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    A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation

     

    With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.

     

    Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43 was recorded by Owlsey "Bear" Stanley and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

     

    *2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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  • PT Barnum
    Joined:
    Doc

    I was concerned, glad to hear you are well. Southwest of you I'm concerned, I still have friends in central florida, my mother lives down there (93 yrs old) but also dodged the main bullet, waiting for others to contact me. Mini vay kay play dead

  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    thanks, Doc

    Good to hear you and yours safe and sound. Thoughts go out to FL friends (so far, all good) and all who were so near the path. Almost at 1972 here, streaming the early December 1971 run at mini-MSG Felt Forum. A gloriously bright sunny Vermont day, fall foliage coming on, first frost tonight. Will pull the last peppers, tomatoes and basil out now.

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    Oro Approved

    Love it! The Ess Amt-4 is a two-way with the slightly smaller Heil Air Motion Transformer and a 10" woofer rated 20W to 250W. They are 4 ohm, 45hz-24Khz, with the x-over at 1000hz, and called the sleeper in their killer line up from BITD. The best thing they have going is that Amt which delivers clear beautiful highs and solid mids in all directions from an open top design. Easy placement that way too. Look up their big boys, ESS Amt-1s and their Towers (I forget the number), well respected and still fetch four figure prices as parts units which tells you a lot. The Amt itself is indestructible and lifetime warranted. Mine had a solid pure pulp cone on that 10" which I have had to replace with a set of Misco, made in Minneapolis, Oaktron 10" from their Heritage line made to replace the similar stuff in all the brands from BITD. Same pure pulp cone and big voice coils and magnets but in a stamped steel frame just like the originals. Spec at 16-4000hz and 92 db efficiency.
    Got the ESSs cheap when almost new in 1977 from a college roomy who couldn't manage to get them back home to Cincy without a car. But then when the cat put a hole in one of the woofers in the 90s I replaced the originals with what I thought would be an upgrade but I screwed up. Bought subs that were 8-ohms by Pyramid, Super Pro Super Blue, made by Eminence in US ( Kentucky?) famous for their instrument speakers for bass and guitar. Great deal from a car audio shop going out of business and they took my torn ones in trade as well. As you know, that 8-ohm mistake changed the x-over to 2000hz and I traded off some midrange for killer, punchy bottom end which I thought at the time was good. Found out about five years ago that I screwed up and got the Miscos for about what I sold the now valuable subs for. Fit like a glove which no one who tried that swap with the only available 10" direct from ESS could do as all they sold was the big boy 10" from other higher models with a cast aluminum frame that required sawing into your cabinets just to make it fit. Found that out on Audio Karma luckily from others trying to do the same replacement on their various ESS. A couple of those guys used Dayton woofers to good effect but I went with Misco as their specs were a perfect match to original, hence original sound. Was not going to try to mess with upgrading as I might have had to upgrade the x-over too and taking a saw to the cabinets was out of the question. SO, long story longer, I got my midrange back and Phil bombs sound better than ever! Not bad for a novice hack job since I have zero skills with electricity or carpentry. Not even interested in a sub really. Pretty small living room and I want to keep peace in the neighborhood. Anytime you upgrade there is a leap of faith that the money you're spending will get the result you're after so I got lucky in all this I'd say. Some with a little more dinero are switching stuff all the time but you don't know unless you go. I certainly was OK with all my 70s stuff but you get used to your sound and don't realize how much better it can be until you go there. Thanks Oro.
    Cheers

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Doc

    I wish your last statement was true - but I suspect that the selfish behaviour of the powerful will have long lasting negative consequences for years to come.

  • Forensicdoceleven
    Joined:
    Most anyplace one lives is essentially dangerous......

    For all those who asked, or were concerned...............

    The Gillespie household is doing fine. So far, we've only lost power for about 45 minutes, but it's back on now. We've only caught the "tropical storm" part of Ian, but I have heard that potentially, this may be the deadliest hurricane to ever hit Florida. We now live in Green Cove Springs, about 30 miles southeast of Jax, safely away from the beach, the St John's River, and Black Creek. We're in a newish house, on high ground, have lots of food and water, and have an excellent generator. The St Augustine area is getting badly flooded........

    The strongest hurricane to ever hit Florida was the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, sustained winds of 180+ mph when it hit. There is a lovely--and moving----monument in the Keys to the hundreds who lost their lives in that storm. I've visited that site many many times while I lived down there. The deadliest? Probably the same hurricane, the exact toll is unknown, but probably in the hundreds.......

    For Matthew, we evacuated. For Irma, we hunkered down and rode out the storm. For a hurricane, either get out early, or be prepared to ride it out. I reassured my wife, "No matter what comes, we'll ride it out together".

    Out of an abundance of caution, my office is closed today and tomorrow, and I don't work this weekend. A "mini-vacation" of sorts. Now that the power is back, I'm actually busy spreading 1972 Lyceum shows around. Some things never change, hurricane be damned!!

    Here we dodged a bullet, yet I pray for those in harm's way on the Gulf coast...............

    Stay safe, and rock on,

    Doc
    What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal......

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Well said 1stshow

    Don’t think I’ve heard of the ESS Amt 4s, looked them up, interesting, do you use a sub with them?
    And you refreshed my memory about adcom so I looked into that brand a little too.
    Interesting video comparing Adcom and NAD to contemporary Schiit audio.

