Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Crossfading Between Tracks
Tuesday
October 15, 2002
"Maybe things are different these days"
-Counting Crows "Chelsea"
I'm enamored with the latest Winamp release (version 3.0). That's because of a simple yet ingenious function called Crossfading that allows one song to blend into the next. Subtle yet amazing effective. I discovered this over the weekend during my trip to Mississippi State, as Matt had Winamp3 on his computer. At first I wondered if it was just my imagination, but a little investigation showed that they had added the Crossfading option. Well done fellas.
WTSP unveiled its new look yesterday. The graphics are phenomenal, and the music sounds good, too. It's a departure from the norm of TV news, but I think it's a great change. I pretty much loathed the old graphics, and it's a 180 in the right direction. Ditto for the set, which now shows a picture of the Tampa skyline. Only makes sense, considering that we live in one of the most gorgeous cities in the country, to make the most of the aesthetically appealing surroundings that we have.
Giants vs. Angels in the World Series. Well, it's certainly something different that what we've seen in the past few years. Of course, the fact that it's two wild card teams involved shows even more how little the 162 game season means in the grand scheme of things, so long as you are able to qualify as one of the four best teams. But it should be a good Series. I'll be pulling for Anaheim, not that I'm particularly an Angels fan, but I can do without the overexposure of Barry Bonds that would inevitably come from a Giants victory.
Speaking of Bonds, he and Jason Alexander are in a really bad commercial for KFC. Granted, the entire campaign is awful, but the ad with Alexander and Bonds in a dugout with Bonds being portrayed as a happy, friendly fellow is about as unrealistic as it gets. It actually makes me not want to eat at KFC. Sammy Sosa would've been a much better choice, I think. But I'm no restaurant CEO or "ad expert".
I've heard some criticism at work this week about The Sopranos, which is interesting to me. I love the show and think it's brilliant, though the negative comments are well-grounded (the somewhat tedious storyline involving Tony's finances, the way they jump from scene to scene without explaining things, etc.) I don't mind the lack of explanation so much... much like real life, sometimes things can be confusing at first and it takes some thought to line things up. As for the finance storyline, it's an attempt to delve further into the relationship between Tony and Carmela. I preferred the Tony vs. Meadow & A.J. angle from the previous season or two, but this show is still on such a higher level that it really doesn't matter to me what direction they take.
Incidentally, the "Ralphie Treatment" from earlier this year was one of those incredibly disturbing yet memorable moments that defines the cutting-edge style taken by The Sopranos.
One final thought -- if you want to make hours disappear like magic, try playing The Sims. That game is very addictive...
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