Challenge
I'm embarking on maybe one of the most difficult things I've ever done. And remember, I've been through oral prelim exams for my Ph.D.
I'm sure that everyone that might be reading this knows that I'm due to become a father any day now. But that's not what I'm talking about here (at least not directly). No, what I'm talking about is condensing my music collection down into a single 700MB mp3 CD to someday hand to my son and say "Here, kid. Here's your musical identity. Learn these songs. Live them."
Hey, some parents force their children into playing sports or musical instruments or what have you. I just want my kid to listen to good music.
But here's the kicker:
While I don't have a music collection the size of some people's, it's still moderately extensive. If we assume that you can get 100-120 songs on a 700MB disc, that's not enough to even get a single song off every CD I own. So some discs are going to get cut. And let's say, just for the sake of argument, that I'm limited to one song and one song only off the rest of them. Do you have any idea just how impossible that is?
Let's take, for the sake of argument, the pair of 2-disc Beatles compilations I have (the Red Album and the Blue Album). Even if you get one song off each disc, what do you choose? They're (almost) all worthy of inclusion. The Joshua Tree, just to pick another at random. A seminal album. Do you take "Where the Streets Have No Name" or "With or Without You"? Or do you go a little outside the singles and take "Running to Stand Still"? Good choices all. But you get one.
In any case, I've got a bit of time to work on this, but I'd also like to finish it sometime soon if only for myself. You know, sort of a milepost in my life. The Year I Became a Father: what songs did I consider the most important 100 songs of my collection at the outset of 2005? My wife laughs at me, but I enjoy doing things like this. I'm hoping that someday, my son will at least be amused by it too.
I'm sure that everyone that might be reading this knows that I'm due to become a father any day now. But that's not what I'm talking about here (at least not directly). No, what I'm talking about is condensing my music collection down into a single 700MB mp3 CD to someday hand to my son and say "Here, kid. Here's your musical identity. Learn these songs. Live them."
Hey, some parents force their children into playing sports or musical instruments or what have you. I just want my kid to listen to good music.
But here's the kicker:
While I don't have a music collection the size of some people's, it's still moderately extensive. If we assume that you can get 100-120 songs on a 700MB disc, that's not enough to even get a single song off every CD I own. So some discs are going to get cut. And let's say, just for the sake of argument, that I'm limited to one song and one song only off the rest of them. Do you have any idea just how impossible that is?
Let's take, for the sake of argument, the pair of 2-disc Beatles compilations I have (the Red Album and the Blue Album). Even if you get one song off each disc, what do you choose? They're (almost) all worthy of inclusion. The Joshua Tree, just to pick another at random. A seminal album. Do you take "Where the Streets Have No Name" or "With or Without You"? Or do you go a little outside the singles and take "Running to Stand Still"? Good choices all. But you get one.
In any case, I've got a bit of time to work on this, but I'd also like to finish it sometime soon if only for myself. You know, sort of a milepost in my life. The Year I Became a Father: what songs did I consider the most important 100 songs of my collection at the outset of 2005? My wife laughs at me, but I enjoy doing things like this. I'm hoping that someday, my son will at least be amused by it too.