    Almost bought a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC before I got my Meitner. For like 22-23 hundred bucks they sound as good as many DACs costing many thousands more! Schiit makes simple but value friendly great sounding products, or at least the ones I’ve heard.
    But yeah, NAD and Adcom, same idea, BITD budget friendly but great sounding gear. Sounds like a sweet little system!

    Hybrid stuff. I’ve heard some sweet sounding hybrid stuff at audio shows.
    Of course Jer Bear had a hybrid system utilizing a Fender Twin Tube amp for his pre and a SS MC2300 power amp and we all know how great that sounded and perhaps why he never changed his backend!
    I would say if your going to try hybrid go tube pre and SS power…
    My best recollection was with my buddy who started YFS and built my custom Ref 3 server: had an amazing sounding system one year at RMAF using YFS server, Meitner DAC, Custom made fully analog pre (tube?) biamped with one of the best sounding MC 275 tube amps on the highs, and a 200 per McIntosh solid state amp on the lows (don’t recall the model), powering some Von Schweikert audio stand speakers. I thought the sound and imaging of this system, even in the shitty little hotel room sounded as good or better than much bigger and expensive systems there that year.
    Just can’t describe what a big clean sound this relatively small system produced! Of course for the price of the system it should! Lol.

    I think it’s like everything else: trial and error and if it’s done right it can be a plus!
    I’ve never had tube stereo gear, but I’ve heard some great stuff, but that particular MC 275 that my buddies dad (some kind of engineer/scientist) restored and modified, is perhaps the best tube amp I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear. His dad is the one who built the custom line stage too. Ya know, let’s design and build a one of a kind killer audiophile unit just for something to do lol. They build their own bike frames too!
    So to me it’s like all this stuff, tube versus SS, analog versus digital etc, there’s not just one thing that’s best or better, if it’s done right, and you get the right synergy for your room etc, I’ve heard systems of all kinds that were amazing!

    Just a thought, yeah tube amps can be great for instruments for musical creation when you want that slightly overdriven sound (think Dead 72 before using Mac amps on the instruments), but for sound reproduction they can get tubby or muddy with perhaps too much distortion. Some people like that as it can give a richer, or warmer sound, I’m with you 1stshow, I prefer a more neutral sound, though some think that’s too dry etc?

    In the end, it just comes down to what’s best for you!

  • Crow Told Me
    Joined:
    There and Back Again

    For a few years, I was deeply into audio: or as deeply as my meager budget would allow, anyway. It started when I realized I needed a tube amplifier. This was because I realized that I would never in a million years use a transistor amp for my guitar, so why would I use one for my home listening?

    But of course tube amps and preamps are pretty pricey, so I had to go the DIY route: I built a preamp from a kit (Bottlehead) and bought an old ST-70 power amp, and I spent a lot of time tweaking them with various upgrades. They sounded pretty good, eventually. And I needed some efficient speakers, so I paired them with some Klipsch Heresys that I got off craigslist (for $100!).

    What happened next is so typical of me it's embarrassing: the ST-70 worked great for about 10 years and then just cut out one day. By this time, I had forgotten all the various rewirings and component upgrades etc I had done, and lost all my paperwork. So I had no idea how to troubleshoot it! Couldn't even find my volt meter! I decided to just sell the ST-70 for a couple hundred, get myself a used Sansui Au-417 (since they're reputed to have a tube-like sound, also a great phono stage), put all new caps in there, and call it day. So after all that I'm back to transistors. Sounds pretty good, though.

    Somewhat bemused to read the travails of my fellow heads who ordered the MSG set via Rhino and are now working through the delays and shipping mishaps. I didn't get the box set (early '80s are just not my era) but I went for the 3 CD breakout. Ordered it from Bezos and received on the day it was released. What a concept! I'm glad to have it, it's a good performance, but disappointed in the mix. It's all Jerry and Brent, Bob's guitar is completely (and I mean completely) inaudible, Phil and the drummers much too low. But you can hear Jerry great, and it's a high energy show so probably most people will really dig it. Still, I hope the rest of the box is better, for everybody's sake.

    Five for the universe:

    John Coltrane: Coltrane
    GOGD: Dick's Picks 36 (yow!!!)
    Joe Henderson: Mode for Joe
    Zappa: Hot Rats
    Sturgill Simpson: Cuttin Grass

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    Bang For The Buck

    I went to separates during covid after doing some research and hearing from a collector of Heil Amt speakers that I wasn't hearing all my ESS Amt-4 floor standing speakers could do. Got an Adcom dual mono amp with 100W and 180 damping factor and was blown away like the Maxell guy. Got the other Adcom separates one at a time and noticed improvement each time. The pre-amp was better than using my old integrated amp as a pre and the digital tuner was way better than the old one. All are late 80s MOSFET stuff and fully restored they are still way cheaper than either vintage premier like Oro's McIntosh or 10x cheaper than modern audiophile. Just got to find a reliable restorer. They were the bargain audiophile brand BITD and made in USA. Very neutral coloring which some don't like but it's better to hear it exactly as it was made and play with the tone controls if you want different. Diminishing returns to go higher but I would have if the money was there. All in I spent maybe $700 and it sounds good to me. The bonus was I got a bedroom system from the old stuff, just have to add some speakers.

