New York August NYC Meet-Up 2021

[Calzone]

Both Mrs. Canyongazer and I have been enthralled by Maggie's blog...no wonder she has such a large following.
Guitar links were entertaining and informative. To me, the peak of acoustic guitar has always been Martin. I did not realize there were other, perhaps higher, mountains behind that one.
Really liked the solo "So What." Even Miles might have liked it. 😉
Thanks for the links, Cal!

C-G,

Martin guitars are factory built guitars, and this they do very-very well. A while back I was recruited by my friend Steve, who owned a guitar shop and built guitars, to basically go on a Factory Tour of the Martin Factory, but to really do industrial espionage.

A third friend was also recruited, but he was to cover for us. So there was a guide/handler that would reel Steve and me in, because we would wander off and check out areas that we were not suppose to see. Anyways being a spy or acting like one, gathering information and intelligence, was kinda fun.

A company like Santa Cruz is a boutique custom builder. The business model is very different than a factory business. I am fortunate to already own two Santa Cruz guitars, and a third is being custom built for me. Don’t tell Maggie, but I bought myself a surprise retirement present.

Interesting to note that when “Maggie” first started her blog, 7 years ago, my only digital camera was a Leica Monochrom, and because everyone else was using color on their fashion blogs Maggie’s blog stood out and got “traction.” Then magazines contacted her and then Vanessa her first agent.

BTW doing fashion photography in B&W is not easy.

Next week we have to go to NYC again to meet with Vanessa our future agent. Now I’m part of the package and will be modeling. Oh-well, a short retirement, and things might start happening like getting gigs as soon as June.

My hair is getting close to my belly button in length, and the last time I cut it myself because I got some spray foam insulation in my hair when working in the crawl space in the Baby-Victorian. I kinda look like a surfer dude, and I have no idea what Vanessa wants to do with me, but know that for about a decade I once was a performance artist.

Today I went through 4 tubes of caulking working on the house. I also did the easy part (the loose bricks) of breaking up a brick wall on the side of the driveway. A Cedar fence will replace the wall, but it seems I’ll have to rent a jack hammer to remove the 2/3rds that remain.

The terracing and land filling going on in my back-backyard is looking great. All the rubble that is clean fill, plus all the leaves I collected from my leaf blowing neighbors has changed the landscape. I have all these tree seedlings sprouting, so pretty much I am being an environmentalist restoring nature.

I nicked about 100 Morning Glory seeds and have them soaking in water overnight. By accident last year I discovered that without a trellis that morning glories make a great ground cover. Also I have a spooky dead apple tree that some invasive vine killed. I’ll be using the dead tree as a trellis for the Morning Glories, as well as a Whisteria vine, but the Wisteria will take a few years to get established.

Don’t tell the Peekskill building department, but I also will create a wall of Morning Glories on this chain link fence I moved.

Then I have a “Pollinator Garden” to plant tomorrow which is about 500 seeds that will cover about 30 square feet of the dead end that I annexed. Milk weed grows there so I will get a Butterfly Bush to help sustain Monarch Butterflies.

I remain anxious about my Japanese Red Maple seedlings I cultivated last year, Only a few have buds and I might have lost maybe half of them. Also seems like some branches have turned white, and I‘m afraid that this part of the seedling died over the winter. Some have small buds, but half have none.

The conciliation though is that I raked up all the leaves and Polly noses from my perhaps 100 year old Japanese Maple, so I should have thousands of seedlings this year. Last years experiment were seedlings I rescued from my lawn. Anyways I think I will start an arboretum of sorts that might get mucho crazy because that’s what I do.

I have this wonderful bird bath top without a base that I think I will use to create a Bonsai forest of sorts, along with this chunk of agate that I “rescued” from New Mexico when I lived there.

In the Frog Ghetto in back of my back-backyard there’s sex going on, but the stadium roar of a full blown orgy has not yet occurred. This usually happens on a very warm spring day. The stadium roar of the frogs then is so load that I can hear it about a block away. Spring Peepers about the size of your thumbnail or large toenail.

Even though there is a brook and a marsh with the frog pond, almost no mosquitoes because of the frog ghetto.

Cal

 

[Canyongazer]

That Old House was lucky to have been adopted by you and M.

 

[Calzone]

That Old House was lucky to have been adopted by you and M.

C-G,

A lucky find because we are only the fourth owners. The first two were within the family. The result is a old house that has not been butchered by mucho renovations or destroyed by a gut renovation. The bonus here is that because the house is so old, the taxes are low.

When we bought the house we got an old survey and learned that the house and garage are on one building plot, and that pretty much we got a second buildable building plot for free. Understand that Peekskill is a city and the layout is 40x100 building lots.

To compound this, the house is on a corner, and beyond the back-backyard (second building lot) is public land that is a brook, a marsh, and a frog pond. Across this valley is a forested hillside. The view is mighty pretty. Often a ground fog settles over the marsh. The view might remind you of the countryside in England, but I live in a city.

We are on the extreme southern end of Peekskill. While the northern end is considered the Gateway to the Hudson Highlands, we are located in a valley where spring is delayed by about 2 weeks. Cold are s denser and settles into the valleys.

