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Show Friday, 28, April 2006 DAILY, HERALD Civil unions hit same - Snags as weddings Technology’S making a tangible difference in how wecollect EAR MISS MANNERS — Mydaughteris a GlennLovell lesbian and she and her partner are nowengaged and wouldlike to plana civil % To collect or not to collect? union ceremony. But in order to plan the reception, we need to know approximately how Is it better to surround your- self with a shrine-ike wall of CDs and DVDs,or free up that bookcase and home-entertainmentcenter with a virtual manyguests will be attend. ing, supplying a minimumbut making surethat the maxi. mumnumber oj guests could “collection”that exists digitally Judith Martin be accommodated. Theproblemis, most of theguests will need (o drive Miss Manners -about four hours to where the ceremony will be held. Short of calling all those that would drive? The debate heated up again when Applerolled outits new iPod Hi-Fi speake* system, which can connect toa TV and beinvitedto see if they would evenconsider such anover- not say everything theythink to find this information. What others todo so. This is whypolite people do and sensible people do not urge night trip. I'mnot sure how we needto knowis if they support the couple enough to go to a ceremony and would — At one of our favoritebis- coupleof days to attend. We tros, | encountered a puzzling situation. My meal included a DEAR MISS MANNERS they beable to travel for a pasta dish with a creamsauce andshrimp: I was surprisedto find that the shrimp in my dish would be covering at least a portion of the hotel costs for gues s. However, there would be someexpenseinvolved. Do youhaveany: sugges- still had their tails attached. HowwasI to consumethe shrimp without eating thetails tions on how this information could be gathered — oniPod or compu.er hard as well? I had at my disposal twodinner forks, a very large nout putting people in dn awkward steak knife and a soup spoon. situation? Wehave about 18 months to plan I was quitesure I needed some other utensil, but I wasn't sure what it wouldbe, nor how.1 would useit once it arrived. GENTLE READER — Yes: Suffer likeall other hosts by issuing. invitationsat the proper What would have been my proper courseof action? time, waiting anxiously for rer lies and extr ae overdue wers throughpolite naging. You may tell people the date now, which would enable those who want to attend to plan other audio sources. With the newdocking de- vice, Apple CEOSteveJobs red early adopters, your “music is not on CDs in your cabinet. It’s on your iPod.” Theidea of not having a tangible musiccollection — be it CD,cassette or vinyl album — hasrattled someardentcollectors. They arguethat without something to touch and discuss, youforfeit something fundamental “We're a culture of pack rats, and very much into own- ing in physical ways,” said Sean Wargo of the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington, Va. “Weprefer to interact with our machines the waywe interact with each cues as well.” makes usfeel moresecure.” fuzzy rush somecall nostalgia. “permanency " has changed. “Asa culture, we romanticize objects, give them mean- the medium in hand,” says treats online addictions. “These. other — bysight and touch.It But the convenience of GENTLE READER — There 1s nothingin that randomas- downloading music has changedall that, Wargoadds. anyone inthe kitchen who will andportability now trumps that sense of well-being that sortmentof flatware that will be of help. Neither is there ahead, but realizethat a binding be, Miss Mannersgathers. She commitment exists only when the actual invitation is accepted. recommends prodding restaurants out of this nasty habit by Probing people about wheth- sendingthedish back,pointing er they “supportthe couple” is a disastrous idea. You will out that youare not planning to embarrass people whojustplain and shake off the cream sauce. For a conflict-free edd senda long,self-addressed, stampedenvelope and $2 to that couldsurvive a referendum Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092 and you'll receive “Miss Manners On from the prospective guests. If you could extract the thoughts of genuine well-wishers. you wouldfind suchnotionsfloating Proper Wedding Planning.” E-mail your etiquette aroundas, “With her looks, you questions to Miss Manners (who is distraught that she would havethoughtshe could do better” and “I supposeheis . cannot reply personally) at MissManners@unitedmedia. after the n joney" and “I give it Howyousquirrel awe that new album by Mariah Carey or Death Cab for Cutie drive — says a lot about your personality and could affect shake those who disapproveout condemnedif they do not, and comesfromholding a prized CDoralbum. — on bedroom shelf or hard as you would at a buffettable, of any polite silence they have mustered. There is no wedding For many consumers, speed pick the shrimp up by thetails, don't want to make theeffort into thinking that they will be- your emotionalwell-being, say sy chologists. Thecollector whocanreachout and touch his collection may be happier in the long run. “All that computer collecting takesits toll — you're forfeiting face-to-face interaction with people who share your passion,” says I. David Marcus, a SanJose, Calif.. psychologist who specializes in online behavior. “And that means you don’t learn howto readsocial sened com File photo Apple CEO SteveJobs is making it possible to store an entire CD or DVDcollectiondigitally. =-s=7 Or, enjoy that warm-and- “The MP3 andiPod guys are moreinto accessibility, having Bri- an Hartsell, 50, who runs San Jose's Analog Room, which sells turntables and LPs: “The people who comeinto my store are into soundquality and nos- cases and racksfor collections are preparingfor a changein the marketplace. Indeed, those whocollect CDs and viny! LPs areless into convenience thansoundqual- ity. CDs and LPs whenripped and compressed (by 50 to 60 percent) for audiofiles lose + important data and, consequently, fidelity. “The need to collect hasn’t gone away— it’s just changed from thetactile to the virtual,” says Marcus, whocollected