robertjames1971.blog

robertjames1971.blog, 23 days ago to guitar

Two days in a row. It is silly how sneaking in 20-30 minutes of guitar playing before work in the morning can just brighten up the whole day. Silly and a little weird, maybe.

I mentioned last night that I started working on a new song for the re-recording project thing. I put rhythm guitars on it this morning after I did my daily exercise and had a quick breakfast. Done and done. I used direct outs from two of my amps again. That’s the norm now. Oh well. It sounded pretty good today. It sounded pretty good yesterday too, I think.

Here’s the obligatory guitar pic. Let’s use it for today’s photo a day project as well. Day 243 of 365. Actually… 366, but we won’t worry about that until the end of the line.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53688209527/in/datetaken

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53688209517/in/datetaken

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/30/more-guitar-2/

#365 #365Challenge #Guitar #iphoneography #Music #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #QuarantineTunes #QuarantineTunesVolume8 #QuarantineTunesVolumeEight #Recording #SongWriting #theGreat2015ReRecordingProject

robertjames1971.blog, 26 days ago to EyeHealth

You know you’re an old fart when going to the eye doctor is a major event. I ordered two new pairs of glasses. This time the progressives will also be transitions. Oooooh, babie!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53682535510/in/datetaken

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53682079131/in/datetaken

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53681216327/in/datetaken

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/04/27/glasses/

#eyeDoctor #glasses #iphoneography #lensCrafters #photography

robertjames1971.blog, 1 month ago to Cat

I found Miss Lilly. A few hours went by but she eventually came out of hiding. She was laying down on the ottoman in the living room, just relaxing like nothing happened. She let me pet her for a few minutes.

Shes fine, everything’s perfectly all right now, we’re fine, we’re all fine here now, thank you, how are you?

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/31/shes-fine/

#aNewHope #Cat #Family #HanSolo #Kitty #quote #StarWars

robertjames1971.blog, 2 months ago to Cat

I snapped a couple of cat pics while I was cooking my lunch.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53596030179/in/datetaken

200/365 – The current photo a day challenge hits a milestone. 200 down, 165 to gohttps://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53595711506/in/datetaken

iPhone 14’s low-light function is pretty epic. There was almost no light in the room at allhttps://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/18/lunch-break-cats/

#365 #365Challenge #Cat #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 2 months ago to photography

Go Out and Shoot Some Film

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53089991444/in/album-72177720300575173

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/17/get-outside-and-shoot/

#filmPhotography #FUJISUPERIA400 #k1000 #NewEngland #Pentax #PentaxK1000 #PentaxM1250mm #photography #vermont

robertjames1971.blog, 2 months ago to boston

Daylight Savings starts tonight. Just a few hours from now. The weather has been getting noticeably warmer of late. Spring is coming, and with it comes the return of the bug…

The photography bug.

I was looking at my camera bag today. The bag that has two film cameras inside. They are calling me. The bug is back, folks and I am going to have to give in to it at some point soon.

Boston… I’ve been saying for two years that I want to bring the cameras into the city and shoot everything there. This is the year, I’m telling you. This is the year.

Bring on that good weather. Give me some clear skies at sunrise and that sweet golden light. Bring me some stuff to photograph and a digital camera in one hand and a film camera in the other. The time is almost upon us, folks. I will be ready.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/52259948692/in/album-72177720300575173

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/52259949082/in/album-72177720300575173

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/09/catching-the-bug-again/

#Boston #filmPhotography #goldenHour #photography #Spring #Weather

robertjames1971.blog, 2 months ago to guitar

Today is Robin Trower’s 79th birthday. Happy Birthday!

