tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342776702024-03-13T12:29:20.827-07:00Links and MiscellaniaThis blog is for stuff that doesn't fit in my politics blog. I'm on a quest for discovery. I'm searching for the truth, but it may just be a self-destructive phase... Mar/07Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-49653835962952222122021-06-22T22:25:00.000-07:002021-06-22T22:25:18.392-07:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tvZwKf2kkIq0Rl3qV5mPrSgs7M17STWLHIj99ww7TM5W_-Mo7emD0WJB_4ZRbehLIzFeEM4xpMWVAnszPFwRHwC2H0ZlW_Njn0jyhAIOY5Q0j7ClokrJwg2tszX5iBHX451T/s1500/001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tvZwKf2kkIq0Rl3qV5mPrSgs7M17STWLHIj99ww7TM5W_-Mo7emD0WJB_4ZRbehLIzFeEM4xpMWVAnszPFwRHwC2H0ZlW_Njn0jyhAIOY5Q0j7ClokrJwg2tszX5iBHX451T/s16000/001.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-36177869198673699632021-03-11T19:35:00.002-08:002021-03-11T19:35:42.982-08:00The ruins of Ahu Vinapu on Eater Island<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEzh08lGj5vQwLosUgl9rQfZezbVC3_Wvlwqhyphenhyphen17xYL-HChTEjKMwVSapMKmhq4O-weSTy5OrqDR7Yj33Iv23nVhLPTmR9Vntc6cT0dhqXEstKarRj3Amw4VDkx7lgQREmGmY/s2048/DSC00075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmNZwFaInanOdDCD2NS-7z9UTfiksQgzr82amprUz37hFZ53-CtKG9y-r6Wg-IDLHlDgqdVEBXcmXgbng8niJCEcO3eyqIwbZ55usEEYCG4WxwhrKES37FyFOd71bH51T99VE/s2048/DSC00077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmNZwFaInanOdDCD2NS-7z9UTfiksQgzr82amprUz37hFZ53-CtKG9y-r6Wg-IDLHlDgqdVEBXcmXgbng8niJCEcO3eyqIwbZ55usEEYCG4WxwhrKES37FyFOd71bH51T99VE/w640-h480/DSC00077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc-ib4A_rmyUgRXIFMGbatJgScXPkdR4sk_335WXZt9WV1LnCwHFZI5bF_8WqTFbZ8rCLcC3L1pSqHX-tKjzTVBOwu8G7jS1NVd1yb2iOoa7xnVsaiXXlxDSATROVucUO3yfj/s2048/DSC00081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc-ib4A_rmyUgRXIFMGbatJgScXPkdR4sk_335WXZt9WV1LnCwHFZI5bF_8WqTFbZ8rCLcC3L1pSqHX-tKjzTVBOwu8G7jS1NVd1yb2iOoa7xnVsaiXXlxDSATROVucUO3yfj/w640-h480/DSC00081.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpj2orUxuVRVZOKB2hTEI2VyJkcsAVv2FtGomq0JMLym330WNtXoKRLE-R5TrO2ogxUT_NZIgSb9LWjvZRMd1psrwU0HhLtH_da7lrpzsviLktmttKOyM1twHsIGB8WCsxEhF/s2048/DSC00073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpj2orUxuVRVZOKB2hTEI2VyJkcsAVv2FtGomq0JMLym330WNtXoKRLE-R5TrO2ogxUT_NZIgSb9LWjvZRMd1psrwU0HhLtH_da7lrpzsviLktmttKOyM1twHsIGB8WCsxEhF/w640-h480/DSC00073.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-53192998009638650842020-08-20T18:18:00.004-07:002020-08-20T18:18:44.957-07:00Baritone Guitar back attached<p><a href="Briken sent me some pics of the guitar ready for the top to be attached." target="_blank">Briken</a> sent me some pics of the guitar ready for the top to be attached.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMrjhJMiK5w3K9pNaY_Y3NW9YyYsVLpvHbkP_PQLUZHHVYiA89leYTGAEgcmNTD8eu8MP1tGNXb-CFk9uAjXOeO1kBlzWtQBhnPI9jSTuVSWR2TlTb9s0y1Rp9FizrgZTauwc/s2048/IMG_6671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMrjhJMiK5w3K9pNaY_Y3NW9YyYsVLpvHbkP_PQLUZHHVYiA89leYTGAEgcmNTD8eu8MP1tGNXb-CFk9uAjXOeO1kBlzWtQBhnPI9jSTuVSWR2TlTb9s0y1Rp9FizrgZTauwc/w246-h328/IMG_6671.JPG" width="246" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6Q_9zr7iOL-QR9v-kq1YoTpQTpL3A8U33Ey9RCHf1-pFWgsrFojBpev-rxB4uVCSwK8ajfRxm8_HdOHqiFXJ0tHXP6XTARQNiS6kF-axTBbI4NlnPXFePjpkjpWesxC2fo-r/s2048/IMG_6674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6Q_9zr7iOL-QR9v-kq1YoTpQTpL3A8U33Ey9RCHf1-pFWgsrFojBpev-rxB4uVCSwK8ajfRxm8_HdOHqiFXJ0tHXP6XTARQNiS6kF-axTBbI4NlnPXFePjpkjpWesxC2fo-r/w254-h254/IMG_6674.JPG" width="254" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMrjhJMiK5w3K9pNaY_Y3NW9YyYsVLpvHbkP_PQLUZHHVYiA89leYTGAEgcmNTD8eu8MP1tGNXb-CFk9uAjXOeO1kBlzWtQBhnPI9jSTuVSWR2TlTb9s0y1Rp9FizrgZTauwc/s2048/IMG_6671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-63233976869377387022020-08-09T12:11:00.000-07:002020-08-09T12:11:07.035-07:00Baritone Guiter<p> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTnIOOcFurs" target="_blank">Briken</a> of Istanbul has started making me a baritone guitar. </p><p>This baritone guitar will be tuned BEADF#B</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkdHnOqPnOCeCTPn9KLIrZabZ1ezl5N8er_tNCUx1JsV1IxR5fFYjk2ckZIxT3_XJUyfSmBOMvf04QihoETCbz38iMmzO8lRpVzcpn5Sopz1V2x7u7xjg76M-Z8ClDg1QgArF/s2048/IMG_6590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkdHnOqPnOCeCTPn9KLIrZabZ1ezl5N8er_tNCUx1JsV1IxR5fFYjk2ckZIxT3_XJUyfSmBOMvf04QihoETCbz38iMmzO8lRpVzcpn5Sopz1V2x7u7xjg76M-Z8ClDg1QgArF/s640/IMG_6590.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-474423244973911212019-07-22T09:35:00.000-07:002020-05-10T22:13:19.005-07:00Bring back the good stuff. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBcggdeWJVmDG59i5chWb1Ni67lE-HTa7b6BizU9Ovc2pliKxvqMHEvmuPgEXaKuxm4k6tmt2zCJT_4VBpzb1OCsQ3POG8U7eiA2LgiAuZVyX4J1Tx4JlQ14RiwLRyFzxZd7Z4/s1600/StripedTshirt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="907" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBcggdeWJVmDG59i5chWb1Ni67lE-HTa7b6BizU9Ovc2pliKxvqMHEvmuPgEXaKuxm4k6tmt2zCJT_4VBpzb1OCsQ3POG8U7eiA2LgiAuZVyX4J1Tx4JlQ14RiwLRyFzxZd7Z4/s640/StripedTshirt.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Take a look at Mr. Bacciagalupe's t-shirt. Now, that's a sharp looking shirt. I was a kid in the 1950's, and it was common for t-shirts to have horizontal stripes. After the 1950's, though, God must have decided that t-shirts would not have horizontal stripes anymore. Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-74062288898548794022018-01-04T10:03:00.001-08:002018-06-12T14:40:53.401-07:00I'm being listened to night & day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After 6 months of being listened to by a small, wild bird, that roosts in my heater box on the roof,</div>
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it's had it's effects on me, and the bird, too. I don't think this situation is sustainable due to the plus 100 degree days we have here, during July and August. Listening to music full time, as this bird wants, is something I've never done before. Very soon, the music that I liked was either listened to again and again, or I had to try new music, which I've done, so this is what's been happening for 6 months....every day. Expanding my horizons, musically, is something I wanted to do as a retiree, and the bird has been a positive force in my current living environs. </div>
