As I write this, it's dark out. I am finishing up a day at work. The weather decided to take a decent turn about a week ago and even though it's 40 degrees at night (4C) the daytime temperatures are in the 70s or 80s F, which is great May weather here in the Great North Wet.
Of course, as I finish this post, and publish it, we've endured a week of grey skies. But I am not complaining.
A blurry night pic of Seattle's Smith Tower. With all the 'advancement' in phone camera technology, it amazes me that night pictures so often never focus right. It doesn't matter if you follow the instructions or not. Getting a good night pic on a phone camera is hit and miss. SMH.
Work is OK, I'm feeling more energy than a year ago, my cat is doing better. Things appear to be looking brighter, I suppose. I haven't been fiction writing much lately, because I simply haven't felt a ton of inspiration. I have a short novelette that needs to be finished editing, and I open it up on the computer, stare at it a while, and then go find some rock vids on YouTube because... Well, just because.
I listen to a lot of music on YouTube, on my computer, because my stereo is broken. The CD player started wigging a couple years ago, and I never bothered to buy a replacement, because at the time I was so busy taking care of my mom, and going to work, that I really didn't listen to the stereo much anymore anyway.
My old DVD player that won't play DVD's anymore works great as a CD player, so by itself that isn't a problem, but my speakers are shot. One of them works OK, the other one was broken by a previous roommate (they punched a hole into the speaker itself), and it's just another item that needs to be repaired or replaced.
I have always had a lot of music playing in the house, especially in the past when my stereo was working. Now I hear it on the computer, just like everyone else does. Except they probably hear it on their phone, through those shitty earbuds everyone uses. I use Sony headphones, because a lot of earbuds just make music sound like a tinny, trebly screech that destroys it.
My best earbuds are Trisonics, a budget brand I got somewhere -- I don't remember where I got them. It was either the dollar store, or another budget operation. They cost me somewhere between one dollar and 5 bucks. Although they are a budget model, they sound OK. They actually put out some bass tones. The earbuds that came with my new Tecsun PL-398MP are also pretty good. My Sony's, amazingly, which cost me around $20, are tinny. The IPhone or Android phone compatible earbuds I found on the local bike trail about 4-5 years ago are midrangy and crappy sounding.
However, good earbuds or bad earbuds, I don't like using them much, because they can slip. Headphones do not slip.
Anyway, my writing hobby has been placed on hold for a while. It'll come back. It always does.
My MW DXing hobby is el-dullo, being that the ionosphere hasn't exactly been bringing in the really distant stations. It's been more than eleven years since 2011 when I was hearing tons of cool stuff on the MW band, but the Sunspot Cycle isn't cooperating. I am enjoying hearing MW at night through my new Sangean PR-D4W, which has terrific sound, but the actual MWDX is pretty sparse.
KSTP 1500 and XEPE 1700 are my go-to frequencies to check for DX conditions. Both stations are around 1500 miles / 2000 km away. Also, I nightly check KBRE 1660, The Bear, from Merced, California, because they play rock music. If those three stations aren't in well, it means that generally MWDX is mostly dead.
And it's been mostly dead, or just fair DX conditions, since Winter. I am glad there are regionals and maybe 300 stations I can hear nightly. I am not complaining. But the really cool, longer distance stuff? It's MIA.
But I've got most of my health, my cat is doing better, and I've been getting a lot better on slide guitar, and I'm able to work out with the barbells again, so I'm not complaining about life in general. As one prominent female rocker from the 70's (Jackie Fox, the bass player for the Runaways) once said about life: "It sure beats death."
HONOR THE VETS BY STEALING THE FLAG
We had a holiday la couple weekends back, at the very end of May. Memorial Day, the American holiday that dates from after our Civil War, where veterans were honored for their service to the Country. I'll be blunt -- I haven't felt a ton of patriotism over the past couple years. I just ain't feelin' it.
But, at the same time, a guy I truly respect, who lives down my street, took a bullet in Vietnam... So I put out my flags for him this Memorial Day.
My two flags, Memorial Day, 2022. The one that was stolen this year is in the foreground.
So some asshole decides to rip one of them off. Yes, the older flag, the one my grandmother used to put in a planter out front of her house every Memorial Day and 4th Of July. That flag.
