Fashionistas you have arrived 3-25-03 - 10-3-03

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by bilmore
I was excited to see them release an album called "Nirvana Unplugged", until I found that they just meant non-electric guitars.

Don't start with me...Kurt Cobain was a creative genius. He just had poor taste in women.

Originally posted by robustpuppy
When I was a kid I thought "lay down sally" was "pass the salad." It doesn't even sound like that, but whatever, like I said, I was a kid. I do still giggle internally when somebody asks me to pass the salad.

Another favorite mistake is a friend who sang - "Dirty Deeds and the Thunder Jeep" rather than "Done Dirt Cheap." An Ex thought "You can't hide you're lyin' eyes" referred to "Lion eyes" when he was a kid. I once also heard "Oh big ol' jet airliner" from Steve Miller replaced with "Oh, Big Ole Jed had a light on." The last one I love - it's nowhere near the same on paper, but when you sing it - not too far off.

-TL

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
Wasn't my best class, but offer, acceptance... Now for someone to document the event.

Why document? Are you saying it would take more than 1 year to finish?

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Lexus Talionis
Why document? Are you saying it would take more than 1 year to finish?

An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed during the lifetime of the promisor is within the statute of frauds.

I thought ThrashersFan was a member of the "not in my lifetime" school of thought re: buttlove. Hence, TM will need to wait for the condition subsequent to collect.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Pushy the Puppy
What happened to the excruciating trolling and flaming?

'

I stopped socking. Sorry.

[Jack Manfred]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Speaking of the record industry spooning stuff, has anyone heard the president of the RIAA spouting off about how they're suing the evil file sharers? I heard an interview with this guy yesterday, and I think that the Spanish Inquisition (and not the musical Mel Brooks version) wouldn't have been good enough at torturing and seeking out file sharers.

The Recording Industry of America sells buggy whips.

I have no problem with the Feds coming down on file sharers so long as they prosecute record company execs under Federal criminal law for price-fixing and other antitrust violations.

Death to all major labels. They're all 4080 to me. Major label execs screw artists and consumers and should have their cocaine, hookers, and convertibles taken away from them. I will not argue about this.

I know dreams of a tech utopia are more 1997 than 2003, but I'd much rather have AppleMusic in charge of delivering music to consumers than UMG and its cronies.

On the subject of poker, there are several poker sites online that allow users to play for play money instead of real money. You have to download software so I couldn't do it at the office on a WindowsXP machine without bribing the tech support people, but it wouldn't take much to arrange a weekend game of hold'em among FB denizens.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Jack Manfred
On the subject of poker, there are several poker sites online that allow users to play for play money instead of real money. You have to download software so I couldn't do it at the office on a WindowsXP machine without bribing the tech support people, but it wouldn't take much to arrange a weekend game of hold'em among FB denizens.

E/O, notcasesensitive and I are in! Your play money is mine, all mine..bwahahahahahaha.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Jack Manfred
I have no problem with the Feds coming down on file sharers so long as they prosecute record company execs under Federal criminal law for price-fixing and other antitrust violations.

That's all nice and theoretical and comfortable for thieves, but how much money do you send to the artists when you download?

Or, to the guys working in the disc factories?

Or, to the marketers who spent the money to get the song out there to the stations or clubs or . . .


(Edited to add: it sounds like "well, if they didn't want the car stolen, they shouldn't have left the keys right there!"

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by bilmore
That's all nice and theoretical and comfortable for thieves, but how much money do you send to the artists when you download?

Or, to the guys working in the disc factories?

Or, to the marketers who spent the money to get the song out there to the stations or clubs or . . .


(Edited to add: it sounds like "well, if they didn't want the car stolen, they shouldn't have left the keys right there!"

Well, the RIAA is implying that the artists are the primary injured parties, mainly, I assume, because the typical file sharer doesn't really care much about the guy on the record company's payroll who brings the spritzer to the diva between tracks or the driver of the band bus during the record company sponsored tour. Or the indie promoters that are paid by the record companies to hawk songs to radio stations. But ohmigod, I'm hurting Justin! may be what it takes to get some kid who's never seen the point of buying CDs to pick up a sixteen dollar piece of crap CD, er piece of art.

The files that are downloaded the most are also the songs that are on the top of the charts. People are buying that music anyway. Are they buying it that much less than they would have if there were no file-sharing? I'm not sure, and I don't know if anyone is sure. I think many consumers would go ahead and get the song if it were free, but not if they had to pay for it.

I'm conflicted a bit over file-sharing, and my CD collection is 6000% larger than my MP3 collection, but I think that the RIAA is being a little disingenuous when it states that the primary injured party is the artist. Certainly the artist is injured to some extent, but not, I think, to the extent that the record companies say.

Links: http://www.marketplace.org/morning_report/moreinfo.html (article on PRI's Marketplace regarding artist owned labels and the way record deals are structured, I'm pretty sure that the link to the audio goes to the wrong file)

http://archive.salon.com/tech/featur...sto/index.html (paper by an owner of a record label and member of the board of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences regarding file sharing, presented to the board of governors of the New York chapter of NARAS; note, I think that, not withstanding the 2s and 4s in the quotes, Prince's discussion on the fourth page regarding art and the commercialization of art is fascinating.)

