and they have painted themselves into a corner,,,
If you have never read Kevin Baker, he put up a well thought over peice last night. DO READ
I’ll have more thoughts on this later,,, stay tuned,,,
If you have the gumption, GET “Thank you for Arguing” and learn more about Rhetoric. Charlie was a master at it. (As is Oblammy O Boy, where usually the Left is lacking in this. Yes, a slur and compliment in one sentence,,, get over it.)
12 hours of day n night,,,
I try to go kayaking on equinoxes and solstices. This year, I have missed every single one (well, I still have a solstice upcoming,,, Right near Christmas.)
Actually, this year has rather sussed for Kayaking. I can count on one hand how much I have hit water.
Boredom? Sick of Soloing? The drudgery of lugging boats to and from water getting to me?
Yup, all of that and maybe a little wish for adventure as well.
Actually that last was my problem today. Wanting to do more than ‘just go for a paddle’.
I need to make a weekend plan and do a solo campout again. Paddle hard to a location, set up camp, and just “BE” without the distraction of phone, pets, the world in general.
Sorta like what Brudda B and I do when winter camping. Make the schedule, get away, find some peace for a short time.
Not gonna let my boats go, I do still enjoy them when out. I still enjoy the water time, it just feels more and more chore like making the transition from truck to water and back. Lazy bastache that I am; Don’t like ‘chores’…
Another part of my lack of paddle time is DRIVE TIME. Nothing really close worth paddling. The local lake has only 7 miles of shore line, and I know it like the back of my hand. I have named a couple of catfish that like to shadow me in certain places (they follow my shade and use it as cover to ambush the smaller trout in the shallows.) I know where the Muskrats dwell and when they will run and hide or play hide and seek with me.(which CAN be fun)
Yes, those are nice moments, I still lack motivation because its become near routine. The other lake is over 40 miles one way from my place.
And the local river has had health warnings most all summer: E-Coli infestations. Even the fishermen are being told to catch release, DO NOT EAT.
Today, I didn’t paddle. I’m guessing you already figured that out. What I did do was trek through the woods, away from the ‘beaten path’, and found a spot near one of my ‘put-ins’ when paddling. Lots of tree coverage where a creek feeds into the lake. And I sat on a rock, listening,
just listening.
The world is getting quiet again. The REAL World, not the world of people. Of course it is, right? Its getting ready to go to sleep for another winter. Yeah,,, That,,, but it gave me a rather somber state,,, And here, I, AM. blubbering on the blog.
SO, not much to say right now, no interest in diving into the real’ world on a sunday, and awaiting new toys so that I can expand on this bloggy thingy,,,
Thunderboomers rolling through the area: May set up a hammock on the porch and let the rain and rumbles ease my spirit.
More laters
LOVE
LIVE
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I’ve already mentioned that I was getting a new ‘puter, and it is on its way. Mentioned the urge to do a podcast thing, so pulled the trigger and bought a microphone, QUALITY microphone, so that my voice sounds better. I played with the microphones on the laptops and phones, and I would need to play some serious games to be comfortable throwing those into the mix.
So what do I sound like?
in Answer to Sammi: no, not Mike Rowe, I wish! LOL. But I have been told more times than not, my voice ‘carries weight’ and is always clear. What can I say, the lessons of grands struck deep: Clarity, enunciation, sibilance. Mumbling is anethema!!!
But un-interestingly enough, my voice carries ‘other’ traits as well: everyones does. When I am talking to my kids, its a different timbre, when I am speaking at work, another timbre. SO, what you will hear in my ‘cast’, may not be what you would hear when we were sharing a drink around a fire, and definitely NOT what you would hear if I were discussing with Mamakat why she isn’t permitted another helping of DedKow at 10:30pm.
I hate to tease, but its just something that you’ll have to wait for, since the gear isn’t in my hands, yet. The New to me Lappy is languishing in USPS hands currently. The mIcrophone is retained in a Zon warehouse, awaiting some small droid for fulfillment.
And I will need to play a bit. No Pitch Correction, just EQ and some compression, maybe a little reverb to bring the room alive (my house is acoustically dead, for the very reason ‘I want to hear it unfiltered and unadulterated’, but that makes vocal recording ‘flat and lifeless’.)
Yeah, I’ve done studio mixing as well as live. I prefered live since it was like combat without the bullets: Exciting and you only get one shot: fuck it up and you were on a plane going home.
and its been many a year since I have heard me own voice through a monitor,,, (Studio monitors or ‘cans’, not the tinny little speakers on my lappy, and I can’t stand the way I sound through those. Never have.)
