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Hardware finally arrived so we installed pulls and stops and we're done with this project.

I'm elected as City Congress Member of CHP (main oppotsition party) also elected as Town board member. Getting knee deep into politics.

^ Never understood going after Mann. Have two of her books. Spent Sunday at a lowrider event at Montalvo, likely my last one of 2025. Decided to take two cameras and have a little test between them - a dusty, slow Hassy 500cm with II 50c 50MP digital back & old Zeiss Distagon 50 f/4 T* and a shiny, snap-like Sigma 24MP BF (Beautifully Foolish) with a matching new 35 f/2 Contemporary. For fun shot at 1:1, which most definitely isn’t natural for me. Hassy Sigma

Posted on FB, had an awesome Music and Audio day yesterday. A vendor demo visit to a local dealer, met new people, listened to a near-$500K system, and reminisced with some old coots like myself who loved the Boston music scene in the 70's and 80's. Re-connected with an industry guy who I hadn't seen in maybe 25 years....got a hug of support when we shared our spouses' cancer history. His wife is still living, and I stressed to him to be ever-vigilant and monitor as much as possible; I'd rather scare people a bit and have them advocate than to keep losing lives thinking "I'm 100% cured." I just hope she never has to go back to treatments. But was a wonderful time. I won a raffle item of a McIntosh-sponsored Johnny Cash audiophile LP set. From the original Sun Master Tapes, 45rpm 180Gram vinyl, yada yada. Looking forward to trying it out! On the live music scene, last night an Audio Buddy and I saw Hiromi on her Sonicwonder tour. Just a stunning and engaging show! I last saw her in 2013, and both times were just fantastic. The venue was lovely as well....and an Angel's Envy neat in an "adult sippy cup" (plastic cup with plastic cover to help reduce spills) topped the eve off well.

Rebuilt my in-laws garage door opener. After 40 years the plastic drive gear had perished. So I hopped on Amazon (some time ago) and ordered the replacement part for all of $20. An hour of fiddling and it's back working.

Congrats! Keep us up to date. Yesterday we retreated to the safety of the past-ish to hang with the happy weirdos. Left before cottagecore/mushroomcore took over.

Installed the doors this morning. I aborted the installation last Sunday, because I didn't want to take the chance of scratching/denting them trying to reach my lumber rack by myself. Today I had the owners help and her pickup. I'm always nervous, even though I measured three times. There's just no room for even 1/16" of error. Luckily they fit perfectly.

It was perhaps the perfect day/evening to ride today. Low 60s, sunny, light winds. This is the N+1 bike. I tried to just buy a spare set of wheels and this guy, who was 15 minutes from the house, offered me an entire bike for a few hundred more than the wheelset that it had on it (Zipp 303s). So the Canyon has been adopted for trainer use but today it was the bike that had road wheels on it and it was too nice out not to go for a rip. Traffic was problematic. This lot cost me a PR on a segment, but I didn't mind.

Well today we drove to Napa and went to a winery that he orders from regularly. Tasted some good wines, ate some good food and had some good conversation. Hard to beat that. He even fell in love with my dog Maki, who traveled in the car with us.

Yesterday, Joanne invited me to a work event to celebrate the completion of a project that has been almost three decades from initial conception to completion . Marin-Sonoma Narrows widening project hits 'huge milestone' https://www.marinij.com/2025/09/29/marin-sonoma-narrows-widening-project-hits-huge-milestone/ Major Bay Area highway project started 13 years ago to reach milestone https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/major-bay-area-highway-project-milestone-19392283.php There was themed schwag And carbs A roster of relevant speakers Who mentioned all those "without whom this would not have been possible" plus federal, state and local funding sources. Then onto the photo ops And the ribbon cutting Note the last minute CHP entry. It's not often you get to see CHP in their dress uniform ties (or bow ties and boots in the case of the Motor Cycle riders) And yet some people are never happy Bay Area drivers still furious after Highway 101 widening https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/bay-area-drivers-still-furious-highway-101-21074054.php

That's how I felt after hearing Oswald Mill Audio Imperia speakers at his loft space in DUMBO years ago with JP#s. Big speakers with intimate live sound.

Just got back from a 2-day event at Sonoma. Track driving is the BEST. Had to give point-bys to an instructor in fiesta ST last two sessions so good to get served a lesson of how far i still have to go as a driver. 😂

Made a control board for filament smps today. Some pictures from my kitchen. Idle voltage – no tube 2A3 300B and EML 20B-V4

Surgical strike to walk Penny and see the Watson Twins. We'll go back later for more.

About sixteen hours after returning to California, we sauntered down to HSB in person for Corey Harris, a bit of Shawn Colvin, Margo Price, a tad bit of War and Treaty, and then Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats. Going to head back in later this morning for the Watson Twins...

