August 29, 2012: Post 596 (2012 Day 242) - Fast Day

August 29, 2012

Daily Comment

I have already established the importance of making music in my life. Interestingly, though, listening to music - recorded or live - has a different priority these days.

It is a fact that I don't listen to music as much as I used to. In fact, I don't listen to music - at least, other people's music - all that often any more.

There was a time, not recently, when listening to music was the default. If there was no reason not to (work stuff), I had music playing. I had an amazing stereo, the best of anybody I knew. My car always had a radio, tape and/or CD player (once that started becoming standard). I even made my own tapes (before the mix tape concept got popular).

And I was always after new music. I acquired it - in my 20s, I had the biggest album collection of any of my friends - any way I could, on the best media available, which was LPs.

Then, something happened. Actually, it was a confluence of things. First was the CD. Then MTV. Then corporate radio. Finally, the change in popular music taste (rap).

The CD was a convenience medium that allowed the record companies to re-sell their catalogs. It was sonically inferior to vinyl LPs, but was touted as being superior (pure marketing bullshit). What it was, for the consumer, was very easy to use, much, much, much less fussy than records, and had random (and non-destructive) search. It just didn't sound as good.

I didn't buy it - I loved my records, had an excellent turntable/arm/cartridge, even a commercial record cleaner. But gradually, my CD collection grew. When I moved from North Carolina, I gave my entire record collection, as well as my turntable, to a friend.

Then came MTV. Suddenly, musical content was secondary to visual appeal. Not that everything that appeared on MTV was bad music, but before I tuned it out, an awful lot of crap was sold by packaging it with an appealing video. I haven't tuned into MTV in decades. I have no idea what goes on there.

Once corporations got control of popular radio, with their limited playlists and unwillingness to break new music, I was relegated to college radio and NPR. Gradually, NPR took presedence, and I started listening to the Public Radio stations that played Jazz and Classical music to go along with their news/talk shows, which I also enjoyed.

Finally, rap came along. Initially, I was interested, because it reminded me of the reggae Dub music I had learned to love in Jamaica. But I didn't understand it, and didn't relate to the message.

Over time, my car listening gravitated to the talk shows on NPR, only occasionally listening to music when that was all that was available. I found myself watching TV rather than putting on a CD. Once I moved back North, my not great stereo system became less and less used. Everybody was listening to music at work, but, to my surprise, I couldn't get into that - it was too distracting for me.

When I did listen to music, I found myself attracted to the music of my "heyday" - the 60s and 70s - and pretty much nothing remotely modern. Gradually, I lost touch with current popular music. Now, I have only my family and friends to tell me about new music - I make no discoveries on my own.

Now, almost the only time I hear new music is when I'm learning it for performance purposes. In fact, that's almost the only time I listen to anybody else's music these days.

And that's fine. They say the music you liked when you were fourteen years old is the music (at least, the style of music) you will find to your liking for the rest of your life. And, that music, thanks to my near-total immersion between thirty-five and fifty years ago, plays in my head without benefit of audio equipment.

Works for me.

Note: I will probably have something to say about tonight's Bruce Springsteen concert tomorrow.

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Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:        206.2 lbs 
Yesterday's Weight:    203.8 lbs  
Day Net Loss/Gain:     + 2.4 lbs

Year 2012 daily weight from December 31, 2011.

Diet Comment:

I am flummoxed. I don't understand this particular zag in the zig of my weight. Maybe its the mayonnaise? Anyway, although I didn't start out with this intention, today is a fast day. I had no hunger in the morning, and, as lunch time came and went (still without hunger), it became obvious to me that I was going to do my 24-hour fast today, instead of the usual date tomorrow.

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
Skipped.

Midnight Snack (Breakfast)
Roast turkey, hard-boiled eggs, cole slaw and guacamole. @1am.

Liquid Intake
    Coffee:    52 oz,   Water: 120+ oz

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