Heres something I learned about my hearing. Its really not as much damage to the eardrum, as much as narrowing of the ear-canal. They call it Surfers ear and it can be treated (Surgery to open the canal back up). BUT, it makes my internal sensing of speaking sharper even though it makes hearing the world around me soft and fuzzy.
As a way of showing you what I mean, speak in a normal tone in a quiet room. NOW, repeat what you just said, but with your ears covered. Do you hear the difference? The second exhibit is how I HEAR,,,, Unconsciously, I become more soft spoken (because I think I am yelling.). That also causes me to speak differently than I did back when My Ears were good enough for my (then) Job.
I’ll be retraining myself in speaking again, as well as tweaking the knobs.
excuses? Uh-uh, letting you know that I AM working on this but it may be a bit. Fact is, I was rehearsing ‘my voice’ earlier today, and told myself “If you don’t do this now, you never will, and then you will always wonder’. I don’t want that sort of regret in my life, and in one sense, this is an extenuation of a dream I had when I was touring (and radio was still a thing, Think Limbaugh and such.)
Little story for ya: I even went to a broadcasting school at one point, not as a student, but as a potential student, and was asked by the Dean “Why would you want to step back to learning when you already know all of this stuff?” I knew the gear, I knew how to verbally read; not that deadpan ‘reading in front of the class’ that you recall as a kid, but putting emotion and drive behind the words AS I read them, without needing to rehearse!!!
That one question cut the cord for broadcasting (you need a license.) and propelled me further into live audio. Had I stuck to my guns, I could have aced that school, and had that license, and done ‘something’,
only, HINDSIGHT, right?
Like the writing thing: Self Publishing will likely not pay off at the same rate as getting picked up by a major publisher could, Self publshing music, SAME. Podcasting,,,
Luck of the dice, place and persistence. joe Rogan didn’t start as a Podcaster, but, how many millions was he paid recently on Spotify? He persisted through several evolutions. Mike Rowe started off selling geegaws on the Home Shopping Network (how many of us genX’ers recall that little tidbit from Cable TV?) There are bands that have never signed contracts with the labels, making damned good money on their terms, and touring the world; all because they published on Utoob. Writers that make decent livings, self-published on Zon or other avenues, yet never signed with a publisher and forced to write for the Editors personal leanings, or the publishers whim.
Time, Persistence, and maybe a toss of the dice,,,
And PROMOTION. thats the one area I have a knack at, FOR OTHERS, but rather suck at for myself. Call it vestigial vanity fear or something. I went into audio because I don’t like being on-stage, covered in the limelight, and EXPOSED, I don’t like getting my pictures taken either. Some people live for that: I cringe. Putting my words out is different somehow, but I still recoil at SELF-PROMOTION.
I used to tell the bands I worked with (when I was mixing clubs still) that “there are 30000 damned good lead guitarists, for every ONE guitar god you know the name of.” (choose your instrument, it still applies,,,,) It all comes down to self promotion and a little bit of luck.
And yet, Here I am, getting prepared to jump in, and see what happens. The big thing for me, is finding enough material to keep a monologue running for at least an hour. Anything less seems pointless to me. That was my reasoning for making this a once a week thing; Material. That might will evolve as I learn and grow,
And scrolling through podcasts on Spotify, I noted almost all of them are doing interviews, not just the big guys/gals. Even the up-n-comers are doing it. I may have to explore that option. Not interviewing celebs or such, but Joey Normal from the street sort of things. I think hearing from everyday Joe-blow about his feelings on the world at large might be more entertaining and impactful than me spouting at the mouth for an hour. I’ll have to explore that and see what I can get rolling. (fair warning to friends, I’m thinking you are my first guinea pigs for this,,,,)
I guess we all, you, me, my potential victims in interviews, get to see how this pans out.
More laters,,,, Hitting the lake since I can’t do much else on this idea just yet. Keep working that voice, talking to the fish and other wildlife. (Deer seem to like it when I talk to them, as long as I don’t get TOO close,,,,)
LIVE
LEARN
Laugh
Love
LOAD
Gonna be a putz and steal from someone else,,, Kinda,,, Link it actually
Go see what the Minotaur has to say about things today. thankz Ox, I owe ya one.
live
love
laugh
learn
LOAD
full day, but with the coming race to the goal line tomorrow, dunno, just a meh sorta day.
Tomorrow is when I get to pull out all but one of my hats. Not going to be wearing the “Carpenter” hat tomorrow. Welding? Check! Electrician? Check! Gate installer and Programmer? Check! Crew Lead? Check!
