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First episode was excellent. Currently streaming on Hulu.

I thought you were repairing some Stax.

Crucible of hell. Details the invasion of Okinawa. Lot's of detail from people that were there on both sides. One of the worst battles of the war. I was stationed in Okinowa for a year in the mid 70's. It was an eye opening experience for a 19 year old from a rural area of Iowa.

Willie wrote the majority of his songs in under 15 minutes each. Three Days was a hit for Patsy Cline and K.D. Lang. Hello Walls was a #1 hit for Farron Young. Crazy was a #1 hit for Patsy Cline.

Get your music while it is 'fresh'. Classical has had a lot of releases already this year. Janáček - Brahms - Bartók Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say 2023 https://album.link/i/1653100479 Example: Maybe a touch challenging for a Monday morning. But captivating regardless. I don't think I have had a Janáček recording before. Patricia and Fazil play well together.

One of my favorite camera bloggers has an amusing take on that story: https://bythom.com/newsviews/the-new-york-times-prints.html

I did the same thing with mine (with the exact same bits): shiny is good! I have noticed no difference, but the gasket had gotten hard and likely needed replacement, or would soon.

And Then I Wrote Willie Nelson 1962 https://album.link/i/1443134445 Example: Classic Album with Classic tracks. I guess I should have listened last year when it turned 60yo.

Okay did I need a new water separator? and screen? and portafilter seal? Was there a problem I was trying to fix? Nope. But look shiny.. 💎🦜 {peck peck}

ftfy

Bryan, if you go with the Flair try a Bellman stovetop steamer; it’s a little slow compared to my Breville, but it steams very high quality milk. You would just want an induction burner on your coffee bar.

I, on the other hand, listened to a SHITLOAD of music in the 90's. Also went to a crazy amount of concerts. I was teased about being able to pick something that I would want to see/hear every night of the week. If I might recommend a couple favourites: Curve, Cuckoo and Pubic Fruit Depeche Mode, Violator Garbage and Version 2.0 The Gathering, Mandylion, Nighttime Birds, and How to Measure a Planet? godhead, Nothingness and Power Tool Sigmata Halou, We Only Love You and (technically 2001) Wiser My Bloody Valentine, Loveless Nine Inch Nails, Broken, The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile Slowdive, Just for a Day, Souvlaki, and Pygmalion Stabbing Westward, Darkest Days and Whither Blister Burn and Peel ...and probably a shitload more I'm forgetting. Me: listening to some a capella group called Washinton University Amateurs.

1995 opus. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness Smashing Pumpkins 1995 https://album.link/i/721224313 Example (of many): I didn't listen to much of 'current' music in the 90s. I was all over the place once I got my first main rig. But happy to have listened to this, I really liked it, with its ebbs and flows. They are much more than the '1979' tune that we all know.

^^ enjoyed. 50yo Paul Simon Paul Simon 1972 https://album.link/i/380588824 Example: Well, not a great album. I really like Example track or course, but pretty thin beyond that. It does not seem that he found his solo voice until later on.

After watching this last night, I wanted to listen to some more ELO: I didn't know this one that well. I don't think I ever owned it. Not 50yo yet - but close. Electric Light Orchestra II Electric Light Orchestra 1973 https://album.link/i/1054523017 Example: Longer songs than most, but they also have the classic Jeff signature. From Arguably an honorary Beatle.

