girl in a gale

Why a BMW R65 motorcycle?

2012-02-15T00:51:00.000Z

I last rode motorcycles in the late 80s, I sold my last bike, a CZ 175, in 1989. Before that I rode a Honda CD 175, a Honda CG 125 and I used to ride to school on a Puch moped, but I wrote that off by riding into the rear end of a parked Mercedes. That was my first big lesson.
Since then, almost every year, the notion of riding has cropped up again, but receded in the face of practicalities as I watched the cost of obtaining a motorcycle licence increase dramatically over the decades. I'd never bothered to do the m/c test because I thought it would remain a simple upgrade to my car licence, but that changed and the m/c test is now a multi-part process costing hundreds of pounds.
The urge to ride a bike again stuck this time, longer than the usual one or two weeks, It became an obsession that went on for months and into the next year. I had to ride again. It was now or never.
I questioned my obsession; should I get a small diesel van instead?
Nah, that wouldn't do.
At first I wanted an enduro style bike, very tall, with aggressive styling and knobbly tyres, designed for the road, but also for tearing through muddy tracks, along beaches, along woodland paths. An adventure toy, but one which could also be ridden across the Sahara Desert. I was reading dozens of adventure ride reports and the idea of going somewhere like Mali in Africa seemed the most wonderful long term plan. After all I'd sailed the whole coast of the Sahara Desert from north to south and it would be fantastic to do it again by sand. I could even write another travel book.
As I gathered information I began to realise I enjoyed reading about other people falling off into 2 foot deep mud baths, with their bikes steaming with evaporating water, or slipping down woodland embankments, twisting their wrists and grazing their shins in the name of adventure. But, I realised what I really wanted was a bike that could take me anywhere I wished to go, by road. There are hundreds of small lanes within a 30 mile radius of my home and I would be able to ride without a particular destination, for riding's sake, maybe to reach the beautiful Suffolk coastline and walk on the beach. Not go tearing up and down the beach on a trail bike, let alone splurging across a desert in 30C heat.
I then had a problem because modern motorcycles just didn't look like proper bikes. I tried a few out and the engines felt far too racey, lacking the 'feel' I was after. But old bikes are old bikes, they often have maintenance and reliability problems for a rider who is not an experienced mechanic. At times, I felt there was no particular motorcycle which ticked all, or at least most, of the boxes of my dream machine.
Eventually, out of the blue, the answer came to me in a motorcycle from 1983, the, BMW R65. 650cc twin cylinder, air cooled classic, not yet vintage. A proper bike.
This one ticked every box. It looked great. It was in fine condition. It was within my budget. It was powerful enough to cruise faster than the big lorries which otherwise loom up behind and slowly overhaul a vulnerable rider on a less powerful bike. Yet it was small enough to enjoy as a riding machine on local roads between Woodbridge and the coast. It was cheap to insure because only older, slower riders want them (they are much slower than a modern 650cc). The R65 can do over 100mph, but is happiest at around 70mph. It gives between 40 and 65 miles per gallon of petrol. And it does all this with the high reliability of BMW engineering, certainly in comparison to the old British motorcycles.

BMW R65 (1983)

Because I am 50 years old the insurance cost is surprisingly affordable. This is strongly affected by the type of motorcycle and the R65 is in a low cost insurance category, because racey riders are just not interested in buying them, but this factor attracted me.
That and the photographs in the for sale advert. This one, I thought, I cannot resist and it is this one I purchased.

BMW R65 (1983)

I have yet to gain my m/c licence, so it will be garaged until I pass. There were many things to sort out: my eyesight was not up to the standard of being able to clearly read a car number plate at 20 metres distance. I had an eye test at Specsavers and ordered some glasses. A friendly neighbour gave me a helmet and goggles. I found a leather jacket in the local Oxfam shop for a tenner.
And the dog. 'Loba' my cairn terrier, is included in my tiny adventure. After lots of research I found a rucksack wide enough to carry her in, while strapped to my chest with her weight resting between my legs on the bike tank.
As 'Ogri', the cartoon character in Bike Magazine, said,

'Ogri' cartoon copyright Paul Sample, at Bike Magazine.

A decade with Storm Petrel

2012-02-09T23:52:00.001Z


Lots of work to make her sailing fit after I bought her in Bristol. Here she is ready to set out.

