YARDCRAP

PIGS DON'T FLY

                                  

You may not approve, but I don’t believe in miracles anymore.

I used too, but found out years ago that even if they do exist, they don’t apply to me.

I watched a cute movie around 1 A.M.  last night.

It was about this pig that lived in a barn where the animals talked and a Spider named Charlotte gave the pig good advice.  The pig also had a wonderful little girl helping out (Dakota Fanning).  After everything turned out OK, the movie ended with a wonderful song – “ORDINARY MIRICLE”. 

Of course reality is lived in Black and White, but at least movies and even the music can be in COLOR.  I need to log into PIRATE BAY and get that song.  I could if I had an account there.  If I do, it would not be wise to say so here.   The trial of the Swedish Pirates has ended, and the verdict will come in a few weeks.  It may take some time as sometimes justice goes to who ever bids the highest.  It is only fair to give all parties a chance to lay a little “pig fat” on the judge.  In case you did not know, Pirate Bay is about to release a new ‘secret user’ thing.   Back here in the woods our WWW connection is to slow to steal, but Hussein Obama promises to fix that. Your tax money might give me a fast internet.

 

WONDER YEARS

I know it is Spring and I should be in the garden, but after the last post I decided to re arrange my audio system out here.  I have been at it most of the morning as I took everything down and put it back in a better way. (maybe).  So, instead of having my mind on flowers and vegetables I have been occupied with DAC (digital audio converter). 

Since I mostly play music out here on the deck from the computer, getting a decent sound is tough.  Being outside with no walls is tough, and of course getting good sound from a computer is tricky.  Built in computer audio used to be a joke, but the newer chips are a thousand times better, as good as most sound cards for stereo.  Both still lack a lot so you really have to add an external DAC if you want anything approaching your high dollar stereo that you probably never use.

A great DAC is about thousand dollars.  I have put off one that good until I hit the lotto next week.

 

Still, I have a decent system put together with crap I have acquired from here and there.  The heart of it all is an old amplifier made about 25 years ago.  Twenty-five years ago, I could never have afforded it, but a few years back I mostly stole it off ebay as one of the outputs needed a little repair, and I have been repairing second hand stuff all my life.  It is terrible I suppose to have this big boy out here mounted under the deck in the weather, but I never play music indoors.  I bet you don’t either.  This monster pushes 5 channels with 5 individual amps inside, and has a separate input for each.  That is wild, but it has enough power to make Tim Taylor grunt, especially if he might be trying to move it.

 

While testing the new placement of things, I cranked up Percy Sledge.  Percy hit the scene slightly after my school days,  and being sequestered by the Army for about a year, I had little knowledge of the guy. I arrived at the 2^nd Missile Detachment as a young guy quite depressed and lonely.  I found an album in the small break room where I had to sleep of his, and played that on the company stereo over and over, as it made me feel like I was back home.

Percy was/is different.  He was “Southern Soul”, which was rare on record at the time as Motown, Beatles, and Beach Boys mostly had the industry tied up at the time, but not the radio in South Carolina.

Percy is a great story – unlike the above mentioned who had “state of the art” equipment and backing, Percy hooked up with a couple of “good old boys” in Alabama who converted an Army surplus tin  quansit hut into a music place.  As the late Paul Harvey used to say, ...................!

When Percy came out with “Take Time To Know Her”, Lieutenant Watt and I played it on the juke box constantly every night in a tiny guesthouse for days as we downed great beer in great quantity and wished we were back in the States.

 

Funny, but when I got back, the first concert I saw was with a now Green Beret I had entered the Army with on the “Buddy Plan”.   He claimed he thought he was just a witness for me joining and was shanghaied.  Percy put on a great show for us that night.

Everyone knows about ‘Southern Rock’, but ‘Southern Soul’ acts like Percy Sledge and The Tams are the reflection for that.

 

Yard Crap

I guess this is too long and rambles, but what the hell.   I am just writing thoughts to keep my mind off the fact that ‘Winnie Cooper’ got married this week.  I am OK, but I worry about Kevin.

GO here:  WINNIE COOPER 

                                      

 

PANDORA'S BOX

                    

You might be like me tonight.

 

It is very dark, and I am sitting on my deck waiting on the rain to start. I have my fires going, and of course my music is way too loud booming from my 7 Bose speakers, 2 amps and 2 subwoofers.  All I have in the house is computer speakers, but I insist on great music outdoors.

My pond lights have come on and it is great being me tonight.  My Beagle is down by the lake howling as only Beagles can.

