willedoo

Some ancient trivia - Booker T. and the MG's base player Donald "Duck" Dunn and guitarist Steve Cropper were both in the Blues Brothers Band with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Here they are much earlier and sans beards in the MG's:

And one bad thing about the Gibson Les Paul guitar is that they are vulnerable to breaking the headstock off. That headstock is of the type that angles back from the guitar neck so that if they fall over backwards, there's a good chance of the head breaking off. It's a design flaw that Gibson have stuck with for some unknown reason. The problem is that the neck and head are a single carved piece of wood and is very thin in the region of the nut (the bone or plastic piece that raises the strings off the fretboard at the top end of the neck. It's a bad vulnerability considering the price of them.

One good thing about Gibson guitars is that they are all still made in the US. If it has Gibson written on it, it's made in the USA and not Mexico, China or Indonesia like some of the other big name brands are doing.

Watching all these music videos is dangerous I find. I get a bit carried away and almost bought another guitar yesterday. But I slapped myself and reasoned that the money would buy that new 10x5 tandem trailer that I really need much more than another guitar. The guitar is a type that has been on the bucket list since I was 20 years old and will happen one day. Maybe just not now. It's interesting how if you sleep on things, the next day can often bring better reasoning. Anyway, this is the guitar - a gold top Gibson Les Paul 70's Deluxe. And maybe, just maybe, I might sneak down on the weekend and have a look at it. Just out of interest, mind you..

Xcrement is account walled so this is a cut and paste of a post by David Kirichenko, a Ukrainian-American journalist who spoke with a tank crew: I spoke with a tank crew fighting in the battle for Toretsk. Here is what they told me about how tank warfare. “The Era of the Cautious Tank” In the forested areas surrounding the burning frontline town of Toretsk in Eastern Ukraine, the thunderous roar of artillery and the constant buzz of drones paint a vivid picture of the front in Donetsk Oblast. Here, soldiers from Ukraine’s 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade await orders for their T-64s, although their powerful machines now play a different role in a rapidly evolving war. “What I enjoy most about driving a tank is when you sit down and drive, and you feel the power of the tank — it’s as if the enemy can’t do anything to you,” says 23-year-old Bohdan, callsign Vendetta. A tank operator since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Bohdan’s faith gives him courage in the face of danger. However, the invincibility he once felt in his armored behemoth is being challenged by a new threat: drones. Victor, known as Bee, commented: “Tanks aren’t as effective as they once were. It’s rare for us to see tank-on-tank action now.” This shift is so pronounced that even advanced Western tanks, like the US-provided M1A1 Abrams, have been pulled from the frontline due to their vulnerability to drone attacks. The sky above the Ukrainian positions is a constant battleground of its own. Enemy and friendly drones crisscross the airspace, hunting for valuable targets like heavy armor and artillery. This aerial cat-and-mouse game has fundamentally altered tank tactics. “The Russians aren’t idiots. They also understand our drones are hunting their tanks,” Bohdan says. This mutual threat has made both sides more cautious about deploying their armored units. “In 2024, you can have a $500 FPV drone take out a tank worth millions,” he adds, highlighting the cost-effectiveness of this new warfare. In response to the drone threat, tank crews on both sides have begun improvising. “Many people laughed at the Russians for welding plates and additional armor on their tanks [widely known as turtle tanks, for their appearance], but we’ve started doing the same to protect against enemy drones,” Bohdan says. However, he’s quick to point out that no amount of added armor can defend against everything, especially the ever-present danger of landmines. The unit was previously stationed in Kherson in 2022, where Bohdan says there were many fewer drones. Now on the Donetsk front, battles are artillery- and drone-dominated. The unit currently operates modernized T-64s, a Soviet-era vehicle updated in 2017. They’ve equipped the tanks with jammers to counter drones, though these are not foolproof. “It’s not guaranteed that the jammer will protect against all drones as they can operate at different frequencies,” Victor says. As the nature of combat changes, so too does the role of tanks on the battlefield. “Tanks have become a second priority in war,” Bohdan observes. “It’s now a war of artillery, drones, and infantry.” Instead of spearheading assaults, tanks are increasingly used more like mobile artillery, providing fire support from safer distances. The evolution of tank warfare brings with it new challenges. Victor, who has experience with the older Leopard I models provided by Germany, highlights the difficulties in operating foreign equipment. “We’ve struggled with manuals as everything is in German,” he says and adds that some of the older donated tanks lack adequate armor for current threats. Moreover, ammunition shortages further limit the effectiveness of tanks. The crew expresses frustration at having to ration their shells, reducing their impact even when they do engage. “Tanks will still be around in the future, but FPV drones have changed tank warfare forever,” Victor concludes.

Another income stream for her is selling her beginner's guides and 'how to...' E-books. What I like about that sort of thing is that it takes the power and industry domination away from the corporates and provides opportunity for the masses.

Here's that Brazilian lady on the guitar again. I posted it as a example of how people can make a good living using social media. Larissa Liveir came from relative obscurity and started posting her guitar videos armed with nothing but some musical talent and good looks. She does instrumental guitar covers with the occasional bit of keyboards thrown in. At this stage, she has over 3 million subscribers on YouTube, 1.6 million followers on Instagram, 825,000 followers on Tik Tok, and a measly 144,000 followers on Facebook. She's made over 2 million USD on YouTube alone, not counting the income from the other platforms and the sponsorship income. Assuming the sponsor companies let her keep the gear, she would likely have at least $100,000 worth of guitars, amps, keyboards and other equipment as she plays on a variety of equipment. Not a bad earner for someone playing other people's songs with no band. With the technology available these days it's a lot easier to do than in the past. In the old days, they had to gain the interest of a record company and then sign their life away with a rip-off contract. Now there's the internet and various social media platforms to promote their work, so plenty of musicians can work independently right from the start.

