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What Was Your Grand Achievement Of The Weekend? Also, What Method Do You Use To Play Your Music These Days?

December 17, 2018 By Jeff 27 Comments

That’s a rare peek inside The Bunker, right there. As you can see, I successfully set up my new stereo. It was my grand achievement of the weekend. Hey, it’s more than I usually get done… The hardest part was clearing out the hundreds of CDs that were previously stacked on that table. The actual setting up o’ the stereo took roughly one minute. The moving o’ the CDs took a lot longer.

It sounds great, by the way. I’m no audiophile and don’t require a $5000 setup. This is a small room, and that thing hits the sweet, sweet “most bang for the buck” spot I’m always looking for. I know what cheap and shitty sounds like, and this ain’t it. As usual, I played the traditional Steely Dan CD to test it out. It passed. Sounded full and rich, to my ears anyway. I’m pleased with the purchase.

What was your grand achievement of the weekend? Tell us about it, won’t you?

As you can see, I have the walls covered. That’s a signed and framed Replacements poster. Paul Westerberg signed it while I hobnobbed with him in an Atlanta bowling alley years ago. I have a feeling I enjoyed the experience MUCH more than he did. He seemed like he was ready to crawl out of his skin. But he was reasonably friendly, just attempting to endure the dreaded record label-sponsored meet ‘n’ greet.

And there’s a big metal Yuengling sign I bought at the brewery in Pottsville. I love that thing. Looks fantastic. Also, a 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers pennant,  purchased from a shop in Cooperstown, NY. And a framed advertising piece for a notorious movie called Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video. It was supposed to be shown during the summer hiatus of Saturday Night Live, during the late 1970s. It features many of the original SNL cast, and after NBC saw the finished product… they refused to air it. So, it was shown in theaters instead. It was written and directed by Michael O’Donoghue, a full-blown maniac comedy pirate. I remember Siskel & Ebert just completely trashing it, and being almost offended that it was allowed to exist in this world. Heh.

And there’s a phony-baloney Topps baseball card ad. Hey, it’s also cool looking, and I was OBSESSED with baseball cards at one point. So, there’s some relevance there. I think a Surf Reporter sent me that Samuel Adams bar towel. And those two autographed baseballs are signed by Johnny Bench and Hank Aaron.

Anyway, I hate to admit this but so far I’ve mostly been Bluetoothing music to that stereo. It’s just so easy. Everything’s at my fingertips. In fact, I have a supplementary app on my phone where I can access the rare items not on Spotify. So, between the two… I have nearly every album ever recorded. It’s great! …And I feel dirty admitting it.

How do you listen to music these days? I still listen to CDs, especially in my car. And I’m sure I’ll listen to them at home, as well. But that streaming stuff… man, that’s not bad at all.

I need to call it a day here. Apparently, I need to get into work. I’m being peppered by texts, and I’m not sure what’s happening.

I released a new podcast episode around midnight last night. Here’s the summary:

In this one I tell you about some electrifying news I received and a related plan, a friend who’s an extreme eater and his various adventures, my hatred of bells going off all willy-nilly, underwear night at a minor league baseball stadium, an amputee convention on an island off the coast of Georgia, the mystery of “the insurance man,” mediocre beer from a growler, and the Whistle Dick of the Week! Also stick around for a very cool trailer for a forthcoming project after the show. Thanks for listening!

And, as usual, I want to remind you about using our Amazon links while doing your holiday shopping. It’s getting down to the wire, but there’s still time. Please just pass through one of our links, and shop as normal. It’s a big help to me.

Thank you, guys. I’ll be back on Thursday.

See you then!

Now playing in the bunker
Support us by doing your shopping on Amazon! In Canada? Here’s your link. Thank you, guys!

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Comments

  1. Cole says

    December 17, 2018 at 12:54 pm

    I mostly listen to music the dinosaur, way-old-school way; the radio. my new 2018 car doesn’t have a CD player (WTF?, I guess soon we’ll be paying for seats & a steering wheel) but I do have the ability to plug in a jump drive and once the on-board NASA-like computer (that i’ll never figure out completely) does it’s thing to figure out it’s full of music i’ll listen to it. but yeah, I mostly just listen to the free over-the-air music & bitch when 10 minutes of commercials come on, they play the same songs every 30 minutes or I lose the signal. …I don’t like change…

    Reply
    • johnthebasket says

      December 18, 2018 at 2:35 am

      Hi Cole. I might be confused by your semicolon, but did you say you can afford a new car, but can’t afford the CD option? Just to put old school in perspective, my car has a cassette deck. We do have another car that my wife drives, but it’s nothing special — just transportation. *

      jtb

      * Columbo, 1972

      Reply
      • Cole says

        December 18, 2018 at 10:44 am

        not sure why the semicolon confused you …
        some new cars don’t come with CD players anymore so no, it wasn’t that I didn’t have the money to get a new car but not a CD player. I didn’t have the option. just like it didn’t come with a spare tire. research is a wonderful thing…

        Reply
  2. Uncle_Wedgie says

    December 17, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    What is the framed item on the left with Barney Fife?

    Reply
  3. Zach says

    December 17, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    At home music is streamed via our Sonos speakers and app – usually from Amazon Music or whatever’s on my iPhone.

    In the car, music is from Sirius XM as well as podcasts and books from Audible.com.

