My iPod Shuffle Makes Me Crazy

The idea of an iPod Shuffle is so intriguing. I love the ability to carry around 250 or so songs in all kinds of unique combinations of playlists. Of course, it would be better if it actually worked. I received one as a gift for Christmas and I'm now on my FOURTH one - having returned three of them after they stopped working. Arggghhhhh.

So tomorrow I make another trek to the Apple story to visit my own person genius, Omar. Yes, they really call their techies geniuses. And, yes, his name is Omar. We're on a first name basis now, since my last visit was just last Monday.

I suppose I'll go back to my Zen MP3 player which isn't nearly as sexy looking, nor as small. But it has worked without a hitch for at least 3 years - and I've never had to return it - not once.

If anyone has had similar experiences, or can recommend another iPod that has better reliability, I'm all ears.

iPod Shuffling Along

One of my Christmas presents from Bobbers was an iPod Shuffle - this 1.5"-long machine holds about 240 songs and has been much more fun to have than I would ever have imagined. **geezer alert**

Another gift was the CD of last summer's documentary about Leonard Cohen called "I'm Your Man." In the CD, various young artists, most notably Rufus and Martha Wainwright, cover a bunch of Leonard's songs. This has inspired me to delve into some of the original albums of this rather iconoclastic singer/songwriter who is incredibly difficult to pigeonhole. You'd probably find his music filed under "folk" at the CD store (are there any of those any more?) Yet, his demeanor harkens back to the pre-Dylan folk music days. In fact, in my imagination, I think of him wearing a smoking jacket and sipping brandy before retiring to his bed each night.

I haven't listened to all 4 of the CDs as yet, but it's been a pleasant diversion during this (finally) cold winter season. Hence, the post from YouTube of one of his most famous songs..."Halleluia" below. Cohen's probably not for everyone, but I find his music to be unique and entertaining.