SO MUCH FOR PROGRESS, I GUESS...

...I thot all would be well if I just updated...

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It all started a couple of weeks ago. At that time, I'd just gotten everything in order regarding the functioning of this here laptop. I was able once again, to use really large type on the blog headlines, and photo positioning got a lot easier, but as you can see, that's changed. (Note the Smaller Characters in the Blog headline above.) All had been going well until Just Recently, when I visited "YouTube". I read a banner on that page that stated "YouTube will soon be phasing out support of your browser; please upgrade to another browser" (Windows Explorer 8 was one of the choices.) So I did Just That. After all, I've spent hours and hours on YouTube, looking at all kinds of historic things preserved on video. I'd hate to be denied access to such a cool site.

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Then I landed on this blogsite, and found I couldn't select different typesizes for use in my Blog Titles. Huh? What? I'd upgraded to '8', but lost my ability to choose larger or smaller characters. I thot that by upgrading, things would improve, not get worse. So I replaced Explorer 8 with Explorer 7, which is a step down from '8' but newer than the '6' I'd started out with. Still Nothing...no way to change type sizes. So I went back, installed another version of Java; that didn't work, so I installed new Active X controls (Both 'Java' and 'Active X' are integral to the functions of a lot of things, including this blog). Nope, no progress, no huge headlines yet, but I guess I'll have to accept that for now. After all, YouTube seems to be accepting Windows 7. Anyhow, that's how I Updated, only to end up going Backwards. Strange days indeed!

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THE A-ROD WATCH (or, why are there holes in all my bats?): In the World Series, Philly lost the second game, but before they did, they got Alex Rodriguez to Strike Out three more times. He's hitless so far in this year's series. Of course A-Rod was a factor throughout the season and in the post-season...until now. He seems to be Jinxed at the Most Important Baseball Event Of All. If doesn't start hitting soon, Yankee fans will despise him almost as much as Seattle Mariners' fans who've despised him in the half-century-or-so since he escaped Seattle, leaving for the Really Big Money. The A-Rod watch will continue here. I can't help but feel that either he's disintegrating in front of my eyes, or the pressure is more than he's capable of bearing. Or perhaps a little of both. And he ain't gettin' any younger either. A-ROD, WAKE UP!!! START HITTING!!! NOW!!! This might be one of your last chances to get a World Series Ring.

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CUTTIN' THE CALORIES JUST A BIT: I go through Carbonated Beverages in an instant. I can put away can after can after can of Carbonated Liquid, especially if it's Root Beer or Cream Soda. After all, the store brand (in this case, 'Western Family') is cheap, cheap, cheap. I recently went thru a half-rack of Cream Soda in 2 days. So I've changed my ways...well, not 'change' exactly, more like modification: I am now drinking Diet Root Beer. Diet Beverages taste like someone mixed in Clorox with all of the artificial flavors. It takes me almost two hours to go through a single can of Diet Pop. And the taste diet pop leaves in your mouth is akin to throwing up just a little bit. Ack...gurg...***!!! Also, I'm eating Bananas instead of candy bars. I guess the 'you are what you eat' theorem applies here. Theorem? Where did that come from? Honestly, I haven't uttered nor read that word since 10th grade Geometry, another math class I almost flunked long, long ago. I scored a whopping 30% on the final exam, but the teacher passed me anyway. I think he wanted to get rid of me...

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THE BEATLES 'REMASTERED' CDS...Finally! I made it through the whole set! And I'm dubbing the original CD's onto home-made CD's so I can keep the originals in virtually perfect condition. I've been putting two Remasters discs onto one blank CD, and most of the Beatles' albums were short enough so that was easily accomplished. That wasn't the case with their later CD's, though...each disc of the "White Album" is over 40 minutes long, which means, even with only two minutes of the abstract-noise cut 'Revolution 9' (which is all I can stand) left on, I still can't get both CD's to fit onto one homemade CD (which has 80 minutes capacity). The "White Album" is One Long Album.

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When dubbing a CD, I try to fill it as close to the 80-minute mark as is possible. So, each original "White Album" CD went onto a separate disc, and I filled up the rest of each disc with 'leftover' material from the 'Yellow Submarine' soundtrack as well as later material from the 'Past Masters' double CD, which contains songs from 1964-1980 which weren't on LPs. And finally, the 'Abbey Road' Remasters CD runs about 45 minutes, so I couldn't put another entire album on the back of that one, either. So I filled up the rest of that disc with other Beatles' music. If all of that scrambles your mind, let's just say I stumbled my way through the dubbing process for all the Beatles Re-Mastered CD's and just leave it at that. Really, I'm almost boring myself here...

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As to whether I think it's essential to have the Beatles' Remastered CD's, I'd say not really. To me, the group's early albums don't sound much different in remastered form. I did notice some enhancement on their later albums. Of course, those records were recorded with better equipment, so they sounded better to begin with. You can only do so much with a re-recording, as Glenn Miller's original 'In The Mood' proves, having been reissued thousands of times in Enhanced Mono or Fake Stereo, and it still doesn't sound any better.