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December 18, 2004

A Musical Season

I realize that poking fun of boy bands is just so 2000, but I couldn't resist this amusing holiday parody. At least, I hope it's a parody. (via Gawker)

Posted by Dean at 1:45 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

December 15, 2004

Christmas Time

In the spirit of Christmas, my tree, bought from Pemberton Farms in Cambridge, MA, is decorated and trimmed. It's such a nice time of the year. There's a nip in the air, and we end up getting subjected to awful Christmas pop-songs on the radio. Even traditional Christmas songs are worthy of critique.

Posted by Dean at 2:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 8, 2004

Comparison Shopping

I don't purchase a large amount of music, but I do buy CDs fairly regularly. Many of these purchases are made through Amazon, but I figured it would be useful to check out some alternative sources. So, doing a price comparison on a benchmark such as The Beatles' White Album, I searched around for various sources online of discount (new) CDs. The results:

Amazon: $27.99

Tower Records: $29.99

Cheap-CDs: $26.20

Newbury Comics: $23.95

Of course, your mileage may vary when it comes to issues of shipping and handling. Conclusion: Newbury Comics gives surprisingly good deals, even though I'm still bitter about the fact that the company left the MIT Student Center back in the late 1990s.

Posted by Dean at 5:19 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

December 5, 2004

'Tis the Season...

... for Christmas specials! I can't really recall a single Christmas Special I ever thought was good, but seeing as how I grew up with them, I do remain quite attached to them. The most famous of which is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Many of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s remember The Year Without a Santa Claus (now on DVD!), not because the title -- or even the plot -- sticks out in our minds, but rather because we remember the Heat Miser, described as "one of the coolest clay animation characters ever," and the "Heat Miser Song."

I also happen to own one of the most infamous, most awful Christmas Specials ever, The Star Wars Holiday Special. There are still bootlegs being sold at the outdoor Noho Market in New York city, next to the Tower Records on Broadway & 4th St.

John Scalzi treats us to an overview of The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time.

The latter is fake. The tragedy is that The Star Wars Holiday Special is real.

Posted by Dean at 4:39 PM | Comments (2)

December 4, 2004

Coffee, Wondrous Coffee

While my coffee of choice is Batdorf & Bronson's Mexican Organic, let me make a plug for the coffee selection of the monks at All Merciful Savior Orthodox Monastery in Vashon, Washington.

The monastery was featured in the documentary This Land Is Your Land, when the monastery ran afoul of Starbucks in a trademark dispute over the monastery's "Christmas Blend" coffee. Fortunately, the courts sided with the monastery whose Christmas Blend pre-dated Starbucks', and you can still buy a bag of your own until the end of this month.

Posted by Dean at 11:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 2, 2004

Pixies Sellout

Wednesday night, I got to see The Pixies play at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA to a sold-out crowd. Mission of Burma opened with a self-deprecating announcement to the audience that they were invited so that the Pixies would appear young in comparison.

The Pixies put on an amazing show. In the midst of my hectic schedule, this concert was one I couldn't miss. A friend recalled having last seen them at Axis in Boston in 1989-- a venue an order of magnitude smaller in size than the Tsongas Arena.

Be sure to see them at any of their remaining tour dates if you can get tickets. Do it, do it, do it.

Celebrity sighting: Ellen Feiss of Apple Switch Ad-fame was in attendence.

Posted by Dean at 2:05 PM | Comments (22)