art is the new religion

cassettes from my ex

Continuing on the cassettes theme, I found this site via Randee Dawn:

http://www.cassettefrommyex.com/

The stories on the front page come largely from professional writers, who include a photo of themselves, a photo of the tape and a complete track listing.  (They should send me a photo of themselves WITH the tape!) 

The coolest aspect of each entry is that there's a neat inline player that lets you listen to the audio of each mixtape.  Side A and Side B are separate streams, of course.

I've only read a few of the stories, but my favorite so far is from Katy Finch called "Scarface and 40's":

"I met Robert at a Purple Rain party. It was 1992 and my spring break trip to Santa Cruz, where my friend Crina was going to a much cooler school, was almost over. But I had one last night and a party full of Prince before my departure. While Crina’s roommates rehearsed their band in the garage, beating their way through a Dokken cover then smoothly transitioning into a track from Freaky Styly, we hung lavender vinyl in the windows and baked pot brownies for the party. I was not looking forward to flying back to Poughkeepsie where everyone at my east coast college was trying to convince each other that they had bought Bleach before they had bought Nevermind. Including me."

Cheers to Katy for all those delicious details, and cheers to the team that created the website.

Cassettes Lamp

.tiff pointed me to these amazing lamps made from cassette tapes (via geekologie).  I want one (or two!) very badly. 

 

"Transparent House creates a tribute to an object of their 80's youth: the compact cassette tape.

The small lamp is made of answering machine tapes and the larger model is built from compact cassettes in different shades.  The lamps use non-heated, neon lights.  All cassettes are in their cases."

So, my wishlist now includes:

1. French bulldog
2. tree stump phonographs
3. cassette lamps

In other cassettes news, please welcome Randee Dawn and LeendaDLL to the Don't Forget Cassettes photo album!  Please click through on their names to see the full size photos and stories behind their cassette tapes.

 

It's not too late to submit your photo!  (The offer for the handwritten thank you note still stands, though I haven't actually mailed any of them out yet.)

Don't Forget Cassettes

I've just added two new entries in the Don't Forget Cassettes photo album!  Check out the photos that djchall and Eve sent me.  Eve submitted her photo along with a two paragraph story that kicked me in the gut.

Please send me your photos!  You can email them to kteeger AT yahoo, or leave a link in the comments.

The offer for a handwritten thank-you note still stands.

Keeping the Dream Alive

Last week a few of my coworkers inspired me with this blog post:  Alex took a quick snapshot of Mark holding up one of the cassette tapes in his car, saying he hadn't seen a tape in ages.

Who still has cassette tapes anymore?  I have a shoebox full of them but no way to play them.  But as you can see from the design of this blog (courtesy of the brilliant Marc Johns), cassettes still hold a place in my heart.

So, I'm putting together a gallery of people holding one (or more) of their cassette tapes.  Send me a recent photo of you holding one of your own cassette tapes and I'll add it to the Don't Forget Cassettes photo gallery.  Look, over there to the right, in the sidebar of my blog and you'll see the link to the gallery.  So far I've got photos from Ginevra and Mark, but I want more!

Limited time offer:  If you send me your photo AND your mailing address, I will mail you a nice thank you note via the USPS. 

Meeting Marc Johns

This week I had the great fortune to meet one of my favorite artists in person for the first time.  I first came to know Marc Johns through my day job and struck up an online friendship with him, eventually commissioning him to create the illustration for this blog. 

Marc was in town for a conference for his day job, so we arranged for him to stop by the Six Apart offices to say hello.  Since one of Marc's specialties is Post-It note art, I have to admit I was tempted to have a stack of Post-Its and a pen just casually waiting on my desk, or even have them ready to thrust into his hand and beg for some impromptu drawings.  Then I realized that would be entirely too presumptuous and awkward, so I didn't do it. 

Much to my surprise and delight, a few minutes after Marc arrived he said "Oh I have something for you."  Turns out he had drawn some Post-It art on the plane for me (and for Vox)!  I was SO EXCITED.  Here are crappy scans of two of the drawings:

My favorite:

I love how his art tells a story, makes you pause and often just puts a simple smile on your face.  Marc's reputation and career have been growing steadily, with new press mentions and the possibility of a book looming in the future.  I wish him the best of luck and can't wait to see what's in store for him!

• Buy some art from Marc Johns
• Related reading:  art is the new religion's redesign