Message in a Bottle

Good morning all you saints and sinners out there.
Back to work for Brad today, back from the four day gorge fest that was Christmas.

I'm a little less influenced by the silly stick this morning than I was last night. Although I don't expect that will prevent my journey in to the fine country of tangent land.

Speaking of journeys, I just started reading a Thoreau short story entitled Walking whilst in the commode. It got me to thinking about that self same sense of freedom I've enjoyed on many a pointless walk. (I think I used that phrase self same sense, just for the pleasure of the way it sounds versus what it actually means, forgive me?) I always thought that was the meaning of life. We are here to live and experience life, so what better way to do that than to walk through life like David Caradine in some 70 year long episode of Kung Fu. Then I got really scared at some point and thought maybe I was terribly mistaken. Maybe life really needs to be experienced here. And there are a whole set of life experiences that can only come from being settled and truly tasting the human trials of connection, relationships and familial bonding. I suppose I should have always known all along that in all things there is a middle way. And the middle way can encompass all that is needed to live truly and fully.

But realization is not accomplishment just as knowing how to bake a cake is not the same as baking that cake and sharing it with others rather than just enjoying the comfort of the knowledge, theoretical...

Ok then, time to start getting ready for my day at the experience factory.
Hope yours is pleasant and insightful.
Brad

And so we draw this year to a close...

I was reading a Dean Koontz novel on the plane on the way home Sunday evening and the terror inspiring character on which the novel was based became titled "ticktock".

Exactly how I felt as the plane bucked and shuddered beneath my clenched glutus.

I had a great time in NC with my cousin and his two boys. They were great kids and Billy's doing a great job of bringing them up right. He was always honest with them which I believe is fundamental to proper parenting . But really what would I know of that?
I know with a title like the one I've put on this meager morsel today, that those of you who read this regularly might be beginning to feel slighted. As you should. Today I saw King Kong. Go watch it. That's my emotional weekend, flying and chilling, flying and clenching. Sleeping, and watching a super drama, three hour spectacle of movie magic. Chilling with friends and drinking tea by candle light.

Ok maybe I wasn't as convinced that I was, as ok, with the possibility that I could die as I might have made it seem.... But I made it. Like donating blood to get over my fear of needles. I have looked that which scared me in the face and walked through the trial by fire of a lightning/rain storm on my first plane trip. Not exactly shaman worthy but I did try to examine myself through the entire endeavor. I'll keep trying.
OMG 2005 where have you gone?
Brad

And that's just the way it is....

Did you really think about it before you made the rules?
Sorry, sick as a dog (no offense Professor) home from work today. Bored as shit. Haven't slept for longer than twenty minutes all night.

Next Track.....
But on to bigger and better things, all my flight plans are set for NC this weekend. I am very excited! First time on a plane... Yeah I know tough to believe right? This guy, that has been all over the country has never been on a plane? Well, it's true, but I'm about to remedy that in just three days time.

Next Track...
Also for those of you playing the home game, I did find the tweeters to fix my speakers. (advent baby III's) They cost me $32 for the pair, so in total I paid $42 for speakers worth easily three or four times that amount. They sound amazing, superb stereo imaging, full round low end that goes way deeper than would be expected of a pair of bookshelf speakers this size.
Then again sealed enclosures are where it's at so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Then again maybe I wasn't surprised and what I meant to say without sounding arrogant was that someone with less knowledge regarding the subject would have been surprised. I knew they would sound awesome that's why I jumped on the $10 flea market price. And I knew that even paying more for real Advent replacement tweeters that these speakers would be worth my while. Or maybe I'm just so bored with my life that I'd welcome a little distraction that caters to my natural tendencies, which some times seem less musicaly inclined and more torwards gear and sound quality. Awesome sound quality yet I have a hard time sitting through a whole song. It's like MP3 ADD.

Next Track...
Now on to my next project speakers :) I found a pair of Allison Acoustic CD-7's at the salvation army. One was near perfect ccondition and the other had some dead foam around the woofer. (A top firing 8") They must have been just donated because a guy was testing them out to price them before putting them on display. So I heard him plug in the first speaker and was amazed at how it filled the entire building with sound. We are talking about a warehouse sized building. Then I heard him start testing the second speaker in the pair, which didn't sound nearly as healthy! When the second speaker started farting out due to the woofer damage he marked them for $50 instead of the $100 he intended to (I found this out while conversing trying to buy them before they hit the store floor lol) So I scored them and dropped them off for re-foaming ($70 service for those interested or in need) and they will have cost me a total of $120 for speakers that originally sold for close to $500. I think when I get them back from repair I'll use those as my main speakers in the surround setup and take the Klipsch for a much needed tune up. Then use the Klipsch as my recording monitors! (thanks for the idea Pete!)