I posted about buying a new electric razor in the what'd you buy thread. I expected it to be a better shave than my 10 y.o. Philips Norelco razor. Now I did keep up maintaining my old razor. I was diligent about thoroughly cleaning it on a daily basis. Not hard to do, as it was a wet/dry razor, so a good rinse and brushing each morning. It did have a cleaning/charging station but the cleaning pods were expensive and I eventually stopped using it. The pods would dry up quickly, with no way to cap them. But I did keep it clean. And I replaced my blades every two years as suggested. So this morning I used the new razor and am literally gobsmacked at the quality of shave I got! This is quite literally hand razor quality. Something they've been touting for decades, but have never really achieved. But now they have. This new Razor (Philips Norelco 8000) does several things the old one didn't. #1: it has a learning app that actually monitors your shave and gives you tips on how to shave better: small circular motions and so on. #2: the blades are self sharpening. Too early to tell if this will indeed work well. And #3: the flex between the 3 blades is really good. My old razor had a flexible head, but it never contoured anywhere near as good as this one. Before if I were going somewhere where I wanted to look my best, I'd shave with foam and a hand razor. Now I'll get that look and feel with an electric. I know I'm going on and on about an electric razor, but it really is kind of incredible to me. When I was younger shaving would really irritate my skin. So much so that I'd only shave a few times a week. In 1984 I bought my first electric razor. A Braun with the linear foil heads (2). I thought it worked well. At least I could shave daily, even if it wasn't the quality of a hand razor. A few years later was the first wet/dry razor, a Panasonic. I'd shave in the shower and it was a little better. Also a foil head design. Somewhere around 1990 I bought my first Norelco with rotary heads. It seemed to conform better, and was more comfortable, so that's where I settled. This new one is really comfortable and quite good! And as a bonus it has a separate charging stand, or you can plug directly into the razor. And a separate, smaller cleaning pod. This cleaning pod needs no power cord. It's simply powered by the razor itself. And the pod has a tight fitting lid to keep the solution from evaporating into the air. I've also found an inexpensive solution that mixes with 70% isopropyl alcohol. This can pour right into the Philips canister. So I'll most likely go through this cycle every month or so. Though the daily clean with water and brush will continue. Hmm, I think I've waxed on about a razor long enough. But I'm truly impressed. I expect my love life to increase by several twinks a month. Hmm, I wonder how good it'll groom... Nevermind, sorry for that brain image.

Miles Davis - Elevator To The Gallows/Ascenseur pour l'échafaud/Lift to the Gallows Soundtrack

Joseph Crowe Audio horns. Heard these at an audio show last week and they've basically wrecked everything I thought I knew about audio and redefined what is possible. The performance ceiling in high-end audio is far higher than I ever imagined and much closer to live sound than I thought.

I'm not sure anyone cares, but here are even more pictures of the jig demonstrating the various uses. Tenon, mortise, bridle joint, etc. Splining miter joints L-fence for ripping straight edges or long miters And a gratuitous shot of Steve on Grindr

Today I dropped my Prop 50 ballot in the mail. It's just one little vote, but it made me feel so good.

Lunch & Dinner Loaded Mac'n Cheese with Pork Belly And Burnt Ends, 6 oz's of slow smoked brisket point, candied and smoked again, served with Bread & Butter pickles & slaw on the side with toasted garlic bread

They selected "Well Done" - fuck that noise.

^^ Hoping things combust internally for him and the administration by 2026 Nobel voting.... But for now, moar HDD stuph

Some damn, dirty hippie with entirely too many guitar amps. Taken in St. Petersburg, FL in 1973 by Joel Bernstein.

After the morning jaunt, the plan was to start with Dan Tyminski but I took a nap instead. Claire went and enjoyed it. I arrived at the blanket one minute before Cimafunk started, which was pretty ideal. They are from Cuba but live in New Orleans now apparently. Fun stuff. Made our way to the adjacent stage in time for Tweedy to come out and bore the snot out of everyone. The sun was in his face and his deathly pallor clearly indicated that was not routine. When he finally spoke, he said that he didn't know the sun would be here and "that's not cool, man." Wilco's California Stars was the only song that got the crowd going. At the end of the show he said that it was the first show touring for his new triple album, and thanked us for listening to a lot of new stuff. Definitely the weakest of many Tweedy shows I have seen with Wilco, solo, and with this band with his two sons that he used to call Tweedy. Oh well.

I won't be able to make it in person this year, because: reasons, but Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2025 https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/ Is about to go live with streaming on the website and the dedicated App (HSB TV) Quite the lineup, as always. https://hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HSB25-Print-at-Home-Schedule.pdf

I just thought something funny... These women are Al's Sister in Laws, a lesbian couple. They and their gay carpenter seem so excited to put up closet doors, even though we spent a good portion of time knocking them down. Just caught me as ironic.

