Articles by Michael Anderson

CD Retrospective: 40 Years Later, Miles Davis Bitches Brew STILL Polarizes Jazz Fans

In every medium, every genre, there are transitions from one period to the next, silent to ‘talkies’ to color films, baroque to classical to romantic in classical music, and so on. But seldom is there a singular musical even that forms such a clear demarcation in a genre as Miles Davis 1970 Bitches Brew does for Jazz music. As stated on the Miles-Beyond blog, everything in Jazz comes down to ‘before’ or ‘after’ Bitches Brew. It is interesting to look back and realize that in spite of being one of the clear stars of jazz from the 1940’s until his…

News & Features

StarWars.com Hosting Online ‘Clone Wars’ Marathon!

As they are preparing for Season 3 of the ‘Clone Wars’ animated series, StarWars.com is hosting what they are describing as an ‘Online Season 2 Marathon’. Here is their description: As we head into our final long weekend of the summer at StarWars.com, we invite you to spend some time with the Zillo Beast and his friends. StarWars.com is winding down the summer with a marathon of five episodes from the second season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These cinematic spectacles offer widescreen, epic action worthy of a summer blockbuster: except in small screen, 22-minute format. So while you’re…

News & Features

Random Nonsense: Happy 90210 Day!

Before being recreated into a mediocre retread of every late-teen-angst show since the original, and which barely managed to get a third season based on some very anemic reviews and ratings, 90210 was a powerhouse guilty pleasure show on the FOX Network back in the early 90’s created by Darren Star. Now today is September 2nd, 2010, or 09/02/10 … or simply 90210. All of you from the rest of the world who think of your dates in order of ascending magnitude (i.e. day, month, year) just move along – you had your celebration back in February! Here is the…

News & Features

The Annual Beloit College Mindset List Once Again Makes Parents Feel Old

I still have a few years until my kids will be entering college and am acutely aware of the realities of what life was like for them growing up, but each year when I see the Beloit College Mindset list it is a reminder of how much life has changed since I entered college myself oh so many years ago! This is the 12th official list, going back to the class of 2002 list made in 1998! Here are a few samples of things from the list that made me stop in my tracks: 1. Few in the class know…

Editorials, Game Diary

Sony Keeps Showing PSP Go Users They Hate Us!

I know what you’re thinking … blah, blah, blah, keeping beating the ‘I hate Sony’ drum, yeah, sure, whatever. In fact I’ve gotten more than one comment that says almost exactly as much. But hear me out … If you look at the history of the Sony PSP, there are several games that stand out – Dissidia: Final Fantasy, God of War: Chains of Olympus, the first two Grand Theft Auto games, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Jeanne d’Arc, Resistance: Retribution, Patapon, Loco Roco … and not much else. In 2010 we’ve had some solid releases such as Persona 3…

Game Diary, Reviews

PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review: Dragon Age: Origins Golems of Amgarrak DLC

Last month I reviewed the Leliana’s Song DLC and the month before that I reviewed the Darkspawn Chronicles DLC, with each one representing very different types of gaming experiences within the context of the Dragon Age universe: one was combat driven and narrow, and the other was a character study that got us behind the scenes with one of the main characters from the main game. I also noted that a high-level combat-centric module Golems of Amgarrak was arriving. Now that I have completed playing through the newest DLC (and with only a week before the final DLC release) I…

News & Features

Cami Secret Is Your Safeguard Against Woody Allen!

Even as a man I sometimes find myself uncomfortable and embarrassed in business situations when men who should know better show their respect for their highly educated and proficient female colleagues much as Woody Allen is showing his respect for Scarlett Johansson. Hopefully we are long past the point where someone would actually suggest that by wearing a low cut shirt a woman is ‘asking for’ untoward glances … yet somehow I doubt it. Whether it is to avoid wandering eyes or to simply feel more professional and covered up while still wearing a favorite shirt you would otherwise not…

Editorials, Music Diary

Music Industry Says Sales Still Lousy, Still Blaming Piracy, Still Trying to Raise Prices and Force Album-Only Sales Model

There is a great Veggie Tales song The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, where they are supposed to be singing about ‘piratey stuff’ but Larry is singing about … nonsense. At the end they conclude ‘you just don’t get it’. And THAT is exactly what I was thinking when I read the news about the sorry state of album sales at NPR. Here is the video, just in case you don’t know the song: From the article: The month of August — like, basically, every month for the past 10 years — has not been kind to the music industry….

Music Diary

Celebrating Bird – Charlie Parker’s 90th Birthday, and 55 Years Since His Death

When most people think about creative musical geniuses who shone bright, lived fast, and died young, they most often think of rock music icons like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain or Keith Moon. But the trend began LONG before the rock era. The classic film Amadeus highlighted the fast life and early death of Mozart, and there were many other influential composers and musicians of the pre-recorded music era such as Franz Schubert and Frederick Chopin who died while in the midst of amassing a library of great music that would influence musicians and composers centuries later. In the 20th…

News & Features

The Urinal Sink: Ultra-Efficient, Eco-Friendly … But Do You Want It?

This weekend we were visiting my nephew before he started back to his senior year in college, and took him and his girlfriend out for lunch. He chose P. F. Changs in Albany, which was great for us as we lack quality Chinese food in the Corning area, but a rather odd choice for someone who had spent the entire summer working on a research project with his professor in China. But as we were finishing up and everyone hit the rest rooms before we went our separate ways. Despite their only being four men, we created a line in…

News & Features

No, Despite What That Email Says, Mars Won’t Be Riding Down the Highway in White Ford Bronco!

