What This Hobby is all About (to me anyway)

[rsorren1]

Tough week. Travel to two cities, bad weather, long days. I made it back to Dallas Thursday night just as we were turning into Iceland! White knuckle ride all the way home. Up early Friday, worked from home on calls most of the day. Finally shutdown at 6pm, opened a nice bottle of wine, enjoyed dinner with my wife. After dinner, my wife and I went upstairs to our music room because I said we had to listen to a song. We listened to the song "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)" from the SACD "Hope", by Hugh Masekela. We were filled with the musicians expressions of joy, peace, and hope. You are reminded of how important one man's life was to so many people. There's a lump in my throat, and right there, in those five minutes is what this hobby is all about. Who cares about tubes vs transistors, CD or vinyl, whether cables make a difference, or one brand vs another. This recording made in 1993 at Jazz Alley, Washington, D.C. by Hugh Masekela and a group of extraordinary musicians, played back in our listening room did that.

 

[amirm]

Great story. Like Dallas, it doesn't hardly snow in Seattle. But when it does, it is a nightmare. It is so great to finally get home, relax, listen to music and watch the scenery from inside. And yeh, when the music has that emotional connection to current news, it goes beyond mere enjoyment.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! It's all about the media. Forget even the fact that some recordings are imperfect, enjoy the music for what it is. Been playing my less than pristine copy of Deja Vu on the old TT, but my enjoyment is not diminished one iota.

 

[RBFC]

Ultimately, any hobby we invest ourselves in should fill our soul or it's an empty pursuit. It was wonderful reading your post!

Lee

 

[MJB]

Tough week. Travel to two cities, bad weather, long days. I made it back to Dallas Thursday night just as we were turning into Iceland! White knuckle ride all the way home. Up early Friday, worked from home on calls most of the day. Finally shutdown at 6pm, opened a nice bottle of wine, enjoyed dinner with my wife. After dinner, my wife and I went upstairs to our music room because I said we had to listen to a song. We listened to the song "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)" from the SACD "Hope", by Hugh Masekela. We were filled with the musicians expressions of joy, peace, and hope. You are reminded of how important one man's life was to so many people. There's a lump in my throat, and right there, in those five minutes is what this hobby is all about. Who cares about tubes vs transistors, CD or vinyl, whether cables make a difference, or one brand vs another. This recording made in 1993 at Jazz Alley, Washington, D.C. by Hugh Masekela and a group of extraordinary musicians, played back in our listening room did that.

Glad you made it safely to Dallas. Sounds like a wonderful evening at home.

I'm still stuck in MX trying to get home through Dallas. While the weather down here is fantastic today, I wish I was home (as cold as it is in Arkansas today) with my wife, a glass of wine and listening to some music.

 

[treitz3]

Both posts and life moments just like this always bring a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing and happy holidays to you and yours.

Tom

 

[dallasjustice]

It's been great sledding here with kids though. The 11th fairway t-box behind my house sits on a huge hill. It's turned into the Coppell Junior Winter Olympics over the last couple of days.

 

[jdandy2]

Glad you made it safely to Dallas. Sounds like a wonderful evening at home.

I'm still stuck in MX trying to get home through Dallas. While the weather down here is fantastic today, I wish I was home (as cold as it is in Arkansas today) with my wife, a glass of wine and listening to some music.

Nothing worse than being stuck somewhere due to travel complications when you'd rather be in the comfort of your own castle. Hope you make it home by tomorrow.

 

[MJB]

Nothing worse than being stuck somewhere due to travel complications when you'd rather be in the comfort of your own castle. Hope you make it home by tomorrow.

Thanks Dan!

 

[DSkip]

Great story. Like Dallas, it doesn't hardly snow in Seattle. But when it does, it is a nightmare. It is so great to finally get home, relax, listen to music and watch the scenery from inside. And yeh, when the music has that emotional connection to current news, it goes beyond mere enjoyment.

Snow? That would've been more than welcome. All I saw was freezing rain, sleet, and ice. I had a chance to sit down with my rig last night and was blown away by how good it sounded. I'm not sure why, but it literally has never sounded that good before. There was an air to the music that my system normally lacks.

I'm glad you made it home safely Sorren. When I left work at 5:00, the biggest issue I had was the drivers themselves, not the roads. I'm hoping it heats up early enough tomorrow so that I can at least get out of the house for a bit.

 

[amirm]

It's been great sledding here with kids though. The 11th fairway t-box behind my house sits on a huge hill. It's turned into the Coppell Junior Winter Olympics over the last couple of days.

. We love it too when it snows if we don't have to go anywhere. With all the evergreens here, it becomes picture perfect with snow on them.

 

[JackD201]

I never knew it snowed in Dallas or Seattle.

 

[marty]

Tough week. Travel to two cities, bad weather, long days. I made it back to Dallas Thursday night just as we were turning into Iceland! White knuckle ride all the way home. Up early Friday, worked from home on calls most of the day. Finally shutdown at 6pm, opened a nice bottle of wine, enjoyed dinner with my wife. After dinner, my wife and I went upstairs to our music room because I said we had to listen to a song. We listened to the song "Mandela (Bring Him Back Home)" from the SACD "Hope", by Hugh Masekela. We were filled with the musicians expressions of joy, peace, and hope. You are reminded of how important one man's life was to so many people. There's a lump in my throat, and right there, in those five minutes is what this hobby is all about. Who cares about tubes vs transistors, CD or vinyl, whether cables make a difference, or one brand vs another. This recording made in 1993 at Jazz Alley, Washington, D.C. by Hugh Masekela and a group of extraordinary musicians, played back in our listening room did that.

Spot on rsorren1. It's all about our emotional connection to the music. I'm currently on vacation in Mexico making a CD for my granddaughter who is 2 mo old. I was going through my 200G library on my Mac and cherry picking songs, many of which I played for my daughter when she was a child. It was an exercise in emotional joy and many a happy tear fell as I assembled my compilation. Did I listen to these on my big rig? No. Do I give a rat's ass if I have a tube system, a SS system, fancy interconnects and speaker cables with boxes attached to them, expensive PC cables named after snakes and 6 ft. speakers? Hell no. It was all done on a iPod using some JH headphones and I couldn't have had more fun or been happier listening.

 

[rsorren1]

Spot on rsorren1. It's all about our emotional connection to the music. I'm currently on vacation in Mexico making a CD for my granddaughter who is 2 mo old. I was going through my 200G library on my Mac and cherry picking songs, many of which I played for my daughter when she was a child. It was an exercise in emotional joy and many a happy tear fell as I assembled my compilation. Did I listen to these on my big rig? No. Do I give a rat's ass if I have a tube system, a SS system, fancy interconnects and speaker cables with boxes attached to them, expensive PC cables named after snakes and 6 ft. speakers? Hell no. It was all done on a iPod using some JH headphones and I couldn't have had more fun or been happier listening.

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Beautiful Marty! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your story.