I never do things the easy way, when it comes to cars.

The other day, I was talking about my new winter tires, and how good they were. I also started to talk about what appears to be a manufacturer's defect in one tire. As noted, both 1010tires.com and Pirelli Canada have been excellent in their customer response so far. Pirelli went as far as to find the closest dealer to my home, for my convenience. As long as everything checks out when the tech looks at the tire, there'll be no problem at all with the exchange, etc.

So, last night, I went in to that closest-to-me location, Commercial Tire, at 1720 Bank Street, Ottawa.

And the guy behind the counter? Total dick.

I don't know if it's their policy, but he was just having nothing to do with it. His suggestion? "Not our problem, send it back to where you bought it."

At which point I asked him if they were a Pirelli dealer, or not. He said, yes "sort of". What's sort of? Well, we sell the tires. So, you're a dealer, which means you're Pirelli's representative for their tires, which means you deal with warranty no matter where the tires were purchased.

He wasn't thrilled.

In fact, he came up with a dozen excuses as to why it couldn't be done, or why it would be difficult.

They were full of appointments until the "middle of December" (Bullshit. I actually saw the appointment book, open, on the desk. He had open spots today, just not on the spot.)

It'd be difficult to verify if there was a problem or not (Really? So, your techs don't know how to do their job, and you're NOT a tire specialty store? Duly noted).

The only way he'd be able to check the car out would be if I left it here in the morning and "they'd check it between customers".

Ok, now, you know what? I'm not an idiot. I know damn well, with the attitude you've already given me, that means "Leave your car here, and we'll tell you we looked at it and there's nothing wrong". The guy was aggressively lazy, IMO, and just didn't want to deal with a 'non-pay' customer. Again, I don't know if it's him, or managment policy that they do that. It could go either way, especially in what I know (and was the only truthful thing he said) is their busy season.

So, I told him I'd drop the car off, and they could take a look.

I went home, and looked up another dealer. One of them was the Frisby Tire I'd already been too, and wasn't thrilled with. Yet another was Frisby Tire on Industrial road.

Drove up there in near-rush-hour traffic, expecting the worst. Walked up to the counter, and said "I really hope you guys can help me..." Outlined the situation, including the run-around I'd gotten from Commercial Tire. The two guys on the counter looked at each other pointedly (So, I guess that may be a 'known issue' for Commercial Tire).

Not only do they take the issue seriously, but based on what I told 'em, they're already discussing what the problem could be (seperated belt), booked me an appointment for Wednesday the 25th, and called their warehouse to make sure they had a pair of the right size tires in stock as warranty replacements, as necessary.

And that, kids, is how to do business.

Because Frisby Tire on Industrial will now get a shot at:

My summer tires/rims, hi-performance, probably in the range of $2000.

idioglossia's winter tires on stock rims, when she gets her car in a year or two. (approx $1000)

six months after that, her dedicated summer tires and rims (probably around $2000 again).

Commercial Tire however, just blew off five grand in possible future sales, in three minutes. That simple. They may be a more convenient location, but what's not convenient is having to deal with surly staff, who go out of their way not to do their job, because it's not an immediate money-maker.

Now, I wait for next Wednesday, and see what's said.

Tags: bad service, car, commercial tire, frisby tire, good service, service, tires, winter tires

Something I've found over the last few months, discovered, is Canadian hiphop and rap.

Here's the thing: most rap these days, I don't like. It's nearly all top-40, bragadoccio, bling-bling, I-gots-guns-and-money-and-bitches gangsta crap. Apparently, that sells. But honestly, if you've heard one guy talk about his Bentley or Lambo (which, lets face it, for 95% of 'em, they don't own: they rent for the video) and how much gold he's got (again, rented), you've pretty much heard them all.

That's not even, in my opinion, Gangsta. It's watered down, record-company, top-40 shit.

You want Gangsta?

Go look old-school: NWA, Ice T, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy and all those guys.

If you want street rap, you look at older stuff by guys like Jay Z: I actually just bought Blueprint III, oddly enough, on Jay-I-hate-rap's say so, and it's a great, introspective album. Ok, it's got the odd hit towards Top-40 play, but I'm not going to fault that: It's not Top-40 I've got the issue with, it's the generic crap that usually fills the Top 40 that bothers me. Jay Z doesn't fit that bill.

So, I've not listened to a ton of new stuff; I have the same problem with rock&roll these days; most of what I get the chance to here is generic, top-40, lets-copy-the-success-of-nickelback shit. No risk taking, no real innovation.

I'm not saying that innovation isn't out there, but it's not where most people can hear it.

So, one of my regular listens is the download of the CBC Radio 3 podcast, be it the R3-30, Sunshine show, or, more often, the Track of the Day.

My recent hits?

K’naan – Troubadour

Shad – When This is Over

Shad – The Old Prince

Classified – Self Explanatory

Champion – Resistance

Rather than a review, it’s a matter of why I like these guys.

First off, I heard both Shad and Champion (aka, DJ Champion and the G-Strings) paired together on a “live” broadcast on Radio 3. On that, was an approximately ten minute version of Champion’s “Backing Off”.





Turns out, I already knew this album, having heard Alive Again, and really dug it, I just didn’t know who sang it. Putting the two together, Shad and Champion, made for a brilliant twenty minutes or so of show. Which led me to pick up Resistance. I’d missed the name of the accompanying artist, though (that would be Shad). I was surprised a week later to hear one of his tunes on the Track of the Day. And, I didn’t recognize the artist, but the voice and inflection. So, of course, I picked up an album. And I couldn’t pick between two, so, after listening to samples from both, I bought both.

Damn the ‘instant on’ of iTunes and a data plan.

