Joiner's Musings

Audi Coupe GT Original paint Audi Coupe Surinam Red Looks fast standing still This March my beloved Audi turned 31 years old. Ain't she a beaut! Built in West Germany in March of 1982 we bought it in Calgary in the late summer of 1982. We drove her everywhere in the early years when we lived out west. In fact there is 180,000 klms on the odometer. An upholstery job is sadly needed but I have two brand new panels Since arriving in Nova Scotia in 1987 there might be 10,000 klms total since then. Well, she won't pass safety. Too many things wrong. It starts up okay and runs fairly well but its the suspension and brakes that need attention. On May 10th it goes into the garage but not just any garage. It is going to a private mechanic who does work on old cars such as this. I am willing to let him have it for a few weeks and hopefully at the end of the period it will be running like it used to. There is nothing like an Audi on the road!

Album art designer Storm Thorgerson died this week at age 69. Storm is most famous for his Pink Floyd "Prism" album, Dark Side of the Moon.  I was in my basement last night trying to find my copy of the album, which I bought when it was released way back when in the early 70's (1973 I believe) when rock was going through an experimental phase. I found it.  The album art was truly iconic but the music was something else; it was original and unconventional. I remember playing it for the first time and was not quite sure what to make of it. But it grew on me. It defined a new direction for rock music and solidified Pink Floyd as a future force to be reckoned with.  Lots of crackles and pops on my copy while playing it. I guess I played it too many times. Since I am going to the Record Fair in Halifax next week a fresh copy of this album is on my list. There is a 180g 2011 reissue which is passable but I am hearing that the Kevin Gray EMI remaster is the one to get.

Thorens TD165C with AT TK7SU cartridge installed Vinyl is back. In the last few weeks I have been hauling my records up from the basement and thinking that after all these years it is worth playing them again. My turntable, a Thorens TD165C is Swiss made and from what I can see on EBay it is now worth more than I originally paid for it as these models and the one up from it, the TD160, are in great demand. Why, the motors never wear out, the belt drive maintains a constant speed and the original tonearms were decent quality for their time and compare well today. Thorens TD165C belt driven turntable On May 4th I am heading to the Halifax Record Fair (Halifax, Nova Scotia) where I hope to pick up some "new" records and to buy some needed accessories for my turntable i.e. a record brush, a stylus balance gauge, a tonearm raiser among a others things. I will report on my findings at that time. Vinyl is king!