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RIP Katsushi Murakami who designed a lot of really neat Japanese toys. I am the farthest thing from being a weeb (except for Japanese audio gear, Japanese cars, Studio Ghibli animation, Japanese camera equipment, Kurosawa films, giant Japanese robots ...you know what? Nevermind.) With that said, I always had an appreciation for the Japanese toys from the 70s and 80s.

🚲 🚴‍♂️🚵 Ride on Nate.

My ear is a complete moron about key changes, way far away from absolute pitch (or ear, whatever), which is pretty useful to find similarities between tunes. I also suck at rhythm, just good enough for dancing and getting an awesome wife. Maybe comping if there’s a proficient drummer anywhere near. This happens a lot to me. Cleverer people like Beato showed how an old song is the basis for a few modern (or not so) tunes: All those key changes make not much of a difference for me.

Trying to make a donation, but the damn page stills asks for filling some of the “required” fields. All have been filled.

And my apologies for being a "meat proxy".

I'm attempting to get started with fundraising a little earlier this year for the annual Kelly Brush Ride that I will once again be participating in this year. It's the same group of friends this year, likely minus one who unfortunately can't make it due to work reasons, but we're trying something a little different as a group this year. My friend Tom, who goes us all drawn into this madness, knows Kelly very well and the organization is trying to encourage folks to participate in the ride remotely. They've kind of reached critical mass in Middlebury, VT, with more than 800 riders participating so they can't really grow unless they change something. So our group sort of volunteered to be the pilot and we're headed to the coast of Maine to ride by a bunch of lighthouses and hopefully have some fun while suffering. Why am I explaining all this? Well, we want to show that remote folks can still effectively fundraise and participate. So we're going all-in and getting custom jerseys made to commemorate the ride. So all that said, I'm once again asking this group to be like no other forum. I'd very much appreciate any support that you can offer. The foundation is aiming to raise $1.2M to support individuals with spinal chord injuries to regain an active lifestyle. My personal goal is to raise $2,500. This organization and cause remains something near and dear to me as someone who takes the simple ability to get outdoors and do whatever I like, when I like, somewhat for granted. Every year I participate I find it helps refocus and recenter my appreciation for those that chose to not be limited by life-altering injuries, illness, etc. The foundation helps people discover adaptive sports and recreation, hosts camps to immerse people in sports and community, and most importantly, provides hundreds of grants per year to people that just want to return to the activities they love. Anyway, if you're able here's the link to donate to support me: Nate's KBF Fundraising Page And just for fun here's us with Kelly at the starting line last year. I'm hoping for much better weather this year so we can pound social media with pics and vids of our remote ride.

That's a major project, I cannot imagine how many hours you spent, even for just designing the chassis... Congrats for this beauty

^ I was expecting her to say “mad world” at some point

How you all doin' San Rafael. Neon Velvet Has them dancing under the lights

updated with a few fixes halo acoustics eha-1pro.PDF

Oof. RIP William Orbit. He had a long and colorful career, including producing and remixing a bunch of pop music. I'm quite partial to his early 90s work.

Tokyo Adagio by Charlie Haden & Gonzalo Rubalcaba (2015) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060254744627 Example: Another nice set - recorded at the Blue Note but for Impulse. And very well recorded. Just a touch too much dinner table noises in the background now and then. I am over here trying to listen and you are elbows deep on some chicken parm. come on!

^^ added to my seemingly endless queue. 🙄 And just a quick note on Eddy Grant - personal mental block of not really liking Electric Avenue from my past. But since your post, I did poke around 'File Under Rock' (1988), you know, 'I'm still trying to like this' type of thing, and I have to say, I think I do. Me: FATHERS by Nate Smith • Kiefer • Carrtoons • Kenny Beats (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/hr9lqhajxzltq Example: Pretty much an 8 track jam session. Cool vibes for 30 minutes. On Blue Note.

TL;DW: $2000 flagrant Chinesium clone is significantly inferior to the real deal $7500 Mac. Amusingly, the Chinese amp is 20 lbs heavier.

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

Fun article on color perception... What Would It Mean to See a New Color? https://archive.ph/MCw88 or https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/08/03/what-would-it-mean-to-see-a-new-color

Some more filez from the webz

The revivalists - Get It Honest A new album by a band I never heard before. I could sense some genuine enthusiasm from online comments, and I'm glad I checked them out. Three listens in, and I can say every song on this album is good. Endless hooks, rich sound, great vibes the whole way. YMMV. Ex.