Then just 3 blocks away is Blue Mountain Preserve, 1500 acres of pretty much wilderness that I consider my backyard.
If that is not enough then there is the 52,000 acres that comprise Bear Mountain State Park and Harriman State Park. Bear Mountain Bridge is literally “a bridge to nowhere.”

Then we are a little more than an hour’s commute to NYC on Metro North to Grand Central. “Location-location-location,” they say…

Peekskill is also an art community, and gentrification has not destroyed the sense of community yet. Let’s see…

I think we found a little part of paradise. If Larry Summer’s projection is right, that home prices will increase 7% in 2022, then our home increased 35% since Thanksgiving 2020. We bought the Baby-Victorian before a housing shortage was recognized.

The military history that precedes me indicates that the Hudson Valley is a strategic location with very important geography. Reports are that NYC rents and real estate have rebounded, but the unemployment rate is double. Empty/vacant office space is a very big problem, then there is the rise in crime that correlates with high unemployment. Subway ridership is only 60% of what it once was.

I did a lot of thinking about sustainability, and the Northeast seems to be the only part of the U.S. that has a consistent water supply. Even in the Pacific Northwest they are experiencing droughts. You can’t live without water…

Happly-happy.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I just purchased almost $50.00 worth of guitar picks to experiment with. I already figured out that I love thick stiff picks, but it seems smaller picks offer more control for me, although I like big picks for the tight grip so I can dig in.

Trying to figure out things that are the happy medium.

Heading out to see the Creature Junior give a presentation on Venus. Know that this kid is very smart, but she is a lazy-slacker.

Also will spread some seeds today.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Did my planting, and gave the Audi a hand washing for the spring.

Stockpiled and bulked up on stuff at a health food store. I’m starting to hoard…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Yesterday I decided to exploit the warm afternoon to start gardening. I went to “Home-Cheapo,” a term that a masonary supply worker called Home-Depo, because that’s the place to bulk up on cheap crap, although I do buy Milwaukee tools there which is good stuff.

From memory I can load 2 bails of peat moss and 10 bags of compost/manure into the trunk without having to drop/lower the rear seat.

Bought six bags of Tiger Lillies (6 bulbs in a bag), and two different Lilac bushes that are basically sprigs. One Lilac is a “Monster” version that will eventually grow to 10-12 feet, and the smaller one “Junior” will only grow to a height of 4-6 feet. I planted a circular raised bed made of large cobblestones with Tiger Lillies built into a slope on my front lawn.

The small Lilac will fit into a bed that I have close to the garage and pergola. Understand that the front-backyard is not that big a space and the 10x10 pergola and the 11x14 lock block patio is kinda cozy and is being built out as an intimate outdoor extension of the house, while the back-backyard s being built out more like an expansive English Garden with lawns and an expansive view, even though it is only a 40x100.

Overall the property is a skinny 40x200 that leads to a valley, then a forested hillside that includes the frog ghetto, a marsh and small brook, and a tiny pond. The back-backyard is a work in progress, because I am terracing the back. Don’t tell the building department. I am recycling lots of clean fill from the house, broken concrete, ceramic tiles, leaves from my neighborhood, and even discarded Christmas trees.

Anyways the amount of terrain changing I’ve already performed is rather impressive. From all the mulching leaves all these tree seedlings are emerging. I’ll let them root for a while, but I’ll have to transplant or prune them at some point.

So somewhere in the back-backyard will go the Monster Lilac. Best is full sun, and I think it should go pretty close to the pollinator flower garden, which is near the butterfly garden where Milkweed grows wild to support Mon-ARC butterflies. The pollinator garden is actually in the dead-end, don’t tell the City of Peekskill that I secretly annexed some of their land, about 30-40 square feet for this garden.

Then I annexed the plateau and created a grove of maple saplings I rescued from my yard. BTW Knotweed does not like shade or can’t compete against trees. On the corner of my property, but on what I call the landing which starts to slope into the valley (drop eventually is a steep 24-28 feet) is the spooky dead haunted apple tree that I will cultivate Wisteria to convert it into a living tree again with massive purple blooms.

I think the Monster Lilac with its purple flowers will fit right in. Also the slope below the landing faces south for long and lengthy sun exposure. I don’t want the “The Monster” to block my view of the approach that reveals the valley below, nor the distant forested hillside.

This breakup and division of space into many smaller intimate spaces that are very different gardens is pretty much a recreation of a garden we made in Greenpoint in the small space of an urban backyard of a row house. Each space was a different experience, but this is on a bigger scale.

Also know that on the “Landing” in the back-backyard is a reclaiming invasion of wild plants. The lawns will transition to a 20x40 foot section of gravel as a buffer that will have cultivated raised beds, then will come the “Wild Garden” on the area that gently slopes I call the “Table.”

I need to rent a jack-hammer to break up the remaining brick wall by the driveway. More landfill. I’ll be putting up a 12 foot section of Cedar fence that is rather decorative. Realize I need a secure yard for the grand kids.

I’ll be buying some Boxwoods to creat a privacy wall for the patio/ pergola. This space is tucked between the garage and the house. Should be a very private space, especially since t is facing the dead end street.

