Blog Entries

Today, I decided  I wanted to listen to some Deep Purple and work on my website, specifically I wanted to listen to the early Morse -era stuff - Purpendicular, Abandon, Bananas,  and maybe Rapture of the Deep. I listened to Purpendicular on Spotify. I went to pull up Abandon and it unfortunately just wasn't there. I figured, whatever, I'll skip to Bananas. No Bananas on Spotify either. So, I decide screw it, let me look them up on YouTube and see if either album is there and fortunately both of them are, but they're bootlegs so the folks in Purple aren't seeing a dime if you choose to listen to the albums this way which is a huge issue in and of itself but beyond that due to the dubious legal nature of the uploads its entirely possible both of them could just get wiped from YouTube at any moment. At that point, we would have to start buying CDs. Are either of these albums still widely available?

So, I've checked a few places for Abandon and frankly it seems like its  not in print at this point and the same seems to be true for Bananas as well. There are a few copies for sale on eBay and Amazon - all used. The prices for Abandon are mostly reasonable, although one seller on amazon is trying to sell the CD for $30 which may be worth it to the right buyer, but people should be able to access the music they like both affordably and legally. Bananas, on the other hand, is not so reasonably priced. A used CD on Amazon is going for $129.00 which is ridiculous. 

I've had similar issues with other music in the past. Prior to Black Sabbath's recent rerelease of the Tony Martin era material, there was a similar problem with legally acquiring Headless Cross, Tyr, and Cross Puruposes, . For whatever reason, those albums had also been out of print for at least 15 years before they got properly reprinted. 

We're talking about two of the largest heavy rock bands of the 1970s, with both of them being highly influential on subsequent rock and metal. Even though these albums weren't made with their classic lineups, they're all phenomenal records and display each band's creative evolution. If you're a fan of either band, go check out Born Again by Black Sabbath. It's the classic sabbath lineup, except instead of Ozzy on vocals it's got Ian Gillan from Deep Purple, kinda wild tbh. It's just odd to me that such big bands can have such huge gaps of what they keep in print. 

What happens to music that isn't popular or profitable as it ages? Hell, what the hell is going to happen to ALL of our media as it ages. What happens with movies as they age? How many movies were released on VHS and never rereleased on DVD or through streaming services? How many video games are out of print and inaccessible? How do we preserve our media for the next generation? How do we access and preserve the media we love when it goes out of print without defaulting to piracy? 

I suppose every blog needs a first entry and this will be mine. I come into this subject deeply biased as an american citizen, but my heart aches for the men, women, and children that have been killed, displaced, or whose lives have been otherwise forever changed in these attacks - and in the international warfare that followed.

This is the situation going on in the middle east at this point, to the best of my knowledge - as supported by two British Broadcasting Company articles I read yesterday, which I will link at the bottom of my post. Actually, where are you supposed to put the sources in a blog? Anywhich way we're rolling with it.  

A few days ago The United States President Donald Trump unilaterally launched a joint bombing operation with The Israeli Defense Force targeting Iran without congressional approval, allegedly in relation to the development of nuclear weapons within the nation. Within the first 24 to 48 hours, Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khomeini was killed. The bombing continues.

Roughly a hundred children and teachers were killed in one of these strikes in southern Iran according to officials in the country.

These attacks have cascaded into full-blown international warfare in the region. Iran has launched a widespread counterstrike against US and Israeli allies with targets in Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Cyprus as well as strikes on ships passing through the straight of Hormuz. Hezbollah has also joined the fight as well, launching some of its own missles into Israel.  Hotels in Dubai were hit, which assuredly will impact the city's tourism - especially in regards to western visitors.

There has been a 10% increase in the cost of oil globally since the conflict began and those of us in The United States will likely see a larger increase in oil prices as the market adjusts.

Trump has stated that the conflict is expected to last four weeks, but only time will tell if there is any truth in that statement.  Up to this point, I've been relaying facts and now I'd like to move more into the realm of personal opinon - and I'd like to make that very transparent. 

Under no circumstance should the President of The United State have the ability to unilaterally decide to make war on another nation without a formal declaration of war issued by congress. The separation of powers as outlined in the constitution have been and must continue to be a revered component of American democracy. There must be consequences for this bloodbath - both against The Trump Administration and against The Israeli Defense Force. Nobody is above the law in the United States, Trump must be impeached and tried in a criminal court for high crimes against the United States and its constitution for these abhorrent acts of wanton violence.