Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
This probably falls into the category of weird hobbies. Friends have asked me about it, so I figured it was time to write it down.
Some history
I grew up in the 80s and cassettes were a big part of how I experienced music. I remember recording bits of radio shows to create my own mixtapes. Furthermore, I also recorded records of friends and relatives to play on my Walkman.
In the 90s, I really got into techno music. It was difficult to get the music to play at home or in the car. There were basically two sources, the radio and recorded DJ sets from clubs. Once you got your hands on a recording, they were widely shared between friends.
I had a Sony TC-C5 five cassette-changer back then. I used it to record one of the radio shows which was going over multiple hours, and sometimes also DJ sets at parties of friends.
In the 00s, I lived in London and had a bit more disposable income that allowed me to acquire a Sony TC-K6 ES, which is probably one of the best cassette decks ever built. At the time, you were able to buy mix tapes on Camden Market. The quality and source was often questionable.
Technology
There is no way around it: cassettes are a pretty bad medium for music. There is a lot of mechanics involved, the tape is far too small and thin, and they do tend to get a lot of abuse. Duplicating them quickly reduces the quality, too. And they disintegrate over time.
Companies producing hi-fi equipment, like Sony and Nakamichi, put in significant effort to improve the recording and playback quality of cassettes.
They added more magnetic heads, motors, direct drives, dampening of the mechanics and cases. They improved the cassettes themselves with different recording media. Furthermore, they used a few different noise reductions systems from Dolby and others.
There were also different types of playback systems, from the miniature Walkmans, that were not much bigger than a cassette case, to ghetto blasters. Single cassette decks in all quality levels, dual cassette decks for easy duplications, cassette changers from 5 to 10 cassettes, and many more.
Nostalgia
Nowadays, cassette decks don't make a lot of sense. I get my music digitally and have access to many DJ sets through SoundCloud and similar services. For pop music, you have all kind of streaming services. If you want even higher quality, you can buy music on services like Qobuz. And if you prefer something you can hold in your hand, you can get everything on CD too, which are easy to rip and copy without any loss of quality.
You can still buy pre-recorded cassettes from many artists, but the quality of the tapes is pretty bad, and they are mostly limited edition collector items, similar to a band t-shirt or sticker.
So my collection is mostly about nostalgia. There were some cassette decks I dreamed about as a kid, when I browsed the catalogues of high-end brands that I was unable to afford.
I really wanted only three decks in my collection, and that I have now:
The Sony TC-K6ES because I think it is probably the best deck ever created.
The Sony TC-C5 for the weirdness of a cassette changer and because I had it before and used it so much
The Nakamishi RX-505 for the amazing auto-reverse feature that moves the whole cassette. I first saw it in the film 9 1/2 weeks. I only got the RX-202E, but they look and work very similar.
While looking for these and for recording, playing, and digitising my tapes, I also acquired some more Sony decks. I also really like the sound of the 90s Sony amplifiers, and while I was at it, I ended up with CD players and radios too. All my amplifiers also have Google Chromecast Audios connected, and are used for music in every room.
If you are looking for a really nice deck that isn't too expensive, I would suggest the Sony TC-K511/611/711. You can find those, sometimes nicely restored, on eBay.
If you are just curious about the technology and want to watch some videos, I can strongly recommend the channel from Techmoan on YouTube. He also explains why you don't want to use one of the new cassette players you can buy now.
I also bought one (yes, one!) of the most fancy cassettes that were ever available. The Sony Super Metal Master. I remember they were costing about £15 in the 00s, they were probably the last ones in the shop. I should have bought them all, since they now sell for EUR 250 when still in original packaging. That makes me clearly not the only nostalgic and cassette romantic.
You might also notice that I don't have any portable cassette players, like Walkmans or Ghetto Blasters. So far, I thought this would be a step too far 😀. They also never fascinated me as much, even though the technology is interesting and there are some real oddities available.
Maintenance & Repair
You might also wonder how much of these devices still work. Good question! They all show signs of their age. The TC-5 and RX-202 will need some real love, they only function sporadically. The amplifiers all have problems with their switches and potentiometers, which leads to noise when changing the volume, the rest mainly works.
