One year ago today: April 11, 2014, no more flats,
an interesting read.
Five years ago today: April 11, 2010, 19 women, count 'em.
Ten years ago today: April 11, 2005, on gimp features.
MORNING
I have a confession to make. One of the most influential entities in my life was “The Archies”. Hey, isn’t that a cartoon? Yes, that’s what allows people to conclude all kind of things. You see, I also know it was a cartoon and my marks in school were a lot higher than my detractors, which explains why all of them went so far in this life.
Hence, whether it was true or not, the “Archies” portrayed a life of what it was supposed to be like if things went right. I still get a chuckle from an edition at the supermarket checkout to this day. I did not identify with Archie, but I noticed he played in a band, rode a motorcycle, and most importantly, had two girlfriends who fawned over him. To me, he was a dork. Take the blond, you dork. If it doesn't work out, you can get the other, you know, but not the other way around.
What was really going on is the cartoon was one of the few available guideposts in a situation where exterior examples were sorely lacking. There was nobody in town I wanted to be like and nobody you could trust for good advice. A lot like today. So in the bigger picture, another thing sorely lacking on the farm, you knew that whoever was creating this comic strip would not dare represent any aspect of teen life that was not totally acceptable to mainstream America.
Hence again, doing what the “Archies” did was not only right, but arguably good at every level. Well of course I should be allowed to finish high school, Mom. Even the Archies are doing it. But there are limits. I have NEVER played an “Archies” tune in any band. Not me! And you know, with the same attitude I had back then, just for that (what I just said), I am going to sit down today and customize a bass line to “Sugar Sugar”. Just to see where it goes.
NOON
“Don’t get mad at the overdraft charge . . . . No, no—see, there’s your problem. You think of it as a penalty for taking out money you don’t have, but instead, it might help you to think of it as a reminder that you’re a dumb shit.” --Sam Halpern
Back to my gears. Building them is a great motivation and provides great satisfaction. It is highly thought-provoking and of course, everyone who does it thinks of a clock. This is because the gear ratios are actually quite easy to calculate. On paper. In real life, you have to leave some slack and provide some mechanism to adjust for that.
You don’t know gears until you’ve built a set. Two is fine, if you are a thinking man, that’s enough to get your brain going. When I said the gears were quiet, I didn’t mean silent. I meant in comparison to the first set. Those had a definitely “clacking” sound. What I learned today is that gears have a preferred rate of rotation.
Because you can hear it. There is a slight harmonic where the gears will purr. Don’t be misled by speed, as in a true harmonic one would conclude double or half the speed represents another sweet spot. No way, half speed is too slow and double the speed is red-lining it, something you don’t do with wood. This harmonic is thus somewhat isolated.
And it is primarily dependent on the first two gears in the train. After that, additional gears don’t modify said speed by any significant amount. As I ponder in the shade over here, I realize that clock mechanisms must be around the limit of what can be done with the complexity of gears. I’m going to add a few more to find a practical limit how many gears in a train is max. I suspect it to be around six
And the swelter box weather is back, well over 90 degrees out there in the direct sun. Time for a holiday. I ducked into the Florida room, wondering how (in blazes?) people survived here without air conditioning. And I got out the software to pirate, er, I mean borrow a learning copy of “Sugar Sugar”. Neat, that keyboard part fits exactly between the bass notes in a pattern I know that most bass players either can’t or won’t play.
I can spend hours seeking out that kind of music. Because it isn’t obvious, you have to listen deep to pick out what can be played and still not chop up the bass line. My rule has been the same for bass and guitar for forty plus years. You can play anything you want as long as you don’t leave out anything that is supposed to be there. (I draw the line at anything that changes the character of the song, so do't pull that "Zydeco" stunt around me.)
Part of my style is to play those “in between” notes that most bassists will ignore. That’s understandable, because often they are melody or riff notes played by other instruments. But I’ve always considered it close-minded to not play a song just because every instrument is present. If I was like that, I would not play “These Boots” or most of my Johnny Cash set. How do I know most bass players don’t do what I do? I have never seen most bass players.
Easy. Two big reasons. One, bass playing at all but the top layers is very repetitious and copycat. If one famous bassists plays something, he soon has minions. Two, I have not seen most but I’ve seen plenty and I know that to play the way I do means having to hold the left hand in a rare and uncharacteristic position. It’s to play those “3rds” you’ve heard me praise so often. Guitarists don’t like thirds, as it places the hand and wrist in an awkward pose to play the NEXT notes. While anyone can play a third, ask them to follow on with the rest of the riff. Then watch the fun begin.
AFTERNOON
I use it in soups and veggie drinks to perk things up. All my life I’ve eaten maybe half the amount of vegetables on the nutrition charts. Same with fruit. I’ve never had a real appetite for those things and the majority of what I do eat is a garnish for other things. Like a sandwich. I eat rice eight or ten times a week, what, they want me to eat a zucchini, too?
The scooter shop called, I’m walking for the weekend. No internal combustion engines on my lot this time around. And the red Jamus is stuck in one of the middle gears because I never got around to getting that fixed proper. So get ready for a fun-filled weekend of home things such as are possible around here.
EVENING
(The nerd post stays. It is too popular. I was a test to see how long the link will endure. There has been an incredible drop-out rate of quality posting sites over the past year.)
ADDENDUM
I ran several more tests with the gearing system to learn more of the concepts of operating such setups. For example, I see now that there should be, for every system containing gears, at least one person on staff who completely understands every bolt and pin of the machine and knows the theory. I now have higher respect for millwrights but stop short of saying they are all you need. Somebody has to be nearly intimate with each machine. You would not believe what can go wrong until you design it yourself.
There’s some trivia for you. Millwrights are one of the most heavily unionized trades in the USA with 46% belonging to some kind of bargaining unit. Back to my unit, I find the wooden gears I’ve already built are near an optimum size for wood. And what I have requires a whole string of gears to get speeds down to robot levels. I have two practical options at my fingertips. Either build significantly larger gear wheels, or control the speed of the motor.
The motor speed is the logical approach. This can be done with a rheostat or a microcontroller. The microcontroller will require a relay and a separate power supply. But it would be, technically, 255 times more precise than a rheostat. I had planned only to control the operation with some form of sensor, but why not use the same incoming string of data to more advantage than simple off-on and speed?
Last Laugh
Seventh Grade Russian schoolteacher. (Spelling.)
Togla on far right.
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