Otherwise, everything's in the bag.

(Sigh.) So... Obama and McCain are even in the polls (the headlines are declaring a "dead heat.") Meanwhile, Sarah Palin's favorability rating exceeds Obama's.

Oh, well. I don't need to remind myself that winning isn't everything. My party never lets me forget.

Of course, things might turn around. I suppose it's too early to be so pessimistic, but my prediction is a Republican victory. I hope I'm wrong. Being wrong can be great, depending on what one is wrong about.

I plan to vote party, as the expression goes, and I'm sure most Democrats will (unlike Heavy Metal Party voters, who will vote for partying). But does that equate to my party having it in the bag? I guess we'll have to wait and find out.

Speaking of predictions, I had predicted that the press would go back to its favorite political myth of all--that of Ohio's vote determining the election. And they have. Of course, no amount of math--crank or legit--can possibly support the insane idea that a single state, by itself, can determine who gets into the White House. And don't tell me that people don't take it that way--they do. They take it that literally. Yes. Plenty of grown, adult people out there in people land honestly believe that no one's vote matters unless it's cast in Ohio.

Therefore, all I have to say is--my state gets to pick, and yours doesn't! Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyahhhhh, nyah. Ohio rocks!

(To children's singing-game tune): We get to pick the president. Nyah, nyah, nyah, etc.

Oh, well--enough political analysis. Music coming up.


Lee

Oooops. Or, Don't Do This to YOUR 78s.

Look at it. Just... just look at it. It used to be a 78 in, oh, VG condition or so. Now see what it has became, and all because of what I did:


















This is what happens when you use let alcohol come in contact with shellac. It's like, bye-bye, binding. And hello, partially dissolved surface.

The worst part is, I know better. Many years back, I decided to use alcohol to get some gunk off of a Jumbo label 78 (a wonderfully tacky, circa-1912 British label boasting a crude caricature of--guess what?--an elephant). The portion of the surface that I touched with the cloth (or was it a swab?) went fizzzzzz, and a small crater formed. Oh, I realized. Guess I shouldn't have done that. Lesson learned. For the moment.

Nothing quite as dramatic happened this time, though the recording is no longer playable, as you can probably see.

So, why did I do it? Simple. I thought the 78 was vinyl, or at least some kind of plastic. You see, I had ripped a file and there was more surface noise than I'd expected. Looking closely at the surface, I saw some sort of adhesive residue. "Alcohol will get that off," said I.

No problem--years and years of touching, tapping, looking at, weighing, and psychically conferring with 78s had given me an uncanny ability to judge whether or not a given 78 is shellac or plastic. Thus, I knew for sure that this surface was plastic.

Oops.

I think I'll be a tad less sure in the future....

And remember--it could happen to you! Or, at least, to your 78s.


Lee

Dangle that participle

Joe Lieberman, tonight:

"As president, you can count on John McCain to be a restless reformer, who will clean up Washington and get our government working again for you!"

As president? Hey, I'm not even running. What I want to know is, as a citizen, can I count on him to do those things? That's the question.

And what's with the incorrect comma ("...reformer, who will....")? Who wrote this speech, anyway?

I expect more from Joe Lieberman. No, actually, I don't.



Lee

Tuesday morning pops concert II

For our Tuesday morning, ten pop orchestral sides ripped from shellac. And you want to know the great thing about ripping soft-dynamic selections like these from old and noisy discs? If I knew, I'd tell you! A total chore. But the results are so much fun.

This is a results-oriented blog, you know.

Loud 78s are much easier to rip, of course--the pops, clicks, and BOOMs don't register as prominently, since they're competing with legit tones. Not so with low-to-medium-volume 78s. But, again, the results are so much fun.

Not only that, the results are so much fun.

My new Sennheiser phones, designed for monitoring, have me going for more flat-sounding files. That's the direction in which they inspire me, since they're flat-response phones. And this is good, because flatter-sounding 78s are more natural-sounding 78s. That's my theory, anyway.

At least three of these light selections remained big through the bachelor-pad-space-age-postwar-hi-fi-ping-pong-pop era of the Fifties--Narcissus, La Paloma, Aloha Oe, and Mendelsohn's So-Called Spring Song. Oops. I mean, Mendelsohn's so-called Spring Song. Which is really a gorgeous piece of writing. Such is often the case with music we "know" from a couple of bars. It's not until we take the time to listen past the familiar two measures that we say, "So that's how that goes. Nice."

Just a second--an email just arrived. "Hey, Lee. So that's how that goes. Nice." Please, give me a break. I haven't even posted the link yet. Funny, funny.

Here it is: Tuesday morning pops concert II.

PLAYLIST

THE TRAILING ARBUTUS--Columbia Concert O., 1926.
LA PALOMA (THE DOVE)--Columbia Concert O., 1926.
NARCISSUS (Nevin)--Victor Concert O., Rosario Bourdon, 1928.
SPRING SONG--Victor Concert O., Rosario Bourdon, 1928.
FIREFLIES--IDYLL (Paul Lincke)--Prince's O., 1912.
ALOHA OE WALTZES--Prince's Orch., 1912.
JAPANESE SUNSET--Victor Salon O., Nat Shilkret, 1927.
THE MYSTERY OF NIGHT--Victor Salon O., Nat Shilkret, 1927.
NARCISSUS (Nevin)--Ferdinand Himmelreich, piano, 1912.
THE LAST HOPE (Gottschalk)--F. Himmelreich, piano, 1912.


Lee

Hurricane Gustav

Bureaucrats on TV: We think we were exceptionally well-prepared in our preparedness in preparing for Hurricane Gustav, and our post-preparedness posture has been especially effective in its effectiveness, according to recently posted studies of our post-reaction posture, in terms of where we were, posture-wise, following where we were initially. Special honors go to the people who cooperated in an especially cooperative way to achieve cooperation levels that contributed in a positive way to the mutual, common, overall goal of preparedness, blah, blah, blah....

Hurricane Gustav: Wooooshhh!!! Roaaarrrr!!




Lee

Sunday morning gospel: The Hinkle Family--Precious Memories

These ten terrific tracks were saved from a Maxell UR cassette (ye olde normal bias type) I made from an LP no longer in my collection. Wish it was--I'd love to see the group photo. But at least we have the music.

Lovely, Chuck-Wagon-esque vocal harmonies; expert country-gospel guitar; honest, no-frills production... what's not to love? Enjoy!

Click here to reach zip file: The Hinkle Family--Precious Memories.

TRACKLIST

PRECIOUS MEMORIES
DON'T BLAME THE CHILDREN
HOME BEYOND THE BLUE
I'M BUILDING A BRIDGE
MAIL ORDER FROM HEAVEN
A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN
I'M JUST A STRANGER HERE
NO BURDENS PASS THROUGH
YOU NEVER MENTIONED HIM TO ME
DYING A SINNER'S DEATH

Thank you, Hinkle Family!

Lee