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Progress report

More the weekend, but we got a fatty mass surgically removed from the doggo, but 2 nights in of course she rips out the stitches AND her drain tube (and most likely ate it lol) requiring her to go back in and get stapled but as you can see she is doing well 🤣

This past weekend I went up to my Maine condo. Met up with an Audio friend for lunch in Portland, then worked my way South back to the condo. I ended up talking non-highway routes (Rt 1), and made stops coincidentally at several places Karen and I visited last Fall when we did a similar trip. Was both sad and wonderful, good memories but emptier without her. For anyone travelling to Southern Maine, some fun foodie places: The Cheese Iron in Scarborough - https://www.thecheeseiron.com/ Holy Donut in Portland and Scarborough (and a smaller location right near my condo!) - https://www.theholydonut.com/ Len Libby Candy shop Scarborough and home of Lenny the Chocolate Moose - https://www.lenlibby.com/ Maine is a beautiful state, lots of great small towns near and off the water. When we would go up, we'd literally feel the stress wash off and our shoulders relax as we crossed the bridge from NH into Maine. Gratuitous pic of Lenny the Moose.....

Took a Boat To The City Saw some controversial art. SF prices? Walked to a tech conference, where the zeitgeist is not just AI, but agentic AI. With phat/sick beats. And the expected A/V kit. Had a tech demo from a CEO, as one does. No need to be alarmed, citizen. Your timer starts now ... The conference ended with a nerd get together ( Code Block Party) Then some San Franciso Street Life And a First Thursday Gathering with one of many Waymos. Then back past the art, In time to catch the Last Ferry back a busy, but enjoyable day

Andrew & Amy took me out for a Father's Day celebration last night, since we'll see my dad today. A nice restaurant in Burlington MA called The Treasury. Restaurant sub-title is Indian and Greek Restaurant (!) but 1) on the online order form there is little to no Greek food, and 2) last night was a limited menu anyway, all Indian. Everything was delicious though! Beet w/Goat Cheese appetizer, 3 variations on curry dishes (2 chicken, one paneer), garlic naan, a mango lassi, and rasmalai dessert. Good food, great company.

My 007's might be here by Thursday but in the meantime I found these pics: Same cable as the SR-X1 and I really like the all black flight case...

In the sprit of getting dirty I decided to list the Tarmac for sale and jump on this deal: It's a 2022 Cervelo Aspero 5 and the top of the line model at that. MSRP $10,500, I paid about 40c on the $ for it and the owner admitted that he bought it and essentially never rode it - condition backs that up. It also came with a like new Garmin head unit and tail light/radar setup which is pretty sweet. When I recently learned that they completed a ~9mi section of rail trail that can become ~50% of my morning commute I decided it was time to dive into the deep end. The color is something like "purple sunset" (cheers to you, Dusty) and is straight up wild. We'll see how the new modified commute goes tomorrow.

My Sister in Law sent me a few pics. This one was from February 1981... My Mom looks so young! The only one's left are myself (blondy), and my oldest Brother, to the left of me. I miss that blonde guy. He could walk into gay bar and turn some heads.

Got the mole....🤣

Well, they have arrived: First off, they smell terrible. I don't know what they are using in those new earpads but it smells awful, deep and nasty chemical smell. Might be the foam but yeah... this isn't great. Now for the new arc... ehhh it's alright. The fitment is similar to the old one and it does the job. I have the same problem as with all other 007's though, it's too wide for my rather gigantic head so I'll need to bend it bit to make it taller. Small thing and I'll get to check out how it is to manhandle it a bit. Now for the sound... I'm only a few tracks in but initial impressions were not great. Way too boomy but it settled down when I pressed the top of the drivers towards the head, hence the arc issue I always have. The port is gone though so get the fitment right and the bass should be just fine. In terms of tone they are not as bad as the X9000 or 009S, more forward than the 007A with a port mod though and the excellent depth perception of the older models might be lacking here. Not sure, need to do some listening but the sound is certainly more "in your face" than the older ones. They don't seem to have the resolution of the older one either, this is on my usual Denafrips Terminator and Carbon CC setup, and I have this distinct feeling that something is lacking. Now I know how all of the 007's sound like the back of my hand and detail that should be there... just isn't. It's subtle though. Sound stage is just fine but I have this nagging sensation that it isn't as precise as a nice 007Mk1 or Mk2/A. The sound is also not as smooth and balanced as the older ones. Push it with something demanding (now I'm playing Knopfler - Going Home) and this isn't brilliant. The whole fun bit about this song is to crank it a bit in volume once it gets going and it kinda falls apart, becomes harsh and grading while loosing cohesion. A good 007Mk1 can play this at stupid volume levels on this setup and no problems at all. Sorry for the stream of consciousness but I just wrote what came to mind. Overall... this is a much better effort than the X9000 though and time will tell how I get on with them. Not talking about burn in... that shit doesn't exist. Finally I grabbed the nearest 007 which just happened to be a Mk2.9 007A for comparison: The structure is clearly very different but I'll have to investigate further later on. Finally, that stench from the earpads is driving me fucking nuts!!

Having friends over tomorrow, needed dessert.

I mean seriously, what else could go wrong? Also, it's strawberry season so shortcake is on the menu for dessert.

Rode a horse for the first time (Tahoe). Esmé’s favorite photo is below.

