The Shed 23

a reply to: Finspiracy

I usually hate spiders, but this is cute. Take a look.

a reply to: Night Star

Sadly, as stated in the video it is all true. Alcohol is one helluva drug. It's also why I don't drink anymore. I've been living in hell, to make a long story short. I had hoped to be out of this building and in a new location (not in Rotterdam, a large city full of crazies) but things are taking longer than expected which I guess I should have expected. On the plus side, I've cleaned my room up quite a bit (alcohol made me awful lazy and uncaring, I'm still lazy but have started to care a little again) in preparation for the rental company check and dumped a fair bit of "stuff" that I didn't need or use which will make moving much easier due to not having to move it. 2 or 3 duvets for a double bed I don't have along with sheets and duvet covers for a double bed, a lot of useless bric-a-brac (a fancy word for junk that appears handy but isn't), several kilos of paper (documents, legal documents, cardboard and packaging) and sorted some stuff to sell second-hand online (a 11 year-old bike in perfect condition due to me not using it, cost 1000 euros new! I hate biking), a Samsonite briefcase that is barely used, 11 year-old sport shoes never worn (I hate running! too!) and a 11 year-old devils-lettuce vaporiser that has been used twice (it's large, made of glass and cost 350 euros new but is not the kind of thing to put on display in temporary accommodation). I cleaned the grease and grime off my cooker (can't use the cooker part due to no gas in temporary accommodation but the oven is electric which is handy for brownies) and just tidied up generally.

I also typed a long email to the rental company asking them to rehouse me in a new location where they want people that are responsible due to there being elderly residents still in the building (some kind of old-peoples home/facility type place) and told them I would be more than happy to help, am recently sober, have lots of free time due to having no social life and a desire to leave the big bad city. Failing that, please give me any other location except this building. Things have started going downhill rapidly here and they will only get worse. I know from experience that once people start being #ty that it will only increase and I'm getting too old for petty, childish behaviour in a one-roomed temporary building where I have to share facilities with people that don't like me. Thankfully I have thick-skin and am stubborn so I can wait it out a little more but fun it ain't.

I have no idea if there is internet in the new building but it is self-contained and I have my own toilet and shower which I will not have to share or scrape someone else's excrement from the pot because they haven't been potty trained. The rental company has been extremely lacking on their side in maintaining law and order so I'm hoping for a positive result but only time will tell. I don't have the money to move or pay rent but one step at a time. None of my "friends" maintain contact anymore so I am on my own but where there is a stubborn will there is a stubborn way. I need to pay admin costs, contract costs, a removal firm and bridge a couple of months with little to no finances so things will be very hard but staying here is not an option for me. Stress levels are high, I hate being a prisoner in my own room but the rent in the new place I am hoping for is half what I pay here with way more benefits so hopefully, fingers crossed and Lady Luck smiling down I might just make it.

"Think positive thoughts. Think positive thoughts. Think positive thoughts...."

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

Alcohol is tough for sure. I am glad I wised up enough to stop drinking too; I may be dead if I hadn't and that's not hyperbole. The thing I wasn't expecting after I stopped was having to deal with my anger, and the intensity of it. But well worth it in the long run.

I chuckled as you described the scene at your apartment preparing old-but-new athletic equipment for sale. At least you tried bicycling? I too have a bike that I won't even really admit I hate because I like the color so much.

Bikers - I don't know about your area, but out here they can be an arrogant lot. They are often people with money, and it's my observation that I basically just hate the stupid biker clothes.

I hope your housing situation improves. Good on you for staying sober. It's not always easy when you're stressed all the time.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

I was reading your post about that complicated piece of musical equipment you use. Is that like an Ableton type deal? Or even worse? I admire you for being able to operate such things, not to mention having knowledge of music composition and being able to play. Might you grace us with a song in the future?

As for drinking, I'd love a beer, I really would but I don't want to go back to that. It is my birthday this month so I am hoping to be able to treat myself with a short visit to a coffeeshop but then I would still be stuck here feeling ethereal which doesn't do it for me. I'll keep the money and use it for something constructive that offers a little glimmer of hope for my future. There's always time for a coffeeshop when I'm in a better place physically and mentally.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

Yes, it's very similar to Ableton in many regards. The most obvious and notable exception is that it doesn't run on a computer; it is standalone hardware. The trade off? Program information, parameter changes, etc. are read on a much smaller LCD. Learning how to use it, not only in a basic way, but in the context of a workflow, is definitely a two steps forward, one step back affair. At least for me. Up to now, my instrument had been mainly acoustic guitar. A stick with strings is easy to operate, in comparison.

