The Benefits of Subscription 'Downloading'

Last week for my B-Day - yes, dinosaurs have learned how to type blogs, apparently - I got an iTunes gift card - thanks, LP. For 1 Dollar/Song, you don't get much bang for your buck. But I stretched it, downloading some NIN, Rush, Leonard Cohen, and Jane's Addiction ('Superhero', yeah!)

But, today I feel empty. :( Sadly, I want MORE. I always want more. It's my borderline addictive personality, I suppose, but looking at iTunes last night made me realize how much I've missed out on certain new musical acts (Muse, I promise I'll play catch-up). Even some musical movements have alluded me (Prog Rock, hello?).

So, that being said, I've officially begun the process of whoring myself out to the musical download subscription crowd. Research is a bitch, because I'm not one hundred percent what some of the warnings are with the subscription service. So far I've looked at Napster - who thought they would be around nearly a decade later? - and Rhapsody for my choice of cheapskate music-guy home.

Which one is better, you ask?

In a word, probably Rhapsody. Even though iTunes has reached the 5 billion downloads mark - godamn! - Rhapsody is intending on bringing down that beast, like a pigmy tribe (is that un-PC? oh well).

Rhapsody announced on July 2 (yes, dinos can Google News, too!) that their downloads would be compatible with the Apple iPod (a must for me). That's what Napster, unfortunately, lacks. So, all in all, I'll probably be going with Rhapsody. The other variable is burnability. I don't know that Rhapsody is - I haven't done THAT much research - but I'm hoping that it is.

Happy July; here comes August.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I just found out that, to be accessible to an iPod, you must buy the MP3 songs on Rhapsody for .99 a pop, JUST LIKE ItUNES. What a gyp! (Sorry, gypsies, for that slanderous remark).

You CAN upload songs to an MP3 player on the 14.99 Rhapsody-to-go service, but it has to be PC and it won't work with an iPod. Which sucks, if you can't part with the Apple of your eye. And I can't. I love my iPod.

EVEN MORE OF AN UPDATE: Okay, so here's the thing. You CAN burn CDs, but you have to BUY the music to be able to do that. Does it make any sense? I'll go into more depth. You PAY for the subscription, for the RIGHT - so to speak - to listen to the music. But to own it, you have to BUY it, song buy song or album by album, like in iTunes.

The down-low on Rhapsody: You can listen to all the music you want for 12.99 or 14.99 a month, but you don't own the music. You don't even download the music to your computer. It stays on the Rhapsody player. If you want to use an iPod, you have to buy the songs. If you want to put the songs on an MP3 player, it has to be Rhapsody compatible.

Here's a list of compatible players.

Choke - Red Band Trailer

Chuck Palahniuk wrote a hilariously sexual book called 'Choke' that's been turned into a movie starring Sam Rockwell, about a sex addict who cons people out of money via choking in restaurants. It's sort of convoluted, but they spend most of the trailer talking about sex. Here's the Red-Band Trailer for it. FYI: A Red-Band trailer has boobies and fuckwords!

New Stephen King: Just After Sunset - Coming November

I've just found out that the new Stephen King book is coming out in November. 11/11/2008. According to the Wikipedia Page, It's going to have twelve short stories published within the last few years and one possible bonus story published thirty years ago.

This will mark the first set of King's short stories that I will purchase at the time of publication. Everything else, I've always gotten to years, sometimes decades, later. I really liked most of the stories in 'Everything's Eventual' - I read it on a road trip down to the Everglades in '03 - but I wish I'd gotten to it when it came out. It's a little disappointing that we won't get a new novel from him, but I suppose this will have to suffice.

Fourth of July - Vacation

I'll be out of town for the fourth - through the sixth - so I'll try to leave a few tidbits on the blog for you to peruse, if you're engaged in that wonderfully inappropriate new euphemism, the 'Staycation'.

Take that, poor people, for not being able to afford a trip this year. At least you get a cute word to keep you busy.

It's St. Simons for me, with all of the accoutrement associated with it. Seafood, beach reading - Scott Smith's 'The Ruins' - beer, blah blah blah. I'll be back on Monday. Enjoy your fourth. If you're really bored, you can check out the Time article on Patriotism.

The Phobia List

I know that picking cool web sites and putting them on a blog is mere technological laziness, but phobias are an interest of mine (considering how many of them I actually harbor). Go to the The Phobia List and check your out.

One of my favorites: Anablephobia- Fear of looking up.

Which makes me wonder:

A) How does one develop Anablephobia
B) How is one truly, absolutely diagnosed with Anablephboia?
C) Does it warrant getting one of those little blue passes you can put in your car?

And it also makes me wonder if I have a couple undiagnosed phobias lurking around under the surface. Anyone who knows me is probably slapping his/her forehead right now, going, "Oh Jesus. Not. More. Neuroses."

Here is a short list of the fears that (I think) I have:

Ophidiophobia- Fear of snakes.
Thanatophobia or Thantophobia- Fear of death or dying.
Atychiphobia- Fear of failure.
Gerascophobia- Fear of growing old.

Now, the last three are things that keep me up at night. The first one is a passing fear. Like, when I see snakes, whether on television or in person, I shriek and high-step it out of whichever room I'm in. It seems to be an effective panacea for snakes. The next question is how to high-step it out of the other three. Help me out. Oh, and 'stop being such a pussy'? I've already tried that. Doesn't work.