It's the Mountech 2000!

Check out the graphic design on this TV wall mount's packaging.

I almost bought this at the thrift store just so I could cut out the front of the box and frame it. You just don't see fun and nonsensical artwork like this in advertising anymore. 

Sidebar:

That cat on the TV reminds me of my old cat Brody. When my niece and nephews were really young, they liked to watch the Teletubbies. For some reason, Sioux Falls, SD stopped broadcasting the show, so I volunteered to video tape the program for the kids. 

The show was on from 6:30 -7 AM, and for some reason Brody loved watching it. He'd come a running as soon as he heard that baby sun's giggle. Brody would lay on my bed with his paws tucked in while he watched the action. His head would jerk back as each Teletubbies leaped out of that hole in the curved roof. If a rabbit jumped off screen he's jump down from the bed and bat the side of the TV to try to make it come back. 

He never made it through an entire episode. I think staring at the screen made him tired. I'd find him asleep in a ball on the carpet after about fifteen minutes.

I'd smile down at him and whisper, "That's okay, buddy. We'll watch it again tomorrow." And we would.

I still miss my old roommate.

Sidebar #2:

I texted the picture of the Mountech 2000 to Charlotte. I thought she'd think it was funny. She did, but she also texted back the song we had made up on the way back from Great Bend, Kansas. We were excited with our new puppy, Ellie, but we'd been in the car for over 11 hours, and we were a bit punchy.

That was three and a half years ago, and I can't tell you how many times we have come home and either Charlotte or I or both sing those lyrics to our dog. 

It's strange how these things get started. Something is a joke for a moment and then it's forgotten. Other things stick for years. I think our short song has staying power.

Like turning to Daphne and saying, "You're tired, too, aren't you, fool." (Inside joke.)

Thrift Store Show and Tell '23: Fall Edition

Years ago I had a student who also liked to shop at thrift stores. She was really into 70's t-shirts, and it was fun to talk to her about her finds. Her mom, however, wasn't a huge fan of her daughter's hobby. Eventually the girl's closet was full of vintage threads, and her mom told her, "You can buy any shirt that you want. But from now on, for every one that you buy, you have to give one back." 

I thought that was kind of harsh at the time, but I get it now. We've lived in our house for ten years, and space in our basement is now at a premium. I have begun to thin the herd by returning stuff to Goodwill.

 

I used to own that Jackson Brown record. It was kinda weird seeing my old stuff for sale. Luckily, it and the other LPs that I had donated were gone the next time I checked. Makes me feel like my taste in music isn't so bad. Also, it makes me a little sad that I value the opinion of people I'll never meet. 

Maybe the next thrift store post I write will be about what else I donated... Okay onto the "finds".

I thought this was a hockey puck at first, but the Amazon logo gave it away. It's a 2nd generation Amazon Echo. It was first released in October, 2016. I had no idea if it would function, but we have a couple newer Echoes at home and they're fun to use. At $2.49, there wasn't much of a risk.

I used the Amazon Alexa app, an old phone cord, and a power adapter that we had in our kitchen "junk" drawer to give the Echo a test run. It only took a minute to connect to our internet. The speaker's sound isn't as beefy as our larger Echoes, but that's a minor complaint. "Raining Tacos" used to be hit at our house, but then Char grew out of Parry Gripp songs. (I miss those days.)

It's a light-up word clock from Sharper Image. I cleaned it up and put it in our downstairs bathroom. The clock advances in 5 minute increments. That takes a bit to get used to, but the timing seems to be very accurate. Also, the clock doubles as a nightlight.

I love this Razor Scooter's little kick stand.

Char's old scooter scrapes the pavement in certain spots when she scoots along with with us when we walk Ellie. That can be frustrating for Charlotte. I found this larger model in early November, but I wasn't sure if I should buy it. Maybe Charlotte would think she's too old for a scooter? I took a chance, and boy, I'm glad I did. Char glided out of our driveway without a hitch on her test ride. She then brought the scooter inside and personalized it with stickers. That's high praise from a 13-year-old. 

