Saturday 31 March 2012

Putting Things in Tins & Boxes.

The final stages of my 'sell everything' project had me sorting things into tins and boxes today.
I bought the tin, in the bottom left of the picture above, from eBay some years ago.
It was described as 'an old tin full of things'.
Over the years I've taken things out of the tin and I've put other things back in the tin and now I'm going to sell it on in the hope that someone will do the same.

I've sorted my collection of unused brass & copper bits and bobs that may have ended up in one of my constructions one day into separate containers.

The silver tin in the middle is full of old iPods, associated connectors, F.M. transmitters, chargers and docks.

The last tin in the bottom row contains various lighting fittings and the round tin above it is best described as being full of 'misc'.
I'll be keeping the 'misc' tin as I feel that's got the most potential for firing my imagination in the future.

Tomorrow the great listing begins.

Friday 30 March 2012

My Track of the Week: Computer Love (Kraftwerk) as played by The Balanescu Quartet

I was watching the second part of BBC 4's "Sex and Sensibility: The Allure of Art Nouveau" when my ears pricked up because the music playing over the end credits, performed by a string quartet, seemed strangely familiar.
30 seconds of keyboard tapping later and I'd found it:
Having delved deeper I'm alarmed at how reminiscent of "The Lark Ascending" the quartet's version of Pocket Calculator is.

Disturbing to note I found this music 10 years after it was released.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Outa-Spaceman's Happy Sunshine Garden.


Wednesday 28 March 2012

BeHeld: Live at the RAFA Club Bognor Regis 27/03/12


BeHeld attend the open music session at the RAFA Club in Bognor Regis, which tends to be a quiet little event run on the last Tuesday of every month, to try new songs and find out if they 'work' live.
Last night we planned to play:

  1. 'It Must Be True' to find out if the sitar was a viable option in a live setting.
  2. 'Rachel Weeping' GOW's new song that we'd never performed live before.
  3. 'Lost Prophet' as we've just added it to the set and want to 'refine' it.

On arriving at the club last night, fashionably late as ever, we found the place packed out.
The usual set up is we do two songs in the first half and another in the second spot which would've worked to our advantage last night as the songs involve various combinations of guitars, sitar, baritone uke, mandolin, banjo, and a violin.
All in all more strings to tune than a small symphony orchestra.
But not tonight, we were asked do all three songs in one go.
We waited for our allotted spot (the last one) and did this:

BeHeld wish to shower gratitude and lovely things on Mr. John Gradwell, who runs  the session, and Mr. Berry Greene who had the nous, and equipment, to capture what was probably BeHeld's best performance to date.
Also thanks to Mr. Harry who joined us on the double bass for 'Lost Prophet'.

That went well and nobody had to die.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: (enough already!) Epilogue.

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising...
I pedalled the Cycle-Motor out to the cycle-track between Felpham and Barnham.
Riding this bike 'unassisted' is like stirring porridge with y'legs.
Or at least it was until I adjusted the clutch so it disengaged fully.

The bike starts after about two pedal revolutions so long as it gets a bit of momentum up first.
I'm not giving it full throttle as it's still running in but, even at half throttle, it has quite a turn of speed and an alarming high frequency vibration that gives the sensation of having knocked one's 'funny' bone.

I made this little film:
I buzzed up and down the track, avoiding the dog walkers and their dogs and what the dogs left behind (I blame the owners, not the dogs).
I stopped to have a chat with a bloke who seemed very impressed with the bike.
Buzzed up and down a bit more then decided to return home.

I noticed the right-hand pedal was fouling the engine casing and assumed the mounting must have slipped.
I was wrong.
One of the rear engine mounts I'd fabricated from mild-steel treaded studding had snapped but, as my progress hadn't been impeded, I continued on my way until the other mounting snapped under the strain.

I had a feeling the rear mounting was going to be the weak-spot.
My plan now, or for the future, is to make a proper engine mounting from a block of aluminium I have and get some hardened steel mounting bolts.
It won't be happening anytime soon.

