Update Update

[bearphonium]

I won a prize at a conference raffle that has initiated a huge remodeling project on the part of my spouse. Anyone know how to install laminate flooring, repair split baseboard trim or install a 40" LCD TV? (The TV is the prize that started all this.) And as we are now updating our "home entertainment", what is new on the audio front? (As an info piece, my stereo unit still has a cassette tape player... )

[Donn]

I can't claim any experience at all with laminate flooring, but just reading about it ... I might prefer to carpet my floor with old newspapers, than install that stuff in my house. At least check on the formaldehyde factor with the specific product you're going to use, but aside from that I'm prejudiced against a large number of common building materials, like gypsum wallboard for example, so take my opinion with a grain of salt or something. But unlike interior walls, where it sometimes may seem there's no practical alternative, there are plenty of good alternatives in flooring materials.

[PMeuph]

I just finished the last of 7 convocation ceremonies this week playing tuba with a band. The money I made pretty much paid for the Conn 12J I recently purchased.

[Donn]

Gypsum wall board...OK...It's sandwiched with cardboard, and sealed away with paint...but what sort of paint? My walls are (nearly 100%) "natural" (wood), but are sealed with...what...?? How long before paint/stain/varnish fumes subside? How friggin' nasty-@$$ is any carpet? How much longer would I live were I to stay outdoors all the time...??...or in a hole dug into the side of a hill...??

My beef with these materials isn't mainly about health issues. Though I wouldn't be surprised.

But honestly, it's mainly just that it's trash. It's a material with no inherent value. I mean it has the functional virtue that it holds its shape under moderate stress and it doesn't burn, but it's ugly the day it comes out of the factory and has nowhere to go but down from there. We build our houses out of scabby 2x4s, glass wool insulation, cover it up with gypsum wallboard and then, for looks, paint it all with latex paint. (Asphalt shingles and chipboard siding on the outside, of course, plus more paint.) Then eventually it's off to the landfill with it all. "Houses made of ticky-tack."

We are lucky to have fir floors, and in probably over a century of hard use they've got scratches and dents galore, but since the beauty of this material isn't merely superficial, a scratch doesn't destroy it. In what was evidently some kind of utility room ages ago, when I removed the later carpet and paint, and sanded the wood and sealed it with a good penetrating finish, the scarred and stained old fir is even more beautiful.

[bort]

I quit my job (today was my last day).

[bort]

Good to hear! A repair opportunity will come along soon enough though!

As for me, I have 1 week off, then I'll start my new job. Time to party!

[Donn]

If you've ever pulled timbers out of an old house, you notice two things:

- A 2x4 was closer to 2" x 4" than they are today.
- Those timbers are the only ones that you'll encounter (other than today's pressure-"treated lumber") which is that dense.

The joists in our original framing are century old stuff, ca. 1 7/8 x 5 3/4, milled pretty rough with sharp corners, and I wouldn't try to drive a nail into it, without drilling a hole first. By today's standards, it was naturally very good lumber to start with. We can still get fine old growth Douglas fir, but it's a limited resource now and goes to people who really care about wood (notably the Japanese.) But the boards from a century ago are much harder, I guess something that happens with age. From what I've read about southern longleaf pine, it starts out harder than Douglas fir.

[Biggs]

I returned Sunday from two weeks in Cuba. It was...not boring. Can anyone condense the last two weeks of TubeNet into a single post for me?

[TubaRay]

I returned Sunday from two weeks in Cuba. It was...not boring. Can anyone condense the last two weeks of TubeNet into a single post for me?

"cimbasso/tuba shipping/more Chinese shilling/sheet rock/way too many posts by bloke"

That about does it!

[Biggs]

I returned Sunday from two weeks in Cuba. It was...not boring. Can anyone condense the last two weeks of TubeNet into a single post for me?

"cimbasso/tuba shipping/more Chinese shilling/sheet rock/way too many posts by bloke"

Don't have/don't do/no thanks/completely ignorant of/always worth catching up on

Glad to know things ran smoothly.

[The Jackson]

http://en.wikip di .org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_fricatives_and_affricates

[Donn]

I've heard that some regional dialects of English are more or less incomprehensible, but it's interesting to see some of the details.

[Chuck Jackson]

On one of my monthly turns through the largest of the local thrift stores, I was able to grab a copy of "The Dark Knight" for a buck. Having just watched it, all I can say is I am very, VERY disturbed. Heath ledger was SO GOOD that I actually felt a great deal of compassion for him. No wonder he got an Academy Award, and I can see why he couldn't get out of the fugue state that the character sucked him into. This is not your father's Batman.

Chuck"who HATES movie theaters with a passion and will watch the good ones at home where the floors aren't sticky, the Diet Coke is affordable, and the pause switch is a plus when one needs a break"Jackson

[MartyNeilan]

I've heard that some regional dialects of English are more or less incomprehensible, but it's interesting to see some of the details.

In the movie Snatch, Brad Pitt plays a gypsie that lives in a "caravan". One of the most amusing dialects I have heard.

[sousaphone68]

I've heard that some regional dialects of English are more or less incomprehensible, but it's interesting to see some of the details.

In the movie Snatch, Brad Pitt plays a gypsie that lives in a "caravan". One of the most amusing dialects I have heard.

A much better and authentic regional accent is this example of a Glaswegian accent.
Warning some authentic Anglo Saxon phrases are used in this clip.
After listening to the tuba solo in the theme song go to 6.30 for subtitles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOLoNp8j ... ata_player" target="_blank

Glossary. Wain= small child
Neighbours= popular Australian tv soap in the 80's and 90's

[sousaphone68]

Today is Bloom's Day

http://www.jamesjoyce.ie/detail.asp?ID=289" target="_blank"

[Chuck Jackson]

Today is Bloom's Day

What a GREAT book. Just finished it, actually the only book that I have ever reread (4x) in my life. The top of my bucket list is taking a walking tour (and some motorized) of his journey of that day.

And I am still crossed eyed at the 37 page run-on sentence.

Chuck"who loves the opening sequence with Buck Mulligan and the shaving bowl, perhaps Joyce's most pointed barb to the Catholic Church"Jackson

[bearphonium]

Painting has started, money is being saved for a real wood floor (thanks for the input). New TV is hooked up and has initiated conversation about bailing from cable TV (utilizing search function for input). 2 of my 3 concerts for the week have been played, and the first parade of the season has been marched in. My gas grill died, and a 18" Weber charcoal grill was christened last night. My sister in law is moving to Germany in August, and I will soon own my own King brass sousaphone, thanks to Jim Newell.

[TubaRay]

Painting has started, money is being saved for a real wood floor (thanks for the input). New TV is hooked up and has initiated conversation about bailing from cable TV (utilizing search function for input). 2 of my 3 concerts for the week have been played, and the first parade of the season has been marched in. My gas grill died, and a 18" Weber charcoal grill was christened last night. My sister in law is moving to Germany in August, and I will soon own my own King brass sousaphone, thanks to Jim Newell.

UPDATE:

Life is good!

[The Jackson]

Ah... The memory card along with the rumble pak defined the dark alleyway of chichi accessories for the normally-modest Nintendo 64. You've got a winner, Wade.