Friday Check In

Not too much here: Laundry, film commentary, filing, laundry and then laundry.

It's overcast and perhaps hitting 60 today in MI, so I will spend a good part of the afternoon responding to Mrs. Ghemrats asking what the temperature in the house is, then moving it up one degree, then down, then back up and HOLD.

On the big plus side I just received the vinyl recording of the *Trouble In Mind* soundtrack by Mark Isham and Marianne Faithfull. It will be a moody afternoon for certain.
Jeff

Friday night check in. In the continuing saga of wacky climate playing havoc with the weather Hurricane Lorenzo whipped past Ireland bring high speed winds more rain and weirdly enough warm air. Weathered it fine. Some fools went surfing I shake my head. I was surfing my couch watching Glitch on Flix. Weekend I will be vegging listening to the bushel of vinyl I got and have not even spun up.

Work was super busy and all my side projects are popping so I feel like I am rowing uphill with a piano in the canoe.

Getting excited because Halloween is my fave time of year and the vinyl festival is coming next month so I will bin dive the racks and come home with way to many albums and no I don't have a addiction. What who said that can you guys smell toast?

Whats everyone else up to?

I'm still livin' the temporary bachelor life for another week and a half, so I'm gonna be pretty much a couch potato for the weekend. Maybe I'll start binge watchin' all of those Marvel Universe movies I've never seen. But probably not.

And speakin' of the temporary bachelor life...

The wife's been on a road trip with our younger son Jeremy. That means that I've been home alone with her idiot oversized kitten. That cat has an "interesting" personality. The other night, I was sitting out on the patio, drinking coffee and just enjoying the evening. I was just outside the sliding glass door and the cat came over and just sat there watching me from the inside. She loves to walk between the verticals of the blinds covering that door. She did a quick circle through the blinds and laid on the floor with her back against the door. Her tail was poking through the blinds and she noticed it on the other side. Apparently she didn't recognize her own tail and started staring at it. Of course, when a cat sees something which catches their interest, they often start twitching their tail. And she did. Still not recognizing her own tail, this twitching made her even more interested. I guess she decided to put this interloper in it's place, because she suddenly lunged forward and bit her own tail. I guess it was a pretty hard bite, because I heard her YOWL through the glass door and suddenly jumped (I kid you not) three feet straight up in the air and took off running like the proverbial "Bat Outta Hell", across the living room, around the corner and down the hall. I did go and check on her. But it took a while, because I was laughing so hard, I nearly fell off my chair.

This weekend will be relatively uneventful, save for my son and daughter-in-law coming over to celebrate Number Two Son's birthday as he ventures into his thirties. He will get several films and a vinyl version of *Wish You Were Here* for his collection, from us.

I'll probably watch more movies and burn a couple of CDs of music for later consumption--some Joss Stone, Beth Hart, Freddy King, Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton, Al Green, and such. And perhaps finish *Hurricane Punch* by Tim Dorsey. Just living the dream.
Jeff

So I finished *Hurricane Punch* by Tim Dorsey and now I'm into *Gator A-Go-Go* which I think will be even funnier. More vinyl is on the way: two Annie Lennox albums because the cheapest vinyl of *The Annie Lennox Collection* (which I really wanted) is minimally over $400 or currently unavailable. For over $400 it's going to remain unavailable to me.

Rain here with dropping temperatures, which mean a weekend of paperwork and movies. Do you remember that line from *Young Frankenstein*--"Could be worse, could be raining." Well, it is. Cold rain. In my mind in terms of climate, there's little that is worse. Comets falling from the sky would rank a second close.

But it's sunny and warm in my heart. So there's always something good boiling in the Cobalt.
Jeff

Was a warmer but windy week here with Irish misting of rain as per usual. Had a super busy day at work and was hanging on by my fingertips. Gonna be a vegging type of weekend as I decompress and relax and listen to the Bluejays album I just got. Good old Moody Blues Justin Hayward and John Lodge a slice of 70's over production all the way. Loads of vinyl and books to get through.