I internally smile every time I see this scooter in our garage. As a father of a teenager, I don't get as many "wins" as I used to.

Bike Project! It's a 1987 Peugeot U.S. Express. This was marketed as an "All Terrain Bicycle" before the term "mountain bike" became synonymous for all off-road bicycles. The Express looks pretty good from ten feet away. Looks can be deceiving. 

The plan is to make the Express as mechanically sound as I can without throwing too much money at it. I'll replace the chain, the cables, the housings, the brake pads, and the bearings. The tires look okay, so I'll leave them on for now. The same goes for the saddle, grips, and pedals.

I'm pumped to finally have a real bike stand in the garage. I should have bought one of these years ago. 

I made this ring from a spoon that I bought out of that flatware box. It's the first spoon ring I've made in years, and I was curious if I could still do it. 

I spent a lot time rounding off the inside edge of the ring to make it feel more comfortable on my finger, but that didn't help. I don't like wearing it. I forgot that spoon rings are more fun to make than they are to wear.

Man, Genesis ruled the 80s airwaves. In 1986 alone, "Throwing it All Away", "In Too Deep", "Land of Confusion", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" were all in the top 5 of the US charts. "Invisible Touch" went all the way to number 1.

Here's The Beach Boys first LP, Surfing Safari from 1962. This isn't the greatest group of songs. The boys were playing their own instruments, instead of studio pros like the Wrecking Crew, and it shows. 

Check out this picture from the back of the sleeve. Look how young they are. I believe their ages ran from 21 to 14 years old. The Beach Boys was an accurate name.

I had this 45 when I was a boy. I remember being confused by the guy who started yelling about eating meat and pudding. My friends and I really liked the lyric "Hey Teachers! Leave them kids alone!"  "Another Brick in the Wall" was the most requested song at the 6th grade skating party at Magic Wheels. 

Any record that mixes classic monsters with Christmas in okay with me. I currently have this hanging on a wall in my basement.

The Ed Wood Box of six DVDs is still sealed in its original plastic wrap. That's cool, but it's also frustrating. There's no way I can bring myself to tear off the wrap. Whatever value this has to a collector would be greatly diminished if I open it. I'll just put this in the box of stuff I'm going to sell to Half Price Books.

This DVD set is open, so there's no guilt in watching Monty Python. 

I spotted this sign when we were walking in Charlottetown. PEI. Char didn't get the reference, and she wasn't impressed with the humor when I showed her the"Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch on YouTube. I guess we won't be watching Monty Python together on Sunday nights. 

That's about it. I bought other stuff, but nothing I want to write about. I am excited to have another bike to work on. I took some "before" pictures, so if things work out with the Express, I'll have some "after" shots as well. 

Thrift Store Show and Tell '23: A Music Haul

It was Saturday morning at the Salvation Army store. I scanned the media and the electronics shelves, breezed through the glassware isle, looked down the sporting goods isle, drifted past the book shelves, and then headed towards the exit. I usually spend less than ten minutes in here. I almost always walk out empty handed. 

But then I saw this guy poking his head out of a shopping cart crammed full of unsorted items. 

Fun fact: "Raven are notable for headlining Metallica's first-ever national tour in 1983."

I have to tell you, an English metal band's EP from 1986 is not the typical record that you find in a thrift store. Not by a long shot. This was exciting. What else was in this magical cart? I started digging... 

Here's what I found. 

On Aretha's This Girl's in Love with You (released on January 20, 1970), she covers the Beatles, Dusty Springfield, and even The Band. 

Fun Fact: "Her version of The Beatles’ “Let it Be" was the first recording of the song to be commercially issued (The Beatles did not release "Let It Be" as a single until March 1970). Songwriter Paul McCartney sent Franklin and Atlantic Records a demo of the song as a guide."

In Person by Ike & Tina Turner came out in 1969, and it too is full of great cover songs. Tina also covers "Son of a Preacher Man" AND she sings "Respect." Daphne likes to say that no one but Aretha should even try singing "Respect," but when I told her Tina recorded a live version, Daphne replied, "Oh! Well, Tina should be allowed to try."

