Just Juggling Jackson ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

    Just juggling Jackson--that's who I am.  I've been that for maybe sixty years?  Since I was a kid of about eleven years old or so.  That's when I learned to juggle.  I was under pressure.  My younger sister had learned, and even my cousin who came to visit that summer.  So I practiced until I could do it--juggle.  I think my father gave everyone who learned to juggle $5.  And now I was part of the family juggling act:  The Juggling Jacksons...

          "Juggler" is how some guys in high school used to address me.  Maybe they didn't know my name, but they knew who I was. My family had been featured in news articles in area papers on various occasions and our juggling act was pretty common knowledge at school. 

        I liked it because it meant extra money for me whenever we played a gig.  Sometimes I'd have to miss a day or two of school to go do shows, but usually it was something we did on weekends.  My sister now says she didn't like doing the shows, but she had more of a social life than I did.  The shows were not only nice income, but I enjoyed doing it.

       My sister eventually left the act and went on with her own life.  Not too long after that I was offered a job in a touring magic show.  Part of my job was to do a brief specialty juggling act.  I basically did most of my father's comedy act as "Juggling Jackson."  No longer the family.  Just Juggling Jackson.

        It was a great life!

       Did you have a particular identity in school related to your talent or something else?  Was this a good influence for you?  What was your favorite family activity when you were growing up?

I Incense Idiots ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Interstate highways are one of the greatest innovations of American history.  It's pretty amazing to think that most Americans can drive a relatively short distance to get on a highway that connects to a massive network of interconnecting roadways that can get us to any part of the country in a fairly effective manner.  I love the U.S. Interstate highway system.  Thank you, Ike!

I Incense Idiots

     I'll admit that I've lost a few friends on Facebook over the years and likely have lost a reader or so on my blog because people didn't like something I said.  Maybe I should say that what I might have said at some time or other completely outraged those who read it.  As far as I'm concerned, they are idiots.  Yeah, if they are silly enough to unfriend me, diss me, dismiss me, or whatever they want to do to me just because I'm logical and they're not then oh well--it's all of our loss even though it's not world-ending loss and it's because they are apparently idiots. 

      Several such people I don't really know, but the ones that I have actually known in real life I kind of wonder if they were really people I could have called friends.  People I thought of as friends for as much as fifty years now won't answer my phone calls or emails.  I guess they are not friends anymore. Or maybe never really were.  I miss them in a way,  But they got incensed over things I believe in.  I incense idiots.  

        Have you lost any friends over your opinions?   What is the friend with whom you have had the longest relationship?  As you get older do you find it more difficult to make new friendships? 

        

      

      

Hearing Hymns Heals ( #AtoZChallenge )Or

      How many times have you heard an old hymn, or any other song for that matter, that brought you great comfort and a sense of peace?  I have often.  There is a special power to music...

 Hearing Hymns Heals

         Have you ever felt down, fearful, or some other negative feeling that has threatened to drag you down to the depths?  A death of a loved one?  A loss of a job or situation?  A break up of a relationship?  So much negativity that can hurt you emotionally, mentally, and physically.  What do you do when you encounter such times? 

         I have approached such times in a variety of ways in the past, but more often than not my healing refuge is music.  Perhaps I'll cling to some special song that speaks to me and I'll listen to it repeatedly.  Or I might get distracted from my internal state by a song I hear somewhere that takes me back to another happier time or that has lyrics or melody that seems to speak to my situation specifically.  Or best of all, I might write my own song to address what I feel and what I want to express.

       But just hearing is sometimes what we need to draw us away from our own internal state of glumness, fear, or whatever we might be feeling that steals our happiness.  The sound of an old favorite song can bring a smile.  Recalling a loved one by hearing their favorite song can lift our spirits.  Hearing a hymn that reminds us of better times can comfort us. 

       Music is such a wonderful healing force.  Hearing hymns does have a potential to heal and lift us up.

         What kind of music comforts you most when your mind is at unease?   Do you have a favorite go to song that you like to listen to in order to lift your spirits?   Do you enjoy hearing traditional hymns?

