Personal

Awesome Birthday

Lance Robinson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:24:09 GMT

I had an awesome 32nd birthday yesterday. I had some family in from out of town and we had a great time. Then I headed to the pool with the gf to enjoy a few tasty beverages and an awesome afternoon in the sun. After that we headed out to a secret dinner destination, which turned out to be the famous Angus Barn restaurant in Raleigh, where I devoured a 24 ounce t-bone and we enjoyed some nice wine. Here’s the awesome camera that Lauren got me. I’d been talking about buying a new, smaller camera that I’d be able to easily slip in my pocket! I love it!

Dear RIAA (aka GrooveShark and Pandora Rock)

Lance Robinson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:57:37 GMT

Dear RIAA,

Please address your thank-you note to Pandora Radio. Pandora is where I was able to listen to a bunch of songs by Rehab, and where I then proceeded to purchase the Rehab album "Graffiti The World" (through Amazon MP3 of course, where I purchase all my DRM free music). Matt Miller brought it to my attention that Pandora may be on the way out because our the members of the Copyright Royalty Board have their eyes wide shut (just to be a little bit overly dramatic, there is no doubt in my mind that they are receiving some sort of monetary “encouragement” from the RIAA).

RIAA: while you’re at it, address another thank-you to Grooveshark, who’s ass you should also be kissing.

Fellow nerds, follow the Pandora blog and/or the Grooveshark blog.
Related: don’t forget to contact Amazon about Audible DRM.

Technorati Tags: RIAA, Pandora, GrooveShark, Amazon, Audible

Could Congress Please Keep its Eye on the Ball?

Lance Robinson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:11:22 GMT

Am I the only one who wonders why a congressional committee has time to discuss Roger Clemens (and other athletes') use of steroids, while there is a recession in the works, an aging baby boom generation, wars in the world (not just in the middle east), wide-spread poverty and hunger, global warming, renewable energy shortages, over-dependence on oil, and NCSU hasn't won a major ACC championship in 20 years? I mean seriously, can we please get our freaking priorities straight and let the damn baseball leagues deal with their own problems?

Lori McKenna Live!

Lance Robinson — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:47:26 GMT

5 or 6 years ago, I was cleaning my apartment with the tv on in the background. I wasn't watching the tv, but a song started playing on the show that was on, and the song (not the show) immediately caught my attention. The singing voice was so striking. Extremely expressive and painful, I ended up watching the rest of the tv show just so I could see the credits and find out what angel had this extraordinary singing voice. It was Lori McKenna.

I searched her out on the Internet and found out that she played only in the New England area, but I found some other songs of hers through her website and WUMB (public radio in Boston) recordings. All amazing. Fast forward to 2007 and Faith Hill records three of Lori's songs on her CD Fireflies (including the title track), Lori McKenna opens for Faith and Tim on tour, and Tim McGraw produces Lori's album Unglamorous. Pretty impressive! I always knew I had a golden ear and could pick out a star from a mile away (now I know its much further than a mile...how many miles from NC to Mass?).

So last night I got to see Lori live, at her show at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC. The show was just Lori, Mark Erelli (backup vocals, mandolin, and guitar), and Russell (electric guitar) in a small theatre with a max seating of something like 300. I sat less than 10 feet from the stage at a table and drank a local brew while listening. Very nice! :)

If you want to check it out, I took a short grainy video of one of her songs: Written Permission. She apparently categorizes her music as country these days, since she signed with Warner Bros:

Technorati Tags: Live Music, Lori McKenna, Music

My Rat Terrier Anna Says "Hi!"

Lance Robinson — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:22:12 GMT

This is Anna, my 8 year old Rat Terrier. She doesn't howl very much, so I thought this was really funny. I think my favorite part is right near the end, after the alarm stops, she just freezes. She's so frozen that it almost looks like the video is over, but its not.