Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What's the big deal?
So I said to the inspector, "I don't come to your house and tell you the art hanging on your walls sucks so what's the big deal?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Another Mid-Life Crisis
Well, there I was, in the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis. I was happy, I felt fulfilled, I loved my wife, but I couldn’t escape the feeling that something was missing. So like Kevin Spacey’s character in American Beauty, (he buys an old Firebird because he always wanted one,) I headed to ebay in search of my youth. Convertible, um…no, though the climate in Atlanta does not rule it out, no I was after something simpler and more satisfying. You see, I have spent a good deal of my life as a closet stereophile. Musician, artist, music lover I’ve always centered life around the stereo. In my twenties, when moving, the stereo was always the last thing to be packed and the first thing to be unpacked.
But lately life has become confusing and meaningless mp3, ipod, surround sound, itunes, music devices the size of a thimble, it has grown very superficial leaving me with a shallow empty pain in my gut. So I decided it was time, after months, okay…actually about a year and a half of perusing online classic audio sites I eyed a dealer on ebay who restores classic audio components for resale. That was it, I was longing for the old classic sound of a stereo, not an mp3 with up to half of the musical information missing, or a muted, compressed version of a classic song, I wanted music dammit! And I wanted it old school.
When growing up, funds were limited so in order to bring in music it had to be on a budget, but in the deepest corner of my desire lobe I lusted after the high-end stereo equipment. I always had a low-end Technics, or used yard sale equipment, miss matched speakers and any turntable would do. But the rich people, the people I thought had “made it” had the best, friends of parents and their colleagues who chose the best and most expensive stereo equipment over having a fifth kid, (I should take this opportunity to thank my parents for making the choice they did.) But still it was these people who had what I wanted, yes, I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now... the Marantz model 2235B Stereophonic Receiver. The warm sound of the worlds finest power source delivering full, solid, classic blues and rock and roll, the way it was made to be recreated.
So today after rewiring the living room and the 1938 built-ins around the fire place and running new outlets to the cabinets of said built-ins along with speaker wire fished through the plaster to new receptacles we were ready. The package arrived, like A Christmas Story’s Ralphie running home to check on his decoder ring I made it a short workday, (it’s okay I’m on spring break) Turntable, check; CD player, check; Klipsch speakers, check; blazing new receiver I’ve waited my whole life for, check! Fastidiously attaching wires, new speaker cables, and power cords my excitement built to a crescendo but one dilemma remained, what should the choice be to break in the new family member. Well it needs to be from the early seventies to match the unit, preferably something from the same year the receiver was built, or someone I listened to a lot during that period, The Who?, Neil Young?, Beatles?, classic rock?, blues? My palms sweat with anticipation.
I took a break and had a midmorning snack with my wife Dayna, a moment of calm before the inaugural performance. “What are you going to play first?” she asked, sensing my turmoil of the first song. In my head I was thinking, rocking blues, guitar, driving, something with a real presence. “How bout Stevie Ray Vaughn?” she offered. At that moment I fell in love with her all over again. I went to my den and fished through my vinyl and CDs. Well the first had to be vinyl and my only Stevie Ray Vaughn record died a horrible death years before and I replaced it with, at the time, a new fangled digital CD. After a few minutes I abandoned looking for the right year etc. and grabbed some classics and headed back down stairs. All systems go!...volume down, check; speaker main on, check; FM muting, check; Hi filter, check…power on Huston! The Marantz blazed to life in a glowing blue green light. The Rolling Stones, Made in the Shade 1974, side one, Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice etc., record cleaner fluid, dust off and clean the stylus, quartz direct drive turntable on, check, cuing…Booya!! The Rolling Stones, Made in the Shade proves to be both warped and scratched so after a rousing Brown Sugar, complete with air guitar we moved to a Stevie Ray CD.
Life is once again complete, the world makes sense, the animals are happier sleeping on the sofa to the rich warm sound of a seventies component stereo, and yes I do still love my wife, even more now that life, once again, has the proper sound track.
But lately life has become confusing and meaningless mp3, ipod, surround sound, itunes, music devices the size of a thimble, it has grown very superficial leaving me with a shallow empty pain in my gut. So I decided it was time, after months, okay…actually about a year and a half of perusing online classic audio sites I eyed a dealer on ebay who restores classic audio components for resale. That was it, I was longing for the old classic sound of a stereo, not an mp3 with up to half of the musical information missing, or a muted, compressed version of a classic song, I wanted music dammit! And I wanted it old school.
When growing up, funds were limited so in order to bring in music it had to be on a budget, but in the deepest corner of my desire lobe I lusted after the high-end stereo equipment. I always had a low-end Technics, or used yard sale equipment, miss matched speakers and any turntable would do. But the rich people, the people I thought had “made it” had the best, friends of parents and their colleagues who chose the best and most expensive stereo equipment over having a fifth kid, (I should take this opportunity to thank my parents for making the choice they did.) But still it was these people who had what I wanted, yes, I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now... the Marantz model 2235B Stereophonic Receiver. The warm sound of the worlds finest power source delivering full, solid, classic blues and rock and roll, the way it was made to be recreated.
So today after rewiring the living room and the 1938 built-ins around the fire place and running new outlets to the cabinets of said built-ins along with speaker wire fished through the plaster to new receptacles we were ready. The package arrived, like A Christmas Story’s Ralphie running home to check on his decoder ring I made it a short workday, (it’s okay I’m on spring break) Turntable, check; CD player, check; Klipsch speakers, check; blazing new receiver I’ve waited my whole life for, check! Fastidiously attaching wires, new speaker cables, and power cords my excitement built to a crescendo but one dilemma remained, what should the choice be to break in the new family member. Well it needs to be from the early seventies to match the unit, preferably something from the same year the receiver was built, or someone I listened to a lot during that period, The Who?, Neil Young?, Beatles?, classic rock?, blues? My palms sweat with anticipation.
I took a break and had a midmorning snack with my wife Dayna, a moment of calm before the inaugural performance. “What are you going to play first?” she asked, sensing my turmoil of the first song. In my head I was thinking, rocking blues, guitar, driving, something with a real presence. “How bout Stevie Ray Vaughn?” she offered. At that moment I fell in love with her all over again. I went to my den and fished through my vinyl and CDs. Well the first had to be vinyl and my only Stevie Ray Vaughn record died a horrible death years before and I replaced it with, at the time, a new fangled digital CD. After a few minutes I abandoned looking for the right year etc. and grabbed some classics and headed back down stairs. All systems go!...volume down, check; speaker main on, check; FM muting, check; Hi filter, check…power on Huston! The Marantz blazed to life in a glowing blue green light. The Rolling Stones, Made in the Shade 1974, side one, Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice etc., record cleaner fluid, dust off and clean the stylus, quartz direct drive turntable on, check, cuing…Booya!! The Rolling Stones, Made in the Shade proves to be both warped and scratched so after a rousing Brown Sugar, complete with air guitar we moved to a Stevie Ray CD.
Life is once again complete, the world makes sense, the animals are happier sleeping on the sofa to the rich warm sound of a seventies component stereo, and yes I do still love my wife, even more now that life, once again, has the proper sound track.
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