The Emerald Rose

URBANA, Ohio (AP) — A defendant had a hard time facing the music.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s music fails to appeal to a man fined for playing rap music too loudly in his car.

 Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

It wasn’t the music, Vactor said, he just needed to be at practice with the rest of the Urbana University basketball team.

“I didn’t have the time to deal with that,” he said. “I just decided to pay the fine.”

Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott says the idea was to force Vactor to listen to something he might not prefer, just as other people had no choice but to listen to his loud rap music.

“I think a lot of people don’t like to be forced to listen to music,” she said.

She’s also taped TV shows for defendants in other cases to watch on topics such as financial responsibility. As she sees it, they get the chance to have their fine reduced “and at the same time broaden their horizons.”

       I really come down with the Judge on this. WE have rights too!!!!

       At least twice a week I’ll pull up to a stop light (ok a “Go-light, for you positive thinkers), only to have some, usually little, car with HUGE exhaust pipes, custom taillights, most of the chrome removed, windows tinted almost black, and the ass-end jacked up in the air that is “thumping” and vibrating and doing a perfect impression of a giant stereo speaker on steroids! All you can do is hope for a short light because short of using an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) to get their attention ,..well it just ain’t happening.

      Now I’m pretty open minded about not being obnoxious (ok, so except when I write, or get a poorly poured pint o’ Guinness), but these dudes frost me. Listen to whatever you like, in fact enjoy the hell out of it, but don’t “inflict” it on me! Ipods are the greatest invention since the computer, you can listen to three hours of Hip Hop, Rap, Classical, New Age, Rock and Roll, …hell even heavy breathing or the sound track of a very pleasing “sexual encounter”, but I don’t have to hear it.

      Granted it may be impolite to walk around with little white “dollops” stuck in you r ears, but I’ll take that compared to a full scale invasion of my ears by some Rap crap. And I see the judge makes videos on financial responsibility as well. KUDO’S to the judge, the only mistake I see is that said perpetrator of the above “assault with a deadly sound” should have been “forced” to complete the sentence once he selected it.

      Sorry, woke up with a splitting head ache this morning, (only 1 beer last evening, but a few intense meetings) and the three Advil haven’t touched it yet,….and I rarely get headaches,…usually I give them 🙂 .

      Well I’m going to try a few more cures for it at this point, but this article spoke to me,…..NOT rapped at me!

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