Maybe I’ll feel comfortable changing it back after a while, but not for now.

Today I went to Used Kids Records. I haven’t been back there since I was in college. I picked up three records for a little over $7; Wham, The Edge of Heaven; Joboxers, Like Gangbusters, and The Monkees – Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones (Colgems, not Rhino). Essentially the same sort of things I bought there the first time around, but that’s okay. I’m rebuilding.

Of course, it’d be nice if I could find some decent speakers in the thrift (I’m a snob; I’ll only have vintage and wood) so that I could play the damn things. My record player has internal speakers but they sound like shit.

Sorry about the crap cell phone picture. I won’t make a habit of it.

BTW, if you know the OSU campus, Used Kids has moved into the spot where World Records used to be.

Lua
1996-2012

Sleep well, Lua. You were beloved.

For Christmas, I got a new lens. It’s this – a Holga lens removed from a Holga and adapted for use with a Canon DSLR. The tiny little pinhole that let in the light was so insanely small that my first test pictures were dark as all get out, even when aimed directly at a light source. I modded it a bit by enlarging the hole and now it’s quite usable.

Holga shots without film. Instant Holga pictures. Oh, this could be a good time.

Thanks, Mom.

Grupa Fantasma – Sabado en el Parque (Latin funk orchestra covers Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park.”)

I have tried propagating my beloved basil plant from this summer over and over again and not once did I get a survivor. Last night, I pitched the last two attempts.

A winter without real basil leaves. never mind that I lived my whole life up to now without ever tasting real basil on its own, I know now that I cannot live without it.

Charo – (Mamacita) Donde Esta Santa Claus

Yes, Charo! This is a hoot. If you aren’t keeping up with Jeff Giles and Jason Hare over at Popdose as they listen to an awful Christmas song a day for Mellowmas, you are missing out. And this Charo song was one they covered and actually ended up enjoying!

So while I was in Knoxville with the family, mom found an old-fashioned general store with a huge area full of barrels full of old-fashioned candy, from the ’50s through the ’70s. You fill a little basket with what you want and go to the register to have it weighed to determine what you pay.

I um, spent $15. I also found myself wishing that the bag they put it in had handles.

The above is some of the candy haul I got. Squirrel Nut Zippers! Sesame seed candy! Bit’o Honey (ha ha ha I almost typed bit o’ hiney), and Mary Janes!

There was one great moment that made me laugh out loud; at one point I squealed and lunged for some particular thing and the ten (?) year old boy next to me gives me an appraising look and in a thick Southern drawl and a deep Froggy-from-the-Little-Rascals voice, said “there’s a lil’ child inside of all of us.”

Here’s a song of the season from the group that took their name from the candy above.

Squirrel Nut Zippers – Sleigh Ride

I’ll be back to my normal life on Sunday night. I hope that I’ll have come back with some good pictures for posts.

Here, have this parting gift.

Dream Warriors – My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style

Good morning! Inspired by this post and how easy it made homemade donuts look, I gave it a try. And they are delicious! (Even that one that got away from me a bit and got a little dark.) I made a smoothie too, so I’d be full enough not to go back for seconds on the donuts. We’ll see if that works.

The tablecloth was a vintage sheet till I got my hands on it. I love ’70s era sheets.

All right, breakfast is posted, now I’m off to eat it.

The Five Corners Quintet – Trading Eights

The below tribute video to vinyl, posted last month to my Tumblr, got me all sad and misty over the loss of my vinyl and desperate to go back to it. (Man, I had a HUGE collection of 45s and LPs.) I could not get my mind off of it, and finally bought a record player last week. It arrived today, so I went up into my closet to dig out the tiny, vestigial amount of records I managed to hold onto. Not many of the ’60s collection left, but a decent amount of the ’80s stuff.

Anyway, I haven’t played a record since … 1992? So to christen this new one, what did I choose? The Beatles, of course. I can’t imagine any other option.

From the album playing above: The Beatles – Twist & Shout (and just wait until I start digitizing what I have! I cannot wait.)

Ode to vinyl from Mennomail on Vimeo.