Jamie Thingelstad

I thought about naming this post “I have a dream” but I figured the SEO impacts would be all wrong. The idea though would be spot on. I decided to go with this title and its gambling reference because I’m quite positive that I am gambling a little. I just bought my third Apple TV and set it up last week.

Yes, I read a bunch of different blogs and I do not have my head in the sand. You don’t have to go very far to read an article about how the Apple TV has already failed and is doomed to sit next to the Newton on the shelf of shame at Apple HQ. In fact, simply buying an Apple TV doesn’t give you a lot of assurance the product is doing well. The unit I just bought and installed still had the 1.0 software on it. The 1.1 release was made a long time ago so you know this unit was sitting on the shelf for a while.

However, I find the allure of these little boxes to be too strong. The promise is great. Integration with the iTunes ecosystem. Great user experience. By far the best “ten foot” user experience I’ve ever seen. The integration is great. You can watch part of a movie on a plane, come home and sync your iPhone and then sit down on the couch and the Apple TV will offer to resume where you left off. For music, it’s a great device with nearly no issues (please add rating from the Apple TV!). It falls down in video, and that is really where the entire iTunes world falls down.

I’ve decided to continue betting all the way to three of these units for a few reasons. First, as part of the iTunes world it is not easy for Apple to just shove it aside. I don’t expect that there will be a breaking change that will cause them to stop working for a long time, if ever. Additionally, I really like the form factor and it’s complete lack of noise (although it’s hotter than nearly any device I’ve ever owned). If it really got ugly, I also feel comfortable that I can hack the thing wide open and do some of the stuff that Apple should be doing for me already on it.

Now, I’m just hoping these rumors of significant Apple TV enhancements at WWDC in January come true!

I was out in New York last week and couldn’t pass up an opportunity to check out the brand new Apple Store on 14th Street. It’s worth a visit if you are in town. It’s far more spacious than the Fifth Avenue store and the glass spiral staircase is impressive. It has three floors which are nice to segment the store up.

It seems that delivering Wii’s to stores isn’t the only supply problem Nintendo has. Every time they release new versions of the software for the Wii, and even some of the pay titles available in the Wii Store, their servers get overloaded for days.

I tried updating my system a dozen times and it finally just worked today, a few days after the update went out. I still can’t get some of the titles in the Wii Store to successfully download. I’m trying to get Check Mii Out now and that fails on every attempt. It spits out these errors about your network setup, but it’s really just that their servers are totally overloaded.

Somebody at Nintendo needs to wake up and sign a deal with a content distribution network.

I’m totally obsessed with my Wii all over again and it’s because of Guitar Hero III - Legends of Rock. In between attempts to update my Wii software, I’ve been rocking out with Guitar Hero III. I can’t remember the last time I played a single game for over an hour – until now.

This is a seriously fun game. Think of Dance Dance Revolution, but without a silly dance pad and way better music. Oh, and I can actually play Guitar Hero, unlike DDR. It comes with a plastic “guitar controller” that you mount the Wiimote in and you start playing away. I was hooked pretty much instantly. It’s a must have Wii game, particularly for the air guitar sort.

If you are playing Guitar Hero already connect with my profile and let’s shred!

My RSS reader is filled with a lot of technology stuff, a variety of Apple websites and a ton of friends that have blogs. I recently subscribed to a new blog that I had to create a new group for. The group is called Interesting, and the blog is Dictionary Evangelist.

I got exposed to this blog by watching Erin McKean’s presentation at TED entitled “Redefining the Dictionary” via their podcasts. The video was fun, and her posts are “interesting” and fun as well. Erin is a lexicographer, which is to say she makes dictionaries. Cred’ out to Dictionary Evangelist (Add Feed).

What’s in your “Interesting” group?

I have given myself and a couple of my friends (him and him) a task for the upcoming Winnipeg Folk Festival. There is a tradition on the final night that all of the performers at the festival come on stage and conduct the finale. The three songs that comprise the finale are The Mary Ellen Carter, Wild Mountain Thyme and Amazing Grace. The assignment is to learn the lyrics to these songs, especially the Mary Ellen Carter, so that everyone can sing along without looking at the lyrics in the songbook.

