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I have been wanting a MOPAR B-body restomod for some time. Thought I would buy a partly built project or the like and built to suit. Couldn't pass up this 1969 Road Runner that was on auction and local. The wheels could use some work, but such is life... Not much of a show car guy so I need to put some miles on her... HS

This is my latest to add to the growing collection, I think a may have a problem... oh well. This is a Simon Marty guitar, it features his innovative radial bracing, the back and sides are ancient Huon pine, salvaged before a dam flooded a valley, estimated between 1000 -1500 years old, the neck is Australian rosewood and the top is spruce.

You Wish.

Dinner tonight was at Javalina Indigenous Dining at it was excellent. We had a variety of dishes but the only one I snapped was the elk fry bread with a significant pile of pulled elk, arugula and pickled onions on fry bread. Delicious. At the front counter, there was a basket of whistles for anti-ICE protests and support of the targets of this fascist aggression.

Wow. OK, so at least now I know that he was repeating something he heard. And probably not something he meant as a direct attack aimed at me personally. It's still incredibly poor judgement, but that's much easier to navigate than the alternative. This morning when my direct manager came into work, he immediately asked how I was feeling, and said he'd been worried about me since I escaped early the day before. We went somewhere private and I told him some things that I'd gone through during the AIDS epidemic that might bring some understanding to my emotional breakdown. Some of those I've never spoken to anyone about. I don't want to elaborate on that here, but a lot of my issues stem from survivors guilt. You think you're beyond events that happened 40 years ago and out of the blue something triggers you all over again. He was incredibly sympathetic and completely understood how that could affect me the way it did. He's straight, but "California straight", which is to say very insightful and dismissive of anyone who isn't. I explained to him that I decided I didn't want to take this event any further. I didn't want to admonish this young man, and I really didn't want to involve upper management. He respected those wishes, but he did suggest that tomorrow (Saturday), while all of the office staff and upper management were away for the weekend, he direct myself and this young man to a private office space. He told me that if I were willing for the two of us to have a private, civil conversation and explain some of the events that I'd discussed with him, and what triggered my response to the 'joke' he told, he thought this young coworker would be sympathetic and it might be a positive lesson to learn earlier as opposed to later. I'm not completely comfortable doing so, but I do think he's probably correct. And I don't want this to fester. As much for my own piece of mind than any other reason. We'll see how that goes, but I do suspect his instincts are good ones.

People at 18 can have their minds changed. Way more so than people at 50. It may not be something you can do, but there is at least hope something will click.

I don't know this kid, but I don't see the homophobic element to his stupid "joke." I think it demonstrates a racial commentary because AIDS in Africa really wasn't about the gay community. I think he was just mocking Africans. Regardless, I don't see why you wouldn't tell him how offensive it was and make clear you don't approve of or accept that kind of comment. If he truly feels that way, he doesn't deserve your affection or attention.

Smoked bologna

From last night. I was dysregulating last night something fierce, so I performed one of my comfort activities -- learning to wok.

Dusty, half this family isn't Jewish, but they bought in....to celebrating Jewish family and events, as well as the Shiva mourning. Call it Shiva or not, to me it's a good thing. There is a lot of formality to a Shiva, many times it is not followed 100%. Personally, I find it the beginning of healing. Family and friends come to pay respect, connect, tell stories, and eat. The formal period is 7 days/nights. When Karen passed, I was tearfully surprised by one of my two best friends flying in from California and spending all the days/nights of Shiva visiting (3 days for us). It's that type of love and connection that helps the healing. It's just a good thing, no matter what it's called, what religion it follows, etc.

I meant kick-start the HC travel team back into being, whether or not Marc has Red Oxx bags.

