This Spring has been lovely. Nice temperatures and varied green - the garden is just starting to fade with the lack of rainfall. In a few weeks, the sky will once again be loaded with ash and we'll no longer be able to keep the windows open at night. Those…

Well. It turns out that it takes some time to perfect the master tape digitization workflow. Take away: learn how to calibrate your machine. Don't skimp! Buy the calibration tape. Buy the head demagnetizer. Buy the oscilloscope so that you can ensure the azimuth is correct! Just buy the DBX…

Three days ago, my 23 month(!) contract with Netflix ended. I now have some time on my hands. Most of what's on my informal schedule falls into the category of: doing the shit I have neglected for nearly 2 years. bathroom remodelling improving storage cataloging ancestral paperwork By far, however…

Some 40 years ago, my father was the engineer of what would become a collectible/cult L.P. album release of only "a few hundred" copies. For the past decade, this album has consistently sold for $500 to $1500 on ebay. The Zerfas album was the first and only release…

I saw and heard unusual activity around the hive this afternoon. When I cracked the hive open, the last 50 or so inhabitants were already decimated. This hive's queen had stopped laying months ago, and the population was already naturally dwindling. Outsiders were now finishing the job. In the upper…

Spring, glorious Spring! Bees upon flowers, warm weather after refreshing rains. And.. yet.. A distinct decrease of activity from my top-bar hive over just a week ago. So, I suit up and crack it open to find: My queen (with the yellow dot upper, right) has not been laying eggs…