Tuesday - new stuff from 65 Amps and more

Yesterday was hot.  Today it was cooler.  Yesterday it reached 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles.  This was a record since data was collected starting in 1877.



The big activity of the day was based around a new amp from the folks at http://www.65amps.com/ - The London Pro.  This is one of two new amps that will see their debut at The L.A. Ampshow this weekend 10/2 and 10/3.  There is another model not shown here that a number of folks played at the 65 Amps open house a few weeks ago.....

Monday is starting out by breaking records

Starting the week off Los Angeles saw 113 degrees downtown.  It was the hottest day in Los Angeles, or at least since 1877 when these things were recorded.

The 6th annual Los Angeles Ampshow is this weekend ( October 2,3) so folks are already coming into town for the event ( http://www.ampshow.com/)

Just because you THINK you can sing .....

A little wrap up on yesterday 9/24/10 and I will add some of 9/25/10 at the end of this entry as well.

Just because you THINK you can sing it does not mean you should put out a CD.  OK, freedom of speech, art, expression, we are all different and on and on and on.  Yes, you may have the right but that does not make it right. 



The most critical, least expensive, most overlooked tubes in your amp.

Loni Specter on the left of http://www.ampshow.com/

I picked the photo above of myself and Loni as the 6th annual Los Angeles Ampshow is coming almost here, October 2,3 of 2010 in Van Nuys California.  I will be there as always and will once again be the moderator on the Tone Wizzards panel.

With the ampshow on the horizon I felt that posting something from another side of my life might be a nice change.

Preamp Tubes - The most critical, least expensive, most overlooked tubes in your amp.

The tonal signature of "your sound" and interchangeable without adjustment or the need of an amp tech.....

If you post it, they will come?

Well ... maybe not.

There are now 1,312 photos in the Ultimate Coffee Table Book collection as of today.

An emotionally draining slideshow which mixes art, whimsey, low production values, a general lack of composition, sexual tension, nausea and the feeling of foolishness you have if you can watch the entire show from beginning to end.

What could be better than an album of nothing but low resolution shots taken with my cellphone (and a few from friends cellphones as well) ... and then, take these low resolution photos and upload them in real time to facebook where the quality and size is reduced even more?

Feel free to view this as a slideshow and share the slideshow link with friends ... or perhaps people who you wish to bother just a bit?

Just one of over 1,300 items included in the below slide show.....

The Play. I am still alive

I am writing a new blog entry from the experience of last night.  Stepping back to Monday evening for a moment I will paste some of the prior blog entry to lay a bit of groundwork.  Just look at the prior blog for an even deeper look earlier in the week.

9/20/10 8:00pm

Taking it easy tonight for the next two hours. At about 10pm I will head downtown.

Plans are already made for tomorrow night. At 8:00pm I will be seeing a play in Westwood called Love, Loss, and What I Wore. I have no clue what it is about. I was told it is supposed to be funny. I was also told that it has good reviews. I was told there are supposed to be a lot of great clothes in the play. Hmmm, does this sound like something I can wrap my head around? .....

Taking hold of this week one day at a time

I am going to try something new on this blog this week.  I am going to attempt to document what transpires during this week from my perspective.  I may cover a lot of ground that could range from trivial daily activities such as moving a speaker at the shop from one amp to another, my thoughts on news items, meal and poor cell shots of those meals, my time spent downtown and activities in regard to the homeless and whatever else crosses my mind, all described in my classic run on sentence style of ramble.  I suppose some of my friends from the past might feel as if this blog may be a lot like the log books that were continually updated when I lived on my boat Spirit of Nemo for three plus years in the past.

So here we go ....  starting this on Monday 9/20/10

This morning things started out quite early.  I went to the beach and walked for a while, had a bit of breakfast on the way back home and got ready to head into the shop over at http://www.65amps.com/  

I briefly checked the financial news ...

Technology! Four people in two states share dinner together.

Yesterday was an interesting day in a few ways.  Quite conventional on the surface but depending on how you look at it .....  .......

When I was the age of my dinner companions the cell phone had not even been invented for general use. 

I made this comment at one point during dinner and got away with it.  When my friend in Phoenix asked why my friends would be interested in him I replied that apparently they had nothing better to do this evening than hang around with somebody my age.  That comment got me a kick under the table.