O.K. I won this one but, a bit like a football match that's won by the other team scoring an own goal, not well.
I'm so tempted to remove the engine altogether and just enjoy riding the bicycle.

As I pushed the Cycle-Motor the last mile home I heard a buzzing above me.
A motor assisted para-glider passed over my head.
Hmmmm....

Now if I......

Monday 26 March 2012

The Sale of the Century (cont.)

Having finished the Cycle-Motor Project I suddenly realised there's now quite a large hole in my life so I reverted to my plan of ridding myself of the majority part of my possessions via eBay.
A good proportion of this next tranche fall into the category 'retro':
Yes, even my ear syringe is going, I've washed it of course.
I notice there are 8 items in the illustration but, when I counted all the individual pieces up, there are 53 in total.

I will now repeat: "I will not post more than 8 items per day on eBay" until I get the idea firmly lodged in my mind.

The rest of the day was taken up by a secret recording session that went well and the client is satisfied with the end product.

Sunday 25 March 2012

Gardeneering.

It's time to get into the garden.
I've found that doing a bit of work at this time of year makes the garden a lot easier to keep under control later on.

First job, cut the Fig tree back.
I have no idea what I'm doing, I just brutally lop off branch after branch until the tree looks 'tidy'.
I've used this approach for many years now, the tree is thriving and produces a good crop of figs so I must be doing something right.

Next job involves radical change.
There's a Bay tree in the garden, or, to be more accurate, what's left of a Bay tree.
It used to be a Bay bush which, after much clipping and snipping. I standardised. All well and good until I neglected to maintain it for about 3 years and it ended up as a Bay bush at the top of a very large trunk or, as I prefer to call it, a Bay tree.
Last year Linda sawed the top half off in the hope that it might regenerate from below the cut.
It didn't and ended up looking like this:
Bay Stump
We discussed removing this mutilated stick last year but didn't get round to it.
Today's the day.
After much forking, digging, root-chopping, pulling, pushing and, last but not least, swearing I managed to remove it:
Danger! Hole in world!
Linda then decided an Aucuba, that had been hidden behind the Fig and Bay trees, had to go and be replaced by a plant, who's name I can't pronounce let alone spell, that looks like a laurel but isn't and caused a bit of disagreeable bickering whilst writing this post because I tried to wake Linda (asleep on the settee) to ask her what it was:
Linda planting
(Notice lopped fig tree in background).
I vigorously pruned several more shrubs before Linda managed to wrestle the secateurs from my grasp telling me I'd done enough damage for the day and, as a treat, I was allowed to agitate the compost bin which is filled with life-forms that should not be.
With any luck that's as much as I'll have to do in the garden all year.

Saturday 24 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: A Sleepless Night, An About Face, Several Frustrations and An Ending.

My re-think of the bike caused more problems than I could sensibly fix.
The final straw was exhaust clearance or, the lack of it.
No matter how I adjusted the engine position either the pedal fouled on the exhaust pipe or the exhaust pipe fouled the bottom bracket shell.

A 4am this morning I was still wide awake trying to imagineer a solution but couldn't do it.
By 06:30am I came to the inevitable conclusion that the re-think was a failure and the only alternative was to use the Black Tractor frame.

I started work on the bike at 13:00 and in half an hour had this:
I rode it around for a while and it's actually a very nice, comfortable and relaxed bike.
I got the engine mounted:
I reckoned on about another hour before a test ride but failed to take one thing into consideration:
Linda had just come off the phone having arranged to collect a new washing machine and guess who she's decided is going to do the heavy lifting?

Two hours later, new washing machine fitted and £20 lighter after buying a heavy-duty chain-cracker, I'm back to work.
The new chain-cracker turns out to be to heavy-duty for the 415 chain but I persevere and finally assemble the chain only to discover the split-link.
I nearly cracked.
Where did that split-link hide when I carefully examined the chain to make sure it didn't have one the other day?
Several deep breathing exercises later I've regained my composure and return to the task in hand.
Another hour later and I have created this:
It's vastly improved from last weeks version of this build.
New tyres, better handlebars and several issues that only manifested themselves during the re-build have been dealt with.
The rear horizontal dropouts are a safer option for a motored-bicycle as the wheel can't be pulled out of the frame.
The wheel-base of this frame is much longer than the 'Dobson's' making the ride more stable and comfortable.
I've still got to deal with the CDI mounting and I'm on the hunt for a suitable metal box to house it in.
In a perfect world I'd fit the cylindrical fuel tank and some better handlebar grips but I'm in no hurry to do anything else at the moment.

