Things I don't understand
03/12/24 01:22
As I grow older, I become more aware of the many things about which I know very little. I think that I used to believe that with age came wisdom and that I might grow in expertise as I gained experience. However, it seems to me that with each passing year I discover more and more topics about which I know little or nothing. I sometimes joke that I reached the height of my intellectual capacity at age 25 and that it has all been downhill since then. That isn’t really true and I know it, but I may have reached the height of my confidence around the age of 25. I was pretty full of myself back then. I had achieved academic success and had mastered a whole host of theological jargon. I could cite books and studies that I had read as evidence for the arguments I presented. I thought of myself as educated, rational, and cogent.
These days I am quite conscious of my lapses in memory, my tendency to focus on trivia, and my adherence to dated scientific research. Recently I was scanning the bibliography of a class I will be teaching after the first of the year and realized how heavily it was weighted towards 20th century writers and research. As I struggle to update the document, I am finding that there are dozens of authors and significant research with which I am not current. I’ve been trying to catch up, but I have to admit that I’ve fallen behind in a topic with which I used to speak with authority.
When I was in high school, I rode a bus 60 miles to hear a live performance by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. At the time, I owned a pretty good collection of record albums by the group. I know the order of release of “Whipped Cream and Other Delights,” “South of the Border,” “What Now My Love,” “Going Places,” “A Man and His Music,” and “The Lonely Bull.” I had purchased all of the albums, which was saying a lot. Even though my other expenses were low, a record album selling for $4.50 was worth 9 hours of labor at the rate I was earning. And I soon became aware of how far behind I was falling because though the record albums sounded great on my father’s stereo, I was going to need 8 Track cartridges to play the music in the car and I didn’t have access to a car that had an 8 track player, which was going to run close to 100 hours of labor just for the player. The entire balance in my savings account would fall short of that number.
These days, however, I’m not up to date on pop culture. I no longer own any vinyl records and I confess I didn’t hold on to them to capitalize on their value. A half dozen original albums in their original slipcovers would probably bring close to $200 on eBay these days. Then again, I just looked online to discover that Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album on vinyl is selling for $60 at Target. Being retired and not having worked for an hourly wage for many years, I have no idea how that translates to a percentage of my income, but I know I’ve got considerably more than that amount in my savings. I also know that I have no intention of purchasing the album.
I’ve nothing against Taylor Swift. I just have to admit that she and her music are things about which I have very little knowledge. According to an article I read online, Swift is expected to profit about $4.1 billion from the Eras Tour. The tour concludes in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is closer to my home than that Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass tour came to my home years ago. I can’t remember what we paid for tickets to attend that concert, but tickets for the Taylor Swift performances next weekend at BC Place Stadium range from $1,422 to $83,078. I have no urge to spend more than Susan and I paid for our first house for a concert ticket. And I have to confess I don’t understand how anyone would.
What I do know is that the concerts are a big deal around here. In addition to expensive ticket prices, hotel prices north of the border have skyrocketed for the weekend. Rooms costing under $300 per night are going for over $1,000. According to our local newspaper, there are some hotel rooms in Vancouver priced at over $7 thousand for a single night during the tour. Something tells me that hotels in our neighborhood that usually go for around $100 a night will be popular among some concert goers. I’m guessing that wait times at the border before and after the concerts will be long enough to boost sales at area restaurants. When the line at the border stretches back past the last exit before, a stream of cars will block the streets in town as drivers try to get to the next border crossing to the east, which is also in town. I’m planning to stay home those evenings. I’ve death with enough traffic in my life.
I am no expert, and I don’t understand the numbers. The Washington Post reported that the six shows Swift performed in Los Angeles gave a $320 million boost to the local economy. The concert in Kansas City brought an estimated $48 million to the local economy. Our local Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have any estimates on the local impact of the concerts, but the word on the street is that vacation rentals are all booked for this weekend. December isn’t usually a time when a lot of people flock to our cloudy beaches to vacation. I’m thinking it will be a good weekend to plan not to go out for dinner. Then again, the urge to go out for dinner doesn’t seize me very often. The eats at our house are pretty good.
