One year ago today: May 8, 2018, no-picture day, pure coincidence.
Five years ago today: May 8, 2014, newer is better – MicroSoft says so.
Nine years ago today: May 8, 2010, C+ grade landscaping.
Random years ago today: May 8, 2009, 700 lines of code . . .
No morning or afternoon pictures remind us that this blog is primarily a work of prose. All pictures are bonuses.
Summer’s here. The first day of canceled work due to heat found me shopping in Winter Haven. I found some plumbing parts that may allow me to go ahead with the vanity without finding a plumber. An unusual adapter, though I hope I don’t regret breaking my rule of buying the last one on the shelf. If it works, I need only cut one pipe—for now. My comments say I’m mean for pointing out that Edison, for all his reputation, was an unsavory sort. He used patent law as a weapon. We know how he harangued Westinghouse and electrocuted elephants. But did you know other inventors were put out of business by Edison? The analog Bill Gates, some say emphasis on the anal part. One of them even had to leave the country because Edison was bankrupting him over patent technicalities surrounding the light bulb.
You can look that one up yourself, but that inventor fled to England to escape Edison. His name was Maxim, and while in England, invented the machine gun. Maybe you’ve heard of him. And how about the news today? We are, they say, having a “ full-blown Constitutional crisis”. It’s probably just another libtard Democrat publicity stunt. Man, that bunch does not know when to quit; everything they’ve tried has made them look even worse. While Americans will disporpotionately side with the underdog, there’s few things they hate more than sore losers.
The only crisis I anticipate is the Democrat numbers in the next election. They’ve revealed themselves to be the supreme crybabies of our era. They are not going to accept the so-called Meuller Report until it declares the president guilty of something. And I did not even follow politics until Trump exposed the charade the liberals had going. Imagine, people like Hillary trying to tell me my biggest concern should be climate change while I’ve got a leaking toilet and my shoulder hurts. I’ll tell you who is out of the loop.
Looking at the numbers, that bathroom may soon become the most expensive area of the house. I’ve slated $680 in materials, which presumes I can keep the existing tub. Other than its worn appearance, it is a good model according to JZ and can be fitted with a sliding door. There is plenty of overhead room for the planned dual head shower, though I’m leaning more toward two separate sets of controls. This leaves only another $695 in the budget to complete the kitchen, which creates another paradox. As time goes by, that amount will increase, creating a disincentive to move quickly. But, as the Reb puts it, that’s only an issue because I own the place. Right-o!
I crawled under there and have determined a way to make the connections by cutting only one more pipe. The problem is, it is threaded through a bearing wall and I would have to shore up both sides to make this work. Since I left the crawl space open, it may not be that tricky to get at, and I’ve got enough spare concrete blocks. The new work is all CPVC and I was shocked at the price of the shutoff valves. Anyway, I’ve got time to start on that, maybe tomorrow. If it’s adventure you are after in a blog, wait until next week. Mind you, my ratings have been pretty consistent even if renovating an old house has become the prevailing subject here fore months at a time. Believe me, if you find my fumbling along to be a vicarious adventure, follow along all you want. And hand me that spud wrench.
Somewhere in Borneo.
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Okay, I’m as resistant to bragging as the next guy, but I’ve got another of those situations where you can decide on your own whether this is bull, or whether the description rings true enough. Last night at 10:30PM, the only WiFi I found was at the old club in Bartow. The Karaoke DJ I don’t like was there, so I didn’t put my name in. Who should saunter over but Brad, you know will-never-play-in-a-band Brad. He says he met this guitarist a month ago at Kooter’s, the dive of Polk, I admit I’ve been there and it is not that bad. Anyway, enter Mike, the guitar player.
What’s important is that he plays the same style as Ray-B, the guy who does the cruise lines out in Hawaii. Mike is here and now and wants to join a band. He does excellent strumming with only a few lead fills to keep the crowd in the groove—and who do we know that is a pro at playing bass lines to that exact material? Come on, you can say it. I told him I have a guitar in the car, he says no way, only a true musician has an instrument at all times. So I walked there and back, and handed him my Ibanez.
