Free Republic

Joe Biden’s suggestion that parents leave a record player on to teach their babies better vocabulary was a head-scratching (needle-scratching?) moment in Thursday’s debate. But it was hardly the first time the 76-year-old Biden has busted out a vintage reference that reveals his age and leaves some in the audience in the dark. Famous for his off-the-cuff storytelling, the former vice president regularly goes deep in the vault to pull out characters and events known primarily to a people of a certain age. Ever heard of Henry Carr? How about a Jerry can? […] “Play the radio, make sure the...

HOUSTON — Front-running Joe Biden stood out the most in Thursday’s snoozer of a Democratic debate — but for all the wrong reasons as he rambled through responses laden with non-sequiturs about record-players and Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. “Play the radio. Make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone … make sure that kids hear words, a kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background will hear four-million words fewer spoken by the time they get there,” babbled the former Vice President, 76, at one point....

How come no one is talking about Biden rambling about how we should stay home at night and listen to the radio, record player, phonograph.....Victrola, High Fi, Graamphone, The Edison? This stuff is great.

I was able to pull this vintage RCA record player and some vinyl. There were a few packs of needles too. The previous owner(s) seemed to take care of it. It needs some maintenance and some fresh grease. I found a lot of technical advice for this model. It was missing a crank handle. There is a fellow out there that makes reproduction handles. I rolled the footage over the weekend and slapped this edit together earlier this morning. When I get a macro lens and some maintenance pulled, I'll do another.

When Bryan speaks, then I rejoice. His is the strange composite voice Of many million singing souls Who make world-brotherhood their choice — Vachel Lindsay, American poet, 1915 William Jennings Bryan was rarely at a loss for words. His impassioned oratory spellbound congressmen during his two terms in the U.S. House and thrilled thousands of voters during the presidential campaigns of 1896 and1900. But during his third run for the White House, 100 years ago, Bryan had trouble speaking in the intimacy of his own home. “Mr. Bryan seemed a little nervous when he first started, much more so, he...