Sunday, May 31, 2009

Still working

On the next installment at Nightgaunt's Realm. And just to prove it, here's a little snippet.
Lily was her name, and everyone came here to see her. She sang like she had been there, and was somehow still there, somehow still surviving in spite of all the loss, all the heartbreak, all the years that should have stomped her into oblivion long before and left her dead from sorrow and drug overdose.

She stood tall and dark, hair that must have once been black as midnight dancing in serpent-curls around her ears, dark green eyes glowing from the bleak and cavernous hollows of their sockets. When she sang, some people quietly wept. Some people merely became silent and contemplative. No one spoke. No one threw a beer bottle at the stage. And when she finished and it was time to leave, they all went outside and took a deep breath of the stale city air and knew, somewhere inside, that no matter how bad their lives were, someone else's had been worse. Lily was that kind of a singer.
So for the few who have been checking to see if it's been updated--it hasn't. But I'm still working on it.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

B.A. in Madness

ARKHAM, MA—Arguing that students should return to the fundamentals taught in the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Necronomicon in order to develop the skills they need to be driven to the very edge of sanity, Arkham school board member Charles West continued to advance his pro-madness agenda at the district's monthly meeting Tuesday.

"Fools!" said West, his clenched fist striking the lectern before him. "We must prepare today's youth for a world whose terrors are etched upon ancient clay tablets recounting the fever-dreams of the other gods—not fill their heads with such trivia as math and English. Our graduates need to know about those who lie beneath the earth, waiting until the stars align so they can return to their rightful place as our masters and wage war against the Elder Things and the shoggoths!"

Read the whole thing at The Onion.

Unknown snake


Here's a little guy that I surprised when I popped off a lid last week. I pulled the whole plate off so I could get a picture, but the sun was causing such a bad glare that the phone couldn't handle the contrast, so it didn't come out too well. I've never seen one like this before. Usually the snakes I find are the checkered garter snake, in fact I saw one just yesterday that was about a foot long. The one in this photo was about 2 feet long, with a yellowish-beige stripe down the middle of his back. I'm pretty sure he wasn't venomous, but he was very aggressive. He began striking at the hook as soon as I stuck it in the box to knock the dirt off the meter. The checkered garter snakes never do that.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

An unexpected conversation

I had just started digging through the shelves when my daughter asked me what I was doing.

Me: Trying to find all my H.P. Lovecraft stuff and my other good horror books.

She: Oh, that reminds me! I have one of your books.

She leaves the room, comes running back a moment later with Lovecraft's The Tomb and Other Tales (Ballantine edition).

She: Here, I read this.

Me: The whole book?

She: Yeah.

Me: You read the whole book?

She: Yeah.

Pause.

Me: Did you like it?

She: Yeah, but some of the words were hard and I didn't know what they meant.

Me: You read the whole book?

I'm still stunned. She's ahead of me now. I didn't read any Lovecraft until I was about 14. But then I didn't have a parent who had ever heard of him.

I knew all these books would be useful someday.

Moxy - Moxy (1976, LP)

Sometimes I long for the old days of hard rock, which I missed because I was just a kid and had more important things to think about, like how to talk to that cute blond with the freckles who sat in front of me in fifth grade, or what I could do to make her smile again*, or trying to find a Hardy Boys book that I hadn't read yet.

I remember 1976. It was the year that everything was red, white and blue. The notebooks, the lunch boxes, the pencils, the newspapers. I was telling this kid once, "kid" as having been born in the late 80s, how everything in '76 was red, white and blue. A few days later another co-worker brought an old newspaper to work, just to show off, dated Sunday, July 4, 1976. I pointed at the front page and said, "See? I told you."

I bet if I still had that lunch box it would be worth something now.

In 1976, hard rock was still hard rock, uncontaminated by irony and anti-nostalgia. And there was a guy in San Antonio named Joe Anthony who had a show on KISS (99.5 FM), and he had a hobby of finding Canadian bands that no one had really heard much about yet and promoting the snot out of them in San Antonio. Bands like Triumph, Rush and Moxy.

