Let’s Get Physical Media

Culture
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I did something today that I haven’t done since 2008, when I bought an LP of Beck’s “Modern Guilt:” I bought a physical copy of new music. I decided to do something fun this weekend in spite of everything that’s going on.

There were a few things I was looking for, and I found one of them. That is enough. I would have had more choice if I was prepared to buy an LP, but I currently don’t have a turntable.

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The indy store I went to specializes in second-hand media, and they didn’t have anything I was looking for. So, I’m embarrassed to say, I found this at Barnes and Noble.

Still, a fun listen. With this playing I feel like Buggles never really died.

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I ran across the LP version of this album today. It cost $34!

A beautiful object, no doubt, but that’s literally twice as much as the CD.

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Just realized—I’ve got Stereolab’s “Emperor Tomato Ketchup” album on CD. Pretty darn cool.

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Here is my VHS boxed-set of the Star Wars trilogy.

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I got this for a birthday sometime in the late 90s. I probably only have watched them twice, But it seems important to hold onto it.

I have not owned a VCR since 2003, but I still keep these because they are the original movies. If you look closely, you can see that they are trying to rename “Star Wars” as “A New Hope.” So that has happened. But: Han shoots first, the Millennium Flacon has the original lighting color, there is not absurd dance number in Jabba’s Palace, and it ends with the original Ewok celebration.

May the Force be with you, always. :vulcan_salute:

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I had that same set and gifted it to my nephews when they were heading into their teens. To me, it is the definitive edition.

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Slightly orthogonal to the discussion here, but there exist some pretty interesting means to preserve VHS tapes (and Laserdiscs) these days, by recording the RF signals earlier in the playback path, it’s possible to get significantly higher-quality footage than through typical analog means. If anyone has any interest, you can check out the project at VHS Decode.

Here’s a (not so) quick side-by-side comparison:

This isn’t a good solution for preserving one’s copy of Star Wars (as the 4K project and the De-specialized Editions exist), but I’ve been thinking about seeing if I can get this working for some old family and school videos where there are probably only a few copies left.

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I wish them luck, although I don’t completely understand it.

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Here is my monochromatic Herbie Hancock album from 1964 duopoly.

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Of these two, Inventions and Dimensions is better, for these reasons:

  • The music is more engaging.
  • The recording is better sounding.
  • It features Willie Bobo. His only album with Willie Bobo.
  • The cover art is amazing.
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It’s also fun to go up to one’s teenage kids, unprompted, & say “Inventions & Dimensions” in a robotic monotone. Keeps 'em wondering.

(But thx for the reminder to spend more time with these Blue Note albums. I’m more familiar with the era from Fat Albert Rotunda thru Thrust.)

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