Inspired by my recent Thin Lizzy score, I ventured out into the wasteland of Kansas — where one of the few surviving record shops within 200 miles of home is situated. This place has been around forever, and honestly? I never liked it. The prices were ridiculous, and the owner was… let’s just say “not known for his sparkling customer service.”

But apparently that business model had legs, because they’re still kicking. And on this trip, I learned two things and walked out with one of them:

1. The owner actually passed away about fifteen years ago.
2. I stumbled across an imported gatefold copy of *Thunder and Lightning* — two LPs, one of them live.

I already have the original U.S. pressing I bought when it came out. It looks a little rough these days but still sounds fantastic. This UK copy, though? Nearly mint across the board, and it absolutely *smokes* the U.S. version. More dynamic, more punch, and when Gorham and Sykes start ripping, the whole thing hits harder in the best possible way.

Did I get it for five bucks? Haha...nope. I dropped $30 on it without blinking.

Totally worth it.

She loved Ozzy-- and his family* -- from the MTV TV series. But until he died she didn't really know much about his music, bar the odd song but only in passing. She's now trying to get books and such like about him, but this evening we watched the Classic Albums episode the making of Paranoid... she really liked the programme but wasn't necessarily that enamoured by the music clips...

... she's more into boybands!

* Jack has been on I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here this last week or so, she's been hooked on that!

I've listened to my 5 favourite Sabbath albums in the last few days:

H&H, MR, Dehumanizer, SBS and Sabotage

I can look at today's native Americans and yeah, there's a small percentage that run around talking about cultural sensitivity, and sometimes, rarely, they get their agenda turned into action (Washington Redskins -> Commanders, for example), but most native Americans, including the handful that I know, don't really care.

It is my understanding that natives were not bothered by the name.  It was the A-holes whose hobby it is to get offended by anything they can find, that wanted the name changed.

It turns out that the very first coach of the Washington football team was an American Indian, and they were named the Washington Redskins to honor him.

This thread gets me to discover some really cool stuff.

Today I learned about total internal reflection. It can be demonstrated with water, but it's also how fibre optic cables work: