Sweet and Dandy
I love this song, and I love this video. Always wondered what they were singing.
Etty in the room a cry
Mama say she must wipe her eye
Papa say she no fi foolish
Like she never been to school at all
It is no wonder
It’s a perfect pander
While they were dancing in that bar room last night.
Johnson in the room afret
Uncle say he must hold up him head
Aunty say she no fi foolish
Like a no time fi him wedding day
It is no wonder
It’s a perfect pander
While they were dancing in that bar room last night.
One pound ten for the wedding cake
Plenty bottle of cola wine
All the people them dress up in a white
Fi go eat out Johnson wedding cake
It is no wonder
It’s a perfect pander
While they were dancing in that bar room last night.
Walking Home
I really enjoy my walks home. It’s about five miles, which usually takes me about two hours. I realize it’s a lot of time to take out of my day, but I still aim to do it three times a week.
The thing is, I don’t just walk, I’m listening, too. In fact, I’d forgotten how much I enjoy listening to podcasts on the walk home. Especially nowadays, since the podcasts you can find are often of very high quality. For instance, I listened to a lecture on entrepreneurship, I listened to design advice from the company 37signals, and I listened to an interview between Dan Benjamin and Ryan Carson. All during that two hour walk. I even found time to listen to some music.
That kind of time, and that kind of listening, can be profoundly inspiring. When you just take a few hours to get fresh air and have nothing to do but listen, you can accomplish a lot of listening. And there’s not much else to focus on, so you’re really paying attention. By the time I arrived home today I was ready to start another project, but of course it’s just about dinnertime, so maybe my timing is off.
Perhaps I should be taking those walks in the morning, into the office.
North Olmstead
When I was very young, we lived in North Olmstead, Ohio. Presumably, right about here, on Summerland Avenue. In fact, looking at that map, the street names are all familiar. It’s funny how street names can do that.
Anyway, I have some pictures to share. These were mostly loaned to me by my mom, so that I could scan them in. Many are so old I actually hadn’t been born yet, but a number feature my sister and I. Enjoy.
My Father and I, Probably 1973
The High Numbers
This is The Who, before they were The Who. Still, they pretty much are The Who.
But Will the iPad Kill the Kindle?
Since Apple’s introduction of the iPad earlier this week, much speculation has naturally fallen on the subject of the Kindle. It seems that Amazon knew that the iPad was coming, and put some effort into moving units before the announcement. And sure enough, Steve Jobs demonstrated the iBookstore and its reader app on the iPad, which does indeed look better than reading on a Kindle.
But there’s a difference. Apple’s bookstore will not be the only one on the iPad, if only because the iPad can run iPhone applications unmodified. If I buy an iPad, I will be able to run my Kindle app on it, which means I can read any of my books from Amazon. And it stands to reason that Amazon will make a version that runs on the iPad (and Apple will allow it on the app store as well).
One weak point is the Kindle’s interface. It’s one of the uglier apps on my iPhone, and I don’t actually enjoy reading with it very much. If they wanted to improve it, they could take a cue from Shelfari, which Amazon owns. Looks familiar, doesn’t it? It looks just like the iPad’s bookshelf interface, actually. Even if Apple somehow rejected the Kindle app on the iPad, Amazon could do a Google-like end run around them, and combine Shelfari with your Kindle library, in a website optimized for the iPad. Adding a social aspect to your book shelf would put them a step ahead of Apple, in fact.
I think the real question is whether or not Amazon feels threatened by Apple. I don’t think so, at least not to the degree that I’ve been hearing. I can see being quite satisfied with having my Kindle library on my iPad, and adding some iBookstore titles over time. The truth is, Amazon will likely have a greater selection and lower prices, so I would be inclined to continue to buy most titles from them, even if I were reading them on a non-Kindle device.
What it boils down to is that Apple’s primary interest is selling the hardware, but Amazon’s is selling books. So while there might be a fight down the road, I don’t think we’re there yet.
On The Beatles
As shared by Jason Kottke, this is a photo of the Quarrymen in 1957, better known as the band that would eventually become The Beatles.
What’s maybe the most striking to me about this picture is that it’s seven years before they actually came to America. These three guys were playing together for probably five years before pretty much anybody had heard of them, even just in England.
I’ve been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and in one chapter he talks about the fact that it takes about 10,000 hours to become a true expert at something, to the level of what we call genius. It’s very common to think that some people are just born with genius, and while everybody is a little bit different, it’s clear when you look closer that there is a common thread between all of them: practice.
Indeed, if you add up the sheer number of hours that this band played in Germany, staying up all night on stage and taking pills, as well as the hours of playing back in England, you find that they had spent about 10,000 hours playing music before they actually became a hit band. And at that point, they started recording a series of albums of a quality no other band has ever matched.
I’ve always thought they were just prodigies, but apparently you need a ton of practice, too.
- But Will the iPad Kill the Kindle?
- Benjamin Franklin’s Virtues
- Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think
- Hello, World!
- Back to Blogging
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Raymond Brigleb: I dunno. As that other author pointed out, there a...
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kandace: Perhaps it won't kill the whole kindle deal,but it...
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ray: I thought this video was interesting as well! h...
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