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How does a bird listen to music? I've read that birds listen to music differently than humans, and that must be true. And it's probably the case that other species of birds listen differently, if they listen to music at all. Does a bird remember the music that they've listened to? All I can say is what I've observed from this bird in my heater box, over the last 6 months. While all the time being aware that what I think I hear the bird expressing in it's variety of tweets, very well may be projecting, which is common among us humans. However, it is amazing that this bird can communicate it's desires and woes by it's tweets, and if I were an animal behaviorist, I would be interested....that is if they don't immediately dismiss me as a nut case, because who ever heard of a wild bird listening to music? Actually, if you go on You Tube, there are birds and other animals enthralled with music. </div>
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The bird in my heater box listens to music, seemingly, without distraction. There's little to distract a bird in a box, although it can hear sounds from the immediate neighborhood. Of course, the bird's brain is much smaller than a human's, and I would think that bird behavior is instinct based with little if anything akin to a busy mind that humans have. It is difficult for humans to listen to music with sustained intensity because the mind wanders, whereas this bird listens with sustained intensity, normally. We've listened to one Beethoven symphony after another, and it listens unceasingly, tweeting 'sweet-tweets' at the parts it likes, and wanting more after the music ends.</div>
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The bird listens to my clicking sounds as I type and the clicks my mouse. It often can recognize that I'm about to play music by the pattern of the clicks. There are 3 ways the bird tweets the start of a new tune. The most common is that the bird listens for the tune to develop for 4 to 10 bars and then it tweets. The second way is to tweet the opening note of the song with a tweet that seems to say, "At last, music ! ". The 3rd way is to interpret my clicking sounds when summoning up music from You Tube, and that tweet has a somewhat excited and hopeful sound to it. It doesn't always guess correctly, but it does guess correctly often enough to call attention to it. Sometimes, on You Tube, the song collections leave no space between the ending of one tune and the start of the next. The bird recognizes when this happens and tweets in the new tune. This happens quite often.</div>
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I should explain that the bird is not long winded. It seems that the bird needs to recharge between tweets, which are commonly about 20 to 35 seconds apart. So, during music, it can't tweet at any ol' time, because it "recharges". So, I have to guess if it's tweeting because it normally tweets at intervals, or is it tweeting because of the music? The tone of the tweet settles the question. It has a standard tweet, which is basically just one note, but can alter it's tweet to express itself. What I call a sweet-tweet, is a normal tweet with a higher tone at the end of the tweet. There are variations of the sweet-tweet, and my favorite is the excited sweet-tweet, which is loud and sounds more like a loud whistle, which is most common at exciting parts of the music. There is the stuttering tweet which indicates that the bird is on "cloud-9". Then there's is the flat-tweet, which I'm getting right now because there's no music playing. Then, there is the insta-tweet, which seems to be spring loaded, in that the bird can whip this tweet out virtually simultaneously with whatever it wants to highlight. It will use the inta-tweet with my yawns in bed, to encourage me to get up in the morning. Once in a while, it will insta-tweet my pool shot. It will insta-tweet my typing, to hammer home the problem of no music playing. It has a suffering tweet, too, and that can be very sad.</div>
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One aspect of it's tweets is that it tweets as recognition. Back in December, it began listening to me in my bedroom, den, bathroom and kitchen, and would tweet when it recognized something that I did during my daily routine, such as throwing my socks in the hallway at night before I go to bed. A sock does not make much noise when it lands, but the bird can hear anything that I can hear in the room, and more. It tweets when I get out of my computer chair, and it tweets when it thinks I'm about the leave the house. It tweets when I come back in the house, but not always. It tweets when it hears water running, or a drawer closing in the kitchen, or when it hears the microwave oven. It tweets a flat sounding tweet when I make noise during music. I find myself apologizing to the bird for making noise (I'm repressed by a tiny bird). And this gives rise to confusion as to whether the bird is recognizing something or enjoying it. While listening to concertos, the bird tweets the solo instrument, and is that recognition that the instrument is now playing, or that it likes it? Probably both, when it comes to music. There's little doubt, due to it's sweet tweets and timing of those tweets that it likes solo instruments cutting in during concertos or any kind of music. Big band music has a lot of this kind of action, and the bird just loves Big Band music. It can enjoy any kind of music, but some more than others, based on the sweetness and frequency of it's tweets.</div>
