Categories
2022 in 12 pictures
Month: December 2022
For your convenience, here’s a list of when grocery and drug stores in Florida are open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Enjoy, and have a happy new year!
| Store | Hours for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day |
| Albertsons | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.. More details on their holiday hours calendar. |
| Aldi | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Closed. |
| BJ’s Wholesale | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.. More details on their holiday hours calendar. |
| Costco | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Closed. |
| CVS | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: Regular hours. These vary by store. 📅 New Year’s Day: Regular hours. These vary by store. |
| Duckweed Urban Grocery | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Hours vary by store. Visit their site for details. |
| Earth Fare | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Closed. |
| Fresco y Mas | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. |
| Fresh Market | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Harveys | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. |
| Publix | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. opening, with most stores closing at 7 p.m.. Use the store locator if you want to find a Publix that’s open later. |
| Safeway | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. |
| Sam’s Club | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Closed. |
| Sprouts | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. |
| Target | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. Check the store locator for details. |
| Trader Joe’s | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: Closed. |
| Walgreens | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: Regular hours. These vary by store. 📅 New Year’s Day: Regular hours. These vary by store. |
| Walmart | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. |
| Whole Foods | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. 📅 New Year’s Day: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Winn-Dixie | 🎉 New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.. In-store pharmacies will close at 6:00 p.m.. 📅 New Year’s Day: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. In-store pharmacies will open at 9:00 a.m. and close at 6:00 p.m.. |
I can’t justify spending $28K on this monster analog synth setup, but maybe you can. If you’re working on a soundtrack or sound design for a movie or game, or the next big electronica/EDM/electroacoustic masterpiece, this collection of systems assembled into three racks just might be the thing you’re looking for!
The seller’s based in Clearwater, and the lucky buyer will have to pick it up there or someplace nearby, and you’ll probably need at least an SUV with the back seats folded down to drive away with three racks’ worth of gear.
Here’s what the ad in Facebook Marketplace says:
Condition: Used — like new
Massive Eurorack setup including three Doepfer A-100 cases. Everything has black panels and has a nice aesthetic. I have extra panels for a few items that didn’t come in black. I have almost all the original manufacturer boxes.
Also will include a huge lot of organized eurorack cables, extra power cables, and misc screws and parts.
This is a truly incredible setup!
Must pickup in Clearwater or arrange for meet-up in Florida. I can drive to your or meet you – free – depending on location. Not willing to ship – way too large, heavy, and delicate.
Here’s a modular grid view of the upper case:
You can see a larger view of the upper rack here, and it contains the following:
- Schlappi Engineering 100 Grit (black) Low Pass Filter, VCA, and Distortion with Brass Touchpoints
- Schlappi Engineering Interstellar Radio (Black Panel) – DESTRUCTIVE TRANSMISSION LINE
- Schlappi Engineering Angle Grinder (Black) – Sine waves and grinding feedback
- 2hp Freez (Black Panel) – Freez is a voltage controlled locked looper
- Erica Synths Black CV Tool – Full analogue CV and audio processor
- Erica Synths Ringfade – Ringmodulator/Crossfader/VCA
- Empress Effects ZOIA Euroburo – Complete Modular System by Empress Effects
- Erica Synths Pico INPUT – Instrument input booster
- Erica Synths Drum Mixer Lite – Compact Drum Mixer with a compressor
- Erica Synths Drum Stereo Mixer – Stereo mixer, 4 stereo in, with limiter
- Erica Synths Black Stereo Mixer V3 – 4 input stereo mixer
- Erica Synths Black Output Module v2 – High quality output mixer and stereo panner with balanced outputs and headphone amplifier.
- Expert Sleepers ES-5 mk3 – Gate, Clock and Sync expander for the ES-3 Lightpipe to CV DAC
- Expert Sleepers ES-9 – USB Audio Interface
- Erica Synths Fusion VCO2 – Full analogue sound source with lots of distinct features
- Erica Synths Fusion VCO2 – Full analogue sound source with lots of distinct features
- Erica Synths Fusion VCA-Waveshaper-Ringmodulator – Unconventional VCA/Waveshaper/Ringmodulator
- Erica Synths DIY Polivoks VCO II – Updated design based on the original Polivoks VCO
- 4ms Company Ensemble Oscillator (Black Panel) – Black panel for the Ensemble Oscillator
- Erica Synths Black Double Bass – Erica Synths Black Double Bass is unique module that combines two transistor suboscillators (-1 and -2 octaves) and lowpass filter.
