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Just a great day yesterday....went to hometown of Marblehead MA to help my mom with some work around the house, and just to spend some time. She's been having some health issues and I've also been helping with appointments and the like. It's good to get the time in with her. On a whim, I then called a dear family friend Judy who lives a couples streets away, and she was home. Got to spend a while with her as well, was great to catch up. She has had a tough time as well so I have been able to help her a bit too. It was then mid-to-late afternoon, but I hadn't had lunch. So on another whim I called my friend Melissa, she had re-connected with me when Karen passed; she lost her husband (suddenly) almost a year earlier. We've been very close since. She joined me for a late lunch/early dinner at a nice fish restaurant on the water in Salem MA. I speak a lot about "human connection" and how much it means to me. Yesterday was one of those great days, left me filled (heart and stomach) and happy!

It being Father's Day a nearby hotel celebrated with $38 burgers, whiskey tastings, and a local Jaquar club showing off a few cars (mostly non-Jaquars). Thus more testing to try to figure out this confusing Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.5 Z21 (Angenieux S21 clone). Paired with the SL (typ 601). Makes one more appreciative of modern flat field lenses. Still old lenses for old cars.

Andrew and I went for less-prep, faster-cook pizza for dinner tonight. Still working on my launching, but getting a bit more reliable.

I snapped this photo without tripod. It has a fairly high ISO, but nothing the R6II can´t handle.

Finally made it to the top of the local climb without blowing up. Key change was grinding out the steepest pitches sub 60 rpm to keep my heart rate out of the red. I was worried I’d be going too slow to stay upright, but it was fine. Also helps that I’m also slowly but surely getting more fit. I feel a lot better about the climbing on the Marin metric century now that I’ve finally been able to get up and over this thing. Nate is right, 32mm is the sweet spot. Put some on and they felt amazing.

ElevenHifi is a Rega dealer...

For the same money, you can buy a Steinway grand piano that will play itself.

In this case, you don't know how wise you are.

I made a fusion Pad Thai / Mapo Tofu thing yesterday with Tofu, ground turkey, and noodles. I need to work up to the recipe I recently acquired (didn't have any Doubanjiang -- Chili Bean Sauce) and maybe make it more heart healthy, but I'm getting there. It was delicious.

Your urine is going to smell atrocious for a month!

Always thought Dollar Brand was a way better stage name, but religious considerations etc. RIP.

Rick's wide angle images made me want to look at some older images. Here's one with a 21mm Zeiss distagon from 2015.

Or, from the source

Anthony Garcia - C’était L’été

Novato is Rocking The Block With Mercy and The Heartbeats

Twofer (or twoFUR) today. ZeosPantera is a guy who wears a GoPro, yaps at great length and ostensibly review headphones gear. It is my understanding that he is somewhat well known on that other site. I have watched his videos on and off for years. I don't think I've ever made a product purchase based on Zeos's reviews, but his content makes good "second monitor" entertainment when I'm doing something else. Zeos is know for a few things, he's got the gift of gab (45 minute video rambling on about a DAC/amp combo), his absolutely cringe taste in anime waifu art, and his various cats that make cameos in his videos. For years he had a small gray cat named Drake that is one of the mouthiest creatures I've ever heard. His persistent, insistent meowing is the stuff of legend. I happened to be checking Xitter (not something I normally do) and saw that Zeos had posted this: Very sad. His videos won't be the same without the Chorus of Drake. I'm not sure if YT deep links work on HC. The timestamp I used includes an earful of Drake.

Audio Technica makes a $108,000 headphone amp. The selector switches are unlabeled, so there's a handy wedge-shaped guide that sits below the amp. That is certainly a design decision.

After several tests, it seems Cora is improving. The biopsies have finally ruled out cancer, pointing instead to a very aggressive bacterium. After almost three weeks of antibiotics, she seems to be starting to be herself again.

GabeCube is live. Starting price is $1050.

Says the man who explained "docking" to us.

I can always count on you for more information than I ever wanted to know.

Although I'm short on time (I've started renovating my second home), I'm doing some tests with the 70-200mm lens and I photographed this blackbird in my garden. PD. I'm quite bad, I keep trying to improve my technique.

