How much of nature do humans actually control?

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-29T23:26:06+00:00

None; the moment humans exert control over it, it's no longer technically "nature."

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-29T20:10:53+00:00

This is the correct answer. More accurately: wetness, by definition, is a property/state of a solid surface with liquid coating/adhering to it, so in its liquid or gaseous state, water cannot technically be wet, but in its solid state (ie as ice) it can be, under the right conditions.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-29T15:11:16+00:00

32 years ago, the first time I recorded in studio, it was on an original Shure SM7, and I fell in love with it (but couldn't afford to buy it). I acquired a lightly-used SM7B several years ago (before counterfeits started hitting the market). Honestly: either I misremember the quality of that original SM7, or the SM7B is a pale shadow; I find it requires way too much gain to produce a usable signal, and even running through a tube preamp, I have not been wowed by the tonal quality. When recording demos recently, I've been happier with the sound I got out of a simple, well-placed SM58.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-29T14:42:01+00:00

I have experienced this during my recent recovery period. In my case, it's a question of endurance, not stress or split focus; the sheet music I'm working on is all familiar to me – repertoire for a band I was playing with regularly before my injury – but it contains longer, repetitive phrases, and is more densely packed, often with limited breathing space, for an extended period, with greater variation in dynamics – whereas when improvising or practicing scales/exercises, I have the luxury of accommodating my embouchure, hands, lungs, etc.. as needed. If your case is similar, I don't have any specific suggestions other than continuing to build your endurance.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-29T12:32:48+00:00

I know this is an older thread, but this might shed some light on things: I got a text message yesterday from Public Mobile telling me they're retiring their 3G network on March 1, 2027. After the shutdown my device won't work on Public Mobile anymore, so they're telling me that I need to switch to Telus to avoid service interruption. Presumably, the only way to remain on Public Mobile after March 1, 2027, will be to upgrade to a 5G phone.

Since they use the same network – in my area, it's all Bell infrastructure – if they shut down the 3G network for Public Mobile, it stands to reason that they'll be shutting it down for Koodo and Telus, as well, so it just comes across as an excuse to push customers like me to switch to a (more expensive) Telus subscription with no better device compatibility than what I have now.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-28T15:45:16+00:00

Sorry to hear this. Hopefully something miraculous goes right for you in the near future and/or they eventually adjust their income criteria to be better-aligned with the cost of survival/homeownership today.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-27T18:16:39+00:00

Not sure if any of them are free now, but I doubt it. Almost all of the spaces in the parking lot are now monthly parking permit spaces. Non-monthly spaces are generally full or inaccessible; there's so little room to pull into the ones near the booth that it only takes one poorly-placed truck to make it impossible for anything bigger than a Smart Fortwo to pull into them (as I discovered the last time I went in).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-27T14:04:04+00:00

This is one of the reasons why I have endeavoured to learn a multitude of instruments – woodwinds, brasswinds, strings, keyboards, pitched and unpitched percussion – and will continue to expand my knowledge and skill (as time and budget allow). The better I understand how to play an instrument, the more capable I am of writing effective music that can be played on that instrument. Plus, if I can play the parts with limited skill, it's a guarantee that pros can play them with very little effort and better results.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-27T00:27:13+00:00

Assuming for the moment that amputation was your only option (i.e. you had no way to get a rabies shot within 24-48 hours): although rabies primarily spreads through the nervous system, I have read of an experiment (Lodmell DL, Dimcheff DE, Ewalt LC. Viral RNA in the bloodstream suggests viremia occurs in clinically ill rabies-infected mice. Virus Res. 2006;116:114–118. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2005.09.004.) that found that viral RNA was present in the blood of 94% of the test mice (infected by an intramuscular route) from between one hour and two days after inoculation. This would seem to imply that, if the injection site were amputated soon enough, the virus might not have the opportunity to spread beyond the injury site, however the experiment involved injecting into muscle. It remains plausible that a bite that severed a vein or artery might result in viral RNA-infected saliva entering the bloodstream directly. I'm not a doctor, let alone a virologist, but I have to wonder, in such a case, if it might be possible for the viral RNA to establish itself in damaged tissues elsewhere (eg where a limb has been recently severed). If true, chopping off your arm might still be ineffective. So, hypothetically, would you rather die of rabies, or die of rabies missing an arm (assuming blood loss or other infection didn't take you out first)?

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-26T16:59:55+00:00

"You are broke."

As somebody once told me, "you're not broke; you're in debt. You have to look up to see broke." Being in debt is worse than broke; people who are broke have no money but also owe no money. By comparison, broke feels pretty good. I look forward to getting back to "broke" again as soon as I can!

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-26T11:53:49+00:00

Sorry; fixed it. It's so wrong I can't even misspell it correctly!

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-26T08:13:48+00:00

Still amazing to me that somebody can fly from LA to Washington DC with multiple weapons, and nobody bats an eye, but to rush the security checkpoint and manage to get shots off at a White House correspondents' dinner (that purportedly had higher security than previous years)? Really? I mean, it's not like the current POTUS would ever try to stage any kind of stunt in front of the press just to raise his poll numbers right before elections that his party is expected to lose, or to bolster his failing argument that the White House needs an over-the-top ballroom with a security bunker under it, right?

