I Quit Twitter and I Can’t Believe How Much It Improved My Life *

* I didn’t.

“I Quit Twitter and I Can’t Believe How Much It Improved My Life | Inc.com”

https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/quitting-twitter-changed-my-life.html

 

A bold statement indeed, and what’s not to like about it. Giving up (partially) on social media, or at least on the part that has a hold on you.

I quit Facebook for a couple of months about two years ago. I say quit, I just didn’t log in.

It was an interesting experiment; it showed me what I liked and didn’t like about Facebook.

I then actually quit, closing down my account (not as straight forward as you might think) to then create a new account – under my terms. No longer was my feed full of work-related pages, or people I barely knew (some ‘friends’ I didn’t know at all).

I learned that FB can be good for keeping in touch with a certain circle of friends. It’s great for keeping up to date with local events, be it sporting, gigs etc.

I joined groups of hobbies/interests that actually engaged me.

But, we still slip into over usage, with the convenience of our mobile phone.

 

I’m trying out the Stayfree app, to at least get a handle on my usage.

 

This all brings me to Twitter. I really love Twitter. Yeah, Twitter users look down their nose at Facebook users, but I have a foot in both camps and can see the merit in both.

That is until recently, where I feel I need to rephrase that sentence

 

I really loved Twitter.

 

It seems in the last couple of years it has turned into something I have stopped enjoying, but still feel compelled to check.

Is it the Trump effect? Brexit? All this and more? Probably. These days it seems to be an endless stream of negativity. Oh, and don’t worry if some of that negativity passes you by; someone will bump that negativity into your timeline, just to call out the negativity. The end result? More negativity in front of your face.

It’s a weekly occurrence now where some absolute no-mark will tweet something negative (these days it’s often about Ireland in the context of EU/Brexit, but could just as easily be about cyclists, the Irish language etc.), then righteous twitter (me included) gives exposure to that negativity, just to have our say on how wrong the opinion is.

Does my life really need this?

Why am I wasting time reading, or giving oxygen to this?

Would my time be better spent doing so many other things that I say I don’t have time to do?

Should I just quit Twitter?

Is it as easy as that, or is there an underlying habit/addiction to break?

Am I already coming up with a list of reasons why I really need to at least keep an eye on Twitter?

 

Why am I writing all this in a blog that no-one reads? Maybe just to put a line in the sand for myself. Say it out loud, as such.

Let’s see how the next month goes. Break the cycle; curtail the habit; use my time in a more rewarding way.

Sounds nice.

Order is Everything: Coltrane.

A post on semi-accidental compliance.

 

As part of my research on endless lists of 10/20/50/101 essential Jazz records I came across an interesting feature on Revive Music called Order Is Everything.

 

At the time of writing (I’m hoping it’s an on-going project) there were five artists featured, listing ten or so of their key albums, and, crucially the order you should listen to them in. I found this as a handy guide, allowing me to wade into an artist’s portfolio gradually, rather than plunging head first into an out-there avant-garde deep end, liable to shock me into regression.

So, the link was duly bookmarked for future reference.

 

 

I spoke previously about my jazz awakening while, after a few attempts, finally giving ‘Kind Of Blue’ a proper listen.

Well, that awakening jumped up a notch the first time I sat down and listened to Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps’. That was when I could start to see that I was beginning to ‘get’ jazz.

 

And what do you know? It’s first on the list. What an explosive start to a list!

 

The day I went to visit a guy who was selling a few albums of his, I had ‘Giant Steps’ and ‘My Favourite Things’ in mind. While there we came to a good deal on three Coltrane LPs. Asking for guidance on the third, he suggested ‘Coltrane’s Sound’ to me, so I left with all three tucked under my arm.

 

I hadn’t planned on picking up ‘Coltrane’s Sound’; I hadn’t even researched it, but took it purely on recommendation. Upon arriving home, and logging the new arrivals on Discogs, I was pleasantly surprised to see I had numbers 1, 3 and 4 from the list in my possession.

The next logical step, of course was to put things right by picking up a copy of ‘Blue Train’. Not only did I get my sequence back on track, but I now had four wonderful albums that gave a hell of an introduction to the world of John Coltrane.

 

Yes, ‘A Love Supreme’ might top a lot of polls as the best jazz album ever, but lists are lists, and I’m really trusting this one, so I will bide my time until I work down as far as it.

 

In the mean time,  next up is album #5, ‘Duke Ellington & John Coltrane’.

It must have been faith when I strolled into the local record shop, not really looking for anything, just killing some time. And there it was. A quick look at the sealed album, and it seemed to be a genuine Impulse re-issue, so it came home with me that day.

Further inspection, and it seems a 1997 US Impulse re-issue, still sealed popped up in a little record shop in Ireland.

I’m really loving this album, showing the softer side of Coltrane, and some beautiful playing from Ellington too. The opener, ‘In a Sentimental Mood’ is fabulous, and it continues from there.

