Music today...

This is a much more what has been playing today column, rather than a state of music today column. I don't honestly listen to enough new music to say what the state of it is today. Oddly, when Christmas music hasn't been playing this month, it has been Tom Waits. Why I seem to be far more infatuated with his music now than when I first discovered it in university must have something to do with me actually maturing a bit. Back then I was fascinated with the noise/shock value; whereas, now, i enjoy the songs as a whole, considering lyrics and musical technique. That isn't to say that there isn't some fun in playing certain songs to people for the sheer shock value, but I like him for more than just an incredible interpretation of the Dwarf Marching Song (Heigh Ho). It is just the sort of paradox I enjoy, but the last year has also included a fair share of female European Pop singers from the sixties. There is nothing quite like ye-ye and the girls, mini-skirts, and go-go boots that always form the image for this French sub-genre. (Femmes de Paris is a good beginning for these ladies.) Fair warning, they are fluff and they are nothing like Tom Waits.

My desktop needs a new mouse. I think the old one is sticking, since it doesn't seem to register half the clicks, and doubles or triples the other half. I guess it gives me a good reason to stop by Office Depot or Fred Meyer after work tomorrow. I should try the latter first, since if they don't have what I want, I can always then stop by the other on my way home, with minimal back-tracking and delay. These sorts of things happen, and those things failing after a few years is to be expected. Computers aren't made to last forever, and if they did, you couldn't use them for much after a few years because all the programs are written planning on Moore's Law to work as it does. Plot the computers to do more and more, and hopefully they will be able to, without seeming to be much slower. I did see an early report comparing Tiger & Leopard, and it said that currently the latter isn't faster then the former, so don't upgrade just yet. It did say that while it was not faster, it wasn't slower either, meaning Apple managed all the new stuff without sacrificing speed, though they didn't gain it, which is a customer expectation these days.