Now this X9000 thingy... I am waiting in anxiety for Birgir's impression on it, as it might sound good with the types of music he is listening to. I have borrowed one (with a DAC, amp, cables, the whole shebang) from a lovely owner due to his lack of time to listen for a whole week now, and I have changed my mind like 5 times. I think it is probably the fastest headphone I've heard with the best, ultra-precise spatial detail, very foot-tapping, this is the type of music where it is very impressive. but also the one of the most unrealistic (in the second one, it just goes to the next slow-paced track and it starts to sound weird). Yes, it reproduces even more of what's in symphonic music, if there is more textural information that makes the sound become more natural, they are kind of "overwritten" by its new technical level that it is playing at. Maybe I am clueless, but I think they have taken it too far regarding diaphragm thickness. They have managed to take the speed over 9000 (That's impossible!) I think it can be tuned to be better (waiting for the 'S' version...) I don't know what's the slowest, lushest amp possible to make it somewhat more enjoyable for me. (Or use several amps and change the sound depending on the music) But I don't see the point of buying the fastest out there to make it slow. Yes, it has mesh transducers like the SR-Omega with impeccable build, and you can actually buy one (with warranty), there are similarities, like big but lightweight, big stage, etc. but they sound nothing alike. I can see 009 owners seeing this as a big upgrade, that was the previous one I tested (not like this, unfortunately, only with the amp...) and I think it sounded "very intense" (restraining myself here), but the speed wasn't taken to this extreme level. I have also tested the L300 Limited and my impression of it is very much a love or hate thing. Basically, an interesting new transducer technology, struggling to get out. Compared to older Lambdas it is badly built, uncomfortable, unsealed pads means bye bye deep bass, trades airiness for precision, uneven frequency response. Maybe deliberate product segmentation? They have resources to do a Lambda that is miles better than these ones. Good thing they still have the 007 Mk2 at least...and they realised the screw-up with the supposedly 009-style diaphragm - they just won't tell us the units affected... For example, based on all the positive-negative thoughts about the Audeze CRBN, it seems that they have aimed to make it sound less ethereal (damped, weighty, not as ultra-fast) which I think is a good thing, but they have also lost some of the wow-factor. This is completely the other direction, and if it really has any resemblance to the HE90 I am all-in for it. In my very distant memory, that headphone still has the best reproduction of timbre and musical notes. They appear and disappear 'normally' with weight behind them. I couldn't care about blurry imaging, murky bass, upper register anomalies etc. However, looking at the whole picture, the Omega is starting to be more and more competitive now, an emerging superpower, like China. Kind of interesting to read the contemporary comparisons by darth nut, I think these newer, more advanced sources and amps can change the sound perception compared to way back then. Also, just a side note: some people not hearing certain things about KGSSHV etc. aftermarket amps not being that much better to a standard Stax amps may need to change sources(I wish some things would not take a step backwards in this earlier iteration, but overall more impressive and transforms some headphones and does not cost that much more than my modded 727), the two work together effectively as a combination. When I heard an expensive DAC last time, the amp and circumstances weren't that good. You can't just save on one and ignore the other because this review says it is the greatest value jada, jada... And you don't even need the SR007 etc. to be in need of this change. But some headphones definitely do a damn good job in a cheap system, it is just hard to back when they can sound similar, yet 100% better. Giving these back won't be comfortable one bit. I mean the amp & DAC (maybe cables), not the headphones. So, basically, he has one side covered and I have the other side covered... :) And of course, another new problem I have now, is that I have accumulated so many of these, and when the system is good, they just all become better at what they do best, a lot of them being too cheap to just ignore compared to the price of certain elements in the chain. I expected to play the elimination game a whole lot easier, it doesn't really work, but I need to change things at some point... But then again, there will be a time where we might be back to the normal universe from this alternative one, and there will only be precious little time left to actually sit down & listen to music (in a completely dark and silent environment, some headphones really need this, even the X9K becomes more impressive/less annoying with this mismatched system). Happy listening!

RIP Hale Zukas, disability rights activist. He referred to people without disabilities as “temporarily able-bodied people”. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/08/disability-rights-warrior-hale-zukas-life

No. Fucking. Way.

Oh no. Not Ken! https://www.tmz.com/2023/01/02/rally-car-driver-ken-block-dead/

RIP Barbara Walters.

Transgender rights activist Henry Berg-Brousseau dies aged 24 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/21/transgender-rights-activist-henry-berg-brousseau-dies-aged-24