Indian Summer in the PNW

 

Soon it will be October: Halloween is on the way.

This is one of my better carved pumpkins, from 2012.

Right now as I type this it's dark out. Here in the middle-northern latitudes in the US, that means it's heading into Fall, as during the Summer our daylight hours range from around 4 a.m. to 9+ p.m., depending on how bright the dawn and dusk are.

The leaves are just starting to turn yellow, at the edges, on a couple medium sized maple trees just outside my Seattle area work office. We just had a recent, light rain. Fall is on the way.

Oftentimes here in the Seattle area, we have a fairly good "Indian Summer", which is an American term for sunny, warmer conditions during September and early October. We had an OK Indian Summer last year, but during the 1990s and early 2000s we had some really good ones. I don't know exactly how the term actually came about -- the term dates back to the late 1700's and early 1800's in the US, referring to warm October and September days when the skies were hazy and Native Americans hunted game.

As for Fall, I usually enjoy the Autumn season, as I like the Fall colors in the hills when we have a good Fall season. Sometimes we have good Autumns with bright colors, and other times it's sort of blah. But either way, the approach of Fall means Halloween is also on the way, and -- after that -- Christmas, but this year I'm not really all that hepped up on the approaching Holidays as I'm facing them alone, with just me and my cats.

With my mother's passing in November of last year, and the drifting apart of the extended family (many who have moved to other states), there really isn't too much to celebrate during Holiday seasons.

"#1": SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN A MYSTERY, AND STILL IS, ACTUALLY

My #1 guitar, which has had several suspected brand names / makers throughout the years. I know for sure it's Japanese, as it says "Made in Japan" on the neck plate. Yet I have never known 100% which company made the guitar, as it has had no name on the headstock -- or anywhere else.

For lack of any other name, it's been "#1."

At first, someone suggested #1 was a Montgomery Wards guitar. They said they saw one like it in a catalog in the 1970s. So -- for a while I referred to it as a Wards guitar -- although I had no clue where it was bought (my uncle -- who originally bought it -- never said, and he died in 1990). Then I saw a pic of a 'Daimaru' that looked just like #1, in a book, in the 1990's, which made me think it was a Daimaru. Then, more recently, I joined a Teisco FB group because someone posted similar looking (but not identical looking) guitars called Teisco Auditions. Then I was told my guitar was a Teisco-Kawai, as the Kawai company took over Teisco in the late 1960's.

The only pic of me playing #1. This pic I somehow took of myself in 2001 or 2002. The green strap, of course, is still on the guitar. There is a glass Dunlop, #271 "Blues Bottle" glass slide on my finger. At the time I took this pic, I was starting to learn slide.

Now, just during the past week or so, I've been told by Teisco experts on FB that #1 is a SAKAI guitar, early 1970s, which would fit the date of purchase -- which I think was 1973 or 1974 (when my uncle bought it). Sakai bought out Kawai apparently. The guitar's pickups, taken off a Decca brand guitar (Kawai built, probably), are probably indeed KAWAI (flat topped rails holding the bobbins). I wrecked one of #1's original pickups early on, thinking I was going to be like Brian May and overwind one. For about a year I only played #1 with one pickup. Then I saw the Decca guitar (Kawai built) at the thrift store, and swapped its two good pickups for the one remaining good one in #1.

Confused enough yet?

So I suppose now I can refer to it as a Sakai Guitar. It's odd to refer to it by another name or brand, after so many years playing it and thinking it was something else. 

And for the life of me, I've never seen another guitar identical to it. There are always parts in the wrong place, or slight variations in the Fender "Jaguar" body shape. Teisco Auditions are close, as are the UK "Top Twenty" guitars (often made by Sakai) that were sold there in the 1970s. But the body shapes are still a bit different, and the bridges are often not the same.

FWIW, #1 sounds like a Gibson SG with P90s and extra treble available.

