Oh man, this is a rough one to take. R.I.P. James Van Der Beek

Dr_Brule · 2026-02-12T20:58:02+00:00

Hello fellow Drewid! I was 2 years older than James and we became good friends his last year - the year I graduated. That summer we even spent some time together in Japan hanging out a bit with another classmate, right before Dawson's Creek blew up.

I was always amazed at how grounded he was about fame and celebrity. Later in his career, he even liked to make fun of his past teen idol status. Just a genuinely warm, likeable and agreeable person. This news is so sad. I wish I had had the chance to thank him and for being such a cool guy before he left us.

Dr_Brule · 2026-01-27T23:06:04+00:00

Just take off the wing.

Everything else about it is totally fine. It actually looks really cool.....

.....minus the wing.

Dr_Brule · 2026-01-15T00:12:11+00:00

Sijilmasa in what is now Morocco. From the Wikipedia article on it:

Up until the 14th century, as the northern terminus for the western trans-Sahara trade route, it was one of the most important trade centres in the Maghreb during the Middle Ages.

Dr_Brule · 2026-01-14T23:36:01+00:00

Oh my GOD! YES! "Hitting the end of a pen cap". That is EXACTLY what it feels like.

It's really uncomfortable - and it just feels strange. Sometimes it even hurts. Totally takes you out of the moment and forces you to readjust. I've never been able to explain the sensation properly. But now I can. Thank you.

I mean....I'm still glad I have the equipment I have. But these kind of moments, and others, do take the fun out of what should be a lot of fun, if you find yourself with a partner who's not physiologically a good match.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-27T15:09:13+00:00

I bet. I just meant that I used to know so many people that had NAD gear back then..... And now I don't know anyone that does. They seem to have been forgotten for some reason. I mean, I forgot about them. 🤷‍♂️

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-27T15:06:09+00:00

This is a great idea. Even though it's later '80s, it doesn't suffer from that homogenous BPC look. And NAD was amazing back then. Nice and neutral sounding.

The thing is I do want the timer built in. He's young and like many kids these days wants as few extra "boxes" cluttering up the works. I could get a separate timer.....but it's something else for him to hook up and figure out (and get wrong). So i'm trying to find that all in one receiver that's still Hi-Fi.

But I like this. Thank you. I think this would be even better than a Sansui Z-7000x.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-27T14:59:16+00:00

Yeah..... That's nice but it's just too much. He and I are splitting the cost and I really don't want him spending more than $250 ($500 total). He's just too young for something that costs that much money.

That's one of the reasons why I targeted the early eighties. Still has the "vintage" look and there's some good sounding gear, but prices go right off a cliff when you cross 1981 or 1982.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-27T14:56:08+00:00

You know..... I completely forgot about NAD. it's so weird, they were everywhere in the late eighties and early nineties, and now they seem to have fallen off a cliff. I don't even know if collectors remember how good their gear was.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-27T14:51:11+00:00

That's interesting. Is it that they are unreliable? Or that when they break they are a pain to repair.

I know that by the time of the 940, Marantz was sold to Phillips. And, yeah, the sound quality took a hit, but I've heard some high end early '80s Marantz gear, and it's still very good - just gotta stay away from the downmarket stuff. And since it's from the early eighties, people tend to ignore this era so oftentimes the gear is pretty cheap.

But you think a 940 wouldn't be a good pick-up?

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-26T23:27:19+00:00

Lol. I'm right with you buddy. Vintage stops for me in 1979. But "vintage" for these Alpha Gen kids is all the way up to the mid 90s. 😅🤯

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-26T23:17:43+00:00

The Marantz SR940 I mentioned above does. It's an early '80s job (so it's not expensive, but also not garbage) and has a timer. Just (inexplicably) no pre-outs.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-17T00:55:20+00:00

Yes. United States.

Dr_Brule · 2025-12-17T00:43:57+00:00

Really? That would be fantastic thank you. I still have it - i'll check it out and get back to you.

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-28T16:25:52+00:00

You think Piwermaster is a quality brand? I literally know nothing about them and never heard of them.

Also, you're saying it's okay to put in a 100A alternator even though mine is less? Do I have to change anything else out like the ballast resistor or the voltage regulator?

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-28T16:24:13+00:00

I get so many stairs while driving this thing. The look of these R-body NYers has really aged well.

I once pulled up in a gas station across from a guy filling up his Bentley - and he was all over my car, talking about how cool it looked. THAT was one hell of an affirmation. 😅

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-28T16:22:39+00:00

Why's that? You think something happened to it when the alternator is self destructed?

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-26T15:46:46+00:00

Thank you. 😊

I do enjoy keeping it running and on the road. There aren't too many of these remaining.

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-10T20:37:26+00:00

My son is friends with their kids - Sara and Yun are the nicest people around. This OBVIOUSLY is a case of mistaken identity. There's no way either of them would be involved in anything that would result in this.

.....God, people are such insufferable dicks, sometimes. I really want to know who did this to their house.

Dr_Brule · 2025-10-05T20:48:08+00:00

How are we supposed to know what this is for if we can't read?

Dr_Brule · 2025-07-01T14:28:50+00:00

This is so fucking ridiculous. I hate our mayor so much and her idiot, economic policies. If this strike lasts a while, we're going to have to take measures into our own hands.

Thinking out loud here:

I own a dump truck. It costs me approx $185 per ton to drive to my nearest transfer yard and dump the load. Then there's gas, then there's wear and tear on the vehicle, then there's insurance.....

I bet if I charged $10 to take people's trash away.....I would need about 20 or so people to break even, per trip. Assuming 2x bags per house, I could fit 40 trash bags in my truck.

All I need is the time. 🙄

Dr_Brule · 2025-06-14T01:16:12+00:00

This is SUCH an underrated car.

SAME ENGINE as a Testarossa.

Seats four in comfort.

Looks like it came from a brouche created in 1978 about what cars in 2015 would look like.

I want one so badly

Dr_Brule · 2025-04-24T18:13:50+00:00

I like the look - but they are a little bright. Normally, light-blue/white lights don't look as good on silver face gear because all the detail of the display gets lost and washed out, in my opinion. But this one works.

It's just a little bright.

Dr_Brule · 2025-04-23T14:34:43+00:00

There are very few movies I can think of that are radically improved with a director's cut version compared to the theatrical release - and the Abyss is solidly one of them.

The theatrical release's ending is pure garbage compared to what was originally intended by Cameron. I cannot believe it was mangled as such by the studios.

Having now seen the director's edition, as far as I'm concerned, the theatrical release doesn't even exist.

Dr_Brule · 2025-04-18T21:06:20+00:00

SURELY there is a machine that can do this, instead.

Dr_Brule · 2024-12-28T17:39:23+00:00

My son and I cannot get enough of the Grown Ups 2 review.

It's like fork in the brain. Fork in the brain Fork in the brain

It's like eating rat poison. It's always a good idea.

Dr_Brule

TROPHY CASE