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The bird tweets repetition in music, which happens in popular music as well as classical. The bird loves when solo instruments "go wild", and it loves crescendos. Almost always, the bird tweets when the tune has ended. Lately, it seems to be guessing at the last note of the tune. It will commonly tweet sweet parts of the music, which I find sweet also, and that suggests that what sounds good to a human ear, also sounds good to a bird's ear. This bird likes all music, from bongo solos to the Firebird Suite. ( I haven't played any rap or disco music for it, out of respect for the bird. ) The bird doesn't like it when I pause the music, or when You Tube interrupts rudely, like it does. It doesn't like me leaving my computer chair to go do something, because it feels it needs to follow what I'm doing in the kitchen or bathroom, etc., and the music then gets in the way of tracking me. I thought I could just put on some music to entertain the bird while I did chores, but listening to music seems to be done with a buddy, in the nest. The bird not only listens for patterns of clicks for starting music from You Tube, it also can tell when I'm turning off my 2 computers at night, which means no music until the next morning. It takes this without protest. It will tweet when I walk into my bedroom and listen to me take off my clothes, which it used to tweet to, but seldom does anymore. Each night, I switch off the light and say to it, "Goodnight little birdy, good luck hunting. I hope you catch a big juicy mosquito." Then it listens to me get into bed, and when I rustle the covers to get comfy, it tweets. It continues to listen to me in bed, and will tweet if I scratch or move around. I think it waits for me to go to sleep before it goes hunting. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUbdiS-rSxoLrw6lnwGlEY2Oz1mX4XU_mebgSy2FFSwpMeB-0xER4Z6uxYxiaQaCa1JDlwgZvrlE0bMW1lEcIbfL97fPOJafGe9TriyWwuVPUZ3oMzOUMWKcleioSTXXTn8xJR/s1600/Bird_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1272" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUbdiS-rSxoLrw6lnwGlEY2Oz1mX4XU_mebgSy2FFSwpMeB-0xER4Z6uxYxiaQaCa1JDlwgZvrlE0bMW1lEcIbfL97fPOJafGe9TriyWwuVPUZ3oMzOUMWKcleioSTXXTn8xJR/s640/Bird_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-49433370642531447282014-11-28T09:10:00.001-08:002018-01-30T20:56:44.959-08:00Diet - tame the wolf to maximize energy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm4edXNLe7H-dAvi9v_lmzHr_flSaRqSI4ZsKXl-zEwuikMM3w4CQ9xUIuLW6eXRnFpDHtpYz_TELW3RqDrhyphenhyphenLTZ_LMlJL5w5IBoceP0JtxliN1PeN4WGD_Q3-as4nKTj9pHD/s1600/wolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm4edXNLe7H-dAvi9v_lmzHr_flSaRqSI4ZsKXl-zEwuikMM3w4CQ9xUIuLW6eXRnFpDHtpYz_TELW3RqDrhyphenhyphenLTZ_LMlJL5w5IBoceP0JtxliN1PeN4WGD_Q3-as4nKTj9pHD/s1600/wolf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<ol>
<li>Fat people avoid exercise</li>
<li>Fat people eat sugar</li>
<li>Fat people wolf their food. </li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
I fasted for 3 days, once, when I was in junior college. On that 3rd day, I stopped being tired and hungry, and I felt full of energy.<br />
<br />
What happened was my digestive system stopped drawing energy to digest because there was nothing left to digest. It was a eye-opening lesson in how much energy it takes to digest food. Eating slower means the food is chewed more thoroughly. It's the opposite of wolfing down your food. Unchewed food takes more energy, and stomach acid, to digest. I think it's the usual cause of sluggishness. <br />
<br />
During 20013-14 when I lost weight, I experimented with chewing food until there was nothing left to chew. It takes quite a long time. Surprisingly, there is flavor in the tiniest of morsels left in the mouth during chewing. After a while I get bored with chewing and become easily distracted from what was on my plate. My food craving is satisfied with less food. Skinny people observe fat people as they wolf their food quickly down their gullets. It's a display of an instinctual urge. Skinny folk wonder why you wolf your food. <br />
<br />
Another key to digestion is roughage. It takes less energy to push a stool through the intestine when it contains roughage. We eat food for energy, but if the digestive process requires too much energy, then we feel tired, and want to snack to overcome the tiredness. Eat slow instead of dieting. Just knock off the sugar (eat some roughage at every meal, too), and take a brisk 40 minute walk to start the day. <br />
<br />
When they tell you that dieting is a matter of <b>energy in - energy out</b>, they are wrong. Predigestion is essential to avoid weakness during dieting. People who wolf their food eat too much, and their bodies allocate energy to digest the inadequately chewed food and unnecessary mass of food in ther stomachs and intestines. Losing weight is a 3 legged stool, and making digestion easier (using less calories to get the job done) is one leg. The other legs are <b>regular exercize</b>, and <b>cutting out sugar and alcohol</b>.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-17430941759629093622013-02-03T23:00:00.000-08:002013-02-03T23:08:00.289-08:00Timeline Revolution to Civil War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKTqG2nH_o7gGJn7og2Q6if0dImrP_W2Pwh2hn7VPBsTSUF6xExSWJppHq6R4ySA73FLpUdKmB5h4UlAmgU0oJhmgNEnsfykxgKO6I6yevRZcxmA77-NTiuvhgGRDUX4eKZLO/s1600/First_16_U.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKTqG2nH_o7gGJn7og2Q6if0dImrP_W2Pwh2hn7VPBsTSUF6xExSWJppHq6R4ySA73FLpUdKmB5h4UlAmgU0oJhmgNEnsfykxgKO6I6yevRZcxmA77-NTiuvhgGRDUX4eKZLO/s1600/First_16_U.gif" /></a></div>
<br />Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-36050103639803727342012-07-07T12:44:00.000-07:002012-07-07T14:55:12.863-07:00Cosmic Question<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWhZDJ_Z9rBIgMJLjT8Ule6xXC6baEtpI4M8febRyzJapuT7l1nH3LA8sL1Ixw2uUMt4uk2VJHEWkJVfhfGCfAdZzn1UkR_E0fleAgsYiVQkCFV0nklhvwvi-XSXUON5suKou/s1600/cmb_scatter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWhZDJ_Z9rBIgMJLjT8Ule6xXC6baEtpI4M8febRyzJapuT7l1nH3LA8sL1Ixw2uUMt4uk2VJHEWkJVfhfGCfAdZzn1UkR_E0fleAgsYiVQkCFV0nklhvwvi-XSXUON5suKou/s400/cmb_scatter.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>
I'm just a regular guy from somewhere on the fat part of the bell curve asking a question to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mZQ-5-KYHw&feature=relmfu">YouTube geeks about Cosmic Microwave Background</a>. And here is what I posted in the comments:<br />
"Why is it that this earliest of light, or microwave background, still in our neighborhood? What's it been doing all this time? Shouldn't it have sped off into uncharted space long ago, leaving matter, like galaxies, suns and planets, such as Earth, in it's wake? Surely microwaves travel faster than galaxies."Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-75609489700617850922011-04-16T14:35:00.000-07:002020-01-12T11:51:43.671-08:0010 days on Easter Island<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTJ8L8UM1Qd1L-o7VWYxX_WfjHfp9rVyLFES34ZxCCQhchrr39G89v8H_RF8t2facNuT6yjBpBCHWtpslG5wK5CGzjAazlUXfY5weEqROhxfR0UxS7y6H51S6pg-msdLsS-ia/s1600/Sony-cyber-shot-dsc-w150.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596350686877344066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTJ8L8UM1Qd1L-o7VWYxX_WfjHfp9rVyLFES34ZxCCQhchrr39G89v8H_RF8t2facNuT6yjBpBCHWtpslG5wK5CGzjAazlUXfY5weEqROhxfR0UxS7y6H51S6pg-msdLsS-ia/s400/Sony-cyber-shot-dsc-w150.jpg" style="display: block; height: 119px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I'd taken photographs before, but always at the thoroughly ignorant beginner level, and only with film cameras. My decision to go digital, I thought, was subject to pitfalls and hard lessons.<br />
