Tag Archives: iTunes

I Got a Hippopotamus for Christmas!

Posted on January 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

Hippo4Chrsitmas“I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” is one of my favorite songs. And that’s what I got! As I present I got a certificate that I’ve adopted a Hippo at the Detroit Zoo. I’ve got a Hippo, a certificate and background (see the photo).

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a Christmas novelty song written by John Coctoasten and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 or 11 years old at the time) in 1953. Hippo1953You can listen here or at the iTunes music store.

This is a favorite Christmas song of mine and I remember it being on a holiday Mix tape that Jim (a co-worker) made one year. It was a few years before it got re-popularized about 10 years ago (maybe from an Ally McBeal episode).

Plus, it includes a trip to the zoo, which (once I go) crosses another item off my 101 in 1001 list…

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Posted in holidays + events

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A Fine Frenzy – Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) – EP

Posted on December 29, 2007 | Leave a comment

Aff-Live-ItunesSo on Thursday the 4 track A Fine Frenzy – Live Session EP came out exclusively at the iTunes store. Of course I purchased it, can’t pass something like that up from A Fine Frenzy. It’s a great EP with 4 tracks – Almost Lover, Borrowed Time, Last of Days, and The Minnow & the Trout. They don’t sound very “live” to me but that’s okay with me, they’re more like different versions of the songs. And for $3.49 you can hardly go wrong…

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Posted in reviews

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Blog Advertising

Posted on December 5, 2007 | 2 comments

I have started running some Text Link Ads on the left side of the page. I apologize that I ‘sold out’ for that, but I’d much rather have someone else pay for my hosting than pay for it myself :)

Most of the other ads on the site I pick what goes where, but I make so little on those, most will be gone soon. Most of little bits of money I make from ads are from Google or Amazon (and the Amazon ones are really hit or miss). Many times when mention a book or movie or something and you follow the link to Amazon or Buy.com, Wal-Mart or iTunes and you shop there, I make a few pennies (or more) from your purchase and you shouldn’t have to pay a penny more. Not all of the links are affiliate links, just when it’s something at one of the places I’ve signed up with, otherwise it’s just regular link.

I’d just love to figure out how to make enough on-line from ads while sitting on the beach in Costa Rica. So consider these part of the “Gary Should Move to Costa Rica Fund”!

Actually, if you’re shopping this holiday season and are going to shop at any of the above stores anyways, just follow any of my links to get to the only store of your choice and you can support my Costa Rica fund instead of letting Amazon (or one of those other guys) keep that commission?!?

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Girls Rock Radio!

Posted on November 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

So I found a fun Internet radio station, it’s called “Girls Rock Radio. It’s all girl bands, stuff I haven’t heard in a while and some I’ve never ever heard of, but as fussy as I am, I do listen through it.

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Although since it’s stream I really can’t change the channel now, can I? You can see on the Girls Rock Radio web site what’s playing. Some players (like iTunes) will show you what track is playing.

No advertisements, but they do request donations (which I think are few and far in-between). I’m surprised they don’t run some 30 second ads, I would think would generate some revenue (maybe if it’s ad supported they pay different rates to play the songs, I know that’s goofy these days).

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Jewel – iTunes Originals

Posted on October 9, 2007 | Leave a comment

Jeweloriginals So there is a new iTunes Originals album out featuring Jewel and aptly titled Jewel – iTunes Originals . I always like the iTunes Original album since it’s got some interview tracks and usually has some odd music tracks on it too. The Jewel edition has 23 tracks about 1/2 that are songs. It’s $11.99 which is a little pricey if you have a few of the tracks, you can’t buy the interview tracks without the whole album. But it doesn’t seem to be smart enough to realize that I’ve purchased one of the tracks previously although that might have been before the 6 month deadline for complete that album. But it’s not my fault the album came out after the six month limit.

I do look forward to listening to this, I’ve got a bit of driving tomorrow to do so that’ll work. After the first few times, I can’t listen to the interviews any more so I can remove them from that playlist.

