Tag: shiny things

shiny stuff

shiny new things, and a potential problem with an “old” shiny thing

by  •  • 0 Comments

So this weekend, I got a Mac Book Pro. I really like it, but am frustrated, because I have had some issues trying to get my ipod, playlists, and song ratings onto the damn thing without having to manually update it and move each and every song (that would take FOREVER). Thanks to you fellow internet dwellers, I have been offered a few solutions, and will be trying one of them today (I couldn’t do it this weekend, because conveniently, our DSL was out ALL WEEKEND). I got a great deal on the thing, and I think that it will really serve me well in nursing school (even though it is WAY more computer than I need).

Now for the potential problem with an “old” shiny thing: I was playing my Xbox 360 last night, and during the game, the entire screen got red static all over it. I went to the dashboard/console menu, and it wasn’t there when I was on that screen, but going back to the game, it happened again. James was in the room, and he said it happened to him when he was playing a game the day before, so I am worried/wondering; is this the sign of an upcoming RRoD? I’ve had the Xbox for a little over a year and a half at this point. We bought the service plan through Best Buy, and I think that I am going to see if I can take it in and see if they will let me “upgrade” to an elite; which I have heard doesn’t get the RRoD. If anyone has experience with this particular screen issue, let me know, won’t you! I don’t want to be without the Xbox, or deal with this issue, but I know that RRoD is common, and doesn’t take much to fix (send it off, it comes back in a few weeks), so I guess it “could be worse”. Either way, I will keep my eye out for more “signs” of the pending RRoD apocalypse.

movie musings, shiny stuff

ladies and gentlemen…

by  •  • 0 Comments

The Moody/Robinson household now has Blu Ray.

Rejoice.

UPDATE: I decided making a Blu Ray specific page was silly, because I will most likely get a lot of them; so I will just put a BR next to the title in the DVD library if it is a Blu Ray disc that I own (this will also be done for HD DVDs with the exception that HD DVDs will obviously have a red HD next to them, and not a BR.). I am also considering getting rid of the regular version of the movies I replace on DVD; I need to make room (I probably won’t though, as I still have regular DVD players in the house)!!

happenings, mixed media, music musings, shiny stuff

ipod in the muthafucking car… finally

by  •  • 6 Comments

After having several crappy FM tuners, and basically giving up the dream of being able to play my ipod in my car with decent sound, I have, ladies and gentlemen, WON the battle.

From the time I got my first ipod MANY years ago, I have always loved having my entire music library at my fingertips; in fact, I am rarely without one of my many ipods. The damn things are so handy. If I didn’t have to use iTunes to update them, they would be perfect; but that is a different post for a different day. In my old car, I had a tape player, so I used the cassette adapter with much success, but I was forced to bid it farewell when I upgraded to my fancy new Acura; leading to much dismay and disappointment when said FM tuners turned out to be complete and utter shit.

Cut to last week, when I finally decided to take the plunge, give up XM, and get the iSimple installed. I bought the kit, and set up an appointment, and started to say my bittersweet farewell to XM, all the while convincing myself that I wouldn’t miss it anyway. It was like turning my back on a child, so as to make them hate me, so they would leave for their own good. But here’s the kicker, I WAS MISINFORMED.

What is that you say? Someone working at Best Buy gave me blatant misinformation, which is no more useful than a off handed guess?! Say it isn’t so! Well, ladies and gents, it is true; the iSimple allows you to keep XM, and adds the ipod functionality; which is controlled through the radio, and displays the name of the track and artist information right there in your factory radio display!!! I honestly would have bought this thing YEARS ago if I would have known, but because of some dumb half-wit that worked in the audio section of Best Buy and touted themselves as an audio “expert”, I have written off this product for all of this time.

Shame. For real shame.

Now, I have the power to use my ipod in my car with crystal clear sound, sweetly coming from my speakers. Needless to say, I LOVE this feature, and even though iSimple’s interface is a bit wonky and hard to get used to, I am just pleased as punch that I have something that I have wanted for years back in my life.

Hear me Best Buy; I win this round. I WIN.

all about me, happenings, mixed media, shiny stuff

economic stimulation: the tax return edition

by  •  • 3 Comments

When I got my tax return directly deposited into my checking account, I had an agenda for the funds. At least $950 would go directly to paying off the counter tops that we installed last summer, as well as the new “quiet” dishwasher we got at the same time. I was glad to do it, because those were things we wanted, and it was time to pay them off… before the interest came into play. Whew… burden relieved; but I still had quite a bit left over (owning your own home does have big benefits at tax time), so I felt like splurging, so I got a PSP.

I have wanted one for a while, mostly for the game Darkstalkers Chronicle: Chaos Tower, which is only available in a relatively recent and attainable format for the PSP. I used to play the orginal Darkstalkers game on my Sega Genesis back in the day, and over the years, it has popped back in my mind several times; it was one of my favorite games as a kid. With the recent resurgence of the amazing Street Fighter series on Xbox 360, I have found myself thinking heavily about Darkstalkers again. Well, I managed to get the game for PSP, and I have to say, nostalgia is a very, very sweet thing that we must all treat ourselves to from time to time. For not a lot of money, I was able to get myself something that I wanted, and stimulate the economy at the same time. It is a win/win, really.