After hours of research of the <a href="http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/sony/dsc-w150/sony-dsc-w150-review-7.html">review</a>s of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cybershot-DSCW150-Digital-Optical/dp/B0012UZMUU">camera</a>s on the net, I chose the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W150.<br />
I bought it just before leaving on a trip to Easter Island. I made certain to take the instruction booklet with me, in order to learn how to use it. Well, I was able to read some of the instructions, but I was very busy, and reading on a South Sea island is not easy. Anyways, almost all of my pics turned out clear, and certainly beyond my expectations. Here's 9 examples. Click on the pics to enlarge, and then right click on the pic and choose "view pic" and enlarge even more. They lose some clarity transferred from my computer via this blog program, which resizes them. I'll be sure next time to make the pics not so big.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JRwdGNG2ZQM0sX2KFMfrNz-izg9g9lS7IvV_WQur23muKpHTSD6D_2oVM7Dc_KHyGq-BhIKAiIeaNKQ6WF0iaIARw0pQaDIGIXuLGxYHclkC3ymx388TFZuetAI8fhVrVnkX/s1600/Dsc00043.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596306106015258034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JRwdGNG2ZQM0sX2KFMfrNz-izg9g9lS7IvV_WQur23muKpHTSD6D_2oVM7Dc_KHyGq-BhIKAiIeaNKQ6WF0iaIARw0pQaDIGIXuLGxYHclkC3ymx388TFZuetAI8fhVrVnkX/s400/Dsc00043.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 300px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOxeWBTjHthipDXXS3jywR2IqncX9Bjeakx4IzWUWVFcSzTiaa6BvQvcyxECyv7uBihuicYAqO0KRl8_2hovFliW30RNvxLsTV5GbylJFH1cX-8WOLir0Et86Sj3zLe_NLLfl/s1600/DSC00175.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596304113748282802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOxeWBTjHthipDXXS3jywR2IqncX9Bjeakx4IzWUWVFcSzTiaa6BvQvcyxECyv7uBihuicYAqO0KRl8_2hovFliW30RNvxLsTV5GbylJFH1cX-8WOLir0Et86Sj3zLe_NLLfl/s400/DSC00175.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MqosmQS-ah67-70m_orea9Q5WuK2_34NQXF3qfe8hzDh2TVNRHP4k1qGWjQG68NxRhdYsfqjHdIokKlGP-8UbUC8Wk6HfS7wZk2szvkbM7GzkOUTQ73QYSJgpyNxncus1vgQ/s1600/Puna_Pau.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596305228087518082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MqosmQS-ah67-70m_orea9Q5WuK2_34NQXF3qfe8hzDh2TVNRHP4k1qGWjQG68NxRhdYsfqjHdIokKlGP-8UbUC8Wk6HfS7wZk2szvkbM7GzkOUTQ73QYSJgpyNxncus1vgQ/s400/Puna_Pau.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfh-qq-0uYiopF1GfEirzS8AA0Gt0bq_KUKECkXiCk5RsLQDB4S6KGCYnOJBEZB_qXzf-hKyxKExbhS6xls-QyiLdxwLB9tUGAhj0te6t7D7bJMeMn_noV67MFjNNq5wJplbOS/s1600/Backhoe.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596311120276538290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfh-qq-0uYiopF1GfEirzS8AA0Gt0bq_KUKECkXiCk5RsLQDB4S6KGCYnOJBEZB_qXzf-hKyxKExbhS6xls-QyiLdxwLB9tUGAhj0te6t7D7bJMeMn_noV67MFjNNq5wJplbOS/s400/Backhoe.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhm5yR9Z5MKulpSrjNJRIL0xCd8eJ8TeUKp-LzRw3giEoTHuZKv2w3SLutXWvXMrC18WL4lePI6utefJiR4j48GTW7E23Dc8ulEVd5kiXWhks_xAB1blwOK6GPznRXNpqUFzeo/s1600/Ana_Kai_Tangata.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596345273364257122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhm5yR9Z5MKulpSrjNJRIL0xCd8eJ8TeUKp-LzRw3giEoTHuZKv2w3SLutXWvXMrC18WL4lePI6utefJiR4j48GTW7E23Dc8ulEVd5kiXWhks_xAB1blwOK6GPznRXNpqUFzeo/s400/Ana_Kai_Tangata.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAm1w2VglbLVT4eAblLxFlI9kbFcDQQV7GnsjfGQ1jxaYQrZx90VDBeDCsrwozos674UB2kOwenAjvyYjssdWCtAOf27oWhdMzJC_BEWDaddOCPWEvN40d5ZgJFAxcYqkicHb/s1600/DSC00202.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631733588740588658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAm1w2VglbLVT4eAblLxFlI9kbFcDQQV7GnsjfGQ1jxaYQrZx90VDBeDCsrwozos674UB2kOwenAjvyYjssdWCtAOf27oWhdMzJC_BEWDaddOCPWEvN40d5ZgJFAxcYqkicHb/s400/DSC00202.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7BkEhsRDbAfiO-GSe6LqyrLpUw1rY3kty6ioVO0KdZ-XGpiEFLd-_HuPU0q4DZz4D6WksF2DYbcq5mT-QLyGPMPWVxmASM6B31x3Ud2AM9XzAbh-yVXzzXsFIf0TDNvhw6tx/s1600/DSC00103.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631733134048724930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7BkEhsRDbAfiO-GSe6LqyrLpUw1rY3kty6ioVO0KdZ-XGpiEFLd-_HuPU0q4DZz4D6WksF2DYbcq5mT-QLyGPMPWVxmASM6B31x3Ud2AM9XzAbh-yVXzzXsFIf0TDNvhw6tx/s400/DSC00103.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfXCCc_faDJqy9jjf2cafUwyUqAC5RLS_b5yR7QNdgR74_cJuKAIUGUWYI3Zq4fnb2NrPyJNr5wEVtoafes51ZxDtjkp3hteaDcM3sFjw6lwzAfv41l7Wpw91MvoYqol5xqIT/s1600/DSC00075.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631732721802214450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfXCCc_faDJqy9jjf2cafUwyUqAC5RLS_b5yR7QNdgR74_cJuKAIUGUWYI3Zq4fnb2NrPyJNr5wEVtoafes51ZxDtjkp3hteaDcM3sFjw6lwzAfv41l7Wpw91MvoYqol5xqIT/s400/DSC00075.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaOnJY2E0iOeQXLcI9-9azLPbHOgsEdJcgVxWyFd_kxT3CgB3YMyiirviAPszpt-bIdU-ZSb0hYfUvKHW_fVSne27dCVFEYQEv59Wz6nAGBtK_j_Bz0Ub7_zAoix8Gsq-FBve/s1600/DSC00050.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631732371588405106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaOnJY2E0iOeQXLcI9-9azLPbHOgsEdJcgVxWyFd_kxT3CgB3YMyiirviAPszpt-bIdU-ZSb0hYfUvKHW_fVSne27dCVFEYQEv59Wz6nAGBtK_j_Bz0Ub7_zAoix8Gsq-FBve/s400/DSC00050.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 400px;" /></a>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-14247816289370947292009-05-16T11:49:00.000-07:002012-07-07T16:30:07.908-07:00Reading Aloud and Listening to Audio Books<br />
In the following <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?hpw">article</a>, the author discusses the lost art of reading aloud.<span id="goog_1964880985"></span><span id="goog_1964880986"></span><br />
Well,
not 'lost' but 'diminishing'. I decided to read the Lord of
