Another Thursday at the wall of sound

Had the pleasure of a return to the wall of sound last night and the jamming was good. Met a nice new guy, enjoyed some excellent food and for the first time in my experience had to tell a guy who was playing through a Marshal stack that he needed to turn it up because I couldn’t hear him.

CAM00256

I was playing through a much punchier amp (or setup) this time around had all of the tone and volume I could want. A couple more times (given that I was playing not my bass through not my amp) and I will get the shebang totally zeroed in. Also setting up right next to the drummer made it easier for us to lock in. Both of us are a bit out of shape and so these nights make for awesome workouts and we have a show in just under a couple of months and I would like to leave a cratered hole where the stage was when we finish our gig.

One of the cool things about playing in a completely unstructured fashion is that you are forced to think on your feet, inside and outside the box and that any one can be driving the bus at any given time. Having a combination of tone and punch nearly to my liking allowed me to drive the bus about half of the evening and no one seemed to bother. In fact I think that the host and his friends are happy to have a rythym section that can play any style they can, can lock into a groove nearly immediately, and can turn on a dime and follow when something interesting appears.

At the end of the evening I was queried earnestly by each of the three if I actually enjoyed comming out to play. My answer was a resounding yes. Generally speaking, while I have had the pleasure of playing with more talented guitarists, these guys are better than good enough. Most importantly they listen, are creative, can lead and follow, and this is an act that I would not hesitate to take live. Though I admit that I would prefer to perform with an actual set list, unless we were hosting a musical feast, during a holiday.

Bottom line, if those guys could not play, the room of amps would not be enough of an enticement for me to return with any regularity. I definitely look forward to the opportunity to get my “sound” dialed in.

Also, too, Tesla.
CAM00254

Don’t know why the first pic is sideways but fuck it for now…

Once the drooling runs its course consider this an open thread.

Oh and a post jam, jam session led to the discovery that at least four of us had been at the same Bad Brains show in cincy early 90’s. Now those nice young men knew how to properly crater a stage.
..

 

Comments: 124

 
 
 

U.S. men’s ice hockey team is playing Russia, I wonder which team the wingnuts are rooting for this time.

 
 

I can’t really relate to this but I suspect this would be the musical equivalent of someone telling me “Hey, I need someone to fly my Gulfstream V to Paris for me.”

 
 

That would be, I think, a proper analogy major.

;).

Though I might prefer the trip to Paris.

Tough call quadB.

 
 

Fun, fun.

From my late teens to about age 22 I attended free-form jam sessions at least several times a week, usually daily. Played with anyone available, any skill level or style (mostly low and rock-like, respectively).

Since that time I’ve played alone at home, with very few exceptions. My vow is that when the wife and I finally settle down (this attempt having blown up in our faces) I WILL find some musical friends, etc.

Dunno enough about amps to express a preference, but I freakin love my Mesa-Boogies. The old one is a Mark IIA combo, black, not a tan head like the picture. Just wonderful, recently serviced, but I’m not playing it now. It deserves a rest and conservation.

They’re notoriously loud. The sixty watt mode is too much for most situations that *I* have found myself in, let alone the never-used 100 watt mode. Tone is incredible, very versatile, has no weakness. The tube distortion is godly. I love the response to my touch and attack.

So for Christmas I bought myself a Mesa 5/25 head. Haven’t switched out of the 5 watt mode yet because plugged into the IIA’s speaker, this thing is loud enough on “1” to flood my basement. Anyway, long story short, it’s incredible. (Mine lacks the EQ — I don’t need it — so I got a deal, because the non-EQ ones were an early, aborted option.)

I started efforts to build a proper cabinet for this thing, but petered out.

 
 

Oh how I love Saturdays! Two hours of Brazilian jazz on KMHD. The NYT crossword puzzle. Saturday marmers farket. And best of all, Teh Ho has Bagoas walking duties.

So, my entry in the game is Sebastian Vettel says “Hey Pupienus – how about you take the RB10 out for the Friday practice?”

 
 

Yeah, an F1 ride (or hey, a LeMans car, I’m not picky) would narrowly beat out the wall of sound in my fantasy world too. Also, too: “hey, you want to do recce for me on this WRC course?”

