Time for my semi-monthly...

post frenzy...

It isn't that I don't care. It isn't even that I don't have time. It's that I don't choose to use what time I have for posting. I'm not sure why, because I am plenty of stuff to talk about. Today, we'll be covering the new Zune launch, a couple of movies I've seen, including a I'm Not There by Todd Haynes, and I'll mostly expound upon how awesome I really am (such as that new header I made up there... look at it, it's spectacular).

If you're ready, feel free to click the "read more" thing...

The Zune Social(ly inept music listeners hiding in their headphones all the damn time)!!!

As I'm sure you'll recall the words I wrote regarding the Zune. I became an owner, a proud one, as a matter of fact, around Christmas time last year. Since then, I've spent all sorts of time using it. I found it to be a wonderful replacement for the terrible iPods that I've had, and overall, I thought that Microsoft was definitely on the right track with it.

Not too long ago, I was talking about the rumors surrounding the new Zune 2, and more over, I was talking about the fact that Microsoft was going to do something new and different, they were going to support their original user base, like myself. If you didn't know, Apple went through 2 terrible initial generations of iPods, and never supported their original users after each release. As a matter of fact, they rarely support their users from one generation to the next. Much like now with the price drops on their iDoodad so soon after launch, what do they do? They offer a 'store credit' for half of what they dropped the price for. Seems weak to me, but I guess it's the usual Apple attitude. And most Apple Fanboys will just keep taking it because they think they're elite.

So, anyway, on Tuesday, Microsoft released the new Zune Firmware and Zune Software. Now, I wish I could say that it was fantastic and wonderful, because that would really make this whole thing complete. But, the sad fact is that they borked the software pretty bad.

It's not a complete failure, the new firmware for the Zune is fantastic. The interface is cleaner, the fonts look better, the main menu is bigger and everything seems more polished. The main new feature, the WiFi Sync is pretty slick and works well. I'm very happy with the player, and I'm just going to hold out for the new 80gb model, which apparently got pushed back until December some time.

However, the new Zune software did some terrible things to people. Basically, if you were upgrading, which obviously a lot of people are, the new software seemed to take your metadata information, run it through a blender, drink it like a frou frou drink with a little paper umbrella and then urinate it out into a trough. Then, once it finished that, it decided to go through and misplace all of the album art, for no logical reason. Users and devteam alike were able to post a fix to the forums right away.

The other glaring issue is missing features. The problem with the original Zune software is that it's slow, and the reason it was slow is because they build the whole damn thing from Windows Media Player, a mistake they rue to this very day. It was such a mess that they decided to build the new Zune Software from scratch. The problem with that is they spent most of the time trying to build the interface and make it look pretty (there's even an option for video hardware enhanced visual effects), but once they got close to launch, they abandoned a slew of features that were big talking points in the original software. Notably, the ability to drag and drop songs to match metadata, the ability to directly edit metadata, the ability to find album information on the web manually, bitrate conversion before syncing with the device, the auto-playlist feature, and a host of other things that were really bloody handy to have.

People keep posting as if the developers just forgot these features, but they didn't forget anything, they just didn't time to build these things before their launch date. They had to hit the launch date or they risk losing any chance on the Zune making money this season. It's just economics.

The problem isn't that they got it fixed right away, nor is it that some people had to run through the fix a few times just to get it right. The problem isn't that there are some big features missing. The problem is that they had a year to build this thing, and it seems so strange that they could have not gotten any further than they did.

Seriously, Microsoft has, what can only be described as, an army of developers, and something like 935 kabajillion dollars at their disposal. I'm not sure how many people they put on the Zune project, but considering that it's a niche they really want to be successful in, and that they really want to take some market share from Apple, I imagine that they have to have stuck quite a few people on the task. As far as I can tell, they really did a great job with the firmware, but didn't get started on the software until about 2 weeks ago, got as far as an interface and then, en masse, they went for a 1 week and 5 day smoke break, never to be heard from again.

Oh well. I'm still happy with the player, and now that my music is labeled right (some suckers actually need to move their music around still), and has the right album art, I'm ok with the software. I'm waiting for some patches, but for the moment, everything is working well enough, and the bottom line is that I can listen to music on my Zune. Mission accomplished.

Anyway, if you're interested, you can see my Zune Card at my profile, or just right here. Note, they are still having some issues, it seems, in getting the plays right. I assure you, I've played a lot more music than I'm getting credit for.

In closing, I still support Zune, and Microsoft for what they're doing, I just hope they get things fixed before the holiday hits in force.

