Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Two incredible events took place this weekend.  Two!

When I was in high school I had two jobs my junior and senior year. During the week a friend and I worked for a small janitorial company, The Holland Company. We each had a small office building that we cleaned 5 nights a week. Most of the time afterwards we’d head to a local coffee shop, sit, drink coffee and shoot the shit.

Another job was on the weekends, working in Carefree, Arizona for a couple of guys that were  putting in a new subdivision. This was real grunt work, cutting and clearing brush, loading it on a flatbed, hauling it to the dump, unloading the truck and then repeat. We made and set lot markers, painted them, painted block walls and a bell tower, La Tierra Prometida, (The Promised Land) it’s there to this day, lest anyone doubt my construction abilities.

With these two jobs I was probably clearing $50 -$60 bucks a week, pretty heady money for those days. My income allowed me to pursue one of my favorite hobbies, buying and listening to record albums. Fortunately in the mid 70”s Phoenix was home to one of the great progressive radio stations of all time, KDKB, owned and run by the late Bill Compton.

KDKB exposed Phoenix to an incredible quantity of fresh, new, unheard artists. Bruce Springsteen was an unknown, AL Stewart, Jerry Riople, McKendree Spring, Spirit, King Crimson, New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Souther-Hillman- Furray Band, Jetrho Tull, Poco, Billy Joel, well, you get the point. Plus bands which were at that time fairly new, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, CSNY, Hendrix, Cream, the list could go on and on. It was an expansive time in original, progressive music. When cuts were played off more well known albums they weren’t the ones you heard every day, they were track 3 or 4, off of side B.

Once a week after Donoldo and I got our checks we’d shoot over to Evolution Record’s, Camelback and Scottsdale Road, spending easily an hour or more deciding what album, or on a binge week, two albums to purchase. 

Albums then weren’t just about spinning on the turntable, there was an art, a ritual to a new album. First you read the album, the back cover, the liner notes, a booklet if it was included. Who was playing on it that was recording with other artists, what studio was it recorded in, when was it recorded, who wrote what on it. All knowledge needed to really enjoy the music experience. Of course there is a method to storage as well. Alphabetical order by the band name, followed by the proper chronological order of release. I still do it, it drives my wife crazy.

To enjoy the album  to it’s  full potential a nice component system was in order. At the time I had an Advent receiver/amplifier, Kenwood KD 2055 Turntable and the smaller Advent speakers. Senhieser headphones rounded out the unit. All of this in a 10” x 14” bedroom. Quality makes it’s demands.

Then, open the turntable cover, clean the album, lower the needle and let it begin. If Mom and Dad weren’t home it was a good time for volume.  If either one or both were home it was time for the headphones. Either way, lay back on the bed and let the music fill my mind.

By the time, years down the road, that I finally got rid of my album collection to make the switch to Cd’s (working my way back to vinyl currently) I had upwards of 300 albums. 

I’m  really getting to a point here.   Over the years I’ve purchased Cd’s to replace vinyl, with a lot of the purchases off of Amazon. I received a new one just the other day, Eldorado – The Electric Light Orchestra. I don’t know how many I’ve purchased over time, but his one was unique, happily so.

I have finally received a Cd from Amazon that, the Jewel Box isn’t cracked, broken, scratched, loose on the inside or missing the actual album cover!

I don’t remember what the second thing was, but put on an album and enjoy your evening.

Why We Celebrate

Fireworks, burgers, dogs, the beach and parades are all great fun and a joy to take part in, because we can.

We celebrate today because we have:

The Declaration of Independace
The Constitution of the United States
The Bill of Rights

We have men and women who have died to preserve and defend these rights.

I was speaking to a guest at the restaurant Sunday morning. His accent suggested that his country of origin was probably Eastern Bloc.  I asked him how his Sunday was going, his reply,

"It's great to wake up in a country where you are free," a direct quote from a grateful man.

Let's all celebrate and be thankful.

Happy 4th of July

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Thanksgiving break is over, as well as Christmas break and spring break as well as writers block break.

Summer is here! Fun facts about summer in Arizona:

You cannot fry eggs on the sidewalk, been tried, makes a mess

You can leave a cool cup of coffee in your car in the morning and in the afternoon it is too hot to drink.

I’m pretty sure you can also brew tea in the car.

It can get too hot to go swimming in the afternoon.

June 26, 1990, it was 122 degrees, the airport had to shut down, they didn’t have takeoff and landing information for that intense heat, the air thins and aircraft need more runway I walked outside, said “damn, it’s hot,” and came back inside.

There is the famous, “but it’s a dry heat!” so is a convection oven.

It’s the monsoon season, which brings incredible storms to the valley.  There’s nothing quite like looking out the window and watching a wall of dust, as high as you can see, obliterating the sky! Looking out our back door, first Camelback Mountain is engulfed and disappears in a wall of dirty brown, next Mummy Mountain vanishes as well. At that point, we are about 5 minutes away from the wall.

Palm trees bend, the light gets an odd brown tint due to the dust, patio furniture takes on a life of it’s own, (reminiscent of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice for you Disney Fans), some It taking a dip in the pool and the storm starts in earnest.

Now the wind really picks up, lightning is flashing and thunder is roaring and a torrential rain starts. Last year in the middle of this we were out front, mid-calf high water rushing down the street clearing out storm drains, news chopper overhead and cars going down the street drenching us further with boat size wakes. I thought for sure they would have understood my simple sign language.

Ten minutes later it’s over, the sun comes out and the famous “dry” heat magically transforms to humid, soaking, jungle like heat, 95 degrees, 80% humidity. 

Out back the crystal clear pool now looks like the muddy Mississippi, I swear I’ve seen catfish there following these storms, and I know the patio chairs are in there somewhere, but I’m not going in now. 

But it is magical here in the summer.

By the way, the book is finally started!