bookmark_borderPaws Up
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bookmark_borderWZUM
Pittsburgh has been without a Jazz radio station since Duquesne University sold WDUQ to a bunch of consultants who turned it into a talk radio station.
Now, we have WZUM at 101.1 which was founded by a passel of people from the old WDUQ stable. About jazzin’ time, if you ask me.
bookmark_borderGold Comet
I never posted about my Gold Comet! The Gold Comet, or Comet D’Or, is the service order for the Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, our local SCA group. apparently, I was given this award while we were out of the country and unable to attend the Agincourt event, but the scroll was bestowed in November at the Harvest Revel meeting.
The scroll reads:
The early morning sun shines its warm rays over field and forest. There among the verdant wood glows the bright gold of a comet for our worthy Ishiyama-Shonagon Gen’tarou Yori’ie. The delicate strands of webs also gleam in the light, bedecked with morning dew. So, too, do his efforst to grow the woodworking guild please us well. For this and his numerous past services to the Barony marche of the Debatable Lands, we brandubh et Hildarun, Baron and Baroness, bestow upon him the Comet D’Or, at Agincourt on the 19th day of October, A.S. LIV.
bookmark_borderKeystone
At the 12th Night celebration of the Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands (the local SCA group), I was inducted into the Order of the Keystone of the Kingdom of Aethelmearc, the order of merit recognizing service.
The scroll reads:
The quiet rabbit shapes wood, building a sound foundation of service upon which our society flourishes. Always stepping forward, Ishiyama serves through representation and organization, helping others learn the crafts of our times. Timothy and Gabrielle, Emperor and Empress of Aethelmearc, see this hard working rabbit, Ishiyama Gen’tarou Yori’ie, and bestow upon him a keystone at BMDL 12th night, January 18, AS 54.
Words by Baroness Isabel Fleuretan
I am deeply grateful to their Majesties Timothy and Gabrielle, those who recommended me for this award, and the two fine artisans who created my award scroll.
bookmark_borderFarewell Canon (and BestBuy)
After (I’m going to say) decades of joy with Canon cameras, scanners, and printers, I am bidding them farewell.
Back in October, I decided to get a new camera before we went to Japan. I bought a new Canon Elph point-n-shoot because the previous two had been real workhorses and high quality equipment. I am thoroughly disappointed in this new one. Its image quality is probably worse than the previous version, its software is sub-par and not nearly as configurable as the previous version, and the camera itself is both larger and less solid. Why switch to a plastic case when metal cases are the main reason the older cameras are so durable?
I know I’m a little behind the curve on leaving separate cameras behind, but there it is. Another loyal customer disappointed and never returning.
Back in November, I broke (physically broke a vital part of the paper path on) my printer/scanner. It was my fault, accidentally feeding a thick items through the printer. I bought a replacement printer/scanner at BestBuy, and it sucked. The build quality was awful and even though the manual said you could feed Legal size paper, though the document scanner, this option was not present in the driver. I exchanged that for more expensive Canon, and even though the scanner driver was better, it was unable to properly print a document. It would get part of the way through a page, then spit out the paper. No error, no nothing, just failure. Scanning would quit part of the way through also.
Best Buy refused the return on the second printer, because I did not buy the extended service plan. So, farewell both Canon and BestBuy. I know I’m a little behind the curve on leaving BestBuy, but there it is. Another loyal customer who stuck with them even as they slid further and further into decline has left, never to return.
Farewell to you both. May you fall into the sea.
bookmark_borderUpdates
The end of Windows 7 support explains why Microsoft has been releasing security updates every other day for the past few months.
WordPress plugins seem to update every few days, making me want to have as few of them installed as possible. Even the ones that are not active demand updates.
bookmark_borderArimoto Bannister
I spent some time yesterday and today helping Mr. Arimoto install a bannister and railing that he’d made for a client.
Tadao cut and shaped the pieces from walnut, and finished them with Osmo Polyx oil finish. We spent about ten hours total getting everything cut to fit, installed, and touched up.
He didn’t make the metal balustrade, so we had to adjust everything to fit somebody’s else’s work. It was a good exercise in the difference between theory and practice, or between design and execution.
bookmark_borderTheir Royal Majesties Æthelmearc
bookmark_borderAnother Kingdom Braid
Set up the marudai with another 16-tama braid in red and white. This one looks similar to the last one, and it’s braided similarly in alternating colors, but it’s based on a round braid instead of a square braid.
So yeah, 6 plies of lace-weight silk yarn per tama, using braiding pattern 16T from Jacqui Carey’s Creative Kumihimo.
bookmark_borderTest Cutting
I spent a bunch of time today buying a new band saw blade and setting up machines so I could make some test cuts on scrap wood to prototype some interesting joinery for a new folding stool design.
How do you join a 1.25″ wide board perpendicular to a 1.25″ dowel? It takes a forstner bit, a band saw, and a mortising machine. I’m pretty excited to see how this works out on an actual project.