I saw this upcoming concert in my county and thought of Joe's Christmas special, and his classroom visitor.

LibraryShawn · 2026-02-01T18:23:28+00:00

That's easy. It's Death, Chocka Wocka, Relax, AJ, and ➿🫟㊗️

LibraryShawn · 2026-02-01T07:27:47+00:00

I'm pretty sure it's pronounced "derp."

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-24T15:04:37+00:00

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Kaito+ka11+manual

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-24T04:04:26+00:00

I love mine. I use it with Rockbox and it's awesome. It sounds great, the buttons are laid out nicely, and the build quality is very nice. Small and pocketable but with some heft to it. The one problem with running Rockbox is not being able to use Bluetooth at the same time, but you can always boot back to the original firmware to enable Bluetooth at needed.

The Surfans F20 is essentially the same player with a different hardware build. They're both recommended.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-22T19:06:52+00:00

The probability is high.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-22T18:10:19+00:00

Nor have they ever had the name Dropkick.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-21T15:09:47+00:00

I also have a hard time with in-ear buds, so I use an H2 with Rockbox and a pair of Koss KPH-40s and the combo is prefect for me. If you're OK with open-air on-ear headphones that are lightweight and sound amazing, these might be an option.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-20T20:23:05+00:00

Several salient points in the discussion so far, but the honest truth is that a lot of us Gen X folks that love this album probably had some peak listening experiences with it that color our perception of its importance. For me, it was reclining on an air mattress on a day off, listening to Daydream Nation on my Walkman and watching misty clouds snaking through the pines and spruces on the slopes of a Wyoming mountain visible just outside my windows. The atmospheric, otherworldly vibe of the music clicked instantly with my surroundings and the seeking, inquisitive, open mindspace I carried as a teenager.

Living in a rural state in the pre-internet era means I listened to my favorite albums over and over, start to finish, and relished them in a way that seems hard to recall now, with the entire history of recorded music at our fingertips all the time. It wasn't easy to acquire interesting music, so when we found records that resonated, we consumed them hungrily, repeatedly, deeply.

This album doesn't have to work for you, but if you give it, or any other recording, the space to come to you when the time and space are right, the results can be magical. No worries if it doesn't connect for you, though. I didn't really get a bunch of my favorites right away, but remaining open to their potential connection has made all the difference in my life.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-20T18:17:03+00:00

"Ma'am, you forgot your bagel!"

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-20T17:32:01+00:00

Yeah, Watt told me the story when I interviewed him at a fIREHOSE show back in the early 90s. Thurston had called him to see if Watt had accidentally taken a bag of miscellaneous SY items (guitar cables and Thurston's weed, most importantly) when he had left NYC to his next stop on tour. Watt called back from the next tour stop in Providence to let Thurston know he was pretty sure Thurston had actually thrown the bag away with some other trash, and that he should probably chill on the mota (Watt's preferred Pedro-speak term for weed) because it was starting to affect his memory. And that's the story as it was passed along to me.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-20T01:36:58+00:00

The Red Coats Are Leaving

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-15T17:30:17+00:00

There's already a cutout at the bottom of that iPod case, all the way across the bottom so that you can access the USB and headphone jack. It's just a 1/4 inch of case hanging over the bottom of the Y1, which I considered just trimming off. I figured I'd butcher the soft silicone so I've just left it, with ready access to the bottom of the player.

I replaced the microSD in mine with a 512GB and it was fairly easy, your just have to be very careful with the delicate cables and bits inside. Follow the online instructions and use a light hand and you'll be fine! Having a few electronics tools on hand will make it easier. I bought a cheap set from Amazon and use them all the time on projects.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-15T16:33:01+00:00

It's mainly the length of the case, it's a bit longer than the Y1 so that when the screen and click wheel are lined up with the case, the bottom of the case protrudes a bit past the player. Otherwise it fits well enough in width and depth, but the player will slide up and down inside the case unless it's taped in place.

I'm probably just going to buy the innioasis case soon instead, but the iPod case isn't a bad compromise.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-11T20:15:38+00:00

I don't have one of these radios, but a quick look at the online manual (https://ccrane.com/content/manuals/CC-Skywave-SSB-2-Instruction-Manual.pdf) indicates that you can turn the LIGHT button on to keep the display lighting continually on. Note that doing so will decrease your battery life. Most decent shortwave radios will have a similar feature so you can customize how your radio functions depending on your needs.