I’ll leave commentary on the quality of the performances to others. After all, I won’t be in the audience even though the venue is a mere 40 miles from my home.
These days I am quite conscious of my lapses in memory, my tendency to focus on trivia, and my adherence to dated scientific research. Recently I was scanning the bibliography of a class I will be teaching after the first of the year and realized how heavily it was weighted towards 20th century writers and research. As I struggle to update the document, I am finding that there are dozens of authors and significant research with which I am not current. I’ve been trying to catch up, but I have to admit that I’ve fallen behind in a topic with which I used to speak with authority.
When I was in high school, I rode a bus 60 miles to hear a live performance by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. At the time, I owned a pretty good collection of record albums by the group. I know the order of release of “Whipped Cream and Other Delights,” “South of the Border,” “What Now My Love,” “Going Places,” “A Man and His Music,” and “The Lonely Bull.” I had purchased all of the albums, which was saying a lot. Even though my other expenses were low, a record album selling for $4.50 was worth 9 hours of labor at the rate I was earning. And I soon became aware of how far behind I was falling because though the record albums sounded great on my father’s stereo, I was going to need 8 Track cartridges to play the music in the car and I didn’t have access to a car that had an 8 track player, which was going to run close to 100 hours of labor just for the player. The entire balance in my savings account would fall short of that number.
These days, however, I’m not up to date on pop culture. I no longer own any vinyl records and I confess I didn’t hold on to them to capitalize on their value. A half dozen original albums in their original slipcovers would probably bring close to $200 on eBay these days. Then again, I just looked online to discover that Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” album on vinyl is selling for $60 at Target. Being retired and not having worked for an hourly wage for many years, I have no idea how that translates to a percentage of my income, but I know I’ve got considerably more than that amount in my savings. I also know that I have no intention of purchasing the album.
I’ve nothing against Taylor Swift. I just have to admit that she and her music are things about which I have very little knowledge. According to an article I read online, Swift is expected to profit about $4.1 billion from the Eras Tour. The tour concludes in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is closer to my home than that Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass tour came to my home years ago. I can’t remember what we paid for tickets to attend that concert, but tickets for the Taylor Swift performances next weekend at BC Place Stadium range from $1,422 to $83,078. I have no urge to spend more than Susan and I paid for our first house for a concert ticket. And I have to confess I don’t understand how anyone would.
What I do know is that the concerts are a big deal around here. In addition to expensive ticket prices, hotel prices north of the border have skyrocketed for the weekend. Rooms costing under $300 per night are going for over $1,000. According to our local newspaper, there are some hotel rooms in Vancouver priced at over $7 thousand for a single night during the tour. Something tells me that hotels in our neighborhood that usually go for around $100 a night will be popular among some concert goers. I’m guessing that wait times at the border before and after the concerts will be long enough to boost sales at area restaurants. When the line at the border stretches back past the last exit before, a stream of cars will block the streets in town as drivers try to get to the next border crossing to the east, which is also in town. I’m planning to stay home those evenings. I’ve death with enough traffic in my life.
I am no expert, and I don’t understand the numbers. The Washington Post reported that the six shows Swift performed in Los Angeles gave a $320 million boost to the local economy. The concert in Kansas City brought an estimated $48 million to the local economy. Our local Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have any estimates on the local impact of the concerts, but the word on the street is that vacation rentals are all booked for this weekend. December isn’t usually a time when a lot of people flock to our cloudy beaches to vacation. I’m thinking it will be a good weekend to plan not to go out for dinner. Then again, the urge to go out for dinner doesn’t seize me very often. The eats at our house are pretty good.
I’ll leave commentary on the quality of the performances to others. After all, I won’t be in the audience even though the venue is a mere 40 miles from my home.
