Seal’s current album “Commitment” is an exquisite CD.

October 27, 2010 Leave a comment

Seal plays selections from his new album "Commitment" (photo from Grammy Museum)

When I went to go see Seal talk about his career and latest album at the Grammy Museum a few weeks ago, I came away just in awe of the man. He’s very positive, upbeat and genuinely cares about the music he creates and how you hear it. It’s one of those things I think is getting lost nowadays. Seriously, how many songs that you hear now will you consider classics in about 20 years? How many songs will you hear in the future and say to yourself “Yes, that song had great lasting power.” I would argue that a wide majority of the music played nowadays is very throwaway and would be lucky to have 2 weeks of staying power.

Which brings me to Seal’s current album, “Commitment”. I have to say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the last release “Soul”, but that could be primarily because I was more into his more techno-y, dance stuff. In all honesty, my favorite album, prior to “Commitment” was “System”. I still enjoy practically 80% of “System” to this day. I just thought that was a fun record.

Again, in thinking about Seal’s approach to his music and in listening to him at the Grammy Museum, he even said that he felt “Soul” was his best album and that “Commitment” was an extension of that. I have to say that “Commitment” is a wonderful record that discusses family, relationships and the like. Seal points out that some songs are ambiguous because it’s wonderful to have the listener create their own interpretation of a song and therefore create a much stronger connection, something I heartily agree with.

I didn’t get the same connection from “Soul” that I got on “Commitment” but this latest CD had me going from song one to the end. My favorite tracks from the album are: “Weight of My Mistakes”, “The Way I Lie”, “Best of Me” and “Big Time”. For those of you on Zune Pass, the album is available for streaming or download/listen.

So, here’s a chance for you to check out some music from Seal’s current album: You can also head over to Bing Music and take a listen (if you don’t have or don’t feel like downloading the Zune software). Remember, with Bing Music you’re allowed one full listen of every song.

Here’s a music video, for one of the songs — “Secret”. It features Heidi Klum as well. Kinda sexy, if you ask me.

Filed under Music

Are even game reviewers selective?

October 26, 2010 2 Comments

Some of  my good friends review video games. They test them out, give them the third degree, essentially try to both finish the game and break it at the same time. Once that’s done they head to their computers to write up these scribes that we know as the ‘video game review’. Many of us on the other end of that tunnel open up our machines to various websites to get the thoughts and opinions that will ultimately help us determine what are the appropriate purchases to make.

I have noticed though how every game release is being made into a big deal. Granted, games like Fable III, Rock Band III and games of that nature have built up mass anticipation for their release and of course, you know that the reviewers are scrambling to get their articles out into that initial lexicon of reviews once the game has released. Yet, I often wonder (to go into a Carrie Bradshaw mode): Are there moments when even the most hardened video game reviewer is selective about what they hype and review? Do they simply make an attempt to try out EVERYTHING or do they just go with those games that the community is all abuzz about?

There seems to be a new game coming out almost every second. Well I know they release on Tuesday, but I look at the Tuesday release lists and I think how does a game review site cover all of this? Are they really making an attempt to play every game all the way through? Or do they selectively choose which ones to cover and kind of leave the other games to linger out there in limbo (or come back to them later).

It leads to a secondary question of mine: Shouldn’t review sites play a video game through to the finish (or, in my area, listen to an album all the way through) before making an assessment? Remember, you have people in the community who turn to you because they trust your advice and value your opinion. It would be like listening to Roger Ebert review films and come to find out he was making his judgments based solely on trailers. So then, if you are someone who plays a game to completion, does that make you selective about the games you try out?

I guess I’m not a game reviewer, so I don’t know, but I would certainly like to learn.

Filed under Gaming

Some celebrities don’t seem to understand social media, do they?

October 24, 2010 Leave a comment

Let me tell you a quick story: Back before Facebook and Twitter, most social connections were done through email. I remember reading an issue of Downbeat Magazine that had an interview with J.J. Johnson, one of my favorite jazz trombone players. In the article he gave out his email address and offered to have fans email him about whatever was on their mind.

At the time I was working on a college paper about influential jazz trombonists, so I decided to take a risk and send him an email. Imagine my surprise when, a couple of days later, I got a respone from him where not only did he answer the question I sent him but he even discussed his recent Carribbean trip with me. I was stunned, elated and overwhelmed.

So I decided to write back to him and for the next couple of weeks we had a great email conversation about mouthpieces, improvisation philosophy, composition ideals and more. I’ll never forget that interaction he had with me, especially since he didn’t have to answer that first email. It’s one of those events that stays with me even today.

Now, fast forward to today. Several celebrities now have a chance to instantly communicate with their fans and admirers. One of the best ways they do that is through Twitter… unless they decide to use a PR machine to handle their social media accounts.

That truly bugs me. If I’m following you on Twitter and all you’re doing is hawking your latest project to me, screw it I’m unfollowing. I don’t want to consistently hear about your latest project or next concert, I am following you because I want to know about YOU. If I send you a question (which I’m sure millions of others are doing the same) then I expect some form of actual human answer to the question. If my question gets lost in limbo that’s fine, but for Heaven’s sake don’t answer my human question with a robotic answer like “Thanks for the question, check out my album when it drops next week.” Fuck that and fuck you!