Storm Petrel is my Folkdancer 27. I have owned her eleven years and she is now sold to another sailor. Here is a photographic tribute to some of the best times I've had with her.

I sailed from Bristol to Pembrokeshire. A misty morning on the Cleddau estuary.

I didn't know if I would cross the Bristol Channel, or head towards Spain, but I was as ready as I would ever be.

Somehow I found myself heading straight out into the Atlantic Ocean utterly seduced by the deep waters and the dolphins.

This image became the cover of The Voyage of Storm Petrel - Britain to Senegal Alone in a Boat - Clarissa Vincent. Available as paperback and Kindle on Amazon.co.uk

The wind vane is simply thin plywood and the counter weight is scrap metal.

Trim tab on auxilliary rudder, controlled by fishing lines running in hydraulic tubing, from the wind vane. All materials readily available in local shops.

River Gambia with Buba Samateh. Smoked catfish on the plate.

Jamming while motoring up the River Gambia with Buba Samateh.

Storm Petrel anchored off a small town with pirogues on the River Gambia.

Buba Samateh sheltering from the sun anchored off Jan Jang Burrugh, River Gambia.

Mosquito coils, sun hat, three mangos and a transistor radio, the essence of tropical adventure.

Buba Samateh and I took two weeks to sail up from Dakar to the Canary Isles.

Buba Samateh is a fine sailor, a few days after leaving Dakar I remember telling him, 'Only 600 miles to go!' and him looking at me with utter incomprehension.

Gomera, Canary Isles, well washed after three weeks at sea

Approaching Sete, southern France, the entance to the French inland waterways.

The mighty River Rhone and an extremely rough mooring with the Mistral wind blowing white water right over Storm Petrel.

The largest lock I've ever seen, Bollene lock on the River Rhone.

Getting up towards Lyon, where I was looking forward to being on smaller rivers and canals without foul currents.

Ahh, that's more like it, utter tranquility in the middle of France, on the River Saone.

Bucolic wonder, day after day, deep inside France.

Storm Petrel had a little wood stove, which was so cosy after rain and occasional colder days.

Finally, after nearly five years adventure voyaging Storm Petrel arrived in Suffolk and spent the summer just resting on her laurels, out of the water.

I decided to sell Storm Petrel because she needed a new adventurer to take her on again. I'd done my big voyage and was not going to do another one, so she was getting neglected.

Storm Petrel is one of those boats that invites an adventure, small enough to play with but big enough to take on an ocean.

Bye bye Storm Petrel, thanks for a fantastic decade. Good luck with your new owner.

So wrong it's right

2012-02-03T21:50:00.000Z

The Shaggs, a female rock trio who manage to do what most, nearly all, other bands don't - The Shaggs make you feel free! And I back up this claim by referring to the comments on videos of The Shaggs on You Tube, which show a crackling undecidedness, no more like a pure duality of opinion, That The Shaggs are both appallingly incompetent but also frighteningly brilliant
The main sway of opinion shows as The Shaggs manage to play music which is so devoid of any of the trappings of wanna-be pop stars (Hey man! Why don't you check out our new album on iTunes blah, blah, blah) that The Shaggs touch a part of the listener which has recoiled into it's shell in fear of hearing any more of said crass pop culture. As this retired little ear worm senses the illogical beats and out of tune vocals and limp guitar solos of The Shaggs, it awakens and comes out to play, like a hedgehog out of hibernation after a long hard winter.
The Shaggs get closer to what music is than any:
-clever-dick,-virtuoso,-child-prodigy-pretty-people,-I've-got-a-bedroom-full-of-valve-amps-and-a-custom-Les-Paul-signature-guitar-my-daddy-bought-for-me-and-my-new-single-is-out-on-iTunes.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy, . . . The Shaggs!

Women motorcyclists

2012-01-18T17:39:00.000Z

Copyright will be respected as soon as I can find out the owner of this image. I love the fashion of this picture, it sends a strong mesage about how the limitations of femininity are only in the mind. The woman is younger than I would expect to be riding a motorcycle that is not a scooter and this is how the photograph really works, by showing how the unexpected can be so appealling. I expect the woman is a model and the motorcycle is not hers, but I would love to find out it is her own bike. If advertising breaks conventions and expands the potential of individual choice beyond 'normal' gender stereotypes then advertising becomes a very exciting part of culture.

