One year ago today: October 27, 2024, tubes, boxes & coffee.
Five years ago today: October 27, 2020, on civil servants & NPR.
Nine years ago today: October 27, 2016, politics getting serious.
Random years ago today: October 27, 2007, this is not encouragement!
No, I’m not happy today. Not that I need more reason, but here is something that does not make life any easier. This is a GenX light bulb. But what is it that makes it GenX? Not the LEDs, for that was invented long ago and this [current] generation has never come up anything so universally useful. So what is it about this bulb (I used the term colloquially) that makes this so very “GenX”? Tell you what, who likes multiple choice? Good. The question is, how can you tell the wattage of this bulb?
A) sizeYes, folks, the correct answer is E. There is no way for the average consumer to tell. It is written on the package, but if you’ve already thrown that out, you are stuck. There is a faint imprint that the bulb is 1400 lumens, for those of you with Physics degrees. Just a guess, but you want to know the equivalent wattage output of how bright this puppy shines. Well, you are shit out of luck. The 4 point writing near the Made In China stamp indicates the bulb draws 14 watts, if that does you any good.
B) weight
C) shape
D) marking
E) none of the above
Not in a mood to do anything, I listened to some old bands from the sixties. Most of these groups still have classic hits today. My first bands played a lot of their top hits but by 1975 I had already learned to avoid intense harmonies and orchestrations. That had a lot to do with finding and keeping people, which turned out to be the hardest part of creating any band. But, at twelve and thirteen years old, I could not have known that. What I did learn was individual songs were more important than albums by the same band.
I may be on this theme a few days, since the only thing I really have left from that era is music. I just learned to play “I Fought The Law” this month and it really is more fun to play than anything I’ve found in the 2010s. By this decade (2020s), none of the music appeals to me, it’s just too depressing, most of it. By 1975, I compared all bands to The Beatles and did not care for older “professionals” who adopted rock and roll from what I considered the top down. Nor was I ever into the individual personalities of band members. I could not name you ten drummers or ten bass players. But I could name and play 400 hit tunes.
It was always the time 1973 to 1983 that defined rock music for me, although again I did not favor this or that band, only the tune. I was never able to find a permanent band through the 70s but then, I now realize I did not have the resources to meet my own standards. Forming bands that endured became progressively harder over time. Over my lifetime, maybe 1% of the time I’ve been on stage was with a formal “band”, and I do not list or report most times I jam.
That feeling of lost time is not the same as wasted time. Now Marion is gone, I’m still awaiting news. I believe the last time I sent her a letter was in late July, when I just felt there was something wrong. It was probably July 25, so it was hand-written and no copy. Why did I sense that date? Check later, there is a three hour zone difference and nobody is picking up over there. Check back this afternoon.
Nome, Alaska, September 2022.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
This is the tree I named after Marion. It’s my driveway tree, an oak. I need something to take my mind off today. Forgive if I’m distracted, that is my intention for at least the next week. You bet it isn’t fair, Marion was supposed to outlive me by twenty years. In five days we see what happens when the welfare stops. The hypocrisy, watching millions change overnight from anti-government to where’s my government money. I’ll build an easy-man’s mouse trap from existing scrap in the shed. Maybe turn some logos for Tonio’s toolbox, I just cannot concentrate. The rest of today may be editorial and filler.
They are aware who I am, but insist they will not cooperate in any way because I am not “family” by their definition. They think they can ignore that I have a valid, legitimate reason for wanting t know what happened. Younger patients don’t just die in a managed care setting without something going wrong and I want to know what it is.
I need time away from this, so I went to work on Tonio’s box. It’s 38 brass screws strong now. See pic. He has e-mail attachment’s of the logo for final approval. He knows the tale from the trailer court of that laser device, so he gets full say of what he wants etched and how he wants it. At first, I wanted the result to look like a branding iron and found the best way is to tilt the target slightly so the beam gets out of focus on one side. But now, I just like the plain lettering, set on 2 passes to dig it right into the wood.
Reports appear about food lines getting longer. Good. Let them wait in line 8 hours a day for every scrap they get until they gain an appreciation of what their welfare check does to the taxpayer. Wal*Mart is closing their doors and allowing food purchases only through the pre-paid window. MSM news networks continue to implode, I attribute their woes to Trump. They should have stuck to reporting news rather than creating it. And I think the rot is far deeper than they admit.
Thinking about the past had me listening to music from the 60s and 70s. Of course, there was no way of telling which tunes would become enduring classics. There were many “summer bands” that faded to nothing after a single hit or album. It was not uncommon for a smash hit to fade to nothing so a song I liked still even getting radio time was unusual for my choices by 1975. However, I definitely recall the tunes that impacted my bass playing right to this day. Would you like to see the list? I will not include any tunes I played live, only those that influenced me. These are not in any order.
1. “Him or Me” – Paul Revere and the Raiders.Notice the lack of Beatles, Stones, and Elvis. These tunes were influential only. By 1974, I had hit rock bottom, broke, hungry, no instruments, no car, no decent place to live. I had to leave the city and move to a small town with zero hope of creating a band for the next seven years. By the time I got to Seattle, I’d missed my chances of being a teen idol. No matter what band I met or jammed with, I always wound up playing bass. I did not instantly glom on to bass and to this day I still play it the same way as I did at age 14—by copying piano riffs. What’s changed is my delivery.
2. “Love is Blue” – some French guy
3. “Baby Elephant Walk” – Mancini
4. “Runaway” – Del Shannon
5. “Venus” – Shocking Blue
6. “Photograph” – Ringo
7. “Locomotive Breath” – Tull
8. “Fire” – Pointer Sisters
9. “Midnight Confessions” – Grass Roots
10. “Love Me Two Time” - Doors
I did not accept bass as anything to specialize on until I was 30-ish. I could fake all the big tunes of the day but did not like jazz, blues, pop, any anything too over-orchestrated like 90% of rock by that time. Real rock bands did not have horn sections. You know, thinking of Marion, I’m going to grab my bass and play “Fire”. Pointer Sisters, not Springee.
Damn, I still got it.
