Rhino Records - The Corner Office by David Dorn

The FCC Took My Playboy Away

The Federal Communication Commission is flexing its muscles again, threatening to involve Congress if U.S. cable operators dont clean up their act.

Sex and violence are rampant on our nations cable channels, and parents are outraged.

The moral beacon that is the FCC is asking cable operators to begin considering offering their subscribers the ability to select channels a la carte instead of being forced to buy bulk packages. They claim this will offer more flexibility for the consumer and help reduce cable prices by allowing subscribers to only pay for what they wish to see. They also have a second mission which is to clean up the smut, or else theyll be forced to have Congress look into the situation in other words, if you dont do what I say, Im telling Mom.

Of course, bulk packages make it possible for cable companies to offer a wide range of programming. If each and every cable subscriber had the opportunity to select the individual channels they wanted in their service it would ultimately make it very difficult for the system operators to cost effectively make niche stations available, not to mention it would add a great deal more complexity to an already chaotic system.

The cable industry is one of the most dysfunctional, least customer friendly businesses out there today. Just imagine if every subscriber in each local market had to have a one-on-one personal interaction with their provider to customize service. WOW! What a mess that would be.

While most of us dont watch a great number of the channels our cable or satellite providers offer, there is comfort in knowing theyre there, and who knows, you just might get a hankering for some Hitler At War on the History Channel after watching
The Mating Rituals of the Sumatran Komodo Dragon on the Discovery Channel.

The FCC claim to be doing this for the parents of America who just cant seem to keep that dirty content off the screen where their children can, no, will see it. Isnt anyone thinking about the children?

I understand the need to alert parents to program content through a ratings system. Ive never objected to this for movies, TV, games, or music. Parents should at least have the right to know the nature of the content floating around in the sphere of our culture.

But why is it that we always have to go to the extreme position of cleaning up the media in all its forms in other words, sanitizing it for the sake of the children? There are 300 million people who live in this free country of ours, and a good portion of them have a lot of things that stayed in Vegas.

Make no mistake, this recent action by the FCC and its chairman Kevin Martin is like a Dad who lobs a nice easy pitch over the plate for his son or daughter seeking re-election in 2006. Look at that one go; its heading for the fence.

Martin actually said, I think the industry needs to do more to address parents concerns. You can always turn the television off and
block the channels you dont want. But why should you have to.

Well, Kev, what happened to parental responsibility? Shouldnt parents know what their children are watching or listening to? Shouldnt they be in control of whats happening in the lives of their children? The answer is YES! Unfortunately, American parents are just a subset of Americans in general who rarely if ever care to be personally responsible for their actions (or inactions). This opens a nice door for the morally superior in our nation to satisfy their goals of making sure we all live life according to their standards.

Of course, it really matters not one bit if the FCC is successful in their efforts to either clean up cable or mandate the cable operators to offer selective programming, as theres something looming on the horizon that is far more difficult (maybe even impossible) to control, and thats the Internet.

Within the next five to ten years, there will be so much video programming being offered through broadband that 500 channels will seem like a box of Lincoln Logs next to a Manhattan skyscraper. It will be very interesting to see how the FCC will be able to control things once they hit a virtual universe as vast as the World Wide Web.

Ahhh!. But going back to the issue of mandating a la carte cable programming, heres an interesting twist. The religious programmers in the U.S. are actually against this and for good reason. They know that if the average person in this country is given the choice of which cable stations they can receive, a whole lot of people are going to opt out of their programming. Even though televangelists like to put forth the notion that we live in a God fearing nation, football wins out any day over church in America. Personally, I would select the religious shows in my cable package as I find them highly entertaining, but thats just my opinion.

The FCC is once again showing that its a Congressional pawn to be moved when its time to prepare for elections. The more they exert their moral control, the more things will ultimately get away from them.