 

Will I continue with the list? Possibly not. A Love Supreme is obviously on the radar, but I can see myself going off-track when it comes to further exploration of Coltrane.

Was it worth doing for the first half dozen or so albums? I certainly think so.

Out and about

A quick round-up.

Isn’t it weird how, no matter how good the summer, we are more drawn to the outdoors in Autumn? Is it the sense that the clock is ticking? Winter is coming? Or is it just me?

 

Last week we had a wonderful hike up around Mahon Falls, in glorious autumnal sunshine.

 

 

I also got to bring my new toy out to the woods – a hammock.

I managed to hang it with relative ease. I got to try a few different configurations, and was able to take note of a few minor alterations – longer straps for one!

 

Of course, I don’t fancy giving it an overnight test at this time of the year before DIYing an underquilt (another winter project), but it was certainly comfortable enough that I was ready to doze off as the kids and dog tried to build a shelter near-by.

 

 

 

Birth of a Jazz bore…

 

In what I guess, in hindsight, was another New Year’s resolution I bought the first of the series of Jazz at 33 1/3 RPM way back in January 2016. The €4.99 introductory offer obviously helped.

That first issue was, of course, Miles Davis’ classic ‘Kind Of Blue’.

Week two, at a slightly more expensive, but still discounted offer, was Coltrane’s ‘Blue Train’. I missed that in the local shop. Week three, now at the full €19.99 was Billie Holiday, which at the time didn’t grab me, so I left it on the shelf.

Obviously the local uptake wasn’t great, and that’s where the series ended in this particular shop.

I took home my copy of ‘Kind Of Blue’, listened to it occasionally (my first time ever hearing it), then it sat on the shelf, not to be touched for more than a year.

It was some time in late 2018 when I pulled it off the shelf again and gave it another go. This time something clicked with me. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I guess I *really* listened this time. I played it pretty constantly over a period of a week or so, while also googling reviews and articles on the making of the album itself. I think this was the first time I actually read the booklet that came with the album too.

Epiphany is probably a bit over the top, but there was certainly a dawning on me that there was this whole section of music that I, as a music lover, had completely dismissed – not just a niche genre. To me it was almost equal to claiming to love music but having never dipped your toe into something as expansive as Rock, or Soul.

Anyway, back to Google I went.

The Art of Manliness gave a nice overview of the timelines / sub-genres of jazz (AoM is a site and podcast that I often use, and would highly recommend).

I found numerous articles giving the top 10/20/50 Jazz albums of all time ( LA Weekly, for example) and an interesting take from Revive Music called Order is Everything, where they walk you through the order you should purchase albums from a few key players (more on this in another blog post).

And so it began.

I’m still a complete novice, but I’m trying to keep some structure on my listening – progressing through the development of the ’50s and ’60s; exploring deeper into genres I like, but still listening outside these genres too.

So far I think my strategy has worked. I know if I jumped straight in to some ’70s free jazz or something it would put me right off it. I feel I have to build up to that.

I went out the week after my ‘Kind of Blue’  immersion and picked up Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, perhaps by way of atonement for leaving her on the shelf earlier. Armstrong, Gillespie, Parker followed. Then ‘Birth of The Cool’, then into the late ’50s, and all that is on offer there.

So far, my only blip was perhaps tackling ‘Out to Lunch’ too early in my journey. But I won’t admit defeat with it yet!

Forward Planning

 

Time to schedule some upcoming blog posts.

These will include:

 

• Update on MOSF synth build
• New project – Modular synth build including Yusynth modules
• My experiences as a noob listening to Jazz.

 

In the mean time I’ll just stick on ‘Kind Of Blue’ again, while I dust off the soldering iron.

 

 

Synth DIY build part 2 (brief)

A quick update before a more detailed post coming in the next few days.

After building, and populating, the front panel for the MFOS SoundLab I started populating the pcb.
Besides a few minor issues (I didn’t have every resistor value needed so had to combine a few) this went smoothly. I was still missing a couple of components, and with the arrival of summer the whole project was put on hold.

I started back in to it a couple of weeks ago, ordered the missing components, wired the panel, and wired the panel to the pcb.

I also built the wall-wart power supply, also from MFOS, which will provide my +/-12Vdc to power the module.

So, as of now this is the status of the project:
All the wiring is complete
After an initial test I’m able to provide power to the module (without it blowing up!)

To do:
A more comprehensive check on the unit. (Ray from MFOS has a very good check list for voltages you can measure across the pcb to ensure no shorts etc.)
Build an enclosure, probably from plywood.
Fit the matched transistors and tempco resistors (waiting on delivery of these).

Then, hopefully start making some noise.

Oh, and upload a more detailed blog post with the build steps and pictures.

Synth DIY build part 1

This will be the first in a series of posts on my first Synth build.

How many will be in that series? I’m not quite sure yet. I wouldn’t like to put a number on it as I really don’t know how long this is going to take me. My previous DIY builds have been  guitar pedals, but I decided to go big for this project.

