When I arrived for the concert, the place was being remodeled. The artist performing that night, K.C. Clifford, knew about the remodeling that was going on but didn’t care. She was adamant that she wanted the concert to be at the Blue Door. I walked over the uneven ground on particle boards laid in a path to the door. I was beginning to wonder about how this evening was going to go. I had no idea.

As we sat down for the concert, I was full of anticipation for what was to come. The opening act, 3 Penny Acre, came up on stage and blew us all away. They had new fans by the end of the first song. Everyone knew that the night was going to be fantastic.

Then it was time for K.C. to start. It was time for the performance that I had traveled 985 miles for. See, I had only been to one other performance from K.C. Clifford and that was completely unplugged. That alone was a great enough performance to travel so far for.

The set included all of the songs from her new CD, Orchid, and several other favorites from previous CDs. Considering that my copy of Orchid rarely made it out of my CD player, it was hard not to sing along with her. The songs that I had been listening to for weeks were now being performed in front of me in one of the best venues I had ever attended a concert at.

Now, I want to take a moment to mention the concerts that I have attended. I’ve been to concerts from MercyMe, Alabama, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson, and many others. The venue was always something equivalent to a civic center. Not once did I get chills form the performance given.

Tonight however, within the first 3 minutes I was getting chills from her performance. The venue’s acoustics combined with a truly amazing full band and K.C.’s voice made for a concert that I will not soon forget. As the night continued, it was clear that she really knows her audience. The songs that were a part of the set were songs that everyone wanted to hear. They were songs with a story, songs with undeniable character.

As the night came to an end, I was only missing one song. I thought K.C. was wrapping it up with the fan-favorite “The Barbie Song.” I was wrong. She mentioned that she was going to do one of the songs people really wanted to hear from the previous night’s concert, “Yellow Haired Girl.” This was it, the only song missing. It was time to rock out, then head out. And that we did.

I suggest checking out one of K.C.’s concerts whenever you get the chance. You can find her tour schedule at the newly revamped kcclifford.com.

Needless to say, the concert was worth the trip. The songs from Orchid, along with all of the rest were real; they can hold meaning for each and every one of us.

Orchid, your own studio version of the best concert I have ever attended, was released yesterday. I highly suggest you check it out. You can find Orchid at Blip.FM, CDBaby or on iTunes.

This evening Sylvia received her Christmas gift. The gift happened to be a black 8 Gig iPod Nano. She had been talking about getting one for months. I had already made all of the proper preparations. iTunes was installed, her music was synced up, and the application was hidden in a system folder on her netbook. All she had to do was open it and ask any questions. Or so I thought.

I decided, to make things easier, I would demo the things that she needed to know to use the iPod fully. We went over navigation, the video camera, and iTunes syncing. I was confident that she knew what she was doing.

As I was walking to bed I heard “Andrew, how do I play a song on here?” I knew that she had the iPod plugged into the computer, so I walked in to help. She was using the iPod as a kind of remote to try and play music in iTunes. I asked where she actually wanted the music to come out and she decided she wanted to listen on the iPod. At this point, she was getting frustrated and I was trying not to burst out laughing. I told her to get as far through each menu as she could, and then I would help her. She made it to the songs menu, and then tried to scroll by what I can only describe as gently caressing the select button. I then showed her how to scroll and asked myself how on Earth she got this far. She scrolled through and selected the song. Finally, the song began to play. I said goodnight and began to walk to bed.

The song was coming out pretty loud. For those of you that don’t know, the iPod Nano now has an on-board speaker. When she mentioned the song volume, I made the mistake of asking if she had her headphones plugged in. She said yes, and that they had been plugged in the whole time. I told her to use the scroll wheel to change the volume. At this point, the volume increased to a level too high for even the greatest headphones, much less iPod headphones. I walked back in and found that her headphones were plugged into her netbook. I told her to plug them into the iPod and that they were in the wrong device. She laughed at that one. As I looked over, she was trying to insert the headphone plug into the poor iPod’s camera lens. I then demonstrated the proper headphone jack, only after freaking out because she almost destroyed the camera’s lens.

