BLAH BLAH Posted July 30, 2021 Author Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) A magnificent read @cafe67...thank you for that! Makes me want to bring the 300B SET out for a re-listen... Edited July 30, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 1
cafe67 Posted July 30, 2021 Posted July 30, 2021 41 minutes ago, BLAH BLAH said: A magnificent read @cafe67...thank you for that! Makes me want to bring the 300B SET out for a re-listen... The amp on page 1 of that article looked pretty sweet too 1
BLAH BLAH Posted September 27, 2021 Author Posted September 27, 2021 (edited) It's like lifting a full bag of cement, it really is...nahhh it's much heavier than that...much heavier...like a standing start dead weight lift of a Sansui BA-5000 amplifier from off the ground that makes the old cheeks work like bellows sucking in mouthfuls/lungful's of alleviating air...for the supreme lift I gee myself up with a mindful picture of a cheering Olympian crowd ecstatic at my magnificent effort...the old fella still has the juice!!! Nope...nadda...nix...no way hose... and the old noodle(organic) arms are just happy to slowly let go of the speaker weight and spring return to the comfort of their welcoming sockets...snap! The red flashes across the eyes desist...as do the muttered and less vocal swear words...and breathing returns slowly to normal...he ain't heavy he's my brother he ain't heavy...but he surely is(are speakers male or female I wonder...surely or would that be a shirley?!?) And another surely thing is it's so awkward to grasp and lift...just like those newly made mattresses without their stitched on side handles...FFS how do you hold/grab this floppy heavy weight to move...tip...slide...lift...hold upright as it slowly sags over...no nails to grip those tightly woven smooth sides with...just so frustrating...so...so...arghh...finger burn!!! Well I simply got tired of moving the old Sansui SP-5000 speakers around in the man-cave...over a 100lbs a piece...and no convenient handles on them to help with lifting...just sheer polished timber...smooth as! All done by sheer awkward and declining/ageing physical force. And the occasional two arm bear hug! (Ahhh shirley nice to meet you!) This spot here...ummm maybe...nahhh this spot over here?!? hmmmm yes!!! Ahhh big problermo I see and now not hear...I need longer speaker cables for this to all work! Call out to Bill the cable guy...!!!! So I stumped up some ca$h for a set of bespoke speaker stands...whoo hooo...six weeks time they'll be ready...FFS how bespoke are they...six weeks?!? Got the call to pick them up in three, today!...Canna be right I replied to him over the phone you told me six!!! Haha was the strained reply....you want them or not!?!? Craftspeople...no sense of humour at all! Yes I'll pick them up today...So here they are...well a picture of one...the magnificent beastie at rest atop of the bespoke said speaker stands! Edited September 29, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 4 3
BLAH BLAH Posted October 2, 2021 Author Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) The Sui SP-5000s are both precisely mounted on their new bespoke stands (straight lines up and down both speakers, nothing crooked or a wee smidgen out of distracting alignment with the stands here for my eye to snag upon and be irritated by!) and they finally face me across the room in the man-cave...sitting in my puter chair I notice their new added height is level with my ear height...nicely done I nod! We both stare at each other and their is no distracting sound...mute...it's a classic face off! Whose going to make the first sound then, hey...hey...aayyy?!? I challenge with a grin...not me I think...I'm a patient strange bastard...whilst the 5000s completely and utterly ignore me...fine! I'm thinking (no way am I going to break this silent face off by talking aloud!) jeez these 5000s are big, humongous even...and I do love big speakers both their size/heft and their sound...love it's massive 15" woofer(when's the last time you seen/heard one of these babies in action!)...big loverly solid cabinets with that distinct Sui badged latticed wavy grill...solid as. Imposing too I might add now that they are settled up on their stands...a tad over whelming if I was honest (but I'm not flinching no sirreee!)...I'm thinking feck they remind me of Easter Island Moai Megalith Mutes arising out of the floor...not at all grey but walnut coloured! (just do not fall/roll forward unexpectedly upon me cos I reckon I'd be trapped good or bad?!) Not as weather beaten as the pock marked grey Moai...I mean their are minute/fine signs of wear on both these Sui but no exposed light coloured gouges and/or chunks out of their woodwork to distract the eye...maybe a few very fine indent scratches on top...(Sasha have you been climbing on my speakers again, damm cat!)...I have polished the fine lines out with Beeswax and left a luxurious buff shine on the Sui...(and besides who looks at the top of shiny speakers when listening to music)...not me. The 5000s are a warmish sounding speaker and I am going to splurge on a pair of silver speaker cables from @Bill125812 the maker of the well renowned Bill's Cables...to help extract a tad more detail from the music...I will just have to wait till they are made and sent...till then the speaker face off shall be continued... Edited October 2, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 2
crtexcnndrm99 Posted October 2, 2021 Posted October 2, 2021 On 27/9/21 at 3:25 PM, BLAH BLAH said: It's like lifting a full bag of cement, it really is...nahhh it's much heavier than that...much heavier...like a standing start dead weight lift of a Sansui BA-5000 amplifier from off the ground that makes the old cheeks work like bellows sucking in mouthfuls/lungful's of alleviating air...for the supreme lift I gee myself up with a mindful picture of a cheering Olympian crowd ecstatic at my magnificent effort...the old fella still has the juice!!! Nope...nadda...nix...no way hose... and the old noodle(organic) arms are just happy to slowly let go of the speaker weight and spring return to the comfort of their welcoming sockets...snap! The red flashes across the eyes desist...as do the muttered and less vocal swear words...and breathing returns slowly to normal...he ain't heavy he's my brother he ain't heavy...but he surely is(are speakers male or female I wonder...surely or would that be a shirley?!?) And another surely thing is it's so awkward to grasp and lift...just like those newly made mattresses without their stitched on side handles...FFS how do you hold/grab this floppy heavy weight to move...tip...slide...lift...hold upright as it slowly sags over...no nails to grip those tightly woven smooth sides with...just so frustrating...so...so...arghh...finger burn!!! Well I simply got tired of moving the old Sansui SP-5000 speakers around in the man-cave...over a 100lbs a piece...and no convenient handles on them to