This, their first album, is simply an awesome snapshot of what rock used to be in the 70s. It just flat-out rocks. They didn't have the staying power of Triumph or Rush--the lead singer developed vocal chord problems and then died young, but the surviving members did have a reunion tour several years ago. If you ever get nostalgic for hard rock the way it used to be, you won't go wrong with this album. It's another I bought used, though when and where exactly escapes me, and I don't think I had even listened to it until I ripped it a few days ago. I was very surprised at how much I liked it.

I wonder if records were made better back then than they were by the mid-80s, because this record made a perfect rip. Not a pop nor a click. For all the details about them you can look them up at Wikipedia. Amazon has a CD version of this album with extra tracks, and has sound samples for all eight of the tracks that were on the original album.


*A few years after we were married, my wife and I ran into her. She told my wife that she had been my girlfriend in fifth grade. I wish I had known that at the time.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bennington Tobacconist unknown blend #5

Well, lets' get this over with.

Fired up a bowl in the old Kaywoodie lovat since it doesn't get used much and it shouldn't have much flavor left over from previous smokes to bias this blend. At first light, I got the distinct impression of cinnamon candy, like Red Hots but not hot. It faded immediately.

The flavor eludes me. About halfway through it seemed sort of wine-like. Two-thirds through I put it down, left the room, walked around the house a little, then came back in to try and catch the room note. No luck.

The pipe bowl itself smells quite sweet, which is normal for artificially-sweetened Cavendish. But still unidentifiable.

But I guess none of that really matters. Regardless of how it tastes and smells, do I like it?

No. It will give it credit in that it isn't the most offensive aromatic I've ever tried. But if someone were to try and covert me to aromatics, this one wouldn't do the trick.

The kids don't care for the room note, either, whatever it is.

UPDATE: I cheated and went to their website to look at their blends and see if I can guess which one it is. I think I figured it out. This is supposed to be one of those "English aromatics," a latakia blend with flavoring added. The flavor is a "secret." I think I need some Perique now to cleanse my palate.

Rain and stuff

When I left home at 5:30 this morning, the sky was working itself into a real banger of a lightning storm again, like the one we had last weekend. Between here and La Vernia it really cut loose; windshield wipers going full speed, only doing about 45 mph on the highway which was probably faster than I should have been going. Between La Vernia and S.A. it slacked off, by the time I got to S.A. I was puzzled by bone-dry roads.

It kept thundering all morning long. I was sure I was going to get really hammered, so I left my personal phone and the mp3 player in my truck so they wouldn't get wet, tied my jacket around my waist because I was sure I'd need it. About 10:30 my wife called and said it was just pouring down here. I was working in Alamo Heights today and did not see a single drop of rain.

When I came home a little while ago I was stunned by full ditches and flooded fields--even the rumblestrips still had water standing in them. So it really did pour down here.

Got a new book in the mail today, The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, third edition by Daniel Harms. Mr. Harms started this book out several years ago and first published it as The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (which I also have--bought one of the first copies as soon as it was available, actually). It should be interesting to see what he's added since that first edition way back when.

Also got a tobacco sample in the mail today from Bennington Tobacconist. I signed up for their samples because they like to ship them out to the average pipe smoker for reviews, which they then post on their website. I signed up for non-aromatic blends only, and they unfortunately sent me an aromatic this time. I guess I'll try to smoke some of it. I can't identify the flavor they put in it, but it's stinking up the whole room. Yech. As a general rule, I just can't stand aromatics, 1792 Flake being the one notable exception.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Google thyself

Have you ever looked up your own name? I do it occasionally, mostly because I use(d) my real full name for my attempts at fiction and poetry and I like to see where it's turned up. I thought this one was amusing in a macabre sort of way.