As I walked out of the room again, she said that she wasn’t a good night learner and that we may have to go over it again tomorrow. I am sure that tomorrow will bring new abuse for this poor iPod, seeing as we haven’t even looked into the radio feature. I guess we shall see. Wish me luck!

of circumstances. This finale is so tired,
such a played out metaphor;
girl leaves boy, boy lies on couch,

vegetables are strangled by rogue
morning glories and begin to parch
in the dry sun of the summer.

Then the boy thinks of leaving too,
boxes up his life, sweeps out the house,
shuts off the power and returns

to the garden that he planted
to show her that he could do more
than just eat words and throw them back up.

And I should have done this first, but everything
got mixed up like everything else and I’m
stuck here without so much as a shovel,

pulling up everything by hand, eating
cherry tomatoes that have somehow
withstood. The zucchini plant has taken over

a corner, so prickly, weighed down
by five pounders that have molded.
The ears of corn have withered on the stalk

and are covered by bugs. The chamomile
which I promised tea from, is dry like hay,
not one flower missing.

The carrots, beans, cucumbers, strawberries,
all ripped up, leaving just the cayenne plant,
the first one in the soil after the thaw.

The peppers have dried and are as dark as blood.
I pick three off and tuck them into
my shirt pocket, to allow

this metaphor to extend even further.

By: Sid Miller

A poem that I really seem to like.

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The second thing that is happening is that I am going to California with our amazing neighbors to visit my equally amazing aunt! This is equally exciting because the last time I went, it was one of the best experiences of my life! This time I will be staying with my aunt in Carmel. I think it will be great and I will be SURE to get some great shots along with some great video along the way.

But, another cool thing! I will be visiting the lovely Jackie Danicki at the Qik offices in Redwood City. I cannot wait simply because Qik is one of my favorite video sharing websites (Although I do not use it nearly enough). This will be another experience with a lot of Photo and Video taken. :D Then there is the fact that I will be visiting Apple HQ (With no special clearance though. :()

Finally, I will be visiting my Dad in West Virginia and my Godparents in Kentucky. These, as always, will be fun visits and I even enjoy the trips to get there *usually*. I will be continuing my radio show, but only when I am at home. ie: Not a lot. But, that is okay because I think that this will be the best Summer ever!

The high school will be losing its current band director to another school district. Congrats to that district because Mr. C really is a great director! At the same time we will be welcoming the Middle School director Ms. H This is when the problem of heartlessness and acceptance of responsibility comes in.

I neglected to join the high school band after playing for three years, because I didn’t feel like it was right for me any longer. In high school it was like a cult movement and I didn’t feel like I would fit in for a very long time. That was it for me and I chose another extra-curricular (Radio!). Even this was taken with a lot of commentary, which I will not get into on this site.

While in the middle school I started with Mr. C. I personally felt as though after sixth grade I was learning nothing new. This bugged me and I was happy to see a new director at the beginning of my eighth grade year. I was convinced to quit but thanks to the new teacher, I stuck around. I found that they were by far the best band teacher that I had been in class with and learned more in one year than in Sixth and Seventh Grade years. this teacher was, of course, Ms. H.

The thing that helped me learn was the fact that Ms. C challenged me and made me want to learn musical skills as opposed to simply expecting me to. In this time she made the entire class, including myself, take responsibility for their learning and expand our horizons while teaching us at the same time. According to other students, this made her a bad teacher. Wait, WHAT? That is correct. Making us take responsibility and challenging us made Ms. C a bad teacher. This folks, is the backward logic of students lacking courage to go above and beyond with anyone except their first band director.

Needless to say, her current move to the high school this coming year is not going over so well. Students are using Facebook and various social networks to bash one of the best music teachers the music department has ever had! Firstly, show some courage and take it elsewhere instead of having mommy and daddy take it to the school board for you. Oh, that’s right, they are taking this to the school board.

The school board would make sense I guess… But wait! They are taking it to the school board’s PUBLIC MEETING. They really show no mercy. Heck, they show no decorum! They are resorting to public humiliation to stop a teacher from getting a position. This further proves that these students have no sense of human emotions.

Here are a few cloaked remarks about Ms. C;

is definately going to that school board meeting.

