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Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! Sorry for the delay - it's been a super busy weekend! Had a good birthday week with Florence and the Machine on Tuesday, dinner on Thursday with a bestie, watched Rushmore with a friend of mine who is going to start teaching at St. John's High School next year (that is where it is filmed) on Friday, dinner and a Dash (Houston women's soccer team) with a bunch of lezzie friends on Saturday, and now I'm in the Denver airport waiting to go to Durango for the week.

I've been cleaning the house and doing some organizing. I'm maybe 5% of the way there..... 😮 Karen would always call me a hoarder....and she's right, for certain things (like audio gear). But today I gave the second of two sets of wicker baskets away. Twenty-seven baskets given. Twenty-fucking-seven! I have a long road ahead of me. But it's feeling good to clean, and lots of goodies being given away. I've had 8 visitors collecting things between yesterday and today. I think one, maybe two more tomorrow; and one Monday. That's if I don't add any more stuff, which will likely happen. Twenty-seven fucking wicker baskets....🤣 EDIT: pics of 21 of the 27 (a few look the same, but not repeats), the others I had in another area and brought them over when one person came by

Yesterday: Finally had a clear "two person" day, so Out with the Old. Well 💩, that explains a lot. No time to tilt the the house, so In with the New: Good enough for one day. I must say using a laser level is a game changer ensuring that things are level and line up, even if the building is out of true. Just remember: And then today, some finishing touches, and cable management. And then finally voice automation. Because: Of course. Some non ideal / contrived syntax commands because: reasons, but that's balkanized home automation. Looks nice though (Marin OLED 2 time club)

finished my cfa3 this week, thanks kevin gilmore for the desing and the support from the forum members. running on +-30v with moderat bias, changed the gain resistors to 3.2k for lower gain. needed some 3d printed parts so that all fit fine, a cfa3 in a quad 405 chase. no pot this time, i use a dac with volume control or a preamp. after all amps i build i think the best solution for a 1 case build ist mounting the trafos outside in vertical position, absolut no magnetic hum inducted. i also added grain oriented metal band around the trafos inside the trafo cases.

I've finally been able to see the photos I took in London (I was there 3 weeks ago)

Had a MRI. I passed. (Apparently, I'm very good at laying very still.) They want me back to repeat the procedure on different equipment, so they can calibrate the equipment. 🙃 Kinda reminded me of a concert I saw where Pan Sonic played one long drone and manipulated the timbre so that different parts of audience members' bodies resonated. (The concert was a very visceral experience.)

Today I became an official 'Old Fart'. In reality that happened on my Birthday in February, but since my local SS office was too backed up to do my Medicare application at that time, it became official today with a Medicare phone application. I'm now the proud recipient of Medicare part A. Since I'm still employed with medical insurance, I don't need to apply for Medicare part B until I retire or stop receiving outside medical insurance. I believe at that time I can have the part B cost pulled directly from my Social Security payments. I do believe full heartedly that I've absolutely earned said 'Old Fart' title. My Doctorate in wood remains 'til the time of my demise, so it's Dr Wood Old Fart from hense forward. Can I get that official title posted under my avatar please?

RIP -- It served us and myself personally with honor. 🫡

James Taylor in Lake Tahoe. He sings the songs he wrote as a young man, only now with an old man’s voice. He has still got it.

Watched the OKC Comets (AAA Club of Dodgers) lose 3 - 2 to the Tacoma Rainiers. Have not been to a Baseball game in ages. It was a lot of fun.

Whenever I visit London, I always end up taking photos of these three places. The colors really catch my eye: blue, red... I'm posting some of the many photos I took, although I haven't looked at them all yet. In my defense, it's hard to concentrate while chasing after your pre-teen son... although I did manage to sneak a nod to Wings.

Got the Cervelo back out on the road on one of our few sunny spring days so far. It was windy, but still a nice rip around town.

We had my parents down for dinner so I made 6 lbs of baby back ribs and both sweet Italian and garlic/cheese smoked sausage.

And in related "Yes, Dear" news; Joanne said the wipers on the gold car had started to "Clunk". Investigation showed slaved play on both wipers, and that they now traveled below the edge of the windscreen/windshield at the bottom of their cycle. Hence the "Clunk". Known root cause was excessive play due to worn bushings in the linkage - thanks Perplexity and the internet. Understandable after 20+ years. Solution: "Just" replace the worn linkage / mechanism. So for the price of 2 OEM arms with bushings you could get an entire 3rd party mechanism to swap. No assembly required (other than swapping the electric motor) So that's what I did. Just like this. Only slightly slower, and 2 attempts, as although the wipers were in the correct position at the end of their travel, the motor wasn't for some reason on the first attempt. Fixed on the second attempt and much easier 2nd time around. The guilty party. And it's replacement. (Impact drivers FTW) After all that an, Oil Change, some new wipers from Costco, and rain-x for the windows. Joanne reported it all worked on her next commute. As for me? Proof of concept validated adding dimming / smart switch Voice Automation to the Master Bedroom Main Light. So added the same to the office and guest bedroom. And the switch for the front outside lights is now smart, so can be turned on/off if required. And discovered some better TV automation syntax!

