Feeling lucky

Today I got some e-mails reminding me that I’m a fairly lucky dude.  I could fill this with info about my family, but most of you already know that I’m lucky that any woman, let alone an attractive one, gives me the time of day for more minutes than to ask if “this is the right train”, or “do I know what time it is.” 

That said, I’m feeling lucky due to football.  Sure, that’s a bit of a gimme, but hear me out. 

There’s a time in your life where you consciously (or unconsciously) make the decision that the friends you have are good…and you don’t really need to seek any new meaningful relationship from peers.  It’s not that you’re not polite, or that you don’t interact well with strangers or even your co-workers, but that you’re not going out of your way to make leisure-time plans with new people.  Many of us, between family, existing friends, and co-workers (not to mention your spouse’s) have little time to ourselves to begin with, especially peeps with families, and the idea of cramming someone else into your already busy life is, at the very least, unappetizing.

Back to football:  As you may remember, I attend a fairly robust tailgate when I get to see the Giants play.  Not for nothing, and if you follow the Giants you already know this, but the tailgate is the best part of my football experience.  How’d I find it?  A co-worker was confident that this was the best thing since sliced bread, and that I should, if I get to a game, meet up with him there.  From the description (40-50 people, gourmet food, liquor flowing like the River Nile, etc.) it sounded like a pretty good idea, and, since that first time, I’ve never gone anywhere else.

The Tailgate is like a family.  It’s multi-ethnic.  It’s fiscally diverse.  It’s blue-collar and white collar, and ages range from kids to septuagenarians.  To fully embrace it is to have it fully embrace you.  And, for outdoor dining, it’s probably some of the best (and largest) meals I’ve ever eaten. 

So, when I started talking to some of the regulars, in addition to the Giants, I found that we had lots in common; similar music tastes, kids (or about to have kids), sports, political interests, just life.  These guys (and gals) were great people.  But, I see them for the fall/winter and that’s about it.  Well, the time came where I got an invite to see a concert with them in Asbury Park.  Music conversation told them that I may be hip to their jive.  Sara and I went and we had a really decent time.  Since then, I’ve been to their houses, weddings (best I’ve ever been to), witness to the birth of their children…some ups…some (minor) downs.  I’ve been exposed to their larger friend group who have also been inviting and accepting of us new kids on the block (even the Jets fans in the group).  It’s been great.

Which brings me back to football.  Towards the end of the summer I got a group invite from “them.”  Would I like to be part of a 40^th birthday celebration…held at a Giant’s away game?  And while I’ve known these people for the better part of 5 years, I guess I saw myself as part of the outer circle.  Only 5 guys were invited, and four, including myself, will be going with the birthday boy to Nashville for an abbreviated weekend of football, beer and BBQ.  To say that I was flattered is an understatement.  To reiterate, I wasn’t looking to increase the friend-base…but the Fates smiled down upon me, and for that, I’m feeling fairly lucky.  If you need me during the first weekend in December, I’ll be enjoying some fantastic BBQ served from a shack behind the McDonald’s in Nashville, tailgating.  If you’ve been, please tell me what I can buy there for my wife so that she doesn’t disown me when I finally come back!

A Sound Education

This is less of a blog entry, and more of a pass-through to the NY Time article that explains it far better than I could.  As we’ve discussed, the MP3 is a faulty file.  The reality is that, in order to cram so many of them onto limited smartphone/iPod hard drives, you need to be able to compress the audio file.  And, in order to do this to the maximum extent possible, you need to remove a certain amount of data to get that file size to acceptable levels. 

Now, iTunes has always allowed you to rip CDs at varying qualities with the understanding that higher quality files take up more space on your music player.  The settings for this can be found in iTunes, under Preferences, and in the General tab, there’s an Import Settings button where you can change the recording settings.  In addition to changing the quality of the recording, you can also switch from MP3 to AAC or Apples Audio Codec with “codec” being the nomenclature to audio program language…and, as you can infer, AAC’s can only be played back in iTunes or on Apple devices.  There are some presets you can choose from in that Import Settings window, including the inaptly named “High Quality” and “iTunes Plus (which is higher quality than High Quality…explain that)” and a “Custom” setting where you can increase the kbps or kilobits per second to 320, which is substantially more data, more information, higher quality music…again at the sacrifice of having larger files.

