Vinyl Circle

Trip to the flea market

2005-08-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've been going to a flea market on Wednesday afternoons when I can get out of work. It is only 7 minutes away and not too big. I look for albums and anything else interesting. On one recent trip I ran into a guy who used to collect, but now just needs the money. (To buy pot, I assume). After looking through the "expensive" batch I settled on Transformer by Lou Reed which was produced by and included David Bowie and Mick Ronson. It was in great condition and was a promo copy from some long forgotten radio station. The dollar albums produced Hall and Oates' debut, Whole Oats, a couple of Johnny Winter albums (Still Alive and Well and Johnny Winter And) as well as Phaedra by Tangerine Dream. Eight dollars later, I was on to the end of the row when as I perused a pile of records a gentlemen advised me that all LP's were free! Nothing great, but I grabbed Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf and Survival by Grand Funk Railroad to go along with stuff from Tony Orlando, Sinatra, Bobby Vinton, The Platters and The Chipmunks (yes, Alvin, Simon and Theodore). Not a bad day.

The following week I nabbed the epnonymous debut by The New Riders of the Purple Sage and My Aim is True by Elvis Costello. Two bucks for the pair, nice. Both sounded great and the former has Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart and Spencer Dryden as special guests.

From the back cover of Survival:
"I don't think I'll ever forget those expressions as they wiped the sweat from their eyes in disbelief and watched that giant sea of faces, more than 180,000 strong, rise in unison and roar out a thunder of approval so loud that, to this day, they still talk about hearing it down on Peachtree Street, a full ten miles from the site."
- Producer Terry Knight referring to concert in which a child was born and Grand Funk came to prominence.

Who cares?

2005-02-24T22:05:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else outside the metro New York area care about "the Gates?" I saw on the news a woman from Louisiana (it might have been Arkansas) came to see them. She was oh so impressed. She couldn't wait to return home to tell everyone about them. Are you kidding me? All I see on the news, in the paper, on Beeferman.com is something about the gates. Is there nothing else to talk/write about. How about aliens? Nobody ever talks about aliens, but maybe, just maybe, these gates were the creation of some primitive alien race. Maybe these are alien larva (great name for a band) that will hatch in a month or two. We could be overrun by giant orange stick-like creatures who suck the creativity out of us and use it to go back to their boring planet and become so advanced that we move up the due date on their master plan to destroy the universe by millions of years. Maybe.

2005-02-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Some of them are aliens.

Oh, my aching back!

2005-02-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

My ass is killing me! I play basketball on Monday's in a men's over thirty league at the local high school. This week during my third game I took a fall like I've never had before. The story goes like this (so far as I can recall): I took a shot and missed, but with fervor and determination I leaped like I've never leaped before to grab the rebound. Unfortunately the ball careened off the backboard harder than I thought and I leaned back to get the ball. Since I was higher than I felt like I had ever been the thump I made when I hit the floor must've echoed through the hallways. I landed squarely on my ass bone cushioning my fall with my ass cheeks, elbows and head. I was in instant pain and after be helped up by the one person kind enough to extend a hand we finished off our opponent with the final two baskets. I limped and staggered my way to the end of the game. I came out after that, quickly dressed up and said my embarrassingly mellow "have a good night guys" to the sympathetic losers from the previous game. I'm still in pain mostly when I sit, stand or walk. I'm hoping to recover by the Superbowl or by the World Series at the latest. Oh, my aching back!

Pardon the interruption

2005-01-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

I find myself interrupting people quite often. I have an opinion about everything and I feel if I don't speak my mind when the thought is there I'll instantly forget it. I sometimes wonder if people notice that I do this and then in mid wonder I'll spew my next thought in middle of their's. I probably should be cognizant of this in the future, but I know I won't correct it until someone calls me out. Maybe everyone does this and I notice because its happening to me? Listening is such an important part of all conversations, but I often find that I'm much more interesting than the people I speak to. I really should listen more. If only people had more interesting things to say.

You know a blog is probably the most egotistical thing a person can do. To assume anyone cares what you have to say, whether family, friend or stranger shows a big ego. Glad I got that off my shoulders. Even still, I'll continue to write because I have a feeling someone out there cares what I have to say...Maybe not.