Copyright will be respected as soon as I can find out the owner of this image. This woman built her BMW R90 from scrap parts. She chose a unique colour scheme that shouts with joy, "Femininity is not a weak or passive attribute!"

42-15856212 Corbis Photos Royalty Free Photograph This photograph stands out as looking so cool and relaxed. I sent it to my niece Camilla who looks quite a lot like the woman in this photo, as a way to encourage her to see herself in an unusual life style, and how that works in such an exciting way. A big bike and a 'little' woman? Well big bikes are bigger than small bikes but bikes in general are designed to fit the average rider, so as long as the proper riding techniques are learned, a bike bike rider does not have to be a huge muscle bound man.

30 years ago Elspeth Beard rode around the world on a large BMW motorcycle. She is now an architect.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Ownership

2012-01-14T19:09:00.000Z

I haven't ridden a m/c for 20 years but over the last six months have made the decision to buy one and obtain my full motorcycle driving licence. An open face helmet and goggles were given to me by a neighbour, I purchased gloves and leather jacket from the local charity shops, and a rucksack to carry the dog on the tank in front of me, from an online fishing supplies seller in Glasgow (the rucksack is waterproof, has a hard base and is wide and deep enough to comfortably accommodate my 9kg cairn terrier, Loba).
Just need the motorcycle. What an adventure, hour upon hour reading reviews and tests, visits to m/c shops, talks with friends who own bikes and practising the tests for a full m/c driving licence upgrade. Apart from the practical matters there are other peaks of delight in getting completely immersed in a new life direction, such as this photograph of a Honda custom machine with a rider/model of striking visual togetherness with the overall image.

When did I last write someone a letter?

2012-01-13T20:24:00.000Z

Australia Post advertising art. Beautifully captures the point of writing someone a letter, instead of emailing, or goodness forbid, Facebooking them :-)
Respectfully used with the copyright owners rights in mind. When I find out the copyright owner I shall credit them here. If you are the artist, or the copyright owner, hey, send me a letter :-).

A very hot woman

2012-01-12T20:17:00.002Z

Image used with respect to the artist. © Cathrine Langwagen 2011
Friends send these email links to spectacular stuff, you know, click, oh yeah, click, hmmm, a bit crass, click, wow, click, ah seen it etc., but once in a while the item is very beautiful. The fusion of woman and fire in this digital composition is compelling. The artist is Cathrine Langwagen. Her website is http://www.cassiopeiaart.com/elements.html
There are the other elements too, which are equally beautiful.

Online busking

2011-12-30T19:16:00.000Z

Too cold to busk outside, so I'm doing it online. Support your local busker with a 50p drop
Thanks!

If you enjoy hearing the music but don't want to make a drop, it's up to you, just enjoy it for free. Buskers are happy people who live on nothing but happy songs :-)
To make a drop, click this link and it will enable you to do so securely through Paypal.

If laughing cousins?

2011-12-15T23:13:00.000Z

If I buy a motorcycle, my five year plan will include a trip to Mali. I sailed to west Africa, Senegal and Gambia and now I want to take the overland route to Mali.
The 'laughing cousin' is an idea I heard about Malian people. The teasing cousins or joking cousins, Sanankouya, is a way families work through disputes. A laughing cousin is assigned, someone who is unconnected with the involved families, and listens to the arguments, but takes the micky, laughs and caricatures the situation and the involved parties, to a point where everyone falls about laughing and some sort of resolution occurs. To a sociologist this is very intriguing. To a human being this is very heartening.. In Senegal it is known as Domu Baye and is also a feature of several other west African countries.
The music of Mali is utterly addictive.

When I was anchored far up the River Gambia, near a ferry crossing which had closed for the night, a collection of travellers gathered at each bank, having missed the ferry. My friend, a Gambian fisherman called Buba Samateh, explained that one of the travellers was a Malian and that his constant calls for assistance to cross with his moped would attract the hyenas, who would eat him. Although the Malian was calling over the river in sheer frustration, he would often slide into laughter with whoever he was communicating He thought Storm Petrel, my boat anchored nearby, was the ferry boat and kept up his requests for us to come and assist, but Storm Petrel has a deep sailing boat keel and could not get near the river bank. Besides there were others who would want assistance; a shepherd with his goats, a Mercedes car and several individuals. Eventually a local entrepreneur arrived in a dory and negotiated with most of the travellers to carry them across. Having got across the Malian man finally drove off laughing into the night on his moped.
Mali has remained a future destination in my heart since those times. Did I imagine the concept of the laughing cousin? Might I discover it there?