Greeting Great Girth ( #AtoZChallenge & #BOTB Results )

 

Greeting great girth is not a prospect that appeals to me.  I do need to lose a few more pounds--maybe more than a few.  Another twenty maybe would be good.  And the way things have gone with food prices, maybe losing weight is the destiny of many of us.  Oh well, I'm not as hungry as I used to be anyway...

        Grand Buffet read the giant sign that blared across the face of the large structure that had lured us off of the interstate.  The parking lot was filled with the vehicles of other hungry travelers who had likely seen the advertising billboards that spoke to our collective hunger as we neared the exit that promised a great abundance of food to feed our bellies. Somehow an empty stomach can make the mind seem so full of ideas of what we are going to eat when confronted with an expanse of food choices.  

        Back in the seventies and eighties buffet restaurants seemed to become a big trend.  I loved them back then.  I was younger and I could put away more food.  And since I was working on the road most of the time back then, I was eating out most of the time.  Getting the most for my money was always a thing that interested me.  Also a wide selection of food was always something that attracted me. I would pile on the plates of food and savor it all.  Since I was relatively active in my lifestyle at the time, I didn't gain weight too rapidly.  However the weight did creep up on me over time.

      The prospect of greeting great girth into my life was not particularly appealing to me so I've tried to be careful.  I still don't eat properly, but I've actually lost weight in recent years and seem to be holding steady at 210.  Now to get below the two hundred mark.  It will likely happen, but I'm not overly exuberant about a dietary or exercise regimen.  Age will likely bring me there as well as not eating as much,

      Golden Corral Buffet is our choice for bounteous eating these days.  Not often, but when we want to eat a big meal. That's our usual choice.  Not that there are many other choices for buffet dining like we used to have.  There are a  number of Asian food buffets, but my wife is not fond of going to Asian restaurants.  I think it's something she heard once.  We all heard probably, but it doesn't bother me.  I love the flavors in Asian food.  But no Asian buffet for me I guess.  And it's probably for the better.  I can't eat big quantities anyway.  

       Oh, but Asian food!  Large quantities of buffet style servings of rice, noodles, meat dishes, and buffet sushi!  In my fantasy it sounds good, but I guess I'll stick to Panda Express.  On occasion.  Maybe once a month or so?  There's one across the street from where I live. It is an easy choice.

  

Do you enjoy buffet restaurants?  Do you have a favorite you'd like to tell us about?  How do you like Asian food?

Battle of the Bands Results

       My first Battle of April 2025 was two versions of a 1931 song that many of us know from the classic film Casablanca.  The song was "As Time Goes By" as interpreted by Rudy Vallee and Binnie Hale.  My preference was for Rudy and even without my vote he would have still won.

Final Vote Tally

Rudy Vallee       8 votes

Binnie Hale       6 votes

Future Fears Fault ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Fearing the future seems like a futile expenditure of energy.  Why fear what hasn't happened yet?  Unless you're going to the dentist maybe.  Or some kind of medical procedure.  Or get your taxes done.  Or--or what?  What could possibly happen?  Lots of things I suppose, but fear won't make it better.  Planning might, but not being afraid...

Future Fears Fault

      For many years, when I was much younger, I feared many things.  I was afraid of people or trying new things.  I was afraid to go certain places.  In essence, I think I was most afraid of failing.  Fear of failure prevents many of us from taking advantages of opportunities or having memorable experiences. The fear of failing can keep us from even trying so that we can be assured that we can't fail when in reality the inaction becomes its own failure.

     If we don't try then we won't fail, but we won't succeed either.  I have had to really push myself to do certain things in my past.  I faltered due to fearing what I was afraid might happen and missed out many times.  But when I did try I often succeeded and that gave me more confidence. If I failed I realized that things just kept moving on and I could try again.  Then I might succeed or continue to fail.  It's just the story of life.

      Maybe I'm not everything that I could have been in life, but I am what I am.  If I missed out on anything I would say it was my future fears fault.  I didn't act at times because I was afraid of something that I thought could or might happen if I kept going forward.  It's the way it was meant to be I guess, but still--sometimes I wonder.  

