So I’m a big fan of Twitter… Always have and probably always will. Well, or at least until something cooler comes along. You know how it goes. Sure, they could tweak a couple things to make it flawless in my eyes (such as choosing the option to have only @replies sent to my mobile phone. Hint hint, developers), but it’s still a fantastic website.

That being said, I will give you five good reasons why you should join the Twitter world. They will be so convincing, you will want to sign up immediately after reading this entry. Or something like that.

1. Because I’m A Member
Come on, let’s be honest. I could stop the list right here and you would have more than enough reason to sign up for Twitter. What? No? Okay, okay, I’ll give you some more…

2. All The Cool People Are (Finally) Doing It
I’ve had a Twitter account since, well, pretty much when it launched years ago. This was long before it moved to the mainstream internet scene and actually became cool. But when looking at my first reason on this list, apparently me having an account doesn’t cause a mass sign up. Who would have thought? So when Twitter played an integral role in the music festival SxSW a year ago, it caught the attention of big players and got the ball rolling. Now you can find members of your favorite bands, politicians, journalists, TV personalities and more signing up and telling you what they are up to. Sites also use it to share updates such as news stories or the weather. I can actually tell someone about Twitter without getting odd looks because the other person knows what I’m talking about. Fancy that!

3. It’s A Cool Concept
“What are you doing?” is the question that Twitter asks you to answer in 140 characters or less. Through a web browser, AIM, text messaging, countless applications for your computer (or even your Blackberry/iPhone), you can update to tell the world exactly what you are doing. Are you at a concert and the band is playing a classic anthem? Did you see a celebrity sighting at SoHo while shopping? Did you experience/see some sort of natural disaster and want to tell the world even before the media picks up on it? It can all be done in seconds. You can also use sites such as TwitPic.com to upload pictures from your mobile phone (or computer) and have it update on your Twitter account automatically. I love TwitPic.

4. It’s Not Just A One Way Conversation
Let’s be honest: not many people use Twitter primarily for one way conversations. Thanks to the reply feature, you can reply to someone’s entry and they can reply right back to you. You can also send direct messages if you want to keep it all confidential. It really is a community and helps you to get to know new people. And, again, it is all within 140 characters or less.

5. Someone Has To Go First
So maybe you don’t know anyone personally who has a Twitter account. When I first started, it took months (and months) until someone I actually knew hopped on board. But it takes someone to sign up first in your social circle to get the ball rolling before others join. Why can’t it be you? Plus, now with Twitter gaining popularity, there is more than just strangers you can have a conversation with in the beginning (like when I first joined). You have the aforementioned personalities who are all signing up and using it frequently, so you won’t feel so alone. And just think, you can brag to everyone saying you were the first in your social circle to join. I know I like bragging about being one of the first to sign up, period. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside… I suppose that makes me a geek, doesn’t it? Dang.

So there you have it… Five great reasons as to why you should join Twitter (if you already are a member, feel free to comment and add some more reasons of your own). Sign up and follow me already! Send me a message and we’ll chat it up via tweets (that’s what Twitter calls their entries, by the way). Again, don’t worry if you feel alone, your friends will follow soon enough.

So today, in twenty-eight States, is Juneteenth. It celebrates the day of announcement that slavery was abolished. For those unfamiliar with it, you can brush up on your history a bit over here.

I saw OneRepublic in concert a week and a half ago. Wow. I figured they would be good, but they blew me away. Even with the lead singer having to come out on crutches and not move around too much, they still put on a great show. They made me enjoy their music even more, perhaps putting them up there as one of my favorites. I’ll definitely be seeing them again next time they come to Toronto… I recommend them to anyone…

Next concert? On July 30th, I’ll be seeing Coldplay at the Air Canada Centre. Unfortunately, they are the “worst” seats I’ve had at the ACC to date, but that’s not saying much since I’ve lucked out with all of my past shows there (within the first 10 rows every time). ha. I’m about halfway back in the lower bowl (section 120). Not too bad. Either way, the place sold out in about 5 minutes, so I’m just glad to be going…

Speaking of Coldplay, has anyone picked up their new album, Viva La Vida? I’m really, really digging it… Very impressive record. It’s going to be one of my favorites of the year for sure… Pick it up if you haven’t already. You can even buy it in LP format…

Firefox 3 debuted on Tuesday and I like it a lot. It has some new features that are cool, it seems to be even more stable, and basically it reaffirms my belief that Firefox is the best web browser out there right now. You can also watch a real-time counter to see how many downloads it has received. So far it is sitting at over 11 million. Impressive.

