Get rid of the penny

Yes, the penny should no longer be part of American life. Did you know that it costs more than a penny to produce one? (Heather and the kids did a tour of the Denver Mint last year and found this out.) Since this extra money comes out of the government, somewhere, it would save some money to not make them anymore.

My suggestion would be to round down 2c and under to zero and up 3c and over to 5c. Electronic transactions could continue to use non-zero and 5 cent increments.

If you love Starbucks...

Yes, they have a new club. You can join for just $25.

I didn't join because I'm just too cheap. But if you're an extreme fan of Starbucks, it sounds like the way to go... 10% discounts on every purchase, a free "surprise indulgence" on your birthday - and more. It will pay for itself after about 100 grande coffees. (At the rate I visit Starbucks, I'd pay it off in about five years.)

Songsmith

Microsoft came out with a hilarious new program: Songsmith.

If I had a Windows computer, I'd give it a try!

I was particularly amused that the main computers they used in the demo were Macs. (I guess they were running Windows on them. That's something I refuse to do - I just don't want to hassle with virus software.)

The Willie Nelson Museum

If you are driving from Dallas to Austin (or points south), you will pass the Willie Nelson Museum. You may not even know it - there are no signs letting you know of its existence. So, my traveler's tip - if you reach Carl's Corner, exit. Tip number two - fill up with fuel elsewhere.

My kids knew Willie from his appearance on the TV show "Monk". I knew Willie from living in Texas for 14 years.

So - the museum is not very exciting, but the price is right (free). And the restrooms are clean. My brother asked the sales clerk if she got tired of hearing Willie Nelson. She said that his songs were never repeated there, because he has so many albums. She didn't really address the issue of whether she was tired of his music.

Willie staged one of his early "Farm Aid" concerts at Carl's Corner maybe ten or fifteen years ago.

The guy to the left of Willie? That's Carl, looking like a character out of "King of the Hill". (The painting is on the floor.) The album shown? Willie pays homage to an herb he loves so well. I can't say that I have heard the album, or that I'm sorry I haven't.

The dancing frogs? Carl bought them from the Dallas nightclub "Tango" back in the early 80s. He displayed them on the roof of his complex for a few years. Now they are dancing in obscurity - almost around the back of the building.

Texas within Texas

Everything is bigger in Texas. And smaller.

The Gaylord Texan Hotel is pretty close to where my sister lives. One morning we enjoyed a walk over to tour the lobby. Amazing! They have their own indoor riverwalk. The fabulous ice sculpture show was too pricey for us. But it was fun to see the Christmas display above the cliffs.

It was incredible to learn that they are expanding the number of rooms. 6,000 just isn't enough.

17" MacBook Pro Review

So, Apple released a new top-of-the-line laptop computer. And they're touting the battery as its outstanding feature! I guess that either shows that they are running out of areas to innovate within or they are betting super-power-users really care about that.

If you go here, you can see an interesting video about the battery and its advantages. If you don't want to watch the video, here are the highlights: it has an 8-hour charge life, 3 times the lifespan of a regular laptop battery and is not user-replaceable. There was no mention of how much the replacement cost is when it finally dies. My guess is that if you can afford the laptop, you can afford the replacement of its battery. (Update: it costs $179 in the U.S. and £139 in the UK.)

The lowest entry point is $2800. Options include a $900 256 gb solid state hard drive. Or if you want an old-style anti-glare display, that is now an option for an extra $50. Finally, a screaming 2.93 ghz dual-processor is now available (at a mere extra $900).

My buddy Jim is a 17" user. He and his wife have two. I know what he wants for his birthday. But 17" is just too big for me. I love the 15" size, so I'll just have to stick with my old MacBook Pro and my home-use external monitor. Sigh.

On another Apple tech note: iLife '09 has an incredible feature - iMovie has an image stabilization feature! That is completely amazing to me - and well worth the $79 price of admission.

Amazon is selling them for about $100 off.

And finally, go here for a hilarious look at Apple's even newer laptop.

Sports on the curb

Yet another thing that I haven't seen in Colorado - one's sports preference displayed on the curb outside one's home, for all to see.

But what should the movie buff do - put a small image of their favorite scene on the curb? The music fan - a picture of their favorite band?

Texas and The West

Colorado is part of the American west. But somehow cowboy culture is not as much a part of Colorado as it is part of Texas, even though we have quite a few ranchers and the National Western Stock Show. Ronald MacDonald is not sitting on any horses in Colorado. Maybe he should be.

(I spotted this particular Ronald in Amarillo. We didn't eat at his restaurant.)

10 best albums of all time

Over Christmas, we visited my brother in San Antonio. He challenged me to think of my favorite 10 best albums of all time. I thought a lot - and by the end our our long drive back to Colorado, I had my list. Before reading, skip to the end for all my disclaimers & notes.

These are not in order. I didn't want to narrow my choices by ranking them.

• Mozart 40 & 41 Symphonies: George Szell with the Cleveland Philharmonic
• Beatles: Abbey Road
• Bach, Vivaldi - Concerti for 2 Violins: Stern & Zukerman
• Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
• Radiohead: The Bends
• Pat Metheny Group: First Circle
• Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues
• Elton John: Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
• Quasi: Featuring Birds
• Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac

If you are interested in grabbing any via Amazon, I have provided these handy links below. Used CDs from this list can be had for as little as 62c! (Elton John.)





















Disclaimers & notes:

• Nothing later than 1998 is listed, even though I love a lot of music created since then. I just couldn't come up with anything from that category that I felt was worthy of this list.
• Lyrics: I am not into lyrics. Some of the lyrics in some of these songs may be offensive (particularly Quasi!) - so if you listen to any of this music and find the words offensive, please don't think that I consider what's sung as my worldview! Nor do I advocate the lifestyles of some of the musicians. I'm just into melodies. (And I know some out there can argue with this point.)
  
• I like music from other genres than rock, classical/baroque and jazz (such as bluegrass), but again, I didn't like anything there enough to add it to my list.
• I am tired of some of these albums to the level that I can't hear them again for a long time. But each has provided more pleasurable listens than albums that are not on this list.
  
• Taste is a personal thing - your list would or should look different than mine!

Enjoy. And I would invite you to come up with a list of your own. If you do, please put a link to that list in the comments - so that we all can discover something new and worth hearing.

Smoking allowed

We had lunch at a cafeteria south of Dallas.

There must be different rules in Texas than in Colorado... I don't think there is a single restaurant in Colorado that allows smoking. I didn't see anyone smoking, however. They must have all come from Colorado, unprepared for that unexpected freedom.