This is a bit of an obscure one, but still significant. RIP Mickey Mann. Via the official Orbital FB page: I first head Pressure of Speech's "X-Beats" in a DJ mix, sometime in the mid 90s. At that point there was no Discogs, no P2P, and remarkably little info online. In 2002, I asked about it in the techno room on the then-new Soulseek. One of the UK denizens said "Oh, that's the sound engineer for Orbital." Some time later, I paid $25 on eBay for the 12" (a lunatic price for the time.) I was mortified to learn that the remix I liked so much was NOT on the 12". Eventually I got my hands on the Phase 1 CD an deduced that the track that moved me so much in 1995 or so was any version of X-Beats, but in fact "Elone," specifically the Pressure of Speech 12" Version. Elone got mislabeled as X-Beats on a number of compilations and bootlegs in the 90s. As much as I tend to romanticize that decade, especially compared to the oligarch-driven, AI-generated hellscape in which we now reside, I do grant that it was a right royal PITA to be into obscure electronic music in the dialup era. It is a moody, timeless classic to this very day. Times like these makes me wish my radio station was still going, so I could build a set around it. More on that later. Much later.

So Ignorance² is bliss²?

I always forget how squeamish heteros can be.

For certain topics I apply the saying "Ignorance is bliss" 🫣

But you're European, it could be important!

I don't want to know what it's about....

Because: Science! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3002398/ "Benjamin Franklin noted that “a few stems of asparagus eaten shall give our urine a disagreeable odor” (Franklin and Japikse 2003)," Also: "Because smelling the urine of others is an unfamiliar task, after Experiment 1, we decided to add an additional task to determine whether subjects were able to follow instructions and detect an unrelated but unusual odor added to urine"

I enjoyed his more recent work, I had not gotten to his early work in time. RIP African Piano by Abdullah Ibrahim (1973) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060254708925 Example: Sorry I am late to the game Abdullah, thanks for the tunes.

I'm going to watch Tokyo Vice next.

https://archive.org/details/cj2026-06-13 Cowboy Junkies Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN 6/13/2026 DPA 4015gs -> Sonosax SX-M2D2 -> iPhone Front Row Center Balcony

What is this "overkill" thing that some laymen speak of? Seems perfectly normal to me.

Near field listening for the win.

Detroit pizza a bit further North in Michigan

Also enjoyed Legends 👍🏻 I haven't looked to see if it is already in this thread, but we really enjoyed Kleo on Netflix. Funny and engaging and a fascinating place and time in Berlin before and after the Wall

The amount of dog hair that must be in that condo is making my nose itch. Our second foraging expedition, which was meant to be a dog walk, was a bonanza. Including the One Spear to Rule Them All!

Up in Maine, found out my next door neighbor went to the ER for a bad nosebleed. Visited her there, ended up keeping her company for almost 3 hours. Brought her home, then dog-watched these wonderful pups (2 Samoyeds and a 5-month old Golden - I THINK it's a blend with something else, l but not sure). At one point, she had 4 full-grown Samoyeds in her ~1100 sq ft condo!! She saw an ENT last night in Portland Maine and he helped a lot more than the local ER.....will find out today of the final prognosis & plan.

Yeah, think I'll end up there as well. The 28s feel amazing WHEN the pavement is smooth. As soon as the quality goes to shit, I miss the bigger tires. 32 should be the sweet spot and is as big as the Vittoria Corsa Pros go. Did some good long rides this weekend so I feel ready to do the metric centuries I've signed up for. If I can survive the climbs, I'll finish no problem. It really is amazing how easy it is to pace with a power meter.

Got the monster truck tires mounted on the Aspero today and went out for a spin. Was happy to average 19 with 40s and the bike turning itself into a single speed for the last 13 miles.

RIP Marcia Lucas. Not only did she put up with being married to George Lucas, she took the steaming pile that was his ideas and turned it into A New Hope. George Lucas is the definitive example that it is better to be lucky than talented. At every turn, he blundered into meeting people with abilities far beyond his own who could elevate his murky and misconceived visions into cultural touchstones. Peter Crushing was the absolute master class at portraying a bad guy. Sir Alec Guinness could inflect the most hokey dialogue imaginable in a way that resonated with like six different generations. James Earl Jones had the voice of all time. Irvin Kershner was a deftly skilled directory with decades of experience. Unlike George, Lawrence Kasdan actually was an accomplished screenwriter. Also Carrie Fisher was lighting in a bottle. I'm sorry, this is about about George's ex-wife, not The Neck himself.