He is unusual for a guitarist of his generation in that he hasn’t seemed to have lost a step at all. Most guys who are pushing 80 years old are not playing as well today as they did a couple of decades ago. Not Robin Trower. He’s as good, if not better, than he was 20 or 30 or even 40 years ago. I wonder what his secret is. Probably something lame like taking care of himself and practicing a lot.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/03/09/happy-birthday-robin-trower/

#birthday #Guitar #procolHarum #robinTrower

robertjames1971.blog, 3 months ago to science

The Odysseus lander is on the moon! Nice job, everyone!

Granted, according to the article I just linked, there were issues. The system that was meant to determine if the lander was right side up or not failed and they had to improvise an alternative. It might have worked, but as of the posting of said article, they aren’t sure if the lander landed on it’s feet or fell over onto its side or what.

We’ll find out soon enough. Here’s hoping we get good news. Also, here’s hoping we get pictures. It’s been a long time since we’ve had new pictures from the moon. The last US lander was in 1972, but there have been others since then. Other countries have had more recent successes. I think India sent the last lander to land near the South pole. They were 600 kilometers away and this new one is shooting for about 300 kilometers away.

Pics or it didn’t happen, right?

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/22/welcome-to-the-moon/

#lunarLander #Moon #Odysseus #science #space #theMoon

robertjames1971.blog, 3 months ago to Cat

https://flic.kr/p/2pyg9V3

I’m home at last and Lily says hello.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/02/14/me-n-lil/

#Cat #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #photography

robertjames1971.blog, 3 months ago to Cat

Happy day 152 of the current photo a day challenge. Robin came to visit me in the step son’s room/office space and I took her picture. Enjoy!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53498615756/in/datetaken/

152/365https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/30/photo-a-day-challenge-2/

#365 #365Challenge #Cat #iphoneography #Kitty #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 3 months ago to guitar

I think this week the time will arrive. My second 1970’s guitar, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro, may be ready for it’s trip to the shop. I am going to give them a call and see if they can help me bring this baby back to life.

I put my ’78 Les Paul Custom into the shop a few months ago to get the frets replaced. I was scared to have the work done, but I should not have been. The results were fantastic. I am so pleased. Now I need to have the 335 looked at. The frets are in better shape than they were on the Les Paul, but they are still pretty bad. I expect it’s time to have them replaced.

This time there is a second issue at play though. The electronics are in rough shape. The last time I used this guitar at a Lizardfish show the signal cut out and wouldn’t come back. That had happened off stage a few times in the past but once it happened in front of people? Yeah, that’s bad. If you can’t rely on the electronics, what good is the instrument? It may be time to replace the wiring harness. If they can salvage what’s there, meaning clean it up and maybe re-solder some of it, then that is fine. If they can’t save it, then I’ll need it replaced, and hopefully I can get a good 50’s style wiring schematic installed. I don’t want to change the pickups on this guitar. 335 Pros come stock with Gibson Dirty Fingers pickups which are the meanest, nastiest, dirtiest Gibson pickups ever. They are punk rock machines. The wiring and the pots though… we’ll see.

I am planning on calling the shop either tomorrow or Tuesday to see if we can schedule a slot for me to bring it in and see what they can do for me. I am still nervous about this, but given my last experience I am more excited than scared.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/5313487081/in/album-72157625590793833/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/5310814452/in/album-72157625590793833/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/16093998422/in/album-72157625590793833/

Me playing with Break Even back in 2003 or 2004 or sohttps://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/15907426420/in/album-72157625590793833/

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/28/335-3/

#es335 #Gibson #GibsonES335Pro #Guitar #guitarRepairs #guitarShop #luthier #photography #photos #refret #wiringHarness

robertjames1971.blog, 4 months ago to Cat

That was a long day. I left work at 5:35 and got home at 7:00. I’m home though… finally.