      And now I don't care all that much.  Whatever happens will happen and that's that.  I'm very much future oriented, but I'm also realistic about whatever limitations I may face.  No point in being afraid about what might happen.  No point in saying it was future fears fault.

   Are you sometimes hindered by what you are afraid might be an outcome?   Do you think the future is fixed?   What do you wish you had pursued in your life that fear kept you from doing?

Everything Evokes Earth ( #AtoZChallenge )

     Even if we were to hurtle through the universe for the rest of our lives and never return to our home planet, wouldn't we measure everything always by Earth standards, Earth memories, Earth in our DNA? 

Everything Evokes Earth

      Earth has always been an anchor for astronauts who have ventured into space thus far in history.  They can usually see it and they remain in contact with their people on it.  They expect to go back eventually.  Perhaps in some future time there will be settlements on Mars where humans will live and possibly never see Earth.  Those who go further might only know Earth as a mythology from forgotten ancestors.  For them perhaps the name "Earth" will evoke nothing in their minds other than what they have learned elsewhere or heard in a song or something.

     Recently I dug into my home library to find a science fiction book that I had purchased while I was still in college.  I never read it, but managed to keep it all these years so I figured I might as well try it. The main character had been born and had always lived in orbit around the moon.  He was returning to a future Earth devastated by world wars.  For me the story was so clunky and dumb and had so many references to language and culture of the sixties that it all just seemed too absurd.  

      Okay, I'll concede the book was supposed to be comedic satire, but I wasn't laughing.  It all seemed so silly reading it now and imagining it was all in the future.  But my point is that everything about us evokes where we are from.  An author in another time might tend to write for his audience about things they do not know or have never experienced, so they have to refer to something more familiar.  In the end that is Earth.

       No matter how high I can jump, I cannot escape the force of the gravity of the Earth.  And even if I fly off into space forever, I will watch Earth recede and keep trying to listen to its signals.  I can never forget Earth.  It's in my DNA.  If there are children, then it will be in their DNA or some collective memory I suppose, but will that go on through time if this imaginary spacecraft continues into forever, into the DNA of those star children of that future.

       I say "that future" because that's what it is.  Everything evokes Earth.

     What do you feel most connected to?  Where would you want to spend the rest of your life if you could choose anywhere and any situation?   Do you enjoy reading dated science fiction?

 

Diving Down Deep ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Deep diving looks interesting enough, but I've never been daring enough to try it.  For one thing I'm not overly fond of water activities.  And then also, I don't want to die...

Diving Down Deep

      Don't ever expect to find me deep diving in the ocean or anywhere else.  Drowning is one of my fears and I don't want to dive into deep waters.  If I want an idea of what the experience would be like then I'll watch a movie or documentary about it and never get wet (unless I spill my drink on me).  

      On the other hand, I love deep diving in the mental sense.  I can totally get lost in research.  Or just random googling for that matter.  Sometimes when I want to know about something enough to research it then I'll go on one of those deep diving expeditions into the depths of the internet or reference books. I love reference books and have many throughout my home.  Once I get started on a research quest I can get lost for hours.  And I never come close to drowning.  That's the kind of deep dive I desire.

    How about you?  Do you like research?  Do you find yourself getting immersed in the internet and books?

      

Climate Change Craziness ( #AtoZChallenge ).

       Climate change is real.  It's called weather. And it changes.  Seems like when faced with an inability to control things around us, some people will resort to some crazy changes thinking they have control of things.  And then things change.  What a crazy world!

Climate Change Craziness

     Call me what you want, but I'm not on board with the climate change hoax--at least not to the extent that some are.  I don't deny that humans contribute to climate change and I'm all for trying to come up with solutions.  Logical solutions that make sense economically as well in every other way.  

        Am I caught up in the cause?  Not in any big way, but I do my part.  I just don't go to extremes like some wackos in our society.  Most of those people are probably more anarchist than anything constructive and meaningful to the rest of us.  And if they have true passion then they are grossly misguided in their efforts.