My cat checking out an uncarved pumpkin back in 2012. My cat is still fine. Time sure flies.

LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH PULP NOVELS

If it weren't for the internet and guitars, and work, I'd really have little to do. I still do my fiction writing, and some of my pulp novels do sell, so there's that. Fiction writing is sort of my replacement for the 'exciting life' that a lot of bloggers, Instagrammers, social-media people, "influencers", and the like claim to have. I like to place my pulp novel characters in situations that are exciting, even if the characters are regular, working class people. Usually when the Holidays arrive, I write a story centered around either Halloween or Christmas. It's my own way of celebrating. 

Being that there are usually a lot of holiday decorations in the stores and nearby houses I have plenty of 'atmosphere' to draw from for those stories.

Despite the dreary weather ahead, and the Holidays, I am looking forwards to MW and some SW DXing, as the Winter may bring better long distance radio conditions. Distance listening on the radio has always been a backup hobby for me, and it provides an interesting view of the world -- you can travel it using your radio, your ears, and an armchair. :-)

I also enjoy listening to football games on the radio, as NFL and College football seasons heat up. Our local NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks, just won their first game, where our former backup quarterback -- Geno Smith -- led the Seahawks to beat the Denver Broncos, who are headed by the guy who used to be Seattle's main quarterback, Russell Wilson. It was a classic case of the underdog beating the star -- on national TV, nonetheless. Pretty cool.

The next game the Seahawks played, against our 'arch-rival' the San Francisco 49ers, we lost. Oh well. That's how it works in football -- you win a few, you lose a few.

That said, I'm not a Seahawks nut, really. I don't have a definite favorite team. I just like to listen to the NFL games. It sure beats news and politics. :-) I also listen to the national Sports Radio networks during the NFL season, as they talk about football a lot. During this time of year, baseball season is entering its playoffs, so it also makes for some interesting sports talk. Once again -- it beats politics.

Well, I'm starting to ramble here, so I will cut this article short. I have a couple longer articles about guitars and other things, one that touches on business -- and I'm sitting on that particular blog post for another month or so. There's a guitar related article I finished that I'll probably post here in a week or two.

I hope all my readers are doing well. Here in the US they say the pandemic is basically over. Now everything is readjusting -- there have been supply chain issues, inflation, and other things that have made life a little more difficult for a lot of people.

A little pre-Halloween cheer, 2014 style. That was a good cat pumpkin I carved that year.

As I pondered the end of summer, I was reminded of this haunting, summer-love song from 2012, by the elusive and beautiful singer Lana Del Rey: Summertime Sadness.

 I first heard of Lana Del Rey in the mid-2010s, although I probably heard this song on the radio in 2012. Some guy had placed the song as a soundtrack for his drone video. In this video, Lana appears almost ghost-like -- as do most of the photo effects in the video -- and she gives the camera a coy, sexy smile, once near the end. She has a fascinating, sweet and soulful voice, to which she adds a lilt now and then, for effect. The album this track came off of was one of the biggest sellers in 2012, and it spawned several other hits, all of them as etherical sounding as this one.

I've been on a Mick Ronson-era David Bowie kick lately, as I recently re-learnt this song -- Jean Genie -- on guitar. This tape apparently is very rare, and it is a genuinely live, TOTP 1973 performance of The Jean Genie, one of David Bowie's rave-up style rockers. Mick Ronson (on guitar) still had the metal cover on his blonde, sanded topped Les Paul Custom's bridge pickup; and he still was painting the plastic, pickup 'surrounds' (the plastic frame around the pickup) white. Later, when he took the covers off both pickups, he let the white, model paint wear off and kept the surrounds their stock, black color.

When you're a guitar player and a Mick Ronson fan, you notice stuff like that.
 

And with that, I'll close this blog post. 

I hope the best for everyone.

Until next time, my friends, Peace.

