We’ve posted video of this guy before, but we can’t think of a better holiday present to all our friends out there than the following
A guy who performs the Star Wars "Cantina Band" song by making fart sounds with his hands, while making oddly bemused faces.
His version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is positively sublime.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
I don’t mean to distract everyone from helping Paul decide which portable computing device he’s going to buy, but I’m not quite done harping on about my recently demi-maimed limb. And so…
So since Storm has been using our website to vent about his poor widdle arm (muscle tear, schmuscle tear; suck it up, Buckwheat!), I figured it’s my turn to use the Netterwebs to my own advantage.
So here’s my situation: my cell phone is about to give up the ghost, and it’s time to upgrade. More to the point, it’s time to get a PDA. Being a Sprint customer (I’ve been very happy with them for years), my choice comes down to a Treo or a Blackberry; and I’ve had enough friends complain vociferously enough about their Treos that it looks like the Blackberry’s the winner.
So I can choose between the Blackberry 8703e and the 8830. Here’s where you come in, Clamoring Public. Anyone out there have a preference? If so, why? Any and all input is welcomed. Please help do my homework for me?
Oh, and my arm hurts, too.
Paul.
UPDATE: I should have mentioned….I am now Mac-based (for the most part), so something that syncs w/a Mac without massive headaches is, while not absolutely necessary, at least a big plus. Anyone had luck or lack thereof with any of the Windows-based devices, like the Moto Q? Also, while iPhones are kewl r0xx0rz, I am locked into Sprint, contract-wise (and as mentioned, am quite happy with them anyway); so no go, Steve Jobs.
I downloaded the forms and filled them out beforehand. I arrived on time. I was poked and prodded. I asked questions. I got answers:
1. "You have a partially torn tendon."
2. "It does not require surgery, nor is it recommended."
3. "It will be right as rain in 6-8 weeks. Use it as normally as able."
4. "Do not lift any more pianos."
5. "Enjoy the drugs."
Okay, the doc didn’t say those words exactly (and didn’t say some of them at all), but that’s the gist of it. Thanks to everyone whose counsel and comments helped keep me from completely freaking out.
And now back to the regularly scheduled rocking and mocking.
"S"
No answers yet for the arm. Doc said it’s likely a torn tendon or muscle. I’m rooting for the torn muscle. I’ve read that’s how muscle is normally formed. Okay, maybe not by popping large masses of them in half, but still it seems like more of a "rehab" scenario than a "scalpel" situation (sadly, I don’t think that lasers are in the picture here.)
Turns out the orthopod I was supposed to see today doesn’t take my health insurance. Gotta wait until Tuesday to see the new one. (Maybe I should stop writing "musician" in under "Occupation".) I expect he’ll send me for an MRI, but I could get lucky and get a prognosis on the spot ("…oh, this is no problem…I’ll just push my fingers in right over here and…there! All done. Just be sure to eat lots of iced cream for the next three months. No charge. Just say ‘hi’ to Paul and JoCo for me.")
In the meantime I have some great new drugs to try out (sadly, they will do little more than thin the blood.) Thanks to all (online and off) who’ve offered advice and levity so far; it’ll come in handy when I’m no longer just chasing my tail in circles.
Storm here with a hypothetical question for all of you:
Let’s say you injured your arm on Thanksgiving doing something stupid like, I dunno, lifting a piano up with one arm (never you mind why.) And let’s say that that arm was your weaker (left) arm, which is also the arm attached to the hand that you use to form chords with on a guitar (possibly a Martin DC-AURA guitar with a black Fender strap and medium stings. Slight scuffing on the pick guard but otherwise well-kept.)
Now suppose you were told that you had two options:
1. Get surgery that may or may not succeed, as too much scar tissue may have built up given the length of time since the actual injury. The procedure is likely to be painful, and will involve a lengthy recovery period, but if successful will put things back pretty much as they were. Low chance of complications and/or re-injury, but it is surgery under general anesthesia. Yes, there will probably be powerful prescription pain relievers involved afterwards. No, recovery does not include eating a lot of iced cream.
2. Rehab the arm as-is, with no surgery. Arm (and hand) will function perfectly well, with no loss of coordination or hand strength, and little to no loss of mobility. HOWEVER, that arm will only have 30% of its original strength. For the rest of your life. THE… REST… OF… YOUR………. LIFE.
You don’t have to make this choice quite yet, but you have a doctor’s appointment in the morning at which time you expect to be presented with the two scenarios (though it’s equally likely you will be sent to a specialist first, and it will be that physician who will lay out the options.) But having found an injury description that matches your symptoms exactly, and not being given to hypochondria, you may as well be gazing into a crystal frickin’ ball.
It begs a few intellectually-stimulating questions, doesn’t it? Posers like "do I really need that much left-arm strength?" Maybe. I dunno. Sure, opening pickle jars might require more planning. And you might have to fight a bear some day. Or society could fall apart completely, and then that lost 70% of left-arm strength would sure come in handy, wouldn’t it?
I dunno. But even if there are tons of people out there with far worse situations and choices, I’m still glad it’s just a hypothetical question.
Thanks to everyone who came out last week for our spin through the upper-Midwest with Tim Cavanagh and Jonathan Coulton. You made it worth all the driving and crappy weather.
A few random thoughts from the trip:
Anyway, thank you, everyone, for some of the dynamic shows ever being gave. See you in 2008!
Comics/fantasy writer Neil Gaiman came to our show in Minneapolis on Thursday. (Technically, he came to Jonathan’s show, and we just happened to be there as well) He was friendly, gracious, and as cool as you could want him to be. Plus, he said nice things about us on his blog afterwards. (If he hadn’t, this would probably be a post about what a dick he was). Thanks, Neil! (May we call you Neil now?)
Anyway, here’s a picture that proves it (courtesy of Sharon Snyder):
Semi-fame has its privileges, sometimes.
We recently found out we were finalists in the 2007 USA Songwriting Competition in the "Comedy/Novelty" category for our song "A Better Version of You". (The Da Vinci’s Notebook song "Liposuction" won the category in 2004).
Unfortunately, we didn’t win the category; songwriter Eric Colville won for his song "Doer’s Lament". Congratulations to him. I think we get a box of guitar picks or something.
As of this morning, we’ve switched to a new host to handle all of our music download purchases. We’ve heard very good things about our new provider, e-junkie.com: they’re very responsive to tech support questions, and, truth be told, they’re less expensive than our previous host.
There shouldn’t be any real difference on your end–the songs page should operate exactly as it always has (with a slightly different shopping cart page). But the upshot is, if you experience any problems whatsoever with your song download purchases (e.g., not getting the same song you ordered, a button not working, etc.), please let us know, and we’ll fix it ASAP.
Thanks for your patience during our remodeling.
