Reader's Notebook + Thoughts On Cassettes

High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape - Marc Masters A single-book focus for this entry, less because of the book’s quality than what it got me thinking about. The book itself wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. Masters begins by laying out the history of the cassette tape and tape players. Then he dives into areas of music that were most affected by the popularity of the cassette: underground genres that found traction thanks the the easy production and distribution of tapes; copying and sharing licensed music; recording and collecting live performances; international music; and, of course, the mixtape.

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Tuesday Link

I spent much of the afternoon working through a long read that is probably best shared on its own. I’m not sure when I first came across Maciej Cegłowski’s work. I know I used his Pinboard bookmarking service a several times, although never as a primary collection tool. At some point I discovered his writing, which is often amazing. I kicked in a few bucks for his Antarctic adventure, too.

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Weekend Notes

Lots of notes from the past several days. Travel Hoops Pretty good weekend of hoops in Louisville. For the first time ever, we went 3–0 in pool play at a national event. We won our first game Friday by 11. It was a very tough, defensive contest that we controlled pretty much from the opening tip. However we only scored 28 points for the game, so it wasn’t the smoothest of performances.

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Friday Playlist

open.spotify.com/playlist/… “I See The Light” - The Men Just the thing to shake you awake and start your Friday off right. “Baby Bangs” - Snarls These Ohio kids had my second-favorite song of 2020. Since then, their output has underwhelmed. This is a nice return to form. “Pretty Happy Alone” - The Love Buzz I would not have guessed this band is from Cork, Ireland. More proof great music can come from anywhere.

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Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 100

Chart Week: May 15, 1987 Song: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” - Crowded House Chart Position: #15, 18th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for one week in April. A few months ago, as I moved into posts 90-plus in this series, I considered whether I should do something special for number 100. Then I realized that since these entries are pretty sporadic, there was no way to predict where in the calendar we would be until we got to Volume 100.

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Wednesday Links

Several car articles, since I’m still in that mode. I’ll slip those stories to the bottom if you aren’t super interested in them. I’m not a government hater, but shit like this makes me furious. You would think the possibility of preventing the most prevalent forms of cancer would get all our branches of government to move quicker. The Food and Drug Administration’s ability to approve the chemical filters in sunscreens that are sold in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and France is hamstrung by a 1938 U.

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Reader's Notebook, 5/14/24

Reckless - Chrissie Hynde While doing my research for the recent RFTS post about The Pretenders, I came across several references to Hynde’s memoir. As soon as I completed that post, I checked and, LO!, the ebook was available at the library. I got it onto my Kindle and knocked it out over the next 36 hours. It is a great, if limited where it really counts, rock memoir. Hynde shares pretty much everything she experienced in life, good and bad.

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Weekend Notes

A nice weekend here in Indy. I know eventually it will come back to bite us in the ass, but this is like the fifth or sixth straight season here that has been terrific. It got warm early but didn’t turn into summer in April. We’ve had a few cooldowns but none of those surprise weeks when you go from shorts and tees to coats and hats again. All that after a mild winter, a normal fall, a terrific summer, another nice spring, and I believe a relatively warm winter a year ago.

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Friday Playlist

I had to get up early to attend a function this morning. I’ve very excited to share details next week, but that is the explanation for this getting out a little later than usual. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “22” - Hana Vu Remember when turning 22 felt like you were getting old? “22” - Taylor Swift Had to do it. “Ceasefire” - Frank Turner Frank released a new album a week ago. It sounds like every Frank Turner album.

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Car Notes

I could write about the Pacers-Knicks series today. But given how the first two games have left me royally pissed off, I think you all would rather read more car content rather than me bitching about the referees or the Nova Knicks or how the Pacers refuse to play defense or block out guys four inches shorter than them. Another Addition For roughly 60 hours we were a five-car family.

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Dark Matter

We are nearly three weeks out from the release of Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter. As an OG PJ head, I should probably do a review. Especially since I’ve been listening to it daily over that entire stretch.[1] That last sentence could be the entire review. For the first time since 2006’s self-titled album, a Pearl Jam disk has stuck with me for more than just the few days after its release.

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Weekend Notes

Kid Hoops Teenagers are funny. One day they are on top of the world, the next everything is shit. That might be a little dramatic but it kind of sums up the weekend for L’s travel team. Saturday they played great, winning their two games by a combined 22 points. They should have one the first by 20+ - they got to a running clock midway through the second half - but turned sloppy and let the lead slip to single digits before stretching it out in the end.

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Friday Playlist

It’s a two-video week! open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Prep-School Gangsters” - Vampire Weekend There have been times when I’ve loved Vampire Weekend, others when I would be happy to never hear another song from them. Thus it took me awhile to get to their new album. Which I ended up liking a lot. I could have picked any of four or five tracks to represent it. So maybe you’ll hear from them again here soon.

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Reader's Notebook, 5/2/24

The Bullet Swallower - Elizabeth Gonzalez James This book has gotten crazy praise in literary circles, landing on numerous Best Of lists already. With good reason. It is a very well-told, fictional story of three generations of Mexicans and their family history. One is a bandit in the late 19th century border territory, who is forced to bargain for his life after a raid on an American train goes off the rails (so to speak).

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April Media

Back in February I vowed to get my YouTube algorithm re-calibrated so it was sending me more good videos. Jumping into the car-buying process kick-started that process. It might be time to swing back the other way, as I only watched a few “normal” shows in April and my YT feed is overrun with car vids. Movies, Shows, etc Curb Your Enthusiasm, season 11 Five foot fence! B+ Curb Your Enthusiasm, season 12 LD pretty much stuck the landing.

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Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 99

Chart Week: April 30, 1983 Song: “Back On The Chain Gang” - The Pretenders Chart Position: #37, 21st week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for three weeks in March and April. The Pretenders were on the verge of big things in 1982. They already had a #1 hit in the UK - 1979’s “Brass In Pocket,” which maxed out at #14 in the US - and were generally beloved by critics.

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Weekend Notes

Some quick weekend notes. I’m going to try to really let the content flow this week. So be prepared either to read a lot or be disappointed if I only crank out a couple posts. Home For The Summer I went down to Cincinnati Friday morning to pack up M for the summer. She had called me Thursday night to let me know that in addition to being the day a lot of the dorm kids were leaving, UC was hosting two big graduation events Friday.

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Sunday Links

Let’s start with a fantastic Q&A with Jerry Seinfeld. The great joy to me is: I’m making this up, but let me see if I can make it sound like it makes sense to me. That’s what comedy is to me. They know I’m lying from the first line, and they don’t care. Jerry Seinfeld Says Movies Are Over. Here’s Why He Made One Anyway I found this summary of how and why Congress actually seemed to work like a functioning body for a few days recently really informative and interesting.

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Friday Playlist

open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Oh Shit” - The Libertines One of the first songs I bought from the iTunes Music Store back in 2004 after I bought my first iPod was The Libertines “Can’t Stand Me Now.” They’re still making decent music. “Like A Lesson” - Pillow Queens I can never get it through my head that these ladies are all Irish. I hear 2010s Brooklyn way more than Dublin in their music.

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New Car Notes

Nearly two weeks into Tesla ownership, with two big drives under the hood; time for a status update.[1] The transition has gone reasonably well. There are still moments when I struggle with one-pedal driving. One example is when cruising towards a right turn where I don’t have to stop, just slow and continue. I feel like I’m often either going into the turn too fast or braking too soon. Sometimes when I’m coasting to a stop I find myself going too fast and have to use the mechanical brake rather than rely on the regenerative brakes.

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