Digging up sound memories to relive

In search of portable sound

It is probably two decades ago, I bought a Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen, an MP3 player with a 6GB hard disk, this was before the Apple iPod took off and became the mainstay of portable music players. Bundled with the jukebox was a copy-protected compendium of classical music that took up over half the available space on the disk.

I probably erased one folder of music before I found the means of extracting the classical music collection into a portable format that I could playback on my computer. With time, I extended my classical music collection, ripping CDs I had bought for portability sake. Unfortunately, not all CDs automatically populated the tracks from the Gracenote CDDB as it was known then.

Volumes of excess material

Over time, I had compiled a classical music collection, all my music CDs, a whole catalogue of preachers' sermons and exhortations, along with different audio bibles, the full King James Version (KJV), the New Testament in the New International Version (NIV) and the whole bible in the Message (MSG) translation. These versions belong in different areas of translation and interpretation, the KJV which is close to literal, the NIV being somewhat intermediate and the MSG is like a paraphrase.

Blog - Good Samaritan Values - The Renewing Of Your Mind – Written in 2013 with an overview of types of English bible translations.

By then, I upgraded to a Creative Nomad Jukebox III, a friend gave me one with a 20GB hard disk, I soon ran out of space on that too, I began to juggle what I needed from what was not immediately necessary. A few years later, the jukeboxes were too cumbersome and I plumbed for a miniature Creative Zen Mozaic 8GB MP3 Player with dimensions 1.3 (depth) x 4 (width) x 8 (length) in cm, it still lives, some 12 years on.

Properly cataloguing sound files

I used to like listening to the Gospels in KJV, there were times I had it playing in the background and found myself imagining I was just walking down the same street where Jesus was having a conversation with an audience that included me.

Managing 1189 chapters from 66 books of the bible in audio format, wasn’t easy as the publishers made a shoddy job of the MP3 tagging. This being the metadata that allowed the MP3 file to be properly identified and categorised. So, I found myself retagging the files, setting out the books as albums and the chapters as chronological tracks.

It would have been easier to merge the chapters into one track per book, but the granularity in seeking specific sections would have been lost. I studiously did this for my music albums and other audio collections too.

Too many old memories

Now, why I am on this journey into the past. I acquired a while ago the full boxset of Yes, Minister, and Yes, Prime Minister, political satire from the 1980s but could not find where I had stored them. With portable hard disks all around the place, some probably with stiffened spindles for the lack of use, I began to plug them in to review their contents.

In the process, I found all my audio bibles, my broader music collection, the Yes, Minister series, some old training material and a picture I had not seen for probably 8 years now. The picture did bring back some old memories, but there was nothing I could do but sigh, he died a decade ago and someone has fully and fittingly taken the place I was unable to relinquish to explore the opportunity for love until early last year. The whole audio and video catalogue is being uploaded to the cloud.

A time to relive

I guess the strange thing about life is the many moments that create a complex story of wanting to experience the new, whilst having some other attachment to the old. The ability to conflate the past and present into another moment to cherish.

Childhood memories of places that brought happiness, peace, and joy, some other time in life where some activity had its serenity and calmness, then a present that offers the scope to relive and settle into a bliss almost unbelievably complete.

It is strange that being both a creature of habit, with a curiosity for the unknown and a quest for knowledge. You wonder when the mind quietens down. Yet, I find peace in music, simple detective shows, and railway documentaries. Sometimes, I just switch off everything and go to sleep.

Bibles, sounds and complaints

Update 16-10-2008

I would usually make a fuss about this now, since I had not had a change in the circumstances but in what some friends have noted as a change in my character of sorts, I exercised patience and put the issue out of my mind. Unbeknownst to me, they were still working on sorting this out. I got another email today, saying it had all being sorted out. Behold, it was, the discrete chapters completely separate from the commentaries, introductions and other encumbrances.

