The Zune Kicks the I in the Pod

The Zune is pretty damn good.

Who knew?

I have a first generation Ipod Nano which is, after almost 4 years, dying a slow painful death. It will be time in the next few months to buy a new music player for my listening enjoyment.

Naturally I find the thought of an Ipod Touch exhilarating. They are sleek and sexy, and do things when you shake them. It is for these superficial reasons that I have been thinking about getting another Ipod.

In a conversation with my friend Mick (who is also my sister's boyfriend) I realized that I knew nothing about the MP3 player market. There are alot of different players out there, but the Ipods main "competition" (I say this lightly. The Ipod really doesn't have any competition) is Microsoft's Zune.

The Zune? That's a joke right?

Actually, the Zune isn't a joke at all. In fact, it is arguably better than the Ipod.

The facts are that the Zune is stronger, safer, sturdier, and just plain different.

And it ain't bad to be different.

Review of "Her Diamonds" by Rob Thomas

I have been a Rob Thomas fan since I was in middle school, loving Matchbox 20 and singing along with their lyrics in the car in the morning.

When Rob Thomas released his single Something to Be, I had fallen out of love with "pop" music having been in a place in my life where I preferred Seether to music that actually made some sense. It was months after the release of Something to Be that I actually listened to more than one track, and I found the CD to be quite moving (his song My My My has always made me think of my grandmother and I cannot listen to it without crying).

When I joined Twitter I began to follow Thomas, and sure enough he is funny and sweet and just about everything people describe him as being. I was excited for the release of his new single Her Diamonds from the upcoming album Cradlesong and sure enough I wasn't dissappointed.

The song is beautiful, and although I am not sure who it was written about (my guess is his wife) it blends a situation that everyone has experienced into a beautifully uplifting melody about a seemingly hopeless situation.

It is clear that Thomas is a sensitive loving man, a beautiful lyricist, and a very talented musician.

A review can be found by Mike Mcready here, and to listen to the song click here.

Grey Gardens

It looks like HBO's movie about the Beales of Grey Gardens is going to be quite a hit.

Before last week, I had never even heard of the documentary. Now after watching interviews, reading articles, and seeing clips I can honestly say I am very intrigued.

I find all people fascinating, but the most fascinating are those that live in a world slightly different than ours. Whether it is because of schizophrenia, poverty, or war it is always interesting for me to think about.

That's why one of my all time favorites is A Beautiful Mind.

Here is the link to Entertainment Weekly's latest article about the movie release.

Enjoy!