Mindless Philosopher

When I was listening to NPR two weeks ago, I was excited to learn that the Decemberists were releasing a new CD. So, I hopped over to eMusic, the music service I subscribe to and which provides DRM-unencumbered mp3’s.
I was unpleasantly surprised to discover the group’s new release, The Crane Wife, noticeably absent from eMusic’s list of their albums. A quick Google search revealed that the Decemberists had switched labels: from people-powered Kill Rock Stars to RIAA-friendly Capitol Records. Why the switch to the dark side? Let’s ask the band’s leader, Colin Meloy:

Three or four years ago, I would think, hey, if we ever do the major-label thing, we should make an album full of catchy pop hits. Just see what the machine can do with that.

And:

The contract that we have with Capitol is peppered with the words ‘band approval’. It’s really as good a contract as we could hope for. If they do have a nefarious agenda, it’s completely hidden on me.

Further:

But the whole idea about selling out seems like such an antiquated notion.

No, Colin, it’s still selling out, even in the 21st Century. But, to be fair, the first quote indicates that the band wants to be famous, and a “major” label gives the Decemberists a chance to become “majorly” famous. My question for the band is: how much more famous do you need to be? The concert I attended in Philly (Electric Factory) was sold out. The band has plenty of fans. So at what point do the costs of signing over your soul outweigh the diminishing returns from extra fans?
And the costs are real. First, they are alienating their fans. Martey says he’s boycotting. I’m disinclined to buy the new album. Also, they lose the eMusic revenue, but I’m sure they’ll recoup that elsewhere. Most importantly, however, they are now subject to a major label’s contract, and while I trust that Colin did “pepper” the contract language with “band approval”, I doubt they took a hard look at the math. Courtney Love examined her contract and came away none too happy. The “nefarious agenda” that’s “completely hidden from” Colin is the simple fact that Capitol Records exists to take the Decemberist’s money, not to foster the growth of artists.
The discussion of profits raises a second question of: Why shouldn’t Capitol Records use eMusic as well? Yes, eMusic allows the mp3 to be legally available, and thus creates a pathway to peer-to-peer sharing, but do they think the mp3’s won’t end up on Kazaa anyway? Well, I’m checking right now, and incredibly Crane Wife is quite popular (over 250 matches) on Kazaa–ready to be downloaded free of charge. But, I think I’ll just listen to The Be Good Tanya’s new album via eMusic instead.

Guess I should remain a Muggle:

An “E” is only the 2nd-best score in the Potter-verse. (If only I had known that Hags eat children…)