Shad’s tracks are for lack of a better description, K-os-ian. There’s a definite philosophy behind them, one of the things I really respect. As I said, there’s too much of the “I gots mo’ money than yo’” shit out there these days, and I’ve always appreciated the platform that rap can be, if the person doing it is actually thinking about what they’re saying. Shad’s one of these guys. One of the ones that really gets me to grinnin’, is “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home” which is a story about how a cheapskate saves money: skipping the dentist because he can brush his own teeth, so the dentist can’t hustle him on that. The last quarter of the song, totally acapella, because he was too cheap to pay for the beat for the whole song. Really, really funny. Really, really smart, and really good satire at the same time. Does a great job of saying the opposite, too: there’s a time to pay for somethings. But Shad’s a guy who’s having a lot of fun with the music: guys like him should survive, but I’m never sure if they will. He’s excellent at what he does: whether he’ll get the notice he should is anyone’s guess. That’s the issue with all of these guys: it’s questionable as to whether or not they’ll get the recognition it takes to stay in the industry.

Oh, and the video for "The Old Prince Still LIves At Home" is brilliant.





“Out of Love Pt. 1” and “Pt. 2” have a real ‘old school’ feel to me. Either well chosen samples or even better made pieces specifically, but beyond that, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 are on different albums: there’s a unification across albums in the stories that’re being told. The feel to the albums reminds me of guys like Skee-lo (who almost no one ever listened to, outside of “I wish”. Both piece of “Out of Love” are laments with grains of hope “I want Claire Huxtable”, the emo cheese factor gets discussed, but really, he’s a guy who’s found a way to rhyme a love song in rap. It’s great, great stuff.

In fact, the progression of ideas puts me in mind not just of some of the early 90’s feel of rap, but also, The Streets: albums have coherent themes, and progressions in life. I dig this a lot, it’s a lot more real than a club hook and a paycheck, which is what I see in a lot of rap. They’re story-tellers, rather than braggadocio.

Which brings me to K’naan. Even more introspective than Shad, he’s got a sense of history and reality about him and his music that is stunning. He appears to be humble: not something you associate with rap, at all. He’s more dramatically lyrical, as well: sing-sing rather than rap, who does his own chorus work, singing the chorus, rather than rapping it. It’s actually quite a brilliant blending: the horns are punctuation, not a jazz or pop sample, it really impresses me.

For me, stand outs are “Fatima” which is, again, a love song, and definitely a lament, of adolescent, childhood love. Oddly, it makes me think of Paul Simon more than any other rapper. Of the tree, I think K’naan is my favorite, because he’s just so varied, and the stories are so well layered. It’s actually really difficult for me to say more than that, it really needs just to be listened to:





I should be able to say more, especially as that is my favorite. But I just… I gotta let the music speak for itself. Just go buy Troubadour. If you dig the style at all, you’ll love this album. Go listen to Take a Minute if you need a helping hand on the decision.

I have, oddly, a hard time picking a box to put Classified in. The closest I can come to from the pseudo-mainstream is Asher Roth. No, not Eminem, Asher Roth. Eminem is a class unto himself: he’s still an angry, angry dude. Asher and Classified are much, much mellower (as far as I’ve heard so far: I’m going to pick up a second Classified album shortly).

Self-Explanatory, the album I’ve already bought, has a couple of brilliant things on it. Not the least of which is the structure of the album. Most of you already have some idea of my penchant for story-albums: albums with a cogent, linear progression to them: they tell a story. What Self-Explanatory does is take this one further: there’s a half-dozen or so “CYOA” tracks.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Yeah, we all remember the books right? Every couple of tracks, there’s a CYOA track. “If you want to listen to the band play, go to track 16. If you want to go outside the club to talk, go to track 22”

And you know what, I’ve listened to the album making different track choices as prompted, and it’s actually pretty cool. He’s put some real thought into how the album progresses as you make those different choices. I’m really impressed.

Again, it’s tough to make that “compares to..” but the storyline reminds me somewhat of the first two albums by The Streets (you notice how I keep comparing to the same bands? There’s a reason for that: they’re really, really good bands. Even though it really doesn’t get across what I want about the style, it is a compliment). It’s a ‘day in the life’ story, and it’s really well done. As with K’naan and Shad, he’s not just telling a story, you get the impression he’s telling his story.

Oh, and the Phil Collins sample on “Anybody Listening”? CLASSIC.

Aw, shit. Just watch it.





One of the things I’ve just noticed is, when Classified slows the beat down, the lyrics get quick. (CYOA Pt 1 is a good example of this). It’s a good, fun twist. There’s a couple of tracks that really could be anthems, as well. Like K’naan, Classified makes great use of melody and singing in the chorus; unlike K’naan, that sing-song quality doesn’t spill out into the rhymes. It really is just the chorus.





I hate making these “sounds like” comparisons. They don’t do the artist justice, and they infer that what they’re doing has been done before: I don’t think any of these guys are doing anything that has specifically been done before. Anything that’s ‘similar’ is still very much their own style and personality showing through. On top of that, the comparisons to other artists are only to give you a broad sense of style, “sounds like” should probably be more properly “reminds me of why I really like…”

Oh, and his Canadian shoutout? Loonie? Just great.

That’s what I want to impress. These guys are worth listening to, because they tell a story, they make you think, the sound is fantastic and original: they do something in a way that just isn’t done in the world of Top 40. I’d love to see any one of them make it big. Canada’s making some absolutely brilliant hiphop and rap, and it’s all worth a listen.

Tags: canadian music, champion, classified, dj champion, k'naan, k-os, music, shad

It's the other.

