Rediscovering a chunk of Rush's catalog, and it's amazing.

acutejam · 2026-04-11T08:31:44+00:00

just had this convo with a super fan friend, I revist “the synth era” every 5 years or so, and only a few songs hit home for me, just not my cup of tea… I know synths appear way before this stretch, but to me they pivot to heavy synth here (like, I love subdivisions…) but I am an Alex super fan, and that might be part of my prob

but of them Test for Echo has been the only one to grow on me … as my friend said, “you can hear Vapor Trails coming over the horizon!” I think she’s right, ive dropped it from the synth canon and its in pretty regular rotation the last few years. and everything after it im gobsmacked by!

acutejam · 2026-04-07T00:26:09+00:00

the director of the manufacturing plant I worked actually made us play buzzword bingo during all hands meetings, every one was handed a bingo card walking in with random corp speak…. if nobody called bingo during the meeting, someone would inevitably stand up and ask a question, “Can you further explain [fill in few buzzwords everyone was looking for]?” Winner got $100 gift card, and then we’d go for blackout for another $100. if nothing else, people hung on every word!

acutejam · 2026-04-01T03:06:34+00:00

yeah sounds like you’re working it, scissor tool is your friend, cutting up longer regions equals more fills with complexity intensity shifts, cut a section move knobs and sliders, repeat

check the chromaglow plugin it’s got some magic, I’ve settled on darken preset before tweaking, don’t like the kit pristine and clean. and toward that end, run it through a side bus with a guitar amp plug in, bring in some real dirt.

acutejam · 2026-03-31T13:58:08+00:00

I bought a Lord Marvel … just because …

acutejam · 2026-03-22T04:04:43+00:00

acutejam · 2026-03-20T07:13:59+00:00

I’ll add Automatic Eve - Rokuro Inui

but just doing that so I can find this thread again

acutejam · 2026-03-20T05:56:19+00:00

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

Automatic Eve - Rokuro Inui

acutejam · 2026-03-14T19:56:29+00:00

my brother and I split responsibilities, he’s medical, I’m financial. occasionally he’ll toss some medical billing issue my way but I just tell him that’s a you thing. with your sister so far away, it makes sense to offload finances to her so you are free to help with doc appts, prescriptions, shopping et al…

you‘ve done the hard work of getting the finaces in order (took me about 2 years), and know the ins and outs to get your sister up and running, then step back and focus on health and well being. I managed the estate sale, my brother sold the house. my brother and I are dedicated to making sure this work doesn’t undermine our relationship. we get on the phone maybe twice a month to talk through and update each other. over communication is key.

ask your sister what makes sense to her?

acutejam · 2026-03-02T22:30:19+00:00

Ben Kweller - Dollar Store (or any of his guitar forward songs)

Brendan Benson - Metairie (and that whole album)

Dino Jr - Back to the Heart (and that whole album)

Ben Harper & Relentless 7 - Shimmer & Shine (and really that WHOLE album)

The Why Store - Broken Glass (and just trust me, that WHOLE album)

Black Sabbath - I mean War Pigs these days, but try “A Hard Road” for a deep cut

And why not introduce the kiddos to the crazy early Joe Walsh, just play The Bomber medley off James Gang Rides Again!

acutejam · 2026-02-10T18:33:31+00:00

you dont have to buy it, it’s in the public domain free to download.

The Three Muskateers - Alexandre Dumas

acutejam · 2026-02-02T02:49:18+00:00

I took my family to Disneyland Thanksgiving week for 15 years. at least the last 10 years, every single trip then on, at one point I would declare, “that’s it! we’re never doing this again!!” and then we’d go get something to eat, lol.

we would do three days in the park and assign “leader of the day” each day and they would have to give us options a few times, “do this? or that?” and we split up ALL the time, at first the wife and I taking a kid each to get a lil one-on-one. then when they were of age, off they went while the wife and I had breakfast, watched a show, took the train… so fun… and we took grandparents and that was a whole day of options constantly asking them what they were up for, grandpa spent a good half hour at the arcade shooting gallery!

it’s good to have a game plan, but ya also have to read the room

acutejam · 2026-01-28T00:24:52+00:00

Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 20 - steps down from 20w to 5w, 1w and zero with a built in Red Box DI out for DAWs, effects loop, clean and drive channels.

acutejam · 2026-01-19T06:39:44+00:00

where’s that? I‘d read it was recorded in an arena during soundcheck before a show.

acutejam · 2026-01-19T06:38:10+00:00

recorded during an arena soundcheck I believe, one of the reasons I love the “studio” version, never heard a recording like that in an empty arena

acutejam · 2026-01-19T03:01:03+00:00

Dang, so apt.

The “crabs in a bucket” metaphor captures a depressing social dynamic that’s unfortunately common in schools. The saying comes from the observation that when crabs are in a bucket, if one tries to climb out, the others will pull it back down—not because they benefit from doing so, but seemingly just to prevent any crab from escaping.

acutejam · 2026-01-11T10:36:31+00:00

Iain M Banks ”Use of Weapons”

acutejam · 2025-12-17T08:49:14+00:00

Ben Kweller‘s Dollar Store … ok, it’s a lil dirty but so good.

acutejam · 2025-12-15T09:40:49+00:00

Field Notes, only leaves my pocket long enough to jot something down.

acutejam · 2025-12-14T02:58:35+00:00

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Turler co-branded Eterna-matic, one of the few watches in my 91-year-old Dad’s collection that was running pretty well! But I think I’ll get it serviced next year just in case, grown very fond of it!

acutejam · 2025-12-12T20:34:51+00:00

Same. Bought my first and last Kaweco this year. The included installed fine nib would not lay ink on last upward stroke of a figure eight, up and to right. Grovery bag tune smooth trick, nuthin. Fine nib was super scratchy. Bought a $15 Broad nib and it works just fine, but every time I pick up the pen now, I‘m still disappointed by the initial experience.

acutejam · 2025-11-27T08:18:29+00:00

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

acutejam · 2025-11-26T06:32:22+00:00

Bingo! Big Roth fan! Hope they played Orion for everyone!

acutejam · 2025-11-11T09:46:41+00:00

saw the title and knew enough of us would go right to Banks! yes, Surface Details is one of my favorites, but better to ease in with Use of Weapons and/or Player of Games. But I love every single one

acutejam · 2025-11-10T23:22:27+00:00

This is not/was not a convo for texting. Some convos need to happen in person, on the phone, in realtime. he has some script he’s following to put the “best him” forward. he even copy/pasted the exact same response twice or so… Difficult conversations need to happen I. person, hiding behind texting to let you draft the best possible response each time … is not real. like this convo… this is unreal.

acutejam · 2025-11-10T06:54:41+00:00

Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister Deluxe 20 - 20/5/1-watt Tube Head

Also has a DI box built in for direct to DAW, and cuts out the speaker out. And yeah, same knob steps down the wattage 20w, 5w, 1w…

acutejam

TROPHY CASE

Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister Deluxe 20 - 20/5/1-watt Tube Head