I’m trying to decide what my next BlackBerry should be… I have the silver Pearl now and I love it, but I could do more with a more powerful unit since I have unlimited data. Out of the ones available, the only other one I’d get is the Blackberry Curve. But there is also the Blackberry Bold and Blackberry Thunder coming later this year… The Thunder doesn’t interest me too much because I don’t want a full blown touch screen phone. But I’m holding out to see what the Bold ends up looking like, because right now I think it may end up being my replacement…

I finally got around to putting my entire Beatles collection onto my computer and, in turn, my iPod yesterday. ha. It took quite a while…. Twenty albums later (three of which are double discs)…

Anyway, off to work… The two days off were definitely nice but it is time to head back, unfortunately…

I’m such a sucker for pop music… Right now my addiction is Maroon 5’s new single. They re-recorded If I Never See Your Face Again with Rihanna… So infectious. It replaced Madonna’s 4 Minutes, which features Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. Of course, that’s not to say I only listen to pop tracks. I’ll usually listen to them in between other stuff, including classics like The Beatles or REM. Still, I can’t help but listen to the catchy mainstream stuff… It’s like a drug.

So I went to Ottawa for a few days last week for business… It was pretty crazy, but fun. Microsoft gave everyone in attendance (250-300 people maybe?) a Microsoft Zune, which doesn’t come to Canada until June 13th. I think it could give the iPod a run for its money… It has some really, really cool social/interactive features…

I just finished reading the book Bringing Down The House, which is what the movie 21 is based off of. It’s a true story, actually. What a fantastic book… I wish I read it earlier. I couldn’t put it down. It definitely gets my recommendation, especially if you enjoyed the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, but the book blows it out of the water. It’s pretty intense. Oh, and for those wondering, the movie comes to DVD and Blu-Ray on July 22nd. Looking forward to it…

You know summer is coming when all of your favorite TV shows are winding down… Everything is ending either this week or next week it seems. How sad… Tonight is American Idol (I’m still sticking to Cook winning) and next week is Lost. Now what am I going to do to unwind after work on Thursdays? Hmm…

Anyway, thanks for the feedback on the new layout. I’ve had a number of e-mails on top of the few comments, most of which was positive. It’s been growing on me more too… It was time for a change.

The XM and Sirius satellite radio merger may finally be coming to an end… It’s taken them long enough. Insiders are saying it looks like it may be entering the stage where the FCC is just going to push it through quickly because it’s been so long… If you are one to play with the stock market, you may want to take that as a hint. But it’s also a gamble since we don’t know for sure what is going to happen…

PC got an iPhone! ha. You have to laugh at this one…

Speaking of Apple, rumor has it they have been playing with new ideas of distributing music. First, Universal Music has approached Apple with the idea of releasing a device that contains the label’s entire catalog. Interesting. Apple has actually been trying for the past six months to negotiate with the major labels and allow a Total Music concept with the iPod. This means that you would have completely free (and legal) access to all of the major labels and their subsidiaries’ music, but the files will only work on your specific iPod device.

Coldplay has announced the name and release date of their upcoming album. It’s Viva la Vida and will street on June 17th in North America. People like to give Coldplay a hard time, but I will admit that I’m looking forward to hearing it…

So apparently Gibson is suing video game companies over patent infringement for Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Oh Gibson, I’m ashamed…

You knew it was bound to happen, but people have now proposed over Twitter… ha. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it would have the same emotional effect. Not near as romantic. Wait, so maybe I’m not a geek after all? Score.