Throwing Ones and Zeros at Glass Houses

A friend of mine, in an email he sends out every day to an undisclosed list of recipients, offers those on the distribution list a �Song of the Day� in the MP3 format.

The songs are meant to give those receiving them (whom I believe are mostly business contacts) some insight into who he is and what makes him tick.

I have no idea how many people receive his emails, but he�s clearly not sending these free songs to just a couple of people.

There is almost no better way for the music business to thrive than for networks of friends to turn each other on to music. At Rhino, we rely on tastemakers introducing the people in their lives to some of the greatest music of the past, for which we have the distinct pleasure of repackaging and selling.

But where does the line get drawn? Is it OK to send out songs you like to 25, 50, 100, 500, or 1000 people at a time? And, is it OK to do this every day?

Let�s assume for a minute that this guy does send a song out every day. At the end of the year he will have sent 365 songs, or the equivalent of about 30 albums. In retail terms, even at Wal-Mart prices, this is about a $300 value per person (at iTunes prices it's $361.35). Keep in mind; he never sought permission to do this.

Now here�s the interesting part. This person, who�s sending out this free music, is a professional photographer by trade who has zealously protected his copyrighted images by suing people who have used them in the past without his permission � and he�s won in court.

So, I guess in his mind it�s OK to send out free music if he doesn�t control the copyright, but it isn�t OK for someone to use one of his images for a similar �innocent� purpose, say, Rhino.com using his photographs to decorate our editorial content without compensating him (this hasn't happened, it's just an example).

I bring this situation up because I believe it illustrates the complexity of the issue of copyright: When it�s mine, you can�t just do what you want with it, but if it�s yours�

I�m not sure what I should do about this. Copyrighted entertainment elicits emotional responses that make us want to share those creations with others. Sometimes for reasons of vanity (�Hey, look how cool I am�), sometimes for purely beneficent reasons (�This is so cool you have to hear it�).

As someone who runs a new media department at a major label, I�m very well aware of what goes on out there in the real world. Music is being stolen, traded, and shared in ridiculously large numbers. Sometimes these actions lead to legitimate future purchases, but often they don�t. This is something we have to wrestle with every day, and something I�m personally committed to helping figure out: How do we get people back to paying for music in a digital world.

I guess it still stings though when someone who makes their living being paid for the work they create thinks it�s OK to give someone else�s creations away.

Ken Tomlinson

As the Bush administration continues to unravel, yesterday brought yet another story of political wrongdoing, this time in the world of public broadcasting.

Up until recently, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson had been the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private non-profit organization chartered and funded by the U.S. government responsible for promoting public broadcasting � which basically means PBS television, NPR radio, and overseas broadcasters like the Voice Of America.

Tomlinson was appointed by Bush to oversee the CPB, a job that should entail ensuring the nation�s tax dollars are spent wisely and appropriately to foster public broadcasting awareness and growth.

However, yesterday, it was revealed by investigators at the CPB that Tomlinson had repeatedly broken federal laws and CPB regulations in his attempt to route out liberal bias within the organization.

I listen to and watch a great deal of public broadcasting, which I find to be the single most reliable, accurate, and unbiased media out there today. It�s the closest thing we have in the U.S. to the BBC, which is by far the best news organization in the world. If you ever want to see how it�s done right, check out the BBC, either on TV or radio. And please, no comments that I�m not patriotic because I don�t think something American is the best. One thing I�m looking forward to is the day when we can go back to criticizing our nation, which is far from perfect or the best in the world at everything, without being labeled as anti-American.

I have just as many friends on each side of the aisle who take in public broadcasting programs, and until Ken Tomlinson surfaced, I never heard a lot of griping about the unbalanced nature of CPB programming.

But does it really come as a surprise to anyone, especially in light of all that has taken place recently, and with how unbelievably political and unbalanced this particular administration is, that Tomlinson used his position to try to affect the editorial direction of the public broadcasting agenda, and more specifically the programs themselves.

