Toby's Log page 118

King Coopa band management

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We just found out that King Coopa is in jail. He got a DUI. King Coopa, also known as David Cooper, was a guy we met back when we were playing with Double Barrel in the fall. He was managing their band, and had offered to do it for us as well, but we weren’t wholeheartedly interested, wanted to do it ourselves and keep the extra money. Now Dwight wants to take advantage of management services; he’s tired of having to do all that stuff himself and wants to focus more on playing the music. King Coopa was the only one any of us knew, but he’s not going to be available for another 11 months. Pretty crazy.

first great sailing trip

in

Yesterday saw our best sailing trip yet. Me and Joey went over Paul’s house early in the morning (about 3 am) and went right to sleep. We woke up a little after 6. After a breakfast of cereal and quick preperations, we headed off to Rocky River. I attempted motoring away from the dock, but it didn’t work out quite so well. Paul took over. The lake was fairly choppy, though not as bad as the last time. The waves were big, but also fairly wide, so most weren’t two bad. We did get hit by a couple that sent the bow mighty close to the waterline. Standing near the bow was mighty exciting, like riding a bucking bronco. There was a good stiff breeze though. When we raised the sails, they filled quite quickly. The jib by itself didn’t take us very fast, but with both sails up, we got going at a pretty good clip. We first set a straight (at least somewhat straight) course and worked on setting the sails to get us going the fastest. Then we practiced tacking a bit, just going back and forth. In tacking, the jib seems to really flap a lot, while the main goes quickly. We then messed around setting ourselves in various directions. We had trouble steering with the sails; it seemed to work, but not very quickly or easily. We also for some reason had trouble running with the wind. We were unable to fill the sails well. Running wing and wing was quite tuff, as the jib kept wanting to jibe back and forth with slight direction changes with the tiller. Four sailboats came out and soon were far out on the lake.

The wind started dying down; for a while there we had almost no wind. We got some gusts every once in a while that kept us going, but made it hard to set the sails properly. We headed back. As we got closer to port, the sails picked up again. Several more sailboats came out, in what looked like some sort of training course or something; a small red motor boat zipped around between them, blowing a whistle from time to time. We sailed a bit more, then headed in. We took down the main, then started the motor with the jib up. We took down the jib soon before coming into the mouth of the river. I motored us down towards port.

Paul took over near port. We didn’t dock up very easily. Paul had to take quite a leap to get onto the dock. We found ourselves swung to the end of the dock with me holding on. Joey had to throw the front dock line to Paul to get us pulled in properly. Then we had trouble getting the keel set into the trailer right. It took quite a few attempts. We’re getting quicker at setup and teardown now.

Very nice run. My first run that we actually had enough wind to sail well. It seems mornings are better for sailing, as earlier always seems to give us more steady winds.

Bridge to Terabithia

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I read a book today. The whole thing. One I had read when I was a kid and remembered being good, but didn’t remember much about it. I had liked it so much as a kid, I even named my mouse Prince Terrian. The book was Bridge to Terabithia. Weird that it was in the kids section at the library though I didn’t remember it being so kiddy.

I read part in the afternoon before work. At work I got stuck on fry, my least favorite (read most disliked, perhaps only disliked) station. I’m slow on it, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get home to finish reading. It was weird, as I’ve not in recent memory had a thing I so wanted to do that I ached to be doing it. I got home and stayed up late finishing the book. As I approached the end, I had an inkling memory of what happened in the end, facilitated by knowledge that something had to happen to end the book. I didn’t remember exactly what it was at first, but it came to me as it approached. I feared its happening but still wanted to read on. Strangely, though I knew what would happen, I was still hit hard when it happened. Harder than I’ve been hit in a long time. I cried, and hard, all the way through the ending. I hadn’t actually cried in a long time: I don’t even remember the last time full tears rolled down my face. I had thought I had lost all capability of emotion, that practicality and indifference had taken over with the realization that life happens, and occurences good or bad can’t be changed, only dealt with. That prudent stoicism has enveloped me as long as I can remember. But this story touched me and moved me to tears.

