Saturday, December 13, 2008
TRAVELIN' ON
I should’ve agreed years ago with the voice of reason: “There’s no need for you to keep all those cassette tapes. Get rid of them.”
Where was my rebuttal? I could no longer say, “I listen to them on the way to work.” Damn auto companies—shame, shame, shame—Why’d they quit installing tape decks in their vehicles? And what of those foreign automakers? As for my Sony Walkman, I had no problem tossing it; Every time the batteries weakened it made pasta.
Approximately ten years ago a friend donated all his cassette tapes to me—a sizeable collection, considering he at one time owned a record store near 9 Mile and Ryan Road.
I was running out of options. I was running out of room. The voice of reason had sold all our store-bought videotapes just before the DVD tsunami. “You haven’t listened to those tapes in years.”
I strategically placed a cheap GPX dual cassette tape player in my office and made the claim that I enjoyed the occasional song while writing. Truth of the matter: Too much racket, music or otherwise, and my so-called thoughts never made it to paper. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m not plotting.
Those big wheels keep on turning . . .
Now the possibilities are endless. I’ve figured out how to plug that cheap GPX player into my computer. It’s all about my “I” toons. Bob H.’s guitar sings once again. Enjoy the music while watching the slide show of my family (circa 1920’s - 1960’s).
Trivia Question: What famous country singer helped Clinton River Road choose their name?
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14 comments:
Hi JR,
Speaking as a horder with a fair few shoe-boxes of C60/C90's, I can also understand your plight.
There *is* a love/hate dialogue goin on between the music and the writing/work isn't there. Your below quote is so true. Occasionally I go through periods when I want to throw them all away, or at least prune them without fear of remorse.
"Truth of the matter: Too much racket, music or otherwise, and my so-called thoughts never made it to paper. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m not plotting."
Me, I love Prudence too:)
By the way: thanks for the visit. It's been a long time since I visited yours...
Hope all is well,
DT.
Just tell the voice of reason that if you hang on to your cassettes long enough you'll be the last one to have any and then the Smithsonian will be beating a path to your door.
Right on, Walking Man. You just hope that all of the recordings survive and make it to the latest format instead of getting lost forever. There is stuff sitting in the Smithsonian that is slowly disintegrating probably...Smithsonian has had its share of management problems.
Jr, I wish my family had taken as many photos as your family has.
Reminds me so much of the old photos we have. I still have a bunch of cassettes at school. Want em?
Dunno.
But Bill Clinton was once a musical instrument.
Proud JR keep on burnin'.... I once sold all my albums at a garage sale, then 10 years later, my son collects vintage and is buyin' 'em all back. Goes to show you never can tell....
enjoyed the show...MW
Gads...I still have a butt load of cassettes, myself (that I haven't listened to in years.) Wish I could convert some of them to CD, of course. There's probably technology for that somewhere, but I'm sure it's ridiculously expensive.
In my garage I have stacks and stacks of these tapes. I haven't been able to part with them yet. I have no idea why I am keeping them, I have no way of listening to them and even if I did, we have internet with every song I could ever want.
Hey I've go an idea, I think you should have them. Don't you think that is a great idea?
Charles, Lana, Leigh,
Are you guys trying to get me thrown out of the house? Let me deal with what I have. Of course, I'd appreciate you keeping your collections for future use. Thanks.
I still have two box loads of records (vinyls!) stashed away in my attic which will probably never see the light of day again - but I just can't bear to throw them away!
Akasha,
Can you believe it?
Retro turntables are selling like hot-cakes now.
O! Throw them out.
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