 

You can build all I have quickly, except the music part, and finding a dog who really is your best friend.  Over the years I have accumulated many thousands of my favorite songs.  I add to them when I find something I like.  Most of mine were purchased in second hand stores and pawn shops back many years ago.  It took years.  I bought George Jones and James Brown in the 60’s.  I have converted many of my favorite albums to CD, but in this age all you have to do is hit ebay, and you can probably find you favorites there for 99 cents plus a few dollars shipping.  After that, you convert them to your computer, and you have it made.  Even if you don’t have a computer on your deck, you might have a laptop, plus the wireless gets better and cheaper everyday.  I have used a few of those wireless things, and have them in boxes now, but they are OK, and newer ones may be better.  I am past that need since I built a computer mainly to play music and Clemson Football just for this deck.  I guess most people don’t want their media center on the deck, but you can have more than one for the price of lugging an ipod back and forth.

 

Getting all your favorite songs might be tough and expensive.  If you are reading this you might be to busy to put that on the front burner, as we Gardeners don’t have any free time now that SPRING has started.

So here is just an excellent alternative.  I am actually using it now.  Do this – really, do this.  You might the only one left not doing this.

I just came out and typed in “The SUPREMES”.  My computer is now playing great stuff, and no not just “The Supremes”, in fact seldom them.  You pick the song or the artist, and then the site streams music like that to you.  It is “WAY” more than that, and easy to use.  I would put it near impossible what they do.  Actually every song I have heard tonight I have in the puter, but it is good to have a new mix.  This is really good, and almost magic.

 

Go here http://www.pandora.com/.  You don’t even have to tell them I sent you.  

It is simple and easy to use, and free.  Yes it is free.  You can subscribe for 36 bucks, but you don’t need to.  After you play this at work or in the kitchen for a few days, you will want to send them some money.  This is incredible and so easy.  I bet they have more of my favorite songs than I do.

YardCrap

email me and I will send you the photo I wanted to put up there on top, but that is a good one !!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acer Aspire One D150

             

I posted this at AMAZON. I usually don't do things like that, but I sure appreciate when others do. I bought a netbook a couple weeks ago. I like it !!  I was in a hurry writing the Amazon review because I was drinking beer and needed to drain the lizard.  I cleaned it up a little to post here.

---YC

This toy is getting glowing reviews from most people posting here on Amazon. I suspect most are actually genuine and not a sales pitch. I buy from AMAZON every week, but have only posted back once when I got ripped off on a toothbrush.

I am a poor guy with way too much tied up in computer junk. I really had no legitimate reason to buy this. I have been looking at netbooks for months. I really like the MSI WIND, especially because it has a wonderful web forum that just makes one want to get involved.Acer came out with this bigger 10 inch screen and I got it, even though I might like the smaller one better.

Like any computer, you have to be willing to play with it for a long time to get the best of it. Most people will not understand that. They just use their computer believing it to be as good as it can be out of the box.

If you do that with this ACER, you will be happy. If you adjust it some, you will be amazed.

I have a ton of money invested in three cutting edge desktops, and a great laptop. Compared to them, this ACER is junk. Comparing this netbook to those just makes me an idiot.

Like I said, I had no legitimate excuse to buy this. I am so glad I did!I have 80 gigs of music on it now. No ipod sounds as good as this ACER on head phones or hooked into my boat or deck speakers. The large screen makes it the perfect music player. No ipod can deal with music the way a computer can because it can run WINAMP, or whatever your favorite music player might be. You can't put it in your shirt pocket, but I never walk around playing music anyway. I suspect a college student could could put it in his backpack, and use bluetooth to get to class and then have a great note taker, recorder, or whatever.

GPS works on this better than some unit in your car because it has more computing power. It is incredible on my fishing boat.If you kinda understand what this Acer is, and kinda have a use for it, this is a great toy !! I am impressed, and will not give it back.Here are some tips and observations.

I had good quality memory laying around and upgraded to 2gig. I doubt you need that if you keep XP Home on it. Still, memory is cheap, so why not? Windows 7 will be out soon, but it might cost more than this computer. XP Home is very good. I put a LINUX dual boot on because Linux is free and fun, but unless you are already into that, this ACER would be a poor place to learn.One guy put up an issue with the touch pad and everyone thinks it is cool to add to that. I suspect these are people who have little experience with touch pads. This one is OK. It is not like my $2000 laptop, but not that different. The best feature of touch pads is the tap. Just tap it. TAP IT !! It works great.Like any laptop, if you hook it into your large monitor and plug in a mouse, you can set it up with less pain.I suspect some incredible netbooks are just months off. Still, I don't see anyway you could wrong with this one if you actually do want a tiny computer that refuses to act tiny.

JUST LIVIN' QUIET AND SHY

             

I spent the morning putting in my new flag pole for my Betsy Ross Flag.

I think Ben Franklin would be proud of my effort.

I sunk a 16 foot 4x4 in where it can be seen by all.

I slid a white vinyl sleeve over it so the Bride will complain less about it. I got it standing 'plumb', and in the ground solid. I have a 'tangle free' flag pole holder coming in from ebay this week. These are good, as I have used one for years on my dock to fly my Southern Battle Flag. I also have a 4 LED cap light coming in for night duty.

