Meanwhile... Pt. 1

[dan bailey]

I I really need to buy me a turntable, I still have a lot of 45 that my mother gave me when I moved out.

I still use the one I bought the summer after my freshman year in college, right at 33 years ago -- a Pioneer PL516. Same with my amp, a Pioneer SX7500-II (I think ... working on memory here, obviously) & KLH speakers (albeit re-coned in '89), though I've gone through a handful of single & double tape decks & a few CD players.

If they ain't broke, I don't replace them.

[dan bailey]

Oh and the reason I logged on and came here ... had an interview this morning that I feel really strongly about. A vendor I knew from my last job called me this morning and asked me to come in for an interview. I had sent him an email on Tuesday, the day I was let go, and he called me today and said that he had been on vacation last week and did indeed have an opening he was looking to fill. This would be the job to get, I have some knowledge in what they do and would give me an upper hand in getting the job. Plus it might get me better pay too.

Here's hoping!

(Just don't tell him the part about you being 10 & all. I think all the child labor laws are still on the books.)

[dan bailey]

I'm taking care of one dying dog (blind, deaf, incontinent, paralyzed in one leg),

Having loved & lost a deaf springer spaniel & a blind Shih-Tzu a couple of years apart in 2002 & 2004, I am now ready to shoot myself.

[Slam_Bradley]

I really need to buy me a turntable, I still have a lot of 45 that my mother gave me when I moved out.

My older son, Nathan (15) asked for and received a USB turntable last Christmas. He picked up a half dozen 78s this weekend at a thrift store this weekend. He was bummed that a Hank Snow 78 was broken.

Oddly we see a lot more 78s hereabouts than we do 45s.

[Lone Ranger]

I think this thread is a fine place for people to (gently) pimp their own side projects etc...

Some of you know that my wife and I started a Podcast a while back. Well, we've now been at it for 6 months and just released our 24th episode.

I listen to quite a few podcasts during my commute and sessions at the gym, so I got the idea that it would be a fun project for Kat and I to take on together.

They aren't too long (generally 45-60 minutes) and we discuss some recent TV and movie viewings as well as one longer film review. We alternate who picks the film and have managed to cover quite a few eras and genre. I'm sure there's a movie there for almost every taste.

We'd love to get more listeners and feedback from those listeners so that we can build our own little mini-community. You can send us feedback via our voicemail line or our email address. Let us know what you think and perhaps recommend a movie or two.

You can find us at http://marriedwithclickers.libsyn.com/ or search for Married With Clickers in the iTunes stores.

To be honest, the early episodes are a bit tough for me to listen to, as we were really working out the kinks (technically and in terms of our discussions). I think that we are starting to find our groove.


If you've got a blog or something along those lines - feel free to discuss it in this thread. So long as no one is selling anything - it's all in good fun.

[Aaron King]

I think this thread is a fine place for people to (gently) pimp their own side projects etc...

I'm totally okay with this (not that anyone needs my permission). It'll be fun to see what people are working on.

Dan: I hope you don't shoot yourself. The dog is still eating and still sits majestically in the back yard, looking out over the lake. I've been dogsitting for this family for about six years off and on, and he's one of my favorite pets ever (including my own dogs from youth). He's led a long and happy life.

I don't know if that makes you feel better or worse.

[dan bailey]

Perhaps I'll just shoot you instead, for no particular reason.

Not that I own a gun.

Or have ever fired one.

(The BB gun I had as a kid doesn't, or at least shouldn't, count.)

I'm just one of those pathetic souls who tends to get far more sentimental over animals than people, is all. (Too, animals aren't capable of such crimes against nature as liking the Eagles, AFAIK.)

[adam_warlock_2099]

I still use the one I bought the summer after my freshman year in college, right at 33 years ago -- a Pioneer PL516. Same with my amp, a Pioneer SX7500-II (I think ... working on memory here, obviously) & KLH speakers (albeit re-coned in '89), though I've gone through a handful of single & double tape decks & a few CD players.

If they ain't broke, I don't replace them.

I think the fact that I have most of what I have on 45's I have on other recordings is why I have been dragging my feet since my last one broke.

I've had a KLH surround sound setup since 1994 or so. They are good speakers and I have had yet to replace them. I enjoy the superior sound of a movie more than I do visuals. Give me a plain ole TV and surround sound, and I'll pass up an HDTV without it.

My older son, Nathan (15) asked for and received a USB turntable last Christmas. He picked up a half dozen 78s this weekend at a thrift store this weekend. He was bummed that a Hank Snow 78 was broken.

Oddly we see a lot more 78s hereabouts than we do 45s.

Are those to plug into a PC? Or are stereo receivers now equipped with USB ports?

[Slam_Bradley]

Are those to plug into a PC? Or are stereo receivers now equipped with USB ports?

Yeah, it plugs in to the PC. So he can rip his vinyl if he wants. It will also act as a normal turntable if he wants it too, but he plays it through the computer for space reasons.

[dan bailey]

What'll they think of next? (I've heard tell they make phones that people can walk around with all over creation & talk on, & even look up stuff on the internet ... not that you could prove it by me, who didn't even own a cordless phone till about 2 weeks ago.)