    Ten days to get my 3 CD MSG from CA to CO doesn't sound very innovative. Mail Innovations, aka the Louis Dejoy enrichment scheme, adds almost 500 more miles to the route that would have gotten to me two to three days earlier had UPS shortcut Mail Innovations and delivered it straight from the handoff point only 60 miles away. Bad for the customer and bad for the planet. Should be here tomorrow. Oh well, as Neil says, "don't let it bring you down, it's only castles burning".
    Cheers

    Edit: I find it interesting that folks are going back to valves, or tubes, especially in the pre-amp. I was advised to go with a hybrid solid state/tube pre-amp but stick with a solid state amp to get the benefit of the "warm" tube sound without the big bucks of the tube amp. But the hybrids were beyond my budget even used/restored as they are a newer thing. Wish my family had kept my Dad's old home built Heathkit tube amp. Would love to have heard that again.

  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    AJS audio, 1968 NW, Doc11

    Thanks Oro, a wealth of helpful information. AJS, there with you, floor standing wise, found a pair of 1986 Klipsch Cornwall IIs, 3 foot tall, 2 foot wide, 16" deep. Horn loaded tweeters and mid range, 15" woofers. They sound incredible for 35 year olds. Was driving them with an Onkyo receiver, one of the high end spec models for a long time and was happy. Eventually hooked up a power amp/pre amp combo and was surprised how much improvement... like Oro said. The power supply on the amp is huge, output rated at 150 watts per channel so a very efficient speaker like Klipsch has no stress, there is so much headroom. The damping factor as well important, a measure of how effectively (tightly) the amp controls bass response. When damping factor number is large, bass is well defined with detail and timbre, not boomy muddy. Whatever sub anyone might be using, not much useful response below 18-20Hz, as it's exponentially demanding to get lower, subsonic. The octobass and piano lowest notes are A0, about 27hz, Pipe organ low note is C0, 16 Hz. Except there's this thing called a rotary woofer that can go down to single Hz numbers at hideous expense, IMAX theater only? I would love to see and buy a 1968 NW tour box. Meanwhile, hoping Forensic Doc will let us know how it goes, we know he's in the Jacksonville area.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Magic Carpet Ride

    Mr Ones - great band, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets. I saw them just before covid, and was supposed to be going again in 2020-but... That dvd/blu ray disc of them live is worth getting, too.

    Irrespective of the extent to which climate change is affecting the hurricanes in America, there can be little doubt that the countries who are suffering most are the poorest ones. And the ones who are contributing to it most are the richest.

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A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation

 

With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.

 

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43 was recorded by Owlsey "Bear" Stanley and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

 

*2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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Sorry you lost your pet 1stshow, that is a real drag.

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39 years ago today, I was at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds to see the Good Ole Grateful Dead put on a fantastic show! It was a real cool venue and I just had an absolute blast! One of my favorite shows. I saw some great shows in 1983, 10/30&31/83, 12/28/83(my favorite). Ventura, Frost, Greek. It was a great year to be seeing the Dead.

....much respect to the tabby colors.
I raise my glass to her.
Godspeed.
Losing a pet is rough.
Now we have two. My step-daughter is trying to breed her German Shepherd bitch currently.
I called dibs on a female.
Doubling-down on the future pain....
And so it goes.
You know what's also pretty cool?
Watching drone footage of BMX'ers, skaters, racers and snowboarders.
Keen.

I have heard that on cassette and disc a few times. Very nice show. My friend Mike attended and said Uncle John's Band "touched his soul".

Yup.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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opened for the Dead at a Rex Benefit show. had no idea. Steve Silberman tweet pointed to a pre FM broadcast source over on the u-toobs. just uploaded 9/24. it sounds beautiful.

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2 Framingham dates. Nov. 1st, and Nov. 5th.. I have hash for refreshments. Not the corned beef type.

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In reply to by carlo13

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....bourbon and shrooms?
Heading out to see a band called Sabaton. My son is a fan and he's dragging me along.
Just kidding. They're a power metal band from Sweden who's theme is wars.
Stage show looks legit.
Let's see what up.

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Type, grateful dead,
meetupatthemovies.kom
What state are you in? You can also come to Massachusetts. Ha. That's what arlo Guthrie says, "there ain't no where else to be like Massachusetts.".

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In reply to by carlo13

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Funny.. I am going to the site referenced and the closest theatre to me using their site/app is the same theatre in Oklahoma. Humorous considering we could not live further away from each other and still be in the continental US. We literally live on the opposite ends of the country.

But the internet never lies and I want to go so I guess this is the place to see them. We should hook up before the show.

If you dig closer into the app they advise on how to get there either by car, transit, walking, cycling or flights. I like to walk so I selected that option. I can get to the theatre in approximately 383 hours as it is 1,166 miles. Assuming I powerwalk and do not stop to eat, pee, sleep or God forbid meet an equally minded freak and do what Pigpen says I should be able to make it just in time for the show.

I'm getting a good night's sleep and heading out in the morning, meet you there. I guess I am going to Forest Gump across the country.

Edit:
I'm just happy there was no digital download option.