help with lifting...just sheer polished timber...smooth as! All done by sheer awkward and declining/ageing physical force. And the occasional two arm bear hug! (Ahhh shirley nice to meet you!) This spot here...ummm maybe...nahhh this spot over here?!? hmmmm yes!!! Ahhh big problermo I see and now not hear...I need longer speaker cables for this to all work! Call out to Bill the cable guy...!!!! So I stumped up some ca$h for a set of bespoke speaker stands...whoo hooo...six weeks time they'll be ready...FFS how bespoke are they...six weeks?!? Got the call to pick them up in three, today!...Canna be right I replied to him over the phone you told me six!!! Haha was the strained reply....you want them or not!?!? Craftspeople...no sense of humour at all! Yes I'll pick them up today...So here they are...well a picture of one...the magnificent beastie at rest atop of the bespoke said speaker stands! These look in excellent condition - very envious! These, the Altec Valencias or JBL C60 all have in common that gorgeous grill. They probably have a few other things in common too… 1
Gelert Posted October 2, 2021 Posted October 2, 2021 On 26/04/2021 at 9:41 AM, BLAH BLAH said: A pic of my one and only 300B SET...what a bottler!!!...currently my audio gateway to musical listening paradise... Apologies if I have shown this pic before, I canna help it I am like a proud new parent wishing to show of the new baby... ...the 300B, B, B, Beeee... hmm that's interesting about the B's in my life I recall working and programming a music/interview show at Bellingen's 2 BBB FM Mudbrick Radio Station many years ago...bbbloody terrific it was too and also still going strong too...hopefully my 300B SET will last just as long...and that includes me too...ahhh but I digress! Ahhh what the heck I may as well reveal my re-capped Sansui SP-5000's that it is currently connected too...they were in my hall way waiting patiently for weeks to be swapped out with my Wharfedale E90s...and the Wharfies are no slouches when it comes to sound...hence the delay! These SP-5000's are old school style, hhheavy, very large, with 7 drivers, but super efficient outputting sound at around 102dbs...derogatory referred to by all and sundry as 'kabuki style' but I disregard that chattering noise as I do enjoy their warm analogue sig...warm sound plus warm bottle glow makes for warm reception...'ear, 'ear! I'm new to Stereonet, and just read your fascinating articles about the valve amp. I have Willsenton R8 and love it, after spending almost as much as the amp on NOS tubes. Thought I might mention to you that before I went to the R8, I had a Redgum 175 watt Black integrated (well, I still have it), but I wanted to see what the tube sound was all about, so I bought a McChanson tube buffer/headphone amp to put between the DAC and the Redgum. I bought the tube buffer on Ebay, and collected it direct from Eric Chan, who call himself McChanson, at Burwood NSW. I met a very nice, elderly Chinese gentleman, quietly spoken, and enthusiastic about his products. All are hand built by him, and are run in and tested before he sells them. He has access to some esoteric valves and equipment. I've been back a couple of times, just to say hello and have a chat with him. I think you'd like him. His products are very good, but the only criticism I have is that he doesn't label inputs, outputs or knobs on all his products, but that is minor. They are solid, and work well. 1 1
BLAH BLAH Posted October 3, 2021 Author Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, crtexcnndrm99 said: These look in excellent condition - very envious! These, the Altec Valencias or JBL C60 all have in common that gorgeous grill. They probably have a few other things in common too… Hi @crtexcnndrm99 and thank you...and yes these retro 5000s of mine are in very good condition...I said, I just dropped in to see...What condition my condition was in...Yeah, yeah, oh yeah...I see no discernible rimple dimple dings dents ripple corrugations along their fine lined straight wooden edges/sides to distract the eyes...a little like a newly minted sharp edged penny/token before the inevitable cashiered toll from years of handled commerce... Lattice continue with the state of their intricate wooden grills...so very chinese...so very oriental...so very wooden screen window patterned partitions...so different, just another world...music comes through whilst the eye is entertained...good different...I love them and I declare myself a fully paid up member of the Golden Era of Japanese Hi-Fi of the 70/80s as recalled by magazines such as Stereo Review...when these speakers totally reigned supreme. We are in total agreement here...both those Altec Valencias and JBL C60s have gorgeous wooden grills...I would also mention the Pioneer CS-901s, Sonics AS-337As, and my favs of all time the Kenwood KL-777As. Those Kenwood grill patterns just recall graceful rising Cathedral arches for me...the grills rise straight up high and join together in a point like fingers of hands arched in prayer...supplicant and ready to commune with the holy of hollies...celestial music of choice...Jazz, Baroque. ..ahhh sublime and heavenly. What else do these speakers have in common you ask?!?...prolly their weight(hence the bespoke stands for them to help with their movement!)...and the fact they are not being made anymore. Times have moved on, styles change, modern cutting edge technologies apply and take over and gee whizz whizzz bang these wooden grilled speakers are now old fashion and retro. And as a fully paid up member of the 70/80s golden era of Hi-Fi whilst I do appreciate the shiny and new modern but I declare that my loyalties lie with the retro and their distinct various styles...I'm glad i grew up in the era of "peak" saturation Hi-Fi...I am indelibly stamped from the experience...I may as well have the sansui logo emblazoned on my forehead like the shiny bottle top on forehead of Stargate character CMSgt Teal'c of Chulak! I do not make the claim the 5000s are a better sounding speaker than the shiny new 'uns now being manufactured but they do offer a sound that appeals to my senses...not forward...not bright...not fatiguing...but warmth with fine detail...hence the purchase of Bills Silver Speaker Cables to enhance that fine detail a tad more. How do they sound loud?!? just great! When I listen to LZ1 loud my neighbours hear LZ1 loud as well...depending on the amp used with them these 5000s are happy to go louder...bit more?! can do!!...bit more?!? can do!! bit more?!? can do!! cos we all love a bit more...from 9am on the dial right all around till 6pm can do!!! And then you know what it's like to be completely immersed in LZ1 Bass/Lead guitars, drums and vocals...bit more?!?! Edited October 3, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 1