There are shitheads all over this planet, and one of them I think lives somewhere in or near my neighborhood, they're probably in their teens and have an IQ that matches their age range, and they stole the flag. Why do I think they're local youths? Because the few druggies that drive through the neighborhood periodically (either when they get lost, or they're looking for a party) aren't interested in ripping off flags, that's why. They'll rip off your mail, but flags? WTF are they going to do with a flag?
Flags aren't worth anything monetarily, except as a symbolic gesture to celebrate your nation's holiday, or honor the veteran down the street.
But yeah, seeing it was stolen really pissed me off.
And you know? I've been putting out the flags every Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Veteran's Day since I can't remember when. I even put them out on 5-1-2011, the day that Seal Team Six got Osama Bin Laden.
But I'm not putting them out anymore. Unless it's the throwaway, miniature kind you get in the drugstore checkstand displays. It's not worth it to put out a holiday decoration if small minded people decide they need to steal it. No thanks.
Well, right now, as I write these words, it's time to shut out the office lights here where I work, and head home. Got to stop by the grocery store and get food and some cat litter. Maybe a hamburger and fries -- my once a month, fast food treat. I will undoubtedly finish this post at home, in my writing den.
ALL HAIL THE SANGEAN PR-4DW -- it's better than they say it is
I got a new radio, which I mentioned a few paragraphs above. I don't know why. It wasn't expensive, and a model with a pretty good rep -- the Sangean PR-D4W. It turns out it's probably the best new AM-FM radio you can get. I was pleasantly surprised at its sound, as well as its performance. 120 hours on a set of D Cell batteries, being played 4 hours a night at moderate volumes? Sounds great to me!
I will have a review / article on it probably next month. I want to give it some time so I can review it properly. But so far I can tell you: It probably is the best AM-FM portable you can get. And it's stereo on headphones. Terrific sound overall. And it's probably an excellent emergency radio too.
MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN! yEAAAAAHHHH
How about some Rob Zombie? Here's Rob with his solo band playing a rock show in New Jersey in 2005. Ozzfest. 103 degrees, and it looks like a lot of people were having a lot of fun hearing them play. Dragula -- what a big hit that was. My mother used to sing Dragula in karaoke. No lie. And people requested it. Not just because it was different seeing and hearing an older woman singing Rob Zombie, but she did a decent job of it. My mom liked all kinds of music, including rock like Rob Zombie and AC/DC.
2005, what a year, even music-wise. Rock still was relevant at the time. Nu-metal was fading out, but there were still a few bands kicking A and taking no names.... Eighteen Visions and Army Of Anyone were prime examples of that. Both had good albums out in 2006. Slipknot had recently turned out a great album, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, in 2004.
White Zombie playing More Human Than Human at the MTV Awards show, 1995. Astro-Creep 2000, the CD 'More Human Than Human' was on, was a seminal 1990's rock album.
For those of you who missed out, here's Eighteen Visions, playing one of their hits, 'Waiting For The Heavens', from 2004's 'Obsession' CD. 18V, as they were known sometimes, weren't really big, but they had a couple of really good albums out in 2004 and 2006. Their music is well worth checking out, especially their 'Obsession' 2004 CD and 'Eighteen Visions' 2006 CD.
Here's Army Of Anyone's 'Goodbye' video. 'Goodbye' was released in 2006. Army Of Anyone was three guys from the Stone Temple Pilots fronted by Filter's Richard Patrick. I played this CD to death in 2006 and 2007.
This is the opening track off Army Of Anyone's 2006 CD, "It Doesn't Seem To Matter", played live. It's totally kickass.
After 2005-2006, things went thddddt in Rock music over the next few years, but there still is some good rock out there. You just have to dig for it. Mostly on YouTube. And make sure you've got a good set of Sony headphones. :-)
And with that, my friends, I shall close this blog article. I will post another one soon, as there has been some news in the radio industry of note.
See yas,
C.C., June 19th, 2023
I really like this blog. My two favorite topics are covered here, radio and guitar. I too have the fantastic PR-4. It is a domestic AM DX-machine.
ReplyDeleteMr. Elliott,
DeleteThank you for your kind comment. Glad you're enjoying the blog. Yeah, radios and guitars.... What would our world be like without them? I'd add cats, too, but I'm biased. :-) Thanks for reading the blog.
Peace,
Chris