Hey...do you smell brimstone?

I found this on the train this morning. When all else fails, use propaganda. It's Reefer Madness for heathens. Click to enlarge.

You too, Thridi.

I went to see U23D at the New England Aquarium IMAX Theater on Saturday. I’ve always wanted to see U2 in concert, but by the time I was old enough to go see them under my own power, the tickets were exorbitantly priced and the venues they were playing were just too damned big.

For a guy who digs live music as much as I do, one would think that I’d go see shows more often than I do. Well, I don’t. Part of the experience for me is taking it all in via all the senses. I’m the guy standing next to you who’s really watching each member of the band individually, more interested in the parts than the sum; maybe bouncing on my heels a bit. When the venues get too big, that connection is lost. But this movie brought the connection.

For $14, I essentially got to see U2 live and closer than any audience member could possibly get. The sound, the camera angles, everything, were just stellar. Plus, U2 is just an incredible live band anyway. Their use of dynamics never ceases to amaze. Also, one thing I didn’t expect was that Bono has still got it. MAN, that guy can belt.

Farewell, Mr. Brown.

The bicycling world lost a great man Sunday. Sheldon Brown, the preeminent authority on bicycling design, history, and repair, passed away from a heart attack at age 63. I wasn’t even aware that he died until my brother told me today.

When I went full bore into bicycling the past year, pretty much any question I had (and I had a LOT of questions) could be answered by doing an internet search, and I would ultimately find an answer by Sheldon. At first I would always wonder "why does this guy who looks like C. Everett Koop keep popping up every time I search on something bike related?" Then I found his website, and it was like striking gold.

I never met him but always wanted to, because anyone with that kind of knowledge about something I hold near and dear must be an absolute thrill to talk to.

He always struck me as an eccentric, larger-than-life figure, and his wisdom is known worldwide. You’ll be sorely missed, Mr. Brown.

(image taken from Wikipedia)

Non-Humbucking Bronco

T his little guy is a Squier Bronco. I picked it up to leave at the rehearsal space so I wouldn’t have to lug my V all over the place and risk either leaving it on the train (it could happen) or subjecting it to extreme temperatures in the car.

This is an entry-level bass, and pretty much any review you read will inevitably say “a good beginner bass” or “good for the guitarist who occasionally wants to play bass”, or “for those with small hands”. All valid points, and the reason for those are because it’s short scale. Short scale in the world of instrumentation is the equivalent of a Fisher Price My First Bass. Rarely are they taken seriously. As I’ve mentioned before, short scale bass options are few. If you want a short scale bass with a maple neck, your options are exponentially more limited. On eBay you can find some, but they’re often brands no one’s heard of, even though the company has sold a gazillion of them.

I went for the Bronco because they’re plentiful in supply and you can find them in just about any music store. I tried one out at Guitar Center, and this is one of those instruments that because it's SO mass-produced (crafted in Indonesia!), you have to play about a half dozen to find one with the right balance of feel, sound, and sustain. One would think that because they’re all made in the same place to the same specifications that they would all sound and feel identical. They don’t.

So, I spent about thirty minutes playing a black one, and I bought it, quite pleased that the only one I had available to try had all the important juju. I took it to rehearsal that night and whaddya know-- not a sound came out of it. It had bum electronics whose defect didn’t present itself until it had been plugged in a couple times.

Sigh. I don’t know what it is about that Guitar Center, but it seems that 75% of the stuff I’ve tried is defective, new stuff included. I didn’t want to have to haul the bass all the way back to the store because I didn’t want it replaced; as I said, I found the right one and didn’t want to risk a replacement that was lacking in vibe. I also didn’t want to leave it with them to get repaired because I didn’t have time to waste. So, H took care of it for me and had it ready for me the next time we met.

So, the synopsis. It has a single coil pickup from a Strat. That’s it. One wouldn’t believe that a simple single guitar pickup could pull off bass signal, but man, this thing is great. Hairy, even. The neck is fantastic as well, smooth and satin. This thing is bone-simple and that’s one of the things I love most about it. Oh, and it weighs about as much as nine paper clips. I look like Andre the Giant playing it.

Squier is a division of Fender, and they produce pretty much all the same American-made Fender models, but overseas and cost a fraction of the price of a genuine Fender. When someone is trying to sell one, it’s guaranteed that they will say “Fender Squier Bronco”. That’s a misnomer. It’s a Squier. The parent company is Fender, but that’s it. Just like people will try to sell a “Gibson Epiphone SG”, throwing in the parent company’s name doesn’t make it worth more, so why bother? It’s not as if people will laugh at you less. I don’t know if I’ll play this thing out live, but I might. As one who likes to defy convention, I’m a little intrigued by the idea of showing up with a “toy” of a bass and just ripping it up all night long.

Readme.txt

I added some more links for your reading/viewing pleasure.

1. I’ve been pretty vocal (what IS the written equivalent of that?) about my love of small cars. Well, the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum is a virtual playground for me. Click on it and you’ll see why.

2. This Old Honda is a great site because it’s for and by people who love old Honda cars. These are the cars that made me fall in love with Hondas, specifically the wee Civics.

3. The 356 Registry is all about the Porsche 356, my favorite Porsche of all time. Actually, it might even be my favorite car of all time.

4. 3 Wheeler World is a site dedicated to the ever-shrinking world of three wheelers. They’re not made anymore and haven’t been since around 1987, so the fact that they are still so many being ridden is a particular thrill for me. This link will tell you why.

5. Another of my favorites is How Stuff Works. A couple times a day, I stumble upon something that has me wondering what makes it tick or how it even came to be. This site is great because it often saves me a lot of time; it keeps me from just pulling stuff apart, usually irreparably, just to see how it works.

6. The Museum of Automobile History. Pretty self-explanatory, methinks.

7. The last link is the CRX Owner’s Group. There aren't too many stock CRXs in the gallery, but enough to cause wistfulness.

The picture you see above is from the Microcar Museum. Interestingly, it looks strikingly similar to car that Dingo drives in Cars and Trucks and Things that Go:

Confession.

M y lady fair and I are housesitting for some relatives as they bask in the warmth of Florida for a couple weeks. It's nice because it gets us away from the Limbo House for a couple days each week, and it's close to everything we need access to on weekends.

They also have a TV. A BIG one. We figured we'd take advantage of that fact and stay overnight Sunday and watch the Superbowl. Little did I know that pretty much all day I would be absolutely captivated by an all-day marathon of...

Mythbusters.

Now this is programming I can get behind. Its entire premise is based on the debunking of bullshit. How can I not love a show like that? Sure, it has its dramatic elements and could probably be condensed into a half hour show, but I'll take it because it has science, engineering, and ingenuity. The only other show that grabbed me like that was Junkyard Wars. It too got a little goofy with the theatrical business, but underneath all that it was a great show. It taught me that if you can weld, there's really nothing you can't do.

Then I kept seeing ads for Smash Lab. Good grief. With those two shows, I'm pretty sure I'd never leave the house.