So I am creating a small paradise of sorts… In a ways “Maggie” like talking about work, but she really concentrates on becoming a writer and does little for the house. Anyways it is kinda my project to work on the yard.

So I’m not so retired… Anyways, one of my personality flaws is to go loud, bold, and way over the top in an extreme manner. We live in a world of mediocrity, and that is a space I don’t want to live in.

Also one thing I learned from “Maggie” is that if you want to stand out, don’t do what everyone else is doing.

Note that standing out annoys some people, especially people who have no personality. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Today more gardening. I moved a pile of cobblestones to make some room to work. With some of the bigger ones I created a raised bed around the dead Apple tree. Forensics of one smooth polished side with smoothed edges to me indicate that these were once and likely used to pave NYC streets The smooth edges and polished sides are from tires.

Did another Home-Cheapo run for more manure/mulch, and for some plain mulch for the bed I established for the Tiger Lillies in the front yard.

Did some pruning of dead branches on trees that are my neighbors that reach into my yard. Just did a neatening so I don’t get poked in the eye. Pretty much I am staging and getting ready to order Boxwood shrubs to create a privacy wall on the dead end side of the patio.

Five different kinds of guitar picks were delivered. An analogy to how experimenting with new films and freshen one up, and to prevent from getting “stale.”

In my undergrad school I experimented a lot, and I took this course that was a Senior Seminar for a PES Major (Politics, Economics, and Society) which was an interdisciplinary study. This seminar had a visiting professor named Hadge Ross, who normally taught at MIT.

As an art student I was way in over my head, but it was great because this course taught me a lot about thinking, and how science, philosophy, religion, such disciplines are in fact ways to shape reality and basically are systems of belief.

Believe it or not a lot of examples were taken from physics, and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. We were taught how sometimes you have to believe to see, and that we can in effect change outcomes by just thinking a certain way.

All these contradictions and ambiguities were interesting studies. Anyways I learned a lot about critical thinking, and a lot about duality, and alternative realities.

So one lesson that I took to heart was the concept of “racing” and that wether in a car or on a bike, if you are not right on that very limit of almost out of control, then you are not really racing.

Later in life Master Sargent Jim gave me the book, “The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance” which is about quality control. This also was about not conforming into mediocrity.

So I wonder how young I have remained, just because of this thinking, and not settling in. When I learned digital printing, I decided to approach it to become a fine art B&W printer, not just an okay printer.

So I wonder if we get new cameras to freshen up, and to avoid becoming “stale.” Anyways for me, I think it is true.

Looking forward to getting my M3-DS serviced, and my Wetzlar M6 prototype. Both are presently jammed. I also want to get the Super Agulon 90mm cleaned and timed so it is ready for 4x5 use on the camera known as “The Devil Christian.”

When we head into the city to meet with Vanessa our future agent, I will dropped off the all the cameras and will stop by the “Time Machine” to drop off my Panerai to get a new crystal (old one is cracked) and have it serviced. This huge watch looks evil on my skinny wrist. Very bold look, muy macho.

Then comes the waiting…

The custom kitchen cabinets should be done by the end of the month, so maybe the kitchen and powder room will get done around tax time. Only took ten months…

My knee has been good for the past three days, but it is still not 100%. Dragging my garden carts around laden with heavy stuff is building up some strength, but I’m not pushing anything too hard. Lots of lifting though. I keep on digging up cart loads of buried bricks. Oh-well, more landfill in the back-backyard.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

With 5 different new picks to compare to an optimized one for each guitar, so far I have tested two guitars and this red color coded pick that is 1.14mm thick made of “Delrin” seems to offer more of a full sound with added note separation.

Each guitar is slightly different, so I will see if “Red” becomes the new standard to beat on the other guitars. My old favorite picks were either blue color coded Tortex (1.0mm) or purple Tortex (1.14mm). Seems like the Delrin is stiffer and for me it allows for a bigger sound via more top end clarity. Not much more, but in the end a really big deal. Glad I did this experiment, and now to compound the benefits.

I also discovered that the ultra small picks don’t work for me, and these others the material is too soft to promote my attack.

The Japanese Maples that have white branches I think got ice damaged. Less than half survived the winter. Oh-well. Anyways it might be a numbers game with cultivating them.

In the back-slope last summer I found this heavy rusted wire tray that is about the size of a window box that I saved. I figured I would recycle it in a hill-billy manner into a container for plants. Snarky Joe gifted me some packs of shingles that I used as weights to hold down some tarps to smother Knotweed in the section that will be eventually graveled as a buffer.

So I connect the dots and will use a few of Joe’s shingles as a lining for this heavy mesh artifact. The idea is to plant more Morning Glories and have them cover this fallen dead tree that leans into onto my property that suggests a cave/ blind, or hideout for the “Creature-Junior” (grand-daughter). With a canopy of dense climbing multicolored Morning Glories pretty much a cool fort of sorts.

BTW in a feral way some wild climbers kinda already made a cave/fort on its own. I’m only adding to the natural effect.

Looks like I need to do another Home-Cheapo run for more manure/compost mix for the “Rose Garden.” I mixed in about 25 gallons of egg shell, onion skins, coffee grinds… that I saved for composting. Mucho skanky, but I guess what I’m trying to do is create a worm farm of sorts. My soil needs to be enriched, especially for Roses.