Won’t be completely finished tomorrow, but Son of Bossman wants it to be as complete as possible. Wants it so all I need do on monday is ‘hook up the drive chain’. See, We have to set the Pedastal the drive motor sets on, and you can’t have a 1000# gate battering on that in green concrete: even if we use the quickset (we are) it will still be green by the end of day. Promise was “Complete on the 19th” but thats not truly possible due to the constraints of materials.
And end of day today was making sure that all the toys and parts and gee-gaws I will need, are loaded and ready to roll. All I need do is toss my tools in the truck and roll out, along with ALL and I do mean ALL of the crews. We are throwing everything at this,,,
Must be one hell of a bid on that contract.
Likely one that costs us if we miss the target, or so I would think by the anxiousness to ‘Git-r-Dun!’.
again, DUNNO,,,just extrapolation on my part.
Update on fasting thing. Still maintaining my No sugar thing, just black coffee, water, greentea, water with applecider vinegar or pinch of salt. Dropped all carbs from diet, but am eating. Tuna, avocado, cheeses, green olives, steak with grilled onions etc etc. One meal a day, don’t eat after 5pm, period: if I miss, I miss,,,
and I put that 10# right back on.
Heres the rub. DO NOT JUMP INTO FASTING without some work up prep. I know better, should say I had already known it, but I didn’t put things together too well. Fact is, I shocked my bodies system and it went into full on survival mode: STOCK PILE FAT STORAGE!!! Ok, so I need to work on getting away from sugar as ‘easy fuel’, get the body used to burning the fats (it converts them to sugar: it converts sugars to fat for storage, then reverses the process for fuel when short.) Even with me cutting sugars down to less than 50g a day (from over 300g/day) my body is in full grumpy cuss mode and fighting me. Getting rid of all sugars I am finding is damned near impossible; but I am cutting down to near nothing. Sugar is one hell of a hard addiction to break, let me tell you. The hardcore cravings I’m getting,,, Guy cracked open a soda near me today and I swear, the smell was ambrosia,,,, Like jonesing for a fix it was. I resisted
Untraining habits, learning new GOOD habits,,, And yeah, struggle it is, but WORTH IT.
I’m gonna run with the current ‘thing’ I am doing for one full month before I go attempting another fast. I wasn’t worried about the weight so much as I wanted to clean my system out, and I did get some signs that was happening. My skin for one: I’m getting some elasticity back and I don’t bruise like I did. I’m also not bleeding like a stuck pig with the slightest knick. Blood glucose levels are stable, not wildly flucuating: average is 107 for the week where I had one high of 146 (dad made something and insisted I eat; Had a lot of carbs in it.) (I hadn’t told him I’m doing this because he always nay-says me,,, Even when he doesn’t know, he does things like make way to much to eat so passes it on to me. And yes, Cosmos loves that fact since I have passed on the grub to him when dad leaves.)
NO beer, no Bourbon,,, I think that hurts nearly as much as the lack of the other addiction of Coca-cola. I do like a drink at the end of the day, but I am forgoing that while I am trying to clean house.
So, don’t just jump into fasting feet first, unless you are already eating properly and not addicted to mad sugar levels. 66% of the US population are classified as “Sugar Burners” and if you read the ingredient lists, you see sugar in everything: I have no doubt that figure is a conservative one. With Diabetes hovering at 11% of the population,,,
I’m not Diabetic, YET, but I was headed down that road and that is not where I want to be.
Like I said before “I have no desire to commit suicide by 12oz soda can.”
But man, it’s rough,,, That I am struggling means my body is adapting, slowly, grudgingly, with the oft-times Temper tantrum, but hey, “get in line, body, I ain’t playin’ here!”
(and this post is one written to distract my craving for a ‘pop’. I’m sneaky like that,,,)
Anywhooos,,, long day tomorrow, gonna be a late return and will need to make the bank run thing as well. May not post or might post late. Check back on Satyrday and see what this hooligan is up to for the weekend. (ain’t made plans yet,,,)
Live
Learn
Love
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I know the MythBusters busted that myth, (because water forms droplets quite quickly, there can’t be a ‘stream’ to carry the current.) BUT, in todays post, the third rail is the unraveling of Society. That we are seeing the REAL gap between societal factions, that we have a conservative (are they?) government spouting ‘hate speech censoring’ just like the last AUtOpen administration was guilty of doing, that we have seen kinetic actions (For the most part in one direction, currently,,, Wait and see, that may shift yet, and may be shifting as there are vids of Panti-fags getting body slammed for spouting trash from the upper fecal orifice.)