Will listen to some shows and catch up on threads.

Jeff happy to see we are vinyl mates retreating to the analog world of listening to a whole album for the joy of the music.

Whats everyone else up to...

Well, my temporary bachelorhood ends Monday. As Mrs. Space Cadet will be home from her extended road trip. Which means I'll probably be in trouble by Tuesday, for some hare brained thing I did. But the house is clean, which means that I also didn't burn it down. And her idiot cat (which I've been cat sittin') hasn't starved and still has at least three workin' legs.

Ah, the idiot cat. Folk's, I love animals but I'm just not a cat person. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate em'. But I just have no use for that cat "attitude." And I've been tasked with keepin' the wife's cat alive and healthy while she's been travelin' around the country, for three and a half weeks. Doesn't sound like much of a chore does it? Well, let me give you one example (among many) of this cats talents.

That cat has an "interesting" personality. A few nights ago, I was sittin' out on the patio, drinkin' coffee and just enjoyin' the evenin'. I was just outside the slidin' glass door and the cat came over and just sat there watchin' me from inside the house. She loves to walk between the verticals of the blinds coverin' that door. She did a quick circle through the blinds and laid on the floor with her back against the door. Her tail was pokin' through the blinds and she noticed it on the other side. Apparently she didn't recognize her own tail and started starin' at it. Of course, when a cat sees somethin' which catches their interest, they often start twitchin' their tail. And she did. Still not recognizin' her own tail, this twitchin' made her even more interested. I guess she decided to put this interloper in it's place, because she suddenly lunged forward and bit her own tail. I guess it was a pretty hard bite, because I heard her YOWL through the glass door and suddenly jumped (I kid you not) three feet straight up in the air and took off runnin' like the proverbial "Bat Outta Hell", across the livin' room, around the corner and down the hall. I did go and check on her. But it took a while, because I was laughin' so hard, I nearly fell off my chair.

Trust me. There's more to keepin' this cat alive than food, water and poop scoopin'.

Weekly check in. Bit under the weather today so stayed home and watched Scooby Doo. Yeah still love that show. Great to chill out to. Pretty excited that Watchmen starts Monday and the new season of Flash is rolling. This was another week of a ton of new vinyl hitting my door. I will update that in the HiFi Den.

Whats everyone else doing?

It's temporarily balmy here in the middle thumb.  May hit the lower sixties tomorrow.

Monday we'll be getting an appraisal on the finishing of our basement after the flood we encountered; we have been left high, dry and peeved after two months of the company not returning our phone calls (the magic number is seven) to have them complete the job they started, so a new company is stopping by.
We want the basement back to normal so we can have a spot for the kids and kids-in-law to crash for the holidays.

New vinyl: Two Annie Lennox albums and a Lily Allen.  Pink Floyd's  *Wish You Were Here* sounds magnificent on vinyl (from two weeks ago).  More movies coming this next week.

Toe nail trimming for the Ghemrats Pup tomorrow, so it's a slow week. Oh yes--starting up the Bob And Ray thread tomorrow also. Now there's a highlight.
Jeff

The wife finally got home from her extended road trip and believe it or not, I'm not in trouble yet. But I know me and I'm pretty sure I'll be in trouble before the weekend is over. No, she never caught me at the hidden speaker rick. And those speakers are still hidden, so... Yup, I'll be in trouble soon.

Scooby Doo! I know you mean the first two or three seasons. Excellent choice. Oddly enough, I just picked up a HUGE collection of Hanna Barbera animation from the 60's and 70's. Some of the highlights include:

Atom Ant
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Birdman
Dino Boy In the Lost Valley
Frankenstein Junior and the Impossibles
Grape Ape
Herculoids
Hong Kong Phooey
Inch High Private Eye
Josie and the Pussycats (Both Series)
Justice League
Penelope Pitstop
Superman
The Super Friends
Wacky Races
And a lot more.

I already had Jonnie Quest and Scooby Doo seasons 1,2 and 3.

