Inspired by watching “Upload” on Amazon Prime (no spoilers please, we are on episode three), I’ve been searching YouTube for some indy sci-fi shorts. One I found particularly interesting is “The Replacement”, starring Mike McNamara from here in Chicago.
One of the things I love about these near-future series and film shorts is the way folks are imaging (and subsequently society) will progress in the next decade or so. It’s interesting to contrast with CBS’s “Century City” back in 2004, where everyone was using fancy PDAs.
Speaking of which, I noticed on “Upload” that Oprah Winfrey was president in the late 2020s. In that CBS series “Century City”, Oprah was also president in that timeline, in 2030.
Apple really wants you to subscribe to things. Want to read a magazine in a new, technologically savvy way? Subscribe to Apple News+. Want to enjoy the full, rich musical experience of owning an Apple HomePod? You have to use Apple Music to do that. Hearing great things about that show starring Chris Evans? Shell out to Apple TV+, please.
Of course, Apple is not the only company doing this. There are way too many TV and movie subscription services out there; if you want to back up the photos of your cherished memories taken with your mobile device, you’ll need to pay one of the cloud services (iCloud, Google Drive, whatever) money on a monthly basis. When we live in a country no longer focused on manufacturing things. We must subscribe to the idea of a service based economy. Because after all, the American economy is more important than anything else. Its value even surpasses that of human life.
Photo grabbed from a website somewhere.
I’m digressing.
The kicker of these subscription storage and consumption services is lock-in, and no one is really better at lock-in than Apple. The thing is, it’s not really practical to live in one ecosystem anymore. How long before we get to a point where I can’t call my family back East unless they’re using an iPhone? What if she didn’t have an iDevice? We’d have to move to another service. Another subscription please, thank you.
This week I’ve been reevaluating all of our digital subscriptions and ways we access the connected world. I’ve finally admitted that Apple’s HomeKit (for home automation) is a mess. And if I were to admit to buyer’s remorse over an Apple product, it would be the Apple HomePod. While I know Apple is focused on security with HomeKit, I’m not a fan of the walled garden built around HomePod. We are a Spotify family (another monthly subscription). I also pay for an Apple Music subscription so I have full functionality of the HomePods. Except Siri goes brain dead WAY too often on the HomePods, so I have an Amazon Echo Dot with Alexa sitting in the same room as the HomePod. So when Siri doesn’t know the temperature outside or has forgotten what room she is in, I can ask Alexa the same thing and she’ll respond in a saner fashion 95% of the time.
I’m slowly unsubscribing (again) from the idea that one technology company can provide everything we need for any enjoyable computing experience.
In the meanwhile, I have a HomePod listed for sale on Swappa.
Before the quarantine we used to enjoy eating brunch at one of the many places we have nearby here in Chicago. The Windy City is a pretty brunch-centric place and many of the restaurants offered a wonderful spin on the experience. It was an experience I would look forward to.
After six(?) weeks of quarantine and all sit-down restaurants being closed, I’m finding I enjoy weekend brunch at home more than the dining out experience. Now, I’m quite lucky because I’m married to a man who definitely knows his way around the kitchen, so perhaps my perception is a bit biased.
This got me to thinking; after the COVID-19 pandemic is part of history and no longer part of the present, what lessons will we learn from this experience? I’d like to think we’d be a little more caring as a society. Perhaps we won’t be as eager to be on the run trying to do the latest and greatest thing all the time. Will we have learned to ramp back the pacing just a bit?
Judging by the number of people storming capital buildings to demand businesses open up so they can get a haircut or a manicure, I don’t think the U.S. will change all that much in the greater scheme of things. Other parts of the world may adapt, may slow down, may appreciate what they have right at home, but too many people in the U.S. seem to thrive at a frenetic pace, hence the frenzy of folks protesting safety precautions.
I’m going to concentrate on slowing down a little bit and most importantly, finding ways to better connect with the Universe again. If these grand thoughts are a result of skipping an overpriced brunch at an eatery, so be it.
If I can fly an airplane at 150 knots wearing a mask of sorts to keep me and my instructor safe, you can certainly wear a bandanna or mask while walking around the Walmart.
For the love of god, too many people are not being smart.
It’s a beautiful May night in Chicago. It’s nearly 70ºF, the air is calm, the vibe is the closest to contentment I’ve felt in a while.
It’s nice to have spring here in The Windy City.
I haven’t really been too worked up about the lingering rain and cold we’ve been experiencing during this quarantine; there isn’t much we can do outside so why worry about what it’s doing outside, right? But the temperatures zoomed up to nearly 80ºF today and more importantly, I was able to get some time in the Cessna 182 RG with an instructor and continue my training for my high performance and complex endorsements. After not flying for over six weeks I didn’t do too bad today. I still need to work on the landings and do some stalls up there but overall I’m happy with today’s flight and I’m looking forward to going up again next weekend.
