Ten Cents on the Dime

Apologies for the break in posting – something or other in one of my WordPress plugins broke my ability to post, even to put up a “Oops, broken!” message.  This breakage unfortunately coincided with the beginning of rehearsals for The Buddy Holly Story, so today was just about the first day I could get to it.  Thankfully, it was a quick fix, and we’re back broadcasting!

While I’m getting back to blogging trim, here’s a quick glance at what happened over the last few weeks:

• We fought off snow, ice, and two lost previews to open The Buddy Holly Story.  Reviews will be coming in over the next few days, but the early word is positive.
• I started tracking for our education department’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and began prep for our mainstage production of Harvey.  Both will kick into high gear with the arrival of my copy of Stylus RMX, which should be shipping any day now.
• Apple tossed off a little announcement, which is already causing a firestorm in the e-book industry despite the fact that it’s two months from shipping.  I’m in wait-and-see mode.  The style is there, but I’m waiting to see the content.
• Syfy launched Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica, and FOX premiered DC Comics adaptation Human Target.  What do these shows have in common?  Composer Bear McCreary, who besides being a talented composer is also a fantastic blogger.  And just like with Galactica, he’s blogging in detail about his work on the shows.  Every entry feels like a masterclass.

And that’s just the overview version.  There were Golden Globes, Oscar noms, Book of Eli’s delightfully minimalist score, more theatre closings, wireless mic blues and in about a minute, the Lost season premiere!  But now that everything’s back up and running, we have plenty of time to talk about all that.  So again, apologies for the lapse, and I’ll see you soon!

Steve Site

Blog backend appears to be broken. I’m in the process of fixing it, but work is taking precedence right now. Updates as I can repair things.

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The earthquake in Haiti has caught the world’s attention, and the outpouring of charity has been immediate and heartwarming.  There’s always more to be done, however.  To that end, I’d like to point up two companies who are stepping up and (I hope) setting a challenge for the rest of the world.

Cinesamples, makers of the awesome Drums of War (heard in James Cameron’s Avatar!) are donating 100% of their sales through Friday, January 16 to the American Red Cross.

Chris Hein, of the also-awesome Chris Hein Horns, will be donating 100% of sales through February 1 to the German Red Cross International Response Fund.

What a wonderfully positive example to set, so early in this new year.  I’ll update this post if I see more companies (musical or otherwise) jumping on this train.

Steve Music

I’m not in the tech industry, so CES is not my trade show.  But as technology invades more aspects of music-making (and a general fascination with electronics), I find myself keeping a close watch on what’s new and exciting.  I’m not going to try to go over announcements or make predictions – that’s been done and over-done by every tech site out there.  Instead, I’d like to talk briefly about the technology that made keeping up with the flood of news easy, fun and manageable:

- Google Reader.  While this past week was a vacation week, sitting around hitting “Refresh” for three days was not in my vacation plan.  Having my RSS subscriptions out in the cloud meant that I could keep a watch on the news whether I was in front of my laptop, downstairs on the desktop or out and about.  Which leads very conveniently to…

- My Palm Pre.  What a fantastic device.  Nowhere I was over the course of CES did I have a problem with not having a signal.  (As a matter of fact, I followed the liveblog of Palm’s presentation on it!)  A great browser that could handle every obscure product site I tried to take it to, and with the power of multitasking, I could keep Google Reader, Twitter and the new Engadget app up and running simultaneously.

- CoveritLive.  I know this isn’t terribly new, but it’s amazingly convenient.  And I appreciate very much the little clicky “hey, something just happened” noise.  Especially because it would help bring me back from…

- Netflix Watch Instantly.  Even with the mass of coverage, sometimes there’s a break in coverage.  And at those moments, isn’t it nice to be able to catch up on Lost?

I’d like to close this off by giving a big thank you to all the folks who have been blasting out the coverage from Las Vegas, and in particular Engadget, GottaBeMobile, Ars Technica and PreCentral.  And for anyone worried that this is going to turn into an all-tech blog, don’t worry – there’ll be no more tech until NAMM.  What’s that?  NAMM’s next week?  Wow, it’s going to be a busy month…

Steve Technology CES, Google, Netflix, Palm Pre, Tech

No surprises from today’s Google press conference.  The Nexus One looks to be everything it was leaked to be – a powerful, pretty, evolutionary (as opposed to revolutionary) device.  Some features, like the voice integration, are intriguing; others, like the animated wallpapers, seem battery-draining and unnecessary.

I’m a little surprised by the big press conference – while the sales method could be, the phone itself doesn’t appear to be a game-changer.  Perhaps they’re trying to stand out from the CES deluge?  In any case, Google/HTC’s new “superphone” (Really?  Super?) won’t be pushing the Palm Pre out of my hand any time soon.

Steve Technology Google, Nexus One, Phone, Tech

Welcome to the newly rebooted Ten Cents on the Dime, the blog of composer/playwright/actor/geek Steve Przybylski!  You’ll notice that the content is a little thin right now, as I’ve scrapped entirely the old blog.  That will change quickly – in the next few months, you’ll see commentary, clips of works-in-progress, snips from my disorderly mind, and an occasional llama.  The only restriction I’m putting on myself is to tell it straight – after all, at Ten Cents on the Dime, you get what you pay for.

Once again, welcome – stick with me through the growing pains, and enjoy the ride!

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