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Not today, but Thursday night, the northern lights made a return visit. Quite visible to the naked eye this time with pretty striking red and green hues across the whole night sky. Wild to see in southern New England. Today, replaced the rear brakes on the Volvo which my mechanic had said were "metal on metal". That was a slight exaggeration but the pads were down to the wear bars so it was time. The rotors actually looked pretty good (essentially no lip) but decided that it made sense to do them while I was in there since I already had the parts. I did not end up doing the fronts as they still have a good 1.5mm to the wear bar and the rotors look fine as well. I'll keep the parts on hand and plan on doing them next spring summer depending on how inspection goes in March.

Prepping for homecoming tailgate on Friday. Made a batch of cheddar jalapeño and maple apple havarti sausage. Pair of prime briskets ready roll.

Continuing the theme of "fix shit yourself" I completed the two week journey that was bringing a Ryobi One+ battery back to life. It had sat (incorrectly) on a charger for too long and discharged itself to the point where it could no longer be charged. I suspected the batter was fine. Problem one - it has one effing torx safety screw so a quick shopping trip to Amazon for IFIXIT's smallest kit with the right bit and the chassis was opened. From there I could check the cells, see that none were shorted they just all had very low voltage. Problem two - how do you trick the charger into thinking the battery is ok? A few YouTube videos and some hacking of wire later and I was able to float the battery up to ~13V which was enough to get the charger to recognize it and fully recharge the battery. Sure, I spent $15 on the torx bit but I didn't put an otherwise functional battery in a land fill. I call that a win.

Finally got to hear the CRBN at the Toronto Audio Fest. I camped out all morning at the Audeze booth and listened to the LCD-2, LCD-5, and CRBN since I wanted to know how they compare to my LCD-XC. I have very little experience with 'stats since I don't know anyone in my area who has one, only ones I've heard was some entry level Stax (crap) at a meet like 20 years ago and a SR-404/SRM-717 combo a fellow head-fi member had. 404 was nice on some music, but dynamics, impact, and bass were lacking, it couldn't rock or boogie. Show conditions so can't really tell much about low level detail or resolution, once I got to around the LCD-XC level it's all fairly similar, I'm not going to pretend I heard a bunch of details or room echoes in the LCD-5 or CRBN that I didn't on the LCD-XC. But the good news is the CRBN can rock out to Black Sabbath and Motorhead, and it can groove to Bob Marley though I do wish it had a bit more bass & impact like the LCD-2 or XC. Soundstage is nice, perspective seems to be a bit further back which I prefer, the LCD-XC sometimes puts me right in the conductor's position in an orchestra which can sound a bit wonky depending on the music. Overall, it sounds like an Audeze which is a good thing. I think the LCD-5, XC, and CRBN are more alike than different, being a closed headphone the XC has a sizable advantage in show conditions so I'd definitely want to spend more time with the flagships in a nice quiet room to hear how well they can resolve low level details, room boundaries, and all that other stuff that's hard to hear in a noisy room.

The cooler weather has brought an end to rattlesnake season and the beginning of deer season.

Still need to do some color work, but here are a few snaps from a Lowrider event yesterday. Hassy 907x II 50c and 28p lens. Also starting to experiment with a NONS Instax Square back on a Hassy 500c, but really need to work on the exposure (the dynamic range is thin). Finally and best, met up with @robm321 as we solved the world problems over sugar.

Yesterday to London to see Oedipus. Astonishing, modern version of the Sophocles Greek classic with Mark Strong and Lesley Manville. Two hours without a break. If and when it gets to Broadway, go and see it. Write up is here https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/oct/16/oedipus-review-lesley-manville-and-mark-strong-electrify-ancient-saga-turned-political-thriller

I had breakfast with Ludicris at the Atlanta airport. Suck it @MexicanDragon!

Slow Horses (AppleTV) - finished s1, started s2... Again, late to the party, but after finishing Ted Lasso, I figured my ear was already trained for a variety of British accents, so... I probably should just put everything that Pars, Grahame, Torpedo, & blessingx recommend onto my watch-lists.

Yesterday actually. Drove Mary and Emily to the airport for their flight to SFO to search for available/affordable apartments in Pacific Heights. Emily starts her job on Monday as a clinical Pediatrics Speech Therapist so a new chapter in her life begins. The airport round trip took over four hours. The same time it would take to drive from LA to San Diego.

Needed some feminine energy tonight ex.

