Folks there is only so much blogging a boy can do. Until further notice my efforts will be directed towards my other blogging endeavors. In no particular order:
and of course DPM
Moving On (for now)
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Mobile Post
I’ve just installed WordPress on my iPhone and this is my first mobile post. I’m sitting on my bed while Leaf reads an old sesame street book. This is probably going to happen more often but there some immediate limitations. Still, it’s worthwhile having the facility to mobile blog. Until next time.
Korean Films
Every few months I micro review three films. In the interest of the reviews making a little more sense I’m going to try and make them themed if I can. I don’t watch hundreds of films so a lot of the good stuff I come across is either word of mouth or good luck. Today I’d like to introduce you to three Korean films which are absolute must see. Each for different reasons and all thoroughly enjoyable. Old Boy was released in 2003 and I think became available in Australia in 2005. It’s directed by Chan-woo Park who’s been writing, producing and directing since the mid 90′s. His features are what I’d call cheesy thrillers but Old Boy is an absolute gem! I can’t say anything about this expect watch the movie.
Our beloved Bedeviled (not be confused with the 1955 crime feature of the same name), is a disturbing film. I don’t mind the occasional disturbing film but certainly can’t take too many in a row. Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fire Flies comes to mind for example. The performances in Bedeviled are flawless and it keeps returning to me for so many reasons. I’m also really impressed with the fact that this is Chul-soo Jang’s first feature.
The Host is as good as a Monster film gets and it does not disappoint. It’s scary, believable and ridiculously funny at times. Give me the names and numbers of the team behind the CGI in this little baby! There’s a lot of filming in and around the sewers near the Han River which are all absolutely stunning shots. You don’t have to like Monster films to enjoy Bong Joon-ho’s The Host. Now… who’s up for some Korean BBQ? In my case it’s vegetarian barbeque but that works just fine.
Leaf Self Portraits
About two weeks ago Leaf worked out how to flip the camera on my iPhone. Since then he’s been taking a few self portraits a day. Here are a few…
Blog Gods hate Old News
During 2010 I posted almost 200 articles between my several blog sites.* All relevant and all very important.** This established a solid foundation for the year to come and a standard worth aiming for and even improving on. Surely if you sit down and write for four or five hours once a week, you get better? Do bloggers get writers block? Sure they do, but that’s not my problem this morning. Sadly, projects that require far more of my immediate and undivided attention on a very focused level have taken over where the blog god in me left off at the end of last year. Also, my blogging stats are down. In turn, the site stats are down because who wants old news right?A meandering article about what I did today was never what The Backpage was going to be about so an aimless discipline of writing is not the solution. What is folks? Well, I need to finish the album I’m working on and I need a holiday. refreshed and renewed and I’m going to try to remember what it was that I loved most about The Backpage and humbly return to a my weekly vigil of letters and numbers. Ah yes, and a new blog design up and running smoothly would be nice.
*At last count there were five key blog sites between work and the back page. At any given time I could easily split one into two or spawn a whole new idea.
**Well… kind of important.
New Blog Design
Working on a new design for my blog so please don’t be upset by strange and random changes, links and pictures over the coming days and possibly weeks. It will settle in to a new rhythm soon enough. This is probably version four or maybe five of my blog and while I think I’m pretty close* until I actually have a readership, I won’t care too much about starting the look and feel of it over again every few months.
*note that each new blog design means I lose a whole heap of settings directly related to images and how they appear…
Smells Orangy
Yesterday I tweeted (or maybe it was fuck book) that I could smell rotting oranges despite the fact there weren’t any rotting orange for miles.* In addition to this I noticed that the cotton sack which I carry along my daily dilly dallying smells like money. Funny because I haven’t had any money in it for months (actually I haven’t had any money anywhere for months and am half expecting men to come knocking any-moment-now). This got me thinking about the money smell and how money doesn’t actually have a smell at all. What you’re smelling is use. Filthy, stinky hands (and feet maybe I don’t know) rubbing, sweating, sniffing and oozing.Actually that’s as far as I got. Some highlights this week are that DPM have secured the Pearsons Florist account. Yay. Yes we are cool and we deserve it. I’m launching Tammy’s foray into the blogosphere via http://tammymoir.com and I need $15,000 for Stav’s Drum Sheet. Sadly the latter is not going to happen any time soon but there will be some drums recorded and it will happen here in the building. I’m listening to Beirut and really digging it. I’m also talking to a lot of folk from the UK who seem to really dig GITNB. Man I really need a bigger database.