Tomlinson, of course, is claiming he�s innocent and is being raked through the mud by the inspector general charged with investigating his actions, and that any suggestion that he broke the law was �malicious and irresponsible.�

I guess I could buy a defense like this if it weren�t for the fact that we�ve all seen this movie before: �I did not sleep with that woman (Clinton)� or �I have not suggested there�s a connection between Iraq and 9/11 (Cheney).�

Politicians are just full of shit liars. But Tomlinson and his ilk are particularly troublesome to me because their main desire is ultimately to control the public mindset through the media with their �message,� which is disguised as trying to correct unbalanced liberal dominance.

If Tomlinson had his way, outlets like the Wall Street Journal (a great paper in many respects and one I read every day), and Fox News would be the standard bearers of news and information. To be clear, I don�t have a problem with either as they serve the needs of those who subscribe to their point of view, but they�re commercial entities who support their business through subscription and advertising.

Public broadcasting on the other hand is free and is owned by the people. It should never fall victim to a partisan politician on a mission to alter its agenda. By virtue of the fact that Tomlinson, an admitted conservative Republican, wanted to rid the CPB of liberal bias shows that is not an impartial observer.

Had he convened a commission equally represented by all points of view to study whether or not there was bias and published the findings first, it would be a different story. But he didn�t, and so he is someone who needed to be removed from his position.

Mike Brown. Lewis Libby. Ken Tomlinson. Who�s next?

The Real Dirt On Farmer John

If there�s one thing we all take for granted it�s the production of the food that goes on our table.

I don�t know about you, but I can�t stand going to the supermarket. The mere thought of doing so is one of the most unappealing things I can imagine. I will always resort to going to a restaurant when my wife is out of town and the fridge is woefully bare.

But on those rare occasions when I do enter the hell that is my local Pavilion�s grocery store, like most of us, I don�t take a second to consider just how did all that stuff get there? Where was it grown? Who labored over the production of the milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables?

I got some rare insight into the plight of the U.S. farmer last night while visiting an urban renewal project in downtown Los Angeles called Not A Cornfield www.notacornfield.info where I saw a screening of a most unusual and interesting documentary.

First, I think I should explain what Not A Cornfield is. A number of years ago, the State of California purchased a block of 32 acres of land in downtown L.A. that was formerly a Southern Pacific Railroad site.

The land was a brown field of non-arable soil, but through the work a group of environmentalists funded by the Annenberg Foundation who cleared the land, had more than 1,500 truckloads of good soil placed on top creating a two foot layer, and planted more than 1 million corns seeds, the ground was transformed into a lush inner city farm.

The corn grown will be turned into biomass for fuel. The land will then be replanted with an assortment of fruits and vegetables which will not be picked but rather plowed back into the soil as nutrients. The next phase for the site is unknown.

The purpose of the project was to not only bring some country to a concrete landscape, but to remind the public that green space is important, and that sustainable agriculture is vital for our future.

Those in charge of the project have cut a maze through the maize that was fun to walk through � especially at night � and they also offer free entertainment on Sunday evenings where they either show a film or host a talk from a guest lecturer.

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a documentary called The Real Dirt On Farmer John, a northern Illinois third generation farmer named John Peterson who inherited a 400+ acre farm only to see it go bust in the �80s when farming troubles hit this nation.

Peterson, following in his father�s footsteps took over the farm just as he was entering college in the late �60s. Unaware of what was going on in the rest of the world, college opened his eyes to artistic expression and self exploration and forever altered his outlook on life.

Farmer John would go through a series of ups and downs that eventually saw the selling off of most of the acreage his grandfather worked so hard to buy, and his loss of all passion to farm the land.

Through a series of spiritual trips to Mexico, Peterson eventually realized that farming was in his blood and that he needed to return to his home and get back on his tractor, but rid his life of pesticides and unnatural fertilizers and switch to a truly organic method.