Sea dog

2011-12-14T21:43:00.002Z

Loba is Spanish for she wolf. Loba was a rescue dog from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. We sailed together from the Canary Islands to Madeira, to Gibraltar, up the Spanish Mediterranean coast to France. This photo was taken in Sete, southern France, as the mast was being taken down to travel north up the French inland waterways to the UK.

Loba did not mind ocean voyaging but did not love it. This is why I chose the route home through France, rather than the north Atlantic route to Britain. In the French inland waterways we stopped each day in the bucolic wonder of the canals and rivers and walked into villages and towns to enjoy terra firma. Loba adored France. We now live in a houseboat in Suffolk, UK and I promised Loba there will not be any more ocean voyaging. But she does not know I intend to buy a motorcycle and take her in a special rucksack everywhere I ride. A dog becomes such a precious part of your life and I have been Loba's owner for seven years now. The cairn terrier is my favourite breed and I was so lucky to have found Loba the cairn. Just thought I'd blog this aspect of my world.

Houseboat in a gale

2011-12-13T19:05:00.000Z

11.30pm Get back to boat after gig in stately home. Heavy wind and rain
12am Tide comes with waves buffeting boat. Violent rocking, but manage to get in bed and sleep.
2am Rope breaks.
2.15am Gangway drops in river.
3am Replaced rope, but unable to rescue gangway or pull boat back into place. Soaked and cold.
3.30am Tide leaves boat out of position. Boat settles out of it's hole, lays sideways into hole at 30 degree heel.
3.30am Everything inside boat on right side, including sleeping dog and I, slides in slow motion onto cabin floor.
4am Unable to move around inside boat without climbing along the sides, which is the new 'down', treading on possessions which have fallen in a heap. Leaks from wind blown rain make cabin doubly intolerable. Head pounding with stress.
6am Managed a few hours sleep by wedging mattress but new leak onto pillow wakes me. Dog shivering with stress.
9am Get dog off boat, she's still on heat and runs away, go off to find her. See trees in river and other boats broken free of moorings and damaged.
11am Boat nieghbour sits me and dog down in theirupright boat in front of coal stove with food and coffee.
2pm Tide returns. Boat now upright again. Gangplank repositioned and boat pulled back into position with new ropes.
4pm Tidied up mess in cabin and boat sits down level as tide leaves. Finally killed my headache with a lemsip.
6pm Drying out wet stuff and just about back to normal.

Tourism in Afghanistan's poor and peaceful Wakhan Corridor

2011-12-05T19:33:00.001Z

I am inspired and enlightened by a thread on a motorcycle adventure forum. Three Polish bikers went to the Wakhan Corridor, a strip of Afghanistan extending between Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south. The land is a river valley between the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram mountain ranges. Aerial picture of the Wakhan Corridor.

The stilted narrative (Polish speakers with fair English) is actually very intense and leaves much space for the remarkable photographs. It begins like many adventures; on the road, cafes tea houses and border encounters, then captures the reader with such raw landscape and intense portraits of local people, particularly children. I am enlightened by the learning about this region with enough historical information to inform the narrative without it being in the form of an edited published book.

I highly and avidly recommend a good look through this travelogue. I personally enjoyed this because a deceased Pakistani friend used to dream of retiring from his work in Peterborough Employment Office and buying a small cottage in northern Pakistan. Now I see what Riaz's dreams were based on.
I link to a point well into the narrative (page 16 of 54) but once you are engaged you may wish to go to page one and spend three or four hours in enlightened wonder as I did last night.
The motorcycle adventures purpose was to scout out a possible destination by advfactory Many thanks to advfactory for the information in this blog post.
The adventure motorcycle company advfactory website.

Epic Sax Girl

2011-11-27T18:36:00.001Z

Stumbling blocks

2011-11-07T22:46:00.000Z

A group of Iranian artists used blocks of wood to block a street in the city of Kerman on October 7, 2011 in a peaceful protest against deforestation. (Mehr/Hamid Sadeqi)

Environmental protest is the new front in the freedom of expression movement in Iran.

