.

I have a better suggestion. Why don’t we just say, “Thank you.” If you don’t like the gift of the new U2 album, don’t whine and complain about it. Delete it and get on with your life.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The new U2 album is free. If you don’t like the album, don’t listen to it, and listen to something else.

Update:

As I have explained, the U2 album should be considered a gift. That is exactly how Apple describes it in their ad they just sent out via email.

U2 from iTunes is a gift

 

Photo by tanakawho

Traditional hymn was played by a current Muslim

Traditional hymn was played by a current Muslim

Across the street from my home is a Presbyterian church. I don’t go to that church but instead attend a Lutheran church down the street.

A couple times a day, every day, the church plays a hymn or two on their carillon system. Some of the hymns I recognize as traditional Christian hymns, and some I don’t recognize at all.

This afternoon I heard the tune from “Morning Has Broken” made popular by Cat Stevens. I was talking with my neighbor at the time (we were complaining about the lack of rainfall we were experiencing) and he started to laugh saying that it was funny that a Presbyterian Church was playing a song by a Muslim (referring to the fact that Cat Stevens is now a declared Muslim and goes by the name, Yusef Islam). Cat’s original name is Steve Georgiou.

I had to break it to my neighbor that Cat didn’t write the song. The song was originally a hymn and was first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Gaelic tune known as “Bunessan” (no, I didn’t know that last sentence off the top of my head – I had to look it up to confirm it).

To the best of my knowledge, Cat was not a Muslim at the time of the recording.

Below is an embedded video of the hymn (sung by Cat Stevens aka Steve Georgiou aka Yusef Islam). An interesting tidbit, Rick Wakeman (of YES fame) does the piano opening for the song but never was paid for his studio efforts and never acknowledged on the credits of the original album.

General Larry Platt – Get your pants off the ground

General Larry Platt – Get your pants off the ground

When I ranted on this before, I told young men to pull their pants up.  Recently, General Larry Platt told young men to get your pants off the ground because you are looking like a fool. He also told them to straighten up their baseball caps. He wrote a simple but catchy little tune and then went to try out on American Idol and it has been a hit!  I am sure the producers of American Idol are going to make the most of this “celebrity” and his catchy little tune.

According to other sites, the General is not really a general but he is an activist.  He walked with Martin Luther King, has been honored by the city of Atlanta, and the Georgia legislature has honored the man. September 4, 2001 was designated as Larry Platt Day in Atlanta.

From the Georgia General Assembly:

05 LC 98 0343
House Resolution 286
By: Representatives Morgan of the 39th, Brooks of the 63rd, Thomas of the 55th, Abdul-Salaam of the 74th, Orrock of the 58th, and others

A RESOLUTION

Commending Larry Platt for his priceless and immeasurable contributions to society; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, for the past 40 years, Larry Platt has given of himself in service to the people of the City of Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the nation; and

WHEREAS, Larry Platt merits the highest recognition for his many valuable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and his dedication to the struggle for equality and human rights; and

WHEREAS, beginning in 1963, Larry Platt worked diligently with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was established to help organize student sit-ins and to fight segregation in restaurants and other public places; and

WHEREAS, Larry Platt, a student of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., experienced raw violence when he was beaten while attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery on Bloody Sunday; and

WHEREAS, Larry Platt’s leadership and dedication was again clearly reflected in his faithful and loyal commitment to the United Youth Adult Conference search efforts, which organized volunteers to search for missing and murdered children in the Metropolitan Atlanta area; and

WHEREAS, September 4, 2001, was proclaimed “Larry Platt Day” in the City of Atlanta, and it is highly fitting and proper that this body recognize the significant contributions of this esteemed man.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body join in commending Larry Platt for his great energy and

commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to Mr. Larry Platt.

What’s the big deal about Kanye West and Taylor Swift?

What’s the big deal about Kanye West and Taylor Swift?

I have always known that Kanye West was a jerk.  Why is it such a surprise that he was a complete jerk and idiot for going on stage with Taylor Swift? Does anyone really expect this imbecile to have good manners?

After all, when we have Congressman yelling “You lie!” during a Presidential address to the joint session of Congress, why would we expect a dumb rapper to have better manners?

Of course, hats off to the beautiful Beyonce for giving up some of her time to honor Ms. Swift.  She has shown the world that she has class (and Kanye and Representative Joe Wilson are classless).

I have an idea!

  • If you are in South Carolina – don’t vote for Joe Wilson and donate generously to his opponent
  • If you want to listen to music – buy something from Taylor Swift or Beyonce
  • Don’t EVER buy something from Kanye West.

It is only with the power of our purse and our vote that we will teach leaders, dignitaries, and public personalities that we hold them to a standard that our mothers would have taught them.

RANT! Be careful buying iPod Touch from BestBuy

RANT! Be careful buying iPod Touch from BestBuy

My 3 teenagers have all purchased the iPod Touch from BestBuy.  Actually, the youngest one just received his as a birthday gift and that is what is prompting this rant.

There are a variety of gadget sites that talk about the deals available at BestBuy (see here and here). The forums are split as to buying the warranty (here and here) but Apple doesn’t have a great track record on iPods and the BestBuy warranty has replaced 3 separate iPods for my family over the years so we think it is a good deal.

So when my youngest son wanted a new iPod Touch to replace his nano, it was natural for us to go to BestBuy. He was ecstatic when he opened the gift and it was plugged into the family computer within minutes.  Imagine his disappointment when his brand new Touch had pre-2.0 software on it and iTunes wanted him to upgrade for only $9.95!  This OS upgrade was announced almost a year ago.

I wouldn’t have been too upset except for four issues:

  1. this same thing happened when my daughter bought her iPod Touch 9 months ago and we had to fight BestBuy for a resolution
  2. if we had bought the unit from Apple, it would have had the latest software (according to the Apple customer support person when we dealt with this issue on my daughter’s iPod)
  3. because of the experience with my daughter’s iPod, we had asked the BestBuy sales person upon purchase if it had the latest OS and was assured that it did (I am not sure why I trust a young man that still is suffering from teenage acne though)
  4. the rude treatment that I received on the BestBuy support call

I have already written to BestBuy complaining about their support call as well as their shady service.  But they don’t get off that easy.  I am also going to complain here.

I have no quibbles about the software not being up to date for a product that is shrinkwrapped and unopened.  I fully understand that BestBuy is buying their Apple products by the truckload (or container load) and that some of these may sit on the shelf past an upgrade.  However, they should be clearly marked as having the old OS and there should be an automatic coupon printed at the time of purchase to allow the consumer to upgrade the unit. The unsuspecting consumer should not be penalized for BestBuy getting a great deal from Apple because they bought a million iPods at once.

I almost wonder if this is a plan by Apple and BestBuy to lure some unsuspecting consumers to pay for the upgrade to the new OS even though they are legally entitled to that upgrade for free.

So what was the resolution?  The same as it was for my daughter’s iPod.  I called BestBuy, complained, and told them we would be returning the unit if they didn’t make this right.  After a bit of grief that was inexcusable for customer service rep, they promised to send me a $10 BestBuy card to cover the out of pocket cost for the upgrade.

BESTBUY SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY GIVE OUT COUPONS TO COVER THE COST OF UPGRADING TO THE CURRENT VERSION OF OPERATING SYSTEM!

Lesson learned for any readers out there: check the OS on your iPod Touch that was recently purchased from BestBuy. If you need to upgrade to a current OS then call BestBuy for a gift card to cover the cost.  Don’t pay for the upgrade yourself!

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