You can’t do stooopid shit against good teams and win.
You have to capitalize on opportunities against good teams to win.
Miami did what they had to do and deserved to win, BUT…

Anyways, congrats to you and your team good sir!

MUATM: some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to…Oklahoma??

GO VIKS!

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In reply to by Sixtus_

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....whelp, my son survived his first mosh pit. Couldn't keep him out! I even jumped in a few times. Proceeded to tweak my knee, but I will survive. Pretty damn good show. Avatar changed accordingly portraying the aftermath.
Am I getting to old for this shit? I think not!!

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In reply to by Vguy72

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VGuy - You are a good soul and a great Dad to endure a mosh pit! Respect.

Oro - Sheesh! Hope I didn’t jinx your Bills with that Super Bowl chatter…yikes! About those Sabres…

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In reply to by That Mike

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....yeah. A few people there said that. My son was hesitant at first, but I told him about mosh pit etiquette. If you fall, they will pick you right up. The fans on the outside of the pit will push you back in a bit and give you some momentum, but will notice when you are ready to tap out and will let you through. Don't throw elbows, make sure your shoe laces are tied up high and look out for your fellow moshers.
And sure enough, that's what happened.
Metal fans are a cool group 🤘.
And afterwards we did my post-concert ritual. In-N-Out burgers!!

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Anyone have these or the Baby Advent speakers?
Got the college era stereo up and running in the bedroom.
Saw some Minis for $50. locally and they fit the size/wattage needs.
Reviews seem mostly positive.
And they have a real x-over unlike some of the A/V stuff.
You know what I'll be listening to on them!
Oro, This is your gig isn't it? Appreciate any input.
Cheers

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4 years 4 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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"That's what a hamburger's all about"

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In reply to by proudfoot

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Just sayin

In Seattle we have Dick's
Cali and such have In n Out
Wendy's used to be Hot n Juicy

Food porn?

The other night I had a Patty Melt (giggedy) that was pretty erotic. Truly a great sandwich.

Time for some GD, methinks

Last 5 non GD
bowie heroes
Metallica master of puppets
Metallica and justice
RS it's only rock and roll
Pink floyd early singles

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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not Oro... but: 1stshow, check the surrounds on those "woofers", i think they were foam which tends to break down, get brittle with age. They can be replaced with a surrounds kit, but its a bit of a pitb. My thanks for the heads up (and RIP) Pharoah Sanders which utube check led me to a video for his "Live at Jazz Cafe London 2011" quite wonderful, check it out. I was lucky to find Sanders music way back in 1969, his album Karma with the extended journey of "The Creator Has a Master Plan" was a favorite with my high school hash smoking jazz buds Charlie and Mike. Still loving this DaP43, music, as always, and the good folks here, the best.

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All this Burgers talk made me pull out the first rate Hot Tuna album by the same name - true religion, indeed!

I have done a deep dive on both Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman in the past, two of the bigger “Free Jazz” artists, and I even bought some Mary Halvorson, a current jazz guitarist who heavily leans to “free jazz”. It can be very challenging music - this sure isn’t the Doobie Brothers sound - tough to get inside, but often very rewarding. Pharaoh Sanders was a free jazz artist in that vein I always had a tougher time with. Perhaps it’s time to give him another listen.

One album I’ve got to give another listen to is the just released Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 recording, featuring Wayne Shorter, and others. I think Shorter is one of the pillars of jazz, a personal favourite, but my first run through of this album was really disappointing. Not so much Shorter, but the other artists he is playing with, and this really “unique” vocals (I’m not a fan of jazz with vocals), really sounded lousy. I’m hoping a fresh listen will sound better, because this may be the last recording Shorter does, and it’s not the way you want to end things.
I cleansed myself with 10/29/73 from the River box. Not a bad note heard.

That Mike, bravo for noting Mary, really not expecting to see her name here. She came to play locally at Dartmouth with her group Thumbscrew a few years ago, performing with them and the Coast, Dartmouth's student jazz band who are phenomenally motivated and directed by Mary's friend, director and teacher Taylor Ho Bynum. Yes, challenging music and not an easy categorization to jazz. You might know her story of starting out as a child on violin, when she discovered Jimi Hendrix at age eleven, she switched to guitar. I had a chance to speak with her after the concert and asked her about the extraordinary voicing she coaxed from her instrument. While Dartmouth seems among the more conservative of the Ivies, they do bring great jazz performances in from time to time. I have been fortunate to catch Chick Corea there with Brian Blade and Charlie McBride, Brad Mehldau solo, McCoy Tyner solo, Carla Bley etc. The Grateful Dead did play once at Dartmouth, May 5, 1978, though I was nowhere nearby at that time.

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It's amazing how different people hear the same music differently. It's also a beautiful thing.
I love, love, love Pharoah Sanders, almost everything he recorded. I love most all of Ornette's Music too.
For some reason, Eric Dolphy just doesn't do it for me.
Horses for courses.

Bottom line--Music is the Best!!

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In reply to by dmcvt

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I didn’t know Mary Halvorson was a Jimi disciple, but really neat you got to meet her and pick her brain, as she truly has a unique “voice” to her playing. I became interested in her sound after the joint album she made with Bill Frisell (a guy who makes ANY album he plays on sound better), “The Maid With The Flaxen Hair”, so I picked up some of her Thumbscrew releases, and was not disappointed.

