This is the smartest move that Amazon.com can do for its users. (full article here)
We have received thousands of e-mails from Amazon customers around the world asking us when we will make Amazon MP3 available outside of the U.S,
We are excited to tell those customers today that Amazon MP3 is going international this year.
I can’t wait for it.
How thick can an industry get?
I got a bunch of e-mails promoting the new MusicPass idea, which brought a very loud “whose brilliant idea was it? No, like… really.”
Dear, Sony.
The idea of music download is that you don’t need to go to a retailer to pick up a copy of an album, and you don’t even have to wait for the retailer to open in the morning.
Well, considering I do most of my digital music shopping at 4 a.m. ~~~~ xP
Lol’
Like ANY artist would. They should like soooo totally do it. Kick it Radiohead style!! They do make you feel kinda guilty over that, I ended up giving some money – Good music deserves $$ =D
Moby, he’s not cool… but totally earned some bonus points when giving his tracks for non-commercial videos/films etc etc.
Major labeled artists shouldn’t complain about illegal digital copies. They’ve got enough money, and they make all their $$ in their concerts anyway… just ask Madonna.
I have finally found the Silver Sea album by Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, after extensive searching and waiting. I will share for a limited time only, if you’re interested, be sure to leave a message in this post.
The album has 13 songs of pretty awesome vocals. Meav’s got one of the most delightful voices I’ve heard in a long time, it really is a pleasure to just listen to her. Many of the tracks are slow to mid-tempo songs that really showcase her vocals, but most of my favorite ones are beat-driven tracks like The Wicked Sister, and The Dark-Haired Girl.
Some other highlights are Morning in Béarra – that, if I’m not mistaken, sounds like She Moved Thru the Fair, – A Maid in Bedlam, and Youkali Tango – a sexy-sounding Tango in French. Song lyrics and translations found at LyricsMagnet.com. Here’s the tracklist:
Welcome to the brand new adventures of Amy Wong, this time~ entitled, Amy Wong and the Search of the Silver Sea. (insert harry potter pun in here)
As many know, I have found myself obsessed with Celtic Woman, so I was trying to look for some tracks by Meav Ni Mhaolchatha, whose name I have finally learned to type. I was browsing iTunes when I found the music I wanted, and downloaded some of her tracks, when I realized iTunes Canada didn’t have listed her album Silver Sea… yes, I was browsing iTunes USA when I saw it. So I found myself cursing and cussing against iTunes, because seriously… Canada and the US? Not much of a difference in the market, is there? I know, I know it’s not iTunes’ fault per se, but the record companies… but WHATEVER.
Anyway, since I couldn’t get the tracks the legal way, I started searching all torrents sites with Bit Che (insert sponsorship here) – but couldn’t find ANYTHING. Then, I decided to open LimeWire (insert more propaganda here), but yeah~ no such luck either.
Then, I started googling (more propaganda here… seriously, I should get some money for all these advertisement I’m adding in my post) – Tried Calabash Music first (more ads), but nothing there… and then found Artist Direct (more ads) – they had Meav listed, they just didn’t have the Silver Sea album… AND FINALLY! I found eMusic (more ads) – the site seemed normal, read the WHY JOIN? thing they had, and DIDN’T READ anything about REGION RESTRICTION, so I signed up. But SURPRISE! I couldn’t download~ The album is not allowed in Peru, nor Canada~
Now, I went straight to the source of all this madness… Meav’s official site, which gives a few links where to get her album. Amazon.com or UK don’t have the album anymore (ok, more ads… and I knew I wouldn’t be able to find the album because it’s quite old) – and also… Celtic Collections. In fact, Celtic Collections HAS the album in stock, with another cover, and who knows what other tiny differences. The price? 13.5 Euros. Now, that’s a rip-off for me, I’m sorry… coz I know for sure, I will need to pay probably 7 Euros more for shipping, and I can’t really see if that’s a good deal for me.
I heart Meav, and all… but come on! Get real, I’m Peruvian – over 15 Euros for an album is a lot of money for me, especially because I only want 5 tracks from the album! However, I’m seriously tempted in buying it just to post it online, so no one has to suffer getting the tracks. My only chance without spending over 10 Euros, is to wait for my cousin to get me the tracks… she may be able to, since she’s living in the US. Hopefully, eMusic will allow her to download the tracks, or else… I’ll have to figure out a way around the iTunes tracks.
Oh yeah, by the way… Calabash Music is pretty good, since I haven’t gotten any content restriction issue with it, as well as those DRM-Free music thingies on iTunes music, you know, “The Protection” code thing which really bugs people. So I will shout it to the world, CALABASH MUSIC IS PRETTY AWESOME.
Just updated the list of films I might watch or wanna watch this year – HERE
The past few days, besides from obsessing over watching the Celtic Woman concert DVD, I watched a few films. First in the list are two Canadian indies, both very similar in casting, and both pretty good.
