User:12-stringer
From WWR
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J-Walk decided to make me the subject of one of his "Which is |
Taken during the same evening, a live (well, at the very least, a somewhat lively and single-malt-enhanced) performance at the J-Walk palace:  | |
| (Oh - by the way - just in case you were wondering - the correct answer was...) | ||
Weather in Tucson
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Latest News
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Assimilated!
It is now official. 24¾ years ago, I came to work for the City of Tucson, in the Department of Computer Services. 18 years ago, I transferred over to the IS (Information Services) section of the City's Water Department, a.k.a. Tucson Water. We went with the name IS instead of IT, since it was deemed better to be called TWISs instead of TWITs. As of Wednesday (12/18/08), I have been relocated back to my original department (long since renamed the Information Technology Department), so I guess now I'm just a TIT. The Borg is winning has won - resistance is futile. Hope I can still come out to play occasionally...
Housecleaning
Cleaning out my cubicle of 18 years in preparation to move to a new office, and this is just one of the goodies I've stumbled across - think I should upgrade? 
Note from 12-stringer (talk/contribs) 15:00, November 25, 2008 (AKST): The following article was written by and is shamelessly extracted from Harvey Reid's 2008 Newsletter (page 2). I would have posted it on his artist page, but he no longer has one — it looks like he might possibly have been ousted during the last purge?
Techno-Prisoners
I have never been a Luddite, and I have always made good use of computers, GPS and other hi-tech tools. I was among the very first to use DAT recording (1989) technology, and to use desktop publishing (1980!) and my early adoption of laser printers, e-mail and the internet gave me an undeniable competitive edge in my career.
However, I am becoming increasingly soured on the tech stuff. I am looking at an alarmingly large pile of old computers, printers, modems, phones, digital cameras and recording machines of various formats that are taking up space, doing no useful work anymore, yet hard to get rid of. Most of the stuff cost me a lot of money, still works fine, and has become useless just by existing for a few years. Selling it on eBay is barely worth the effort. I just filled a recycling bin with books & manuals that accompanied all the outdated hardware and software, and thought sadly of all the money and time I spent learning to use now-useless hi-tech stuff.
I just counted over 75 software programs that I use regularly or occasionally to run my life. The network of 5 computers in our house is enough to drive me to drinking. I have to keep track of where all the programs and data are on all the various machines, where the manuals and passwords are. Add to that the system and version updates, and that fact that very year I get forced to acquire and learn to use new things, even though I was doing fine with an old one. I just had to add the word “spam” to my e-mail spell-checker. Shouldn’t somebody have done that?
I paid thousands of dollars in 1989 for my Panasonic SV-255 DAT machine and it is now unloved and unwanted, though beautifully made, with a nice leather case. The rechargeable battery pack is long-dead and a hassle to even throw away. I am particularly hating anything with rechargeable batteries. It seems like every time I pick up a cordless drill or tire inflator, it has no power to drill or inflate. I reach for a screwdriver and a hand pump, and want to throw the cordless one in the river.
I remember reading that close to 3/4 of all the computers ever made are in landfills now, and it won’t be long until the machine I am writing this on will join the junk pile. Maybe this means is that I am getting old, but I think there is more going on than just that.
In another corner of this room is a row of guitars that get better-sounding the longer they sit, and that will certainly outlast me. Good old Guitar 1.0. Never needs rebooting or new firmware. In the toolbox behind me is a hammer I have had since I was 12, and it works great. I love the nice oak handle. In the next room are my books, which last for centuries, and my vinyl record collection, which I once thought of as a burden, and now I am seeing as refreshingly durable and stable. My color photos are fading, my reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes are slowly rotting, and I am nervously eyeing my CD collection, wondering if they too will self-destruct. And the hard drives that contain my digital music will crash one day. And this medium is supposedly The Future of Music– the reason that people are being told to not buy CD’s. I am not so sure that digital downloads are entirely a step forward. I have already lost the music on some of my 20-year-old digital tapes, and I have months of work ahead of me to rescue several boxes of DAT digital audio tapes before they deteriorate too much.
I am feeling a lot of love for durable mechanical things like pliers, bottle openers and cheese graters, and feeling less and less love for anything that has a battery or a computer chip in it. The word digital used to be so sexy, and now it seems to mean “impermanent” and “it will annoy you later.”
Even my bicycle, which is probably 20 years old, almost made the young employees laugh when I took it to the shop for a new tire. It is a Cannondale, once a very good bike, and they were almost sneering at it like some uncool, outdated thing like an old cell phone. How is it that a machine that works perfectly can become obsolete, not because it is broken, but because there is a faster, cuter or smaller one?
I suspect that a lot of you who are using older printers and web browsers and other digital tools know what I am talking about. And now all our old beautiful radios and our analog TV’s are about to become inoperable because there will soon be no more analog broadcasts.
How do we get off the train? How do we stay in the modern world but stop throwing away our tech toys? I don’t hate technology– I actually like it and am good at it. It frustrates me to throw it away, but I especially hate to contemplate how much precious time I spent learning how to use it. By contrast, every hour I have spent learning songs or playing a musical instrument has been an investment, and I don’t regret the time I spent reading books or traveling. The primary thing I have learned from using over 100 software programs is that I should spend as little precious time as possible learning anything new in order to get my work done, because whatever skills and knowledge I gain will likely not serve me very far into the future.
