Blind vs. Deaf, or Technolo-Gee Whiz

Question: would you rather be deaf or blind, if you had to choose one or the other? J and I have been having this conversation for the past few weeks, she preferring to see, and I preferring to hear. We go back and forth, naming the pro's and con's of each, but eventually our discussion degrades, Godwin-like, into an contest of who can name more famous blind or deaf people, and whether "Ray Charles + Stevie Wonder + Andrea Botticelli > Beethoven". (Helen Keller tends to cancel herself out.) So far, everyone we've brought this discussion to has sided with J. They are all wrong.

I should add a disclaimer at this point, stating that I mean no offense to anyone who suffers from either of these disabilities, and that I highly respect anyone who has to overcome such obstacles in life. I just happen to think that for a deaf person, there are more obstacles.

Anyways, this brings me to the second point of this post: over the weekend I came across two new technologies that give sight and sound to your computer.

sight
Behold! Delicious Library!
This is a Mac-only program that uses your computer webcam as a barcode reader to scan, organize, and index your books, music, dvds, and video games. The software costs $40, but there's a free version that we've been playing with. Very addicting. The free version has a limit of 25 items, but J doesn't read and I don't listen to music, watch movies, or play video games, so we're good for now. One of the more interesting features of the software is that it has a nice library-like checkout system. That way you can tell who still has your copy of, say, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! (sorry Cheryl).

sound
Hark! Midomi!
This nice piece of online software has you sing or hum part of a song into your computer's mic, and performs a search to find that song. Finally, a way to get that annoying song that you can't find the name of and then when you try to sing it to other people your singing sucks and they have no idea what you're talking about cause you're off-key and even if you were on-key the part of the song that you actually know could be any song ever. Try it out. Example, my boss at work decided to sing "Like a Virgin" into my coworkers laptop, and seconds later "Like a Surgeon" (Weird Al) showed up as the top hit. Pretty good!

Go Bears!

If you live in the Baltimore-DC area, you must, must, must go line up to see SUFJAN STEVENS for FREE at the Kennedy Center on Feb. 5. The ticket giveaway is this Saturday the 27th at 9am, but I suspect you'll have to line up a lot earlier than that. I've been seriously considering coming down to VA this weekend and the weekend after to be able to see this show, but I doubt I'll be able to make it since I'd have to do it alone (Feb. 5 is a Monday).

J and I were lucky enough to see him in NY back in November, and ... sublime.

The horns at 1:54 of this Majesty Snowbird clip (sadly not the whole song)...


Edit: I really want to say more about this song, because it overflows the room, making it much bigger than it is. It's the kind of thing that makes you wish you had more ears to be able to hear in threereo; these videos do no justice.


I really hate to be a video linker, but I have to end with one more:


That song is Chicago. Apt.

thursday tv on friday nights

Thursdays are the best night of TV. Unfortunately, the networks all compete with each other by putting their best shows out (leaving the rest of the week empty on my tv schedule), so all the shows really lose in the ratings. Thankfully, Survivor finished its "race wars" season so the 8:00-9:00 timeslot is less packed these days.

I'm actually going to be out tonight, but I'll catch up with everything on Friday. It turns out that Fridays and weekends are my favorite times to stay in. I'd heard similar sentiments from people who lived in the city before I moved here, but I never understood until I lived here too. I have nothing against B&Ters (bridge and tunnelers -ie, people who need to take a bridge or tunnel to get to Manhattan), but the city just gets really crowded on Fridays and Saturdays. Movies are constantly sold out on weekends and sidewalks and restaurants are packed. I hate navigating through hordes of people on the streets and putting up with long waits at restaurants when I can go easily go any night of the week. So Fridays are my stay-in night, or maybe they'll soon be a small group night, if Isaac and I ever get around to signing up for one.

Anyway, Isaac's sister, Lanie, is in town, so we'll be heading out tonight instead of being glued to the TV the way I usually am, but here's a quick TV guide for those of you who stay home on weeknights and go out on weekends.

What I'll be Tivo-ing:
8:30 The Office (nbc)
9:00 Scrubs -the long-awaited musical episode! (nbc)
9:30 30 Rock (nbc)

What I'll get later:
9:00 The O.C. (FOX)
8:00 Ugly Betty (abc)
9:00 Grey's Anatomy (abc)

In other TV-related news, The Hills is back! Tune in for the spaced-out misadventures of LC and Heidi. I totally missed the premiere on Monday, but was alerted to its return by an awesome recap at TVGasm. The recaps make the show worth watching...

960 minutes

What's the best season of 24?

I watched the first season and was really put off by Kim Bauer, and the soap opera predictibility/craziness of the 2nd half of that season, so much so that I've never wanted to watch another season. I've heard that other seasons are better/different though, so I'm thinking that I might be willing to give it another chance. I want to watch a good season though, so which one is the best and is the show really worth watching?

convince me.

i don't smell gas

Am I the only one in the city that didn't smell that gaseous odor yesterday? Yes, apparently. And I walk to work. And there were conference rooms when I got there that had signs that pretty much said "it smells in here." And emails. And news. Maybe everyone else was crazy and imagining it because there was no odor when I left the house.

Don't worry, anyone who doesn't live or work in New York. You didn't miss anything, I don't think I did.

Then again, I think I'm alone on this.

i smell gas

This morning when I left our building, I smelled gas. We live on a pretty busy street, so I didn't think much of it. It was the kind of pollution smell that you get when a truck drives by, so I figured it was due to the traffic. As I headed towards the train which is about 2 and half avenue blocks away from where we live, I realized that it still smelled like gas. Truck pollution doesn't usually last that long, so I thought maybe the smell was just stuck in my nose, like the way a bad taste sticks in your mouth sometimes. Maybe I was crazy and imagining it because the odor was so strong when I first left the house.

But then, Crystal sent me this article. I'm not crazy! Yaay! But the source seems like it's close to where we live, which isn't too good. I hope it doesn't lead to anything crazy like the manhole explosions in Soho.

edit: I'm definitely not alone.