LIFE IN A BOX (epilogue)

I called the lady whose computer I garbage picked the other day. I found her number from her files and gave a call last night to mention that I had the computer and wanted to know if it was alright to wipe the files. I left a message on a machine.

This morning I got a phone call from beyond the grave! Turns out the 77 year old woman wasn't dead at all, but simply upgraded her computer. Her files have been transferred over and I was free to clean the computer. She wished me well, hoped my son enjoyed the computer, and invited me to see the old ladies' dance troupe at the library on Tuesday nights!

I no longer feel a sense of protectiveness for the iMac and am ready to re-install the system software and give it a brand new life! Its previous owner was a 77 year old lady and its new one will be a 3 year old boy! If iMacs write memoirs, this one will be interesting!

LIFE IN A BOX

I was driving down a side street yesterday and passed a house with some boxes of garbage at the curb. As I drove by, I noticed the shape and color of one of the pieces of trash resembled an old iMac. Being a huge Apple Computer buff and collector of old Apple Computers, I quickly turned back to see that, yes, someone had thrown out a seemingly intact Bondi Blue iMac. They had also tossed a crummy old scanner and a lousy old printer. I snatched the iMac and put it in my trunk. I brought it back to work to see if it would...well...work! I booted it up and it worked! It had some software on it and a whole bunch of Microsoft Word documents.

I started to feel a little weird about this. Maybe the people didn't mean to throw this out. I mean, a working computer jammed with files? I kept telling myself that it was left on the curb and therefore was free! Another part of my brain was imagining some kid getting ready to move out of the house, coming out of the front door with another pile of stuff for the moving van, going, "Where the hell's my iMac??" After work, I drove back down the street and saw all the boxes were gone. I don't even remember exactly which house it was.

I decided the iMac was mine and voyeuristically started rummaging through the files. Not to find any information to steal or credit card numbers or anything, but just as a peek into someone else's life. In doing so, I discoverd that the previous owner was an 80-ish year old woman who co-owns a business with her children. She used to be a Rockette and was Vice-President of a Rockette alumni association. She also gave dance classes to older folks. There were other files pertaining to business affairs and personal ones as well. Family problems, medical problems and email jokes abound in this thing. I also found a couple of files regarding wills and inheritences and funeral plans. I'm guessing the woman was getting old and none too healthy and was planning for her demise and is now dead. I suspect her children threw out this old (6 years old!) computer rather than try to sell it on Ebay or whatever.

I had every intention of wiping this computer's hard drive clean and letting my son use it. I am now finding it hard to imagine erasing this woman's life from the iMac. It's as if her soul is trapped inside this blue box. (I mean that metaphorically; I don't belive in souls as literal things.)

I found this woman's name, email address and phone number and I'm planning to call, just to make sure it's cool to erase the stuff. Even if it is and I end up keeping the computer, I think I'm going to back up all the files to a CD and keep it in storage. It's weird, but I just don't feel comfortable having all this woman's stuff completely wiped off the face of history.

Please keep this story in mind when you are getting rid of your computer. I am a nice guy, but imagine all this info in the hands of someone who wanted to be nasty or wanted to take advantage. I know this woman's name, family and friends, medical history, and everything else. Erase your hard drive or smash the computer when you throw it out, unless you don't mind people reading your stuff.

WOODSTOCK 05

Back in High School I was a huge fan of the entire concept of Woodstock 1969. I loved 90% of the soundtrack and watched the movie on PBS every time they aired it, even after I bought it on VHS. The original concert was actually a "3-day music and arts fair" to celebrate peace, music and love. about 500,000 people gathered for 72 hours or so and there was no major violence of any kind. The concert became admission-free a few hours in and everybody helped each other coped with shortages of food and facilities. It was a mess but it was beautiful. When the 1994 concert happened, I felt both excited and sickened. I felt that I might finally have a chance to got to Woodstock! But it became apparent that this was a "Woodstock Music and Arts Fair" in name only. It was just a big concert whose goal was the make a lot of money. The 1999 concert was just a disgrace. A bunch of kids paying $150 to sit on an old airforce base listening to Nine Inch Nails, while perhaps fun, is not "Woodstock." I see the video from that concert and I see the kids covered in mud yelling at the kids not covered in mud. They actually went out of their way to create animosity. They were all gathered together for one purpose, but they couldn't be happy unless there was something to fight about. On top of that, there were several reported rapes and major vandalism. It proved that kids today suck and have no sense of a global community. If Woodstock 1969 helped encourage the country and bring it closer to peace, Woodstock 99 actively helped bring it closer to utter chaos.

But that's not the reason I'm blogging this. I just got carried away. Anyway...

So, I've been wondering who SHOULD be performing in a current version of Woodstock. That is, if I were to organize it myself, who would I invite to perform? I like Nine Inch Nails and Metallica, but I don't think they exude the spirit of Woodstock. There would be no Gangsta Rap because A) I hate it and B) it certainly doesn't promote a way of thinking that I want to encourage. On the other hand, I don't want to only invite bands that I like, personally. I also wouldn't want to invite all the old performers, like Ritchie Havens or Arlo Guthrie, because they're just not relevent anymore. With those qualifications in mind, I've come across the following list of performers that I think I'd like to see at my own personally prepared Woodstock 2005:

-Laurie Anderson (Artistic, socially important music)
-Green Day (Rock and Roll with something to say)
-U2 (See Green Day) (Please be advised that I don't really like U2 but I think they'd be perfect for Woodstock 05)
-Melissa Etheridge (I like her less and less as she puts out albums, but I still have loads of respect for her and she's still excellent live)
-Neil Young (This guy still amazes me. He's been constantly challenging himself with new kinds of music and continues to write socially and politically important music, and has done so for 30 years+)
-Eric Clapton (Another legend who's still going. Although I think he's starting a rapid decline into lameness. I have to believe he's still got some spark, however)
-Tom Petty (Not quite our generation's Bob Dylan, but getting there as he gets older)
-Oasis (I think their music is perfect for a huge summer outdoor concert)
-Ween (Something fun and different, I think it's important to expose the public to unusual stuff)
-Eels (Like Ween with a more serious edge)
-Steve Vai (I respect him more than I like him, but he's an amazing guitar player with a strong spiritual side and a hippie spirit)
-Andrew WK ( A controversial pick, I know. He's loud and obnoxious, but he's overall optomistic and fun)
-The Go-Nuts (One of my favorite weird obscure bands. They play 50's-style Rock and Roll but take on the persona of a group of costumed superheroes who keep the world safe for sugary snacks. They would totally make the audience go "Huh?", like Sha Na Na must've done 30 years ago!
-Beck (another guy I respect more than like, but a great soul)

So that's it. I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it for longer, but this is my list. FYI, the original concert's list can be found HERE

Please leave me comments about this. I'm sure I'm missing great acts and I'm sure you wanna yell at me for some of my picks. Let's hear 'em!