(Great spelling by the way.)

When asked about which meeting she is referring to she stated,

uhm, the school board meeting next week. where they are going to decide important things about our band. and yeah i know rachel. OHHHH boy.

Further Commentary;

Heard some people were writing a letter or somethin to the admin. I’d like to help if I can……..

(Regarding? You got it, the new teacher.)

So, in essence, I have no respect for any of the folks who have not even given an amazing teacher a small chance. You are simply showing immaturity and carelessness. When this screws up your entire department, you have nobody other than yourselves to blame.

So, I have been feeling pretty sick for the past few weeks and I do not like it one little bit. At the same time the great weather was making up for it. (Obviously this no longer applies.) So, now I just feel sick. That’s cool though because there are so many awesome things coming up and going on!

First of all, I now work with the high school radio station! That is one of the things that I have wanted to do since childhood (obviously at various stations, but still.) I absolutely love it and will be launching the second incarnation of “Rush Hour Rampage” in the Fall. Obviously I am excited, yet nervous, because when Dirk and Laurie did the show they were pretty amazing!

I also got to night manage during one of the more recent baseball games at the high school. That was pretty fun too, and I may have even “met” Lucy (The Ghost ;)) I listen to the games anyway and I cannot see anything more fun than hanging out at a radio station, so it was win win.

There is also the fact that school will be ending in less than twenty days! I cannot believe that this year has gone by so fast. I am excited for my electives next year, so I won’t be horribly unhappy when Fall comes around. The best thing coming up, however, is the trip to Pebble Beach, California.

I have been to Pebble Beach one other time in my life, and will never forget it. I could not believe the views, and even took a photograph that ended up being published! While I am there I will get to visit the Mothership (One Infinite Loop, Cupertino California). Not to mention the fact that I will get to meet the awesome Jackie Danicki at the Qik offices. I cannot wait, folks!

That is about it really. Be sure to listen to the show on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 EST at the WJHS 91.5 FM Website!

Wow, it has been a long time since I received these earbuds and that long time comes with a long story. You know me! But, I will skip the story and get straight to the product review!

These earbuds have some of the best sound I have ever heard as far as in-ear earbuds go and I love them. At least to a certain extent. I received them in the mail and was thrilled. I wanted a set of earbuds that I could control my iPhone’s iPod with, and take calls on. These filled that need.

The earbuds are awesome as far as looks go. The are metal plated on the entire speaker unit, and the cord is metal covered in flexible plastic. The plug is also metal plated. These features all come together to give these earbuds a classy and overall great look!

Now we come to the sound aspect. I have yet to hear such good bass distinction in this price group. The higher notes are occasionally missed, although this is with MP3 format. When I got them I was thrilled with the sound. As time went by I would occasionally notice the right side crackle a little and even stop working. This became more common as I used the earbuds. Now it is to the point where If I do not put just the right amount of pressure on the right bud when I put it in it is distinctively muffled and not really worth using. I was highly disappointed with this factor.

I still use these earbuds, but am looking for another pair because the precision with which I have to put the right bud in my ear is not worth it. Another note though, the left side sounds magnificent.

Would I suggest these to a friend? I would, but only if this problem has not happened to other people.
Are they worth the price? This really depends. At $79 they will not be worth it to some people. I don’t consider myself an audiophile but still think the price is worth it.
Overall Opinion? Good earbuds but not necessarily overly sturdy. Be careful with them!

Tweetie for iPhone has already been called the best Twitter iPhone app by most of the blogosphere, but I am going to put in my two cents worth. Tweetie is an all around good app, and is very stable and sleek.

In my opinion the interface is airy but still packs a punch as far as functionality. One of the coolest features not including its Twitter capabilities, is the fact that it is integrated with instapaper. This is a great feature even though I have not yet used it.

I really enjoy the fact that I can view TwitPic images without going to the webpage. This makes viewing them a lot less distracting. Not to mention the fact that it still has its own browser built in!

Since it has its own browser built in, I can view webpages within the app and not lose my place within the Twitter stream. But, I cannot just skip over the main feature, Twitter itself. Tweeting from this app even seems simpler than with other Twitter apps out there. Not only can you retweet, but you can also tweet in the landscap keyboard mode!

