OK, so I did it. This actually goes back to shopping for a new car and the final realization that I really didn't want/need to spend that kind of money at this point. The problem is that I had gotten in the mood to buy "something" and once that horse gets running, it's pretty hard to get him back in the barn without something to show for it. Of course, the rationalization was that I was saving all kinds of money by *not* buying a car so I could buy something pretty expensive and still spend a whole lot less than I would have had I bought a car...
As I've written before, I've been tempted to switch to a Mac for awhile but I've always been able to talk myself out of it for practical reasons - like practically everyone else on the planet *doesn't* have a Mac. So I was looking at new Windows PCs - with the new Vista Windows Operating System - but I was just completely uninspired by the thought of getting yet another version of Windows. So, when I went to the Apple site to ponder the Macs, I saw that they had a deal where you get a free iPod with the purchase of a Mac. Oh, I should point out that this deal was for college students. How, you may ask, did I see the iPod deal? Well, I knew from last year when Kyle was getting all his computer gear for college that Wheaton has a special section of the Apple web site where Wheaton students could get discounts on Apple stuff. So, I figured since I am the financial portion of Kyle's college experience, I should be able to reap the benefits offered by Apple for student gear. That, and the fact that they didn't seem to require any verification of being a student on the web site...
So the iPod deal was a pretty good incentive. It was actually not free but I could get $200 off a $250 iPod. Of course, there's no small bit of irony here (I think that's what it is) since, during the music player decision process I went through a few months ago, I had originally bought an iPod and returned it for a Zune player. The Zune is not compatible with the Mac so I would need an iPod if I were to switch to the Mac. With this deal, I figured I could sell the Zune for about $150, get $200 back for the iPod and come out ahead of the game - just nod your head and agree.
Anyway, that's what I did. I bought a iMac, an iPod along with some video editing software - at ridiculous student prices - and other software that lets me run Windows on the Mac as well so that I can still run Quicken. I think I wrote about this before. We'll see how things go when it gets here...
Monday, August 06, 2007
May er Concert Experiences Be This Good
I wouldn't normally offer up a concert review but this one is warranted. Carly actually started the ball rolling by lobbying to go to a John Mayer concert that was coming up in Boston. The whole family has liked him from when we first heard his first album several years ago and we have generally liked his others, and the popular songs that come on the radio from time to time. But Kyle and Carly have really gotten into him lately - basically after the release of his third album. His music and guitar playing has been one of the key drivers that has prompted Carly to take up the guitar with earnest. Kyle has a friend at school who plays guitar and worships Mayer and he and Kyle have followed him closely.
When Carly started making noises about the concert, I thought it sounded like a good idea but I wasn't really sure how it would go down. I kind of didn't really think she would want to go as a family and said as much to her. She said "Nah, I don't care, I just want to go!" OK, well, what the heck. So I looked into tickets and found that the concert in Boston was on a Tuesday night. Kyle usually works every Tuesday night so that was going to be a problem. Then, I realized that I was going to be in Seattle that whole week so it was looking like Deb and Carly were going to have to manage the trip into Boston and back. Hmm... Deb wasn't too keen on that idea. She definitely did not want to drive into Boston (and back late at night) so we looked into trains. We quickly found that it would involve multiple changes between commuter trains and subways and a large risk that they might miss the last train back if they were not careful. Needless to say, Deb was not very thrilled about this. At that point, I found that John had another concert in Hartford on a Saturday. It was the day before I was to go west but it was the only way we could make it work. We still didn't know if Kyle could make it but I bought 4 tickets and sent the confirmation email to Carly's account. The next time I saw her, she let out a whoop!!
To make a long story a bit shorter, Kyle was able to go and we got to the concert with no issues. We had pretty good seats for getting them so late. We were in the first row of the second section which while pretty far from the stage, meant that there were no people directly in front of us. There were two warm up bands before Mayer played and they filled me with a sense of trepidation for the upcoming main show. The first band - I can't even remember the name - was not "bad" but they just weren't very interesting. They had a few catchy tunes out of the 5 or do they did but it was hard to understand the lyrics and the sound seemed "muddy". The next band - Ben Fold - was unbelievably bad. I'd actually heard of this band so I was amazed at how awful they were. Again, the sound was muddy but even worse was the singing. It was a three piece band and they all sang - in different keys. The main guy - Ben Fold - played the piano - a grand piano no less - and he basically just banged on the keys. It was terrible but my biggest fear is that the sound was going to be just as muddy for John Mayer. I was actually wondering if it was me and my failing hearing that was dampening out the highs.