Rain postponed Chicklet’s cool b-day present (again), but I do have a bloggable story from Thursday to share. My Dad always said that every time you go to the ballpark, you’ll see something new, and boy was that true last week.
Back in April, I noted that the my baseball team, the Orioles, were going to be in-town, playing the Yankees during the last week of the season. So I snagged to cheap seats in the hopes that there would be exciting pennant races this time of year. Well, as the “baseball gods” would have it, the American League was devoid of September excitement this season, leaving me with two tickets to a meaningless game.
Naomi was nice enough to accompany me to the ballpark, however, so the tix did not go to waste. I left Princeton on Thursday at 4:30pm, plenty of time for the 7:05pm start — or so I thought. About 15 minutes into our train ride, the train breaks down. We lost power and were just sitting there on the tracks. Apparently, Microsoft build the engine, because all the conductor had to do was “restart” the machine for it to get up and running again. But, this process took about a half hour, and another NJT train passed by us just before we got moving again.
With our train out of place in the schedule, we were stuck in “train traffic” and the ride into NYC took over two hours. Hopping off the train at 6:45pm, I rushed to the subway, where I caught an E train to an express A train, which just got caught behind a D train, which was the train I really needed. The A train took me to the top of Manhattan, but I needed a B or a D into the Bronx. The MTA claims they run B trains over the river until 8pm, but they are a bunch of liars since at 7:10, a B train was sitting at 145th St, not moving. So I had to wait another 20 minutes fro the next D train.
But, finally I arrived at Yankee stadium and met up with Naomi. We got in just in time to see the end of the 2nd inning, so we didn’t miss much. The O’s were already up 2-0. By the end of the fourth, it was 5-0, and I looked over at the scoreboard and noticed something interesting: the Oriole pitcher, Daniel Cabrera, was throwing a no-hitter. I commented this to Naomi (who didn’t seem to understand the significance — the last Oriole no-hitter was in 1969), and immediate realized I had probably just jinxed the whole affair by mentioning it.
Even if I did jinx it, my blunder didn’t manifest itself until much later, as Cabrera kept retiring Yankee batters in order. And when he did walk hitters, he would get subsequent batters to ground into double plays, keeping his pitch count down. Pretty soon, he was over half-way to the no hitter; soon after, two-thirds of the way.
In the seventh, Cabrera’s defense completely let him down. An error by the second baseman allowed Abreu to get aboard. Then, two passed balls advanced Abreu to third! But there were two outs at that point, and Cabrera could pitch from the wind-up again (since the lone runner was on third), so I wasn’t too concerned. Indeed, Cabrera got Sheffield to ground to third, but Melvin Mora (playing third base for the O’s) boots the ball, and a very unearned run scores–as the Yanks didn’t get the ball out of the infield.
So, Cabrera now has two innings to go, and things are getting pretty exciting. When the Orioles commit a blooper, the entire stadium gets quiet and looks to the scoreboard for the official ruling. A collective groan goes up each time the mistake gets scored as an error. Of course, I cheer wildly all three (!) times it occurred. For the last out of eight D. Cabrera strikes out Yankee pitch hitter M. Cabrera, to take the no-hitter into the ninth.
At this point, I realize that I’m not keeping score! I always keep score at games, for two reasons. One, it’s fun, and usually a learning experience for those around me. Two, something really cool might happen (such as a no-hitter!) and I’d like a complete recording of such an event. But I wasn’t scoring this game because we arrived late; I was about to strangle the first NJT employee I saw I was so pissed off. But, I quickly collected myself, and raced into the concession area and bought a $7 (!) program to keep score with for the ninth, figuring I’ll fill in the rest of the game later (using ESPN).
The O’s add a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, and everyone gets ready for the Yankees’ last set of at-bats. The entire stadium is standing, while I am jumping up and down, “giddy as a school boy” as Dr. Elsa would say. Damon is first up, and he grounds easily to first: two outs left. “Giddy” would now be an understatement of my mood. Cabrera gets one strike on the next batter Cano, but then the Yankee slaps a line drive into left field. For just an instant, it looks like Fiorentino has a shot to catch the ball, but it falls in for a base hit. Heartbreak. So close. One double-play later and we leave the stadium with thoughts of “what if.” Still, one of the coolest (if not the coolest) game I’ve ever been to.

And may my Jewish readers have a reflective Yom Kippur and a beneficial fast.

Time for the Wednesday update. Had a roller coaster week in terms of research. Over the weekend, I discovered that the U.S. cell phone carriers had colluded to make part of our text message experiment not only cost prohibitive and technologically infeasible, but seemingly illegal as well. In any other country, our peer-to-peer idea would be possible, but no, not in the “land of the free.”
In any case, the other part of our text messaging experiment is one “yes” email away from getting a full green light. We still need a funder for the optional, but useful, survey portion, so if you know anyone willing to pony up a few thousand dollars to examine young voter’s reaction to text messaging, let me know!
And, in a completely unrelated project, I have data for my required second-year project! This research is one of the main reasons I ventured into grad school, so I’m glad to be able to find an answer (in about 4 months).
Even though my capitalist-obsessed country won’t let us do cool things with technology, I’m very grateful to be a member of the nation that created “Gilmore Girls.” Wow, what an emotional premiere. I couldn’t even look at the TV when Lorelai told Luke you-know-what. And “scenes from the next” — oy, so depressing. Except for all you L-C shippers!!! *cough*Rain*cough* Damn you all! GG is no replacement for West Wing, but it’ll do.
Shana Tova to all my Tribal friends! Here’s to a sweet and fulfilling new year :) And, to all of my readers, if I’ve wronged you in any way over the past year, please forgive me. (Do broadcast requests for forgiveness count? Probably not; oh well.)
I’m off to the O’s / Yanks game tomorrow. Should be fun even though there’s nothing to play for. And my next update should include some exciting pics of Chicklet’s birthday present for me! (I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seats… .) Until then, happy new year, and happy trails :)
QOTD: “In my day, we didn’t have birthdays in grad school.”

