#Digital Tape Trading

[confessionsofanangrymetalhead]

Buy The Fucking Record!

It’s been brought to my attention via e-mail that the cost of my premium subscription to Spotify will be increasing in less than two months. I don’t believe it’s going to affect me too much, as what the cost will be is not even a dollar above what I currently pay. With my subscription also comes Hulu, which I partially rely on for TV, as I “cut the cord” more than four years ago. Fuck cable. It…

[foone]

The worst part of working at the Dimensional Nexus is that we don't get the regular internet there so you can't just watch your shows on Netflix or whatever. We gotta stick to analog media, since the digital stuff doesn't deal well with the temporal flux (the analog stuff doesn't either, but it's usually just a fuzzy image for a second, while your computer just crashes).

Everyone brings in their favorite media from home on old analog tapes (or laserdiscs. They're analog too! And we've got a couple hardened players on the lounge, so we can watch them).

Anyway while you're on-base (which could be for months or years), all your (video) media consumption ends up being on CRTs and piles of tapes you brought or traded with coworkers. Most people bring in a second suitcase of tapes so they'll have something to watch.

I brought in some letsplayers I stuck on a few VHS tapes (yt2vhs is a great program), and box sets of Star Trek: TNG and DS9.

About a month in, the trades really open up, as everyone has watched their own tapes and wants more. I got a good deal on a laserdisc of the Soviet version of... Well, nevermind. But let me just say, in my defense, the author of the books never went off the deep in in that universe, and the Soviet version wasn't made with her cooperation, anyway. I know that's sometimes a little difficult for people from the 91-verse to believe, but that's not the author's reputation in the rest of the Nexus.

Anyway I traded my TNG episodes for VOY. I've seen TNG a dozen times, so I figured it was time to go back over VOY.

It seemed to be pretty similar to what I remembered (other than them killing off Seska of all people at the beginning of S3? Who kills off your series's main villain?!) but at the end of S3 I hit the big divergence between our universes:

Seven. They introduced him early on in Scorpion, part 1, earlier than I remember.

The storyline goes mostly the same, with just a little less 7/Janeway romantic tension (do they even get together in this version? I'm gonna have to wait until season 5 to find out!)

Harry Kim lives in this version of Scorpion, too. I'm not sure why that is, they were clearly setting him up to die? Probably some executive meddling or something. I don't have access to Trekpedia (especially in that universe!) to check.

But yeah. This is one of the universes that got the twinky Seven instead of the catsuit-girl version (Not that this version wears any fewer catsuits). They got 9 seasons instead of the usual 5, so I'm excited to see if those extra ones are any good. When I was picking up the tapes I was surprised how many there were, and Josh told me in his universe they get home in season 6 and the remaining 3 seasons are a sort of spin-off/reboot done when Orbita took over from UPN.

Can't wait to see how that goes. More Star Treks need a post-script season (or three) made in the USSR!

Anyway I'm already looking forward to finishing this because I've already gotten a lead on a copy of TNG where Yaphet Kotto said Yes to the Picard role (sadly that version doesn't have the quintessential Jeffrey Combs as Riker, but I hear some people swear by the Gregg Marx Riker).

Still looking for any copies of the Kim Miyori-as-Data version of TNG. That one wasn't as popular (not it's vault! They had the US Doctor Who and both the Star Wars shows to go up against) so it's less likely to be brought in, but I'm always checking video libraries whenever I'm in that universe. Someday I'll find it. I found that fucking CED of the Walken A New Hope, I'll get the girl!Data TNG one of these days!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

✨ let’s do a twst trade ✨

Hello ^^;;

This might be coming out of the blue. I’m typically a very private person and tend to stick with social circles I’m already familiar with.

Recently, I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to put myself out there and interact more! I can get easily overwhelmed, so I thought a good way to go about this is to do a handful of art/writing trades. This keeps the number low and conversation approachable, and I think that’d help slowly ease me into being more comfortable interacting and participating in community events.

***UPDATE: Trades now closed, thank you all for the interest!***

Here are the parameters and other important notes (setting these for my own comfort and lifestyle):

This will be a Twisted Wonderland themed trade because that’s the one thing we can guarantee to have in common.

I’ll write a fic for you! Minimum 1-2k words (but I tend to ramble so it could easily go higher than that), starring at least 2 characters (I can write more, but let’s not go too crazy and ask for all 22 NRC students in one fic).

I CAN write platonic, romantic, angst, fluff, yandere, AUs, etc.

I’m okay with writing any and all TWST characters, including staff, RSA students, family members, and other NPCs.

Of course, OCs are also welcome! I’d love to learn more about yours.

Be prepared with references for your OC(s) if applicable. This could include illustrations, but at the bare minimum should include a written explanation of who the character is, their personality, likes/dislikes, and relationships with canon characters.

There are limits to what I will write, as I am uncomfortable with some subject matters. For example, I’m not willing to write anything pregnancy-related. We can discuss my “no goes” in more detail if we decide to trade!

Upon request, I can do a simple digital piece of art OR a washi tape illustration (you won’t receive the physical piece, just a picture of it) for you. I believe most people know me more for my writing, but I wanted to keep these options on the table!

You trade me a fic of your own OR an artwork of roughly the same quantity/quality. As the saying goes, “what you give is what you get.”

We will talk and agree before we start on our pieces what each of us will generally provide at the end. (For example, a 5k word fic for a full color waist up illustration, 1k word fic for a black-white doodle, etc.)

