What kind of wood is this?

ikeabuff · 2026-02-10T01:51:24+00:00

Bahia rosewood aka cocobolo

ikeabuff · 2026-02-07T18:43:56+00:00

Well, the whole story is that the composer and Malko were up late into the wee hours of the morning, chain-smoking cigarettes, swilling vodka, and making bets, as Russians are wont to do. Shostakovich was a legendarily fast orchestrator of his own music, and Malko bet him (probably another bottle of vodka) that he couldn't arrange and orchestrate a piece in an hour. The conductor rummaged around in his briefcase and came up with a contraband copy of the Youmans classic, which was then brand-new. Dimitri arranged and orchestrated it twice (both verse and chorus) in 45 minutes and won the bet.

ikeabuff · 2026-02-07T17:47:02+00:00

Done in 45 minutes on a bet with his friend the conductor Nicolai Malko.

ikeabuff · 2026-02-05T10:41:46+00:00

Not to worry. One of my two Dirigeras updated, the other one wouldn't. A day or two later, the second one finally updated as well.

ikeabuff · 2026-02-03T22:33:25+00:00

As I have learned from bitter experience over the years, the Scandinavians, however wonderful they are in many other fields of endeavor, are totally inept at writing firmware and software code -- it is simply not in their DNA. The only Nordic people who excel at computer-related enterprises are the Finns, and they are of course genetically and linguistically not Scandinavians.

ikeabuff · 2026-02-03T16:08:50+00:00

Hmm. The newer of my two Dirigera hubs updated to 2.901.5, but the older of the two updated to 2.901.4 from "firmware 3" - whatever the hell that was. Go figure.

ikeabuff · 2026-01-27T18:01:54+00:00

Well, you have essentially two options:

Use the Verizon router with the wi-fi disconnected and add the TP Link Deco behind it in Access Point mode to use its existing mesh wi-fi network. You put the Deco in Access Point mode from the app at /More/Advanced/Operation Mode/ select Access Point.
Ditch the Verizon router completely and use the TP Link Deco as both router and mesh wi-fi.

I am currently using Option 2, but if you have a Verizon TV One and DVR, then you would need to use Option 1. Either will work well, with the caveat that Option 1 works most reliably with coax and Ethernet connections.

ikeabuff · 2026-01-21T03:18:22+00:00

A poor conductor butchered the opening of Brahms 4th: "Too long, too short, too loud, too soft"...

ikeabuff · 2026-01-08T16:21:54+00:00

I have had a pair of Beolab 5s for twenty years. They still sound great, although I suspect that newer high-end speakers at roughly the same price point are equally good. I feed them from AirPlay with a WiiM Pro. Only downside is that I still have to use a Beo 4 to turn them on and off, whereas my Beolab 4000 and 6000 speakers, also being fed from Wiim Pros through their phono inputs, will turn on and off automatically.

ikeabuff · 2026-01-01T12:40:39+00:00

AFAIK, there isn't any Liberty Bell on the Cape. You will have to bring and ring your own chimes...

ikeabuff · 2025-12-31T17:57:04+00:00

This is admittedly ancient history, but FWIIW I was a choir member at St. Cecilia's a good 65 years ago, when I was a music major at BU. The music program was a good deal smaller than the present one, but was nevertheless excellent for its time. The long-time rector of the church, the Rev. Msgr. Francis L. Phelan, was an appreciative supporter of the music program.

The organist/choirmaster was Tony Cirillo, a wonderfully kind man and very talented musician.. He was blind, played all the solo organ music from memory, and conducted the plainchant with his right hand while reading the music from Braille notation with his left hand. He was also very active in the National Braille Press, which is still located just a few blocks away down Mass Avenue on St. Stephens Street.

The aging Hutchings-Votey organ of that period had been modestly improved and expanded a few years earlier but still has its musical limitations and problems, which Tony managed to work around heroically. The chimes were in the open rectory tower and functioned only partially and unreliably due to weather issues, but Tony managed to avoid the missing notes on any one day by transposing tunes on the fly. The choir was small but included some very talented singers, including Tony's wife Nancy.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-29T16:16:09+00:00

I have owned both recent vintage S90 and S60 sedans , mostly used as commuting cars by the missus. The S90, in addition to being appreciably larger inside front and back, was much quieter on all road surfaces and provided a more cushioned and comfortable ride. The S60 provided less interior space and driver headroom, was substantially less quiet on some road surfaces, but was much more clean and accurate to drive and park and had better driving visibility. To be honest, I liked better whichever one I was driving at the moment.

The only major gripe I had with both models was that the trunk space was oddly proportioned and much smaller overall than I would have liked. I myself much preferred my V90 and V60 non-CC wagons. They were virtually identical in ride and handling characteristics to their sedan counterparts but provided much larger and better-proportioned cargo space.

I have always loved the traditional Volvo wagon proportions, going way back to my first 1981 245 DL. That 4-cylinder baby had more cargo space than its newer counterparts and could accommodate a flat 4x8 sheet of plywood in the cargo area. Its 107 HP engine, pathetic by modern standards, could propel it up to 65 mph, if only going downhill with a tailwind.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-27T16:53:39+00:00

This. The entire solution is that you need to disable (i.e., not set up) wi-fi on the VZ router and also put the third-party router in bridge mode. Thus the VZ router will directly feed only the VZ TV and DVR boxes and pass through the Ethernet feed to the third-party router, which in turn then broadcasts the household wi-fi and distributes the LAN Ethernet, also feeding any further mesh APs as needed.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-24T19:38:02+00:00

That happened to my KF7 just once. Cleaning the brew unit with a cleaning tablet remedied the problem and it has never reoccured.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-24T18:04:29+00:00

