Wild Postcards

My new low Postcrossing number (TM-38) shows a way of life that prizes the simpler things.

Just for fun, I thought I’d share some early recordings from my record collection.  These are 10″ discs which were acoustically recorded between 1916 and 1920.  There were no electrical microphones; the performers were placed around a very large acoustic horn (like those seen on old phonographs, but much larger), and the horn led to [...]

Running Up That Hillwas the lead single from Kate Bush’s 1985 album Hounds of Love and, while I admit I may have been influenced by the single’s cover art, I have been a fan of Kate Bush ever since I first heard it.  There are a lot of other Kate Bush fans out there; Amazon [...]

This is a marimba de tecomates (gourds) that is typical of the indigenous population of Guatemala. Similar to many marimbas in basic design (technically an arc marimba), it uses gourds as resonators. My grandmother’s cousin, John Hodinka (“Sonny”), sent this to Grandma from Guatemala, and my Aunt Brenda added it to her collection. I asked [...]