the Rings<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpSkrI_95UO77U4Ww3DXVii_2KByLwOErKEMd0U5imA-VleJYRlgC91nQPhtfdg9qoLELDOJ7nAXfntCVHj_i1GKvWvBunC-l8-_oVTJ2boYgcIrLPfHlRQiKOKGvBXJMKhTc/s1600/PeterLorre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpSkrI_95UO77U4Ww3DXVii_2KByLwOErKEMd0U5imA-VleJYRlgC91nQPhtfdg9qoLELDOJ7nAXfntCVHj_i1GKvWvBunC-l8-_oVTJ2boYgcIrLPfHlRQiKOKGvBXJMKhTc/s320/PeterLorre.jpg" width="261" /></a>trilogy aloud in order to increase my reading aloud skill. It
worked. Not only is it easier now to read aloud, comprehension seems to
be equal to that of reading silently. However, listening to books on
tape or CD is a different thing altogether. Much more difficult. One has
to be ready to<br />
rewind to re-listen because the mind sometimes wonders.
It seems the very act of reading the words off a page helps the mind to
focus, while pure listening sparks other avenues of thought. For an
extra special treat, try listening to "The Code of the Woosters" as read
by Jonathon Cecil. Cecil is the only reader of P.G. Wodehouse that I
would recommend.<br />
The above link is this: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?hpw<br />
<br />
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April 16, 2011 - As a change of pace to reading aloud, here is an audiobook to buy: "True Grit" by Charles Portis, as read by Donna Tartt. It is nothing less than excellent. In fact, I've listened to it now 3 times, and realize that I should pace myself, and put off another listening for at least half a year.
Great book. Great reading by Donna Tartt.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLTdy74-XbAH-NZfwHkPje_SkbD1QyORznuY0AdVohcUsXTfW8hlk2EP6-vM8FvXFdyeeAgeWzF5paSCr0XFiZDDG6Ma0Qw0qG4xsaOcVWVcHH2EsS1i5j2K6FEeLDHDc3S6l/s1600/True_Grit_audio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLTdy74-XbAH-NZfwHkPje_SkbD1QyORznuY0AdVohcUsXTfW8hlk2EP6-vM8FvXFdyeeAgeWzF5paSCr0XFiZDDG6Ma0Qw0qG4xsaOcVWVcHH2EsS1i5j2K6FEeLDHDc3S6l/s320/True_Grit_audio.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
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</div>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-63519606332213946642008-07-07T18:23:00.000-07:002012-07-07T16:51:29.816-07:00From Fahrenheit to Centigrade and back AgainMy memory is so bad. It sputters, coughs & wheezes up surprising stuff, appearing<br />
out of a fog, or washed up on the beach like they were messages in a bottle.<br />
It occured to me that my ol' dad told me, probably 40 years ago, an easy formula for<br />
converting between Fahrenheit and Centigrade.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJMgigRLlNZ2GGhbGPScSc8G-BkOES849lgzM2nPMHwrEuVwkUKvMI1dmR87s05ASGluQwkpcvXjQaBbWIyUqRbkm21v-5_2g-kk3pvlLw7lPqd88M5jjjT9OhSfL_2dxjJ7k/s1600/temperature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJMgigRLlNZ2GGhbGPScSc8G-BkOES849lgzM2nPMHwrEuVwkUKvMI1dmR87s05ASGluQwkpcvXjQaBbWIyUqRbkm21v-5_2g-kk3pvlLw7lPqd88M5jjjT9OhSfL_2dxjJ7k/s320/temperature.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I got depressed because I knew wouldn't ever remember it, but then it came to me<br />
within a minute or two, after I stopped straining my brain.<br />
<br />
Here it is: Whatever temp you have, in either Centigrade<br />
or Fahrenheit, add 40 to the number. (I recalled the number 32 at first, incorrectly,<br />
and found that value generated had an error of a few degrees.)<br />
<br />
After adding 40, multiply by either 5/9 or 9/5. If you want to convert Fahrenheit<br />
into Centigrade, multiply by 5/9. Then subtract that same 40. <br />
That will be your converted temperature.<br />
<br />
[(F + 40) 5/9] - 40 = C is the formula for converting F into C.<br />
<br />
[(C + 40) 9/5] - 40 = F is the formula for converting C into F.<br />
<br />
For easy remembering, just<span style="font-weight: bold;"> <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 100%;">add 40</span></span> and <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">multiply by either 5/9 or 9/5</span>,<br />
then <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">subtract 40</span>.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-60530843331795611612008-05-08T08:38:00.000-07:002017-10-08T09:52:47.440-07:00Switching from Nylon Strings to Steel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi917CtH_Vgwr1XpSiR4wMrJQCtFDnszZi7R15mmAJ-wv7xns-qpVBe8tQAYqkH8uNVHubPtAgqbmxp6ABXWTO3RAPoHlF5CmmEA1YM662f48hXt7nI2ftpXSX5wKrSQg7P_86g/s1600/Martin_0-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi917CtH_Vgwr1XpSiR4wMrJQCtFDnszZi7R15mmAJ-wv7xns-qpVBe8tQAYqkH8uNVHubPtAgqbmxp6ABXWTO3RAPoHlF5CmmEA1YM662f48hXt7nI2ftpXSX5wKrSQg7P_86g/s320/Martin_0-16.jpg" width="127" /></a><span style="color: #666600;">What if you're a classical guitarist wanting steel strings with a wide neck? </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">The best way to go with that is the <span style="color: black;">Takamine F-312</span>s (see pic), which is out of </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">production. It's not cheap either, but well worth the price. Actually, once </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">a person owns this guitar, it's unlikely that they would ever sell it. You can't </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">go wrong with</span> <span style="color: #666600;">that guitar and well worth the effort to shop around for it, </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">including using eBay. </span><span style="color: #666600;">The old <span style="color: black;">Martin 0-16</span>, which the <span style="color: black;">F312</span>s copies, cost </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">a minimum upwards of 2 grand. It's essentially a classical guitar made for </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">steel strings. If you have 2 grand to spend, consider the</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666600;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">Takamine EF740F<b>S</b></span>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666600;">But what if you want a big bodied guitar or even an electric guitar with a </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;">wide neck for less than $2,000? </span><br />
