It just so happens that I've been checking out the online music stores again, and some are looking a little better. The main service which I hadn't visited yet is Napster. Perhaps it's not as unappealing as I had thought.

With a current online catalog of 500,000 songs (and other services have yet to reach that mark), the selection looks ok. It's a shame the current standard for song pricing seems to be at 99 cents. Too expensive. People want to go in and buy tons of music.

But I do have a real compliment for Napster. Their user interface is very interesting. It's simple, inviting and straightforward. Congrats to the little pointy-eared Napster creature. Even if he did sellout big time.

Check out the "Indie" segment. But he's still a sellout.

And there's this killer mp3 player.

The Rocking Horse Winner proves that the curse of Emo is not strong enough to corrupt good music. I just discovered them last week.

Their first album, State of Feeling Concentration, can border on easy listening. Front-girl Jolie Lindholm's soft vocals, whose energy sometimes reminds me of the New Pornographers' Neko Case, complement the occasional indie grit. If you're open minded to indie pop that's rough around the edges, go listen to Tomorrow and Sleep Well, two of their best songs.

Horizon, their second release, is pretty good as well, partially because several songs from their first album are also included. Unfortunately, Horizon is a bit too predictable, repetitive. Not nearly as fresh as State of Feeling Concentration.

Boing Boing posted a nice link to a new Air video. Hmmm. This one is uncensored. Hmmm.

It wasn't an easy decision, but I've decided cholly.com is getting a new home. Bloghosts eventually got back to my emails and so I've set the process in motion. Yes, that means there will probably be some downtime.

Detroit certainly has some sort of vibe going on. I visited very briefly last year and there was this nice agressive, underground feel to it. Too bad the city itself wasn't very memorable, even unnatractive. Hey, must be why so many local rock stars are so angry...

And I see Lawrence has been very active around here. He'd better watch out...

I went shopping in Tramandai (Lawrence's port of arrival) for more wristpads from his little Chinese village, but it seems they're sold out, with little chance of restocking.

After getting back and looking over the Bloggie nominations, I came upon this cool hosting service. I currently host with Braslink, which is way cool. But for (much) less $$ I can get very similar features. Ok, I can get better features. What should I do?!

Coming soon: Troy, Garfield and Riddick.

Scary stuff at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios.

Temperatures are in Fahrenheit. Some people are so lucky.

And would you believe in loyalty day?

Digidesign is getting an Oscar for it's Pro Tools system. I'm wondering if they paid for the statue.

First, the app's nothing new. It's been around for over ten years. Second, it's not exactly an ingenious product. It's good at doing the basics in recording and mixing, but it's limited in that you have to use their a)unimaginative or b)overpriced hardware. Digidesign's only really cool product is the Digi 002.

Anyway, winamp has been feeding me with a few cool tunes from the likes of:

The Libertines' Up The Bracket has been out for many months. It's guitar-rock with attitude, like alot of the music I've been turned on to. Listening through their entire album can get tiresome, yet the live-sounding aspect of the record is nice. Still, the music ends up sounding, well... a little repetitive.

Kings of Leon is more to my taste, if only because I can make out the harmonies a bit better. "California Waiting" is a good example of how different they are from th Libs... when Kings of Leon slow down they still sound intense, and they sound like they're sober.

Jet follows with their tight production, nasty guitars and catchy songs.

For a little more fun, there's Franz Ferdinand, with Dart's of Pleasure heading full-speed toward the 80's.

This Digidesign/Academy Award business is starting to feel like a bad omen. I fear for Peter Jackson. posted by lawrence at 01:56 PM

I - n e e d - s n o w.

Hey, don't look at me: I fit in the fridge. Anyway, it seems this cool geek-gathering had people talking about BT, my favorite internet service. And their solution to spam looks interesting. posted by lawrence at 01:23 AM

This is the kind of electronica I like. Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin make music that’s odd, interesting and just about every song features some organic elements. Mike Mills, for example, pushes acoustic instruments to the front of the soundstage where string, harp and guitar gel with inconspicuous electronics.

Two excellent songs, Venus and Cherry Blossom Girl, open the album. Both offer little synth riffs which could have been thought-up by you or me, and Cherry Blossom in particular is pretty and epic at the same time. Later, there’s Alpha Beta Gaga, an instant classic featuring a whistled riff that's so catchy it’s almost sinister, followed by a banjo.

I’m not about to declare Talkie Walkie a flawless album with ten pristine hits. No way. But most of the songs are exceptional and the sonic concept is very attractive. Just about every synth sounds old and primitive, and sometimes even ugly. Which is beautiful, if you get my drift. Guess I’m just a sucker for simple electronica, like Fizzarum. In my book, this album sets the new standard.

When I read the last track listing, “Alone in Kyoto,” I thought, “This has to be a song from the soundtrack of ‘Lost in Translation.’” It is, in fact. Ah, it’s so much like the film. Best instrumental track on the album, hands down, ending in calm crashing waves. posted by lawrence at 12:35 PM

Chuck Olsen has some news regarding the making of The Hobbit: it's not going to happen. Seems Christopher Tolkien hates the trilogy as much as some of my friends do...

Outlook 2003, which I started using a couple of months back, corrects spelling in the subject line of emails. No problems there... but it has the habit of fixing my small-case only titles! Annoying.

Could there be better searching than Google? Check these out...

Vivísimo even offers a toolbar that blocks pop-ups...

Grokker only analyzes search engine results, and seems alot more sophisticated... but what's this, you have to pay?? I'll stick with less fancy...

And I found this one! Yuck! posted by lawrence at 01:24 PM

It was a day spent getting my small beach house ready for the big New Year’s party. That afternoon I managed to get some rest… but something was wrong. Physically, something was not working the way it should. The cheeseburger would have been the obvious culprit, and things progressed…

I held out pretty well during that night, having a little champagne and trying the lentils. The first few hours of 2004 were spent with good friends. Upon returning to my small house, things got more serious.

In fact, the first day of 2004 turned out to be the beginning of a roller coaster. Doctors visited me and for a moment there, I think we all believed it was alot of fuss over nothing. But my condition was not improving. I was hurried back to the big city and given my own little room in a hospital.

Many tests later, it was decided. Cholly’s first operation. Its only appendicitis they said. The second day of the year came and went so fast I can hardly tell you about it.

Out of surgery, back in the room. Everyone’s calling, worrying. The task force responsible for my current good health operated flawlessly, from my family to my doctors to all the very best friends one could hope for.

So I disappeared for a while there, huh?