So, does it work?
Well, yes it does.
Once it gets warmed up it runs a lot better than the film suggests.
I'm running it on a 16:1 fuel/oil mix at the moment. Once I get to the 20-25:1 mix it should run even better.

That's it, The Cycle-Motor Project is at an end.
I will, in time, compile the whole project and publish it on it's own page entitled "WARNING!! On no account read this page!"

I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

Friday 23 March 2012

BeHeld Play "It Must Be True".

A magical reality ditty about the small dreams of call-centre workers.

Thursday 22 March 2012

A Day In The Life.

Rose at 07:30, tinnitus screaming like a siren, right ear completely blocked and deaf.
Two poached eggs on toast and mug of tea.
Wave Linda off to work, switch the T.V. news off and Goon Show on whilst preparing for shave and shower.
Decide the tinnitus & deafness are to much this morning and dig out large brass syringe:
Shave then syringe my right ear while showering.
Notice dull pain in the right-side of my scalp as I'm drying my hair.
Pack 4 BeHeld C.D.s for postage. Phone rings.
I'm summoned to the Manor House to 'sort the bloody tele-box out, no bloody channels old chap'. I agree to call after my visit to the Post Office.
Quick cup of coffee while I try to sort out most recent update of Hipstamatic (problems with bulk delete function).
Queue of 6 in the Post Office. C.D.s consigned to the tender mercies of the GPO.
To the Manor House. Re-tune T.V. to satisfaction of Sir W. who offers me a stone mermaid bird-bath:
which proves to heavy to take away with me.
Arrange to collect later in the day.
Back home, coffee, prep & publish Hooting Yard pod-cast.
Visit elderly neighbour who's recently returned from hospital after recovering from a nasty chest infection.
Spend next 3 hours scraping accumulated limescale and soap scum from her bathroom/lavatory, vacuum through her entire flat then have a bit of a natter over tea & biscuits.
Back home to sketch ideas for an engine mounting for the ongoing CycleMotor Project (shudder). Listen to Goon Show and Leonard Barrass.  Cycle to motorbike shop to buy a chain-cracker capable of splitting the CycleMotor drive chain. They don't have one but will have one in stock on Saturday (£20).  Back home, do load of washing. Write first two verses of a new song:

I could see the destination
Off on the horizon
Full ahead plain sailing
The wake behind me trailing

But the wind changed and 
Blew me of course (x2)

The storm rose up and shattered 
Everything that mattered
On these rocks I'm stranded
Forlorn and empty-handed 

But the wind changed and 
Blew me of course (x2)
Blocked on third verse that involves either driftwood, bleached bones or shipping forecast reference.
Descend to the shed and remove engine from the CycleMotor with the intention of re-positioning the engine in the frame. Turns out this is a mistake. Abandon project and return to the flat for a cup of coffee and more Goon Show.
Mystic Roger calls round. We 'jam' the new song and discuss song choice for visit to RAFA club next Tuesday.
Linda comes home from work and we all drink tea and eat hot-cross buns.
Wave Mystic Rog off then drive Linda to the pub for her Thursday drinking session with her girly pals.
Back to Manor House to collect mermaid bird-bath. Print some business emails out for Sir W. refuse at least 4 offers of glasses of wine (a really good red), load mermaid into boot of car, return home. Prep and light the fire, hang washing on clothes airer and get comfortable for Hooting Yard on the Air.
Familiar strains of the Caucasian Lullaby fade into horrific coughing and spluttering, 'Oh God' intones the despairing voice of Mr. Key, Caucasian Lullaby cuts back in and plays for a distressingly long time. I begin to worry that I might actually have heard Mr. Key's last gasp.  Caucasian Lullaby fades again and Mr. Key resumes the entertainment that I know and love as Hooting Yard on the Air.
Write email to congratulate Mr. Key on best start (in hindsight) to Hooting Yard on the Air ever.
Linda returns from pub, turns on T.V. to watch Emmerdale and Corrie. Remove myself to back-room 'studio' to work on secret recording project that involves me attempting to imitate a choir of infants. 
Eat evening meal (spag-bol) then watch T.V. programme on Art-Nouveau.
Decide to write blog post detailing everything that happened to me today.
I'm now going to wash-up, wake Linda (asleep on settee) and go to bed.
I'll try to do something interesting tomorrow.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: The Art of the Possible.

