It is almost January. My Apple stock is climbing. It is that time of year. The time of year I watch it climb, climb, climb, only to come down, down, down right after the January announcements. This year the rumor is a tablet device (check out one Mashable article on it here). This post however is not about what the rumors are. Honestly, I have never been crazy giddy about the possibilities to come early each year. But….I will tell you what I would want if there was a tablet:

I want it to be my Harmony remote. I want it to have a kickstand of sorts, that it can function on my coffee table as a digital picture frame. And when I need it, simple tap – and there are all my media functions….Watch DVR, Watch DVD, Listen to iTunes, Listen to iPod, Play Wii, Play XBox, blah, blah, blah, blah. I want it to have my Comcast screen ON the tablet when I am looking through my TV choices. Because….come on…if this thing functions as my Harmony all-in-one remote, why should I click a button to scroll through selections when I could simply flick my way through channels the way I do photos on my iPhone. And think of how much easier it would be to search for a show! Oh – and that kick stand feature….how handy would that be in the kitchen? I could simply have it on the counter with a recipe pulled up. I want it to work with my little Apple Remote….because it is SO annoying that my Mac Pro and Apple Display do not. Seriously. And voice command…..because what if my cooking has gotten so messy that I wouldn’t even want to touch my Apple Remote that is still wrapped in plastic?

I think that is about it. Really I don’t think I would use it for much more. Sounds like a reasonable purchase right?

Several months ago, I embarked on a journey into sound.  In an attempt to clear the clutter from my life I came across a treasure trove of old Philadelphia punk rock cassettes. So I armed myself with the technology I needed to bring these things back to life, namely an old cassette deck, an RCA to 1/8″ adapter and Apple’s GarageBand software.  I have to say, while time consuming, this process has been incredibly fulfilling.  I can once again enjoy the sounds of Space Christ, Chinny Chin Chin, Old Feziwig, and even a few rare gems from Ubisunt.  Yes, the quality is terrible when compared to other items in my iTunes library, but the tape hiss and imperfections are part of the music at this point and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m also converting some old VHS tapes to digital video just to complete the cycle.  Look out Saturday Night’s Main Event 11/28/87, you’re next!

It’s no secret that record stores have disappeared and the ones that are left probably don’t have much time. While digital distribution and music downloading (legally of course) is something I’m a big proponent of, it’s just not always the right solution for me. If I want to buy a song, or preview an album, or even just get information on a band, iTunes is the only place I turn at this point. However, if I want to buy an album (the whole thing, not just one or two songs), I’m still buying the CD. I need to have something tangible if I’m going to commit to music on that level. I want to see the way the artwork and packaging are designed, I want to see what the CD actually looks like. Of course, it only comes out of the packaging once, goes into my computer and becomes a series of ethereal ones and zeroes like everything else, but that doesn’t mean I want to simply download it.

The disappearance of music stores creates another type of problem for me in that most of what I listen to seems to fall through the cracks. It’s primarily bands that are not big enough to be carried by a big chain store and not special enough for a speciality shop. The most recent example is the new Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine album. After calling half a dozen music stores in the city, I found one store that had it – Main Street Music in Manayunk. Upon going there to pick it up, I was told they had one copy – used. Meaning that someone bought it, ripped it, and sold it within 2 weeks of its release. This may happen a lot, but I don’t know that it helps stores stay in business. I’m fairly certain I don’t agree with it. Sure, there’s a chance that someone just didn’t like the album and had a chance to divest themselves of it, but I’ll never know.

All I do know is that I intend to keep supporting the CD format until the bitter end, in approximately 3 years 5 days and 11 minutes.

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscriptions were 30% off yesterday in celebration of “Cyber Monday.”  I just signed up.  I’m not buying into whatever “Cyber Monday” is supposed to be, but it provided a discount so I’m going to try it.

As an experiment, there are some titles I’m going to stop buying in print and see if I ever get to them online.  There’s current’y at least a six month delay between the print release of Marvel’s comics and their availability through DCU (this acronym  confused Angie initially, but I think she sees the humor in it now).  If past experience is any indication, I may never read a single book that I’m “waiting” on (I just can’t help but think about the three years worth of Generation X, X-Force, X-Man and Cable issues I purchased years ago and never read after falling behind).

That being said, I do have an interest in reading the Rogue and Nightcrawler titles that came out in 2004 and they’re both available. Anyone else out there subscribing to this service?

You probably think there’s some mistake and this is Angie’s post. It’s not. I’ll admit I saw some of the Gossip Girl Thanksgiving show. In my defense, I was reading a comic book while it was on (it was an issue of Ms. Marvel so maybe that doesn’t help my case too much). This episode had more drama than usual if you can believe it, culminating in not one, but a groundbreaking FOUR characters storming away from the dinner table. All of this happened while some ridiculous song that I believe was used in the finale of the O.C. (I’ve only seen the SNL parody so I can’t be sure) was playing in the background.

Gossip Girl airs Mondays on the CW. Angie would watch it every day if she could, and I have plenty of comic books to read.