BLAH BLAH Posted October 3, 2021 Author Posted October 3, 2021 8 hours ago, Gelert said: I'm new to Stereonet, and just read your fascinating articles about the valve amp. I have Willsenton R8 and love it, after spending almost as much as the amp on NOS tubes. Thought I might mention to you that before I went to the R8, I had a Redgum 175 watt Black integrated (well, I still have it), but I wanted to see what the tube sound was all about, so I bought a McChanson tube buffer/headphone amp to put between the DAC and the Redgum. I bought the tube buffer on Ebay, and collected it direct from Eric Chan, who call himself McChanson, at Burwood NSW. I met a very nice, elderly Chinese gentleman, quietly spoken, and enthusiastic about his products. All are hand built by him, and are run in and tested before he sells them. He has access to some esoteric valves and equipment. I've been back a couple of times, just to say hello and have a chat with him. I think you'd like him. His products are very good, but the only criticism I have is that he doesn't label inputs, outputs or knobs on all his products, but that is minor. They are solid, and work well. Hi @Gelert just in case your unawares their is a dedicated McChanson thread here on Stereonet... 2
BLAH BLAH Posted October 29, 2021 Author Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) Well the Sansui SP-5000s have been wheeled into the man-cave and connected up... Sitting up right in the puter chair they face me level at ear height... It's been a whiles since music has been released into the man-cave...canna wait... But it's been all about waiting for the arrival of a new bottle rectifier for the silver faced little 12W PP Triode Valve amp... Thanks to @xlr8or recommendation I have chased up...https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GZ34-Valvo-Philips-5AR4-rectifier-O-Getter-tested-NOS-F32-/255145119525 With a little trepidation on my behalf...I wasn't sure whether the long postal voyage in such a small package had caused it damage...a little shake of the bottle near my ear...nope, nix, nada, nuffin...no suspicious sounds/noise to be heard...sounds good so far...so in he/she went...plugged in and the good looking eagle has landed! Power on...nervous anticipation on my part...nothing but a few tinkles a little like recalling the soft arrival of light raindrops...then a glorious glowing stillness...no magic smoke, no faulty bottle...no loud suprising noises...We are good to goooo...go now, go now You'd better go now...Big decision now...what to play?!? Man that is always the hassle...a quick survey of the horizontal CD built towers on the computer desk in front of me, twin towers, high towers, low towers...clear plastic towers...all containing celestial sounds...a miniature city of angels...and I choose...a previously unreleased Los Angeles session...Carmell Jones Quartet with Forrest Westbrook, Gary Peacock and Bill Schwemmer... Sounds good...man the critics go on about Carmell and his trumpet playing but I reckon Forrest Westbrook playing on piano is a relevation and stand out here... Sounds so good...maybe the GZ34 Rectifier needs that renowned burn in to sound even better...who knows...but so far...sounds good and my tapping foot agrees... Edited October 29, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 2 2
BLAH BLAH Posted November 18, 2021 Author Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) In my World the skies are forever clear, fresh and blue...and way up high one can just make out the silver bullet noses of slow moving dirigibles inching their way across from horizon to horizon like the super slow moving pendulum of metronomes...Stately Zeppelins (filled with helium) carrying sleek wooden gondolas with ticketed apartments and glassed viewing cockpit...sharing the sky with giant air filled slow moving colourful ballons...giant lollypops in flight...sweet as. And both sharing the airy expanse with diving, weaving droning Sopwith Camels...spider webbed wing wires on the hugely doubled winged elegant Gothas...Fokker D V11 with their polished wooden spinning propellers and bright brassed throbbing engines...and the pilots are all wearing full length squeaky brown leather wool lined coats/boots/gloves and glassed goggles...I imagine quite a few also wearing leather skull caps and contrasting fluttering scarves...flying high over vast oceans with both the Cutty Sark and Thermopylae below...racing like marine greyhounds with nary a rabbit in sight hauling their precious cargo of hand picked Earl Grey and Darjeerling teas to far distant ports full of foreign names and strange dialects...full billowing white sails rocking like large tiered wedding cakes...precariously balanced over a small rocking wooden platter...sweet to the eye... creaking forward and back, creaking back and forward...racing past the Golden Hind back from the New World and stuffed with its namesake pirated booty and which is keeping pace with the Titanic on its maiden voyage. In the far distance the dragon prowed wooden viking boats disappear in to the watery mist...giving up the chase. In my world Zeppelins fly over continents containing vast silver steeled rail lines directing the furiously steaming flying scotsman locomotives and carriages past fairy tale built castles recalling Germany's Neuschwanstein...past Cathedrals recalling France's stained glassed Chartres and England's Westminster Abbey and the vaulted arched stone interior of Canterbury Cathedral. Past Japanese moated Osaka castles built on precision cut stone blocks and surrounded by deep watery moats...past Kinkakuji Temples (Kyoto) circled by fields of flowering azaleas and cherry blossoms... In my world the gentlemen still dress like Beau Brummel setting an elegant style...the ladies in Empire style gowns and carry parasols...the horse and carriage still clip clops the city streets...leaving their weird fallen fruit of brown steaming droplets like miscoloured loose blackberries. They all jostle in the city streets with trams and Bugattis...Porches, Mustangs, Jaguar E-Type, Duesenberg Model J, Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK Trossi Roadster...the air is still filled by Big Band music and 'the bird' is still constantly wowing them with his sax playing in Jazz Speakeasys. Both Fred Astire and Ginger Rogers set the fashion with dance, clothes, singing...and the well tailored double breasted suit is making a come back....and the samurai style of dress code is increasingly popular...and Latin is bespoke... In my world Vinyl is still king...pristine virgin vinyl...black as liquorice, black as humbug lollies. And music bands Chicago Transit Company, Blood, Sweat and Tears are both still releasing their first albums...so is Led Zeppelin...and The Rolling Stones...I still buy all their imported LPs from Melbourne's Archie and Jugheads record store for still $10 a pop...I buy plenty! In my world Stereo is still in its Golden Age and still described and detailed by Stereo Review magazine (I buy and read every copy)...Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui they all rule...and speaking of Sansui their highly sought after Alpha models have progressed in development all the way through the Greek alphabet to Zeta...and the Sansui factory is still alive/prosperous and financially well even making copies of their earlier black faced models still for sale....The 555A, 777A, 999, 919, 111...all the popular models and all with improved internal parts. The Tube Amplifier is still King and more importantly factories are still making all their original valves for sale. In my world my little 12 PP Triode Valve Amp with its NOS Mullard GZ34 is still king...I put on a CD...Modern Art...Art Pepper Quartet...with Art Pepper on sax, Russ Freeman/Carl Perkins both on piano, Ben Tucker on Bass, Chuck Flores on drums...In my world this is sublime jazz listening... Edited November 27, 2021 by BLAH BLAH 1 1