The story is gripping and Peterson is one of the most unusual characters I�ve seen profiled in some time. He�s charismatic, charming, funny, and extremely offbeat, especially considering his roots and profession.

I highly recommend this 90 minute film which you can find more information about at the following Web site: www.therealdirt.net

Sony BMG's Blunder

Shame on Sony BMG for the ridiculous recent deployment of First 4 Internet�s lame copy protection software on their CDs. The media, music fans, and technologists are calling them on the carpet, and so they should.

Without getting into the technical aspects of what they�re doing, suffice to say that Sony BMG placed a small application on each CD that was installed at the heart of the user�s computer, undetectable, but there nonetheless ready to monitor usage. Additionally, this rootkit application (as it�s called), which is extremely difficult to uninstall and can only be done so by visiting a Sony BMG website and filling out a customer service form to receive proper instructions, also makes the user�s computer susceptible to potentially lethal viruses.

I understand the reasons behind copy protection, and as an employee of one of the big four major labels, I�m constantly in the tough position of having to see things from both the side of a music fan and a content owner.

What Sony BMG did is punish those who actually go out and spend hard earned money on the company�s CDs. Their attempt to preemptively mitigate future issues with a pair of handcuffs and a watchful eye has earned them nothing but a public chorus of boos.

I can only hope that all artists whose CDs employed this software had their arms twisted until they cried uncle to have this copy protection placed on their CDs. What Sony BMG fails to realize is that this reflects poorly on the artists too, not just on the evil corporate parent.

I have no sympathy for people who are massively stealing music and making it available to others free of charge, but music companies have to realize that there are limits to what should be done regarding copy protection. Sony BMG crossed the line.

The Wire

I can probably only count a few times where I�ve found great television to be as emotionally expressive and gripping as great literature. Film achieves this parity more often, but only for short periods of time. We have all read fantastic books that we can�t put down. Books where we�re so immersed in the story, the characters, the depth of detail that we say to ourselves, �just one more chapter before I go to bed� � which often turns into two, or three.

Television, with it�s commercial interruptions, and it�s short form construct, forces writers, directors, actors, and producers to hurry things along in most cases to the detriment of the end result. But that�s broadcast television, or the land of mediocrity as it were, where getting it right is mostly just dumb luck.

Then there�s HBO, the Hope diamond of the TV world, and consistently the medium�s producer of the best programming. It�s no wonder they win more Emmys than any other network year after year.

I�ve been a huge fan of HBO shows for many years: The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, docu-dramas like Band Of Brothers, among others prove that television doesn�t have to be the idiot box.

But, every once in a while I miss something on HBO, as I did with The Wire. I vaguely remember hearing good things about it when it first aired in 2002, but for some reason, I just didn�t tune in.

A few months ago, while having lunch with a former Rhino employee named Gary Stewart, he raved about how great the show was, that it was his favorite show of all time. He must have meant it because when we finished eating he had me accompany him to his car where he produced a copy of both Season One and Season Two on DVD, which he gifted to me.

Normally, when someone, especially someone who�s opinion I trust, jumps up and down about a movie, album, TV show, or book, I make it my business to find the time to check it out. But that was not to be the case with The Wire. I gently placed both boxed sets on a small pile of �things to get to� in my CD/DVD closet at home, and then I forgot about them.

Last weekend I contracted one of the most unpleasant colds I�ve experienced in a long time. The kind of cold that forces you to stay in bed, to avoid all others, and to generally be as unpleasant as the malady itself.

Knowing full well early Friday afternoon that I would be house bound for the remainder of the weekend, I rummaged through my ever-growing stack of DVDs to find something to take my mind off the crushing sinus pain with which I was dealing. It was then that I came across Season One of The Wire and decided to give it a shot.

