December 28, 2009
A Roomba Review, A Sherlock Holmes Reviews, Christmas is Gone, and a Batch of WTF's.
This is more of a "Christmas Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast rather than just a "Weekend Wrap-Up," so The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz discuss the various gifts they received, how the little Gotz's got a few too many gifts, and Stu gives his review of the Roomba. Both of the boys saw "Sherlock Holmes" and they give their take on the film, The Dude on the Right tells Stu if he should rent "Julie & Julia" to watch with Mama Gotz, and they both think "Kelly's Heroes" is a kick-ass movie. There is talk about the airplane bomber dude, about AT&T sucking by not selling iPhones to people in New York City (although they seem to be selling them again), about someone who should know what an iPod is but doesn't, and about ungrateful family members. With the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football playing the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre, the boys don't talk about football for this podcast, but then again, with the Bears sucking so bad, who cares?
Posted by Rightdude at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2008
The Old Country With my BFF, Back to Normal Programming, Spock Philosophy, and an iPhone Update.
By:
The Dude on the Right
As you may have noticed there haven’t been any new posting since nearly a week
ago, and I have to admit that part of it was some laziness, part of it was being
a busybody, and part of it was caused by a quick trip to the old country, where
my BFF got to meet some of the members of my family. Yup, you can guess it, they
all like her more than they like me! Oh well. I’ll talk more about that trip
when I talk to Stu Gotz for our "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast tomorrow, and
hopefully I’ll have my nephew along for this Thursday’s podcast so I can explain
to him why car doors do not need to be opened for dudettes anymore.
For some quick notes about the trip home, though, some of it was tad melancholy as my mom isn’t feeling too well, and I would have preferred my BFF’s first visit being under a different light, but on the other hand, mom’s meeting my BFF seemed to lift mom's spirits, especially when she could give my BFF her two word, blunt, synopsis, of the old country. The trip was also a great time for family members to pummel me about my lack of chivalrousness, when I was just trying to do some recon to assess the threat assessment of our group and make sure the coast was clear on the treacherous path from the safety of the craft store to the safety of the dude-mobile. I risk my life for the safety of the group, just like Spock philosophied in "The Wrath of Kahn," that "The needs of the many outweigh," responded by Kirk "The needs of the few," with Spock coming back, "Or the one.," and what happens, I get chastised for it! Some people are so ungrateful, but I’m sorry, I digress.
The trip home also had the tech nerd in me in total withdrawal because, while I was gone, Apple came out with their giant update for the iPhone, and although I’m waiting for a 3g version of the phone that will hold all of my music before I buy a new one (and from the news reports of the activation meltdowns that occurred last Friday I’m kinda glad for that), I kept looking at my iPhone, with its old, crappy, obsolete version of firmware, knowing it would be days before I could have a lightsaber duel with another iPhone user, be able to "scratch my records" like a DJ, or have a better way to organize my grocery store list. As I’m typing this blog, though, my iPhone is doing all of its updating, and hopefully, as opposed to those poor schlubs who had problems on Friday, maybe my utmost patience (it is a virtue, don’t ya know?) in not pulling out my laptop while I was at the old country, on Friday, to spend the time to upgrade it the minute I could and ignore my BFF, will pay off. See, who says chivalry is dead?
Well, my iPhone is almost done upgrading, it’s time to get back to work, so normal programming of Entertainment Ave! is ready to be back on track tomorrow, with a fantastic, phenomenal, enlightening, and exciting new podcast of "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. I hope.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2008
What's New? The Dude sees "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and Fireworks, Stu Wonders if He Can Get "Wii Fit."
The
Dude on the Right saw
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with someone who
doesn't really like bugs, which, because The Dude is weird, actually made the
movie experience bring a bigger smile to his face, but in the end
it's all about the review, and The Dude does what he does. Stu Gotz,
though, is back doing some typographical reviewing, maybe because his kids might
be a little too young to see the "Crystal Skull" movie, but that doesn't mean
his family, or at least just him, can't
get in shape thanks to the Nintendo "Wii Fit." Hopefully Mama
Gotz won't let Stu shove the thing under the couch to collect dust bunnies.
The Dude saw movies and fireworks, Stu is probably trying to figure out
how to dry a sweater on a "Wii Fit." Such are different weekends.
Posted by Rightdude at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)
"Wii Fit" Probably Won't Help Me Lose Weight, but Thank God for those McDonald's Trans-Fat-Free Fries!
