The tooth is still bothering me. Actually, it feels more painful than it did before the dental work, but I’m not saying much of anything. My teeth are sensitive enough that even a professional cleaning can leave them aching for a day or two. Chances are it may be the swelling or the second operation will take care of it. Until then, I just about scream anytime anything two degrees hotter or colder than room temperature makes contact with the tooth. Lukewarm coffee anyone?

Anyhow, now she’s working on a degree at forensics in New York. I’m waiting for the Christmas photo cards that will show her gleefully smiling over an open chest cavity, wishing us peace on earth while she pulls lead slugs from a Mafia stoolie.

Oh, the reason she called? She got to work early and was locked out of her office. In Brooklyn. I take particular delight in getting calls from out of the blue like this.

The second is storage. No longer will you need to lug a backpack of CDs around (only if you want to, you masochist you). MP3 players like the iPod can store in excess of 4,000 songs on a single device. I’d have trouble coming up with 400 songs I’d like to hear right now, let alone 4,000. And these songs can be heard anywhere. Listen at home through the computer or piped through your stereo. Listen to it while driving. Listen while on the Stairmaster, working off that second helping of sausage stuffing. I’m sure they’ll eventually make a waterproof version for those who need to hear the Rolling Stones while scuba diving.

And the device can play in any order. Go ahead, put Pavarotti next to DMX. Eminem and Wayne Newton can peacefully coexist. Compare covers of Morrisey’s "How Soon Is Now" with the original. It’s your ears, listen how you want to. CD’s, even burned mixes, limit you to the order they’re in, save the occasional hit on the Shuffle button. I made the mistake of putting the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" on a bunch of mixes, only to find it on the radio about every seven minutes. I’ve had enough of hearing Mr. White whine about going to Wichita. Fine, go to Topeka. Or Boise. Just get out of my speakers.

The crux of the problem with this new music buying format is the format itself. The entire music industry is based on record sales. Musicians are paid by the amount of records they sell. Reviews, both good and bad, are based on the entire album, not a few key songs. A band’s popularity and newsworthiness stems from how many people know them through a combination of media hype and record sales. A local band member who assaults a fan would barely get mention in the town police blotter. Someone sues Marilyn Manson for sneezing on them and suddenly Peter Jennings is weighing in on the situation.

When the RIAA started going after file swapping services, they were primarily concerned with getting the musicians their fair share of the profits. A good idea at first, but it’s kind of like getting rid of a swarm of bees by hitting the hive with a stick. Illegal file sharing has been around almost since ENIAC and it’s not going to go away. Stem the tide if you like, but you can always expect some attrition. By allowing legal music downloads, I think the music industry only made it worse for themselves. How do you judge record sales when everyone only buys a pittance of the songs on that record? Does Rolling Stone start discussing Ms. Aguilera’s new single instead of the whole album? And what happens to the brick-and-mortar stores? Will they be reduced to a select few for those who prefer holding shiny expensive plastic in their hands? Or will they morph into audio ATMs, just slip in your credit card and download directly to your player? (Hey, that’s a good idea…)

All I know is that, outside of a few high quality recordings of jazz and blues music, I’d rather have my music in electronic format on an iPod or something similar. Are you reading this, Santa?