After a long wait for John Mayer to start up he finally came on stage - with two more guitar players, a bass player, drummer, keyboard player, and a two-piece horn section - to loud applause. He launched into the first song and it was like the wax had been pulled out of the ears of the speakers (if you know what I mean). The sound was just amazing and the music was fabulous. John Mayer, it turns out, is a guitar virtuoso. Kyle had said that he was but it didn't really mean anything to me until I heard it for myself. The guitar playing - from him and his two band mates - along with incredibly crisp, sharp drumming made for an incredible concert. I can't really review each song of course but by the end of it all, we were all just in awe of the whole experience. It's hard to compare this concert with some of my all-time faves from back when I was a serious concert goer but I think it might have been the best. The only thing that could have made it better would be if I was a little more familiar with the songs. I'd heard them all before but I didn't know them deeply like the kids did. The other thing that was great about the whole thing was that we all saw it together. When the kids have gone to concerts and reported back that it was "great", or when Deb or I say how such and such a concert was great back in the day, no one has a frame of reference. Now, not only do we all have a yard stick to measure against, we all experienced an amazing event and will be able to re-live it for years to come.
When Carly started making noises about the concert, I thought it sounded like a good idea but I wasn't really sure how it would go down. I kind of didn't really think she would want to go as a family and said as much to her. She said "Nah, I don't care, I just want to go!" OK, well, what the heck. So I looked into tickets and found that the concert in Boston was on a Tuesday night. Kyle usually works every Tuesday night so that was going to be a problem. Then, I realized that I was going to be in Seattle that whole week so it was looking like Deb and Carly were going to have to manage the trip into Boston and back. Hmm... Deb wasn't too keen on that idea. She definitely did not want to drive into Boston (and back late at night) so we looked into trains. We quickly found that it would involve multiple changes between commuter trains and subways and a large risk that they might miss the last train back if they were not careful. Needless to say, Deb was not very thrilled about this. At that point, I found that John had another concert in Hartford on a Saturday. It was the day before I was to go west but it was the only way we could make it work. We still didn't know if Kyle could make it but I bought 4 tickets and sent the confirmation email to Carly's account. The next time I saw her, she let out a whoop!!
To make a long story a bit shorter, Kyle was able to go and we got to the concert with no issues. We had pretty good seats for getting them so late. We were in the first row of the second section which while pretty far from the stage, meant that there were no people directly in front of us. There were two warm up bands before Mayer played and they filled me with a sense of trepidation for the upcoming main show. The first band - I can't even remember the name - was not "bad" but they just weren't very interesting. They had a few catchy tunes out of the 5 or do they did but it was hard to understand the lyrics and the sound seemed "muddy". The next band - Ben Fold - was unbelievably bad. I'd actually heard of this band so I was amazed at how awful they were. Again, the sound was muddy but even worse was the singing. It was a three piece band and they all sang - in different keys. The main guy - Ben Fold - played the piano - a grand piano no less - and he basically just banged on the keys. It was terrible but my biggest fear is that the sound was going to be just as muddy for John Mayer. I was actually wondering if it was me and my failing hearing that was dampening out the highs.
After a long wait for John Mayer to start up he finally came on stage - with two more guitar players, a bass player, drummer, keyboard player, and a two-piece horn section - to loud applause. He launched into the first song and it was like the wax had been pulled out of the ears of the speakers (if you know what I mean). The sound was just amazing and the music was fabulous. John Mayer, it turns out, is a guitar virtuoso. Kyle had said that he was but it didn't really mean anything to me until I heard it for myself. The guitar playing - from him and his two band mates - along with incredibly crisp, sharp drumming made for an incredible concert. I can't really review each song of course but by the end of it all, we were all just in awe of the whole experience. It's hard to compare this concert with some of my all-time faves from back when I was a serious concert goer but I think it might have been the best. The only thing that could have made it better would be if I was a little more familiar with the songs. I'd heard them all before but I didn't know them deeply like the kids did. The other thing that was great about the whole thing was that we all saw it together. When the kids have gone to concerts and reported back that it was "great", or when Deb or I say how such and such a concert was great back in the day, no one has a frame of reference. Now, not only do we all have a yard stick to measure against, we all experienced an amazing event and will be able to re-live it for years to come.
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