On Piracy, And Being a Cheapskate

Although I had the excitement of turning 21 yesterday, the 30th was also a bit of a sad day. One of my favorite websites, NinjaVideo.net, was shut down. For those not familiar with the site, it featured streaming video of a wide selection of television shows, recently released movies, documentaries, etc. I don't own a television as a student, so the site was the perfect place to watch Law & Order episodes on a lazy Saturday or catch up on an episode of the Daily Show.

It was also lovely because the shows didn't have commercials, so an hour of television could be conveniently watched in 42 minutes. It doesn't get much better.

But the reason the site was shut down was due to piracy, so viewing wasn't necessarily guilt-free. If I steal music, which I admit to doing occasionally, I can ease my conscience by buying the band's album on vinyl or going to their concert. With stolen TV or movies, it's not as easy to rationalize. But paying for a TV and cable or a movie ticket seems even less worthwhile than paying for music. You can't choose when things are playing, and you can only see them once.

I understand why pirating is wrong, and I can't say I really disagree. As a writer, I'm quite annoyed when my work is quoted or posted someone else without attribution. I think Hulu.com has the right idea. A limited amount of television shows are posted, but everything is good quality, free and has a small amount of ads. Upon my last visit, I was pleased to discover excerpts from smart but lesser known shows such as MythBusters and Top Gear. I just hope full episodes are posted soon. While I want to say that NinjaVideo's shutdown will lead me to watch on more legal websites, I'll likely just be heading over to SurftheChannel.com. What's convenient and what's morally right are too often separate things.

AFI Films: Cabaret

"Cabaret" appealed to me because it is a musical but not necessarily a happy one. I love the dark lighting and colors in the film -- lightness and relief comes from the bawdy humor, not saccharine love. For someone of my generation, it's especially amusing to see Liza Minnelli in her younger days, and she pulls off her character with ease. The only comparable film I can think of is the much weaker recent movie adaptation of "Chicago." Due to its uniqueness and style, I definitely see why "Cabaret" belongs on the list.

Ukulele-ing: One of the many things I shouldn't be giving advice about

My high school violin didn't make it with me to college, due to the fact that my parents worried some crazy person in my dorm would do something unspeakable to it in an act of drunken buffoonery. But I still felt the need to be musical and recently picked up a ukulele, since it's smaller than a guitar and because I felt the need to separate myself from the guitar-playing masses.

I'm certainly no insert-name-of-"famous"-uke-player-here, but if you're interested in playing yourself, here are three sites I'd recommend.

Ukulele Beatles Fun!
The site takes you step by step through songs, allowing you to hear them as you play them. It offers instructions on over 60 Beatles songs, including some of my favorites: All My Loving, Help and Something.

Ukulele Hunt
Good advice for the beginner, with info on how to purchase your first instrument, strumming, reading tabs, etc. Some great tabs, too.

UkuleleSongs.com
A great list of other classic songs that generally require a couple more chords.

Seventh String Tuner
I'm a fan of this tuner, both for ukuleles and instrument tuning as a whole. It's the only free online tuner I'm aware of that let's you play your instrument into a microphone and then tells you what note your playing. Good for tuning your uke the first few times.

AFI Films: Singin' in the Rain

In a mission that is perfectly lazy yet feels ambitious, I've been attempting to watch all 100 movies on the most recent list from the American Film Institute. I've now seen 36.

Today I finished "Singin' in the Rain." The love story bit didn't do much for me: When the characters fall in love out of nowhere, I had to roll my eyes. And the plot never seemed to contain a hint of tension or conflict. I don't want to trash a film with such unbridled joy, but I much prefer "West Side Story."

Chicago Summer

This seemed appropriately bright and playful to kick off summer.

I've now been back from New York for over a week, but only just made it to "actual Chicago" (a.k.a. not Evanston) yesterday. I caught Dosh and The Books in Millennium Park, both which were quite lovely. I appreciate the person who booked those shows, since they're both bands I've been especially meaning to see since the release of their new albums this year.

A Evening in Chelsea

To write my first blog post, I started listing some of my favorite places in New York. To my slight surprise, a large amount of them ended up being in Chelsea. Here's a taste of the cozy, artsy, cheap side of New York...all in nine blocks.

2:30pm
Café Grumpy
224 West 20th Street
I've had a lot of coffee in my day, and Café Grumpy still stands out. The atmosphere is cozy, and friendly to loungers -- no laptops allowed.

4:00pm
Pippin Vintage Jewelry
112 West 17th Street
A nicely edited selection of vintage brooches, cuff links, scarves, and earrings. Surprisingly inexpensive, with most pieces ranging from $15-40.

5:00pm
High Line Park
529 West 20th Street
Out-of-use elevated train track lines were used to create this amazing walkway and park. A perfect mixture of urban and nature, with pretty views to watch the sun set if you stick around long enough.

7:00pm
Upright Citizen’s Brigade
307 West 26th Street
Great comedy nearly every night, with only a $5-10 cover charge. Unpolished but charming, with talents famous and not.