If you have young kids and they're not yet in grade 7, start saving.   I'm finding that grade 7 is more expensive (for the parents) than grade 12.  Especially if your kid is in French Immersion or being educated in a different language than English.   There's going to student exchanges that run you volunteer time as well as cost of the student exchange trip.   Mind you, it's less than if you just paid for a vacation, but it still costs a lot.   Then there are grade 7 activities that I never had when I was in grade 7.  I'm not sure how grade 7 became such a big deal, but it is.  Prepare to have at least $1000.00 sitting around for extra curricular grade 7 activities (manditory).  

One of the ways the schools try to mitigate some of the grade 7 costs is to do fund raising.  Bottle drives, pizza sales, etc.   Only problem is that there is recent legislation that says you cannot sell what is construed as "junk food".   So chocolates, donuts, and even hot dogs are out.  So what can you sell?  One of the things sold were magazines.  I did my part by buying a couple of magazine subscriptions. 

A magazine I have not read in quite awhile is Stereophile, and I just ordered a subscription.  Now Stereophile used to be one of those "underground" magazines that reported on "high end" hi fi equipment.  For those fanatics who became audiophiles, there were a few magazines one would seek out and Stereophile was one of them.  They were not necessarily supported by advertising and if there was something they didn't like about something, they just went out and said it.  I probably subscribed to Stereophile for 10 years of my life about 10 years ago.  I managed to put together a fantastic sounding hi fi system on a relatively low budget based on what I learned reading this and other hi fi specialty magazines.  Of course, there were mainstream magazines on hifi equipment, but they had sold their souls and pandered to their advertisers.   A funny thing happened to Stereophile about 8 years ago.   They got bought by Primedia (and are not owned by Interlink Media), a big magazine publishing company.  Stereophile was going mainstream.  Unfortunately, the quality of journalism showed.  So I no longer subscribed and spent my money buying music instead of "better sounding" equipment.  Then something else happened.  MP3 downloads.  The convenience of downloads came at a sacrifice of sound quality of music recordings.  You could stuff 500,000 songs onto an iPod and take it with you.  Who cared if it sounded rather low-fi?  To make matters worse, the music companies suddenly felt they were being robbed because people weren't paying for their low-fi music so they started to digital-rights-manage their higher quality recordings, making them lower quality.  Anybody who claims that DRM does not affect the sound quality of the recording probably has not heard those recordings on a well sorted out hifi system.  ...and Stereophile started including articles on "affordable for the real people"  equipment.  This equipment played MP3 music on computer systems.  Well, I received my first copy of Stereophile this week.  It used to take me 2 to 3 weeks to get through the magazine.  This one took me all of 2.  They reviewed a $250.00 integrated amplifier that "sounded great".   But works best with computer speakers and an MP3 source.  They did do reviews of high end speakers too though.   

Recording playback quality has become so bad, that the essence of music is no longer interesting.   I found I had lost interest in the pursuit of music that finds an emotional tie to my life.   I would still buy the odd recording that peeked my interest, but my old habit of spending hours listening to fine music was gone.  Then last summer, I was in JC Penney's in Seattle and they had music playing in the background.  Turned the song was "Hey There Delilah" by a group called the Plain White T's.   A solo voice and a single acoustic guitar.  This is a 4 member band and they recorded a solo voice with a single acoustic guitar.  What where the other 3 guys doing?   Probably in the studio producing a recording of such high quality that it would sound good even on a crappy department store PA system.   Then they've followed that up with a new recording and issued it on CD and .....vinyl LP.   I've gone and ordered the LP (not being locally available). 

I find it interesting that there has been a resurgence in turntable sales.   I had almost lost hope that there would be any audiophile music lovers in current generation of young people.   Many have never even seen a record playing turntable before.   But some of them have sat down and heard an LP recording against the CD they just bought and have been converted.   Now we find places like Radio Shack, Best Buy, even a drugstore chain (London Drugs) carry turntables.  Albeit, not the exotic really good stuff, but cheap plastic ones with USB connectors.  I would highly suggest those looking for a LP playing turntable to pass on the plastic ones and spend a bit more, but it's a starting point for many.  Hopefully, we eventually get to some good source material too.

The latest music I'm listening to is a Christmas recording.   The Spirit of Christmas by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Colin Davis and vocals by the John Alldis Choir.  This recording was done in 1980 and on vinyl LP.   The LP recording is stunning.  I have not heard any CD (or digital) play back reproduce such a realistic soundstage.  The orchestral arrangement just pulled me into the music.   It's recorded on the Philips label.  Cat # 9500 779.  I doubt this record is available anywhere anymore.

My frame of reference for this record is last night's performance of "Two From Galilee" by the Willingdon Church Choir and Symphony Orchestra.  It was a musical done in the same genre as, say, Les Miserables.   By the time most people read this, the performances will be over.  But if you do read this on time, seating in the balcony is free.   Reserved seating on the main floor costs $5.00 and all the money goes to a charity called "Basics for Babies".  You do not have to be a church goer to attend.  Extremely well done!  Christmas musicals at some of the larger churches is a great way to take on live entertainment done at a very professional level.   With the bonus of hearing the Christmas story other than the commercialism that's come upon the holiday season.  Those politically correct people who want to wipe out Christmas and just make this season a generic holiday have lost perspective of why this time of year is what it is. 

Thanks for reading.