PJ Trader

First up this morning is Pandora One.  If you’re a fan of Pandora.com, the music genome project that predicts what kind of music you like and plays it for you, based on an artist you select, then it just got better.

Actually Pandora’s been losing money paying royalties based on the RIAA’s latest demands.  They had to succumb to being ad supported in order to continue to provide free music.  (The ads aren’t audio commercials, just those annoying ones that pop up on the screen.)  That’s not bad, but they’ve found another revenue option.  You.

For a mere $36 per year you can go ad-free with Pandora One.  The price includes an increase in the quality of the sound at 192kb per second, which is a nice jump from the standard 128kb most internet audio streams at. In addition, you get a nifty desktop player (which looks remarkably like the iPhone player), and you can stream Pandora One for five hours without having to touch a key on it. 

I plan on upgrading one of these days.

In the meantime, I ran across this video and thought you might enjoy it.  I always suspected this was really the way computers worked.  Enjoy

As promised last week, here’s the second book on my vacation reading pile:

Again, not a completely new book, but new in paperback as of March.

One cold November night when Kat Kominski was fifteen years old, she and some friends held up a convenience store. In the heat of the moment, one of the others shot and killed an off-duty cop moonlighting as a security guard. Kat and her pals fled the scene in a panic, and no one was caught.
Thirteen years later, Kat – now Kate White – has built a new life for herself. Now a single mom with a nine-year-old son, she works as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia DA’s office. But her dark past returns to haunt her when she walks into court one day and has a devastating encounter with a prisoner, Mario Castellanos, one of her companions from that terrible night.
Hardcore criminal Mario is facing a possible sentence of twenty years. He lets Kate know that he is counting on her, his old friend turned prosecutor, to make sure he goes free instead. If Kate doesn’t do what he wants, he’ll claim she was the one who killed the off-duty cop.
Kate is in a bind: If the truth about her past gets out, she stands to lose everything, including her son. But she can’t do what Mario wants, either. As Mario ups his demands, blackmailing and terrorizing her, she is forced to turn for protection to a sexy homicide detective, Tom Braga, who suspects her of…something. The two clash repeatedly as Tom keeps digging into her past, trying to learn the truth.
Then another, far more menacing, threat rears its head, and Kate realizes that her life – and her son’s – are in terrible danger. Frantic, she sees that she has nowhere to turn. Except, maybe, to Tom….

That’s what I’m reading.  What are you reading right now?

Been a busy week.  We’re still dealing with WebDoggie health issues, minor ones, but still costing us a fortune to at the vet’s office.  I could have bought at least three computers if I had all the money the vet got since last October.  Oh wait, maybe that explains THEIR new computer system…

Heading off to Sin City next week for some sun, sleep, shows, and other slothful behaviors.  We have show tickets to see Cher in concert and will go see one of the Cirque shows.  Not sure what else is on the agenda.  All I know is that I’m so very ready for a vacation!

I’ve tweeted a bunch this week, but I have to say that I just don’t quite get the whole point of stalking my “following” list online.  I do notice that I don’t find the tweets of people giving hourly updates of what they’re doing to be particularly useful.  I tend to like the ones that provide a little meat on the bones – what’s going on in the world, news tidbits, interesting facts, or motivational notes.  I suppose it’s a way to stay connected to the outside world.

Did any of you see “Glee” on Fox after American Idol this week?  This pilot episode takes us into the dog-eat-dog world of high school cliques as they combine musical numbers with teenage angst.  The premier episode they showed Tuesday night was both fun and…not.  It’s not fresh in the way of High School Musical.  It was in-your-face stereotypical (which, I suppose most high schools are) delineating the cool kids (jocks and cheerleaders) vs. the nerds, misfits, and outsiders.  The adult actors had some good lines (‘You think this is hard?  Waterboarding is hard.  This isn’t hard.") and some cheesy lines.  A lot of cheesy lines.  I think it lacked a lot of depth and is going to struggle for a bit to find its middle ground between comedy, drama, and music.

But the kids are talented and the songs/musical numbers were exceptionally good and professionally polished.  I give it an overall B+.  We’ll see if it lasts three weeks in the fall lineup.

Last night also marked the end of my TV watching season as the last of my shows went into hiatus for the summer.  Except for watching the Boys of Summer, that is.

What’s on your mind? 

Did you see those commercials this winter selling the Snuggle Wrap thingie?  It’s basically a fleece blanket with sleeves?  In the dead cold of a St. Louis winter (and yes, we get cold here too), they look appealing, because it’s hard to hold a book or knitting when you’re huddled under a blanket.

But honestly, they didn’t look all that warm, did they?  I think they’re probably pretty thin, and won’t keep me and the WebDoggies toasty on a cold, dark night.

Of course, I was trying to figure out ways to make one.  Couldn’t be all that hard could it?  And today while I was trolling the Bernat website today I found the perfect answer!  The Wrap-Ghan can be made in both a child’s and adult size and, even better, Bernat provides a crochet version too! Made with a bulky weight acrylic, it works up quickly on size 10 (6mm) knitting needles or a I hook (5.5mm) in the crocheted version.

After looking at both patterns, I think I prefer the look of the knitted one – I think it drapes better and the pattern is nicer.  But crocheting is my favorite…oh, the choices!

Click on the pic to go to Bernat’s website and download the free pattern. (Free site registration is required.)  If you want the crocheted version, click here.

I see some of these going onto the Christmas knitting list for The Lish…don’t tell her!