Wmcmanus

Get well, Ken. Ear problems are the worst.

One more chance to beat those rascals!

No, dude. I'm 100% cool with anyone who votes, assuming they have the legal right to do so. It's those who don't vote that should be ashamed of themselves.

I think it's pretty safe to say we all love you too! Happy birthday!

I could have said that just as easily as you did, and suspect that many other people feel the same way about it. It's like any hobby, I guess. There is that initial phase when you're all into it and spending a ton of time on it. In this particular hobby, that involves a lot of listening, experimenting with all sorts of gear, reading, reading, and more reading, and then eventually you start to think you have something to say, so you start posting, and every now and then you argue with others about things that have acquired a heightened sense of importance in your life... and for no particular reason other than that's how you've been spending your time. Then eventually, you lose interest in most of it, and certainly in the need to argue with others about things that really aren't (or shouldn't be) all that important in your life. So if it's headphones, you can say, "I thought they were good, you should give them a listen..." or if it's scotch, "I sure like it, you might want to add it to your list..." and then get on with things that actually do matter. Which, no doubt, is some new hobby that you now think matters, for some reason. At least if you're like most of the rest of us.

Still use my original microZOTL in one of my bedroom headphone rigs.

Thanks, Ken and John.

Happy anniversary, Carl and Bonnie! You're always such fun to hang out with and your love for each other and happiness together is so evident. Wishing you 26 more! Awesome all around, Al and Steve. What a great way to provide comfort to Claire and her sister.

Hey, thanks everyone. I appreciate it. My birthday was a fun day, mildly so anyway. Nothing too exciting but I got to hang out with some friends in Miami for part of the day, and then some other friends in Tampa later in the evening after driving back across Alligator Alley. Flew back to Cayman today to get ready for teaching this Fall quarter. Life is good. I've got no complaints!

I know it happens all the time, car accidents, boating accidents, young people suddenly lose their lives, and the fact that one of them was a movie star, or a Congressman, or an amazing athlete, as opposed any other human being, really shouldn't matter... and it doesn't. But still, so talented was this young man. RIP Miami Marlin's star pitcher, Jose Fernandez, 24, and his two friends who died tragically last night... http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/09/jose-fernandez-dies-in-boating-accident.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook Gutted.

Sorry, guys. I should have checked out the source. Agree with Al, though. Why the fuck would some asshole make shit up about someone else dying? What the hell does it prove?

Tommy Chong. Fuck 2016. http://viraltimelapse.com/2016/08/02/tommy-chong-dead/

Me too. Don't do enough listening to headphones or speakers these days.

Hey, that sounds good. I'm just happy to be giving a shit about something. Anything sometimes. I've been quasi-retired now for 13 years (since leaving the 9 to 5) and have been involved with a lot of things, but nothing full time. At this small college, I've always taught several of the undergrad accounting courses and a couple of MBA courses each year as well. But usually it's just 2 nights per week. Get in, do your thing, get out. Deal with students but little else around the place. But finally this year (for the first time in 33 years), I've actually taken 3 consecutive quarters off from teaching and feel refreshed in that regard. I'll be teaching in the Fall quarter again in October, and am really looking forward to it. Oddly! Batteries charged again, type of thing. In the meantime, I've become much more active than ever on the college's board of trustees and am kind of surprising myself on the admission side, and then also on corporate fund raising. It's a totally different way of looking at higher education, really more from the "sell" side of things as opposed to production (as in teaching and advising students). Don't think I'd ever want to be a full-time academic administrator, don't get wrong! It's still about the classroom for me. But I'm finding (and it might be an age thing) that going out and actively recruiting both students and corporate donations is making me feel helpful and useful, which has always been the reward in teaching. If nothing else, this branching out process is making me feel more personally invested in the place. I think as a long-standing adjunct professor you can kind of become a bit detached and worry only about your own classes and not much else in terms of the bigger picture. So I think that's where it's hitting home with me, just that I can be useful in other ways. We just deposited a cashier's check for $500,000 as a donation from HSBC (biggest ever for the college) and I was heavily involved in all of those discussions as well. Lots and lots of lunches with all sorts of other potential corporate sponsors as well, so it's an ongoing process. Just really weird to suddenly discover new interests and things that somewhat motivate me professionally after years of kind of kicking back and lazing around. Like I say, giving a shit about something again feels kind of cool.

I gave a short presentation today to a group of about 150 employees at MUFG (Bank of Tokyo-Mitsuishi UFJ), which was formerly UBS here in Cayman. They were having an employee appreciation day, hosted in a large theatre room at Camana Bay. So it was great timing. I had 10 minutes at the very beginning of what promised to be a fun day away from the office for them. The idea was to promote the MBA program at the college I teach at, but it so happens that I've also been their corporate Santa Claus for many years, so it was kind of interesting to talk about the bleaching process (which I've just begun and am a bit of a ginger at the moment) and then to watch people put two and two together. Reading their faces, it was ike "Oh ya!!! Now I see it!" Then right back into the details about our curriculum and the technology that we use in the classroom. The good news is that we'll have at least 6 new students entering the program this Fall quarter and potentially several more. The response was incredible. Lots of great questions and then follow up emails that I've been dealing with all afternoon long. Obviously it's very well supported by the company as well. At least 90% of the people in the room had bachelor's degrees, and probably 60% of them are expats. Basically, all young working professionals. So this is a chance for them to pick up a graduate degree on someone else's nickel while they're also enjoying living in a foreign country. Now I'm energized and really I'm looking forward to doing more of these kinds of presentations because the corporate audience has been terribly overlooked in our marketing efforts. I'm not usually energized by much anymore, so this is actually a good thing.

First bleaching session on the season in progress. Will be a ginger claus shortly.

Oh, the Bendy Head is the easy part. Got one of those here waiting to be put to use.

Fucking Utopia, man! That's another 4 grand ready and ever so anxiously waiting to be flushed down the headphone toilet! Waiting, awaiting, whatever. Fucking Utopia, my ass! This is going to be a hard one to resist.

John Polito, actor, dead at 65. http://www.nydailynews.com/amp/entertainment/movies/jon-polito-roles-coen-brother-films-dead-65-article-1.2775628?client=safari RIP, Da Fino, or should I say Brother Seamus? You know, he was a Dick, a Private Detective? He's the 4th Big Lebowski actor that I know of who has died within the past year or two. There was also the well known pornographer Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara), The Big Lebowski himself (David Huddleston), and of course Brandt (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

Thanks, Kevin! I'll definitely keep that in mind. Scotch, I have. Much.

Ehh, I hear you. I'm sure there is new and improved and better. Always is. But I've always loved the SDS-XLR. Don't care what anyone else says, it's an incredible amp to my ears. I've never had any trouble with it either. The house hasn't burnt to the ground, etc. That, and I don't do a ton of headphone listening anymore. Would love to hear some of these amps though, don't get me wrong. I think there would be value in it for someone who listens to headphones as much as I did, say 10 years ago or so.