<span style="color: #666600;"><span style="color: #666600;">I experimented by stringing </span>just</span><span style="color: #666600;"> 6 strings on an old, cheap Guild 12 string guitar. It panned out to be a successful procedure yielding a wide neck guitar with steel strings, which gives me 14 frets above the body, 2 more frets than a classical guitar. The Guild tuning keys were rather cheap, so I removed them and installed 6 Martin tuning keys. I've strung 12-string guitars from the cheapies (Guild) to the more expensive Takamine and Larrivee. The Guild did not need to be tuned by a luthier. I think the thick neck of the Guild that was stout enough not to warp. The Takamine and Larrivee required tuning because the thin neck warped after the string change. It will cost around 200 bucks for the tune-up.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFk2xgKHdbW55zsi-UIBzsVfBDB-HlspPEI0eFwxuHfbwA5Hdf1P1A9cVJxtb4Xmn30_uHPpMiGXURrEZ0hJ030NSC13JYgIcru4Yx4KOP27cFe2wsnvXes7BdcVxN4wMZei8O/s1600/grune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFk2xgKHdbW55zsi-UIBzsVfBDB-HlspPEI0eFwxuHfbwA5Hdf1P1A9cVJxtb4Xmn30_uHPpMiGXURrEZ0hJ030NSC13JYgIcru4Yx4KOP27cFe2wsnvXes7BdcVxN4wMZei8O/s1600/grune.jpg" /></a></div>
Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-23769099930520262542007-05-04T15:54:00.000-07:002012-07-07T16:02:12.113-07:00Calibrate your finger<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6SzE6UteiJ8yfWpdw8jZgRryRH1fXhhnjylfFoRqM7Ur7C8w_KgJYdfVvVO_4NAGqmOHxxFb4L-OT7adRru-DreBvN3k2BPLiuqJGAkzClEo3UUmdfmkbIRstJEd6PFIVqAK/s1600-h/fingerImproved.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070439979869486642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6SzE6UteiJ8yfWpdw8jZgRryRH1fXhhnjylfFoRqM7Ur7C8w_KgJYdfVvVO_4NAGqmOHxxFb4L-OT7adRru-DreBvN3k2BPLiuqJGAkzClEo3UUmdfmkbIRstJEd6PFIVqAK/s320/fingerImproved.gif" /></a><br />
Do you know how long your index finger is? <br />
<br />
When you don't have a ruler or measuring tape, you can measure lengths, widths, diameters, and thicknesses by using your index finger as a ruler. It's amazingly quick and surprisingly accurate.<br />
<br />
Look at your index finger with the palm of your hand open and facing towards you. It turns out that from your index fingertip to the first joint is about one inch.<br />
<br />
Measure between the first and second joint, from one crease in the skin, or line, to the next. Again, it's almost exactly one inch. It turns out that the finger is about 3 inches long. But you'll have to measure your<br />
own fingers to find out the precise measurement between<br />
each line on your finger. Discover where the lines on your<br />
finger are exactly at inch intervals.<br />
<br />
Why do this? It's extremley 'handy' to know these dimensions<br />
to be able to measure objects when you're in a hurry and you<br />
don't have a tape measure or ruler, for example, while shopping.<br />
<br />
You'll find that it's quite easy to estimate to an 1/8th of an inch.<br />
How long would it take for you to find a measuring tape right now?<br />
Before you start looking, using your finger, measure the width of<br />
the ALT key on your keyboard.<br />
I'm looking at it right now and it seems like it would be 3/4".<br />
(Greater than half the distance between the lines, plus half again<br />
as much.) Checking with a tape measure, I was off by a 1/16".<br />
Accuracy to within an 1/16th" is pretty good in most instances,<br />
and more reliable than 'guess'-timating.<br />
<br />
It measures 3 1/4" from the tip of my finger to the line at my<br />
knuckle. But since that line isn't perpendicular to the centerline<br />
of the finger, the measurement on the opposite side of the finger<br />
will be shorter. In my case, 2 7/8" long.<br />
<br />
Another measurement is from the tip of your index finger to the<br />
next line on your hand between the knuckle and the thumb. I<br />
think palm readers call that your life line.<br />
<br />
Now, stretch your pinky and thumb as far apart as possible and<br />
measure that. Mine is 9" give or take an 1/8" depending on how<br />
hard I stretch them. You can put both hands stretched out<br />
like this, thumb tip to thumb tip, and get a measurement<br />
close to 18", hands vary of course. You can hold your index<br />
finger end-to-end with your other hand stretched out and get<br />
something close to 1 foot.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-53861033759971000672007-01-27T22:01:00.000-08:002012-07-07T16:04:40.284-07:00Felicity in Life - Music Criticism<br />
Ben Franklin wrote of felicity, as in the enjoyment of life.<br />
With that same goal in mind, let me address one little dimension in<br />
the felicity of relationships. That would be music criticism among<br />
friends and relatives. This goes for all kinds of arts. Experiencing<br />
art is one of the graces in life. It involves active esthetic and intellectual,<br />
as well as cultural elements in the individual. That's quite a complex<br />
formula for anyone, in any locale or age. So, because all folks are different,<br />
they will appreciate art and music differently.<br />
<br />
If we're to live a life with the aim of promoting felicity, then we must<br />
tolerate other people's tastes and preferences. One of the qualities<br />
of being an acquaintance, or friend, or relative, is that the things we<br />
say to each other are stored in our memories. There's no controlling<br />
that. We remember. And because of this, we should try to limit our<br />
criticisms of art and music to positive statements.<br />
<br />
Negativity resides in people's memories to such an insidious extent,<br />
that these remarks will be drawn from memory by that person when<br />
they next experience their piece of music or art. That's a spoiler. <br />
They don't want to think about that while they're enjoying art. <br />
<a href="http://www.paulduncan.org/files/big_lebowski-eagles.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.paulduncan.org/files/big_lebowski-eagles.png" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a>There's no cause to load negativity on the people we have in our lives. If you don't like a piece of music (for example, in the film, Big Lebowski,<br />
The Dude hated the Eagles music ). He should've just endured and not try to bring down his taxi driver. (see pic...the Dude gets ejected by his<br />
taxi driver because of The Dude's negative music criticism)<br />
<br />
