Are CDs, like Cassettes and LPs making a Comeback? Japanese Pressed CDs + Rare Recording

June 20, 2026

#544

Gentle reader, 

I am in my 70th year on this planet we call Earth. Which means that I have lived in eight decades. I have seen a lot of changes in my lifetime. Somethings have remain constants, and that is I prefer REAL things to pixels on a screen.

Yes, I AM typing this into my PC and I am about to be talking about digital music discs. The point I am making is that I prefer a real book, made from paper which was once a tree. I am not trying to start an argument with anyone, I am, you will likely say, "old fashioned." And, I am okay with that statement. To use the technical terms, I prefer "physical media".

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE digital things! By that I mean, like the majority of the people in the world, I have embraced digital technology. NOT in the same way so many have. 

For example, 99% of the time, my smart phone sits in my pocket unused. Occasionally, I will find myself about to get up and go look something up on my PC when I remember that I have computer in my pocket. But, other than that, I use it to make or receive calls and texts. Sure, I will take some pictures, but the camera in my phone pales in comparison to what my digital cameras can do. Nope, no video watching, no following Instagram, for me. Just talk and text most of the time. You see, I am always seeing people who just can't seem to do anything without watching a video or something on their phones at the same time. Including DRIVING! Not this guy. But, if one points out to another that they may be addicted to their phone and watch out!

In other words, since I have lived 90 per cent of my life before the existence of the Internet and cell phones, if some "Bad Actor" managed to somehow disable the Internet, I would not be nearly as put out as so many people around the world would be. For crying out loud, I still have MAPS in my car, and they are made of paper. Do I love WAZE? You betcha! 

Anyway, here's an interesting book I have:

And books, oh, so many books I have bought and enjoyed since learning to read! Such as this one which I bought because the majority of recordings in my collections are of Classical Music, I bought this to see what the "experts" decided are the best performances ever recorded up to that time the book went to Press.

While I can understand the author's logic in starting with the very oldest recorded works, I am very glad there is also an index of composers too. 

As you can see, the first half of the book has no pages marked. While there is much excellent earlier music, I prefer later compositions, especially full orchestral music. 

This YouTube video is what inspired me to write this article. Buy CDs Now before Collectors Ruin the Best Kept Secret - YouTube

I like this man and his videos. HE does a great job and is very personable. I don't begrudge him and all of the things he has which I do not. His talent and abilities have allowed him to make a good living creating YouTube videos. I am very happy with my life. I'm not looking for "pats on the back" or validation of any kind nor hoping that some of my articles "go viral". In fact, I have rarely made any videos. I certainly could not create a YouTube channel. I have no interest in doing so. What he mentions in this video about "Japanese pressings" of certain CDs having better sound intrigued me. Since I only have these two Japanese ones and have no way to do an A/B comparison with their western versions of the CDs I will just tell you about these two.

This, alphabetically, is one of two Japanese created CDs that I own. Here is the back of it:

Note "NIPPON COLUMBIA" below the man's feet. Yet, on the front and spine is clearly DENON. Until seeing this CD in a thrift store, I did not know that DENON dabbled in making commercial recordings. I only know them for audio equipment.

The inside of the CD's "liner notes". A term from the pre-digital days of recorded music when the LP record's paper sleeve which protected the record, had photographs and writings about the music or in the case of pop and rock records, they often have lyrics to the songs. The term carried over into CDs.

I can't imagine what countries and peoples which have so many different symbols which put together form words, used for formal writing similar to the Western world's typewriters we had before the digital world came along.

From the front, the sleeve's front page is no different than in the West.

The back tells a different story.

The first page of the CD booklet. 

The second page. Many more are all in Japanese.

What I was alluding to in the title of this article was my delight in being able to find what must have been a very limited release CD created in 2005 of what the book says is THE best performances of these piano concerti. BTW, in Italian, words which end in O are singular, ending in I are plural. One piece of spaghetti is a spaghetto. Therefore more than one concerto is not concertos, it is concerti.

Naturally, when I read about this CD, I immediately went on eBay to look for one. Yep, there's a brand new, sealed (still holding the factories air inside) CD for $150!! I looked on Amazon, zip. Other searches came up empty, then I remembered Discogs. Sure enough, there was ONE available and the seller only wanted $35. I bought it. It turns out the seller was right here in Virginia! It arrived a couple days later and I could not wait to listen to it!

Since I am not familiar with the Gewandhausorchester, I did not know which of the two gentlemen on the cover was the conductor or the pianist. This old school black and white photo solved that puzzle for me.

LIVE recordings can either be great or not so good, depending upon many factors. Well, the Decca recording engineers know their trade because the sound is outstanding! I'm listening to it right now. Loudly, because my wife is not home.