As for Dartmouth, it really sounds like a really very hip place, music-wise!

PS - That Trio of Chick with Blade & McBride was some of the best music I think Corea made, so a definite 5 star show to see. The first time I ever “saw” Brian Blade was when he accompanied Joni Mitchell for a New York Times Talk on stage for her 70th birthday celebration in Toronto - he was there as Joni’s “Plus One”, but no playing, unfortunately. Then I saw him a few years later backing Shorter - now I get why this guy is in such demand!

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In reply to by That Mike

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I told ya not to jinx us lol.
Naaaa, they jinxed themselves per usual.
Great jazz talk!

Just listened to Karma yesterday, followed by Sun Ra.

ISTSHOW/Advents. Can’t recall actually hearing any Advents though I’m sure BITD I must have?
Using In the BR: assuming just for secondary listening, so probably ok for low level listening…
I was going to say same as DMCVT (hola DMCVT by the way!) make sure you check the surrounds. Not just foam ones, though it looks like the advents have issues with that. Always check the surrounds of any old speaker as they tend to dry out and disintegrate. Happened to my McIntosh XR 7s. Lugged em back east to trade for a preamp, got to my buddies to pick him up to go to the store, my surrounds had started to go bad on the road trip, doooaaa.

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Good advice. The surrounds look good in pics but I haven't seen in person yet. Got another pair I've been eyeing from a known good seller: Infinity Reference One, a 6" two-way but not the Emit tweeter. New surrounds and broken in he says. And I heard a pair of these a few months ago at the music/record store that was going out of business. (Dang! Lost another one. We kill small stores quick out here in the boonies.) They sounded good and they still barely fit my size limitations and considerably more money but, as you guys point out, anything of that era is going to need refoamed soon no matter how well they were kept. Just crap on Craigslist and we don't see the good stuff at our Salvation Army so it's safer to just pony up. So Oro what's the popular brand now in your home installations? I assume some of what you do is in ceilings or flat mounted. Do you do the full on home theater stuff too? Oh, bad form to have you talking about work. I'm good to go. Onward to DP11. See you on the POTDWD. Thanks again.
Cheers

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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No worries, I love talking about stereos.

We don’t sell many stand alone speakers anymore, mostly in wall/ceiling. No one wants to see gear anymore. Remember back in the day when folks used to like to show off their stereo!

Occasionally we will on bigger jobs. For big theaters we were using Pro Audio Amps/speakers, but not sure we’re still doing that? We also have used Wisdom Audio last few years, and McIntosh. Did lots of BMW BITD but I think we lost our dealership? I think we did some Toa for a bit! Think our Aspen office occasionally sells some Wilson’s?
Our in ceilings have been Sonance, and I’ve seen little bookshelf versions. In fact I have a small like new set of three I should get rid of? One of my current installations were using James audio in ceiling.
Also, I believe I have some new in box Denons? Very small came with one of those all in one sets. We paired em with in ceiling so I still have those in the box. Actually have 3 B&W 805s and some 602s? Not sure on the models…the 602s I’m using for immersive height layer utilizing Auro 3D format. The 805s were supposed to be for a surround set up in the BR but didn’t end up doing that.
If I was buying new, and could afford it, I’ve liked the Harbeth monitors. Focal has some more affordable offerings, but they can be hit or miss. Perhaps Magico if I was wealthy lol.
Always try to hear stuff before you buy when possible. If buying new, some places will let you try with your electronics because in the end the synergy of your gear combined with your preferences (sound) is what matters.

Oh ps, keep forgetting: sorry about the kitty! My cousin just had to put down what I consider one of the best, most mellow cats ever, very dog like! Henry was 22 years and 9 months but had a stroke so they had to put him down : (
One reason we don’t have pets anymore, the little bastards die on ya and break your heart, it’s too hard losing a good pet!

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There you are Oro! I thought you might have been burning your Bills jersey in the barbecue. Hey, it’s one game. (Speaking of which, your Sabres are introducing a personal favourite 3rd jersey, what I call the Dominik Hasek model) Playing Pharaoh AND Sun Ra - wow, now that’s an “adult” dose of Free Jazz.

Great info on the speakers. You must have a pretty wicked home system.

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Happy to see Oro's wisdom and experience here (Hola Oro!). Bookshelf speakers often get such collateral abuse, drop kicked, sun bleached, over powered with too many distorted watts... those surrounds are always the first thing to check. Next tweeter domes, have they been dinged or crinkled? Tweeters can fry quickly because of their delicate voice coils. Check replacement parts availability. Found a used set of Kef Q15s years ago, $20 each, thought just about perfect until recently, found a pair of B&W DM601s locally for $100. Significant improvement, really smooth balanced response, irresistible to an audio junkie, who cared if one cabinet had a corner dent. Both the Kefs and the B&Ws have some kind of rubber for surrounds, not foam and seem to be in fine shape for twenty somethings. They can be bi-amped as they have dual inputs, one for each driver, jumpers between for single input. To judge accurate reproduction of mid range, listen to solo piano or woman's song to check a bookshelf size speaker.

