The Plug by Koss

After much trial and experimentation, I have finally found the ultimate earbud headphones for a portable audio device. Witness The Plug by our good friends at Koss. First a little history on Koss. The company was founded in 1953 and, according to history, they were the first to invent the stereo headphone (oddly enough, when they were trying to develop a portable record player for retail). I discovered Koss in the 1970's, when I bought a pair of high-end headphones (with liquid-filled ear cushions!) from Radio Shack and eventually found out that they were manufactured by Koss. I have since learned that Koss had a long-standing relationship with Radio Shack and many of the headphones sold by Radio Shack in the past were made by Koss. I have since bought many pairs of headphones from Koss not only because of their superb craftsmanship, but because many of their products offer a "no questions asked" lifetime warranty. If they break, just send them back to Koss (with a minimal fee) and they will will either repair or replace them. I'm here to say that they stand by their warranty. And so, we come to The Plug. These are high fidelity earbuds with a squishy, "memory foam"-like cone on each end which, when squished between your fingers and inserted into your ears, will adapt to the shape of your ear canal and provide a nice, tight fit that blocks out background sound. The fidelity that this produces, along with a great bass response, just has to be heard. These little earbuds are great for listening to music on the plane or bus and for exercising because the tight fit makes them less likely to shake out of your ears. Lastly, these little babies are just $14.99 retail. You can get them for substantially less at some retailers. Try them out!

The Return to Khadgar

I have wandered around from realm to realm in World of Warcraft, just as I have moved from place to place in real life. I do this because I am an inveterate explorer and...I get bored easily. Recently I decided to transfer one of my characters, Twiddley the Gnome mage, back to Khadgar, the realm I started out on at the dawn of WoW in November 2004. In the process, Twiddley morphed into Atoz, due to naming conventions. All hail Atoz the Gnome frost mage! It's nice to be back on Khadgar and I'm thinking that I never should have transferred off when the realm was having lag and queuing problems. These problems have since disappeared and the population of the realm is almost always "medium" during prime time. Atoz is looking forward to questing through the Wrath of the Lich King content next month with his friend, the Night Elf rogue Pagandog, both original members of one of the first World of Warcraft guilds on Khadgar, The Legendary Dogs of War.

The Fly (1986)

One of my favorite movies of all time is David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, originally released in 1986. I like this film for many reasons, some of which came rushing back last night when I watched this movie and the original back-to-back on MonstersHD. It's a great horror movie in its own right. The creature effects are great and it's just different enough from the original to make it unique. It's produce by none other than Mel Brooks of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein fame. The crowning acheivement, to me, is the direction taken by Cronenberg when he injects his concept of "the new flesh" into this film, as introduced some of his earlier films (including the glorious Videodrome). A great film for all time.

31 Days of Blog

A check to the right hand column (all the way down) will show you that the largest amount of posts that I have entered on my blog in a single month is 26 back in May 2006. I'm out to do that one better in October and do one entry every day for the next 31 days, breaking that record. This is the perfect month to do it, since it's my favorite month of the year (but more about that in one of the upcoming entries). So, ready! Set! Go! Let the 31 days of blog begin!

Regeneration 2008

As many of you no doubt heard, during the summer I decided to leave West Long Branch Public Library and accept a new job with the New Jersey State Library (NJSL). At the end of August, I moved two counties west to live in Hamilton, New Jersey. At the beginning of September, I began work at NJSL as the new Urban Libraries/Adult Services Project Specialist in the Library Development Bureau. I'm thrilled and invigorated by this new professional opportunity and to be able to work with a group of people for which I have had a great amount of respect for quite a long time. The chance to experience yet another area of New Jersey is an exciting part of something like this for me. Moving to the Trenton area completes my trek around the state, from South Jersey to North Jersey, from the Central Jersey shore west to Trenton.

Dean Ween's "Sunday Sauce."

What is your favorite meal? Mine would have to be what I grew up on living in New Jersey and that is the traditional Italian macaroni dinner. I still live in New Jersey (I have also lived elsewhere) and I still occasionally make myself that big hunkin' Sunday meal. And it usually lasts me a week, it's so much food. Anyway, I was cruising Ween.com recently to see what's up with one of my favorite bands and I found Dean (Mickey Melchiondo) Ween's recipe for "Sunday Sauce." His recipe basically matches our family's recipe for the same meal. Practically all of us in Jersey cook this the same way. Kudos to Mickey for putting it all down on the site, with all of the great pictures and Melchiondo wit. Excellent stuff. Treat yourself and try his recipe out. You'll never have a better Sunday meal. (I took that photo of Mickey when Ween was performing at the Stone Pony back in the summer of 2003)

I Finally Saw "The Dark Knight."

A little while ago, after a particularly satisfying and successful day, I decided to go and see The Dark Knight...after waiting for weeks. Here's what I liked: Heath Ledger. Amazing. As a rather traditional comics fan, I never was much for Jack Nicholson's flawed portrayal of the Joker. But this, this was a whole universe away from that. I loved the freaky and totally unpredictable quality to Ledger's Joker. He deserves a posthumous Oscar for Best Actor. The Watchmen Trailer. Seeing it on the big screen before The Dark Knight was a real treat. I just love that Zack Snyder is helming this film. My favorite graphic novel converted to film by one of my favorite directors. If only Alan Moore would give Zack the props he deserves. Here's what I didn't like: The film. I was about as nonplussed about The Dark Knight as I was about Batman Begins. They both just didn't do much for me. There is still not a film that has done The Batman justice. That's right The Batman. The creature of the night. The being that really strikes fear into the heart of crime, just like The Shadow did. The anti-hero that doesn't care about upholding the law, his law, in nontraditional ways.