Moar funz...

On No Kings day, Claire and I made an exception for Kingfish, aka Christone Ingraham. He's an amazing blues guitarist and a great singer to boot. I was very happy to hear some great blues and if the video works for you, it was a blast when he walked out into the audience while playing and ended up two feet from me. IMG_7503.mov

A Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra by Oscar Peterson (1959) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060254747135 Example: Jaunty morning jazz.

Today Al and I pretty much finished up the table saw jig that I started a while back. This is basically where I left off... Today we mortised for the tracks, made the arched dados for the tenoning portion of the jig and fitted the L fence and splining accessories that Al made on Friday.

The Hifi Company So Good it Killed Them (Nakamichi)

Tried out the HP100SE at the audio show today and it's not for me, darn thing sounds like an SR325 with more resolution and a bigger soundstage. It's too bright for me and it doesn't have the midrange magic of my RS-1. The overall frequency balance sounds like it was tuned for fans of the Senn HD800 or Stax 9000 series, it seems made for people who like a brighter more clinical sound that emphasizes detail & resolution. Yes it's punchy, dynamic, and checks the usual audiophile boxes, but way too much of the music I like just doesn't sound good. I think the Grado S950 beats the snot out of it any day, that one sounds like an RS-1 with Audeze LCD-XC soundstage & resolution, way more musical & forgiving and as far as I can tell in show conditions it doesn't give up any detail & resolution to the HP100SE.

Sausage mushroom and black garlic pizza

I wasn't sure where to put this but this is a PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC so might as well be here. Found this thing dirt cheap in Japan, clearly modded and thought... why not. Might be fun... but boy ohh boy this is utter insanity. It was showed as up and running by the seller so I needed to go in and see how I could change the voltage on it. I didn't snap any pics of it when it arrived but here is one once the felt strips had been pulled off... yeah felt strips: That's the bottom so it was covered in these strips. Now I dug deeper: So there was this layer of aluminum tape that was painted and sealed on the edges with this rather coarse paint, almost like the stuff you'd use to make chalkboard finish. Then underneath there was come copper tape and the adhesive on this was nasty shit. I attacked it with IPA, acetone and adhesive cleaner (mineral spirit) and now it is mostly off the outside. I had to use plastic scrapers to get it off and machine polish the top over (due to all the small scratches from cleaning it) but it looks okey. Now I had yet to open it as the top cover is pushed up through the bottom and you need 4-40# screws to do that... something that is impossible to get here. Two weeks ago I found myself in Chicago on my annual visit and Kevin hooked me up with some that did the trick and here is what I found: Now one starts to wonder about sanity and what hose clamps have to do with audio quality but yeah... this is the most insane shit I've ever seen. This is the top cover and here is this paint the whole unit is covered in. No idea what it is but it is rather inert and I had to scrape it off the top and bottom panels. Seriously... hose clamps. This is so retarded it isn't even funny. A few things to note, see those felt strips, same as were on the outside of the unit and those ferrite beads and rods are all over it. Now to switch things up a bit, here is what looks like a brillo pad around the transformer. It's not steel wool and it was around it all. Here is another shot of the steel what ever and those rods glued to the bottom of the chassis. Also see the silver bits attached to the cables... yeah more on that later. Here it is with the cotton? pulled out of it showing what I've stepped into. How many hours did this take? Our lovely hose clamps again but look at that transformer. It is wound in aluminum tape, then the felt, then some rod, then more aluminum tape... Then those rods on the bottom of the chassis... I've started to peel stuff off and it is like an onion Main transformer and in the bottom right hand corner are all the cable ties holding those silver bits on the cables. Yeah, that is about 10 layers of aluminum plus some small ferrites and rods... Why? Fuck knows... Main transformer peeking through the madness as I need to get to it and read its markings to covert it to 230V. I'll have to do some more cleaning but this was just too good not to post...

Not sure if this is the best place to continue this discussion....but I love love love this woman and her sarcasm. There's another clip I saw on FB where she goes on factually to show why he doesn't deserve it. But even this part is great.

I’m coming up on 200 miles on the new bike and still very much in the honeymoon phase. I did a 35ish mile ride today and had a blast. This thing is a riot to get out and ride. I love how much distance I can cover, and it feels like a proper machine. The farm roads where I live are infinite, and with the radar I’m not caught off guard when motorists do want to overtake. I’m starting to get used to the clipless setup. No wipe-outs since the initial one. As I’ve developed a more deft touch on the brakes it is easier to dismount under control. I still have close calls every now and then so not ready to crank the pedal tensioners up yet, but I’m getting there. I’m ready for a bike fit and booked one with a local place that a co-worker recommended that uses the Retul stuff. I don’t know what I’m doing outside of going by feel, so hoping they can help me out. I’m not sure if my saddle is right or not, and I do get some shoulder soreness on longer rides. I can see fit being more and more important as I do longer rides. I’m also going to bring the bike back to the shop for a break-in adjustment and cleaning. She is getting filthy and I don’t have access to a hose to spray it off.

