eMusic cRaps Out

365:20 .. Lost in Music
Originally uploaded by fwumpbungle

I subscribe to eMusic. Its cheap and has a fairly decent catalog. But when I logged into my eMusic account the other day I got the following message:

"We are excited to announce that in early July eMusic will begin rolling out a major addition to our music catalog. "

They went on to tell me that because of the new additions to the catalog, major label artists such as the Dixie Chicks, Michael Jackson, Simon & Garfunkel and Yo Yo Ma, I would still pay the same exact price for my membership, but would be receiving 120 fewer downloads per year.

Nothing against Michael Jackson, but eMusic is tripping. I belong to eMusic because I love that I can find lots of drm-free indie, electronica and experimental stuff on eMusic. And at such a low price it makes risk taking easy.

But the recent addition of the Sony music catalog has forced them to charge more (or charge the same for less.) 120 songs less for the same price? 12 albums less per year? An album a month less so I can download Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits?

Let's say I was annoyed.

But they knew I would be, so to compensate for the loss of said 120 tracks per year, they had this little temptation to dangle before my ears:

"To celebrate the addition of all this great music we're giving you a 10-track booster pack (good for 30 days), free! The booster pack will automatically be added to your account in early August."

So to celebrate the loss of 120 tracks, they were going to compensate by giving me 10 tracks. (free!)

I did the math:

+10 free tracks - 120 tracks = -110 tracks.

For my money, the eMusic eQuation doesn't add up.

Update: Here is a letter about the changes from eMusic CEO and Chairman Danny Stein and subscriber comments: http://17dots.com/2009/05/31/more-of-the-good-stuff/

Wow - very cool slow motion wave action from BBC Two

Bike Art Show in San Luis Obispo: May 1 - May 31

What: The Tall Bike Posse presents the bike art show Bike Momentum - A Chain Reaction of Art and Advocacy, a great collection of cool bike art that benefits the both the artists and the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition.


When: The Gallery Reception on Friday, May 1st runs from 6-9pm. Come and meet the artists, graze on appetizers, have a beer and buy some bike art. The show runs through May 31st in celebration of Bike Month.

Where: 1060 Osos St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. San Luis Obispo is located around the midpoint between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the 101 Freeway, so it makes a great day-trip or weekend destination.

This video is from the 2007 show:

Mark Beck: Contemporary American Realist Painter

I just uploaded a shot of this Mark Beck painting, as well as some background info on the artist over at http://beckpainting.blogspot.com/.

Deadwood Head Shots on Flickr

Deadwood Head Shot: Snoozy Green
Originally uploaded by 7-how-7

This just in - I just started the Deadwood Head Shots group on Flickr:

Deadwood - the HBO show that ran for three seasons and wasn't renewed for a fourth - and so now of course it can never end.

This group is a hypothetical casting couch - a place for head shots of the fourth season characters that might have been.

Requirements: Submit a Deadwoodian head shot, and come up with a name for your character.

If you want to supply additional info about your character, such as age, origins, bathing habits, criminal record, dietary concerns, etc., feel free.

Ideally photos will be submitted as Polaroids, or using Poladroid software, but all shots are welcome regardless of format.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/deadwoodheadshot/

Jack-a-Roid

Jack-a-Roid
Originally uploaded by 7-how-7

This shot combines two great things: Jackalopes and Polaroids.

Free Obama Hope Santa Stickers Template

Earlier this week someone sent out an e-mail to Obama volunteers regarding our local Christmas Parade, and in that e-mail was a little jpeg image of Santa Claus, but Santa appearing in the context of the blue and red color scheme used for the "Hope" and "Progress" posters of the Obama campaign. I searched the web for this image and was unable to a copy anywhere, so I don't know who the name of the artist responsible. But I liked it so much I made a Photoshop pdf template for printing it out in sticker form.

You can download the template here:

Santa Claus Hope Stickers

To make sure that the stickers print correctly, open the file with Photoshop, hit "Print with Preview" (in the "file" dropdown menu) and then make sure to check the "Scale To Fit Media" box.

Now put some sticker paper (available from most office supply stores) in your printer and there you are, free stickers to spread a holiday message of Hope. The template prints out 10 large stickers and 4 small stickers per page. The bigger ones stick great just about anywhere (store windows, newspaper boxes, fire hydrants, public transportation) and the small ones are great for letters or to stick on presents. Either size is also great for just giving away to family and friends.