You have to be okay with receiving a vague prompt. I like to be surprised, so I’ll probably just give you a list of general themes, ideas, and characters I like, then set you loose to see what you come up with.

You can be as specific as you like with your own prompt for me though—I’m flexible. Let me know what you don’t like as well so I can avoid including those elements.

To keep things fair, we’ll both hold onto our pieces and exchange them at the same time.

Regarding my written piece, it will be in a Google Doc for you to access.

This is NOT first come, first serve. I can only realistically take on 3-5 trades at this time depending on interest and complexity. If I turn you down, it’s nothing personal!

Priority will be given to mutuals (chances are that there’s more likely to be common ground if we’re already following each other).

Preference will be given to those indicated as adults in their blog intros/profiles (this is just what vibes the best with my personal communication style)

Be patient!! It may take me a few weeks or more to complete my part.

Be aware that doing a trade with me does NOT necessarily mean we will become best friends, and nor should this be the expectation 😅

If you’re okay with the above and are interested in a trade, please DM me! In your DM, you should indicate some prompts/ideas for what you’d like me to write. Please wait for me to respond; do NOT assume that I’ve accepted the trade request just because you’ve messaged me.

[duffsmckagan]

DEBORAH FROST, DOKKEN, GROUPIES, HEAVY METAL, JAMES HETFIELD, KIRK HAMMETT, METALLICA, MONSTERS OF ROCK

Stories From The Road: Deborah Frost and Metallica

In Deborah Frost, Stories From the Road, music on December 7, 2008 at 2:28 pm

By Deborah Frost

“I once walked into the dressing room of a very huge metal band — well, they were not quite as huge then as they are now, oh what the hell, they are probably the biggest band in the world — Metallica (and they didn’t get that way without airing their own dirty laundry very publicly from revealing in various cover stories tales of the drummer being fellated under the stage nightly during the bass solo to the somewhat drippier venereal complications).

Anyway, they were somewhere in the middle of the bill on one of those late 1980s “Monsters of Rock” concerts at RFK Stadium in Washington, I think it was. There was a lot of waiting around in the days they were all lumped together without their own private jets or drivers and everyone seemed to be in a grumpy mood, particularly James Hetfield, who was sitting next to two fairly unattractive girls who could have been models — only for one of those “BEFORE” acne-medication ads.

Instead of his usual warm greeting, James barely grunted at me that he was doing an “interview.” Which was a little strange, given that he was not really even having a conversation with the skinnier one of the two girls, who was not equipped with any of the usual tools of the trade, like a tape recorder or pencil or piece of paper, only a flimsy little sun-dress which was only remarkable in its cheapness and that it was fairly inappropriate for the weather but did reveal all of her other lack of equipment in every other department.

James suddenly got up, jerking her by the wrist, and disappeared toward the bathroom where other members of the crew and band were, eager to try out the brand new little video cameras (they had just come on the market) they had been playing with. Kirk Hammett also grabbed what I called my Helen Keller camera — one of those point and shoot 35 mm things (this was in the pre-digital era) that even she could have operated.

There was a great deal of commotion when James discovered that Kirk was holding them both over the top of the bathroom stall — where — well, several months later, when I had forgotten all about it and the prints came back from the developer, I was shocked to discover, right in the middle of some happy family vacation, exactly what he was doing with this young lady crouched on the toilet and could not believe that I had not been arrested for pornography. Then again, maybe that only happens if it involves pictures of children and it was VERY clear in vivid living color that James was NO child.

It was almost the end of Metallica as we knew it, when James suddenly roared out of the bathroom, grabbing Kirk by the throat with one hand and the video camera, from which he ripped the film, with the other, before stomping on it and practically smashing the guitarist’s head against the wall as he begged for mercy.”

[tokofukawa]

THE GIRLS AGAINST DESPAIR ZINE FINALLY ARRIVED! I was really worried it would be stuck in Canada forever but it shipped to my house in perfect condition and everything is accounted for!

The cover art is absolutely gorgeous.

The back cover is gorgeous too.

Teeny Syo.

One more thing, this book is way bigger than I thought. Look at the size compared to the WLW DR Zine.

Now to show the the merch! As expected, it's all super cute.

I don't know where to put the stickers and washi tape. Maybe I'll get a sticker book.

The trading cards are really cool too. I love the quotes on the back of them.

And lastly, the keychains. My favorite of the merch.

That's all the physical merch! But I also got all the digital merch too!

I read through the zine and I love it! So much Tokosyomaru love.

[dilf-in-peril]

A quick guide to pirating wrestling

There are basically two options when it comes to pirating: streaming (that's what I am calling watching videos on some website for the purpose of this post) and downloading them via torrent.

The problem with streaming is the videos often get taken down from the sites they are hosted on due to copyright claims, which means a lot of links to older shows are just dead.

The problem with torrenting is that it's peer to peer (no hosting website, just all of us sharing the files amongst each other), which means that the older the show the less people still bother to share it, which means a lot of torrent for older shows are dead. (*torrenting also allows people sharing the file to see your IP which copyright holders can theoretically abuse to track you down and sue you but this might depend on your local laws and with torrenting dying because no one knows how it works anymore it's grown much rarer I believe)

Then there is also archive.org which in my experience does not suffer from the issue with videos being taken down but can be rather slow. Archive.org is also a proper archive that does not blast you with pop up ads and links to malware.

