i'm out of touch
of late i find myself feeling disconnected to the world around me. i haven't been thinking of other people very much. the cause? a new obsession: electronics. yep.
i'm fully engaged in the construction of clones of two compressors, a solid state logic buss compressor and a UREI 1176 compressor. at first i was only going to build the SSL, but now i'm building both. i couldn't help myself. building these things involves finding a parts list, and then ordering the parts, and then putting the parts together. i've been spending nearly all my spare time, and a good deal of the time which i have promised my employer, doing this. buying these parts is a funny thing, and not easy. to wit: a 7915 bridge rectifier costs about $1.50. if you have one that you don't need, it's worth nothing. if you need one and you can't find one in north america, it's worth a fortune. if you're crazy enough, you're even willing to order some from australia.
i like to stare at my circuit board and pretend it's a little city. the resistors can be people and the integrated circuits can be buildings or something. ah, the joy!
and you know, i've gone on at length about how i just want to build something, and feel satisfied having done it, "i don't REALLY need these compressors", etc. but that being said, if i were building an alarm clock or something like that i don't think it would be quite as interesting. so i guess the motivation for the activity lies somewhere in between the goal and the process itself, it's not one or the other.
that's all i going to say about that for now.
other anecdotes you may find interesting:
- played a show out at panorama ski hill a few weeks back with urban divide. i saw lori barth there. crazy!
- rented my rhodes piano out last weekend to the cjazz people. chris potter was in town, and his piano player insisted on having one. just think, i've rented a piano to a guy who plays in a band with a guy who played on a steely dan album. crazy!
- out in fernie last weekend, again with urban divide. we stayed at a swedish-owned hostel. imagine being a swedish expat in canada, and opening a hostel. furnishing the entire place with ikea becomes not only economical but patriotic as well.
- i played some trumpet for a band called woodpigeon for their show on tuesday night. will i gain acceptance into calgary's tightly-knit indie rock community? hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm.
- echoing mike's comments: the olympic event that really kills me is the doubles luge. it seems as though they are trying to come up with as many wacky events as they can. i mean, luge is funny enough, but doubles luge? what's the purpose of the guy on top, other than to make me laugh? hilarious.
okay. hope you are all good.
i'm fully engaged in the construction of clones of two compressors, a solid state logic buss compressor and a UREI 1176 compressor. at first i was only going to build the SSL, but now i'm building both. i couldn't help myself. building these things involves finding a parts list, and then ordering the parts, and then putting the parts together. i've been spending nearly all my spare time, and a good deal of the time which i have promised my employer, doing this. buying these parts is a funny thing, and not easy. to wit: a 7915 bridge rectifier costs about $1.50. if you have one that you don't need, it's worth nothing. if you need one and you can't find one in north america, it's worth a fortune. if you're crazy enough, you're even willing to order some from australia.
i like to stare at my circuit board and pretend it's a little city. the resistors can be people and the integrated circuits can be buildings or something. ah, the joy!
and you know, i've gone on at length about how i just want to build something, and feel satisfied having done it, "i don't REALLY need these compressors", etc. but that being said, if i were building an alarm clock or something like that i don't think it would be quite as interesting. so i guess the motivation for the activity lies somewhere in between the goal and the process itself, it's not one or the other.
that's all i going to say about that for now.
other anecdotes you may find interesting:
- played a show out at panorama ski hill a few weeks back with urban divide. i saw lori barth there. crazy!
- rented my rhodes piano out last weekend to the cjazz people. chris potter was in town, and his piano player insisted on having one. just think, i've rented a piano to a guy who plays in a band with a guy who played on a steely dan album. crazy!
- out in fernie last weekend, again with urban divide. we stayed at a swedish-owned hostel. imagine being a swedish expat in canada, and opening a hostel. furnishing the entire place with ikea becomes not only economical but patriotic as well.
- i played some trumpet for a band called woodpigeon for their show on tuesday night. will i gain acceptance into calgary's tightly-knit indie rock community? hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm.
- echoing mike's comments: the olympic event that really kills me is the doubles luge. it seems as though they are trying to come up with as many wacky events as they can. i mean, luge is funny enough, but doubles luge? what's the purpose of the guy on top, other than to make me laugh? hilarious.
okay. hope you are all good.