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Nice day

Wuhoo! We're 75% of the way there on fundraising with a little over two weeks to go.

I just found this funny...

Everyone is going to have their favorites. Here are mine.

I've never used the F1, but my pal ChatGPT says it's a good price for the condition. This weekend went up to San Francisco or back to San Francisco. Way back. Fun time and with the M Monochrom (M9M) and the LLL 50mm f/1.5 Z21 (focus mid-frame and wider a challenge)

Likely the last long training ride was accomplished today. I didn't start out intending to ride this far, but it happened and felt good.

After a nice crabmeat sandwich lunch, got my Flu and (first) Shingles shots. Vaccines for the MFW!

So returning to physical media I've bought a few used box sets. My favorite silly purchase is The Complete Bill Evans on Verve, which I'm now starting the first of the 18 CDs. Note future box set designers: if you're tempted to create an untreated metal box that "naturally rusts" don't. "The design of the box is reminiscent of that of a block of apartment houses I saw in Bratislava shortly after the Communist regime collapsed in Eastern Europe." Ex.

The Castro Theater in San Francisco

No masterpiece here, just my first roll of film with the AE1p, some examples testing the camera/Gold 200.

A beautiful person inside and out, a talented musician, and an outright ICON. RIP Dolly! The world needs a LOT more people like her! EDIT: my favorite....Whitney was great but has nothing on Dolly for this....

In the cat's defense, there was no more practical way to get on top of the speaker.

Hey we are back!!! Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson by Ben Webster (1959) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060253773074 Example: Friday coolness.

From my IG feed.

Here's my Dolly story. During the first Gulf War the Navy flew me and about 30 others to Bahrain on a 21 hour flight to meet our ships. They evidently only had three movies to play on the plane's big screen for either a calming influence before whatever was next, or a reminder of everything great about America. Thus a The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 9 to 5, and [Lori Anderson as a poor man's Dolly] Stroker Ace marathon loop. Over and over. RIP Dolly.

Promotional stress reliever from a company that makes ear plugs.

"I'm gonna scratch the shit out of those speaker grills."

Saw Kaki King last night, small venue in Southern Maine about 1.5 miles from my condo. She is so good! I described it on FB as feeling like being by a lake with gentle waves lapping onto the shore - at least her mellower songs. Then she would break out into her frenetic playing with body hits for rhythm, and fast finger moving and fret-playing. She even got pretty talkative with the audience. I guess it was her 3rd time playing the place; maybe 50 people there, but they were true fans.

One of the hardest things to face IMO. And all those coincidences!! The only saving grace (for me) was that Andrew was becoming the person he was meant to be. He had some amazing growth in college, found some great people, and set the stage for what he is now, and that is amazing to me. His senior year, when I helped him move in the last semester, I was on my way home and Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" came on my playlist. I almost had to pull over I was tearing up so much. Good luck to Lily, you, Maura, and your Andrew!

Trigger by Sharon Mansur (2025) https://open.qobuz.com/album/qpt5r10bpmoua Example: Found down in my queue a bit. Released last year, most likely added based on Dusty post. I like her flow, and the trio plays well together. Nice variety of styles.

Legend. 😔 I think what I loved about her so much is that she had a very self-aware yet positive outlook on life. This is such a lovely window into how she views and portrays herself:

Void cat is checking out appreciating the heat radiating from a vintage Harman Kardon Citation V.

Having a little trashy fun.....one of my favorite bands to see live back in the day, along with a band I WILL see live for the first time in September. The Cramps - Gravest Gravy - bit bootleg sounding, but a compilation of early recordings. And Messer Chups - The Incredible Crocotiger; a fun Russian Surf-Rock-Horror-Exotica band.....they'll open for Reverend Horton Heat, another I haven't seen.