Today hopefully is the last eye doctor visit. The morning rain will rinse off the residue of soap on the Audi from my hand wash. Don’t forget that I’m a Lazy-Slacker…

I’m likely going to check out this fancy nursery to check out the boxwood shrubs I need for the privacy wall. Most of the time I buy sprigs and use time as my friend to save money, but in this case I think I want some more mature plants to speed things up.

Anyways every day I keep on doing something. I have a lot of pent up waiting from the winter. Being a loner is not so easy…

I also created a bench out of a bluestone slab that was recovered from my front stoop. I used leftover bricks from the front stoop and walkway as the risers. Gravity works, and I used three bricks in overlapping layers to build up thick two legs. Does not look so hill-billy, but I suspect the bricks will get replace because of “woman-factor.” One leg are stoop bricks and the other leg is made of leftover front sidewalk pavers. I’m cool with the miss-match because pretty much had the right amount of each. How did that happen? I think I just have one leftover paver.

Right now I have it setup on a concrete walkway, but I have smaller slabs of bluestone that I can use as a stable foundation to recreate this bench on soil, grass, or gravel anywhere. Mucho clever.

“I’m so smart,” I say. LOL.

I take notice that in a ways I’m reminded of when I was a little kid. Seems like I never grew up and I’m stuck in my childhood. At this point it is not a bad thing.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Some more developments with the guitar picks on the Santa Cruz OM which is a very bright and loud guitar. Certain picks have more compression, but there is a small loss of treble and perceived loudness. The thicker picks definitely have a more profound bass response, and again the “red” Delrin seems to the best boom and blume in the treble. On this guitar I can see using 4 out of the 5 picks depending on effect.

I learned the one small pick I ordered will not work for me. Oh-well…

Also I expanded my testing back to the solid body “Esquire” (one pickup Tele) and can see how the 1mm Tortex that are smaller than my standard Tortex offer better articulation, feel, and comfort. On this guitar the boom and Blume is big with the “red” 1.14mm, but the 1.0mm Tortex offers a nice roll-off of the top end that is useful almost like having a small bit of compression by killing some top end. Very useful.

Anyways it is small amounts of details that made me a great B&W printer. Now I am utilizing my obsessive behaviors to a different advantage for tone in music instead of on paper.

Pretty much the same behavior, the same learning experience, but a different medium. Kinda like how one less inversion can make for better negatives, or enhance a compensating effect, or smaller grain, or more midrange, or less contrast.

Can you see how one inversion can make a difference? I have using Diafine.

Rain this morning rinsed off the soap residue from my lazy-slacker hand washing. The Audi gleams like the newest car on the parking lot. Anyways the culture in the burbs is not to park your car in the garage, but I do. It would be great to have this car last decades because I love it. I’m kinda spoiled now by German design and engineering.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Did you ever think that life would become like analog photography? Pretty much so many things are effected by shortages it is like taking a shot, and then waiting to find the opportunity for things to develop, and a delayed response.

Unlike digital photography you can’t chimp the camera.

So much of my life is waiting. There are delays, shortages, lack of labor…

So now I’m thinking of how inflation is really a supply imbalance where shortages causes prices to increase. With cheap crap from China and elsewhere we actually had “disinflation” for a prolonged period of history where we had mucho cheap goods at low prices, but clearly the tide has shifted and globalization is unwinding.

So if now the time of abundance is over, what if we now live in a world of shortages that become chronic? I can see things like the house I bought, the used Audi, most of my old cameras all going up in value. Have you seen M6 prices lately?

A few months after I bought the Audi A4, Audi made me an offer of about a $5K credit on my A4 towards a new Audi. Pretty much I bought the car and the house before people realized there were shortages. I figure Audi could resell my car easily and recover the $5K easily.

Anyways I can see inflation sticking around for a prolonged period basically just because we experienced a long period of disinflation. Remember that deflation is about having a surplus of goods, and inflation is just the opposite, meaning shortages.

I believe in regression to the mean…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

On Friday we went into NYC. “Maggie” got her hair cut, while I dropped off two Leicas and a 4x5 lens at Nippon Camera Clinic, and went to “The Time Machine on 57th Street to drop off my Panerai GMT for service.

At Nippon Leica repairs are backed up big-time. My Wetlar Ti M6 prototype (cast zinc top plate that has Wetlar engravings, but is Ti plated, unlike later Ti M6’s that have brass top plates that are Ti plated) I have owned since 2008. This camera came with a broken frame counter, and I shot it that way for a year before sending it to Sherry for upgrades and an overhaul. This camera was heavily used for 14 years and now is jammed. Oh-well, time for another overhaul.

The M3-DS though needs a new shutter, and that might be a problem. Leica no longer makes the shutter, but Nippon might have a few, otherwise I will have a dead M3. Anyways I feel lucky and hope that I can get this Dual-Stroke repaired.

I dropped off a very clean 90mm Super Agulon to get the shutter timed. The slow speeds are sticky and slow. This lens is for the camera called the “Devil Christian” that has a 28mm FOW in 4x5 and will have a fixed focus of 2 meters for mostly shooting verticals.

