Deep in the Tape Archive

Been digging extra deep in the tape archives of late in an attempt to convert as much of the old footage to DVD before it disintegrates. Some of it is close and barely plays back. Some of it doesn't play back. Some of it looks shockingly good for 15 year old tapes in SLP mode.

I ran across a couple tapes today that made me think 'Why am I bothering with this tape?' I mean, if I haven't watched 'The Stand' since the original broadcast, why bother keeping the tape? I'm not very interested in Stephen King's work anyway. I've also got a copy of 'Braveheart' from laserdisc. If I decide to watch that movie again, would I do it from tape? Nope. I'd probably spend the $7 to buy it or, better yet, borrow it from someone that has it.

You could probably make an argument against most of the tapes in the archive. I can't watch most of this stuff regularly and there's so much of it. Why bother with any of it? To that I answer with the 120 Minutes I'm currently watching/dubbing from 1995. I just got to see the Mighty Mighty Bosstones play live. Forgot I had that. That was nice.

Moments like that are why the archive exists and needs preserving. Most of it does anyway.

All Tied Up

I'm not sure who created the tie as an article of dress clothing but I'm going to guess it was a woman. As it's not a functional item, merely decorative, and uncomfortable, it strikes me as the sort of thing that would be created by a female out of revenge for all the frills and uncomfortable garments that they've often worn to look fancy. "The men look too comfortable," I'm sure one said. "Let's find them something so they'll squirm more."

"Why should I wear this extra piece of cloth?" that first man wondered aloud. "It's not covering up anything that's uncovered. It's just gives me an extra item to try matching the rest of my outfit and I'm already not good at that. What's the point?"

"It looks nice. It's pretty," he was reassured. "You want to look nice don't you?"

"I'm already married; I don't need to look any nicer than I do."

"You'll be a trendsetter. You'll become more important. It's important to me that you do well."

He grumbled, feeling his position quickly erode away. "Well, can I just loop it around my neck, kinda like a scarf?"

"Ye...No. No that won't do. You must knot it properly so it looks organized. You learned all those knots while in the Navy; isn't there one of those you could use to make it look nice?"

He choked. "This is really uncomfortable."

She smiled. "That's how you can tell it looks nice. It's like medicine; you can only tell it's working when it tastes horrible."

"I guess."

"Let's go. You'll be the talk of the town!"

I think the thing I hate most about ties is that I can't tie them. I like to think I'm a reasonably intelligent man but the method to make this work still eludes me. Even with pictures and instructions.

Stupid ties!