[Jack Manfred]

Originally posted by Jack Manfred
I have no problem with the Feds coming down on file sharers so long as they prosecute record company execs under Federal criminal law for price-fixing and other antitrust violations.

Originally posted by bilmore
That's all nice and theoretical and comfortable for thieves, but how much money do you send to the artists when you download?

People who download music online without permission of record companies are not thieves. The RIAA keeps making that argument as if saying it's so makes it so. De La Soul wasn't stealing from The Turtles when it put an uncleared sample on 3 Feet High and Rising. The Verve wasn't stealing from the Rolling Stones when it put an uncleared obscure string quartet transcription on "Bittersweet Symphony." Posdonus and Richard Ashcroft were never threatened with jail time.

Almost all of my mp3's are legal (downloaded from band websites) or quasi-legal (smashups or bootlegs) or led directly to the purchase of the actual CD from the artist. That's how the artist gets paid. I understand that if all music were downloaded without payment, no payment would go to the artist.

Or, to the guys working in the disc factories?

They're probably getting overtime pay for making all those blank CDs, as blank CD sales have surpassed all industry expectations. Those whose jobs are tied solely to the creation of music CDs should look for work because before we know it, most music will not be purchased by buying full-length CDs from a particular artist.

Or, to the marketers who spent the money to get the song out there to the stations or clubs or . . .

Fuck them. If everyone involved in marketing (and you can expand this to all countries and industries if you want, but that's another rant entirely) died tomorrow, the world would be a better place. So-called "independent" music promoters are helping Clear Channel kill radio right now. I have plenty of anger but no tears for them.

Many thanks to RT for doing the intellectual heavy lifting on the music copyright issue while I frittered away the evening watching 28 Days Later, which is not, as I initially thought, a sequel to the Sandra Bullock rehab movie, but instead, a pretty good horror movie by Danny Boyle. Saying that the picture is his take on zombie movies sounds kind of stupid, but the film isn't stupid. It's not the triumph that Shallow Grave was, and it won't get the acclaim that Trainspotting did, but it's worth seeing.

[Jack Manfred]

Originally posted by Jack Manfred
Poker sites online ... allow users to play for play money instead of real money.... It wouldn't take much to arrange a weekend game of hold'em among FB denizens.

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
E/O, notcasesensitive and I are in! Your play money is mine, all mine..bwahahahahahaha.

I have True Poker software downloaded on my home computer. It's free and available by clicking this link.

[MisterEbola]

Originally posted by bilmore
I cannot imagine Strom "Horndog" Thurmond being overly upset at a SC opinion that says that consensual sexual behavior is no business of the state's.

Of course, by this measure, prostitution should be completely legal as it too is consensual sex.

Same with incest.

[notcasesensitive]

What reality show should you be on?

http://www.emode.com/tests/realityshow/index.jsp

NCS, you're destined for Road Rules

You are a team player with a yearning for the open road. It's no wonder that Road Rules is the perfect reality show for you. Think of it as spring break with a chance to win money and prizes (and you won't even need to take your shirt off). Read more about your reality show...


I guess that confirms that my reality tv career is over before it even began. Unless they come up with Gen X Road Rules at some point...

BTW, I'm going to check out the poker suggestion.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by Jack Manfred
People who download music online without permission of record companies are not thieves. The RIAA keeps making that argument as if saying it's so makes it so. De La Soul wasn't stealing from The Turtles when it put an uncleared sample on 3 Feet High and Rising. The Verve wasn't stealing from the Rolling Stones when it put an uncleared obscure string quartet transcription on "Bittersweet Symphony." Posdonus and Richard Ashcroft were never threatened with jail time.

These are two separate intellectual property issues.

First, downloading music available for sale without paying for it is stealing. You can argue that it is marketing, like a form of radio promotion, if that helps you feel better about it, but the bottom line is that you are stealing. If you want to rip cds to load onto your mp3 player or burn your own cds, buy the cd or buy the songs off of iTunes. Artists are paid a pittance for their performance on cds, but it's still money they rightfully deserve.

Second, using uncleared samples is also stealing. It is not treated criminally unless it is a wholesale theft, i.e., reproducing an entire cd for manufacture with no changes. (Those bootleg manufacturers go to jail and forfeit their businesses. The underground hip hop industry and regional music distributors have been dealing with increased federal investigations for the past two years.)

When artists use uncleared samples, they are forced to pay royalties for the samples they use and/or are forced to remove the track from later manufactured discs. Interestingly, it is considered a matter of pride for independent artists to finally receive the lawyer's demand letter about their uncleared samples.

The difference between you downloading a song and an artist using a sample of someone's music is that they are creating art, while you are stealing.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive

BTW, I'm going to check out the poker suggestion.

I've played hold 'em on games.yahoo.com since our poker discussion. We could easily just set up a time and a table.