It’s for this reason that when I do find celebrities who use social media to be, oh I don’t know, SOCIAL. I like to take a minute to tell them how much I appreciate the fact that they actually communicate with their fans. It’s a wonderful feeling for a fan to be able to feel like they managed to peek through the noise and get noticed by their favorite actor or musician. It’s through Twitter that I’ve managed to have some wonderful interaction with individuals like DJ Colette, Thomas Nicholas, Samantha James, DJ Heather, BT, and others.

So listen celebrity, if you’re going to hire someone else to be you on Twitter or Facebook, do us all a favor and just don’t open the accounts. It’s going to end up being a waste of time for everybody.

Now if you want to talk to me about that, you can always reach out to me on Twitter, k?

Filed under Social Media

Being an MVP remains a forever surreal experience…

October 22, 2010 3 Comments

Denny Cherry, Ed Webb and Me at the 1st ever MSMVP event in July 2010

One of the most common questions I get from people is how to obtain Microsoft MVP status. I’m sure people are allured by the perks that MVPs get for each year of their award, but I wanted to take a minute and really address what it means to not only strive for the MVP award, but what it means to be an MVP. Now of course, this is just my opinion so you can take it with any grain of salt that you want, but I’ve seen people approach this the definite right way and the definite wrong way. So if you are eyeing the MVP award, let me try to point you in the right direction.

First off, the MVP award shouldn’t be your goal. Don’t get up in the morning and say to yourself: “I’m going to do things that will cause Microsoft make me an MVP”. If you ask most MVPs about the moment they got the award (myself included) they will tell you that they were completely shocked when that email appeared. You see, the MVP award is given to you based upon the level of community impact that you made in the year prior to getting the award — and that can be as big as throwing a community event to something as simple as extensive help in the forums or on Twitter. Yet, do these things because you have a genuine love for it. Don’t look like you’re forced into the role or looking past the people you are helping.

Don’t get on a soapbox. I can’t tell you how jaw-dropping it is to see someone who feels they’re entitled to an MVP award. Listen, Microsoft doesn’t owe you anything for whatever community involvement you have. Getting on a soapbox somewhere and venting that or pleading your case doesn’t help your cause. I’ve seen this in the past too, people who think Microsoft must be nuts for not handing them the award. Stop and remember, when you are nominated, the MVP program folks will come to your site or to places where you’ve posted to verify the type of impact that you have. If they run into rants and raves about how if Microsoft doesn’t give you the award then they are just blind or something, you can best bet that your application is getting tossed into the wastebasket.

I would also advise that you have a strong passion for the technology. I loves Zune. Now don’t get that twisted and equal that to hating iPod. I don’t hate iPod. In fact, I’ve had friends tell me that they’re getting an iPod and my usual response is “enjoy it.” You can be passionate about something without feeling like you have to tear other people down because they don’t make that same choice as you. It’s why I could never understand blind fanboyism or trying to defend something that isn’t defendable simply because of the brand it’s attached to. So if you love Media Center, help others discover the best of Media Center. If you love Windows 7, help others discover the best of Windows 7. Zune has just been the right thing, for my life, in terms of how to consume music and media (haha, like “fish and seafood”) and I have no problem helping those with a Zune get back on track or answering questions of those who are interested in Zune.

You don’t have to feel like you have to do major earth-shattering things to be an MVP. Remember, you can do things as big as a community event or as small as helping people in forums or on social media. The idea is that you’re offering consistent information and assistance that helps people make proper, educated choices or helps them get back to life. I will say this though: Should you be awarded an MVP award, don’t rest on your laurels. Remember, the award is given for your contributions in the year prior to being handed to you. Don’t just sit around and think that it will continue to be given to you. It doesn’t work that way.

I learned this lesson early on and I’m passing it on to you: If you become an MVP don’t be a douchebag about the perks that you get with the MVP award. There are some very nice things that MVPs get (i.e. MVP Summit, early beta access, etc) but don’t go flaunting that in front of people. There are also things people are just going to naturally know that MVPs are involved with. I remember asking on Twitter a while ago if there was a true non-douchey way of showing people that you have early access to something. The best thing I can say is that it can be nice to show that you’re getting early access to something, but remember that most of the time it’s so that you can offer feedback and critique of that product so that when it comes to general availability the public will enjoy a much more fine tuned offering.

Be independent! Because I’m a Zune MVP, for example, I don’t shun anyone who uses iPod. If they ask me questions about Zune I answer them, plain and simple. To go back to something I said earlier, I never understood blind fanboyism for any product or brand. You should be a fanboy to the technologies that help you, in your particular lifestyle, move forward smoothly. If that means having a Zune HD for audio/media, but having an iPhone for handling calls and PDA purposes, that’s perfectly fine. The tagline for the MVP program is “Independent Experts. Real World Answers”. That simply means that we will give you straight-talk advice and suggestions about Microsoft technologies that you’re using, but we’ll have no qualms about suggesting Firefox over IE if Firefox is handling the web better, nor do we have a problem letting Microsoft product teams know when they’re particular offering isn’t satisfying the general need and how they can improve the situation.

