It's Record Store Day Again

Tomorrow, April 20th, 2013, is Record Store Day. 4/20. Get it? Appropriate, huh?

For the squares out there, 420 is a term that indicates marijuana use. Both the hour of the day, 4:20, and the date, 04/20. It started from a group of stoners at San Rafael High around the year 1971. They would meet at 4:20 to get high, and they started using the number as code to refer to pot. It spread and stuck.

Like cannabis or not, it and rock and roll are inexorably tied together. All that classic rock you love, and even the sappy pop songs like Happy Together, were all conceived and created under the massive influence of marijuana.

I don't see a damn thing wrong with it. It's certainly less dangerous than hard liquor. Casual pot use may not be completely harmless, but overdoing anything--alcohol, sugar, salt, fatty foods, tobacco--can have devastating effects on a person. If marijuana calms people and helps them to cope with this stressful life, I say God bless 'em. It has the opposite effect upon me. If I were to smoke that shit today, I'd be crawling on the ceiling like that woman in Exorcist 3.

Regardless of that, Saturday is Record Store Day, and I urge you to get out and support your local store. Get into the fun and excitement of it. A bunch of exclusive releases are coming out, and you can only find them at independent stores.

You'll meet serious music fans there. The ones who really care about it. Many people have tragically grown up and no longer really care about music. I feel nothing but pity for them.

Music touches the soul. It speaks to our hearts and our bodies. Music takes us away from our everyday struggles, and helps us to forget the tragedies of life.

And if you have either forgotten the pleasures of listening to a vinyl record, or have never experienced it, you really are missing out. Records are not as convenient as MP3s or compact discs, or worse yet, streaming sites like Spotify, but the difference in sound quality is palpable.

Many people prefer to download or stream music, movies, music because they say that they like not having to drive to the store to purchase them. That is one of the reasons I hate it. I like getting out and meeting people in my community. Everything is downloaded these days. Even friendship and relationships. I think people need to get away from their computers and their tablets or whatever.

These places need your support. No one is getting rich by operating an independent music store, or book store. They are doing it out of passion.

Passion. It's something that is being lost in this digital age.

Sure, you can browse music and books at a website like Amazon, but for me it isn't the same as actually walking through a store, physically picking up items and examining them.

I talk about records, but you do not have to buy vinyl on Record Store Day. Or any day. The stores carry compact discs. The main thing is that you get out there and show some support, spend a few bucks, and have some fun. You never know, you just might make a friend. I sure have made a few since I became a regular at my local shop.

The cool kids know the deal. They have caught on about the superior sound and greater aesthetics of vinyl records. Students from the local university are keeping my local shop alive.

When a bookstore or record store closes its doors, it is a genuine tragedy. Help prevent that from happening. Please.

There is a search function at the Record Store Day website. Use it to see the participating stores near you.