comic books and baseball cards as a kid. “Now, instead of CDs, people arecollecting downloads and playlists.” Vocal Point WEDNESDAY AND. THURSDAY, MAY 3 AND 4 7:30 BM. » PROVO TABERNACLE womanfor Crate & Barrel. “Our springline has lots of media-storage boxes for CDs and DVDs.” Marcel Manzardo, the Los a backup CD. The need to collect may even be stronger now, psychologists surmise, because we'reall so anxious about the world situation and have so much more informationto process. Butinsteadof sitting alone and staring at a display screen, weshould be sharingourcol- lections withfriends. “Something has beenlost Marcuss ‘ou don't invite people to your house and show them your online playlist.” Maybe so,butdigital storage is the future, according to the ConsumerElectronics Associa- Gatos, Calif., designerof the tion. “It's becominga challenge to manageall of urdigital con- DiscSox storage sleeve, which takesupless space than the tent — photos, homevideos, DVDs, music,” Wargo says. to collecting “it's a whole new control digital content from “BesidesiPods, the answeris conventionaljewelbox. acknowledgesthat whenit comes media serversthat allowus to “It was very depressing for room to room.” the 20th Century Fox theme anda version of the THX sound demonstration in theaters, andthen performMichael around BYU campus and three yearslater was made part of the university's School of Mu- knowing that they wouldn’t be is Born,”anoriginal composi- concerts at BYU every fall and going may havehelpedrelieve Buble’s version of the Spidermantheme. They'll sing “He tionbya previous VocalPoint someof the pressure. member, and close with Benny spring, and performsat several otherlocal events (such asFirst “That probably helped us win, Goodman's “Sing, Sing, Sing.” “We justdrill it over and over actually, because I remember Night) throughoutthe year. that performance wewerejust until we feel like we have it do so well the year before was that we were so nervous. We togethera memberofthe alumni chapter. “T've seenevery groupper- really relaxed,” Leemansaid “One of the reasons we didn't said, “and thisis probably the best group. They're incred- said, ‘Let’s just goout and have fun,’ and really think that relaxedattitude helped us win.” But he would haveliked to iblytight and veryinnovative compete in thefinals, and he said it's a big deal that Vocal iarfor the group, havingalso beeninvited in 2002 and 2004 after qualifying in the semifinal round. But in those two years, kovsky’s “1812 Overture” (featuring real cannons!) and more. tion,” said Bette Kahn, spokes- frustrating nottobe ableto go. height this year.” Thepath to thefinals is famil- in Nine Minutes (More or Lezs), — they've just added acollec- lect the old-fashioned w evenif they do download, want all ofus, I can tell you,” Leeman said. On theother hand, he said They've sort of reached anew nen Percussion March.” Farago’s “Beethoven's Nine Symphonies rid of their other collections 2002 group,and hesaid it was Continued from B1 jan enjoy Rosenhaus “Oursenseis that people with iPods haven't gotten ballgame” and more young Andthe very definition of fewyears, and now is anactive Cartoons [and Other Funny Stuff] it, you download another.” Retailers whospecialize in their youth.” After graduating, Ahlander re- Bryce Rytting, condyctor happensif I loseit?’ If youlose and the Kinks reminds them of turnedto direct the group for a VALLEY newcollectorsjust do it differently: There's no fear of “What talgia. Listening to the Beatles sic. The group gives full-length UTAH ingandvalue,” observesS vain Boies, a psychologist who people are going the download route. His clients, he says, col- the competition washeld on a Sunday, and BYU hasa policy againstallowingits athletic and performing groupsto participate in Sundayactivities. “We knewgoingin that, if we won, we wouldn't be able to go,” said JamesStevens, who sanginthe groupin 2002 and nowdirects Vocal Point. “We actually didn't knowthere was a university policy againstit at As bad luck would have it, ICCA Executive Director AmandaGrishsaid thefinals have beenheld on a Saturday night every year except the two years Vocal Point wonits region, She said the competition has to happen during thelast weekofApril, and in those two yearsthe venue wasn't avail- able on that Saturdaynight, so the competition was moved to Sunday. In the competition, Vocal Point has 12‘minutes to impress the time. We just decided not to go on our own.” Alex Leemanwasalsoin the Point hasfinally beenable to accept theinvitation. judges chosen from professional a capella groupslike the King’s Singers and Rockapella. Stevens said they will open with right,” Stevens said about the competition set. “Wealso put full two-hour con- cert, so we've only had a few weeks topolish for the competition. Other groups get to work me four songs for 10 0 I thinkthat’s to Vo- At the same time,hesaid, having ail those other performanceshelps the grouptojell arid makes them strongertogether,soit's notall bad. But he said it takesa lot of work — to the tune of about 20 hours a week, on top of the group mem- bers being full-time students — to getallthat done. Ahlandersaid he, Boyce and a handfulof other Vocal Point alumni are going to New York City to watch the group compete. He’s happywith the exposure, becausehe said he’d like to see the group become an Official touring group for BYU. “I'd love to see them represent the university on a broader basis,” Ahlandersaid. “They do a lot of good whenthey're out.” Liatisste \ AT THE DOOR $5 PER PERSON,$15 PER FAMILY Selling my home is not a do-it-yourself project DailysHerald Utah County Association of REALTORS® www.ucaor.com fact Partai cae &% ARTISTIC Askif your agentis a REALTOR® Presented bythe IR BATH& KITCHEN REFINISHING INC. 1-888-707-9297 www artisticbathrefinishings.com Refinish Any Tub for $275 uaa) Refinish Tub & Tile for $550 D=—z Over20 Years of Experience ‘118 East “Main * Lehi 768-9514 INTEGRITY Yomped It’s what every person LOSER Jewelers Only In CononTass Sau ARE °= (eel) 373-1000 22300 University Ph iProvo Friday should expect. It’s what every person receives at Wing. |