LAW - GA10017 (1975, LP)

Another one purchased used in the mid-to-late 80s, just because it looked interesting. You won't find these guys on Wikipedia, but fortunately one of the members, Steve Acker, has a website which includes a section on The Story of LAW. So everything I know about them, I read there.
One of most popular area bands throughout the 70s was Youngstown, Ohio’s LAW. Formed in February 1971 by Steve Lawrence, Steve Acker and Mickey Williamson, the name was derived from their initials. From the band’s first rehearsals it was clear that LAW had a special chemistry and magic which very quickly garnered them a regional reputation as an exciting and original club and concert attraction. At the outset the band was determined to perform original material with the goal of securing a record contract. Even the cover songs they did were performed in their own original style.

LAW was known as a “boogie band.” A three piece power trio, they were quite similar to Z.Z. Top in performing blues-based hard driving rock, although they did not know it at the time. Within a year of their formation LAW was opening for national acts like Bob Segar, Edgar Winter’s White Trash and Alice Cooper. One notable performance took place outdoors at Lake Milton, Ohio before 5,000 fans. LAW not only opened the star-studded program, but also later performed as Chuck Berry’s backup band.

I call this one GA10017 because that's the catalog number and the only apparent title of the album (it's printed on the lower hand cuff, as well as on the spine). They later developed into a 4-member band with Acker as the only original member. Click the image to the left you and can see an enlarged version with the members' names as they were in 1975.

In 1975, LAW had a hard time breaking into radio because they were too funky for AOR and too rock for R&B. They opened for many different headliners (perhaps most notably The Who--Roger Daltrey liked them a lot), but were never able to become a headliner themselves.

The band shown here consisted of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. An additional percussionist and synth player are credited but not pictured. The Memphis Horns also add great accents throughout the album.

This is a cool album, and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. They released two other albums, and if I ever chance across them, I'll certainly consider buying them.

Ripping results: perfect, with some work.

You can download and listen to many LAW mp3s at Acker's website, just click LAW Songs.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Chick Corea - The Leprechaun (1975, LP)

Today was a busy day. After a quick run into La Vernia, I then went to the Floresville Wal-Mart and bought a bike. I've really been wanting to get a bike since we got the kids' bikes for Christmas a while back. I was looking for one with a specific feature: a seat which could be easily adjusted without tools so my wife and I can both ride it (although, of course, not simultaneously).

That done, I came back home, aired up the tires, gave the brakes a quick test and then rode it down the road a little just before it started raining again. Then I dug into the old shed--and this was a real job, I was soaked with sweat even though it was raining--that shed is like an oven. Anyway, I dug into there to get out the old cross-country skiing machine. It's been stashed in there for more than 10 years, and I was shocked and surprised that I was able to 1) find all the parts, 2) reassemble it without instructions, and 3) find that it still worked the way it did when it was new. I don't have any use for such a machine myself (anymore), but my wife says she wants to use it again. We do actually have room for it now, in this house. The reason it was stashed away was because before my daughter was born and we were making room for her and so forth, we realized there was no place to put the skier anymore. Like I said, plenty of room now.

And the bike? I didn't really buy that for exercise either. Just for fun. I enjoy bike riding. And I think if I'm out there riding, it will encourage the kids to ride their bikes more often.

After that I did some cleaning up on the computer. First I cleaned all the ventilation ports for the laptop with pipe cleaners and a dust buster. The filtering software that removes pops & clicks puts such a load on the microprocessor that the computer sometimes shuts down to prevent overheating. This was getting to be annoying, also I'm sure it's not good for the computer. But after cleaning out all the little holes today I was able to run a whole 8-track album through it at once without it shutting down. I also cleaned out the keyboard while I was at it.

Then I did some "cleaning" in that I rearranged some files & directories, finished up some albums that were all in various states of incompletion, and at last decided all was caught up and ripped two more records. Which brings me to the current record, which I actually ripped long ago but lost track of it because I was doing too many things at once.

Another album that I bought used, probably from Yesterday's Warehouse, which was a place in Seguin that mostly sold used books but also records and a few other curiosities and antiquities. This is the only Chick Corea album I have, although I do have a couple CDs lined up in my yourmusic.com queue.