I've got a CD recorder that's hooked up to my turntable & tape deck. That's sort of ideal for me, in that my stereo & my computer are at opposite ends of the house, & I have every intention of that arrangement remaining intact.

[Phil Maurice]

I haven't owned a turntable in 15 years, but I still have a few dozen LPs and some 45s. Some very troublesome 45s.

When my mother-in-law passed in '04, among her belongings were a small stack of 45s that are, well, disgustingly racist. They seem to date from the early 60s, are on independent labels with imagery of klansmen and the like, and the song titles are liberally sprinkled with the N-word. I've never listened to them, and have no desire to.

This was not surprising to the family. It's North Georgia, and my wife's mother made no secret of her feelings regarding race relations. She was born in 1937, a fact I mention by way of explanation, not vindication.

I saved these things from being thrown away thinking they had some historical value. But I've never found a use for them. They're not quaint or kitschy, they're just hateful and vile. I'm leaning toward pitching them in the trash. Anyone know a reason I shouldn't?

[Jolly Mon]

I haven't owned a turntable in 15 years, but I still have a few dozen LPs and some 45s. Some very troublesome 45s.

When my mother-in-law passed in '04, among her belongings were a small stack of 45s that are, well, disgustingly racist. They seem to date from the early 60s, are on independent labels with imagery of klansmen and the like, and the song titles are liberally sprinkled with the N-word. I've never listened to them, and have no desire to.

This was not surprising to the family. It's North Georgia, and my wife's mother made no secret of her feelings regarding race relations. She was born in 1937, a fact I mention by way of explanation, not vindication.

I saved these things from being thrown away thinking they had some historical value. But I've never found a use for them. They're not quaint or kitschy, they're just hateful and vile. I'm leaning toward pitching them in the trash. Anyone know a reason I shouldn't?

Do you know anyone who does target shooting? If so, they'd make fine targets.

[inferno]

Stuff like that is so rare, I would advise against throwing it out, no matter how distasteful. I would say put it on eBay if you think it can get past the terms of service. Barring that, there are tons of race-obsessed "race studies" professors out there who need something new and different to write about, maybe you could find one of them to take them. Someone somewhere could probably get a journal article out of it at the least. Go dump them in the offices of the African-American Studies program at Emory or something.

OTOH, if you can google the recordings and find they're already archived online just dump them or use them as coasters or targets or whatever.

[Phil Maurice]

Stuff like that is so rare, I would advise against throwing it out, no matter how distasteful. I would say put it on eBay if you think it can get past the terms of service. Barring that, there are tons of race-obsessed "race studies" professors out there who need something new and different to write about, maybe you could find one of them to take them. Someone somewhere could probably get a journal article out of it at the least. Go dump them in the offices of the African-American Studies program at Emory or something.

It's touchy. I certainly don't want to profit from them. Ideally, it would be nice if they were used as a teaching tool as you suggest. I like the idea of completely circumventing their original intent.

[Cei-U!]

Before I get sidetracked, a hearty congratulations to shax on the arrival of his new daughter! Love them rugrats long as they aren't mine!

Now then...

MusicI've long since gotten used to music snobs looking down their noses at me. I refuse to apologize for my tastes and I, in turn, do not ask you to apologize for yours. In fact, I have pretty eclectic tastes, encompassing everything from Duke Ellington to Patty Loveless, from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Bernadette Peters. Really, the only kinds of Western music I don't care for are opera, heavy metal, rap/hip-hop and (sorry, dan) punk but even so, I bet I could name at least one act or song in each genre that I do dig.

I do not understand, however, what the big deal about Prince is.

EDIT: Almost forget to mention that I may have dan beat as far as ancient stereo equipment goes. I still have (and use) the same huge Kenworth speakers I bought in the autumn of '77. Damned if they still don't sound awesome!

Personal projects I don't know if this qualifies but I've signed up for the Tacoma Public Library's Adult Summer Reading Program. As a kid, signing up at the Moore Branch every June was as big a part of summer as fireworks on the Fourth, backyard BBQs and the JLA/JSA crossovers.

This year, I have a list of 34 books I hope to finish by Labor Day. All of them have two things in common: they're non-fiction and their authors were featured in Continuing The Conversation, a collection of interviews from the PBS series Bill Moyers' Journal.

At the moment, I'm about midway through A History of God by Karen Armstrong. I thought I had a fairly good layman's grasp of the histories of the three great monotheistic faiths--Judaism, Christianity, Islam--but Ms. Armstrong has knocked that particular piece of self-deception right outta me. I suspect the bibliography alone will keep me scouring the library shelves for years to come.

Current Sources of Frustration Of course, I wouldn't be doing quite so much reading if only my exterior hard drive was back up and running. I've been indexing my New Teen Titans run to keep my hand in but I'm constantly running across something I want to look up in my files but can't. Hopefully, my intepid nephew-in-law will be able to fix it soon.

Th-th-that's all for now.

Cei-U!
I summon the puny potpourri!