Has it REALLY been seven years already? Back on August 27th of 2003, Mars came the closest it had to the earth in 60,000 years. It was an amazing astrological event and I watched through my telescope and had a wonderful time waking up my young kids and sharing it with them (and no, they don’t remember it anymore). But even back then misinformation was spread: the truth was that as Mars came ~56 million kilometers from Earth it would be approximately 1/75 the size of a full moon, so using a 75x telescope lens you would get a wonderful…

News & Features

Celebrate Your XBOX Love with the Red Ring of Death … Ring?

There are few things that can scare a modern console gamer like the thoughts of the Red Rings of Death! That term itself has become ubiquitous in the current generation, indicating the failure light pattern when the XBOX360 has a fatal failure. OK, so this ring really isn’t meant to be a Red Ring of Death, but it looks like it! Here is the description from the ShinyLines: Red, the color of crimson determination. Fiery and bold, it commands with hot intention. This artisan hand-finished rhodium plated cast .925 solid sterling silver ring boasts the elegant look of platinum without…

eBooks, Editorials

Awesome Barnes & Noble Coupon Features, But Excludes Nook & eBooks!

Like millions of Barnes & Noble customers, I awoke this morning to a new B&N coupon in my email – this one touting that I can get up to 50% off at checkout! I am getting close to finishing my current book on the nook reader on my iPad, so I figured I would see what great new ebook I could add to the family library. I mean, after all, the coupon has the nook featured prominently in the upper right corner, and lists ebooks along with DVDs and music and so on along the menu. But before I start…

Game Diary, Reviews

PC Game Review: Puzzle Quest 2

I recently reviewed the Nintendo DS version of Puzzle Quest 2, and since then the PC version has hit Steam. As I said, the DS game made good as a true sequel to the “Casual Meets Hardcore and Loves It!” surprise hit from 2007. Back then the PC version was the most feature-packed and inclusive version. So does the new PC game live up to the solid performance of the DS version? Read on and find out! The Hype: Puzzle Quest 2 marks the return of the world’s leading puzzle adventure series and its trademark blend of match 3 gem-based…

Music Diary, News & Features

Random Cool Video: So I WASN’T Wrong Thinking All Pop Music Sounds Basically the Same!

I’m not just grumbling about the ‘good old days’ or something like that … as we have spent a good amount of the summer listening to the local pop radio station or the ’80’s, 90’s and Today’ station on Slacker I have commented repeatedly how so much of the pop music sounds like it was written by committee … and that the committees seem to share many common members! Now someone has looked at three of the hottest songs of the summer – Ke$sha’s Tik Tok, Katy Perry’s California Gurls, and Miley Cyrus’ Permanent December – are basically the same…

Music Diary, News & Features

The Coolest New CD Release of the Year: Tristan Perich 1-Bit Symphony

I honestly can’t recall the last time I specifically ordered a new release CD, and was excited about the arrival of the physical product. Sure I’ve been sent a few and won some others and have grabbed a couple of special releases over the past several years. In those cases either someone else made the choice or there were pack-ins that made getting the music in physical form necessary. But in general all I care about is the music and I am happy to get it in digital form through either iTunes or Amazon. But this week we have what…

Game Diary, Reviews

PC/PSP Game Review: LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4

I was a huge fan of LEGO Star Wars when it came out back in 2005, and also of the Original Trilogy follow-up. These games brought interesting gameplay and whimsical storytelling to life in a way that captured the essence of their source material and a humor and lightness that made them eminently family friendly. That said, I have been decreasingly entertained as they rolled out the mediocre LEGO Batman and LEGO Indiana Jones and the dreadful LEGO Indiana Jones 2. Those games had a style and humor that felt forced and a gameplay that felt laborious. I love the…

News & Features

In The Soviet Era People Lined Up For Bread, But In 1990 … ?

The stark image above shows a pre-revolution era bread line in Russia in the 1915-1916 time frame, thought to be during the German occupation of Russia in World War I. Next we see that after the revolution and the promise of sharing and plenty … we still get bread lines and poverty and an authoritarian rule over those in need: Fast-forward to the time just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and guess what? Yep, more bread lines! Yet in Moscow in 1990, we see a different sort of line. According to the post at Neatorama: What are these…

News & Features

Flowchart Helps You Answer the Question: Can We Date?

This summer has been interesting for my family: my older son had his first real date AND first kiss … but of course not with the same girl (oh the drama!), and my younger son is being pursued by the same 18-year-old camp counselor (and older sister of one of my kids’ friends) who chased my older son last summer. Fortunately I am into my third decade of not having to worry about dating … but for those troubled by this question, The Morning News is there to help! They have detailed out a ‘Can We Date’ chart in order…

Editorials, Game Diary

OMG Apple r d0m3d! Sony Shows PSP Playing Mediocre 2 Year Old Games For $10 Each!

You can see the idea – the PSP is for ‘real’ games, and the iPhone is for ‘bite-sized gaming’. Show some great looking PSP games and have some crappy simul-screen on the iPhone, and you’re good to go! Here is the main thrust of the video as noted at Engadget: Marcus reminds viewers that the iPhone is built for things like “texting your grandma and calling your girl,” while the PSP is “built for big boy games,” some of which can be had for as little as $9.99. So what is the problem? One of the main points of the…

Editorials, News & Features

Looking Back at the ‘Girl Quits Job’ Hoax … OOOH the Irony!

Like everyone else, I got a million links to the article at The Chive and even started a serious post about it before it was revealed as a fake, which I noted here. In the serious story I was writing, I refused to use the word ‘girl’, as a I think a young professional person of the female gender should be referred to as a ‘woman’. I was dismayed about the treatment of her by a boss who treated her in a sexist and demeaning fashion, which struck a personal nerve with me as I have a 22 year old…

« 1 … 101 102 103 104 105 … 114 »