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Pork experiment. Hatch Chili pork butt. Pre-Seasoned wet rub from Costco. 14 hour low temp smoke on the pellet grill, the last 3 hours wrapped in paper. and then rested for 2 hours. Shredded just a couple handfuls for supper.

Shot day: pnumacocal vaccine, influenza vaccine and covid booster. I helped calm a boy of about 10 down. We got our shots at the exact same time. His Mom couldn't calm him and was very appreciative. Made getting shots as fun as that could be.

Trust me, if he never extended an olive branch I'd have been completely OK with never reaching out. Maybe he was putting things in order. If that's true, I'm happy I gave him that opportunity. I like the guy I am today, but I haven't always been a great human being. I've made mistakes I'm embarrassed about. I decided many years back to make a real effort to be a better man. People gave me an opportunity to atone for my wrongdoings.

Not really buildling anything today but repairing. One of my COVID projects, the DIY Bluetooth Executive Speaker from Partsexpress, had stopped charging. I figured it was probably because I'd let it sit too long and the battery pack had dropped below the minimum charge level or it had a bad cell (it's a 3-cell pack). So it had sat, for like a year, languishing in the closet. I was just about to order new cells when I figured I should at least try getting in their, testing the cells and seeing if I could jump-start the cells back to the point where they'd charge again. In the end the hardest part was finding a charger that wouldn't over-charge the 3.7V cells. So a few cycles of charging the individual cells and I'd bumped each of them over 2V, got them back in the battery holder and plugged the speaker back into the charger. Bloop bloop bloop, it came back to life. I'm going to park it on the charger overnight (it's been 6 hours already without issue) and hopefully the cells will hold a charge and be back to life. One cell removed All cells back in and charging, yay!

As I am fond of saying, the size queens have a point.

Not all 60s consoles are created equally.

No reflux! 😎

Mildly NSFW: Today marks the 50h anniversary of Tom Waits' album Small Change. While not my favorite release of his by a long shot, I sure listened to it a lot in the early 90s. The cover art is legendary, and quite risque at the time of its release. I follow Tom Waits on Facebook. The page is very well maintained and posts lots of vintage photos and historical information. Today they posted an alternate shot from the cover photo session: There's a longstanding urban legend that the stripper is Cassandra "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" Peterson. It isn't. Bonus: The same Tom Waits FB page posted this photo last week: Check out the Folger's can(s).

I've said similar myself Knucks.

Sorry for the TL;DR, but this one is big for me. Short version: seek out Vienna Teng, she is a beautiful human being that plays wonderful music. A soul-filling day & evening this past Friday. My friend Melissa and I saw Vienna Teng in my hometown of Marblehead MA. In the afternoon, she hosted a Climate Change "Workshop" (she has an advanced degree in the subject). It wasn't a doom and gloom that I almost expected, but actually a bit inspirational and hopeful. We all came out with ideas and one or more things to put into practice. The evening show was just stunning! A solo show but she used things like tape loops, vocoder-style & voice duplication choral effects, etc., to make it seem a bit larger. She has one song that I actually emailed and talked with her about to request she play, called The Last Snowfall. A short but lovely song that made me think of Karen. In the weeks before she passed, we were talking about her two sisters coming up from different parts of NY state. A snowstorm was forecasted, and I was telling them they didn't need to drive in it. Karen - who did not love Winter - smirked a bit and said she wouldn't have to worry about snow or Winter anymore. A bit of humor in some pretty fucking dark times. Vienna played the song, dedicated it to me and in memory of Karen. Tears were falling, and my friend Melissa was kind enough to provide some tissues. We both loved the show and everything about the day, and remarked that just her presence and words & music raises good feelings and hope. Got a pic and a hug after the show. Quite the gift she has! Link to the video of The Last Snowfall: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FotpPHUgl_pvTJi_cdYRL3fMWtfpAbk1/view?usp=sharing Other pics, of the workshop and show.

More goodness from Joseph Crowe Audio.

Couple new albums. Like Agnes Obel The Meaning Of Flowers better than Echo & The Bunnymen Apples For Isaac; though the latter did pleasantly surprise me, was not expecting it to be as good as it was! Shell of their early/former selves IMO, but this one was still enjoyable....

Music on TIDALJohn Coltrane - A Love SupremeListen to A Love Supreme on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of service

First new cat species discovered in a hunnert years! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdZki9zi3nc/

Simple opposing magnets are not stable. The only thing that is stopping this instability is the jewelled bearings - but because of the magnetic instability there is more force on the jewelled bearings to apply a centering force that might be naïvely be expected. I guess that is why the Castagna model A was pretty much the only tone arm to use the magnetic principle. Although at around the same era there was a design and prototype for a parallel tracking arm the used opposing magnets in a saddle arrangement; but that never made it to production. Now it is now possible to levitate stably. The idea being the the repelling magnets are stabilised actively using a set of coils. Around 8cm diameter (so not small) and because of the active control a potential source of electrical interference near to the cartridge. Then there is Meissner effect levitation. That is not entirely daft with high temperature superconductors. Of course it needs the superconductor to be cold enough, so a source of liquid nitrogen is needed. I've done exactly that as a table top experiment when my kids were small, and I was working at Oxford Instruments, so had ready access to chunks HTc superconductor, and a small expanded polystyrene pot for the LN2.

