Vinyl... still a far superior sound.

I had a co-worker a few years back spent a small fortune on NEW equipment that used tubes.
Apparently vacuum tube audio is still a thing.

Yes it is.

Sometimes it is just impossible to shrink things down and make them work as good as they used to.

Unknown (resized).jpeg

Well heck yeah, Uncle Jed!

pasted_image (resized).png

About 90 miles north of me in Salina is a shop that presses vinyl records. Better quality of material and lots of remasters.

I'm afraid that our CD racks hits the kid's eyes the same way we looked at the bowl of ribbon candy that sat on Grandma's doily covered side table.

Kind of mind boggling that my entire 1200+ CD collection fits, ripped, on a Micro SD card smaller than my pinky fingernail.

But the CDs still look cooler!

PXL_20231107_044759981 (resized).jpg

Before CDs, we had LPs. With all sorts of trick cover art, such as "stand up" pictures inside a double album cover.

Way back, in the early 70s, not everybody had a nice stereo. Having your own stereo was an instant friend magnet. You could have lots of company.

And the thing then was to crank up the sounds, toke up, kick back, and stare at all of the pictures on the album covers.

Good times.

Screen Shot 2023-11-06 at 11.03.20 PM (resized).jpg

Screen Shot 2023-11-06 at 11.03.34 PM (resized).jpg

Black Knight security services! Laughed at that one. Assuming those are decorative matches in all those tall round containers....that's ol" school for sure!

I can tell I’m getting old, because I find myself getting irritated by the music playing at Home Depot and other public places. I think they’re aiming for a younger demographic. I may quit my gym because I forgot my headphones yesterday and had to hear repetitive rap (from the fitness class) the whole time I was on the treadmill. Any sound coming out of a cell phone speaker makes me mad. I can’t sit in the same room with my wife while she’s watching Instagram videos.

Grrrr!

Oh, and here’s my favorite: we’re out in public and someone’s kid has a tablet with the volume turned up. When I go talk to the parent, my wife gets mad at me for embarrassing her. It makes me feel like Michael Douglas in “Falling Down”: I’m the bad guy??

I miss Muzak. Nice easy background music to shop by.

To me, it seems what is being played depends on who the store manager is. It is in your ears and face. Way too loud. Most of it is a younger music with a vibe I cannot embrace.

LOL!

Amen, brother. I wear earplugs in most stores.
Unfortunately, I really can't in restaurants.
Also very annoying are the constant interruptions to the "music", when they page someone or to make some kind of announcement. BLEEP! Yack...yack...yack...BLEEP!

Our Grocery Outlet and a couple other places play 80s music, and boy does that get old.

We have a couple of Famous Dave's Bar BQ restaurants in town. Dave's theme is to play blues music all day and all night. I'm not talking BB King for Freddie King blues.

This is hardcore blues like Sonny Boy Williamson, Arthur Crudup etc. As I was eating I heard a couple of employees crying the blues about having to listen to blues all shift long.

And when I was in Atlanta to pick up a pin, I went to a Bar BQ franchise where blues was being played in the sound system. I asked the 2 women covering the night shift, " Do you ladies get to listen to the blues all shift long, or do you have to listen to the blues all shift long.

They replied along the lines that it was torturous to have to listen to blues all shift long.

To this day, I still do not know who all of the faces belong to.

image (resized).jpeg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_images_on_the_cover_of_Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band

Beatlesongs album cover featured Mark Chapman, holding the left side of the banner. He's the man that shot John Lennon.

LTG : )

beat (resized).jpg

We had another use for album covers. lol. Jethro Tull's Stand Up had the true stand up in the middle.

Just got back from Knott's and it looks like Xcelerator is finally set to reopen as we watched the line form while eating our chili cheese dogs before it was disbursed. Maybe next time. But we did go on HangTime with no line.

I always hang on going straight up the vertical lift because it feels like I am going to slide out of my seat.

Nope, they are kaleidoscopes mostly, a couple telescopes. Very old school entertainment!

When you have no idea your picture is being taken. Especially your good side.

thumbnail_image0 (resized).jpg

Out w the extended family for Sunday breakfast a couple weeks ago and the table next to us had the requisite little kid standing on his chair, parent's phone in hand, turned up to keep him entertained, because, you know, what other way is there to keep a kid occupied besides a phone in 20203?

Crayons to draw with? Talk to them? Don't be absurd!