Wish I was there --- Samara Joy was a good set. Dan Tyminski Band was a treat, watched the end of the Rose City after Samara. Sam Bush was fun. Watching some Cash until Tweedy. From yesterday I really enjoyed: Reverend Horton Heat ALO The Mother Hips Enjoy local team.

Molly Tuttle w/ Ketch Secor from old crow medicine show as a guest Cecilia Castleman and Joshua Ray Walker opened https://archive.org/details/cc10250928 https://archive.org/details/jrw20250928 https://archive.org/details/mt20250928

It was, yes!! My brother organized a small flashmob visit to my room that included some of my favorite humans including Bill Arkins who is almost 96 years old, a retired pharmacist who said he still has ways to smuggle dope if I need anything good. Also mentioned that my house is still standing and that he hasn't stolen anything yet. He rides by every day like clockwork on his 1960s style Schwinn bike with coaster brakes that looks practically new still. Best bang for the buck ever. Bill's son-in-law Don, one of my high school classmates, walked in behind him and said, "Oops, wrong room. I thought this was a removal call. I get a lot of those here..." He's a funeral director, so naturally followed that up with "We appreciate your business but we're willing to wait..." for probably the 10,000th time with his typical stoic delivery. There was cake... it was an Office Space sort of birthday celebration but in a good way.

San Anselmo ended their 2025 Live on The Avenue Season with a very well attended Performance by Super Diamond As the band Said Don't let anyone tell you, that Niel Diamond doesn't ROCK! In addition, there was a DJ In Imagination Park (thanks Mr Lucas) (Check out the states of Indiana Jones, and Yoda in the background)

I made some cotton sleeved speaker cables - going to get them hooked up to my horns which I moved my rack over to the side and as such needed two different length cables… couldn’t find any coconut fiber sleeving

I think that I already mentioned that the floor is out 1/4" just in the span of the two doors. You don't feel it, and certainly can't see it. However, if I had cut the door bottoms straight across, it'd be very noticeable. So instead the left side is 1/4" longer than the right side, and I cut that angle to match the floor. That gave me a perfect 1/4" gap at the bottom of the doors. I hate when interior doors have a giant gap at the bottom. As these solid Oak doors are heavy, I installed 3" brass screws into the hinges on the framing side. These reach into the studs and not just the jambs. Then I used two inch screws on the door side of the hinges. This will guarantee no sagging over time.

Carol Kaye Is Being Honored by the Rock Hall. She Doesn’t Care. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/arts/music/carol-kaye-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ok8.jc_B.uWHtQAZ4VieQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare (gift article) The first time Paul McCartney played the Beach Boys’ 1966 album “Pet Sounds,” he was struck by the grand ambition of the music as well the intricacies of tracks like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” “And as I was a bass player,” McCartney noted in a recent interview, “I listened closely to the bass parts.” Like most people, McCartney assumed the song’s melodically affecting rhythms were the work of Brian Wilson. “Then later I looked at the credits,” he said, “and I saw it wasn’t Brian on bass, it was this girl, Carol — Carol Kaye. That was quite a shock to me. I started looking into what else Carol played on, and she was on everything.”

Anyone else holding off on bathroom visits?

I have a Cousin that I've talked about on here before. He lived in San Antonio, and thought he was an open minded liberal, but was anything but. He voted for Trump in his first term. We had a falling out over gay marriage. He tried to act like he was gay friendly around me, but was very opposed to gay marriage. I had no luck getting him to understand how insulting some of his opinions were to me, so I just checked out of that relationship. This was several years back, while living in Texas. His wife tried to smooth things over a few times, but knew it was a losing battle. Monday, out of the Blue he called me up. He said he was driving to visit his estranged Son ( his Son and I have a great relationship, full of mutual respect ), in Colorado, and was thinking of driving on to California afterwards. He wanted to get together tonight. I really had mixed feelings about seeing him at all. But he told me his wife had passed 3 months back. I attended their wedding in 1979, and really liked her. She sought me out at family gatherings and was somewhat of what we used to call a fag hag. So I felt somewhat sympathetic to his loss. We had dinner at Rancho Nicasio. It's 1/2 a mile from my house, should I need to make a hasty exit. All in all it went well. We didn't touch on politics or social issues, though I must admit to wondering what his political stance is today. My Mom always had a good relationship with him, and for that reason I consented to dinner. He'll be headed back home soon, and that'll be that. We're planning to get together again tomorrow, after I install the doors I'm working on. I think it would have made my Mom happy. Just have to avoid certain conversations one more day. It was fun talking about our grandparents and mutual family members. And I had some great fish and chips.