In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/david_manley_tubes_logic_amp_audi… Manley</A> once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini&#150;boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.

In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/david_manley_tubes_logic_amp_audi… Manley</A> once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini&#150;boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.

In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/david_manley_tubes_logic_amp_audi… Manley</A> once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini&#150;boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.

In the name of journalistic ethics (footnote 1) I have to come clean. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/david_manley_tubes_logic_amp_audi… Manley</A> once gave me a gift. He presented me with a large, rather heavy, Russian-made watch at the 1995 Las Vegas WCES. A very manly watch: In fact, it said "Manley" right on the dial. The watch worked fine for about six months. Then it developed a very subjective approach to timekeeping. Time stood still, and my life wasn't even passing before my eyes. The watch has become a nice, albeit slightly ugly, mini&#150;boat anchor; now my rubber ducky stays where I put it in my bathtub.

It was a bit of good fortune. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon in late August. It was the perfect thing at the perfect time, like Hemingway in autumn or Whitman in winter or a lot of stuff I can't think of right now&#151nothing refreshing, but something comforting: chocolate after wine, the smell of someone familiar when you're feeling all alone, I don't know. Monica had just called to tell me that she was back from her trip; she wanted to meet for a drink. I know very well that Monica is not the right person for me, but sometimes the right person is not what you need, is not the right thing at the right time.

So the big day, September 9, Beatles Day, has come and gone and after being away on a brief trip, I returned this morning to a number of voicemails that began, “Are the Beatles reissues worth the money?”