I was hooked instantly. As I stated at the top of this writing, it�s rare I find myself engaged in a TV show like a great piece of literature, but The Wire is so superbly written, directed, and acted, that like a classic novel, I found it impossible to put the show down. I watched six straight hours until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

The Wire is everything shows like Law & Order or CSI wish they could be, but due to broadcast standards, and the American public�s desire for a new storyline every week, will never be. The Wire unfolds a deep and complex tale over 13 episodes allowing the viewer to get to know all of the characters intimately, while capturing life on the streets of East and West Baltimore with writing so gritty and honest that you feel more like you�re watching a documentary than a work of fiction.

The cops are both good and bad, the bad guys have heart and conscience. The Wire shows us that life is not black and white, that things are not always as they seem, and that the world can often be a very rough place to live.

The next morning I awoke early and sat glued to the TV as I finished Season One, and would have felt that gut-wrenching despair of finishing the last chapter of a page turner if it were not for the fact that I knew I had Season Two sitting on the table ready to pop into the DVD player.

Suffice to say I experienced the gut wrenching blow the following evening, when, after 25 hours of viewing, I finished the second season, which I found to be even better than Season One.

So, like any junkie, I immediately went to the Internet, the source of all information, to find out if there was a Season Three. To my joy, I found out that while I had missed it�s airing in 2004, it was being prepped for DVD release. Gut wrench relieved, for now.

I can honestly count this outstanding program as one of my favorite television experiences ever. If you haven�t seen this show, you must. I already know that the when I receive Season Three on DVD I will carve out a Saturday and watch the entire season from morning until night in one sitting.

Why can�t all entertainment be this good?

Jimmy Miller

I�ve now listened to the new Rolling Stones album A Bigger Bang for the second time and I can honestly say it�s at best just OK. It�s certainly not a great album. Unfortunately, the Stones have written and recorded so much great music in the past that they will always be held to the highest of standards.

As is the case with many albums recorded over the past 10-15 years it�s about five or six songs too long. I think the album would be so much stronger if they would have just picked the best 10 or 11 songs and left the rest off. With the advent of digital, they could have always made the lesser material available online for those who have to have everything. I will never understand the desire to fill up every last second of space available to an artist on a compact disc.

That said, even if they would have boiled things down to the cream of the crop, A Bigger Bang is still not an album that belongs in the great Stones Pantheon.

Let�s face facts, every legendary group or artist, and I don�t care who we�re talking about, has a golden period of brilliance. A moment when all pistons are firing in sync, when magic is taking place. And then, just as unexpectedly as it came, it disappears � obviously in varying degrees according to the act in question.

The Stones are no exception to this rule. They�ve made great albums, and, well, some not so great albums. Don�t get me wrong, even when the Rolling Stones are at their worst (ever listen to Emotional Rescue?) they�re still light years ahead of just about any other band out there. But they�re not infallible, and A Bigger Bang is an example of one of their albums that I do not plan to delve into any deeper.

The purpose of this piece of writing, however, was not to review or deconstruct the latest offering from the Stones, but rather to shine some light on what I consider to be that period of brilliance when the band could do no wrong.

While listening to A Bigger Bang for the first time last week, Rhino�s very own John Srebalus, upon entering my office remarked that what they need to do is bring back Mick Taylor. This is something I�ve heard so many times I�d like to have a nickel for each one. I have many friends who believe that Mick Taylor was the key to the golden age of the Rolling Stones. That it was Taylor�s involvement that led to the most experimental, important, and expansive Stones material. I have another theory though.

I certainly don�t dismiss Mick Taylor as either a guitarist or inspirational force that helped Mick and Keith find that inner voice, but in my opinion, the force behind the great era was none other than the band�s producer Jimmy Miller.

The Rolling Stones can be broken down into three distinct periods of productivity: The Andrew Loog-Oldham years when they were covering blues songs and cutting their teeth on songwriting and performing; the Jimmy Miller years which I�ll discuss below; and the Glimmer Twins years where Mick and Keith handled the majority of all creative studio decisions.