    Reply
  4. Ognir says

    December 17, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    I have a stereo I put them together from various tape decks/cd players/receivers/equalizers/speakers I have collected over the years. I also have a nice boombox from the early 90s that had never been opened when I bought it. It is a Panasonic and even has an equalizer on it. I listen to cds/albums. I have thousands of cds and record albums. I am not a fan of streaming – except I like to dig around on Youtube for music I may like.

    I recall the insurance guy going to door to door. I have probably not ate at a LJS since the early 1990s.

    Reply
  5. Tiff says

    December 17, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    Big thing o’ the weekend? Purchased and set up a Christmas tree, lights and all. No ornaments yet. Oh, and bought a hot tub.

    Reply
  6. madz1962 says

    December 17, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Ordered some gifts, washed all the extra bedding (blankets and quilt), and started to plan a trip.

    Reply
  7. Mookie325 says

    December 17, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    Had a remote starter installed in my new truck by a friend from work (very reasonable). OK, bring on the crappy New Jersey winter. Finished the Christmas shopping and won $50 playing trivia. One of my more productive weekends in recent memory.
    Listen to Sirius XM in the truck (wife already had a subscription, so my add-on was heavily discounted) with the occasional CD mixed in. Also will occasionally load in a flash drive with something I may have purchased from Amazon. At home still mostly CDs with the occasional album that I never got around to replacing with CD (need the portability, man).

    Reply
  8. Kathy says

    December 17, 2018 at 6:54 pm

    This weekend I got out of bed and I consider that an accomplishment. It was foggy and rainy here and the last of the shitload of snow we got the weekend before was still here. I’m with you on the CD’s in the car. My daughter just got a new car and like Cole^^ I was horrified it had no CD player. WTH That’s like a basic human right, isn’t it?? At home it’s CD’s and albums

    Reply
    • Tiff says

      December 18, 2018 at 11:06 am

      You live in NC? Because your weather sounds like what we had here in the 27587

      Reply
  9. JR in FallCityWA says

    December 17, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    Sonos/Pandora at home Sirius XM in car. Shouldn’t you move the speakers away from each other?

    Reply
  10. chill says

    December 17, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    Achievements? The cat didn’t die, but I can’t really take credit for that.

    My music listening is two ways: in the car, it’s off the thumb drive with every CD I’ve ever had possession of, plus the few LPs I’ve bothered to digitize. At home, it’s mostly youtube these days. Also live local bands at various establishments. So sue me, that’s three.

    Reply
  11. AngryWhiteGuy says

    December 18, 2018 at 5:49 am

    Mostly listen to Pandora for music.

    Weekend accomplishment…..began dating a 30 year old Italian lady. Go me!

    Reply
    • chill says

      December 19, 2018 at 1:24 am

      Nice work! May it be long and happy.

      Reply
      • johnthebasket says

        December 20, 2018 at 3:22 am

        . . . and may your relationship be the same, my brother. jtb

        Reply
        • madz1962 says

          December 20, 2018 at 1:39 pm

          LOL I knew somebody on this board would say something funny about thatawg’s comment!

          Reply
          • AngryWhiteGuy says

            December 20, 2018 at 7:55 pm

            I thought it was funny, too. JTB adds a lot of life to the comments here!

            Reply
  12. Jason says

    December 18, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    I listen to music on bluetooth only. I bluetooth into my car stereo or I bluetooth into a portable speaker at home. It’s just so dang easy.

    I have thousands of CDs burned into iTunes, so I use that to listen to older stuff, but I’m listening more and more to Spotify (which I got maybe 4 months ago) to get newer music.

    Reply
  13. Phil Jett says

    December 18, 2018 at 8:54 pm

    Bluetooth in the car, Alexa at home unless I’m using the turntable.

    Spent the weekend job hunting. Two years from reaching my 85 points to get my full retirement and the company involuntary separated my entire department costing me over $360K. Luckily I invested every spare dime I had in my 401k over the years. They are handing over our work to two other departments here and they expect us to train them before we leave.

    Reply
    • johnthebasket says

      December 19, 2018 at 3:04 pm

      Sorry to hear that shit. Investing doesn’t involve a whole lot of luck: it involves prudence and will, so congrats on that. Unless they’re paying you a nice severance in addition to salary, I assume you told the bosses, “Train this.”

      Good fortune,

      John

      Reply
      • Phil Jett says

        December 19, 2018 at 6:10 pm

        Thanks John.

        44 weeks pay and 6 months full medical with an option to buy cobra coverage from them for another 12 months at $1,878.83 per month for me and the wife. Better than most I guess. Luckily we can pick it up from wife’s employer after the 6 free months at a pretty decent price.

        And you are correct on the training.

        Reply
        • madz1962 says

          December 20, 2018 at 1:55 pm

          Train them to do the exact opposite of what the job requires. Good luck in your job search.

          Reply
          • Phil Jett says

            December 20, 2018 at 9:05 pm

            Thanks Madz. Got a positive call on one today. That’s a start.

            Reply
  14. Michelle says

    December 19, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    Found and rented a house in Tucson, AZ. Drove home from Tucson and started packing. It was a helluva week.

    Reply
    • The Qweezy Matk says

      December 20, 2018 at 10:29 am

      Cool! Where in Tucson?

      Reply
  15. oldSidney says

    December 20, 2018 at 10:01 am

    I put up the Festivus pole this week.

    Reply

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