Oh, I just realized I still have last night’s episode of Lost to watch… Off I go…

This is it. We’re in the final stretch… The geek in me is showing and I’m excited that we are less than a week away from the release of Apple’s new operating system, OS X Leopard! Streeting on October 26th, the new OS is doing a major overhaul and adding over 300 new features from it’s previous version. There are a number of cosmetic changes too, such as the new look for the dock. I like a lot. So much so that I pre-ordered it and Apple promises I’ll receive it by the 26th. Let’s see if they hold their end of the bargain…

You know which CD I’ve gotten into a bit lately? Timbaland’s Shock Value. I heard it prior to its release through an advanced copy, but I never really focused too heavily on it until three solid singles hit airwaves back to back: Give It To Me, The Way I Are and Apologize (my favorite). The song he recorded with Elton John is pretty cool too…

Nearly a month until the KT Tunstall concert at the Kool Haus in Toronto! Again, looking forward to that…

Apparently U2 is in the studio working on two different projects. One is with producer Rick Rubin and is expected to be their next official album. But, on top of that, they are also recording tracks with the very successful production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanios and many are wondering if it could be a Passengers II disc. Man, I want them now though. ha. The clips of material I’ve heard from the current studio sessions sounds fantastic… Speculation has it we may see one of them in the spring (likely the side project) with the other one releasing in the fall.

Anyway, I’m exhausted. Off to bed…

So much for trying to keep this updated… ha. It’s been a while and you know what that means: a fragmented entry to try to bring you up to speed quickly! I can smell the excitement.

- College is going well… It’s a fairly big workload with my other various jobs, but that comes with the territory. The first semester is over in two months and then I am a quarter of the way through the program. Booyah. So what would I like to do afterwards? I’m not sure yet… Eventually I wouldn’t mind ending up in California…

- I finally got around to seeing Across The Universe. Really cool movie. It was one of those movies where you aren’t quite sure what to think immediately following the movie, but as you think back more and more you realize it was really good. It is a bit of a ‘rougher’ movie though, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a young audience or the easily offended. But for the most part it should be an entertaining watch for the majority of Beatles and music fans alike. I’m considering seeing it again, actually…

- I’m going to see KT Tunstall in concert on November 22nd with my friend Krystle. Looking forward to that a lot… She’s supposed to be awesome live and I’m a pretty big fan of her music. You can bet I’ll be talking about it more as the date approaches. My ticket arrived today actually…

- I ordered a new 80GB iPod Classic and it arrived. The only thing that sucks is there is a stuck pixel on the screen. Grr. That’s what I hate about LCD screens. So I’m going to see if it goes away, otherwise I may call Apple and see what they say. I don’t know if it’s going to be more of a problem to fix if there is a custom engraving on the back or not…

- Aside from Xbox 360’s Halo 3, I think the next four to six months are the PS3’s season for new games. There are so many I want to pick up that are coming out… One of which is the new Ratchet and Clank (releasing October 30th). The free demo went online yesterday and it’s awesome. Then there is Uncharted, Simpsons (though its on the 360 too), Little Big Planet, Haze (not 100% sure on that one yet), Killzone 2, Unreal Tournament and more. I may not play games as much as I used to, but I definitely love my PS3 to play when I get the chance…

- The new seasons of Heroes and The Office are both awesome so far… Not a bad episode yet. I love Mondays and Thursdays…

- So the Canadian dollar is currently three cents higher than the American dollar. What a weird situation. It’s too bad we’re being charged more up here now for goods and services than in the States. They need to adjust that so we’re not being ripped off… Rumor has it they will early next year (after the holiday, of course).

- Speaking of rumors… Rumor is OS X.5 Leopard will be releasing on October 26th or 27th. Can’t wait!

- To the industry personnel who have asked: yes, I’m aware my bio is over a year old. Ha. But unfortunately it isn’t that high on my list of priorities right now. So unless someone would like write one for me (ha), it’ll have to be put off for longer. I should try to quickly re-do the links section though, since I barely read any of the current list anymore…

Well, I think that’s enough for now… I’ll try to update more frequently from here on out…

My copy of iWork ’08 came in last week. It’s a fantastic piece of software and is definitely worth the upgrade from the previous installment. The new word processing aspect of Pages removes the need for Microsoft Word, Keynote’s brilliant transitions and effects make it arguably the best slideshow presentation software out there and the new Numbers program allows you to create incredibly professional spreadsheets in minutes. The cost for the full version? $79. Much nicer than the hundreds of dollars a Microsoft Office suite will set you back… Now I need Leopard…

I just realized that I bought the greatest hits from Bon Jovi and The Police a month or so ago and they are still sitting on my shelf, sealed in their shrink wrap and begging to be played. I need to get on that this week…

