My trusty old iPod, which I bought about two and a half years ago, finally started succumbing to the daily drudgery of being carried in my pocket without a case about a month ago.

I waited patiently for MacWorld as it deteriorated further and further, but when no new standalone iPod* was introduced, I could justify waiting no longer.

And so it was, I walked into the shiny shiny Apple store yesterday and walked out significantly lighter of wallet with a shiny shiny new black 80gb 5.5gen iPod.

Yes, I know I’m a trendy schmuck for going with the black, but there’s some trick of the eye that makes video look better on it, so I went for it. Plus: Shiny!

The best news that comes from doubling my music capacity is that I can now carry my entire music collection around with me again, something I haven’t been able to do since I filled the my old iPod up three months after I got it.

I also now have a little free space to try these things the kids are calling “podcasts,” so if anyone has any to recommend (I’m already subscribed to the NPR All Songs Considered one), please do.

Hooray electronics!

*- On the iPhone, I only have two words: Fuck Cingular.

This week my boss is still directing. More 16 hour days on set, and a lot more learning. The TV geek part of me is very happy.

However, the gadget geek part is having a slight panic attack. This week is both the international Consumer Electronics Show and the Macworld San Francisco expo.

Now, I realize not finding out about things AS THEY HAPPEN! is not the end of the world, but seeing all the dueling coverage and seeing the goofy reveals live is pretty damn entertaining, and I’m going to miss about 90% of it this year.

I’ve got several people promising to keep me updated on anything big announced, though I’m fully expecting a couple fakes (“Steve Jobs just announced a personal spacecraft! It’s called the iOrbit and it’s the size of a newt! I totally want one.”).

Luckily, a few companies are releasing stuff at CES today for me to drool over or laugh at tonight.

Speaking of things to laugh at, The L Word starts up their new season tonight. I’d like to say it cannot possibly be worse than their last season, but when they scrape the bottom of the barrel, they have a a remarkable ability to punch all the way through.

Hope everyone had fun last night. I definitely did, though I believe “getting hammered and playing Cranium” qualifying as fun makes me approximately 400 years old.

Sadly, this will be my last update for a few days because I’m about to get sucked back into the vortex of work. My boss is directing the episode that starts shooting tomorrow, so that’s going to be very interesting but with some very long hours.

In my absence, please feel free to debate in the comments what the people behind the Geostationary Banana Over Texas project are smoking.