- 2hp ADSR (Black Panel) – Four Stage Linear Envelope
- Erica Synths Black Quad VCA2 – Four channel voltage controlled amplifier and mixer
- Erica Synths Pico VCA – Dual linear VCA
- Erica Synths Black Quad VCA2 – Four channel voltage controlled amplifier and mixer
- Erica Synths Drum Mixer – Dedicated Drum Mixer with a compresor
- CalSynth uO_C – Micro Ornament & Crime in matte black
- Acid Rain Technology Navigator – Attenuator, Attenuverter and Mixer
- Erica Synths Black MIDI-CV v2
- Polyend Poly 2 – Polyend Poly 2 MIDI to CV Converter
- Instruō Harmonaig – Chord generating quantizer
Here’s a modular grid view of the center case:
You can see a larger view of the center rack here, and it contains the following:
- Erica Synths Black Polivoks VCF V2
- Polivoks VCF with original programable opamps
- Erica Synths DIY Multimode VCF – DIY Multimode VCF based on AS3320 chip
- Erica Synths Fusion VCF3 – Resonant 24dB/oct lowpass filter
- Erica Synths Black LPG – Novel LPG design with a decay envelope
- Erica Synths Black Dual ASR EG – Full analogue looping AD/ASR envelope generator
- Erica Synths Fusion Modulator – Complex, all analogue modulation source
- Xaoc Devices Zadar (black panel) – Optional accessory replacement panel.
- Alyseum MATRIX II – 16 X 16 Sequential Matrix I/O router.
- Synthesis Technology E370 Quad Morphing VCO (black panel) – Quad Morphing VCO
- Erica Synths Bassline – Full analogue synth voice module for ultimate acid basslines
- Neutron Sound Dust of Time – Dual stereo oscillator with modulators
- Modbap Modular Osiris – Bi-Fidelity Wavetable Oscillator
- ST Modular OBERHAUSEN – Complex Oscillator
- CalSynth uBraids II – Mutable Instruments Braids Oscillator Module
- Erica Synths Drum Mixer – Dedicated Drum Mixer with a compresor
- Synthrotek 2HP Buff Mult – Compact buffered multiple
- Moog Music Inc. DFAM – Drummer From Another Mother – Semi-Modular Analog Percussion Synthesizer
- Erica Synths Sample Drum – Sample Drum with the current screen
- Erica Synths Bass Drum – 909-style Bass Drum Module
- Erica Synths Snare Drum – 909-inspired Snare Drum
- Erica Synths TOMS – Low Tom, Mid Tom and High Tom in a sigle module
- Erica Synths HiHats D – Erica Synths take on classical 909 HiHats sounds
- Erica Synths CLAP – Classical drum machine Clap sound in eurorack
- Erica Synths Cymbals – Distinct topology digital/analogue cymbals module
- Erica Synths Dual Drive – Dual overdrive/distortion
- Synthrotek 2HP Buff Mult – Compact buffered multiple
- Erica Synths Black Output Module v2 – High quality output mixer and stereo panner with balanced outputs and headphone amplifier.