 
 

Has WordPress forsaken thee? I’m sitting here holding my laptop like a guy checking out Miss June so I can ogle the Tesla.

 
 

I saw a used Tesla at the Audi dealer, of all places. Nice looking car. For $110k used it ought to be nice looking.

 
 

Sorry shakezulu abouf the shite picture. Will get a better one next time.

CRA, check out billfitzmaurice.com for cabinet designs. Sounds like that place would be right up yer alley. On the phone right now so apologiez in advance…

 
 

Those mesa’s are somenice amps CRA. You a guitfiddlist?

I would love to host a SadlyCon at the house with wall of sound and throw down with all of the Sadlyzitions out there.

 
 

Harking back to yesterday’s discussions about the academic world, how math majors roll.

 
 

Previous dream requires a powerball victory…

 
 

My dreams, Luddite that I am, do not involve technology. I just wish one of you Sadly foodnuts could prepare an awesome Murican meal just for me – and I could eat it somewhere where I do not have to lock all the doors and windows all the time.

 
 

Said powerball victory would include all expenses paid trip for el manq and pup to a location of suezboo’s choice. I will of course serve as kitchen monkey.

 
 

Aw, thanks, Provider.

 
 

I just want to accompany bbkf on her food pilgrimage from B4 to El M to Pup to the Major on his aeroplane. It’s a simple dream really.

 
 

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS. This ain’t Atrios, ya know. Every thread is an Open Thread.

 
 

I just wish one of you Sadly foodnuts could prepare an awesome Murican meal just for me

If I’m ever in South Africa. Unfortunately we don’t fly there right now. Not even to Joburg.

 
 

I just want to accompany bbkf on her food pilgrimage from B4 to El M to Pup to the Major on his aeroplane. It’s a simple dream really.

very simple! you will make a lovely addition to the reality show 🙂

 
 

OH NOEZ!!!!

Rogue Ales abandons farm due to flooding.

http://www.kptv.com/slideshow?widgetid=104459

 
 

I’m on the road now, on a friend’s farm in west Tennessee. Sampling the superb local barbecue, picking some acoustic music and only cooking a little. Did make a nice chicken, mushroom and veg thing with buttermilk biscuits on top that’s baking now for my hosts. I’ll be in Nashvegas tonight catching the cool alt-country harmonies of Sarah Siskind’s side project Old Black Kettle.

Any time y’all want to drop by for a feed just let me know. I’ll be back in the swamps next week.

 
 

They’ve had major flooding at that location before.

 
 

Did make a nice chicken, mushroom and veg thing with buttermilk biscuits on top

Chicken and biscuits casserole is one of my go-to easy but delicious meals. I always reserve, in the back of the freezer, a cup or two from the last batch of insanely good roasted chicken stock precisely for such a purpose. Some chopped herbs – maybe parsley and chives – in the biscuit dough gilds that lily.

 
 

Sure. I went for sage in the biscuits and had to use the house stock but it’s pretty good. Man of the house is an 86 year old semi-invalid and I had to keep it bland; only one onion and 2 small garlic cloves.

 
 

Did I mention how farking outstanding the regional bbq is?

 
 

Jesus, manq if I had a car…

Look up jeffraham when you get to nvegas.

 
 

Oh and the biscuit thing soundslike something I need to know about.

 
 

Provider —

Thanks for the tip (billfitzmaurice.com), it looks useful. Yes, I am a guitarist, since 1984.

 
 

CRA
I want to build one of them myself. If you beat me to the punch, I wanna hear about it.

 
 

Heehee. I know we’re not supposed to go on about dreams, but this element was funny (HT nap):

If you walk a dog underwater, he swims up to a tree, lifts his leg as usual, but makes a yellow cloud.

 
 

If you’re trying to make me jealous…you’ve succeeded. *shakes fist in rage*

 
 

If you walk a dog underwater, he swims up to a tree, lifts his leg as usual, but makes a yellow cloud.

Whale Chowder said,
February 16, 2014 at 3:06

If you’re trying to make me jealous…you’ve succeeded. *shakes fist in rage*

Ummmm…

 
 

If you’re trying to make me jealous…you’ve succeeded. *shakes fist in rage*

Just sharing some of the reasonably good fortune that has crossed my path recently, OK, all of it.