Unthinkingly, I've made the mistake of blurting out my honest reaction to friends and relative's music, when I should have held my tongue. Looking back,<br />
I recognize this as a lack of wisdom. What to do, then,<br />
when someone wants you to listen to an Eagles tune (again, just an example).<br />
<br />
Nod your head as if you appreciate the tune, and try not to say anything. <br />
If cornered, and they want you to verbalize about it, say little and act<br />
distracted with something else, but avoid loading your friend's mind<br />
with things they don't want to hear. This is about art, not life.<br />
<br />
This doesn't apply to professional or even blog o' sphere criticisms, since<br />
these sources are disconnected from people's relationships. There must<br />
be artistic criticism, but in relationships in real life, our input is best kept<br />
positive.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-1165493624476359802006-12-07T04:08:00.000-08:002009-11-21T17:56:14.860-08:00Relearning Music after 35 years<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/2mfgo03.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-1165379781800771862006-12-05T20:13:00.000-08:002012-07-07T15:23:12.227-07:00Guitar - Gold Wound Strings<span style="color: #cc9933;">Normal guitar strings (Low E, A, D, G) are wound with bronze. However,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">there are occasionally on the market, gold wound strings. Not pure gold,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">but gold alloy. Pure gold is too soft, and way too expensive. Gold alloy</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">does the trick.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLuXC1SFtdG8fyBXjUiZe9_6dimVKT-bCCGvc0qDBsH92zfiCoXWIwHXqtWHSyM1tgQj59XD1ihY8raHcNVBUqhnYr86witSakOU0pfiSwGqoZ6f5rXbHy1GtwxHJssqfWR4_/s1600/Martin_0-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLuXC1SFtdG8fyBXjUiZe9_6dimVKT-bCCGvc0qDBsH92zfiCoXWIwHXqtWHSyM1tgQj59XD1ihY8raHcNVBUqhnYr86witSakOU0pfiSwGqoZ6f5rXbHy1GtwxHJssqfWR4_/s320/Martin_0-16.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc9933;">Gold wound strings offer benefits over bronze. First is that they bring a fuller,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">richer sound to the lower strings. You'll notice it immediately. It's pronounced</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">and beautiful. It improves the sound of an acoustic guitar, and any guitarist would</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">want that. Second, they're impervious to the corrosive action of the oils, dirt,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">and acids present on the guitarist's fingertips, which react with the bronze,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">causing them to corrode. By avoiding this corrosion, gold strings stay fresher</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">and continue to deliver a rich sound for a much longer time. The fingers don't</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">have that disgusting bronze stench after a session. And your fingertips won't</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">turn black.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">As I glance over at my Takamine F312S, I'm reminded that the golds continue</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">to look brighter than the corroded bronze strings. Golds cost more, but since</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">you have to re-string less frequently, they aren't that much more expensive.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">It's a superior string, but the public doesn't seem to know about them.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">Neither do most retailers. Try mentioning gold wound strings at your music store</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">and see them look off into the distance. Does not compute for them.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">As cutting edge, in the know and hyper-modern as they consider themselves,</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">the music community has an annoying conservative streak to it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">Silver wound string sound a little better than bronze wound strings and are a</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">worthwhile purchase. Gold wound strings sound better than silver wound strings.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">The only thing to remember is that the lightest guage gold wounds don't deliver</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc9933;">the difference in sound quality as the medium or medium/lights do.</span>Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-1165189246463583762006-12-03T15:13:00.000-08:002011-08-23T19:37:21.750-07:00How to Light a CigarThe technique for lighting cigars is different from cigarettes due to the difference
<br />from in diameter between the two distinctly different types of smokes, and the burning properties of their wrappers. The wrapper for a cigarette is bone dry paper. It burns immediately. The wrapper for a cigar is a tobacco leaf, that hopefully, isn't too dry.
<br />
<br />The diameter of cigars are larger than cigarettes, and although some cigars are very thin, the genuine cigars aren't. The diameter of a cigar, or ring size, is larger that the flame of your match.
<br />
<br />Cigars can be improperly lit, meaning usually, that some portion of the end of the cigar lights, and burns, while other portions are yet to be lit. This leads to a malformed coal, affecting the flavor, and could lead to runs or tunneling. You don't want that on a smoke that cost you from 3 to 15 dollars.
<br />
<br />God knows how poor a showing it is to light a perfectly good cigar in front of your friends, or at the smoke shop, and mess it all up. The objective is to start a cigar coal burning the full area of the cigar end.
<br />
<br />So, here is what you should do to prep the end of the cigar before you start toking away at it. Even before you put the cigar to your lips, light the match and uniformly char the cigar end. It shouldn't take but 3 or 4 seconds to get that done. Then, with that same match, you can proceed to toke on the cigar, holding the flame of the match in front of the charred end It can be done with one match.
