Record press at United Record Pressing (Photo courtesy of United Record Pressing)

Those of you out there who love classics will be happy to hear that vinyl records are making a comeback, and one that’s surprisingly solid for a culture so deeply immersed in digital. For the last ten years or so, the grooved medium has been working its way back onto store shelves, most recently turning up in national retail chains like Best Buy.

I looked into this revival for a story set to appear in a fall issue of The Tribune, interviewing among others Jay Millar, director of marketing for United Record Pressing (URP) in Nashville, Tenn. In operation since 1962, URP is one of the nation’s largest pressing plants and holds the distinction of pressing the first Beatles 45 RPM release in America. Read the full story

I went to see Grease at the Hippodrome in Baltimore last night! It was so much fun and I’ve been singing show tunes in my head all day; holding back from verbal outbursts in order to escape humiliation from the coworkers. DO BOP SHEWADA WADA DIPPITY DOOP DEE DO! The highlight of the show was when American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks played Teen Angel and sang “Beauty School Drop Out”. He popped out of a giant ice cream cone, it was a real ‘treat’. At the end of the show, he sang his new single “What’s Right is Right”. I’ve never been a big fan of American Idol, so I didn’t follow his progress. In comparison to his newly released single, hearing him sing live is much better. He puts more emotion into the lyrics and his voice doesn’t sound so mainstream. But that is just my opinion. His new song is definitely worth listening to. You can hear it for free on http://www.myspace.com/taylorhicks .

Perhaps you are wondering why I skipped my blog duties last week?! Allow me to introduce 4 reasons…

I am fostering a litter of four kittens right now! They are a very active bunch. Probably the most active and fast moving litter I have ever fostered and I have had the opportunity to foster quite a few litters. This week I will be making some toys for them to play with. As you can imagine, a crumpled up piece of paper only lasts for so long. Derrick can vouch for that!