I am actually a bit sore, and thinking of breakfast with my favorite crew, tomorrow, while attempting to forget that I have to cover a shift on Monday.

Of course I need to figure out how to get job a working for the guy, not sure I mentioned the Ham Radio license yet. Nor any of my other marketable skills that do not involve being a decent bass player.

WhiskeyCharlie If Powerball comes through, we will jam, eat well and meet and greet in meatspace.

 
 

WhiskeyCharlie If Powerball comes through, we will jam, eat well and meet and greet in meatspace.

When that happens, I’ll grab t’sam, P’up and t’ho along with O’BS and we’ll wheel our way to you. Maybe the Major could come pick us up.

 
 

Nice looking car. For $110k used it ought to be nice looking.

The little sporticles are neat. The sedan is disappointingly mundane. As in “There’s something odd about that Honda … Mercedes … Oh, it’s a Tesla!”

Not that I would kick one out of my garage, so to speak.

 
 

wall of sound?

 
 

Not that I would kick one out of my garage, so to speak.

Kick it outta the garage for eating … wattage?

 
 

Not sure I’m ready for an electric car just yet.

I have a detached garage and there’s no way for me to get a 220V hookup out there. It’s a condo so I can’t put solar panels on the roof either.

I’d be stuck recharging it off the regular 110V outlet which is pretty slow.

 
 

You charge it on the 110V at night:

A 110V household outlet can fully charge an electric car in about 10-20 hours. If you are charging your car overnight, this simply means that you plug it in before you go to bed and unplug it in the morning. Therefore, it only takes ten seconds of your time: five seconds to plug it in at night and five seconds to unplug it in the morning.

 
 

So how would one do in a Midwest winter where I’m running the heat, defrost and lights most of the time? Wouldn’t that significantly cut into its range?

How would it handle sitting at the airport for two weeks while I’m on a trip? Do they lose charge while sitting, like a regular car battery?

 
 

My brother-in-laws’ Prius had to be driven about once a month, so the answer to your question is no, they don’t lose charge ‘like a regular battery’.

 
 

You do bring up a good question about driving an EV in the winter, MK.

Those same owners, and those who own other EVs without thermally-managed batteries, still need to be careful about their cars’ range this winter. It’s wise, for example, to avoid trips which might push the range of your car–cold temperatures, unexpected traffic and winter-enforced detours may result in you running out before your destination.

We’ve looked at whether the Tesla Model S will hold up when the going gets cold, and done our own cold-weather test of the 2012 Nissan Leaf. Without using the heater, you may still get 80 miles. But fire up the accessories, and you’d be wiser to stop every 50 miles or so to re-charge.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/1204/The-electric-car-winter-weather-survival-guide

 
 

My wife could probably drive an electric car. She drives 15 miles each way to work plus the occasional errands.

I probably do too much long distance driving for an electric. I’d like to have one of the nice diesels that Audi is finally importing.

 
 

I had the impression that the Tesla has a significantly greater range than those others. Like 200+ miles.

Checking the Tesla site says the bigger battery has a 300 mile range at 55 mph. 244 with the smaller battery.

 
 

Checking the Tesla site says the bigger battery has a 300 mile range at 55 mph

Sure, driving up the I-5 on a nice day in California. Probably not slogging through an Ohio winter.

That’s still very impressive and I suspect will get even better as battery technology improves.

Even my very conservative employer is experimenting with electric delivery vehicles. If it makes sense from a $$$ standpoint I’d expect to see them do it on a large scale.

 
 

I have had to put alot more gas in my Prius this winter. (Have not driven more than usual.) Heat, defrost, lights reduce the hybrid drive’s reliance on electric.

 
 

“You put your hand in that box, it’s between you and the Lord.”

 
 

Electric delivery vehicles are a big seller across the world – they’re just more expensive upfront, so it’s hard to balance the debt vs savings over time.

The Tesla S is awesome inside. You’d never mistake it for something mundane if you were sitting in it. And it has pretty good winter range – depending on battery pack.

Of course, for jam sessions, I’m just a pitiful Rocksmith user o-o

 
 

re: cold weather BEV’s

Hydro Quebec started a pilot project with a batch of Mitsubishi MiEVs in Boucherville. Of course they are only going to share the promising results, but there are some promising results.

