03.28.07

Kayak.com Quietly Launches Weekend Trip Search

Posted in Technology, Travels at 7:50 pm

Recently, airfare/hotel search engine Kayak.com has made a change that I’ve wanted for a long time: a weekend fare finder. There is now an option to be notified about the cheapest upcoming weekend flights to and from any destination. To many travelers, it doesn’t matter when the deal is good - It just matters that it’s a weekend trip.

This feature is great because it doesn’t bug you about Tuesday morning flights like other fare alert engines.

I’ve already used this option successfully to find some decent flights from Portland to here. I didn’t care what weekend Minh came and visited, I just cared that he got a good deal.

How Do I Use it?

1. First, you need to be a member of Kayak.com. You can register here.
2. Log in to your account
3. After that, click on the Fare Alerts link on the front page.
4. It will then prompt you to create a new alert. Put in your airports/cities, and under the “Leaving” section, choose the “Upcoming Weekends” section.
5. Create as many other alerts as you like. Come visit me (LAX)!
6. Sit back and wait for the weekly e-mails. Eventually you will start to recognize the good price breaks, and hopefully it’s on a weekend that’s convenient for both parties.
7. Don’t forget to use flexible dates and expand the search if you can possibly get a better deal.

So far, I have alerts set up for flights to and from Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Portland, Providence, and Boston. After a couple of weeks, you can start to differentiate the sweet deals.

Be patient, and happy traveling!

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03.27.07

I Will No Longer Press 1 To Speak English

Posted in Current Events, Rants at 12:08 am

Here in the wonderful United States of America, we are well on our way to declaring English to be our official language. Senate Bill S. 2611 passed 62-35, and now needs to pass the House of Representatives. Having lived in Texas and Los Angeles, I almost thought we’d make the official language Spanish. But I was wrong.

So let me tell you how infuriated I get when I have to do extra work because I follow the damned rules. As if it’s not bad enough to have to deal with automated telephone systems, I am now asked to press 1 for English

Excuse me? I’m pretty sure that I am the default. I shouldn’t have to do jack shit to speak English^[1]. In fact, I should be given free discounts because I speak the damned language.

And that upsets me to the point of abusing customer service representatives (who are, by the way, quite possibly the most abused people in the world — especially if they’re really speaking that awful flavor of Indian-English).

So my ultimatum is this: if you ask me to press 1 to speak English, I am not going to. I am going to sit there. And wait. And if I get disconnected, you will lose my business. If I get forwarded to an operator, I will then tell them about my new refusal to press 1 to speak English, at which point they will roll their eyes and forward me to the proper Indian-speaking rep.

Furthermore, my solution to the afflicted situation is simple, and done by most responsible-behaving organizations: quickly state “Habla ‘espanol’ a hablar Espanol”, or something like that, pause for 3 seconds, and carry on in English if nothing is said.

But I’m not done yet. I am uninterested in treating the effect, but not the cause. Once English becomes the official language, we can get to the root of everything. Thus, I am in support of the recently proposed bill that requires general English understanding to acquire US citizenship.

Once we’re there, I am then in favor of allowing absolutely anyone who can grasp this to become a US citizen, so long as they don’t commit violent crimes (and if they do, I am also in favor of torturing them).

In conclusion, I will no longer press 1 to speak English. And if you think you’re going to change me, you must have forgotten how stubborn of a Roberto I am. I do not change. I will die not changing, and I would rather die than press 1.

^[1]Unless I’m calling Japan, and at that point I am actually more interested in speaking Engrish.

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03.19.07

Guest Writer Brian - Music Review: Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

Posted in Guest Writers, Music Reviews at 9:49 pm

Tonight I’ve decided to post the first of a few different rants from my friend, Brian. We often discuss music and sports via e-mail, along with the usual conversations about Life, The Universe, and Everything.

And now, for Brian’s take on this album:

I’ve tried hard to like it, but it’s the same exact thing as their last 3 cds. I’ve listened to it 3 times in the past week, and nobody home. I’m just not getting it. This band couldn’t write a hook if their lives depended on it. They are the masters of forgettable songs, I can listen to these songs 50 times in a row and not remember anything about them.

They just play it way too safe for me. They really need to mix it up and try and expand on their sound. They are the opposite of a sell out thats for certain. You know exactly what you are going to get with a Dark Tranqullity record. I feel exhausted after listening to them, 60+ minutes of music that I have tried my best to ‘get’ but I just don’t. Maybe Im getting old, but there has to be some hook to a song. Something has to make me want to come back.

For some reason, I really want to like that band. I keep buying their cds, I keep hoping their songs will click, but they just never do. At some point, I have to accept the fact that they are a boring heavy metal band. Nice guys, true to their art, hard working,etc, but at the end of the day, boring. Too much work for me. I shouldn’t have to work to like something when there is music like Blackfield II out that knocks you on your ass from the very first note.

The Gallery, The Minds I, Projector, they all had hooks, all of sudden they released Haven and it was all over, since that cd, every song has sounded exactly the same.