From 1975, when Corea was working with his fusion group Return to Forever, this record was something he did on his own as a "leader" project (that is, instead of being in a "group," he was totally in charge although accompanied by other musicians, and he composed and arranged all the music himself). The music from The Leprechaun is also leaning pretty obviously toward the fusion side of the genre, occasionally wandering briefly into narrow side-trails of pop, jazz and if I'm not mistaken, even a couple of hints of classical.

There aren't any pieces on this album that are particularly ear-catching, but I think it's a decent example of what was happening to jazz in the mid-70s with some of the more forward-looking artists like Corea, and it has some good synthesizer work so you can hear what the state of the art sounded like in 1975. Instrumentation on this album is all over the place. Acoustic and electric bass (on different tracks), soprano sax, flute, English horn, a string quartet, a brass section (trombones & trumpets), and two singers (one male and one female). Corea himself plays a variety of keyboards: acoustic piano, Rhodes piano, organ, various synthesizers and several conventional percussion instruments.

Ripping results: perfect.

Amazon has sound samples of all tracks.

Zeus fought Thor

Horrific thunderstorm here last night. Right around 2:30 there were several strikes that were right on top of us. I have yet to go out and survey the damage, but something had to have been struck by lightning. There was also high wind; I expect at least one of the blackjack trees to have gone down. Don't know why it's always a blackjack. They must not have a good root system or something.

I really need to get a new rain gauge.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Jury duty in Japan

I thought this was interesting. From the Anime News Network:
The Japanese government has commissioned a 22-minute anime video called "Bokura no Saibanin Monogatari" (Our Jury Story) to teach its citizens about the re-introduced jury system. In July, Japan will implement jury trials for the first time in six decades, so most Japanese have never experienced jury duty. The anime uses a high school boy's one-sided infatuation for a classmate as an unusual segue to discuss the jury system.
A few more details at the link, like this one to the video at YouTube.

This is what we're up against

There are often occasions, if not incidents, at my place of employment that could provide good blog fodder, but the vast majority of the time I skip it because I don't want to cause or get into trouble for no good reason. But...

At the quick before-you-hit-the-road meeting this morning, we were informed of some upcoming changes which don't really mean a whole lot to those of us on the ground (who cares if they reassign some of the management? I don't). But as usual, this was taken as an excuse to blow things way out of proportion and one person, who I am half-convinced got a job there for the sole purpose of stirring things up and trying to form a union...that is, I would not be surprised to learn that he was actually a "plant"...almost shouted, in great indignation: "What it comes down to is that the company is going to do what's best for them!!!"

Well, duh. Idiot. That's how capitalism works. If you don't like it, go into business for yourself.

I didn't say anything because I didn't want to cause an incident, and besides, I almost gave a few people heart attacks yesterday by uncharacteristically landing a philosophical rabbit punch on the general subject of "laws affect only the law-abiding" right in the middle of the morning meeting and I didn't want anyone to think I was going postal or something. (My supervisor told me that was politics, and we wouldn't discuss it here, or something like that, but she also obviously agreed with me).

But...****. And this is one of the many things that are wrong with people in this country today: they believe that profit is bad. They think that businesses should first provide an infallible position for its employees regardless of how it affects the bottom line.

Okay, comrade, would you make a decision that caused you to lose money for you and your family as long as it kept making more money for your employees? Well, why not?

I just can't understand these people. Their mind-set is completely alien to me.

P.S. I don't think the union thing is gonna happen. They haven't sent me any updates by mail in several weeks, so I think it kind of petered out. After I told a few people that unions are only "institutionalized corruption and small-scale communism" they stopped talking to me, and the only news I've heard since then is what I've received by mail, but those notices were going out to everybody.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Yes, I'm one of those...

A name that recently popped up on FB as someone I might know reminded me of this. I think it is her, but I'm not completely sure since she looks somewhat different with the passage of time and of course she no longer uses her maiden name. But one time in English class she said...

"Hey Alan, what kind of deodorant do you use?"

Me: "Uh...Mennen Speed Stick."

She: "Oh. That figures."

I never have figured that one out.