Say hi, cats!

https://flic.kr/p/2prECy4

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/01/10/home-at-last-4/

#Cat #hipstaKitty #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #photography #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 5 months ago to Cat

Robin was behind me. She was trying to hide and didn’t realize that humans have the physical ability to turn around.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53382914374/in/datetaken/

I took this one around lunch time today. It doesn’t have anything to do with the first picture but I am posting it because my cat is cuter than yours*.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53382774533/in/datetaken/

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*Okay, so maybe I can’t definitively say that my cat is cuter than yours, but I can absolutely say that at the very least my cat is equally as cute as yours, if not cuter.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/12/07/hide-4/

#Cat #Cats #hipstaKitty #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Kitty #nature #photography #photos #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 5 months ago to Cat

Jen bought a new cat toy. Lily is flying around the house like an insane creature. Robin was too but she’s taking a time out before hurling herself back into the fray.

https://flic.kr/p/2pjTe5T

Probably safe to assume there is catnip in the new cat toy. Ah yup.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/12/05/insanity-2/

#Cat #hipstaKitty #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #photography #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 5 months ago to Cat

I haven’t done a shake to shuffle post with the Hipstamatic app in a while. Here are a couple views of Robin sitting in my chair in the living room.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53369097433/in/datetaken/

92/365https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53369097413/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53369097438/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53369097423/in/datetaken/

Wasn’t that fun? Sure was!

https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/12/01/miss-robin-shake-to-shuffle/

#365 #365Challenge #Cat #hipstaKitty #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #Kitty #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #robin #shakeToShuffle

robertjames1971.blog, 6 months ago to photography

The last post talked about trusting my instincts. A big part of me is wishing I hadn’t written that because for most of this morning my instinct has been telling me that today is going to be a really shitty day.

Why?

I don’t know.

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I am working in the office. The office alone sort of points to a bad day, but it’s more than that. In the United States, the day before Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. Everyone in the country hits the road on this day each year. I expected my morning commute to be an absolute nightmare. Add to the expected gridlock that it was pouring rain outside and it would be safe to assume that the traffic would be a gridlocked nightmare times 10. Nope. There was no traffic at all. Everyone drove a little slower than the speed limit thanks to the rain, but I never had to hit the breaks once over the entire 40-something mile drive. You would think that would ease my sense of impending doom, but nope. Somehow it made it worse.

Today should be a quiet day at work. If the office is anything to go by, it’s dead as can be here. I only see two other people and they both work for me. Weird. I should be feeling optimistic and excited about the coming holiday weekend, but instead I am just dreading everything. Once I get home tonight and see my beloved bride again, I will start feeling really good about the weekend, but until then?

It’s going to be a long, sucky, painful day.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53347830187/in/datetaken/

83/365https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/11/22/impending-doom/

#365 #365Challenge #commute #Hipstamatic #Holiday #holidayWeekend #impendingDoom #inTheOffice #instinct #iphoneography #photoADay #photoADayChallenge #photography #Thanksgiving #thanksgivingWeekend #trustYourInstinct #work

robertjames1971.blog, 6 months ago to Cat

They look like they love each other. They are mother and kitten after all. Five minutes from now they will be trying to eat each other’s throats though. Just wait and see.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53328489545/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53328543104/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53328200096/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53327328637/in/datetaken/

https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/11/12/they-love-hate-each-other/

#Cat #hipsamatic #hipstaKitty #iphoneography #Kitty #lily #photography #robin

robertjames1971.blog, 6 months ago to guitar

I went to the drugstore today and got myself a couple of vaccine shots. I got a flu vaccine and a shingles vaccine. I’m still not far enough removed from my Covid-19/Disney World experience to need a Covid booster, so I’ll probably get one of those next month.

I drove through downtown so here is the obligatory clock/downtown pics. You’re welcome.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53326849817/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robj_1971/53328068514/in/datetaken/

On an unrelated note, the guitar shop posted some more photos of my guitar today. I think it’s done. New bridge, new frets, new nut. Here’s hoping I get another phone call from them tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2023/11/12/out-and-about/

#Guitar #guitarRepair #guitarShop #health #Hipstamatic #iphoneography #methuen #photography #refret