I-Pod mania

Crystal and I have been working out like crazy people lately and we thought that maybe adding music to our workouts would help. So we began to covet those people who had MP3 players and wanted one.

Well we looked around for about a week and decided that iPods were the best, or best for US. It seems that there are other more durable units out there as the iPods are designed to fail so that they sell more updated versions year after year. I guess that's why there are 5 generations of iPod. Anyway, the Creative Labs stuff looks good, but at 8 GB for $200 it's just not as economical as the 30 GB iPod for $300. Crystal really liked the Sony Bean, too, but again, not much capacity for too much money. Overall, the iPods really are the best deal.

We got them at Circuit City and they were "open box" items, so we saved about $20-$50 per item. I got the 30 GB video iPod and Crystal got the 2 GB Nano. We're actually thinking about getting a Shuffle too, just for riding and working out. The compact profile of that player is ideal, though I don't find the others to be bulky or not useable - especially the Nano, which is so light and small that it's barely perceptible in a pocket or armband.

We went to Mike's to upload some tunes (which takes longer than you'd expect) and we were in business! There's still a learning curve there, but I think MP3 is the way to go. I'm thinking of selling all my CDs and just arranging my life around MP3 - home, car, mobile. It's great! I totally recommend it.

It's May

I was thinking last night about the month of May. May in Colorado is different than May in Michigan. Last night the temp. was around 40-50 degrees and I was reminded of cool fall days and high school football games. In the day, it will be 70 and sunny, with an occasional rain shower that will last 5 minutes. More typical spring weather reminiscent of April in Michigan...life at 5000' is different indeed.

There's May Day, the international day of the worker (and Immigrant Boycott Day in America) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day, Cinco de Mayo (not a holiday for Mexican Independence. You should read the history . It relates very much to our own history): http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm. May 14th is Mother's Day (quite an ancient holiday, actually). And of course, the official start of the American summer, Memorial Day, which has it's very own website: http://www.usmemorialday.org/. Astrologically, if you're born in May you either a Taurus (5/1-5/20 http://astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/taurus.php) or a Gemini (5/21-5/31 http://astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/gemini.php)

The entire city of Memphis celebrates the month with "Memphis in May", begining with the Beale Street music festival. We almost went this year, as Cake is playing (their famous lyric..."I don't know much about Cinco de May, I'm never sure what it's all about...I was bound for Mexico"). Early in our relationship, Crystal and I went to this Festival and had a great time...Check out this lineup: http://www.memphisinmay.org/site.asp?cid=113.

Near and dear to my heart, May is National Bike Month. What more needs to be said about that??? Oh, May 19th is Bike to Work Day, so get the rig out and ready to ride! Bike Month in Colorado is held in June, though, because the higher elevations are still snowed in - they'll be skiing until July 4th!

In May we have the height of NHL (and NBA)playoffs, but I don't want to talk about that this year (except the Pistons)...it's also Clean Air Month (not if your President is "still looking into the science" and your EPA is eliminating the need to supply gasoline with clean-air additives), National Salsa Month, National Barbeque Month and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (I guess that's why May first is Lei Day in Hawaii).

The origins of May are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May. Enjoy - it's finally Spring!!!

The Demise of the Red Wings

Well, four years in a row now the Wings have bowed out of the playoffs in the earliest of rounds...four years in a row. Despite a fabulous season, they couldn't get past Edmonton...sad. The real sad part is, will this be Steve Yzerman's last season? How could anyone want to go out like that... ?




Go Pistons!