C.C. -- September 30th, 2022

Summer Deep Is In The Hills Again

British rock band T.Rex, 1970. Pic taken during the photo sessions for their 1970 album, also called "T.Rex". Another, nearly identical pic from this photo session was placed on the cover. It was the first time I'd seen, or identified a red Gibson Les Paul guitar, and because I was a T.Rex fan at the time, I always wanted a guitar like that one. Photo - RecordMecca.com

Summer Deep -- it was a very cool track on the T.Rex album that apparently broke the band in the UK. I remember seeing the pic of Marc Bolan with his red Les Paul guitar. That's the first time I recognised a Les Paul. And I knew I wanted one. And it had to be red.

Later on, when I saw the pic of the Australian glam rock band Supernaut's Chris Burnham with a red Les Paul, my desire to have a guitar like that was only reinvigorated, because I loved the sound he got from his.

Australian rock band Supernaut's Chris Burnham, playing his red Gibson Les Paul (probably a 1974 Custom, Cherry finish!) during a reunion show in Melbourne in 2019 -- it's the same exact guitar he used on their glam rock albums in the late 1970s. Photo courtesy Supernaut's FB page.

In 1996 I ended up getting a red Les Paul design guitar, albeit a really good copy, the ash-bodied Lotus L520. Right now I am setting it up for slide playing and rhythm playing.

Summer Deep Is In The Hills Again -- that was the opening verse to the T.Rex song, and it matches the weather we've been having lately here in the Seattle area, the kind of 'deep Summer' weather I call "California Weather" -- sunny, balmy, mostly dry, and around 80 degrees F (28 or so C). So, naturally, as I look out the window after finishing work, and seeing the 80 degree sunshine out there, the T.Rex track somehow came to mind.

Supernaut performing their first Australian hit "I Like It Both Ways", a heavy glam rock tune with edgy lyrics for its time. In it you can see Chris Burnham playing his Cherry finish, probably circa 1974 Les Paul Custom.

The Oz glam rock band Supernaut's second hit, Too Hot To Touch, which has some cool guitar sounds (probably Chris Burnham's Cherry Custom Les Paul through an H&H amp), and some feedback around 3 and a half minutes in. This is the second band that turned me on to Oz rock, the first one being AC/DC -- both of which I heard on Radio Australia.

IRRITATING PETTY CRIMES

The past few weeks have been a bit odd, really. There were a spate of thefts and vandalisms in my neighborhood, and most of the neighbors know who did them, and it's been an off and on problem for a couple years, usually during the summer evenings. Both of the cars in my driveway were broken into, and the steering columns broken into as well. One of the cars was already inoperable. The busted steering columns just mean more repairs to pay for, really.

My neighbors had their bikes ripped off. Another house had a motorcycle stolen, and left by a fence a block away. So I wasn't the only 'victim' of this idiotic rampage.

My main car works well now -- it was in the shop being repaired while the other two (one was a loaner) were broken into. My car doesn't have working air conditioning, so when driving in the rare Summer heat here it's like driving in a sweatbox. But at least it works. :-)

My long shadow at sunset while I was riding my bike. It was quite warm out that afternoon, maybe 80F / 28C or so. Perfect weather for bicycling.

There really hasn't been too much going on aside from the low-level (and irritating) crimes. The weather's nice, but I haven't yet done any rockhounding at the river, something I do at least a couple times during the Summer. The Cedar River has agates and jasper (both red jasper, green jasper, and yellow jasper), as well as some petrified wood, and I collect rocks as one of my hobbies -- something I got from my Dad and Grandfather.

I haven't been taking my camera out during bike rides very much. I did get a few decent pics a couple weeks ago. And I recently took a few pictures for this blog post.

CB radio used to be super popular until the 1990s, when the internet replaced most of the reasons people had CBs: talking to groups of people anonymously, or talking to people overseas. As recently as 2012 or so, CB was still quite popular in Latin America. I could hear people from Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Ecuador all talking to each other, in Spanish, in the CB 'Outband'. As this new Solar Cycle progresses, we shall see if CB still has much popularity in Mexico, Central and South America.