For the streaming option there are sites like watchprowrestling.co and watch-wrestling.cc (and many similar ones, they also change urls a lot unfortunately), which do not host the videos but link to them. Links to older shows are often dead as mentioned before.

There are some youtube alternatives that care less about copyright such as bilibili.com and dailymotion.com and have a lot of wrestling shows. You might even be so lucky on youtube.

If you're interested in torrenting you'll need to download some software, I'm sure you'll find guides if you use the search engine of your choice, and then you can also search "torrent sites" and find a list of sites, such as The Pirate Bay or 1337x, where you can search for the show you want to watch.

Lastly, there are some sites that stream wrestling shows live as they happen, such as baked.live.

And then there's asking around if someone's got the file and being invited to private google drive folders and all that, which I guess is modern tape trading but I can't help with that.

Plus, if the issue is not actually money, but just finding the show because it's too old or obscure, try wrestlinghdd.net which has a huge library of shows, which you can either trade for with digital tapes or pay them for.

Feel free to add onto this if you have suggestions.

[paper-mario-wiki]

Good day! If possible, I'd also like a trinket from your bag of oddities. I'll trade you for my own [or just plain give it outright if you dont feel like sharing]: The Birotron 90 is a fascinating analog synth that ran on tapes and never left a functional prototype stage. There's a guy working on restoring the last functioning Birotron and digitizing its master sound tapes [which were found in an abandoned home ravaged by mold]. It was used in backing tracks by a few pretty famous bands [one of them being REO Speedwagon iirc?] but there are no isolated sounds from the machine itself. Very interesting to follow, I hope you haven't heard of this before hehe. Have a good one!

EKO Encore 49-P

as seen in world famous video

my friend jerrod and i watched this and wanted to find the specific keyboard he used so we went on a several-day internet hunt through synth forums and old archived ebay listings before finding out what it is.

and it's the EKO Encore 49-P.

that is your prize.

[sunnyblur]

Ignore the tape and scribbles...

Absolute mess of sh1tty doodles; shadow edition. Sharing it here because tumblr enjoys when we post random trash.

I swear my art is better than this 😭 I'm totally up for art trades. Bare with me till I post some real art and then maybe people will take me up on the offer. I do traditional and digital. My digital style is more painterly and my traditional is loose sketches :3

[lovesmenot2015]

Selfship craft ideas!

Making handwritten letters from you/your self insert to your f/o(s) and vice versa. (you can also print out f/o letters from people you commission/do trades with!)

Making paper doll's of you/your self insert and your f/o(s) along with attachable paper clothes!

If you have access to a printer and a blank notebook/sketchbook along with some glue, you can make a scrapbook with pictures of your f/o(s)! You can also add drawings you made and anything like stickers, washi tape, etc.

This one is digital, edit a transparent of your f/o(s) into a selfie of yours to make a couples photo! You can also print it out and put it in a frame.

Additionally, Dollar Tree sells frames that you can also paint, put stickers on, etc... You can basically do anything to customize it.

Make a stop motion animation using paper puppets/dolls of you/your self insert and your f/o(s)

Will make a part 2 if I think of more ideas.

[clottedscream]

[Image ID: A digitally illustrated redesign of Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. Flutteryshy is a fluffy yellow pegasus horse with skewbald patches of pale fur. Her mane and tail are green, and so long that they flow across the ground, appearing to have picked up twigs, leaves, and flowers while dragging. Her hair mostly covers her eye, which is blue. Her mane is pinned up partially to support a robin’s nest with eggs. Her cutie mark shows several pink butterflies. Her wings are bandaged with grey compressional tape. End ID.]

Fluttershy is something of an outcast among the ponies of Ponyville, since she lives on the outskirts of the town, never wears shoes, and talks to all her animals as if they understood her. Some of the local ponies even think she’s creepy, and the fillies make up rumors about her being a witch who cursed anyone who tries to go into the Everfree forest. That suits Fluttershy just fine, though. She doesn’t need that much company; she’s content with her small group of friends, most of which are woodland critters. Fluttershy is a bleeding heart whose compassion extends to nearly every living thing, since her appellation “The Arbor Pony” allows her to speak to and understand both animals AND plants alike.

Fluttershy was born with chronic joint pain that makes it extremely difficult for her to fly or channel any magic with her wings, so she moved down from the clouds to live somewhere where mobility would be easier. It still hurts to get up and move around some days, so Fluttershy prefers to take things slow, and knows the value of rest and relaxation. Fluttershy is so gentle, in fact, that a family of robins built a nest in her hair one day while she was in her garden, and she decided to let them stay there and styles her hair around the bird’s nest to keep it stable. What Fluttershy enjoys more than anything is a cup of lemongrass tea and a quiet sunny day at home. In that way, it might seem a little odd that her girlfriend is the fastest flyer in Equestria, but she wouldn’t trade her for the world.

[lets-try-some-writing]

The Grim Dark Archives: Statement #000

[Statement taken from [Redacted] on the 7th of August 2004, one year after the Autobots have made their presence known and begun corresponding with human military personnel. [Redacted] has asked to remain anonymous for fear of potential backlash from affiliated parties.

Their statement is... concerning to say the least. They have made it abundantly clear that the Autobots are not what they seem to be. What [Redacted] is implying will need further investigation and follow up statements will need to be taken. If these Autobots really are are dangerous as [Redacted] claims... we may need to be ready for war.