Perhaps it is because I have always want somebody to pop in to my life to take me off to Terabithia. No one has. Terabithia seems like the place I always wanted to go, that I wish I had gone to when I was a kid. The friendship and love lost, though common to many stories, felt so much more close because of the realism of the story. All the joy in Jesse’s life was in Leslie and Terabithia. When those were gone, he was left with seemingly nothing of value. Things of joy and pain can appear and disappear so quickly, and when gone leave nothing but a frail memory. Guilt is wrought when run a thought that a seeming small poor and insignificant choice could a hand lend to such a terrible end. It reminded me of a small occurence in another book, Ordinary People, involving a friend of the main character from the therapy he had recieved.

I’ve never been to Terabithia, and perhaps never will. Nor perhaps shall I find such a close bond as between Jesse and Leslie.

joey and vince

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went out on the pw with my cousins joey and vince, as well as Paul. We all met at Paul’s the night before sos we could wake up early and get plenty of time on the water. We didn’t wake up early; Joey woke us up at 9:30. We ate breakfast and went out to sail, all squeezed into the big truck we’ve been towing with; Paul’s car needs the wire attachments for the lights on the trailer. We took care of setting everything up; Joe and Vince were just a long for the ride. We put up the boom as well as the mast this time in the parking lot. We set out on the river, which had ripples from the stiff wind, towards the lake. Large waves poured into the mouth of the river, and we knew it would be rough. We considered turning back, but decided to press on and see what it was like. The waves on the lake were mighty rough for the small boat, making it very difficult to manuever; the motor and rudder popped out of the water with each large wave. The bow would sometimes crash down nearly into the water. We were a bit worried of a capsize, though after a couple of waves we figured that was unlikely. We decided it was well too rough to put up even one sail. After a while of motoring around, we headed back to port. It was still rough until we made it well past the break wall. We passed by a group of young kids paddling along on kayaks. Docking was a little more difficult than last time: the trailer was angled and we had trouble getting the keel into position. Vince called his dad and found out there was 3 to 5 foot waves and a small craft advisory. We headed back. Paul gave me the drivers seat once we were near his house so I could practice trailoring. It wasn’t too bad on straight roads, except I tended to hug the yellow lines. Turns were a bit more difficult, and even by the end I had trouble turning wide enough but not too wide. Backing the trailer into a spot at Paul’s house was quite difficult, and after several attempt, I got it in a bit crookedly. Since we didn’t get to actually sail, I’m hoping we’ll get to go out again sometime soon. Next week we’ll probably go with the Shury boys (Joe and Vince) again.

Mimi’s hair

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Every other Thursday, I take my grandma, who we call Mimi, out to get her hair done. She lives in a retirement type home, and the hair dresser at the one she lives at isn’t nearly as good as the one she used to live at, so she needs somebody to transport her over there. I go home or do something else while she gets her hair done, then I come back and we go out to eat at Park’N’Eat, El Rincon, or some other place.

She hasn’t been in the best of health for years now; that’s why she’s in a retirement home. She had a stroke a while back that has eventually led to her inability to walk. Last night, she went to the hospital, as she was having irregular heat beats. She felt very weak. They gave her some medication and are going to run some tests. Because of this, she will not be going to the hair dressers today. I’m hoping she’ll get better soon here. She’s getting fairly old now; wouldn’t want to stop a good thing.

New Drummer

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I had been thinking about it for a while, the possibilities and problems. Two weeks ago, I made up my mind to tell them, but I didn’t get to see my band mates. Rockwood’s dad was leaving the house to move in with his (Mr. Rockwood’s) mother to help her with gardening in her old age. Rockwood and his sister, Connie, were thus given the house. Rockwood went to South Carolina or the like to help Connie move back to Ohio. So two ECC shows and one practice were cancelled. Friday was the first meeting of the Yars in two weeks, and I had waited to tell them the whole time. It allowed me to mull it over more and weigh the plusses and minuses. In the end, I decided it would be for the better.