After walking away from the shed yesterday, ready to attack the bike with a hammer, this evening I took a deep breath and decided to do just the things it was possible to do without causing myself undue stress.

I fitted the fuel tank.
I fitted the anti-frey cap on the clutch cable.
Using a zip-tie I experimented with where I'd like to position the CDI unit.
Then my stupid gene kicked in and I shortened the new fuel pipe by about half an inch to much.

Still, it's starting to look really good:
Tasks remaining to be accomplished:

  1. Mount CDI unit.
  2. Extend wiring to CDI unit and secure.
  3. Buy a heavy duty chain-cracker.
  4. Lengthen drive-chain.
  5. Fit drive-chain tensioner.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: And On, And On, And On.....

I bought a new chain-cracker:
The splines bent the first time I used it...
I managed to shorten the drive-chain, by to much.
I dug the original drive-chain out and I'm hoping that it's long enough to do the job.

The bike's actually looking quite good:
But I'm beginning to hate it with a passion that would melt a mountain.

I think I'm going to leave it alone for a couple of days.

Monday 19 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: One More Time!

Here I go again.
I'm determined to complete this project and finally draw a line under it.

First off I stripped the 'Dobson' down to it's bear essentials:
There's a bicycle in there somewhere.
I then stripped the Black Tractor down.
One disturbing discovery was what had happened to the tubing I'd chosen as a fuel line. It, more or less, fell apart in my hand as I went to unscrew the hose-clips that held it on:
That could've been very nasty.
I busied myself through the sunny afternoon dealing with all the little problems that threw themselves up.
Then I hit an impasse.
I needed to shorten the drive-chain.
I put the chain-cracker in position, tightened it up and it promptly fell apart.
This made me angry.
I stood up, knocking the front wheel in the process, and the handlebars swung round and biffed me in the left eyebrow.
It was a moment similar to when you stand up bringing your head into violent contact with the corner of an open cupboard door.
"FUCOWWW!!" as we say in this household.

One step forward, two steps back.

Sunday 18 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: Errrr, Not Happy.

Today, whilst buzzing around the local streets making small adjustments to the cycle-motor, a youth on bicycle drew up alongside me, while I was standing still I might add, "Wow! Is that one of those things from the 1950's?" 
Me "No". 
I gev' it an 'and-full' and shot back to my shed.

Having finally got the bike moving I find I'm not at all happy with it.
The major problem being the 'style' I've tried to impose on it.
I used this site for inspiration: The Moped Gallery
Most of the difficulty I've experienced during this build, and the delay in getting it to this stage, has been trying to accommodate the 'style'.

I was so blinded by the desire to make the finished product look like something that could have featured in the Moped Gallery I lost sight of what I should have been trying to achieve, an efficient machine.
The bicycle I ended up using is a poor quality machine of a dated design, and that's being kind.
I could have used something like my current bicycle which, although not great, is light years away from the gas-tubing donkey I chose.

I went up into the attic to do a bit more thinking and to do a bit of work on the 'Dobson', then it dawned me.
The 'Dobson' is, and always has been, the perfect bicycle for this project.
The build quality of the frame is superior, the frame angles are much better and the powder-coating I had applied to it is more robust than the thin layer of nail-varnish on the current frame.
On further consideration it makes even more sense to return the Black Tractor to it's original condition and fit the engine into the 'Dobson' (an afternoon's work at most in both cases).
This plan also means I can sell the Black Tractor, which I initially had misgivings about, then liked for a while, but very quickly cooled on again as it revealed it's many faults.