But I don’t wanna touch on that THAT third rail, I’m gonna jump over to another track and piss on its third rail.
Enter evidence file 1)
That right there is a beautiful argument, even if I don’t beleive “this is it”. I am very much a believer in ‘after-life’, though my beliefs about ‘heaven and hell’ are wildly different than most peoples. But I watched that and thought about when I was a touring sound-dood, doing the gospel plays, and thinking that the ‘athiests’ in the crew had better morals and ethics than 90% of the cast. I could tell you stories; wild stories, from flaming homosexuals, to wife swapping at the hotels. KRAZEE fucked up Sodom and Gomorah shit.
“I do go around raping and murdering as much as I want: which is ‘not at all’.”
I have firm belief, that if you live your best life, as you would wish others to live, than you are as close to ‘God’ as you can get. The issue there, is DEFINITIONS are fluid and not everyone has the same definition of Best Life. I’m sure Epstein felt he was Living His Best,,,
Like I said to Brudda B the other day when discussing Scouting and their motto “DO your Best”. Best is NOT perfect. Perfect is the enemy of Good: if you hold back seeking perfection, you will accomplish NOTHING, EVER!! Do your best, try to be better today than you were yesterday, Do the job, not for the recognition, but for the chance to improve on what you were. The recognition will come but that shouldn’t be the goal.
We have no idea if we have a tomorrow, so live today like it is your last and make it as close to perfect as you can, while not ceasing being alive. Hug the kids, smell the flowers, laugh at yourself, Do whats right, and thats good enough! Don’t hurt people and don’t take thier stuff: as simple as a rule can be. yet so many seem to forget it. BE the inspiration, not the bad example.
and maybe thats IS the point, to not let this virtual hell BE a literal hell.
LIVE
LOVE
LAUGH
LEARN
LOAD
My Mac Dealer is the BEST!!! These aren’t new MacBooks, but ones he refurbishes. AND with a warranty, that he has honored the once.
My current Mac is on the fritz: the video card is starting to fail and use it, I end up with headaches from the screen flashing between white and babyblue randomly. Nothing that can be done about it: Driver updates didn’t change anything, its something internal and hardwear.
So I contacted Johney and asked what he had available. First thing out his mouth was ‘whats wrong with the one you have?’. He knows his Macs. We played with it a bit, but no, its dying.
Replacement (I’m out of that two year warranty) for $200, several KEY upgrades from 500Gb SSD, 16Gb ram, an i7 processor and much more up-to-date OS (not the most recent but Johney says ‘that version bogs this machine down, go faster with Ventura,,,’
He had two machines on hand, and is going through both and will send me the ‘better of the two’,,, And I can pay him then.
Dood ROCKS. He’s even loading my programs that I use: Vellum, Grammerly, Scrivner (I need to dig up my license number for that’un, since I did buy the lifetime,,, ) and Garage band.
Garage band? you ask?
Yup. Garage band. Digital mixing console and editing tool for audio. Old Retired sound-dood; You think I don’t keep stuff like that around? LOL. AND, I have been toying with the idea of a doing a once week Podcast and let y’uns hear my ‘Radio Voice’. I may not have a face for TV, but I DO have a voice for radio. Too bad that radio has turned into a nearly bygone thing.(everyone went VLOG like Joe Rogan and Tucker. We slowly spiral away from written word, and it saddens me to no end. I’m not serious about it yet, but I do think this blog needs some evolution, and I kinda sorta need something different to do. (IF, I do this, I will put up transcripts along with the cast; for those readers that prefer written over aubible. And I will still post regular blogging posts. This will be more ‘feeling things out’ experimentation.
Its been a long time since I did a monologue into a microphone,,,, Heck, the last time I did anything ‘radio’ was when I was making the commercials for the nightclub I did entertainment production for: when I was running the ‘Battle of the Burbs’ band competition,, Way back-when in 2001!!!! (that lead to my getting hired by L&C and touring,,,) This might be FUN!!!
More laters,,, Keep your ears on, heads on swivels, things are still sporky since last week, and we haven’t been given the new distraction yet.
L,L,L,L,L
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It was the early part of the Tweens when the political divisions of the United States reached irreconcilable differences. Ted, a burnt out computer programmer, and Jim, a double amputee combat vet, reverse engineer the pentagons drone program and create a rebel air force. While traveling the country helping others defend what is left of the country, they run afoul a most evil woman intent on creating a serfdom within the country.
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