Smiley Anders for August 8, 2008

• By SMILEY ANDERS
• Advocate columnist
• Published: Aug 8, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When iPods came on the scene, it seemed to older folks that the iPods and other gadgets were primarily used to transmit music that no one over, say, 21 could stand.

So it’s encouraging to learn that modern technology can benefit music-lovers who know that Wings wasn’t Paul McCartney’s first band.

For instance, Tom M. Ferriss III tells this story:

“I finally entered the realm of 21st Century music when my family presented me with a 160-gig iPod for my 52nd birthday.

“I never really knew how much a ‘gig’ was until I began copying a portion of my CD collection onto the device. I have over 775 songs clipped to my belt and have used slightly over three gigs.

“Shopping online for music not found in my CD collection, I searched for the local band of my youth, Potliquor.

“I had owned all three albums the group recorded in the early 1970s, but over the years the quality of the vinyl had deteriorated.

“To my glee and amazement, I found the albums available on iTunes. I quickly added them to my new digital collection, and have been amazed at some of the sounds I never heard in 1972.

“I can actually hear the pipe organ on Potliquor’s cover version of ‘Lady Madonna.’ It was the organ in the Paramount Theater.

“I am so glad modern technology has taken me back to the high school homecoming dances and fraternity parties of my youth.”

Of wind and Tide
Nancey Farr, vacationing at Orange Beach, Ala., with her three daughters and eight grandchildren, discovered some Alabama fans with a sense of humor:

“A big wind gust hit the beach and blew our LSU tent on top of a group of people.

“The girls ran to retrieve it. When they arrived the people told them that all was OK.