Tag: dead industry

Morning Music and a Quest

I screwed up my morning routine today and I don’t know how I am going to recover. No details needed, as they are neither important nor really noteworthy, but I did manage to straighten it out enough to get a couple of things done.

First things first, car music. I put vocals on four 50/90 challenge songs. I was hoping to get to five, but I didn’t have time to add another song. I didn’t do particularly well today, and a couple of the melodies were a bit more complicated than my no-talent self usually gets. We’ll see how it comes out when the songs are done.

After the car music was complete I went on a quest. My father asked me to bring him a newspaper. I had a paper route back in the 80’s. Long time ago. I tried to remember the last time I bought one… given that the newspaper industry is effectively dead and the fact that they still exist is laughable. The last time I bought one was… I think… 2007? When the Red Sox won the World Series I bought a Boston Globe. I think I did it in 2007. I know I did in 2004. Let’s just say it’s going on 20 years.

Where the hell do people buy newspapers? The one my father wanted isn’t one that you could ever regularly find near my home (we’re in Lawrence Eagle Tribune country and he wants a Lowell Sun). I went to my old home town, Tewksbury, thinking there were a couple of stores where I might be able to find one. The first store I went to does not carry newspapers anymore. Big surprise. The second… is now a dentist office. Again, not a surprise. I finally decided to just hit any grocery store or convenience store I saw and I found one.

Quest complete. Newspaper acquired.

Now some random pictures… just because…

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Obligatory clock photo
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This place sold me a newspaper because it’s still 1980

Finally… cats.

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Gibson Records

A few years ago (2018, I think) Gibson Guitars went into chapter 11 bankruptcy. The generally accept reason for the financial difficulties was the acquisition of a bunch of companies that were audio related but not necessarily guitar related. They seemed to see themselves becoming a high end audio dealer and it blew up in their face and they went bankrupt.

Here we are, a few years later, and they have restructured and put their focus back onto guitars and things are said to be going well. Not long ago they announced they were buying Mesa Boogie. Many of us who are fans of the company wondered if maybe it was a bad idea to start acquiring other companies, though if you gotta buy someone Boogie seems like a can’t lose because they are frankly awesome. People who aren’t fans of the company announced the death of a legendary amplifier company. I consider myself a Fender amp guy, but there are a couple of Mesa Boogie amps that have always challenged my loyalty. As long as I’ve been playing, I could always see myself becoming a Mesa Boogie guy. More recently, the California Tweed…… drooool.

Now here we are in the pandemic world and Gibson announces a new venture… a record company… Ummm… I foresee the Gibson hater community tearing them a new one over this and frankly I think they are right. A record company? Three years out from bankruptcy and you’re starting a record company? You’re feeding your money into a dying industry? Why would you do that? That is just… dumb.

On the upside, I’m a Gibson guy. Maybe they’ll release Quarantine Tunes Volumes 1-4 for me. I could be a rock star! Except that there is no such thing as rock stars anymore and the record business is dying an agonizing death.

Oh well.