Found this as I was going through some recent pictures that I had not yet posted. This is my dog, Phoenix. We're glad she likes the snow. 

Lone hoop

Sometimes while I'm traveling I will spot each and every hoop I see, usually by salivating at the thought of playing. I like hoops. This is a very cool hoop (taken at Dehy Park, Independence, CA...our pooch likes to stop there). 

Another beautiful Lake Tahoe sunset

 

My life is a subscription, so why can't my music be one as well?

Let's first define subscription for the context of this blog: An agreement to receive or be given access to goods or services for a specified period of time, or for a series of consecutive terms.

I subscribe to pretty much everything: Phone (landline and cellular), electricity, water, Satellite TV, Tivo, Satellite Radio, Cable ISP, newspaper, magazines, fantasy football tips (not doing me much good though), etc. My life (or is it my body?) is pretty much just a subscription.

Even gasoline is a form of subscription. Think about it: you can't use your car unless you pay for gas, and how many people wouldn't jump at the opportunity (especially right now) to pay a flat-rate monthly fee for gasoline? I know I would. So, all other car mechanical items aside, my world would allow me to drive my car as much (and as far) as I'd like to, with no incremental cost (above my monthly subscription fee) for gasoline.

I'm trying to draw an analogy between driving cars and listening to music, though it isn't perfect, because my mp3 player is not exactly the same as my car. For one thing, there is no 'free' gasoline alternative as there is with music. But suppose there was. Suppose you could acquire gasoline via Black Market for free or really cheaply, but every time you did it you were breaking the law and taking a risk of getting caught. If an alternative to this was a Gasoline Subscription, that was reasonably priced, then this hypothetical world would fill in the missing pieces to my analogy, and provide the basis for better getting my point across. So, back to the point: my car (/mp3 player) may look good, and have all kinds of great features, but it is severely limited in its functionality w/out fuel (/content), which I have to continually purchase. Gasoline (/music) gets me from Point A to Point B via my vehicle (/player). My consumption of fuel is similar to my consumption of music. They both take me a certain distance, and once consumed need to be replenished in order to go further. Though we'll never see a Unlimited Gasoline Subscription offer (perhaps there will be an unlimited electricty subscription offer someday though), there are Unlimited Music Subscriptions available right now. I just-so-happen to work for a company that offers this very service: Napster.

Why should you prefer having access to every song vs. purchasing music on a case-by-case basis, or breaking the law and pirating music off the Net? If you're like me, then you don't want to pay every time you want to consume music. I love music, and listen to a wide variety of artists and genres. As is true for everybody, my mood determines my music preferences at any given time. Every now and then, I'm in the mood for music that I listened to during my high school or college years. I definitely don't need to own that music...I just want to listen to it for an hour or so (to get me from Point A to Point B). I also like to listen to many of the Tuesday new releases to keep my options fresh.

The Napster music subscription provides this: A 'key to the door of the music vault' for a reasonable flat-rate monthly fee. You can have any song, at any time, and you don't have to buy it to consume it. Listen at home. Listen at work. Listen in your car. Listen while you take walks or run. Listen while you exercise. Listen while you party. Listen while you sleep.

Have your cake. Eat your cake. But don't buy your cake.

What's your thought?

Next up: Apple's subscription model: Just because you're buying, doesn't mean it's not a rental -- yes, you will have to buy it again.

I now have all of my pictures on smugmug. Vacations, holidays, family, friends, etc.

Have I remarked how much I love my Nikon D70? Darcy took this (along with many other pictures) that capture the me and the water so clearly. This camera is awesome.  

It's been a very, very, very, very long time between blogs. I promise myself to pick up blogging more regularly, since I have so many thoughts to spill. This is me water skiing this week in Lake Tahoe. I've had a blast this past week using my new ski. More soon. Next topic: I'm a subscriber. 

Lake Tahoe Winter 

Fantasy Football Superbowl!!!

I made it to the superbowl in one league, and am in the semi-finals in another. I've had a good fantasy football year. I'll blog the results shortly. I'm currently with my wife, stepson and dog in Lake Tahoe, having a great time. We've gone skiing 5 of the 6 days that we've been here thus far. Our friends the Fienes and the Balfours have their families up here in their own places as well, and we've had lots of fun watching movies and football games, playing poker, and just hanging out. More soon!

Skiing on Christmas Eve. What a beautiful day! 

What I think today

Here's what I think today:

* Chargers can -- not 'should', but 'can' -- beat the Titans today. Since Titans will likely have 8 in the box, Brees needs to pass out of that situation and hit the receivers. Caldwell and Parker need to come up big.

* Michael Vick is a lot of fun to watch, but he's bound to get hurt again the way he plays. Hope he lasts.

* Mike Martz is a nut....and a knucklehead.

* Sirius satellite radio is awesome. Every NFL game, every broadcast from each city. It's a great way to pass the time away on those long drives to Tahoe.

* Torrey Pines HS Falcons are 5-0 and on a roll. Their defense comes up big every week, and their offense has really improved.

