America & Fountains of Wayne

I've been an America fan since I was a kid at summer camp. It's been over the last few years that I've gotten back into them. These guys do 100 shows a year and keep putting out goood records. Their most recent studio release, Here & Now, was produced by Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha and Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, and sounds suprisingly less like an album by a classic rock group getting ready to celebrate their 40th anniversary, and more like an indie pop band releasing their sophomore effort. The album includes a second live disc of greatest hits, which is actually the disc that got me reinvigorated as a fan. It's not the "speed-through-the-oldies" drudge many of these live-hits dics turn out to be: it's a well-produced set that showcases the trademark voices of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell on some of their best songs.

When I heard they were playing the Nokia Theater in NYC, I was in. Then I found out they were playing the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ - WITH Fountains of Wayne - the deal was sealed. Fountains of Wayne did an all-acoustic set (with drums) and played some new stuff, as well as a lot from Welcome Interstate Managers and Traffic and Weather. One highlight was an updated version of Stacy's Mom, which reminded me of Aztec Camera's version of Jump.

America was one of the most cordial, genuine and appreciative bands I've ever seen, in addition to sounding fantastic. These guys have been best friends since high school, and seem to be as excited about their lives and careers as their fans. They played plenty of hits, stuck in some deep cuts, and a couple of covers ("California Dreamin'" and "Eleanor Rigby"), and they told great stores about working with George Martin, and how some of their hits came to be. At the end of the show they sat out back and signed autographs for everyone that wanted them. These guys don't need the money, and with this final gesture, they made it clear how much they value their fans.

America's official site Fountains of Wayne Count Basie Theater

Mandy Moore IS Amanda Leigh

I was a fan of Mandy Moore's Coverage album, with her spin on songs by artists ranging from Cat Stevens to XTC to The Waterboys. I also liked her on Entourage, but aside from those two efforts, I'd seen little to distinguish her from the group of pop tarts she came up with (Britney, Christina, Jessica). I made a minor effort to check out some of her other albums, but was never really hooked by anything I heard. She's now managed to un-pop-tart herself. This is partially because she's avoided the trash-tabloid indulgences of her peers, but more importantly, because she's made a good album with some strongly credentialed folks. She married Ryan Adams, and has partnered with indie-popster Mike Viola on her latest, Amanda Leigh. The album isn't quite as Americana as I'd heard, but has its Joni Mitchell moments ("Song About Home"), and its feel-good, pedal-steel-bouncy-pop gems ("Love to Love Me Back"...my personal favorite at the moment). I think part of what draws me to it is the whole "major pop-star slummin' it with the indies" thing - but without it feeling disingenuous. Any way you come at it, Amanda Leigh is worth a listen (or more).

http://twitter.com/TheMandyMoore | mandymoore.com | mikeviola.com

All Your Profiles in One Place with UnHub.com

Unhub.com doesn't try to integrate all your various web profiles into one single interface. It seems like any sites that try that usually fail in my experience. Instead, they offer a clean way to use one URL - in my case, http://unhub.com/bruce, that allows visitors to simply click a nav bar at the top of the page to easily jump between pages. One click takes you from my Facebook profile to my Twitter page, to LinkedIn, to Flickr, etc. I only have two initial complaints. First is that after you sign up, they don't make it obvious what you can do next. You land on a somewhat non-intuitive page with no obvious thing to do next (hint: you need to click on "view bar"). Second, I couldn't find a way to add my own website. You can only choose from the list of sites they offer, which granted, is quite extensive and hits the major sites.

More Spam from Ticketmaster

I bought tickets to a kids concert through Ticketmaster at the end of May. Since then, here's what they've spammed me with:

June 2 - Beyonce concert email

June 4 - Sesame Street email

June 4 - Bruce Springsteen email

June 5 - general email about tickets

June 11 - Bruce Springsteen email

5 emails in 2 weeks. I just don't understand how any company these days can survive with a "we don't give a crap what our customers think, we'll do whatever we want regardless of how many people hate our business practices" attitude. I keep telling myself it's only a matter of time before they're brought down.....hard.....but I keep waiting.

Nathan Water Bottles

I picked up one of these water bottles at Marshall's a few months ago because it looked kind of cool. I found that occasionally, when I flipped the "straw" up it would spurt out water! Not a great feature in a water bottle. Maybe that's why it was at Marshall's. Anyway, I wrote an email to the company and they said that they'd had some issues with some of their tops, and they promptly sent me a replacment. Great customer service, and the bottle works fine now! Check them out at www.nathansports.com.

Agent18 iPhone Case

I found a new iPhone case that I love. It's slim with a nice finish that lets it slide easily in and out of pockets. Also includes a plastic screen guard with a nicer feel than some of the more plastic-y ones I've tried. more from Agent18.com

Is This Email REALLY From My Bank?

I'm probably more skeptical than most when it comes to email messages I get from....well, any company. It seems to me that if someone wants your business, especially a financial institution, they must first and foremost establish infallible confidence. I recently received an email from my bank with mismatched fonts, bad line returns, misaligned tables, etc. It looked like a project for an "Intro to Email Marketing" course. My natural reaction was, if they can't get it together enough to craft a better email, how safe can my account be? Most people these days know to be cautious when having any kind of online interaction with our bank....somehow the banks don't seem to get this. I suggest that when banks need to contact their customers, they do it in a more user-friendly (and safer) way. Here's an example I put together:

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Dear John Smith -

This is a message from Fake Bank.

We've seen some irregular acticity on your credit card ending in 1234. To ensure continued service, please contact us at the phone number or website listed on your card or statement.

Thank you for being a valued customer.

Your friends at Fake Bank



WHY IS THERE NO CONTACT INFO IN THIS EMAIL?
We're concerned about protecting your account and your identity. It's unfortunately relatively easy to create an email that looks like it comes from someone else, but is designed to steal your information. By not sending info-heavy emails loaded with images, fonts, and links, and instead sending to-the-point plain text messages, we hope to communicate with you better, and ultimately ensure the security of your account. We encourage you to contact us via the website or phone number listed on your card or statement. As always, Fake Bank will NEVER call you asking for any personal or account information.


This message was sent to johnsmith@sample.com by Fake Bank, 123 Any Street, Any Town, CA 90210

© 2009 Fake Bank


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