 
 

Yes, I realize that as a good liberal I’m supposed to be enamored with the Model S but I’m sticking with my (paid for) 2004 A8 for now.

 
 

Bought it used, by the way. I don’t like to pay more than $25k for a car.

 
 

MOAR PENIS

 
 

Where the fuck did my iPhone go?!?!?! Plug it in, windoze makes the right noise but I can’t find it in iTunes! Go to iTunes help and it says “click the device buttons.” I DON’T HAVE DEVICE BUTTONS.

GRRRRR

 
Comrade Rutherford
 

“Don’t know why the first pic is sideways”

On my WordPress site, it doesn’t see the EXIF ‘rotate’ codes. All photos I take with my iPod Touch (The iPhone without the phone) are always displayed horizontally when I import them to the Media Library. Simply rotating as saving doesn’t do anything because it’s just inserting the EXIF code for rotating the image upon display – which Word Press isn’t doing.

I have to open the image in any image software, rotate the image to the orientation it’s supposed to be, and then Save As a whole new file, this writes new code with the display rotation correct and WordPress will show that correctly.

 
Comrade Rutherford
 

“for the first time in my experience had to tell a guy who was playing through a Marshal stack that he needed to turn it up because I couldn’t hear him.”

Are you going deaf?

No, but seriously folks, I was working on a show with a new Barco 23,000 lumen video projector and for the first time in my life I got a note from the director saying the video image was too bright!

 
 

Thanks for the explanation comrade.

 
 

I’m amazed that we’re still using vacuum tubes in the year 2014. Is the sound noticeably different?

 
 

Coots was a third-generation “serpent handler” and aspired to one day pass the practice and his church, Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name, on to his adult son, Little Cody.

perhaps the most delightful paragraph i have read all weekend…

 
 

Major Kong’s rules for leading a long and healthy life:

#2 – Leave the damn snakes alone.

 
 

The snake was perfectly happy sunning itself on a rock or whatever it is they do before you decided to use it as a prop in your church service.

Leave the damn snakes alone!

 
 

Probably not slogging through an Ohio winter.

so, we’ve had a pretty cold and stormy winter this year and we’re all pretty sick of it…there was a bit of snow that went through the state, nothing major by what what we’ve already had today, but of course the metro-area stations are on snowpocalypse duty and at the top of last hour’s news, abc hyped that minnesota is getting ‘mauled’ by a winter storm…

 
 

Thanks for dealing with the troll and its’ nym-jackery here.

 
 

I’m amazed that we’re still using vacuum tubes in the year 2014. Is the sound noticeably different?

Like tsam says, manufacturers are getting very good at using electronics to mimic the sounds vacuum tubes give. Especially in recent years.

Overheating the power tubes changes the harmonics/overtones. (When you play a note on any instrument, there’s a series of higher tones that determine the “timbre” of the instrument — you can think of these like a halo, a penumbra or something.) When the tubes are really overdriven, their characteristic timbre dominates. It’s rich, it sustains, can sound vocal, slices, dices, and prepares your tax returns. OK not really.

What it’s NOT good for is complex, jazzy chords. Remember, every note in a chord has it’s own halo. Distorted notes are rich on their own; they sound kinda like chords. Dissonant jazzy chords feature notes that are already jostling each other, so in combination you get an ugly mess. They sound better with when their constituent notes are closer to sine waves (lacking higher-order harmonics/overtones). Conversely, simple chords — ones with few discrete “fundamental” notes that correspond to the overtones — sound great distorted: for example, the heavy-metal “power chord,” the major triad, and to a lesser extent, other simple chords.

But getting back to the question, we can finally do away with the vacuum tubes if we like. It just took a long time to get here, depending who you ask. The pros have been pretty stubborn about keeping their tubes, but then, they have money and techs. In my case, the gear is lightly used and doesn’t travel, so it’s practical enough.

 
 

“ITS own halo,” dammit.

I’ve been doing the ‘ errors lately. Maybe the brain’s starting to go. Horrors.

 
 

But getting back to the question, we can finally do away with the vacuum tubes if we like. It just took a long time to get here, depending who you ask. The pros have been pretty stubborn about keeping their tubes, but then, they have money and techs. In my case, the gear is lightly used and doesn’t travel, so it’s practical enough.

