so I saw this article on digg and I must say it's pretty shitty. My guess is that Billy and the gang were sitting around in the studio one day with a bunch of shitty tracks going:

Billy: So, what are we going to do with these extra tracks?
Jimmy Chamberlin (drummer): What do you mean man, we're going to put them on the record, right?
Billy: Well, yeah, I would, but they're kind of shitty. This is going to be our first release in a 7 years, I don't want a few songs to reflect poorly upon the new album. Anyway, 15 songs is too much for a record.
Jimmy: Well I think they're good, maybe we can release them as B-sides or something? We DID go through all the trouble of getting them recorded and mastered.
Marketing Guy #1: Hey! I just got a great idea. Why don't we release them exclusively on iTunes. Then we can generate market buzz AND make money at the same time.
Billy: Hey yeah! Or maybe we can put them at the end of an album sort of like what they do with outtakes on Greatest Hits and stuff these days. I mean, everyone knows those songs were shit but market them as unreleased greats and all of a sudden people go ape shit over them!
Marketing Guy #1: Great idea. So we'll have maybe 3 special edition versions, each one with a different song that we shouldn't have released in the first place. I'll get on the line with Apple, Target, and Best Buy right away.
Billy: Awesome! *high five*

So, yeah. Don't complain TOO much Paul Thompson of pitchfork media. Those three extra tracks are probably shit anyway. And even if they aren't, you can always download them. I mean, it's illegal, but is it really unethical? IANAL, but you did PAY for the album, and really only got 4/5ths of the session. If I were you I'd go recover the rest from the internets.

So, I took the train to Flatbush and then the subway to Wall Street today. A few of the things I noticed

1. The train to Flatbush is mostly underground.
2. The trains are less crowded.
3. The cars on the 2 train are nicer.
4. It takes less time getting into the city this way.
5. There's less walking to the office from the Wall Street station.
6. I feel way more corperate getting of at Wall Street and crossing Chase plaza than I do getting off at Naussa Street.

I think I'll do this from now on.

rainy world

Today it was raining when I got off the subway, and I saw some girl in a doorway. She looked so sad. Kind of made me wish I had my camera.

Yankees and Mets, Latinos and Asians

So, good thing the Mets got that game last night, I don't know if they'll be able to get another win this series. Right now they're losing 10-5.

Seems to me there are a few key differences in the Yankees and the Mets. The Yankees are a team steeped in heritage, and the Mets are like the new kids on the block. Yankees are known for left handed power hitting, where the Mets are known for good pitching. The Yankees are the ever present dominant team in baseball, and the Mets are the underdogs in whom you "gotta believe". The biggest difference, in my opinion, is with the fans. If you're a New Yorker and you're Italian, there is about a %200 chance that you're also a Yankees fan. My sister CONSTANTLY points that out, to the chagrin of my mother (1/2 Italian). Things have been changing though...

I read somewhere last year that the Mets are trying to increase they're presence in Latin America. They pointed to the tendency of Latinos to go to the game, not because they were fans of the Mets (per se), but because "their guys" were playing. It seems like half the team has the name Jose or Carlos. No wonder Banco National is the official bank of the Mets. Being a Latino baseball fan now must be like being an Italian when names like DiMaggio and Berra were running baseball in New York.

The Yankees seem aren't far behind with they're own up and coming fan base though. This article points out that the Yanks will soon be reaching out to China for new young talent. As I speak, the Yankees have two East Asians that I can think of on their team, Matsui (Japan), and Chen Ming Wang (Taiwan). The reason I got started on this post is because I saw this picture in a friend's facebook profile:












Can you guess her nationality?



5 points if you said Taiwanese. This girl doesn't know the first thing about baseball, except to say that she knows the best time to go to a Yankee game is when Wang is starting.

So if you're one of the two biggest immigrant groups in New York right now, you already know what team to root for. That is unless you're Chinese, but it looks like the Yankees are already covering that base (no pun intended). In 20 years all the New York Latinos will be Mets fans, and the East Asians will be Yankees fans (just my prediction).

In my opinion the Mets need to reach out to China too. I mean, look at their location. Flushing!!! Yeah, of course there's all that about prospects needing to be a good ball player and all, but think of the increase in fans and attention! One good Chinese pitcher, and you have the stadium filled, and Shea's not a easy place to fill. Just look at the added convince for a Chinese baseball fan too:


That's all I'm sayin'.

getting into work

So I was late to work today, and I met this girl from Binghamton who is interning at the city. Thing is, she didn't appear to be late to work. My sister's friend interns in the city too, she takes the 7:53 am train out of Oakdale.

My point is, we all get into work about 10:00. What happened to 9:00 to 5:00? I remember my old job I had to get in at 8:00 every day, which meant that I was up at 7:00 and out at 7:45 (oddly enough I still have to get up around that time). And I was LATE most of the time! I knew people that would get in much earlier. Here I transcribed an interaction between a co-worker Jeff and me.

Jeff: I can't wait till our boss starts letting us make our own hours.
Me: Yeah man, I know, this schedule is so different from school.
Jeff: I'll start coming in at 6 and leaving at 3.
Me: (startled look of disbelief) What? I can't wait till I can get to work late!
Jeff: Yeah, well gotta get home to spend time with the kids and all.

Working upstate was so different. Everyone went hunting, and played horseshoes, and drove pickup trucks. And they loved getting up in the morning. They cared so much about their families and the additions to their houses, and how green their lawns were. I'm so lucky to have landed this position with Red Hat in NYC, I don't think I could have made it another year working in that sort of environment.