I've had a series of experiences that have led me to wonder if A. the Calendar is moving in an unexpected direction B. I've having one of my mid-life adolescent regressions C. both.

This winter I got interested in vinyl, for the first time since the late 70s. I'm aware there is a vinyl boom going on, and has been for a while, but it's just now catching up to me. I don't even have a turntable yet, but I've been looking at buying one.

My best stereo system, ever, is built around a vintage component I picked up for $190 about a month ago, an Advent 300 Series (audiophiles will know about this modest but legendary receiver/preamp, and the mystique of affection it retains after all these years) and it's like having the stereo I should have had in high school, it sound breathtakingly good compared to the digital junk I've been using for the last 15 years. I had no idea about these until a friend at my favorite local audio shop recommended it. I got it on impulse, and have been enjoying my music collection all over again. I'm even thinking of getting some classic Advent speakers to go with it.

Favorite rock/jazz supergroups from my youth, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, featuring John McLaughlin, for example, is being paid tribute by a talented touring and recording band of young lions called "The Mahavishnu Project", they're touring right now

[www.mahavishnuproject.com]

...and today, I heard on the radio that "Return To Forever" is reuniting for a 50-city tour. What?

[www.billboard.com]

I feel like the Kevin Spacey character in American Beauty. Now all I need a Muscle Car, some primo smoke, a job at the local Dairy Queen, a weightlifting room in my garage, and a really kick-ass subwoofer, and I'm set!

Most people have figured out what year it is by the second week of January.

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guitarist
I feel like the Kevin Spacey character in American Beauty. Now all I need a Muscle Car, some primo smoke, a job at the local Dairy Queen, a weightlifting room in my garage, and a really kick-ass subwoofer, and I'm set!

Leave the young (high school) girls alone and pray you don't have a psycho, ex-marine, next door neighbor who things you have a thing for his voyeuristic son and you might come out of this fantasy alive.

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For what it's worth, I know what you're talking about, thanks for the links. I saw both John McLaughlin and Chick Corea many years ago and totally enjoyed the shows.

I had an opportunity to see each, but not at their peak periods. The original M.O. was only together for about 2 and 1/2 years, though they toured heavily and reaped a lot of critical and commercial success in that short time. I was too young and just missed them by a few years. I saw McLaughlin perform numerous times throughout the next ten years or so. And memorably, with Joey DeFrancesco and Dennis Chambers in the mid 1990s, at a small club in Seattle, and a theater in Vancouver B.C.

Return to Forever I never saw, but saw DiMeolo perform solo, as far back as 1978, and I got to see Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock perform at the Paramount Theater, playing twin Stienways, also a good show. Return to Forever returns to the Paramount Theater here in June. If the tickets aren't crazy expensive, I'm considering seeing the reunion tour while it's here.

Which McLaughlin performance did you see, from what era, what band? Did you see the original M.O.? I understand they were really, really LOUD.

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billb
Most people have figured out what year it is by the second week of January.

Reminds me of something one of the contestants of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me said recently. It went something like this...

"It's been the Year of the Pig for almost a month now, and I'm still writing Dog on all my checks."

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MacArtist
Leave the young (high school) girls alone and pray you don't have a psycho, ex-marine, next door neighbor who things you have a thing for his voyeuristic son and you might come out of this fantasy alive.

If it was a contest between Mena Suvari and Annette Bening, I'd take Annette Bening in a hearbeat. Though her character isn't exactly appealing (or the best developed character) in that movie, she's a talented actress.

I saw MO when they opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer - must have been about 1971? Was in LA, I think maybe the Forum or Long Beach Arena (drug years, memory's a little shaky, what can I say....). We had no idea who they were when we saw them on the bill. McLaughlin came out wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, sporting a crew-cut, stood in one place center stage and totally blew us away. ELP was anti-climatic after that. Billy Cobham on drums, Jan Hammer on a Rhodes and I forget who the bass player was. The next day we went and bought Inner Mounting Flame and wore it out. I've got tickets to see Return to Forever when they play here in Portland in June.

About a decade off, but I have recently gotten into The Grass Roots, very good stuff.

Also getting into "vintage" audio equipment. I have a Pioneer SPEC-1 preamp and SPEC-4 power amp that I've mentioned here before, they still need some work but they are quite nice- what real audio equipment should be. Stuff like these and your Advent is lost on most people nowadays.

Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie... anyone have one to sell?
[cgi.ebay.com]

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I never gotrid of my turntable (it needs a new stylus by now). I just need to get it tuned up a bit. Then i can go back to listening the hundred or so classical and Jazz and R&R pieces i have.

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Cheers, Blooz

I said "Hey Blooz .... take a download on the wild side... "
"Unemployment is the new black."

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incognegro
Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie... anyone have one to sell?
[cgi.ebay.com]

I have the double-CD set, didn't know about this 3 record set though.

I once had a set of those Advent speakers. You'll need to refurbish then if you come up with a pair, it's worth the effort, but only if you get it done before your hearing deteriorates. That gives you about a six month window to work with.

The Advent speakers I'm looking at are from a local pro audio shop, their catalogue of used and vintage items are often already rebuilt and repaired and refurbished before being put out on display (tags usually indicate so) I'll check to see if these are, confirm if they're in good condition. It's a lower priority, I like the speakers I have, but they caught my eye, I'm tempted to adopt them.

Having rarely been exposed to loud music my hearing is fortunately good (not a musician, just a hobbyist) but like many people once past 40, it's the vision that requires corrective eyewear. Reading glasses.

re: "I saw MO when they opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer - must have been about 1971?"

I think that's correct. They formed that year, and in that first year they opened for more well-known acts. This went on for about six months, often paired with bands that they tended to overpower, leaving the audience in a state of shock and awe, half deaf, dumbstruck, not in the best shape to hear the main act. Eventually the bands complained, and MO went on to headline their own performances, playing in larger venues until they disbanded a few years later.