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A Fine Frenzy – 19 songs and 5 videos for only $5.99

Posted on October 3, 2007 | Leave a comment

AfinefrenzyonecellintheseaSo I’ve mentioned A Fine Frenzy more than a few times lately; they tour with Brandi Carlile and hit Detroit next Sunday (not this Sunday). And I can’t get enough of their album. Plus, I’ve specifically mentioned that their 14 track album of One Cell in the Sea was only $7.99 at iTunes (even higher quality DRM-free) or at AmazonMP3. But they sent me an e-mail advertisement stating that it’s temporarily only $5.99 (in the US), for fourteen tracks, that’s a deal so if you considered it before it’s even a better deal now. The ad made it sound like it was a deal for me since I’ve purchased their music before but it looks like it’s that cheap even when I don’t log in. I have no idea when this will last, please let me know if you see that it goes back up.

On her debut album, Cell In the Sea, Alison Sudol evokes adjectives like enchanting and wistful. A self-taught pianist, she took the name A Fine Frenzy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Inspired by fantasy writers such as C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll, and musical artists Keane and Sigur Rós, the chanteuse’s sublime melodies are guided by her delicate piano work and feminine vocals, which sometimes sound reminiscent of the Sundays. The beautifully sad “Almost Lover” is a surprisingly confident song, and “Hope for the Hopeless” is a perfect remedy when you’re feeling down.

– From the iTunes Description

Plus you can go the the A Fine Frenzy site, and download 5 songs and 5 videos for free (some look like the same odd singles and EPs you can buy at iTunes); these 10 items are free if you purchased a CD or got it from iTunes. You do need to have a CD in the drive so you need to burn it if you don’t have a real CD; the download bonus process even works well on a Mac (for similar promotions for other artists I had to go to a Windows machine and sometimes the files only played on Windows). This really is a deal for $5.99 so I had to share it…

Is anyone going to the Sunday, Oct 14th concert in Detroit? Leave me a message if you are. And if you’ve never been to St. Andrews Hall it’s always way too hot in there so dress accordingly.

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myTunes Widgets

Posted on October 1, 2007 | Leave a comment

So Apple and iTunes added these myTunes “widgets” you can add to your web site or MySpace page or whatever. This isn’t new news (2 months old?), it’s just that I never got around to trying them. Here’s the thing, the options are limited, they don’t show the album artwork unless you click on something and it’s not very configurable. You have to activate it on-line through the iTunes store, so someone can’t just track your music history by adding a widget with your ID in on to a web site and then create the widget. That’s nice from a privacy stand point, although I’m generally not too picky about my privacy.

On the whole lack of configuration: it’s got a few options 3 sizes and a few color options, but still limited. One thing that bugs me is that the “My iTunes Favorites” widget it lists people that I’ve bought just one song, that’s not a “favorite”, heck it could be only one song because I hated them! Actually most cases seem to be from a compilation album, (possibly) a free song, or I bought a song for my Mom or something, either way I should be able to set a minimum limit before they list it (or something like that). Maybe it would be more reflective if I’ve spent more money on albums (and less on songs).

It seems a little slow for just moving text around too. I don’t think I’ll be using it (other than in this post for a sample).

And it someone clicks on my widget and buys a song from iTunes, I think I should get a few pennies credit at the iTunes store from them :)

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Amazon MP3 store – 89 cent songs!

Posted on September 26, 2007 | 1 comment

So Amazon opened the Amazon MP3 store which has been getting some good reviews and (most importantly) it semi-integrates by pushing your purchases into your iTunes which is great for automatic syncing with your iPod. They’ve had tracks for download for ages, but this is their big jump into the market (you do need their downloader for this).

Amazonmp3I actually spotting it yesterday when searching for some music but I didn’t realize the format change of my search results indicated a whole new service. I did notice that the tracks were only 89 cents though!

Keep in might for 89 cents they are a dime less than the iTunes music store for regular tracks but since there is no encryption (DRM) and it’s encoded at a higher quality (even than Apple I believe) these are 40 cents less than Apple’s $1.29 a song. That’s about 1/3 less if you’ve been getting the DRM-free higher quality songs (and that’s what I’ve been getting lately). And they are MP3s, so they play on just about anything (but higher quality does mean larger songs). Buying whole albums will generally discount the price. Continue reading →

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