So the reason why I haven’t updated in a while is because I’ve been insanely busy working full time at work. Insert your pity here. ha. Of course, I’ve had some deadlines pop up with music industry work on top of that, which didn’t help any. The good news? Only four more shifts of work left, then I’m off to sunny Florida come Sunday morning! Man, I can’t wait. Less than six days to go… Hanging out inside Disney World for a week will be a blast (we’re staying on property), but I’m also looking forward to the flying portion. It’s fun traveling down to the States. Of course, it gets boring quick, but it’s still fun nonetheless. You can expect lots of pictures from the trip…

So Canadian Idol update… Canada sure got Greg’s elimination wrong a couple of weeks ago. Sheesh. But at least they got last week right with Tara. That was long overdue (as is Jaydee)… Now, for those keeping score, my pick of Brian Melo winning the whole thing is still in play as they enter the Top 5. I always like to choose one (or sometimes two: a boy and a girl) at the auditions level for who could win the whole thing, then see how far they go. It’s usually easy enough to choose once you hit the Top 10, but the auditions level is always a challenge. Brian was my primary choice, then for the girls I chose Carley Rae. We’ll see how things turn out… The last time I went all of the way was with Carrie Underwood, though I’m usually in the top few. ha.

I’m loving my PS3… I think I’m going to play some for an hour to unwind before heading to bed. I work the early shift tomorrow (story of my life the past couple of weeks) and then only three more shifts to go until Florida! Hooray!

So I finally got around to watching yesterday’s Apple keynote. Man, I always walk away impressed after watching their presentations… I need to pick up iWork ‘08. I was wanting to pick up iWork ‘06 but I heard the rumor about a new version launching soon, so I held off. It definitely came a lot faster than I expected. Sneaky Apple.

I’m very tempted to jump the Windows ship altogether and buy a Mac desktop. I don’t play many games, so one of the new pretty iMacs would probably do me just fine. I just need to do my website work, photo editing and video editing mainly. A Mac Pro would be very nice, but too expensive for me.

I really dig the new look of the iMacs though, especially for the keyboard. But I’m going to fight the urge and wait until Leopard launches in October at the very least. Besides, I need to cut back on my spending. But oh how I sure would love one. I’ve decided that I can say the Mac can take care of my needs… Now I just need to wait until the bank account agrees with me. Besides, it’s not like my current Windows PC is terrible as it’s only just over two years old (and thankfully not running the garbage that is known as Vista). I’m just pretty confident now that when it is time to replace it, a Mac will be taking its spot on my desk to coincide with my MacBook Pro…

So I heard a new band the other day on the XM satellite radio at work and they grabbed my attention from the other side of the store. Their name is The Last Goodnight and their debut single is called Pictures of You. I’ll attach the video below. As a sucker for pop and music scout, I’m very intrigued with their sound. The few songs I’ve heard from their upcoming album leads me to believe that they are going to be huge, provided the label puts some marketing behind them so people can actually hear the music (which they seem to be doing). The songs are catchy and addictive, they have a good social awareness (something that could be considered as “in” right now) and they seem to be pretty down to earth guys. Great formula for success. You heard the prediction here first. ha. Anyway, you may be hearing more about them from me in the future… Take that as a hint…

Well, I’m heading to bed. It was a long day today and I have an early morning tomorrow…

Oops… Sorry, things have been crazy busy. If I’m not working my butt off, I’m in meetings or am out and about…

I did a couple of phone interviews since I last updated. The first one that will be going up is an interview I did last week with Finger Eleven. Their song just went to #1 in the USA, so we talked about that as well as a bunch of other things. It was actually a really good interview. The band member I spoke to was a good guy and liked to talk. It’ll be going online soon…

I bought a Canon 430EX Speedlite flash for my Digital Rebel XTi… I did my first “shoot” today for a new business venture my dad and partners/friends are starting up. They turned out not too bad considering the lack of lighting kits. The focus had issues at times though, which is the lens’ fault. Man, I wish I had some extra money kicking around to buy a nice lens…

Apparently I’m getting a three day weekend this week. Can’t wait! I have to go into work tomorrow and then that’s it…

Anyone following Canadian Idol? It seems Canada is doing not too bad for who they choose to send home… So far the ones who have gone home have been in my top two or three choices of who should go next. There are a couple who really need to get the boot though… Yikes…

I’m really digging this new Matchbox Twenty single… I’m looking forward to the “new” disc in October. It’s a greatest hits project with six new songs, including the single How Far We’ve Come. I’m most excited about the fact that they’ll be touring to support the disc. I’m definitely going to that show.