I may convert the whole pile into MP4 files and load them onto the computer hooked to the big screen in the bedroom. Then, I can have the Saturday morning of my childhood whenever I want. Suddenly I'm craving Cap'n Crunch cereal.

Hey folks, been a long busy week that I am glad is over. Its a long weekend here so I am going to make like a vegetable hit the couch and chill. Vinyl records be a spinning. I picked up a cool 1960's record cabinet so slowly turning the house into a madmen pad.

Its rolling up to Halloween so I have been watching scary shows and spooks of the season. Watched the new season of Castle Rock. Three episodes in not to fond of it yet. On Netflix watched Creeped Out. An anthology series thats good. Watched Unsettled supposed to be scary but not so much. Of course I always watch Goonies, Big Trouble in Little China, The Fog(original) Poltergeist 1-3. Close Encounters, and Hocus Pocus. And so many more.

Plus of course Healthy doses of Scooby Doo.

Whats everyone up to?

Got lucky and picked up a Teac S3300SX that is in near pristine condition -- been catching up on the transferring of reels -- hooray. Yesterday the old collection I was working on had 2 AFRS versions of Escape I did not have and 2 upgrades of AFRS versions. Hoping there are some uncirc items in there. Posted 2 uncirc Alan Youngs this morning on the "Sharing Shows" thread. Hope folks can help identify them.

Staying close to home and getting ready for the upcoming California trip built around the SPERDVAC event. Hope I get to see some Cobaltians there!

Finishing up the last season of DCI Banks on Amazon Prime this weekend. Not sure what to watch next. Suggestions? We finished Goliath about 10 days ago. Season 3 was much much much better than Season 2 which was such a downer and way too grotesque. If you've never seen Goliath, I'd suggest skipping Season 2 all together.

greybelt I am jealous of the reel to reel find. Got my eyes out for one here I see them all the time. Will add to my HiFi setup when the right one appears.

Hope you get in more interviews at SPERDVAC.

I had planned to spend the weekend in my very best couch potato mode. But now I've gotta get the wife's car in to be diagnosed. Gotta decide if it's gonna be repaired or replaced. She wants to repair it but it's 10 years old and I'd rather just replace it.

I'm also gonna mail out a huge "nerd" box to my daughter in Las Vegas. What's in a "nerd" box? Nerd goodness of course. My daughter and her family have recently gotten into old school, pencil and paper Dungeons & Dragons. Would anyone like to guess which space case you might know, who also played D&D from the late 70's through the mid 80's? And who still has many goodies stashed away from that time and even later? Yup, that would be me. Additionally, my daughter reads fantasy and her man reads sci-fi. And her oldest son (and my oldest grandson) and I are very close. And this is the longest and farthest we've ever been apart. And his Poppa is gonna send him something very special. Some of the books that I read, when I was just his age.

Contents of the "Nerd" Box.

For my daughter.
The Crystal Shard Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore (Introduces the character Driz'zt Do'urden, a dark elf and later Ranger of Meilikki)
The Dragonlance Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

For her man.
A first American edition copy of A Princess of Mars. (Low grade but solid and readable.)
The complete Lensman series in paperback.

For my grandson.
The Adventures of Tintin graphic novel in hardcover.
A first edition Tom Swift and His Motorboat hardcover printed in 1914.
The first 6 Tom Swift Jr. novels in graphic hardcover.
A second edition graphic hardcover of Have Spacesuit: Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein.
The Forgotten Star (Dig Allen of the Space Patrol graphic Hardcover)

And for the group. Three vintage Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules.

AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (First Edition)
AD&D Dragon Mountain
AD&D Menzoberranzan (First Edition) This module is based on the homeland of the evil Drow Elves and birthplace of Driz'zt Do'urden.

Marvel Masterworks

Amazing Fantasy Vol. 1&2
Tales to Astonish Atlas Era vol. 1&2
Captain America vol. 1&2 (Golden Age)

There may have been nerdier nerd boxes mailed by someone somewhere. But I think this one sets a pretty high standard.

