Voltron

Octograt (or whatever we're up to now) Brent!

Wash yo nuts, fool!

I'm going to second the no-dedicated-video-camera-option. We have had two over the years of our kids' youth and now we have a bunch of crappy long videotapes of soccer games and the like that have never really been watched. The video capability of DSLRs is pretty spectacular imo, and a good new p&s can do seriously good photos and HD video. The Lumix ZS7 is damn good for both.

I dropped it off at the audio shop today and they will check it out and send to Ayre if necessary. They said Ayre is "just as surprised as you are..." I'm quite sure they will take care of it and it will end well, but it sure has hell hasn't started well.

Titus Andronicus -- The Monitor

That's teh funny.

Same here. I even tried it yesterday and was of course thwarted.

Thanks fellas. I agree it will get sorted but Gene said exactly what I was thinking last night. Oh, and JP too. I expect Charlie any minute.

So, I was able to connect up the K-XR tonight after unboxing and shelving the beautiful chunk of aluminium on Thursday. The initial power-up is supposed to automatically trigger "setup mode" in order to activate and name the inputs. Not so on mine. The two "buttons" are perhaps pressure or heat sensitive, but are not typical push-in/out style. The right button is supposed to be used to force the unit into setup mode, but not so on mine. On the good news side, the two inputs connected right now both play music and it sounds pretty sweet so far. Still, I cannot name the inputs and de-activate the other six unused ones, and as it turns out the main function of the right button is Mute but not so on mine. That button may be "stuck" or something else may be wrong but I cannot seem to get it to work properly. For the price of this thing, I have to say I am fucking pissed. Tomorrow I will speaking with the shop and perhaps Ayre.

Good news on that parking tag Vicki! Sorry about the vice issues Nate.

John Scofield -- This Meets That

Heh. Why would a sport that largely prohibits use of the hands have a logo of a hand holding a ball?

Crowded House -- Intriguer

One more word of advice that I have been biting my tongue about: open a bottle and finish it because your habit of sampling and recapping is not ideal. As you have noted a couple of times, the beer will change when oxidized and left to sit in the fridge. Not trying to bum your high, and you can do as you please, so take it for what it's worth.

Absolutely gorgeous spot on Saturday, and I was also off on my own away from the masses on my family camping trip. The couple of beers I brought with me made it even better.

I didn't have enough solo time to commit to the Siglo on Saturday. These Naaman cigars have been two of the best I have had and particularly enjoyed the moments smoking them. If the Siglo is particularly good, then I am really looking forward to that one.

Congrat Ian, that is great news (assuming she said yes ). Glad you had a nice last brunch at the temple, Matt. Good luck with the packing and moving.

Nice beer/rye purchases Jim and Dusty.

I don't know the answer. It was the shorter and fatter of two Cohibas I received as a gift.

Not right now, but on Saturday sitting on a rock beside Caples Lake in the Sierra: Cohiba de Cuba. Also c/o Naaman and also very nice.

Spent the weekend camping with my family and 3 of my 5 siblings and 4 of my many cousins and all of us have kids, some of whom brought SOs. We totaled 26this year, which is actually a bit lower than usual. We were on Silver Lake, near Lake Tahoe. It was good fun except form the mosquitoes. Drove back to Mayberry, dropping my niece and BF at their place in Oakland and got back just in time to clean up and host a dinner for 15 with my wife's cousin who was here from Australia. A bit tired but glad to be back at home and now chilling with a drink and the iPad catching up on the 'Case.

Just got back from camping and was treated to this hot stuff from my main man. Killer amp Gene and beautiful pics to boot. Did you actually buy one already JP? That was indeed fast and Nate barely had to coax you (of course). Have fun Gene! And welcome to lafingas. Nice to see that someone can manage a good first post around here. Hope you hang out and share some Pioneer/Quad pron.

Double double with animal fries and a coke. It's early for lunch but the last chance for in n out before Tahoe. Tasty brunch.

Thanks for the co-dependent encouragement, everybody! Well, this evening I had a haircut appointment and the Giants game (undefeated in the second half!) so all I was able to accomplish was unboxing the Ayre duo and putting them on shelves. Could not even plug them in, and will not be able to do it until Monday because we are camping this weekend. A little more waiting. The KX-R packaging was truly sick and very slick. The last layer is a fitted micro-fiber sleeve for the preamp, but it contained foam bumpers and cardboard cover for the face of the unit. That was inside a plastic bag wrapper, then in a custom 3-part foam support, and then double boxes. Nicely done and even the remote had its own box and was shrink-wrapped to cardboard inside anyway. The unit is gleaming and flawless, and I used the provided cloth gloves to keep it that way. Swanky. Sad part is that the only camera I had was my iPhone so the pics suck. I will do better next week. I am itching to hear it all...