It Will Be a Great Day to Stay Inside

At 10:15 AM:

Trippy Time Out

It's hard to tell, but Char is standing in a corner.

It was a Daddy-Daughter day, and we went to Prairie Meadows for the buffet. This corner is part of their new decor. That was unexpected. 

Redressed

From November '17:

"Back in the early 90's, I found eight Pink Floyd albums on vinyl at the DAV. Ummagumma, Meddle, A Nice Pair, Atomic Heart Mother, Relics, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall were all for sale for a quarter each. The problem was that there was no artwork. The records were only in clear, plastic sleeves...

...Because of my renewed interest in playing and collecting records, I've decided to find the correct covers and sleeves for the Pink Floyd albums. That isn't anything I have to do, but it will be fun. To save money, my strategy is to find decent LP covers with junky records inside them. I'll toss the poor record and replace it with the nicer one from DAV."

Today:

With the help of eBay, Discogs, and Dan from ZZZ Records and Sump Pump Records, I have completed Meddle, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall.

I just found out that the Melivins re-released their album Houdini through Third Man Records in 2016, and one limited version used vintage record covers from the 60s. They simply screen printed "Melvins" and "Houdini" over the original artwork. 

I thought that was so creative.

I went to the Salvation Army to find a vintage cover to use for Ummagumma, A Nice Pair, Atomic Heart Mother, or Relics.

I bought Bill and Dick's self-titled album. I though the cover image of the two men would be a fun match for A Nice Pair. I later realized that A Nice Pair is a double album, and the two LPs won't fit in the sleeve. Bummer.

I then decided the cover's image might make an ironic contrast for the title, Atom Heart Mother. Using a laser printer and packing tape, I made stickers to re-brand the cover.

I added another sticker to the back cover and used a black marker to edit the text.

The original artwork for Atom Heart Mother is a cow's backside.

I'm starting to like my cover better.

An Unintentional Beard

I have been growing a beard for almost three weeks, but not because I want to be trendy.

My family has a history of skin cancer. I'm careful to apply sunscreen in the summer, and I try to keep tabs on changes in my skin. In November I noticed that a spot on my cheek had become darker and angrier.

Charlotte later told me, "I saw that on your face dad, but I thought it was just food." Thanks a lot, kid.

It scared me when I woke up with a small scab on that same spot, and I nervously told Daphne, "I don't care if I have a scar on my face. I just don't want skin cancer." The urgent care doctor didn't seem to think much of my spot, but she scheduled an appointment for me to see a dermatologist. He performed a biopsy on November 26.

The results came back three days later. I didn't have skin cancer. I had an "abnormal mole." Unfortunately, the first biopsy didn't remove all of the abnormal cells. They would have to dig deeper. I was going to have stitches on my cheek and later a scar there. 

That's when my attitude took a wrong turn. Instead of being thankful that I didn't have skin cancer, I was immediately concerned about my appearance. Talk about being ungrateful.

I scheduled the procedure during winter break. When I was put on hold, the song playing on the phone was Rod Stewarts' "The First Cut is the Deepest." And no, I did not make that up.

I was instructed to keep my wound covered for six days after the surgery, and I was also told to not shave near a healing wound. I suppose it would be too easy for the wound to reopen. But there's the rub. It's very hard to get a bandage to stick to facial hair. You have to go big to get the job done.

This is not very stealthy:

When you are wearing a bandage on your face, it feels like people are looking at you with suspicion. What's he hiding under there? How did get that? Is he violent? It was a relief when I could stop wearing the bandages. 

The first scar wasn't too bad*. It was healing nicely, and I was looking forward to shaving. I say first scar because six days later the dermatology department called to say I needed to come back for a third time. My new wound was going to be bigger. 

When I got the news that I would have to do this again, I went out to the garage and stomped the life out of a cardboard box that was waiting to be recycled. To add injury to insult, I hurt my foot during that tantrum, and I embarrassingly limped the rest of the day. It wasn't my best moment.

The second surgery was last Thursday, and I got the call yesterday morning that I don't have to go back in for a third one. All of the irregular cells in that area have been removed, thank God. That is such good news.  

The stitches come out on Friday. After that I'm going to concentrate on healing and beard maintenance.  

And being more thankful.