The main issue with cassette decks is their use of rubber belts to transfer the rotation from the motors to the tape mechanism. These disintegrate over time, and you have to take the whole deck apart, clean it, and replace the belts. This can be quite fiddly. If you have added mechanics of tape changers or fancy auto-reverse, this gets even worse.
In all old devices, capacitors will also fail at some point, and small plastic parts can also break through use.
I am going to learn to fix some of these issues myself, but there are limits to my skills and the time I want to spend on it. There are some places that do this professionally, but they are not cheap. It is really only worth it for the very fancy devices. Otherwise, it is easier and cheaper to find a restored one on eBay.
Still going
Finally, I leave you with some of the cassettes I bought over the recent years. More out of curiosity, than for the music. This also explains the weird mix of styles. Sadly, there are not many cassettes with electronic music available.
Why I Still Care
This hobby is part nostalgia, part admiration for the engineering behind these devices. It’s not the most practical way to listen to music today, but it connects me to a time when music felt more hands-on and personal. And honestly, there’s something satisfying about seeing this ancient hardware work and do its thing.
Urbanitzacions amb dèficits urbanístics[Catalan] - overview of UDUs, which are residential areas without services and usually in areas that wouldn't allow building nowadays.
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
I have been listening to podcast for a long time. I have blogged about thispreviously.
During that time, I have changed devices and players. I might have started with a classic iPod, then went to a Symbian phone, now on Android, first with BeyondPod and currently Pocket Casts.
The one constant was the increasing number of podcasts and episodes I had to deal with every week. I do love the variety and coming across weird episodes on "In Our Time", where I learn about topics I would never have known about.
This all takes time, and at some point more time than I actually have. My backlog sometimes went above a hundred episodes and multiple days in playtime.
So I did, what probably most people do: increase the listening speed, skip silences, and similar tools. Pocket Casts even has a helpful page to show you how much you "saved".
But recently, I started wondering about what I lost. Can I really ingest all this information at higher speeds? Aren't silences in between human and part of the story?
I decided to follow the advice I give everybody who has too many things to do and not enough time to do them: prioritize and reduce the scope.
I removed many podcasts I previously subscribed to. First, I deleted the ones with overlapping topics. For example, I do listen to a lot of cycling podcasts, a few of them do cover more or less the same topics.
Furthermore, I also went back to 1x speed and without trimming silences.
I am still skipping and auto-skipping ads. If I notice that I skip over content, I just skip the whole episode. And once I skip a few episodes of the same podcast, I unsubscribe.
This entire exercise really helped to make the listening experience much more enjoyable. I really like listening to them at their normal speed and natural flow of pauses and silences.
And I got rid of my backlog. I now listen to most episodes in the same week they were published. I also have time for many other things, like reading, listening to music, or just being more mindful about the things that I am actually doing and like the comic about says: just being with my thoughts.
Making room for new favourites
That being said, I also have discovered some new podcasts over the last year that I now also have the time to listen to.
Strangers on a Bench - Tom chats to random people sitting on benches in London. It is a very relaxing listen that reminds me of my time in London and all the interesting people.
Tea and Sanctuary - Emma talks about random things, very cosy and calm in our weird times.
The Louis Theroux Podcast - Fun interviews, this is one of the podcasts where I only listen to the guests which interest me. I especially liked the ones with Sean Evans and Jamie Oliver.
Bookoverflow - Tech book reviews every week. The only problem is that this also adds to my very long book backlog.
6502.sh - because we needed as 6502 written in busybox ash
How Long Should Functions Be? - "How long, then? Lots of a short functions. A few long ones. The longest long one will keep getting bigger the more functions there are in the system."
Growth[Podcast] - starts harmless with pumpkins, then ends up with growing back fingertips, and overpopulation
Sir John Soane[Podcast] - I usually skip over very local and historical episodes, but this one is great. I have to visit the museum the next time I am in London.
