Peace and Love

I finally got my wish.

Despite being used for nearly two hours per day for the past couple of years, being thrown from my bike in the accident, dropped to concrete on several other occasions, used by Miles as a very small stool to reach the bathroom sink and other ignominious fates, my first-generation iPod simply would not die. The jog-wheel has been popping off lately, revealing dirt in the works, the battery has been charging down quickly, and the face-plate is badly scuffed. Lately I’ve been wishing it would just die, so I could justify a new one, but the damn thing apparently thought it was better to burn out than to fade away.

It finally stopped booting last week. Riding to work in silence was more jarring than expected. At the Apple store this morning, the girl who assisted me announced that her name was “Boots.” That’s a good name. She went into the back room to get a 20GB 4th-gen iPod and returned empty-handed. She stood before me and pronounced, “Umm… peace and love, but we’re out of stock.”

Peace and love? I’m all for it! But, what was behind the Lenon/Ono sentiment? Was she anticipating a violent, non-love reaction when I learned the truth? Did she think I was going to smack her just for being out of stock? Seeking to pre-emptively diffuse my inevitable rage with a prayer for world peace and a global bed-in? Boots! It’s OK! I understand! I dig the sentiment, but I wasn’t going to holler, really.

It all turned out for the best. After another trip to the stock-room, she found one in an opened box, with a 10% discount. I’m in heaven. Coincidentally, the Airport Express arrived yesterday, so the living room is wirelessly wired now as well. AE works perfectly, but sits on the edge of good reception — the status light blinks perennially yellow, but the audio signal is solid — no drop-outs until we run the microwave, at which point the music pauses (I don’t mean the signal drops out; iTunes actually stops moving until the signal is clear again; amazing).

Speaking of peace and love, where was it at the Democratic National Convention? Lots of rousing speeches, but the DNC was militaristic from top to bottom. Must be the price of admission back into the white house, but still found myself wishing we were watching Kucinich instead. Here’s some more peace and love from your friends at Halliburton.

Music: Holly Golightly :: A Length Of Pipe

15 Replies to “Peace and Love”

  1. Kucinich gave a pretty good speech at the DNC… Incidentally, all of the DNC speeches are being made availible at iTMS in Audible format for free.

  2. Your dead ‘pod.

    Do you have plans for the dead one? I’ve always wanted to dissect one if you don’t.

    -Jim

  3. But, what was behind the Lenon/Ono sentiment?

    I’m partial to “War Is Over … If You Want It”.

    Speaking of peace and love, where was it at the Democratic National Convention?

    Right here, of course.

    Sean Graham wrote: Incidentally, all of the DNC speeches are being made availible at iTMS in Audible format for free.

    Give ’em this, they’re cheaper than soma.

    I await with bated breath the return of gridlock.

  4. I can’t believe you listen to music while riding your bike! Seriously.

  5. Glad to hear your iPod lasted so long. Snagged my 2nd generation 20 GB on sale from Amazon after the new 3rd generations were released.

    “Entry level drug” indeed :) What a compelling piece of design work ! Now I’m saving up for an Apple laptop (already purchased Running Mac OS X Panther from O’Reilly so I can start getting familiar with Apple’s take on Unix).

  6. Jamie, what do you mean by that? (you say you can’t believe I ride with iPod). It’s pretty much the *only* time I use the iPod. Do you see it as a safety concern?

  7. Responding to an off-line email to Jamie…

    Hey Jamie,

    It’s true that there is a danger from simply being involved in the music, but I maintain that it’s no more dangerous than listening to music in the car. That’s a behavior/attention issue, and I’ve learned my lesson. My mindfulness is so much greater now.

    As far as hearing things, I wear over-ear sporting headphones designed to allow plenty of ambient sound in, so I’m not closing myself off from the outside world. Also, 3/4 of my commute is on a dedicated ped/bike path, so I’m not contending with cars most of the way. In that final quarter, I’m *very* aware of the world around me, much more mindful than I ever was.

    Sure, it would probably be safer to not listen to music at all, but with the above factors, I don’t think the safety issue is significant, and the simple fact is I’m not willing to give it up. It brings me too much joy.

    Best,

    Scot

  8. Crap, the Kerry profile just keeps getting more disappointing. I really think the Dems have made a mistake in Kerry. But after what we’ve lived through since 2000, you could hand me a list of 100 bad news items on Kerry and I would still feel we we’d be 1000 times better off with Kerry than another four of Bush. Kerry may be a disappointment, but Bush is a national and global disaster.

    I’d SO love to vote for a 3rd party candidate, but it’s just too dangerous to waste a vote this time around. Not worth the risk of having Bush back.

  9. I’d SO love to vote for a 3rd party candidate, but it’s just too dangerous to waste a vote this time around.

    Scot, it’s exactly the other way around. FWIW, I can’t urge you strongly enough not to waste your vote on either head of the BushKerry creature — unless you actually prefer shuffling in to the sound of the Morlocks’ dinner bell.

    That said, I readily admit the high probability that Badnarik won’t win, but as I keep pointing out: a probability is not the same thing as a certainty; if it was, there’d be no point in holding presidential elections (as indeed there may not be, under the circumstances), and we might just as well appoint someone President-for-Life — look at how well that works in Africa.

    AFAIK you can still write in Ralph Nader.

  10. Mark – Your points are well taken, although Gary Benoit’s piece loses all credibility by claiming that Clinton’s and Bush’s environmental records are really not all that different, and seeming to take Bush at his word that he is in some way committed to environmental issues, which is just a huge stinking crock.

    But I have been meditating on the “wasted vote” question.

    And if I was going to write someone in, it would be Cobb :).

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