#68 The Joys Of Costco And The Making Of Music
I resisted.
I resisted the siren call of the warehouse club.
For years.
And years.
I was missing out.
On a LOT.
Eons ago my stepfather-in-law took me to a Sam’s club and tried to get me on board. I wasn’t feelin it. I couldn’t imagine a time when I would consume a gallon of real maple syrup before it went bad and I certainly did not have room in my apartment for the giant bundles of toilet paper.
And I wasn’t too crazy about the whole Walmart brand of which Sam’s is a part.
Fast forward to 2019 and a friend took me to the local Costco.
The angels sang.
OK well, maybe it wasn’t a religious experience but it was certainly an eye opener.
I signed up and pretty quickly figured out what items were a good deal and which items were actually a bad deal. (Yes, there are some.)
This isn’t going to be a long ode to the joys of Costco. If you know you know.
But I’d like to share two of the most important things I got out of membership in case you are not one of the faithful but have toyed with the idea of joining.
Thing number one: During the pandemic, Costco was just about the only place in the country that still had toilet paper and meat and giant bags of flour when all the regular grocery store shelves were frighteningly empty. Thanks to Costco I was able to buy 75 pounds of flour (which cost me all of $22 at the time) and do all that baking we all did during lockdown. Tip: if you buy giant bags of flour you can divide it up and store it in smaller gallon ziplock bags which are then further stored in lock tight plastic containers. This way it lasts a loooooong time and also doesn’t get bugs.
Thing number two: Appliances from Costco are not only a good deal price-wise, the price really does include everything. That means no extra charges for delivery and/or installation. During my recent hunt to replace my dishwasher I found out that two of my local home improvement emporiums had the same dishwasher at the same price but – and here’s the catch – they tacked hefty delivery and installation fees on top of that price. And when I say hefty I mean upwards of $250.
Special buyer beware notice – at one home improvement store, that shall remain nameless, when you see an even cheaper price on the appliance as a “sale” price, pay attention to the fact that you will actually pay the regular price and then they will give you a “rebate” for the discount amount and that rebate will only be good for – get this – STORE CREDIT.
I cry foul on that practice.
Anyway, I have lots of other reasons that I like Costco that I will not bore you with.
If warehouse clubs are just really not your thing I get that. I was one of you.
But yes, I have converted.
And like all converts I have to spread the word J
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
Making Music - An Inside Peek
Some of you have asked for more music so here we go.
Back in the day I bought what was the flagship workstation of the time, a Yamaha SY77. It was a fantastic compositional tool and had a huge bank of cool sounds. I used it to produce two albums of material in a wide range of styles.
But the ol’ gal has seen better days and can’t really meet my needs anymore. Not only are a bunch of features glitching out, the memory storage system is little floppy disks. Don’t ask me how long ago little floppy disks were phased out. I don’t want to know. It reminds me how old I am.
Anyway, this year I resolved to get serious about another album and the time had come to upgrade so I bit the bullet and laid down the $ for Yamaha’s PSR SX700.
It’s going to take months for me to learn how to take control so that it is a true compositional tool with my own style and voice rather than an A.I. infused backing keyboard welded to the styles of other musicians.
Apparently the good folks at Yamaha think we all want to sound like big name bands rather than our own creative selves.
But I’ll get there.
In the meantime, I’ve been taking an interesting journey of exploration – seeing how different backing rhythms change my improvisations.
Here are some samples - these are all completely raw “in the moment” true improv warts and all. The first is solo harp with no drum track and totally free tempo choices. the three that follow each have different rhythm styles and tempos. Some of the differences don’t really show up until the middle but I understand if you bail early :-)
Solo harp free tempo
A fast R & B rhythm
Cool Piano Jazz rhythm
A slow R & B rhythm
Please drop a comment if you have a favorite!
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Kenosha Book Festival - Please Come Support Studio Moonfall!
If you want to grab copies of the new book in person, come to the upcoming Kenosha Book Festival THIS SUNDAY July 28. Details of the fest here.
I need to put a call to action here because Studio Moonfall’s Donovan Scherer is the organizer behind the Kenosha Book Festival and, like most small retailers, the bookstore is not doing as well as it should be. Donovan has hinted on social media that the store might not make it another year unless something changes. Not only is Studio Moonfall a terrific independent bookstore, Donovan himself is a tireless supporter of authors and artists (as well as being one himself). The book festival is, as far as I know, the only event of its kind for miles around so please come down this Sunday if you are in the area. There will be so many great authors and books there!
If you want to just visit the bookstore another day, it is located at 5031 7th Avenue in Kenosha.
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I appreciate the feedback and knowing how often I have struck a chord with your lives.
The Bees Are Happy
Remember that giant sunflower from the last newsletter? Well the flower part is also ginormous and the bees are loving it. You probably can’t see them well in this pic but there are tons of them stopping by every hour.
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I was cleaning out old emails and came across this one that I hadn't even opened yet. This was the week of my granddaughter's birthday, so I must have been very busy. I love these sound clips! So interesting to hear what comes out of your creative mind when you hear certain beats. Reminds me of "Stomp", which fascinated me. My 3 brothers are/were all drummers, so I'm drawn to rhythms. Thanks for posting these clips.