doogie44 Posted November 18, 2021 Posted November 18, 2021 And in your world you are poised to buy the IPOs of Apple, Google, Amazon and Tesla with your margin loan-boosted life savings--and then never work again (after waiting a little time)...plus you will have your stash of NOS everything to keep you company! 1
BLAH BLAH Posted December 4, 2021 Author Posted December 4, 2021 Sitting in the man-cave late at night in the darkness lazy eyes gazing at the sweet bottle glow...occasionally I do do that...no music to hear of...just me my lazier thoughts and the bottle glow of the 12W P/P Triode Silver Amp...sometimes a whisky sniffta in hand for company and to greatly encourage pretence...oh yes to pretend I am residing in an exclusive English Gentleman's Club sitting in a grand leather chair fronting the marble fire place alit with cracking logs waiting patiently for both Sherlock and Doctor Watson to maybe make their appearance...especially on a cool night when it's raining. I can pretend quiet a lot with a whisky sniffta and a rainy night...or maybe tonight it can be Harry Bosch instead and we can chat about both jazz music and jazz musicians...our favourites...while the rain falls...But it's a rainy night in Georgia, baby, it's a rainy night in Georgia I feel it's raining all over the world, kinda lonely now And it's rainin' all over the world Oh, have you ever been lonely, people!...the raindrops slow and fall faintly...fainter still...one finger doodle/drops on an imaginary jazz piano/keys in search of a melody...what do you reckon Harry...sounds like Forrest Westbrook?!? No?!?...more like Monk you say...I think your right Harry...Monk it is...I guess he would have had a better handle on introspection and have had all the time in his world to work out this irregular doodle/dropping into a melody and then to name it...I take another sip of SMW...Irish to be sure...and while I appreciatively sip I then hear it faintly...a wavering shakey trill...a lone cicada working a tune above the erratic falling raindrops coming in through the open window...nothing defined/structured as yet...more akin to a wayward hand searching for the light switch in the dark...ala Basil from Fawlty Towers...not quite there yet but close...very close... The sole cicada gains confidence and works his stuttering tune above the raindrops...you hear that Harry?!? Harry nods a slow yes...I reckon it's a tad like Sonny Cross on sax weaving his magic and...I am stopped in mid sentence by Harry nodding a nooo...nix...nadda...no way...who then Harry?!? Who?!? Art Pepper you say...?!? Art Pepper with 'Patricia'...you could be right Harry...I'll bow to your better judgement! But one thing I do know Harry is that when I was a young tacker...cicadas made their collective song in loud noisy groups...one would start and the rest would soon follow...(so who is going to start us cicadas all off once again now that we all have had a rest and caught our breath?!? Eh?! Me...me...no me...me...NO ME...MEEEE...OHH FFS Wait for MEeee!!!)...close to Christmas the air would be electric with their hum their tune their song...but for some reason this solitary cicada seems to have lost his way. Anyways what would be the collective noun for such noisy cicadas Harry?!? Ok not noise Harry...not noise...so what would be the collective noun for loud chirruping cicadas?!? A throb you say...Feck you know a lot Harry! 1
BLAH BLAH Posted January 23, 2022 Author Posted January 23, 2022 Sometimes I am easily convinced that I am living on the set of Hitchcock's movie The Birds... Early mornings...so very early...the type of very early that makes it so very easy to have a little nanna nap come late afternoons. Early mornings, still and grey, I stir awake from their combined chuckling...soft undefined murmurings to start with and then the chuckling builds to an ever familiar combined shattering crescendo...raucous and disturbingly loud in the morning of the earth...I know from the sound of their brazen laughter that their are only two Kookaburras...just two...one starts to laugh solo and inevitably/invariably eggs the other to join in....the initial slow start of oohh...oohh...oohh...OOhh...OOHH...is joined by the responsive bellowing of aahh...aahh...aahh...AAhh...AAHH...and a frenzied crescendo of bold laughter is released into the air...the notes hang loudly...they last for one, two, three...ten seconds...sometimes fifteen seconds or if I am indeed lucky a truly magnificent vocalise of around twenty seconds loud then tapering all down to a soft giggling...Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree Merry, merry king of the bush is he Laugh kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra, how gay your life must be...Never failing to bring out a smile from my drowsy state...whatever is the joke?!? Then the Kooka's move on from our large grey gum...Eucalyptus punctata...on the back fence line to other local favoured large trees in the neighbourhood and recommence their jocular vocalizations till they faintly fade away eerily into the far distance...job done! Then the quiet returns like a welcomed blanket but not the longed for sweet sleep...drowsily and in due time I hear the second chorus of the morning song start up in increasing volume...the magpies...ahhh the black and white magpie army commence their warbling....it's pleasant enough to hear...one by one the checked army awakes and warble non-stop...their sharp beaks opening and releasing their soft gurgled/gargled cries skyward in haphazard unison...prim and proper in their checked coloured suits...an army of stiff formality. and stiff walks...such contrast....gurgle/gargle then stiff...stiff then gurgle/gargle... Then the white yellow sulphur crested stealth bombers commence their approaching early morning song eerrr raids...slow diving unheard from a great height...they approach closer and closer their unsuspecting two legged targets and then stealthily release and jettison their cargo of accumulated loud cries, shrieks and squawks in one huge enormous dive bombing gasp over unsuspecting unprotected heads. But not this morning my fine feathered friends...my head is covered by