I found a world of information and projects on the wonderful Music From Outer Space website.

While some of the smaller projects interested me at first I went “all in” and opted for the Sound Lab MkII build. I ordered the pcb, and the power supply pcb from MFOS, and components from Tayda Electronics. I also signed up to the Irish Synth DIY group, which is full of knowledgeable, friendly folk.

Anyway – so to the project.

I have made a start on the front panel hardware side of things. I decided not to get the front panel available from MFOS, both as a cost saving measure and as I would like to do as much as I can myself.

I knocked up a front panel template design and printed it off. I based my sizings on the large format 5U size, as it will be a stand alone unit, and space isn’t really at a premium.

A bit of skip diving got me a metal sheet that used to be part of a shelving assembly.

I cut it to size, and started cleaning it up with a wire brush. I then glued the paper template to my front panel and drilled out the various holes.

Cleaning off the paint and rust patches with a wire brush.

Paper template glued to front panel. I have left space in either end for any extra modules I might add at a later date.

Next step was to remove the paper template. At this stage I realised I was probably a little liberal with the pva glue, so ended up sanding off the template.

Holes drilled. Paper template sanded off.

Then, with the project pages from the MFOS site printed off I began fitting the pots, 1/4″ jacks and switches.

As my front panel doesn’t match the MFOS one extra care was needed to ensure the correct components went in the correct holes. This will also be the case when it comes to wiring up the panel.

All hardware installed.

My design for the front panel is a sort of mock-modular, as you can see from the pictures. My original intention was to print this with white text on a black background similar to the classic Moog style. This may change, however, as I kind of k=like the bare metal look. I may keep it pretty lo-fi looking. Another option is to try engraving the panel, but those decisions are well down the line.

Issues so far:

With the front panel a little thinner than it could have been, and a hand drill rather than a press my hole alignment isn’t spot on. But nothing’s way off, so I’ll just call it ‘character’.

Next up is to start on the pcb assembly.

…But I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

Oh dear, have I become on of those people?

You know, the ones who make new year’s resolutions.

The ones who panic detox the first few days of January.

The ones who throw a chunk of money at a gym just to use it for the first week, then never go again.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. I started back on the bike with a regular spin in November. I started doing a mid-week run to try and keep things ticking over.

I decided I wanted to do more, but wasn’t going to go into crisis mode over Christmas. No, I would wait until afterwards, then knuckle down, get back on the regular spins (which fell by the wayside over the holidays) and start a workout routine.

Whatever way I squared it with myself, I still ended up walking into a gym in January with a big “RESOLUTION” banner looming over my head.

So, money down, hopefully I will still be getting regular use of it by the time my 3 month membership is up for renewal.

In the meantime, on behalf of all honest, decent, Resolution noobs I would like to apologise in advance to all regular gym-goers for any annoyance we might cause in the next couple of weeks. I’ll hopefully pick up some ettiquite tips from nerdfitness.com, get my head down, and make sure that membership wasn’t wasted.

Back in the saddle

Winter cycling – if anything sums up the attitude of putting on a coat and getting on with it then surely this is it. Or, at least putting on an extra pair of socks, and a few layers of lycra.

A couple of weeks ago a facebook post from my local cycling club caught my attention – a Group 4 Sunday morning spin, about 50Km or so, at a steady 23-25Km pace. Considering I had barely been on the bike all year, even missing the Sean Kelly tour in late summer, this seemd like a perfect opportunity to get back in the saddle, literally, and get out on a regular basis riding with a group.

 

As it happens I wasn’t the only one and by all accounts the club were delighted with the response, with over thirty riders turning up on the first day, and more since then.

 

That was mid-November, and last Sunday, saw the fourth outing of the newly formed Group 4. I didn’t make the group spin myself, but did manage to get out for a spin.

 

I don’t have any particular aims for next year, yet, but it feels good to tip away at staying fit over the winter months, rather than waiting for the weather and bright evenings to return.

I guess it gives me a head start on working off the impending Christmas binging.

Check out dungarvancc.com for further details.

 

Pretty in Pink

A quick picture-based post on spraying a guitar.

The guitar in question is an ’89 Squier, in it’s original ‘Priest sock’ black

Here’s the body with all the hardware removed. You can see my previous DIY shielding project.

80 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander made light work of the old paint.

A side view of the ply body in all it’s glory

And the back…

Shielding covered and ready to be sprayed:

First coat of primer. I gave a second coat before the paint.

Three coats of paint, an hour apart, with a light sanding in between:

And the finished product:

Not perfect – a little paint run on both horns (which I gently sanded down), and a grey strip next to the knobs where I masked but the scratch plate didn’t cover. Also it’s far from a smooth pro finish when you look at it up close, but I wanted a bit of a rough DIY effect.

Paint used was Rust-Oleum Candy Pink, and Rust-Oleum Primer.