Voltron

R.E.M. -- Accelerate R.E.M. -- Collapse Into Now [Figured I would add Accelerate, which I think is a pretty strong album also.]

Alright Dinny! TechnoBimbos Unite!

R.E.M. -- Life's Rich Pageant

I didn't know you guys skipped lunch too! We should have eaten some snacks or something, but I'm sure it made the buzz that much cleaner. Here's the drink you had from their menu: Queen’s Park Swizzle Bacardi 8 Rum, lime, demerara, Angostura bitters, mint Named after the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad’s Port of Spain, native San Francisco son, Trader Vic, called this drink ‚the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today‛ We hope you agree! Served in a Collins. To make this at home, you will need to make some Demerara syrup. Demerara sugar is also known as Turbinado sugar, like the "Sugar in the Raw" brand. Mix 2 parts sugar to 1 part warm water and that's it. In a collins glass, mix 2-3oz of aged rum, .5-1oz lime, .5-1oz demerara syrup, and 4-5 mint leaves. Muddle the mint into the liquid a bit. Fill the glass with crushed ice, swizzle the ingredients until the glass frosts. Then liberally dash Angostura bitters on top, like 3-5 dashes, and garnish with mint sprig. The ranges are for your preferences of booziness, tartness, and/or sweetness. I would go with 3oz rum, .75oz lime and .50oz sugar syrup. Cheers!

R.E.M. -- Murmer I haz a sad.

I might have to add that one into the mix because it is a truly wonderful album.

R.E.M. -- Chronic Town

http://remhq.com/new...ory.php?id=1446 Bummer, but it was an awesome ride for those guys. I'm going to play Chronic Town/Murmer and Collapse Into Now to mark their passing.

I'm jealous, Todd. Did they play Love Will Tear Us Apart? The tour isn't coming anywhere near me sadly. That would be such fun to see live.

Happy birthday Albert. I didn't realize you were so patriotic! Cheers!

Steve--I booked a room at the Hyatt but I could take your room if you cannot attend. I can cancel up to the day of the reservation, so let me know.

Vesper time!

Hyatt tech center had rooms today at the $99 RMAF rate for friday and Saturday but higher for thursday.

Atta boy Dinny!

Greg? I'm here. Which way to the cellar?

Booked! Arriving Thursday and departing Sunday, and staying at the Hyatt Tech Center or something down a couple of blocks.

I have the bianco and the reposado but have not tried the anejo. I'm curious how you find the Fortaleza in your rankings, now that you have a bottle available...

That's awesome, Steve. I wish we could have gone this year. Did you happen to catch James Farm?

Thanks for all the support and those other comments. Nate and Steve, I would love to fly you out here to engineer a solution and screw studs--you guys pick which task is right for you. I have that exact stud finder (even without Fitz here) and feel pretty confident that the only thing I need to upgrade is the screws. Tonight, Claire and I went to a "salon" for SF Jazz donors. It was at the home of a venture capitalist who is also an audiophile and the chairman of Fender. He has one of a kind guitars on display, including a neon orange Esquire that Bruce Springsteen gave him. Brazilian pianist and singer Eliane Elias and her husband Mark Johnson, who played bass with Bill Evans for the last three years of Evans' life, performed for 45 minutes or so. It was excellent and we felt very spoiled to see a performance like that in a living room with 25 or 30 people. They both play remarkably well and she has a great voice and personality to bring it all together.

Just got home and Mayberry is boiling tonight. Made a quick highball with Dickel Tennessee whiskey and Fever Tree Spring Water Soda. Tasty and refreshing. I have had a couple of shots of Clase Azul reposado when a bartender was showing off. It was ok but i don't think it is as good as the Fortaleza reposado.

Cool. Does it taste much different from the original Existent?

I was too freaked to stop and get a camera or my phone, so no after shot with a melting turntable.

Now for some great news/not so great news: On the great side: our friend Claire in Paris -- to whose health a number of people drank when I heard she had cancer -- learned that surgery seems to have removed all trace of cancer and she does not need chemo at this time. She is doing pretty well and is very relieved not to have to go through that (obviously). Thanks for the well wishes and good vibes because they worked. Discovered a not so great situation this morning upon waking up. My 2-tier wall mounted turntable rack (with CD player on the bottom shelf) had pulled off the wall and was collapsing into/onto the gear below it. A before picture will help this make sense: Directly below the rack was an LCD TV being used as a computer monitor, which in turn was sitting on top of a Shunyata Hydra 8 power conditioner. The TT rack fell top first because the top shelf of the rack ended up on top of the TV while the lower shelf was pressed against the back of the TV, thereby holding the CDP in check. I think the bottom row of screws were still partly in the wall as the rack leaned forward. In addition, the Dual TT's power cord was plugged into the Hydra so it essentially tethered the TT to the top of the rack. The wooden board that sat directly under the TT had slid out forward and was on the floor in front of the TV, which shows that the TT really was hanging by a thread. Sadly, the small back panel holding the power cord, RCAs and ground wire was yanked out of the Dual and the connections inside may have been damaged, but I didn't have time to check. The RCAs from the TT were plugged into my Eddie Current Transcription Amplifier phono stage (second shelf down on the right) and that was half way pulled off its shelf but luckily not all the way off. It was also fortunate that the s/pdif from the CDP to the Moth DAC was long enough that there was no issue. Of course, it all started to fall apart worse as I tried to pick everything up but I was able to keep it together long enough with my daughter's help. I was able to unplug everything, hold the rack up while she moved the TV and then get the rack onto the floor with TT and CDP still in place (even some of the CDs that had been on the second shelf). The sad part is how short the mounting screws look and how little -- or no -- wood is apparent on them even though JP and I were sure they were mounted on the studs. This won't go back up until I am certain it is secure. If the TV wasn't there and the power cord didn't hold, the metal rack, CDP and TT likely would have smashed into the beautiful Cicadas and that would have been tragic. The truly amazing part is that this thing fell apart last night while we were asleep or it happened yesterday during the day and Claire didn't notice it when she went to bed. The lights were out by the time I got there. The idea that such a crazy pile-up could last from yesterday afternoon until this morning without collapsing is even more incredible to me than not waking up if it crashed down during the night.

Jealous.

Nice! The bar is teh awesum looking too. Kleine means little, so maybe Zalze mean cock? Willingly?