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Music Lover
Toronto, Ontario

"Dick: I guess it looks as if you're reorganizing your records.
What is this though? Chronological?
Rob: No...
Dick: Not alphabetical...
Rob: Nope...
Dick: What?
Rob: Autobiographical.
Dick: No fucking way."-
High Fidelity

Ok, I admit, back in High School, I do the same thing for my own records, all 300 of them. They were my shuffling cards at night, rearranging from the ABC to Yazoo or from year I bought them, which was easy because I had labeled them from 1 to 320. I think I had that many, even more.

Yes, I had that much vinyl records in a span of 8 years. 40 per year, almost 1 record per week (except for Holy Week, All Saints week, and maybe 10 weeks in between when I wasn't able to scrape Php 32 to Php 40 for 1 12-inch heaven). For someone who had Php 10 daily allowance, I was able to save 4 days worth of meal allowance, just for me to have to listen to Depeche Mode and Echo and the Bunnymen. No kidding.

For close to 2 decades, I haven't even touched one of them. Ok, once, when our old house where I grew up was renovated and one of the better parts of the house - my room - was torn apart to give way to something else I can't remember.

Ok, twice, when like a scavenger I brought most of them home in Paranaque and went through all 95 memories created with those that survived the great flood of my bedroom in 1990.

I don't even know what happened to the 240 or so that were last seen floating one afternoon when my room's wall (which I painted black and white) became the Niagara Falls after a big Las Pinas downpour. I had to wade through ankle deep waters to get one by one - my memories now floating. I didnt even know if my tears added more height to the flooded room.

So there was one day in 2005 that I suddenly had the urge to reconstruct my adolescent years and rebuild it through the vinyl records I collected. Darn, I had the money now. I don't even have to fast for 4 days to get one. I decided to buy my favorite vinyls from ebay, some from Toronto stores which were selling them for $ 1 to $ 3 (mint and oftentimes, unopened). I upped the ante. I decided to buy some of them - signed from several vinyl LP (long playing, if you must) collectors. They were total memorabilia for an LP freak like me.

So now I have in my collection the 'graphs of U2, The Cure, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Culture Club, 10,000 Maniacs, The Police, Simple Minds, and one that I got myself - Billy Idol. (I wasnt able to get Depeche Mode to sign when I was front and center when I saw them live in 2005).

Of course, the owners may have parted with their memories too when they sold it via ebay. They have stories to tell on how they got past and jumped the line to have Boy George sign "Colour By Numbers" or when they had to double up as a hotel busboy to have all the Taylors and Simon sign the group's "Arena" album.

Those memories didn't go to waste. They are safe with me. I'm creating more memories with these new finds. In fact, I just bought myself, not a spanking new iPhone, but I went back in time to be back in the analog days, to reminisce the sound of a popcorn on vinyl, to open a 12-inch album cover and listen to real music from a real honest -to-goodness turntable.

I'm back in my youth. I'm in total bliss heaven.

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I just added this to the collection this week.

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iPhone mania captured in photos. No I didn't line up.

Even Apple founders lined up to join the party :)

Madonna has an iPhone. I don't think so.

One iPhone in ebay is priced at a ridiculous $21 million just to fetch some attention. Real bids go up as high as $ 2,000. wow.

I never realized I was just 1.5 hrs from an iPhone from Walden Commercial across the border in Buffalo. Drats. I'm getting me a Blackberry instead. My wife would love me more. :) Besides, I don't know how to unlock phones to make it work with my Canadian cell line.

(But my friends in Greenhills do)

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