What prompted this new train of technological crazy reasoning, was my looking into getting the Some Like It Hot Original Broadway Cast Recording on disc. If only to have a better audio understanding of the show I saw last week.
I have a CD player on my computer and my DVD player can play music. My question is, how do I listen to a disc in my car?
As I currently drive a 2025 vehicle (I think I posted about this. The 2013 Accent deaded. Whomp Whomp ☹) and this metal can on wheels has the ability to use Carplay, media from a thumb drive, and makes good use of the AM FM dial (mainly the FM stations since there's zero reception for AM and what I get in FM service, I tend to ignore most of the channels). I have officially lost the opportunity to put a binder of discs on my passenger seat and choose my soundtrack as I'm driving around the city.
Sure, I can sync podcasts from my phone via Bluetooth or Carplay. I've certainly done that for the past few months. It does take a toll on your cellular data, and since I share a plan with my mother, I want to watch how much I'm doing on my phone so we don't hit a limit due to my choice of earworms. Therefore, I'd like to get something else going as background sounds, instead of skipping around the radio dial every 3.5 to 4.5 minutes (commercials are longer than the songs being played. Blah).
Yes, I know I can rip a disc to iTunes or buy an MP3 album online. Once I have the digital file, I can then transfer those songs to my phone. The purchase option can become as expensive as my CD collection as I've got a lot of music ready to be played. Plus, now I've bought the album twice. The things I have are combinations of previously purchased albums mixed with stuff that people have given me (like having Todd's old stuff. Thank you Susan for continually thinking of me. It's an honor to play his records).
It's not so easy to decide what discs I want on my phone anyway, because I don't want to take up space. For the random times I'd be in my car, I think it's a wasted effort to have it in my pocket. When I'm in the gym for two hours, I'm listening to podcasts while staring at the TV. It's background information that I'm using to further my education. In the car, I'd rather have something I don't have to totally pay attention to, as my focus is the road in front of me.
Which totally contradicts the thing I'm about to say next.
I'm currently listening to Cassandra Peterson narrate "Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark". It the unabridged audiobook reading of her 2021 memoir.
I bet if you read George Carlin's "Last Words", you won't think of "memoir" the same. Trust me on that one; you won't be let down.
Ms. Peterson's audiobook was purchased and put on a Sandisk thumb drive. It's nearly 11 hours long, 20 odd chapters and I've had it playing in my car every day for the better part of two weeks. I'm not in my car long enough to get through more than 20 minutes at a time, so if my math is correct, it should equal out to 16 days of solid listening. That's also providing I don't make any phone calls or pause the track for some reason (like when it's too nice to have the windows closed - the 40° air felt nice a few times, truth be told!).
The sound system in my car is not the best, and it's actually one of the top complaints people have about this model. I can see (hear) why. That's neither here nor there, considering it's nice to be able to have anything to get me anywhere.
I feel I'm a good halfway through the book right now, so I can honestly say that it feels as if she's telling a lot more fluff than truth. Some of the stories / anecdotes seem so wildly out there, you really have to wonder if they're true. She seems like such a great woman - her personality is a little bubbly, but everyone knows Elvira and what she has done for Halloween. One long trick pony that has served her well. This character is a 40+ year investment and she keeps going at it, strong.
Buttt... let me get back to the concept at hand: it's a digital file on a digital device, in my car.
The pictures were taken on my iPhone 17, so they're a little sharper. I can see that without even doing any editing to them (outside of adding my name to them). Everything is more refind in the photographs, even to the point you can see what size that Altoids can is. Chickenman is still hanging out with me and no, I'm not using a USB-C to USB-C charging cable for my new phone. I purchased an Anker two pack of USB to USB-C cables because I needed one for my (2013) laptop. Why not throw the other in my car?
Since automobiles aren't being produced with cigarette push lighters anymore, I've got a USB adapter plugged in there for charging my phone. The young'ns don't know of those burning coils for their smokes ... kids these days have bricks that they vape out of and blow dragon smoke from their mouths. It's wild.
Anyway, the USB charger goes to my phone, which usually is plugged into the USB slot. With the thumb drive there, I moved one over. It's just as well because anyone with a USB wire can use that slot when needed.
The challenge is the fact this car doesn't have a wireless charging pad, so I'm not as privileged as some, to be able to lay my phone on the console and have it magically gain juice. Which is why I'm in need of a cord.