The glue that held the front and back covers' flaps together had given out, and this record sleeve could be opened like a book. I ran a thin bead of regular white glue (not school glue) down each flap, and then used rulers and alligator clips to make a "record sleeve press."   

The new glue was dry after an hour.

This is a different record sleeve, but here's a pic of the "flap" that I was referring to. 

Sly & the Family Stone's Life came out in 1968, but this is a reissue from 1971. Fun Fact: "The opening riff on 'Into My Own Thing' was sampled for Fatboy's Slim's 2001 hit 'Weapon of Choice'".

Love Child by Diana Ross and The Supremes came out in 1968 and was their 15th release for Motown. Fun Fact: Tommy Chong, from Cheech and Chong, co-wrote "Does Your Mamma Know About Me?"  That isn't my favorite track from this LP, though. "Keep an Eye" wins that spot.       

The Temptations' Cloud Nine came out in 1969. Influenced by Sly and the Family Stone's production style and multi-lead vocals, The Temps took a walk into psychedelic territory. The change of style worked; they won their first Grammy that year. At 9:38, "Run Away Child, Running Wild" is a great example of their different direction.

I thought for sure I was going love Bloodstone's Unreal from 1973. A horse jumping over a rainbow that is emitting out of the hats of mimes? C'mon! But it was not meant to be. Sorry, Bloodstone. It's not you. It's me.

Rare Earth's Willie Remembers came out in 1972. I was hoping it would be another of those funky records that came out in the early 70's but side A was a disappointment. It was headed to the "Return to Goodwill" pile, but I changed my mind about 10 seconds into track 7, "We're Gonna Have a Good Time". The next and last track, "I Couldn't Believe What Happened Last Night", clocks in at 12:10. For me, this is the only reason to own this record. I love a Rare Earth jam, and I'm glad I stuck around long enough to hear this one.

Ambrosia's Ambrosia is progressive rock from 1975. I didn't know that I knew "Nice, Nice, Very Nice" until I played the song. I said excitedly to an empty basement, "Hey, I like this song!" Fun Fact: This song uses a poem from Kurt Vonnegut's book Cat's Cradle for its lyrics.

I already knew the songs  "The Night Chicago Died" and "Billy Don't Be A Hero", but they didn't get my attention like their cover of "Sealed with a Kiss". The song begins with cheesy harmonies, but after 25 seconds it morphs into a tight guitar-driven pop song. Fun surprise.

That's quite a custom glitter job on Roger Daltery's first solo effort. Looks to me like a teenager carefully drew a "glue tear" on the left, and then a younger sibling tried to do the same on the right when no one was looking. It's either that or a cat knocked over the glue bottle. 

Also, because of the charcoal pencil price tag, I 'm guessing a previous owner bought this at a garage sale. But when? When did anyone think that getting a nickel for something was a good deal? Hey, I'll trade you this record for half of a stick of gum.

And, yeah, I really didn't care for the music on this one. Sorry, Roger. Maybe it was priced right?

Nickel-priced album #2 is The Beach Boys' Love You from 1977. Fun Fact: "Originally planned as Brian Loves You, it is essentially a solo project by Brian Wilson, who wrote almost all of the material and played nearly every instrument on the record, including keyboards, synthesizers, and drums." "Love You has since been recognized for presaging synth-pop and new wave."

Nickel album #3 is Hummingbird's Diamond Nights from 1977. This isn't a disco album, but it's been overproduced like one. The funk/ soul aspect has been smoothed over. You really can't see the 5 cent mark on this one. The cover, like the music, is too glossy.

In the Queue: 

These are the other records that I bought from Salvation Army that day, but I haven't had the time to really listen to them.

The Impressions' Finally Got Myself Together came out in '74.

The Jeff Beck Group's Beck-Ola came out in 1969.

Jeff Beck's Wired came out in 1976, but this is a reissue from '79. Take what you can get.

This is an actual UK pressing from 1977. Crawler plays classic rock.

