Ok , yes, I just finished writing my last entry but a very interesting story title came across my Google News Gadget. “Radiohead May Have Made $6-$10 Million on Name-Your Cost Album”

Boy oh boy, name your our price for an album seems like a very interesting idea. I ‘m glad it is working for Radiohead, but the big question is can it work for artists that don’t have a cult follow built? How long will this model really last?
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I sit in Panera today, like I do on many of my days now, and realize that Panera makes me feel like I am back in Schaumburg with Yvette and David.

Each Panera, and I’ve been in MANY of them, though I do know a man who can trump me, all have the same feel and look. Its very good branding minus the bad elevator music, but at least it’s not blaring in my ear like some other coffee joint.

The only really big difference between a Panera in Chicago and California is the culture. I usually order ice tea but today I order a Diet Pepsi, by the way I am not a fan of Pepsi but I take what I can get. Anyways, I asked the nice and handsome Assistant Store Manager for a Pop. He stopped and looked at me like I just told him to perhaps, fuck off. He then smiled and promptly asked me where I came from because it’s obvious I wasn’t from California. I told him Chicago, because its close enough, and I said I forgot I am in soda-land! He said, “Yes, and you should probably stop using the word pop.”

By the way, can someone tell me why I can’t find a freakin’ outlet in this place that is really the only drawback? I have to make sure my ThinkPad is fully charged every time I come! Is it because they want to save on electricity? Going Green by taking away my power? Or maybe a building developer that didn’t think we needed outlet? Plus, people keep asking me where the outlets are! I don’t work here, I applied, but that’s a different story.

…….I miss Chicago and all our pop!

I have a ritual each morning. I get up grab myself a bowl of cereal and go through my RSS feeds and news sites. Today I decided to check out the music news on msn.com. What I thought I would get verses what I actually saw were two very different things.
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One thing that drives Yvette absolutely crazy is my ability to never take my mind of Live Hub and the music industry. I must admit it is a fault of mine, but I can’t help it when the music industry has been in shambles for years. Even starting at Columbia College in Chicago,was a bit nerve racking because none of us going there really knew what jobs were really available to us, never mind how artists were going to make money. This is why it’s always on my mind. Someone has to think outside the box in the music industry and it’s Live Hub.

This leads into one of the issues that I am see with music and artists. I was talking with David Gotowko, the Founder and President of Restaurant Business Solutions, and former Drummer of Spiro Giro, and we got on the topic of live performances.
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As you may or may not know, Microsoft is releasing the new generation of Zune players (November 13th 2007 according to Amazon). I myself am a Zune 1.0 owner. I can’t wait for the next generation Zunes to come out. I feel that the majority of the reviews I am reading about Zune 1.0 and the next gen are all negative. I get the feeling that some of the people that are reviewing the Zune Player hope that the device will allow them to gain world domination or hack into people’s minds with the wireless access. I would just like to remind people that our devices are devices and for the moment have limitations, granted I hear that some of the devices can get you laid (iPhone). I am here to tell you why I love my Zune 1.0 and what drove me to it. I bought mine right after Christmas because on Christmas Day I ripped my Pink iPod Mini to shreds.

Would you like to hear the story? Here we go…..
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