Saturday, September 20, 2008

#371: pandora.

we just recently moved. ergo the lack of posts. well, that and the fact that i have been dreaming left and right lately about the oviatt penthouse. should i call it dreaming? nightmarish is more like it. "$4500 site fee for a sunday? but it includes tables and chairs and linens!..." aka "let me justify it! i swear i can!..."

what am i doing. what am i thinking?! le sigh.

anyways, the point of this post is to introduce those of you who don't know about pandora radio...to, uh, pandora radio. we arrived on thursday to our new apartment with a couple of sleeping bags and suitcases. movers arrive on sunday so we spent most of friday cleaning and lining the kitchen cabinets. while i was breathing in all kinds of fumes from scrubbing bubbles (love this product) and contact paper, the fiance turned on some tunes courtesy the pandora site (yes, we arrived at our new place thursday night and had the cable guy scheduled for friday morning. we are not happy without our internet and tv).

pandora radio asks you to select a song or artist...and then builds a playlist with songs from the same genre...and then streams the music. it's sort of like a radio station, playing the tunes you would most likely want to hear, without commercials. for free. and if a song you don't like comes on, you can ban it...so that it is never again part of your playlist...and songs similar to the song you don't like...are also never played. it's like having a robot music mindreader friend. the more it gets to know your preferences, the more it will more likely play the songs you really like. (did that sentence make sense?)

i dunno. i think it could be a strong contender for the gaining-popularity ipod cocktail hour or reception.

p.s. fiance selected 'timbaland' because he knows i'm always willing to get my dance groove on. even while watching scrubbing bubbles do its magic and lining kitchen cabinets.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine told me about Pandora last year and I've been listening to it ever since, at home and at work. And would you believe my mother discovered it when she was having a small out patient procedure at a doctors office - it was playing throughout the entire office. She asked them about it because typically doctor offices in our area play a local cheesy station for 'soft' music but your concentration to not pay attention to your procedure is always broken by commercials and traffic reports. Sprint and AT&T now have it for their phones - I'm definitely thinking of switching to one of these carriers next year because of Pandora. Yeah I can listen to mp3's on my current phone but unless you're buying music on a regular basis your own music can get stale - I love the Pandora concept.

PurpleLime said...

Wow, that venue is cool! I can see why you're trying to convince yourself it would work. And I <3 Pandora

EBM said...

Oviatt is so nice. I was looking at them also for sat and the price is ridiculous but it looks super nice.

Scuba Princess said...

Hi, I love your blog- I love reading about all your "new finds" and ideas!

I am getting married next month- AT the Oviatt Penthouse! So I totally get why you love the venue. Have you been there in person- or just looked at it online? The pictures dont do it justice to the real thing. I agree the price is steep, so we opted for a weeknight wedding which cut the venue price in half. I chose the month and time for the ceremony based on sunset- because I wanted to get married in the dark- with the breathtaking skyscraper lights on Downtown LA surrounding us. I have looked up alot of other peoples weddings at the oviatt, and I dont really think the pictures come out as nice during the daylight (you can see all the rooftop pipes, etc, in the background instead of the gorgeous night view). I have to say though, we also had a $10,000 budget and now its up to about $25,000 but most of that increase is due to our guest list increasing. If you like the Oviatt, I think you should make an appt and take a look at it. They include alot in the venue fee (chairs, linens, heat lamps, dance floor, cd changer) so maybe that will help you "justify" :) At least that is what helped me!! haha. Good luck!

Linda said...

I found Pandora a few months ago and I love it.

GingerStone said...

I have to disagree with scuba...the Oviatt, unless something has changed in the past year, is dilapidated. You have to go see it for yourself. It was more affordable 1.5 yrs ago is not so much now.
My fiance & I have been wanting to have ours at Cicada downstairs which is ssoooooper gorgeous..but yeah way out of budget for us as well.
Pandora: you may want to test it on big speakers...Apparently streaming music's sound is not good when it is listened from big speakers...

Anonymous said...

too bad pandora isn't available in canada :( only the US. boooo! it sounds so cool.

.reese. said...

I wasn't able to check out myself, but I totally wanted to see what Pacific Electric Lofts ballroom was all about.

http://www.furiousphotographersblog.com/2008/07/pacific-electric-lofts-wedding-photography/

I heard they just raised prices though...why does everyone do that?

Anyways...good luck!!

Mrs. Andi said...

That is a great sounding music system! If nothing else, you may be able to get some great ideas about songs you want to include.

talda said...

i discovered pandora a couple of years ago and liked it...then i kinda forgot about it. haha.

Anonymous said...

Like teana I liked pandora and then stopped using it. I listen to podcasts instead of music these days.

I looked into the local Botanic Gardens because it's gorgeous & I've gone there for years with my family. $30,000.

Did it sink in? $30,000 just for the site rental.
just. for. the. site.
No food, booze, decorations, or flying elephants.

Anonymous said...

I got married at the Oviatt two weeks ago - it is antique, not dilapidated and was truly magical once all the candles and flowers were in place. Email me for pictures and more info on that "site fee" - I can give you some insider bargaining tools.

Anonymous said...

I like Pandora but if you listen to the same "channel" you set up based on that one artist for long enough, it's the same songs over and over. Kind of like regular radio but without commercials. Still cool, though.