I have a few records from the British blues group Savoy Brown, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be comfortable with 1974's Boogie Brothers.

I thought this was going to be a prog rock LP from the look of the cover art, but Discogs lists Lighthouse as a Canadian "brass-rock" band. Hmmm...

This GTR release is from 1986, and I recognized the artwork as soon as saw it. It's listed as "art rock/ prog rock" on Discogs, so we'll see. 

Okay, that has to be the biggest record haul I have ever taken from one store in one weekend. The first time I took ten records out to the car with the intention of leaving, and then I went back in and bought more. 

They were a buck each. So, why not? If I don't like one, I'll just return to Goodwill and mentally add a nickel to the cost of the other records.

Hey. Wait a minute...

Playing with Music

I just purchased this from shopgoodwill.com.

This is the first model of the original Playstation. Its number is SCPH-1001. The back of it looks like this. 

You can use the standard red, white, and yellow RCA jacks to connect to your TV instead of using the AV Multi Out adapter.

Rumor has it that the SCPH-1001 has a really nice DAC (digital to analog converter), and it's a great CD player. 

Another rumor is that Sony discovered their DAC was too costly to mass produce, so later Playstation models looked like this without the DAC or the RCA connections.

The drawback to buying a SCPH-1001 today is that the laser is likely to fail due to flaws in the original design and the unit's age; this thing came out in 1995. For $9.99, I took a chance, and it plays CDs like a champ.

I could use a game controller to operate the CD functions, but a Playstation 2 DVD remote will control the basic CD functions of a PS1. That's weird, but cool.

As a CD player, the PS1 sounds great, but I missed having a digital display. I don't have my CDs memorized. If I wanted to jump to track 8, I'd have to know what track I was currently on. That makes my brain work more than I want it to. So, I went shopping. 

This 15" Advent LCD TV was just what I was looking for. 

The screen is small, and I like that the speakers are at the bottom. That makes it seem like it will take up less space.

Yellow tags were 50% off, so this only cost $9.50. That was a fun surprise.

An original remote is always nice. The dirt came off without much fuss.

And it has the RCA jacks. I only need the yellow one for video. 

I bought a $15 wall mount for the TV and a 15 foot RCA cord for $8.

Now I can see what track I'm on from across the room. (I plan to clean up the look of those hanging cables.)

This screen just screams 1990s. I showed this pic to a friend at work, and he said, "It's like you have your own video jukebox." I like that.

I thought this project was done, but then I remembered the PS1 game Ridge Racer.  I wrote about RR in 2019, "Once that game is loaded, you can swap the game disc with a music CD and listen to whatever you want while you race. I like Fu Manchu's "California Crossing."

I wanted to hear what Ridge Racer would sound like on my main stereo. I connected a controller to the PS1 and popped in the game. No dice. The PS1 couldn't get past the Playstation logo. I tried cleaning the lens, but it was no use. I did some research and online gaming forums reported that the ability to play CDs but not games was a sure sign the PS1 laser was dying. Well, shoot. 

I tried reminding myself that I only wanted it as a CD player. I now had that, but I couldn't leave it at that. The same forums and YouTube reported that using a laser from the "newer" PSOne was the best solution for the 1001 model. 

I went shopping again.

So, can one go into the other?

This is the "newer" PSOne's laser mechanism. 

This is an old PS1 laser. 

Here's the PSOne laser installed the old PS1. The PSOne's laser mechanism wasn't an exact fit, but it was really close. I only had to file away some of the shell's plastic to make room. 

Making the switch wasn't hard. Check out this exposed PS1 laser. The laser mechanism is only connected by a ribbon cable (left) and some power wires (right). Neither required any soldering. The unit just sits on rubber legs that act like shock absorbers. The mech isn't even attached with screws.

Time to try it out.

The old laser could not get past this logo.

This game is so cool. Instead of watching a loading screen's"spinning wheel", you get to play a short round of Galaxian. Kill all the aliens and you get a better choice of cars to begin the game.

Whoo Hoo! It works! Now where is my Fu Manchu CD?