I thought there were some niche applications where vacuum tubes were still the preferred solution, the one that springs to mind is high power RF gear in radio stations.

 
 

I’m just talking about guitar amps. Dunno anything else, or all that much about amps really.

 
 

Every Mesa-Boogie amp manual contains a reprint of an essay called “On Triodes, Pentodes, and Irishmen” (see p. 14-17 of this PDF for example). It’s more or less readable on the subject of heated vacuum tubes and stuff.

 
 

I’ve been doing the ‘ errors lately. Maybe the brain’s starting to go. Horrors.

i’ve been struggling with the keyboard lately…either my fingers have become dyslexic, or my brain’s starting to go as well…

 
 

I HATE tube amps. My solid state effects do just fine through a solid state combo amp. If you’re playing a show, you get your effects and volume all set, and the tubes change tone as they heat up.

Insisting on tube amps is like insisting on having your phone attached to cord and stuck to the wall in your kitchen. You can still use it, but it’s old and lame.

 
 

Stereophiles still like tube amplifiers. For home music reproduction there is simply no other choice.

 
 

After learning almost six hours later that he had killed Davis, Dunn testified that he became “crazy with grief,” experiencing stomach problems for about four hours before taking a nap.

“My intent was to stop the attack, not necessarily end a life,” he testified. “It just worked out that way.”

such anguish and contrition…no wonder he’s all like wtf?!

 
 

The TIGRIS was designed to work well in most every system

Evidence to the contrary is clearly evident right here.

 
 

Stereophiles still like tube amplifiers.

Not sure I’ve got enough hearing left to notice the difference.

 
 

Not sure I’ve got enough hearing left to notice the difference.

what?

 
 

30 years of flying jets will take its toll on your hearing. Especially in the higher frequency ranges.

 
 

Stereophiles still like tube amplifiers. For home music reproduction there is simply no other choice.

Guitar techie types like to experiment with different combinations of tubes, create their own sounds. It’s not something that really ever interested me. I’m more of a “plug it in watch the panties drop” type.

But here’s the problem with non-solid state gear.

You have a guitar–mine’s a Gibson SG. It has 2 dual coil pickups. Each of these pickups has its own volume and tone knobs. There is also a 3 position switch for neck/bridge/neck+bridge settings. Fender Strats and Teles have 3 pickups and a 5 position switch (ugh)…
All of these affect the tone and volume. Then you have effects…a pedal board or multi effects, which have volume, noise gates, compressors, reverb, and equalizer, etc…so imagine trying to find your sound just with those two devices. Then plug all of that into a fussy, temperamental amplifier that might just randomly torch a tube while you’re playing. Getting a decent sound that isn’t screechy or hollow or just plain sucky is major pain in the ass. So you want as much of your gear to be as consistent in volume and tone as possible, otherwise you’re chasing problems all night long and that is NOT fun.

 
 

Especially in the higher frequency ranges.

you seem to pick up on dog whistles pretty well…

 
 

On second thought, DON’T read that “Triodes, Pentodes, and Irishmen” piece. I had forgotten what it was like.

 
 

You have a guitar–

How many times do I have to tell you I DO NOT HAVE A GUITAR.

 
 

MOAR PENIS
Another normal day at the Riddled Research Laboratory.

 
 

How many times do I have to tell you I DO NOT HAVE A GUITAR.
WHAT DO YOU CALL IT, THEN?

 
 

How many times do I have to tell you I DO NOT HAVE A GUITAR.

YOU BETTER GET ONE.

 
 

Guitars kill fascists.

 
 

Sorry I missed The Manq, but damn, Sarah Siskind could totally have me if she played her cards right.

I once worked with her husband(now ex-), which was how I learned of her, back in the day.

This rendition of the tune makes me cry, which is why I don’t go see her, live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1wCA5VR7vo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
.

 
 

POOPH

 
 

POOPH

we now have a sign in our bathroom (at work, not at home) that yells to NOT flush ANY foreign objects such as TAMPONS, DEPENDS or DIAPERS down the toilet!!! isn’t pretty much anything you put in a toilet a ‘foreign object’?

