Nostalgia
A couple of nights ago, Speedy was cleaning out his closet and he took out a stack of playing records. Alex stared and said, “What’s that?” Kinda hard to explain to a kid whose earliest memories of music storage are audio CDs. The exchange inspired me to take photos of the playing records with Sam’s old First Generation iPod Nano which was handed down to Alex a few weeks ago.
For those too young to know, those large cardboard containers house playing records that look like this and which were played on things called turntables like these. Playing records are the iPods of the 1880s through the mid-1980s when audio CDs first hit the market. Their content were non-changeable unlike the iPods that you kids have today. The playing records that I grew up with came in two sizes — the 33-1/3 RPM long playing records that usually contained 10 to 12 songs on Side A and Side B, and the 45 RPM records that had one song on each side. They scratched easily and the scratches affected the quality of the audio. If you want to read the history of the playing record, click here.
Technology is making everything shrink.
Why Speedy still keeps his playing records when we don’t own a record player has to be related to that thing called nostalgia. I had a larger collection of playing records than his but when CDs arrived, I threw them all out. I like digital. I like music that don’t skip and I don’t like hearing ugly sounds that come with the scratches on the surface of the playing records. Needless to say, I am not a sentimental person and I don’t have a thing for “collectors’ items”. Maybe I can sell Speedy’s collection and buy a new house.
A third of what’s been written about me is true, a third is half-true and the rest consists of drug-induced hallucinations. I suppose I’d better let me, rather than them, tell you 
24 responses to "Nostalgia"
Haha! You think Speedy’s bad for keeping the records,…my dad has hundreds of records at home and has been pressing me to make them into mp3s so he can listen on CD. *dies* I’m too lazy to go and buy the digital turntable that helps you do it. Many of his records are so old, I haven’t been able to find the digital equiv on CD or mp3 online.
hahaha, inapi mo na naman si speedy. naisip ko ano kayang iisipin nila Sam pag nakita nila yung mga may dala-dalang pang malalaking radyo at nagsasayawan sa kalsada. hahaha, kahit ako di ko ma-imagine
Nikita, make them into MP3s? Naku, when Speedy reads this, he’ll get an idea hahahahaha
Kotsengkuba, hindi ko inaapi ha. Lambing lang yun pag gusto ko itapon mga “collection” nya. You should read the hoarding entry. hehehe
hahaha, nung high school ako ganyan din gawain ko. may mga boxes ako sa aparador na kung anu-anong laman. pero i threw them out nung naglipat kami ng bahay. nung minsan naman, pinadala ako ng company sa japan. mga comics naman ang hinakot ko but later tinapon ko din. hanggang ngayon sa tingin ko dala ko parin yung gawaing ganun. ngayon nga meron pa ko dito mga canister ng doublemint gum. di ko parin maitapon
Maawa ka naman sa asawa mo! LOL
Ay, pareho tayo! One time, I was about to get rid of my husband’s collection of long playing records because they are collecting dust, and I hate dust, ayaw niya! He believes one day, they will cost a fortune. Sabi ko naman, e ano naman ang gagawin dyan, e lahat naman ng kantang luma, mada download mo na sa internet. But he held on to them, so there, they are collecting more layers of dust in the shelf.
Kaya nga ngayon, instead of telling makulit kids “PARA KANG SIRANG PLAKA” we tell them “PARANG PIRATED NA CD” so that they’ll understand, LOL!
same here..ewan ko nga ba bkit masyado din ako attached from the memories of my childhood. just recently, pumunta ko sa house ng parents ko just to get those “plaka”. nagtataka ate ko san ko daw ddalhin sabi ko ewan ko pero i have this feeling that i should also have those kind of memorabilia. I also miss my parents just seeing those plaka : ( Madami pa din ako nkita sa loob ng Akai stereo. Pero kinuha ko yun kay corita at apo hiking society. kase as i clearly remember those are my fave during my elementary days. Kung may enough space nga lang din sa house nmin for the Akai stereo na singlaki ng piano pati yun hahakutin ko na din : )
Your remarks about turntables are hilarious. Hard to believe I’m that old. I go back to the days when Panasonic Technics turntables were king and I don’t mean any of that Rap non-sense. I’m talking good old fashioned music, such as Earth Wind and Fire and such.
Oh well, I’m truly getting old having graduated H.S. in 1979 Jeez!
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How’s this for oldies? Glenn Miller, Eddy Duchin, Patti Page. My father still has them. He only stopped playing nang wala nang mabiling karayom sa turntable. Even Mom has lots of 45rpm from Elvis and the Beatles. I think we still have that political campaign song, in 45rpm, of Fernando Lopez when he ran for VP.
Parang ako pala si Speedy. Puro “The Best of” lang ang kinokolekta. That way I only listen to the band’s “hits” without their “flops”.