Alright, off to play some Resistance: Fall of Man…

Just a quick entry for now to bring you guys up to speed…

Things have been busy with numerous things. I’ve had deadlines for A&R scouting work, wrote some articles for both print and online journalism publications (including an interview with a top 10 American Idol finalist on Renown Magazine), had a few business meetings for a couple projects and more.

Work hasn’t kept me from playing though. I decided to pick up a PS3 to play with it and see how it fares… I have 30 days to try it and return it if I’m not satisfied. Gotta love Future Shop’s return policy. Then I’ve been playing around with more social sites and programs… Gosh, I don’t know why I find them so addictive, but I do. Obviously my favorites are still Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube, but I still constantly mingle with both new and old ones. Perhaps it’s to see what’s currently hot (the “old” ones), but I also love playing with the freshly made ones to try and find what is going to explode as the next big thing… I can be such a geek…

Speaking of being a geek, I’m toying with the idea of dipping my toes into more audio related things… Podcasts and what not. I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s always been something I’ve been interested in, but I don’t consider myself the greatest public speaker so I’ve never pursued it too deeply. You never know for sure or can work out the kinks until you dive in though… And you all know I’m always game to try something new. ha. We’ll see.

I went and saw Hairspray with my sister and some friends on Friday (yes, opening night. She was adamant about that)… It was actually not that bad. For a musical, it was done really well… I enjoyed it. Everyone sung well, the story was interesting and you walked away smiling. What more could you ask for?

Man, I love OS X…

Anyway, I’m out…

So my Brenthaven Fusion MB Messenger Bag for my MacBook Pro arrived last week. It’s fantastic… Though it may not look like it in the pictures, there is a ton of space for all of the little accessories and gadgets you may need to bring along with you on the road. Very cool…

I went to the Apple Store last week in Yorkdale Mall. Man, I love that place. So many cool toys… I picked up a video adapter to plug my MacBook Pro into TVs through composite since the adapter it comes with only allows for VGA or DVI. Now I should be able to plug it in wherever, whenever…

The reason why we were down there is because my brother had a Weird Al concert to go to in downtown Toronto. So I figured I’d come along too since he had an extra ticket and we’d be stopping at Yorkdale. Here’s a few shots from the trip (aside from the concert)… You can check out more on my Flickr profile…

Finally, after receiving many requests both here and on my YouTube profile, I uploaded a video of me quickly showing off some of the cool features in OS X such as Exposé, Widgets, and Front Row. It’s nothing fancy, but it should give you an idea of how easy it is to use. I’ll be putting up a short video dedicated to Parallels Desktop, a program used to run Windows inside OS X, shortly…

So I spent the day yesterday installing Parallels Desktop onto my MacBook Pro. For those that don’t know, this is a piece of software for $79 (US) that you put in OS X to allow you to install another operating system inside it. Confused yet? It creates a virtual hard drive and tricks the new operating system of your choice into thinking there is no OS X, just the fake drive. This lets you run a full fledged operating system literally inside of OS X. Of course, you need to have a full (and legal) version of the operating system of your choice, which will be the most expensive piece of the software if you don’t have it already.

I decided to go with XP Professional. Now I can run any software that is exclusive to OS X, cross platform, and/or exclusive to Windows all on my MacBook Pro effortlessly. Of course, you had to go through all of Windows’ system updates, which took a considerably long time (OS X took minutes), but it was worth it. Now I can do anything on my Windows PC on my Mac. A big thing for me was installing the software for my XP-only digital voice recorder and having it work like a charm. It wouldn’t even work on my old Vista laptop, but yet now it’s running on OS X. Parallels Desktop is brilliant!

Here’s a screen shot of OS X that I took quickly today:

I’m really, really impressed with Parallels Desktop 3.0 for OS X. I have XP Professional installed on my MacBook Pro and I can run any Windows program I have thrown at it so far right in OS X. I can even use my XP-only digital voice recorder software now on my Mac.