I finally settled on ordering a set of Pirelli SottoZero 240 winter tires from 1010tires. I put the order in on October 13th, and the tires showed up on my doorstep on October 23rd. It took two weeks to find somewhere with a reasonable installation price and time frame[1]. So, I got the tires installed on the 9th of November. I tooled around town for four or five days, and they're GREAT. There's always a couple of hundred kilometers break-in time on brand new tires (wear off any preservatives on the tire, break the surface of the rubber, etc) and then they start to do their job at full strength. Got on the highway to go out ot idioglossia's dad's place...

And I got up to 90km/h or so, and the steering wheel was vibrating in my hands. Get up to 105-115km/h, and idioglossia looks over at me and says:

"Is the wheel supposed to vibrate like that?"

Off the highway, back to AbsoluteDeals4Wheels, and have them re-balance the tires. Turns out, a weight had actually fallen off, so there was definitely some of their fault there. They rebalance, and send me on my way. We get back on the road out to idioglossia's dad's place again, and... same thing.

The tire place is closed (or close enough to closing as to make no nevermind) so, I take the car in on Monday afternoon (the 16th) taking an afternoon off work.

The guy there, Jeff, apologizes, and they go ahead and re-balance again.

He comes out to the waiting area and asks me to come into the shop. He runs the tire without balancing, and it's showing 50g on the inside, 75g on the outside. He puts the appropriate weights on, and runs the tire again. He tells me to watch the tire, across the face of it (the bit that hits the road). The machine is showing balanced (0g inside, 0g outside). The face of the tire is... undulating.

It appears to be a manufacturers defect. He balanced the tires again anyway, to make sure it was as good as it can be, I left, and took the car out on the highway last night. Exactly the same problem again.

So, this morning (the 17th) I emailed both 1010tires.com and Pirelli Canada, aprising them of the situation, and basically asking them how I should proceed.

I got an email response from 1010tires.com saying that while they could deal with the issue for me, it would mean shipping the tire to them (in BC, at my expense) and then paying for shipping back to me with the replacement. They recommend approaching a local Pirelli dealer (there are four in Ottawa), and there shouldn't be any problem, and there should be no cost to me, either.

I'm now waiting for the response from Pirelli. I'm hoping that shows up today, before I leave work, so that I can print it, and take it with me to the local dealer, as having something from corporate always makes things smoother with the local distributor.

With luck, this'll be a relatively painless process. My only real annoyance is the time it's taken out of my life to deal with it (so far, about two hours for the original installation, two hours for the re-balance, two hours again for the re-re-balance and finding the issue: I'm sure the warranty process in-store will be a further two hours.) Doing this crap always takes it out of me.

( footnotes )

Remembering why we fight:

Seriously, go here, listen to this short story. Pirates and LIES!!

Castor on Troubled Waters

It's completely, ridiculously, awesome.

Tags: audio, fiction, podcastle

Our Coffee, who art in mugs;
hallowed by your beans;
thy caffeine come;
thy grounds be filtered, in drip or press;
Give us this day our daily buzz
Forgive none their trespasses, as vanilla trespasses against you;
Lead us not into Latte;
Deliver us from dishwater
For thine is the grounds, and the caffiene, and the glory,
large or extra-large. Amen.

Tags: blasphemy, coffee

So, I went out to Arnprior, in hopes of getting some fall colour pics, and... nothing. Not quite there yet.

What I did get was rained on. Before I was rained on?



Looking Back
f/4.5, 1/50th second, ISO 200
18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, Nikon D70s, Hoya circular polarizer


Also:



and:

This is the second time this has come up, and it's not my main knowledge base when it comes to cars. agingcusahackproonjooslivelife73 and ryestar, this is mostly for you guys, but anyone who's in the market might find some use in this. Or not.

Specifically, minivans.

What's wierding me out is that everyone seems to be phasing their minivans out. I understand the logic, especially at a corporate level: the CUV's that're replacing them are really just SUV's with smoother skins. They also cost about ten grand more, base, than the minivans did.

Know why GM started making dozens of trucks and SUV's? Because the profit margins are massive on 'em. But I digress.

So, where to start?

Well, the first question is, who actually makes a minivan still?

GM (across the board), Ford, Mazda, Hyundai, Nissan? None of them make minivans anymore. The closest equivents they have are:

GMC Terrain/Chevy Equinox, Chevy Traverse/GMC Acadia

Mazda CX-7 and CX-9

Ford Flex

Hyundai Veracruz

Nissan Murano

The problem with these? The cheapest start at $28,000 with no options, and the rest start at $36,000 and go up from there. Both the Ford Flex and Hyundai Veracruz can be optioned up to and past fifty grand. Not helpful. What's also not helpful is they're basically front-wheel-drive platform SUV's. That means they're small inside (car-like) but big and high outside (lousy for fuel economy and getting in and out). Sometimes, people just need a minivan, as uncool as they are. And lets face it, they're uncool. But they are really, really useful.

Those who make minivans?

Dodge/Chrysler, Kia, Toyota, VW, Honda. That's... it?

Wow. Even I can't believe that.

( So, what do you actually have? )

( charting the specifications )

Where is everyone the same? All these vans have ABS, some form of traction control, front, side, and head airbags, LATCH Tethers, Anti-Intrusion Side Door beams, some form of stow'n'go seating, power windows, mp3 support (CD or input) cruise control, seating for eight, and V6 engines with front wheel drive. They're all within two inches of each other in any given dimension. They're all 5-star rated for impact by the NHSTA.

Who wins and loses?

