Commute Me

crowded streetcar

The streetcar gets really full quickly. To make things worse today, there was a crew of 4-5 dooooods filming with a boom mic and everything. I know I got a lot of camera time, but they didn’t ask permission, which bothers me a little. At least be courteous to let people know why you are shoving a camera in their face.

During my daily 2+ hours on transit, I cope with a good set of inner-ear headphones that are great at blocking out all ambient sounds. Babies, loud cellphone talkers, and crazy people who love to talk are all blocked out by a podcast, NPR, or some good old fashion tunes. I get a kick out of listening to depressing music on the trains or bus while looking around at people. It makes it feel like everyone is having a terrible life, which gives me a little boost. I know, pretty F’ed up. But if I can’t be honest to all you strangers in internet land, than what chance do we have?

8 Comments so far

  1. Dave (unregistered) on November 28th, 2007 @ 7:13 pm

    I <3 noise-cancelling earphones. I also ride mass transit a lot and I couldn’t get by without those puppies.


  2. Steve (unregistered) on November 28th, 2007 @ 10:02 pm

    Isn’t there a state law against audio recording without explicit consent? I seem to recall that video is legal, audio is not….

    Of course some smart ass is going ask if you got permission from these people to post their photo on the Internet. But it’s not gonna be me!


  3. eavesdropper (unregistered) on November 28th, 2007 @ 11:12 pm

    If it’s a public place, as rapid transit is, you need no permission to take pictures of people. For audio, the person needs to know the recording is happening. With a big boom mic, people obviously knew.

    If the mic was hidden, then you might have a case.


  4. Peter (unregistered) on November 28th, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
  5. hhw (unregistered) on November 29th, 2007 @ 8:09 am

    What brand of earphones, please? I’ve got some crappy barely-noise-cancelling ones, and some no-noise-cancelling-at-all ear buds, and I’m seeking something better for my daily 2+ hours on the bus.


  6. brewcaster (unregistered) on November 29th, 2007 @ 8:15 am

    Well, I am not using noise canceling gear. I find them too expensive for something that I am going to break with daily use.

    What I use and recommend are the inner ear types. The ones that go into the ear canal and seal off the ear with “rubber” type gaskets.

    Mine in particular are sony headphones that came with my cellphone(also my mp3 player)I recommed reading lots of reviews and take note of any mentions of their ability to block out noise.

    Or if you are rich… Bose or Shure, make great stuff.


  7. McAngryPants (unregistered) on November 29th, 2007 @ 9:50 am

    I’m a big fan of Shure E3c earplugs…
    http://www.shure.com/PersonalAudio/Products/Earphones/ESeries/us_pa_E3c_content

    As I was riding my bike up Interstate last night I looked long and hard at the Max train whizzing past me. All those fawkers dry and warm. grrr…

    oh…off topic. sorry. too much coffee


  8. Mary Sue (unregistered) on November 29th, 2007 @ 2:41 pm

    See that guy in the way back with the brown hat? I’m two people behind him!



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