When I was ten or eleven years old we had a turntable, aka a “record player,” in the corner of the living room, along with my dad’s collection of records, which included what I suspect was everything Neil Diamond had recorded until that point. Many hours were spent playing those albums and singing along with them. In later years, when I met my husband, I think my knowledge of Neil Diamond music was a point in my favor, for he was an avid fan.

I didn’t follow Neil’s music much during later years, until a few years back when he did an entirely new collection with only Neil and his guitar, with no background orchestrations or accompanying singers. That made a nice gift for the husband.

Fast-forward to 2012: Neil Diamond is having his first Honolulu concert in thirty-five years. I was a bit skeptical–the man is seventy-one years old after all—how well could he still sing? Did he have the energy to give a strong concert? We attended last night’s show, and the answers to those questions are: Yes, the man can still sing, and yes, he had plenty of energy to last the entire night. I can only hope I’m doing as well if I reach seventy-one! The concert was fantastic, the evening thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m very glad we went.

Oh, and despite that I haven’t listened to most of those classic old songs in a long time, those days of singing along to my dad’s albums paid off, because I still know almost all the words.

My iPod nano is stuffed with music spanning four decades and sometimes the random “life soundtracks” it puts together amuse me. This is what I heard this morning, with no skips until noted.

Walk a bit to warm up….
Best of My Love – The Eagles
Start run at bottom of Hill #1:
Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
December – Collective Soul
Omegaman – The Police
Precisely at the top of Hill #1, switch to slow & quiet for Downhill #1:
Quicksand – Incubus
To Turn You On – Roxy Music
Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Somewhere around here, turn around and head back up–Hill #2:
Strange Desire – The Black Keys
Hard to Concentrate – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Give Your Heart Away – The Black Keys
Need something to get me to the top of the hill…[skip][skip]…Ah…
Pain Redefined – Disturbed
Last long downhill:
Elevation – U2
And to take me home:
Lovesong – The Cure

I should probably get around to loading some of the newer stuff…

I recently rediscovered the old Linkin Park CD Hybrid Theory. For those who know what I’m talking about, I’m going to horrify you by letting you know it’s now eleven years old.

I confess I still love “In The End” and continue to be fond of “Crawling” thus proving that angst never gets old. On the other hand, much of the rest of it reaches a rather embarrassing level of adolescent whining–but Linkin Park did have a unique and interesting sound for the time.

I miss the energy of those screamer bands. Next up: hunting down that wonderful old Chevelle CD.

Holy crap!

A few weeks ago I picked up a new CD by The Black Keys. I was rather amused to open it and see that the back of the CD was utterly black. I held it up to the light. I looked around the inner rim. Nope. No writing. No song titles. Nothing. Okay, well I guess this is novel, post-modern, whatever.

So I finally popped it into the iMac this morning, imported the songs into iTunes, and popped it out again. To my *shock* the back of the CD was now gray, with all the usual sorts of black writing on it. Oh cool! I thought. First-use reveals the writing!

But as I sit here the CD, warmed up a bit in the drive, is cooling off and the impenetrable black finish is returning, flowing in slowly from the outer perimeter. I’m entertained.

Maybe this is an old trick to you more worldly types. Then again, you more worldly types don’t buy CDs anymore, do you?

Titles can just be seen behind the black finish.