<br />
<br />Like most everything else, it benefits from a little practice before you do it in front of a critical audience, lookin' sauve & debonaire, as if it was effortless.
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/kennedy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/kennedy.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/winston_churchill.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/winston_churchill.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhv62b42ilqxrGIDh2gPnbp3446zwS4YiOhCC8UlU66rbGf5wtXchHXc7dXYEYt3bYEbM-pPIWULgKsEajGlHF2EE4tgRBds0u6ZDTcN1o3vsfUpQbGUYRVo4FrIGGHdasYep/s1600/ullaCigar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhv62b42ilqxrGIDh2gPnbp3446zwS4YiOhCC8UlU66rbGf5wtXchHXc7dXYEYt3bYEbM-pPIWULgKsEajGlHF2EE4tgRBds0u6ZDTcN1o3vsfUpQbGUYRVo4FrIGGHdasYep/s400/ullaCigar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631738961444138898" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/schwarzenegger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.cheapsmokingcigars.com/famous/schwarzenegger.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYq-TtmAgmOa9pPM6Y-LkMPxy8Y_sGKUdChrm2a9kBmjcTDeYOUZk4dVKewDKXd-2X0nOlNxmF8dCB3bqEnYz280MBwkEDVlvMF4CU-e8cHTKhyphenhyphenDh2oi4qua7WNO15_rX6c_bK/s320/scarface1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYq-TtmAgmOa9pPM6Y-LkMPxy8Y_sGKUdChrm2a9kBmjcTDeYOUZk4dVKewDKXd-2X0nOlNxmF8dCB3bqEnYz280MBwkEDVlvMF4CU-e8cHTKhyphenhyphenDh2oi4qua7WNO15_rX6c_bK/s320/scarface1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
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<br />Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-1165183503109441272006-12-03T14:00:00.000-08:002006-12-03T14:05:03.123-08:00Sharpening Stone CareClean your sharpening stone. <br />Sharpening stone clogged up, black with grinding dust and grime? <br />Melt the blackness away with ordinary waterless hand sanitizer,<br />sold in almost any supermarket, and a paper towel to de-clog your<br />stone. This revives your stone with little effort, and is also effective<br />for your ceramic rods.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34277670.post-1158298674579576632006-09-14T22:29:00.000-07:002006-09-16T06:54:42.630-07:00How to Drink from a CanFor my first blog 'entree' (is that's how it's called?), I'd like to offer<br />up simple directions on how to drink from a can. Yes, you read that<br />correctly: How to drink from a can. You say, that's insane, anyone<br />knows that without being told. It's a skill learned practically in the<br />highchair. But, if we go back a few decades, back to a time when <br />anything ~new~ went unquestioned, folks drank from the can<br />differently.<br /><br />I know by experience right out of the starting gate, that there are high<br />brows out there who scoff at the very idea of considering such a thing,<br />having evolved beyond the can to the bottle for their alcoholic or<br />sweetened beverage requirements. You wouldn't catch them in the<br />lower class activity of drinking from a common can. But there are still<br />some of us who occasionally buy a 12 or 18 pac of beer or sodas on sale<br />at the drug store, if it's a tolerable brand. Mexican, Euro, Canadian,<br />even Aussie beer come in cans, and are usually overpriced, and so if<br />they go on sale, they'll be purchased. You can stuff more cans in the<br />ice chest than bottles.<br /><br />Beverage cans, today, all have pop tops. And why shouldn't they? It's a<br />convenience that makes good, practical sense. It's an evolved device.<br />Before the pop top there was the pull tab. The pull tab was superior<br />for the only reason that it made a different hole ontop the can allowing for<br />better flow of the liquid from the container, compared to the present day<br />pop top. The pull tab hole was closer to the edge of the can, and was<br />longer, too, where the top of the hole provided a vent, plus allowed<br />a large target for the upper lip to plant itself to the hole.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/BeerPull.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/200/BeerPull.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/beer_can05.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/200/beer_can05.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>But the shape of the pull tab hole was inferior to the hole made by the archaic,<br />and just never seen anymore, church key. The church key punched a<br />triangular hole, with the base of the triangle up next to the rim of the can. <br />That triangular hole allowed for a more laminar flow of the liquid as it<br />exited the can. 'Laminar' means flow without turbulence. If you have a<br />carbinated drink, you want to minimize the fizz loss before it hits the inside<br />of your mouth cavity. <span style="font-style: italic;">Back in the day</span>, the bigger the church key, the<br />greater the flow of liquid, and therefore, much more satisfying and refreshing.<br />Like the comparison between stepping into an inflatable pool on the lawn, or<br />diving into a proper swimming pool. Bigger is better, or was.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/beer_can_chickn_8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/200/beer_can_chickn_8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In these post-ultra-modern times we live in today,<br />if one were to keep an eye peeled to score a church key<br />to improve their drinking experience (And why not<br />improve it?), keep it in mind that the larger church key<br />is no longer the desireable unit. Since all cans now have<br />the pop top, and the pop top's rivet and tab prohibits the<br />utilization of the large sized church keys. Nowadays one<br />has to use the smaller church key, but even so, it is an<br />improvement over the inferior hole that the pop top<br />provides.<br /><br /><br />Resist going to eBay and buying one of their rusted old church keys.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/BeerOpenerStarSet7.4-19.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/320/BeerOpenerStarSet7.4-19.2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />You want a brand new church key that you can clean once in a while<br />to prevent microbial growth, and no matter how much you scrub rust,<br />there is just too much surface area to keep down the microbes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/beer-opener.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/320/beer-opener.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I've seen this new design for a church key marketed for making chugging<br />beer safer and more convenient, but for the for mild mannered drinkers<br />from a can, this doesn't do the trick because they are designed to open a<br />beer can on the side, at the wrong end, and should be avoided unless one<br />finds chugging a plus. (Get the girls stinking drunk? Worth a try.)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/1600/BeerShotgunOpene.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7198/2957/200/BeerShotgunOpene.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>But even now, if you look, you might spot in a plastic tumbler on a crowded<br />liquor store counter, by that special cleared area where we all put down our<br />cash, church keys for sale cheap. When you do spot them, scarf up extras<br />to keep on hand, and in the drawer, or in the tackle box, because they're so<br />darned easy to lose. No one knows where they go.Mugginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14874644486849549446noreply@blogger.com0