Another Obscure S-List Writer
I am all for making it a national holiday for several reasons. The least of the reasons is a “practical” one. Federal holidays seem clumped around the dead of winter much more than summer. The main reason is more philosophical. Juneteenth represents a crucial point on the national journey of the United States.
You’d think that would be obvious. So, while assembling an APC on the breadboard Friday, did I make sure I had one?
As you know, the usurpers of authority in these United States, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, have continued to act as warlords in the east of our fair country. As a result, lawlessness reigns in Texas and Louisiana, and, most heinous of all, the conman who tried to ruin the Emperor himself, William T. Sherman, a Lieutenant of Lincoln, is remaking himself as a butcher in Georgia. The Emperor has determined the time is ripe to end the war not with arms, but with well-placed words and actions. As of today, you are all commissioned as the first agents of His Majesty’s Secret Service. Within the hour you will get your orders to various parts of the Realm, with instructions on whom to contact to re-establish Imperial Order in key locations from Boston to New Orleans. Once secure, you will join forces to arrest Lincoln, Davis, and their associations, most especially Sherman, and return them to San Francisco to receive the Emperor’s justice.
That got me thinking, I could build almost everything in that video with items I had on hand. The only limitation was I did not have enough 100K potentiometers for the Baby 8 sequencer. I might not have exact resister or capacitor values, although I doubt that, but even if I don’t have the right ones you can get close. A quick order to Amazon could solve the potentiometer problem. Thus was the “Atari Punk Modular” born.
Twenty-nine days have passed since Groundhog Day and we’ve come to March 3rd. It is time to review my Groundhog Day resolutions. A quick refresher, this year I decided to focus on three identities and the habits you would associate with them. I’ll look at them in order from least successful to most so far.
I’m not saying I’m any kind of hardcore roleplayer. On the classic “Real Men, Real Roleplayers, Real Loonies, Real Munchkins” categorization, I’m probably half Real Man and half Real Loonie. What I will say is that the model of that wonderful parody and its descendants doesn’t stray too far from how I’ve seen nearly every style of roleplaying I’ve encountered in over 40 years of the hobby.
Having to write every day, about something, just to get a blog post, might be what I need to break the damn. I have a longer, more traditional blog post in first draft for tomorrow. Wednesday, of course, will be my Groundhog Day resolutions update. Beyond that, there isn’t a plan beyond having at least a few hundred words about something up every day at 6 pm here in Georgia.
First of all, I have decided to go with the Eurorack format. The biggest reason is if I’d like to add professional modules, Eurorack is where the action is. There are Eurorack versions of the classic Wiard 300 series modules. Maths is one of the most talked-about modules out there. With some power conversions, the PAiA 9700 series can be used. This was the principal factor in pointing me towards Eurorack.
Powell’s had the chance to show the protesters what the real signal would be like. They could have spent the labor to put up a display and invited Ngo to sign books. They could have accepted the cost of the broken window and the free publicity of protests. They could have risked the inevitable arson attempt. They could have been everything independent booksellers claim to be.
So, inviting luck, writing, and using a calendar seem like a pretty ambitious year. Come back on March 3rd to see how I’m doing.