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Yes, those two British brands get consistently excellent reviews DMCVT. It is said the rubber surrounds outlast the foam by miles but are tough to replace. And Oro I've never even heard of those top shelf brands other than Pro Audio in your modern audio realm. Blowing off the used Advents for something serviced and safe. The Infinitys made in Chatsworth, CA should suite me fine. I know that seller will do me right. Only pushing under 30W through them from the old Pioneer integrated in a bedroom they should be perfectly suited. And I've heard a pair of them recently albeit not with my system. I think that guy had a vintage Marantz 2245 playing them. Got a vintage fully restored TEAC V-5RX cassette deck showing up today for that system. Breaking the tapes out of the closet! Again many thanks to you both.
Cheers
Edit: Still kicking myself for selling my first good set of speakers, Cerwin-Vegas, when I was young. Hard to find now but boy did they rock the dormitory and a few rental houses BITD! Their moto was, "Loud Is Beautiful If It's Clean".
Edit 2: The TEAC is killer. Best deck I ever had. Tapes sound amazing. Break out the soundboards and auds. Why didn't I get a nice one BITD? Likely as I couldn't afford one then! Love the vintage!

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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Yep, DMCVT has covered the must checks.
Another FYI. You can actually damage/blow speakers just as easy or easier with a low powered amp as high powered depending on use.
Distortion will cause additional heat, heat damages voice coils. So a low powered amp, even with matching specs, being driven into clipping (distortion) can eventually cause speaker failure, while a higher powered amp if not driven very hard will provide cleaner undistorted power AND probably provide better tone. Because it’s not clipping, it’s not heating the voice coil as much.
Obviously there are are limits to this so don’t go cranking your 1000 watt amp full blast with 100 watt speakers cause you’ll literally set them on fire!
Had this happen before: using McIntosh MC 2300 power amp with regular type speakers (60 watt) and well, worked great until we tried to see how far they’d go and so eventually started em on fire. Now, we were kinda trying to do that lol.
Another time I saw big JBL 15” PA woofer start on fire. The band was Set up in the middle of a bowling alley so no nearby walls or boundaries to enhance the bass, so sound guy over compensated and pushed em so hard one started on fire. Crazy stuff, fat lighting guy comes rushing toward the stage and tosses his pitcher of Long Island ice tea on it cause, ya know how well water and electricity mix lol. I simply reached over and unplugged the speaker. Luckily the sprinklers in the building didn’t go off because there was a looottt of smoke lol.
Think of it like a car engine, if you push a little engine too much it’ll blow, if you have a really big engine, but don’t push it, it’ll hardly break a sweat.
Infinity is another I’ve heard of, but not so sure I’ve heard? As previously said, ya never now for sure what things will sound like until you hook it all up. That being said, you can often get a feel for the product by doing a little online research. Check places like Audiogon etc, with a grain of salt as there’s just as much bad Intell out there as good. But you can usually get a general idea of the products main characteristics. Like if 23 outta 42 reviews say they sound tinny, well they might be tinny etc. look for folks who say “ I used to have those and loved them” etc.

Same with your hearing: you can cause hearing damage just as easy with not so loud music if it has lots of distortion, where conversely, you can listen to really loud music that’s super clean and not hurt yourself. Like you can listen to a really loud classical orchestra with no problem, but a really distorted metal band, even if not super loud can cause damage after sustained exposure. Another beautiful thing about the Dead, they could get really loud, but you wouldn’t even know it unless you tried to talk to the person next to you!
Good luck whichever way you go!

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....been to a couple of those.
The sound at the Sabaton show was perfect. I'm not busting out the earplugs quite yet.
Got Roger Waters here Saturday.
My friend bought the tix over two years ago.
About this time last year, he texted me. "You ready for Roger?"
I checked the website.
"Dude. It's next year!"
Imagine arriving at T-Mobile Arena and going......"Uhhhh." 🤣
And The Sphere is taking shape.
Look it up. Rumors are U2 are going to cut the ribbon.

I haven't bothered to go to a Seattle Mariners game for several years.

I went tonight, though.

I was reminded why I haven't gone for so long.

Weak, limp, anemic baseball.

Ugh.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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We did that Vguy. Early eighties Wild Bill or some such character said there were shows in Harshford. With no internet etc we didn’t know, someone said there was a show so we just decided to go. Needless to say when we got there it was aaaaa, surprise! But hey, it wasn’t all bad, we got a big box of donuts and enjoyed the ride lol

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Hunker down Florida, as this monster Ian approaches. Be safe. As for those that hit the climate change panic button with every catastrophe, know that these hurricanes have been around at least as long as Europeans have travelled the Seven Seas. There are no reliable written records of Indigenous peoples prior to these times to confirm (although oral history is quite prevalent among First Nations peoples the world over), but the belief is many of the natural weather phenomenon have always existed time immemorial. In fact, the first recorded history of the word “hurricane” was 1555, long before the Industrial Revolution. Sometimes truth matters.

Roger Waters - hard pass. Major dick.