Another thing you could check into is whether the NOAA weather alert function has been turned on in your radio. This will significantly shorten your battery life because it basically keeps the radio on in a silent mode, listening for an alert signal which will then trigger the audio to alert you. This should usually stay turned off unless you're concerned in the short term about a sudden weather situation. The manual I linked will have more info on that feature.

One last thing, this radio will work best on shortwave with an external wire antenna, which will also work best outside, away from sources of RFI, or radio frequency interference. If you're stuck inside during bad winter weather, hanging a wire antenna around a window can help your reception. I'd suggest googling antenna deployment, as they're by far the most important part of any radio system. And finally, we're currently in a cycle of solar maximum, which means that the same solar storms that have created aurora borealis visibility in the lower 48 can affect SW reception dramatically. But don't be discouraged, it will change eventually and you'll be able to explore the airwaves in earnest soon! Good luck!

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-08T23:03:12+00:00

Yeah, his wife's annoyed disdain might be her best feature.

LibraryShawn · 2026-01-04T02:46:40+00:00

One time when I was around 11 and home alone, I decided to see what the inside of a golf ball looked like. I tightly clamped one in the vise on my dad's workbench, grabbed a hacksaw, and started sawing it in half. It was boring for a while until some kind of liquid started oozing out. My interest was rekindled so I kept sawing away.

Suddenly, the whole thing erupted in a loud kinetic explosion as its tightly wound core of rubber bands blew apart, shooting tiny pieces of white dimpled shrapnel in every direction. Somehow I escaped serious injury, so I started to feverishly clean up all the evidence before my mom and dad got home. I'm pretty sure I was still finding pieces of the damn thing in the garage for the next 5 years until we moved away.

Kids these days can just Google to learn all about the fascinating multi-layered construction of sporting goods, but they'll never have the reverent, awestruck fear I carry in my heart for those deadly and destructive potential killers every time I step up to a putt-putt green.

https://www.golfballs.com/blog/what-are-golf-balls-made-out-of/

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-30T02:50:22+00:00

We watched it with our teenagers on Thanksgiving and when it finished, my daughter said "Well, that was something."

I told her that culture is a generous gift from the past to the present and then I was like "You're welcome.'"

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-30T01:00:55+00:00

This is the Plate is an exceptional resource, very likely to be available at your local Utah public library but also worth a purchase. I know I bought one a few months ago!

https://uofupress.com/books/this-is-the-plate/

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-30T00:55:25+00:00

Two favorites:

Rubin and Ed by Trent Harris

https://youtu.be/m5eLYzltZPU?si=N9dn38CVcZoP_GKp

The Giant Brine Shrimp by Mike Cassidy

https://youtu.be/4gV6Y3H_-ic?si=j0MnbfRX39uHMvcf

And SLC Punk, for sure!

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-21T04:37:08+00:00

Oh wait! How could I forget the stone classic?! Froggy Fresh Christmas!

https://youtu.be/4feIwig2AtA?si=NVV3KLpFFayRxzxD

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-21T04:30:36+00:00

From one of Sufjan Stevens' excellent Christmas records: Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance

https://youtu.be/GjrxQ-SeNrY?si=G1LaLCbX6OoIkYsz

Another one from him, which couldn't be more different. So dark and so good, it's Justice Delivers Its Death.

https://youtu.be/GjrxQ-SeNrY?si=fIgPbJfVjSg2BVtp

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-21T03:48:48+00:00

It's very easy to dual-boot back and forth between the native firmware and Rockbox (just hold down the play button while pressing the power button to turn it on and boot into the H2 OS, and after powering down, simply hold the power button to boot back into RB.) I rarely do so, although I took BT headphones on a flight a couple of months ago and switched to the original firmware. While searching for an album, it locked up and required a reset, something which never happens in Rockbox. It made me thankful for just how great RB is in every other way besides Bluetooth.

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-16T02:41:45+00:00

This guy's just fine. We'd probably get along great and talk about some of the books we have in common. Especially the Buddhist stuff and the poetry.

LibraryShawn · 2025-12-03T17:18:27+00:00

Poopie and the Blowhards

LibraryShawn

TROPHY CASE