A tone poem in ivory and gold.

2011-11-05T14:57:00.000Z

Here is a Vibratosax being played by Jacques Ravenel (France). The tune is Afro Blue, a contemporary jazz piece with very simple harmony, but lots of feeling:
In the 50s an injection moulded acrylic saxophone was produced, The Grafton, made more famous by Charlie Parker., Johnny Dankworth and others. It had metal keys and the selling price was approximately half that of a conventional brass saxophone of the time. Marketing by the Grafton company used the phrase, 'A tone poem in ivory and gold'. Designed by Hector Sommaruga, an Italian in London, the saxophone was named after Grafton Way, his address during the late 40s.
Plastics technology has advanced significantly and the brittle Grafton now has a competitor in the Vibratosax, a modern plastic saxophone. The Vibratosax is made of a mix of polycarbonate (hard plastic for tonal qualities) and abs (a softer more robust plastic for durability).
The key pads are made of silicone and are self-sealing (due to softness and pliability), regardless of subtle alignment variations in the snap-on keys. The snap-on pads/keys can be easily changed by the owner and cost much less than conventional leather pads glued into brass keys. The Vibratosax comes in a few variations, the better quality model costs just under £400, which is cheaper than the basic student level Yamaha saxophone at just over £800.
I think for the price, the Vibratosax is very attractive, with simple pads maintenance, it weighs less than a third of a conventional brass saxophone, nice for reducing neck and back strain. My saxophone weighs around 2.5kg, not much but suspended for several hours on my neck it does cause tension. The 850grams of a Vibratosax would make a significant difference. I notice the weight of my saxophone while carrying it in it's case, the case weighs as much as the saxophone so that's over 5kg suspended on one hand (I need to get a carrying case with back pack straps).
Aesthetically I like the white plastic and orange details, it is vastly different to a brass saxophone but certainly not a toy. Perhaps the look of the Vibratosax would clash with the jazz and blues trio I play with, but the sound is certainly attractive, proper and even more lyrical than many conventional brass saxophones.

Sanyo Pedal Juice

2011-10-25T22:40:00.003+01:00

Next in the continuous line of 'must have' products is the Sanyo Pedal Juice - KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice™ Rechargeable 9V Power for Effects Pedals.

My sketch calculation of money saving with the Sanyo Pedal Juice is very conservative. I mostly doubt the number of times it can be recharged, Sanyo claim 'up to 500 times', so I estimate 200 times. Any more than 200 will simply add phenomenal value to the products use.

Why then, after two years on the US market and very positive reviews by musician users, does Sanyo refrain from setting up distribution in the UK? I have found one supplier in the US who offer international delivery (to UK), but the cost of postage is around £24.00, for a light unit (about the size and weight of a couple of iPhones) and import duty is a similar amount. How wonderful is globalisation?

I play electric guitar with a number of effects pedals. I also use a battery powered combo amplifier. The cost of replacement batteries over one year, assuming I use this set up twice weekly, is around £180.00. This consists of six AA batteries in the amplifier, a Roland Mobile Cube. And four effects pedals - Boss DD6 digital delay; Boss RC-2 loop station; Behringer RV600 reverb; Behringer PO300 power overdrive. I also use a Realistic four channel stereo microphone mixer which runs on battery power. The pedals and mixer use 9volt PP3 batteries and a single digital effects pedal will drain an alkaline PP3 in about four hours.
Most guitarists use a power block to supply the effects pedals from a single source, but these are mains electricity powered. I busk on the street so the Sanyo Pedal Juice offers a phenomenal advantage especially as it will power the Roland Mobile Cube too.
The Sanyo Pedal Juice is very expensive at £145.00 delivered (from the US; not yet stocked in the UK despite being out since 2010). However, if it is rechargeable up to 500 times I reckon it would last me up to four years and the cost of replacement alkaline batteries over that time would be £720.00, quite frighteningly expensive, but the rich palette of sounds effects pedals offer is worth the cost. I can see a huge benefit in spending £145.00 on a Sanyo Pedal Juice and saving £765.00 over the next four years, even with the cost of recharging the Pedal Juice about once a week, say 20pence a week over 200 weeks - £40.00.
I looked long and hard at using rechargeable batteries. The Roland Mobile Cube is described on Roland's website as not suitable for use with rechargeable cells because the voltage is less (a 1.5 volt AA rechargeable battery has around 1.2 volts ). However the Sanyo Pedal Juice contains a lithium ion cell which gives a true 9volts almost up to the point where it becomes fully discharged. The main problem is effect pedals would be running out of rechargeable nimh cells (PP3) at various times, this would mean the loss of an overdub/loop mid-performance, the inconvenience of changing batteries and maintaining the replacement set in fully charged condition. Rechargeable Nimh PP3s also have around half the current (capacity) of non-rechargeable alkaline PP3 batteries. This last factor killed the whole idea of using rechargeable cells because each pedal would flatten it's battery in less than two and a half hours which is my usual performance period.

