Brb sidechange

Well the bank holiday weekend starts here with sun even in Manchester of all places so being out of doors is kinda on the horizon even if you take some creature comforts with you which these days might include your cellphone or e-book reader.
However for some of the stuff we'd of taken with us would of been different way back in the day such as portable record players, a radio or even a tape player for entertainment like this cult 70's singles player you just slot the disc into  and it plays.
Wacky technology like this is what some of us grew up with and before anyone laughs people did try having an in car version too!!! The draw back being the need to change disc every few minutes which isn't too practical while driving and requiring a fair number of discs in the portable version to keep you entertained something like ten of an hours worth or so of playing.
That's  why If I'm chatting to you   and you see "Brb side change" you'll know I'm spinning discs and had get up to change disc side and clean the side before resuming play! They're part of the rituals of living in my time although I usually spin long players.

Billy Joel, The Piano man Pt.3

Following on from the first two posts of this series, finally the specialty record company Mobile Fidelity re-issued Billy's 1983 album a few weeks ago.

While from the part of view of artistry this fails to keep up with his artistic development such as that on the previous years The Nylon Curtain, what it makes up for is his abilities to bring about a fine pastiche of 50's music for the 80's which hit the nostalgia market head on.
It also helped no end that Billy had embraced the pop video for stations such as Much Music and MTV so those memorable songs from the album such as the singles Uptown Girl, Tell Her About had lodged their way into ones visual recollections of that era. Billys performances on what I can consider to the best songs on the album such as the uptempo Christie Lee, the doowop inspired the Longest Time  and plaintive An Innocent Man are amongst the best he's ever recorded.
This remastered super audio cd that also has a layer that plays in regular players offers much improved transparency over the original and 1998 remastered edition coupled with an amazing rich sound that makes you feel Billy's singing in your room on a good quality stereo.
Strongly recommended for Billy Joel fans.

Junior Art

Most of us encountered art either around us on maybe on the things people bought us such as books, packaging of toys and so on.
As you slowly and for some of us definitely slowly developed your fine motor skills  you may of started to doodle on pieces of paper, done some colouring before doing art in the nursery or infants class usually around the things you know starting say with faces of siblings and so on.
Later on in juniors you'd of had lessons where you might be given a subject to interpret and draw which in my case included drawing things like branches, pussy willow, acorns and flowers that we'd seen in nature study. In my case we went outside to draw them too!
A while ago I did draw some Canada Geese in pencil as I'm a bit of a techophobe when it comes to using tablet and computer software and here is the picture.

Yes that's a Hello Kitty pencil I used to draw it with!

The "ShallowMemory special" phono cartridge

This ones for hipsters, mixers and for those of us who still run records be they olde records or new limited edition copies.
One thing that can put people off getting into playing records via a decent stereo is the business involved in fitting a cartridge -the thing that gets the sound from them there grooves - to a record deck.
It's one reason why decks pre-fitted are popular although many hifi type decks today from people like Rega and Pro-ject of the Czech Republic lack such creature comforts as easy to change speed controls or removable headshells.
If you own a deck or are planning to get one that has a removable headshell such as the Technics 1200 series (or look a likes) or older Japanese decks that do such as Pioneers, there is simple option.
The "ShallowMemory special" is a cheap way of achieving something Kab in the States offers - a plug and play preset hifi cartridge - for such decks as most types are designed for dj work and don't give good enough sound.
The start point is getting the Ortofon Pro S cartridge designed for use in discos that plugs straight in where the headshell goes.

You can pick these up either new from DJ suppliers or used often with a damaged stylus which doesn't matter as we won't be using the original.
The cartridge itself is a Ortofon Super design but preassembled to go to the SME type headshell plug which you then just push on and tighten up the collared nut to the playing arm.Because of its design all that messing about with geometry getting the thing mounted right isn't needed.
What we do is remove the original dj stylus from the front (the bit with the red dot) by pulling it toward you.
Having ordered a type 10 or 20 stylus you take that out of the packaging and push it on so it fits tightly. You now have in effect a Ortofon Super 10/20 cartridge that just plugs straight in.
All you do is set the playing weight and anti-skating settings to 1.5 grams and you're good to go.
Stockist of type 10 stylus in the UK include Manta Audio and "The Stylus Lady" on ebay.

Space age living

The week it had to be said  had a turbulent start but ended quite well all be considered gaining a few fans at one place, seeing a misunderstanding led disagreement get to the point of accommodation and finally late spring weather came to match late spring so I was able to not bother with coat wearing.
People often hear the groan ups talking about how we live, the type of environment they plan and how that affects things and this taps into some of things we recall of the past.
For instance in the late 1960's and 1970's the way children lived was changing rapidly brought on by both the idea of keeping more green spaces and also using less land for housing.
One famous children's tv series caught it well.

Yes that is a lift to the flat Mary lived in with Mungo the dog and Midge the inquisitive mouse in their town. They had a flat with a balcony that served as their garden and if they wanted more space then they'd go the communal park where fairs and other things go on.

Here's Mary playing with the bright colourful building blocks.
 I often harboured the thought they were trying to prepare us to this more isolated existance where everyone kept themselves to themselves, a far cry from the sort of life my folks had.
For one thing you couldn't just play in each others gardens or on the street, just in doors in the park away from the neighbours and the other is it remove the wonder of seeing the natural environment with it's calming effects.