This one will be hard to write, not because anything bad happened, only because change is hard. TL/DR - Nate is sad because Lily is in college. Longer, rambling version. Today we helped Lily move into college. She decided that she wanted to go to UNH in the spring time, so that's where we headed today. On top of the usual angst/sadness associated with dropping your first kid off at school it was a bit of an emotionally-charged day because that's where I went to school, met Maura, and lived for a few years even after graduation while Maura pursued her graduate degree. And in a simple twist of fate, the dorm that we lived in while Maura was a hall director is where Lily ended up as a Freshman. So it was a day of wildly swinging emotions. I'm confident that she'll do great there. The program that she's in (Occupational Therapy) is as good or better than any other in New England and it's very much right up her alley. So we know where she'll be for the next 5 years - it's a 4+1 masters program. What I can't figure out is why it very much feels like I have a broken heart? I mean I get it in lots of ways. As I explained to Andrew on the way home (he and I left first to get him to soccer practice), for every day in the last 18+ years I've known exactly where and when I'd see Lily next. Now, not so much. I expect it'll be at least a few weeks, if not longer before we see her. That's probably most of the pain I feel. But there's also a piece of me that feels a little, well, lost without her in the house. So we'll see how these next several weeks go with only one kid to day-to-day worry about. I'm not sure Andrew wants the additional attention coming his way. 😂

Indeed, he was a painter, not a famous one but a good one. Father of three, grand father of other three. Very fun and vital I keep very good memories from my childhood with him and my cousins.

I wonder if I had a biscuit if it would help with the big, beautiful obituary... RIP to the greats Dolly and Tim.

13 years ago. I missed it. It's still great. That's the great thing about music?

A guy on reddit rehoused Alec 604e in new enclosures:

Miles Davis, The Complete Birth of the Cool Music on TIDALMiles Davis - The Complete Birth Of The CoolListen to The Complete Birth Of The Cool on TIDAL

It's tough to drop off your eldest to start their life away from you. It sucks even. But you have it relatively easy in that we dropped Sophie off in Poughkeepsie and went back to SF, whereas you can take a short drive to see Lily or rescue her or congratulate her. No doubt change is still hard and you can't be swooping in every minute even if she is relatively close. Hang in there and make Andrew's life miserable while you adjust.

Speaking of more piano. For Elvira by Francesca Tandoi Trio (2014) https://open.qobuz.com/album/a7s0cd5mvszhc Example: More on the traditional side of jazzy jazz. Nice set.

Curiously, the Romans actually mainly spoke Greek. But who can forget "He's not the Messiah, he a very naughty boy!" And:

Needed something clean and plinky to listen to, so sat down with Rick Wakeman's Melancholia. This is easily the best of his solo piano albums, by far. Will be a repeat listen.

Basia - the background instruments sound like something out of a Sega Genesis game... maybe Streets of Rage or Shinobi (I mean that in a good way):

Ha -- Max out the Mini... or Studio... Bye bye money...

🥺

Needs Banana for scale.

I love seeing Kaki King play. I've seen her in smallish places but not in front of only 50 people! In SF she draws much bigger. She's most often been quite chatty at shows I've seen.

Jazz Standards to Kill Yourself To (Full Album) “Free Black Metal is a subgenre of metal that uses entirely improvised songwriting, akin to Free Jazz.” 00:00 Autumn Leaves 4:54 All The Things You Are 10:49 Giant Steps 14:01 So What 22:50 Blue In Green

Not serious, but true. 1954: Capitol issued Classics in Jazz: Miles Davis (T-762), compiling the 12 recordings from the famous Birth of the Cool sessions. Later in 1957: Capitol retitled/reissued the LP as Birth of the Cool. Cool is so much cooler.

I agree it is a good album. I am still partial to the solo piano work from Country Aires myself. But being Rick Wakeman, there's like five or six solo piano albums that I listen to on the regular.

Sorry to see this! RIP José Luis......96, amazing! I hope it was a life so well-lived.

Need a mortgage for that Mac Studio... on the other hand, you might cure cancer.

I don't know what this says about me that I'm almost done listening to it, and I'm still not sure if it's serious or not. So A+ for artiste-ness and straight-faced delivery. Unrelated: have you ever listened to my ..."album"? It's...experimental for lack of a better word.

Sorry insta does not embed. Captcha photographer... https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbtCDaJxQCr/?igsh=MXJvNXJvbDg0Ynoyaw==