Hitler's iPod

2005-01-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I forgot I have a blog. Recently my friend Mike started his blog which reminded me of mine. He has a link from his to here, but I can't figure out how to recipricate. Anyway, he posted a bizarre entry today about Hilter and iPods and included reworded Beatles songs like Within you, Without Jew. I was taken back, not necessarily offended, by this entry. It was out of character for him and didn't offer much more than a superimposed picture of Hitler with an iPod and the list of Beatles songs. I informed him that I didn't find the humor in it and he was more taken back then when I first saw it. He eventually removed the entry after cursing me and working out to relieve the tension from our conversation. He told me he was close to closing down the site but thankfully had a change of heart. He then posted a retraction to the orginal post (even though me and another friend Howie were the only ones to see it). The retraction was much better then the orginal. It was humorous day for us as this all unfolded in the matter of 5 hours. You can see his corrected entry at www.Beeferman.com. He also told me about a bird crapping on his head and shoving match with an old lady, but those are stories for another day.

My friend Mike's blog

2005-01-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

My friend Mike has a blog he started the other day. He abruptly quit his job and this seems to be what he will do while "looking for a new one". Here is his blog. It will have way more entries than mine. http://beeferman.typepad.com/

Does everyone hate their job?

2004-06-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

I was recently at a party over Memorial Day and invariably I heard people complaining about thier job. At my office its like the national pasttime. Typical greeting: "Hey Bob how's it going?" I might say. "Is it 5 o'clock yet, this place sucks!" Bob would grumble. "Good talkin' to ya, Bob" Even after work I'm at the Pizza place waiting for my slices when I overheard a girl on the phone with mother complaining how she had to get out of where ever she worked. Evidentally everyone she worked with were idiots.

I'm now convinced that everyone hates their job. There are just varying degrees of hatred that people can bare. If your hatred is above the level of dealibility (Is that a word?) then you either quit or go postal (literally). I too hate my job and I complain at work and grumble at Bobs and complain on the phone and at parties, but I deal (for now).

Review of Daltrey by Roger Daltrey

2004-06-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

Why did Roger make this solo album in 1973? It sounds nothing like the Who and he performs songs written by Leo Sayer (of "When I need you" fame) But it works. I can't stop singing the chorus to his version of One Man Band (later a hit for Three Dog Night). He also has a small hit on side two (#83 in Billboard) with the once again Sayer penned Hard Life/Giving it all away. Make no mistake this is not on par with Who's next or even Tommy, but the catchy songs will stick with you. The lack of heavy guitar make it an almost live acoustic feel and if you can find it don't pass it up. I got this vinyl for $1 after searching for a while. ***

Review of Buffalo Springfield Box Set

2004-06-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

This four CD set is an interesting view of the group that launched Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, among others. It includes all the songs released on their studio albums as well as many unreleased and demos. You can hear them at the beginning of their careers on rough but interesting I'm your kind of guy by Young and at their most brilliant like the classic Broken Arrow (which came from a Neil Young song never released prior to this set called Down, Down, Down). The unreleased songs don't include any instant classics, but rather serve well as a glimse into the other recordings of a band that only lasted for a few years. The booklet includes plenty of pictures, newspaper clippings and information about the songs. The fourth CD, strangely, is the first two Springfield albums and includes songs included on the first three CD's. Did'nt matter to me as this group had plenty of great songs and all are included here. If you are fan of them or any of their offspring bands (Poco, CSNY or Manassas) this is an excellent addition to your collect. ****

Collection

2004-06-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

I collect way too many things, so I have decided to focus on my most current passion, vinyl records. My collection has grown to over 700 LP's mostly from the 60's and 70's and focuses on Rock. My definition of Rock includes folk, country-rock, psychedelic, metal and pop. It started many years ago with a modest collection of classic rock and a stereo I got from my sister who was a few years older. After college I started frequenting a record store in Princeton, NJ called the Princeton Record Exchange. It was there that I found classics like the Bees Gees, Trafalgar and Elton John's, Tumbleweed Connection. I often found myself in my parent's basement listening with head phones and quite often under the influence of mind altering substances. The collection got bigger and bigger. When I got married I moved them to our new house in milk crates. Currently they are housed in a converted book shelf in which the shelves are slightly bent in the middle due to the weight. Be aware, my collection is not intended for resale and thus it is about the music first and all other considerations second. I have yet to mention it, but I also have hundreds of CD's, both store bought and recordable, as well as many tape cassettes. I continually add to my collection and will review many records on this site. I may also add some of my wisdom and humor, when appropriate, as well as anything else that come to mind. Welcome to my world...