Space that nerdbox sounds amazing I am now out by my mailbox in the dark waiting for mine. Can't wait I have a flashlight and sandwiches so I am good.

Space, you are the coolest dad ever. Want to adopt me?

In honor of Seamus's madmen den, check out the new commentary in The Balcony--I didn't know about the Madmen Den when I wrote it, but it seems oddly fitting now.

Monday through Wednesday we'll stop the radioactive glowing in the basement as we've hired a new containment specialist to sanitize our structure after the Sewer Flood of July and the resultant unethical Leaving Us Dry But Low sanitizers who have refused to return our earnest pleas for help since their initial cleansing. It will be so nice to have a basement that won't leave us with three-headed children again.

I received two vinyl recordings this week on colored vinyl--*Charmers* by Aimee Mann and *It's Not Me, It's You* by Lily Allen. Par-tay time, at least through headphones this weekend.

More movies and Bob and Ray.
Jeff

Boss, Ya might need to run back inside and grab at least a cup of coffee. It's probably gonna be a while before your package arrives. But, stranger things have happened. I used to trade packages with Dave Reeder when he was working in Dubai. The best way to describe the contents of those packages, would be senseless compediums of esoterica. Everything from burned disks of OTR and movies to manga graphic novels. With lots of side trips and U-turns along the way.

This "nerd" package is just the first of quite a few that I'll be sending to various places. I've decided to start giving personal things that embody who I am, to the young people who are close to me. No worries folks. I'm still in disgustingly good health for a 61 year old goofball, with a tendency to jump out of a perfectly good plane occasionally, just for fun. But I've seen others who waited too long to pass along their personal effects that have meaning, to the people they care about. The things I'll be passing along are stored away in cases getting moldy. So, I'd rather they be dispersed now, rather than deteriorate even more. And this way they'll know that it came from me, has meaning to me and that they have meaning to me.

Besides, if I live long enough, some of these young ones will get stuck changin' my adult diapers, if I should slip "round the bend." I figured I best start butterin' em' up, just in case

Those care packages sound good. I also do similar. Send Irish care packages around the world to friends and family. People love the Irish candy. Books, silly items and books and music. I send a lot of Irish Tea abroad. I have friends who love Irish authors and mystery books I search out them. Father Ted DVD's are popular. We might have to start our own CC care package service LOL.

Read the recently-published book “Boy On The Bridge” by Andrew Marble.  
It is the biography of General John Shalikashvili, the first foreign-born
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Military.  
He was an exceptional man and soldier.

I had the privilege of serving under “Shali,” as he preferred to be called,
when he was a Lt. Colonel commanding the artillery battalion I was
assigned to at Ft. Lewis, WA.  I had the opportunity to do some
special assignments directly for him.

I was interviewed for the book in 2011 and was glad to see a couple of
my anecdotes made it into the book

Our weather in October has included lots of the four-letter word:
SNOW!!!!!
Many of the ski resorts have already opened and several more will open
in the next week.

As I type, we are getting our 4th snowfall of the month.  On Saturday,
the temperature was in the mid-70’s, 16 hours later the temp was in the
mid-20’s with snow falling.  (this is the 2nd time this month that we have
had this phenomenon happen.

Our 5th snowfall of the month will start on Tuesday, and may be the biggest
one of this month, possibly up to a foot.

I am laying low, having some restaurant food delivered, listening to old-time radio,
and watching some Christmas movies on the various Hallmark channels.

Hey folks late check in. Saturday night Friday night check in. Halloween was a lot of fun. Loads of movie binging. All the classics. Hocus Pocus, Big Trouble, Scooby Doo, Goonies, Poltergeist, Back to the Future, Gremlins etc. Love the season. We live too far out in the country for many kids to come. Two families and that was it.

Was another busy week and now we are going to roll into the Christmas season which will be nuts. So went to the vinyl festival that was excited about but turned into a few vendors in a library because it was day of torrential rain most vendors stayed away. Ah well there will be more.