Perhaps I need to back up a little.

I have some friends that live in downtown Los Angeles.  I do a bit of work for some of them and in the process I have expanded the circle of people I know downtown.  It has been a nice arrangement as some of the work I do is compensated by meals at times and a little cash at times.

Today a few of us went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Hop Woo in Downtown Los Angeles Chinatown.  I had been there a number of times before as they are open until 1am other than Friday and Saturday night when they are open until 3am.

Some people say that this place has the best Peking Duck in the city.  One of my boys thinks they have the best shrimp he has eaten or right up there with the best.......

What has been going on in the last few days or week .....

About a week ago I posted a weekly snapshot.  I will do the same again. 

Before I even get started, Andy Bales of Union Rescue Mission just posted his latest blog entry.  It is worth taking a few minutes to read his piece at http://www.urmblog.org/2010/09/16/the-incredible-power-of-words/

I suppose a good opening for this blog would be the above photo taken with my cellphone.  These are what I refer to as "meal cards".  I carry these with me all the time.  When I am downtown and folks tell me they are hungry and need money for food I offer one of these cards to them.  I also offer to walk them down to Union Rescue Mission.   This can be a tough gig as in many cases folks don't actually want the meal or want the help.  They want cash.  Many become a bit difficult to converse with if you give them a possible avenue to change their lives.....

What has been going on this week?

As I sit here for a few minutes writing this blog entry I do not feel one way or another at the level of activity in the last few days or the week.  Perhaps when I look back on what I wrote on facebook in real time or look at some of my photos I will get a better idea of the past few days or week.....

A week in my life - mostly in poor cellphone photos

Here we are on a Friday once again.  I think I will put my thoughts and some activities of the last week into a blog entry.  I guess I don't have to always post things on the economy, employment situation or the homeless. 

So, here we go.  I am going to attempt to upload a lot of photos in this entry.  I have no idea on the order in which they will display but I will do the best with what ends up happening.  Perhaps I will do a little less than the best if it looks too time consuming.  You know me ... efficiency in motion and effort is my creed.

I went shooting two times last week.  One time I used this shotgun, my A391.  I did much better than I normally do so I thought I would return in the next day or two with my pretty Beretta over/under to see how I would fare with my other shotgun.....

Shay Kelley - Project 50/50 - please consider giving her a hand?

Here in Los Angeles I see the homeless problems grow every week.  The homeless population of Los Angeles was somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 at the last count.  I have no idea when that count was taken (some videos that mention this go back to 2005) but I watch the population density increase each month.  May, June, July and August have been hard months.  There are more folks on the street than ever before and no matter what the media reports about the economy, things are not getting better.

At night I "people count". I do this at the beginning of each month and the end of each month. I have a series of blocks mapped out and try to hit the same places on the same nights of a week during the same hours a few times a month.

Most of the street folks used to be sort of northwest of Union Rescue Mission, The Midnight Mission, LAMP and the Los Angeles Mission. The area of San Pedro Street toward Wall Street to Los Angeles Street between 3rd and 7th.

Numbers in the area noted above had increased but in June there was little activity southwest of San Pedro Street.

In July it the area southwest of San Pedro Street increased in population and in August it increased again about three times in those two months.   My grandfather had a laundry business on Gladys where I worked as a teenager.  I know my way around the area and have seen the changes.

This area of expansion of the homeless is southeast of San Pedro to Alameda between 8th and South Central Ave.  This is the area that is up three times in population.

Towne Avenue between 5th and 7th is a war zone. Very high drug traffic, a lot of violence and girls that will do anything for a dollar. One hit off a crack pipe is $1.

While I walk the streets of Los Angeles there is a gal out there who is all over the map .... literally.  This blog entry is intended to be more about her travels and hopefully some of you folks can give her a hand.

Shay Kelley.  This is a gal with a lot of heart and spirit.  She is part way though her project 50/50 - visit 50 states in 50 weeks.

Update 9/17/10 - Shay posted a new blog entry: http://project5050.posterous.com/

Above - Shay Kelley, her companion Zuzu and her 1984 Ford pickup truck Bubba.  Bubba is her mode of transport and most of the time it is her home.  I don't think 1984 was exactly a high mileage year for Ford pickups even when they were new.  ......