FROM VINTAGE CARS OF VICTORIA:
(I’m an assistant producer…. and website manager for this project.)
Two Saturday’s ago, August 20th, we shot Episode Four in my TV series “Vintage Cars of Victoria”. This show features three Corvettes, a C1 and two C2’s. That’s lingo f…
Source: Episode 4 in the Works
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For years your picture hung on my bedroom wall
In my bookcase, your hockey instruction book
On my record stand, the song they wrote about you
In my drawer, your autograph
In my memory, so much
Goal 544, when you busted the Rocket’s mark
I got out my Brownie to record the event on the TV
Goal 600, sitting with my grandfather in the Montreal Forum
The crowd went wild
For the incomparable
Gordie Howe
1928-2016
with my Brownie Starflash
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The show on YouTube was up for a day then removed for edits! Here it is again.
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I am the assistant producer of a TV show! The show is about vintage cars here in Victoria BC, and is the brainchild of my friend Joey. I first got involved last year when I designed his book on vintage cars, and we’ve moved on since to doing local TV.
FAREWELL SUMMER
Windstorms rip the sky
Tearing at clouds
Which, torn
Release the deluge
Once living leaves drift silently
When naked branches quiver
A rotting carpet soon to join
Above them bare trees shiver
Fields of flowers
With nectar sweet
Are now asleep
Their peace they keep
The bee retreats
Within the hive
The shivering mass
Will keep alive
Before the blast
The birds are few
In the bush
They hide from view
But on the tree tops
Can be seen
The golden buds
A future green
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Overhead this morning – a reminder of the dark days of a previous generation. Salute to you who fell, and those who lived and suffered. Yet the fighting never ceases. Why is the world so full of insanity?
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Katahdin – June 1978
Before the Appalachian Trail became too darned famous for its own good, in June 1978 my buddy Bob and I hatched a plan to take the overnight train from Montreal to Portland and get off in Greenville, Maine. From there we could get to Monson on the Appalachian Trail and hike north about 100 miles to Mt. Katahdin, where it was possible to return on the homeward bound train. A nice simple plan to go for a long hike in the woods, and with no need for a car or a ride to get there.
logs, bogs, and frogs
The only real difficulty here was hiking the 100 miles through the woods, carrying 10 days supplies. The food bag was so big it was astounding to see, and I think we even had extra food; however we ate it all and still lost a fair bit of weight during the trip. Later on I heard from various “authorities” that the Monson to Katahdin section is the absolute toughest part of the entire AT. When we arrived, worn out, at Baxter State Park, it was raining to beat hell, and freezing cold. This after a week of sweltering heat and horse flies as big as horses. At least there were no flies on Katahdin.
moose alert
We existed on the remains of the food for two days, and when we finally got a break in the weather we had nothing left to eat but the crumbs of trail mix down at the bottom of the baggie. But off we went to bag the peak. We’d heard it was a tough climb, but it was ridiculous in the wintry conditions. We got to the upper bits, half frozen and weak from hunger, only to have a swirling fog blow in and obscure everything. Plus it was snowing lightly. Considering our weakened state, and the prospect of having to negotiate an infamous knife edge ridge to reach the peak, we regretfully called it a day. We saw no one that I can remember. It was beautiful.
starved and frozen in June
Recently Katahdin has been in the news due to a minor uproar over the fact that some self righteous AT speed running “hero” got a $200 fine for creating a disturbance and drinking champagne with a party of friends to celebrate his conquest of the entire AT by the act of running it in record time. All I can say is, I’m glad I didn’t see him when we were there. Lucky for him too, or he would have got a Royal Canadian ass kicking before being tossed down a cliff.
the warning sign at the north end. we started at the south end, no sign there.
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It was another hot and humid day in Delhi, as a desperate and evil fiend watched the man buying a ticket, unaware he was being followed.
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soundboard with braces removed
I’ve been rebuilding a guitar this past week. It sounded very dull and the owner wanted me to fix it. I removed the neck, then the top, and discovered the problem: the top had little or no arching. Since this is a Selmer style guitar, it is supposed to be arched to the tune of around 10mm across the lower bout. This one was dead flat with the strings on. When I removed the braces it was clear they had only a tiny arch in them.
original brace after removal
Below, for comparison, an arched piece of wood with the correct amount of curvature.
Selmer style main brace is curved like this
I made all new braces and reduced some in height to make the top lighter and more flexible.
top with new bracing and binding around the edges
Then I added 4 ply purfling and an outer binding of ebony. This way I could glue the complete top back onto the body without having to worry about all the bindings and how to make them fit. All that was required was to get the ribs to line up with the outside edge of the new top. Easier said than done, since the geometry had changed. However, it worked well enough.
gluing the newly repaired top back on
While I had the neck off I reshaped it and changed the frets. I also had to adjust the neck angle and the neck joint itself, since it now has a tilt it didn’t have before.
testing the angle of the upper face brace
Now the top is on and the neck has been refretted, refitted, recarved and refinished. The next step is to refinish the top and then on to final assembly. However, I did assemble and play it already. Happy to report it now sounds more like a Selmer .
neck done, body in process for a refinished top
I shellacked the inside of the box while it was open, as well as the underside of the top, since Selmers were made that way. It may add a little something to the reverberation. Any additional sound that can be squeezed out of this guitar will be welcomed.
shellacked box
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Fountain Lake – Beacon Hill Park – Victoria
Yesterday’s outing produce this sketch of Fountain Lake in Beacon Hill Park. The lake was built in 1888 before the park was designed by Scottish landscape architect Blair. I find the abundance of green tones a huge challenge, obviously!
I was also prompted to pull out my Brother 750TR after reading about poet Les Murray and his very similar machine on oz.typewriter. But oz also had a post about typewriters used in the Fuhrer bunker, notably Adlers. I pulled out the Brother and gave it a short workout on the bench to see if there was ink left in the ribbon. Good enough. I carried it up stairs. Then I went to the living room and saw my Adler Tippa behind the couch. Which one to use? I set up the Adler on the table, fed in a piece of 9×12 sketch paper, the closest thing at hand, and just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Maybe the Brother tomorrow.
Filed under Painting, Poetry, Typewriters, Uncategorized
nathanguitars 