For the sake of ensuring that their resident computer expert cannot access these files, statements and further data are being recorded on tape instead of being digitally catalogued. It is a hassle to use this device, but for the sake of secrecy it is the only available option. For all their technology, the Autobots as it is have shown no ability to understand 'primitive' equipment such as the tape recorder.

Let's hope this is all for nothing in the end.

Statement begins.]

══════════════════

Listen, I didn't want to get involved in all this, but now I have no choice. You don't know what you are dealing with. The Autobots... no, Cybertronians aren't like you humans.

I suppose I should give some context first.

My designation is [Redacted]. I am unlike my brethren in many regards due to the fact that I am a third generation mech from one of Cybertron's many colony worlds. My 'father' was forged and raised on the colony world we inhabited, and my 'grandfather' was the only one among our colony who actually saw Cybertron with his own optics, and even then he was very young during those days.

The world we lived on was set far apart from most trade routes that connected to Cybertron, so the empire's reach often didn't extend to us, especially since the Cybertronian presence on the world we lived on was next to nonexistent. We were a minority group composed of a few dozen scientists and a handful of guards meant to keep us safe from the local population should the need arise. Although that is not to say the locals were unkind, no, if anything it was the opposite.

The local population was composed of long lived organics who were technologically advanced enough to be worthy of note but not nearly close enough to be on part with us. They were much like you humans mentally, often expressing their emotions freely and dealing with similar problems. The reason why I even mention them is because they had an impact on me and others forged in the colony. From them we learned, we adapted, and we were kept far away from the customs and behaviors of mecha from our homeworld. We deviated from the 'purity' of the parts of the empire where Cybertronians had a larger influence.

Our mission was to cyberform part of the planet we were stationed on and establish a foothold on the world for the empire to expand. However around by fifteenth vorn of life, the empire stopped seeing a use to our efforts and recalled us. And that I suppose is where I learned just what it mean to be Cybertronian... and I am still scared of it to this day.

All my life I heard stories of the glory of our people, of our achievements and our legacy. I was told Cybertron was the center of a glorious empire, the most orderly and wonderful planet in the galaxy and far superior to organic worlds. I was young when we were recalled... I wanted to believe and I did believe. To me Cybertron was a fantastical wonderland where I would get to see the best of what our people had to offer and really go somewhere in life. I thought they would all be like me, if a little more sophisticated... that was not the case.

Cybertronians do not work like you, they do not think like you, nothing they do is in any way similar to you even if it looks like it is.

I cannot stress this enough. We are NOT like you. I am an exception to that rule because I was raised around organics and only knew others who had been raised around them. I understand you humans because my whole life revolved around interacting with a race similar to yours. But the others? Native Cybertronians? They aren't like you, and while they play pretend and masquerade as if they are, they aren't.

You humans have three things that make you tick, and while they are debatable, they are what I have mostly observed.

All your actions are determined by a desire to avoid pain, indulge in passion, and to pursue faith. Everything you do revolves around one or more of these three things. You eat because you wish to be full and not endure the pain of hunger, whereas a Cybertronian fuels because that is what is required for functionality. You read, play games, and interact with one another because it is fun, whereas a Cybertrionian does all these things to sharpen their mind and to obtain something from those who they interact with. You worship your deities out of a desire for purpose and understanding despite not even knowing if your god lives... Cybertronians know their god lives, we walk his surface and have his heralds to guide us, we worship because otherwise his wrath may strike us down.

Do you understand even a little yet? We aren't like you, and we never will be. We are made to adapt and to blend in, it is part of our nature to adjust our behavior to match whatever species we are interacting with. Every smile, every word, and even the body language expressed are all calculated moves by the Autobots. They want something from you, and since there are not enough of them to take it by force, they play a came of pleasantries to gain what they desire.

I came here to warn you, to try and save your infant race from being roped into the sick games and schemes of my kin. Do you understand me? Please, you must understand me.

I have spent my entire life learning all there is to know about my people and their culture. In the beginning it was to help other races interact with us, but now it is a warning. Cybertronians are not kind, they are not virtuous, at least not like you. I will tell you everything you wish to know about our culture and our way of thinking. In return I pray that you will not involve yourselves with us.

Please, don't touch our tech. Don't dig too deeply into what we are or what we want. Don't catch their attention. The moment you garner the attention of my kin as anything more than useful tools and pets... you will be condemned to a fate worse than extinction.

══════════════════

[Statement end.

[Redacted] seemed terrified throughout the entire recording session. They acted as if they were speaking on an old god long slumbering finally about to wake. It is worrisome that one of these aliens is in a way betraying their own out of pure fear for what the others may do. This will need extensive research and further study.

Agent Fowler has been assigned to serve as the lesion to the Autobots during the government's time housing them. For his own safety a copy of all these recordings will be sent to him. Even if this ends up being nothing and we simply encountered a mentally unstable individual, we cannot risk the safety of our personnel.

Agent Witwicky signing off.

Recording end.]

[adgp35]

“Sorry about the gag, sweetheart, but the girls at reception insisted: in fact they provided the duct tape!” said Marcia to her cuffed and manacled prisoner as she idly watched a movie on her laptop. Poor Joe lay uncomfortably hogtied on the hotel room floor, wondering how it had come to this and trying not to notice his female captor’s tremendous ass…

Source: the fantastic digital artist ira9085 who plies his trade on Deviant Art

[ourladyofomega]

Do you remember life as it was pre-internet and pre-smartphone? Is it something you are nostalgic for? What aspects of your life still are like the pre-internet days that you anticipate to stay that way (at least for 10 more years)?