My mom and dad who are in their late 70s are pack rats too, I can still see our old toys tucked in their cabinet, boxes upon boxes are piled in their rooms,they pack all things that you can imagine,and adding to that my siblings keep on sending them boxes of goodies and clothes every now and then , funny but my dad and mom uses almost the same clothes everytime I met them.ha ha ha….My dad can give away things that he bought but he will never give the things that comes from me and my siblings aaarh…
Mamie Ami, when we used the phrase “parang sirang plaka” when the kids were young, they just stared at us. LOL
Faye, aray, ang laki ng stereo. When we moved to Antipolo, I didn’t even have the heart to bring my CD player (the first model that came out — a Sharp) kasi nalalakihan ako.
Mike, getting old is in the mind hehehe I prefer to feel forever young.
BlogusVox, kilala ni Speedy si Eddy Duchin! Pero si Glenn Miller and Patti Page, parang generation yata yun ng Nanay ko. hehehe
You know Ed, I think the penchant for accumulating old stuff has something to do with age. People tend to get more sentimental as they grow old. That’s why I don’t think I’ve started to grow old — I still keep throwing out junk.
I have an aunt who still plays LPs, yun nga lang minsan, lumulukso na ang music pay sumabit ang needle.
Re: affinity for old things. The four of us sisters are stumped whenever we broach the idea of renovating our house in Naga, esp. the bathrooms. Di daw pwedeng palitan ang tiles kasi binili pa nila ni Mama yun dito, our dad said. Nang magpalit kami ng furniture, he asked “ano na daw ang sunod na itatapon, siya?” sheesh. Sabi ko, di naman siya furniture ah.
Looks like you need one of these.
You know what I like about the old LPs? You get bigger album art. (Aside from the fact that they sound better, of course.)
you know Lemon when I ask my dad to throw the old bed that they are still using my dad said,no, that bed he said is a good luck charm for him and mom,Well I told my dad, if that is a goodluck charm then you should have been a billionaire by now or became a president of the philippines. …………. You know here in Korea once they transfered a house or apartment they throw all their things from clothes to furniture to kitchen wares stereos and TVs,but here you cannot just throw these things out you have to pay the government a huge amount to pick them up and throw it for you,sometimes many filipino ofws check the garbage for these,and yes oftentimes they are still new.A Korean woman one time ask a Filipino gathering the stuff “are you a filipino” the guy answered no no no maam , I am Indonesian.ha ha ha…
ed v., funny but dito rin. I know one pinoy family who scouts garbage for reusable items. Not that they can’t afford to buy stuffs. Hell, the husband works for a communication company and he uses better electronic gadget than I do.
Ed and BlogusVox, so you mean the scavenger mentality comes naturally to Filipinos?
You know connie we Filipinos are not a scavanger We are thoughtful loving people, when we are abroad we always think of Pasalubong for our loveones,friends and even for the whole village people at times. everytime we go home we already made a lists of what we are going to give and to whom, and taking a second look at the garbage will help shorten the lists for any ordinary OFWs. I would say Resourceful is a better word for that.And one thing more garbage here is not what you think it is compare to Philippines,it is well seggregated very clean, clothes are wrap well in clean plastic bags and sometimes a notice is posted asking people to pick some if they think they need it.
Actually, until the garbage is collected and INSIDE the garbage truck, it is still considered private property even if it is in the trash bin OUTSIDE one’s home. While resourcefulness is a good thing, I don’t think that justifies going through private property.
Connie, we still do have those records. My parents still have theirs kahit na wala na ang stereo, puro mga classics. Hubby’s collection of New Wave LP is collecting dust in the top shelves beside me here in the library. Hubby’s mom still plays her LP when she is here. Ok naman yung sound na parang nagagasgas eh,me character
By the way, I remember my first single was Voltes V, Japanese version, haha!
Ms. Sassy, I think ed v. is right. Resourceful is the better term and it comes with the territory. Hindi lang naman tayo ang gumagawa nyan e, other nationalities also do this from South Asians and even Europeans.
My German boss is about to retire and he ask me if I want some books before he gives all his unwanted stuff to his neighbor. His friend is a fellow German living in Zimbabwe before his work here. His got this knack of creating useful things from throw-a-ways. My boss said he accept anything he gave him, from 1.25” diskettes to metal containers and he shipped it all back to Zimbabwe.
Giving away what one no longer needs or wants, and receiving what has been given, on a person-to-person basis is not the same as rummaging through someone else’s trash.
you have a point there connie if someone else’s garbage is still outside of ones home that is still a private property,but in a certain community where ones’ garbages are deposited and sorted out in a common or public area where anybody can have a free access to,will that still be considered a private property?
No.
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