I always feel like somebody is watching me...

It was a good day, a touch breezy at times, a very good engaged crowd. Some of the board members, {and my beard and belly} Many thanks all... cheers - Mikey

Yes, Dear.

Up at the Maine condo this weekend, a cloudy & cold day turned into a stunner of a beautiful one! Went into Kennebunkport and next to no one was there. Had a great walk around, bought some arty shit, and stayed for dinner. Have always enjoyed Alisson's Restaurant for better-than-pub dining, tonight sat at the bar and had a Lagavulin 16 and my favorite of theirs, the Lobster Bisque Lobster Roll. Worth the $, along with a brief chat with a couple folks at the bar.

A redditor's father died and left him this: Also, I was born into the wrong family.

Nice @n_maher! The 30 fps is glorious. How do you like it thus far? Drove up to NYC to help Julie move out as she finished her 3rd year rotations for medical school. Exceptionally difficult light in the parking under the building. The A7 did quite well here, I think. Taken with a Batis 85/1.8. Stopped by in Virginia to visit with my sister and tried playing with the Batis 135/2.8. Failed miserably but got a somewhat cool extremely close crop. In color.

Mushroom onion bacon and ham

Hung some prints, that Joanne found at Goodwill, for less than the price of a frothy coffee, in the bedroom. Using AI's advice for the positioning https://www.perplexity.ai/search/7a3f16fd-4297-48d3-b5ff-dac7e352388f The prints are level. Maybe the room, like the lounge below, is no longer true / square. Split the difference?

Signed up for my first (metric) century! I am a little worried about all the climbing, but it is split up into four climbs and a bunch of rollers, none of which are beyond my ability. Should be fun to train for. @Voltron want to come join? https://marincentury.com

My very grown up kids (41 and 37) describe me as the old fart who shouts at clouds. I tell them that I once was a young fart who still shouted at clouds.

Spring is the perfect time to get out on long rides before the staggering summer heat comes my way. LOVING the 40mm tires. They are maybe a little sluggish on accelerations but they ride so smooth and are ace on descents. I'm also starting to love climbing on this thing. You really have no choice but to put down the power once the grade gets to be over 8-9% and you are already in the little cog.

I have a (not so) secret soft spot for yacht rock. That one blonde backup singer looks familiar, it's almost like she has... TV appearances that aren't lip syncs are a treasure.

Having delivered Margaritas, yesterday to our Brit Mother and daughter neighbors, Today I made good on our offer of the previous owners TV and mount, starting at a civilized time. So out with their previous owners old TV and mount (not shown). It was so old it was small, thicc, 1080, and had composite inputs on the back. So off it came Lasing ... Ok Time for lunch, a local Mexican take away plus Usual, and bubbles for the ladies. It all went well until disaster struck The previous occupants when making room for their TV had cut through the wall and studs to run the cables and just replaced / patched the dry wall - the brown area. So no studs / adhesion for any of the top right anchor bolts. 💩 🤬 I couldn't really abandon them, or rebuild the wall that day. What to do? Apparently there were still studs higher up in the wall. Maybe just maybe, A trip to Pini Hardware, and a conversation with some very helpful staff later ... It's like it was meant to be! You can't really tell in the up position. Watching position, just watch the TV, OK Ok, set up Wifi, Xfinity, etc. What's on Telly? WAT? At least I got some cadburys mini eggs and endless cups of tea out of the deal. They seem happy with it.

Thanks again everyone. I have the Falcon all loaded up for the long drive to Northern Seattle tomorrow. So just one last post for any last minute supporters. https://givebutter.com/WalkforBelonging2026/michaels-walking-team Hey look, I found some spring... cheers and thanks - Mikey

new to me. Pretty melodies plus soundscapes.