*I can’t smell then anymore so pretty happy about that. Also, I’ve always preferred miles as a work to ki-lo-met-ters. Especially as a musician. I mean just try fit that into a song. I would would 500 ki-lo-me-ters… It’s just long. I heard that’s the main reason the US won’t go metric.
Reading Less
I’m reading less and this seems to have had a direct correlation with how much I feel like writing. The Saturday paper has become a joke and Leaf has discovered Shrek which means that even in my most intimate moments I either have Smash Mouth flying around in my head or a big green ogre face (I had to Google how to spell ogre). My believer subscription ran out about three months ago and I’m not inclined to renew until finances are handsome pants again. This may (or may not) take some time. The upside of lower finances is finding ways to feel better about yourself without spending. We have lots and lots of pictures that aren’t up on walls so I’ve been a lot of that. I have a drill, those little green studs and screws. The rest is easy. Tam’s ab out finished a bunch of painting she started around this time last year and it would be nice to see a couple of those up on the walls. Life is a little noisier than what I’m used to. I’m working on the album every day and I can’t seem to stop my iPhone from notifying me on Facebook updates. Yes inane. So the volume is off which means I miss messages and calls which isn’t so bad considering I’m meant to be working on my album. It still vibrates though and freaks me out every time. Sigh.
Impossible Ali Mobile
A Short Story
(names have been changed to protect the guilty).
Maybe what I know is kind of interesting you know? Fuck. Maybe it’s the kind of thing that some cunt would read and go fuck yeah that’s alright man. Like there’s something in it. Not like a bible or nothing but something in it. Fuck man I don’t know. I don’t wanna help cunts or nothing not that this shit is gonna help any cunt but I gotta write this man cause I can’t stop thinking about it and cause I’m feelin hectic heaps lately like when Jimmy’s brother took that trip and was hectic for fuckin weeks. What was his name? Anyway, Jimmy’s brother was at this bitch’s party last year he looked just like Jimmy but older and he took this pill and he was already on the piss and he fucked this chick and he pissed in a. Fuhahauck! What a clown but he was hectic for weeks after that. Not cause he pissed in a but there was rubbish in that pill like junk or something and he was just hectic for ages. I hate pills man. They’ve all got ajax in em. I fucked this lowie once and I was pissed and I tried to piss in a but I can’t piss with a hard on. I reckon you just aren’t supposed to anyway. What a goose. Those Fairfield clowns were always doing stupid shit you know. They had a sister but she wasn’t hot or nothing but she was nice enough. Older chicks used to like Jimmy for some reason but he was a dumb cunt. Fuckin loved him of course.
Hand Crafted Madness
I have a good friend (who I’ve only realised recently is insane) come to visit last week. It was fun as usual. There was drinking and talking and eating involved. In the right order and at the right pace. His insanity however (the one I’d discovered ever so recently) seemed to have fashioned a new hold on him. There were key words he repeated and stories he re-told several times, each time with more fervor and as though it was the first time he’s ever told it to anyone. Out of politeness I endured the ordeal. It wasn’t a case of old-man-madness in the form of “did I ever tell you about the time…”. This was the real deal. It made me take a closer look at everyone else I know and sure enough, you’ll all completely mad as well. Focusing on key words, repeating stories and telling them time and again as though it’s the first time you’ve ever done it. Not the same stories of course but enough already. So I started to talk to strangers about this problem in the off chance that it was my inner circle of chosen ones that had all become unwell so slowly that I hadn’t noticed. I found that while they were happy enough to agree and things seemed to be moving along handsomely it wasn’t too long before they too would let loose with their own hand crafted brand of madness. This one guy in particular who is always hanging around at the bus stop humming M Ward songs (he claims he doesn’t know M Ward and never actually gets on a bus) started to tell about a good friend who he’d only realised recently was also insane. He’d come to visit last week. It was fun as usual. There was drinking and talking and eating involved. In the right order and at the right pace. His insanity however (the one he’d recently discovered) seemed to have fashioned a new hold on him. There were key words he repeated and stories he re-told several times each time with more fervor and as though it was the first time he’s ever told it to anyone. Out of politeness he endured the ordeal. It wasn’t a case of old-man-madness in the form of “did I ever tell you about the time…”. This was the real deal. It made him take a closer look at everyone else he knew and sure enough, they were all completely mad as well. Focusing on key words, repeating stories and telling them time and again as though it’s the first time you’ve ever done it. Not the same stories of course but enough already. So he started to talk to strangers at bus stops about this problem in the off chance that it was his inner circle of chosen ones that had all become unwell so slowly that he hadn’t noticed. He found that while they were happy enough to agree and things seemed to be moving along handsomely it wasn’t too long before they too would let loose with their own hand crafted brand of madness. This one guy in particular who is always hanging around at the bus stop raving about M Ward songs started to tell about a good friend that came to stay.