This is a temporary blip.

Saturday 17 March 2012

Big Noise From Winnetka at Coolham Acoustic Club.

BeHeld played a set at the Coolham Acoustic Club last night.
I think it must have gone quite well as I haven't had to spend the day counselling the rest of the band members.

During the second half the indefatigable Bass Man Gary Holder (the bloke who runs the show) and his pal Dr. Stephen Cass, treated the audience to this:
Which was quite stunning really.
The video would have been longer but halfway through I realised the sound wasn't turned on.

Friday 16 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: It's Alive! (Updated)

WIN!

There's still work to do but, if I did nothing else, it works!

(Thanks to Mr. Wills for pointing the camera at me as I whooshed back and forth.)
Update:
Having established that the bike works I now have to consider the refinements.
There's a cylindrical fuel tank to fit.
Mud & chain-guards will be fitted.
I have to repair the CDI unit (coil) as the mounting disintegrated within 10 minutes of first starting the engine (it's held on with insulation tape at the moment).
I don't need to fit a kill-switch, all I need to do is close the choke and it stops straight away.

The handlebars will be replaced but I have to find the 'right' set.
Much as I respect Mr. Old Fool's opinion (see comments on previous post) I have to disagree with him about 'swept back' bars.
I suggest one of the, many, differences between the U.K. and U.S.A. is riding position.
In the wide-open U.S.A. where roads are long & straight the 'easy-rider' position makes sense.
Here on the twisty-turny roads, made by that rolling English drunkard, nose to the front wheel is probably more appropriate.
We'll see.

Thursday 15 March 2012

OSM B:nn Archive Recordings

Ballooning

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Temporary Blip.

Dead on my fee..zzzzzzzz

Tuesday 13 March 2012

A Time To Cast Away Stones.

Aside from my Cycle-Motor tinkering, I've been playing reverse pass-the-parcel:
eBay selling is addictive.
So much so that I've decided to rid myself of the bulk of my possessions.
This may sound a little rash but I'm finding it....
Oh, what's the word?
Cathartic.
Yep, that's the word.

Outside of my baritone uke, bicycle collection, things I've made, my shed, and gifts people have made for me, I don't get emotionally attached to 'stuff'.
I have a tin box filled with a collection of parts of things I've owned that act more as aide-memoirs of the time I owned them rather than as relics of the objects themselves.
I never see the point of holding onto anything I've sucked the fun out of, though I am reluctant to let go of tools because they're useful, expensive to replace and, if the should world end, I can use them to build a new one.
Having said that, I'd probably only need a decent Swiss Army Knife, super glue and a steel ruler to construct it.
The rest of it?
Just so much surplus weight holding dreams to the ground.

However...

I have a wish-list of four, now down to three, items I've always wanted to own.

  1. A Roberts Radio bound in red leather(ette). It would have to be the digital version now of course.
  2. The Alessi Kettle (designed by Michael Graves) that looks like a flying saucer stuck up a bird's bum.
  3. A Dualit Toaster (Got one!)
  4. A Moulton Bicycle.

All things I'd have a hard time constructing with a SAK, super-glue, and a steel ruler.

Monday 12 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: The Final Hurdles.


A leisurely afternoon's tinkering has taken me a little closer to the end game.
I managed to get the drive chain aligned but it still 'jumps' on the engine sprocket.
I'm ignoring that problem for now.
I changed the handlebars:
The bars aren't bad but I don't like the stem. Still, it's only a temporary measure.

After my little victory with the throttle I crashed back to earth with a bump.
Whilst fitting it on to the handlebars I over-tightened it and the crappy black-plastic housing cracked.
It still works, so long as it's not used with vigour, but I decided to replace it.
A quick eBay search and the desired item is on it's way.
Having completed the purchase, I did a little more 'window-shopping' and noticed there's a company in Bognor that supplied the same item and it's only up the road a mile.
Ah well.

