Who is this dashing young rogue?
First, a little
background.
This
Valentine’s Day came and went, flew by with some flair. Patch made us all
heart-shaped pizzas Friday night. Mine had pepperonis, which I enjoyed
immensely. We watched a show together as a family and had a pleasant evening.
What of
the Mrs. and I, celebrating our 28th Valentine’s Day as a couple?
Well, I had
attended last week one night of the Dallas Open tennis tournament with my
spouse. She went to college on a tennis scholarship and was once the #2 ranked
tennis player in all of South Carolina. So she still has the fire in her belly
for a sport I find kinda boring. But I went with her and had a good time,
asking all sorts of questions and watching some high-level volleying from about
fifty feet away.
Her act of
self-sacrifice will be accompanying me to the IMAX on Monday to see Becoming
Led Zeppelin, the first-ever documentary of a band I’ve consistently been
into (along with Rush) for going on 45 years. She kinda knows their stuff,
kinda likes Robert Plant’s vocals, kinda appreciates their music. So
Tennis : Hopper :: Led Zeppelin : Mrs.
Hopper
And, of
course, we’re using a generous gift card given to us by my parents to go out to
dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. We plan on going sometime next
weekend.
Now, I surprised
her (not really, but you know) with a bouquet of roses Friday morning. And she
surprised me (actually, she did) with a $25 gift card to Half Priced Books, one
of my favorite shops down here. Along with used books, they sell used games, comics,
DVDs, CDs, cassettes, and records.
As part of
our Saturday errands, Patch and I went there this morning, and – guess what?
Well, by the title of this post alone you know that I scored the holy grail of
record collecting, in my humble amateur way.
I found this:
It’s a collection of all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies! All nine symphonies on nine records for the incredible price of $19.99. I whispered excitedly to Patch in the store – “This should be going for $50 easily!” So she said with quiet authority, “Dad, buy it.” And so I did.
This is
the crowning achievement of my 45-item record collection! All of Ludwig’s
symphonies in one box set, complete with a laminated fold-down showing what’s
on what album and a 24-page large booklet containing
- Notes on each of the symphonies
- A pictorial history of the composer’s life
and times
- Commentary by the conductor, Josef Krips
- A map of Vienna at the time of Beethoven
- The lyrics in German and English to Symphony
No. 9’s “Ode to Joy” hymn
- A reprinted essay by Beethoven’s first
authoritative biographer
What an
absolute steal!
Oh, and by
the way, that handsome young rogue is a rendition of the youthful Ludwig van
Beethoven.
I’ve
already listened to the first symphony. All nine records look to be in
implacable condition. Since I work from home two days a week I plan on listening
to one a day and then some until mid-March, when we fly up to visit my parents
in Pennsylvania.
Hopper is
in heaven!