All tired, I am sitting here now, playing some of my OUTLAW music.

Things change !! I used to really like this in the 70's, but now some of these “OUTLAWS” ring hollow to me.

Since 1967, I have been a proud “CAPITALIST”. Actually I had been in that mode since 1960 when I got that job in the drug store, but was too young to put a label on it then. In an Airport waiting on a plane to take me to Fort Sill in Oklahoma where the ARMY was willing to teach me to fire ARTILLERY, I picked up a book by Ayn Rand, and it still makes sense to me.

Most people are not rich and famous. It seems to me that when it is thrust on average people, many feel “guilty”, and go off the liberal deep end.

Some of these OutLaw singers fall into that group. Many rich and famous people have some talents but are poorly educated and once on the pedestal, cannot relate to real life.

In the 60 's and 70's, I loved Willie. I still try to give him a pass but more and more his music seldom is played here. I am positive I will no longer be going to his concerts. I hate that about me, but these guys are just entertainers, and Willie is slipping away.  Thank GOD Elvis was too smart for that pit.

Merle Haggard, what have you done to me ? Why would you of all people get political ? Of all people – MH !?!

Johhny Cash has been singing to me all my life, but now I only play things he put out before Hollywood discovered Country and took him away from the common man.

Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of left wing singers.

I just hate the ones who start to believe their press, and then believe they know more than the average guy because they are good with a mike or a guitar.

A good OUTLAW example would be Kristofferson. I would say he might be the only real “OUTLAW” in the group. He is OK as an actor. He is an EXCELLENT song writer. He is a poor singer compared to some, but I play him all the time as he entertains me. He claims he is “Left” of liberal. I am good with that. He seldom speaks out, but when he does, he has the background to do it with credibility. Hell, the guy screwed Janis Joplin and also went to Oxford. I would go over to ebay and buy some of his stuff right now if I did not already have it all.

Some days life is hard here on the deck with nothing but SunShine and cold beer to entertain me. Days like this, I just put on WAYLON knowing he can carry me until Summer arrives and I can play my BEACH MUSIC too loud.

I gotta go now and dig up some WAYLON and Hank,Jr before I freak out !!!

YC

I got more email on the “Betsy Ross” post than on any post before. Some of it was not nice. To that end, I have opened up the comments below the articles so you can respond on line now. Just click below where it says “Permalink” and type away. If you get too rowdy, I may delete your comment.

You can get the flags off ebay or Amazon. Most places this one is called the “Betsy Ross” flag, or the first American Flag. Here is a hint – don't buy cotton for outdoors. It gets wet and shrinks. You can buy them from $10 & up. Here is a really good one with no taxes, and free shipping:

BETSY ROSS            Flying this flag is a great way to speak out in a small way. Lately, “TEA PARTIES” are springing up around the USA. To make your new flag authentic, brew a little tea, invite a friend over and add a stain to remind all of the brave stand our ancestors took in the Boston Harbor.      And to those of you giving me hell, I remind you that this is a real American Flag, just one with an old message that has become new once again.

YardCrap

LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW

We got some rain this weekend. I suspect it will end with about 2.5 inches total. The few days last week with over 70 degree temps brought up a lot of flowers. I have Daffydills flowering everywhere. My pear, plum, and peach trees are in full bloom. The yard is looking great!

This has been a cold Winter, but for the first time since I moved here – no snow. All the areas near got a lot. My bride's office even had to close, but my yard remained clear.

Like most people who spend a lot of time outdoors, I stay very tuned into weather reports and that is easy with the web. I even keep my own rain totals. I recently discovered that the best site for weather in my yard is: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

Some checking revealed that a guy in Georgia about 30 miles away has a backyard weather station. I (and you) can do that. Apparently thousands of people have these set up all over the world. They send the data to this site. Some day when I find the time, I might get into that as it appears to be a lot of fun. I would set mine up on the lake. The weather is so different there mostly due to the wind coming across that large open space.

BETSY ROSS

 

                

                
On every good day I am able to piss off at least one person who is too lazy to think or debate.  Today I am going to out do my previous records. 

I have decided not to fly the present American flag again.

I have ancestors buried in my hometown out at PURITY that fought under George Washington as those guys freed our country from
England.

I ‘VOLUNTEERED’ for the US Army when many were escaping the draft to
Canada or Oxford.
I can do more, and you can too if you choose.   A lot of little things make a big thing.
 
I remain solid in my support for AMERICA, but it seems the country has left me.  It has moved on from guys like
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Middleton, Rutledge, etc.

When I was young, I could fight with muscle, and still am willing and able to do that for the USA.  As an old man, Ben Franklin brought force to the battle that could not be countered.

I now choose to support the USA John Adams wanted.
 
From this day until America
gains its course again, I will fly the flag put together by George Washington and Betsy Ross.
Email me and I will send you one.
 
YardCrap

I think it went something like this ->

Either we will stand together or we will surely hang separately.