Keith’s Amusing Musings

The winner of the “A picture is worth 300 albums” contest is: No one.

Nichole is the only person who submitted an entry. Notably, all four of her answers were correct. However, she missed two of the four Anita Baker albums. As a consolation prize, she has won her choice of one of the six albums involved in the contest. Congrats, Nichole!

The answers are below for anyone who is curious. I hope to have a better showing in future contests.

Anita Baker The Songstress (1983) Rapture (1986) Giving You the Best that I Got (1988) My Everything (2004) Coldplay Parachutes (2000) X&Y (2005)

I have written about the Zune desktop software previously and one of my favorite features is the “Album Art Wall.” Basically, the software displays a random assortment of cover art from albums in your music collection to completely fill the screen. The example image below was captured at the full 1920×1200 resolution of my primary display at home. It’s a neat way to see about 300 thumbnails from the 1065 albums in my collection (ranging from Aaliyah to Zapp). The Zune desktop software is available as a free download even if you don’t own a Zune device. I highly recommend it over iTunes if you listen to music at your computer.

Here’s a challenge for you: Coldplay is one of my favorite groups and and TB loves Anita Baker. Can you name the Coldplay and Anita Baker albums visible in the “Album Art Wall” below? If so, leave a comment with your answer. The first person with the correct answer will win something fun.

(Click here for the full-size image)

If you are relatively new to my blog, you may have to dig through the archives to discover I like the Sonos music distribution system. Since I wrote that post lots has changed that makes me like it even more.

First, with the recent v2.7 software update, Sonos owners now have free access to Pandora and Last.fm music streaming services. I have subscribed to Pandora in the past and both services are excellent alternatives to normal FM radio broadcasts because they are commercial-free and play songs based on your musical tastes. Now that they are free to Sonos owners, users of XM/Sirius radio might also want to take notice.

Second, Sonos provides a first-party application through the Apple App Store for controlling Sonos Zone Players using an iPhone or iPod touch. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and you can control all your zones and access your entire music library anywhere in your home using the intuitive iPhone touch interface. This is great because Sonos charges $399 for a CR100 controller that does the same thing using a smaller screen and more complicated series of buttons and a circa-iPod-Generation-2 jog dial.

Check out the pictures below that I grabbed from my iPhone while playing around with our Sonos setup.

While in Chicago a few weeks back, my brother-in-law-in-law (TB’s sister’s husband) introduced me to Below the Heavens, an indie/underground hip-hop album released last summer. The critically acclaimed work combines DJ/producer, Exile, and new-comer rapper, Blu. I purchased the album for $6.99 in DRM-free MP3 form from the Amazon Store.

The duo’s chemistry is reminiscent of that last heard on the Gnarls Barkley freshman release, St. Elsewhere, one of my favorite albums of 2006. There is an interview with pictures on illRoots.com. Curiously, while Danger Mouse is skinny and Cee-Lo rotund, Exile is big-boned and Blu could play Pookie in New Jack City 2.

All jokes aside, Below the Heavens is hip-hop Bundt cake: dense with an amazing panoply of old school samples, glazed with lyrical dexterity. This album will lift your spirit and may expand your brain matter. Last night, the album lifted my spirit (and legs) so much, I ran my first 10K (6 miles). Not bad.

Below the Heavens gets 4.5 out of 5 on the “Tyrone Biggums” scale. (reference)

Exile’s production gets sloppy and Blu’s lyrics lose focus in a few lulls. Otherwise, it would be perfect.

I just published a write-up I have been working on for a few weeks about my experience building a top-of-the-line Vista Media Center (VMC) home theater PC (HTPC) to replace our TiVo Series3. Only true PC geeks and gadget nerds are allowed unless you are just curious to see a real-world example of how much premium retail electronics get marked up. Here is an actual shot of our Sony flat panel displaying the new machine in action.

TB is still on the fence so it’s not clear whether the HTPC meets the WAF. She loves TiVo so the VMC interface has to be demonstrably better and the HTPC hardware very reliable to meet her bar. I’ve already removed the safety net by disconnecting the TiVo from the main TV. We’ll put it in the bedroom at least until our one-year prepaid service expires in July. My mother-in-law will be here in a couple weeks which will be a good “guest test” as well. The only potential problem is she loves TiVo too.