Blogs | Normal Heights Through the Blue and White
Sneakers, Mullets, and Tom Selleck Moustaches
By FullFlavorPike | Posted November 3, 2009, 1:11 p.m.
The Close-But-No-Cigar Award goes out to:
Barbie Dolls Collectible - $80 (Normal Heights)
Considering my proven lack of knowledge when it comes to collectibles, I am unqualified to say whether or not $80 is a far price for three Barbie dolls. My gut says, "nope," but what do I know. Buyer beware, Inca Princess Barbie comes with a terrrrrrrrrrible curse!
Deplorably nerdy references aside, here's today's Big Winner:
"Microcassette Transcriber"...New/Never Used..."Best Deal" - $100 (San Diego/Normal Heights Area)
Yup, there you have it, folks, the "Best Deal" on craigslist. Durst I continue plumbing the craigslist wells after this craigspocalyptically significant turning point in the history of deals? Will "deals" as such ever be the same now that the "Best Deal" has come? I fear classified ads may become like movie-making after Citizen Kane, rock and roll after Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, TV after The Sopranos, cycling post-Eddy, rapid breakfasts in the wake of Pop-Tarts, even!
Is this the "Best Deal" by virtue of uniqueness, I wonder? It's claimed to be "New/Never Used" (still trying to discern the difference between the two terms...) Judging by the design of the boxes and the, shall we say, "blockiness" of the recorder itself, I'd give the "Best Deal" a date of manufacture some time in the late 1980's. Rigorous googling proves useless in verifying this estimation through comparison to an extant Dictaphone with its place clearly marked in the timeline. What's the point in having an internet if not to search for "1980's Dictaphone recorder" and find exactly what you want? Lack of proof aside, if the "Best Deal" is a NOS (New Old Stock) Dictaphone microcassette recorder, than it is surely something of an exclusive item.
The other, perhaps more interesting explanation for the archaic styling of the “Best Deal” is that it is of fairly recent manufacture and designed to look like a prop from the set of Wall Street. If such is the case, the reasoning behind such a curiously anachronistic appearance is questionable. It's well known that cool people love things that look like they were time-grabbed from previous decades, retro appeal is an almost universal trait of cool kids; witness the prevalence of Hi-Top sneakers, mullets, and Tom Selleck moustaches at every Normal Heights coffee shop, nightclub, thrift store, and tattoo parlor. The professional world of lawyering, stock broke-ing, politician-ing, and other -ings where recording phone calls and notes-to-self is of the utmost importance has little use for flair and retro chic. If the “Best Deal” is new, why so old-seeming?
In a wonderful, alternate reality, the “Best Deal is not new, but (gently) used. In this other world, tied to ours only by the universal greatness of the “Best Deal,” there remain snatches of recordings on the microcassette locked within the “Best Deal.” Like a little time capsule, the “Best Deal's” spinning heads release a fragmentary dialogue from days gone by:
“Dude, have you heard the new Whitesnake album? Those guys are going to be immortal....”
“I can't believe gas is up over a dollar a gallon....”
“So, I just read this book, The Satanic Verses and I think it's going to be the next big hit in the Middle East....”
“Do you think these new “cell phones” are going to catch on?”
“I'm really loving New Coke. What I wouldn't give for a clear glass of Pepsi....”
We now interrupt your program to bring you the following news:
Another big one bites the dust--M. Levi-Strauss died :(
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091103/a...
By SDaniels 6:10 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Re #1:
Holy crap. I thought he was dead decades ago!
Lookie what I found, SD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u73chp...
:)
By antigeekess 7:58 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Pike referred to:
"Citizen Cane."
Dude. Tell me you did NOT just do that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyv19b...
By antigeekess 8:03 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Citizen Kane is the single most overrated movie EVER!!!!
Rosebud, my azaleas!!!!
By CuddleFish 8:09 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
The burning question:Was he any relation to this guy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Str...
:-D
For the Pikester.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKTiwC...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVSlOf...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20VvP...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcnXOh...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfhFBT...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hBPud...
By PistolPete 8:17 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Citizen Kane is widely regarded as the greatest movie of all time. This is largely due to technical achievements in film that had never been seen before its release in 1941.
That's not why 'I' love it, however. I love it for the message, which is encapsulated in one word -- "Rosebud."
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_...
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Citizen_...
Granted, the acting is nothing to write home about.
By antigeekess 8:48 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Typo fixed! My spelling can become...iffy when I type as the typing can easily happen faster than my thinking.
By FullFlavorPike 8:58 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Oh Em Gee, where have we heard that before, AG??? LOL ;)
Were you or have you ever been a court reporter, Pike? :))
By CuddleFish 9:10 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Re #8:
Yeah, I know. I had that same thought.
But you-know-who (deliberately not invoking THAT name) was never a court reporter. Just studied it. So did I.
By antigeekess 9:44 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
Maybe Pike's pulling my fin. ;)
By CuddleFish 10:44 p.m., Nov 3, 2009 > Report it
RE #1: Now? Not thirty years ago? Incredible.
By FullFlavorPike 9:09 a.m., Nov 4, 2009 > Report it
The difference is...anti brags about not paying back her student loan for court reporting. Whereas I did. Of course, anti doesn't like this country for many reasons. I guess one isn't that you can get a student loan and study a profession (and if the time comes, just decide not to pay it back and claim bankruptcy or whatever).
By JoshBoard 12:28 a.m., Nov 5, 2009 > Report it
I love the smell of meta in the morning. By afternoon, not so much...
By hambrosia 12:20 p.m., Nov 5, 2009 > Report it
Oh look, a pig commenting on smell!
By Snippi_Blogstalker 12:25 p.m., Nov 5, 2009 > Report it