For any of you who know me, or truly know of me, you know I’m a junky for sound. I just love listening for and studying the subtitles of sound. Not just man-made sound, but the sounds of nature, the sounds of everything…
 
My 8-Track player bit the dust a little while back. I decided it was time to buy another one. So, I went on the quest and ended up on eBay. I found one that claimed it was, “Working great,” so I bought it.
 
I know… I know… You have to be careful on eBay. If it says, “Untested,” what that really means is that it is not working. If it says, “Lights up. But…” That means it is not working. If it says, “I have no way to test it.” That means it is not working. Then, there are those, like the one I purchased that said, “Working…”  But…
 
Anyway, I had a pretty good day yesterday. Did a bunch of the stuff that my lady likes to do. Her, not me. But, it was a full day. I get home and there it is. All wrapped up in a big box. 
 
I take it in. Open up the box. Plug it in. It does power up. Okay… So, I move it over to one of stereo systems. I hook it up to my vintage Marantz receiver. I grab one of my 8-Tracks tapes. One that was on the top of the pile. Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin. I pop it in. The motor starts up. But, nana. No sound. I tried to pull out the tape. But, the machine total grinded it. Fuck! That was a perfect condition, original release, 8-Track tape.  
 
I try other tapes and hooking it up through different stereo system. It powers on but it does not work!
 
Now, I imagine a lot of you out there do not even know what an 8-Track tape is, as you are too young. If you do know, I would guess that you don’t have any, as these machines are old and where popular in the later 60s and into the 70s. But, they have not made the decks for decades.
 
For me, as stated, I’m a sound junkie. I love the way music is presented in all forms. It is all very different. Even when I was young, I would take notice of how say an LP sounded compared to 8-Track or cassette or radio or whatever. So, all of this is my fault. I am the one, (perhaps wasting my time), seeking out a means to hear sounds from a tape system created in the past.
 
I had the idea, a little while back, to watch all of the Mission Impossible movies in order. I started doing that last night with MI 1. The first thing I noticed is the acting. For some, it was so much less believable than the actor they became. So much more contrived. I didn’t initially realize it, but that movie was made thirty years ago. Time and everything has changed so much since then. When they were filming MI 1, I was filming Max Hell Frog Warrior. Whose life do you think I wish I lived, Tom’s or mine?
 
But, that’s the thing about time. In time, it all changes. Life, people, certainly technology. With that, something is lost, while a lot more is gained. For the something lost, there are the people like me who try and hold onto some of it. Stupid, I guess. A waste of time and money, for sure.
 
In all things lost, there is something gained. So says the old saying. But also, in all things gained, there is something that is lost. Like stated in the Tao Te Ching, “For the man of the world, everyday something is gained. For the man of Tao, everyday something is lost.”
 
So, the world or the Tao, we are each lost somewhere between the two. Where are you?