By:
Stu
Gotz
I always knew the Wii had exercise potential…
Well over a year ago, when I woke up at 4:30am to be in line by 5am to try a
purchase one of a promised 12 available Wii units at my local Target, I never
thought the Wii could be anything more than the next generation, cool, video
game console. That notion quickly changed the day I brought the console home and
became out of breath after loosing 3 rounds of boxing to my 5 year old. I joked
to the wife that day that Wii Boxing was a great workout, and I should start a
regimen. Did I? No, and I’m still a lard-butt over a year later, but all
that's gonna change!!!
Reading the Sunday sale's ads in bed on a Saturday
night…
While checking out the weekend sales ads I stumbled across the newest, must
have, Wii accessory - Yup, there it was, the new Wii Fit, along with the
optional Wii Fit Yoga Mat, available exclusively at Target, and they were going
to be available on Wednesday. Perhaps now I could realize my fitness goals by
playing Wii games? Figuring that there would be a rush to get the new Wii Fit, I
planned my workweek to get me close to a retail outlet when the doors opened.
Would my Wii Fit dreams be dashed???
Wednesday came and I was running late. My Target store opened at 8am, and I
was pulling into the parking lot at 8:12am. That’s ok… In a worst case there was
a Best Buy across the parking lot, and they opened at 10am. I was feeling good
about my potential of getting a Wii Fit as I strolled past the automatically
opening doors of my Target, and I was faced by no less that 8 people checking
out with Wii Fits. As I walked the aisle to the game area I was passed by 3 more
people with Wii Fits tucked into their shopping carts. Then I saw the end cap...
There were only 4 left! I rushed to grab one and felt a sense of accomplishment
as I checked out with my new Wii Fit complete with Wii Fit Yoga Mat.
The Wii Fit family unpacking event…
After dinner I assembled the family together to unveil our new "game" to
them. At first the kids didn’t seem too excited about the whole thing until
their mom informed them that we could get a snow boarding game to play with the
Wii Fit, and suddenly they were onboard, so to speak. Setting up the Wii Fit is
simple, strait-forward, but does take a bit of time. One aspect of the set-up is
that the Wii Fit assigns you a "Wii Fit Age" based upon your height, weight,
age, and balance test. I faired better than the wife as I was assigned a "Wii
Fit Age" of 45 and she was assigned an age of 49. We’re both 40. The Wii also
took the customized Wii characters the wife and I had created, and in my case
porked "me" out while slimming up Mama Gotz.
What’s this thing gonna do???
The Wii Fit is set up to be a fitness partner in 4 training areas: Yoga,
Balance, Strength, and Aerobics. The family and I spent several hours
familiarizing ourselves with all the areas, and the first thing we have come to
find out is that we all lack balance, at least according to the Wii Fit.
Mama Gotz was the first to advance in the Balance Games and open the first bonus
game, "Tightrope," although now she seems to be stuck there, because, like many
other Wii games, the Wii Fit is set up to train the user and reward them upon
mastery of a particular skill.
Bottom line, is this thing really gonna work???
Yes and no. The Wii Fit definitely has the potential to add an additional
element to an exercise regimen, but if you don’t have a regimen already then I
really don’t see this thing being a motivational source for someone to start
one. Actually, I take that back, you’ll start one, but see my final paragraph,
"The real bottom line…," below. That being said, though, if the Wii Fit is
shared by people with a friendly sense of fun and competition, you might just
get motivated, but it just won’t be as much about reaching a fitness goal,
rather one of who can take 1st place in an area, or who can go on to
the next level, therefore opening a new game or exercise.
The real bottom line…
Go look in the mirror - Are you either fat or just in need of some muscle
toning? Now go look around the house - Do you have unused exercise equipment
(drying your sweater on the treadmill does not constitute use)? Now search your
mind – You can’t remember the last time you hit the gym or went for a jog,
correct? If you answered, "Yes" to 2 or more of the previous 3 questions, then I
have a feeling your new Wii Fit will be destined to collect dust bunnies under
your sofa. Prove me wrong!!!
I'm Stu Gotz! ‘nuff said!
Posted by Rightdude at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2008
But on What Occasion Would I Wear a "MILF Island" T-Shirt?