And there you have it. Thanks Brian!

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03.11.07

Concert Review - Blackfield - The Knitting Factory - Hollywood, CA

Posted in Music Reviews at 8:05 pm

Note: Talia has sent me pictures! I am including some of my favorites here. Click here for the entire slideshow.

Last night, I had the honor of seeing one of Blackfield’s seven US concerts on their tour to promote Blackfield II (reviewed at this earlier blog post). The sold-out show at the Knitting Factory, a small venue on the edge of the Hollywood Blvd. strip, was fetching tickets for up to 4 times face value. Led by Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, Blackfield lived up to the excitement on the street, perhaps more.

John Wesley played the opening act, a one-man band. Wesley’s music consists of whiny love song tripe, so you can safely assume that I did not enjoy it. The guitar chops were sloppy, the vocals nothing special. However, the song Thanksgiving Day was touching. A local Hollywood B-actress/singer came on stage to provide some heinous backup vocals.

Although I was largely unimpressed with this opening act, it sure beat the hell out of the typical Hate Eternal shit opening band that I have to deal with at metal shows…

A half hour later, Blackfield drummer Tomer Z stormed the stage, and began an extended intro to Blackfield II’s intro track, Once. Right away I knew the sound setup was going to be incredible – and it was. The rest of the band came on, and went right into Once. Here’s the setlist:

1. Once
2. Miss U
3. Blackfield
4. Christenings
5. The Hole In Me
6. 1,000 People
7. Pain
8. Aviv Geffen solo – Glow, which led into…
9. Geffen/Wilson duet – Thank You (Alanis Morisette cover from Wilson’s Cover Version I)
10. Epidemic
11. Some Day
12. Open Mind
13. My Gift of Silence
14. Where is My Love
15. End of the World

Encore:

16. Hello
    …which led back into the Once drum intro…
17. Once
18. Cloudy Now

The surprises there were the playing of an incredible Alanis Morisette - Thank You cover and Once twice^[1]. During the second version of Once, Blackfield wratcheted up the intensity. I’ve been to a lot of concerts, and I’ve never seen a band play the same song twice. In this case, I loved it. The setlist is also well-balanced between Blackfield and Blackfield II songs.

The best performances of the night were Blackfield, Pain, Epidemic, and the second playing of Once.

As I stated, the acoustics were absolutely perfect. On top of that, Wilson’s live vocals are more hoarse than in the studio – and it sounded incredible. I wish he’d utilize this on albums rather than hide it. Equally impressive, Aviv’s vocals are identical to that of his studio voice. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone do that before. As a metal fan, I must say that Wilson’s rare screams were extraoridinary, but Geffen should leave his one scream at home.

80 minutes of beautiful music and I had a blast. Now some more personal comments:

• The Knitting Factory side stage: A touch too small for this show. Only three shows in the US means you should book something with more than 250 capacity. Perhaps the main stage at 500 capacity would have been better. Well-stocked bar (had an Arrogant Bastard on draught). The venue being on Hollywood Blvd. meant that I had to pay $10 to park and deal with Hollywood morons and wanna-bes. Not my typical concert venture.
• Seffy Efrat - Lamest bassist ever. Dude, you are a bass guitarist, quit dancing and waddling around the stage. Take off that lame-ass tie, go stand in the corner, look mysteriously silent, and play your damned piece. Yes, you are good, but there are a thousand good bass guitarists. There is only ONE Steven Wilson. So quit upstaging him during his guitar solo. Douchebag.
• Tomer Z - I’ve never seen a drummer have so much fun playing. His facial expressions were hilarious. Every big hit on the symbols came with a goldfish-like gulp of air. It’s funny because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t realize that he’s doing it.
• Aviv Geffen - I coulda done without the glitter on your eyelids…
• Daniel Salomon Eran Mittelman - Flawless keyboards. Great job!

At this point, I want to conclude with two things, which most of you will probably disagree with:

1. Blackfield is better than Porcupine Tree
2. Blackfield II is better than Blackfield I, and the songs were much better live too.

An incredible night, one of the best shows I’ve been to! Good luck to all of you going to the Chicago and New York shows!

^[1]I just picked up on the irony there, nice

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03.07.07

Dear Spammers: Give it Up, I use Gmail

Posted in Technology at 11:31 pm

I’ll keep this short. My primary e-mail address is a gmail¹ account. I get about 10 legit e-mails a day, and 75 spams a day.

I haven’t seen a single spam for well over six months. Not one. Gmail’s spam filtering is that good. I don’t know how, and I don’t care. It works phenomenally.

So spammers, why do you even bother? With the click of one button, all of your garbage is gone. Why waste your time and money? If you have a list of spam to send, you might as well remove anything @gmail.com. You are stupid to be paying someone for my e-mail address.

¹Eventually I’ll change to an address @ mikeroberto.com, the only reason I haven’t is out of pure laziness. It’ll still be powered by gmail.

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