Albums

Although I appear to have slowed down on the album "reviews," things have actually been full speed ahead here in the real world. I've been working a lot on my old Yes albums--it seems they all had problems that took extra care to produce a decent set of mp3s. I am trying to find a good balance between convenience and tedium, so I've been trying a different program to remove pops & clicks called DePopper. It seems to do a better job than Goldwave at not leaving behind "rough spots," which I have recently learned are technically called "artefacts." DePopper is not a full-blown sound editing program like Goldwave, it only removes pops & clicks and can reduce hiss & hum if you want. After I run a few more albums through it, I'll decide if I want to keep using it and pay for it or not. Registration fee is only$18, so I might just buy it anyway to keep on hand.

Also I have a backlog of stuff to download, but I generally just start that last thing at night and then go to sleep.

One comment about Yes for the moment: I really like their instrumental work, but Jon Anderson's voice starts getting on my nerves after a while. Sounds too much like Mickey Mouse.

'Scuse me while I kiss the sky!

So I also did another long-overdue update to my online tobacco cellar. When you buy 1792 in a box like this, the strips are 7 inches long. Quite impressive. I crammed it all into two Mason jars. This time I just put everything in Mason jars which I pump-n-sealed. I decided the vacuum-sealed bags were too much trouble.

I still have one vacuum-sealed bag of Bayou Morning that will be two years old next month! It has been 11 months since my last big order. Man, that was a long time to go without 1792 Flake. Heh. Second comment at the link:
After half a bowl of this stuff, I had to set down my pipe, lie on the floor and pray that I wouldn't throw up on my Persian rug.
Stout.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A bunch of stuff you never wanted to know...

...about this kind of thing.

I spent my cross-training day yesterday in the meter shop, where they evaluate, test and repair meters that are supposed to be bad. Some of it was quite interesting, but there were stretches of extreme tedium.

Every morning someone brings in a load of meters that were pulled the previous day. Some days it's only a few. Yesterday there were over 100.

I worked only on the smaller residential meters, which were I think were all 5/8-inch, but the test bank pictured below also does 3/4" and 1". There were a few that were bigger than that (2" and 3") but I didn't work on them, and they go on a different test bank. Four-inch and larger are tested in the field, and I didn't have time to go out and do any of that. So everything I say pertains only to the smaller meters.

First of all, there are certain brands of meters which are automatically junked because they were all installed more than 15 years ago. There is an "expiration date" of 15 years, or 1200 cubic feet, whichever comes first. There are thousands (probably) of meters out there that are technically expired, but they won't be removed unless they obviously go bad or the customers complains (for example, I noticed one that I read today had more than 8000 cubic feet on it). There are only two models of small meters currently being used; one of them has a serial number which gives you the year of manufacture, so with a glance you can tell if they are auto-junk or not. The other model started use less than 15 years ago and are all candidates for repair. The junked ones are recycled elsewhere.

We had 26 that weren't automatically junked. The first step in the testing process is to squirt some water into each one from a hose and see if it runs. If it does, it goes back on the cart. If it doesn't, it goes on the repair bench.

The register (the part that has the numbers you can see if you look into your meter box) almost never breaks, unless it has been smashed due to accident or vandalism. It can eventually wear out and get out of calibration, which is why there's that 15-year limit. The most common breakage occurs in the part you can't see, which is under the register. Below the register is a compartment that houses a small turbine that is made entirely out of plastic except for a magnetic disk. The bottom of the meter is unscrewed, you put in a new turbine, screw it back together, and that's it. Afterward I shot some compressed air into it to make sure the new turbine worked (if the meter moves, it works). The turbine is magnetically coupled to the register--there is no mechanical connection.

Once the repairs are made, all the meters are connected to this test bank.


