the EU, look you see, was once notoriously famous, or if you like infamous, for mountains of waste. no, sure, today you could say the same of all the bureaucracy, red tape and financial squandering going on, but i am speaking here of actual physical mountains.
once, and maybe it is still the case today, the EU sat on butter mountains, wine lakes and milk oceans. why? because they paid farmers across Europe to produce these despite no market for them and elected to simply store them. i am all but certain that now it's the case that they pay farmers to not grow certain things.
on a quite similar note, then, i - as in moi - have paid somewhat for a substantial collection of blank audio cassettes, or if you like tapes.
rare indeed is it that my use of Commodore 64 mode has been so apt, dear reader.
whilst i understand that the above picture is quite clear and you should be able to count them up all by yourself, the above does indeed reflect some 50 (fifty) blank audio cassette tapes. lengths? approx 40% 60 minute ones, the remaining 60% 90 minute ones. provenance? just over 5% but not really 10% although close picked up here in the UK over the last two years, the remaining came with me from my other home to my actual home, so yes i have been hitting the boxes again.
for what reason to i have blank tapes? to record things on, why else would i have them. as for why so many, well, i had a habit of "stocking up" as and when i saw them on a shelf in a shop for a good price, as they are not exactly items which most retailers rush to stock up on these days.
anything specific that i was taping when i decided i needed so many tapes? for sure. my sister got a car with a tape deck in, and she let it be known to me that she expected me to make and post her a tape every month so that she may listen to it. no, she did not care for any problems i had with getting blank tapes or a deck, she just wanted the tapes. and so she got them.
actually, i did have a deck on my stag to record with, but that broke. that's why i bought the stag that you can see there in the background; all so i could keep making tapes for my sister. oh, yeah, that's it - actually my sister said that i could buy her tapes as she once got me a smart JVC stereo with a tape deck on it. however, i used that at verk and, as a parting gift, i left it with my dear friends who made coffee there. they know the sentimental value of it and i imagine they've looked after it.
anyway, my sister no longer makes use of a car that has a tape deck in. my Mum & Dad do, however, or rather did. they have let it be known that they, too, are moving to the world of CD for in car entertainment, and so don't really need me to make mix tapes for them any more. ah.
if anyone reading this, then, wishes to reach out and connect with me and wants to get a mix tape off of me in the post, or whatever, please do message or comment here. yes, genuine offer.
what will i do with the tapes if my family no longer wants them and no one connects with me? good question. i will find some use for them, i suppose, but they are meant to have music on them, man.
nostalgia section for you - skip this paragraph if you like. mix tapes are awesome, dear reader. they are more than awesome; they are art. it's a trick to getting the mix of music right in terms of both the tracklisting and the running length of a side of tape. you can cheat a bit these days as CD features accurate timing, but making a mix tape off of vinyl, or tape to tape, took some effort. all worth it to give to a lass you were taken with and wished to display your affections for. these days i suppose the kids just give each other a 1TB drive of every song ever to impress. well, that or send each other pictures of their nudies.
more nostalgia. on my travels around the world, back in the 80s and 90s, i left behind select friends in different nations. this was all pre-internet and what have you, so we kept in touch via letters. we also used to make each other most smart tapes and send them. i've still got most of the ones sent to me, i should get them out and play them.
right, that will do for a "first of the month, let me post something, yes i am still alive, etc" post. let me go off and look at my smart collection of blank tapes some more, and imagine the amazing vibes what i can record onto them all.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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