Shooting with primes will make you a better photographer, but they won't make you take better photos. Modern (as in the last 20 years) zooms are so good that primes are vestigial beasts best left to eccentrics. There are exceptions to this rule of course, mostly super-teles that operate in a range outside of any zoom. Personally, I muck about with primes because I find them interesting. To me cameras are fiddly devices that get between me and the photo I want to take. Lenses are tools to make art. While I use modern (or "modern") autofocus lenses all the time, for me the real joy is ancient manual focus ones. Also, I haven't posted any of my own photos here in like six months. Two of my favorite bits of vintage glass are Asahi Super-Takumars: A 35mm F/3.5 and 50mm F/1.4. It's a tossup which one is more crackheaded. The 35mm, in spite of its woefully slow aperture for its focal length, has a really fat ass and will not fit properly in Nikon or Canon DSLR bodies. It will fit in a Canon cropped sensor body, and presumably most mirrorless ones. I've posted shots with it in this thread many times over the years. I liken the images it produces to a horror movie. The 50mm does the same thing, but much more so. My particular copy is a third iteration (IIRC) and it's notable for being radioactive. Glamour shot taken with my 100mm F/2.8 Macro. The 50 has a permanent warming filter (that gets more warm over time). It's useless for anything serious, but endless fun for goofing around. For me this is definitive example of "Takumar horror." The color temperature, weird rendering of OOF highlights and slight vignetting are all produced by the lens. I did only minor tweaks in Photoshop. The same view, taken with the 35mm mounted to a 7D Mk II. Not really horror at all. First and foremost, I stopped down and used infinity focus. Also the 35 is not radioactive. I have a long term goal of buying a full frame body so I can mount the 35 to it and see how bad the corners are. Yes, buying a $3K body to mount a $75 lens. Makes perfect sense. I mentioned in the snow thread that we got absolute decimated here in February. I promised to post photos and never did. The AF system on my 5D IV was not impressed with the condensation on the outside of our windows. One nice thing about old primes is that most of them have a hard infinity stop. Modern glass often lets the user focus beyond infinity (calm down, Buzz Lightyear) meaning they're a PITA to use in low light and other difficult circumstances. This shot is in focus, but still quite blurry because of the water on the window. Looking out my front door. No giants doing cartwheels or a statue wearing high heels. Quite the whiteout, however. Taken with the TTArtisan 100mm F/2.8 "Bubble Bokeh," which is a Trioplan copy, more or less. I have mostly used it as an actual 100mm and ignored its abilities with OOF highlights. Our poor, battered thermometer. Back to the OG Canon 50mm F/1.8. My ca. 1988 copy is one of my most prized lenses. Back to the 35mm Takumar and 7D II. Not exactly horror movie, but exhibiting how the 35 is not entirely sharp at any aperture. The images it produces have a slight uncanny quality in more or less all circumstances. One of the casualties of the nor'easter, which had some very powerful winds. As of this writing, the boat is still there. The mighty Canon 135mm F/2L. Designed as a portrait lens, it's good at photographing more or less anything, provided the photographer is up to making use of its FoV and DoF. Oh, hey. Actually using the TTArtisan 100mm for its intended purpose. The late afternoon sun reflecting on the pond and some early spring buds.

Today Ale helped me change the rear air springs on my car... Yesterday, we celebrated his 11th birthday and we got home in the early hours. His face gives him away.. 😁

Nate’s on Marsh, my first Michelin star restaurant.

I've discovered that I'm not getting weaker the older I get, but in fact quite a bit stronger. Yesterday I lifted a $100 bag of groceries with one arm, like it was nothing. I couldn't do that in my twenties!

Sub SnoreWoofer.

New sponsor, new toys

Did you name your dog Rockwell? 😆

More STAX testing. Sibelius: Violin Concerto - Lemminkäinen Suite by Ava Bahari (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/eipd34vton1nt example: Nice recording - performer I didn't know. And a leftover from listening to MTT (rip) Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 & Contredanses, WoO 14 by Orchestra of St. Luke's, Michael Tilson Thomas (1989) https://open.qobuz.com/album/g8dw9cvvp4q0a Example: Also a good recording it has been a long time since I have listened to it (all owned by Sony now).

And of course, Wagner's work with Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny was the peak of his career 🤣

Random Access Memories by Daft Punk (2013) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0886443927087 Example: Some testing - so I might as well have fun.

A little gem I bought in London

Goddamn size queens.

April 23, 1976, the Ramones released their debut album. Hey, ho, 50 years ago(!) As I snarked in 2016, "Sheee-it, some tiny insignificant punk rock album by a band you've never heard of dropped 40 years ago today. It sold poorly, probably because it didn't have any good songs on it." I know I don't have to explain the significance of the Ramones to the crowd of codgers that is head case. I will be lecturing some mostly uninterested zoomers on the subject.

Finished the right channel today. Feedback as suggested by Justin. Bias servo as suggested by Kevin. Red smoke – Super Symmetrical mode. Green smoke – Zero Feedback mode.

GoGo Penguin "Necessary Fictions" The interplay between the drummers of GoGo Penguin and Mammal Hands is fascinating: Rob Turner, Jesse Barrett and Jon Scott. I consider all three drummers to be great, with fantastic sounds and grooves that give both trios a lot of character. I love the tracks where they play syncopated rhythms... microtextures or simply seem to be off-beat before returning to the correct tempo.

If you liked Mammal Hands, I think you'll also like Vega Trails' latest album. Composed by saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands) and Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) I love the Rhodes/Piano played by Taz Modi: I still listen to their first album very often. PD. I'm glad to be back

^ Great pick up. Regretting not hitting RSD, but from a thrift store visit a month ago - Frantic Percussion (in stereo-stereo). This works for Saturday afternoon house cleaning. Full album:

Record store day!