Absolutely, because I experienced it. Specifically, the last few years before grasping PCs full-time in community college. Back then, my diaries weren't written with pen and paper. I hit ‘record’ on my tape deck and have it write it all for me. I listen to those cassettes (that I still have and have been all digitized) and they instantly return me to the alternative and hip-hop / rap's golden era; back when we had Biggie and 2Pac. The feelings were different. The style, the vibe, the type of people around me. There was this constant camaraderie because everyone was around you. I always had friends and plenty of moments within reach. Meeting people outside the neighborhood was way more interesting because they were the type mine didn't have.

Each song that I'm listing right now still gives me a very specific moment and feeling experienced by me, for me, and only me. Songs like Da Youngstas' "Hip-Hop Ride" and Stone Temple Pilot’s “Vasoline” when my family and I took the ferry to Mashantucket, listening to Crooklyn Dodgers' eponymous track on my Walkman when I walked home from school, or Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" as a bargaining chip to win the favor of girls from another neighborhood. Notorious B.I.G. & Method Man “The What” and O.C.’s “Time’s Up” were the soundtrack to when I spent a week in Staten Island with my then-hood cousins. Sitting on my friend’s curb while listening to The Doors' "Light My Fire", or hearing Cutmasta D.C.’s “Brooklyn’s In The House” while I was crushing on someone I never met before. I can go on ad infinitum. The music meant so much to me that I started making seasonal mixtapes to revisit those moments anytime I want. Those feels still get to me to this day. I could also say the same for VHS. I literally have hundreds of tapes stored with me. It was a race to record every Philadelphia deathmatch and classic (Seventies and Eighties) game show because us fans feared they’d be lost forever. All of us has some Marion Stokes in us. Some more than others. I still kept hitting ‘record’ while I began record-shopping and found rare titles through backpage catalogs, bought compilations and magazines to discover new artists, and relied on word-of-mouth and mixtape trades amongst friends. This was what music-chasers had before MP3s amplified it all for everyone, including myself.

Even gaming. Going out of your way to the video store and literally borrow or buy and keep physical games - the solid state-era. Fighters were so much fun when you had everyone on the block at your house with no actual fist-fights and crucial shit broken. Or, having a literal crowd of people surrounding you during a one-on-one at Street Fighter found at every pizzeria, stationery, or laundromat. Human interaction was king back then. It was somewhat of a less toxic aura of life before smartphones, social media, or downloading took the mystique out of everything we experience now and poisoned us with repetition re-enforcement.

Now? We’re all used to it. It’s routine for everyone. The same ubiquitous being shoves all the world’s ills and hard pills to swallow down your throat while giving you an equal amount of solace, wisdom, and outreach in return. We traded in all the mystique of discovering things we once never knew of for the convenience of finding and getting what we want, when we want - with quick decisions to boot. We’ve taken it for granted. I still do everything I’ve done timelines ago, albeit differently now. I’ve always stayed in touch with the past while always moving forward and grasping the moments ahead.

Things changed when my uncle gifted my dad a Dell desktop and monitor. He loved free music. We were surprised that we could get anything we wanted instantly. We never looked back since. My music knowledge exponentially exploded through the roof thanks to the digital tide. Still does. I’ve always appreciated the classic synthpop, industrial, golden-era hip-hop / rap, alternative, hardcore, and electronic era while staying in touch with sampling, and discovering d.i.y., synthwave, noise, d-beat, indie, metalcore, long-lost African tapes, and deafening shoegaze over the last few years.

Discoveries of the last calendar decade are part of my current experiences. I can hear Crystal Castle’s “Pap Smear” in my head every time I drive to the radio station in cold Winter nights. The sounds of Suicide’s “Cheree” marked the time I re-connected with a former potential. L.I.E.S. Music For Shut-Ins, Dum Dum Girls’ “Bhang Bhang”, and Tantor’s “Niedernwöhren” stamped my time in Lindenhurst, Hauppage, and Ronkonkoma respectively. Bereket Mengistaab’s “Lebay”, Antwon’s “Helicopter”, and Gong Gong Gong’s “Siren” defined all the walks to the neighborhood veteran’s park. Black Marble’s “A Great Design” forever reminds me of that sunny June day in Greenpoint waiting in line to see Cold Cave. Both pandemic shut-ins and a day out with a mutual / potential would meet at Jade Imagine’s “Remote Control” and Eddie Russ’ “Zaius”. Yard Act’s “Dark Days” for the pinball arcade revival and the drive out to Williamsburg’s Rough Trade. And how can I forget Blonde Redhead’s “Melody Experiment” to mark a triple crown September weekend of family reunions in Staten Island, Cold Waves XI, and a drop-dead birthday gift from one of my all-time favorites?

I still spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars carefree on vinyl, cassettes, and discs while acquiring and salvaging everything digitally. No more magazines, replaced with tons of music sites and outlets. (Again, downloading and the endless-open of accessing sounds made it too easy.). You used to buy blind at the record store and be totally walloped at something you never imagined before. Now, you’ll find it everywhere online with no effort. Have all the free cards, spins, and rolls you want. I remember making my first online order ages ago, and smelled the production those fresh packages of vinyl records and discs in the mail. I’ll still purchase rare musicks online that I won’t find in stores.