Okay - just one post of an old fav. Left us way too soon, I at least got to see his twice.

Agreed, best on what dimension? Composer?, Serving the song?, Technical Abilities? Innovation? Emotional Response? And from what perspective? Casual Listener? Fellow Guitar Player? Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. Plenty to Agree / Disagree on here, in terms of inclusion or ranking. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitarists-1234814010/ A few thoughts of the top of my head. Jimi, Because: Jimi A couple of treo's with a bright future ahead of them. Eric, Jeff and Jimmy. Jeff was probably the least conventional. Al, Paco and John. Friday Night in San Francisco anyone? (that's the concert, and album, Steve) G3 - pick a line up - in this case, Steve, Joe and Guthrie some honorable mentions. Prince. He too can shred. Roy Buchanan - The Best Guitarist you never heard of? Adrian Legg - technique in service of harmony and melody. Allan Holdsworth, The Guitarists Guitarist? Discuss.

Since it's his 100th birthday today going late... Full

Lauren Unknown Kenzo

Anybody listen to cassettes these days? In my inventory i have a few Tascam decks 112 Mk1 112 MK2 112R Mk2 admittedly i bought a 112 Mk2 on a whim because the guy had some government surplus equipment. Then i found out I could buy them semi faulty from japan for cheap. Still trying to find out if i need the 122 with 3 heads. These already sound pretty nice.

This is going to be a long walk for minimal payoff. One of my hobbies is antagonizing MAGAts on Faecesbook and elsewhere. I've read that the way to convert MAGA cultists it to listen to them, be understanding and try to offer helpful advice. I want to be clear: I'm making things worse. What I offer to the MV MAGAts (who haven't blocked me) is scorn, derision and mockery. All of which I couch in a few layers of internet speak that makes it just a bit of a challenge to understand. It's less true now, but for the last decade a big part of the online right has been being part of the "in the know" crowd. The Proud Boys, 4chan, incels etc. all make huge use of their own (not so) coded language. It's not too difficult to turn said language back at them. If I tell a MAGAt he's "smoking the cope rope" he might not precisely know what I mean, but he has some idea he's being insulted. I am a big fan of OkayBuddyRetard meme edits. The format of OKBR is at this point a fundamental part of internet communication. As a student of graphic design (seriously, it's what I studied in college) I find them amusing. I love David Lynch's 1984 film Dune. I saw in theaters, when I was frankly way too young for it. The movie freaked the shit out of me. In spite of that, over time it became one of my favorites. One of the best lines, that stuck with me for 40 years at this point is "Usul, we have wormsign the likes of which GOD has never seen." I've had the notion to turn it into a meme for ages. Also, I am a lazy shit. I've done a number of searches for screenshots with subtitles enabled, and the only one I could find it lousy. I can't make a meme from an image where Stilgar looks like a goddamn Soyjak. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Three ...totally legitimate "backups" of Dune (1984) later [Xref comments about Ubuntu and Proton] and one search for a subtitle file, and I have the tools I need. Next is finding where in the film is the famous line delivered. Google AI (bless its miserable little heart) says 2h5m. BZZZT. It's ~1h57. After carefully selecting a still where 'Gar looks less like an idiot, and a few minutes with Comic Sans in Photoshop, I present How I Antagonized a MAGAt Claiming the Economy Was Fine: None of this does any good, I realize. I drew amusement making it. It's not ever day Gurney Halleck makes a cameo in one's shitposts.

Used to own some Philharmonic Audio BMR Monitor speakers. Sold them to someone who has remained a friend. They just came out with a "Super" BMR Monitor, using (my favorite) Purifi woofer; bass down to 32Hz +/- 2db! Their finishes are quite lovely, including the one below. My Evoke Audio Eddie's are in the shop for blown tweeters. Apparently, the CSS Tweeters used aren't made anymore, so they're looking for good replacements. But I could even see these replacing them eventually!

Bill Evans - The Paris Concert: Editions 1 & 2 Full (Edition 2 starts at 53:04)

Funny enough I listed to the following about an hour ago... EDIT: Might as well add...

California Dreamin'

1) Segovia 2) Hendrix The rest. I told myself I wasn't going to participate in the best guitarist thing ever again. Damn it.

Nancy WIlson/Cannonball Adderly - on physical CD

Inner Desert by Golsa Nazari (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/izp5eu9aa69uz Example: Found Golsa off her IG account - https://www.instagram.com/_golsanazari/ I do like a good handpan.

