A few days ago, my son gave my wife an ipod to be used during her morning walks. I wasn't aware of their discussions about the ipod itself, or its programming. I also know absolutely nothing, zip, nada, zilch, zero about ipods at all, and don't think I've ever seen one before. But, I guess my wife decided she wanted some upbeat tunes in the thing to help her keep up her walking pace.
Anyway, yesterday or the day before I saw this little thing on the kitchen table, put on the tiny earphones and figured out how to get it playing. And, I couldn't believe my ears. That square inch or so of technology blew me away. Song after song, artist after artist playing their top hits in outstanding sound -it's gangbusters!
That little gadget's amazing.
At this point, I guess a little background is needed to describe the ipod's impact on me. As I've mentioned before, sports broadcasters in general and most news analysts got me into watching most TV with the sound off and into just reading the crawlers and blurbs. Topping that off is a very serious couple of medical bouts I went through that, for some reason, made me hyper-sensitive to sound in general, so I never turn the radio on at all, even to listen to music.
During the last few months, however, I've noticed a lessening sensitivity to sound, so I've turned an FM music station on a couple of times and am perhaps bridging my way back to listening to radio music again. And, I guess, that's why I picked the ipod up in the first place, just to try it out.
And, now that I've tried it, I think I may be hooked. Because, back a while ago my wife and I used to go out a lot. In fact, for about forty years, or so, we went to nightclubs in the city every Saturday night, and many Friday nights too.
There was one place, Sirocco, on 29th street just off Madison Avenue, where we practically lived for twenty years or so, and spent most of that time on the dance floor. The music was Middle-Eastern, which I knew nothing about then, nor do I know anything about now. But, what I do know is the sound. You can't just sit in your chair when it's played. You HAVE to get up and dance. When the place finally closed, that was the end of that kind of music for me, and to this day I still haven't a clue about the songs, the singers or anything else, I only remember dancing to whatever they played and staying in the club til' closing time.
And that brings my story back to the new ipod. When I put it on, the first thing I heard was Donna Summer's "Dim All the Lights." In a couple of seconds I was spinning around the kitchen, hooked by the beat and the tune. Then came, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Peter Frampton, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, and on and on.
Anyone looking in my window would likely have called the cops. Because, here's this guy disco-stepping and twirling across his floor all alone at ten o'clock in the morning. And, not only is he solo, there's no music to be heard because they wouldn't have seen my ear pods or whatever they're called, those things are so tiny they're practically invisible. So, no doubt it, from a peeping Tom's point of view, I definitely should have been locked up.
Right now, I have no clue as to where all this will lead as far as me and sound goes. All I do know is, the music generated by that microscopic thing is great. So, perhaps my aversion and symptomatic stages may be over. And, as far as my wife goes, I hope she and my son can find another ipod, because pretty soon as sure as I'm sitting here typing, I don't think she's going to get this one back.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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