HOLA! HOLA! HOLA! -- OUTBAND CB

I've been DXing the SW bands a bit more than previously, as the sunspots are slowly picking up. My next installment of my 'Shortwave Logbook' here on this blog will be fairly full. Earlier this afternoon I heard CB Outbanders from Latin America for the first time in YEARS. A guy with an odd Spanish accent (Central American? I couldn't tell) talking to a guy who was either in Costa Rica or Ecuador. They were talking so fast, in Spanish, and there was just enough fading that I couldn't clearly decipher all that was said.

But it was very cool hearing them. When the SW bands are up, and the sunspots are up, I always enjoy tuning the CB Outband -- the frequencies from 27415 Khz to around 27555 Khz, which is where a lot of the Latin American Outbanders hang out. I enjoy hearing the CBers from different Latin American countries talk to each other, and I try to ID their accents, and I know just enough Spanish to understand the basics of what they're saying -- at least part of the time. :-)

They're called "Outbanders" because the official CB band goes from 26965-27405 Khz. Anything above or below those frequencies are "Outband" and officially illegal, but a lot of CBers use those frequencies anyway, usually to talk to people from other countries, using the ionosphere. I hear the Outbanders mostly talking on frequencies above 27405 Khz -- usually between 27415 and 27505 Khz. There are English speaking Outbanders along with the Latin Americans, although they don't always talk on the same frequencies.

In the late 1980s, the "Upper Side" of CB Channel 29 (27295 Khz) was a hotbed of Latin American sideband activity. I used to hear all sorts of Mexican and Central American SSB activity. That obviously changed, because in 2011 through 2016 when I was listening to a lot of activity in the CB band, I never heard any Spanish on that channel.

They all apparently moved up to the Outband. :-)

So, as the year progresses, I'll be tuning more and more into the Outband frequencies to see what there is happening there. It's pretty cool hearing the Latin Americans all talking to each other -- with all their different Spanish accents, and their excitement at talking instantly to people in other countries. In 2012 or so I heard a woman in Venezuela talking to a guy in Brazil -- they were using bits and pieces of both Spanish and Portuguese.

My old thermometer that I've had forever, which read 73F / 23C at around 8 o'clock at night. Not bad.

AIR CONDITIONERS? WHO NEEDS AIR CONDITIONERS?

The weather here has been warm for the most part, with sunshine on most days, and temperatures in the high 80's F (27-30C). Even when it was cloudy it was 86-87F outside, and a bit muggy. Here in the Seattle region we don't get high humidity -- not like they have in the Eastern and Southern U.S. But we do get a bit of humid weather from time to time, and we notice it when it happens. It's not oppressive, but when you're not used to it, it can be a little uncomfortable.

When I was a kid, nobody around here -- and I mean nobody -- had an air conditioner. Everybody used fans in hotter weather. Now you see more air conditioners in windows in people's houses, although there aren't a lot of them. Most people still stay cool the standard Seattle way: the box fan.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST.... LAYOFFS IN RADIO AND AT BMI

A couple weeks ago I posted an article here about radio and the music industry, which I described as being in decline, and where I spelled out the reasons why. The music entertainment industry (radio, record labels, music videos, etc.) is fragmenting, thanks to the internet and the music streaming business model, and both the radio and music industries have seen large losses in revenues since about 2000 (radio gaining about 35% of the revenue it got in 2000, and the record industry making 30% less than what it made in the US in 1999 and 2000).

Just recently several radio companies (including the U.S. radio company Audacy, and a couple other smaller radio companies) announced some layoffs. So did the major publishing royalty collection company BMI, which is laying off 10% of its workforce.

Audacy in particular is the second largest radio company in the United States. They're laying off 5% of their workforce. This is after the #1 radio company, IHeartMedia, laid off around 10% of their workforce at the beginning of 2020.