This is a screenshot showing you what it looks like when you run a Windows application next to OS X apps. As you can see, I have both pinball and minesweeper open in OS X. If you click the Parallels icon in the Dock, it opens the XP start menu.

So you can have the great advantages of OS X and its exclusive software, you can run Windows with the right (inexpensive) software to get their exclusives… Seriously, what’s the point of having a PC any more? Leopard is only going to help seal the deal in October… These are the thoughts going through my brain right now. Who knows, maybe there is potential for an eventual switch after all…

Yes, the rumors are true. My MacBook Pro came in on Thursday! I’m absolutely loving it… It’s considerably nicer than my old G3 iBook from, what, 2002? It’s so much faster, the operating system has lots of extra goodies, and now you have great options such as Parallels to run Windows on the unit as well. I’m going to try that tomorrow depending on if I get an extra copy of XP or not. Most likely I will from the sounds of it.

There are just so many little things that make life so much easier on this new unit when compared to OS X.2 and the iBook. When you go into a dark lighting situation, the keyboard illuminates automatically. At the press of a button, Expose displays all of the open windows at once to easily find the one you want to use. F11 slides everything away to show the desktop and F12 brings up the widgets. It’s all so seamless and pretty. Now I just have to hope certain programs work perfectly once I install Parallels, then I’ll be especially impressed.

So what’s inside the box when you open it? I’m glad you asked. Despite having to head out the door a few minutes after receiving the MacBook Pro and being bothered by my allergies randomly throughout the day, I wanted to crack my new baby open and document it right away. I couldn’t wait until the evening. I scrambled to grab the camera and recorded the process for you to see. It’s very candid and rushed, but hopefully you’ll get the gist of things. It already has had nearly three hundred views on YouTube and I haven’t even linked it anywhere yet. I guess people like searching for MacBook Pros…

First, three pictures (of eleven):

Now the video:

So the free iPod Nano that came with my MacBook Pro arrived yesterday. Since it was shipped a day before my MBP, I’m really hoping the laptop comes today as opposed to tomorrow… But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Here’s a video of what comes in the box of the iPod Nano…

On a side note, my dog got a haircut the other day finally. She always looks like a different dog after the fact…

Wow, so here’s a fantastic surprise. Originally when I ordered my MacBook Pro, it said it wouldn’t ship until this Friday (June 29th) and the earliest I would get it would be next week on July 3rd, though it could be later. I just got an e-mail at 1:50 AM this morning saying it has been shipped from China and it will be here no later than Thursday (June 28th). Woo hoo! Talk about being ahead of schedule…

They shipped my brother’s iPod one business day earlier from China too, so it’s supposed to be here by June 27th. It’s fun watching the tracking numbers as they come across the pond… Last update on the iPod was Saturday when it was checked in at a station in Hong Kong (though it’s probably further along by now). I’ll keep you updated on the shipping status…

Either way, I’m pumped! Here I thought I’d have to wait at least another week to play, but now it’ll be here by Thursday. Can’t wait!

Side note… I went and saw Ocean’s Thirteen last night. Great movie. Definitely a LOT better than the second one. I’d put it right up there with the first of the series. Right from the get-go you are put into the planning stages of the big heist, so it’s non-stop fun that actually holds your attention the entire time. The movie was funny, the actors played their parts well, and there were lots of people from the first two movies who made appearances. Super Dave Osbourne was even in the movie, though he wasn’t playing the Super Dave character… He was actually a serious guy.

The cool thing about the movie is that the motives behind a lot of the planning were kind gestures… The heist is based around helping one of their own who has fallen, for example. Or another instance (and this may be considered a spoiler to some, though it doesn’t really wreck anything): during their heist they need to use a guy off of the street (so to speak) and give him a really hard time to do what they want. So at the very end of the movie they go out of their way to make him win millions of dollars on a slot machine to pay for his trouble and say thanks, only without him ever knowing about them. That was really cool… See? They’re nice guys. ha.

Anyway, I need to head out to work soon. I just wanted to fill you in on the MacBook Pro update. To sum it up: it’s way ahead of schedule and I’m excited. ha. Stay tuned…