Leaderboard

No more Olympics to watch so back to snake catching. The best I can tell it is just under a meter in length. I will take him for a one-way canyon ride tomorrow and toss him into the bush.

Ready for this weekend!!!!

And I'm auditioning this with...

Wanted to try connecting my subwoofers in a simpler way. Got the RCA Y connectors delivered today. So I have a single variable output on my Parasound Zpre 2. So I used some RCA Y splitters, with one left output going to one of my 2 Zamps running in mono mode, and the Yed second left output going to my left Gallo TR-3D subwoofer. The right Y splitter goes to the right Zamp and the right input of the left subwoofer. The subwoofers have RCA outputs as well as inputs, so I connected the right sub. via the outputs of the left sub. It works like a charm.

And for Nolan fans you can relive your nightmares every day.

Al's Sister Rini gave me a gift card to a cool record shop in Petaluma for my Birthday, back in February. Today Maki and I took the scenic back road and I decided on some used CDs to maximize my yield. I was excited to find that Nitty Gritty Dirt Band CD.

Thanks! It's a bit strange, because I'm used to being the guy that's 100% confident in his abilities on the job. But it's good to shake things up now and then. Also, there's a local carpenter named Jack that has done lots of work on Al's Fairfax house. In 2013 I worked with him on a bathroom remodel above the garage (Frank's old place). And he also saw me building some stuff for Al and Claire. Well on Friday he came into Fairfax Lumber, saw me working there and inquired about that. Augie (the president) started to introduce him to me, and Jack told him that we had worked together several years back. He also said that I could build anything and that I was the best carpenter he'd ever worked with. Not only did that make me feel great, it seemed to impress the boss even more. There's a guy who rents space from Fairfax Lumber who builds furniture on site. His name is Dean. Dean was also standing there, and told Augie to be careful or he'd steal me away from him. Just nice to be recognized for something I put decades of passion into.

So it's that time of year once again where I call upon the incredible generosity and support of this community to help me raise money for the Kelly Brush Foundation. Nate's Donation Page This year is no different than years past, in early September my friends and I will gather in Middlebury, VT to join 800 or so riders for the event. We should have an even bigger team this year with my friend Paul returning from a two-year stint in Poland so it'll be fun to get the whole band back together that started participating in events nearly 20 years ago. For me this is the 13th year of active participation after a few early years of serving as an event photographer. Anyway, this year KBF is hoping to raise $1.5M to support individuals with spinal chord injuries to regain an active lifestyle which means I need to get my ass in gear and do my part. 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. But each year, participating in this event 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. So as you are able I'd very much appreciate your support. To sweeten the pot, every $100 donation will get a custom d-_-b laser engraved slate coaster shipped to the address of your choice. I'm producing the prototype today and will post a picture. Thanks in advance, Nate Last Year's Crew

Band-Maid, Domination

French Girl Wife included?

I thought breaking in the Olympics was a weird idea but then I watched the women's and men's quarter to semis to finals and now I think it would be a shame if this was the only time it happened. I loved it.

I feel this is directed at me...

Just watching this years Electric Boogaloo....

Ale taking his first shots. What do you think of the Canon EF 28-70mm F/2.8L USM? I have been offered one in good condition for €400 but I don't know if it is worth investing in such an old lens... although I have heard that it is of very good quality

I'll be playing that same game after tonight, but without the KEF connect app.

So I finally received my 5m RCA cable so I got the KEF subwoofer hooked up to the LSX ii's It took a bit of moving stuff around as well as doing other shit like updating software on my two NAS. But this seems like a good initial location. I will definitely be moving it around over the next few weeks. I am also very much more impressed with the KEF Connect app. It made setting up the sub very good and provided initial crossover points and the crossover curve. All it required was the name of the specific KEF sub I was using. It does allow for changing all of those which I may end up doing later. Definitely makes the miniDSP less important at this point. The only thing I do not have is the measurement ability in my specific room. I guess I will use my ears for tweaking for a bit. EDIT: Actually the hardest part of the setup was finding a place to store the shipping box.

I'll sweeten the deal. If a caser buys both, I'll turn them into RV/tiny houses. One for you, one for me.

Prototype complete.

Love you guys, thanks for the quick start. Time to head out for a training ride in the balmy 85F/85% humidity. 🥵

Doubt this will be useful to anyone, but should you want to take a short audio tour including here. While in London stayed near the small Freud Museum, where he spent his last few years in exile from the Nazis. Visited, but didn’t have headphones at the time, thus now listening while driving in California. https://www.freud.org.uk/2014/03/01/audio-guide/ A friend and I used to exchange tours a little out of context of being at the place. The old Alcatraz tour was fun late at night.

Every now and then I put this on, Bjork with a backing Jazz Band. Really lots of fun and pretty good music! One of my favorite songs

So I finally got around to this: Animals by Pink Floyd (1977 - 2018 Remix) https://album.link/i/1631582682 Example: I have listened to it twice now along with the original below. I am a little torn on it because I have listened to the original so much that I look for (listen for) certain things. Little fades, microdynamics, stereo interplay, reflections (real or created). It is why I can use tracks like Pigs to set up a speaker system, and align it for the best 3d soundstage. When that gets disturbed, it throws me off. And in some ways I am not listening to the music anymore I am listening to the differences. To be clear this is a remix not a remaster. So I understand it is not just suppose to be just a good sounding version. Does it sound good? Hell yeah, the instruments are more separated, identifiable in the mix. The keyboards are brought forward in the mix, like that. And the bass has a concert level rumble that I have rarely ever heard before on any album, impressive. and in the mix... Animals by Pink Floyd (1977) https://album.link/i/1065974284 Example: Just in case you want to compare using that sweet sweet Youtube Compression. Great album. Did they need to touch it? Probably not. Am I glad they touched it? Probably. The real question will be. Going forward when I want to listen to Animals, which one will I pick? I don't know, but I will be interested to find out.

It's Land Rover time here on MV again. This year's location (which, ahem, was changed last minute) wasn't as nice as last year's. Also the lighting conditions were fare worse. With that said, I went around with my 5D IV and 17-40. The combination of camera body and lens looks "official" so (most) people got out of my way. I won't win any awards for framing with most of these. As is invariably the case, what the camera doesn't show is the real story. I was constantly dodging moving vehicles (both LRs and not) as well as ambling attendees. Also as I mentioned, the sunlight was very harsh. I'd have brought along my speedlite, but last time I tried to power it up, it refused. The 580EX was $400 in 2006, I shudder to think was the replacement model costs these days. Bonus doggo. She didn't quite know what to make of all the commotion.

Thanks guys, it is a ride I’ve done once before and is in essence uphill the whole way. I mean yes, there are descents after the big climbs but as a point to point there’s a lot more up than down. And a persistent headwind out of the north was not something I’d bargained on. Oddly enough, what freaks most people out is my HR data. AVG: 158bpm, MAX: 178. Not too shabby for a 48 year old.

The Riven remake is here: