neurological dryer lint

i will preface this with the disclaimer that i am a google fanboy at heart. i adore nearly every product of theirs that i've used (the web accelerator sucked, other than that...).

there's speculation and rumor flying about concerning all of their recent purchases. the IM/VOIP client wasn't that difficult to figure out after they acquired companies that specialized in that stuff. but what's going on now with all the fiber they're buying? some people think they might be creating a nationwide free wireless network, and this morning someone thought they might be building a parallel internet. some of the comments on this article questioned why they'd create a network independent of the one that got them rich... personally i'm hoping for the free wireless thing, that'd be hot.

i feel that a fitting analogy to google right now is michael jackson in the mid- to late-eighties. almost universally adored, producing things that everyone laps up and enjoys. doing really strange and quirky things that get everyone talking.

so... how long til google starts going after small children (allegedly)? marries the daughter of a legendary rock star? will google inevitably become a strange, reclusive billionaire with a monkey? i hope not, i'm trusting them with all of my mail now.

(this is my first stab at becoming a cringely or dvorak-esque tech pundit... probably my last as well)

i feel like God has been telling me to start listening to Wilco. i've been a little bored with the stuff i've been listening to lately and i've been wanting something more meaningful, something that'll evoke a different emotion, something that makes me feel enriched, that speaks to the new part of me that's different from how i was a year or two ago. strangely enough i've seen about a dozen articles on the band in the last few weeks; heard more songs by them in the last few weeks than i ever have in my life; the last two times i've turned on XMPR133, bob edwards has been talking with jeff tweedy, their lead singer (and one musician who isn't afraid of digital music). back in march, wil wheaton, one of my blogging heroes, and someone with whom i share little musical taste, raved about their stuff and since it's been in the back of my head.

thing is - it's folksy, piano-based alt-country, something i have generally avoided in the past. but i'm tired of emocore, of punk rock, blindside, jimmy eat world, fsf, jay-z, the same stuff over and over. maybe i'll give the legendary yankee hotel foxtrot a try.