Have fun! For corn’s sake, enjoy being an MVP. Enjoy the fact that you’re giving the community some advice and recommendations that could possibly make their lives easier to handle. I’m having an absolute blast networking with several MVPs in different disciplines as well as the community at-large. It’s one of those things that makes getting up and turning on a computer worthwhile.

So here, let me now tell you why I titled this post “Being an MVP remains a forever surreal experience…” I started my first 24-25 years of life as an introvert, as someone who would barely say more than 6 words to someone. Since then I’ve been not only able to break out of that shell somewhat, but I’ve managed to channel that energy into something that’s all kinds of worthwhile: the opportunity to go out everyday and make a difference in someone’s life. Whether it’s helping them get their Zune device to turn on again, suggesting a new album to someone who has never heard jazz, having a back and forth Twitter conversation with several prominent (and awesome) musicians and music lovers is already a surreal experience, in itself. Add to that the opportunity to be able to connect with Microsoft product teams on such a level that it allows you to better help the community is a wonderful thing that I’m honored to be a part of.

So listen, you want to be an MVP. Don’t sit and wait for the award to come to you. Don’t try to be all Red Dead Redemption and go out and try to rope it. Keep doing what you’re doing, feel the joy of a “thank you” or a smile from someone in the community that you helped. An MVP award is given to people who are already MVPs to begin with.

Good luck to each of you. I look forward to seeing all of your contributions to the community.

Filed under Microsoft MVP

Oh please, oh please, oh please don’t let Kinect go the way of the Wii Do-Do!

October 21, 2010 Leave a comment

Can't wait to start bouncing around my living room with Kinect!

I can’t tell you how excited I am to get this package on November 4th and within a few minutes be setting up a newly minted Kinect device in my living room. What people thought, last year, was just another piece of vaporware that Microsoft was peddling as a possibility is now something that we’re just a few weeks away from having in our hands. I’ve had a chance to demo the device in various places (the Microsoft Store, Macy’s, E3) and I’ve always come away with that ‘wow’ factor.

Now, I live in an upstairs condo, so obviously activities like Kinect Adventures are going to be quite an interesting experience for my neighbors. Then again, so was Rock Band when I brought that home — I probably should’ve went downstairs and told them that I’m not the greatest of drummers, but hey they were able to figure that out soon enough.

Now, I felt that same way about my Wii, as I do now about Kinect. I mean after all, it’s a device that was designed to get people up off their butt and move around the living room. Games like Wii Sports and Wii Play were built so that you needed to be off the couch (for the most part) and moving around. Wii wanted you to get interactive with the game and feel like you’re entrenched in the actions that are going on-screen. Sony is replicating that this year with the Move, but Microsoft took it a step further and removed the controller altogether.

What I’m worried about, for Kinect, is that people will like the novelty of it at first, but then it gets relic’d to being a device for controlling stuff. Granted there will still be games that will require the controller, but I’m more worried about people who will rather use the controller aspect on everything than actually taking advantage of the controller-free atmosphere.

Games like Dance Central and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved have really made good use of the Kinect technology so that you feel like getting out of the chair and dancing or doing Yoga is fun. Plus, Your Shape (at least to me) has an advantage over Wii Fit in that it’s much more detailed about your body than Wii Fit, which will make the exercises that you end up doing more effective. I mean, it’s already going to be a challenge to get up off your ass and turn the system on, but once you get there you should know that the exercises you will perform will begin to have an effect after a few days — that makes for a wonderful feeling.

But I want to see how people use Kinect in Spring of 2011 or even by the time MVP Summit comes around. Will Kinect be a huge topic of discussion during the MVP reception? Or will we all be too busy showing off our Windows Phones? By the time of the next E3 will we eager for more Kinect software or will we be pining for the next great piece of hardware to come along? What would the other major game companies have up their sleeve to combat a possible Kinect juggernaut?

Look at my Wii (no really, look at it, it’s quite…stunning, lol). My Wii has become nothing more, now, than a Netflix machine. It sits on the dresser in my room connected to the TV and always with the Netflix disc sitting in it. I’m not even going to bother removing the disc and downloading the Netflix channel, because I won’t be putting any games into the thing. I’ve just lost all hope of even using it as a games machine, but it works wonders when you want to watch a quick TV show or film before going to bed.

The other thing about Kinect *is* that it has voice and motion capabilities. That makes a huge difference in the longevity of the device. Being able to control your media, games and experiences with just a vocal cue or wave of the hand goes a long way in a device’s lifespan.

So here we go. November 4th will see a huge “OMGWTFBBQ!!!1111!!” but let’s see what exclamations are made December 4th or January 4th!

Come on, Kinect, you can do it!

Filed under Gaming, Technology

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 31 other followers

%d bloggers like this: