The Kirkham Report

The Downtown Spokane Skywalk Record-Buying Circuit

September 22, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

In the mid-1970’s, downtown Spokane got a huge boost from the city playing host to the 1974 World’s Fair. They renovated quite a bit for this event, and when we moved back to Washington from Ohio, I saw that the dank, dingy downtown area had become a shopping mecca. Before I found The Music Box (and after as well), my first stop whenever we’d hit “the big city”, was the circuit of mostly large department stores that were all interlinked by the city’s new “Skywalk” system – these were (mostly) enclosed bridges which connected most of the major stores on

OMG – Vinyl really IS on the way back…

September 21, 2015 TC Kirkham Book Stores, Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

We’re currently vacationing on Cape Cod, and we stopped by the Cape Cod Mall on Saturday. We went over to look around, do some shopping, have a nice dinner, and check things out. The mall is one of the few left that has a large Barnes and Noble with a mall entrance – most of them are free-standing stores these days – and imagine my shock when I saw a bin as we approached the escalator proclaiming “BN now has Vinyl!” But there in the middle of the store, below the big sign, was a large rack with ALBUMS. Not

As The Eucalyptus Turns…

September 2, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

I don’t think they’re still in business anymore, but Eucalyptus Records and Tapes was a store in Spokane, WA that I had heard about and wanted to check out. By this point, The Music Box was still around, but I needed to try out more of the stores in the area. One afternoon in the mid-summer of 1979, I made a trip to Spokane to spend my money, and headed up to north Division St, almost up to the Northtown Shopping Center. I pulled into the store, a free standing store, the first I’d ever been in that wasn’t part

My “last farewell” in a Tacoma record store…

July 11, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records, Songs

I’m repurposing this from one of my old “Song Of The Day” entries on “The Kirkham Report“, but the story has to be told here as well…because…well…it just FITS, you know? Roger Whittaker is known throughout the world as one of the most popular crooners of the 1970’s. Yet in America, he was virtually unknown until his song “The Last Farewell” catapulted him to the top of the MOR/AC charts here in the States. Got a Mom story for you, if you weel….heh heh heh…picture a twelve year old TC in the summer of 1975. (Or maybe not…don’t want you

Tears when reading…ok, but not in public? Oh what the hell..

July 10, 2015 platinumroselady Authors, Book Stores, Books, Planet BiblioMusica

Have you ever had that rare experience where a book made you cry? I don’t mean just thinking to yourself “Wow, that was sad”, but actually tear up while reading? Knowing that you won’t put the book down, even when it hurts to continue? I have. Twice that I can recall. The first time it ever happened to me was reading a book that made up part of the “Dragonlance” series. Being a little Geeky McNerdly Nerd going way back, a series full of drama, adventure and magic sucked me in faster than you can say “Wizards of the Coast”.

A leisurely day at Barnes And Noble

July 8, 2015 platinumroselady Book Stores, Books, Planet BiblioMusica

There’s something about having an entire afternoon to yourself. A time when you don’t have to answer to anyone, go where you like, do what you choose, that makes this such an irresistible prospect. I spent 5 plus hours in a bookstore one day, and it was heavenly. To set the scene – this was back in the 90’s, when I had a car, and TC worked at Coconuts, a record chain popular at the time. The store was based in Swampscott, and one Sunday he was scheduled to work from twelve to six. So being a good SO I

My own personal “Music Box” dancer…

July 8, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica, Record Stores, Records

Although I’ve been listening to music since I can remember, and buying records since I was about three, for the most part from that time until my teen years, I purchased records in regular stores. There was a large bin for records at a number of local stores when I was growing up in Ohio – Ben Franklin in Utica, Twin Fair and Seaway in Newark, Kings and Arro in Heath, and others. And while I went to a few stores devoted to records as a child, including one in Tacoma WA that I can’t remember the name of (though

My childhood in Boston bookstores…ah the memories…

June 27, 2015 platinumroselady Book Stores, Books, Planet BiblioMusica

When I was a young girl, going shopping in Boston was a rare thing. It meant going “into Town”, which to my mind seemed light years away from the suburb of Saugus where I grew up. It involved planning which bus and then train to take, and had my mother going through the unenviable task of corralling two pre-teen girls (myself and my younger sister) and keeping us from wandering off while she shopped. By the time I was a teenager, though, Mom had gotten a job in Boston, and I was given permission to come in and visit her

Welcome to the world of the past…

June 27, 2015 TC Kirkham Planet BiblioMusica

Kim and I have been perusing some of the retail sites online lately. I’m fascinated by the “dead mall” concept, and businesses that have gone under in the economy or bankrupt for another reason. And we got to talking, and thought about how much fun it might be to take a few trips down memory lane about our favorite hangouts – record and book stores. One of the things that drew us together as a couple all those 20+ years ago was our mutual love for books and music. We both love to read, love all kinds of music, and

Welcome to the NEW PNR Radio Network!

November 23, 2014 TC Kirkham Blog

WE’RE BAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK!!! It took nearly EIGHT FRIGGIN’ MONTHS, but we’re finally ready to launch our brand new PNR Radio Network site! The site’s look will continue to evolve as I get used to the new interfaces, builder concept and such, but we’ve got plenty of things going on already, and more will be coming shortly! WHAT’S CHANGED? Well, what HASN’T changed? LOL! Seriously, now that we’ve overhauled things, we can do so much more than every before. Just take a look at what we’ve got planned: PNR Radio is now powered by Spotify! After over a decade of being affiliated