It can hold 24 meters at a time. You just drop them in there and use the compressed air to apply pressure to the entire bank so they are all squeezed into the openings you can see there so they don't leak. I didn't think to take a picture when it was full--I suddenly remembered I had a camera phone after it was over, so it's all empty. Anyway, this apparatus runs three different flow tests. First, a "high-flow" test that pumps 10 cubic feet of water through each meter at the rate of 15 gallons/minute. Second, a "medium-flow" test of 1 cubic foot at the rate of 2 gallons/minute. Finally, a "low-flow" test of 1 cubic foot at 1/4 gallon/minute. The entire procedure takes about an hour. The initial reads are taken and punched into the computer, then new reads are taken after each stage and punched into the computer again. Most meters that are starting to go wonky can pass the high and medium tests but will fail on the low test. In this case, we had two meters that appeared good at that first crude water hose test but failed the low test and went back to the repair bench. One of them I expected to fail because it didn't look right when I first squirted water into it. I even asked the guy who was training me if he was really going to call it good because of the way it moved. He put an "X" on it so we didn't lose track of it, and sure enough, it failed.

By the way, this system is entirely self-contained and the water is recirculated.


This picture is from the other end. You can see two odd meters that were left over and have already been mounted. If there are only a few meters left over, they are usually left for the next day, but fewer than 12 can be tested by putting "blank" PVC pipes in place of meters. The bench in back where the pneumatic tools are hanging is the repair bench.

The next step is to put plastic caps on the in-flow and out-flow openings to keep dirt out, then they are taken to a bench grinder and the cap is buffed to make it easier to see the serial number and manufacturer name. Then they go in boxes so they can be taken back out into the field and installed wherever they need them.

And that's about it. Next time I'm required to do this, I hope to spend the whole day in the field so I can learn about testing the big meters. Staying all day in that one building was not exactly for me.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Pipe tobacco order

Saturday I suddenly realized that I was out of Bayou Night--I thought I had at least one more 4-oz bag stashed away. I haven't really been keeping track very well.

So yesterday I placed orders.

From Cup o' Joes:
2 oz Sokkebye's Luxury Bullseye Flake
250 grams 1792 Flake
50 g McClelland's Perique
50 g Escudo

From C&D:
One pound Bayou Night

I still have one unopened tin of Escudo but I wanted to have a tin in reserve for when I finally work up the nerve to open it. Thus far I have used only C&D's blending Perique so the McClelland version will be new to me.

Here's hoping it comes in by the weekend. Sure will be nice to have 1792 again.

I have to report to a different department for a cross-training day today. Not because I want to, and not because there's really any point, but because my supervisor said I would "fail to meet expectations" if I didn't do it at least once this year. So I have to work an inside job today, a full 8 hours plus a 30-minute lunch, and I expect it to be unspeakably tedious and boring.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Just a note

I haven't given up on Nightgaunt's Realm, for the few who are keeping track. I'm just letting the story stew in my head for a while. I'm planning on another sort of "flashback" episode, and possibly introducing one or two new but occasionally recurring characters. That is all.

Saturday night random 20

A good line-up for tonight.

1. Elton John - Nikita (from a greatest hits compilation)
2. Sting - Nice Work If You Can Get It (from a tribute to Gershwin CD)
3. James Carter & the Prisoners - Po Lazarus (from the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack)
4. Screaming Blue Messiahs - Martian (one of my favorite old 80s groups)
5. Kenny Rankin - The Very Thought of You (jazz)
6. Tangerine Dream - Mt. Shasta
7. Marillion - White Feather
8. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - F*!#in' Up
9. Brasilia - A Chamada Do Rio (jazz)
10. Warren Zevon - Mutineer
11. Hawkwind - Sword of the East
12. Michelle Shocked - Eddie (a dark sequel to the song "V.F.D." that tells what really happened)
13. Kentucky Headhunters - Rock and Roll Angel
14. Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
15. REO Speedwagon - Ridin' the Storm Out
16. Kate Bush - Egypt
17. Pink Floyd - Goodbye Blue Sky
18. Uli John Roth - I'll Be There (from his group Electric Sun)
19. Hüsker Dü - Diane (from their early EP Metal Circus)
20. Nashville Dulcimers - Cajun's Waltz (a dulcimer band--a dulcimer band!)