That was one of the albums we used to stare at. What other uses did you have for album covers? Other than a surface for rolling a doobie I am not figuring it out

Back to the "music" the stores are playing today:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/business/walmart-sensory-friendly-hours-every-us-store/index.html

"Walmart announced Tuesday that it is making changes to create a calmer shopping experience, at least for a few hours every day in all of its US stores.'

" Set to be implemented on Nov. 10, the changes include setting in-store TV walls to a static image, turning off the radio, and lowering the store lights."

I like the turning off the radio part.

The double albums would allow you to fold them up half way, so you could cleanly pour the loose shake back into the baggie.

Is that called Shake-n-Bake? Or get Baked and Shake?

image (resized).jpeg

Sorry. I could not resist. I want to help.

You know, the last time I went into Walmart, I was of course wearing earplugs. I ran into a friend, and so I removed the earplugs to talk with him. After leaving him, I noticed that there was no blaring "music" playing, and so didn't plug my ears again.
I hope other stores follow suit.

Led Zeppelin.

If you are old enough you know what this picture is.

image (resized).jpeg

Screen Shot 2023-11-09 at 8.48.33 AM (resized).jpg

Something new is out about this album cover.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/entertainment/original-photograph-mysterious-figure-cover-000131906.html

"An original photograph of the mysterious figure on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV has been discovered in an old photo album - and he's been identified"

You remember when a package of Cracker Jacks had more than one peanut in it.

f7f1101b-507f-45f5-bb52-f1978915bfa7 (resized).jpeg

I knew I was old most recently when walking through the book store I saw this...

I got a tripple whammy from it.

First, it actually says, "old" in the top left corner.

Second, I had to explain to my kids what a magazine was.

Third... this is $29.99.

20231110_185516 (1) (resized).jpg

You remember when the mashed potatoes in a TV dinner had an actual pat of butter (or margarine) on them.

s-l1600 (5) (resized).jpg

59 cents?!?

I loved those Swanson Chicken dinners. Now all you can get is Hungry Man and the chicken chews like it was scraped off the floor and it is more breading than chicken. And no butter on the potatoes

Bought any magazines lately?

image (resized).jpeg

They were better then because they were on an aluminum tray.
Which meant you cooked them in a conventional oven on bake.
No microwave.

My brother got the frozen veal or cube steak with the included square of butter.

I preferred two Oh Boy cheese pizzas for 99 cents that came in one box. When I wanted to make my own, I used this.

s-l1600 (resized).jpg

Wal Mart will eventually implement a new Policy that pisses everyone off, ending in a severe reduction of customers.
Tractor Supply or Northern Tool will probably be the benefactors, along with Food Lion.

I guess if you remember when McDonalds biggest sandwich was a standard double cheeseburger.

Or this.

That Shake N Bake BBQ glaze is pretty good. But so was this. Don't know why I've got food on my mind as I already ate.

"I even like the chicken, if the sauce is not too bleu!"

Yeah man, they were expensive! You could get a whole pound of ground beef for 59 cents back then. We rarely had frozen dinners in the 60s or 70s. Besides, they were about as nasty then as they are now!

They just opened one near me. Went for the first time. Second time, I wore ear plugs. Blaring country music doesn't enhance my shopping experience. Bring back Muzak. Everywhere!

Remembrance Day. started Watching ken burns masterpiece WW2 documentary on you tube. Very emotional films

“ I only had grade 8 education then suddenly in a War and had no idea what was I was doing” getting injured was the best thing that happened to me. Veteran from Toronto Canada .

54698A30-2272-460A-9054-72BD5BADDE38 (resized).jpeg

I have 4 Tractor Supply stores and do not recall hearing any kind of ceiling noise from any of them.

My Grandfather was in WW1. An uncle died in WW2. My Dad served in Korea, Egypt, and Cypress. A nephew did 2 tours of Afghanistan. My dad would take me to Nov 11 services every year. Went to the Ottawa service a couple of times. 'Lest We Forget'.

Remembrance Day is Canadian, correct? I can't bring it up on my youtube. Is this a Canada only documentary? I get all kinds of other Ken Burns material but not this.

Most British Commonwealth nations has a ceremonial day on the 11th as well. The signing of the WW1 Armistice on Nov 11, the 11 hour, in the year 1919.

Correct ..it’s a live broadcast In Canada every Nov 11. At 11 am we pause as a nation for thought for 2 minutes