New Circle Album Begun
The last time I sat down to write an album was in 2007 when I began Just Keep Swimming. That record got us signed to Creative Vibes but that’s another story. It was released in 2008 and I distinctly remember the energy that went into it. It was believe it or not a response to environmental calamities. I thought New Holidays was going to blow up. But it didn’t. The next two releases weren’t really albums. Molasses Sandwiches which hasn’t actually been released yet was part of a our song a week project in 2009 and Xmas Omas was recorded after that as a Christmas EP. So thinking about all that has really excited me about the prospect of a real record. The band is solid and things feel good. The songs are there, somewhere just waiting to be plucked from the ether. Production will as always play an important part but the intent and ideas behind the record are what count most. This is the energy that people will respond to. I’ve had a crazy couple of years and if I survive them I will be stronger than ever before. If I don’t I would have gone down fighting. I remember putting the Monday Records address on the Just Keep Swimming CD even before the settlement went through and what a head fuck that whole drama was. It isn’t over either. So this record is going to be darker than what you’re used to. John Shand reviewed the last effort and said I must have been a sunflower in my last life. I’m writing this as I FTP the masters to AOK’s EP. I did that over the weekend. Next I’ll start up where I left off with a song I’m working on. It includes the lines: there’s talk of bigger pictures and saying no to burqas but all the enmore girls look lovely today.
Big Synths
In 2007 I bought a Hartmann Neuron. I don’t know why I did but I remember the day clearly. I was hung over and Tam was out and about with the boy*. New music was on my mind. I like the kind of hangover that doesn’t involve pain but merely a certain disassociation with hard core reality. I make fun decisions during such times. And other times I start fights with people. This beast was a whopping $8000 and weighed a tonne. I was looking for sounds back then. Sounds that would differentiate what I was doing from everyone else and also create a sound for an album I had in mind. This I believe I achieved with EGBDF. A couple of years after the Neuron I heard that Jason Lytle buys up a whole heap of gear, old and new (mainly old I figure) for each new recording project; he learns the gear, starts pulling sounds and the magic begins. It’s a great way to approach any project as a producer. You’ll always the tricks that you pull but why not draw from a whole new palette of sounds? Isn’t that why we visit different studios? So while I was designing half a dozen business cards every day I was learning my new synth. It was a masterpiece in disguise of a piece of futuristic insanity in disguise of a pretty fat synth. The track Astro Boy in particular benefited from the experiments and mistakes that came out of that box. I didn’t use it on Just Keep Swimming but when time came for Xmas Omas I got into the mood again. We dragged it up the stairs into level 7 and somewhere between my car and studio floor, it died. I mean it fucking died. It’s hard drive based and essentially had a crash. It now sits in its custom case in a paid storage facility in Marrickville. No idea what it’s worth in the state that it’s in but sometimes, on a cool Autumn morning, I remember the day I decided I had to buy it. I wish I’d found Dan McPharlin’s paper synths first. I’d still have one here in front of me and it would still be working.
* There are two boys now
DPM Folio
We’ve just uploaded some new folio pieces: http://dpm.net.au/work/ at DPM. Looking good. The focus of the new site and folio being new logo work, blog design and logo design. We hope you can join us.
Micro Review 2
While I’m always on the lookout for the next great film and at the same time not too effected anymore by hype* (was easily able to go and see Avatar in 3D without feeling sick like some folks I know), I’m more precious when it comes to DVD’s. You know how that overnight sticker shimmers with so much hope and possibility? Yeah well there’s a good chance you’re going to be made a fool of. I’m even more cynical about older films because I don’t know if anyone has noticed but DVD’s don’t always work. I mean they literally don’t always work. Maybe it’s my DVD player but no, I don’t think so… No one seems to care. They scratch and skip over damaged areas. At least with VHS you got to see the whole film. Sure it was through a haze of noise and crackle and I loved it how sex scene on VHS movies were always WAY grainier because they’d been watched a 1000 times over. But you saw the whole film. Remember BE KIND REWIND? Anyway, I am pleased to say that four of the five last films I saw did not skip and blew my mind. I’m saving one for the next review but here are the three:
AGORA: Rachel Weisz is slowly becoming one of my favorite actors and this masterpiece cements this even further. She has never disappointed but somehow went unnoticed for me for some time. Maybe it was her role in the Mummy (which honestly I love those films), but she’s subtle and brilliant which sometimes equals a slow burn for my simple mind. I’m catching up. Agora is directed by Alejandro Amenábar who I didn’t realise I already knew. He gave me one of the most hair raising cinematic experiences of my life. Through sheer coincidence I caught The Others a few weeks after reading Henry James’ the Turn of the Screw. The effect was such that it felt like I was experiencing something from another lifetime. Suffice to say The Others was his abstract interpretation of the novel. It’s a cracker and so is the book. Agora itself is beautiful in so many ways. The cinematography in Agora is a good enough reason to watch it. But it’s also very well written, well performed and heart breaking all at the same time. No point giving anything away. Watch it.