Backseat rides with Walkmans were replaced with iPods and now iPhones on train lines to New York City; allowing me to carry flat, faceless MP3s rather than physical art, liner notes, thank-yous, and that sugary smell of plastic, booklets, and J-cards. It all still produces new memories and visions to this day. The mixtapes were replaced by CD-R’s for a few years before creating simple personal playlists I still make to this day.

Former childhood memories of opening / closing credits and themes, station i.d.’s, production credits, commercials, and chyrons are re-captured again with a quick rip. Most of the essential shows of my wasted youth becamse a few keywords away. Emulation leaves the door open to an era when it was simpler, more charming, and fun. Not today with the endless parade of stoic first-person shooters devoid of personality and micro-transactions nickel-and-dime you while providing misogyny / misandry, endless shit-talking, swatting, and fault-finding in everyone - all enjoyed by your lonesome online.

So many people assumed that vinyl records, cassettes, and video / pinball arcades fell into the wayside because of “better” technology. They surged back because we still appreciate and want the real thing. We’ve done a great job carrying everything over digitally and still kept it all.

Oh, I almost forgot. About people:

We’ve been facing technology as a double-edge sword bringing out the best and worst out of all of us, pushing out everything for the whole world to see. Remember what I mentioned earlier about one hand poisoning you while the other cures?  

It’s amplified world ills that always existed but made more apparent: rigged elections, the media selling war and dictatorships, disinformation, online gambling, political division, trauma and desensitization of violence and sex, losing privacy - all in an accelerated rate. We worried more about it now, now more than ever.

We never stressed over constant triggers, reminders, fear of missing out, or seeing your life in stasis as friends, families, rivals, and enemies move on (as a form of unintentional competition) like we do now. We shelve daylight and beautiful days for the hypnotism of constant mind-numbing updates, communication, and lethargy. Or, how young girls are constantly told they’re not good enough, learn about the double-standard, be gaslighted, or put themselves out there all-or-nothing to be noticed.

Dating was way easier back then because we didn’t have the bad ideas we have now. Dating sites created a power to pick and choose easily who our next potential or interest is; for winners to treat people like a commodity, dispose of, and ghost them. A comedy of errors for the losers starring broken-down self-esteem and self-confidence, paranoia, blatant intentions, loneliness, and game-playing more apparent. All the hands played are face up and for all to see. Draw, play, and discard at will.

It used to be that you wouldn’t know or believe what former classmates, co-workers, significants, or associates were up to through hearsay. Now it’s all within reach. Imagine being floored when you see your exes- have families, kids, or criminal records. Feel the sting when former #1’s smile with their new partners, or be totally surprised when others lives didn’t turn out as expected. Careers, money, marriage, relationships, adventures, accomplishments, births, deaths, suicides. Some have made you feel vindicated, at level with your peers, heartbroken, or missing out while everyone moves forward.

We throw rocks at people or hurt feelings from a distance, run, and get away with it. We pick and choose who lives and careers we can ruin in an instant, who to ridicule, or define someone with a ten-second meme for the rest of their lives. Or the many new ways people in general can be nasty towards each other. There’s so much bitterness, one-upsmanship, snarkiness, and manufactured drama because we allowed (social) media to run our minds for us. No middle-ground. Pick a side and vilify anyone who disagrees with you because we’re always right, even when we’re wrong. Demonize those who do the same things you do as well. It’s made us into miserable troublesome animals.

But…

Life for me has been so different since the divide that I’ve experienced quite a few events I normally wouldn’t. I started using this hellsite years ago to create an online journalism portfolio - which later on became a place for design, writing, and photography. It’s allowed me to document my time in radio (WUSB) and also show everyone how diverse, original, and open I am about myself and music. I love the gratification when someone reaches out to me about a favorite artist or record, and I love sharing some rare or obscure things only I know about that no one else does. It’s made what I do a unique experience.

I’ve met mutuals that I’d never even thought I’d ever meet (including two from my neighborhood!). There’s specific mutuals who untapped my potential, who I’d do wonderful things for that I wouldn’t for anyone else. These are the same people who I learned to trust and allowed me to be open with, minus the hair-trigger persecution, judgment, and ridicule from the rest. I keep my lines open for my closest ones trapped in destructive addiction, anxiety, bi-polarity, and isolation.

I’ve taken social and world events more seriously. It’s made me to give support who are worse off than me, to have compassion for people, to see opposite side of things, and recognize the real from fake. I have no patience for sensationalist tabloid garbage or the new reverse of ‘fake news’, and go right to what really matters to me: police brutality, the ongoing Palestine / Israel war, LGBTA rights, women’s rights, and other issues at hand.

I returned to my childhood I once abandoned since YouTube was very young. I constantly find everything jazz, sample, and crate-digging from that era to stay in touch with who I am.

Not even ten years ago, I couldn’t even fathom the concept of working at home. I left a decade of physical retail to do remote sales, and still stayed with the company to keep my health insurance, savings, and my time-off. I don’t deal with people’s attitudes, awkward interactions, or be forced into uneasy situations anymore. A literal live-saver.

Conversely, the post-internet era had introduced some hardcore pain in my life. I had one instance when a local mutual I wanted to meet tore my heart right out. Real bad. She’s why my journey into anxiety, depression, and mental health advocacy all started. No thanks to her. Another potential I met entered into my life thanks to social media (pre-Hellsite). She was someone who later on became an addict and I dated her for three months. She dumped me and burned her bridges when her boyfriend overdosed and died. I’ve also reached out to interests and potentials whom I made plans with; only for them to cancel at the very last minute. Their actions left me a “what-if” moment that’ll stay with me forever. It’s an all-or-nothing game we’re faced to play if we want to win. I look back and ended up accepting things I used to be dismissive of, and learned some things about myself I never expected to.

