So wonderful to hear your voice again! I haven't absorbed the content of your newsletters in months as I just don't have the time to read them and I do love hearing them with your voice. YAY!
I thought of you when writing all this, Mariah, regarded all our previous chats about it. :) So glad you're able to enjoy my stuff in the way that suits you best! And thank you for the nudge in this direction.
Memories of many favourite cassettes snarled up in the car stereo! Also, I managed to live up to the Royal Air Force truism about Cyprus … you’ve got to have been there to get there - I did two tours there, one at Episkopi in the Headquarters and one Nov 2010- Jan 2012 at Akrotiri.
Oh, disappointing😫 I was hoping to hear the real Mike, not some robotic, mid-Atlantic tin man. But the content was great when I read it. I often managed to tangle yards of cassette tape in my car’s player.
Fear not, David! :) When I say there will be audio for all posts, I mean I'll be the one recording it, same as with this post! You just need to click through to the Web version of every newsletter to be able to click on that audio. (The app also has an automated voice-reading feature, and it's actually pretty great - but that's available to everyone, not just paid upgrades.)
Oh, yes, MUCH better when I hear the real Mike. What a lovely warm and expressive voice you have!
My, hopefully helpful, feedback: a bit fast, and it might sound more like natural speech if you did not read the exact text but just spoke to the story. Hope you can understand that.
Thank you! Yes, that one was a bit fast (my partner commented as such) and I promise the next ones will be more of a trot than a gallop. 🏇Thanks for the tips, David!
Not at the moment, alas! As I understand it, the Substack mobile app is currently the only way to access the live events (I'm guessing this is because it's new, and they'll roll out other forms of access later) - although you can access the recordings on your laptop, via the Web version of my newsletters.
My favourite optimistic dog story was of a Labrador who, during a walk, found half a pie under a bush. This amazing largesse was never forgotten, and every day afterwards the pie-producing bush had to be throughly examined before the walk could proceed.
To go even more tangential: a curious side effect of the cassette tape disappearing is that a very popular character from the Transformers cartoon/toys/etc, Soundwave, has become weirdly abstract for modern kids. This was a character that turns into a boombox-style radio cassette player, and has the ability to 'eject' cassettes, which can transform into mini robots.
Soundwave was one of my favourite characters in the 80s when I was a kid.
My son, now 11, has become a big fan of Transformers. Most iterations of Soundwave in modern cartoons and toys STILL have him ejecting cassettes. It's a weird situation of the character and toy being my son's main experience of what a 'cassette tape' even is. The technology has lingered on in this fictional representation, despite disappearing from the real world.
I have an idea for you to do as a live videocast. I believe you are based in Scotland. I live in Inverclyde. I suggest you do a live videocast from one of the outstanding natural places in Scotland. My suggestions for my 'local' favourites would be for Portencross Beach or Puck's Glen.
So glad you’re doing an audio version. I can now learn cool stuff while I do things. Much as I love to read, I do get fidgety, and I’m a big fan of podcasts while I crochet, so I’ve a feeling you’re going to be a regular in my rotation! 😍
Well you have a nice voice. This is a persuasive argument for doing voiceovers. I would, however, appreciate it (as will your future self 😉) if you would stop banging on about being old. It gets worse!
So wonderful to hear your voice again! I haven't absorbed the content of your newsletters in months as I just don't have the time to read them and I do love hearing them with your voice. YAY!
I thought of you when writing all this, Mariah, regarded all our previous chats about it. :) So glad you're able to enjoy my stuff in the way that suits you best! And thank you for the nudge in this direction.
Very cool. As for Instagram and the Northern Lights -- WTAF?!?! ARE THEY SERIOUS?!?!? I HOPE SOMEONE BURNS THEM TO THE GROUND!!!!
Yeah, they really walked headfirst into that one, right? What a blunder. People have been *savage* about it...
I wish I could say I hate them more than I already do, but I'm full up on IG hate. And I used to like it so much....
Really clueless, agreed. Endless fuel for critics of their AI offering (I should add, it was Meta posting it on Threads rather than Instagram itself).
Memories of many favourite cassettes snarled up in the car stereo! Also, I managed to live up to the Royal Air Force truism about Cyprus … you’ve got to have been there to get there - I did two tours there, one at Episkopi in the Headquarters and one Nov 2010- Jan 2012 at Akrotiri.
Oh, disappointing😫 I was hoping to hear the real Mike, not some robotic, mid-Atlantic tin man. But the content was great when I read it. I often managed to tangle yards of cassette tape in my car’s player.
Fear not, David! :) When I say there will be audio for all posts, I mean I'll be the one recording it, same as with this post! You just need to click through to the Web version of every newsletter to be able to click on that audio. (The app also has an automated voice-reading feature, and it's actually pretty great - but that's available to everyone, not just paid upgrades.)
Oh, yes, MUCH better when I hear the real Mike. What a lovely warm and expressive voice you have!
My, hopefully helpful, feedback: a bit fast, and it might sound more like natural speech if you did not read the exact text but just spoke to the story. Hope you can understand that.
Thank you! Yes, that one was a bit fast (my partner commented as such) and I promise the next ones will be more of a trot than a gallop. 🏇Thanks for the tips, David!
Oh, good, I’ll try that.
I access you on my laptop. Will your live events be available there?
Not at the moment, alas! As I understand it, the Substack mobile app is currently the only way to access the live events (I'm guessing this is because it's new, and they'll roll out other forms of access later) - although you can access the recordings on your laptop, via the Web version of my newsletters.
My favourite optimistic dog story was of a Labrador who, during a walk, found half a pie under a bush. This amazing largesse was never forgotten, and every day afterwards the pie-producing bush had to be throughly examined before the walk could proceed.
> I’m launching its first five-week run starting November 15th
YAAAAAY
To go even more tangential: a curious side effect of the cassette tape disappearing is that a very popular character from the Transformers cartoon/toys/etc, Soundwave, has become weirdly abstract for modern kids. This was a character that turns into a boombox-style radio cassette player, and has the ability to 'eject' cassettes, which can transform into mini robots.
Soundwave was one of my favourite characters in the 80s when I was a kid.
My son, now 11, has become a big fan of Transformers. Most iterations of Soundwave in modern cartoons and toys STILL have him ejecting cassettes. It's a weird situation of the character and toy being my son's main experience of what a 'cassette tape' even is. The technology has lingered on in this fictional representation, despite disappearing from the real world.
I have an idea for you to do as a live videocast. I believe you are based in Scotland. I live in Inverclyde. I suggest you do a live videocast from one of the outstanding natural places in Scotland. My suggestions for my 'local' favourites would be for Portencross Beach or Puck's Glen.
So glad you’re doing an audio version. I can now learn cool stuff while I do things. Much as I love to read, I do get fidgety, and I’m a big fan of podcasts while I crochet, so I’ve a feeling you’re going to be a regular in my rotation! 😍
I'm a reader not a listener but I imagine I will switch every once in awhile.
My first ever listen but hey, I’ll definitely do it again.
Well you have a nice voice. This is a persuasive argument for doing voiceovers. I would, however, appreciate it (as will your future self 😉) if you would stop banging on about being old. It gets worse!
Getting old is still better than the alternative!
Well as far as I know 😉