IT’S EIGHT O’CLOCK on Christmas morning, and Uncle Tom says he wants to listen to the news. My 11-year-old self is wondering why on earth grownups would be interested in the news when there are important things to be done, such as handing out presents. And then, while I am only half-listening to the radio broadcast, something weird happens: the boring newsreader begins talking about a Christmas message from the Vatican. Hadn’t we heard that report earlier?
My older brother, Colin, figures out what’s happening. “Pete, Pete, it’s a tape recorder! We’ve got our tape recorder!”.
We recorded anything and everything: each other, our parents, the milkman, the dog
It finally dawns on