With Covid I really avoided unnecessary excursions in the city over the past 2-3 years. About 3 years ago Tourneou decided to remodel “The Time Machine” which is a multistory luxury watch store that is kinda set up like a department store. I walked past the location several times because there seemed to be a new store in its place with a different name.

Frustrated I walked in and asked this security guy who was a rather serious body guard that can only be looked upon as a “Monster.” Pretty much a 9mm handgun would inflict a wound like a Mo-Skeet-Toe bite.

So I was informed I was in the right place and that it took a full 3 years to remodel the store. Three years, how crazy is that?

So I went downstairs and dropped off my Panerai, and I had the leather strap installed and exchanged for the metal OEM bracelet on one of “Maggie’s” Cartiers.

Downstairs was another body guard/Monster man. Anyways somehow we talked and I found out he was ex military, ex-law enforcement, and is now a private contractor. He mentioned that he was stabbed a couple of times. So here was the real deal tough guy. We talked about the war in the Ukraine…

Took a cab to meet Maggie at Tal Bagel and had two: one with fresh lox; and one with scallion cream cheese with a coffee. Pretty much worth commuting to NYC alone to get bagels. They are that good.

We walked to B&H from 83rd and Lex so I could buy a Nikon HR-2, a new hood for my Noct-Nikkor. The old one is a collapsible rubber hood, but it developed a tear. I learned that they are now considered discontinued, but I suspect that the sales guy was lame because I inquired about the metal hood and he new nothing. Lame-lame and lame.

We walked further downtown and stopped off at a Patagonia in the Meet Packing district. I bought a fitted short sleeve button down the front shirt in a teal green print that floaters my orange skin for a Van Gogh effect of complimentary colors, and some loud stripped underwear.

Then we walked to the east side and further downtown to Peck Slip down by the South Street Seaport. We discovered that this McNally bookstore that first established itself in Soho, has another bookstore in the seaport. Anyways the curation of books reminds me of the old Rosellie Bookstore that was on 57th Street. The new Rosellie on Broadway just is not the same art bookstore.

We had Lattes and browsed around.

At 6:30 we started a long dinner with Vanessa our agent that lasted till 11:00. Vanessa loved Maggie’s new shorter haircut, and so do I. Pretty much the change is dramatic enough that I say it s like having a new girlfriend. LOL.

Vanessa has some ideas about making the cut and look even more edgy and sculpted, but for me I was ordered to keep letting my hair grow. The “duck-burns” where I once buzzed the sides is now below my ears, and pretty soon I should establish that George Washington/Alexander Hamilton may retro look in my pony tail.

We all talked about being excited about June, when things will begin in earnest, but evidently Vanessa already has been showcasing us around as a couple around with a lot of interest already with the big decision makers. Big time response.

I can see that Vanessa is very much a hands on person, and the reason why she travels so much is that she establishes these person-to-person relationships and deals with “clients” in person.

I inquired about whether being more fit or more muscular would be an asset, but I was told that I should come as I am because I already have my brand/my look/ and my unique style. So Maggie seems to be wrong, my lack of style is actually “cool.”

Anyways we talked a lot about branding and being cool.

So on another return trip to New York I kinda invited Vanessa to go on a day trip with us. She is looking to buy some property as an investment, and was thinking of buying something in the city like a brownstone, but I want to show her that if she might consider something up in the Hudson Valley. I mentioned how artist communities are getting established upstate and the resources we discovered in getting “house-parts” to restore historical buildings.

I remain pretty optimistic that the way Vanessa picks and chooses her clients that it pretty much is professional and on a friendship levels, as it should be.

Yesterday was a long day. We got the next to last train home.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Vanessa represents Dennis Morris, the British photographer who photographed Bob Marley until his death, the Sex Pistols, and Sid Vicious.

Dennis is a Leica film B&W shooter.

Pretty much she wants us to meet him.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Yesterday was a bit of a death march. My legs are still tired.

The hallway and porch is loaded with kitchen and bathroom building supplies. Unlike the Russian Army we have logistic support.

Since the kitchen is small the work should go fast. Looking forward to getting the kitchen and bathroom done, then I can next do the dinning room myself and do the hallway ceiling.

Part of the kitchen job is a two zone mini-split for HVAC on the first floor. The house is small and the entire first floor I figure is less than 700 square feet. I’m actually glad and pleased that the house is not big. Cheap taxes are an asset.

Cal

 

[Nokton48]

Afternoon Cal,

This morning I was looking through my second 8x10 Norma.

18x24 Sinar Norma 300 Xenar F4.5 Rembrandt Lighting by Nokton48, on Flickr

The cool thing about having multiple Normas, is that you can leave them set up for a while. Getting ready to shoot this one. Classic Rembrandt Lighting, Broncolor Beauty Light pointed straight down from up high as possible. Silver reflector on the floor tilted towards the subject. Lens is 300mm chrome Schneider Xenar, on custom made Norma board. Xenars are lovely to shoot through at near full aperture. The focus blows out behind the front row of petals which I find attractive. Strobe meter says F22 at EI 50 so just one pop will do. Canvas Background is by David Maheu "Kelly Grey" Like it Stormy Grey middle key with no corner vignettes. I can vignette with light if required

I'll be shooting 18x24 Kodak Mammo film and I'm thinking of going back to using straight Microdol-X for a shorter time, like five minutes. Think "Pull Processing" XRAY film gets too hot easily and needs some chemical restraint. Nothing like big negs for contact printing direct. BTW you can see the Norma 18x24cm framelines on the glass so the film image will be cropped as such. About 25 cents a sheet versus eight bucks for B&W Kodak 8x10 film.