Dolly - Peace Train

I'm about to have a bowl of "Red" that I cooked recently. I love chili but have to take precautions. I've taken 3 antacid tablets an hour ago. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. If I'm up all night with reflux, at least I have tomorrow off.

1 hour and 48 minutes of new Camille! Lots of vocal overdubs with minimal additional musical accompaniment. Music on TIDALCamille - The Sound of MilkListen to The Sound of Milk on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of serviceUnholy carp, I recognized the bass from two decades ago.

Patio dining with the Brits.

Yesterday I listened to a couple new hard rock releases: Playgrounded, A Flower to Water Villagers of Ioannina City, Venceremos Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Shapes of Midnight

Is the HE-1 2.4um? Odd thickness that, as I believe DCA also use it for their sets. I just hate working with anything less than 2um and I have so much of the stuff, so that is what I use. As for the bias, any change in that will make a difference but higher bias is always better but comes with its own challenges. There is no benefit from using 230V and the SR-Lambda has its own reasons to sound the way it does, nothing to do with the bias. Blaming the diaphragm thickness for how something sounds is also very misguided, I adore the HE60 (which uses the same diaphragm material) and I also really like the Lambda Signature, again 1um. It's all about the driver tuning and what sound you are after. My issue with the HE90 was always the utter lack of meaningful bass output at certain spots and that's down to how they were tuned. Btw. the "clones" are now in a fully redesigned version of the housing (well I've sent out for a newer one still to be made) and fitted onto a NOS headband. First prototypes of the metal backs are also ready and look great. Just have to be fitted to the new housings when they arrive. Parts for the DIY headband are also en route and we'll see if that design actually works. Also probably the final prototypes of the "axles" so I should get them properly made soon. Those who know the HE90, know those are bloody expensive tiny pieces of plastic. Also new spacers, dust cover pieces and a redesigned stator too... Now fitted with real HE90 earpads and they have no reason to sound this good. Far from perfect but I'd take these anyday over the original. Still a tiny bit on the bright side and with a bit of a midbass hump Now I just need to make of these "clones" and cram a Stax Lambda driver in it. That upset so many people I kinda have to do it again...

Phil Collins in his home studio, 1980s: I spy a TR-808, TR-909 and a LinnDrum.

Lots of good ones in here. I would be remiss not to mention Steve Hackett (orig. Genesis)

For me, it gets a little muddy between technical abilities, and how the guitar playing impacts me/makes me feel. For that reason alone, my favorite is David Gilmour. What some people do with an acoustic or Classical guitar is absolutely amazing, but he hits me in the feels with a lot of his playing.

Their parent headquarters (SmugMug) doesn't look like anyone has been inside for two years. Nemo Gould's Technostalgia at The Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) Nikon D4 and CV 58mm f/1.4

Warren Haynes - Heavy country rock. Gov't Mule, Allman Brothers Band, varios Dead spinoffs, played in David Allen Coe's and Dickey Betts' bands back in the day. Can improvise with anyone, and doesn't sound like anyone else. Similar to what you describe with Merle Travis, I've seen Warren play his guitar licks while simultaneously playing the bass parts to Gov't Mule songs when they toured as a duo following the death of their bass player in 2001. https://archive.org/details/WHMA2000-11-08 Billy Strings - A shredder who plays bluegrass and country, with a virtuosity in improvisation https://archive.org/details/billystrings2023-08-24.4017vl Jimmy Herring - Guitar player for Widespread Panic. Was part of the greatest band ever, Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, also the Allman Brothers, dead spinoff bands, etc. Derek Trucks - guitar from Tedeschi Trucks Band, formerly of the Allman Brothers Band and various dead spinoffs. First saw him at 12 years old when he was already amazing Jason Isbell - songwriter and genius with an acoustic guitar, his band is the 400 Unit, and he was in Drive By Truckers. https://archive.org/details/jason-isbell-2026-07-18

Boomer!

Reasons. Duncan Sheik by Duncan Sheik (1996) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0603497998852 Example: Originally found Duncan on the Soundtrack for "The Saint" movie. It was overshadowed by Duran Duran, but I liked the layering of the vocals and the overall production sound around the good lyrics. I picked up and listened to the first album a lot. I Also picked up the 1997s - Humming. But by time the 2001 release came along I had lost track of him. Missing completely that he was involved in a musical. Sad it takes his passing (56yo too young) to find his work again. RIP...

Vienna Teng, Inland Territory Music on TIDALVienna Teng - Inland TerritoryListen to Inland Territory on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of service(Super smooth transition from Camille, by the way.)

'Murica Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Starting off gently with what the Australians would call "a sausage sizzle" Spousal approval achievement unlocked.

Long but wonderful day yesterday. Left the house at ~7:30, got back almost midnight. Visited a dear friend in CT for a day-late birthday celebration. She was so supportive to me as I went through so much with Karen, and she has had her tough issues and hardships as well. But we had a wonderful day just checking out some small towns near her, and having a nice lunch and dinner. Happy Birthday Nancy!