123. SONNY DAZE
July 25, 2026
Paid a visit to the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for Devon Turnbull’s HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3. Designed to envelop visitors in sound, it promised. The live operator that day was Sonny Daze of Division 81 Records. No predetermined set. Reclining seats. Permission to sit back and truly listen.
Perked up to: “The infinite intelligence within you knows the answers / Its nature is to respond to your thoughts.” I later learned the song was “Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts” by Funkadelic. It begins with:
Travel like a king
Listen to the inner voice,
A higher wisdom is at work for you
Conquering the stumbling blocks come easier,
When the conqueror is in tune with the infinite
Every ending is a new beginning,
Life is an endless unfoldment
Change your mind, and you change your relation to time
…
In what used to be the library of Andrew Carnegie’s mansion, good thoughts surrounded us. Stenciled on the walls just below the ceiling were some of his favorite quotes. In front: “All that man has thought or done is called to life, and served as if by magic in books.” and “The dainties bred in a book lead the mind from shade to sunshine.” Above the fireplace: “Let there be light.”