Amazing from SCTV to Schitt's Creek and on through recent dramatic roles. RIP to the legend Catherine O'Hara. Sad day. ☹️

RiP

I have often said that hatred starts as ignorance. I DO think political correctness has gotten out of hand, but on a personal level understanding what you're saying and to whom it is being said matters. I'm sure he's a fine young man, but with "young" being the operative word, he's likely pretty susceptible to influence by others. Maybe his fragile state and need to feel acceptance is there too. So he emulates the others to be accepted into their circle. I'd say talk to your manager first, and see if he is willing to say something. Tough situation, you don't want to put the kid on the spot or deeply accuse him, but it sounds like he needs to hear something about his behavior before it gets worse and maybe turns into TRUE hatred, not just a joke. My 2 cents

Smoky Moroccan Chickpea Soup (formerly Stew) a la Mishka Makes Food

In better, and somewhat hilarious news... I'm especially fond of the 14,000 vs. fewer than 40 metric. Tell me how your bill failed without saying your bill failed...

Not a ton of info, but if anyone is interested, here’s an interview with Mr. Zhou, of Light Lens Lab, on their recreations. I’m lucky enough to have several of the lenses discussed, including the 8-element, 1966 “Noctilux” (one of my faves), Z21 Angénieux, and the recent Double Aspherical. Big fan.

‘We get a lot of requests for it be used in sex scenes’: how Goldfrapp made Ooh La La https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/26/sex-scenes-how-goldfrapp-made-ooh-la-la-baudelaire

No clue. I sincerely doubt the build has seen much outside of a few drives and some shows. 700 miles on the build and I really need to do some more work on the Holley Sniper EFI system...WIP. HS

It’s definitely a thing here. A good bark on a bologna chub then pan fry a 1” thick slice makes for a tasty sandwich.

It's been a day. Got up this morning and came downstairs to the thought, "man, it feels cold on the first floor of the house." First call was to the boiler guy, praying that a circulation pump had crapped out overnight. Verdict - WRONG ANSWER. He quickly determined the boiler was doing it's thing but the pipes for the zone that heats the first floor were not. Shit. Phoned a friend whose husband is a plumber. Started chasing frozen pipes a little before 11am. Finally found the culprit at 2pm. Had it fixed and flowing heat again by 2:30. All told, it felt like a bargain at under $1000 given that a pipe could have burst and we've got another 10 days or so of freezing temps ahead of us. Still managed to make scones for Lily's best friend who slept over last night and turns 18 next week (JFC) and also still made dinner - pork chili verde with cast-iron-skillet cornbread. There will be barrel strength bourbon in my future. Oh and we've already got almost a foot of snow and I've cleared the driveway once. I believe I will sleep tonight.

Went to a Shiva visit tonight. Facebook friend's father (94 years), I went to HS together with said FB friend's sister-in-law. Found out today that he also went to a Summer camp with my oldest brother. A wonderful celebration of life, and I caught up with my HS friend and her husband, haven't seen them in over 15 years! As much as one doesn't want to catch up with people at a funeral/Shiva, it was a life well-lived, and it was great to re-connect. It will NOT be another 15 years before we see each other again!

Slowly but surely continuing to improve. I've got a long way to go before I can challenge Nate for FTW (w/kg I have no chance), but its amazing how much a little bit of regular riding improves your cardio.

The Controversial Photography of Martin Parr

I was just checking to see what else I might have missed from his career, at IMBd. But it seems that Sanford and Sons was pretty much it, at least of anything significant. He was perfect for that unassuming role. RiP.

At times humor is like music, something that you find of your liking or fun at some point, becomes absurd and despicable at another. If your impressions on this young man are right, he is still a good person worth your consideration. For some reason he found the joke fun, he shared it with a good intention and most likely he didn’t consider all the implications. As I see it, just asking him why he thought the joke was funny might clear up things.

Lunchtime assignation (with Joanne) Fish Taco's 'N Usual @Big Rock

Guess I need to get a pair of K1000s and start walking around with them. I'll be cool then, right?

I saw this too. Although I believe the best way to cook bacon is with a bacon weight. Been doing it this way for about 7 years.

Smoky Moroccan Chickpea Soup (formerly Stew) a la Mishka Makes Food

Mal Waldron's Breaking New Ground Ex. Suicide is Painless (M*A*S*H) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/arts/music/mal-waldron-jazz-music.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HFA.-b1C.SIYIipEJh-Y8&smid=nytcore-ios-share

@grawk - does it have a first name? I used to think poorly of bologna until a butcher friend made me a sandwich with their house made stuff. I STFU after that.