Tough call. Without having driven any of them (so, this is all pre-test drive research for people I know who're in the market), here's the way I see things:

The Dodge is the cheapest. With the current "value package" deal, by almost six grand. It's also the least powerful. That smaller engine is a minor liability in that it's got to work harder to haul the van around. That means the estimates on fuel economy may aslo be somewhat optomistic. If you use the pedal more, your fuel economy will be worse, there's nothing that can be done about that. The Toyota, Honda, and VW are all really attractive in that they're more upscale, and have better reputations for quality and simply touch-feel. However, they've got about ten grand each on the Kia and Dodge. That ten grand difference could buy a family a second run-about, brand new (Hyundai Accent, Kia Spectra5). If you're going to spend the money, being able to be in two places at once looks very attractive, too.

For me, vans are about utility, not style. I know why my friends will want a van. To haul kids around in. On paper, my choice would be the Kia or the Dodge. The price difference is just too big a deal for me to overlook: that's a lot of repairs down the road, and interest saved, especially when you factor in the Kia's warranty to five years of worry free driving.

All that said: I wouldn't make a decision until I drive them. This is about five hours of internet research, my own seat-of-the-pants experience with the manufacturers in question, and lots of reading. Driving and testing over a period of time (not one or two days) is essential, in my opinion.

To that effect, there's a list, just below, about what to check when you test drive. Do your test drive as if you were actually using the vehicle. If there's a fuel economy gauge (a lot have this now) reset it, and see what you can accomplish without holding traffic up. Make sure you're not just seeing if you like the seat, make sure you can life with the vehicle, and it can live with what you want it to do. If it can't, then reevaluate, spend a couple more bucks, and get what you actually need.

Also rans: The minivan market, as mentioned, just disappeared in favour of CUV's. However, if you shop around dealerships, you can still find the Hyundai Entourage and Nissan Quest on a per-dealer basis. As they're discontinued models, there's probably some very aggressive pricing on them. HOwever, you won't find them on the websites, you'll have to actively search for them. The Ford Taurus X may also fall into this category, even though it really is a crossover, rather than a minivan.

( Things to do on a testdrive that might not occur to you: )

Tags: advice, dodge, honda, how to, kia, minivans, shopping guide, toyota, vans, vw

Yup. Winter tires.

I'm not going to yell at you all again. I'm going to yell at you, in the past. If you need any explanation any more as to why you should buy winter tires if you live anywhere that drops to freezing (0oC/37oF), then go see my rant from last year. But you should already know that winter tires aren't snow tires, they're cold-weather tires that help you in the snow.

That said, I am at that impase myself.

The rule of thumb, I've been told, is that you can get away with all-seasons in winter, the first winter. I don't know if I buy that, but damn, I can see why people do.

I got the new car in June, and I've been searching for winter tires for it ever since. Originally, I was going to do what you would expect: a set of steel rims (cheap) and generic winter tires, or at least non-premium brand (also cheap). I'd do winter rims and tires for about a thousand bucks.

Well, that's wrong.

See, what I forgot to consider was that I'm goin from 205/55R16 (a common size, in all styles of tire) on the Acura, and passenger car tires at that, to staggered tire sizes (not the same in the front as the back) in performance tires, on much bigger rims.

225/45R18 on the front, and 245/45R18 on the back.

What I'd planned was steel 17" rims, with 225/55R17 winter tires on for all four corners. It's not the perfect solution (I'd have prefered 215/55R17 front, 225/55R17 back) but it'd get the job done. the problem is that the steel wheels with the right offset don't exist. Which means I have to buy 'good' rims in the right offset, and then put the winters on those. A full set of winter tires and (good) rims? Just shy of $2000 cdn. Actually, just about $1600 locally. For what I consider to be an imperfect solution.

So, what to do?

Well, after discussion with Jay, and people in a similar situation on the internet, I've come up with the solution.

1] I buy stock sized (225/45R18 front, 245/45R18 rear) winter performance rubber, and put it on the stock 18" rims. I then put the stock all-season tires up for sale sans rims, and recoup what I can. The winter tires will run me around $1000 (and are cheap at twice the price for what it can save you: keep that in mind too) and I can probably offset three-quarters of that by selling the stock Bridgestone Potenza's used, with 6000km on them and 95% of the tread left.

2] Come spring, I spend $2000 on a really, really nice set of 19" rims (matching the sizing the GT model of my car comes with) with 225/40R19 and 245/40R19 front and rear respectively, in high-performance summer tires. This improves the look of the car for me, and gives me a dramatic increase in handling performance, summer and winter (because I'm putting seasonal-specific tires on for both seasons). I also put myself in the grand situation where I'm probably good for tires for the next five years.

Where will I get the tires from, is the question.

This has been a major issue for me. I'd prefer to buy locally, or at least Nationally (within Canada). However, the Canadian websites have been useless for setting up winter tire packages. While both major Canadian tire-sales sites have been pretty responsive to email, their websites are woefully out of date. 1010tires.com doesn't have a pile of cars listed (specifically, 2010 models, which are showing up across the board right now) and tiretrends.ca is in an inexcusable situation for an online retailer: their last updated year for their tire/wheel chooser is 2007: three model years out of date!

TireRack.com, however, has complete 2010 information, including a pop-up system where when you choose a rim, you can see what it looks like on your car, and change the colour to suite what your car is.

This, of course, means I don't buy 1010tires or tiretrends excuse that "there isn't enough information on your car yet". Because, eithe Tirerack has gotten the info from the manufacturer, or they've actually, you know, looked at the car vs tires and rims to see what will fit and updated their databses.

Either way, what this does mean is that I can just buy tires (no worries about offset) from either 1010tires or tiretrends, and not pay duty, etc. With luck, I can find a deal on shipping too.

That, of course, leads to what tires and brand am I going to choose?