This is what audiophiles get nuts about.  Because, the default setting for recordings or purchases direct from iTunes, you’re getting MP3s at 128kbps.  Sometimes you’re getting less…for instance, on a podcast where what is said carries more weight than how what is said sounds.  Some of them are only 92kbps!  Get it?  Good.  And, now, with ever-increasing storage on smartphones and iPods, it almost makes sense to go and crank the settings way up.  However, even at 320kbps, the recording is still not “CD Quality.”

Apple does offer their ALAC import which converts your CDs to Apple Lossless Audio Codec…a truly CD quality file.  Again, in the Import Settings, you can “Import Using:” the Apple Lossless Encoder.  Using the WAV encoder gets you to the same place, but I’ve found that those Microsoft compatible files tend to be huge with zero compression. 

Still, once you have your audio files, you still are left with the on-board digital (read: file) to analog (read: sound) converter.  This is another algorithm that makes it so that you can hear your purchased or ripped music on a stereo or through your headphones.  And this is where I’m going: as you’re already working with sub-CD recordings…you want to get the best sound, more bang for your buck.  A way to do this is profiled in today’s Tech news from the New York Times.  The phrase “There’s an App for that” applies here.  In short, you don’t have to play your music through the Apple app for music.  There are others which have the ability to add a more sophisticated audio equalizer so that the bass hits harder or trebles are lifted, giving a brighter, more ear-pleasing sound.  Check out the full article on the link above.  Please note, this won’t work for those of us using the lightning or 30-pin doc connector to play our music through the car speakers.  Nor will it work for Bluetooth music transmission.  However, if you play your music through the conventional headphone jack, you may see/hear a drastic improvement through one of the recommended apps!  (I was completely wrong about the previous statement: it will work through the lightning connector; it won't work with DRM protected content, which, until a couple of years ago, was all you could buy from the iTunes store.)

Please Stand By

So, in the new house, I’ve been busy as a beaver in setting up the audio/video components around the house.  Verizon FIOS was available and so, on move-in day, that was set up, complete with 3 boxes and coax pulled throughout the house.  What’s nice about that is that, immediately, we’ve got both TV and wireless access…an essential to any parent of small children. 

However, it seems that my 10 year old TV didn’t make the trip.  From the time it was ‘packed’ and stored in mid-July, to when it was unpacked 2 weeks ago, it got a bit rattled in the transfer, and the incomplete picture it was showing was certainly due to damage it must have sustained during the move.  The only observation I can make about this is that, the $1,300 Samsung 32” LCD TV I bought in 2005 at B&H Photo in Manhattan was easily replaced by a $360 (after some bargaining at SEARS) Samsung 40” LCD TV.  Winner winner chicken dinner.

So, with TV in place, I was able to hook up the old hi-fi (SONY 5.1 surround sound with zero HDMI inputs) with the new TV using outdated component (i.e. red, green, blue RCA style) cables.  Outdated only because most Hi-Def equipment these days use the single HDMI cable for transmission of both audio and video signal.  What to do?  Well, luckily, both DVD player (yes, we don’t have blu ray yet) and the Verizon box had optical cable outputs…and the receiver had the corresponding inputs.  Again, FTW!

However, we also own an Apple TV.  Again, another device needing audio video support.  It too had both HDMI and optical audio outputs.  However, I’ve run out of inputs on the receiver.  OH NO! (#1stworldproblems)  So, sacrifices needed to be made.  I bought an optical TOSLINK (technical name for the optical cable) to RCA jack converter.  What’s an RCA jack?  These are those traditional red/white, left/right audio cables that used to connect your VCR to the TV instead of using coax.  They can’t transmit surround sound, but here’s the compromise: the converter cost all of $10 while a new (and competent) receiver would be somewhere near the $200 mark.  While that’s not a ton…we’ve had our share of expenses in this new house, and I’ll have to save that purchase or request for when my birthday/holidays roll around and someone actually reviews my Amazon wishlist.  All in good time. 

Tried it out last night, and my Logitech Harmony 650 universal remote was able to add the Apple TV and control it just fine.  Kids were able to stream Brave from my computer direct to the TV in 720p (I have the 2^nd Gen Apple TV…3^rd does true 1080p), and with decent (not exceptional) stereo plus subwoofer sound.  Problem (essentially) solved.  What’s better is that I was able to tell the wife that I was spending $10 instead of $200 on new toys for me…which elicits the “whatever” response instead of the “are you crazy?” one.  Again, winner winner, chicken dinner.