You Capture - Technology

This weeks photo challenge which is posted at I Should Be Folding Laundry is Technology.

This past week I blogged about the self-tuning Robot Guitar, it can be found here => click.

In an attempt encourage nag-free guitar practices in my house, I took my son to see the documentary It Might Get Loud. It's about the electric guitar and features Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White.

Here's two pictures of the bridge and humbucker on my son's electric guitar:

Check out other Technology photos at: I Should Be Folding Laundry.

~b~

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

~b~

Costco

I need some help.

I went to Costco this weekend merely to get out of the house. All I needed was laundry detergent and bounce sheets, which I quickly found.

This gave me lots of time to walk around and peruse the isles, at my leisure.

I found this:

Diced tomatoes, they were only $3.98, or some ridiculously low price like that.

Not only was the price ridiculous, but so is the sheer size of it.

And now I am left to ponder what I am going to do with a paint can-sized can of diced tomatoes.

Chili anyone?

~b~

Birthday Confession

Okay, its time to confess.

I didn't really buy those flowers.

I just happen to have two friends who happen to have birthdays on the same day.

And I didn't buy flowers for either one of them.

But I would have liked to, if only I would have been thoughtful enough to have thought of something like that.

~b~

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Princy!

Thanks for reading my blog, everyday - even when I don't post.

If you were in Saskatoon today, I would have walked over and given you the obligatory birthday muffin:

I would have also bought you a big bouquet of flowers:

And maybe another bouquet of flowers, because you are just that special.

~b~

Things You Learn When Your Son Takes Guitar Lessons . . .

After brief stints into various musical instruments: the violin, the clarinet, the acoustic guitar, the recorder and the mandatory piano and realizing my older brother had a natural aptitude to all things musical; I begrudgingly acknowledged the fact that I would have to actually work hard at acheiving the same level that he was at. So I bowed out in "defeat" which is really a nice way of saying: I quit. And now, I am pretty much clueless to the musical world and all that it entails.

And so when I bought my son his electric guitar, I had no idea what a pickup or humbucker was, or what the nut is or that the tuning pegs were called tuning pegs and that the headstock was called the headstock.

Ever hear of the Robot Guitar? I didn't, until the other week at my son's guitar lessons and it's description prompted further investigation, on my part.

The Robot Guitar is a self-tuning guitar that is made by Fender. It can be tuned with the touch of a button, or knob really, which has the star-wars-esque name of Master Control Knob, or MCK.

Just look that that MCK, in all it's LED glory:

There is a Neck CPU, located on the back of the headstock, that picks up the vibrations of the fancy dancy nickel and silver alloy fret wire. It then translates these vibrations from the strings and sends a signal to each corresponding Powerhead Locking Tuner.

And this is the coolest part: the Powerhead Locking Tuners each have teeny tiny motors which makes each peg turn itself. So all you have to do is touch a button and the guitar will automatically tune itself.

This guitar is pretty cool, but it has got one dorky name. I'm sure if it was 1986, or even 1991, the name Robot Guitar might have been a cool name. But c'mon, its 2009, throw the word nano into the name and we are back into being one cool guitar, or get Apple to make the Neck CPU and call it the IGuitar.

And now I know what the headstock and tuning pegs are. And I know what a pick-up is: its really just a transducer that turns the vibrations in the strings into an electrical signal, so that we can hear the music being played. Oh yeah, and a humbucker is just a double coiled pickup.

But alas, knowing how the electric guitar works will not turn me into a guitar player, so I will have to be content in living vicariously through my son.

~b~

Thanksgiving . . .

My Thanksgiving was busy. Just the way I like it.

Friday night I went to the rodeo:

I cheered for the calves, and for those cowboys in their nice, fine chaps.

I tinkered around in the kitchen and made some type of meatball appetizer with cucumber raita and wheat salad for a potluck.

I went on a Sunday Drive and discovered that Saskatoon is surrounded by roads. Many, many roads. Some of which really aren't roads at all, but paths that are awfully close to the side of the riverbank. Too close, if you ask me.

I attended a potluck that that a high female to male ratio. This was just the appetizers. A small portion of the appetizers:

And I attended the required family gathering and spent a competitive afternoon playing Pit and The Game of Life.

I learnt that the presence of men is a necessity at any potluck, just to help "do away" with all the food. I also learnt that busy weekends aren't necessarily good when you have a sore throat as they tend to turn into something nastier as the work week begins.

~b~

Off the Bookshelf: The Tipping Point

It's been some time since I've read this book, so I thought I'd write about it to make more room on my bookshelf. The Tipping Point, written by Malcolm Gladwell studies social epidemics and connects the small details, such as the presence of certain factors and specific kinds of people which must be present in the creation of a social epidemic. He looks at different kinds of social epidemics, from the popularity of Sesame Street, to the reduction of crime in New York City, and the rise and fall in popularity of the Airwalk brand. Throughout this book, Gladwell picks out the presence of a few little things which can cause a big difference.

Gladwell pinpoints a few people who have specific personality traits who have a large influence. These people he calls Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. These are people who know a large number of people and who are connected to different types of groups of people. They are people who helpfully pass along information about the best places to eat, or stay if you are traveling to a new city. They are people who are charismatic and who's emotions are contagious. Gladwell also outlines several factors which are also important. He calls these factors the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. These factors include how an impact needs to be lasting, and how you go about doing things is very important.

So I guess after reading this book, I realized that pretty much anybody can create some type of social epidemic: from starting a new company, to promoting your band, or starting a social justice movement. It's not about the number of people you get exposure to. Rather, its about how the presentation is made that will influence the receptivity and how people relate as well as targeting the right kinds of people.

~b~

Complete!

The bathroom reno's are complete, and I'd like to say I had a big part in helping out. Yes, a big part: besides helping to rip everything out, I diligently stopped by every day to check out the progress.

It's very monochromatic and dramatic. I especially love the black granite countertop.

The flooring is fantastic. This picture really doesn't do the floor any justice, I tell ya.

~b~

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I have idea who that quote is by.

But I think it fits this case.

The one thing I've learnt about being a mother is that you don't always have the answers to everything, and sometimes you got to make things up as they come along.

So when Max came into the house, soaking wet with mud up and down his paws and buried deep within his pads, I had to come up with a quick solution to keep my house from becoming a disaster zone.

I think socks held up with hair elastics does the trick, don't you?

~b~