This is my pedal board set up with current draw. (each device is 9volt)
Roland Mobile Cube - 175mA.

Boss RC-2 loop station - 50mA.

Boss DD6 digital delay - 55mA.

Behringer RV600 reverb - 30mA.

Behringer PO300 power overdrive - 30mA.

Realistic mixer - 9mA.

TOTAL CURRENT DRAW- 350mA.

I estimate around five hours use with the Sanyo Pedal Juice. I think I have rationalised myself into yet another 'must have' purchase, another £150.00 to find and spend. That's life!

Who buys music nowadays?

2011-10-13T21:26:00.000+01:00

Instead of trying to sell albums (who buys music nowadays?) I publish my compositions so they can be listened to for free. What I ask though, is for listeners to leave reviews, or comments, whether negative or positive.
Clarissa Vincent's musical work can be heard here.
Please visit the web site and write a review of my work. Thank you.
Clarissa

Who I am and What I Want

2011-10-12T21:50:00.000+01:00

Animation by unbunny, You Tube channel. The description is direct and humourous:

This animated film is about "who I am and what I want". It's NOT about who YOU are and what YOU want. You always think everything I make is about you but it's not. It's all about me... A bitterly unwanted outcast makes an unapologetic declaration of self.

Science and Art

2011-10-08T14:41:00.000+01:00

I like seeing science but this pendulum device has a sonic accompaniment which so closely represents the visual I had to share it. Below is the You Tube video description by the person who skillfully added the audio part, Cleveland, Ohio musician and composer Dan Trante:

When I came across this video http://youtu.be/yVkdfJ9PkRQ -- designed by Richard Berg and modeled/built by James Flaten and Kevin Parendo -- I noticed a resulting polyrhythm (51 against 52 against 53 against 54 ... against 65).
I built a Max/MSP patch to recreate that polyrhythm and tried my best to visually align it with the video (it's just a tiny bit off). If you mentally superimpose a wall on the right side of the pendulum, the balls should strike that 'wall' on every swing. The shorter string (faster swinging) balls correspond to higher notes and vice versa. (Dan Trante)

Otamata designed by Batuhan Bozkurt. Play easily with noise sequences

2011-09-12T23:45:00.004+01:00

Otamata is a musical sequencer you can play with online, designed by Batuhan Bozkurt.
It has a 9x9 block grid and by clicking into one or many blocks the sequence is established. Then you press Play and watch/listen to the result. When selected each block has a directional arrow and by clicking that block again the direction can be altered (press 'STOP' before making changes). If a block encounters another it changes direction. Here's one I made earlier. if you press stop you can alter the selected blocks by clicking them, or clear the grid and enter your own cells to see how they sound:
http://earslap.com/projectslab/otomata/?q=10_13_150_443443570570460

From Batuhan's website:

Otomata is a generative sequencer. It employs a cellular automaton type logic I’ve devised to produce sound events.
Each alive cell has 4 states: Up, right, down, left. at each cycle, the cells move themselves in the direction of their internal states. If any cell encounters a wall, it triggers a pitched sound whose frequency is determined by the xy position of collision, and the cell reverses its direction. If a cell encounters another cell on its way, it turns itself clockwise.
This set of rules produces chaotic results in some settings, therefore you can end up with never repeating, gradually evolving sequences. Go add some cells, change their orientation by clicking on them, and press play, experiment, have fun.