Just on Monday, Chicklet, Danny, and I were planning a winter break trip to Thailand. We had found tickets for under $1000 from LAX, had been discussing the required vaccinations, and had checked out which guide books to buy.
Then, on Tuesday, I flip on CNN, and what do I hear? “Thai tanks surround capital….coup rumors are flying around Bangkok.” So I immediately text Chicklet, who is in class; by the time she gets out the picture is much clearer:

An honest-to-goodness coup d’état! Thankfully, no blood appears to have been shed. The current (now former?) Prime Minister was in New York at the UN conference (not a coincidence, I’m sure), and he’s now flown/fled to London. Not sure he’ll ever step foot in Thailand again. The coup leader has “welcomed” the ex-PM back into the country, but I’m pretty sure everyone involved knows that this offer is just bait for an arrest to be made. (“Come back home! We need to show you these nice gallows we built in your absence….”).
Given how stable the country appears, our trip might not be in that much jeapordy. Maybe we’ll even get lucky and the price of plane tickets will go down. Or, maybe the Baht will experience massive inflation and our dollars will be worth that much more….not that I’m hoping for economic ruin in Thailand or anything…
On the home front, I’ve now attended all my classes, and I seem to have a decent balance, but probably too much reading. I see much skimming in my future. I also sat in on the class I’m TAing (into math for poli sci); the students asked insightful questions, so I’m optomistic about the course. Now if I only had a dissertation topic.
Update: Chicklet says:

You should include in your post the PM’s reaction: “I was prime minister when I came, and I was jobless on the way back.” I guess you can take everything in stride when you’re a billionaire.

Leave it to the MIT kids to outshine the Presidents speech:

Hat-tip to Chicklet for the story.

I’ve been off the blog lately because I’ve spend much of my time (too much time?) coding this neat tool for campaign staffers: TurfCutterGM. Basically, it let’s you use Google Maps to create your walklist. Check it out — geocoding should be up tonight.
But, instead of shameless plugs, I wanted to share with you my Labor Day trip. In the long, yet shallow tradition of women playing baseball, Gayle and I ventured over to south Philly for the championship of the Labor Day Eastern Women’s Baseball Conference Tourney. That’s right: baseball, not softball. It’s what the girls of summer used to play:

The finals were between DC and Philly. The game was well-played and in almost all respects just like a minor league game. The only real difference was how shallow the outfielders played, thus making an 8-4 force out possible. You can kind of see below the positioning of everyone in this picture:

In the first few innings the game was tight, and the defense was excellent. Through three innings, the score was 4-4 and the defenses turned just as many double plays (2) as they committed errors. Washington pulled away in the end, and the defense play became sloppier, as the teams booting three plays in the final four innings. The final score was DC 10, Philly 5. After some celebrating, the DC team lined up for their championship photo:

I’ve always believed that if Major League Baseball ever removes its ban on women playing the game, odds are that the first female major leaguer will be a pitcher. This game only reinforced that view as none of the women batting came even remotely close to major league power. On the other hand, some of the pitchers’ curveballs were just downright wicked. I just wonder who the next Ila Borders will be.

