Here is a post from my good friend John. Thats him in the picture. I am open to people sending me stuff to post.Think of it as a cleaner, safer speakers corner.

The other night, joy was brought into my life through the discovery of a pile of old cassettes from my youth. For those too young to remember, a cassette, or tape was a recordable and playable sound storage device popular back when music existed in a tangible form. Even greater exultations of triumph emanated from my person when I played them back on my old cassette player. Not only does it feature separate adjustable volume, treble, and bass levels, it also
Possesses a variable speed control wheel. I defy anyone to remain emotionally bereft whilst sampling the delights of Ski Sunday at 200 BPM. But the Overriding question that sullied my otherwise exquisite evening was this: why are the tape decks of expensive, modern hi-fi systems rewind or fast forward at the neck-busting speeds of ye olde cassette players? In the fast paced world of the Five Alive-addled youngster surely electronics manufacturers should be accelerating the movement of cartridge-based media? The answer, of course, is all too simple: kids don’t use hi-fis. You want to buy a stereo? Get out of Dixons, you loser. The only way to enjoy music these days is to purchase a laptop, an ipod (but only nano or video - you have to listen to your music in colour) and a DAB radio. As any parent-financed teenager will tell you: If you can’t afford to spend a thousand pounds on listening to music, you don’t deserve it. And what do they do as soon as they’ve acquired the necessary gadgetry? They download James Blunt. Or Akon. Or one of those generic dance songs created in a lab in Düsseldorf. Even when they do pull away from the all-devouring chart guff results can be spectacularly depressing. I once sat on a bus opposite a girl who was listening to UB40. This must be stopped.The only logical answer can be a total digital music ban for the under-eighteens. If they really want to listen to cod-reggae, they can record it in real-time. As if any more proof was needed that tapes were great, I’ve just found Informer (Radio Edit) by Snow on my copy of Now That’s What I Call Music 24. I am currently licking my boom-boom down.

(I don’t mean to piss on your parade John but the answer is so that you can record from tape deck to tape deck in a shorter amount of time. Thus spreading piracy to new levels. Im off to drink some red red wine.
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