Last night, we got a whole lot of Frank Pepe New Haven style pizza. Tasty!

Bandwith restored, so Swan Stage, Adjacent Decent Sound from the nearby vertical array. What we heard / missed Didn't get the full HSB experience, as our host had facilities with walking distance. Quite a crowd by the time we left.

Having just been to see Coriolanus (Shakespeare), we went through the list of Shakespeare plays we have seen. We've seven yet to see. But the most memorable productions were: Merry Wives of Windsor. David Troughton (son of Patrick Troughton, one of the early Dr Who's) Much Ado about Nothing. David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The Winter's Tale. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Dench. Titus Andronicus (a gore fest revenge play; blood and guts from beginning to end). David Troughton Julius Caesar. Ben Wishaw. Hamlet. Michael Sheen. King Lear, Four notable productions. Frank Langhella (excellent), Ian McKellen (superb), Glenda Jackson (RIP, but was superb), and most recently (this year) Kenneth Branagh (surprisingly superb). Macbeth. Patrick Stewart (the definitive play! For a treat watch this on You Tube), Sean Bean and Samantha Bond, Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff, and by far the worst one Christopher Eccleston. Have tickets to see David Tennant this autumn. As you might tell, we like this play! Othello. Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear.

Tic-tac-tic-tac-

Wood stove wood fired pizza among the falling leaves. Home made dough, creamed leeks, pancetta and fresh mozzarella.

Maybe the best performance I've heard of the Beethoven Trios:

Very hard route but I'm happy. Beautiful place, friends.... I had good times in a few hard parts but in the crono (last 5kms) I only did a regular time... I guess that my body isn't to 100%.

Champian Fulton, Jane Monheit, and Camille Thurman doing a tribute to 30s-50s ladies of jazz, in Mtn. View, but touring the country.

A few plates from a New Mexico golf trip with friends.... HS

So if you have been in the Drinks 2024 thread (where I live) you know that we had three University events on Thursday and Friday. One was the Women Kicking Glass Gala where Karen and I had to wear our Prom outfits

Friday's Oktoberfest beer dinner. I'm still a bit full.

"Nice" Fish Taco's, Pork Belly, and Shrimp Taco(s).

Finished Slow Horses today, what a fabulous show! Gary Oldman is so damn good

The Dinner Belle is Beeville, TX of all places. There for a racing event and found this little family owned gem. The candy their jalapeños and bacon. I may not live long but boy was it worth it... HS

Very scary and sad. Even as a Jew, I can't support this. Hamas needs to be gone, but so does the right wing in Israel.... God forbid if Trump wins. Aside from all the other Hell we'd get, he'll let Netanyahu do whatever he'd like!

8AM pst start. Continuing to test the grill with butts. This time, putting a 9lb bone in butt on the grilla.

My BIL treated us to a birthday dinner at a new "live fire" restaurant, Creedence. Live fire is all the rage in H-town these days. Fortunately, the service, drink and food were very good. I figure they'll be better in another month or so as they've only been open a month... Bone-in ribeye, BBQ shrimp, stuffed red snapper and coconut cream pie were a few of their dishes... HS

Peach cobbler. Obligatory vanilla ice cream procured.

Golden gate Park, Botanical Gardens flower piano 2024 (on the first sunny day!)

For those who haven’t heard Slow Horses season 5 just wrapped and season 6 has been early renewed.

I hope UMG gets skewered over and over again.

Limp Bizkit’s fraud lawsuit rattles music industry: ‘These accusations are massive’ Band alleges that Universal Music Group owes it more than $200m after concealing royalties https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/13/limp-bizkit-universal-music-group-lawsuit

That's a good point. I'll be reviewing all the documentation of the 100-400mm 4.5l (it´s my favotite lens) but I can add other lens too. Meanwhile:

Some more FB funnies

I like butts.

Pre Hardly Strictly spread in the city.

Quatuor Ébène: Milestones. The Jazz Album For classical musicians they have got some swing.

Asheville, NC. AKA Brent's definition of hell.

The Dynamic Rockers with Penny Marshall

He was a great ballplayer but a douche of a human.

Roast chicken

He did not look good recently, so I'm not surprised. But we just lost one of the best lyricist of our time. R.I.P. Kris

Fall colors. 6D mk1 this time. Much smaller show at a burger joint a couple blocks from home.

RIP

Cheers fellas!

At my age, I am happy if I don’t bust anything.