In praise of the mixtape

So, recently I was listening to Pandora and an old song popped up on the radio that I hadn't heard in years. I probably wouldn't have recognized if it hadn't been a mixtape that a friend made for me well over a decade ago. Good lord I'm old... (And in case you were wondering, it was March of the Pigs by Nine Inch Nails.)

Anyway, this got me thinking about how this specific mixtape was filled with songs I didn't know, but really ended up opening me up to new music I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own... Which led me to thinking about mixtapes in general. Anyway, I really miss mixtapes. Thanks to the wonders of technology, the mixtape has been made obselete and that's sad. Sure, you can make a playlist for your MP3 player or burn a CD, but a mixtape is a labor of love.

Whenever I made a tape, I spent hours agonizing over it. The tape had to have a theme to start with, no matter how obscure. Then the songs had to relate to the person who'd be receiving the tape, what you already know they liked, what you think they should like, etc. The songs had to flow with each other and be a good mix of fast and slow, so you don't end up in a lull. Then it took even more planning to make sure you so you don't up with blank space and technical problems or annoying thuds when you switch between songs. So yeah, that was a lot of work. But I really enjoyed the process and the time I put into it.

And yes, I recognize that this same point was probably better expressed by John Cusack in High Fidelity, but it sure is true.

Tops never stops...

Misspelling signs.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

So I was slightly disappointed that Tops bought out the local P&C because I figured that would be the end to my catalogue of misspelled signs. I'm glad to see that my fears were unfounded...