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from the Good Old Grateful Dead to killer speakers and audio set ups to hockey to football to pets to...climate change denial?
I also own a pair of B&W's and they are just the cat's meow. They pair excellently with my Altec Lansing 890 bookshelf speakers. I have seen jbl's blow, no fire, but definitely a meltdown, they sound good but are very delicate, a close friend had a pair suspended from his ceiling, not the best but ok.
Sorry for your loss, pets are the hardest things to lose, sometimes harder than a human. People can let you down, your pet, never.
To all you folks who live in Florida, take my word for it, you don't want to mess around with hurricanes. I survived hurricane Charley in 04, it hit with 145 mph winds, took out the power as it hit Orlando, you could see power transformers blowing up all over the place, blue flashes in the black night. The eye wall approached and hit, the 40 ft pine trees in my backyard snapped off at about 12 ft above the ground, all of them, crashing down all around us, just missing my house but taking out my neighbors right next door. The wind blew so hard, it sounded just like a train, very loud. As it passed, the eye went over, it was clear, calm and you could see stars, then the other side hit, the wind going in the complete opposite direction, finishing off the rest of the trees. Charley was moving at 25 mph and it was over in 40 mins, but the damage was done, no power for 9 days, 103 degrees in my house with no breeze. Had to go to work anyway, had to take cold showers in the dark, had to drive all over the city to find ice to keep some things cool. We left Florida 4 years later. This storm is moving at 5 mph, this will last days and the damage will be bad.
Living in Florida for over 30 years I saw it change from a beautiful, clean paradise to a used up tourist trap. They have been doing studies in Tampa for years about salt water encroachment of the aquifer that provides the drinking water to most of the state, it has increased dramatically in recent years. Now they are having trouble with the saltwater encroaching upon the underground utilities, drain systems, etc as some days, during high tide, the water will come out of the storm drains, and spill out into the street, this is all from rising sea levels that are increasing yearly. Global warming has caused this, and it has also had an effect on the intensity of hurricanes. For 30 years, hurricanes meant "a little wind, a little rain" those days are over. Hurricanes are now more frequent and more powerful due to warming of the atmosphere. Look it up.

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I wish we could stay off politics in this space.

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12 years 2 months

In reply to by Crow Told Me

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I might be in the minority here, but I hate those old black and red jerseys. The logo too. It reminds me of Trump's hairdoo. And that was not a political statement.

It also conjures up memories of Brett Hull's goal. I don't like that either.

I love floor standing speakers and more importantly the sound they throw off. Maybe I am old school as well, but I do get a certain satisfaction when I walk into the basement and see how their presence almost dominates the room. I own Klipsch and have for years. I have often considered "upgrading", but I am not sure how much more benefit I would derive or what would be the best brand. The other concern is that if I did upgrade, should I go the full route and purchase separate components and upgrade my receiver as well? Thoughts are welcomed.

Two things I have learned listening to the GD channel over the past few weeks:

- The meaning of syncopation and why it is important. I have no musical aptitude.

- That I prefer my Grateful Dead with a single drummer and a grand piano. And I am proud to admit that.

Yes. Pets are the best.

Be safe Floridians.

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It's been about a year since the discussions of stereos and such. There was also a discussion at that time about HDCD.

On HDCD, I remember SimonRob posting that all he knows is that a light comes on. Last year at this time an old trusted cd/dvd crapped out. As y'all were talking about HDCD, I started looking for a HDCD player. I stumbled on to an old Denon cd/dvd player with HDCD compatibility. I bought the unit on ebay and with tax and shipping, it was only $90 (no remote). Well, I have a blackweb universal remote and the remote is programmable with the Denon unit. This unit arrived around October 5th or so last year. So as it was anniversary time for the Warlocks, that was the first concerts I played thru the Denon. Immediately, I found the sound enhancement was very noticeable. With HDCD, most of the expansion is in the mid to upper frequencies, which expanded the soundstage and headroom of the disks. I fell instantly in love and thank Dead.net for continuing to master in HDCD.

I also discussed before I bought the Denon, my own stereo which I am extremely happy with. Again, 6 JBL speakers running through a large Yamaha Natural Sound Amp, with the sub frequency cross-over set at 82 Hz. The 82 Hertz cross-over is almost identical to what George Lucas had for his THX movie theater certifications. I assume most know that a cross-over is not a fixed point as there are frequencies above 82Hz the sub powers, and below 82 Hz that the Yamaha powers. However, when you cut off or cross-over the sub unit, you remove a lot or most of the work done by the Yamaha amp, which frees up the Yamaha to produce even more crystal clear frequencies as the Yamaha has been freed from trying to push the JBL's for the low end. This means much cleaner reproduction.

I post this because I just finished re foaming the woofer surrounds on the JBL 10" woofers. They sound great now, no slight buzz or anything. It was well worth the effort. I used My Audio Addiction to acquire the re foam 10" surrounds. They may be the biggest retail provider of speaker parts kits. It is there name, all one string, at .kom. They also have tutorials on youtube, and also will fix them for you (much more than just foam surrounds), if you ship them to Audio Addiction.

As an aside, I have pondered replacing the JBL 10" woofers with a set of old Pyle Driver woofers that I have had for 35+ years, but haven't used in about a decade. The Pyle Driver's magnets are enormous. I mentioned this to a bass player friend of mine, he only said, "You have to be careful as JBL tuned those speakers with their woofers, and a larger magnet might throw some things out of balance." Not sure about that, may still do it at some point, but adding the 12" powered subwoofer by svsound changed everything. The amp inside the svs sub is a class D power amp. From what I can tell, most large P.A. systems are now moving to powered speaker systems with class D power built in. I think it makes configuring a system (like Meyer and Featherstone (?)) did with the FTW shows.