blanket and I can hear their noisy ruckus unabated safely...sounds of many noisy rusty gates opening/closing...sounds of fingernails scratched across blackboards...sounds of rusty roof iron creaking back and forth in a high wind...sounds of squeaky bicycle wheels/trolleys...hit the outside ground loudly....I think I hear the sounds of then, and people talking, The scenes recalled, by minute movement, And songs they fall, from the backing tape. That certain texture, that certain smell, Laugh and think, this is Australia...That black shiny agate of a scary eyeball...unblinking...looking for another target to dive bomb... The young noisy miner and it's constant unvaried one note song of hunger to the world...yellow beak feeding grey fluffy immature feathers into growth...how the hell does this noise bag get a gig in the early morning song chorus...The unflinching calm of the multi coloured Lorikeets and parrots eating nectar from native blossoms as they are dive bombed by the territorial full grown noisy miners...flick...flick go their ever closer wings. The menace of the black with odd white spots smaller butcher bird...looking for prey...young helpless prey...unmoving in the shadowed branches...with large solid beak ever ready...only noticed at the last minute...so quiet...so practised a killer... So birdsong is nice if a little un-nerving in my neck of the woods...but I am comforted this morning by my little silver 12W P/P Triode Valve Amp playing CDs...Ahmad Jamal The Complete Collection Part One 1951-1959 and Part Two 1959-1962...wonderful jazz piano... 2 1 1
BLAH BLAH Posted February 5, 2022 Author Posted February 5, 2022 (edited) Suspended in a clear glass of water with toothpicks for arms...three hairless arms firmly resting on the thin glass rim...is my tri tooth-picked impaled fleshy white mango seed...the clear water has animated my little friend into life...silently...no coughs and splutters here/hear from it's aqua immersion...no movement at all...no Australian Crawl displayed here in the water...Meet me down by the jetty landing Where the pontoons bump and spray All the others reading, standing As the Manly Ferry cuts its way to Circular Quay Don't be so reckless She don't like that behaviour...no movement at all just a steady slow spread of discolouring fecund green...No matter how I study/squint/look at its suspension the seed betrays no movement of life at all...nary a ripple across the watery surface...no escaping oxygen bubble...nadda/nix/nope...it's alive...I know it's alive...Frankenstein It's alive, it's alive Frankenstein...just a steady turn to green across its pale flesh...seasick?!?...but there is no storm in a tea-cup/glass here for sickness...I imagine it's doing a baby groot from the movie GOTG moving behind my back instead... Still like an insect caught in amber encased/frozen for all time...my mango seed still in a clear glass of water....tiny roots...one....two...three extend downwards trying to secure a grip against a impenetrable glassy bottom are coloured a dirty dull brown...Every time just like the last On her ship tied to the mast To distant lands Takes both my hands Never a frown with Golden Brown...brown turning rusty from all that water?!? Delicate brown thin streamers hang suspended from underneath...too flimsy for supporting such a large seed upright...like some strange unsteady octopus...like an incongruous large seed running a weird race on flimsy thin brown legs finishing its race with thin brown toothpick arms flung up in triumphant crossing of an imaginary finish line...like the AFL footballer KB celebrating after a goal scoring spree with arms flung up and backwards ...like the Black Knight from Monty Python...losing all his limbs in a sword fight...what finally remains is the odd fleshy shape reminiscent of a knight's helmet and visor...finally stilled and beheaded with no more nonsense spoken about flesh wounds only...(come back come back tis but a scratch)...drained of scarlet blood the brown/red veins hang lifeless from the bottom of a knight's helmet...and inside you can see the severed head turning green in the helmet... And furthermore what sounds alive to me are the magic fingers of Ahmad Jamal on piano from his CD The Awakening...his rendition of that Jazz standard 'Stolen Moments' almost turns me green with envy... Edited February 5, 2022 by BLAH BLAH 2 1
BLAH BLAH Posted February 18, 2022 Author Posted February 18, 2022 My cable order from @Bill125812 has arrived...whooo hoooo...a set of silver RCAs...a power cable...and silver speaker cables 6=4 meter lengths...thank you Bill! Won't be long before I have those silver speaker cables installed...
les.mandy Posted February 18, 2022 Posted February 18, 2022 1 hour ago, BLAH BLAH said: My cable order from @Bill125812 has arrived...whooo hoooo...a set of silver RCAs...a power cable...and silver speaker cables 6=4 meter lengths...thank you Bill! Won't be long before I have those silver speaker cables installed... Good result. 1
BLAH BLAH Posted March 12, 2022 Author Posted March 12, 2022 (edited) Late at night sometimes I hear it, other times often not! Through the wide open window I can hear the back wooden fence creak under weight in the still night air...then the drop into shubbery...then the sound of dry leaves slowly being trod upon...crunch...crunch...getting all the more louder as it crosses the back lawn and gets closer to that open window...then it suddenly stops, just like my breath as I listen more intently and my mind races to discern/understand... images of the thudding soil depressing dinner plate foot steps of the invisible ID monster from the Sci-Fi movie Forbidden Planet crowds my brain...thud, thud like my beating heart. The shuddering reptilian quakes/sounds of Jurrasic Park crowd in...as well as that menacing image of a still unblinking cold black eye, surveying...and then my mind fills with the cry of...of...Gigantor!...Japanese Manga cartoon of the 60's!!!...AAAhhh Ain't it funny how the night moves...When you just don't seem to have as much to lose...Strange how the night moves...With Autumn closing... (But not that bloody wide open window!) Then I hear it begin...a strange cross between a weezing ancient bellows and over loud purring...peaking loudly and then diminishing to a throaty gurgle...repeating over and over again. I hear that sound circling the back lawn like a squeaky wheel punctuated by the odd dry leaf crunch...bloody demented carnival ring master practising their marching moves...I think!?! No Sir EEE, more like a bloody possum! Staking out it's boundary?!? Crooning a love song for a partner?!? Why my backyard?!? Why?!? WTF?!? Sometimes I hear it, other times often not...it will be weeks of not listening to my lil silver 12W P/P Triode Valve Amp...the impulse is not there and after guilty reflection it seems to me a lot of money to be tied up in a system I do not regularly utilize...heck I view/listen to my TV more times than my Hi-Fi system and music collection and still I get a lil thrill of recognition when I see Hi-Fi systems in movies/TV series...I am a fully paid up member of that group...Hi-Fi and CD/Vinyl listener...but I am starting to realize I am not 'hard core' despite my large financial investment...I am a dilettante...yes I like that, a dilettante! When the mood strikes me I will listen, otherwise I have other interests. Why only the other night I was surfing the net on my puter (with a boogie board! ) and stumbled upon CCR singing Suzie Q...I thought to myself...self...that is one hell of a voice! Started me thinking who has the best rock voice...McCartney...Plant...Gillan...Hocher...Dewar...Buckley...then I think maybe Janis...no?!...yes?!? Edited March 15, 2022 by BLAH BLAH 1
