February 26, 2005
Curiously strong
MP3 Player - I had been meaning to pass this along. Alyssa was telling me about TJ's Sandisk MP3 player and discussions with his cousin about his iPod. I've been of the opinion that no child should have an iPod except perhaps the iPod Shuffle. A full iPod holds more music than a kid can afford unless stealing music. They are at risk for theft. And, frankly, they're just too expensive - even if the kid buys one with his own money.
A month or so ago I saw this geeky project called the Minty MP3 Player. It's a homebrew electronics project to build your own MP3 player for about $50 in parts. It's really for someone experienced with handling and soldering parts, but I loved the concept: build an MP3 player that goes in an Altoids container. How novel is that! I started to imagine the discussions between TJ and his cousin. "Yeah, but mine came with mints!" *grin*
And when he tires of it, he can sell it on eBay "in mint condition". Groan!
McCarthyism - Yesterday at work we had a little competition where we had the list of movie nominees for award. We had to predict who would win this weekend. I was amazed to see how The Passion of the Christ was not listed in any major categories. For decades Hollywood has whined about the "blacklisting" of the McCarthy era. Here you have a movie that was a huge success last year, won a People's Choice award, and the Hollywood elites are snubbing it. Hollywood wonders why they are so disconnected with the mainstream? First, it was supposed to not sell well. It sold $370 million in the US alone and will be shown again in theaters this March. Then, it was supposed to incite violence. It didn't and in fact it inspired some criminals to confess their crimes. Hollywood just can't stand it, so they conspire in a new politically correct blacklisting. The "tolerance crowd" shows some of the worst kind of intolerance: religious intolerance. I think this weekend I'll "vote with my feet and wallet" and buy a copy of the DVD.
School - The girls have this week off from school for winter break. I have Monday off because I postponed my President's Day holiday. I have no idea what will keep the girls busy all week, but perhaps it'll inspire Abby to look forward to school again. (fingers crossed)