When You Wish Upon a Star
And A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
Article by Steven R. Rochlin
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  This past month has been filled with many joys and some deep soul searching. First and foremost we are very honored to have so many music lovers visiting our two Las Vegas show reports. While others might make one homogenized report, there are truly two separate shows. Specifically, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and The Home Entertainment Show (T.H.E. Show). Hundreds of thousands of our loyal readers have been able to experience the show, albeit voyeuristically, through our "virtually live" extensive coverage. In this month's issue we have more show coverage for you! Our March issue should have a few more reports so please stay tuned. We here at Enjoy the Music.com are also very honored to have Wayne Donnelly taking his well-earned position with his new title as Senior Contributing Editor. Many of you are familiar with Wayne, as he has been published in various magazines including The Absolute Sound, FI, Ultimate Audio and Listener. We strive to hire truly qualified reviewers who have many years of experience. Wayne is a music lover and a great asset to us all in the audiophile community.

Much To Do About Something
While music fills my world nearly eight hours each day (as both a musician and a listener), there are other joys to be celebrated. It is no secret that one of my lifelong loves is an Italian car. In fact there are many things from Italy that are cherished within my life. As a multi-decade long aspiration/goal has become a reality, it is hard to comprehend that this is all not just a dream. Only hours ago an enclosed coach service has delivered something that seemed to be an unreachable wish. Specifically, and as a single guy who is an avid Formula 1 enthusiast, what arrived is a lovely red car from Italy.

This life-long achievement has not been easy. Frankly, it comes at a time in my personal life of deep change, struggle, self doubt, personal sorrow, and with hope of a happy future... Change is not easy, yet reality moves us and changes our lives. Change is neither good nor bad per se, it just is. After driving my dream for well over 200 miles during the past 48 hours there is a feeling of both immeasurable joy and of loss. It is hard to put into words, though hopefully the below will make some sense.

In life many of us have dreams and goals. Sometimes we have dreams that we feel are unreachable. As an example, when Enjoy the Music.com™ was started over seven years ago there was some idea to what it may ultimately become. As it stands today, this website has grown and achieved much more than could have ever been imagined back then. Have resisted the "fast buck" and dot com Venture Capitalist funding as experienced with such now defunct websites as AudioCafe and E-Town (to name only two of many). Sure there were offers, yet this website is a dream come true and not one that would be whored out for a fast buck. This is also why we do not have countless awards as seen elsewhere. Imagine how worthless an award would be if you gave over 100 of them away each year.

Shows, in particular, are not the place to make a judgment on sound and award accordingly in my humble opinion. It never ceases to amaze me to see a post on some newsgroup or message board asking how "Product XXX" sounds at a show. It needs to be understood that these systems are not setup and optimized due to time constraints, let alone the fact the Product XXX is hooked up with Product YYY cables, ZZZ loudspeakers, etc. Shows are also notorious for bad power supply from the local electrical company. Virtually everyone that has uprated their electrical power from the fuse box to components will proclaim vast improvements. Of course there is more i could comment upon, though you get the idea. It is always good to dream and listen to different products at shows, yet we must also remember the conditions accordingly. There is no substitute for hearing a product within your home system to understand how it will synergize accordingly.

Speaking of shows, please allow me the opportunity to apologize to anyone who has attended a show to listen and unfortunately had to endure me walking into a room to take a photo, grab a description, then leave. For me, shows are more a job than something to sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. For every one person in the room at that time there are, literally, tens of thousands of people waiting for my show report about the products accordingly. Attending shows, for me, is a lonely task with much weight on my shoulders. When that day's show is over, it is back to my hotel room to photo edit, carefully rework text, and place it all in some organized manner on a web page. Then comes the "fun" part of dealing with whatever country's phone system offers to upload to our server. Your understanding in my possibly perceived rudeness, yet more accurately described as "frantic man at work", is truly appreciated.

Life Choices
Wrapping this editorial up is quite emotional for me. As mentioned earlier, a decades old life goal has been met. It is melancholy in that i can not help but wonder "What do i do now?" While no short cuts have been taken and reaching my personal goal has been accomplished in a positive way, there is some emptiness inside. Feel free to skip reading the below as it shares some deep feelings, yet may give those interested some insight into my personal life.

In December i received a holiday card from friend and fellow writer Todd Warnke. It included a photo of his wife, young child and himself. It was the typical Sears studio holiday photos. In this photo one could sense a glow of deep happiness by all within it. The photo shook me to my innermost soul. Personally have never been married and have no children. Been traveling too much due to business to consider "settling down".

In life we all make choices. As said earlier in this article, choices are neither good nor bad, they just are. Some choose to become great musicians while others prefer to be medical doctors. Within their life may be a wonderful family with significant other and children, home ownership, a family pet, etc. Sitting here now after reaching far beyond my goal for Enjoy the Music.com and also a dream car, one can not help to wonder how life would have been different had other choices been made. Have resisted seeing the movie The Family Man with Nicolas Cage, yet have decided to rent it tonight. If you have seen the movie then this will all make perfect sense. This also reminds me of, as a 4 year old, i asked my father (at age 33 or so) what he wanted to be when he grew up. My father stood there for a moment and deeply contemplated the answer. Amazing how one's children can ask such simple, yet deep questions.

In life we have many choices. Being of service to others is admirable, yet we also need to remain true to ourselves. Self sacrifice may be good in life, so long as it is balanced within the scheme of things. For me it is all about those and also in following your dreams. Reach for the stars, the sun, and the moon... but never forget where you came from and never achieve your goals at the expense of hurting others. In death, success is not measured by how much money you have or how many material objects you own. Instead, it is measured by how many people are crying because you are gone forever. It is also how many lives you have positively touched and people you have helped. This is especially true if they never realized it was made better because of you.

Keeping Upbeat
Looking to end this on a happy note, please remember to enjoy life, enjoy your close friends, and enjoy the music. In this very busy world we all should take time to show those we love how we truly feel. Personally, today is joyous because an unreachable star has come down to Earth. It is also saddened by things missed. Please take time to stop and smell the roses. And with that said, here is a few lines from one of my all time favorite movies (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)...

Sloan: What are we going to do?

Ferris: The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?"

Cameron: Please don't say we're not going to take the car home. Please don't say we're not going to take the car home. Please don't say we're not going to take the car home.

Ferris: If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away? Neither would I.

As Ferris Bueller says (click here for .wav sound file). Of course in the end what really matters is that you...

Enjoy the Music ("When You Wish Upon a Star" from the movie Pinocchio  and "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella... and "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack featuring Sons Of The Desert) ,

Steven R. Rochlin

 

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true"

 

 

"A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true...

No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true"