And I'll add Paul McCartney's favorite. When I found out Melissa was pregnant, the first album I thought of introducing to future Esmé was Pet Sounds.

I have questions.

A guy I've known on Discogs since like 2002 picked up some dream speakers. Kid for scale.

Just purchased a MacBook Air M4 24GB 512GB to replace my 2020 MacBook Pro M1 8GB RAM 256GB. It'll be nice to have more RAM.

I've seen this a couple of times on a friend's FB page and I always giggle.

My priorities and listening queue are out of whack... Finally Arcadia by Alison Krauss and Union Station (2025) https://album.link/mx9hftt6ktmgp Example: Full of audio treats. {and yes this was triggered by the Rick interview that just dropped}

Relevant to some in this forum... cool

Well, he is definitely an authority on people who don't know what the fuck they are doing.

The Beach Boys - Surfs Up ex. full

🐔 🌶️

Today is the 50th anniversary of Jaws. It's kind of a big deal around here.

Jack White never misses.

For Alfred - Alfred Brendel was a big part of my early classical journey. Readily available from Columbia House on sale, they had the Phillips and Decca recordings. And since I was in full exploration mode and he recorded things that many people didn't record, I ended up with a pile of his albums. Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 by Alfred Brendel (1980) https://album.link/fxnrsg7pgznc8 Example: and Beethoven: Für Elise; Eroica Variations, Op.35; 6 Bagatelles Op.126; 6 Ecossaises by Alfred Brendel (1985) https://album.link/v4df2crd6cksf (boy this page pretty much didn't exist) Example: This is an example of recording something that most people don't. People play Für Elise, they use it as an encore, and the audience goes 'awe', but most performers don't recorded it. So like Murray Perahia, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Horowitz, he was a big influence.

Tried some new techniques for the dough and for cooking the pizza and happily gobbled up the results. Red sauce, mozzarella and parmesan, guanciale, corn and leeks.

Proper cooking this time, fried chicken breasts to make sandwiches for dinner.

Technically baking but I'm too lazy to go find that thread. Toasted coconut chocolate chip scones.

I re-created my favorite scramble from Hummingbird Cafe. Swiss cheese, bacon, tomato, avocado, spinach and eggs of course. Left a little avocado for Maki, as she absolutely loves it.

A few more from cleaning the drive.....

You either love them or hate them. I happen to love them. In a family of 6, just my Mom and I loved fried chicken livers. She made them for us maybe 4 times a year. I don't think I've had them in about 15 years. Today I decided that was too long. Cheers Mom. Fried chicken livers, mashed potatoes and country gravy. This takes me home!

The more I listen, the more I love this; unique sound and she still has so much passion in her singing. "This House" hits a bit hard, but all is great.

Veggie Curry and Fixin's

Damn, even condoms were cooler in the past. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/press/press-releases/rijksmuseum-exhibits-200-year-old-condom-featuring-erotic-print

Just a simple board for supper, Friday night's bread bake {not posted}, tapenade and roasted garlic, Matiz wide sardines in oil. Watch out! I kind of forgot how good Matiz sardines are. {oh and a simple WA blend sipper}

Sure, it's not for everyone. I discovered Junior Brown in '94. I immediately loved his retro country style and sense of humor. But his ability on the "guit-steel" is what completely sold me.

Some pretty cool spacey-psych-groovy music from Japan

We watched Becoming Led Zeppelin on Netflix last night. Very enjoyable...missed it on IMAX but such is life. HS

You're shocked? ... Just like our sponsor!

We had a holiday a couple of months ago in Japan. Fed up with sticky rice and lotus root in all its forms, we cracked in Tokyo and found a curry restaurant. This is quite a big thing in Japan, with endless options. Base curry. About 20 additional things you can add. Five quantities of rice, and heat level. So I had seafood (tick), no additional options (tick), standard quantity of rice (tick). Which left a choice of heat level. This went from 1 to 20. 1 was base level. I chose 5, reckoning that would be a bit hot. Now I can take heat. But a 5 was right on the hairy border of heat. In the UK, where you are never more than a few miles from an Indian restaurant, anyone having a Vindaloo is worthy of respect. Well a 5 was way, way beyond Vindaloo heat, and at the level where you just shovel, and under no circumstances touch the water or beer until you have finished. Now bear in mind that the heat index went up to 20! We joked that anyone ordering a 20 would be issued with a health warning, and an ambulance ordered to take you to hospital! I have to say that a Japanese lady on an adjacent table ordered a heat level 6, and ate it like it was nothing to write home about. Respect.

Today ... https://bonair.com/brits/ Lucas electrics has no power here, so here are a few of those that made it.

Personal History by Mary Chapin Carpenter (2025) https://album.link/gtnmzvcxr3szp Example: Warm and sometimes brooding. A set of tunes from one that seems to know who they are and where they are in their life.

Corporate Marketing Budget Depletion by eating in San Francisco today. There was quite the selection. But choose wisely! I think I did. But a reminder to always read the small print to avoid failure of expectations. A neighbor at my table thought they were getting a Bacon Cheeseburger, But instead got a "Bacon" Cheeseburger. Plant based Bacon sounds like an oxymoron, and was described as "an abomination". Avoid. However, later that day there were cheese truffle fries. Not bad. Where's the duck fat, though?