We moved outside to not clash with the entertainment. My guitar is semi-acoustic, so I could chant the bass lines to his style. Instant hit, it was like Ray-B and I used to jam. Mike also sings, though he is a guitarist and plays a lot of slow stuff. But musically our compatibility plowed right past all that and we began to draw a crowd. A bigger crowd than maybe was polite. We stepped through more than enough material to forge ahead with a show of our own. He quickly and naturally adjusted to the only way I can do harmony, which is thirds. The effect is natural, and it takes a stage musician to know it.
Yet, he lacks stage time, which surprised the hell out of me until I learned that he has been a Karaoke fan for half his life. It’s not the same, but pretty close. I got his phone number. He needs only to play what I already heard him play. We have here another individual who can sing and strum more than enough to already play out, but isn’t. The most common explanation is a lack of regimentation. Bands require much more organization than most guitarists can muster. I left with the impression he knows the importance of what I can supply in that aspect of band performing.
Don’t underestimate of overlook what I mean by all this. Anybody who can play already is, and that has not changed in form since as long as I can remember. Why isn’t this guy playing already? The typical progression is you find out after investing many hours into the group, resulting in a waste of those hours. There are a few differences this times I can plan around. One is that he already plays suitable material. He has a lot of slow ballads, but most guitarists quickly learn to drop those on stage when I’m around. Another edge is my reputation preceded, meaning he knows if he wants to play out, as long as he does his part, stage work is guaranteed. Put another way, he knows he isn’t taking any chances.
One more aspect I cannot predict over is harmonies. For around a year now I’ve been working on singing thirds, the only harmony part that “clicks” in my brain. I asked the Reb to teach me the basics, she says it can’t be taught, only understood. From piano, I’ve always understood it. During the jam tonight, for the first time in my life, I was able to harmonize on familiar tunes. It’s new territory to me but I was struck by many unknowns, thinking that must be what the Reb was referring to.
The two surprises were first, that it happened. Something switched on and it was like the way I learned to sing. One day I couldn’t, the next day I had the challenge of making it sound as entertaining as possible. I don’t even think about being on key the way I used to have to. In the same manner, somehow I just started signing the harmonies and the effect, for duo presentation, will be dynamite. I’ve noted how the few other bands that do it around here, well, it sounds laborious and far from natural.
The second surprise also had to do with harmonies, let me explain that. There was the small crowd. We were on the benches outside as people came and went. The country leaning music was an instant hit. I can only manage to sing thirds, but from the reaction, I was astounded to see that it did not matter I was only using thirds. People didn’t care, they only heard that it was harmony. Have I learned an important lesson here?
Give me time to think that over. The thirds are smooth, sweet-sounding, and Abba-like, and don’t have to be very loud. What I liked was how many people asked how many years we’d been playing together. That harks back to how I formerly saw harmonies as the result of long “memorization” of harmony lines. Everybody I’ve seen learning it before did it this way, so does that explain why they thought we had been doing this for years already? Hmmmm. He was quite aware of the effect we were creating. Why isn’t this guy already in a band? Double-hmmmm.
ADDENDUM
More musical editorial here, you know I like to log first impressions. What do I see as wrong, problematical, or contradictical? His slow music, yes, but also that although he is maybe mid-forty-ish, he does not know any new material, even to name the tunes. His latest tunes are pre-1990. So there’s a rough story in there somewhere, possibly a tale from the trailer court. He agrees on the need for good rhythm chops, but he is also able to pick quite well, which poses a problem if he insists on doing so.
Having only a bass line behind an acoustic lead break requires a delicate touch. If he doesn't have it, I do. For every lead break he plays, I have one of my own. If he quits playing rhythm and plays lead, I get to quit playing bass and do the same. (They always agree, thinking it cannot be done.)
[Author's note: that May 8 has no pictures is purely coincidental. It has never been explained how often topics in this blog occur on exact anniversaries. It certainly is not planned from here.]
