Pearl Jam 20

Glen Ellen, California


I downloaded and watched Pearl Jam 20, the documentary by Cameron Crowe about the bands first 20 years. Apple TV rocks! I wrote a blog post regarding my time living in Seattle during the grunge explosion. Please read that post by clicking here. It did not disappoint in the least. PJ fans obviously will love the film.  I love a good story, especially captured in a documentary. This is in keeping with my latest theme of odd ducks. My respect for people who may do things a little different. Pearl Jam clearly followed the road less traveled, and still does. The first thing that popped into my head as the credits rolled is this is a band with a lot of heart. Not the fake kind, but true believers in their craft. Kind of in the vain of what I wrote in my last post about Sterling Hayden. Neither Sterling nor Pearl Jam were/are conformists. Not that I advocate

PJ20 Promo Shot. Pearl Jam: Matt Cameron, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard

necessarily how any of the people I write about live, but having a massive population consistently going along with societal flow breeds a boring society. One that is just not exceptional in any way shape or form. People who are in a constant state of protest over every conceivable injustice is fatiguing. But, they are the ones to agitate pushing back against those (me included) who like consistency. 

Apple TV. A Great Addition to Christa

San Rafael Yacht Harbor
San Rafael, California

I added a new gizmo to the boat yesterday, and is worth mentioning. Once again Apple has created a really cool product, and I think it may cause me to cancel my Sirius Sat radio, which I've enjoyed for ages. However, Sirius is still the way to go for cruiser as you need a wi-fi signal for Apple TV to work.

It only costs $99, fits in the palm of your hand and plugs into the back of an HDTV. It picks up the wi-fi signal provided by the yacht harbor. Maybe one of the reasons I'm so jazzes is, I've not had TV aboard the boat for years. With Apple TV I can now get programming and what not.

Here's how it works. With the remote you access the Apple TV interface. For people familiar with iTunes, everything will be easy to understand. Basically you can access everything that iTunes offers and more. So if you want to rent a movie from iTunes, Apple TV streams the movie via wi-fi to the HDTV. I now can access all kinds of things. For example, via my MobileMe account, if I want to view a PowerPoint presentation I created, Apple TV snatches it from my MobileMe account and streams it to the HDTV. In iTunes you toggle the homesharing button and now all of your iTunes content is streamed over your HDTV.

It may not be all that exciting to many people. But this is another salvo in wiping out the cable business. I've read that Google TV is similar to Apple TV, but more sophisticated, and much pricier. For a simple guy like me and for $99 bucks, Apple TV has made life aboard considerably nicer.

Capt Chris