Any way, way too much, will post and edit.

Hope all are ready for In and Out of the Garden (Burger). I know I am, but will still listen to 43 one more time this weekend before I break out that box.

G

So first edit done, still needs work.

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... the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900 was a Category 4 and was, and may still be, the deadliest weather disaster in US history, with 8000 dead. So, a little more than just a little wind, a little rain even back in 1900. There are a number of other historic hurricanes over the last hundred years that were devastating as well, the National Hurricane Center of NOAA has a list of some of the most notable.

If you look at the records of frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms it is not entirely clear that the frequency or intensity has actually increased since the 1800s, and the effort to determine the historic frequency of these storms is complicated by the fact that our monitoring has improved so that many hurricanes that don't make landfall were likely not observed or recorded prior to our more modern monitoring abilities. Thus, our improved monitoring abilities means that we detect, observe, and record hurricanes that don't make landfall and would have likely been missed in the historic record, thereby causing an increase in the number of observed hurricanes, while leaving open the possibility that the increase is not a reflection of an actual increase in the total number of storms.

National Hurricane Center data indicates that the decade 1941-1950 has the highest number of hurricanes that made landfall in the US at 24 total and 10 major hurricanes (Saffir-Simpson category 3 or higher) that made landfall that decade. The tie for runner up decade goes to the decades 2001-2010 and 2011-2020 which both had 19 total hurricanes that made landfall, with 2001-2010 having 7 storms listed as category 3 or higher, and 2011-2020 having 6 storms listed as category 3 or higher. The hurricane landfall data also indicates that "Before the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts became settled, hurricanes may have been underestimated in their intensity or missed completely for small-sized systems (i.e., 2004's Hurricane Charley)." The reported storm intensity does not appear to be significantly different in these decades, but of course, I haven't run a statistical analysis, just a quick comparison of reported storm intensities from NOAA resources. Of course, even within the resources provided by NOAA you can find some variation in reported storm strength, for example, the categorization of storm strength in the "US Hurricane Strikes by Decade" table on the National Hurricane Center page appears slightly different compared to the "US Hurricane Impact / Landfalls" table provided by the Hurricane Research Division, so this is just a quick review of some of the readily available data from NOAA.

I suppose you could call this "climate change denial", but I prefer to think of it as a simple review of the hurricane data readily available from NOAA. You can draw your own conclusions from the data, or head on over to NOAA and do a deeper dive in the data. But hurricanes were always more than a little wind and a little rain.

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I just want to clarify, then I’ll drop it, as I wasn’t trying to set off alarms, I am just weary of “fear” being used to wage social change now. I wasn’t denying climate change. Way too much irrefutable evidence supporting it, and as a great believer in science, I support it. However, I find every dramatic event - climate, economic, Covid - is gaining oxygen from fear. Every outcome is predicated on fear.

Sometimes it’s hot out just because it is. I went for probably my 20th MRI last evening, and the nurse was debating if I should wear a mask, for fear of….infecting myself in a chamber the size of a coffin!?!? Fear has gotten out of hand, was my only point. Not going politics at all, I should have articulated my thoughts better.
I do sincerely wish Floridians to stay safe.

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during my time in Florida, it was always just a little wind and rain, never experienced a full-on hurricane until Charley in 04, but for 30 plus years before that, they were just a slight annoyance. Based on personal experience, not going back to the beginning of recorded hurricane history, just my personal experience. I loved hurricane season until 04, always good to check the fields right after a storm. Back in 96 I think it was, there was a storm named "Jerry" that formed off the coast, floated into central florida, moved back out to sea, returned a few days later, that was a great week. enough of that ok, hunker down everyone in the path of this monster storm.
Gary, Oro, you guys are true audiophiles, and I'm sure there are others here that I don't mean to fail to mention, I used to pour over audio books and visit audiophile shops back in the day, nothing better than good clean clear loud sound, especially Grateful Dead.

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To my understanding, it's not the storms that are being caused by global warming. It's the frequency and intensity of the storms that global warming is affecting.

Now, saw Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets show(I also saw the previous tour), and I'm surprised no one is talking about that. Great show, great band, fantastic song selection.

Finally, time for a little Steppenwolf, since we're on the subject of bands that don't get much mention on here.

Waiting for the Dave's 44 announcement. Should be about 3 1/2 weeks away.

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(The classic 1948 movie) is as close as this landlubber has ever come to a hurrican, (drop the e) as my wife's G-ma used to pronounce it. She was one of those who never evacuated although they were well positioned inland in Jacksonville and never had more than some shingles fly off. I'm sure she was one of those a little rain, a little wind folks. Rokko, Edward G. Robinson's character, was a tough guy until he felt one then scared to death of the thing. I got uneasy even standing next to a choppy sea. It's just so big it scares me. True landlubber.
I have heard that train roar though as a kid in St. Louis tornados. Fascinated me and my Mom would have to pull me away from the window because I just had to see what could make that much noise.
Best of luck FLA. Cheers

Edit: I stand corrected. My wife says G-ma was forced out by flooding from the nearby St. Johns River at least once.

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