By:
The Dude on the Right
So I'm watching the TV show
"30 Rock," as I am
wont to do because I enjoy it, and the episode dealt partly with the "finale" of
"MILF Island," with "20 super-hot moms, 50 kids, and no rules," and the first
part of me, as a fan of
"Survivor,"
knew that if there was actually a TV show called "MILF Island," I'm sure I would
be watching. The second part of me knows, now that NBC has screwed it up
and probably copyrighted the concept somehow, FOX won't be able to actually make
it a series, nor will CBS, who did their own exploitation of children with "Kid
Nation" and all they would have to do would be add some super-hot moms.
In
any case the episode of "30 Rock" made me laugh, but then quickly reminded me
that I am old. Why? They advertised that you could actually buy a "MILF
Island" t-shirt, I found that very funny, and I even thought of jumping online
to order one. Then I quickly caught myself saying "Self, you're not in
college anymore, even though you may think you are. Where in the hell do
you think you could actually pull off wearing a 'MILF Island' t-shirt?"
And in listening to myself I realized there isn't any place in the entire
Universe where I could pull off wearing that t-shirt, although it would be sort
of funny to try, especially if I could be a fly on the wall, listening to the
comments wearing it had brought about.
I might still buy it anyway since I need a new t-shirt to wear while I'm exercising at home, and I know that every time I would look in the mirror while wearing it, well, it will make me laugh, but could I wear it in public? Maybe I should just buy one for Stu Gotz. I'm sure he would wear it, out in public, and be able to make the ladies laugh. He has that way.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2007
Would I Look Good in "Ugg Australia Classic Crochet Tall Boots"?
By:
The Dude on the Right
First off let me start this by saying part of me doesn't like Oprah Winfrey,
probably mostly out of jealousy, but there is nothing but admiration for the
empire she has built, an empire I can (that's correct, I wrote "can") fathom in
my mind, wonder if it is an empire that can ever be built again, and will give
credit where credit is due because as much as there are things I don't like
about her, the good things she tries to do are huge and deserve commendation.
But, as a dude, today's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show is one of the most bizarre, yet entertaining, pieces of television of the year. Yup, today was the usually annual "Oprah's Favorite Things" episode (some of those Oprah fans who got gypped last year when she tried the "Pay It Forward" experiment are probably still a little, deep-down, pissed), and if you ever want to see a group of women, and a couple of dudes, go completely out of their minds, this is the show to watch. Oprah secretly took her team to Macon, Georgia, to celebrate the folks who, at 4PM if they are watching TV, 45% of them are watching Oprah. This statistic, in itself, should raise a ton of red flags about Macon, and maybe this is why I could never be in the league of Oprah because rather than embracing them I would be saying "What is wrong with you people? What do you do for a life?", yet there some of them were, in an auditorium in Macon, going nuts, when Oprah announced they were in attendance for her "Oprah's Favorite Things" show.
Oprah, of course, made the people in the audience happy, giving away things like a cool camcorder (it retails at $799, and we know that because part of "Oprah's Favorite Things" show is Oprah detailing exactly who makes it, how you can get it, and how much it will cost you), boots, cleaning products, DVD's, a boatload of other stuff, and as Oprah put it, the most expensive gift in the history of her "Favorite Things," which turned out to be a refrigerator retailing at $3,799, which, I can probably guess, most husbands of those in attendance are saying "Our fridge keeps my beer cold just fine. Do you realize what kind of plasma TV we could have gotten for that amount of money?"
As I did my quick tally it looks like those in Macon who ended up at the show were given nearly $7,500 worth of stuff, which, from the reactions of most of them, was stuff that was going to change their world in ways they couldn't even imagine yet. Those gifts also will change their lives in another way they didn't image yet, with the tax bill that accompanies getting prizes, or at least so says my accountant, Fruitcake, from the firm Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe, LLC. But you know what, I'm still jealous I wasn't there because yes, I would have probably been jumping up and down like a little schoolgirl like the rest of them, but then wondering what that signed copy of "O's Guide to Life" and "The Pillars of Earth" would get on eBay, and if I could really pull off wearing those "Ugg Australia Classic Crochet Tall Boots" because, well, I got them from Oprah.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2007
I'm Cool Again, or Maybe Just a Dork. But I Have an iPhone!
By:
The Dude on the Right
In case you were looking for my iPhone purchasing woes in a blog yesterday, I
have to apologize because I never got around to one. That’s because I was
playing with my new iPhone! Yup, I was only not cool for about 14 hours,
although, had I just gone to the Apple store on Friday evening after my
misgivings at two AT&T stores, I would have been cool sooner.