I’m leaving the band. I will stay with the band until a suitable new drummer is found and learns the music or our last currently scheduled show on August 19th, whichever comes first. I plan to put up flyers in Kent seeking a drummer willing to play in an established band. We’ll probably have them come to one of our shows to see if they are interested in our music and the Yars in general. Then they can come to our practices and Dwight and Rockwood will talk to them in more detail about the band and find out if they will work out. I will show them my current parts to the music to give them an idea of the style wanted and also a starting point in coming up with their own parts. Hopefully we will find someone that can learn the songs and make parts for them quickly, parts that compliment the music well (perhaps even better than my own). They also must get along with the band members and be willing to play the music already written. Hopefully by August 19th.

Many things influenced my decision. I don’t have so much fun playing in the band now. Sometimes it is fun, but a lot of times it isn’t. I enjoy the music a lot, but I don’t neccesarily enjoy playing it all the time. I’m not the best of drummers at all, never having really gotten any lessons on the set (only on individual percussion instruments, requiring much less coordination), and the Yars music would likely be improved with a better drummer. Sometimes I don’t like the parts Dwight or Rockwood want me to play for the songs, or even the tempo or other aspects of the song, yet they may be better off with those changes, and a more experienced drummer may be better at telling what works well. I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now, and want to make some changes. Drumming for the Yars takes a bit of time and effort and ties me to it. I don’t necisarily like the place I’m in right now and hope leaving the Yars will allow me to find a better place. As my interests are less focused on the Yars and more elsewhere, I can’t be very dedicated to it. Hopefully the new drummer will be quite dedicated and more interested in the success of the band and going places rather than in playing some music for fun. I am very stingy, and drum equipment and other band costs can be quite expensive; leaving the band will allow me to focus my precious resources elsewhere. All in all, I think this will work out for the better of both the band and myself.

In other news, our former fellow band, the Living Deadbeats, got a bit of air time on 100.7 WMMS. MMS plays a ‘local bands’ type show sometimes. I was at work and was surprised to hear the Deadbeats popular (to fans) tune ‘Machine Gun Sam’. I was even more surprised to hear that it was on the radio and not a CD. This means they must be doing alright after we lost contact with them, following the Europe Gyro incident. Good luck to them. I’ll have to watch for them and perhaps catch another of their shows, as it’s been a little while.

first sailing trip

in

Paul and Uncle Al went out sailing on the Pyewacket Sunday, but I was working and unable to go. There was little winds save for big gusts at the end. Today, Paul and I went out. My first sailing trip, save for as a passenger (and then only the second I believe). These trips take quite a while, especially since Paul lives an hour away. I woke up at 7:00 (getting only a few hours of sleep) and got out there around 8:30. We made some peanut butter sandwiches and grabbed some cranberry juice, hooked up the boat, and headed off, back to Rocky River. Stepping and raising the mast was the hardest part of getting ready; quite hefty bugger for two. We were in the water before 11:00 I do believe. We motored out to the lake, then put up the sails. There wasn’t much wind, but enough to move around a bit. We were eating while sailing. We got to see a little bit how to set the sails, then the wind died down to nearly nothing. I tried fruitlessly to move at any reasonable speed. Soon, we found ourselves in a large group of small bugs that flew around us relentlessly, unaffected by swinging hats and shirts. They occasionally made their way into our eyes, noses, and mouths. We scrambled to get the sails down and the motor running to jet outta there. That motor really cruises along. We then figured out how to put the cover on the main-sail and the jib into a bag from which it could be easily raised. We dropped anchor for the first time, and sat in the cabin a bit. My was it hot. It felt good down there, especially when a slight breeze would come along through the window. It also felt good to dangle the feet in the water, though it was too cold for any swimming. We then went back out, motored inland a bit (we had made it out to about the mile marker by sail), and raised the sails once again: the wind had picked up a bit. We had some strong pulls there, and got to mess around with setting the sails a bit more. We were going at a good clip for a short bit. We jibbed and tacked. The wind soon died down though. With a low wind, it was very hard to tell what was happening to set the sails properly. The wind also frequently changed directions, making us jibe or tack at unexpected times. We lowered sail again and went into port, Paul motoring us along. The landing at the docks can be hard, as the motor idles too fast to come in: we have to put it in nuetral and steer with the rudder. It wasn’t too hard getting it on the trailer again, though it seemed harder than last time. We then motored her over to the parking lot to unstep the mast and tie down for travel. I noticed my sunburnt arms there, as I hadn’t put on suntan lotion until halfway through our trip. All in all a decent first trip, but hopefully we’ll get more wind next time.

apple to use Intel?

