You know, people often tell me “EC, you are such an amazing person that I feel that I should buy you a present just for existing. But I have no idea what to get for someone who is as dazzlingly brilliant as you are. Can you help me?”
Certainly. Thanks to my friends at Gizmodo I now know precisely what I want more than anything in the world. I want my Lego Death Star. Complete with more than a dozen action figures (including a Lego Chewie) and a Tie Bomber to boot. And yes, it is fully operational.
(Ok, there is one thing I want more than a Lego Death Star. But that is a story for another day.)
For some reason I was insanely bored this weekend. That wasn’t the plan and to be honest I can’t be entirely sure why that was the case. The weather was incredibly nice and while my dance card wasn’t filled at least it had more options than it did a year ago. But for some reason I was just sitting around the whole time realizing just how insanely bored I was.
So I did what I always do when I am bored; I went out and bought CDs. Picked up four over the past twenty four hours and will order a few more online as well. (For those who know why I buy CDs this may be a little worrisome. It’s not that bad, honest.) It dawned on me though that going out and buying CDs is not just a rare event but it is one that will soon be a complete relic of an earlier time.
You can see it in the stores. Borders has seriously cut back on its music section, which is a shame because they had a great selection even if it was horrendously overpriced. But you could always find something interesting there. I have one vaguely independent store by me and they have been really bad at stocking new releases recently. I think they have come to the conclusion that it isn’t in their best interest any more to pick up copies of all the new stud that I, but no one else, would be interested in listening to. I even think some bands are getting in on the act, where if you want the physical CD you need to go through their website.
This bothers me greatly. Now I know that I am old fashioned in that I don’t get my music online. First off, I want to pay for music, which strikes a lot of people as odd. There is a theory that music is simply data and data wants to be free. I can understand that but there is the fact that the people who create the music (a group of people I know all too well) need to be compensated. Even the thought that the bands make it up by playing live doesn’t hold up because gas prices are just killing touring bands this summer. But the other thing is that there is something really fundamental about holding something in your hand. To have a CD that you have to pull out of a case, a case that sits in a rack that exposes to the world what you listen to, that is all essential to being a music fan.
And the past two days I did something that I could never do online. I just wandered the aisles of a record store looking for nothing in particular. When I saw something that caught my eye I picked it up. Sure you can browse online but you never have that corner of your eye experience. All of the computer logic and suggestions will never live up to the best disc you ever heard that was picked up on a lark because you liked the cover art. Or the ability to just spend time wandering on, doing nothing of great import, surrounded by people who are all pursuing that same feeling of wonder they get when you listen to a disc for the first time.
When record stores go away it will be a sad day indeed. Computers are wonderful and all but sometimes you just have to walk down the aisles and hear the clacks of cases as you flip through the racks.
Best of 120 Minutes: Thought that I’d post a video from a band whose place in music history is still debatable, Midnight Oil. Debatable in that I could argue that they are one of the greatest bands of all time. I think they are just outstanding. But I’ve heard otherwise. Still, you have to like any band whose lead singer goes into politics and becomes Minister of the Arts.
Certainly. Thanks to my friends at Gizmodo I now know precisely what I want more than anything in the world. I want my Lego Death Star. Complete with more than a dozen action figures (including a Lego Chewie) and a Tie Bomber to boot. And yes, it is fully operational.
(Ok, there is one thing I want more than a Lego Death Star. But that is a story for another day.)
For some reason I was insanely bored this weekend. That wasn’t the plan and to be honest I can’t be entirely sure why that was the case. The weather was incredibly nice and while my dance card wasn’t filled at least it had more options than it did a year ago. But for some reason I was just sitting around the whole time realizing just how insanely bored I was.
So I did what I always do when I am bored; I went out and bought CDs. Picked up four over the past twenty four hours and will order a few more online as well. (For those who know why I buy CDs this may be a little worrisome. It’s not that bad, honest.) It dawned on me though that going out and buying CDs is not just a rare event but it is one that will soon be a complete relic of an earlier time.
You can see it in the stores. Borders has seriously cut back on its music section, which is a shame because they had a great selection even if it was horrendously overpriced. But you could always find something interesting there. I have one vaguely independent store by me and they have been really bad at stocking new releases recently. I think they have come to the conclusion that it isn’t in their best interest any more to pick up copies of all the new stud that I, but no one else, would be interested in listening to. I even think some bands are getting in on the act, where if you want the physical CD you need to go through their website.
This bothers me greatly. Now I know that I am old fashioned in that I don’t get my music online. First off, I want to pay for music, which strikes a lot of people as odd. There is a theory that music is simply data and data wants to be free. I can understand that but there is the fact that the people who create the music (a group of people I know all too well) need to be compensated. Even the thought that the bands make it up by playing live doesn’t hold up because gas prices are just killing touring bands this summer. But the other thing is that there is something really fundamental about holding something in your hand. To have a CD that you have to pull out of a case, a case that sits in a rack that exposes to the world what you listen to, that is all essential to being a music fan.
And the past two days I did something that I could never do online. I just wandered the aisles of a record store looking for nothing in particular. When I saw something that caught my eye I picked it up. Sure you can browse online but you never have that corner of your eye experience. All of the computer logic and suggestions will never live up to the best disc you ever heard that was picked up on a lark because you liked the cover art. Or the ability to just spend time wandering on, doing nothing of great import, surrounded by people who are all pursuing that same feeling of wonder they get when you listen to a disc for the first time.
When record stores go away it will be a sad day indeed. Computers are wonderful and all but sometimes you just have to walk down the aisles and hear the clacks of cases as you flip through the racks.
Best of 120 Minutes: Thought that I’d post a video from a band whose place in music history is still debatable, Midnight Oil. Debatable in that I could argue that they are one of the greatest bands of all time. I think they are just outstanding. But I’ve heard otherwise. Still, you have to like any band whose lead singer goes into politics and becomes Minister of the Arts.
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