When I wrote about my inabilities to get an iPhone on the Friday launch date, the option to sign up for AT&T’s "direct fulfillment program" didn’t seem like the best option for me, even though I did have a comment for that blog saying I should have signed up for it. My problem is my obsessive nature, and once I had it in my mind I was going to buy one, signing up for a program that didn’t tell me when I would actually get the phone wasn’t going to cut it. By the time Friday evening came along I had done some homework, read many rumors (i.e. all stores selling the phone would get another shipment on Saturday, although I have had no reason to confirm if the AT&T stores did get a shipment on Saturday because I already had my phone so didn’t need to check), but I had an Ace up my sleeve, at least I hoped so, to getting an iPhone on Saturday, and that was there are five Apple Stores within an hour of the Dude-Pad. That Ace also had a companion, and that was the Apple website having a section showing iPhone availability for the next day.
After I wrote my blog on Friday night, lamenting on going to bed alone, I planned my Saturday. It would simply start with waking up in the morning around the same time I always do. I would shit, shower, and shave, and then head down to my computer. I would go to the Apple website, check the availability area and if it showed the iPhone would be available, for sale at 9AM as the website pronounced, I would hop in the Dude-mobile, head to the closest Apple Store that showed it had them, and hope for the best. I checked the website, it said my closest store still had them, and so I skipped my morning paper reading and headed to the mall. The tricky part was that I always call my Mom on Saturday mornings, and if push came to shove, calling her would take precedent over getting the phone. I end up at the Apple Store at about 8:50AM and there were already about 25 people in front of me. The only hope of getting the phone before having to call Mom is that unlike folks who were buying the phone at the AT&T store, who might have needed some questions answered, everyone in front of me had that look on their face of "give me an 8 gig, and oh yea, this case."
And as this blog is already starting to get too long let me just say a couple of things to finish this up: First, the Apple folks had a way-impressive force of getting the iPhone sold and out the door, even at 9:00 AM on a Saturday (I can’t imagine what happened Friday evening there which I will discuss with Stu Gotz tomorrow during our "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast). Second, with that force I had my iPhone purchased at about 9:07 AM, made it back to the Dude-mobile in time to call my Mom and tell her I bought one, to which she thought I was nuts. Third, the phone is very cool, although I will admit it looks like they just got a lot of functionality completed to get the phone out on time, with the rest of it to come with later software upgrades (the phone doesn’t have real "Ringtone" capability yet, nor, well, some other simple things my old RAZR had).
But yesterday, at about 9:07 AM, I was cool again, or maybe still just a dork. And the day before I got a free bottle of water just for waiting for an iPhone.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 7:02 PM | Comments (1)
June 29, 2007
No iPhone, Just a Bottle of Water.
By:
The Dude on the Right
So here it is, the big day, probably the most important day in recorded history,
and this morning I decided "Screw it, I'm going to try and get an iPhone."
Having too many things to do during the day meant camping out wasn't an option
for the 6PM on-sale time, but around where I live there were three stores I
could show up at, figuring around 5:30 should still be safe to get one.
Store A was in a developing community where I figured demand shouldn't be that
huge. Store B was by the mall, and I figured that store would probably be
packed with all of the crazies who took off work to buy a phone. Store C
was similar to Store A in terms of demographic, but further away.
So I finish with the things I needed to do this Friday, I get back to the dude-pad around 5PM, do a quick read of the newspaper, eat some grub, and then decide that I'm going to take my chances at Store A. Arriving around 5:40PM there's a line around the side of the store, putting me at about the 40th in line. "They should be stocked fairly well" I tell myself, and even the people that started arriving after me figured getting a brand spankin' new iPhone shouldn't be a problem. It's 6PM, the doors open to the promised land, and they begin by letting in 6 people, and then as one leaves, another enters. The line isn't moving that quickly, but I'm still confident I will be home this evening, iPhone in box, then in hand, then activated, and then I'm cool. In the meantime the nice AT&T employees (of which it seems they were overstaffed by about 5 people for the way they were selling the phone) came out offering bottles of water. It's now about 6:15 PM and the manager-looking AT&T dude comes out and announces, looking at the number of people left in line, that he wasn't sure if supply was going to meet demand, blurbs a little about the "direct fulfillment program" if they do run out, the ducked back into the store. The next round of bottled waters comes out, I decide to grab one, and then the manager-looking dude comes back out and announces the 8 Gig versions are sold out. He starts to talk about how they still have some 4 Gig versions left, the "direct fulfillment program" again, but I'm already heading to the dude-mobile, mumbling "At least I got a bottle of water."