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I say boo. After all these years of touting the advantages of the PowerPC, I’ve really come to prefer them. Some have pointed out that Intel is doing well with mobile processors, but I think the PowerPC is doing well enough: good computing to power consumtion ratio as compared to Pentiums anyway. Via I am more interested in for mobile devices.

For numerous reasons, this is a very odd change for Apple, and their reasons don’t seem to make much sense. There is speculation that Apple is covertly making this change-over to later announce it has been bought by Intel. I wouldn’t have put any thought into it, except for the extreme oddity of the move on Apple’s part. Still seems a little far fetched, but it would certainly explain Apple’s recent decision.

Pyewacket: Maiden Voyage

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I have wanted to learn to sail for at least several years now. I had been planning on buying a boat for a couple of years with my brother, but never got around to finding one or reserving the money to do it. My cousin Paul also became interested in sailing, to the point that he plans to live on a sailboat for at least a while. Are interest provoked my uncle and his dad to purchase a vessel at an auction a few weeks ago. It was a Precision 18, part way between a dinghy and a cruiser. It’s a regular bermuda yawl with a small cabin that can sleep four (albeit a bit crampedly). It ran him $1550 and came with most of the basic parts of the boat, including a trailer to haul it. It was a might dirty, and needed a little work. We christened her the USS Pyewacket, after a friends boat Uncle Al once crewed. Uncle Al and Paul, and to a much lesser extent I, worked on it for the past couple weeks, cleaning it and fixing it up. Today we bought a motor for it (a 5hp air-cooled four-cycle with reverse) and took it down to the Rocky River area, without the sails. Getting her in the water wasn’t very hard. We motored along the river and out into Lake Erie. The motor was excessively powerful: we were speeding along well too fast to dock it at an idle. It was also quite hard to switch from forward to reverse, making careful manuevering difficult. The lake was calm for Lake Erie, though the small waves still chopped the boat about a bit: it’ll be better when the mast and sails are up and the centerboard and rudder are down. The boat, being a sailboat, turned very easily under power and was hard to keep straight. It had quite the small turning radius, however. We went back into the river and dropped the centerboard. No leaks at all, which is all this trip was testing for. We went back to dock, and ran into it because the boat was coming in too fast. Next time we’ll have to have the rudder on to steer so we can put the engine in nuetral and coast on in to port. We got her into the trailer, including getting the keel into the proper position, rather easily just by pulling the ropes on the dock. It only took two tries.

We’ll be sailing very soon on her. All she needs now is a few bits for the rigging and a few other small things. We’ll move on to other fixings later, after we’ve learned a bit of sailing and what modifications are most important. Hopefully it won’t take us long to learn, and then we can enjoy ourselves sailing about and even camping aboard.

Brakes went out

in

Wow. My first time. The brake line to one of my rear tires developed a hole, allowing my break fluid to leak out. My brakes at first would grab, then sink toward the floor. The sinking slowly become more and more significant until it would reach the floor and the brakes would stop grabbing if I were stopped long enough. Then it got to the point where the breaks did nothing at all. I used the emergency brake and engine braking (thank goodness for the manual transmission) to come to a stop, but I still required quite a bit of stopping distance. At my uncle’s house, we found which line it was and crimped it to stop/slow down the leak. It worked for a while to keep enough fluid, but there was of course air in the lines, so my brakes still didn’t do much. The leak was also significant enough that after I got home, when I went to go back out, the brakes didn’t work at all again. It’s kinda scary being unable to easily stop. I’m gonna try to fix that soon. I may have to stay at my parents house for a bit (I’m unable to work on my car at my house because of the stupid park rules) and cycle to work while working on the car.