I�m with a doubt a fan of the early years, and there are many outstanding songs that were the result of the band working to find their voice. They would certainly never have found their muse had they not 1) worked tirelessly both in the studio and on the road to learn how to be professional musicians, and 2) had the support of savvy music industry executives who, as they were in the old days, understanding that an artist needs to �develop� and be nurtured. Can you imagine if the Stones had come along today? They would have probably been dropped somewhere around Out Of Our Heads.

The Loog-Oldham days are the topic of another piece, but in my humble opinion the breakthrough album for the Stones is Beggars Banquet. I don�t think I�m alone in stating this, but as with anything aesthetic, this is in the ear of the beholder.

It was with Beggars Banquet that the Stones went to a whole other level of genius. This album found the band not only stretching in their songwriting, but in their overall sound. Prior to Beggars, the band�s sound was thinner, less in your face, and less sophisticated. Beggars was a whole new world for the band, much in the same way Rubber Soul was for the Beatles.

Beggars Banquet was also the first album helmed by Jimmy Miller, an American who had the unique ability to pair classic rhythm and blues textures with the emerging British rock scene.

While Beggars Banquet was Miller�s first full album with the band, his first production effort was earlier in 1968 for �Jumping Jack Flash� which came out as a single several months prior.

Neither �Jumping Jack Flash� nor Beggars Banquet features the work of Mick Taylor, as Brian Jones was still in the band. The next Stones album after Beggars, arguably their best ever, was Let It Bleed. This was the transition album from Jones to Taylor with each playing on different parts of the album. But Miller was the man behind the scenes pulling the strings.

In all, Jimmy Miller produced five studio albums for the Stones, and in this writer�s opinion, the first four were not only the four best Rolling Stones albums � still to this day � but four of the best albums in the history of rock: Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, and Goat�s Head Soup (the last, while still a good album, is certainly the weakest of the bunch and the one I would omit from the five).

As a group, the Stones were only bested by The Beatles in the �60s. They made great music before hooking up with Jimmy Miller, and they absolutely had moments of brilliance when Mick and Keith decided to produce the band�s albums as the Glimmer Twins when Miller left the scene, but they never were as good as they were while Jimmy Miller was in charge.

I don�t spend a lot of time trying to win the argument with those who believe that it was Taylor�s leaving in 1976 and Ron Wood�s joining the group for the album Black And Blue that was the beginning of the end for the Stones. It�s a perfectly valid position. It�s just that I think Jimmy Miller had more to do with it. If any producer belongs in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it�s this guy who hit four grand slam home runs in a row.

New Orleans

Like the rest of America, and probably a large number of people around the world, I�ve spent the better part of the past week watching the events unfold in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

This powerful natural disaster reminds all of us that life is unpredictable, often out of our control, and can lead to scary, horrifying outcomes.

What is probably the saddest about this catastrophe is that it may not have been entirely preventable, but had the right amount of attention and resources been put in place when those who were asking for them made them known, it is likely that it would not have been nearly as devastating as it was.

I try my best to keep the Rhino site as much about music and entertainment as possible and to leave partisan politics out of the mix. There are Republicans who are serious about jazz, and Democrats who are serious about funk � I like to think there�s room for us all in the Rhino playground. If you want punditry of this kind there are dozens and dozens of sites out there that will satisfy your need to be strongly for or against Republicans or Democrats.

My original intention of writing something was to focus on what New Orleans has meant to me over the years, and I will get to that, but not before I have my say about our current leadership.

Our government has once again failed us. This event has brought several things into sharp focus that I can only hope will raise serious, relentless questioning that will not only shed the proper light on who was to blame, but will lead to genuinely substantive change.

I�ve been hearing a lot lately about how �pointing fingers and assessing blame is not helpful, there will be a time for that, but not now. � I�m sorry, but I don�t subscribe to this philosophy.

With potentially thousands of American lives at risk, we have to ask ourselves �did we do everything possible to prevent this from happening?� If we can say, yes, then we have to live with the consequences of being a fragile species on a planet that is decidedly in control.