 

[Calzone]

Afternoon Cal,

This morning I was looking through my second 8x10 Norma.

18x24 Sinar Norma 300 Xenar F4.5 Rembrandt Lighting by Nokton48, on Flickr

The cool thing about having multiple Normas, is that you can leave them set up for a while. Getting ready to shoot this one. Classic Rembrandt Lighting, Broncolor Beauty Light pointed straight down from up high as possible. Silver reflector on the floor tilted towards the subject. Lens is 300mm chrome Schneider Xenar, on custom made Norma board. Xenars are lovely to shoot through at near full aperture. The focus blows out behind the front row of petals which I find attractive. Strobe meter says F22 at EI 50 so just one pop will do. Canvas Background is by David Maheu "Kelly Grey" Like it Stormy Grey middle key with no corner vignettes. I can vignette with light if required

I'll be shooting 18x24 Kodak Mammo film and I'm thinking of going back to using straight Microdol-X for a shorter time, like five minutes. Think "Pull Processing" XRAY film gets too hot easily and needs some chemical restraint. Nothing like big negs for contact printing direct. BTW you can see the Norma 18x24cm framelines on the glass so the film image will be cropped as such. About 25 cents a sheet versus eight bucks for B&W Kodak 8x10 film.

Devil Dan,

Contact printing is munch on great. With Piezography Pro I can print 24 inch wide negatives, so 24”x36 inch negatives for contact printing is possible for me using the “Jersey Barrier” (Epson 7800). At this size though I would need a vacuum frame to maximize resolution. The say beyond 8x10 negatives a vacuum frame would be required.

So now you see where the garage/studio is going… Also I going to set the “clean-room” up also as a “soundstage” for photo and video shooting.

I’m kinda right behind you. Don’t stop short because I’ll run you over. LOL.

I don’t have an 8x10 yet.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

“Maggie” flew out to Santa Monica, California. I dropped her off at JFK early this morning. Made the round trip in 2 hours and ten minutes. She has to attend a “Board Meeting” at some resort. Really light traffic because it is a Sunday, at least on the way there.

So I will say that the cabs, UBER’s and Limo drivers are pretty much slow drivers on the road. Lots of idiot drivers going slow in the left lane creating congestion. Worse is the Cross Bronx Expressway.

I really took notice how all these commercial drivers slowed down, also lots of SUV’s going slow. High gas prices are an issue. They say, “Four out of five recessions are caused by high energy prices.”

Pretty good speculation that gas prices would not remain low forever, and me thinks that high gas and energy prices will kinda stay high. Easy to speculate that high gas prices might curb vacation travel.

Presently I have this Techron additive added to my gas which keeps everything clean on a fuel injected engine. This German mechanic I had when I owned a Saab 900 said I should use this additive once a month. Definitely an octane booster. The Audi loves this stuff. The sustained high speed driving, and the full throttle accelelation is great for the engine.

We had snow flurries today in Peekskill. Two days of twenty degree weather will follow, then finally mild temperatures. No garden work for me until the warmth kicks in. Oh-well. A good day to pull out a Matchless amp and plug in. I’m doing the full testing with the optimized new picks. Tone heaven…

I figured out how to manipulate this very cool 5-way preset switching I invented using what they call a “Mega-Switch.” I figured out how to have a standard 3-position Tele volume and tone setup, with an added two positions: on is the neck pickup alone with the tone control removed; and the other is the bridge pickup with a small bleed cap that chops off the very top high end treble so the sound is of a “Cocked-Wah-pedal.”

Very cool to have 5 presets on the guitar that all sound great. Very practical. Anyways this switching set up I invented and created, I’m keeping it a secrete, and it will be part of my branding/style.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

More guitar and amp tweaking today since “Maggie” is away. Lots of fun because everything is interactive.

Making the best of a cold day. Anyways plugging in is always a nice distraction because lately I mostly play acoustics.

I kinda fine tuned and am pleased with the improvements.

While I’m waiting for the mild weather, I’ll put some stuff away like the calcium carbonate for melting snow and ice. All I have to do are some small things. Joe is right I have time.

There is a child like amount of wondering going on that is kinda playful…

Then again I read a report that many people are skipping maintenance on their cars which is a short sided bad idea.

Today again I look out into the front-backyard and I see snow flurries, but no accumulation.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The Mark Sampson era Matchless Lightning and Spitfire are awesome amps, but my favorite is the transitional 1960 Fender Brown Super. This Super is not one of the very early versions that had the knobs Treble-Bass-Volume (backwards), but is a combination 6G4 and 6G4-A circuit.