In the past, I had Hancooks on the Acura, and Arctic-Ice on the Grand Marquis. The Arctic Ice were good: the Hancooks were bloody brilliant. And neither come in the sizes I need.

So, I have to look at major brands. This definitely means i'll be paying a bit more. A co-worker has suggested I check out Falken (he just ordered a set of Falken winters for his 2003 Mercedes Benz C320), so they're added to the list.

What I'm looking at now are:

1] Pirelli Winter Sottozero 240's:

Price: $239.99 per tire, front, $295.99 per tire, rear.

Advantages: agressive, directiona, asymetrical tread. Lots of siping to prevent hydroplaning: gets good-to-excellent ratings on every site that I've found them on. "V" speed rated.
Disadvantages: price. That's an inherent problem in all the winters I'm looking at though: There's not many companies making tires in these sizes.





2] Michelin X-Ice Xi2

Price: $255.99 per tire, front, $275.99 per tire, rear.

Advantages: slightly cheaper as a set, installed and delivered (about $50). High treadwear rating.
Disadvantages: "H" speed rated. Less agressive siping and knuckles. More a passenger car tire than a perforance winter tire.






Honestly, the speed rating isn't a consideration. Even the Michelin's are good to 210km/h, and I've not seen THAT speed in the summer, never mind the winter. The savings isn't as great as I would hope for the difference in performance, and I do prefer the asymetrical design and agression of the Pirelli's. Also, and perhaps most important, the tires I've hated the absolute most on any car were the stock Michelins on the Acura. They were, if you'll pardon my French, fucking awful. No road feel, no adhesion, and no sense of when they were going to let go of the road and slide (here's a hint: early. Very, very early).

So, I think I already know my choice.

I do have a few others to check out:

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 (closeout) f:285.99, r:245.99 (H rating)

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 f:309.99 (XL), r: 365.99 (xl) (v rating)

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 f: 285.99, r: 309.99 (V rating)

Toyo Observe Garit KX f: 289.99, r: 309.99 (h rating)

Yokohama Ice Guard IG20 f: 309.99, r: 319.99 (T rating)

As you can see, price is really a negligable issue: even the most expensive, the Yokohama's, are only going to swing an extra $200 on a full set. The Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25's have potential, but htey're just about to be replaced by the LM-60's. WHich means if I don't order the sizes I want pretty much NOW, then I won't get them. They ain't making them any more.

So, anyone still there? Anyone got any suggestions?

Tags: genesis, hyundai, tires, winter

Rock-Opera? Check.
Blood and guts? Check.
Ex-Buffy star? Check.
Dark future? Check.





Yeah, I'll be checking THAT out.

And look at that. It's available on DVD.

Ok, it's more an Apple beef.

They charge a bunch for the iPhone, we all know this. They charge a bunch for the related accessories, too. Anything that's pure white, and has the little "apple" on it, costs more than the usual.

So given that a replacement set of headphones for the iPhone is at LEAST Forty Bucks, why are my headphones falling apart less than a year after buying the device?

I'm not particularly hard on them, and this is all very obvious 'wear' not 'abuse'. Every piece of rubber, rather than plastic, is torn and cracked.

So, both the earphone buds no longer have rubber on them: I have to replace the headphones, even though they work fine, because I can't keep these in my ears now. Well, they will stay in. But they stay in by cutting into the inside of my ear now: there's a little plastic ridge that's support for the rubber edge. The rubber has shredded off both earpieces now, so that ridge rubs against the inside of my ear.



On top of that, the rubber sleeve on both ear pieces has split its entire length:



This one is, I'll admit, less life-threatening now: it doesn't physically pain me to use the headphones, like the issue with the buds themselves does. But it's still wear that shouldn't be complete (this started about 3 months ago) eleven months after I purchase the device.

And let me be clear here: I understand "wear" on items. I do. But these are mid-range, $40 headphones (to replace). they're not cheap: they're not expensive, but they're not cheap. And, there's nothing WRONG with them, except that because a penny's worth of rubber has worn off, because Apple cheaped out on the construction, I have to throw them away. It doesn't exactly fit with Apple's "go green" production and shipping philosophy. They still work, they're just unwearable.

So, who's got suggestions?

I'd tried out AD2P headphones, but I've not been able to find any I really like, and I'm done throwing money at the idea. What i want is a good, comfortable set of earbuds, that won't fall apart in a year. I've heard good things about V-Moda buds, but I was hoping for something either a] throw-away, in the $20 range, or b] mid-range, but more durable than the crap Apple ships with the iPhone. Yes, I could buy the direct-replacements, but honestly, I hate to reward a company with another sale, after they make a shoddy product to begin with. I found a set of SkullCandy earbuds that had an inline-mic on them, that look like they'll work as well. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the damn things and I can't find 'em on the skullcandy site, either.

And before you say it, I still have headphones that I got with my Sony MD Walkman, twelve years ago, that work fine: they just don't have a mic attachment on them, which I've grown very attached to. And the cable is long enough that I don't want to just add a mic extension to them. It IS possible to make products that don't fall apart inside of a year, for a reasonable price. In fact, it used to be the way business was done.

So, earbuds, with an inline mic/iphone controls, that actually WORKS with the iPhone?

Anyone?

Tags: apple, headphone, headphones suck, iphone, skullcandy, v-moda

I'll let it speak for itself, but the Welsh police have put together an anti-texting-while-driving video that is one of the most powerful, graphic, and totally NSFW pieces I've seen in a long time. Leave it to the UK to get it right. No preaching. No fucking around, just "here's what happens when you're not paying attention in traffic".

Again, it's VERY graphic. But you probably should watch it, the point is well made.