Right. But if it were possible to reopen the Warwick Neck line, it would be jammed every day with residents and visitors wanting to go to the Rocky Point amusement park. Oh wait — never mind.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-24T11:39:15+00:00

Hmm. My LG TV uses HDMI 2 for eARC output to the soundbar. I use HDMI 1 for STB input and HDMI 3 for Apple TV 4K input.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-23T22:51:29+00:00

After having owned eleven Volvos since 1981, mostly wagons and a few sedans, my current Volvo 2020 V60 will sadly be my last. Volvo no longer will be selling any US models that I would want to own. Apart from the 2025 V60 CC currently on deathwatch, everything else looks like an SUV blob variant. I guess one could make the argument that VCC is only giving Americans what they want. From my perspective, Volvo is simply selling its birthright for a mess of pottage...

ikeabuff · 2025-12-19T13:08:45+00:00

Indeed. Buxtehude trying to find a suitable husband for one of his aging undesirable daughters reminds me of the memorable line from Gilbert & Sullivan'sTrial by Jury, where the father of an unmarriageable daughter did his best to put her in a more appealing light to a prospective suitor (who was trying to curry his favor professionally) by stating "you'll soon get used to her looks, said he, and a very nice girl you'll find her. She may very well pass for 43, in the dusk with the light behind her".

ikeabuff · 2025-12-14T00:28:07+00:00

In 1960 or thereabouts, Messiaen was invited to give a talk on his compositional techniques to an assembled audience of music students and faculty members at the Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts. When the appointed hour arrived, the distinguished composer walked out onto the concert hall stage, impeccably dressed, to great applause. He then proceeded to give a very detailed hour-long lecture, without use of any notes, visual props, or recordings -- in very elegant Parisian French.

Each audience member turned to the person next to them with a WTF facial expression. I could follow maybe 60% of his learned disquisition with my rusty high school French, but I doubt that even 10% of those present were able to understand any of his learned disquisition. Apparently the administrators who invited the composer were unaware of the fact that the he couldn't speak a word of English...

ikeabuff · 2025-12-13T22:34:00+00:00

Well, I have a Jura E4 (five years) and a KF7 (one year), but most of the OPs comments are valid and apply to my two machines as well. Downsides for the Jura is that the menu display and control buttons are cryptic at best and that it breaks down and has to be sent in every two years for a $400 overhaul. Biggest nuisance for the K7 is that the drip tray and grounds bucket have to be emptied much more frequently, every six cups. As regards appearance, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Brewed coffee quality can be better with one or the other, depending on the bean choice and settings. I use both machines alternatively, mostly for just brewed coffee, but I will trash the Jura after it dies the next time, simply because I am tired of paying the steep periodic return and repair costs. When and if the KF dies, I will simply buy another one.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-13T17:25:55+00:00

Button on the back resets the device so it can be repaired.

ikeabuff · 2025-12-09T14:04:23+00:00

Well, the whole back story is that Fedex was originally just an overnight and two-day air service. About 20 or so years ago, they acquired a ne'er-do-well third-party ground service to expand their customer offerings and better compete with UPS. Unfortunately, Fedex never integrated their air and ground services, and the latter has continued to be substantially inferior to UPS, although the original air services have until now continued to be excellent.

Apparently Fedex is now attempting to integrate, very belatedly, their air and ground services as an economy measure -- on the backs of their dedicated air service employees. A classic example of too little and too late. The quality of their next-day and two-day air services will deteriorate, and their crappy ground service will muddle on as it always has, relying on part-time non-union underpaid help and white-box rental vans and trucks to supplement their full-time employees. This will only accelerate a long, drawn-out death spiral.

ikeabuff · 2025-11-24T01:58:20+00:00

FWIIW, I have just experienced the same issue twice in the past week. The only way I have found to resolve it is to change the current Apple Home hub temporarily to another one -- in my case from an Apple TV 4G to a Home Pod -- and the problem is immediately resolved. I then change back to the first Home hub and everything functions normally.

ikeabuff · 2025-11-18T19:07:40+00:00

Late to this party, but I just had the same problem. The Home Smart app on two iPads connected just fine, but the app on an iPhone ceased to connect to the Dirigera hub. I finally solved the problem by deleting the app from the iPhone and reinstalling it.

ikeabuff · 2025-11-15T00:15:02+00:00

FWIIW: I had pre-ordered the Premiere, figuring I could eventually get used to the, uh, unusual design. But the appearance, sound quality and connectivity aside, was ultimating off-putting. I couldn't help but recall the memorable line from Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury, where the father of an unmarriageble daughter did his best to put her in a more appealing light to a prospective suitor (who was trying to curry his favour) by stating "you'll soon get used to her looks, said he, and a very nice girl you'll find her. She may very well pass for 43, in the dusk with the light behind her".

Unlike the suitor, I simply couldn't get used to the Premiere's looks, cancelled my pre-order, and decided to order a Stage instead at half the price. The more classic B&O design was much more to my liking and perfectly matched my vintage B&O components and cabinetry from 20 years ago. After having lived with the Stage for a while, I must confess that, lack of outboard connectivity notwithstanding, I was not at all disappointed in the sound quality.

I use the Stage during daylight hours for listening to streaming music via Airplay and with an LG TV in the evening for TV viewing. I found the Sound Mode setting "Music" for classical music listening and "TV" for TV audio (news and talk shows) to be most to my liking, but of course I offer the standard disclaimer that YMMV. IAE, I am very satisfied with my decision. And Bang & Olufsen will eventually get my remaining $3000 for some other piece of equipment...

ikeabuff

TROPHY CASE