Newfangled Contraptions

It's a progression that came along with this age of being more electronically attached to gadgets and gizmos than anyone rightly should be. The Pike Bar in Long Beach has reserved Sundays for all you music- and technology-loving people and renamed them iPod Sundays.

Here's what you do: Bring in your iPod; make a playlist of whatever you want; hand it over to a bartender; and within half an hour or so (depending on how many little pods are in front of yours), voilà!—your favorite songs are wafting through the speakers, letting all the other Pike patrons know what awesome taste in music you have.

An idea like iPod Sundays sounds good in theory, but the execution could be questionable. How long, really, would it take to get my songs played, if at all? I had to try it for myself.

Since I am terribly behind these newfangled times and don't own an iPod, I borrowed a friend's. I slapped together a brief set and handed it over to Pete the bartender. I had to be careful with my selections; the crowd there is on the tough side, definitely not the place for Goldfrapp, but I snuck one in there anyways just to see what would happen.

Within three minutes, my playlist started with the Cramps, then some Pixies and a little Siouxie and the Banshees—only, I don't know if mine was played so quickly because no one else had brought in iPods or if Pete's just cool like that. Goldfrapp went unnoticed, but when Tool came booming out, a couple of people actually started cheering.

Jukebox? What's that?

iPod Sundays at the Pike Bar & Fish Grill, 1836 E. Fourth St., Long Beach, (562) 437-4453; www.pikelongbeach.com . Every Sun., 7 p.m. All ages.