Yeah. Crazy to think that we experienced a change in our lifetimes - a Pandora’s Box - that we can never close. What used to be a novelty is now the norm, and what we used to take for granted is now a novelty in itself (the Othello effect). I know all these major constants will continue on, through whatever form or favor they become. Lord only knows what it will be. Place your bets now. **********

You’re more than free to ask me the same question again in 25 years. By then, you might ask me if I remember life as it was pre-dictatorship, what I’m nostalgic for, and what aspects of my life have stayed the same since. Count your lucky stars we don’t end up there.

[omegaremix]

The Great Cassette Purge.

Cassettes are the life of me. I have hundreds of them. I’ve bought them, recorded off the radio with them, made mixes and traded them with friends and people overseas. I’ve experimented with them and fixed them when they jammed, creased, or snapped themselves. They’ve been with me on bus trips to rival schools, on many a ride to Brooklyn and Staten Island, on ferries to Mashantucket and Atlantic City casinos, and as far up as Rochester for a music festival. They been with me through the golden-age of hip-hop, Top 40 stations, nine years of independent radio, and the reason why seasons came to play with personal mixtapes of mine. They are literal time machines. They’ve made me and Ω+.

The arrival of my 30GB iPod Classic and digital music forced my Walkmans to shamefully retire. The tapes have sat on shelves until I have time to digitize them. I’ve seen the format go on life support and now they’re making a comeback, even if only hanging by their own film (sorry). Some artists, especially punks, beatmakers, and d.i.y. artists still sell them. There’s even Cassette Store Day, and Long Island has their own online dealer in Tapehead City located in Long Beach. Cassettes are dead. Long live cassettes.

One summer day in the early Oughts, My insurance agent inherited two boxes of cassettes from a friend of his. He had no use for them, and neither did my agent. He didn’t want to throw them away, so he gave them to his best customer: my dad. Dad thought he was over-paying for his car insurance. At least he got a little something back for it. I come home and he tells me that there’s a surprise waiting for me. Hey, faithful Ω+ readers, wanna’ roll the dice on what that surprise was? C’mon…take a wild guess.

More good news came a few months later when my bro- gave me another surprise: more cassettes. Another boxes’ worth. He found them in the backseat of a car at a friend’s junkyard…which…didn’t sound right? I’ve essentially doubled my cassette library for free in nine months than I did buying them in twelve years. Way better than the trash heaps of big band records, medieval revival, and polka records dad used to bring home. Twice he did that to me. Twice! Of the nearly 175 cassettes I received, about half of them were library gold.

For doing absolutely nothing except coming home that day, I managed to get six R.E.M. albums and four Kate Bush tapes without even asking. Don’t tell Henry Rollins or Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman about the U2 albums I got, too. And let’s hear it for three Smiths albums, once upon a time before Morrissey became the racist shit-gibbon he’s been for years.

Maintaining that Eighties quotient is essential with industrialists everywhere. Thank the Lord for Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration and Violator. Three from Adam Ant. Two from The Cars? Childhood justified, and Ric Ocasek produced gems with Alan Vega and Suicide. I even got a few midnight treats as well. The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux & The Banshees, and a Bauhaus double feature? I’m sadder as I ever been.

Alternative has always been synonymous with cassettes; plasticky and shelved nice and neat on display in your bedroom like the CDs you purchased from the mall. Those are authentic Nineties flashbacks. Gin Blossoms have been remembered as one of the more modest and respectable groups in the game. A free space for Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking which I unknowingly purchased again on disc later on. Mother’s Milk from the Red Hot Chili Peppers made One Hot Minute the only other album of theirs I need that matters to me.

More classics with two David Bowie titles and The Velvet Underground featuring Lou Reed. Sadly, the Bowie and Reed tapes didn’t make out with each other after the show. Add two from The Doors as well, because having too much Jim Morrison is never a bad thing. And finally, a good windfall doesn’t come without punk. A Fall release that wasn’t I Am Kurious Oranj which is the equivalent of owning Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue. Iggy Pop, Husker Du, and The Stranglers also arrived. I can also tell you that since then, Public Image Ltd.’s 9 was one of the better free gifts I ever listened to and what made me a die-hard fan.

That’s the good.

The bad? It’s enough for you to question why I’d be doing Ω+. The law of averages dictate that amongst the larger number of cassettes you get, you’re bound to have a few eye-rolls and head-shakers. I ask myself what am I going to do with six Elvis and Judas Priest tapes? Nothing. The New Monkees without David Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, or Peter Tork? Might as well give me Fakewood Mac, too. It only gets worse from here. Liberace, Thompson Twins, Simply Red: these are legitimate hits to someone’s reputation. Wang Chung? Corey Hart? Rick Fucking Astley? They lead someone to the firing line with no conscience rounds and no common courtesy to be offered a cigarette.

That’s more than enough of the bad.