A little black dog and I

2011-07-30T22:58:00.001+01:00

I've become mostly a non-dualist, believing in the idea that nothing exists, apart from consciousness, which is nothing being eternally aware of itself, eternally in the sense of there being no time, just the one moment. My favourite exponent of non-duality is Tony Parsons (The Open Secret).
Today I went on another Folkdancer 27 boat of a friend who is visiting Woodbridge. He gave me this month's Practical Boat Owner magazine and there is an article about the Folkdancer 27 which mentions my Gambia trip and living aboard with a little black dog.
I still won't buy these monthly magazines, they are priced at nearly £5 now.
Interesting to notice how the paper media is taking more and more content from online resources. The readers are beginning to write the mags. And perhaps I do exist after all

Rickenfakers - copies of Rickenbacker guitars.

2011-07-30T00:02:00.000+01:00

I'm a fan of Rickenbacker basses, as used by Chris Squire, bassist of Yes. I'm also a fan of Rickenfakers - copies of Rickenbacker guitars. I play a Tokai Rockinbetter, that's my Rickenfaker and I love it.
Hondo made a Rickenfaker back in the 70s, Hondos are now quite sought after because Peter Hook, the bassist of Joy Division, used one.

And here is a Hondo Rickenbacker copy for sale in Guntree, I've got mine but if you are looking for one?

Oystercatchers hinder access to houseboat

2011-06-12T20:24:00.002+01:00

Oystercatcher sitting on 3 eggs on the stern of my boat, now over 14 days. Only 10-14 days to go before fluffy chicks, fingers crossed. The pair do not mind me occasionally going aboard, but I'm keeping away until the chicks hatch. Oystercatcher chicks leave immediately after hatching.

Unkempt, beautiful sounds, mathematics represented as midi sounds.

2011-04-18T22:37:00.000+01:00

Gustavo Diaz-Jerez has written one of the most exciting music programs I have used. FractMus is a musical generator using algorithms, such as fractals. FractMus scans the model in two axis and renders a set of midi instruments to a musical picture of the results.
With a little time I found the most satisfying experience of listening to FractMus play out the settings I haphazardly assigned. Not only the notes can be altered by the model but many other musical parts such as tempo, envelope, scale type, note length and volume. So the piece plays with convincingly musical dynamics, making an odd mixture of conventional song feelings, provided by the midi instruments including drums, but also there is a fascinating strangeness to the 'music'.
I notice my dog seems to enjoy FractMus music in the same way I do - it is relaxing in a deeper manner than so called ambient music. It seems to have a quality of nature about it. The way bird song does not stay in a set key, or pulse, but relates to the environment. I get so tired of boom, boom, boom, in pop music, whereas FractMus can be highly arhythmic, if you choose non-linear settings for the pulse, speeding up gradually or in jumps. All instruments can be assigned the complete set of dynamic variations individually and results can be saved as a block setting to be run at another time, or as a midi file to be listened to as it played when run.
Download it, play with it and thank Gustavo Diaz-Jerez for his brilliance. FractMus website here.

3Mobile service just fell off a cliff

2011-04-18T20:47:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday 13 April, now seven days ago, both my mobile phone and broadband dongle lost a signal. After a couple of days I submitted a report to the 3Mobile website, and the following day a more strongly stated complaint. The only reply was they had recieved my complaint and would try to get back to me within ten days. What annoys me is another 3Mobile customer telephoned 3Mobile (on a Vodaphone mobile) and was then contacted daily by 3Mobile with updates to the problem. They told him the network was being upgraded and would be 'intermittent' until 28 April. I have talked to six othe 3Mobile customers in Woodbridge who all have the same absolute lack of signal.
Presuming I get my broadband and mobile service back by 28 April that will be a total absence of service for a 16 day period.
After two years good service with 3Mobile I face this situation and I can say I'm looking very seriously at other providers. I'm not looking forward to getting back my mobile signal and telephoning support because I know they will be all apologetic and it's not apologies I need, it is the network services I have paid for.
3Mobile = Rubbish service.

Update 27 April:
3 Mobile service came back a few days ago and has been a little better than it was prior to the outage. So that was seven full days with no service followed by a small improvement. My niggle is that I was not informed of the reason for the outage and other 3 Mobile users in the area were given various spurious reasons for their problems, including a whole going through of the mobile dongle to try to make it work. So apparently 3 mobile did not know they were upgrading the system which for a large company seems foolishly in error.
If the service continues in its improved form I will quickly become a satisfied customer again, but I have certainly seen the incompetent side of 3 Mobile and this will feed into any future purchasing decisions.