All that's left to sort out, to make the engine run, is a H.T. lead.
All that's left to sort out, to make the engine stop, is a kill-switch.
Just don't ask about the 'Kill-Switch' debate, really, don't.

Sunday 11 March 2012

Eating.

Stamps

Every now and again I hit the charity shops just at the right moment.
The other day I found this £1.50 box of usefulness:
Stamp Kit
I'm using it to print post-cards with "Things My Father Said To Me".
Here's number one:
Things My Father Said To Me 01

Saturday 10 March 2012

The Cycle-Motor Project: Oh, When Will It Ever End?

In the last thrilling instalment of The Cycle-Motor Project (see here) the bike looked like this:
It needed a drive chain (done).
It needed 2 clips for the fuel line (done).
It needed the kill-switch connecting (I'm working on it).
It needed a longer H.T. lead to the spark-plug (Monday).
It needed some anti-fray ferrules for various control cables. (Monday).
It needed fuel (as soon as the to-do list is complete).

Several more little 'issues' have appeared since I abandoned the build last May.
I bought a new drive-chain that has to be tensioned by a horrible piece of steel and a crappy plastic jockey-wheel.
Today I tried to align all the bits but had to give up when the process became so frustrating that my vigorous swearing began to frighten the neighbour's children.

I don't like the handlebars and I'm going to fit the bar that I took off my winter bike.

The one significant success I had today, and it really was a break-through, was getting the throttle-cable working properly.
(I haven't mentioned the throttle-cable before because I hadn't realised it wasn't working correctly.)

And that small victory tipped the balance of the day.
The sun came out, happy little birds began to sing, and I could finally see my way to the end of this long road.

Now the plan is to have the project finished to a working standard by the end of next week.
So I probably won't post about it again till late 2013.

I suffered a further misfortune later in the afternoon.
I was moving the 'Dobson' out of the shed and into the attic, where I intend stripping it down to give it a super-service.
I didn't fully locked the attic access ladder into place and it collapsed from under me as I was two thirds of the way up with the 'Dobson' on my back.
Yes, it hurt.
As my Father used to say to me when ever I did something like this during my childhood, "You won't do that again, will you?".

(No, I f*^king won't!!!!... arrrrhhhh, whimper, whimper.)

Friday 9 March 2012

A Quick One For The 'Doom-Monger" In Your Life.

Cherry Blossom

My 'Track of the Week' Asfalt Tango Performed by Fanfare Ciocarlia


I had a feeling I'd posted this tune before but, apparently not.
It was used as the soundtrack for Tomasz Baginski's animated short Fallen Art which I notice, sadly, has had the embedding permission withdrawn.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Scratching The Itch.

What with unemployment, recording, rehearsals, gigs, eBay and a thousand and one other things, I realised I hadn't 'made' anything in recent months.
Whist rootling about in the attic for more eBay fodder, I came across an old cigar box that I can't remember what I'd planned to do with.
Unsurprisingly, on opening the box, I found it was full of arms and legs.
Brace and bit and 4 holes later:
It's a start I suppose.

During the drilling phase I found myself wondering if I could, through studio wizardry, make a kazoo sound like a Crum Horn.
I recorded a basic beat, by tapping lightly on an old dynamic microphone, did a bit of kazoo buzzing then topped it off with a bit of penny-whistle noodling and dropped the whole lot in a vat of reverb:

Which reminded me of a picture I'd taken at the Science Museum:
Click picture to see the source
 I have the sneaking suspicion I may be developing a touch of 'cabin-fever'.

Some Experiments Don't Work.

My plan to post from the pub fell at the first hurdle, no interweb access.
It really didn't suit us as a band either.
We're an acoustic band, we usually play folk club venues where the audience tend to sit quietly and listen.
Pubs are places where people go to be, in the main, sociable, to discuss the issues of the day and, increasingly in this day and age, to dine.
To have any impact on this environment one needs amplification.
There were amps available but not suitable for the kind of sound we make.
Still, lots of people complimented us and bought the C.D. so we've decided we played a draw.