These compliments are quite mixed and given in no specific form, but they are the best things about the app.

I would most definitely suggest this to anyone looking for a good Twitter app for the iPhone. Check it out. It is most definitely worth your $3. And, with three themes to choose from and multiple ways to share tweets, you will never get bored!

I was recently given the ifrogz iPhone 3G case as a gift from a family member, and was thrilled with it as soon as I opened it. Of course, it was black and orange so what do you expect?! The first thing I noticed was that it was very sturdy. I previously had been using a rubber cover, mainly to avoid scratches. This was decent also but that is for another review.

The sturdiness worried me at first. I don’t want a case to make my phone look bulky. I really like the look of the iPhone without a case, and in fact preferred it that way. The case was in two pieces, the larger one being orange. The bottom was black. The two pieces slide onto the phone and interlock, giving it a very secure but not damaging fit. This was yet another thing that I liked.

The previous rubber case would pick up lint from my pocket, causing dust buildup inside the case. This actually caused scratching on the phone’s corners. I did NOT want this to happen again. Thinking about this I hesitated to put the case on my phone. Finally I broke down and put it on.

In the next few days I noticed that the phone didn’t slip out of may hand anymore. This would obviously extend the life of the phone. I was beginning to love the case.

Something like a month later I decided to remove the case and see the damage. There wasn’t any! No dust had made its way into the case. Better, yet there were no scratches on the back whatsoever. Great case!

In summary:
I would suggest this case to anyone who asks about it.
It protected my phone in an exceptional manner.
It is so cool looking you won’t want to take it off.
And finally, It is a great buy for the price! (In my opinion.)

1. A Large Screen version of iPod Touch

2. Steve’s departure from the company (Sell your stocks now. Seriously, stop reading and sell!!!)

3. Updates to Macbook Pro (a 17″ model) and Mac Mini line

4. An update to iLife and possibly iWork

5. Push Notifications for iPhone *Crosses fingers*

6. Snow Leopard

7. No sign of Steve whatsoever. Apple has already confirmed this, however there are still people out there that think he will show up “Cameo” style. Not gonna happen. Press release said it all.

Of these, I am most convinced that the first one will happen, and praying that two does not.

My iPhone had begun to crack starting at the edge of the 30-pin connector and growing into a nice hairline crack. I was really disappointed to see this, as I had been obsessively careful with the phone, so this type of thing would not happen. I immediately reviewed the day and realized I had not done anything to cause the crack.
Knowing this, of course, I called Apple while I was at school (best teacher ever). They basically told me that they couldn’t finish the service call before the schoolday was over (15 minutes). I said this was okay and they gave me a case number.
As soon as I got home I made it a priority to call back, and after emailing the rep a couple pictures of the crack, he decided to send me a brand new phone, free of charge. I was, of course, thrilled! I thanked him profusely and went on with my day.
I finally received the box and shipped the phone off. I couldn’t believe the attention to detail in everything down to the shipping supplies. The sent me TAPE. I did not even have to track down tape to pack the phone. Apple never ceases to amaze me with their customer support!
Four or five days later, I had an appointment and had to come home from school early. On the trip from school in the car, my mom asked me why on Earth Apple had sent me 2 iPhones instead of one. Of course I replied that she couldn’t be right. It must be to ship something else back! Nope Apple really had sent me two brand new iPhones.
I, being the amazing person that I am ;), immediately called Apple (only after thinking about keeping the phone :P). When I got on the line with the guy, he sounded flabbergasted that they had sent me two phones. He mentioned that this had never happened. I told him the days they were received and the serial numbers, and he told me how things needed done.
But, the cool part happened at the end of this call. He asked me my age, and I told him. He then replied that he was thrilled that I was honest about it, and forwarded me to his boss or whoever. His boss yet again commended me and asked if there was an iPhone accessory that I had my eye on for my iPhone. I told him I really liked the Apple bluetooth headset. He said he would overnight it personally that day!
This simply proves why Apple has such a faithful user base. Apple has always had the best customer support I have ever used. And, as far as paying for support, it is worth it.