* I am ready for a change at President. Too bad the Libertarian candidates always seem so friggin' nuts.

* I want a Fantasy Football service where I can put in the players that I'm interested in getting wireless/sms updates on during games. How come nobody has that yet? If it's out there, please let me know!

* Miracle was a great movie, but everybody probably already knew that. I might have been the last American to see it.

* Joey cracks me up.

* It's time to organize a trip to San Felipe. It's been way too long.

* Speaking of way too long, it's time for Darcy and I to plan our summer party that we didn't have.

Today's football picks

My picks for today:

NE over BUF
PHI over CHI
GB over NYG
WAS over CLE
IND over JAC (interesting matchup)
OAK over HOU
PIT over CIN
ARI over NO (upset #1 of the week)
CAR over ATL
NYJ over MIA
DEN over TB
SD over TEN (upset #2 of the week)
STL over SF
BAL over KC (this will be a boring game!)

I owe myself...

...a blog.

FF League #1 Draft

Ok, other than my 5th round snafu where the friggin' ESPN draft system wouldn't allow me to select and draft Lee Suggs (maybe he'll suck anyway), so I wound up with Aaron Brooks (and I already had Culpepper), I'm fairly happy with my team. I have some risk, but some potential strong upside with T. Jones, Charles Rogers, and Steven Jackson should M. Faulk get hurt (or retire). Here's the squad:

1 C. Portis, WAS RB
2 D. Culpepper, MIN QB
3 T. Jones, CHI RB
4 S. Smith, CAR WR
5 A. Brooks, NOR QB
6 C. Rogers, DET WR
7 S. Jackson, STL RB
8 E. Kennison, KAN WR
9 F. Jones, ARI TE
10 E. D/ST, PHI D/ST
11 M. Pittman, FA RB
12 D. Branch, NWE WR
13 J. Brown, SEA K
14 K. Faulk, NWE RB
15 C. Bradford, HOU WR

Not bad. Not sure about Pittman or Kennison, but they seem like solid backups.

8/17 Tidbits

Last Saturday was the annual trek down to Baja for Lobster. We had 30 this year, and had a blast. Our usual place Puerto Viejo was not open this year, but we wound up going across the street to La Escondida. The food and drink is pretty much the same at all the places down there, but this was a very fun night. Pictures will be uploaded soon.

It was good to meet up with my folks, who pulled the funny move of the night by missing the last 2 warning signs for "Last US Exit" (yes, you actually get 2 chances in case you miss the first opportunity), and wound up driving all the way into Mexico. No worries though as we were able to catch up with them at the Tijuana Bus Station.

Quote of the night was from Papa Yo (my dad) who said, "Happiness is having a piece of Lobster stuck in your teeth to enjoy later on." Classic.

A few random sports-related thoughts for 7/26/2004

• Ricky Williams definitely has something wrong in the head, but whatever it's his choice


• Red Sox and Yankees is interesting, but I really wish we had an equivalent west-coast rivalry that made the news every time


• Chargers will hopefully have Rivers in camp, but I'm not expecting much from them this year. If I were them, I'd start Brees because there's no downside. If he fails, they can bring in Rivers. If Brees succeeds at all, they can trade him while he has value (he has no value at the moment).


• Greg Lemond is a stud, pure and simple. Sorry...timewarp. Lance Armstrong is a stud, pure and simple.


• The Padres are right on the verge of something great, or so it feels to me.


• Is there anything more fun than 4 0'clock Fridays at the Del Mar Race Track. Races followed by live music. Sweeeeet.


• The Lakers are not going to be the same w/out Shaq obviously, and they're going to miss D-fish. Some good young talent coming in, it will be interesting to see if Bryant can figure out how to play with them.


• The Suns still need a center to be competitive. I've been saying that for 20-something years. My apologies to Alvan Adams and to Mark West who filled in the position nicely when the balance was better all the way around.

Water skiing vs. Wake boarding

This week I found myself in what felt like a vuja-de debate about boarding vs. skiing, only this time it was of the liquid variety, rather than the powder variety. Specifically, the discussion was about which is better: water skiing or wake boarding? I had never gone wake boarding before this recent trip to Tahoe, but I finally did, and it was a lot of fun. However, they are different (just like snow skiing and snow boarding are different).

On water skis, it's more about making sharp cuts in and out of the wake, while on wake boards it's more about jumping the wake and performing tricks (such as 360's and other stuff I can't do yet ona wake board). I've always been a skier, whether it be water or snow, because that's what I learned on, and that's what I've gotten good enough, and confident enough, to do. Since it was easier to get up on the wake board (managed it on my first try this week), I'll probably spend some more time trying to get better (and more confident) at it (tricks later of course!), but I can't see myself giving up on the water ski.

Which do you prefer, and why?

Darcy and I at sunset last night (July 6) 

What I just watched...amazing. This is definitely good for the soul. 

Ok, first shot from Tahoe summer vacation: Waterskiing on the 4th of July. I love it up here!