So, I began the downloads on two systems, one reading from the top of the old testaments and the other reading from below at the end of the new testament upwards, lest I forget, I do not have to get an iDevice to do AAC files, this is also in MP3 format, I might rearrange the tagging of the files with the MP3Tag utility but one thing is sure, The Message would be heard loudly and clearly and I am already tickling myslef with excitement about it all.

Give it up to the guys at eStudySource, I am one very satisfied customer.

Update 13-10-2008

I was offered the iTunes AAC file format alternative at no extra cost which according to their email had 1,200 files, indicating the product was broken down into chapters rather than books of the bible. Unfortunately, it is still very much like the MP3 product in 66 files. I have written to them again to have it resolved.

Complain or move on?

Sometimes, I cannot be bothered to seek redress for a bad product because I do not have the time, I do not like my time being wasted or the run around with customer support organisations and their telephone menu tree systems that put you an array of decisions simply dumps you into an any other business pool where the keys you have pressed now have to expressed in words.

This morning, I ran into a bargain for The Message Bible which brings the obscurity the sometimes inscrutable English translations into contemporary culture.

For instance, compare this The Message [1] depiction of Hebrews 6:1-3

Heb 6:1 So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on "salvation by self-help" and turning in trust toward God;

Heb 6:2 baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.

Heb 6:3 God helping us, we'll stay true to all that. But there's so much more. Let's get on with it!

With the 17^th Century version of the more commonly accepted King James Version (also known as KJV) [2] in charismatic circles.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

You so easily catch the premise of a preschool fingerpainting exercise and there is more written in that kind of language.

The Message

Rom 8:12 So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.

Rom 8:13 There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.

Rom 8:14 God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

To

The King James Version

Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

And you begin to see that the Bible might well be a very interesting, understanding and rewarding read. No thous that chaseth thee that ye dost faint in ignorance.

I like the idea of there being things to do and places to go for God.

Translations and interpretations

Zondervan, a Bible publishing company publishes a translation comparison continuum [3] which rates translations from Word-for-Word to Thought-for-Thought of the original texts. KJV being towards the left of the continuum and Message to the very right.

Taken from Zondervan

So, I now ordered the audio version of The Message Bible and what I got was far from what I expected, I was compelled to register a complaint as it appears below.

I would hope there is a version that is organised according to the books of the Bible with a distinct MP3 file per book at the minimum, else there should be clear warnings that the organisation is a mess before buyers like I get caught on what for me is a misleading situation.

The Complaint

I ordered Product Title: AB0004 - AUDIO: The Message - Complete Bible [4] amongst other titles this morning.

I could almost honestly say, I feel conned and misled.

When I went to download the material, it came as 66 files implying they were arranged in the 66 books of the Bible, but the size of Part 66 had me wonder why III John; the 65th book, would be so much larger than Revelation, the last book.

Then I found Part 66 started from Revelation 12 and Part 1 contained over 30 minutes of interesting but irrelevant commentary that should have been in a separate introductory MP3.

I have many Audio bibles and they are either offered and organised as 66 distinct books of the Bible or to a granular extent chapters of the particular books.

To have this disorganised jumble as if the paper Message Bible just consists of page numbers without books or chapters is unfortunate to say the least.

Nowhere in the information about the product are we informed that the organisation is so unconventional such that commentary and text are merged and there are no book delineations.

For instance, I can listen to a gospel like say 41_Mark, an epistle like 45_Romans or 66_Revelation in other Audio bibles - this product is a fantastic activity turned into a farcical mess of disorganisation - It is NOT the product I believe I paid for.

I hope it can be remedied by obtaining a better organisation of the product as a replacement or things be put in place for a possible refund, I am as it were, desperately unhappy about this product, much as I am satisfied with other products that came with my order.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Sources

[1] The Message (Bible) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

[2] Authorized King James Version - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

[3] Zondervan - About Bible Translations

[4] eStudySource.com - Download Bestselling Digital Bibles & Study Tools!