In which Howard comes across as totally materialistic…

Nope, not the fabric — although I do love the feel of it on my skin. So bumpy. So textury. So funny to see the imprint left on someone’s sleepy face. No, no, Corduroy is my new 160GB iPod Classic. So sweet. So flashy. So slow.

Well, my iMac is anyway. Since Apple foolishly decided to forgo Firewire support (you bet I’m bitter), I’m left with USB 1 since my Mac is six years old. Oy, but it’s taking a long time. I have close to 15,000 songs to transfer and, when all is said and done, 24 hours will have crawled by. As of this writing, there are still 3,000 left to go.

But, oh, what fun will be had once it is done. I already bought a game and am thinking of buying Ratatouille just to say I have it on the iPod. The only thing I’m going to miss is the remote that I used for Eduardo that made adjusting volume and skipping songs on the fly so very convenient. Again, damn you, Apple! Oh, how I love thee!

As you can see from this picture, I got a new case and Apple Care which is very much worth the cost to extend the tender, loving care Corduroy will hopefully not need to two years. The case is the neoprene Incase I love so much.

You needn’t worry about how I can afford it. Remember my birthday earlier this year when my friends got together to get me that massive Apple Gift Card — bless their hearts? Well, I used a portion of it. A new iMac is just not going to happen until summer at this point. Besides, Eduardo has been complaining about getting too fat. He just can’t handle all the music I fed him.

I’m not sure yet whether I’m going to keep Eduardo for the car or sell him into slavery somewhere else. The heartbreak of losing him may be too much. We’ve been through so much together. Hayes thinks I may be able to get $100 for him, which would be put into savings for a new computer. That is probably just enough to alleviate my guilt. Money. The anti-guilt drug.

Notice the album cover on Corduroy? I’m seeing Aimee’s Christmas concert on Saturday with (tee-hee) a Jew. Can’t wait! Also, I want to thank Big Daddy for suggesting Corduroy’s name. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to dive into the music.

EDIT: I plugged Corduroy here at work this morning for his first run and I believe he is trying to flatter me. The very first song he ever played was David Byrne’s “Everybody Loves You”.

Listening to: “Human Nature” - Michael Jackson

Amazon has finally released its long-awaited digital music store to duke it out with the near monopoly of Apple’s iTunes Store. Apple’s dominance of the industry is no fluke. With their friendly interface and excellent search engine, they’ve made purchasing and downloading music as easy as stealing it.

…so I’ve heard from my connections in the black market. Yes, I will tell on them for the right amount of money. Hey, I need a new iMac and you shouldn’t be stealing music.

Amazon’s trump card is all of the music in their library is free from Digital Rights Management (DRM) so the music you buy can truly be used to do with what you will for your own personal use. Say you buy Britney Spears new single “Gimme More”. Now that the file has no restrictions on it, you are free to clean your crap extruder with it — although with the language used, it’ll be a little soiled before use; however, with all the layers of overdubbing and pitch control, you’ll have the comfort of wiping your bum with something like 128-ply paper. Ahhhh, the smooth, silky comfort…

The only clumsy item about their new store is their download software. Yes, you will have to install yet another program. I haven’t tried it on Windows, but the Mac version didn’t automatically open the small file needed to download the new Nellie McKay album, Obligatory Villagers. I had to drag the file into the software program. After that the process went very smoothly to the point of the downloaded files automagically being put into the iTunes’ library.

Prices seem to be a little lower on Amazon and you are getting an MP3 not the AAC (MP4) format of iTunes, but the bitrate level is at 256, so you still get better quality than the current iTunes standard of 128kps. My purchase ended up breaking even since iTunes had a bonus track that was not available on Amazon and — being a music whore — I simply had to have it.

It seems that iTunes finally has a viable competitor in the digital download arena. This will be great for the consumer as it pushes both sides to compete for our business. I do love Apple, but a little push to the consumers’ side is always welcome. As for the Nellie McKay album, I’ve listen to it once. It’s fun and funny so I doubt I’ll be using it to clean the soft-serve machine.

Humor-blogs.com is the best bidet you’ll ever use.

Listening to: “Mother Of Pearl” - Nellie McKay