Eighteen tells the story of Pip, an apathetic Canadian middle-upper class who decides to live in the street due to several reasons. On his 18th birthday, he receives a tape with a recording of his grandfather (voiced by Ian Mckellan), who tells Pip about his 18th birthday spent on the run during war time. – The film is quite a good drama, definitely worth a watch. Loved Carly Pope, Paul Anthony and Brendan Fletcher (both of them were on The Adventures of Shirley Holmes). – 4.5/5
Next was Everyone, an odd dark comedy, that also counts with the talent of Pope and Fletcher. This film is about a gay couple who’s getting married, and all their guests for the event, including a failed TV actor who hates kids, his anorexic actress wife, a pot-smoking-couple who spent their time playing video games, a mom who’s desperate for a grandchild, her picked-up-from-the-bus-stop guest, and a caterer that just can’t stop talking. Carly Pope has a few great one-liners in this film xD – 4/5
The Fountain was just plain awesome to watch. The visuals of the film are superb, and the story is so freaking out there – some will hate it, some will love it for sure. The film is about a couple dealing with death, parallel in three different times. HOWEVER, it can also have a different interpretation. It’s really open, but it’s good because it’s different to so many films. – 4/5
And last but no least… Pirates 3. It was a decent film, the effects and action sequences were great as expected. Davy Jones looked as great as Pirates 2, Barbosa was decent, and Jack was great as always. The film didn’t work out for me because I had an issue with introducing all those international pirates, and not using them. What a waste! Even if Chow Yun Fat was pretty good in his few minutes of film – I wish he could’ve been more important. It was just pure filler – and I wished for Elizabeth to just be an independent woman, captain of Sao Feng’s vessel, and king of all pirates~ I hated she had to marry… and I sorta disliked I got an expected ‘happily ever after’ ending. Besides, Jack/Elizabeth kiss on Pirates 2 was hot. Hands down. Lol – 3/5
Okay, I’m sleepy. It’s 5 a.m. but I won’t be able to sleep if I think of forgetting about this when I wake up. Tuesdays mark “new CDs and DVDs” day, I should know, I was the one going on a shopping trip every Tuesday to get my favorite music and movies in Canada. Don’t do it here in Peru, mainly because there is not “new merchandise” day that I know of, and things just don’t get here in time.
Anyway, for anyone – I am the ideal consumer. If I like your product, I will likely buy it. However, products have been sucking lately… also because I hate thinking Blu-ray discs and HD are on the market now, so studios are not releasing two-discs DVDs anymore.
But let’s talk about music as a more general example. Continue Reading…
Ok, this last Friday sucked!
First, there is NO sign of episode 6 of ANTM8 coz YouTube sucks. Then, computer was supposed to arrive today, but it hasn’t and my uncle said maybe later in the night, it’s Saturday already and nothing… I also decided to format my cousin’s laptop… HP laptop. For some reason, it didn’t wanna accept and wipe clean the whole Hard Disk with a copy of XP Professional, so now I’m stuck with a useless HP laptop with only 2GB free. I have to wait for the freaking HP installation CDs now.
I was also trying to make a small network between the computers in my house, because I’m tired of running around when I want to print something from my laptop in the printer of the desktop. So that also blows!! I mean, it’s supposed to be so easy, but for some reason it just REFUSES to work properly. I have officially rebooted my machine over 10 times today. And the Microsoft Support Center? Yeah, not much support in there… It figures.
After all was said and done, I ended up having a chat with Mrs. Cow inside a bun. It turned out she was from Hamburg – actually, I learned some things today. First, that thing we, in Spanish, call “Gentilicios”, it’s called “Gentilics” or “Demonym”. I also learned that people from Croatia are not Croatians, but Croats, and that people from Hamburg are NOT Hamburgers, but Hamburgians!
There you go, tell other people!
I wanted to rant about this on Thursday, but I totally forgot about it. So, Peru sucks… television-wise. I mean, I would love to be legal about all sort of stuff… for example, watching TV shows on TV, but I can’t do it, so I watch it on YouTube because I’m not willing to download 300MB for an episode. I can’t watch shows that I want on TV, because they either take 6 months for Sony Entertainment (in the case of America’s Next Top Model) to bring the new episodes, or they NEVER bring the episodes. So, networks, SUCK IT UP!
Recently, DirectTV just set up their signal in Peru, but they pretty much show what Cable Magico is showcasing in its regular lineup, and it doesn’t include channels like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX (America), FX (America) or CW Network. About 8 or 9 years ago, Cable Magico used to have ABC, NBC, CBS and The WB, which was GREAT because I used to be able to watch the episodes of my favorite shows the day they premiered in the States, and I didn’t had to wait for Latin American networks to subtitle them. For the past 7 or 8 years, I haven’t been able to.
What’s the point in me getting DirectTV, or any other Satellite TV Company when I will ALWAYS have to wait for shows because they don’t buy the rights to American broadcasting companies. However, if they DID give me the chance to get these channels, or channels from Canada, or the UK or all over the world, I would totally get Satellite. Right now, it doesn’t bring ANY benefits to me.
So, here’s the other problem~ YouTube keeps taking things out. You fucking bastards! (I said this was a rant!) – Ever since Google bought it, it’s been sucking more and more. One really fun video of Anya as a bunny got suddenly removed, and the account of the user who did it was removed- that was seriously not breaking any copyrighted material, that fan had all the right to do that video. I know of other 2 or 3 users whose accounts got deleted.