I completely missed the highly objectionable line in question when I read this NYT article about the new female Sesame Street character, but my friend (from the Yaxuna trip) Hilarie was right on top of it and sent the following to The Times:

August 20, 2006
Letters: Cherry Jones; Jay Greenberg; Early Music; Abby Cadabby
ABBY CADABBY
The Muppet Gap
To the Editor:
Re “A Girly-Girl Joins the ‘Sesame’ Boys” by Susan Dominus [Aug. 6]:
How disheartening that as the Sesame Workshop makes a much-needed improvement in its show’s gender representation — by introducing a new female Muppet, Abby Cadabby — one of its executives would disparage Lulu, an earlier attempt at a female character, by saying, “She wasn’t that attractive.” As unintentional as this counterpoint may have been, it indicates that the continued use of physical attractiveness as a measure of girls’ personal worth is still too prevalent in American society.
Hilarie Ashton
Manhattan

Double congrats to Hilarie for both being published and for crossing off an item on your life to-do list :)

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but I finally realized how much I procrastinated all summer and finally got down to work. You’ll be able to see the fruit of said labor in about a week when I announce the beta release of a campaign tool I’ve been coding up. The “proof of concept” version is out now, and I hope to have the alpha done on Sunday.
Another apology goes to Jamil Walker. He used to be my least favorite DC United player, but the events of the past two weeks compel a change in status. Last week, I attended United’s game against the Red Bulls in the Meadowlands, and Walker came on as a sub. As background, he has had two poor years at United (only one goal this year in MLS play), and rarely starts. So when, last week, Walker blew an injury-time, open-net goal that would have been the game-winner I got up out of my seat and yelled very loudly (though without expletives) that he should stay on the bench.
Fast forward a few days, and I’m in DC visiting the West Wing crew. Sara begins to tell a story about this group of guys who were dressed similarly and walked into the bar/club she was in. They turned out to be DC United! And, though she reports that Bobby Boswell is skeezy, Jamil Walker happens to be the nicest one of the bunch. So I felt bad dissing him at the game.
A couple days later I’m back in DC for three bridge-upkeep/building meetings and, of course, a DC United game. Since this game was an Open Cup game (rather than an MLS game), Walker got the rare start, along with four other usual bench-warmers. And yet again, as the Washington Post explained, Walker had several opportunities but was unable to capitalize. Once more, I found myself out of my seat yelling in frustration.
Until the 60th minute, that is. At that point Eskandarian sends a free kick into the box, Boswell deflects it, and it goes right to Walker, who hand-balls it, and puts the ball into the back of the net. Everyone is cheering and screaming as if we scored, but I’m looking for the ref to call a hand ball. But he doesn’t! And the goal counts! Walker scores!
My friends at the game didn’t see the hand ball, so they thought I was being quite ungenerous to Walker, and still showing my bias toward the man, even after he did his job as a forward and scored. WaPo quotes Walker as saying about the potential handling,

“It was somewhere around this region,” Walker said, gesturing in a circle near his head, neck and shoulder.

That’s not very reassuring, but perhaps I am letting my preconceptions get the best of me. So, in the words of Warner Wolf, let’s go to the video tape:

Oh look, there’s Walker’s hand, and there’s the ball hitting it…..
However, Walker then went on to score a second goal, this time earned with a perfect shot into the lower-left corner of the net. So I say this: Jamil Walker, I apologize to you for all the mean words that have emanated from my mouth in recent weeks. You are a great guy and deserved more from a loyal DC fan.
(If only our Senator had learned to eat his pride so quickly…)

Democratic voters flexed their muscles today, and the results were positive. Lamont upended Lieberman 52-48 (I was a bit too optimistic in my prediction), but the Senator has decided that keeping his job is more important than either the Democratic party or respecting the voters — he will run as an Indie. It’s still unclear whether he has enough signatures (we’ll find out soon), though I’m guessing a big push tomorrow could put him over the top. Very unclear is what the DC Dems will say…does Reid strip Lieberman of his committee assignments? … does the vast majority of the caucus back Lamont? … can Lieberman still raise sufficient funds? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. (Here’s to hoping that this whole drama ends by Labor Day.)
Down south, my Johnson 59 – McKinney 41 prediction was spot on. At least this result removes potential distractions from the Democratic side.