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Man, have I missed out on all the fun here? I have no excuse, my home office serves double-duty as my blast shelter, so even when my windows shake from Iron Dome detonations I can certainly post. I can't share all the tea here on an open forum, but I'll make a point to pop by and represent the USG perspective on what is going on. This is obviously a subject that arouses very strong feelings in many (myself included), but as a paid propagandist working in exactly this area I think I'm uniquely qualified to stick my neck out.

Just had my final autocross in the Macan . Finished 8th on PAX (time adjusted by class) in a field of 42 cars! Easily my best finish. It helped that it was cold and rainy so the GT3 and RS cars on semi-slicks were having grip issues. Weather conditions are part of racing though so I make no apologies for finishing ahead of all but one of the GT3 drivers. There was another older gentleman in his 80s driving a '21 Macan as well who smoked me and finished 3rd on PAX (missed first by 0.2s!). He was 2.5 seconds faster on about a 60 second course, so the gap was substantial. I was able to ride along with the guy and he was an amazing driver. You learn so much riding right seat when a good driver is behind the wheel. Funny thing is, he left traction/ESC control full on! He just was incredibly smooth with pedal inputs and knew how much force he could put on the steering wheel without understeering. Assuming all goes to plan, I will soon be trading the Macan in for the Boxster. She has been an amazing car, but the Boxster should be a lot more suited to the kinds of driving I want to do! I've never owned a convertible before so open top motoring should also be interesting to live with. I feel like I am going to have a lot of bad habits to un-learn after 10 years of driving AWD cars, but should be fun. 718 platform with the mid engine seems to be about as forgiving as a sports car that fast gets.

Indeed. From https://www.mylondon.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/outrageous-life-notorious-chef-marco-21602394 "Allegedly, Marco even once made Gordon Ramsay - renowned for being a tough chef who regularly causes jaws to drop on shows like Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - break down in tears. Australia's news.com.au reports Marco trained Gordon at his restaurant Harvey's, and "exposed [him] to daily rituals of humiliation, foul language, flying knives and almost unbearable pressure," according to a 2006 profile in The Telegraph. Marco said: "I can’t remember what it was about, but I yelled at him and he lost it. The next thing I knew he was sobbing in the corner, holding his head in his hands, with tears rolling down his cheeks. "He was saying things like, 'I don’t care what you do to me. Hit me. I don’t care'." The problem is that the bullied and humiliated become the bullier and humiliator. I've had two bosses who fell into that category, alas (Both now safely dead). The poet Philip Larkin wrote a bleak poem called "This be the Verse" that describes this sort of process: They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another’s throats. Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don’t have any kids yourself.

Two items: First, Bridgeport has landed and I've got about 100 listening hours into it. It's big and beautiful and I love it. I'll share pictures when it's moved out of my bedroom and into my office. Second, there is a Torpedo III for sale elsewhere: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650094412-ecp-torpedo-iii-amplifier/?utm_campaign=saved-searches-alerts&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email

More culture. https://marinsymphony.org/tickets-events/2023-24-season/set5/

How Wireless Charging Works and Why It's Terrible - iFixit:

Axpona is always a blast. Spent quite a bit of time with a view of @naamanf’s head. Lots of good “small scale” rooms (too many to list). Notable highlights for me this year were the big Stenheim room on the ground floor, Jeff Catalano’s High Water Sound room with the upgraded Cessaro horns, MBL, and Bill Parish with the Vivids. Bonus photo of the SAT turntable I’d never encountered in person before.

I want my MTV

I was drunk at the time... and apparently craving chocolate 🫣

For those who haven't watched it, OJ: Made in America is my favorite documentary I've ever watched. Just a masterful piece of documentary filmmaking.

Same about not being very sure, regarding good old Mark https://album.link/i/1718922576

That would explain all the warm air on my neck.

Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 by Yo-Yo Ma (2022) https://album.link/i/1590901485 Example: I thought I would put this on as a light listen - and holy smokes is it good. This was the first one released in the B43 series (2022). And the arrangement and performance of the 2nd symphony is shockingly good to me. And well done on Sony's part for the recording. I liked the one that was released this year (posted a bit ago), but not like this. Third listen this week and it is only Tuesday. It may become a staple in my queue.