THE GHOST WRITER: Roman Polaski has not lost his touch and continues to mesmerize me with every frame. The plot centers around a nameless ghost-writer (Ewan McGregor who I am convinced was asked to speak like Michael Caine in this), who is hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister. He uncovers a heap of secrets that put his own life in jeopardy. The casting is brilliant and the locations are to die for. Listen closely to everyone’s voicing and watch the walls because they’re literally covered in million dollar paintings. Also please explore his back catalog. Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby is a must for all which is a great little segue into:
CHILD’S PLAY: I’m a big fan of 80′s horror. B grade, C grade bring it on. Holland’s film is late 80′s but scrapes in. I guess my childhood was pretty stable so I wasn’t all that freaked out. Also, I wasn’t really allowed to watch any of it so had to catch it when I could at cousin’s houses. What I’ve found is that at the core of many horror films are basic family values. Understanding this and watching many of these films with that in mind changes the experience. I’ve only seen this once before and what surprised was how seriously well shot it is. I remember it being about a freaky little killer doll but it’s nothing like that at all. It became and stayed famous for all the wrong reasons. I love it and think it’s worth checking out… again.
*I mention this because I was the opposite. Anything remotely attached to hype would not get my pennies. Period.
Income Streams
If I’m not reading (and I’m not reading) and my days are long (they are at the moment), then I’m probably thinking about money. Makes for a less interesting article but its therapeutic and cheaper than a deep tissue massage.
With the recent Tsunami in Japan, and the subsequent plummet of my stock portfolio it got my thinking about waves, streams and micro versions of each. I love how that sounds. Income streams. Does it though? Stream I mean. Regardless, I’ve always enjoyed that term and have gone about systematically creating several of these so called streams*. You can also have fun with it if you like as either a noun or adjective (not that anyone cares too much for grammar puns these days**) but obviously it’s the former that most of us are familiar with. Sadly for many it’s a bit like Juno MacGuff and her absolutely fabulous “Sexually active, what does that even mean?” quote. Yes Ellen Page is a star and if you’re sexually attracted to her you probably have pedophilic tenancies but don’t worry, they’re only tenancies. Of course it’s no laughing matter and having two children of my own I’m not a fan of predators of this nature.
The world is changing. For most of us it’s the beginning of the end of consumerism regardless of what you might think and also the beginning of the end of fat cat income streams. Well maybe the beginning of the end is a very long time, like a hundred years but still, we can all see what mass consumerism does. I’m not political so I’m not going there and although I’m considering using a wad of cash as the blog image, I don’t think I will. I tried to create a multitude of income steams starting with my design agency and fanning in an elliptical fashion through various industries and branches of industries. It does work. You just need to work really hard. Have you seen Agora? It will feature in one of my micro reviews shortly and the ellipse features quite heavily in this film. The plot centers around it you could say***.
Regardless of how long we’ll be consuming like a plague of pedophilic locusts, micro is the new fat cat. There are more small business owners than ever before and a greater freedom for people to work where they want because of a passion for that particular industry. It’s through a tough few years that I have learned the importance of planning and managing micro incomes. Dividends are one such example, so are royalties. They can no longer be seen as bonuses but part of the bigger holistic picture. There are a million examples of micro income streams and self empowerment revealing itself with and without technology and I love it.