The other games I have gotten are as follows: Loco Roco (1&2), Lumines II, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, Buzz: Master Quiz, WTF (work time fun), Wipeout Pure, and Rachet and Clank (which came with it). I got the system on sale, and I got all but two of those games using credit from selling games to Gamestop (as well as the case for the PSP). Overall, I haven’t spent a great deal of money, and I got something else fun to play with. I do have to say, though, that those damn UMDs are fragile; I have already broken one of them, but was able to “fix” it with a little piece of tape. It still works fine, but still, what a weird media choice, Sony.

Either way, it was worth the whole kit and kaboodle for Darkstalkers, which is amazing on the PSP. I’m glad that I finally got one. Hooray for unnecessary purchases!!

music musings, music suggestion, shiny stuff

big music tuesday

by  •  • 8 Comments

Today is a pretty decent day for music releases, as there are four CDs that hit shelves today that I had to pick up:
big music tuesday
I will confidently say that no less than one of these albums will make my year end list; you can count on it. I can’t remember a Tuesday where four CDs came out that I had to pick up, so it’s definitely a day of music worth blogging about.

I also wanted to get Guitar Hero World Tour (the drums and everything!), but I had to leave empty handed. The douche at Best Buy just disappeared when I asked for his help, and came back to tell me that Guitar Hero didn’t come with drums (which made me angry, because all he had to do was pay attention to his surroundings, especially since they have it out for everyone to play, and the drum kit is clearly sitting three feet from where we had the conversation… but I digress). So, I will have to wait until later for that one; I am going to try and get it after work, because it looks ever so fun, and we played Rock Band the other night and had a blast with the drums, and the Guitar Hero ones have cymbals (and no crappy pedal)! Looks like I found something to do for the rest of the week, eh!

happenings, is it just me?, mixed media, shiny stuff, venting

apple event: kind of a let down?

by  •  • 4 Comments

As indicated by last weeks excitement at the announcement of the “Let’s Rock” event, I was clearly looking forward to the Apple event today. However, is it just me, or was it kind of a HUGE blah moment after they announced that not much was changing with the ipod Touch? I mean, I waited for nearly two months, and the only real benefit is that I saved $100 on practically the same thing that I could have gotten 2 months ago.

I just think it’s weird that they make such pomp and circumstance, and say “boom! bap! shazam!” and we are expected to be wowed; even when nothing major happened. The worst, is that I KNOW that as soon as I have had this ipod touch for 2 or 3 months, they will quietly release a 64GB version, and I will of course, be pissed that I didn’t wait. You are always doing this to me Apple! Every single ipod I have gotten since my 2nd Gen 10GB (which was $400 then!!), with the notable exception of my 3rd Gen Nano 8GB (probably because I bought it on a whim, just for fun), I have been “bested” by Apple mere months after I made my informed purchase. The worst was when I bought my 4th Gen one, and the photo one came out LITERALLY 35 days later (just long enough for me to be unable to return it). I wouldn’t bitch, but it isn’t like these are purchases around $100; all of the ipods I have gotten have been over $200; which is I guess a testament of being an early adopter of technology (hello $1000 Blu-Ray now being $300).

Oh well, I know that this is “how it goes” with technology, but for some reason, I have been pretty lucky with most of my “devices”; with the ipod being the exception. I have a good track record with phones and gaming consoles (both portable and home), so I guess I have to give in to the innovation of Apple, which totally takes the bank, unfortunately.

Will I get a new ipod Touch? Most certainly. I have wanted one since they came out over a year ago; but I was hoping that I could get at LEAST 64gb… It looks like I am going to have “settle” (HA!) for 32GB. Life sure is hard isn’t it? /sarcasm I’ve been on the Apple music media bandwagon this long, I guess I should come to expect these sorts of things; but it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it!

happenings, home improvement, shiny stuff

the reveal

by  •  • 11 Comments

Well, the new counter tops are in, and they look AMAZING. It is incredible how much of an improvement they make on our kitchen. First of all, the original counters were not only a cheap imitation granite, but they were installed improperly; meaning the dishwasher couldn’t be shut properly without LIFTING UP ON THE COUNTER!!! AHHHH!! Needless to say, I have wanted new counters for a LONG time.

It is funny though, they seem to highlight how plain and frankly, quite dirty our cabinets are!! Oh well… I LOVE these counter tops, and I am glad that we were finally able to get them (after talking about them for FOUR years!).

First, I give you the gritty truth that was the before, boring counter tops:
before
before

Now, I give you the dazzling, amazingly beautiful new counter tops!
after
after

See the vast improvement?? I love ’em! I also love the new sink, faucet, and dishwasher that came along with this remodel. I feel like an HGTV remodel gone incredibly right!!!