In a Digital World, this Shouldn’t Happen
I was browsing through music videos online, looking for some more music by Fiction Plane, which is now my favourite new band.
I found a new song I liked on YouTube, so of course I set out to get a copy of it for myself. But Fiction Plane is not very popular yet (though they deserve to be), which means that the song isn't available for download anywhere. Not anywhere. I was even ready to pay for it. But the song isn't on any of the band's albums (I checked their website), so that makes things a lot harder.
Eventually, I figured out that it's actually part of the soundtrack for some movie I've never heard of called "Holes". I guess could pick up the whole soundtrack on eBay for about $20--but that would be crazy. It's a good song, but not that good.
So where does that leave me? I can listen to the song all I want to online. But if I actually want to buy it, there's not much I can do. In a digital world, it just seems like this sort of thing shouldn't happen.
I hate it when the market is inefficient.
Anyway, here's the song, in case you're curious. It's called "If Only". Obviously this isn't the real video--whoever uploaded it to YouTube just decided to put something in there for people to look at.
Both True, I Suspect
Men write about women all the time. Sometimes they say nice things, sometimes they say mean things. And sometimes they just say unexpected things.
More Retouched Photos
Even though this isn't really new anymore, a few people liked it the last time I posted some of these, so here are a few more examples of professional photo retouching.
Beauty Again
I while ago I blogged about the amount of photo editing that actually goes into the images that you see in the media every day. Unfortunately, the link I included went offline almost immediately, so nobody got a chance to see the pictures I was talking about.
It looks like someone went to the trouble of capturing all those images and putting them onto a different page--one that I'm pretty sure will still be available by the time you read this. Take a look at the photos here...they're quite interesting, and also sort of comforting if you're having an "ugly" day. Just hover your mouse cursor over the images to see the unedited versions.
And while you're over at that guy's website, be sure to check out his other really interesting posting.
Perspective is Important
I have a habit of telling unhappy people that they should lighten up. I remind them that, whatever their troubles may be, they're still probably richer, safer, and more comfortable than most of the rest of humanity. When you put your problems in perspective like that, things usually don't seem so bad.
To be fair, pretty much everyone gets visibly annoyed when I try to cheer them up like this. I suppose people are usually looking more for sympathy than for cold, invalidating logic.
In case I'm not around to trivialize your problems the next time you're feeling down, you can still remember your place in the world just by watching this very good flash presentation.