     Climate change solution hoaxes are everywhere and they cost someone billions or even trillions of dollars--usually you and me the taxpayer.  I think about the huge solar power generating facility that I'd seen pop up in the desert at the California/Nevada border a number of years ago--the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. 

      For miles as one approached from either direction on I-15 highway, one would be practically blinded by the brilliant light that emanated from a tower amidst a vast field of what I had thought to be solar panels--3500 acres of them covering an area of 5 square miles.  Then after researching I found out that they were not solar panels but special mirrors aimed up to where one can see that blinding light where there is a large tank of water that is set to boiling by the reflected light.  It sounds crazy to me, but that is another one of those crazy ideas that came out of the Obama years that is now being dismantled because it is not practical.  I could have told them that.

       Now they have a field of mirrors to dispose of.  Thankfully they are close to Las Vegas and not so far from Los Angeles.  I'm sure they'll find somebody to take the mirrors, but they'll never get the money back that they wasted on this project.  But that goes for most of the other climate change nonsense that corrupts so much of the world governments these days.  

       Keep working on things folks.  Some good things are happening and some that make little sense in the grander scheme of things.  Listen to the science.  And I mean all science.

        Do you have any particular fears related to climate change?  Do you believe that it will take something far bigger than humans to destroy the Earth?   Is there a climate change solution that you have found to be particularly absurd?

  

     

     

 

Bring Beer, Bob! ( #AtoZChallenge & #IWSG )

 

     Back before cell phones you just had to guess what to do.  Plans were necessary to put together any organized event and everybody just did what they figured was best after that.  Now we can just call on our cell phones to check in.  Want me to bring anything?

       Back in the day as they sometimes say, cellphones would have been real handy.  Now it's hard to think about not having a cellphone on me wherever I am.  Connecting and keeping up is pretty easy now for the most part.  I could have used that access when I was on the road working in the eighties.  I had to conduct my business in phone booths or motel room phones.  A lot of change was required since that's what those phones took.

      Then there were the camping trips in the seventies with my Tennessee friends.  We would frequent campgrounds in the Great Smokies where we would sometimes set up camp for several days as friends came and went.  Newcomers to the camp would bring whatever supplies they figured they or someone else might need.  There might be food, but mostly beer.  I didn't drink much back then so the beer was of little consequence to me.  But most everyone else enjoyed their beer.

       Yes, the cellphone would have been a real game changer.  In fact I can hear it now:  "Bring beer, Bob!  We're running low!"

  The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 
     The co-hosts for the April 2 posting of the IWSG are Jennifer Lane, L Diane Wolfe, Jenni Enzor, and Natalie Aguirre.

April 2 question - What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

        I'm not much on fantasy and very rarely read it.  Forget the fantasy characters.  I think I'd rather go back to have an adventure with some of my old friends from the past.  Sometimes the past seems like a fantasy anyway so that's enough for me.

Aspects And Age ( #AtoZChallenge & #BOTB )

      A to Z starts now on my blog with this post.  Hope you'll follow along as I merrily roll and I hope if you have accepted this April Challenge that you can keep up.  I'm going to try to struggle my way through this and keep up.  We can do this!

 

Aspects of Age

     According to my AAA card I have been a member of the Automobile Club for 43 years.  It's kind of funny to see something like that.  I can recall a time when I thought 43 years old was rather old.  When I turned twenty that would have been the approximate age of my own parents.  Getting to that age myself didn't seem all that comprehensible to me back when I was twenty or so.  And now, I'm not only passed that age, but I've been a member of something for at least that long.  

      The aspects of aging confront me on a daily basis.  I still feel pretty physically well and I think I still have my mind.  Others might feel differently, but they probably don't really care much anyway. The fact is that as long as we are alive, we are aging.  After all, it's better than stop aging.

       And as I think I've heard said somewhere, "Age is relative".  Every once in a while Age will whomp me on the back of the head as though to tell me, "Hold it old fellow, you can't do that anymore" and I respectfully take heed.  Unless I get so stubborn that I don't.  Maybe someday age will do me in. Probably so.  But I'm not the only one...