It has the lower B+ on the pre-amps, a more simple tone stack, smaller caps feeding the power tubes (less thick sound), but has the later all tube vibrato with the extra tube.

So the Brown Super kinda has the tone of a 50’s tweed amp and not a lot of gain. Since my style is tone from my hands without effects or pedals the extra touch sensitivity and more organic tone serves me well.

Seems like I now have to optimize and adjust my guitars for the Brown Super. Will likely have to raise the pickups a little to get more output and to thicken the sound a bit. The top end seems to get rounded off a bit.

So now the Mark Sampson amps I will just hold onto as investments. New Matchless amps pretty much are the same as the Mark Sampson era amps, except for the old Plexiglass handle which is just cosmetic. This makes the older amps not appreciate like old Fender versions that are no longer made since new ones are essentially the same parts and build quality.

My two amps though are rare because they are 2x10 versions, where most Lightnings and Spitfires were built with a single 12 inch speaker. 2x10 is a tighter more focused sound with a tighter bass and better projection due to increased speaker surface area.

A while back Matchless discontinued the 2x10 option, so my amps not only are of Mark Sampson era (1996 and 1997), but are rare because of the 2x10 speakers. Anyways easily pretty much worth today twice what I paid for them, and the Lightning is a rare custom color “Shower Curtain Black.”

These smaller amps BTW are sought after for recording.

So plugging in these amps and putting them through their paces lets me know they are gig ready. No issues even though they are all old.

”Maggie” flys home tomorrow.

More guitar tweaking tonight.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

“Maggie” is back from Santa Monica.

Over the period she was away I learned a lot about my amps because I had mucho undisturbed time to play around. This pretty much would never happen with Maggie around. Oh-well…

One very cool thing with brown Fender amps is that because there is no reverb you can jumper the channels like in a Marshall amp. Fender Reverb amps have an extra gain stage and this makes the two channels out of phase, which causes the sound to get thin and nasally.

Jumpering channels thickens the sound, but also chops some of the high end frequencies. So I kinda learned that on some guitars jumpering is great, but on others it actually kills tone.

In 1949 Leo Fender created an electric guitar that had only one pickup in the bridge. This prototype had 3-on-a-side tuners and not the 6 inline tuners that is a Fender trademark. These guitars are known as “Snakeheads.” They strongly resemble a Fender Telecastor in many ways, but the controls were only two knobs, a volume and a tone, with no switching.

A very simple rectangular plate held the two knobs, so the guitar looks very-very primitive, and that is what is so cool about a Snakehead, a very basic guitar. Also back then Fender was a cheap-Fxxx, and he used pine as a wood for the body and not Swamp Ash or Alder.

The lightweight pine had a tone of it’s own. Fender laminated pine together to build up thickness, and these early guitars were also thinner that the Esquires and Telecastors that would follow. It was almost as if scraps of wood were glued together that were just laying around.

So a few years ago I bought on EBAY this pine body that was being sold off by a guitar builder. What drew me in was that this Snakehead body was one piece of old growth barn wood that was full of wormholes and painted with a white nitrocellulose finish. The guitar was also distressed with chips, wear, and dings to make it look many decades old.

Back in the 50’s Fender finishes were so thin that basically you saw the grain of the wood through the finish. This was done to save money on production costs.

So I get the body. It was not lightweight, just the opposite, but in the world of guitars it is said that, “Worms only eat the good wood.” The one piece body was perfectly quarter sawn but as a slab, the result was that instead of being a flat slab, it cupped into an arc of sorts where it kinda has an arched top that made this guitar’s setup to be mucho playable and comfortable.

The finish was a bit thick. Fender was cheap and he saved money by just barely covering the wood, so I wet sanded down the finish. In spots I got down to the wood to get a vintage wear and distress look. The top is free of worm holes, but the back is riddled as well as the sides.

Fender sells these Custom Shop “Nocaster” pickups for almost no money. They are a vintage low output pickup. I installed one of these. I had a Snakehead neck on another Tele, so I canabilized it and bought a replacement neck for the Tele.

At work I found a chunk of stainless steel and fashioned a control plate. In the end I have a second control plate just in case I want to build another Snakehead.

So I love this guitar. It has mucho “Calzone-Factor” and like me it is a freak.

The 1960 Fender Brown Super 6G4/6G4-A jumpered with this Snakehead is magical. On the tone knob is a pull switch that bypasses the tone control and places a small cap shorted to ground to work as a “bleed-cap” so I can achieve a “cocked-wah” sound where the very top end is chopped off for a thicker sound from this one pickup guitar.

Anyways this guitar is mucho touch sensitive and something about the sound is very raw and perhaps rude in an aggressive way like a horn. I think because the guitar is heavy it promotes a very thick tone. It does not get much better than this. Mucho brutal.

The brown Super amp has this tube driven Vibrato that provides a Leslie rotating speaker effect. The sound swells and changes direction. It is so lush you can get dizzy.

The Brown Super unjumpered is a great amp for my other guitars too. Something about the clean Fender sound I love, but also I love the dynamics of a lower gain amp.

BTW the Brown Super I bought for only $1.1K a few years ago maybe a year before Covid started. Pretty much a customer of my friend Cris came in to unload the amp. The forensics were that the chassis was likely purchased that was missing the output and power supply trannies.

