Though of course it is difficult for we humans to enumerate more things than we have fingers (or fingers and toes, for the more vigesimally inclined), and though I still misdoubt Bourbaki’s great project to ensconce numbers firmly within Set Theory, still one must begin to count somewhere, and eventually one must leave off counting, at least we mortals must, it seems. So, though another view might give a different result (Is it really the 45th caller who wins the prize?), still and all, according to the counting I have in place, today I’ve just added my two hundred thousandth song to my iTunes collection.
The specific song added to my iTunes was the classic Dead tune “It Must Have Been The Roses”, from a matrix by Hunter Seamons of the February 24, 1974 show at the long gone Winterland Ballroom. These matrix mixes of soundboard and audience recordings (‘Hunter’s Trix’) are one large reason why I’ve passed the milestone noted above, as I’ve been adding a ton of these wonderfully mixed and produced renditions of terrific Grateful Dead shows. (Not all the shows are stellar, but then I’m just prejudiced. On the other hand, if anyone can make me appreciate Brent Mydland, it’s Vince Melnick.)
Of course, I haven’t listened to 200,000 songs … not yet. In fact, I’m just a hair over 120k. Specifically, my records show (with the usual caveats about indeterminacy referenced in the first paragraph) that I’ve listened now to 121,516 songs, consisting of 524 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes, and 44 seconds of music … or at least sound. This takes up 812.68 GB of space on a hard drive. Which reminds me, I need to back up all this new music.