Battle of the Bands

 

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

As Time Goes By

     And doesn't it though!  This song is most often associated with the 1942 film "Casablanca" but it was actually written a decade earlier and recorded a number of times before the film classic came out. Here are two of the earliest versions.  Which do you like best?

Rudy Vallee  "As Time Goes By"  (1931)

      Fun fact:  In 1978 I had dinner with Rudy Vallee (and others) in Huntington WV where he was appearing as part of a 50th anniversary of the opening of the Keith-Albee Theater.  In retrospect I am disappointed that I didn't pay attention to this legendary star and engage him in conversation.  At the time I didn't know that much about him nor did I care.  Part of the difference between the younger and older me.  Rudy made the first recording of this classic song...

 

Binnie Hale  "As Time Goes By"  (1932)

      Another early version of this song was recorded a year later by this female vocalist who has been mostly lost to history.  I'd never heard of her before, but I like her style.  Did Tiny Tim get some influence from her?...

Time to Vote!

          Yes, time is running out.   It's time for a Battle of the Bands!  You're supposed to vote on one of these song versions.  Which one do you prefer?  Battles are no fun without you the reader participating.    Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
 
'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D 

Trivial Music Silliness

Voting Results will appear in my Tuesday April 8th post!

And now let's A to Z!!!

More March Marches ( #BOTB & #AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal)

        My Battle of marches for the month of March is in the latter half of this post.  But first, as we march toward our 2023 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, it's time for me to reveal my theme for this year's blogging march through the alphabet.  Ready!  March!

My 2023 A to Z Theme

      Books, books, books!  Many bloggers will relate to my love and obsession with books.  I've got thousands of books scattered throughout our home.  Nearly every room has books of some kind on shelves, in closets, or tucked away in unseen places.  Books on shelves, books on furniture. books in boxes.  Books and more books.   My wife would love to get rid of nearly all of our books, but I hang on to them tenaciously. One might say my interest in books is resilient (the theme of this year's A to Z). 

        Looking though our home you would be hard pressed to be in a place where you can't see a book or be within a few feet of a book.  Here are some of the places where you might find books in our house:

                                    The living room...

Spare bedroom/home office

                             

                                         My home office

      

The upstairs hallway

And in the garage, maybe a thousand or more books on bookshelves or packed away in boxes

         I started my book collection when I was a child and have amassed a respectable library over six decades of accumulation.   When I married my wife over 25 years ago, she brought with her nearly as many books as I had.  Her books had belonged to her late husband and many are in Spanish.  Those I don't mind getting rid of, but the books in English that he passed on to her are worth keeping.  His reading tastes seemed to be similar to my own.   I am never at a loss for something to read.   So many books and so little time!

        For my 2022 A to Z theme I shared my collection of vinyl records with readers.  This year I will do something similar with my print library.   Considering the overwhelming amount of books that I have, I will share highlights of my collection.  At times I will feature specific books or authors, while at other times I will take a look at genres or particular types of books.

         If you enjoy looking on other people's bookshelves (like I do) then you might enjoy my 2023 theme.   I think it will be somewhat of an extra challenge for me since I will still be dealing with limited computer availability and access.    But, hey, I've gotten this post out there, so I think I can manage this April Challenge okay.   Are you ready to look through my book collection?  I hope you'll join me throughout the month of April.

          RESILIENCE  is a word that I'd used to describe my book collection.   It's not going anywhere as long as I can manage to hang on to it.     

...and now for some resilient sounding music...

Battle of the Bands

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

Marches from TV Shows

        My first March Battle was received better than I had thought it would so I've decided to continue with the march theme.  After all, it is the month of March so why not?  

         You might not associate marches with television show themes, but for certain shows it not only makes sense, it seems obvious.  Take a listen to these marches from well known TV shows that first aired in the fifties and you will likely recognize both immediately.  The question is:  Which do you like best?

Dragnet   

Mickey Mouse Club March

Time to Vote!