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
Heute habe ich zum ersten Mal beim Game of Toiletpaper teilgenommen. Es ist ein virtueller Alleycat der von Regine während der Pandemie gestartet wurde. Im Prinzip ist es eine Art Schnipseljagd auf dem Fahrrad, aber ohne einen bestimmten Ort gebunden zu sein. Ich konnte das also praktischerweise von mir zu Hause aus machen.
Der Tag begann nicht wirklich einladend, mit 4C und angekündigtem Regen. Ich habe die wärmsten Stunden abgepasst und am Ende nur ein paar Tropfen abbekommen. Ich bin eine Strecke gefahren, die ich gut kenne, und habe auch darauf geachtet, dass ich nicht so lange unterwegs bin, weil die Hunde alleine zu Hause waren.
Hier sind die Checkpoints, die ich befahren habe:
#1 Startpunkt/Frauenstraße
Bei mir war das die Carrer Maria Aurèlia Capmany. Maria Aurèlia Capmany i Farnés (1918–1991), war eine Schriftstellerin, Feministin und Antifranquistin.
Ich hatte von ihr noch nie vorher gehört, aber das hört sich doch sympathisch an.
Leider ist es eine sehr kurze Straße, an der sich bis jetzt nicht mal ein Gebäude befindet. Auf OpenStreetMap hatte sie nicht mal einen Namen.
#2 Schlimme Straße
Mit der Aufgabe hatte ich etwas Probleme. Mir ist allerdings aufgefallen, dass die Straße zwischen Borras und Monistrol de Montserrat teilweise nur BP-1121 heißt.
Ich habe zumindest ein „Carretera de Borras a Monistrol“ erwartet. Da es aber eine wirklich hübsche Straße ist, vielleicht hat sie „Carrertera Vistas a Montserrat i el Llobregat“ (Straße mit Aussicht auf den Berg Montserrat und den Fluss Llobregat) verdient.
#3 Planungssünden
Bei uns im Dorf gibt es nur eine „Radinfrastruktur“ und die ist schon in die Hose gegangen.
Es ist ein kleiner Radweg, der konstant vom Bürgersteig unterbrochen wird. Es gibt diesen auch nur in einer Richtung, und er ist auch recht schmal.
Fairerweise muss man aber auch sagen, dass dieser wohl hauptsächlich für Schulkinder ist, welche von einem Teil des Ortes zur Schule fahren. Ich bin mir nicht sicher, was die auf ihrem Rückweg machen.
#4 Fahrradkurier
Da musste ich passen.
#5 Historisch/architektonisch interessanter Ort
Das war einfach, da ich das Kloster Montserrat praktisch um die Ecke habe. Es feiert dieses Jahr das 1000-jährige Bestehen. Heute mit Musik und Tänzen. Die Autos standen im Stau für den Parkplatz, aber mit dem Fahrrad kann man direkt vor die Kirche fahren.
In zwei Wochen ist dies auch die Bergankunft der vierten Etappen der Volta a Catalunya. Heute waren auch sehr viele Radler unterwegs.
#6 Geografischer Punkt
Wo ich schon einmal da war: Montserrat ist auch der höchste Punkt in der Comarca Bages, die Region, in der ich wohne. Es ist vermutlich auch einer der höchsten Punkte in Katalonien, den man legal per Straße befahren kann, höher wird es nur in Richtung der Pyrenäen.
#7 Fahrrad-Menschen
Da musste ich auch passen.
#8 Verkleide dich und schmücke dein Fahrrad
Nur mein Fahrrad wurde verkleidet!
#9 Freundlicher Abriss
Ich habe einen freundlichen und internationalen Emojis-Zettel in die Mitte unseres Ortes gehängt.
#10 Nametag
Ein Ortsschild vom nächsten Ort am Berg hat jetzt einen Aufkleber des englischen „Bike“ Magazins im Design von den 90er mit meiner Unterschrift 😀
Bonus
Selfie mit Brücke
Die Brücke „Pont Vell de Castellbell i el Vilar“ über den Llobregat von 1452. Heute eine Fuß- und Radbrücke. Der meiste Verkehr geht über eine modernere Brücke, welche erst letztes Jahr verbreitert wurde und einen Fußweg bekommen hat.