Right brain dominant Left brain dominant.

Hitler was the first thing I saw. If you squint your eyes you can see him better. I don't know why, maybe it narrows the peripheral vision and cuts some of the noise out.

The lady posing beside it is bearly half it's height.

I saw a stuffed polar bear in Elko, Nevada that was preserved in an upright pose at full extension on the back legs. It was 10'4". This is the bear: https://yesshewentthere.com/2018/08/16/white-king-the-worlds-largest-stuffed-polar-bear-elko-nevada/

Birds sure are clever. I only get the very occasional magpie visit at my place as they know it's the resident raven's patch. However, they must know that I feed the raven. One magpie appeared on the verandah rail with a crook leg he couldn't put weight on. It didn't stop him from perching (standing on one leg) or flying but he couldn't walk to hunt for food. He knew it was a good bet I'd feed him until his leg got better and that's exactly what happened. Once he could walk again a week later he left and went back to his own territory.

Sounds like it would be a lot quicker than a molasses bath.

That must be what those water based rust converters do. They leave a black coating which they say can also act as a primer. It's good stuff, just a pity it's so expensive.

Bears have arms - big ones.

That's interesting. I haven't tried any of the menu options on the left side of the page, only the main enhancement feature. As per which photos it works best on, it's just try and see. Really poor quality, low res photos don't do well. Maybe not enough pixels to clone into a good blend. It does a good job on some very average resolution photos. With a good photo, sometimes it improves it a little, and others it can sometimes make them a bit worse. Some photos are improved a lot and still look natural whereas others end up looking a bit too AI like.

It's amazing how far digital photography has come since those early days of low res, grainy digital photos. I've got a Canon EOS 700D which is about ten years old and it takes photos as good as I'd ever require. I'm sure there's a lot better these days. Digital photography seemed to struggle with quality in the early days but seemed to all of a sudden hit a point where it was comparable to film and hasn't looked back since.

I found some old photos and this one here is a phone camera copy of the original printed photo. I don't remember the format but it was the square photo type. My memory seems to be telling me it was an instamatic camera. The original photo was taken in 1984 just north of Lake Eyre and shows a Cat D7G dozer ploughing explosive redcord into the ground. It would plough in 2x strands together and the top two rolls of cord are spare, so that when the bottom two rolls run out, the top two are used. The cord was ploughed in 100 metre strips the depth of the ripper and then a 50 metre gap, then another 100 metre strip etc.. It required an offsider to walk along behind the machine (that's him in the pilot's seat having a play). His job was fairly basic: at the start of every 100 metre plough, he would stand on the tail of the cord protruding from the cord feeding pipe welded to the ripper. Once the ripper was at depth the weight of the soil would hold the cords in place so he could stop standing on them. Fairly simple - if the rolls are spinning around, the cord is successfully feeding into the ground. At the 50 metre mark the machine would stop and lift the ripper which would pull the cords out of the ground. The offsider would place a stick crossways on the ground so that when the ripper dug in again, there was a loop of redcord protruding from the ground and held up in place by the stick. That was the mid point at which the preloader would later attach the detonators. At the end of the 100 metre plough, the offsider would cut the cords with a pair of secateurs. A very technical job with the main requirements being don't lose the secateurs and always have plenty of sticks. I don't remember how many 100 metre sections they would blow at the same time. It was used on 2D prospects and they haven't used the cord for that purpose since the early to mid 1980's as vibrators are the standard source of energy for a long time now. There was also a green cord, much thicker and twice the bang. If my memory is right they used to call it geoflex.

I'm a member of the Dolphins NRL club and every year they post out a box of promotional merchandise to members. It has the usual stuff like fridge magnets, key rings, stickers and always includes a club cap, the ones you see fans wearing at the football games. Club colours are red (the club is based at Redcliffe) therefore the cap is red. I don't go to matches in person so the only time I wear the Dolphins cap is when I'm yelling loudly at the television. Last year's cap was a two tone colour and in the style of a baseball cap and is very wearable. The 2024 cap is all red, in the shape of an American trucker style cap, identical in shape and colour to the MAGA caps. I refuse to wear it but I'm not the only one. When you see televised home matches where there's lots of Dolphins fans, very few are wearing 2024 caps; most are still wearing last year's caps. We look silly enough wearing any club cap without it resembling a Trump cap.

Kamala Harris doesn't seem to be intimidated by Trump. Before the debate the two had never met and later both were at the 9/11 commemoration. There is video where someone tapped her on the arm to get her to turn around and shake Trump's hand; no doubt at Trump's request. I didn't notice it the original video but someone did a zoomed in version where you could see the handshake. Trump grabbed her hand and pulled it toward him in a purposefully intimidating way but Kamala just yanked his orange hand back toward her then turned back around and ignored the idiot. He was trying to be his usual smart arse self and she made a clown of him. He doesn't want to debate her again so it might be the last time they cross paths.

This is what he really did on 9/11 - bragging about now having the tallest building in Manhattan.

Trump talking about his 7-Eleven experience:

If she was wearing bib and brace overalls I'd believe that.

She's got good vertical spacing on her bar chords; you need long skinny fingers for that. Very handy for some of those weird jazz chords.

The Harris campaign received 47 million in donations in the first 24 hours after the debate. Meanwhile Trump has posted on his Lies Social platform that he won't be participating in a third debate. Apparently the 47 million in donations came from 600,000 individuals.