I'll Have The iPod, Please.

I'm pathetic. I've spent an inordinate amount of time today checking my e-mail to see if I'm the lucky winner of an iPod Photo. There are numerous reasons for thinking I have a decent chance of winning:

1. I entered the raffle through my credit union, which let people know about it via a small flyer included as part of a much larger mass mailing letting customers know about their home equity loans. There was nothing about the flyer that screamed "Free iPod!!!!" and to actually enter the raffle you had to follow a very deliberate set of instructions which involved going on a scavenger hunt through their website in search of obscure information. Once found, you had to send it to them in a secure e-mail and then, provided your answers were even correct, you'd be entered. I'm assuming most people didn't even see the raffle flyer and those that did couldn't be bothered with all the effort required to enter it.
2. There are ten iPods being raffled off. I think my credit union has thirteen total customers. If my math is correct, that gives me slightly better than average odds. Of those thirteen customers, I think I've seen seven or so, having popped into the credit union's in-house (and only) branch to do some banking. Although I hate to be judgmental, I'm going to anyway and say that these folks were almost certainly not the type to be well-versed on iPods. Also, the credit union's headquarters (and in-house branch!!) are located in Needham, MA (a town that screams 'Leave It To Beaver' if ever there was one) lending further credence to the idea that the number of total entries must be small as the town's citizenry consists mostly of shuffling seniors and troubled youth - the latter of which are too busy looking tough on the town common to be bothered.

Still, here it is 5:30 and I've yet to get an e-mail or a phone call letting me know that I've won. This is getting very disturbing. What if they don't pick my name? What the hell are those other ne'er-do-wells going to do with the thing? Sell it on eBay? Give it to their three year old grandson who'll crash into it with toy firetrucks? Screw that. C'mon folks - give it to someone who'll get good use out of it. Me Me Me Me Me.

Some of you are asking, "Why does he want to win an iPod? Doesn't he already have one?" The answer is yes, I do - but it's now both outdated and insufficient. The outdated I don't mind so much - the thing still works after all - but it only holds 10 gigabytes worth of MP3 files, which isn't even half my CD collection. I know, I'm not garnering much sympathy..... from any of you, but look at it this way. If I were to win this raffle, I'd have an extra iPod and nothing to do with it. I might as well... oh, I don't know... give it away to someone deserving, wouldn't you say? Like someone who reads this blog. Maybe even you. So there - you should all be rooting for me.

In the meantime, because my outdated and insufficient iPod has run out of battery charge, I'm forced to listen to an old-fashioned CD. Dude, my life just SUCKS right now..... Anyway, the CD in question is over there to the right, downloadable track and all. Yes, I know when I bought this CD several months ago I promised a review of it...... but how the hell do you write a serious review of a disc which features Dennis Hopper providing narration for a track called 'Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head?' It's good? Well... yeah. It's good. Take a listen. (Incidentally, the track I made available for download features (very) background vocals by Neneh Cherry. Remember Neneh Cherry? "Looking good! Hanging with a wild bunch! Lookin' good in a Buffalo Stance!" Was there a more ridiculous song than 'Buffalo Stance?' And can anyone, even now, tell me what the hell a Buffalo Stance is? *sigh*) Anyway, enjoy.... and keep your fingers crossed.

(Sidenote: If there's anyone out there who subscribes to Rhapsody, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, or both and would care to share their thoughts about either service in the comments, I'd appreciate it. I'm looking to see how much the two differ, and specifically, which has the better catalog. Gracias.)