indian records?
i don't have anything after about 1935. i may have one hindu 78 from the twenties in my collection, but it's not really for sale. i don't really collect "foreign."
those are all 78s.  can you play 78s?
there's some good stuff in here.  do you like old music?
well there's a few choice lps in here that re-issue some really great old blues stuff.
nah, it's not so great. here's the one i'd recommend.
this track alone by memphis minnie is worth about $500 if you have the original 78. she was one of the greatest guitar players that ever lived, and a great singer and songwriter as well. i know the guy who owns the original and lent it for use on this reissue.
a dollar seventy-five.
if you don't like it bring it back for a refund. we're here every saturday.
so you really liked it? yeah, there's some really rare performances. you liked that memphis minnie, huh?
the skip james record? yeah, that's a masterpiece. there are no other records like that! i actually have the original 78 of it in my collection. it's one of maybe five known copies.
do you want to see it? i can run upstairs and get it.
watch my stuff.
here it is. it's only about v minus and has an incipient lam crack, but plays decent as i recall.
no!!!
but it plays like new. there's no groove wear.
but the crack is so tight it's completely inaudible.
i.  i didn't think you would have any interest in this get together.  i mean if you had told me you were coming i would have warned you -- it's not like a real party or anything.
oh god no. this is just junk i have for sale or trade. the record room is off-limits.
yeah, well sure.  you can if you want to.  it's just i don't want all these guys in there at once.  you know.
i have about fifteen hundred 78s at this point. i've tried to pare down my collection to the essential.
please.  go ahead and kill me! this stuff doesn't make you happy, believe me.
you think it's healthy to obsessively collect things? you can't connect with other people so you fill your life with stuff.  i'm just like all the rest of these pathetic collector losers.
yeah right.  if i'm so cool, why haven't i had a girlfriend in four years? i can't even remember the last time a girl talked to me.
oh, right.
good luck.
yeah, well.
i appreciate the offer but you really don't --
jesus! that's very nice of you enid but i - i really --
i don't know, what kind of question is that? i mean it's totally irrelevant because a girl like that would never be caught dead with me.
i really didn't get a good look at her.
jesus!
i'm just not one of those guys who has a "type".
i mean as long as she's not a complete imbecile and she's even remotely attractive.
maybe i don't want to meet someone who shares my interests. i hate my interests! where can i go to meet the exact opposite of myself?
well, let's see.  i guess i'd have to put traditional jazz, blues, and ragtime music at the top of the list, then probably.
so is that your boyfriend?
well are --
yeah, sure.  very funny.
i - i'd really rather not.
i don't think so.
i really don't think it's a good idea.
shh!
these are older women just dressed up to look young.  i think.
uh, i don't have much money with me right now.
god, that asshole's voice is so hateful! no wonder i never listen to the radio!
that thing is just so shrill and piercing and loud - it's like someone jabbing me in the face! kfto comin' atchya on this beautiful evening.
i brought it for him to autograph. he's going to be amazed to see it - it's one of two known copies.  i can't believe they have him for the opening act and not the headliner. what an insult!
i'm not holding my breath in that department.
what are we, in slow motion here?! what are ya, hypnotized? have some more kids, why don't you?.  for christ's sake, would you move!?
i can't believe these people! they could at least turn off their stupid sports game until he's done playing!
yes, that would certainly do.
wait a minute! hang on! jesus, i gotta think of something to talk to her about. no! no.
hello. uh.  that was great music, huh?
actually, technically what he was mostly playing would more accurately be classified in the "ragtime" idiom. although of course not in the strictest sense of the more classical ragtime piano music like that of scott joplin or joseph lamb. authentic blues has a more conventional twelve- bar structure in its stanzas.
what did you tell that girl?
jesus.
now i remember why i haven't gone anywhere in months. i'm not even in the same universe as those creatures back there. i might as well be from another planet.
look, i really appreciate your help, enid, but let's face it, this is hopeless.
yeah, well it's simple for everybody else - give 'em a big mac and a pair of nikes and they're happy! i just can't relate to 99.9% of humanity.
but it's not totally hopeless for you.  i've had it. i don't even have the energy to try anymore. you should make sure you do the exact opposite of everything i do so you don't end up like me.
hooray for me.
i'm not sure i have anything to drink.  there might be some --
"yet."
if you don't mind my asking -- why do you care so much if i get a date or not?
what?.  oh that.  i borrowed that from work about fifteen years ago.  i guess it's mine now.
yeah, right, i'm a klansman - thanks a lot!.  do you know the cook's chicken franchise?
yeah, well "cook's" is just a made up name. when they originally opened back in 1922 they were named "the coon chicken inn" -- that's an early painting of their first logo.
i'm obsessed with all this stuff - this lost culture of the 20th century.
it's ancient history. the same reason nobody knows about this lionel belasco record.
actually, i was a whole lot more interested in the cook's phenomenon when i was about your age. i've kind of lost interest since i've been working for them.
for nineteen years.
nothing so glamorous.  actually, i'm an assistant manager at their corporate headquarters.
hey, i get good benefits, a good early retirement plan, nobody ever bothers me.
i make enough money to eat and buy old records.  what more do i want?
no, in a lot of ways things are better now.  i dunno.  it's complicated. everybody still hates each other, but they know how to hide it better, or something.
what? why?
i dunno.  they're very sensitive at work about all this stuff. maybe it would be better if you --
oh.  uh, thanks a lot enid.  i really appreciate it.
