One year ago today: December 6, 2022, a total squirming imp.
Five years ago today: December 6, 2018, “green” anti-freeze setting.
Nine years ago today: December 6, 2014, six hours late.
Random years ago today: December 6, 2007, the end of Trader John’s.
Here’s the disassembled vape I found in a parking lot last week. For amusement, I guessed what the parts are and I’m now about to go see how close I came. I see a heater element, rechargeable battery, and a sensor of some sort. I further detect a small circuit board. That makes sense, since something has to monitor battery charging, prevent overheating, and lock out attempts at abuse. I figure that last feature because I saw a site marketing vape tricks, which I imagine would amount to at least blowing smoke rings. Here are your microscope images.
The lowly .22 cartridge was my other study this morning, this freezing 53°F dawn. In my lifetime, that is nearly 99% of every bullet I’ve fired. It was cheap and most rifles I used were mechanical. The Reb & I had plans to take a handgun course, but you can think that one through in light of recent events. If I do acquire something here, it is likely to be a revolver for quite a number of personal reasons. I’ll stay open to new info, however, and today I’m looking closely at the ammo. The bullets were among the first invented back around 1860 and are the most commonly sold of all today. For target practice, they are relatively cheap and do the job they are designed for.
They are rim-fire, basically a musket cap with a slug. The three sizes most common are the short, the long, and the long rifle. The last two are not the same and except in mechanically operated weapons, the long won’t substitute for long rifle. The difference is blowback power. Even then, you should be careful to use high-velocity shells, defined as muzzle velocities of 1200 fps or higher. Otherwise, you can interchange the ammo if your chamber is the correct length.
The cheapest ammo is not the shorts, as the guns to fire them are expensive and toy-like. Each bullet now costs roughly 10¢, or ten times what I paid when I was ten. The shells are available in variations, like hollow point, steel-jacketed, and what looks like varmint pellet, like a tiny shotgun blast. And if anyone tells you these bullets won’t go through clothing, quit talking to idiots like that. I was too young to be allowed, but I’ve been to county fairs where the shooting galleries had real .22 caps, sometimes called BB caps.
Have you seen the Olympic archery games? I say screw that noise. Most of that gear is barely recognizable as bows and arrows. I embrace technology, as long as you call it what it is. To this day the Allies are reluctant to admit during World War one, the German airforces enjoyed a 4:1 kill ratio because they had superior weapons and the skilled people to use them. There is a report the singer for the Moody Blues has died. I never cared for their music except in snippets, but they did represent part of the change from Rock ‘ Roll to just Rock.
Most German picture ever,
A.I. generated.
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Noon news, many states continue to drop Disney from their portfolios due to that companies “far left policies”. Meanwhile the Democrats are scraping the bottom of the barrel for anybody who can show against Trump. Instead, they have a half-dozen losers basically arguing who will lose by the least. I sent a note to Bryne explaining how, when truly mediocre guitarists turn 38, the guitar police knock on their door and force them to change their names to “Steve” or “Stan”, prove me wrong.
Later, I made it to the jam and it has followed the same formula as ever. After a month a few jokers gave up trying to take over, to be replaced by that secondary wave of people who know the host or the venue, but really don’t know how to play. The first guy played too long but I’m glad he did, as his one style of strumming made our diverse styles stand out. Next this pushy housewife type who picked up the guitar a year ago, she said, and it sure sounded like it. One aspect of that is there were other musicians on stage with her, and she capoed everything and would announce “third fret”, for instance.
That drew blanks from everyone, including herself. She had no idea what key she was in, while the Prez and I automatically knew it was Bb. Two positive developments is the Prez is now miles ahead with his acceptance of the acoustic bass sound mesh, and we’ve finally passed the point where even the best solo guitarists cannot match the interwoven sounds of our presentation. The Prez was late getting in so our material stood out rather well after the standardized ho-hum of the opening acts. Elliott, notice I stressed solo guitarists and presentation in combination and not what you think I said. The best guitar players in the world cannot play three sounds at once. We do it in every tune with bass, acoustic, and an illusive interweaving of the two that can’t be created in isolation.
At this point and at the risk of infuriation Elliott, I would like to take a bow. He said this could not be done and I said it was a necessary ingredient of any band I ever put together. It is more than synergy, because synergy is a mysterious force that arises unspoken. My concept is willfully intentional, hammered in from the ground up. I can’t say I invented it, but I can say it proved impossible to find anyone who grasped the concept for half my life, and I’m no slouch.
Some bands come close, like power trios, but that is a fusion, not an alloy. Or as I say about bigger bands who do this, they are playing in perfect unison. My band plays in purposeful untidy harmony.
The situation has changed a bit, but nothing new tonight. I remind the reader I do NOT expect many people to embrace my band management philosophies, but I do expect full credit for every situation that turns out exactly as I predicted. And I’ve nailed it so far. There were four new guitar players showed up and they knew each other. The housewife was an interesting distraction in that she learned guitar herself and was good at all the amateur moves. I called her the Capo Lady. She had two chords down pat, a G and a sort of C9 and was blissfully unaware that many songs contained both.
Mind you, she did switch chords a few times, rather randomly. It was marginally evident she understood the theory that what she sang worked better if it matched what she played. The Prez & I accompanied her throughout, the guitar players all sat down after the first one. Once Keith got back on stage [with us] the show began proper, you see, we now know most of his material and he’s sounding more like a real band all the time. We ran an hour over, a good sign.
