Knuckledragger

RIP Steve Cropper, best known for a great many things, not the least of which was being an MG and Blues Brother.

Oh. Shit. There's someone on island selling off their EF lens collection: 24-70mm F/2.8 II (very functional but not super interesting zoom) 100mm F/2.8L Macro (expensive new, unfamiliar to me) 135mm F/2L (niche, but exceptional) 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6 II (bird annoyer tele-zoom) 85mm F/1.2L II (Gojira) BRB, selling off some antiques.

I've been off the air for nearly 3 years at this point. So today I did the logical thing and pay Native Instruments to upgrade from Traktor Pro 3 to 4. So far the experience has been absolute misery. Their install app wants to contact every tracking site in the known universe and has taken ...45 minutes to download what purports to be a 500MB install.

A while back, I bought a lot of camera gear because I wanted one specific piece. The lot was cheaper than the item on its own, because eBay. Included in the pile of gear was a Tamron "vacation lens" (all-in-wonder, not good at anything) 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD A010. Yes, that's its name. I was not expecting much with the Tamron and it's barely delivered even on that meager promise. With that said, I did have some fun with it. This past September, I took the 5D IV and Tamron for a walk around downtown EDG. This New Beetle is parked in front of this shop all summer. 78mm @ F/9, 1/200. Old Beetle! It made genuine air cooled noises, and belched out noxious exhaust fumes. 87mm @ F/8, 1/200. The main drag, which is one way, because it was built for horses. 70mm @ F/8, 1/200. Zoomed in on the same, 179mm @ F/7.1, 1/250. Main St. never meant to hold a Wagoneer. A rather famous boat, with Chappy in the background. 28mm @ F/10, 1/320. Speaking of famous, the Dolphin returns to harbor. 71mm @ F/10 1/320. Both On Time ferries, 109mm @ F/9, 1/320. A Series III on Kelly St. That's a pet pickup truck I see in the summer behind it. 195mm @ F/7.1, 1/200. The line for the On Time, Daggett St. 97mm @ F/8, 1/160. Mose St. is two way, and has parking. It's even less suited for Wagoneers. 97mm @ F/8, 1/200. The Connaught House, now just another goddamn rental. 109mm @ F/8, 1/250. North Water St. 179mm @ F/7.1, 1/250. A cute MG and absolutely garbage bokeh. 223mm @ F/7.1, 1/320. South Water St, which I have callously ignored for 20 years now. 87mm @ F/8, 1/200. September is still vacation for some. 43,mm @ F/8, 1/250. The Tamron is not a very good lens. It covers a large focal range and not well. I had to work over many of the above pretty thoroughly to get decent results. I also had a bunch of shots that were not really worth the effort to salvage. Tune in next time for Vineyard wildlife and some seasonal colors.

I, ahem, like to sing sea shanties, so I cheerfully pay for Proton VPN. Don't let the UK government back you into a corner!

Jimmy Cliff was an absolute legend. I saw The Harder They Come on VHS in the 1980s when I was entirely too young for such things. It left a lasting impact on me.

Look at this moldering (or in this case, mouldering) old geezers. L to R: Some UK psytrance DJ named Liquid Ross that I cannot pretend to care about, Dr. Alex Patterson AKA Mr. The Orb and some Irish ginger who is simultaneously the most most important figure and biggest bell-end in all of IDM AKA Richard Dinklage James the Aphex Twinkie himself.

A slightly different kind of speaker porn. In the early 90s I was prone to spacing out and doodling in class, in stead of doing what I was supposed to be doing. This pattern explains a lot about ...everything that has followed since. A month or so ago I was going through some of the myriad of paperwork that made it with me from the mainland. In it I found a really old school notebook. Most of it was fantastically uninteresting (I have not cared about the Sumerians for 35 years and counting) but I did find one page that had some amusing doodles on it: We've got a couple cars, an attempt at a Roland TB-303 Bassline, what might be a Marshall half stack and ...two attempts at one very iconic speaker design. That's a Legacy Audio Whisper. I was one of the cool kids, I tell you.

"I inherited my late father-in-law's system and need some guidance." says a redditor. The system: Some father-in-law. I married the wrong woman. "Knuckles, you're not married." That's besides the point!

DO want.

RIP Stone Roses bassist Gary 'Mani' Mounfield. I did love me some SR in the 90s. They an amazing fusion of madchester, shoegaze and post acid house weirdness.

RIP Todd Snider, the situation surrounding his death is a bit murky and pretty awful. He was ill and had been violently assaulted recently.