Whats everyone else up to?

Like Seamus we live in a rural area. No sidewalks or street lights. But we had "Trunk or Treat" at our church. For those that don't know what that is, it's where families from church decorate the trunks of their cars (and dress up if they want). We parked in a "U" shape with the trunks facing inside the "U" and pass out candy to the children. We had about 400 kids show up in some really great costumes. Our church provided Hot Dogs, popcorn, coffee, tea and soft drinks in our Gym building. It got cold quickly once the sun went down. Most people went into the gym to continue there.

Today we had a "Celebration of Life" for one of our church family. It use to be called a funeral then a memorial service, now called a Celebration of the persons life. After the service in the church we went to the gym and fellow shipped. And of course eating.

Sunday will be a regular church worship service and choir practice.
Have a blessed day.

It's a research weekend for me. I've decided to buy a not too extravagant telescope. I want as many bells and whistles as possible. But I don't want to go "over the top" on it. Livin' just above sea level in a sub-tropical area gives me limits. Too much atmosphere and humidity to peer through can be a pain in the eyepiece. And I'd like to be able to use my Surface tablet and a CCD camera attachment to do some astro-photography. That means at least a 6" to 8" reflector with a very sturdy mount. Did I mention no goin' over the top? Yup, gonna need lots of research.

And Fall weather has peeked timidly into Central Florida. With a low temperature of 67 this mornin' and an expected high of 82 this afternoon, we can finally feel a bit of seasonal change in the air. And I can finally move my beloved leather jackets out of storage and into my daily use closet. No, I can't wear em' yet. I'm not one of "those" Floridians. But there's hope for the near future.

I test drove one of these not long ago. And it felt AWESOME. And if I had one of these, I could justify wearin' my leathers more often. Does that sound a bit like a mid-life crisis???

After months of waiting and fuming, we finally have our basement sanitized from the sewer flood. It's not skeletal with the paneling cut from the floor to a two foot mark, and the work to put it back to its glory will be in the hands of finished carpenters now.

One of the folks packing away everything in the basement asked me, "How many books do you have--about ten thousand?" Little did he know that was just basement. I've got my main library on the main floor and another upstairs in our story-and-a-half. My sons will not have a joyous time cleaning out the place when I'm gone.

Put up new curtains, went through a seismic pile of paperwork and filing, but it's all good. The new windows look out on the brittle snow now.
Jeff

Great updates. Tom I like the idea of a trunk Halloween. Sounds like fun.

Ah Space a telescope is a grand idea. Is that the Indian Scout? or their new flat tracker. Always been partial to Indians having owned a few over the years. Like the 48 Chief I sold long ago. Or the other Chief and the other Scout. If only could have kept them all.

Jeff that library sound spot on. Got a lot of books myself and even books in storage in other countries. Books are a must I read a minimum of a 100 per year and hundreds of papers on science and tech. Have to be learning always striving to be better.

greybelt wrote:Got lucky and picked up a Teac S3300SX that is in near pristine condition -- been catching up on the transferring of reels -- hooray. Yesterday the old collection I was working on had 2 AFRS versions of Escape I did not have and 2 upgrades of AFRS versions. Hoping there are some uncirc items in there. Posted 2 uncirc Alan Youngs this morning on the "Sharing Shows" thread. Hope folks can help identify them.

Staying close to home and getting ready for the upcoming California trip built around the SPERDVAC event. Hope I get to see some Cobaltians there!

Finishing up the last season of DCI Banks on Amazon Prime this weekend. Not sure what to watch next. Suggestions? We finished Goliath about 10 days ago. Season 3 was much much much better than Season 2 which was such a downer and way too grotesque. If you've never seen Goliath, I'd suggest skipping Season 2 all together.

Have you watched Endeavour? It's a show based on the early adventures of Inspector Endeavour Morse. Set in Oxford in the 1960s. Pretty good stuff.