Oh, so sorry for the long delay in posting here… stuck in ActualSpace, neglecting PixelSpace.
So… one day I realized that both typewriters and cassette recorders have this ribbon-y thing running through them, back and forth.
Both are chunky, and both create permanent artifacts. Both are occasionally feeling a bit, er, neglected under a wave of glowing tablets.
So, let’s invite fans of both to a cozy bar (restaurant, too, so yes Matt “Manyfingers” Cidoni, you are legal/invited!) in Philly, I thought, and called Mr. Fergus Carey before I could re-think. Fergie of course being Fergie, said, “Why not?” and now hello Tape N Type. A Type-IN, but louder. Activities will include: (but are not limited to) : Typing Speed Competition with wifty prizes, Mystery Mixtape Box (“One Tape Enters, One Tape Leaves”), Headphone Charades, Typewriter/Boom Box Swap, Instant Interviews and no doubt more. Bring Typewriters, Audio Cassettes and machines to play same, headphones/earbuds, journalist-style portable tape decks, Carbon Paper, and mixtapes to toss in said MM Box.
WHEN: Sat., 15 Oct. 2-6 pm
WHERE: Fergie’s Pub 1214 Sansom St., downtown Philadelphia, just blocks from Market East Station.
PRICE: Free, if you’re carrying anything relevant to the above list of Mature Technologies!
RSVP to phillytyper@gmail.com.
Here’s the poster below as a pdf
phillytyper 
Brilliant! And wonderful flyer too!
This sounds like lots of fun, too bad I’m too far away to participate.
I share your fascination with audio tape recorders, but especially those of the micro-cassette variety. Not sure why, perhaps it’s the miniscule size, and the telephone-quality audio. I was first given a tape recorder, a Kalimar-branded recorder from K-Mart, in the late 1960s, we used to do makeshift radio programs onto tape.
I have some micro tapes from the late 1970s that still play okay. Not much high-end to lose over the years in those tapes. The original machine, long since past its demise, was an Aiwa brand, purchased at the Navy Exchange in Subic Bay, P.I., had a high-quality metal chassis.
My latest machine is of Radio Shack vintage but also sports a metal chassis.
The thing I like about tapes over digital recorders is that you can easily physically archive the tapes, including telephone answering machines with old taped recordings on them, kind of like a slice out of time from long ago.
Keep us informed on how the get-together goes together.
~Joe
Mike,
That was a whole lot of fun. When is the Bridgewater’s date?
-Eliot
Looks like Sat., 10 December — which is also Human Rights Day. So we now have two sets of letters to write– 1) to various political figures/prisoners, and 2) holiday greetings… so covering both ends of the spectrum.