* I had thought about posting a couple of pictures of my stitched up wounds, but Charlotte overruled that idea. "Well, not everyone wants to see that, Dad." 

Weekend Snapshots

It's hard to see, but Char and Daphne's snowman is threatening you with a snowball.

What's in that snow fort with a sheet for a roof?

How far can they sled together?

The ladies in a dog bowl.

New Brownie sash - worn with pride.

Feeling Blue, and Happy About It

Here's my basement stereo. It's a hodgepodge result of thrift stores, garage sales, eBay, and memories of my youth.

The receiver is a Marantz 2252 B. It was produced between 1977 and 1979. The Marantz brand was a big deal when I was in high school. Some of my friends' dads had Marantz receivers, and we were only allowed to look at them.

Name this movie:

I married Daphne in 2002. At that time you could find a vintage receiver at Goodwill for very little money. Daphne didn't quite understand my excitement when I brought this Marantz home and exclaimed, "I got it for eight dollars!" She's not into vintage stuff (except for me). But when I found a similar model for five bucks and gave it to her dad, he was pumped. The last time we visited Grandpa and Grandma, he proudly powered it up for me.

The BSR equalizer isn't a high quality component, but does bring back memories.

Best Buy was selling these for about $20 in the mid 80's, and I was fascinated with how moving the slider knobs could change the music coming out of my plastic Sansui stereo. I "upgraded" to a sleeker, more complicated EQ when I went to college.  I regretted giving the BSR away when that model broke.

My current EQ is from a West Des Moines garage sale. It was missing two slider knobs, but a non-working BSR from eBay corrected the number of sliders.

I've written about my cassette deck before. I picked up the AKAI GXC-510D at a specialty Goodwill in Omaha, Nebraska. The deck was manufactured in 1974, and it still works, but you have to press play first, then turn on the power. After that, you can stop and start at will. I don't know why, and I've never tried to fix it. If it ain't too broke...

The CD player is an anomaly because, well, it's a DVD player. 

I had a vintage Sony CD player that had a metal faceplate, but I gave that away when I found out it wouldn't play CD-Rs (that was during the golden age of Napster.) I did some research on vintage stereo forums. From an economical standpoint, most of the advice states that old CD players sound terrible when compared to the relatively cheap modern DVD players. So, I went with a player that had a bit of a vintage look. The Pioneer Dv-563A sounds pretty good to me, but I'm far from an audiophile.

On top of the DVD player is the Pioneer Audio Digital Timer. I could use to turn the stereo on and off like an alarm clock, but I don't. The timer is there just because I think it looks cool.

I have owned the Fisher Studio Standard turntable the longest. I brought it home from a garage sale in the summer of 1990. It was $20 and was still in its original box.

I took the Fisher to college, and it has been following me around ever since. Tip: if you buy a working, secondhand turntable from a thrift store, then the next thing you should do is buy a new stylus (needle). It will sound waaay better, and you won't trash your new LPs.

I have gone through many pairs of speakers purchased from thrift stores. Each time I bring a better (or not) pair home, I take the inferior pair back to the same thrift store. A guy only needs so many speakers. So far, the Marantz 5MK IIs have been my best find.

I've been using Realistic Minimus 7s for satellite speakers. Made of die-cast aluminum, these work horses are tanks that sound good. I bought a new pair in the 80's, and I used them to play background music at our wedding reception. Only one speaker made it back from the reception hall, so this pair was also picked up second hand. (Yes, I do buy things that are new, but that hunt isn't as much fun.)

Last week I decided to make one more addition to my set up. (See, it's new.)

The Harman Kardon BTA-10 External Bluetooth Adapter allows me to stream music from my phone or my old Mac laptop to my vintage stereo receiver. It was a simple plug and play instillation. I feel so modern... 

For my money, no musical format sounds more interesting than a vinyl record. I still like CDs, and I play my cassette mix-tapes and 8-tracks for nostalgia sake. But there is just so much good new music out there, and I can't buy it all. Streaming music on my vintage system is a fun alternative.

It's not the same, though. Last night I streamed Nebula's To the Center on YouTube, and then I played the same album on CD. The CD sounded brighter and the bass felt tighter. The stream didn't sound bad, though. 

I'm slowly dragging myself into the 21st century. Baby steps.

You Never Know What You'll Find...

...when you clean out the kitchen cabinets.