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Erased Vocals, Incorrect Lyrics, Music Brilliance

I stumbled up on this video on YouTube by the Professor of Rock, and learned something about one of my all-time favourite songs, California Dreamin’ by the Mommas & the Poppas. Watch the details about the history of the song, and the consequences first. Then come back and read my thoughts on the subject, because I have some opinions of my own. None of them, though, will necessary conflict or contrast with those in the video.

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Looking For Budget Music Gear?

I’ve been following a few Youtube channels related to music (some performance, some recording and production), and through Glenn Fricker at Spectre Sound Studios, I learned about a great resource for decent-quality music gear. A lot of it has also been validated by Andy Ferris over at the Guitar Geek. The source? Thomann in Germany, specifically their in-house brands Harley Benton and t.bone. I have three Harley Benton guitars (two TE’s, which is a Telecaster clone, and a J-bass), a Harley Benton 2×12, as well as a t.bone mic that’s a clone of the legendary Shure SM57.

The TE’s are brilliant, well-built, and stay in tune (at least for me). I do have an issue with fret sprout, but I have that on everything. The dry air in Calgary is brutal that way. I think they play really well. The 2×12 is equipped with Greenbacks (real ones, not clones) and it sounds really, really good. The t.bone works very well. Where they really become attractive isn’t just the quality, but the price.

I was able to get a TE, the 2×12, and the t.bone for less than the price of a single Marshall 2×12 with who-knows what speakers here in Canada. I have a real Fender Tele (and love it). But, for the price I paid, I could almost buy one of every TE single-coil configuration from Harley Benton. The total price included the Euro to Canadian Dollar exchange rate, paying for the faster UPS shipping, and the customs duties and taxes.

One thing to keep in mind: all their amps are meant for use in the EU and UK, so some may need adapters to work in North America. You’ve been warned on that one.

On Aging

a man in a uniform with very short thinning white hair and a white beard

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 7, 2023.

Mining in space is hard. It takes years off your life. You age differently. Sure, everything floats around, and tons of rock can be easier to move. But momentum is momentum, and mass is still mass. Too many friends have been crushed because of a misdirected load.

Bad food. Bad air. Too much radiation exposure. Physical breakdown because of lack of gravity. Still, I look pretty good for a 35-year old miner.

Unexpected Consequences

A steampunk mechanical bee

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 8, 2023.

They thought the idea of an ‘artificial bee’, the NewBees, might help deal with bee die-off. And for a time, it worked. We didn’t get honey, honeycomb, or bee’s wax, but pollination continued, easily the primary goal.

But then, people noticed the NewBees were getting bigger. And more sophisticated. Apparently, the designers hadn’t noticed they included some of the replication code from another project. The NewBees decided to ‘upgrade’, and grow the population. Uh oh.

From Trash To Home

a patch of floating garbage with dwellings on it

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 9, 2023.

The garbage patch had been growing for decades and decades. As it grew, it also gained solidity, stability. It also began to extend deeper, creating it’s own anchor of sorts, damping out extreme motion.

A few intrepid thrill-seekers arrived, and explored. They found they could walk on the surface. Plants had begun to take root.

Finally the settlers arrived. Displaced from their now-flooded homes, they took up a new residence. Amazon 2-day shipping starts next week.

The End Is Near

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by Wyatt H Knott using DreamAI.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 9, 2023.

Our orbit is decaying fast, and they send two tugs to help correct it? Just two?

“Um, Control, Cargo 27.”

“Go ahead 27.”

“You know we’re projected to hit the capital, right?”

“Affirm.”

“Then you might want to send a few more tugs.”

“Negative. That’s all we have. We’re not saving the ship. We’re buying time to abandon it. We can redirect to The Trench, safest place to deploy it now.”

“Copy.”

I sigh, and hit the big red button. Alarms began to echo, the crew began to stir….

Strange Communications

a steampunk machine that looks like a strange typewriter

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 9, 2023.

I stared at it, unsure what to do next. It looked like it was for transmitting text. But the keys had symbols I didn’t recognize. And it wasn’t clear what it would communicate with.

“Do we know the symbols?”

“No language we know of.”

“What about comms?”

“It radiates faint EM as you type.”

“How old is it? The design looks old, but the parts look new.”

My friend paused. “Near as we can tell, it’s at least 75,000 years old.”

“Dare I ask where we found it?” He shook his head.

A Fake In Sheep’s Clothing

Something or someone in a sheep costume surrounded by sheep in a room full of machines

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 9, 2023.

“Baaaaaaaaa-ark”

Clear the throat. Breath. Again.

“Baaaaa-ark”

Again, clear the throat. This has got to work. Once more.

“Baaaa. Baaaa-ark. Wufff.”

Man, this is going to be harder than I thought.

The Trojan Fish

A robotic steampunk fish with mechanical features and external tanks

A Mastodon writing prompt story. These are science fiction short stories (usually 480 characters or less), based on an image generated by EW Doc Parris using MidJourney.

The stories are originally posted on Mastodon via my personal account.

Originally published June 6, 2023.

“This is never gonna work!”

“Shhh. Keep it down. Yes it will. They’ll think we’re a fish.”

“No they won’t. What fish has external air tanks?”

“Some fish have them.”

“Seriously? Who did you get to design this stupid thing?”

“Someone named Yaya, Jessica, something. She said it was a Steampunk fish.”

“Oh good grief! There’s no such thing. Steampunk is some kind of cosplay thing. You got someone who designs costumes to design our sub?”

“Well, the horse idea seemed dumb.”

Another Submission (And Rejection)

Rejection in writing is a fact of life. I have a short story that I worked on for the first few months of the year. It was originally written for a Writer’s Digest short story competition, but unfortunately, it didn’t win anything. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I revised (and expanded) the story, with a lot of feedback from Jim Bird, a friend who is also doesn’t pull punches when it comes to reviews. I submitted the story to Clarkesworld, but they didn’t accept it for publication. My latest submission was with Asimov, but unfortunately, they also said ‘no’. The next step is to submit it to another Writer’s Digest competition, and we’ll see how that goes.