Anti-Texting video, via Jalopnik

Tags: driving, jalopnik, texting, uk, wales

It's been a while,s o it's time for one of them rambling updates, cut for your displeasure.

( general health )

Which leads to.... ( Cardio! )

and, of course, ( Car stuff! )

That's it for the car.

It does appear there's a dawg on the horizon. All signs from the breeder are that we are good to go, she's now giving idioglossia and I advice on care and feeding, rather than us batting back and forth over whether or not we're getting one of the puppies. This'll be sometime around the end of October, I think. Could also be as late as the first weekend in November (7th). But, either way, looks like that's actually happening. Needless to say, idioglossia has been in a state of near-constant squeal since she got the news. Actually, since before she got the news.

As for me, I still get to look at cars (don't sweat it, it's an entirely different post) because idioglossia will be looking for one in a year to eighteen months, and has very specific wants for it. This is cool, because it makes me look at a segement of the market that I don't normally look at, in a way that I also don't normally look at it. Closest I got was helping yumikid and mr_bundy with theirs. Stay tuned, that post is coming.

This coming weekend, though, we're off down to my folks (there's no wonder I've managed to put six thousand kilometers on the car this summer) again: they've got friends in town from the UK who I know a bit, and it should be a fun weekend. I'm not sure what the timing'll be like though. The following weekend, the 29/30/31, is my compressed day again (so I have monday off) and I think, finally, we don't have ANY plans. It'll be kinda nice to sit around and do very little. In fact, I'm planning on doing a lot of very little that weekend.

Then, of course, there's ( the houseguest )

Man, it's been a busy summer. Several cottage runs (to several different cottages), down to the folks occasionally, one lightning run to Toronto (for an admittedly excellent party) and it's still going. idioglossia is still gardening like a fiend, and I'm doing other stuff (like electrical) around the house when I get the oppertunity. We're still planning windows, and a bathroom reno, but with the puppy comin', lord knows how that'll work. On top of all that, I've gotta remember to save a few days for the run down to Boston for PAX in March, AND it's Hallowe'en costume building time right now.

Occasionally in there too, I ( find time to do some )

Oh, yeah, audio (man, I don't believe for a second anyone has actually made it this far in. Mostly, this is me just keeping track of stuff, now).. I started listening to Phil Rossi's Harvey podcast, which has all the signs of being as creepy as Crescent was (remember Crescent? I was just talking about it. Up there. Behind the cut. Small towns and their idiosyncrasies, and the "big city invader" make for great horror fodder, as I'm sure Stephen King could tell you, and I think, without a doubt, that's where this one's going. At the same time, Rossi is a musician (and quite a good one) and he's putting the "out of towner's" music up for real, as well. As always, I love what these podcast guys do, definitely above-and-beyond, I'd recommend picking this one up now that it's gaining some steam. I've got my new episode cued up for when I need some "alone time" at work.

On top of that, I've picked up the CBC Radio 3 Track of the Day podcast again. The bad news on this one is, I've bought three albums since re-subscribing. The good news is, I don't regret any of 'em.

K'Naan - Troubadour Fantastic stuff. I got it because of "Bang Bang", which I heard on TotD, but there's other standouts like "If Rap Gets Jealous" and "Fatima" to name two. Lots of guest appearances (Kirk Hammett, Mos Def, Adam Levine) and the whole album is worth serious consideration if you dig on philosophical rap rather than the current pop trend to "Bling Rap" (it's not really even Gangsta anymore). It's his own style but if I were going to compare it to something, I'd say if you like guys like K-os, Kyprios, and [add band], you'll definitely like at least some of this. Even more so if you get into this kid's back/life story, talk about hauling yourself out of a hole.

Classified - Self-Explanatory Good, solid, Canadian rapper. Kinda hopping he catches on, he's a good bit more mainstream than K'Naan, but definitely not in the dregs of commercial rap like ... oh, frig. I can't even think of any of 'em, they're so completely un-memorable. Neat twist on the album, it's a little bit Choose your own Adventure, so if you want to follow the story of one track, you gotta skip to one of two others, depending on your choice. It's a little gimmicky, but damned if it doesn't work. pretty slick. Standout tracks for me, "Up all night" is a typically mellow Canadian jam, "Inspiration" all about work ethic, and "Anybody Listening" is worth it for the Phil Collins sample. No shit. if I was to compare him to anyone? Pretty much the entire span of Maestro Fres Wes' career will give you an idea, 80's to present.

The Streets - Everything is borrowed. Brit Rap. Definitely the weakest of the four albums so far, but still worth a listen. I love the Streets, one of my favorite bands.

There's a couple of single tracks that I've felt were worth picking up, too:

The Dudes - Dropkick Queen of the Weekend

To the TaxMobile! Beatles (Taxman), 60's Batman theme, a little Sufaris, and I think, think there's just a little Knight Rider theme in there too. "Mash up your Bootz" will find this for you.

Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk Just. Good. Fun. Seriously. Heard this and knew it was a driving tune. Ok, it's NOT great, but it's a summer tune. Worth the... $0.69 that I paid for it.

Stand up like a Hurricane. Ye Gods. What ISN'T mashed into this? Ahhhh, Ludacris (Stand Up), Warrant (Cherry Pie), Scorpions (Rock You Like a Hurricane), a little Knight Rider theme again, just for kicks, just a lil' bit of Winger (Winger!! WTF??) aaaaaaand yeah, you get theidea. Lobsterdust does it again. There's something else in there too, and I can't quite identify it.

Well, I think that does it for THIS update.

Still breathing? Anyone still paying attention?

*taps mic*

Is this thing on??

Tags: books, cars, dogs, genesis, life, mashups, music, update

My reading is, as always, insane. It still amazes me how much I get through, given the amount of time I don't have to read.

