Speaking of Katelyn, she sent me “An Ode to the Bug” link she thought was “bloggable” about Volkswagens … so I’ll honor those thoughts with a couple photos and a LINK to the article — enjoyable if you like VWs!
Personally I’m anxious to check out the ID.Buzz … when it arrives.
Previously on Music Monday, Dickey Betts and the Allman Brothers were highlighted several times on MDB. He passed away in Florida on Thursday last week and I wanted to include a mention and to highlight his music. The cause was cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Betts’ manager David Spero confirmed. ☹
The Allman Brothers have performed great music throughout the years as individuals and as a group. They were all talented, but unfortunately in an age of drugs and alcohol … and motorcycles (twice) … faced some dark days in the middle of their skyrocketing success.
Allman Brothers | Blue Sky from “Eat A Peach” 1972
“Blue Sky” is a Dickey Betts (band member) song from the Allman Brothers double album “Eat a Peach” (1972) after band leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. If you were alive during that time, you will probably recognize the sound, but more likely know their hit single a year later, “Ramblin’ Man.” For those who enjoy the Allman Brothers … and the reunions (1st and 2nd) … the recordings or live performances often exhibited expected “jam sessions” that would stretch on long past the normal 3-5 minute song cuts (15 minutes or more was not uncommon).
So I need to start hauling some of it back and prepping it for woodworking projects (I already put a little on my lumber shelf) … but I need a way to start with straight edge. For the lack of a jointer(tool used to produce a flat surface along a board’s length), I’ve made a jig to do the same on my Delta Table Saw and since I wanted one that could do a longer length, I started with an 8 foot piece of 1/2” plywood.
It seems like it has been a while since Music Monday has highlighted Kenny Chesney? Maybe it hasn’t been that long, but then again, it has been a year … and I haven’t been streaming the No Shoes Radio channel on SiriusXM for a while lately.
That aside, I did listen for a while while working out in the yard a week or so ago and screen capture the sone “I Go Back” that had me fondly daydreaming … hm, perhaps Jimmy Buffett’s “Havana Daydreamin’” will be making an appearance soon?
Our old John Deere 330 16HP diesel tractor, that we use for all kinds of yard chores, required another battery this spring. It seemed like just yesterday that I replaced it, but then I realized it was replaced back in 2012! Amazing longevity for a Walmart Ever Start branded battery … so I’ll go with one more again (although this time one of their no-maintenance versions — the only one available). Hm?
Iran has threatened to retaliate for an attack in Damascus, Syria, that Tehran said was an Israeli airstrike on a diplomatic building. The strike killed several top Iranian military officials, including a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force. According to the WSJ on Friday, “the U.S. rushed warships into position to protect Israel and American forces in the region, hoping to head off a direct attack from Iran on Israel that could come as soon as Friday or Saturday.”
After a solid first quarter for investors, the markets jitters are probably normal considering the geopolitical events … but added to that were inflation numbers rising again putting a damper on the thought the Federal Reserve cut rates in June. Now June cuts look off the table and cuts by the end of the year look questionable — unless you believe the Fed will act political because it is an election year?
Who isn’t … or more appropriately wasn’t … fond of listening to the interesting and smooth-toned audio that was part of National Public Radio (NPR) in the previous century. I spent an exorbitant amount of time in my car back then and listened to static-riddled politically conservative radio talk shows on AM radio and liberally slanted … but somewhat fair … NPR reporting and stories on the HQ-audio FM dial. Besides the better quality listening found on FM radio, I always felt it helped listening both perspectives when it came to the political news.
Unfortunately over the years, the news segments being reported by NPR took a similar extreme slant, but from the political left. I accepted the slant from the political right on AM Talk Radio, but like many, was turned off by the woke slant of NPR. I questioned and harassed Congress why taxpayer funds were continuing to support this progressive “one point of view” radio?
As for the Tech Friday component, I wanted to retest the improving and impressive text to AI voice from ElevenLabs. Unfortunately the beta version that I’m using has size limitations, so I’ll share only the first portion of Uri’s article read by “Antoni” AI — still pretty impressive (see what Musk and Dimon are predicting). So start the article by listening and finish reading at yellow link above or the PDF version below.
EDIT add: Testing Amazon’s Polly AI for the balance of the article. Give it a try even though the voice is different.