I'm Not There

Melissa had to go to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for school. She asked that I come with, and had mentioned that it was a Todd Haynes film. I've heard his work is good, so I thought, ok. Had I know what I was getting into, I probably would have decline.

Walker's Premier of I'm Not There

“Producer Christine Vachon will be on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience following the screening.

“[Bob Dylan] created a new identity every step of the way in order to create identity.”—Anthony Scaduto, author of Bob Dylan (the line inspired the film)

A film inspired by the life of Bob Dylan, Todd Haynes’ stunning directorial achievement I’m Not There brings together six actors playing characters who craft a unique response to the elusive artist in different phases of his life, career, and persona. Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale (the literal Dylan), Richard Gere (Dylan and Billy the Kid), Heath Ledger (an actor haunted by the legacy of Dylan), Marcus Carl Franklin (Dylan in Woody Guthrie mode), and Ben Whishaw (Rimbaud as Dylan) are set in the political and cultural reality of the era, and filmed in the cinematic styles of the 1960s. Seven years in the making, I’m Not There is a true labor of love. Multiple award-winner at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. 2007, 35mm, 135 minutes.”

I'm not going to say it sucked... but it sucked. The thing is, I don't really like Bob Dylan much, so even a biopic that follows characters based on Bob Dylan in different parts of his career will hold nearly no interest for me, although it would have been more tolerable had it not been over 2 hours and 15 minutes long. However, I will say that there was plenty good things about the film. The directing was good, the acting (it had a stellar cast), much of the filming was phenomenal (while some was just really annoying). There were a few things that I hated, most notably the first minute and a half that felt like a stereotypical art student type piece. Seriously, if you’ve seen / recall the student film that Diane, the reporter on Family Guy, did when she was in college, the first few minutes of this movie made that seem coherent. (I tried to find something in the internet to show you what I was talking about but had no luck).

So, the bottom line is that I didn’t really enjoy it, but there were certainly some redeeming elements. Not enough that I would recommend to anybody seeing it. It was, in my opinion, too ambitious, and focused too much on details of Dylan that it wasn't enjoyable to me without know more about his life.

Other movies...

Alright, the plain and simple fact is that I've fallen way behind on my movie reviews. I watched Balls of Fury last night (good, not great), P2 not too long ago (bad, not terrible), and about 25 other films since I last really reviewed anything. At this point, I don't even know how I would compile all my thoughts on them, so, I probably wont. Maybe if I discover some extra time, I will give it a shot.

Radiohead: In Rainbows

Damn, I love Radiohead. Thom Yorke's voice is great, and while they've diverged a lot from their intermediate rock / technical sound on The Bends and OK Computer, and even more from their rock only sound on Pablo Honey, I've still enjoyed everything they've done since. Even Thom's solo work is absolutely exceptional as well. This new album, In Rainbows, is being released under a different concept. The first CD of the set is being offered for download at a pick your own price rate. It's only a 160 Kbps release, which is good, but far from optimal in my opinion. I ponied up a few bucks to download it, and while I wish I could afford to pay a bit more than I did, because they certainly deserve it, I appreciate the concept of the pick your own price, a concept that's been gaining slow momentum over the last few years. (It's common on the coasts to find cafe's, restaurants, and coffee shops with this structure. $0.37 cup of coffee is offset by $20 cup of coffee, depending on opinion and means.) As to the music, it's Radiohead, and there's not a lot else that can be said about it. It's tight, it's spectacular, its aurally stimulating.

Anyway, all I can say is that you should head over to their website and dish out a few pounds for the tracks. Perhaps, when December rolls around, you'll pick up the disc box, which will apparently include a second disc and some other features. That, however, as I understand it, will not be at a pick your own price.

Other news...

As I might have mentioned before, Melissa was filming 3 movies for school. Of those, I wrote one of the scripts and did some major editing (and finishing) on another. The movies are shot, the sound is almost done, and I'm working on editing 2 of the 3 (her brother is doing the 3rd). It's been fun, and a lot of hard work. I'd love an opportunity to work on a feature length film, but one with a budget and equipment.

Depending on Melissa's thoughts, I may show them here when they are complete, via the great YouTube. Perhaps.

In the meantime, Jim has come up with a fairly brilliant business concept and is working on getting funding for that, and he's asked that I be a part of things. If that takes off in any way, I'll talk about it more here for sure.

Finally, I've been itching for more writing time because I've got some ideas I really need to get out. Of course, there's about a million other things I should be doing besides posting here in the first place, but with any luck....