Month: February 2018
Random order and custom order of an iTunes music playlist
I listen to music almost nightly on my iPod Nano Touch. I’ve been doing that for a while now and one thing bugs me. Not from the songs, but from the sorting options and the shuffle on the iPod. The former has resulted too often in repeat order and the latter is never random enough. In fact, despite shaking options to randomize the shuffle, too often the same songs end up in the first-plays of a shuffle, just with a few different ones around them, and in a different order than the last play. Talk about annoying.
I wanted to jumble a playlist order by a static means – do it before I start using the iPod. Call it a static shuffle that randomly arranged things. The results I kept finding on Google search results were pointing to Apple forums with people asking the same question and the answer being a proverbial shrug with directions simply to employ shuffle to do the job. That’s frustrating.
Last night, though, I did something random on iTunes, just a shot in the dark attempt. Maybe I already have crossed this option in the past and done the deed and I had just forgotten. Maybe it’s already widely known as well as posted online on another instruction-attempt article/blog post (or several dozens of them), but there is indeed a means to randomize a playlist (with the program doing the first bit of work and you gaining the liberty to do the rest).
Note: This was done with iTunes version 12.7.14. If it works with later versions, grand. I’m certain it works with earlier versions of the software too.
- Open iTunes
- Select a playlist that you want to jumble/randomly arrange.
- Look at the list sorting options at the top of the list (things like name, play count, last played – they are fields that you have had the ability to randomly set).
- On the far left side, there will be no option above the numeric ordering column. Click on that sort area.
What should happen is there will be a re-sort – call it a jumble – of the playlist order. The most important thing is here that you now have the ability to randomly sort the song list order; highlight a song on the list and drag it up or down to the position you want it in the order.
You won’t get a jumble-sort again by clicking the number-sort field over and over again. It’d be a plus if users did get that. There’s no guarantee a static, visible playlist order shuffle is going to be truly random (just as I complained the Nano shuffle was not random enough), but having the manual ordering ability is a plus that will likely be more beneficial to short playlists than the long ones. The latter would take a lot more time to get just right, with no guarantee you ever make it through the entire list.
The idea of politics and the NHL cross paths
Russia. Collusion. Obstruction of justice. “Act of War”. You can’t dismiss this stuff and it’s still coming to fruition through Special Counsel Robert Mueller as well as House Intelligence committee hearings and such. Perhaps you look past this or perhaps you turn away from politics in general; there are other things in this world worth attention that aren’t the complication of politics and the riff-raff of the them-vs.-us partisan fray.
Sports are a relief. In one case, though, a sport is in unstated “what-if?” territory. Read More
NHL player frustration mounts from officiating inconsistency
It’s silly season in the NHL, where fights are going to be more common along with outlandishness on ice and off. Yet there’s been a consistent issue on-ice of outlandishness that has baffled players: Officiating and rule enforcement. Read More
When a vulgar post title is a worthwhile read on gun control
America is, at the moment, mired in a reaction to the Valentines Day Massacre at Parkland, Florida. There are a dearth of reads you can cross in media and on social networks… Hell, I hosted one “read” in comments reacting to a status I posted that night. It was the same-old, same-old though: Facts posted and a “I’m not listening! I’m not listening!” type of response.
Tonight, I crossed a blog post through social media that caught my eye both because of the friend who shared the link as well as how bold (and in quotes) the post was: “Fuck you, I like guns.”
The military breeds a distinct type of gun expert: Trained to kill. The piece divulges the comfort of the M-4… and how the AR-15 is it’s doppelganger. Military weaponry, one that was given to soldiers to prepare them for battle. The other available to the masses back home with the notion attached that guns like this are just right and used primarily for hunting.
From the article:
This rifle is so deadly and so easy to use that no civilian should be able to get their hands on one. We simply don’t need these things in society at large. I always find it interesting that when I was in the Army, and part of my job was to be incredibly proficient with this exact weapon, I never carried one at any point in garrison other than at the range. Our rifles lived in the arms room, cleaned and oiled, ready for the next range day or deployment. We didn’t carry them around just because we liked them. We didn’t bluster on about barracks defense and our second amendment rights. We tucked our rifles away in the arms room until the next time we needed them, just as it had been done since the Army’s inception. The military police protected us from threats in garrison. They had 9 mm Berettas to carry. They were the only soldiers who carry weapons in garrison. We trusted them to protect us, and they delivered. With notably rare exceptions, this system has worked well. There are fewer shootings on Army posts than in society in general, probably because soldiers are actively discouraged from walking around with rifles, despite being impeccably well trained with them. Perchance, we could have the largely untrained civilian population take a page from that book?
That’s a rather large quote to take, I’ll admit, but I do it to allude to the read: This is a former member of the United States Army standing up and saying it’s time to talk turkey.
If you’re pro-gun or stand for gun control, take a few minutes and read. It’s not trying to steal rights but it’s not blessing carte blanche because of the 2nd Amendment, either.
Years of wonder and reaction to inaction
The Wonder Years is on my mind.
If you grew up in the 1980s/1990s, you should know the show pretty well. The original broadcast/premiere of the period-piece show (with its heavy nostalgic opening credits complimented earnestly by Joe Cocker) was on January 31st, 1988…
…but the writers strike in Hollywood delayed the full-on series to fully gestate until 1989.
That’s not what’s putting the show on my mind though. Read More
Pint Size Hero — Spin the Wheel
Again, this is an act I caught on Lonely Oak Radio. I wanted to revisit a song and was surprised to discover I’m the first person to cross the music on YouTUbe.