 
 

On second thought, DON’T read that “Triodes, Pentodes, and Irishmen” piece. I had forgotten what it was like.

Yeah, that was really terrible.

I love tube amps, but I’m a harmonica guy. The only pedal I have even has a little teensy tube in it so that if I need to go through a PA I can still get the crunchy sound I want.

I have a cool old vintage early-1960s Epiphone EA50 Pacemaker with a single 10″ speaker that had been swapped out for a nicer quality speaker sometime during the same era. I use that only occasionally at home, since it’s pretty fragile. Great sound though. I also have a modern Fender Blues Junior.

I like the old fragile “crystal” style mics that give the classic Little Walter “Juke” sound, but they tend to be finicky and not very “hot.” I have a couple more modern ones that are much more reliable, hotter, and can still get that sound if used properly.

Anyway, I don’t have nearly as much to mess with as one of you guitar folks. Hell, I change harps just to play in a different key.

 
 

isn’t pretty much anything you put in a toilet a ‘foreign object’?

My poops are all domestic.

 
 

Yeah, that was really terrible.

Indeed … well, Randall Smith’s a good engineer (based on the product). And the company is pretty good about documenting their stuff, so I must have some sort of “euphoric recall” syndrome where Mesa is concerned.

His soapbox “Bias Adjustment Article” is better, because there’s a practical point to it, and he doesn’t have an analogy to grapple with. (He must be very proud of his electrons-as-drunken-Irishmen bit (hence the reprints), but it’s unclear, and he forgets to explain why the buyer should care.)

 
 

The sound of a Mesa Dual Rectifier when you’re cracking out some Soungarden or Metallica is pretty awesome, despite all the tubes inside them.

When did we give tubes in TVs? I remember going and getting them tested when I was a little kid. Had to be early 80s.

. The only pedal I have even has a little teensy tube in it so that if I need to go through a PA I can still get the crunchy sound I want.

I think it’s Roland that makes a guitar multi-effects unit with a little AX-7 tube right in the floor board. Kind of a cool little thing if you’re going to for tube sound and don’t want to lug a heavy ass amp around.

 
 

When did we give tubes in TVs?

I think TVs and stereos were switched over to “solid state” in the 1970s.

 
 

I think TVs and stereos were switched over to “solid state” in the 1970s.

Seems right. I remember “Solid State!!” being a big fat deal back then.

 
 

Related: here, have some music for a dead thread. In a just world, I’d be able to find local band mates that would want to join me in playing stuff similar to this. [sigh]

 
 

I wonder how long it’ll be before somebody claims the SYG defense after killing somebody in reaction to a silent-but-deadly fart?

 
 

I wonder how long it’ll be before somebody claims the SYG defense after killing somebody in reaction to a silent-but-deadly fart?

ha…if it happens in western mn, chances are you will know who is involved…

 
 

Most of the tubes In TVs went away in the 70s but one tube remained common until fairly recently, namely the cathode ray tube.

 
 

namely the cathode ray tube.

Which has the really cool sounding “electron gun” as one of its main components.

 
 

Metaphoric Poop:

Court documents filed on Shaaban’s behalf last week also repeated the argument that he was never allowed to bring witnesses from Russia who he maintained could corroborate his claim that the crimes of which he was convicted were actually committed by a long-lost twin brother who later was killed in a bombing in Chechnya.

 
 

More music for a dead thread and to warm up my snowbound northern friends.

 
 

Well, my spouse did say I’m not allowed to drool over cars that cost more than a third of our house.

 
 

Well, my spouse did say I’m not allowed to drool over cars that cost more than a third of our house.

What? Not even drooling’s allowed? The concept of drooling often seems to imply a knowledge of unattainability.

 
 

Hey, y’all remember the weird image montage that they used to use to imply sex and the whole train-going-through-a-tunnel bit? Well apparently some toy designers did.

PENIS.

 
 

It was a good show JP, review here.

Guys doing the pickin and gals doing the singing, composing and emotin’ and stuff.

 
 

She didn’t do your song so you wouldn’t have had to cry though, as noted in the review, there were some tears on stage.

 
 

Hey, y’all remember the weird image montage that they used to use to imply sex and the whole train-going-through-a-tunnel bit? Well apparently some toy designers did.