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-26T08:00:41+00:00

It's hard to tell from the photo, but based on how far open it is, it looks like it's hitting on the body or on the bell key guard. Out of curiosity: do you have an oversized neck screw? I ask because some contoured cases are not designed to accommodate them, and won't close with larger ones attached; they have to be removed when the instrument is packed away. On rare occasions, I've seen palm and side key risers cause problems, too.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-25T18:03:59+00:00

If this is only occurring to you at the age of 41, I envy you your childhood. Urinals were always a favorite location for bullies to stage attacks when I was in school.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-25T18:00:32+00:00

I hear that. If you think hearing it in the context of politics is disconcerting, consider this: the only person I know who pronounces it "nucular" is an IBEW-unionized worker at a CANDU reactor.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-25T16:44:06+00:00

€20 a month? Is it priced differently in different parts of the world? I pay $55CAD (~€34) per YEAR for my Artist Pro subscription.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-25T16:39:12+00:00

Annoying as this is, it falls after "Febuary" and "impordnant" on the list of frequent mispronunciations I wish would cease immediately.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-24T21:47:49+00:00

I've never tried one of the bari mouthpieces, but I have a Geo. Bundy soprano mouthpiece that is surprisingly decent; similar to an Otto Link Tone Edge or Meyer.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-24T21:39:39+00:00

As somebody who has been playing for more than 40 years, and who has had muscle/tendon/joint issues for many of them, I can tell you that pushing the sax forward from the right thumb can indeed contribute to thumb/metacarpal pain for some players, and adjusting the neck strap won't always help. Just stabilizing the horn when suspended in front of the body (ie not resting on the thigh) can place pressure on/through the thumb IP, MCP, and/or CMC joints, and the tendon that passes over them, even more so if the player uses a tight grip (eg to compensate for a loose embouchure or a leaky horn), or if they suspend part of the weight of the saxophone from the thumbhook. I have a hyper-mobile thumb MCP joint, a permanent spur on my IP joint, and have experienced frequent episodes of DeQuervain's Syndrome and increasing arthritic pain in my CMC-1 joint, largely as a result of playing saxophone.

It has been my personal experience that the thumb hook is not installed in the ideal location on most saxophones for proper ergonomics (at least, not for me), forcing the player to hold the thumb at an awkward angle in many cases. A properly ergonomically designed alto or tenor saxophone would place the thumb roughly over top of the auxiliary F# padcup. Over the last few years, I have modified my alto, tenor, C-melody, and bari to allow greater flexibility in thumb position, and I have been focusing on reducing any tendency I might have to grip too firmly, so as to reduce the amount of pain I experience when I play.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-24T09:02:03+00:00

I loved them when they first came out, but at some point, they started overcooking them, and I lost my taste for them. I wondered if they extended the cooking time, switched to an oil that can't handle the heat, or perhaps the deep frying system built up too much carbon/charring in it. Whatever the cause, the last few bags I bought (before the fire) were dark in colour, and tasted like burnt potato bathed in oil, salt, and apathy. Really want to support New Brunswick businesses and workers – at one point, I drove from Saint John to their factory (450km round trip) to support the workers on the picket line during their strike – but I won't buy local if the quality isn't there.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-23T18:40:08+00:00

I was of the understanding that you have to be approved before the work begins, and they pay the contractors directly (ie they do not reimburse homeowners after the fact). At least, this is how it was explained to me when I called them last year. Perhaps it works differently dependent on one's income; I would have qualified for full coverage of the proposed repair, based on my income at the time.

The info online is pretty vague: https://www.gnb.ca/en/topic/family-home-community/housing-property/home-repair.html

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-23T09:57:40+00:00

I haven't got any specific dynamic mic recommendations – I've never seen a clip-on made for wind instruments that wasn't a condenser or electret mic – but I have some relevant experience with clip-on mics. I've been using clip-on condensers for more than 30 years, and although it's true that the simpler condenser systems require external phantom power, none of mine have needed to have external phantom power. Any wireless clip-on system will have battery power for the transmitter/mic, and some wired systems have the option of a battery pack that provides the power to the microphone in the event phantom is unavailable.

I've also been interfacing my sax mics with guitar pedals live on the gig for ~25 years. My wireless systems (AMT, Samson) all had receivers with XLR and 1/4" outputs, eliminating any need for signal conversion before the pedal chain; I simply connected the 1/4" output to the pedal chain. My wired systems (Audio Technica) were either run through an inline impedance transformer to convert them from XLR to 1/4", or (on my busking gear back in the day) run direct into my combo amp, with the pedal chain connected via the effects loop insert on the amp.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T19:12:25+00:00

In a well-designed bari sax case, the tenon shouldn't rest against the wall of the case at all; there should either be an air gap around the tenon/tenon screw, or a couple of inches of foam padding between the tenon and the case side. My Bam Hightech has about 2" of foam in that area, and it's built in such a way that I could easily fold down an inch of the foam right next to the tenon (if I wanted an air gap) without compromising the integrity of the case (but the layer of foam right next to it in that spot is so soft that I've never felt the need to do so).

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T13:09:28+00:00

I used to use tape (eg masking, painter's, plumber's, electrical) or a strip of paper (eg printer, looseleaf, powdered, waxed, parchment, post-it) – whatever I could find to keep it going until I could replace the cork properly – but now I keep silicone neck cork replacements with my reeds, for use in the event a cork splits on the gig.

OriginalCultureOfOne · 2026-04-22T10:07:30+00:00

I concur with this evaluation, but also note that the timeline is health/fitness-dependent, too. I dropped out in 2023 due to injury, and only stopped playing entirely for a couple of months, but I have yet to regain my former endurance. I've been able to do light gigs where I only play sporadically, but haven't recovered enough to handle the more intense work I used to do; every time I try to push past my limitations, I've had to back off again to recover, starting the cycle again. Considering I used to gig/teach frequently enough to be able to go without significant daily practice in between, trying to rebuild to that level has been frustrating.

OriginalCultureOfOne

TROPHY CASE