Flying with a mask on is weird and very confining, but I’m willing to do that if it gives me access to an airplane.
The view from our condo on the north side of Chicago gives me the opportunity to see flights on approach to both O’Hare and Midway Airports. The night view is especially compelling; I can easily see flights on approach to Midway. However, the skies over Chicago have been noticeably quiet since the Coronavirus concerns began. Midway doesn’t seem to have much night traffic at all and the flight going into O’Hare have no need to get in line over Lake Michigan, so they’re using closer fixes to the airport to make their final approach.
It’s interesting, but it’s sad at the same time. It’s a sign of the times.
We are on the front line of history right now. Generations to come will read about what we’re doing right now. How did we respond to the pandemic of 2020?
I know what I want history books to say. I fear not enough people think the way I do.
Boy, I sure miss watching the regular flights in Midway and O’Hare.
There’s a meme going around on Facebook where someone tags you and for the next 10 days you’re suppose to post an album cover without an explanation. The album is to depict your musical tastes and how you were influenced over the years. You’re then suppose to tag someone else and they do the same thing. I won’t do that part. I’m not really a fan of these types of memes, as they bring up the same angst I encountered when I would get a chain letter when I was a kid. Mean.
Nevertheless, last night I posted the album cover for “The Visitors”, by ABBA. While a little Frida heavy on the vocals for my taste (no offense to Frida or her fans), I have always enjoyed the move to more synthesizers with this album and the theatre style of some of the tracks presented. The title and opening track, “The Visitors” has musical complexities that I find quite delightful.
I listened to the album while working out this morning. Apparently the streaming services have added two tracks not originally found on the album, “The Day Before You Came” and “Under Attack”. These two tracks were to be part of the album that would come after “The Visitors”, but tired of their working conditions and the relationships of the group at the time, ABBA decided to abandon that album and release a two record “Greatest Hits” set instead. The two tracks were tacked onto the end and “Under Attack” was the last original single ever released by ABBA. It didn’t chart very much. At the end of the music video, the four members of the group are seen walking off the set, out of the video, and out of ABBA. A year or two later, Frida would come along with “I Know There’s Something Going On” and Agnetha would release “The Heat Is On” and “Can’t Shake Loose”. Benny and Björn would work on “Chess” and other esoteric musical adventures.
While it didn’t get the appreciation it deserved in 1982, I find “Under Attack” the be a very enjoyable track, especially when consumed through quality headphones. Like all ABBA tracks of the time, it’s rather synth heavy. The vocal layers on the chorus are amazing. As a musician it’s interesting for me to hear the individual vocal parts; they don’t exactly follow what I would call “standard music theory choral arrangements”. The magic of recording in a studio.
I’ll continue to do this meme if I remember but I’m not going to tag anyone. Like the end of the “Under Attack” music video, I’ll just walk away and out into the sunlight.
So we’ve been getting our money’s worth from Amazon Prime Video during this lockdown. After watching reruns of “That Girl” over the winter, “The Mothers In Law” was in our suggestion pile so we gave it a whirl.
Before we started watching the show I didn’t remember a lot about it. Every once in a great while my husband and I would be reminiscing about old television shows and he’d bark out “Kaye Ballard!” and then “The Mothers-In-Law!”. I don’t remember watching the show as a kid but I sort of remembered Kaye Ballard, mostly from mentions Rosie O’Donnell made during her talk show way back when.
The first couple episodes of the first season are a little rough to watch. I think it has to be the first series outside of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” where (almost) all of the lead characters used their real first names. Kaye and Roger live next door to Eve and Herb. Their kids fall in love and get married, and the in-laws don’t really get along but they really do and they get into all sorts of whacky situations.
I remarked the other night in my blog entry writing spree that Kaye Ballard chews up the scenery in this series but the truth of the matter is that’s just Kaye Ballard. And I’m enjoy her performance. Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden are a lot like Lucy and Ethel and ahead of the curve in a little bit Laverne and Shirley. “The Mothers In Law” was produced by Desi Arnaz. He directed quite a few of episodes, and Desi Arnaz, Jr. appeared in an episode tonight. He played a drummer of a band in a club run by Rob Reiner (without his mustache). There were a couple of seemingly ad libbed lines. I’m now enjoying watching the show very much and I’m interested to see how the dynamic changes when we get to season 2 when Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd from Star Trek) is replaced by Richard Deacon (who appeared in everything in the 60s and 70s).
I read somewhere online that during this pandemic people are looking for “familiar” entertainment. Well, we’re going retro with our entertainment and enjoying “The Mothers In Law”.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
