May 5, 2007

           I watched Spiderman, the movie. How that became a hit escapes me, it was one long string of clichés even for being based on a comic. The lead actress was neither a redhead nor all that pretty. Excellent special effects, if repetitious.
           The important deed of the morning was getting the new PA speakers tested and set up. They will be pole mounted, so I had to spring for all the attendant gear and such, another hundred bucks. The speakers were a tradeoff, in that they are too small for a large room and too large for a small room. I had to factor in that carrying this gear could again in the future present a challenge for me, hence the compromise.
           Right now, I can easily carry them both around at once. If the house has a PA, these make excellent monitors or a super bass stack. In the end I went with a component system although it cost more in total than a Fender system. The four-channel unist would present a problem if a third musician showed up who also sang. Mind you, that was never a problem in the band I’m referring to, if you get my drift.
           Yamaha, the motorcycle people. The brand name is reliable and yes, I feel I did pay a premium for that. The setup is going right where my kitchen table used to be. I’ve had the space reserved for two months. The music store is getting used to me showing up from out of nowhere and paying with hundred dollar bills, but they are certainly taking my project seriously. They gave me a set of Monster cables for free, that’s fifty bucks right there. [Later, I examined the cables and they were $50 each! I felt the store had made a mistake and took them back, but they said no, they were the right cables. Guitar Center, Hallandale Beach Blvd, Florida.]
           Dickens called before noon, he needed a hand while he went through donations. I went in but I was not much help. His computer is clunked up with that Spylocked virus (I refer to all uninvited items as a virus, these people outdo themselves coming up with names for these things. This one is “rogueware”.) It installs itself as you default browser and you cannot get rid of it. I will eventually get rid of it, but I’d like to shake the hand of the man who pulled that one off. (Then I’d like to hold him down while he is mechanically or chemically neutered.)
           The shop was quiet for a Saturday, although we did have one lady come in and tell us why computers were like men. Running all the time when you don’t need them but when you do the hard drive isn’t working. It made me think it was more like a woman. It sits there most of the time, costs more than it is really worth, remembers all your mistakes, has features which get old in no time at all and if you turn your back, somebody will try to steal it.
           Wallace left on the crest of a heat wave. It is beyond sweltering by 9:00 AM and I see I have to recharge my AC within the week. Plus, hang the curtain. Just like out west how you hang a curtain so your heater only has to heat the front, I do the same with the AC. Get a see-through curtain just behind the front headrests and turn the AC down.
           Who remembers Jack, the taxi guy with the Barbie computer? He was in today buying a monitor. He told us the tale of how he once had a fare all the way to Virginia. Made $2,750, but the passenger threw nearly a case of beer out the window in front of a State Trooper. Guess who got the ticket? And had to go back to Virginia to pay it.
           Ah, you want the details. Let me check something first. Okay, I’m back. Jack says he got the call from the Greyhound station because the guy was so drunk they would not let him on the bus. Jack drove him to the airport, same thing. So the guy pays to drive to every strip bar in town, where he gets thrown out after a few. Then decides they must go to Virginia. The guy pulls up at a house and tells Jack to wait with the motor running, since he had a score to settle.
           He walks in the front door and comes flying right back out a minute later with a black eye and a swollen cheek. So they proceed back to Florida. While all this traveling is going on, the guy has him stop every few miles for a case of beer. But after [drinking] the first two, he decides the rest are too warm and throws the case out onto the freeway. This is when I-95 was still a new road. The rumor was that the guy had been wrongly fired from Coca-Cola or something and had just gotten a huge settlement. Okay, see if you can top that one.
           Billabong. That is the name of the Australian club I forgot. In the end, I decided not to go there anyway. I took it easy, experimenting with the new PA system.