What to do? I decide that since I'm already out I might as well head to Store B, the one by the mall, on the slim hope they got a monster shipment of phones. I arrive, there are about 20 people still in line, and as I take my place the AT&T employee starts pushing that "direct fulfillment program" again, and I pretty much know that tonight, unless I really wanted to take a hell of a chance and head to The Apple Store, I would go to bed iPhone-less.
And so, tonight, I go to bed alone.
But wait, I could order it on line and have it early next week? That would be good enough for me. I log in to the Apple web site, click to buy one, and there's a little note that says it won't ship for at least 2 weeks.
I read somewhere that there would be plenty of stock to keep everyone iPhoned, thus killing the eBay market, but if the AT&T stores pretty much sell out of the phones in about an hour, Apple won't ship the phone for a couple of weeks, and those stores don't get replenished, like, tomorrow, I'm thinking I really should have camped out last night and seen if some fool would pay me $1,500 bucks for a new iPhone.
I suppose I should blame myself because part of the reason I am iPhone-less is because I decided dinner and reading the news was just as important as getting in line, and had I actually just gone to the store by the mall, well, I'd probably have a phone this evening, even taking the time to eat my dinner and read the news. But you know what - I'm not blaming myself - I'm blaming the Apple and AT&T people because I'm guessing the only reason they are selling the 4 Gig iPhone is because they sold out of the 8 Gig, and if they had only had about ten more 8 Gig versions at Store A, I would be cool.
Instead I just got a free bottle of water.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 8:40 PM | Comments (1)
June 28, 2007
To i Or Not to i. Buying an iPhone is the Question.
By:
The Dude on the Right
Normally I do a podcast on Thursday evening, but tonight I'm in a typing mood,
so I thought I would hit you with a new blog to read since I haven't done one in
a while. From the title of this blog you can probably guess that this dude
has a dilemma and that is simply "Do I buy an iPhone as soon as humanly
possible, or do I wait?" Fine, if I do opt to get one it won't be as soon
as humanly possible because I won't be camping in line tonight to be "the first
on my block" to get one. I'm going on the theory that between the three
AT&T stores around me, well, if the mood hits, I should be able to score one
tomorrow evening when they go on sale. If the iPhone is already sold out
at all three stores, well, that might be the sign that I should wait a while, or
head to the Apple store in last ditch desperation. But...
Because sometimes I am partially nuts, and sometimes obsessive and compulsive, and since I have already, in my own bizarre way justified the expense (I need a new PDA since my Palm Pilot is about 5 years old and the battery won't last longer than a day; Sure, I've got a 60 Gig iPod, but it's pre-video and I think the battery will need to be replaced soon; My black RAZR isn't cool anymore. Add them all together: A SmartPhone-$300, a new iPod-$350, and I'm already saving money by getting an iPhone), now the question comes down to do I want to be on the forefront of a cell phone revolution hoping there aren't too many bugs to get through, do I sit back, chill, and maybe wait for the technology to fix itself, or do I want to go on vacation to New Jersey later in the year?
You see along with the launch of the iPhone I've gotten hooked by the Apple commercials for the phone, have become almost intimately close with Bob, the "black shirt dude," while watching the Guided Tour video, the Activation and Synch video, and the iPhone Keyboard video (which shows how the iPhone will suggest the word "pizza" when you can't properly hit the virtual keys on keyboard with no keys), looked at all of the pictures in the gallery, ruled out visiting my local Apple store in favor of my trio of AT&T stores, and don't know who to really believe anymore because even some of the actual reviews that have come out in reputable print papers seem confusing, with the only thing linking them all together is the fact the iPhone will be limited to the AT&T EDGE network (which means slow) as of now, and yet the Wi-Fi option is great.
Along with obsessively checking the Apple site, I've also become obsessed with one of the best message boards about cell phones, namely Howard Forums, and all of the latest postings announcing mostly wrong information about the iPhone. Lots of people keep posting that the iPhone actually has a 3G chip built in, just waiting for a software patch to "open it up" and that will be the final surprise announcement of the iPhone, but even I don't think that is true. I do have a concern that I can't have a custom ringtone for all my friends so I know who is calling instantly (Right now on my RAZR Stu Gotz has a Beatles tune, Trash has some Jimmy Buffett, The Dude on the Left has a Harry Caray homerun call, and Mom has some Michael Stanley Band) because a lot of the posts say designing your own ringtones isn't an option, but then another post says this will be coming in the future with a later software update. I do have a concern that my Shure headphones won't work with the thing because of a sort-of different/recessed headphone jack, but than another post says Shure is working on an adapter for the iPhone. There's all kinds of blabbering about the Bluetooth capabilities of the phone, but I don't really use Bluetooth so what do I care. And along with some information that seem legit and a lot of other that seems like crap, my favorite post, so far, deals with a future release of the iPhone, version 6.2, which will include an iPhaser, which one poster quickly states that "only if all the settings, work .. istun.. ikill.. if it only goes to istun and not ikill i will just wait for version 7.3".