I've been meaning to take some pictures of my studio and share them. There's been a lot of activity among the ATS musicians (posting new songs, etc.), accompanied by shoptalk in those threads. I'm very fond of my setup.

I have a new song that I've been waiting for the right moment to finish and I'm excited to finally complete it to share. I am living in a shared space which is not very ideal or conducive for casual music-making. One of the most common ways that pans out is having to wait indefinite periods to attempt recording vocal tracks.

The most recent thing I worked on was something I produced but didn't play on. The music is performed by a group of older gentlemen who play in a weekly bluegrass jam in a local bar. (Bluegrass is a proto-country music.) They came together to record an impromptu album for one of their regular jam buddies after he had a freak accident; to my understanding, debris was shot through his eye and out the back of his skull while cutting through something with a chainsaw. This happened in spite of his wearing safety glasses.

I met this person several times and must make a short remark. He was friendly but what really struck me about him was a certain type of bravery/tenacity. You see, he had never picked up an instrument or tried music until after retirement; he had a career as an electrician, I think. But he always wanted to play. It is hard to learn music as an adult -- someone as easily discouraged as I might not even try. He was very much a beginner, and several times when I attended the jam, I witnessed others "correcting" his technique or performance in one fashion or another. After he had mustered up the courage to put his voice out there and sing a song while strumming the guitar -- I remember him singing "Dark as a Dungeon" by Merle Travis -- I think it'd be discouraging to be corrected instead of applauded for the effort. Perhaps I'm projecting here. But it rolled clean off his shoulders...he'd smile and say something like "Maybe better next time." He didn't let it get him down. I think that's remarkable, and sad that the world should lose a person of such a quality.

Anyways, this gentleman laid in a coma for perhaps two weeks, and the music was played at his bedside. It was reported to me that when the decision was made to remove life support, his breathing calmed when the music was played. The music seemed to help escort him to the next life.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

That's quite the tele and definitely one to tell your grandchildren. It resonates with me as that is how my Mum left this world too, a machine being turned off. (Sub-arachnoid haemhorrage, aged 41, for context. I was 13 at the time. It worked out in the end although it took me years to "get over it". Put mildly, it build character at an early age.) Minus the chainsaw accident and the music though. (Chainsaws frighten the hell out of me, I've read stories of accidents of people that were trained to use them. Ouch!) To offer a little joy in hard times is a noble thing indeed.

I had to smile at you saying you can't always make music when you want to. Planning to make a noise when no one is listening is quite an art in itself I would imagine. And yes, difficulty in using electronic equipment, that I get too although I've never done it myself I have read up on a few artists and the stuff they use. I don't know if the name Richard D James (Aphex Twin) rings a bell with you but he uses quite a few pieces of vintage equipment and from the little I gathered, some of it is so "clunky" (old) that making a single programming mistake requires you to delete everything and start again. When it takes between 10 and 20 presses on buttons to program a single note then yes, I can imagine how difficult, frustrating and time consuming it is. Some of his pieces are incredibly intricate and full of notes too. Most people have never heard of him (he is kinda niche I guess, and eclectic) but many commercially successful artists often credit him when asked.

Electronic music has come a long way now computers have got more powerful, miniaturised and user-friendly. One of my favourites at the moment is Deadmau5. He seems to combine electronic, trance, psychedelic and classical all into one foot-stomping, brain-mashing cohesive beauty of a thing. Sometimes a stick with string can't be beat though.

G'day everyone, just thought I'd put some pics up and get some current news out there. The first is the world temperature map.

"I love a sunburnt country"



Next is a place called Warragamba Dam. I used to fish there as a young bloke. It is one of Sydney's water supply dams. In good times and now scorched a bit around the edge.



Following is not the latest news pic but gives a idea what is going on at locations every day.



I wish to convey my thanks to the American and Canadian firefighters who have arrived to give our rural fire crews a breather.

My regards as always,

Bally

a reply to: bally001

Hi Bally. Why is Australia glowing so hot in that picture, even compared to South America and Africa? Or am I reading it wrong? I know fires are often a problem in Australia but it seems as if this year is particularly bad or is that just the reporting of it that has increased? Also, I vaguely remember reading something about some of the fire being deliberately started, is there any truth to that as far as you are aware? (Possibly one arsonist being a fire-fighter?)

I'm glad to hear that they have drafted in some help from abroad but I am also guessing that it is difficult to control wild-fires in such a large country that is relatively sparsely populated.

Hello my Loves!

Busy cooking and whatnot at the moment. Read your posts and starred them to acknowledge you.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

I have heard of Aphex Twin, but not really familiar with the music. What you recommend I check out of his? Is one of his albums a real standout?