PENIS.

“I’ll form the cock!”

 
 

Derpulese

Derpoclese

Derpopolis

And I gotta say, no props for Lucifurryanne? Mother of LoadPants? I mean you got a reference to the devil and furries packed in there.

Yesterday, I was covering a shift at the front of the house and while wiping some tables down told a fashionable and attractive lady that I would be right with her. As I approach the counter I am immediately struck by her eyes, they were astonishing. I asked what she wanted and she answered in an adorably accented but perfect English. While processing her order I kept making furtive glances at her eyes as I had never before seen in person, a pair so beautiful, intriguing and mesmerizing. They were arresting*.

As I tend to be an affable, gregarious and curious sort, as payment was being sorted I
told her “you have beautiful eyes” and while she was smiling in response I said “Where are you from” to which she replied “Poland”, which made perfect sense as I had pegged it somewhere along the northern area behind the Iron curtain.

*There was a famous picture on the cover of an eighties NatGeo of an Afghani girl that some or most of you might recall, these eyes had very similar qualities. The same picture shows up on the cover of the October 2013 125th anniversary issue subtitled “The Photo Issue.”

Generally speaking, while I have taken myself out of the game, and was never really a player to begin with, I just realized that I did not scan the hand for a ring (left one, right?) and did not surreptitiously check her credit card for a name.

 
 

As I tend to be an affable, gregarious and curious sort, as payment was being sorted I told her “you have beautiful eyes” and while she was smiling in response I said “Where are you from” to which she replied “Poland”, which made perfect sense as I had pegged it somewhere along the northern area behind the Iron curtain.

Was she about thirtyish with mouse-brown hair? Slim but curvy with a moon face? Not that I’d ever cyber-stalk an ex…

*There was a famous picture on the cover of an eighties NatGeo of an Afghani girl that some or most of you might recall, these eyes had very similar qualities. The same picture shows up on the cover of the October 2013 125th anniversary issue subtitled “The Photo Issue.”

I’ve always found brunettes with blue or green eyes to be extremely attractive, and I think seeing this picture as an adolescent may have a lot to do with that.

 
 

For the record, “What’s up, gorgeous?” in Polish is:

Co s?ycha?, ladna?

The closest phonetic spelling in English would be:

Tso swee-hach, wadna?

 
 

Uh, the superfluous question marks are letters which have no exact equivalent in English, an “l” with a diagonal line through it, and a “c” with an accent mark over it.

 
 

BBBB,

Yeah, while I thank you for the polish pick up line and I admit to practicing your phonetic rendering, I doubt that I will attempt it.

As far as hair, could not tell, the description of the face might be close, she was slim, but curves were buried in winter clothing if they were there. it was 32.7 degrees and raining outside when she arrived.

About five feet and change tall, if that helps, and thirtyish fits the bill.
🙂

 
 

Study: Democrats more likely to think astrology is scientific, less likely to know Earth revolves around the sun

Who let the Republican IdMAX through the door?

 
 

Five and change? Could have been her. Did she look like she could have been Pope John Paul II’s hot granddaughter?

 
 

I was too busy checking the eyes, cant be sure.

Also, too, new one.

unfortunately gotta run off to work.

Did your ex decide upon grad school at a midwestern school?

 
 

I dunno- she was “fresh off the boat” and was primarily occupied with studying English. Her degree was in accounting/business, but she didn’t seem to be the type to pursue grad school. She did have the most arresting pair of green eyes, though, to the extent that I called her oczy zielone as a term of endearment.

 
 

Hey, if she could do it once, she might do it again. I can’t take that chance.
.

 
 

In a just world, I’d be able to find local band mates that would want to join me in playing stuff similar to this. [sigh]

Dude, I’d play that with you in a Eugene minute! Got a drummer who’d be right there too. Your commute in to work might be a bit long the next day though.

 
 

In a just world, I’d be able to find local band mates that would want to join me in playing stuff similar to this. [sigh]

Dude, I’d play that with you in a Eugene minute! Got a drummer who’d be right there too. Your commute in to work might be a bit long the next day though.

Yeah, that’s a bit of a drive, but it’s appreciated, nonetheless.

 
 

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