Ric Ocasek, producer and lead singer of The Cars, passed away just recently. Maximillian and I were cock-fighting over our record collections and made me realize I had some catching up to do. Count on friends to make you feel inferior and incomplete. Every year I do music library audits and even I surprise myself when I re-discover things I thought I never had. Not too long ago, I pulled out doubles I had of vinyl records I purchased before. I’ve been meaning to comb through my cassette library and rid myself of titles I had no interest in keeping or hearing. Now that’s done, I’m deciding on what to do next. I announced to the world of the Great Cassette Purge of 2019 and—

“OMG where did they go ive been meaninn to expand my cassette collection”, chimed in our former program-director Layne like a random gossip queen. M-Ro, another close friend of the station, got a little bit more sly and posted himself without referencing me. “Attention everyone. if you ever run into the problem of not knowing what to do with your unwanted records, tapes, cds, dvds, etc. I will 100% take them off your hands, just putting it out there.” Yeah, how cute of you.

I haven’t decided to what to do with them just yet. Selling them for money to a record-store on on Discogs is not an option. A ton of these things have been made and are not rare. It sounds like I may have takers, but they haven’t asked me directly like gibbering-wreck wallflowers who piss themselves in front of the girl they want to take to the prom. Only time will tell who ends up getting cursed with the fucking Astley and Wang Chung tapes.

Now, the survivors of The Great Cassette Purge:

Adam & The Ants Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Adam & The Ants Prince Charming

Adam Ant Vive Le Rock

Aerosmith Big Ones

Bauhaus The  Sky’s Gone Out / Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape

Cars, The s/t

Cars, The Shake It Up

Charlatans UK, The Some Friendly

Cocteau Twins Blue Bell Knoll

Cure, The Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Cure, The Standing On A Beach

David Bowie Fame And Fashion

David Bowie Let’s Dance

Deee-Lite World Clique

Depeche Mode Black Celebration

Depeche Mode Violator

Dire Straits Alchemy (live)

Divinyls s/t

Doors, The Strange Days

Doors, The Waiting For The Sun

Duran Duran Arena

Duran Duran s/t

Duran Duran Seven And The Caged Tiger

Echo & The Bunnymen Reverberation

Echo & The Bunnymen s/t

Echo & The Bunnymen Songs To Learn & Sing

Elvis Costello & The  Attractions, The Best Of…

Elvis Costello Spike

Erasure The Innocents

Fall, The Seminal Live (???)

Gin Blossoms Up And Crumbling

Happy Mondays Pills N’ Thrills And Bellyaches

Human League, The Hysteria

Husker Du Warehouse: Songs And Stories

Iggy Pop Brick By Brick

Indigo Girls Rites Of Passage

INXS Kick

Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking

Kate Bush Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush Lionheart

Kate Bush The Kick Inside

Kate Bush The Sensual World

Kinks, The Think Visual

Kraftwerk The Mix

Ministry In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up (live)

New Order Substance

New Order Technique

Peter Gabriel So

Pop Will Eat Itself Cure For Sanity

Pretenders, The s/t

Pretenders, The The Singles

Public Image Ltd. 9

Queen s/t

R.E.M. Document

R.E.M. Eponymous

R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction

R.E.M. Green

R.E.M. Monster

R.E.M. Murmur

Red Hot Chili Peppers Mother’s Milk

Redd Kross Third Eye

Replacements, The Don’t Tell A Soul

Replacements, The Pleased To Meet Me

Sinead O’Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got

Siouxsie & The Banshees Peepshow

Smiths, The Louder Than Bombs

Smiths, The Rank

Smiths, The s/t

Steely Dan Greatest Hits

Stranglers, The Aural Sculpture

Talking Heads Speaking In Tongues

They Might Be Giants Lincoln

U2 Achtung Baby

U2 October

U2 Under A Blood Red Sky (live)

Velvet Underground, The Words And Music Of Lou Reed

XTC Oranges & Lemons

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

When asked why he decided to release the footage after 23 years, Sugimoto explained, “I was cleaning my closet and found boxes full of Hi-8, Digital-8, and DV tapes.”

“When trying to play them back, I noticed that maybe about a third of them had demagnetized over time and were either blank or suffering from major data corruption. After researching online, I learned that video tapes are not immune from age even when stored in ideal conditions, so I frantically started to digitize them. Thus, I’m just uploading the video now,” he added.

The video was captured after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center.

“I saw the second plane crash but did not film it on camera. If I remember correctly, I think I ran to get my video camera after seeing the second plane crash, sensing that this was no ordinary accident,” Sugimoto said.

[instantpansies]

instantpansies' 2023 art: 1/? (scribbly)

end-of-year art dump since people expressed interest!! i've got a lot so i'll go through it in bits :) figured i might as well do smth with it <3

characterhub 10-minute trade for RiniiFluff

my darling new-this-year oc mel

silly meme w my main gang

a DAINA (vsynth) doodle i really like, plus bonus pinterest (?) study

me when my partner

those awful guys at dayshift at freddy's. i hate them

mangle sticker (aka drawing taped to my computer), my silly gay ocs, and their silly aroace sister/in-law

(knife warning for these last two. cartoony sphere person stabbing their head with a cartoony knife, light cartoon gore!!)

tfw there's a projector in your classroom that makes an inaudible but very present high-pitched buzz that haunts your brain at every moment. pain and suffering

you can say this is trina falsettos if you want

yaya that's (some of) what i've got!! i think some of these still hold up, i tried to only pick stuff i don't hate TwT. i'll probably do a post with some digital art, neon/bright colors, full pieces, oz art, and maybe some notebook doodles too? so be on the lookout if u want the rare experience of seeing art from a potted pansy in a microwave. thanks for looking at this stuff anyway.

if anyone's interested in separate posts for any of these lmk! also @imabiscuitinthousandworlds you wanted to be tagged so here u go :) <3