Dave Mancuso dot Com

I wasn’t intentionally misleading on my last post, but as a wise person once said, “intent and outcome are so rarely coincident.” I didn’t have to get the song I chose when I got the winning bottle cap. In actuality, the code on the cap just lets you put a credit of 99 cents in iTunes, and you can use it for any song you’d like (or save the credit to use up until April 30). I just happened to choose a song right away and use the credit that night.

I may be really Pepsied out by the end of March…

The local convenience stores didn’t have the new Pepsi bottles with the iTunes game caps yet, but I figured that the major metro centers would get the new bottles first. I was right. On my way back from Philly tonight I stopped by 7-11 (Why was I in Philly? Long story). Sure enough, some of the bottles had the new caps and the all important “1 in 3 Wins a Free Song on iTunes” labels. I bought two bottles, and one cap was a winner.

My song? Feelin’ Alright by Traffic, a band I’d never really listened to, but I’ve always remembered them since my brother told me about the band.

iTunes rocks.

You can go to this site to see the SuperBowl ads for this year. They didn’t seem very inventive this year (except for maybe the Jimi Hendrix one–that was kind of funny). The site has older years, but it looks like they’re only in Windows Media Player format…

(Also, this year’s ad page seems to work better in IE for Mac, not Safari)

Y’know, Ben Cohen of Ben&Jerry’s ice cream fame (they both sold the company a couple of years ago).

Take a look at Ben’s spot for TrueMajority. (Liberals rejoice, Conservatives get ready to spit nails). Hey, it’s something to think about, or at least investigate further (my answer to everything is further education).

I was mentioning good movies to my sister, and she remarked that she hadn’t really thought that My Big Fat Greek Wedding was very funny. Why? “I told people it’s much to close to my real family for me to find anything funny in it.”

Heh heh.

For some reason Denise mentioned this morning that she would like to rent A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and watch it sometime. I replied that she already saw the movie when it was remade in American form as The Birdcage. A lively discussion followed, where Denise eventually took my word for it.

I was of course thinking about La Cage aux Folles. You’d think the title would have clued me in, but it took me a while to realize it. I always think of those two movies together because (I think) of J.D. Harville, an old friend at Penn State who loved both movies. Hey, nobody’s perfect. It’s not like I’d confuse Goonies and Gremlins, right? Right?

Never mind.

Check it out at IMDB.

I bought my 43rd song from iTunes tonight (since last April when the store opened). I wondered if a person’s buying patterns said anything about his/her taste in music–for instance, here’s my list so far:

1 Chamber of Horror by Rick Wakeman
2 Crime of Passion by Rick Wakeman
3 Statue of Justice by Rick Wakeman
4 One of These Days by Pink Floyd
5 I’m a Believer (Radio) by Smash Mouth
6 Buried Alive by Rick Wakeman
7 I’m Not in Love by 10cc
8 Undun by The Guess Who
9 The Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini
10 Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve
11 Tiny Dancer by Elton John
12 Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters by Elton John
13 Christmas Celebration by Roomful of Blues
14 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan
15 White Christmas by Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters
16 Merry Christmas Baby by B.B. King
17 A Visit from St. Nicholson by Bob Rivers & Twisted Radio
18 MacArthur Park by Maynard Ferguson
19 Drift Away by Uncle Kracker (Doobie Brothers cover)
20 Do You Believe in Magic? by The Lovin’ Spoonful
21 Atlantis by Donovan
22 In the Mood by The Glenn Miller Orchestra
23 Nostalgia by Yanni
24 What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers
25 Hold the Line by Toto
26 Sweet Talkin’ Woman by Electric Light Orchestra
27 Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
28 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Bruce Springsteen
29 What a Wonderful World (Single) by Louis Armstrong
30 Sara by Fleetwood Mac
31 Procession by The Moody Blues
32 The Story in Your Eyes by The Moody Blues
33 The Ballroom Blitz by Sweet
34 Fox on the Run by Sweet
35 Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears
36 It’s My Life by No Doubt
37 Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton
38 She’s Right on Time by Billy Joel
39 No Surrender by Bruce Springsteen
40 Stay Up Late by Talking Heads
41 Darlington County by Bruce Springsteen
42 Downbound Train by Bruce Springsteen
43 Baby, I Love Your Way (Live) by Peter Frampton

Apart from the Christmas songs, some of these are my musical tastes, but some are just me filling holes in my CD collection with songs I never owned. Some are old songs from my childhood that I’d only heard on the radio. One I bought for my wife (marching band stuff–can you guess which one?).

They’re all songs I enjoy though, so I guess they stand for my tastes, for better or worse. Of course, some artists aren’t yet on iTunes for me to buy, like Spandau Ballet–but like Kevin said, deservedly so.(grin)

Denise and I just finished watching the extended DVD “bootleg” edition of Almost Famous. It’s truly an awesome movie. I can’t quite put my finger on why, unless it would be the tone and feeling of the film, and the amazing performances of Patrick Fugit, Billy Cruddup, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, and of course Kate Hudson. Cameron Crowe really outdid himself with this one, although Say Anything was one of my top twenty as well (I haven’t seen Vanilla Sky yet).

It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in recent years–in fact, it has to be in my top ten. I highly recommend it, even if you can’t get the extended edition (hey, I got it for $12 on Amazon with $2 shipping from the Used and New–and it was brand new, factory sealed).

My dad came out of his surgery successfully. They put two stents in one artery, another stent in a second artery, and left the third artery for next week. If it was anyone else, or any other practice, he probably wouldn’t have had the option to get the stents instead of having oopen heart. As it is, he has about run the gamut of this technique–Dad has five stents in now, and one more next week. He’s feeling better already, though. His one artery was over 95% closed (almost completely closed, the doctor said) and once the stent is in you feel better immediately with the restored blood flow.

More later–I’m wiped, and I just had to fight the snow all the way back from Philly to home…