Here's an article about Audacy (formerly Entercom) and their announced layoffs.:

https://www.countryinsider.com/news/layoffs-at-audacy-to-reduce-company-workforce-by-5/article_7e58fc5a-1de8-11ed-8986-23efaebc1f62.html

The BMI layoffs themselves are curious, as the company reports that it had record revenues in 2021. Yet they are cutting 10% of their workforce. Why does a company lay off people when it's bringing in a lot more money? It's a good question -- one for which I don't have an answer. The music press writers don't really have answers to that question, either.

Here is an article on the BMI layoffs.:

https://www.insideradio.com/free/bmi-job-cuts-affect-10-of-workforce/article_48fff39e-225f-11ed-a214-cf201519c0b4.html

IN CLOSING

I'll close out this blog post with a couple pictures I took during a recent, late afternoon bike ride. Being that I live near a river, I see a lot of activity there. There are homeless people who live in the wooded areas just off of the river, and the river is the closest thing to a "beach" we have in this part of the Seattle region. There are some lakes around, but their beaches are often hard to get to, or the parking is jammed. Access to the local river, however, is a bit more available.

The setting Sun through the dense riparian / riverine woods just off the side of the local Trail.

The local 'beach' at Sundown. Usually when there is hot weather, this sandy reach of the river is fairly crowded with people. There are not a lot of beaches readily available to the working classes here in the Seattle area. Seattle's main beaches are few and far between. And in the South county, there are only rivers and a few lakes. But we take what we can get. :-)

Considering that I live so close to the river it's a shame that I don't swim in it more often. I don't know why that is. Some of the reason is having to lock up my bike, secure my helmet and all that -- it's just a bit of a pain to do just to swim in the river.

But it is fun to observe the activity, whether it's a beaver (which I saw once, in the river, about four years ago!) swimming under the Trestle, or ducks and other birds hanging out in the water, or the odd eagle I see on a branch overlooking the water, or the odd owl I hear in the hills up from the river banks at night -- it makes my bike rides a bit more interesting.

Someone lost their kitty. He looks a lot like Socks the Cat, who I've written about on this blog before. Last year I met the owner. The cat's name is actually Guy. He tended to wander from home, I guess. I certainly hope this poster worked, and someone found him, or he otherwise returned home.
Socks, please return home. They miss you.

I'm not sure what sort of jet this is, but it may be a 737Max, as they are assembled not too far from where I live, in the factory where my mother worked for nearly 40 years. The Max's are flying again. The Nikon L32 camera did a fairly decent job focusing in on the plane. I cropped some of the excess sky from the pic so that the plane would actually be easy to see on the blog here.

The YT audio track to the 1970 T.Rex song "Summer Deep". The self-titled T.Rex album this song is taken from, as well as their previous album "A Beard of Stars", were the first recordings where Marc Bolan branched out into electric guitar territory, first with his white Stratocaster (used on Beard of Stars) and then his red Gibson Les Paul (pictured on the pic in this video.

Another track by Oz hard hitting glam rock band Supernaut, a song called Space Angel, which I heard once on Radio Australia. The album cover is one of the main reasons I got a red Les Paul design guitar.

Like many bands of that era, Supernaut were influenced by T.Rex and David Bowie, and Australia had a really lively, Oz rock scene during the late 1970s that grew further in the 80s, introducing a lot of bands like AC/DC, INXS, Midnight Oil, and others that became world famous.

Supernaut only lasted until 1979, when they changed their name and music style before breaking up. Singer Gary Twinn plays pubs in Los Angeles with his roots rock band, and guitarist Chris Burnham is still active in the Australian music scene.

Well, that's it for now. I hope this post finds my readers in good health, and safe and doing well. For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope your late Summer is fun and active. Stay safe, everyone. Peace.

C.C. -- August 24th and September 11th, 2022