Archive for September, 2012

Grass burs, displacement, and narcolepsy

Posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 at 7:36 pm

Can’t get enough sleep, napping three, four times a day, several hours at a pop, on top of the usual six hours.  The last turn around to Houston was a gruel, not hard, but taxing.

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Grass burs in the field like a bumper crop.  Considering bagged mowing and burlap for one section.

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A couple of examples of Techopage diffusion and displacement in modo.  I may try specular too, for a matt in the dark and shiny in the bright effect,  in a future session.

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Industrial Strength

Posted on Friday, September 21st, 2012 at 11:09 am

Maybe making another turn-around to Houston, a quick 300 miles.  Groan… My body rejects the notion.

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I saw the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over the house at low altitude yesterday morning.  It was on approach for a flyby of the Texas state capitol on its retirement flight from Florida to California.  It was rather serendipitous that I happened to be outside just as it flew over, and the sound of the 747 engines was rather loud at such close quarters.

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A quick check in modo of a lo-poly industrial tank.

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Back online

Posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2012 at 10:50 pm

The internet microwave transceiver that sits atop the pole, the base of which being some five feet from where I’m sitting, was replaced today.  The original transceiver was flooded from the recent rains (3 inches) and rendered inoperative.  So I went in excess of four days without the internet, until the crew could get out here to put up a brand new transceiver of a new design.

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Being without the net meant no weather except the Weather Channel (yuck!), no email, no package tracking, no online banking, no 3D downloads, no nuke reports, and much more no.  It was a royal pain.  But now I’m making up for lost time.  I’ve already transferred a gig in primetime lag fest, where speeds are slowed considerably by the node competition.

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Feels good to be back online.

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Helen is back in the hospital for a second round of chemotherapy.  She has been there since Friday, largely incommunicado because she doesn’t feel like talking.

One last online purchase

Posted on Sunday, September 9th, 2012 at 12:15 pm

One last musical purchase (outside of microphone cords for the PA).  I found a clip-on sensor for guitar that has a 1/4″ plug.  Instead of a tuner on the head, it allows the same style tuning, but with my old chromatic tuner.  This gives a more accurate tone reading than the microphone mode, but it’s much quicker than placing the DeArmond in the soundhole if I’m playing acoustic.  (Seiko STM-20)

 

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This also required a change in capo.  I also ordered a black Kyser 12 string capo to replace the two 6 string capos I’m now using, to make room for the clip-on sensor on the head.  I gave hard consideration to a Shubb capo (12 string), but of all the lost capos I’ve encountered in my lifetime, 90% of them have been Shubb’s.  The Kyser’s don’t often get lost.  To me, that makes the difference, even though I’ve heard the horror stories about the spring on the Kysers breaking and slicing open palms.  I never grab that low, using my big fingers.  The new capo will also allow me to fret higher, where dual capos are too wide for the frets.

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I was like 75¢ shy of free shipping, so I ordered the Shubb string winder.  I chose it over cheaper ones for the added peg puller that’s built in.  And it’s more comfortable to use.

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So that’s it, my online shopping spree has concluded.  (At least until I come into more money.)

Shoes and other stuff

Posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2012 at 9:06 am

Well, I’m beginning to feel like Amelda Marcos, as I’m now the owner of eight pair of wearable shoes.  I  have no idea when it was that I  was last so well endowed with quality footwear.  Nike, Sperry, and more.

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The picks I ordered have finally shipped.  And the toys that weren’t backordered have all arrived, rainstick, wood block, maracas,  nylon brushes, guiro scraper, cowbell beater (with rubber side), and harmonica holder (for my kazoo).  The cabasas is on its way, and the guiro and cowbell are still on backorder.  We now have a wide array of toys for the jam sessions, so no one has an excuse for not joining in the music.

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The picks are my standard Pro-Grip medium, a 351 tortoise shell that I’ve used for over 15 years, since I discovered them when I bought the 12 string.  I have used 60 of the half gross I got then, and I found a place where I got 5 dozen to bring myself back up to a full half gross.  The dozen I still have would probably last me two or three years, but they have been discontinued, so it’s now or never, and I chose now.  I was lucky to have found these, as everyone else is sold out.  I probably won’t need to ever buy picks again, as long as they don’t get lost or stolen.

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Add to the list the two pair of Wiss scissors (5 inch electrician and 8.5 inch industrial shears), which I have missed immensely.  It is so nice to have quality cutting tools back in my life.  I think they were probably the last tools I needed to replace from the shuffle.  I don’t know where my originals are, maybe in boxes in the barn, maybe somewhere long gone.  It’s a joy to feel them  in my hands once again.

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We’ve been keeping the delivery trucks rolling.  Lots of online tracking going on.  I took advantage of having funds, and I think that the shopping spree has concluded.  I can’t think of anything I want now, except a new wallet.  Finding the style I want (a specific type of traveler’s wallet) is not going to be easy.

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2010 Cadilac SST (British seating), in modo

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Amphora

Posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2012 at 9:08 am

A rough amphora that I modeled, shaded, and rendered in modo.  1k polygons, so a bit rough in places, but it works well enough for medium range.  I considered a specular map, but decided against more effort, leaving it a weathered relic.

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