Now, when I say sing along I mean sing along with gusto. Think of an Irish bar 30 minutes before closing time and the whole place rocking and singing to a traditional reel. That’s the idea.

This post is the study guide for this assignment. I’ve compiled the lyrics for these songs and validated them against specific tracks from iTunes to make sure they are correct.

The Mary Ellen Carter by Stan Rogers

The Mary Ellen Carter (iTunes) is a pretty amazing song. On the Wikipedia page for the song it is credited with savings someone’s life! The lyrics for it are substantial and have some areas where emphasis is needed (highlighted in yellow). This will take a while to get it right. I’d suggest focusing most attention on this song.

She went down last october in a pouring driving rain
The skipper he’d been drinkin’ and the mate he felt no pain
Too close to three mile rock and she was dealt her mortal blow
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low

There was just us five aboard her when she finally was awash
We’d worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost
And the groan she gave as she went down it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again

Well the owners wrote her off, not a nickel would they spend “She gave twenty years of service boys then met her sorry end.
But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below”
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go

But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock
She’s worth a quarter million a-floating at the dock
And with every jar that hit the bar we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

CHORUS: Rise again, rise again
That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men
Oh those who loved her best, and were with her ’til the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

All spring now we’ve been with her on a barge lent by a friend
Three dives a day in a hard hat suit and twice I’ve had the bends
Thank God it’s only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Or I’d never have the strength to go below

But we patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and portal down
Put cables to her fore and aft and girded her around
Tomorrow noon we hit the air and then take up the strain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

CHORUS

For we couldn’t leave her there you see to crumble into scale
She’d saved our lives so many times living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won’t be laughing in another day

And you to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

2ND CHORUS: Rise again, rise again
Though your heart it be broken your life about to end
No matter what you’ve lost be it a home, a love, a friend
Like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

2ND CHORUS

Wild Mountain Thyme

This is a traditional Irish song. As such, the lyrics are modified by various performers. This recording by Carl Peterson (iTunes) isn’t the best but it’s a good one to learn the lyrics with. It’s really slow, and you can go along at your own pace without any issue.

Oh, the summer time is come,
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.

CHORUS:
Will you go, lassie, go?
And we’ll all go together
To pluck wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,

Will you go, lassie, go?
I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain,
And on it I will pile,
All the flowers from the mountain.

CHORUS

If my true love, she were gone,
I will surely find another
Where the while wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.

CHORUS

Oh, the summertime is coming
And thre trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.

CHORUS

Amazing Grace

I’m sure you know most of the words to Amazing Grace. This recording by Anne Murray (iTunes) is a good one to hammer the lyrics in with. I know, Anne Murray? Yes, I know. It is what it is.

Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound,
That sav’d a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

It was nine months ago that we added Izzy to our family. Today we added another dog to the family. His name is Chase!

We adopted Chase today after visiting him on Thursday night. He is about 5 months old and is a Border Collie/Black Lab mix. His color is all Black Lab, and his face has a lot of the Collie in it. He was born in South Dakota and found his way to Minneapolis with a couple of siblings. We found Chase on the Internet (with the unfortunate name of Lurch), while casually considering getting another dog. After visiting him we pondered it for a while and decided to take the leap.

Chase arrived today and for about five hours he and Izzy just ran around chasing each other. Complete and total mayhem. I’m pleased to say that as I write this though they have settled a bit and Chase is actually laying down. First time today.

Chase is going to be high energy and will be a good friend for Izzy. Izzy loves other dogs and will appreciate the company. Chase is going to be very smart, and even at his young puppy stage he’s already learned a few commands. I get a sense he is going to be much easier to train than Izzy. He should get to 40-50 lbs fully grown.

Tammy and I are both considering our moment of insanity. :-) Getting Chase is reminding us how much Izzy has grown since we got her. Welcome to the family Chase!