- Synthrotek 2HP Buff Mult – Compact buffered multiple
- Moog Music Inc. Subharmonicon – Semi-modular synthesizer based on Trautonium and Rhythmicon concepts for Moogfest 2018
- Erica Synths Drum Stereo Mixer – Stereo mixer, 4 stereo in, with limiter
- Erica Synths Drum Sequencer with Black Keys – X0X-style live performance oriented sequencer
- Erica Synths Pico Mixer – 3 channel DC coupled mixer for CV and audio signals
- Erica Synths Pico Mixer – 3 channel DC coupled mixer for CV and audio signals
- 1010 Music BitBox 2.0 Black Panel – Sampler, Looper, Slicer & Recorder
- Synthrotek 2HP Buff Mult – Compact buffered multiple
- 4ms Company 1hp Blank Panel – 1hp Blank
- Erica Synths Drum Stereo Mixer – Stereo mixer, 4 stereo in, with limiter
- Blue Lantern Modules CMOS Clock Divider – Musical Clock Divider
- Moog Music Inc. Moog Mother-32 – Complete semi-modular voice with sequencer and keyboard
And finally, here’s a modular grid view of the lower case:
You can see a larger view of the lower rack here, and it contains the following:
- XOR Electronics Nerdseq – IO Expander – IO Expander black
- XOR Electronics Nerdseq Black Aluminium Front – The Nerdseq is a Hybrid Tracker Sequencer
- XOR Electronics Nerdseq – ‘More Triggers 16’ Expander Black – 16 additional trigger/gate outputs
- Poly Effects Hector (Black Panel) – (Black panel version of Hector)
- Synthesis Technology E520 Hyperion Processor (black panel) – Stereo Effects Processor
- Synthrotek 2HP Buff Mult – Compact buffered multiple
- Orthogonal Devices Black ER-301 – Voltage-controllable canvas for digital signal processing algorithms
- Erica Synths Black Joystick2 – 4 channel recordable Joystick controller
- Instruō arbhar expander – arbhar expander (included w/ module)
- Erica Synths Black Stereo Delay
- Instruō arbhar – Granular processor
- Erica Synths Black Hole DSP2 – Stereo Effects Processor
- Endorphin.es Milky Way (black) – 16 Algorithm Stereo FX Processor
- Erica Synths Black BBD – Dual tap analogue delay
- Erica Synths Dual FX – 2×8 custom FXes
- Strymon Magneto – Stereo multi-head tape delay emulation, looper, phrase sampler, reverb, clock multiplier, chaotic oscillator
- Erica Synths Black Octasource – LFO with 8 simultaneous outputs
- Erica Synths Modulator – An advanced modulation and pitched noise source with focus on rhythmic (but not limited to) compositions in mind
- Erica Synths Pico RND – Combined LFO/random source
- Acid Rain Technology Maestro – Clocked Modulation Controller
- Mordax DATA (BLACK) – Four channel oscilloscope, Spectrum analyzer, Spectrograph, Tuner, Dual waveform generator, Clock source/div/mult, and more
For those of you who aren’t familiar with synthesizers (I used to be — and still am — a synth keyboardist), this rack is a killer collection of:
- Synthesizers, which make all the beep boop sounds,
- Drum machines, which make all the thumpy and OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ sounds,
- Sequencers, which record the order in which the beep boop, thumpy, and OONTZ OONTZ OONTZ sounds should be played,
- Effects, which add dimension to all the sounds, from reverb to echo to distortion to oddball sonic effects.
The asking price is US$28,000. I can’t tell you if this is a good price or not; I’m more familiar with the more conventional synths you’ll find at Sam Ash or Guitar Center than with this sort of rig.
Maybe someone should contact Trent Reznor and see if he’d be interested in coming down to Clearwater, and maybe, you know, meet up with me for a beer or two?
Categories
Christmas Eve dinner 2022
I know that the word “liver” strikes ice-cold fear in the hearts of many, but we love organ meats in this household. We had some amazing liver from the small farm-raised cows at Riverbend Ranch seasoned with their Cracker Cow Burger Blend, garlic pepper green beans and mushrooms, and mashed sweet potato with home-grown herbs. A great Christmas Eve dinner!
Have a safe and merry Christmas everyone — and to my friends across Canada and the U.S.: Stay warm!
Need context? It’s a reference to this scene from Goldfinger:
After a couple of decades since it was first published, the award for the worst take on Christmas, religious or not, still goes to Randroid Supreme Leonard Peikoff’s essay, Why Christmas Should be More Commercial. Even The Grinch would say “I think you’re taking it a little too far, Leonard.”
(I’d rather not link to it myself, but this search should get you there.)
It starts with this gem of a paragraph…
Christmas in America is an exuberant display of human ingenuity, capitalist productivity, and the enjoyment of life. Yet all of these are castigated as “materialistic”; the real meaning of the holiday, we are told, is assorted Nativity tales and altruist injunctions (e.g., love thy neighbor) that no one takes seriously.