RIP unknown rock star phishing link something.

Any of you notice this? Apparently going to produce it; a version of Pass' beast of a thousand JFETs for electrostatic headphones. I didn't go to Axpona this year, but apparently it was there. https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/axpona-2024-attendees.411344/page-2#post-7655052

Well not in person Live - but watching One of the 6 stages that they are streaming. https://www.youtube.com/@Coachella Lana Del Rey

Guy on /r/audiophile inherited this setup from his grandfather. He asked "Is this stuff any good? Should I keep it?" I managed to not blurt out "No, it's very bad and in fact dangerous. I'll do you a favor make sure it gets disposed of properly."

Peaky Blinders

Anthony Garcia - Moonlight

^^ The game kicks ass. I really enjoyed it.

The GT4 is the best I’ve been in but I’m not a serious road course guy that’s been at it a long while. I’m still learning. A whole lot easier for me to win going straight…lol. HS

Post-Medieval illumination - the making of the 2022 Obsidian game, Pentiment, a 2D adventure game - like The Name of the Rose if it was a video game:

"I'm Fine" Compare with

Capricorn One is a pretty good movie if you want to watch OJ get killed.

A Symphonic Celebration - Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki by Joe Hisaishi (2023) https://album.link/i/1680459073 Example: A good set of recordings by DG of the great Joe Hisaishi. I normally don't prefer mixing various works from various movies. But for the most part this works. It mostly groups them together by movie. And of course the recording standards are very high. Makes me want to watch some movies.

Release date for the SR-X1 is set at May 9th: https://stax.co.jp/product/srs-x1000/ I've already placed a preorder.

Binged it. Loved it. Can't wait for the next (presumably two more) seasons.

Pat Martino - Footprints (AKA The Visit) [1972] https://album.link/es/i/1454027946 One of his most palatable and interesting albums, to my (weird) taste. I wish I could do that with a guitar someday.

Maybe the gen 4(?) white Bronco will finally get some peace?

It is a white Ford Bronco hearse and now I can see that the Grim Reaper is driving. Before being arrested, OJ famously forced his football buddy Al Cowlings drive OJ in his white Ford Bronco at gunpoint and they ended up in a slow speed chase with police on the freeway. Riff on that iconic OJ moment, when everyone took that as a sign that he was admitting he was guilty

Upcoming: https://www.townofross.org/recreation/page/live-common-1 Question for all the Swifty's out there: Exactly how big of a pile of money will we need to set fire to, to recreate the authentic experience?

Not sure Willie blossoms this much, but giving it a shot this morning. Ex.

Just a couple of tunes into this new Lizz Wright's album, which I'm finding really good Available everywhere https://album.link/i/1721233663 even Qobuz There's something in good singers and musicians that only blossoms with age.

https://archive.org/details/PopUpVideo2011/Beastie+Boys+-+Intergalactic.flv OK, so this is the Beastie Boys - Intergalactic However, this link will give you 300+ videos from VH1's Pop Up Video This link will give you days of listening. There's so much good stuff that I forgot even existed.

Completely agree! When you slaughter your ex wife and another completely innocent person because they happened to be there, then you DO NOT deserve to rest in any kind of peace! You deserve an eternity of ass rape with a spiked mace. R.I.H. OJ Simpson!

That murdering cunt should rot in hell.

Done. ❤️

This is funny, I just bought some SRD-7's to use as donors for my own boxes. A SR-Lambda was included with one of those energizers and just look at that serial number... Aside from the foam in the earcups being crusty and the earpads having been replaced at some point, they play perfectly for a 45 year old set.

It was kind of weird for readers of the books as well. A lot of story threads that happen in the second and third books got brought forward in to this first season.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

The rise and fall of Pitchfork - Indie, Rocked: https://www.theverge.com/24070565/pitchfork-gq-conde-nast-music-industry-change

After almost three and a half months, the KGST is finally in operation, and is sounding great. Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and given guidance. I am really surprised at how good the 40 year old headphone sounds with this amp. Special thanks also to Bigir and Dr. Gilmore for such wonder contributions to the community.