4A
NEWS / THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
ODD NEWS
Man asks athletes for piggyback ride
TUALATIN, Ore. — A man who befriended high school athletes in Washington and Oregon and asked them for piggyback rides has been arrested in Tualatin. Police told KGW they arrested the man at a hotel on Monday on a drug-related warrant from Mount Vernon, Wash. An officer had seen him in recent days at a school event.
The Oregon School Activities Association had advised athletes to look out for the suspect after he turned up at games in Eugene and Pendleton. Executive Director Tom Welter said the man talked his way into locker rooms and got piggyback rides from players.
Emu leads 50 on chase through city
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Why did the emu cross the street? To get away from the South Carolina police officers, animal control officers and people chasing it in Rock Hill.The Herald of Rock Hill reported the 6-foot bird ran 10 blocks through the city Tuesday, chased by as many as 50 people. Seventy-year-old Bobby Mangrum managed to capture the bird with a fishing net and managed to tie the animal's sharp feet.
Mangrum owns two emus along with llamas and goats and took the big bird home with him while police try to figure out where the bird came from.
Casino winnings burn with house
SOLVAY, N.Y. — A Syracuse-area man's lucky day at an upstate casino has gone up in smoke — along with his winnings. Kenneth Lamoree said he returned to his home in Solvay around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday after winning $3,200 at the Turning Stone casino in Verona. A little more than an hour later, a fire broke out in his home.
Everyone escaped unharmed. The house suffered extensive damage and its contents — including Lamoree's wallet with his casino winnings — are believed to have been destroyed.
Associated Press
CULTURE
Valerie Skubal/KANSAN
Student Alumni Association members you're invited to
FINALS DINNER
Monday, May 10. Adams Alumni Center Stop by anytime between 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Relax with a free dinner; 10-minute back massage by licensed massage therapists and fun give-aways.
Special offer!
Treat a friend to a free meal. Student Alumni Association members may bring one friend who is not a current SAA member.
Franklin Fantini, a senior from Lawrence, browses through records at Love Garden Sounds, 822 Massachusetts St. Store Manager Kelly Corcoran said vinyl records accounts for about 60 percent of the store's sales.
1266 Oread Avenue * 864-4760
www.kualumni.org
Despite iPods,some listeners still prefer the sound of vinyl
BY NANCY WOLENS
nwolens@kansan
nwolens@kansan.com
Brian Sears swiftly, yet meticulously, flips through his collection of vinyl records trying to find the perfect song. His eyes widen as he spots it. Literally on the edge of his seat, he slowly slides the 7-inch 45-rpm record from its sleeve.
Sears smiles as the funk and soul rip through the speakers. His feet compulsively tap to the persistent beat of the now antiquated soul classic.
He is so excited he can barely complete his sentences.
"This one. This is a record that I was just going crazy over," said Sears, a senior from Lawrence.
Sears, who frequently deejays at the Eighth Street Tap Room, is a devoted music lover obsessed with the history and rarity of records, specifically soul and funk singles.
Music mediums today are end- less and each — from CDs to MP3s
— tries to top the other. But the digital music age isn't preventing people such as Sears from relishing in vinyl record.
"There's so much music out there that has never really seen the light of day, and I want to experience hearing the greatest song ever all the time." Sears said. "It's a true natural high for me, and if I want it, I'll try and get it no matter how hard it is."
FOR THE RECORD Steve Wilson, manager at
Each of Sears' records are from artists all over the country. He looks through his box of records, pulling out a few one by one.
"It's America. This is Ohio. This is fucking St. Louis. This is Detroit. This is New York — it just goes on and on," Sears said.
The artists whose records he collects never earned much from their record sales, and if they did, it was very minimal, he said.
Kief's Downtown Music, 823 Massachusetts St., said he had seen an incremental increase in vinyl sales during the past few years.
Wilson said vinyl accounted for about 20 percent of the store's sales. Generally, records at Kief's are in high demand because the store can easily acquire them.
"Used records are more profitable than just about anything else
we're doing right now," Wilson said. "It's not just turning dollars over. It keeps businesses in business."
Wilson said he sometimes found himself downloading albums. But burning an album to a CD and writing its title with a sharpe on the disc isn't the same as having the real thing.
"People are yearning for something tactile, and while a CD represents that to a limited extent, vinyl represents that to a greater extent," he said.
"A needle in the groove of a record seems like a magic trick."
KELLY CORCORAN
Love Garden Sounds
manager
"It makes whatever culture or piece of art that you care about seem real and tangible in a world that's filled with the mess of information that you constantly get," Corcoran said.
Kelly Corcoran, manager at Love Garden Sounds, 822 Massachusetts St., said for the most part his customers were there for the music. Corcoran keeps it simple. People like music. They like records. They come in and browse. And if they're interested and if the price is right, they'll buy one to add to their collection.
"It's the ceremony that's the bigger deal with records," Corcoran said. "There are very few things that seem like magic. A needle in the groove of a record seems like a magic trick."
Corcoran said about 60 percent of Love Garden's sales were from vinyl. The store usually stocks 10,000 to 12,000 records and only 3,000 to 4,000 CDs, Corcoran said.
Much of the inventory at Kief's and Love Garden Sounds is the result of people cleaning out basements or storage areas and discovering their or their parents' old records.
"It's kind of like mining for gold," Wilson said. "If
someone brings in 300 records,
chances are 280 of them are crap.
There might be 15 that are pretty
cool, three that are great and two
that are amazing."
PIECE OF HISTORY
Ilan Gitter, a Lawrence resident and avid vinyl collector from Chicago, said he enjoyed having the authenticity of a vinyl record and knowing its related history.
"Those are what was actually played in people's houses in the '60s and '70s," Ilan said. "It's a little time capsule."
Gitter said listening to vinyl was an event. People are enthralled in what they're hearing instead of just turning on an iPod and listening to songs in the background.
Sears has spent more than $200 on one 45 album a handful of times. The records he owns all vary in value from $50 to $500, and he estimated his collection was worth $6,000 to $7,000. But he isn't interested in that.
"It's not about the money — it's about the music," Sears said. "It's like the truest form of American music. It's history."
- Edited by Michael Holtz
ODD NEWS
Woman loses gun in Alaskan restroom
JUNEAU, Alaska — A 24-year-old Juneau woman went into a public restroom packing heat and left burned. The Juneau Police Department reports Veronica
Valle-Arnes is carrying a small pistol with her Friday night.
She told police she set the gun on top of a toilet paper dispenser and forgot to pick it back up. When she went back a few moments later the gun was gone.
Associated Press
$15 per person party bus round trip to Power & Light*
*based on a 28-person participation
AGIRLS NIGHT OUT LIMO
A GIRLS NIGHT OUT LIMO
For more information or
to view current rates visit:
913-219-5017 agitkoutlimo.com
Hansas Celtics
Limousine service