…and it ends with this one:
America’s tragedy is that its intellectual leaders have typically tried to replace happiness with guilt by insisting that the spiritual meaning of Christmas is religion and self-sacrifice for Tiny Tim or his equivalent. But the spiritual must start with recognizing reality. Life requires reason, selfishness, capitalism; that is what Christmas should celebrate — and really, underneath all the pretense, that is what it does celebrate. It is time to take the Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egoistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration.
In a pluralistic societies like those in the United States, Canada, and the other G7 countries, a national holiday that has religious origins can’t be exclusively religious.
But Peikoff’s take is just too dickish. He clearly states that he’s not into the whole “love thy neighbor” thing, which is based on the Golden Rule, which is something all religions and most philosophies — Objectivism being a notable exception — follow.
If there’s anything positive about the essay, it’s that perhaps it might help convince people that capitalism — especially the current variety — is not an unalloyed good.
So yes, peace on earth, good will, and most definitely love thy neighbor, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
In case you need a primer on the founder of Objectivism, Ayn Rand, here’s the best short video summary I’m aware of:
To the French, bread isn’t just sustenance, but a way of life. It’s a good thing that most Parisians live within a five-minute walk from a boulangerie, as indicated by the map above.
Paris is a very walkable city, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they coined the term flâneur for “someone who spends their leisure time going on strolls with no particular destination in mind.”
A walkable city and the presence of flâneurs is also a strong indicator that it’s a great place in which to live. This thinking has given rise to the concept of the “15-minute city,” a term coined in 2016 that refers to a place where dwellers can get to the places for their daily routine with no more than 15 minutes of walking, or at most, 15 minutes of cycling.
A 15-minute city or neighborhood should feel like the ideal presented in Jane Jacobs’ book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In such a city or neighborhood, it’s reasonable to regularly walk or bike to places such as:
- A grocery
- A drug store
- Other shops for regular daily or weekly needs
- A “third place” — a place that isn’t work or home where you can spend with other people in the community
The idea is so catchy that when Anne Hidalgo was running for re-election as Paris’ mayor, she made turning Paris into a 15-minute city one of her campaign promises:
The idea is that communities within each arrondissement of the French capital become more ‘self-sufficient’, with grocery shops, parks, cafes, sports facilities, health centres, schools and even workplaces just a walk or bike ride away. This triennial survey of the city’s commerce shows that – in this one particular area important to French people – it already is.
In case you were wondering what a boulangerie is, it’s a kind of bakery. The French are so into baked goods that they’ve created a number of terms for different kinds of bakeries:
- boulangerie: The kind of bakery that makes bread. In France, you need to bake the bread on the premises in order to be called a boulangerie. You buy “bread-y” good here.
- pâtisserie: A pastry shop. France and Belgium don’t let you call your bakery a pâtisserie if you don’t have a licensed master pastry chef on staff. You buy “cake-y” good here.
- viennoiserie: Between the boulangerie and the pâtisserie is the viennoiserie, or Viennese-style breakfast pastry shop. You buy brioches and croissants here.
After finding out how easily accessible boulangeries are in Paris, I decided to see if I lived within walking or cycling distance of one. If you live in Seminole Heights like I do, you probably do!
First, there’s the Seminole Heights branch of La Segunda, which used to be Faedo Family Bakery. Faedo has been making Cuban bread for over five decades, and La Segunda’s been baking for over a century. They are truly a Tampa answer to the boulangerie.
Then there’s Gulf Coast Sourdough, who not only make excellent bread on the premises, but fantastic sandwiches, and a very good cinnamon roll.
And finally, there’s Brazilian Fun Foods, who don’t just make bread, but gluten-free bread in the style of pao de quejo, a cheese bread made from corn flour and cassava starch. Their wares cover a wide range of carby goodness, from bread to pizza dough to churros.
Seminole Heights also has a grocery, a couple of pharmacies, many restaurants, cafes and bars, riverside parks, and even a Home Depot and Walmart (this is America, after all), all within walking or cycling distance. It’s a pretty nice place, and I like it here.