Pandora and the iPhone... The perfect storm.

I am an enormous fan of Pandora. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a site that allows you to "build" a radio station by specifying songs or artists as the "seeds." Once you set the seeds, the Pandora database searches for matching characteristics of the songs/artists you seeded, and then populates the radio station with other music that matches. You can also rate the songs that Pandora plays on your radio station, and the system uses that information to further refine the accuracy of the database's selections to more closely match your taste. You can have lots of stations, depending on your mood, but just like a real radio you can't go backwards and replay, and you don't actually get to choose specific songs to play.

I have been introduced to some terrific artists that I'd never heard of through this service - music that I've gone ahead and bought just from hearing it on Pandora (and, of course, it's really easy to do this at their site - buttons are available that take you straight to iTunes, Amazon, etc.). Best of all, the whole thing is free, and the only ads are visual ones on the webpage, no audio ads like I used to get on the old Spinner (like 10 years ago now).

The only thing more amazing than Pandora is Pandora available somewhere other than your computer, and that day has come: Pandora is available as an application on the new 3G iPhone. I had seen the ads and thought what an amazing option this was; well, apparently everyone agrees as Pandora is the third most popular app download for the new iPhone so far. Details here courtesy of Adweek via my friend Mike at Heartbeat Digital.

Testing out some PopShops action

Marketeering content ahead. Ignore. Or buy some plus-sized clothing from Lane Bryant Catalog. It's up to you. Why the hell is this here? Answer: here.


PopShops™ affiliate stores

The world is full of things I need.

This tune is pretty sweet. UPDATE: You can buy it here .

Guilty Pleasure.

I probably don't even need to introduce or explain this at all... But I think I've always been a solitary man...

I can't wait for my next hot August night.

Hangin' 'em up.

I did it. I pulled the plug on competitive ultimate in my life. Folks are responding in a variety of stunned ways... Mostly because we'd already had our team kickoff meeting and I'd helped lead that meeting as if nothing was going on.

Truthfully, though, even then I was weary of continuing... And as the weeks went on I realized that I didn't have the requisite drive to complete the season in the way I would expect of myself, and that my teammates would have expected of me.

I am ready to do some other things with my time and my money. And the fact that my back is a total mess is not helping. Also not helping is my girlfriend, who really would like to be the number one priority in my life and who would like to not have to guess when I might be available to hang out.

Long story short, it's time. I am disappointed that it's time, which is something I can't explain to folks very well. I don't know how to articulate this complicated state of mind. I wish that I was a super-stud who could push through every obstacle and whose physical limitations can be overcome with additional hard work. But I'm really not that person, not now, not at 37 years old after 15 years of roaming the pitch. I'm ready to accept the me who loves beer and tv, who has to watch her weight, who likes golf and hiking, and who is terrified of sustaining a serious injury. The me who plays ultimate for the people not the game.

Hopefully the people will understand that; the game doesn't care one way or the other.

BEYOND TIRED of sexist homophobic crap on RSD

And this time, the inflammatory posting is coming from a woman.

I guess a player for Wisconsin Bella Donna took exception to the dance-off that took place at Centex a couple weeks ago. Read her post and the endless lame responses here. I am ready to skewer the cocks-for-brains who keep posting about how women's ultimate is somehow rendered less legit because women undertake dancing as a way to have fun with their teams and their opponents. And especially those who post homophobic breakdowns of how anyone who supports women's ultimate, or who supports women's athletics in general must be at worst a faggot ('cause gawd, that would be the worst thing in the world to be), or a patronizing joiner who only cares because he/she knows someone on the team.

Sports are enjoyed by people not just because they display great feats of human skill and achievement but because they represent a common human need for competition, and they resonate among people with a common human spirit of struggle and the ability to overcome obstacles. If it's true that only 27% of Americans graduate from college, then there's no way all those people who root for Duke are alumni.... They love what the students at Duke show them about hard work, bad luck, the struggle to overcome adversity, and the feeling that on any given Sunday any team can win. Guess what? Those same struggles are present in Ultimate, and they are present in women's ultimate just as much as they are in men's ultimate. And there are people who like to watch it, follow it, appreciate it, and celebrate it just as they support men's Ultimate.

If it weren't true, then the people who are completely threatened by women's Ultimate wouldn't have to rage against it EVERY time it's brought up in a public forum. It would be irrelevant, too small to acknowledge, insignificant.

The thing that makes me the most sad though is when women who participate in women's ultimate are so brought down by some people's attitudes that they feel like some dancing on a Saturday night actually has the power to destroy the fragile fabric of legitimacy that women's ultimate has fought to achieve. And I'm sorry, but do you know what does 100 times the damage? Dropped discs. Stop turning it over, and you'll be legit. Dancing doesn't have shit to do with it.

Ulty Media Alert

I am very excited this week, as the one and only reputable source of news specific to women's ultimate is back in action: Inside College Ultimate. Obviously, it's college-focused, but it's a great site for keeping up with the happenings with the next generation of superstars. There's also a related blog, and on the blog they talk about all sorts of women's ultimate stuff. If you haven't seen it, check it out immediately.

The other new site of note is MSSUI.... It's only been live a few weeks and has already generated more content than any other site I can think of - three or four new (long!) articles a week. This site is player-oriented but fan-friendly, and has lots of stuff about both women and men. Kudos to them as well as IC Ultimate for diligently delivering news, and for totally disrupting my work day.

If I get fired it's your fault.

Up with made-up-words

Everyone knows I'm a Hilarist... However, there is still time to Obafluence my opinion.