Daily Archives: June 18, 2013

Not gonna work

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AT&T to Introduce Solar-Powered Charging Stations. (New York Times)

Starting Tuesday, 25 solar-powered charging stations will sprout in parks, beaches and other outdoor spaces in the five boroughs, part of a pilot project from the wireless provider in partnership with the city. The stations — 12.5-foot steel poles with three petal-shaped solar panels fanning out on top — can accommodate up to six devices at a time regardless of wireless carrier, with dedicated ports for iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys and standard USB charging cables.

A very cool idea. But seriously, folks . . .

Who’s going to stand around this charger cocktail table in the middle of the beach at Coney Island for half an hour waiting to get a 30 percent charge on his iPhone? Or even worse . . . standing around for two hours in Bryant Park waiting for a full charge?

I suppose we could leave our phones there and go for a cup of . . . no we can’t. This is New York. Chances of finding the iPhone where you left it are about as good as the Mets coming back to win the World Series this year.

Not to mention what’s going to happen when a hundred people want to use the same recharge stand. This isn’t London; we don’t queue up in an orderly manner.

I don’t have high hopes for this one.

Messing with the masters

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You don’t mess with the master. Don’t even think about singing “Respect.” Aretha did it, and you’ll only do it worse. “My Girl”? Forget about it. The Temptations did it; your effort won’t compare. “Over the Rainbow”? Not even The Genius himself, Ray Charles, could match Judy Garland.

But once in a while, someone pulls it off. Ray gave us a perfect song, “Georgia on My Mind.” Put it on a loop. Let it play forever. But Willie Nelson’s version is worthy of comparison. Sometimes, if you’re brilliant — and Willie is brilliant — you can take a perfect song and still make it yours.

Last night, on “The Voice,” the four judges — Shakira, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Usher — tackled Lennon-McCartney’s “A Little Help From My Friends.”

And they killed it. Hit it right out of the park.

But here’s what struck me . . .

“A Little Help From My Friends” is a pop song, a cute little ditty from the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Album.

It’s a wonderful song, from possibly the greatest album of all time. But it’s not the defining version of the song. The defining version, the one against which you match all challengers, was done by Joe Cocker.

The first time we heard Cocker’s version, it spun our heads around. Cocker took on the master, and he slayed him. THIS was how it should be done. Cocker took a song from Sgt. Pepper’s and he made it his. If you want to mess with the master, you mess with Cocker — not the Beatles — on this one.

So kudos to the Voice judges for doing it right, and kudos to Joe Cocker for showing us all how a great song by the greatest group of all time can be done even greater.

And happy 71st birthday to Paul McCartney. Only wish John and George were around to help you celebrate.

Paul+McCartney