muon* Posted March 12, 2022 Posted March 12, 2022 I remember Gigantor, didn't want to but now I do Do you write? had anything published? You've likely been asked this before. 2
BLAH BLAH Posted March 16, 2022 Author Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) On 13/03/2022 at 10:41 AM, muon* said: I remember Gigantor, didn't want to but now I do Do you write? had anything published? You've likely been asked this before. Hi Ian...hahahaaa who doesn't remember Gigantor and maybe Astro Boy heck I can even recall The Samurai...shintarooo!!!...black robed Ninjas and their deadly pointed tools of trade the small thrown flying metal stars that made satisfying thumps into wooden beams...whoosh, whoosh we would utter as we pretended to chuck them in earnest star after star at each other whilst ducking and weaving...arms whirling like demented card dealers/dervishes and/or furious junior teppanyaki cooks/Iron Chefs...jumping and cartwheeling of high buildings what wonderful fast flying choreography ...aaahhh my poor aching legs and thudding grounded ankles...we were all so young and so deadly earnest in our samurai portrayals...absolutely besotted! Speaking of which what ever happened to Deadly Earnest?!? and his black gloved hand called...claw...clawwwwwwww!!!...awkward protruding singular tooth and puss riddled face, recalling the edgy deep craters of the moon...introducing his awful B-Grade horror movies on late night melbourne TV during the late 60's in a Lovecraftian voice dripping with evil...EVIL!!!...and facial contortions of terror...manic high pitched laughter and crazy protruding eyes ...clawwwwwwwwww!!!! Ahhh Ralph Baker you were an original...so fresh and interesting...so earnest in your horror movie intros...a veritable creative oasis bubbling away in a sea of suburban greyness...black and white TV...so short in duration and so sweet! Must be something in that name Ralph and creativity...we then had Ralph Bakshi creator of Fritz the Cat!! Ahhh heady days indeedy...sex, drugs and jazz... I like to write...sometimes a little poetry...and sometimes to just entertain myself...I never have an idea where the impulse will take me...I am learning to trust the impulse more and more without being embarrassed too much by them, cos everything one writes seems to reveal one's inner self. Never been published...I am not sure my impulses are worth being published...hahha...and seriously I would not know how to go about doing it...I am indeed lucky to be able to scribble my thoughts and how they involve my love of Jazz and Hi-Fi and share them all on Stereonet... Edited March 16, 2022 by BLAH BLAH 1 1
doogie44 Posted March 16, 2022 Posted March 16, 2022 The Koga Ninja Beat Poet speaks...most entertainingly. 1 2
BLAH BLAH Posted March 31, 2022 Author Posted March 31, 2022 Such a lazy day just inclined to do nothing...no jobbies...no household chores...gardening...or shopping...just a lazy day....no pressure just relaxing totally inside my skin...breathing away...dreamy...thoughts circling like tiny blackbirds, rising higher and higher to a definite point and before I know it inevitably they all coalesce and settle like black magic upon food...and my fair sized stomach responds with a little wobbly tumbley rumbley nod, nudge and a wink and the taste buds in my mouth hastily moisten and slowly swell alive ending in an appreciative easy swallow...my mouth not coated and/or jumpered or cardiganed, shirted but just slightly rain coated mac covering of tiny beady bubbly wetness...what about me, it isn't fair...I've had enough now I want my share...I think...the usual?!? you bet! why not!...jeez it's not even a contest, I don't even know why I bother with other alternatives it's not even close! I laugh...who am I kidding...it's the usual the good old ham sandwich...But not just a ham sandwich...no sirree...not just two black words printed/stamped/embossed on white cardboard menu...HAM SANDWICH...or quickly ordered over the greasy counter...nooooo sirree it's my ham sandwich refined and perfected over the years, many years of kitchen work and refinement...my special, mine...mine...my precious! I rouse...awakening with purpose and honing focus...make haste!...the white dinner plate first, for the collection of bread crumbs...the bread! Must be Abbotts's Sourdough just has that slight chewy feel and taste of ryeness without the heavy rye flavour... Two slices flat...man I could do this in my sleep...a thick slice of packaged mature cheddar cheese on the left sided sourdough, squared inside!..not on the right...nooo not on the right, not the right!...but the left! Next comes the Aldi packaged smoked ham...I lift one big round pink slice on my knife, floaty fragrances of smokey ham fill up my nostrils and my mouth wets approvingly! Down, down goes the ham onto the left onto of the cheese! Perfect! Next...yes you mister Kumato...I see youse...the cardboard packaged black/red full rounded juicy tomatos...nice big wet slices thickly cut...four to be exact and I place their bleeding/glistening thick nocturnal coloured rings upon the slowly rising tower of pink ham and yellow cheese, so neat and all squared! So far so good, I nod!...and an organic four red spotted die looks up at me...die, dice, tumbling dice...into my mouth!...women think I'm tasty...you got to roll me and call me the tumbling dice...Now for the Mayo! hohohohoooo we loves Mayo oh yes we do, don'ts we...Colway egg mayo squirts upon the kumato slices...back and forth come the white lines...I'm mesmerized...a modern artist at work! Goya!?!? Dismissive hah! Red juices mix with white rolled mayo...higher, higher, a veritable bird's nest of white mayo lines almost a white out! Next for contrast....the good old cracked black pepper...I twist and turn the mill, it creaks and groans and moans ..and like magic from it's base all those blackbirds revert back to black mites and my white mayo is covered in tiny, tiny black spots...I nearly sneeze. Down comes the right sourdough slice and I'm done! Noooo not quite...nosirree I need the cukes...the tiny green crunchy fresh cukes the size of my thumb...and their crunchy smell so clean! Done! I choose two fat ones! I carry my plate to the man-cave...I settle like my russian blue cat, sasha!...on comes the 12W P/P Triode valve Amp...On comes ROY ELDRIDGE, THE NIFTY CAT...on trumpet, Budd Johnson on Tenor & Soprano saxophones, Benny Marton on Trombone, Nat Pierce on piano, Tommy Bryant on Bass, Oliver Jackson on Drums...Track2...Cotton...4 mins and 57 seconds of jazz bliss...slight echoes of arabia...pyramids mixed up with Summertime...food for thought! 2