Since vacation, I've finished a few, and bought even more. My current reading list? Ridiculous. I've gone crazy on the bargain books recently.



The "To Be Read" pile


Currently (in case you can't see it properly):

Mr. B. Gone, Clive Barker

Wrath of a Mad God, Raymond E. Feist

Conversations with the Devil, Jeff Rovin

The Good, The Bad, and the Undead, Kim Harrison

White Night, Jim Butcher

Damnation Alley, Roger Zelany

Manifold: Origin, Stephen Baxter

MonsterPlanet, David Wellington

Interesting Times, Terry Pratchett

Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett

The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett

House of Chains, Steven Erikson

Lamb, Christopher Moore

Dreamsong Vol 1R.R. Martin

Dreamsong Vol 2R.R. Martin

A perfect Mess Eric Abrahamson with David H Freedman

Blue Man Falling, Frank Barnard

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

Rollback, Robert J. Sawyer</a>


Unboxing photo for @philrossi? Yeah, got that. Crescent is finally in my "to be read" pile.





Recently finished?

Personal Effects: Dark Arts, by J.C. Hutchins. Totally loved it. Great mystery/supernatural thriller, and even more so with the addition of the supplementary materials. I'm totally gonna have to read it again, just to make sure I make proper use of the supplied material. Absolutely worthwhile.

Monster nation, by David Wellington]. Enjoyed this. Not quite as much as Monster Island, but ti definitely makes sense, and it's an intriguing concept. I'll be starting Monster Planet fairly soon, it's on my pile.

Ice, Iron and Gold, S.M.Stirling. Short stories, some of them connected by characters and events, but all alternative history/world, the "Lost Legion" stories are fantastic. There's some actual time travel thrown in for good measure, too. As I've come to expect from Stirling, good stuff across the board.

And, of course, just to keep things interesting, I'm waiting for Scott Sigler to start sending out The Rookie, at the end of August, so I can get my pre-order! And if you follow that link, you can still get your own pre-order, too!

Seriously, just gimmie one more. Oh, come on! Help a brother out!

Tags: addiction?, and more books, books, junke, just one more!

I have a thing for bad movies. For some reason, a lot of them tend to be car movies. Jalopnik has been doing the good/bad car movie lists recently, and it brought a tear to my eye. Mostly, the bad movies. Because of their twelve, I own three, and desperately wanted to see two of them when I was a kid.

Seriously.

So, I dug up a copy of The Wraith. I saw the ads for this one when I was... thirteen? Fourteen. I think it was the same summer as The Gate, which I snuck into with my buddy Jaimie. The Gate is also a pretty awful movie, although there's a couple of scenes that are just GREAT. It's a pretty classic Poltergeist-meets-the-Goonies rip-off, but still entertaining.

But I digress.

The Wraith. I never did get to see it. We got busted trying to sneak into it. I just remember the commercials, and most specifically, the full-page, full-colour ads that were on the back of comics at the time.





It was totally Mad Max, but supernatural too. I wanted to see that movie so bad.

And here I am, twenty years later. Twenty-three years later. And I know, it's NOT a supernatural movie at all WAIT! No, it totally is! It's the spirit of the brother come back for VEEEEEEEEEEEEENGENCE!. But, it is a *cough*B-*cough* star-studded cast, with Nick Cassavetes, Charlie Sheen, and Randy Quaid. Not to mention a $1,500,000 Dodge K-car concept car And I'm watching it right now. Right. Motherfucking. Now.

Tags: bad movies, the wraith

Well, the weather at the cottage blew, to put it mildly. Thunder, lightning (but never such that I could photograph it), rain, cold North Winds, and very little sun.

SO, we got a lot of reading done.

My finishes for the week?

The Grave Thief is the third book in the Twilight Reign series. Fantastic read, fantastic story, and totally unexpected ending. I'm pretty sure this isn't the final book in the series, and I'll keep buyin' them if they keep selling them. I'm a really big fan, and I picked up the first book on a whim about a year ago. It's a pretty basic rags-to-ruling-the-kingdom fantasy/barbarian book, but the way magic and class are dealt with works really well, and adds a really neat dynamic to the story. Highly recommend all three, but start with Stormcaller then move on to Twilight Herald, and finish with The Grave Thief.

City at the End of Time. Normally, I love Greg Bear. However, this felt a little too much like a sci-fi weaveworld and was, to me, really disjointed. There were, at one point, three groups of characters, each of whose story was being told jumping back and forth through several time-lines, and, just in case that wasn't convoluted enough, into each others minds. The premise was great, the execution, for once, just didn't do it for me.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which was actually much better than I had hoped it would be. It's a pretty faithful retelling of the original, except that the female characters are all trained zombie slayers: this adds some further tension, as there's an additional society stigma to being trained by Chinese Masters rather than Ninjas, which becomes fairly funny at times: and the girls introspection at ripping out the throats of those who offend them (rather than going and crying in a corner). Definitely worth the novelty value.

The Strain. Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. mr_bundy had offered to lend me this one, and I forgot to grab it when we were round there. However, it's freakin' great, and I'm glad I bought it when we were in Kingston. Just the right touch of conspiracy theory, and vampires bent on overthrowing the world. There's a lot of Blade II in this, both in the physical nature of the vampires and their method of feeding/infection, and the schism between the seven Vampire overlords. Definitely worth a read though: I think I picked it up early in the morning on Tuesday, and I stuck with it all day finishing it around 1am the next morning. I don't recommend finishing any horror/thriller book at that time of night, in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but the sound of wind and the shore coming through the windows.

