"Surround Sound", Eight Tracks" and "Ana godda da vida "

You can generally guess the generation someone grew up in by the words in their audiophile vocabulary.
For me, I was definitely a vinyl 33 1/3" man until I later graduated to 8-tracks in the mid 60's. For those who never lived the experience of an eight track tape . Well, imagine what it was like when you got your first MP3 Player or IPOD. Eight tracks were revolutionary. For the first time you could actually hear the songs that you wanted without waiting for the radio to broadcast them over the A.M. dial. That's right. A.M. dial. We didn't have F.M. stations back in those days. But that was O.K., because what you didn't have, you didn't miss. One of the downsides of the eight track though, you had to wait until the tape completed the loop before you could hear your song again. That is if the tape player ever worked.
My first exposure to eight tracks was riding with a couple of fraternity brothers from the University of Oklahoma to Dayton, Ohio during Spring Break my freshman year.
We hadn't discovered Padre Island yet!
We listened to the Beatle's, Stone's, Beach Boys, and the Iron Butterfly's "Ana godda da vida" for 12 continuous hours.
The eight tracks didn't stay around very long though. As I mentioned earlier, the biggest reason was they rarely worked and the tapes would get tangled in the player spewing out a long trail of your favorite music. It was common to see hundreds of feet of tape flying around the street or caught to the underside of one's car.
After the eight tracks came the cassette tapes. The only cassette tapes I had were either ones that I had used my recorder to tape from the radio, or the one that Ford offered with the purchase of a new car. Oh yeah, I did buy KVIL's "Christmas Songs" because we would play them while opening presents. I can still hear that tinny sound that would start to slow down as the tape came near its end.
I kept up my collection of 33's though with the obligatory Carol King's "Tapestry" and the BeeGee's "Greatest Hits"
Today, I'm here to tell you that I now am the proud owner of both a MP3 player and what I just purchased this week at Fry's, a complete Home Entertainment Center with Dolby sound, Subwoofers, DVD player, AM and FM, etc. I'm still working to get the speakers at the right angles to get the full effect. Pattye has already nixed the idea of mounting anything on the walls. And, she said "can't you do anything with all of those wires". Everything should be in place later this afternoon.
By the way, guess what's on my MP3 player and will soon be blasting from my high tech surround sound? You guessed it. The Beatles, Stones and the 15 minute version of "Ana godda da vida". Can't wait to hear that drum solo.
Maybe technology changes, but great music lasts forever.

"Free a last, Free at last"

Those of you who know the responsibilities I have been carrying at the DMN Richardson DC will be happy to learn I have officially retired from that position. My God, I feel like I have added 5 years to my life. Now maybe I can start working on some plans to get The Gathering Place cranked up and ready to go, finally give Pattye a day off and get back to being a nice person.
I might even decide to get up at 1:00 a.m. instead of midnight!!

"Interesting Morning"

Had an interesting morning on Sunday. Around noon about 50 birds swooped down on a couple of yaupon holly bushes in our yard and proceeded to devour all of the berries in a matter of minutes. We had never seen this type of bird before, so I got on the Net and started searching and still couldn't identify the visitors. I then logged into this great bird identifier site and joined a forum and in a matter of minutes received a reply. Also, I received a reply from Chuck Hagner , editor of Birder's World with the same answer.
I'll let any of you try and figure out the name of these rather beautiful birds. If you figure it out leave me a post in the comments section.
I also think I have found a new hobby!!

It's that time of year"

Oh yeah, it's that time of year to get the 1099's out before Jan. 31. Fortunately, we have been doing this for so long that we have a good record keeping system, but it is always so tedious. Then as soon as we get the 1099's out we start working on Uncle Sam's portion. So what all this means is I will be out of pocket for the next couple of days.
Good blogging!!!!

"Refocused"

Finally, the manic side of my psyche has kicked in. I guess it must have been the holidays or loss of friends or family illnesses. Anyway, the barometer is rising so the creativity juices should be flowing. Most people experience bipolar symptoms and handle them in a productive manner. Over the years I seem to have been able to handle the down side a lot more effectively (probably from shutting off the booze supply!) and the up side seems to have more successful results. Anyway, enough of that. What all this means is we are cranking up The Gathering Place again. We found out that Antiqueland has moved, actually to a better location, so will get with them and start planning to lease some space.

Nothing new on the DMN front. Have a company wide meeting set for Jan. 26, maybe any changes will be announced then.

Saw Clark yesterday and he is doing fine. He should be going home this week.

Later...........

"Great reading"

Received our copy of Dick Alber's Someday you're not coming down . Pattye hasn't put it down and said it is really a good read. You can read about Dick's book in a previous post located on the right side of this blog.

"Good News"

Pattye's Dad, Clark Williams, had successful open heart surgery last week. He had a valve replaced that had been starting to malfunction. Going to see him at Baylor today.

"Musings over the past week"

Movin' On

Have a friend, Clint McCarty, who is moving back to Canada next month. He said one of the reasons is he likes to experience the four different seasons. Heck, we have that here in Texas except it comes in one week. We had a high of 73 degrees Monday and it will be 30 degrees on Friday.

Sad Note

Sad note from Dick Albershardt, whom I had written about in a previous post re: his new book, "Someday, you're not coming down" . Dick and Jill's son, David, was killed in a motorcycle accident in November. He was only 40 years old.

Web Designs

Have been working with some neat web tools such as the one I am adding to this site. Also, am trying to find time to update my home page. Anyone needing some web help let me know.

Dallas Morning News

Still a lot of shakin' and rattlin' going on with the DMN. Pattye is ready to pull her hair out over the new software (August 04') that is just not working.

Thhhhat's all folks!!

"Someday you're not coming down"

A friend of mine recently had his first book published. Dick Albershardt, best friend of my late best friend, Bill Hudson, sends along a note that his new book"Someday you're not coming down" , a recollection of his years of entertaining people from the Ed Sullivan show to visiting the troops in Vietnam along with Bob Hope.
"Dreaming to either be a professional athlete or a performer in show business, Dick Albershardt (a.k.a. Dick Albers) found his trampoline the perfect vehicle for this unusual combination while performing in 49 states and 30 countries around the world."
Dick and I got to know each other when he came to Richardson to spend time during Bill's last days a couple of years ago. When he found out about Bill's terminal illness, he drove across the country to help Bill and all of us through a very difficult time. A true friend indeed.
If the book is as entertaining as Dick is in person, it is sure to be a best seller. I'm ordering my copy now.

"Refreshed and ready to go"

Okay. Here we go. A new year. New ideas. New thoughts.
I'm sure most of you have read all of the "top" lists for 2004 and I'm not going to bore you here with my lists. I will however add some links to what I have read over the holidays. Some are pretty good.
D Magazine , always one of the best in town.

Top earning dead celebrities , a little unusual.

Top AOL Searches for 2004 , I hate AOL but the list is interesting.

People Magazine Best and Worse , it speaks for itself.

What's hot, what's not , so long reality shows.

Top ten word list , my new favorite leads the chart!