BLAH BLAH Posted June 5, 2022 Author Posted June 5, 2022 (edited) Their was a time...oh yes I still remember it cos it made such a big impression on me...I never ever forgot...( Listen, do wha do...Do you want to know a secret, do wha do...Do you promise not to tell, do wha do...Closer, let me whisper in your ear, do wha do ) the little tacker that I was went off to bed and as I snuggled down under my thick white duck down doona, deep down in it's softness...down...down...( Prices are down, deeper and down. Down, down deeper and down Down, down deeper and down ) and the warmth from my little body grew, collected and radiated slowly to the far off unseen edges...my white doona cocooning me softly like a soft boiled egg...suspended I floated gently in slow waves of warmth. (free fall through featherless flight..) I closed my eyes emptied my head out and drifted...drifted slowly away and with what seemed like moments, I awoke. Eyes wide opening and shutting like a new born...all staring black pupiled I was struck dumb by the passage of time...amazed. How much time had passed in a black darkened instant...( Night like a river beginning to flow..I felt the beat of my mind go..Drifting into time passages, time passages ) morning already, wow! ( Morning has broken, like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird, Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, Praise for them spring fresh from the World ) ( Morning of the Earth! ) Now years later...many, many years later I still have and sleep with a Doona...not the same original doona...but still a doona. A lighter Summer one and a heavier Winter one! And I sleep on top of a king size single fitted bamboo sheet. I love being unencumbered by the heavy weight of PJ's, I love the ease and freedom of movement! ( They make take our lives...But they'll never take our FREEDOM!!! ) ( Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose... ) But what a difference the passing of so many long years have made to my nightly sleeping rhythms...now the slightest night noise, rustle, outside leaf drop, hic-cup of the refrigerator, the scratching within kitty litter from closed doors away, the hint of a mosquito buzzing, an outside car door slammed shut, the rustle of wind, faint bird call from suburbs away, a barking dog, a branch fall, possum drop on roof, neighbours chatting, radio softly playing...are sudden explosions...devilishly designed to disrupt my nightly sleep. The slightest sound is an exploding bomb to my consciousness. I awake constantly! Who would have thought that the night was so thick with sound...a veritable nocturnal orchestra?! Symphonies of drama, sound and fury. ( Life...is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing!... ) Ohhh I find that the night is alive, perverse and watches all the sleepers constantly...watches me sleeping and/or me trying to sleep!... ( 'Cause the night has a thousand eyes, And a thousand eyes will see me too... And no matter what I do... ) It will antagonise me...get him now he's nodding orff! Edited June 5, 2022 by BLAH BLAH 1
Bisguittin Posted June 5, 2022 Posted June 5, 2022 Wonderful! Those fragmentary shards provide windows into my own past. Yet the mosaic lives on in the present as every last one still resides in my record collection. Thankyou. 1
BLAH BLAH Posted July 28, 2022 Author Posted July 28, 2022 Now and again one thinks their in for a ripper, of a great happy day...I'm not talking the big and grand things that makes one feel that way, sometimes it's just the inconsequential and minor things that can bring a smile to your dial and a little happy skip to your feet as you pick up your walk, and a loose as a goose swing to your arms! Almost, almost...but not quiet releasing a whistled tune through pursed lips! It can start with just simply finding the right car spot at the local Supermarket car park! Bang!!! (( well maybe not BANG!!! more like there it is! )) I define the perfect spot as...A as close as possible to the entrance...B as close to the trolley carts as possible. But what makes the whole exercise the cherry on top...is not only getting A and B both right but finding "THE" spot where no other car can park on either your left or right...your the last car parked! That way I can maximize my car door opening without hitting the parked vehicle on my right or cramp the car door space of the parked vehicle on my left. ((no car door on car door dings where escaping kids erupt like fizzing sky rockets and yelling weird phrases, a blur of furious arms and legs. Various scrapes, or the awkward vertical limbo dancing wriggle to squeeze one's body into/out of a car door opening of a few inches wide, requiring gritted teeth, assorted swear words and determined bum wriggle to subtlety flatten the parked car's irritating side mirror as some sort of perverse consolation! )) I mean really...supermarket car parking is a battle! It takes no prisoners! I know I've been there. done that! Parked in the supermarket car park with a brand new car of several weeks...waiting patiently for a little old hunched lady walking slowly and wearily pushing her trolley towards her car, parked next to mine apparently, of course! Those loose trolley wheels rattling left, then rattling right, then confusingly straight ahead...across from the back of my parked car, closer, closer...now an inch...an agonising inch closer comes the steel trolley. I watch and am afraid to utter a word in case I scare this struggling fragile senior citizen/lady of many years into doing some crazy erratic movements brought on by cardiac arrest with my loud voice...that simply ends up with her trolley scrapping my brand new car's shiny plastic mudguard. Too late my indecision see's her trolley lightly touch my mudguard on the right corner. I canna believe it! So close! Out of a mouth reminiscent of a gasping fish struggling for air...I hear myself gasp...excuse me I think You have hit my car with your trolley! Up comes her son...ohhh jeez mum you have too! Yes I say (( to anyone in hearing range who will listen and sympathize totally just with me! )) pointing to a shiny white patch the size of a twenty cent piece on an all black plastic mudguard...just here! (( a vanilla ice cream fallen onto a black cashmere jumper, it certainly stands out! )) We all look, time ebbs slowly...I puff my chest out and I feel strangely vindicated...next I hear a voice loudly croak out...what do you want to do about it?!?...a question and statement both hanging in the air! I turn to see a tall straight backed senior lady...looking at me with a steely gaze and prominent hooked nose, from unflinchingly black agates! (( Confused I think what happened to?!? where?!? is?!? did?!? she?!? go?!? )) Stunned and utterly deflated I shake my head and reply I guess it's only minor scratch...nothing that canna be fixed up. Are you sure asks her son??! Yeah, yeah I say she'll be right!...and leave. Carparks a world of their own...now where was I?!? Car parking at the supermarket! Yes! I drive in and I spot it, the perfect spot, waiting for me and my car! It beckons! I'm in, I'm in gunga din! Oooooh! Ooh I want to find a better place, Oooooh! Ooh I'm searching for a better place, Oooooh! Ooh I'm tired of living in the sand, Oooooh! Ooh I'm searching for a better land. Heaven, must be there-ere...and there it is...perfect! Oh happy day I think! Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, it's a happy day (Oh happy day) Oh Lord (Oh happy day) Mmm, good God (Oh, happy day) Oh yeah (Oh, happy day) Mmm, oh (oh, happy day)... Car perfectly parked I jauntily walk into the supermarket...and as that ad goes...I feel better now...good enough to share a little happiness with some others! I spot another senior citizen walking down the aisle and notice he's wearing the thick blue/grey big freeze beanie. I think to myself...what the heck...I'll spread a little human warmth his way. I walk up to him and say...nice beanie...he looks at me clueless...i say again with a smile..warm beanie...the old fella looks confused at me and says...ehh?!?...turning his head to reveal a brown hearing aid stuck up in his ear. I get it now, the old fella's hard of hearing, so I say louder through my face mask...warm beanie?!..loud enough for every one else in the aisle to hear me as well! (( various eyes turn towards me wondering about my fascination with the old fella's beanie! )) Oh yes he nods his head enthusiastically...it keeps my bald head warm...and removes the beanie to show me a shiny sweaty pink scalp! I nod back enthusiastically, and with wide eyes I smile, and say good oh. And move on...not feeling so good about spreading good will after all! Tonight I'm parked in front of my little 12W P/P Triode Valve Amp...the heater's purring and I feel warm and contented, good in fact (( could be better as the old man youse to say! ))...a little light rain is falling against the man-cave's window...I"m thinking what shall I play?!? Hmmmm...I feel no urgency and just revel in just feeling good for a change...
BLAH BLAH Posted January 16, 2023 Author Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) He shakes his head in wonder and amazement...for someone like his-self who has enjoyed the whole pursuit and ritual of hi-fi listening in the past...it is amazing to his-self that it has been a fairly long while that he has entertained the thought of powering up his 'bottle' amps...or any amp in his possession for that matter...for a musical dalliance...no particular reason for the disinclination rather an absence of desire...the impulse of desire...the spark...the tingle...the longing to listen and be newly entertained aurally...maybe it's just old age making it's creaking self being felt... But wait this morning over a shared brecky with the better half we fell into a conversation of past reminiscences...me and an earlier life in my father's milk-bar and how we use to sell sugar from out of a galvanized clean rubbish bin with a lid...had a dull coloured steel handled scooper that we poured the sugar from into brown paper bags that we precisely folded tightly shut (origami masters would be proud of our touch) after their weighing. Or the side of pork (as long as a man's thigh, dark mahogany brown tough rind one side, the other hard boned ribbed and speckled white and pink) that was delivered by a 'Don't argue, Hutton's is best' driver. My farther would place the side on the cleared wooden table (used for making white bread sandwiches) in the room behind the shop front and proceed to cut the pork rib bones from the side with a sharp long bladed silver steeled wooden handled knife. Strangely we never did anything with those ribs... but the side of pork once cleared of hard boned ribs would then be rolled on top of itself and tied down with clean white string, then refrigerated. We would cut rashers of bacon off them for sale. That dark rind would be as tough as old leather boot laces. She began telling me about her sister and how her sister's neighbour had seen a copperhead snake in their back yard recently and how the sister's neighbour had tried to convince her sister that the copperhead snakes weren't poisonous...I said oh yeah?!?...well even if they weren't poisonous their fang bite could still cause a nasty infection...oh yeah it's ok, it's not poisonous! ...And then the conversation drifted to...what about poisonous spiders?!?...and I said beware of the ones that come out of the ground...She said...and the ones that are under your toilet seat! I said toilet seat?!? She said...yes the red backs! We both laughed...as I was washing my tea cup up (up?! not down?!) in the sink in comes the better half with her phone playing a song loudly...I bent my head and listened and heard...There was a red-back on the toilet seat When I was there last night, I didn't see him in the dark! But boy! I felt his b***! I jumped high up into the air, And when I hit the ground, That crafty red-back spider Wasn't nowhere to be found. I rushed in to the missus, Told her just where I'd been bit, She grabbed the cut throat razor blade, And I nearly took a fit. I said, "Just forget what's on your mind, And call a doctor please, 'Cause I've got a feeling that your cure Is worse than the disease." There was a red-back on the toilet seat When I was there last night, I didn't see him in the dark, But boy! I felt his b***! And now I'm here in hospital, A sad and sorry plight, And I curse that red-back spider On the toilet seat last night. I can't lay down, I can't sit up, And I don't know what to do, And all the nurses think it's funny, But that's not my point of view. I tell you it's embarrassing, And that's to say the least That I'm to sick to eat a b***, While that spider had a feast! And when I get back home again, I tell you what I'll do, I'll make that red-back suffer For the pain I'm going through. I've had so many needles That I'm looking like a sieve, And I promise you that spider Hasn't very long to live! There was a red-back on the toilet seat When I was there last night, I didn't see him in the dark, But boy! I felt his b***! And now I'm here in hospital, A sad and sorry plight, And I curse that red-back spider On the toilet seat last night. And as we both listened to dusty singing we danced and gyrated around the kitchen...all my best moves!...singing along with Dusty and I started to think...now what would that song sound like coming out of the lil old silver faced amp?! Edited January 16, 2023 by BLAH BLAH 1
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