The difference here compared to Tomas Fornstedt and “Be My Friend” is that “Spin the Wheel” by Pint Size Hero has been available on YouTube since May 2015.
Listen and judge it as you will:
Unconfirmed Memory from Mariah Carey’s “I’ll Be There” performance on MTV Unplugged
I’ve been participating on Reddit’s /r/softrock, a community that posts a wide variety of toned down songs from rock’n’roll to pop music. It introduces people to tunes from days-gone-by more so than current music. I’ve had a habit of trying to mix in songs that I cross that are from more recent days (and they tend to e from unknown or little-known artists) as well as things from the 1960’s through the 2000’s. Others are doing the same over there and it’s worth looking into if you’re into soft rock.
The subreddit seemed like the proper place to inquire about something from music history that I can’t verify. Something I was exposed to so often but can’t visibly or audibly be re-introduced to… Unless I’m wrong on what I thought I saw (over and over again)?
I liked MTV Unplugged, especially when artists went out of character and went to limited instead of electric and intense. Mariah Carey is intense with her vocals no matter what, so the setting was fine for her. What wasn’t fine, I think, was an unaware audience hearing the vocal range of Trey Lorenz. Read More
Political motivation by way of Miister Ferris Bueller?
There’s one movie from the 1980’s that I still find as an asset, the whole perspective is told in such a way that it builds the protagonist in a comical and entertaining way. It’s a movie that stood as a benchmark to be met or exceeded for teen comedies, not just in the 80’s but in cinema, in general, moving forward from that point forward.
“Ferris Bueller, you’re my heer-oh.”
Yet what leads me to this write up is a negative. One line of dialog from Mister Ferris Bueller jumped into my head this morning, a line which I have long known from a scene I’ve long known… And the current world of politics and the grand motivator for the Dotard in Covfefe, Donald J. Trump, popped into my mind.
Is it fitting I link Ferris, Cameron and Sloan’s altercation at Chez Quis restaurant to Trump? Or is it a contradiction: Some kids who are members of the general masses try to get lunch at a high class restaurant in the Chicagoland area? I’m comparing something for this scene to a sitting President of the United States who is high class and thinks he knows populism while he is totally disconnected to the general populous.
Just to cut to the chase, Ferris’ entire concept of getting lunch at Chez Quis starts with him pretending to be Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago. The idea sets off Cameron and Sloan as the maitre’d is not going along with Ferris’ con attempt.
It’s Ferris’ first-person, direct-to-the-camera reaction response to Cameron and Sloan that just seems to explain Trump’s inspiration for continued carelessness…
“A: You can never go too far. B: If I’m going to get busted, it is not going to be by a guy like that.”
A: Donald Trump is going too far. Regularly. The welfare of America is not what’s driving him as-so-much self-gain. B: The question must be asked if Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the “guy-like-that” or someone else. There’s too much evidence in the Trump-Russia probe to expect Mueller not to end up busting Trump. If it’s not him that does it, it will be Congress in one way or another.
I digress; comparing Trump to Bueller is an insult to Ferris Bueller and the ageless piece of cinema from director John Hughes.
A musical throwback: Music Tampa Bay’s Top 100 of 2008
I’ve posted two of Music Tampa Bay radio’s “Top 100” lists. Let’s be honest to start here: It’s an unknown station for the most part and the acts being highlighted are mostly enigmas. The question that could be asked about these blog posts is: Why do it? Why post them in text format when they’re already available online, albeit in image form?
The answer is pretty simple to me but it remains to be seen if I have actually accomplished it or anything near it with these previous posts. That answer is exposure. While these songs have aired on the online stream for MTB over the years, that’s a niche audience. While the songs have likely seen air-time with MTB’s broadcasts on the FM dial in St. Petersburg, Florida, that’s a limited potential audience in Tampa Bay or beyond.
While not all musicians dream of going big, there are those who want lightning to strike,Four Star Riot accomplished that with thanks to their inclusion on the Deadpool soundtrack in 2016. But others remain out there but no one has heard them beyond the niche in live performances and how far they’ve pushed their own exposure to the masses.
What’s posted below is the original Music Tampa Bay Top 100 representing 2008- The nine-year old list (released in 2009) features some songs that got somewhere – the “views” count on their music videos/audio streams show it. Others didn’t go anywhere beyond finally seeing time online in 2015 with thanks to CD Baby’s publication program. Others are a mystery – the fact they’re on this list in name-only shows that. They may be out there and I may have missed them in my web search but there’s also the high chance they aren’t.
How good these songs are don’t stand in their order, so listen to what music is available and be the judge yourself. Don’t look for performers you know because unless you know the music scene in the Tampa Bay region you likely won’t know anyone. Consider this post your opportunity at music discovery. If not this post, then the more recent Music Tampa Bay Top 100 lists from 2016 or 2017.
Read More
A Tampa Bay Lightning ramble by the original Lightning blogger
I made a name and reputation for myself with 12-and-a-half years of blogging about the Tampa Bay Lightning. I was a pioneer in hockey blogging in general (starting what will be fourteen years ago in a matter of days). Want proof? I’d send you to the archives of Raw Charge but SB Nation complicates the process (read: I’d send you to my profile alone but they don’t list all the articles, Fan Posts and Fan Shots that I’ve posted).
Have I stopped following hockey or the Lightning? Hell no! Read More