I didn't get all the bells and whistles with this used car... it's not the end of the world.
The smaller things in life could very well be a deal breaker, but I'm not going to do a lot of complaining. I lost a tape player in the Accent but gained the CD player and satellite radio for a few months. Lost the ability to stream once that trial went away, but I got to regain my youth by carrying some discs with me.
Now I've lost the chance to play the "Hits from the decades!" game while traveling, so I need to make up for that. Which is why I got the audiobook and transferred it to a thumb drive. At least then, I could bring it in another car if I wanted to, and leave it there for a while. It's portable enough that I can share it with a friend, although I probably won't. None of the people I know locally would be interested in listening to Cassandra Peterson's life. My mother has even made some comments when she's been in the car with me, that what we're hearing sounds fictional.
Kind of sounds like the beginning sequence in the 1998 "Velvet Goldmine" movie.
"Although what you are about to see is a work of fiction, it should nevertheless be played at maximum volume".
Totally different, I know.
If you're into the "Mistress of the Dark", it's worth a play if you want to know more about her life. If you have opportunity to read the book, have a crack at it. I just happened to stumble on the audio version. It also gave me a chance to try out something different in my car and make a long winded post about having to upgrade my technology while needing to upgrade my car. I miss my previous whips, but I'm told I must "get with the times" and "be in something reliable and safe". As this new ride has a backup camera and sensors telling me I need to stay in my lane (a habit I need to follow in my regular life), what's losing a disc to more freedom of downloads?
All else fails, if you still have an AUX port, buy a CD player and plug in that way? Start pretending like you're back in 1995 with your Discman and want everyone in the car to hear your groovy tunes?
I did promise the other day that I'd also upload photos taken with the phone. I am sure by now, everyone is familiar with the night shots of the playground in my community. I've gone ahead and taken some photos last night, as I was leaving the gym around 8:30.
Again, the photos are a little cleaner, little crisper. No editing done besides my name. It feels more "high def", or what we're used to now. I'm still not a fan of using my phone as a full on camera, but I can admit there's a difference in how the newest model handles night mode.
Even as I type this and look at the photos as thumbnails, they are vibrant. You can see every piece of colored plastic, as if it were the middle of the day. The sky is dark, obviously, but it doesn't feel like it should be after 8 at night.
It feels like I've taken a daylight photo and manipulated it heavily. I promise you I haven't. Seeing these make me want to seriously try my Canon out more. I know I need to make time to take my camera and go, much like I was doing in the early aughts. One day... one day.
Until that day comes, I've actually been working on this post for several hours. I've been squirreled on it and really need to stop circling around. I started it around 4:20 (hehe) and am finishing it at 11. It'll post as 4:27, so future me is telling past me "make it quick, damn it!" but I won't listen.
Therefore, I'm telling myself now, "wrap it up". If you're in any area having the big snow event this week/end, please be safe. Grab whatever you need to, to survive. Stay warm, stay fed. Stay out of that cold unless you have to be out. Keep yourself bundled and take care of your kids. Maybe this time next year I can say that in person to my friends up north... if we all survive the year.
Otherwise, do some light reading, listen to some light jazz and think about good things to come.
Cheers;
See also:
* Blog post title comes from Gary Numan's 1979 song, "Cars". The song is track 08 from the album "The Pleasure Principle".
* "Some Like It Hot (Original Broadway Cast Recording)" is available to download as an MP3 via Amazon.
* The thumb drive in the USB port of my car is an 8GB "Sandisk Cruzer Blade". Amazon currently has various sizes for sale by third party sellers.
* Chickenman still rolls with me. He's hard to see in the pictures. Amazon sells a similar single rubber chicken for $6.95 before taxes.
Note: "Chickenman" comes from the Indigo Girls song, "Chickenman". The song is track 09 from their 1997 album, "Rites of Passage".
* The USB charger in the lighter adapter is an Anker USB to USB-C charger.
* Yes, that's a baby Altoids tin. Amazon doesn't carry it anymore. I'm not sure who does, as that tin is ridiculously old.
* George Carlin took 14 years to write his autobiography, "Last Words" and was posthumously published shortly after his death. Tony Hendra had finished writing it, using sourced material.
* "Velvet Goldmine" movie on Amazon.
* iPhone 17 via Amazon