           Forward march!  Or should I say Vote!  Just listen and appreciate.  Which song do you prefer?   Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Streampebbles (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D

Battle Results on Wednesday March 22

           Be sure to see who came out ahead in this Battle.   Was your pick the favorite of most voters?  In the meantime, I'll be marching toward April as I whip up another torrent of A to Z blog posts.  Hope you'll join us!

Nice Music and Music by Nice ( #AtoZChallenge )

       Nice music is worth keeping.  I think all of the albums I have in my collection are nice to some degree.  If nothing else, they are at least interesting.

      Nothing.  None.  No other albums come to mind starting with the letter N that I have let go.  Apparently I must have avoided artists whose names began with N.  That is except for these that I kept...

Links to the music are included throughout the post if you want to hear the music.

Rick Nelson "Rick Sings Nelson"  (1970)   Hello, Mary Lou!  This ain't the teen idol Ricky Nelson from the "Ozzie and Harriet" television show of the fifties, but this is grown up Rick Nelson of the seventies.  In this fantastic album Rick heads down a country rock road in a genre that he helped pioneer along with artists like Gram Parsons, Poco, and the Eagles.  Unfortunately, lack of promotional push from his label kept Nelson from achieving a resurgence of the popularity he had in his rock and roll days as a TV teen idol  His death in a 1985 plane crash put an end to his career. Fortunately he left a legacy with his wonderful music as is exemplified by this great album.   It's another one that I found in the cut-out bins and I am so glad I did.

The National Gallery  "Performing Musical Interpretations of the Paintings of Paul Klee"  (1968) This was indeed a crazy cut-out find.  I don't recall where or when I found it, but I'm glad I did.  This is an interesting musical experiment that is just up my lane of quirky musical interests.  It's actually skillfully put together by a team that includes jazz musician and composer Chuck Mangione.  This is some trippy curious stuff, but worth the listening effort.

The Nice  "Five Bridges"  (1970)  This is a big classical orchestra album with some big rock and roll by the Nice with keyboards of the famed Keith Emerson later of ELP. The album is a nice mix of high brow composers updated with rock and classical treatments of modern rock songs.  The type of album I always dreamed of finding and then I did.

Nirvana  "The Story of Simon Simopath"  (1967)  Most likely I picked this one up at the Green Acres Discount Store in Louisville TN sometime around 1970.  The colorful cartoon art cover surely was an initial appeal to me. I also liked the name of the group--Nirvana.  Keep in mind that this is from 1967 and is a group from Great Britain and not the now more famous group from Seattle.  Personally I like this old Nirvana better, but it's a matter of taste.

           Did you recognize any artists in this post?  Can you think of other same name artists that could be confusing?   What are some N artists that you think of?  

Beat Goes On... ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

       Big deal--so I got rid of a bunch of my vinyl records.  In a way I wish I hadn't, but sometimes we just do things that we somewhat regret later.  My blogging theme for 2022 A to Z is "My Vinyl Collection"--what remains of it.  There's still some good stuff here.  Wanna take a look?

        I sold off many of my albums in two waves.  The first wave was around 1990 when I made up a catalog of all of my record collection and put an advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine selling the catalog for $3.  I didn't sell anywhere near the number of catalogs that I figured that I would, but of those that I sold I managed to get some customers who bought that first wave of albums that I had decided to liquidate.  Some of the earliest to go were my Beatles, Beach Boys, and Badfinger--albums that I treasured, but at the time the money seemed more important.  I later replaced several of those vinyls with CD versions.  The tangible memories were gone, but at least I had most of the music again.

        In 2014 I put up an ad on Craigslist in order to sell more vinyl LPs.  I boxed up 200 records and kept the remaining 300 or so.  There were some excellent albums in that 200 and I'm not sure what exactly I was thinking other than the ones that remained were ones that I felt a strong need to keep in my collection.  In that batch that I sold were all of my Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms albums--since I had them on CD I felt like those records could go.  There was a collectible David Bowie bootleg concert album that I probably should have kept.  I don't recall off hand if there were any other records in the B category, but there were albums that I somewhat wish I had kept.  But it's only stuff.  I was getting rid of stuff.  I'm always thinking about stuff I can get rid of.  At least I did keep a few of my B albums, a sampling of which follows...