*tried to…
**by all means correct me if it’s a verb as opposed to an adjective. I won’t mind.
***pun intended
Impossible Ali Mobile – Working Title
Three Wednesday’s ago I started writing a short story. The narrative is close to my heart and the protagonist does not show up right away but he is just around the corner. I called it Impossible Ali Mobile. It’s pretty full on and I’ve finished at least part 1. I could probably go on forever but I’m keen on the short story format. Not sure what to do next but here is the first paragraph:
Maybe what I know is kind of interesting you know? Fuck. Maybe it’s the kind of thing that some cunt would read and go fuck yeah that’s alright man. Like there’s something in it. Not like a bible or nothing but something in it. Fuck man I don’t know. I don’t wanna help cunts or nothing not that this shit is gonna help any cunt but I gotta write this man cause I can’t stop thinking about it and cause I’m feelin hectic heaps lately like when Jimmy’s brother took that trip and was hectic for fuckin weeks. What was his name? Anyway, Jimmy’s brother was at this bitch’s party last year he looked just like Jimmy but older and he took this pill and he was already on the piss and he fucked this chick and he pissed in a. Fuhahauck! What a clown but he was hectic for weeks after that. Not cause he pissed in a but there was rubbish in that pill like junk or something and he was just hectic for ages. I hate pills man. They’ve all got ajax in em. I fucked this lowie once and I was pissed and I tried to piss in a but I can’t piss with a hard on. I reckon you just aren’t supposed to anyway. What a goose. Those Fairfield clowns were always doing stupid shit you know. They had a sister but she wasn’t hot or nothing but she was nice enough. Older chicks used to like Jimmy for some reason but he was a dumb cunt. Fuckin loved him of course.
Short Tales
I started writing a short story called Impossible Ali Mobile last Wednesday. Leaf has this thing where he’ll sleep for three hours when I look after him on a Wednesday while Tam does accounts. He normally sleeps around an hour an a half when Tam does the looking after the other four days in the working week. Go figure. Back to Mr. Mobile. The narrative is of the omniscient kind and the tone is very… distinct. It could go a number of ways and while I’m thoroughly enjoying just looking at it I might keep it hidden until I’m sure it’s solid gold. Currently mixing a distant cousin version of Richard’s I’m on Fire arrangement and thoroughly enjoying that also. The aim was to release it this Sunday but I’m not sure of the clip will be ready by then. Ho hum. Ah yes and a new crew member at DPM hailing from New York who bakes pies and is a pretty cool designer. Who know New Yorkers could design? A sad and lonely entry at 2:30pm because I’m just emerging from the trauma of Leaf falling down the stairs at 8:30am on his push car. His nose looks crooked so I’m pretty sure he broke it. Bad parents. Cooking a pickled galangal and mushroom stir fry tonight. All are welcome.
Chicken or Egg
There are many words that we can use to describe our selves and the things that motivate our actions. From another persons perspective these can sometimes be seen as qualities or flaws. In a more humanitarian and compassionate approach to the human condition I stumbled across describing us as unique eccentricities. I like that. Eccentric no longer means that-old-cat-woman. It’s all of us honing in oh-so-carefully on our own developing world view. Of course the truth is that some of these qualities are self defeating and not exactly ideal. That’s not to say that they don’t serve a purpose for a time, but with some examination, we could probably do better. On a creative front my trust issues have rarely revealed their effects directly*. Okay so these aren’t major, toe curling, fetal position trust issues, but enough to have been self examined and worth adjusting.
The dusting of the proverbial cobwebs initiated two major events which in turn led to the start of a new musical project. They may not be entirely major in everyone’s eyes, but enough to elicit a creative response none the less. Chicken or Egg is an idea that’s been floating around my brain for a couple of years. Why I couldn’t start it was because there were certain areas left unexamined but now, it feels okay and even great to cover some favorite tracks.
Enmore Audio was the second event which has been in the works as a private / commercial recording studio for almost three years. The first stage is complete and I’m faced with the possibility of working with new talent on fairly regular basis. Amazing. The studio means that Circle can comfortably and in a timely fashion, take on new projects and make new music; the covers being the first off the rank.
So really just a diary update on things and how I’m feeling. Not as cynical as you may enjoy but hey, this is for me after all.
*Though I’m sure they do. Fuck, it’s probably the reason I can’t write a hit song. Either that or I’m just not a hit song kind of guy.