KOP, picked this one up as a bargain-basement "take a chance" book, and I'm really happy with it, too. Kind of a film-noir detective story set on a colony planet about six hundred years in the future. Good stuff, if not well written, convincingly written in the style, and a fairly good take on the "police for hire/corrupt police force" idea, with a health dose of "good cop goes bad cop tries to return to good cop with help of plucky and attractive rookie". yeah, it's a bit cliched, but it is FUN, and what more do you want?

I also grabbed a stack of used books at the Hall Lake market/bakery, including three old Terry Pratchett hardcovers, and Manifold:Origin, the follow-up to Manifold-Space. Four hardcovers for $18? Don't mind if I do!

I've got a ton of stuff on-order right now, too. I'm waiting on Monster Nation and Monster Planet, having read Monster Island last fall, but I ordered them from Amazon.ca because I wanted to order Phil Rossi's "Crescent" the day it came out. And, as chapters/indigo isn't carrying it, and Amazon does the same "$40 gets you free shipping" as chapters... Ok, like it's hard to get me to buy books!

But I'm still waiting for Crescent to get delivered, so I can tell @philrossi that I've gotten it, and probably do an "unboxing" photo. Cuz he likes that stuff, apparently.

I've also got the as-yet-unreleased The Rookie by Scott Sigler on order. Not only that, but I ordered one of the 3000 signed copies (plus bonus stuff) he's doing. I can't wait for that to arrive in the fall.

On top of that, I've still got Personal Effects: Dark Arts to read, I didn't take that up to the cottage, because I didn't want to lose any of the awesome supporting material that it comes with. So, I think that's next on my list for reading.

My "to be read" list is actually pretty tall right now. I've got a full stack sitting under my bedside table, so I'm probably ok for a little while. Which means I won't buy anything new for a while, but I may allow myself to buy a coupla bargainbooks in the 80% off tables at Chapters occasionally.

Hey, I'm a junkie, and it's not my fault. it could be worse. It could be

Tags: books, crescent, grave thief, jc hutchins, kop, monster nation, personal effects: dark arts, phil rossi, scott sigler, the rookie, the strain

Daisies in the Morning
f/3.5, 1/80th of a second, ISO 200
Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5, 2x-3x Sankyo tele-converter


Still, you take what you can get. A quick walk between morning showers gave me one good macro shot (and yet another card failure, fortunately, after I'd swapped cards). I walked back the same way ten minutes later, and all the residue had evaporated. The lesson is, when you see something, shoot it.

The other lesson is: take your damn camera everywhere.

We went to the dump this morning as part of our "clean up the cottage" routine, and there were no less than seven bears there. We were looking down on them from about a hundred yards away, with a fence between us, and it was the perfect opportunity. And I didn't have my camera with me. One of 'em was even 30ft up a tree!

I've been kickin' my own ass ever since.

Tags: macro, photography, vacation

We'd batted the idea around all week, but yesterday, idioglossia and I got in the car, and headed out to the Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre: they have a pack there, it roams quite widely, but always seems to come back. We didn't get to see "feeding time" as it only happens every few (three-four) days, but we spent about 40 minutes there and the pack was just hanging out pretty quietly. Just a couple of dominance shows, to keep everyone in line, and otherwise, it was about enjoying the sun.



Stalking
f/8, 1/80th second, ISO 200, +2.75 exposure
Nikon 55mm f/3.5 Micro-nikkor w/Sankyo 2x-3x tele-converter


There's a few more, as always, over on flickr.

I'm having real problems with my camera now: still getting read/write (CHA) errors, and they're happening more regularly, and on smaller cards: it had just been my big 4gb cards that had the issue, now my 1gb cards have joined in. It's not the cards, there's definitely a read/write problem: it goes away if I format in Windows, of all things, for a while, but if I don't do a deep windows format on the card(s) every 2-3 uses, I lose shots.

As turn-around at Nikon for repairs is 3-10 weeks, I'm seriously considering a new D300 now that the prices are dropping pretty significantly. With the new crop of cameras on the horizon, I can get a D300 on 0%/equal payments, send the D70s away for repairs, and end up with a back-up camera so I could, if I wanted/needed to, do weddings.

I'm considering it.

At the same time, I really, really want a new macro: this 55mm/tele-converter combo has been fun, but it's not getting the job done: it's dark, and soft: too soft to call the images I get "artistic". It just looks crappy sometimes. I'd like to get at least the Sigma 105mm macro, and maybe an f/3.5 300mm telephoto. Add that to the 10-20mm I already want, and... I really don't have that kind of cash. :D

OK, back to the coffee, and calm, calm waters with a high of 23oC today. Yeah, it's tough out here.

Tags: cameras, photography, vacation, wolves

Gull River Rapids
f/25, 0.4 second exposure, ISO 200,
Cokin ND8 Neutral Grey, Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 DX

Haven't made it out to Bracebridge for waterfalls yet, I'm hoping that'll be a go tomorrow (Friday). We did go on a side-trip to just North of Minden though, where there's a fantastic series of rapids (which get used for competition in spring), on the Gull River. As always, more shots on Flickr There'll be more going up after we get back, too.

We did make it out to the Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre to take pictures too. At least a few of those will be going up tonight, as well.

Tags: cottage country, minden, photography, rivers, vacation

Shoreline
f/22, 5 seconds exposure, ISO 200
22mm on Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6


I think you can expect an update from idioglossia regarding breeders and dawgs in the near future as well (no, there isn't one purchased yet).

That's all kids, enjoying the view this morning, a clear sky, a cool breeze and a fresh pot of coffee down at the folks place, then up to cottage country on Monday.

mightydogking check yer SMS and lemme know if'n you and Jay can hook me up!

Tags: long exposure, photography, shoreline, vacation