   The Band "Music from Big Pink"  (1968)   My mother bought this album for me as a Christmas present in 1968.  I had seen it while perusing the albums at the small record department at my local J C Penney's store in Maryville TN.  There weren't many stores in town that had very big selections of music, but Penney's had a respectable small selection which included major current releases.  When I saw this album by The Band I didn't know anything about it or the group, but it seemed so mysterious that I figured it must be good.  I guess sometimes you can judge an album by its cover.  This is one of the best rock and roll albums of all time.  That's not just me saying that either--many critics have agreed.  This was an album I felt I had to keep in my collection.

Leonard Bernstein "Mass" (1971)  My mother gave me this boxed album set for Christmas of 1971.  I was attending University of Tennessee in Knoxville at the time and had read about this Bernstein musical production.  It was controversial at the time because of potential subversive messages in the musical.  From what I read about Mass I was put in mind of Jesus Christ Superstar which I already owned and liked a great deal.  Without knowing about the actual musical content I put it on my Christmas list for my mother.  It was a somewhat expensive box set that I didn't want to spend my meager funds on, but my mother was happy to buy it for me as a gift.  It's an interesting work of music, not Bernstein's best, but decent listening nevertheless.  Not that I've listened to it as many times as something like Music from Big Pink, but an album that provided me a number of hours of listening pleasure.

Dave Brubeck "In Amsterdam"  (1969)  The Allmusic web site calls this album "a bit of a collector's item" so I guess it was a good call for me to keep it.  I don't exactly recall how I came upon this album, but it was a cut-out that I quite possibly got from a mail clearance catalog that I used to get frequently in the mail.  Or I might have got it from someplace like the University of Tennessee bookstore.  At the time I certainly had an awareness of who Brubeck was and had some knowledge of his music so I figured the album was worth spending a pittance on.  This is a fantastic album of a 1962 concert.  I figure you can't go wrong with Dave Brubeck and this album is proof.  

J D Blackfoot "The Ultimate Prophecy"  (1970)  I can't say for sure, but I think I may have discovered this album in the cutout bin at the old Atlantic Mills discount store in Knoxville TN.  I know I found a number of interesting records at that strange store, a hodgepodge of values and closeouts contained in what had been some kind of old textile factory.  No matter where I found this record I'm sure glad that I did.  The band included Craig Fuller who later went on to found the country rock group Pure Prairie League and his song "Angel" has its first appearance on this Blackfoot album.  There are similarities to Pure Prairie League and well as Creedence Clearwater Revival and others.  The tour de force of this album is the rock epic "Ultimate Prophecy" suite which takes up all of side two.  The album title was likely what inspired me to buy this album.  I'm glad I did.  I have listened to this album many, many, and many times.

Buckwheat "Hot Tracks"  (1973)  This is a solid collection of funky, country, roots rock.  No specific personal memories that I can connect with this album.  I think I bought it at some discount book store in West Knoxville in the late eighties.  I probably saw the credits that included a violin player--that always catches my attention.  And then there's that cover illustration.  It's no whipped cream covered woman, but, heck, a stack of pancakes dripping with syrup--what's not to like about that?  The music matches those pancakes.

The Baroques  "The Baroques" (1967)  I picked this up from some cutout bin--possibly at the sprawling Green Acres discount store on Alcoa Highway in Louisville TN.  The store was only open for a few years and eventually became what it is today--a giant flea market.  Back in the discount store days they carried a lot of cutout records for $1 or less.  I bought a lot of unusual records there.  Listening to this album years later has made me reevaluate it.  Years ago I would have said it was among the worst records I have heard.  And it is a bit odd, but really it is a psychedelic artifact of its time.  And I do like psychedelic music.  And I like harpsichord and baroque style.  Now the music sounds better to me. Not great, but interesting and listenable.  Originally the group called itself  The Complete Unknowns.  They may have changed their name, but they have remained relatively unknown.  To their credit. they have managed to become a bit more appreciated by others like me who like this style of music. This album was repackaged in a compilation album in the nineties as the band experienced a mild resurgence of interest in their music.  Nostalgia perhaps?  Nevertheless the band remains fairly unknown.