Thanks and admiration must be heaped on Gary Holder, the guy who organises the evening, who runs from pillar to post herding the 'talent'.
Here's a picture of him with his musical instrument:
The next gig we have is at Coolham, another of Gary's clubs, but this time the venue is almost tailor made to our requirements.

Personally I don't care if I never see the inside of a pub again in my life.
(That'll surprise a few people an' no mistake.)

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Brief Note On An Ambitious Plan.

As I'm going to be away from my magic-inter-web-tubes-television this evening, I've decided to attempt a blog post from my metal-tapping-machine (© Hooting Yard).
I've tried this on several occasions in the past with, at best, limited success.

I'll be in the Queens Head pub in Barnes Green either waiting to play, playing, or waiting to come home.
When you play in a band there's a lot of waiting, sitting about.
Charlie Watts, out of the Rolling Stones, had a good quote about it but I'm damned if I can find it.
He was asked what it was like being on stage with the RS for x amount of years.
He replied that it was more like a couple of months playing and years sitting about waiting to play.
Anyway, trying a blog post will be a great time killer, I'm sure.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

And Every Now And Again There's A Good Day.

Today was quite exciting, sadly I can't actually say why but, during it's course, I was able to stare long and hard at this painting by Canaletto:
Image robbed from Wikipedia
This painting has a companion piece that I preferred but, for the life of me,  can't locate an image of on the inter web.

I also got to stare intently at more original Hogarth drawings than I could take in at one go. Including this one:
Next week I'll be able to study the Hogarth drawings in even greater detail as I'll be spending around 17 hours (over 2 days) stood in front of them.

Back home and I've got a rehearsal with the band for tomorrow night at the Queens Head pub in Barnes Green.
Odd thing about rehearsals with BeHeld, the sun always begins to shine during the proceedings.
Which is encouraging.

To top a good day off, Linda made dumplings.
Result.

Monday 5 March 2012

G.E.C. Toaster Catalogue No. D5605A

I'm about to list this toaster on eBay.
Outside of the information in the title, I know little about it other than it still makes toast.
In fact it makes excellent toast, one side at a time.
When I pull the little door down to check on the toasted side it conveniently flips the bread to the un-toasted side.
Once the toast is ready it can be stacked on top of the toaster to keep it warm.
Of course, for the un-wary it's potentially lethal so I've cut the plug off just in case an idiot were to buy it.

The question that's always been in the back of my mind when I used the toaster was "I wonder if it would work on Pop-Tarts?"

Now I will never know.

Sunday 4 March 2012

On Discovering Pages.

I was going to ramble on about all the items I'd put on eBay today, then I noticed the word 'pages' on the posting page.
I've spent a little while creating some.
Great.
My blog is now my electric interweb-tube-hub.
I'll make some more, I think.

To make this post slightly more entertaining, here's a picture of a Triumph Spitfire's bonnet:
Triumph Spitfire Coupe

Saturday 3 March 2012

Goldfish 3

After close observation I have decided Goldfish are weird.

Friday 2 March 2012

One Last Play on the Suzuki OmniChord.

In much the same way as I had one last steam-up on the Mamod Steam Engine, I thought I'd have one last play on the OmniChord:
Having done a bit of research I find that this instrument is much sort after.
I found this one in a charity shop bin and my original intention was to try my hand at "circuit-bending".
How glad am I that I didn't follow that plan up?
The reason for this little film is to show potential buyers the OmniChord still actually works (not bad considering this is a 1982 model).

I still like this instrument, it's jolly.
I'll miss it.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Everything Must Go Pt.2

Having learned several important lessons from my first bulk sale on eBay, I'm putting together the next sell-off.
Only five items this time.
Packing and posting the last lot took nearly two days.

The items are:
Mamod Steam Engine
80G FireWire Hard-Drive
5 x 9v Power Supply
2 Minic Ships
Suzuki Omnichord
Only one of the items above has any significant potential value.
Can you guess which one?

I think the trick is to wrap them up before I list them.
This may take some time.