Note to Self
The process of a new record is an incredible one. You have many moments of intense choice making opportunities. Am I going to push this baby as far as it can go? Do I care enough to ensure that every note, every syllable, every utterance from each and every machine old and new alike will not only be to my satisfaction but will be ‘new’?* Then come full circle on that Brian Wilson moment and ask does it matter man, this is just me, my expression, my art?** Of course it matters you silly cunt you reply. What’s the point of any creative endeavor if it doesn’t push, cross, crush and smash along the way? There is an unfathomable amount of mediocrity and if all you did was push the dial to 10.3 then you may as well have stayed at a safe 5. Obviously this is more of a personal diary entry than a blog entry but for anyone who’s reading this and who’s read some recent blogging of mine may know I am between desks and as such bits and pieces are missing. Pens, books, diaries and so on. I also can’t find my custom made pencil case. It’s yellow, streamlined and refashioned from those vintage $2 pencil cases that have 10 or so little plastic sleeves for you to cut out letters and badge as your own. I’ve been cutting these in half and then sewing them together since I was about 11. I’m sure it will show up.
There are way too many opinions and pieces of paper and flashing LED’s about stand out records of our age, art and so forth. I mentioned Brian Wilson and he’s by no means a favorite (okay maybe top 15), but I mention him because between Pet Sounds and Smile you get a sense of the intense and profound intent he injected into those creative moments. No small task but at the same time, so very simply put, how could you do it any other way? Sadly, I know how. Most of us are lazy. So lazy in fact that we find ways (some of them ironically are really hard ways), to avoid that moment where you need to decide whether or not we’re going to bust up the sidewalk. Am I taking some incredible stab at my fellow man? No way! I’m documenting some discoveries as I enter a new phase in order to ensure I know what I’m getting myself into and I’ve been honest about what I want to achieve with it. That’s why children are so perfect and why we’ve all heard it around the traps somewhere that true genius is a return to childhood. We’ll see.
I’ve given myself three months to write the best album I possibly can. The mix, the production, the mastering, these all exist in the present and to pretend otherwise is absurd. The studio, along with all the zeros and ones and hammer and strings are my instruments of choice. Again, all simple but important notes to self.
*If you don’t believe in time and most days I don’t, then there’s no such thing as old and new just the ever present present…
**If you read that last line in a cliche stoner / surfer voice it makes more sense. Avoid that Woody Harrelson film where he’s both. Fuck that was bad.
Newness vs. Oldness
Once upon a time this space was the cog, the central beam, the load bearing wall, for creative endeavor and prolific output. Once a degree of mastery had been achieved I then set my sights on fattening up my proverbial goose and since that time my focus has been the commercial projects of my life. 12 months on from my first blog… Very fucking sad indeed. Such are my capitalistic ways. But enough about me, let’s talk about my autobot friend.* When we moved to Enmore in 2007 the backyard had been ‘done-up’ by the previous owners. No doubt an attempt to up-da-value of-da-place… Since then we’ve been slowly but surely shredding away all the upping they did. Not to say that this has had any significant effect on home or land value as new council rates proved recently. But if one were to try and sell this place, you’d need a pretty unique buyer. Enough said. Landscaping was one such project undertaken by the previous owners and a part of this fancy outdoor architecture was an irrigation system, timer, urn fountain system and outdoor lighting system. Hardly a permaculturalists dream. Sadly the lights they chose were of the biodegradable kind not the new and improved LED system like the one we installed in Enmore Audio** but a 12V system none the less. Two transformers managed these 12,11,10,9 or so incandescent fittings and another two for the magic bubbling urns. The urns were refashioned very early on. Chlorine was eliminated completely, rocks, leaves and debris were allowed full reign and two dozen carp of the golden variety were introduced. I have only lost three, the rest are strong, healthy and growing! Algae and other water like plants thrive and we have a resident frog.
The lights had to go. Well, they were taking care of themselves at a rate of two every three months but a permanent solution had to be found. The transformers however may find themselves of some use to me. At about $150 a pop, we needed two to run the lights here in EA. It’s probably worth mentioning that I’m writing this in the very heart of Enmore Audio Control Room (or The Kitchen as we like to call it around here). Sadly these AC transformers were not the right kind for my DC 12V needs. So, they now reside as massive paperweights in the shed.
Now whether or not you prefer old things over new, there’s no denying that old school worn out charm. Everything needs to be broken in and conveyor belt newness just isn’t real. There’s also no denying that some things age better than others and often a false economy is justified when considering a $200 boxed storage unit over a $2000 timber one. Such are the times we find ourselves in. One day I’d like to think that excellence and quality are the only motivating factor behind any project. In this world that’s a very expensive way to live. It also explains the state of my credit cards.
*Who is neither an autobot nor my friend. Actually there are two of them so its friends.
**Worth mentioning that someone called to book the space yesterday. Had a freak out and didn’t call them back.