Untill The Next Track..
Brad

Every rose has its thorn...

Good evening folks, everyone ready for the holidays?
Me either.
well almost, still can't for the life of me figure out what I want to get my mom for x-mas...
Still haven't been able to get those replacement tweeters...
hmmm ING has gone up to a 3.75% interest rate
Maybe I'll play some warcrack..
B

Carolina in my mind....

gooooooooooooooooooooooooood moooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiing

yawn

stretch

I'm heading south for the winter folks. Don't miss me too much.

No really I'm going to spend a few days down in North Carolina with my cousin Billy and his family. Pretty much just over X-Mas weekend. Other than that, no news. Went to the casino last night, didn't win. hmmmmm.
yep thats about it.
B

Peaceful easy feeling,

Just another beautiful day after the storm morning. The sun is shining the dogs are barking. I have a whole day with nothing planned and a fistfull of b grade horror movies to bake my skull.

Although I am multitasking my morning. Writing this while calling a speaker parts company here in prov to try and locate a pair of replacement tweeters for the Advent Baby III's I picked up at the flea market last week. They are going to sound so sweet when I have returned them to their factory prime. I mean they sound good now, but the crossovers are super strong cut, so no high end gets to the woofers at all. I've "jimmied" them with junk tweeters for now but I hope that doesn't damage the crossovers... And they sound all right. Then again I'm using them for computer speakers with my shit old Sony powering them. I'm sure the cheesy internal soundcard outputting my mp3 collection isn't the best signal path either...

LOL so much for being an audiophile...
I want my crap to sound like the best crap ever....
Should've just went to SDC and gotten some new speakers... I don't even know what they are going to want to charge me for these tweeters, now I'm waiting for a callback on parts availability grrrrrrr... Maybe it's my fault for hoping to get such a good deal on the speakers. Or for expecting instant gratification on replacing the tweet's. Or maybe I just didn't sleep very well last night and I'm taking it out on myself because I know better than to take my internal aggravation out on the rest of you. Maybe that's why I'm going to go (dramatic event of your choice here) someday. I wonder most of all who will be surprised, who will cheer and who will swear I knew it was going to happen someday...

damm I used a lot of ...'s today. I must not really have too much to say and am just trying to please the crowd. I started playing World of Warcraft a few days ago. It is ridiculous how involved and on what a massive scale people are playing RPG's now. I guess I've been out of the loop for a few years. I'll let you know if anything really interesting happens there..

Yeah Right
So, so many cool clubs closed in the past few years, what about the new ones opening up?
I hear Club Tantric is hosting live band shows now...
maybe I'll call them and try to book a show, if the band ever gets a practice in.
Brad

Mah nom a nope...

The other day a few friends and I were playing poker and discussing the Muppet Show. (what don't you talk about the Muppet show with your friends? Weirdo..) And we were talking about what a cool idea it would be if the Muppets did a celebrity texas hold'm poker television show. Give a bunch of money to a charity. Maybe even have the two old grouchy guys as commentators!
So I went looking last night to try and find out who I could contact regarding this, ahem, brilliant idea. I found a gentleman named Rick Lyon, who worked on the the Muppet Show, Crank Yankers, The Never Ending Story and dozens of other puppet and animatronicly produced works of art. He has a really cool web site with alot of basic info on himself and what he's done.

Last night I wrote him an email to introduce myself and to suggest the concept.
Tonight I got his very prompt, very polite and very short response. Basically that since Disney bought the Muppets he is no longer in the Muppet "loop".

A shame really, he seems like a genuinely nice guy with talent and skill.

Anyway it made me think, wouldn't it be a great Muppet movie, to see the old gang get it together to save the show one more time from the greedy corporation trying to buy the theatre out from under them??

Ahem...
Brad

p.s. Or maybe this guy just wants out of Kermits shadow?

bastards

of course after writing for almost and hour, I click spell check adn it refreshes the page on me
everything gone..
I'm going to go bite the end of a mosberg...
B