The Presbyterian church of which we are members is blessed by our pianist/organist holds a Doctoral in Music and is outstanding! Her husband also is a musician with the United States Navy. Our Pastor is a music lover and has arranged to have a brass quintet (two of the players are church members and the pastor plays trumpet, but not in the quintet) which is awesome! There is nothing like LIVE music. Especially when the performers are mere feet from you. But, I digress.

To conclude, I do not know if CDs are going to be snatched up by greedy collectors or not. Perhaps the video's title was click bait. Nor, do I know whether they are making a comeback. Locally, the only place to find new recorded music is our local TARGET. And those recordings are pricey! I prefer to haunt the several thrift stores around here. Something we both enjoy but don't do as often as we used to. 

I have, frankly, too many records, digital discs and even 100 audio cassettes. I retired nine years ago, having vowed to listen to every recording I own when I retired, and have been working my way through listening to them all. But, I wonder if I will be able to listen to them all. In doing so, I have been removing the ones I don't care for and donate them for others to find and enjoy. My oldest grandson, Kyle, is going to inherit all of my audio equipment and recordings. He's so much like me in some ways, which is wonderful! One time, he came walking into the living room after looking through my records with a grin on his face, "Mom, he has Chicago Transit Authority!" like he'd found the Holy Grail! I said, "No, YOU have Chicago Transit Authority." 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I am truly grateful that you do so. When I began this blog back in 2008, it was just for something different to do. I had no idea whether anyone would read it. So, thanks again. I write two other blogs: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. and People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why. Take a look, if you like. Feel free to Comment below or via Facebook.

Scott Robb

June 20, 2026

#544

Worn-Away 1976 Fifty-Year-Old Snap-On™ Tools Bicentennial Key Chain Plus

 June 1, 2026

#543

Gentle reader,

As the United States of America heads to it's Semiquincentennial in one month and three days from this writing, I noticed on my housekeys ring the Snap-On™ Tools Bicentennial key chain fob they were giving away. Then, I realized that it had been on that same ring for fifty years, I thought, "Wow, where has the time gone?"

That was me, in 1973 at my first job at a Mobil™ Gas Station in Denver, Colorado. I was SO skinny back then. This was before I had bought my first car. I rode my 3-speed bicycle which I'd had for a few years back and forth to work.

In searching for 1970's pictures of a Mobil™ gas station, I came across this one a seller was selling on eBay. It's a little older, based upon the 1958 Chevrolet being filled up. I seem to recall ours having round pumps...

Yes, that's better. Note the price of 55.9 cents per gallon. It was selling for 34.9 cents when I began working there. Yes, that is CENTS not DOLLARs per gallon.

Since I couldn't read what was on the back of my fob, I looked for one on eBay and got the one on the left, (above and below) for less than ten bucks.

If you compare the two of them, fifty years of rubbing against keys and the ring, clearly shows on my original fob, thus, my desire to find one in nicer condition.

I bought a total of TWO Snap-On™ tools during my 44 year career working on first automobiles and trucks then on Washington, D.C.'s Metro subway cars. Regardless, that earned me a bronze key fob.

I had great difficulty lighting the fobs so that details could be seen. Below, I will show you the various ways I tried to get the best images.

I tried swapping them left to right and upside down, then flipping them in Photoshop™.

Note the background color changing with every image.

Note the way the angle of view changes with these below.

See? None of the backgrounds are beige, which the folder is.

In each case they were resting on a manila folder. 

AS you can see by comparing each sets of photos, that none are shadow free for best clarity. Plus, you, the reader, have no idea their size.

"Ah!", I thought, "I'll scan them!"

But, the scanner cut of edges here and there. Sigh.

Ah, but they are shadow-free and much easier to see just where time and keys rubbing on them has worn details away. In each case of these two scanned images, the new-to-me fob is on the left. Look at the fob's wrenches, the Snap-on™ logo is clearly seen on the left one. Also, look at the patriot's face and both hands. Each is worn away on the right one. Even the stripes on the rolled up sleeves are gone from the worn one. The left shoe's buckle on the right one's toe is worn away as well.

One thing I noticed when editing all these images is that white dot on the old fob. I looked at it closely in my hand. It seems to be a tiny piece of white Styrofoam. I removed it.

Yes, this article is different than my usual fare. But, since I have two of them, that comprises a collection.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Looking around the house, there are still collections, mostly Nancy's, which I can share with you. Feel free to leave a comment below or via Facebook.

Scott Robb

June 1, 2026

#543

Our Tallest Oak Tree Died. What Happened Next Surprised Me: Fungi!

 April 23, 2026

#542

Gentle reader,

First of all, I want to thank you for your continued following of my blog. Readership is reaching 750,000 which just blows my mind! Thank you SO much!