If the answer is no, we must do something about it. I�m not saying George Bush is solely responsible, but he is the man in charge, and he has some serious explaining to do. I�m also not saying this was entirely the result of global warming. While I believe global warming is a reality and not some �theory,� there have probably been enormous hurricanes prior to the industrial revolution, leading one to conclude that this might have happened if we were all still riding in horse-drawn carriages.

What I�m driving at are those things that are completely within our control.

When we look at this situation and realize that our federal government cut funding for infrastructure projects that would have helped avoid this; when we�ve sent thousands of troops who could have been on the scene to help, to fight a war in Iraq that even by Republican-based polling organizations show most now say was pointless; when we�ve created tax incentive after tax incentive for the wealthy with none of the money trickling down (as it�s �supposed� to do); and when we see that so many of our fellow Americans live in such abominable poverty that merely stating �Get out of town!� are just words without meaning (for those who still don�t get it, these people COULDN�T LEAVE BECAUSE THEY HAD NO MEANS TO), even the most partisan of us has to see that things are not right.

New Orleans has always had a special place I my heart, and unlike most cities around the world, this one lives life much larger than it�s population would dictate. There are many cities that are bigger than New Orleans, but none possess its flair. New Orleans is a brand: you mention the Big Easy to anyone, almost anywhere in the world and they know why it�s famous.

The unique, amazing style of food that exists nowhere else in the world is certainly part of this. The bacchanalian fest that makes up a typical evening in the French Quarter is too, and like our President, I�ve personally had my share of living it up on Bourbon Street. But I�d have to say it�s the music that separates New Orleans from being just another party city. Las Vegas is a party city, but it doesn�t have its own style of music.

And that music is so incredibly special, so inspiring, uplifting, and contagious, that it�s hard to imagine someone who doesn�t like it.

I�d could write pages and pages about all the important artists from the city and region, as well as live shows I�ve seen there (an especially memorable show was the Neville Brothers a number of years ago at the original Tipitina�s), and I may do that at some point in the future.

Right now though, I�m angry. Angry because I don�t know if New Orleans will ever be the same again; angry because the French Quarter is completely under water; angry because a number of people didn�t give enough of a damn to ensure that we were protecting a national treasure.

Everyone knew that New Orleans was a city that sat below sea level, they make a point of telling all the tourists this on every tour they offer. There�s also an enormous amount of commerce that New Orleans supports both as a port city, and as the final conduit through which the Mississippi river flows.

Why then did our government allow this to happen?

It�s incumbent upon all of us to ask the questions now. Who knows, it could be your city next.

Bob Moog

For some unfortunate reason we always seem to forget about the innovators until they die and we then heap praise on them reminding the world of their importance, failing in the majority of cases to mention that most people really didn�t care that much about what they�ve been up to until this final moment.

Bob Moog, the inventor of the first affordable, commercially available synthesizer died earlier this week, and true to the above mentioned reality, his passing has garnered him more press coverage than he probably ever received in his heyday.

Moog�s work was so influential in so many ways that today�s modern music would not sound the way it does without his efforts. For some, the eerily unnatural sounds that emanated from the boxes he built sounded alien and threatening. It must have been difficult for him back in the 70s when his synthesizers were beginning to play a more prominent role in recordings to hear the backlash from �real� musicians that synthesizers were the enemy and anyone who used them wasn�t making �real� music.

From all the interviews of Moog I�ve read over the years, I never got the impression that he was trying to displace musicians or musicianship, but rather to augment the creative process by adding a new series of colors to the palette. And this, I believe, is what he did.

I don�t think the synthesizer is any less an instrument than a Fender Stratocaster or a Stradivarius violin. It�s an instrument, that when placed in the hands of a creative power, yields great art.