So, networks, if you don’t want your material to be watched online because it hasn’t aired in one region, then start airing your effing episodes everywhere, so people, who watch your show and are not able to get your signal, don’t watch on YouTube. And continuing with the CW Network example, you effing bastards – just send the signal to Cable Magico (and other cable companies around the world), so they can broadcast the same day. It WON’T get rid off the problem, but it will decrease the amount of people who watch online. Just like what happens with movies that open worldwide… There’s still online files, but there’s also people around the world who go to the movie and watch (unless your movie sucks) – but even IF YOUR SHOW SUCKS, they don’t pay to watch it… so there will still be people who will watch it.
For instance, I wanna effing watch Dirt… by FX – BUT, Cable Magico shows FX Latin America~ SO, they are not even mentioning Dirt… and I don’t even know if FX Latin America will show Dirt, because sometimes all programs jump around networks here. For example, since there was no The WB, Buffy used to be shown on FOX… but Dawson’s Creek was on Sony Entertainment Television. Other examples are… Nip/Tuck that airs on FOX, instead of FX… Lost airs on AXN, and According to Jim (who also belongs to ABC, the same as Lost) airs on Sony… and CSI airs on Sony, while CSI NY and CSI Miami air on AXN~ so many crazy jumps and changes.
There is no effing Dirt, no Ugly Betty, no ANTM, no Hell’s Kitchen, no Iron Chef, no new episodes of Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives just beginning season 3 (which I began watching 6 months ago in Canada).
Other channels that we should get… Food Network, MuchMoreMusic, Showcase and Bravo!
Ok, rant’s over.
Cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model began on Feb. 28th – my thoughts on it, after I saw it on YouTube (mainly because Sony takes like 6months to bring new cycles – stupid fuckers)
Now, I was never big on watching reality tv, but you know – it’s mostly all you see on television now. The first cycle I saw was cycle 4, the last 2 or 3 episodes, but I loved the photographs taken there. (if you haven’t noticed, I like photography) Then I saw a few eps of cycle 5, but didn’t like it – cycle 6 I saw while I was in Canada, and I sorta liked, so then I watched reruns of cycle 1 and 2. The formula is simple, get a nice candidate, get a shy one, get a tomboy, get a sexy one, get a sassy, get a crazy one, and a bitch one. Make sure you get color contestants, latinas, and if you can… don’t forget the asian one. The rest is up to you.
Cycle 7 – began with really interesting photoshoots, but then the pictures became less interesting. However, you could tell there were some good ones. AJ was my pick for that season, but she got the boot after 5 eps… then it was Michelle, Amanda and CariDee. CariDee was fun, most of them were fun… Megan was so sweet (she even left me a message on MySpace), Megg was “ROCK ON!!!”, AJ was great. The whole bunch was a great group of people that you could really like.
Cycle 8 – Episode 1-2 sucked talent-wise. The photos were WEAK, even though the theme was a really good one. I think they said it was “political views,” but I saw it as “ways of thinking”. It was really a thought-provoking theme, if contestants only had thought about this issues. “Pro-Choice,” was a great theme, but the Russian girl (natasha?) did a REALLY poor job at doing ANYTHING AT ALL. She just stood there being “pretty,” and she ended up with a horrible picture. The mom of the season did a poor job portraying “Anti-Guns” and let’s not get into “Pro-Fur”. Although, Kathleen (sp?) who did Pro-Fur was sorta funny accepting how she didn’t get the photoshoot.
Now onto contestants – Jael looks like a fused version of AJ, CariDee and Megg, drunk and doped… she’s got this way of talking like she’s tired or something, that sounds like a speech impediment. She’s funny, and seems nice, but it’s really hard to understand. There are two or three that seem uptight, total bitches or just plain stupid. The mom (who I can’t remember her name,) the Russian girl who seems like a total bimbo who thinks girls with short hair are not feminine enough, and the photographer chick who seems to know much, but doesn’t know shit.
Ok, I’m being harsh on the photographer chick, but she does seems uptight. There’s potential there, but she needs to loosen up. The mom needs to stop being the mom of the show, and the Russian girl needs to start thinking… that thing she said not wanting to get into political issues, she just wanted to be pretty. That’s gonna work against her…. and if she’s not careful on babbling about her marriage, immigration is gonna bust up her ass.
Some of the candidates I liked personality-wise were the two plus-size models… Whitney and Diana. They seem like really nice people, but they need to step it up! Their photos were weak, and Diana’s commitment to jumping around wasn’t there (she was Pro-Gun). Whitney had a Pro-Gay Marriage shoot with another contestant I kinda liked, Samantha. In her regular picture, she doesn’t look like much, but on the show she looks really great… almost like a fused version of Keira Knightley with Natalie Portman in a Girl-Next-Door sorta way. However, she seems too shy, and that might work against her. Another one that seems shy is Brittany, her picture was the one I liked the most, but it was still weak.
Anyway, not seeing much potential there…. we’ll see this coming week. Rant’s over.