And so I've got a little less than 24 hours from now, and three stores to visit, to see if I will be an iPhone owner, or if I might be going to New Jersey instead.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 7:54 PM | Comments (0)
June 3, 2007
The Apple iPhone is Coming June 29th. What Can I Sell?
By:
The Dude on the Right
I'm sitting here watching "60 Minutes" and it's 6:02 CDT when a new
iPhone commercial
comes on. It goes from watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" on the iPhone, to
wanting calamari, to searching for a seafood restaurant and getting a Google Map
of nearby restaurants, to clicking on the map, and then instantly making a phone
call to the restaurant. The commercial ends stating the Apple iPhone will be
available June 29th.
Rumors have been floating around about the Apple iPhone release date for quite a while, with most of them stating June 11th was the day, but all along the Apple and AT&T folks have been stating it will be available in June. Well if it's available June 29th they weren't lying, and after seeing the commercial I can't wait to get one.
I have already justified buying one in my head, even if I have to sell my foam "Wasted Away in Wrigleyville" parrot hat from the Jimmy Buffett show at Wrigley Field a couple of years ago. I'm sure that has got to be worth at least six hundred bucks by now. I suppose I could also auction off my unauthenticated brick from the old Comiskey Park. The eBay listing for that would simply state "It is a brick from the old Comiskey Park. I swear."
26ish days and counting from today. I suppose I could also sell my, well, I wonder how many times they let you donate per week?
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 5, 2005
The Dude on the Right Has New Toys!
By:
The Dude on the Right
Sometimes I hate the internet, or maybe I can blame this blog thing I have
started, and this may be hard to explain, but let's see if I can do it.
So the other night I got back to covering concerts and was slightly dismayed at the fact that there I was in the dark ages, still using a camera that yes, actually used film. All of the rest of the photographers had there nice digital cameras, but not me. And still at that time, I thought unless I had a lot of dough to invest, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. You see, the issue was that years ago, and I'm talking like 20 years ago, I invested in the Minolta system. They were one of the firsts with auto-focus ability, although in those days it was almost just as easy to manually focus to get the shot. Then I kept graduating to a better camera body, but my old Minolta lenses still worked. Then I graduated to a better Minolta (the Maxxum 700si) and some nice lenses. Then the digital age began, my first seeing it at Farm Aid back in who knows when. Still out of my price range, I was still okay with my 700si. Then, a little before I stopped covering concerts, the digital age really started to take hold, except I read that Minolta had no inkling of making a digital SLR like Canon and Nikon were doing. I resigned to the fact that if I was ever going to convert to digital, it was going to take a larger than I wanted to investment and just let it go, and as I stopped covering concerts, it really didn't seem to matter, anyway. Not paying attention to camera gear, I just let it go.
Then, the other day, as I wrote my blog after the Neil Diamond concert, I clicked over to the Minolta site. I had known that they combined with Konica, but low and behold, there, on the starting page, was a link to a Minolta digital SLR. I knew, from that point, that I was ruined, especially after being upstaged at my Neil Diamond shoot. So, after much reading, I took the plunge and got my new Minolta 7D. Had I never started this blog thing, I would have never gone to the Minolta site, but now I've got a really cool new toy, hoping that when I shoot Green Day next week that I don't totally regret the move and should have just stuck with my trusty 700si.
And to top my list of too many things to play with, I downloaded some real blog software from Moveable Type and am seeing if it will be easier and cooler to use it rather than my older cut and paste editing of this page. It has the cool stuff like being able to add comments and archiving and this, that, or the other thing. The camera seems pretty cool, and the software is probably pretty simple to use if I didn't want the page to look at similar to this one, so we'll see how things go. So yea, great, I've got to learn how to use a kick-butt new camera and figure out some new software, as well as finish some CD reviews, see "Dukes of Hazzard," and get a bunch of movie preview done. Such will be my weekend.
Have an unbelievable weekend.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:53 PM | Comments (0)
