Thursday, September 27, 2012

Now hear this


I was given an outdated surround-sound system. Had no use for the big DVD changer, but was intrigued with the possibilities of the amplifier. I bought a new mid-range turntable from Sony, plugged it into the CD input, and εὕρηκα! it works. 
 
We held onto our LPs from days of yore, and now they are back in service. Beloved has musicals and artists like Judy Collins, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell, and I have operas and collections like Bach cantatas, Mozart concertos, Haydn quartets, and, umm, Joni Mitchell. We each have copies of "Blue" and "Ladies of the Canyon."

Some of the artists date back to the 1940s, with 1950s LP re-mastered impressions of The Weavers and artists like Johnny Tesch. I have operas I started listening to about 1962 or so. If we want to crank it up we have Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Who, Crosby Stills & Nash. There's enough here that we have no strong desire to run out and get "Somebody That I Used to Know" or anything.

If the electricity goes off and stays off, and we haven't re-installed off-grid yet, no biggie, we have acoustical instruments and more or less know how to abuse 'em.

Granddaughter was here, and I said, "ever seen one of these?" -- holding up a "Sound of Music" soundtrack album.

"No, what is it?"

We had fun.