I swear i'll be writing more in 2014

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The End of an Era, The Tale of Ipod #3

It was Christmas 2003, when my mom bestowed upon me Chachi, my first Ipod. I knew what they were and what not, but this is before Feist and Franz Ferdinand songs were blaring over commercials for these things that now come in all shapes and sizes and do just about everything except rub yo' dick fo' ya, so I wasn't sure of their capability. I didn't know I could arrange all my albums by "Year Released" and make a list of "My Top 100 Songs from 1972-1973." This would all be learned over the course of the next year though.

I'm not really known for taking care of things, be it a friend's fish while she's on a vacation, rusted strings on Anxiety, or all of those pretty dishes creating Talcott Mountain in my sink. So taking care of Chachi, my first Ipod, was a learn as you go experience. Two things I learned pretty quickly:

1. Sweating into the Ipod while your jogging ... not a good thing.
2. Some debate me on this, but having your Ipod on constant shuffle leads to it's demise.

These 2 factors led to a rather quick demise of Chachi, my first Ipod, but I had the warranty, so it wasn't a big deal.

Spinderella, my second Ipod didn't stand a chance. That one was never good from the get-go, so another exchanged happened, and in July of 2005, I got Coleco Vision, my third Ipod.

Back in my day, Ipods were white, and at most had 40 gigs (mine 20) and they didn't play movies and that's the way it was and we liked it. Coleco Vision, my third Ipod was a dinosaur by the summer of 2005. Most friends had theirs by now. They were thinner, blacker and looked like Super Ipods from the future.

Coleco Vision, my third Ipod was durable. Almost immediately, I dropped it on a carpeted floor, but it was ok. The light stopped working, but I overlooked that because it never had any other problems. It even went through something more severe and survived. This will be described as my #1 Coleco Vision, my third Ipod, memory.

Top 6 Memories of Coleco Vision, my third Ipod

6. My Ipod always came up aces during plane trips. Whether my grandmother or grandfather had just passed away, or a friend was getting married, my Ipod was always there for me when everyone else was gone. The best example, was waiting to meet my bro and mom in the Milwaukee airport and "Good Vibrations" came on followed by "I Wanna Be Sedated" and I realized how much the Ramones sounded like the Beach Boys. That never would've happened without it. Also, after the wedding, and the airport shuttle, Sufjan Steven's "Chicago" came on, and it was perfect for my Sunday morning hangover remorse.

5. OK, so it wasn't really Coleco Vision, my third Ipod that started making me work out, but I definitely developed my best "Work Out Mix" on this one. MIA, Metallica, Kill Bill soundtrack, 2 Live Crew ... it was spectacular.

4. During my unemployment days, there was nothing like spending an hour to make a long playlist, buy some beer, mute my television and shoot me some good guys playing Grand Theft Auto and listen to said playlist and see how much better the songs got with the amount of beer I was drinking. Without it, I probably would've had to have read or something.

3. Getting the call out of the Compound Bullpen. See, almost everywhere in the Compound there's access to some ______ gigs of music. I have no clue how many, THAT'S how many. Tourists from South Dakota stop by to get a look at that hard drive. However, in the living and dining room, there's a mere pair of speakers with a plug designated for an Ipod. Playing one of my well thought out playlists, grabbing a glass of wine, and playing some chess ... man, good times.

2. The best it ever was though, was driving across the state and listening to the playlist I had created. It was usually classic rock and that always struck me the best on the road. My combo of Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Doors, the Stones, the Dead and the Allman Bros made a three hour drive too short. I just wanted to keep driving and singing along to the tunes. One time, while driving some 4 plus hours to South Florida, I had once planned to listen to an entire Phish show, and the Phish show was so massive, I got to Boca Raton before the show had ended. Even I couldn't believe that.

1. Lastly, my best memory is also my scariest. I was walking to work with a bunch of things in my hands, after all, I'm not going to carry a purse. I adjusted my fingers and miscalculated my grip on Coleco Vision, my third Ipod, and dropped it down a story of cement stairs and it snapped in two when it hit the ground. I could've been doing this writing then, but somehow, someway, she survived. I popped the hard drive back in place and snapped the white cover into the metal back, and it played. Lord, she played.

Coleco Vision, my third Ipod, crawled through a river of shit, and still played tunes on the other side.

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