Decorative sound absorbtion and new music. Plus the one that got away.

Gentle reader,

I made my usual Wednesday-after-work stop at the Woodbridge Salvation Army. No exciting electronics. There was a nicely homemade pair of tower speakers. However, I didn't try them out. The maker did a nice job and put a lot of effort into making them
look as nice as he/she could. But they wanted $40 for them and the components didn't look that impressive. If they are still there next week, I may give them a listen.

I came away with thirteen LPs and seven CDs. However, on the way out, I spied the display of area rugs they have hanging in the front corner of the store. I Looked through them quickly and decided one in particular would fit and look great in the
den. Wednesdays are 25% off, and I did have the Ranger P/U, but it was pouring rain.

I told Nancy about it later and since she would be off the next day, we agreed to meet there after I got off work.

Unbeknownst to me, she'd beaten me there by a couple of minutes but veered into Mom's Antiques next door. She'd texted me that she was "Here" but I didn't see it
until about half an hour later when I pulled out the phone to call her. I did so and asked, "Where's 'here'?" She told me and said she'd be there soon.

In the intervening time, I'd looked through the LPs again, meeting a young fella'
who had a couple Beatles LPS in his hand and asked my opinion as to their value.
One was Revolver and it being a mono version and in good shape, I told him it was easily worth at least ten or fifteen dollars. He wanted to get it for a friend with, "7000 albums" but couldn't get him on the phone. I told him it was 99 cents, so what could
he lose. He kept asking me if I wanted it, being he found it first, I told him no.
The other Beatles album was LOVE SONGS one neither of us had heard of. It was from 1977, so after their break-up. Nice shape with leather-embossed cover, two LPs and the book with lyrics, etc. still there and also in great shape.

He took off happily with Revolver and I started looking. I had LOVE SONGS as one to buy and then found HELP! also in mono and great shape. "Cool." I found some other keepers and proceeded up front to look through the CDs. Someone had donated a number of Jazz CDs which I snatched up. I also found two Edie Brickell CDS; Picture Perfect Morning from 1994 and Volcano from 2005. I have the LP of her with the New Bohemians, on which she sings What I Am, but that is all I ever heard from her. One
is pop/rock and good, the other leans toward country, but still quite listenable.

The Jazz CDs are all multi-disc sets: From 1989 classicjazz (sic) Jazz Legends. It has two CDs in the normal-sized jewel case. A total of 30 cuts from the '30's to the '70's.
I liked most of them. Next, and I want to research these as they seem to be from a course in Jazz: JaZZ (sic) Eighth Edition Tanner Megill Gerow. 39 cuts and "Demonstrations 40-48". Which are snippets of classic Jazz trumpet music. No
book in the double sized jewel case. Thus the desire to know more.....

Last from Pulse Records is THE WHITE BOX of JAZZ. Four CDs each in a jewel case with eleven cuts on each. I am more than halfway through and have YET to find a cut that I don't like.

The reason I emphasized "don't" above is because try as I do, I find it hard to "get" what I call traditional Jazz. Oh, I have a number of LPs and CDs of the classics, Miles Davis, Lioneel Hampton, John Coletrain, many more. I listen, really listen, but sometimes I just shake my head. And it's not 'cuz I'm white, there are a lot of non-blacks that love Jazz. I DO like "Smooth Jazz" very much and have hundreds of titles and artists works. Great music, all.

I grew up surrounded by music. Both Mom and Dad loved it and it was almost always playing. Mom played the trumpet as a child and I tried it as a kid, her trumpet. But, I had no desire to practice. Dad played the guitar and sang, both well. Jim, my brother, inherited musical talent for instruments and Judy, my sister, is a great singer. I can whistle like a pro, and I suppose I can carry a tune singing. But that's it.

However, in my recent desire to LEARN more, I have taken up CD college courses as produced by The Teaching Company The Great Courses

I started with How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition wonderfully taught by Professor Robert Greenberg. He knows music and is very funny. It's 48 45 minute courses. After a while, I became overwhelmed and stopped.

Taking a break by listening to Science and Religion by Professor Lawrence M. Principe.

Then I started Understanding the Fundamentals of Music also by Professor Robert Greenberg. Again, I find myself overwhelmed. He anticipates that and tells the student that to fully grasp a lot of what he's trying to teach may require re-listening a couple of more times.

Other courses I have are: Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion by Professor Bill Messenger. Ahead await: The Apostle Paul by Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, and:
A History of Hitler's Empire, 2nd Edition by Professor Thomas Childers.

If you have a desire to learn and have a 30 to 45 minute commute, these courses are a fantastic way to learn. They are very reasonably priced as well. Also most are available as DVDs usually for the same price. Some, naturally are only on DVD because it's hard to "hear" a painting or a planet or what have you.

BACK to music buys. I also found a bunch of mint LPs from Hindsight Records. From the late '70's. There are almost 300 of them, it turns out. Here is a list on line:
Big Band Library: "Collectors' Checklist: Hindsight Records LPs"

They are called "The Uncollected". All are "Previously Unreleased Material" from "The Original For Radio Only Recordings" I only have eleven of them, but it seems to me a great way to collect a LOT of big band music of famous and lesser known bands and singers. As soon as these Jazz CDs are over, I'll start listening to these LPs.

So, BACK to rugs. Nancy and I started looking through them, and I showed her the one I wanted. She knows things like this and professed that the one I'd chosen was extremely well made and must have cost well over $1000 when new. We then picked out one for the living room and one for the family room. Bekka stated we, "are now officially grandparents, because you are putting rugs over rugs." I pointed out we were putting rugs over carpeting. Each was well less than $100.

So, here is the one in the den:
Here's another view:
Isn't that gorgeous? The one in the family room is also Eastern. One can't call them "Oriental" because that is politically incorrect. Most of that genre of rug came from what is now called Iran. Where this one came from, I have no clue. No label or marking of any kind on the bottom. The one in the living room is more modern and matches the furniture and fits the space perfectly.

Here's the cover of HELP!
According to "the book", this album is "worth" $150. Revolver is "worth" $200. Howyever, (a Nancy word, I love it!) a check on eBay shows plenty of mono Beatles LPs of all the titles for less than $10. The UK version was on the Parlaphone label and
HELP! was in plain black text with no dramatic letters as above. So, perhaps a mint copy of that might be worth a lot more.

So, that's it for now. Today was laundry day. Nancy's working ten hours, so won't be home until after eight. Now, to photograph next week's eBay stuff...............

Thanks for looking,

Scott