Selfie mit Tier
Nachdem das Rudel so brav zu Hause gewartet hat, mussten sie auch auf ein Bild.
Von links nach rechts: Hoover, Neo, Crash und Baty.
Katzen nicht im Bild.
Verschönere einen Ort
Ich habe direkt zwei Orte verbessert! Auf OpenStreetMap war der Name der Frauenstrasse nicht eingetragen, und ich habe die Erinnerungstafel für den gefallenen Radler auch eingetragen.
Geisterräder
(Selfie fand ich damit seltsam)
Zum nächsten Geisterrad, von dem ich wusste, wäre es mir dann doch zu weit. Ich habe stattdessen einen Abstecher zur Erinnerungstafel für Albert Balbis gemacht. Die ist mir einmal beim Vorbeiradeln aufgefallen und ich muss immer wieder dran denken. Die Erinnerungstafel besteht aus der eigentlichen Plakette, mit ein paar kleinen Fahrrädern, und einer Kassette, die auch an dem Felsen befestigt wurde.
Albert war wohl ein aktiver Radler in der lokalen Gemeinschaft, unterwegs auf der Straße und im Gelände. Er wurde Opfer eines Zusammenstoßes mit einem Motorradfahrer, welcher auf der falschen Spur war.
In den Jahren danach waren wohl regelmäßig Gedenkausfahrten.
Fahrradmusikvideo
Lieblingsfahrradvideos habe ich nicht, aber diese kommen schon nah dran:
Fazit
Hat Spaß gemacht. Ich hatte Glück mit dem Wetter. Würde ich nächstes Jahr auch noch mal machen, da muss ich mir dann aber wohl neue Orte suchen, um es interessant zu machen.
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
The podcast about how cars change us is pretty good, so is the one about how drugs can influence the brain.
Leadership
Managing Up - I agree that it is mostly about buttering up your boss, while it should be a collaboration.
Engineering
Fish 4.0: The Fish Of Theseus - I am not a fan of rewrites, but this is a good read and apparently a successful rewrite. Moving bits by bit is also a practical approach.
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business - I was joining a company focused on Kanban, which I never used fully before. I wanted to catch up with the ideas and concepts. This is a great book for that. Overall, it turned out the company actually used a long to-do list for their planning and not the more advanced ideas.
Slough House Series by Mick Herron - I binged books 1-8 with some novellas between. The TV series is great, but the books are even better. It is just the right combination of humour, suspense, and action. Highly recommended.
There now is also an "Atticus Priest Casebook" series. I read the first one, which was pretty bad. They are novellas, and I am going to skip the follow-ups.
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I read books 1-3. They are OK, are far too long, and are stretching out some concepts until you get bored with them. Some characters are also completely unbelievable. I suggest you stick to the TV series.
How It Unfolds by James S.A. Corey - this is a new universe and a pretty fun read. This book is also well contained, even though it kicks off a new series.
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey - I think this plays in the same universe as the previous book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Livesuit by James S.A. Corey - a novella in the same universe as the previous one. Pretty good, though the ending was also predictable.
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente - some good jokes in the style of Douglas Adams, but overall pretty boring.
The Thousand Dollar Man by J.T. Brannan - OK, I guess? I am not going to continue the series. A bit too much random killing for my taste.
The Seventh Floor by David McCloskey - from the Damascus Station Series. Not as good as the previous ones. I love the style though, a lot of it feels pretty realistic.
DCI Logan Crime Thrillers Series & Robert Hoon Thrillers Series by J.D. Kirk - a friend suggested these, and I am currently binging through all of them. They are easy and quick reads. I love the setting in Scotland and the large consumption of tea and square sausages. All the recurring characters have their background and stories, which are interwoven with the main story of each book. This would make a great TV series.
The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre - I found this through a book podcast. The beginning was pretty good. A bit like Miss Marple meets Bosch. At some point, it turns very weird, though, and not in a good way.
The Waiting by Michael Connelly - another book in the Renée Ballard series and the Bosch universe. This was possibly the worst book I have read by the author. Too many unrelated story lines, unbelievable coincidences, and random unnecessary cameos.