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: bally001

Hi Bally. Why is Australia glowing so hot in that picture, even compared to South America and Africa? Or am I reading it wrong? I know fires are often a problem in Australia but it seems as if this year is particularly bad or is that just the reporting of it that has increased? Also, I vaguely remember reading something about some of the fire being deliberately started, is there any truth to that as far as you are aware? (Possibly one arsonist being a fire-fighter?)

I'm glad to hear that they have drafted in some help from abroad but I am also guessing that it is difficult to control wild-fires in such a large country that is relatively sparsely populated.

Hi Lightspeed, this is the 2nd take on my reply to you. Internet copped out last reply.

The map reflects Australia most likely at it's highest temperature point during the day. I suggest, and I'm no expert, that the other large landmasses are in darkness or twilight. I posted it to highlight that regardless of our nearby weather station, lower elevation and closer to the Clarence River, I record temps over 40C or 100F plus everyday on my block.

This means closing the house down at midday to escape the heat and gusty hot unseasonal winds.

There are fires every year for sure but not as big as this one. I alluded to this in an Op I posted August last year when we had the fires coming towards us. I can only state that the evening this fire approached and throughout that night I had not experienced such a roaring and cannot describe adequately the intensity and height of the flames turning the hills and surrounding bush land into ash. I have mentioned this before but what was most disconcerting to me was the echoing of exploding gas bottles in the distance signalling one by one properties aflame. Kinda felt lonely as that occurred. Glad all made it out safely. In my little village and surrounds it is reported that 83 homes were destroyed. Was very tired at 5am the next morning.

As for deliberately lit fires. Yes there are reports and some have been arrested from young folk to more experienced people. One incident that sticks out in my mind is the report a man created a back burn to save his marijuana crop just over the mountains to the south. Burnt out about 3000 hectares. Hmm. Apparently he has faced court.

Hard to put into words but the populated areas up and down the coast in my state are threatened and the flames continue to burn while the temperatures soar. Fingers crossed for some rain this coming Thursday.

Kind regards,

Bally

a reply to: bally001

If I were in those high temps for even one whole day, I would go mad. That to me is like torture!

So tragic that your Country is experiencing such devastation, people and animals alike.

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: bally001

If I were in those high temps for even one whole day, I would go mad. That to me is like torture!

So tragic that your Country is experiencing such devastation, people and animals alike.

Thanks for your kind words. And again thanks for the brave firefighters helping out from Canada and America.

True love and I smile a lot. Can't put on a sad face for long. Looking forward to a new palette to play with. This time next year all will be 'tickitee boo!'

I will post a pic of our christmas tree when I'm finished with the preparation. Basically a burnt power post with our private number still visible. Now sitting proudly in our loungeroom ready for decorating with all our fav burnt bits picked up from around the sheds and cottage ( Now resembling a scrap yard hahaha). We've still got our beautiful house and animals (minus 1 chook)

Kind regards,

Bally

a reply to: Night Star

If you are cooking I would like a 'bread and butter' pudding please!

Bally

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is probably a good place to start. Check out the videos Windowlicker, Monkey Drummer and Rubber Johnny on youtube too. Then randomly click stuff. I don't appreciate it all but he has made some phenomenal tracks. His ambient stuff is good, Stone In Focus and Rhubarb to name just two. The titles are sometimes quite out there but then so is he. He's been active for a few decades so there's a lot of stuff to choose from, not all of which is to my taste but he is definitely a master and you can hear why other artists credit him. Check out his Pac Man from '92 also, it's pretty cool.

a reply to: bally001

40 C...ouch. I know you have no choice but I couldn't live like that. How everyone remains so calm and cheery is beyond me. Glad to hear that you might have rain on the way though, that should help a little. I can see weed being a popular crop with all that sun but stoners protecting crops sounds like a recipe for stupidity.

Stay safe and thanks for the info.

a reply to: bally001

Looking forward to seeing pics of your tree Bally!

Here's one from the Shed.

A bread and butter pudding??? Umm...what?

Big happy family today in the shed!

a reply to: bally001

I appreciate having a real Aussie to tell us a bit about what is going on. Our media seems to give mixed info and i don't even follow Finnish media unless i am at a friend's place and the TV is on. Unimaginable devastation there... It makes everything more real to me when you tell about the events, and not a news reporter on TV.

Why are really BIG world news always negative?

Wishing you strength. Although you don't seem to lack it at all

originally posted by: Night Star
Hello my Loves!

Busy cooking and whatnot at the moment. Read your posts and starred them to acknowledge you.

Got something for me too? If i am allowed to be picky, then vegetarian or vegan food please. After prolonged periods of drinking, i can't stand the idea of meat.