Sunday, September 5, 2010

Apps n' Such












(To view this cartoon large, poke it with your pointer thing)

Bizarro is brought to you today by
The Thumbs of Giants.

I have one of these high-falutin' iPhones, but it isn't the latest one. I think it's about two versions back. Maybe the iPhone 3 or 4, I'm not sure. I like all the apps but I can't say that I really make the best use of them. I'm not much of a techno-geek, so I don't really know how much is available or have the time to fool with it. Coming up with new ones for this cartoon was a lot of fun, however.

If you have an iPhone, the most important thing to remember is that Bizarro has an app that feeds your phone a new cartoon every day, the same one that's in newspapers worldwide. It also has a year's worth of searchable archive and links to my website and this blog. All this for about $2 or $3 a year. What? A year's worth of creativity and sweat for the price of a single beer in a bar? Yes, it's absurd, I know.

I don't control the business decisions about such things but I'm told if the iPhone app does well, they'll expand to other platforms like Droid.

And now to the hip-hop. I know that a lot of you like the hip-hop but I can't tolerate it. Even a few seconds of it on a commercial drives me nuts. The problem is that I love music and by definition, hip-hop is non-musical. Sure, every now and then a singer chimes in with a nice chorus but the defining characteristic of it is that it is someone shouting angry rhymes to a simple electronic rhythm. Maybe it is supposed to be more about the lyrics than the presentation, but it strikes out with me on that front, too. I'm just not that interested in the sexual habits and desires of others.

I'm not as much of an old fogy as I sound here. I listen to new music all the time, usually the stuff I think they call "alternative rock," but there are a few entire categories that don't resonate with me. Another would be the modern popular country sound, whatever they call that. The stuff people like Kenny Chesney do. Also heavy metal is a problem for me. Never liked any of it, even when I was an angst-ridden teenage boy, which is the prime audience. And disco. And anything on those stations they usually bill as being "light rock" that play a lot of Eagles, and the romantic pop stations that play a lot of Christina Aguilera or whoever.

Come to think of it, it would be quicker to mention the genres I do like. I guess I'm pretty picky about music.



20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such spent 1.99 to buy your app! That way, I hope you get some $$ benefit and I get the enjoyment of your humor whenever I want it!
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I also HATE Rap! Even the mere faint sound of it for seconds and I can't take it! Most of my friends do and they drive me crazy, especially since the don't know any music existed before the 80's..ugh. I'm big on classic rock/alternative/blues/jazz/soul/ but do like heavy metal too though! Metallica, come on!

Anonymous said...

It's a shame you haven't found a single hip hop song you enjoy. Keep in mind, commercials and TV samples are chosen to appeal to the lowest of common denominators.(The feces flinging "Maxim Magazine" caveman demographic) Hip hop is like porn. There's something for everyone these days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJeC99QO8A

jeff said...

i completely understand your point about hippity hop and i agree but just to let you know there is some hip hop with good lyrics and there's a lot of instrumental music that would still fall into the hip hop category... I know yr super busy and everything but if you get time you should check out some of the people on the label "anticon" OR you could check out my music which doesn't really have anything to do with hip hop at all at jeffhayesmusic.com ;)
...couldn't resist

Allen Hare said...

Love the iPhone 5 cartoon! Printed off several copies for the bulletin board at work, and other places I frequent. Seems like I'm the last person without one these days. I want one, just cant justify the expense right now...

Aurelia said...

Does Bizarro have an app that works on two cans connected by a piece of string? If so, sign me up! Also, if you have a Walkman, I can make you a mixed tape that'll have you reconsidering your thoughts on Disco. (Seriously.)

Unknown said...

I totally agree with you on rap. It's just some guy yelling about girls or money or drugs or cars or whatever, and there's no music. I think that in its best form, it could be considered art, but it's not music. There are a couple of "songs" I don't hate, but most of the popular rappers sound awful to my ears.

It's funny though how you ask someone "What kind of music do you like?" and they say "All kinds, basically." Then you follow up with disco and country and it turns out they don't actually like all kinds. lol.

Anonymous said...

Yeah there is definitely some DAM groovy hip hop(J5, Deltron etc...) its too bad all these artists get jumbled into one genre when you have genres like electronic music who have*(like someone made an analogy about pron) something for everyone. Yet with "hip-hop" everyone thinks its just "RAP". Yeah there was different music in the 80s; however, the sugar hill gang was prevalent in the 80's... as was public enemy, and a host of other hip hop pioneers. Granted, I love ALL music, and being a musician definitely helps. But to say that it requires no talent to perform any style of music is absurd at best. Expand your mind past 50cent, master p, lil' bow who? *(if you want a proper introduction to the world of hip hop, check out deltron 30/30, no expletives and no "sexual habits" all 1 story from start to finish)... watch out cuz you might catch a virus that'll revert your tech back to papyrus!

Mr. Brice said...

As they used to say: Rap is crap with a 'c'.

Do you know Eels? Somehow, I think you'd like them.

edjusted said...

Wish you would've mentioned what kind of pie you get on the iphone though. If you can't get pecan pie, I'll probably stick to my current iphone.

Piraro said...

@Anonymous...I listened to Deltron and J5 and you're right, these are much more interesting versions of hip-hop than what I hear blasting from the cars in my 'hood. I can certainly appreciate them, although I have to admit that the practice of talking in rhyme instead of singing ruins it for me every time. I don't even like it when traditional rock musicians suddenly "speak" a verse in a song. It ruins it somehow, just my own personal peeve.
While listening to those two bands, I came across The Mighty Underdogs, who also have a far more interesting sound than I knew existed in the hip-hop world. Still not crazy about the ryhme talking, though.
Thanks for the education.

Piraro said...

@edjusted...funniest comment in the past six months. Thanks for the smile.

ojeano said...

Never heard of "editors" before. Trying them on pandora. Remind me of the 80's and REM and the Cure. A little droney, not sure I'll last. Find hip hop impossible, too. Not sure why I'm writing like Tonto.

ojeano said...

PS: Maybe you will dig this original rap artist, Dan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNq8hRwCLBQ

Michael Lagace said...

Dan, the genre you are describing (angry, etc) is rap, and not hip hop. Not to get on a semantic ramble, but the basic rule is that rap is a paycheck, hip hop is a lifestyle. Plenty of good hip hop out there, such as The Roots, who even use the same instruments as alt. rockers!

Love what you do, sir, especially for animal rights!

Geosomin said...

That photo of Hasselhoff made me laugh so hard I spit out my coffee.

He hee :) Thanks.

Arab dance said...

I phones are really nice and now when we can access everything through it so its always good to have one as one can entertain himself at any time and can learn many things through it: Arab dance

Fancy Dress Costumes said...

@Geosomin

Haha, me too! Well worth it for the laugh, thank you hoff...for everything :)

Double Your Dating said...

I totally agree with you on rap. It's just some guy yelling about girls or money or drugs or cars or whatever, and there's no music. I think that in its best form, it could be considered art, but it's not music. There are a couple of "songs" I don't hate, but most of the popular rappers sound awful to my ears. It's funny though how you ask someone "What kind of music do you like?" and they say "All kinds, basically." Then you follow up with disco and country and it turns out they don't actually like all kinds. lol.

Jodie said...

Waiting for an Android platform app for my T-Mobile mytouch phone. It's like an iPhone but with less expensive service from T-Mobile. I like it but several apps aren't available on it that are popular on the iPhone.