I�m sure synthesizers would have eventually evolved had Bob Moog decided to become a car salesman, but it was Moog and his synthesizers that spawned a whole technological music industry playing a major role in some of the most famous and important recordings in history.

His toys made it possible for today�s rock and hip-hop icons to make real the sounds they hear in their heads. And for wannabes to create in the comfort of their home with dozens of pieces of outboard equipment containing libraries full of sounds that do everything from add textures to imitate instruments and orchestras.

I met Moog once, a long time ago while I was attending Berklee College of Music (or as I affectionately call it, 13th grade). He was a genuinely nice guy, but I was too young to appreciate what he had done, or to have recognized the impact he would have on me until many years later when my musical horizons expanded, and I became more involved in studio recording.

The Ramones may not have sold as many records as Blink 182 but they came first, they invented their thing, and they laid the groundwork for others to expand upon. There are many success stories in the synthesizer world that probably over shadow the Moog, but Bob Moog was first. He was a dreamer. He was an inventor. He was a changing force.

72 Hours Over Tokyo

You may think you have a cool mobile phone, but after the week I just spent in Tokyo I can assure you there are things out there you wouldn�t believe.

My role here at Rhino�s global headquarters of overseeing New Media requires me to travel quite a bit both domestically and internationally. I know, �poor me.� While it�s certainly cool to see parts of the world that many never get to, it�s not always what one might imagine.

My most recent trip to Tokyo had me landing in Japan late in the day on Tuesday and leaving early in the day on Friday � not exactly an extended stay. Throw in non-stop meetings starting Tuesday night, all day Wednesday and Thursday, and the attendant jet lag that comes with flying thousands of miles, and I think even the most jealous person would have to say that�s no vacation.

The purpose of my trip was to meet with a number of wireless carriers to discuss business opportunities, but I have to admit that my fascination with the Japanese market goes beyond pure business to education. Nothing helps stir the creative juices like seeing the future tangibly laid out in front of you.

The Japanese are two steps ahead of the U.S. where mobile technology is concerned, and as someone who is not usually easily blown away by technology, each trip to the land of the rising sun makes my jaw drop with next-generation toys and services that exist today, being used by millions of people.

Of all the meetings I had, I�d have to say my visit to the KDDI Studio was probably the most eye opening. KDDI is the second biggest wireless carrier in Japan with approximately 20 million subscribers. For those not familiar with what a wireless carrier is, it�s a company like Sprint, Cingular, Verizon, or T-Mobile.

The KDDI Studio is a four-story consumer destination located in the heart of the Harajuku section of Tokyo devoted to taking the mobile experience to highest level possible. They have a performance stage on the first floor, and then three upper floors of mobile handsets and services that allow subscribers to interact, learn, and immerse themselves in mobile technology, as well as purchase some of the coolest devices in the world today.

I don�t know what it is about the Japanese, but as a culture they have an innate design aesthetic that allows them to combine in equal measure both form and function. The handsets I saw were not only artistically beautiful, making me instantly want to ditch my Motorola Razr phone, but they came loaded with bells and whistles that wireless subscribers in the U.S. haven�t even seen, and won�t see for another 18 months to two years.

Full-motion menu screens, streaming video in high quality at broadband speed, GPS services to help guide you around the city with verbal commands issued from the handset, comprehensive restaurant guides, a mobile commerce solution with direct carrier billing allowing subscribers to buy things at hundreds of locations eliminating the need to carry cash, multimedia tools to help the user build really cool photo or video products they can send to friends, and many more. The mobile handset is no longer just a communication device to the Japanese; it�s a full service portable computer.

The exciting thing for me is that this is where things are headed here in the States. Try as hard as you want to fight it, but mobile technology is a gathering snowball that will eventually erupt into an avalanche. The mobile handset is the only device that we all carry with us from when we leave the house in the morning until we return home at night, and we all will begin to use it for things that 25 years ago would have sounded like science fiction.

It�s my goal over the coming year to write as much as I can about developments in the mobile landscape.