arrrghhh! ah jeez.  christ.
it's just my stupid back. i'll be all right in a minute.
oh.  uh.  it's just this elastic thing i have to wear for lumbar support.
maybe now you understand why i can't get a date.
that's the spirit!
really?
i'm starting to think that even if i did get a girlfriend it really wouldn't change anything.
then again, that's easy for me to say, since i'll never even get a date. i'm sure you have hundreds of guys who are interested in you.
oh yeah?
why?
i won't even dignify that with a response.
who knows?
let the machine get it. i have no desire to talk to anyone who would be calling me.
i knew it.  it's my mother.
it's just somebody's idea of a joke.
uh yeah. a long time ago.  she called before once.  it's just somebody trying to humiliate me.
how can you be so sure?
that was great - jeez, thanks again for cooking all this.
yeah .  where is this? bosnia?
uh, well, that's okay - i don't dance, heh, heh.
no, really i --
hey, it's nearly nine already - we're gonna have to leave now if we're going to make that movie.
uh, no. i missed that one. but what do i know? i like laurel and hardy movies.
uh.  hello?
oh, hi.
actually, it's kind of still happening.  she's over here right now.  i think everything's going pretty well.
yeah, so i better go -- it's not really the best time to talk.
jesus, enid.  i'll talk to you later.  bye!
yaaa!
really?
i know, i'm sorry.  i-i've been really busy.
oh.  pretty well, surprisingly.  you know.
sort of.  she doesn't dislike any of that stuff.  she's trying, anyway.  actually, we're supposed to go antique shopping for her apartment this afternoon.
we really should get together sometime soon.  i-i'll definitely call you this week --
no.  no, it's just that i should get going in a few minutes, and --
i-i'm sorry.  uh so.  uh.  how --
so.  is he your boyfriend now?
dana! hi! uh, dana.  this is enid.
oh.  uh, hi.  what's up?
i.  i don't know. i don't really think i should.
i better not.
i.  i wish i could, enid, but i really can't right now.  i -- it's just that i --
it's just that, well, you know, dana just got out of a really bad relationship and i don't want to give her the wrong idea.  you know.
oh, uh.  they were a present from dana.
well, you know.  what do i know about clothes.  i've never been the most fashionable guy -- it's nice to have someone do all the work for me.
no, of course i do.  it's just that right now i need to --
no, no.  not exactly.  she just doesn't understand how i would know somebody like you.
just someone so young.
i.  i don't think so.
no, of course not.
in what way do you mean?
i don't know.  i'm sorry, but dana's a very jealous person. i just don't want to screw that up right now.  i'm sure she'll dump me soon and we can go back to being friends.
what do you mean?
what are you doing here?
what's up?
uh.  sure.  come in.
what's the matter?
uh.  i think there's some root beer.
that's dana's - i'm supposed to be saving it for our two-month anniversary. you better not --
i could never move - i've got too much stuff.
dana bought it when we went antique shopping. she said it didn't go with her stuff, so she gave it to me.  she thought it fit in better with my "old time thingamajigs."
god, she's going to kill me.  this bottle is half-empty!
if you expect the worst, you're never disappointed.
i'm just being realistic.
i hate sports.
you're a beautiful young girl.  i can't imagine you would ever have had any interest in me, except as an amusingly cranky eccentric curiosity.
i mean.  of course i.  why wouldn't i want to go out with you?
yeah, sure. of course.
what about joe?
yeah, well i like you too.
what?
i guess i probably used to when i was your age.
sounds like a healthy way to deal with your problems.
i don't think i'm in any condition to drive.
so where would we go?
i dunno, i.
what do you want?
do you really want us to drive away somewhere?
i will if you want to.
i-i never expected anything like this to happen.
you must know i always.  did you really mean all that about moving in with me?
but, i.
good night.
oh -- please - don't let me interrupt finish your phone call.
i uh.  i feel that i need to uh -- there's something i feel i have to say.  i uh, i've never said this to anyone before -- believe me, i've stayed in horrible relationships for years just so i wouldn't have to do this, but i uh.
it's just that i feel like it's maybe not a good idea for us to keep going out.
i-i honestly never intended for this to happen.
enid and i were just friends. you know.  we feel comfortable around each other.  she really likes my old records and.
dana, i.  um.
i really want to talk to you. i've been thinking about what you said about moving in here.
yeah, i'm really, really happy. really having a good time.
where else am i ever going to find another girl who likes geeshie wiley records? she could at least have the decency to call me back.
yeah, well.  thanks for cheering me up.
uh.  hi. uh.  enid's stepmother told me i'd find her here?
no.  they said she was here.
uh, do you mind if i wait? i really need to talk to her.
why would she be hiding from me?
maybe she's with josh?
i don't know.
she just mentioned him a few times and said that they had been dating - i thought maybe she was.
i have no idea - i just want to.
really, i don't know enough about it to.
why did you say she might be hiding from me? did she say anything to you about me?
did she say that?
what do you mean?
what are you talking about?
what fake blind date? what are you talking about?
i hope you had a good laugh at my expense.
you want to see something funny? i'll show you something funny!
i have to admit, things have really started looking up for me since my life turned to shit.
well, mostly archival research, cataloguing old records and writing liner notes for their cd reissues. it's really.  i can't believe it.
it doesn't pay very much, but i should be able to afford my own place in a few months.  do you think that's too soon? i'm really anxious to get my record collection out of storage.
thank you, doctor.
yes?
we can talk about it in the car, ma.