Back From Vacation

Well, I didn't come across any record stores on my trip abroad. It wasn't that kind of vacation. There were a couple of incidental vinyl moments though. The first was at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In the design room, amidst the vintage Eames and Mackintosh furniture, I came across album covers of the Beatles, David Bowie, and the Sex Pistols. I haven't quite figured what it means to have album covers in a legitimate art museum. Usually it's a death knell that a movement is over.

In the beach town of Salou, Spain, I happened across a sign for Bluesman Records on the main street along the coast. It seemed like a sign pulled off a bad-ass street in New Orleans and randomly placed along a sunny strip of souvenir shops, outdoor cafes, and gelaterias. Of course, there was no record store there. Why would anyone buy records here, when one could frolic on a Mediterranean beach? Even rocky would concede that one.