Seen on a T-Shirt

Too dumb for opera
Too smart for NASCAR

Jim on 08.27.08 @ 05:36 PM ET [link]

Céilí

I'm still on a waiting list for a Morse Céilí Anglo concertina from The Button Box. I called this week and found that mine is about 2/3 finished, and will be completed in about three more weeks. These concertinas are all hand-made in western Massachusetts, and I suppose August tends to be an unproductive month.

In the meantime I'm still playing daily on my Chinese-made Rochelle Anglo concertina.
Jim on 08.24.08 @ 09:07 PM ET [link]

Remote Control

I downloaded a free app from Apple for my iPhone that allows it to remotely control an iTunes player over wifi. The remote control user interface is exactly like the local iPod interface on the iPhone, only you're controlling a remote machine.

I have my stereo connected to the audio-out of our computers, and years ago I had wired speakers in the kitchen to the stereo. So it was very kool to be standing in the kitchen preparing dinner, then whip out my iPhone to change the music playing all over the house.

I have about 2000 'songs' (I hate that term -- it has a very specific meaning in classical circles) on my basement Linux server, which is shared out via Samba on the household network. I imported all these songs into iTunes on Barb's Mac Mini, being careful not to have them copied to the local drive. The Mac and iTunes is smart enough to mount the Samba volume when a song is played that's on the basement server. It all works very nicely.

Jim on 08.24.08 @ 07:55 PM ET [link]

Schrödinger the Cat: 1995-2008

Our faithful cat (and namesake to this blog) Schrödinger died this weekend of complications from wounds sustained in a battle with a raccoon in June. During the raccoon attack the cat was in our backyard on a leash in broad daylight, no less. We buried Schrody in our backyard.

Jim on 08.18.08 @ 08:55 PM ET [link]

Now with 50% fewer wheels!

Finally, at age 9, my twin girls learned to ride two-wheeled bikes without training wheels. They did it within days of each other, the first probably prompting the second to match her feat. While neighbor kids had been scooting around on two wheels since age 5, my girls stubbornly resisted until recently. Frankly, I thought they might never learn.

So, as we had promised them, we went to the bike shop (twice, within days of each other) to buy reasonable sized bikes rather than the miniaturized things they've been riding and have outgrown. We learned our lesson last time - don't buy cheap department store bikes. So we went to Harris Cyclery in West Newton, MA. We've purchased several bikes there before and the staff is very knowledgeable and patient.

It turns out that you can't really buy a decent quality kids bike with fewer than about 287 gears, shock absorbers, knobby tires, a reinforced frame, and digital satellite dish. The days of the 1 or 3-speed Schwinn are gone, except for nostalgic adult bikes (add $400 extra for nostalgia factor). So two new kids bikes set us back about $600. Wow.

But we can finally ride as a family pack, something that was near impossible on training wheels.
Jim on 08.17.08 @ 06:01 PM ET [link]