The results from last night -- very tasty, but the other brand (Nature's Soy) was spicier and had a delightful málà taste to it.

I feel that. My sisters and I "sat Shiva" (not sure that's the right way to phrase it, since we're all gentiles) when my mother passed away. It was nice -- don't know how else to phrase it. We weren't dancing around or anything, just very...sober, for lack of a better word, but not morose or mourning.

I feel like any band called Tropical Fuck Storm has a fair bit to prove?

William Eggleston’s Lonely South https://archive.ph/2026.01.24-204543/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/william-egglestons-lonely-south https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/william-egglestons-lonely-south

I've going over my collection, filling in any items I'm missing, I felt I really should have a modernized version of the Sigma. I came across a rather abused normal bias set which needed new drivers but wanted to try something different... so here is the SR-Sigma 507: The housing was very discolored so I wanted to try my hand at painting it. The frame was primed and painted satin black but I left all of the other parts in the primer color. The plan was to make them gloss white but this looked too cool so this is how they stayed. The drivers and cable are from a 507 so it took a lot of work to get this right. The drivers are in the cage that Stax introduced with the x07 series so I glued the drivers and fitted spare metal grills to them. In terms of sound, this is the best Sigma I've ever heard. The bass is overblown, as is always the case with Sigma's, but it has some real power to it and is more controlled than every other I've heard. The top end is nice and clean and the midrange is just sublime. A fun addition to the collection.

Just in the last few years: Lagerfeld, Westwood (who was also predeceased by her natural successor Alexander McQueen), Miyake, & more recently Armani. Now Valentino last week: The remaining big Japanese designers of that era: Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons) & Yohji Yamamoto are both getting up there in age. Ralph Lauren is up there too, and thankfully still active for the brand. With Donatella having stepped down from Versace, who else is left from that period (70/80/90's)? Is Calvin still working? Mucia Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Tom Ford (Gucci), Marc Jacobs are a few young-ish [sic] names I know crossing over into this century. I have no idea who is leading classic houses like Chanel, Dior, etc. On a positive note, I am currently amazed at Coutre to the Max, who appears to be an old soul in this young boy's body, & doing amazing things. Can this be real?

That's a tough one.....they were incredible.... On a more personal note, RIP to a friend, Pete Savickas. Pete was a partner to a woman who knew Karen from New York City single days in the 80's. She moved up to a small town in NH and expanded a house on a small lake there. She met Pete many years back and - while they never married - were partners all those years. No kids, but a nice life and acclimated to small town living. Pete was a bit of a curmudgeon, but he could've been in the Dos Equis beer commercial; he was one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He and Debbie were our New Year's Eve partners for several years. A great cook, boater (he had two beautiful wooden Chris Craft boats), wine & beer connoisseur, investor, weather watcher, animal whisperer, and so much more. We would talk about so many things, and I'd learn something new every time we chatted. It was a pleasure to chat about audio, finally something I could teach him; and his interest was always there to learn. I will raise a glass to him, if you are drinking and think to toast him, please do.

send it.

Damn

@HemiSam - goddamn, that thing is awesome! I hope you enjoy the hell out of it.

Sweet Jesus that looks gorgeous! What does she do in the quarter?

The original bag lady

In the last 36(ish) hours I flew out to Denver and back to check in on a friend that had a particularly rough second half of 2025 along with three other friends. When we learned he wasn't going to be able to come out east during the holidays we decided it was time to head west. So yesterday I got up at 4am, drove through the snow to Boston, hung out for 24hrs and flew back this evening. I am, exhausted.

Just got back from a 2-day event at Sonoma. Track driving is the BEST. Had to give point-bys to an instructor in fiesta ST last two sessions so good to get served a lesson of how far i still have to go as a driver. 😂

owning a z06 with a zr1 on order, i am more than happy with these results. z06 beating cars that are 3 times the price or more, seems pretty impressive. and driven by gm engineers. pretty sure a real race car driver would do quite a bit better.

I'll be honest... I am pretty disappointed with these times, quick as they are. If anything that reiterate why you'd buy a 911 GT3 over a 'vette. I think it was a mistake to not use professional race car drivers. For comparison, here is Jorg in the refreshed GT3.