The Ultimate Record Score

 

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!