Do you recognize any of these albums?   Did you buy many albums from the cutout bins?  Have you been gifted many record albums?  

My Vinyl Collection & More (#AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal )

       It's that time of year!  April is almost here!  Inklings of spring are in the air as alphabet letters are appearing everywhere!

Yes, of course--it's time as the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge comes our way once again.   Here's what I'll be doing this April 2022...

        This upcoming Blogging from A to Z April Challenge will be my 13th go at the event that I first began in 2010.  Over the years I've had themes about marketing, Manhattan, movies, and myself.  One year my theme was all about blogging (why not?).  Last year's theme about rivers was one of my favorites since I learned so much as I researched it.  One thing we've seen over the course of hundreds of bloggers doing the Challenge for over a decade now is that there are a myriad of topics than can be blogged about.  That's what makes blogging so intriguing and informational.

        For my 2022 theme I will return to a favorite topic:  Music.  Or more specifically:  My music in the form of my music collection.  This theme was inspired by G.B. Miller in a post he put up in 2016 where he came up with the idea of exploring his CD collection.  That was an idea that immediately struck me as a good idea for me to pursue one year.  And this is the year!

About 300 of my remaining vinyl albums

      My music collection consists of thousands of vinyls, cassettes, and CDs with a sprinkling of a few 8 track cartridges.  My focus in my Challenge theme will be mostly my vinyl LP collection.  Over the years I've gotten rid of over half of the LPs I've accumulated in over a fifty year period.  For many years I haven't had a turntable on which to play them, but I've still kept many records that were meaningful to me in hopes that someday I might be listening to them again.  For now my remaining records reside in the top of my bedroom closet.  Waiting.

        Embarking on this Vinyl Collection theme gave me an opportunity to organize the records into alphabetical order (like I used to have them back when I listened to them regularly).  I was also reminded about what records still remained and how many of my treasured old albums I had gotten rid of.   In the early nineties I began my first purge when I began selling off my albums individually at fairly decent collector prices.  That's when albums like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and many of the more marketable albums flew out of my possession  The money was helpful at the time, but now I kind of wish I had those albums back.

        Later--about ten years ago--I sold off four boxes of 200 albums to a guy that had a used record shop.  I made a firm offer of $200 for the lot. That was far more than I would have gotten at a yard sale or otherwise.  The dealer offered far less, but I didn't budge.  He climbed in his truck as if to leave then stepped out again with $200 cash in hand and walked away with the records.  He knew he had gotten a decent deal as there were some real gems in the collection and all in quite good condition.  I ended up with cash that was nice to have, but once again I do wish I had those records back.

        During the course of April I am going to do give you an overview of some highlights of my album collection from the standpoints of my personal favorites as well as the more quirky anomalies of my musical recordings.  Some entries will have personal stories about how I obtained the albums as well as why I chose to purchase some of them.  I've taken lots of photos that will be interspersed throughout the April posts so you can see what the albums look like.

        Most of the collection dates back forty years and more, weathering storage in not always the best of environments as well as a half dozen or so moves from one place to another.  Time has taken a toll on this collection, but still I'm somewhat proud of it.  Not that it's particularly valuable, but the collection contains a lot of fond memories as well as countless hours of listening pleasure for me.

         I hope readers will enjoy exploring the albums in this collection.  Maybe you will find some that you too have owned or have been curious to know more about.  I'll forewarn you that much of the collection is pretty weird and seemingly random, but for those who have an inkling of my musical tastes that might not be new knowledge.  Still, hopefully there will be something to interest many readers.

          This is all part of my life soundtrack--dear to me and possibly entertaining to the readers of Tossing It Out.  I do hope that you will join me on this musical journey in April.

What delights are to be found in this collection?