acidbasement

I pulled about 40 wood ticks off the dogs last night. They died in the flames (one more advantage to having a wood stove in the house). This year's tick season is brutal. I'm about to leave on the train for a few days in Edmonton. I've got to pull something out of my arse for a meeting with my graduate supervisor tomorrow morning, but after that I'm looking forward to re-visiting some of my old haunts in the university area. I might try to buy an old discman from a guy there as well, if I can get in touch with him - he was selling a D-777 last I checked.

Aw shit. I'm going to crank up the Blues Brothers now. That guy had serious groove.

Subscribed. In addition to the ones I listed above, which focused on peat, I also really like Glenmorangie - the Quinta Ruban (12 yo, finished in port casks) and Clynelish 14. Shelly, you asked about the Scapa 16 earlier. I used to have a bottle of the 14, and when I went back to the store to get another I was informed that the distillery was so short-staffed, they couldn't keep up with the bottling. The 16 was brand-new at the time, and presumably from the same distillation as my earlier bottle of 14 (I assume, but what do I know?). Though I didn't do a side-by-side comparo, it was very similar to Highland Park, but a bit sweeter with a stronger caramel flavour. I liked it a lot. The only reason I didn't buy the 16 was because it was twice the price of the 14, and I am somewhat poor and very much a cheapskate.

Thanks, I shall perform said search! I also just found an Arcam CD 73T listed pretty close to me for not too much dough. I'm gonna get a beer and think about submitting a proposal to household finance.

It seems to me that there should be bargains available on older DACs without the USB feature that all the cool kids (not me) are using these days. Can anyone (Dinny at least) suggest good ones from years gone by? The original DAC1 springs to mind, not that I've had the opportunity to hear it, but it's still going for $1000 on ebay now (wtf?) (edit: I know it's a bit cheaper elsewhere, but still outside the $500 range).

Macallan is a good Highland, but smoky/peaty it is not. I suggest: Lagavulin 16 if you can find it for a good price (ranges from $70 - 140 in Canada) Laphroaig 10 - best value Islay, IMO; quite a bit better than Quarter Cask and not much different from the 18. Oban 14 - a nice smoky (but not punch-you-in-the-face-with-peated-fist) western Highland BenRiach 12 "The Curiositas" - another nice peated Highland. Scapa - if you can find it; they do pretty limited runs I believe. Similar to Highland Park (they're next-door neighbours), which is also very good (I have the 12, never tried the 18). I've also gotten to really like the Glenlivet 12, even though it doesn't score the highest marks from critics. Not smoky, but it's got a really nice, smooth caramel flavour and it's one of the cheapest decent single malts. If you go with Bowmore, I'd suggest the 15 rather than the 12. They're both quite good, but the 12 is outshone by the other Islays in its price bracket (IMO of course).

Birthday greetings on your birthday!

Happity bippity!

Happy birthday, Shelly!

That sucks, Shelly. Airport security is one more reason that I always take the train if it's an option.

My goodness, this is a shock! Sad news indeed.

Herbie Hancock: Quartet With Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. I don't listen to a lot of jazz, but these guys in particular make me want to listen to more. There are a lot of "What the fuck are they doing?! How did they keep it together?!" moments on this record, which I really like.

HBD KG!

Korpiklaani - Ukon Wacka Very good Finnish folk metal, and recorded/mastered well to boot!

I mainly live here because I'm a pyromaniac. For some reason there was no question on the test about height-of-flame or area-burned preference.

Thanks Vicki. In hindsight I should have taken another one and focused a bit further back where it's all blurry. It's a pretty spot.

Took the dogs and some Laphroaig for a walk around the property. Good beaver activity, elk scat, and a bunny.

You've hit it on the head.

Meteor shower tonight could be pretty good if you happen to be in a rural area with a cloudless sky.

INTJ here, too.

As Gary Larson's Far Side cartoon psychiatrist wrote in his notebook, "Just plain nuts!"

I played drums in a reenactment of The Last Waltz a couple of years ago, and got very familiar with The Band's music, something I had inexplicably failed to do until then. This is a sad day.

Take care, Jacob. A brain condition is not fun in the least, and it's best to overreact and feel dumb later than to underreact. I hope that's your last scare.

Aw shit. This is sad news indeed. I'm going to crank up The Band.

If VD improves the HD 800, I'm not sure I want either.