This is a photo from 2017, it shows just how thick with trees our backyard was. Was is the key word. Because one day, I was talking with our next door neighbor and glanced at our backyard and said, "Oh, no!" He asked me why I said that? "Turn around and look at the tops of our trees." Sure enough, the tallest Oak tree had bare branches sticking above all the other trees. "Our tallest tree seems to be dying!" That was in 2021.

We called a tree "surgeon" and they confirmed what I feared. That tree was dying. They quoted us a price and recommended taking down the Tulip Poplar tree which was next to it, since Poplar trees, while being Hardwood, are the weakest of all Hardwood trees. I knew this and agreed to let them take both down.

This little girl was Mini. She and her twin sister, Maria, were Prague Ratters. A 600+year-old dog breed bred in the Czech Republic to hunt rats.  She would have barked herself hoarse if I'd let her watch from the deck. She was happy to "supervise" from inside the dining room.

Mini on the left, Maria on the right. So silly how womenfolk like to dress up pets. In fact, Maria looks less than pleased.

You will have to look closely at this photo. There IS a man, the actual "surgeon" in the tree.

Each step these men went through safely and neatly reduced the two trees to stumps and after they were done, they completely removed every trace of their work!

Action stopped thanks to fast shutter speeds.

We could see the uninterrupted sky in that direction for the first time.

He did this to both stumps to prevent them from trying to grow back. The Poplar actually started growing a new branch from the side of it's stump, but I divested it of that idea.

With the sky now visible, Nature took over and things began growing around and between the stumps.

I put a "face" on the Poplar stump and decorated the Oak stump to look like little elves lived in it. Nature had other ideas.

There are all kinds of ways that Nature breaks down dead things.

The bark began falling off of the Poplar stump.

A Pileated Woodpecker, (isn't he gorgeous?) began tearing the Oak stump apart looking for grubs behind the bark.

Just keep watching...

Wait for it...

Yum, yum...

"What you looking at?"

Sometime later, he showed up again. This time on the ground. I told my brother, Jim, about it and he said, "They never land on the ground!" This image proved him wrong. The bird worked a long-ago-fallen tree from one end to the other finding all the grubs inside it and turning the log to saw dust.

Various vegetation began growing on and around the two tree stumps. Including different types of Fungi including mushrooms.

NONE of what you see here, did we plant. They just took advantage of newly available sunlight and started growing!

The big-leafed things are called Lamb's Ears. They have kind of softly fuzzy leaves.

A closer look at the Lamb's Ears.

An Acacia Tree spontaneously started growing between the two stumps. Note the Blackberry vines too.

Then, one day, these showed up overnight. My wife freaks out when she sees wild mushrooms. But, she came to see what I found anyway.

They look like a type of edible Mushrooms called "Golden" but, we were not going to find out if they were! They were all around the tree!

The closer I looked, the more types of Fungi I saw, all working in concert to slowly reduce the tree stump to dust.

These, I believe are also edible. The Chinese call them "Tree Ears". They are an ingredient in Moo Shoo Pork and other Asian meals.

These were around the back of the trunk. Note the blackberry vines.

And these, around the left side at the rear.

Two days later, this is what they looked like!

AS the Lambs Ears grew, our resident Gold Finches noticed something tasty, insects, perhaps and were feasting on them. Every Spring, the same large flock returns to our yard. Every Winter, the unattached females choose to winter over here since they don't have mates.

What follows below are a series of photos of earlier types of Fungi which began growing behind the bark. Eventually, all of the bark fell off. Look closely, there are several different varieties.

The "Tree Ears" have been there for quite a while.

This angle shows why the "Tree Ears" name came about.

I have always loved Nature and being outside. This photo, colorized by a Facebook friend, is me back in the 1970's in the Colorado Rockies. My brother, Jim, and I were climbing an 11,000 foot tall column of rock. I don't know if it had a name.

The original black and white photo, below.

We were so fortunate to grow up in Marin County, California during the 1960's through June, 1971, when we moved to Denver, Colorado. SUCH a beautiful place to be at any age, but especially as a child. Our parents let us do things back then, which would have Child Protective Services descending upon our homes to arrest our negligent parents! Times were so different that long ago.

Those peaks are Mount Tamalpais which is part of the Marin Headlands. Marin is very strict about "Development" which preserves Nature's beauty for all to enjoy, hopefully, forever.

Mount Baldy, in Marin, which we were allowed to go climb any time we simply asked. 

A 1954 topographical map of the part of Marin County, California we lived in. The dark lines I drew to highlight the trails we took to get to the top of both Mount Baldy and Mount Tamalpais.

I hope that you enjoyed a look at Nature doing it's thing. It has been doing so for millions of years. All very efficiently. Nature invented "recycling".

Again, thank you for taking time to read this article about how Fungi plays an important role within Nature. Feel free to leave a comment below, or on Facebook.

Scott Robb

April 23, 2026

#542