Have I lost track of what memes are? Or is it the children who are wrong?

The book was excellent, by the way

That’s the movie that introduced me to Elliot Smith!

I just put myself in that scenario and had the thought “man, what if she’s flustered about something else, and having a rough day in general, then I go and swoop in and basically accuse her of being poor in public. She’d feel terrible and I will have made her day worse.”

You would have walked out of there feeling like shit in two of the three ways that could have gone. Don’t beat yourself up over it; clearly you’re empathetic and care about people. That tells me you DO act when it’s appropriate and you do want to be a positive force in this world. Congratulations! The world is better with you in it

No, but maybe I’ll find out when you hand me your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance like I asked…

I live in a city where most popular bands tour, but I definitely would travel internationally to see a show just to make a week out of it. I was considering going to RAtM when they were in Europe, because I couldn’t get good seats in the US. I definitely would have gone if I could have gotten better seats in Europe. Alas, couldn’t get good seats there either

I’ve only rated the velvet underground and nico album one star because I personally don’t consider it actual music. Because of that, I have a hard time rating music I “just don’t like” as one star because it’s recognizable to me as music. So, I rated this one two stars.

I was surprised to see you rated a Clapton album so poorly because I like him (musically) quite a bit. We have really different tastes, and I think it’s cool to know there is stuff that absolutely is not for me that is a five star album for someone else

Really? Wow.

New one for me: treasure by the cocteau twins

Is it even possible to own an Orange County?

The signs are manufactured by a “conservative street artist” on a web store called “unsavory agents.” There’s a lot of really gross shit there

Is it? It could be. I thought I remembered it as a standalone book from when I was a kid. That was MANY moons ago, so I could be wrong

I feel the same way. It’s a bummer, but there’s always conversations like these!

Fortunately, my 21 year old is super into music and cinema, so I can share with her. She wasn’t much of a believer in quality components or acoustic treatment until we bought a new house and I could go wild(ish). Now, I have ruined her life because she’s broke and wants what I have. I did square her away with a pair of decent IEMs though, so at least she can have a little of what she wants

I sent this to her a long time ago, and now we call my hobbies (home improvement/woodworking/audio) “my Legos” as an inside joke. I don’t spend frivolously, and my wife doesn’t mind when I make purchases relating to my hobbies. We’re financially secure and we’re very much aligned in our financial goals and philosophies, so when I buy anything (which isn’t very often), she trusts that the purchase won’t have a negative effect on our finances. She even gets a little excited for me when something arrives at the house. It’s very nice to be supported in this way

It’s also possible people just don’t care about those details, so they’re not primed to notice them. For example, another difference between my wife and I: she’s into sunsets, clouds, the moon, and celestial happenings. She’s constantly in awe about these things, points them out to me, and talks about them all the time. It’s cute; I love that about her. However, I really couldn’t care much less about any of it. For me, that kind of stuff happens all the time (every day, in the case of sunsets). It’s not novel or interesting to me in the same way as it is to her. We all have things we nerd out about, and I think the world would be kind of boring if we all only cared about the same stuff.

Really, my only regret about this situation is that I want to give my wife the gift of feeling like I do when I hear music and when I notice the details, and I know she wants to give me that gift of the way she feels when there’s a really cool cloud or sunset. It’s very fulfilling to share feelings like that with someone you care about, and it’s sad to me that we sometimes can’t.

I’m into this, especially sound quality. I have a top-of-the-bottom/bottom-of-the-middle 5.2.4 setup for movies and listen to music on that same space as well. I have made solid progress on acoustically treating my space, and it sounds pretty good.

My wife, who has done all the A-B testing with me and understands what high quality equipment and a well-treated space brings to the table would be perfectly happy watching Netflix on her phone speaker.

I know for sure she does not hear things like I hear them. I have a couple of demo tracks I use to evaluate changes in my system, and I have described to her what I’m listening for (soundstage depth, for example), and she cannot distinguish whether or not this quality exists. So, I think one part of this is that there is something cognitive going on that she and I perceive things so differently. Another thing that I think is different between us is the way music affects us. For me, music is an emotional experience and ties deeply with my memories of events/time periods/feelings. When I hear a song, I know the artist, facts about the band and its members, the name of the song, the album, and I can describe the album art. My wife, on the other hand, usually can’t remember the names of her favorite songs or who the artist is. And, like, no shade on my wife for this at all; I’m just saying we experience these things much differently, and I think that may be illustrative of the differences your seeing with other people too.

Additionally, as far as diminishing returns go, I think a lot of people do not understand the importance of acoustic treatment. You’re listening to your room, not your speakers. You can’t out-speaker a bad sounding room at any cost. If you think you want new speakers to upgrade your sound quality and have given zero thought to room acoustics, you should do a little investigation before upgrading your equipment. I think that money is better spent elsewhere first.

Once you have a good sounding space to listen, I really don’t think most people need to spend any more than 10k (at the extreme upper limit) for a pair of speakers for 2 channel listening. That said, I have been in a fantastic room with a $15k pair of Sonus Faber speakers, and I have been chasing that feeling for a couple of years now.

Another “not Aesop’s fables” answer:

The story of the dog carrying a bone who looks in the water, and sees the reflection of another dog with a bone. He barks at this dog to try to take for himself a second bone, and in doing so, loses his own in the water. Trying to get more than you deserve or taking what others have leaves you with nothing of your own.

BJJ might be accessible for you. I used to roll with a blind guy who fucked me up on the regular

album from Bjork’s first band

Yeah, I tried. I just couldn’t enjoy it all. Maybe I have pedestrian tastes or just don’t “get it,” but whatever the case, all of those were very unenjoyable to me.

I was actually at a function last night talking music with a group of folks, and a couple folks chastised me for not liking the velvet underground with Nico album as well. It’s all good; I’m not claiming to be a music critic or anything and y’all still get to love albums I can’t stand

Damn! I haven’t gotten any of those yet, but I think we might need to fight a little when I do! I’ll save this and get back to you!

I have been fighting my way through the "1,001 albums you must listen to before you die’ list, and there have been some truly terrible albums.

New York Dolls, debut album

Brian Eno, my life in the bush of ghosts

Marquee Moon, television

Slade, slayed?

Sugarcube, life’s too good

Barry Adamson, Oedipus Schmoedipus

Animal collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion

Heaven 17, Penthouse And Pavement

And the worst album I have ever heard on my life, king of garbage music Lou Reed and his garbage band of notmusic and pretention: The velvet underground, The Velvet Underground & Nico