This guy Todd thought he could buy a Larry Rogers repo cabinet, new modern Jensen P10R speakers, Mercury Magnetics repo transformers, and make a working amp that still would be a great “player’s amp” for no-money. In the end he likely spent close to if not more that $1k just in parts.

That’s when I stepped in…

In Cris’s showroom the amp crackled and cut in and out. I figured some bad intermittent connections. I pulled to tubes and found they were NOS vintage tubes, and when I pulled out the chassis pretty much all the caps, including the power supply electrolytic were OEM. The amp in many ways was a time machine going back to 1960.

The power supply tranny is the same as used on a Fender 4x10 Bassman, a very costly vintage amp. Not uncommon for Brown Superts and other amps to be donors of their power supply transformers. I figure the original amp was just parted out, and somehow Todd bought the chassis.

I saw cold slider joints on the ground connections on the trannies Todd replaced. Evidently he did not own a 1200 watt soldering iron like I do. I replaced all the electrolytic capacitors. Todd relied on slip on lugs for the speaker connections, and I believed this was causing the cutting in and out, but I would later learn that it was in fact a bad right angle cheap Chinese repo/retro RCA jack connector that was causing the cutting in and out.

In doing a “smoke-test” I “Red Plated” the output tubes. At first I thought it was the loss of bias, but then possibly bad tube sockets that I ended up replacing, but I eventually found it was the cheap RCA jack made in China. The Red Plating killed the set of 6L6 NOS power tubes. Oh-well…

So today this amp as a “player” is still worth $2.5K to perhaps $3.5K, but I’ll never sell it.

I’m waiting on Nippon Camera Clinic to find out about how long a wait, and if they have new a new shutter for my M3-DS.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The mind wanders, and I think I know why jumping channels kills off some of the highs.

If I adjust each channel separately for volume and tone and then jumper them the input signal gets divided and the overall output going to the driver that feeds the power tubes becomes less. This is pretty straight forward, but I think the highs get attenuated because of phase cancelation when the two signals get processed and amplified then merged into the driver.

I learned from my playing around that when jumpering I have to offset the effect of dividing the signal and then recombining as the input to the driver. Now things make sense to me.

The “Snakehead” is a bright guitar, and the phase cancelation of the highs works in favor in this case. The effect of tolerances in the caps, resistors and tubes all add up to be pretty significant to cause a differential between the two signals, and the delta effects the highs more than the lows and minds.

Because I have to raise the volumes to compensate for losses in effect I’m adding to and amplifying/compounding this cancelation.

I wondered also how a Molotov Cocktail today would her used against a modern tank. In the old days they were pretty effective. The idea was to start a fire near the engine air intake. The idea of using styrofoam I already knew was to make gasoline more like a jelly and less liquid.

Did you know the name Molotov was created by the Finnish? Molotov was a Defense Prime Minister in Russia with whom the Finnish were fighting.

So pretty much in the Ukrainian it is pretty much an incendiary weapon, but not so useful against today’s tanks. A pretty close up weapon BTW unless dropped from buildings at the enemy below in an urban setting. I guess pretty effective against solders in the streets. How far can you throw a full wine bottle?

I ended up getting $339.00 back as a refund from my commuter pre-tax account. I called about the $120.00 credit that was not getting approval when I was buying mucho Metro North tickets and Metro Cards. Anyways I was informed that my card was disabled and I was entitled to a $339.00 credit. Oh-well… I think a computer error in my favor.

So another computer error at CVS. I went back with my receipt and wanted the 50% off my second container of unsalted Cashews. I only got a $5.00 off because I spent over $30.00. So one computer error led to another, and eventually the store manager issued me a CVS gift card for the money I was due.

So because I’m Cantonese, I kinda bred for fighting. While the rest of China was unified Canton remained a feudal area that was considered ungovernable for almost a thousand years. Part of me I feel is Pit-Bull.

I got a $5.00 off at DSW. I’m kinda compelled to buy something at DSW, likely from the discount rack, to add to the 50 gallon bin of shoes and boots I have stockpiled. Very likely will try and get work boots or more sneakers. I’m very hard on footwear, I have a heavy heal strike, so shoes, sneakers, and boots don’t last too long. Right now I’m critically low on sneakers.

My way of fighting inflation is to save money whenever I can. If I can’t get a sale or a low price I won’t buy it.

I bought a Nikon HR-2 hood for my Noct-Nikkor online. B&H was mucho lame. Oh-well I have to pay shipping…

When I was at B&H though a Baby Linhoff caught my eye in a showcase in the used department. It was a clean body, but the cam included was not the right one I wanted for the 53mm Zeiss wide along with the 100 F2.8 Zeiss Planar.

If this had the right cam then I would have the other rangefinder option. Understand that Linhoff made a different optics and rangefinder for the ultra wides with a different magnification. Too bad because the price was right, and it had a grip and cable release. Linhoff accessories are mucho expensive and it almost pays to buy a kit because you can recover so much money selling the accessories.

I checked the used inventory before going to NYC at B&H, but mighty slim pickings. The good old days are gone.

Cal