I wondered as I looked through a mail-order catalog, with battery-powered wireless gadgets that tell you when your steak is done on the grill, and battery-powered, heated hats, mittens and jackets, what a catalog would look like if nothing in it had a computer chip or a battery? Durable goods. Do we need someone to come and take away our obsolete gadgets to spare us the pain? Can we possibly enjoy them so much when they are new that we can shrug and dispose of them casually when they no longer work or become “un-sexy”?
I wish I could explain in some compelling way to young people how much more satisfying the hours I have spent learning music have proven to be as compared to the hours I have spent learning about hardware and software. Maybe I should make a movie they can watch on their cell phones and e-mail to each other...
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| Photo |  | ||
| Nickname (set in preferences) | 12-stringer | ||
| Location | Tucson, AZ - USA | ||
| Songs ranked | 10,660 | ||
| Contributions |
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| Birthday | Wednesday, April 30th | ||
| This year's birthday | 3 months, 19 days hence on a Thursday | ||
| Zodiac sign | Taurus | ||
| Current Listening Status | Hi-speed line using jetAudio for 34 mins, 55 secs. |
| Other people at 12-stringer's IP | None |
| Last seen | Today |
| IPs used recently | 166.89.220.243 (166.89.220.243) / 68.226.112.4 (ip68-226-112-4.ph.ph.cox.net) |
12-stringer's Favorites
Request this show that 12-stringer is sure to like! Here are songs 12-stringer has rated 5 stars.
| # | Song | Artist | Image | Album | Lyrics | Length | Played count | Last Played | Overall | You | Tags | Single Request |
| 1 | Banks Of Clay | Roger Lasley |  |
Walking Backwards | Lyrics not applicable for instrumentals | 3:01 | 6 | Nov 28th, 2008 |  6 votes 5 stars=12-stringer / Debry / Amishlaw |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Flatpick / Acoustic guitar / Instrumental / Acoustic | 2 | Tumbleweed Blues | Chris Cairns |  |
Runaway Train | Lyrics not applicable for instrumentals | 5:12 | 32 | Oct 9th, 2008 | 21 votes 5 stars=RickHap / chinook / 12-stringer / KodiBear / Mert / Amishlaw / Peterdale |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Dance / Bluegrass / Acoustic guitar / Fiddle / Mandolin / Acoustic / Instrumental / Band / Fast |  |
3 | Debt Of Honor | Jay Howlett |  |
American Ghost Town | 4:45 | 42 | Sep 18th, 2008 | 11 votes 5 stars=Jim / Fine-line / Kelli / Atuuschaaw / 12-stringer |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Folk / Pretty / Thought provoking / War / Acoustic guitar / Accordion / Acoustic / Vocal harmonies | |
| Total Time | 12:58 |
The current music queue contains 2 songs that will take 4 mins, 50 secs to play.
You must be a logged on user to request music. It's free and easy. Create an account here.
50 most favorite artists
Favorite artists: Stephen Bennett / Buster B Jones / Joel Mabus / Brooks Williams / Muriel Anderson / 3 Blind Mice / Roger Lasley / Laurence Juber / Larry Zarella / The Waybacks / Chris Proctor / Clarelynn Rose / Michael Chapdelaine / Paul Kamm And Eleanore MacDonald / David Francey / Dougie MacLean / Diane Zeigler / Batdorf & Rodney / Dan Tharp / Robin Hopper / Dave Potts / Johnsmith / Thom Bresh & Buster B Jones / John Batdorf / Dion / Maria Zemantauski / Antoine Dufour / Nickel Creek / John Sheehan / John Danley / Emily Elbert / Vicki Genfan / George Wirth / Carl Tosten / Guy Davis / Jim & Stephen Bennett / Joe Byrd, Frank Vignola, Chuck Redd / Joe Beck & John Abercrombie / Jim Henry And Brooks Williams / Esther Golton / Mary Flower / Jack Williams / Michael Henson / Beppe Gambetta / Chris Yeaton / Jimmy Bruno / Peter Lang / Robert Bowlin / Danny Gatton And Joey DeFrancesco / Harry Manx
Requests 12-stringer has made
| Last 25 song requests | |||
| Song | Artist | When | Dedication |
| Back To You | Matt Nightingale | Thu., Nov 20, 2008 - 10:03:39 | |
| Israel | Joe Beck & John Abercrombie | Mon., Nov 10, 2008 - 10:16:56 | R.I.P., Joe ... |
| My Funny Valentine | Joe Beck & John Abercrombie | Mon., Nov 10, 2008 - 10:16:56 | R.I.P., Joe ... |
| I Should Care | Joe Beck & John Abercrombie | Mon., Nov 10, 2008 - 10:16:35 | R.I.P., Joe ... |
| All Blues | Joe Beck & John Abercrombie | Mon., Nov 10, 2008 - 10:16:16 | R.I.P., Joe ... |
| Lucky Man | David Francey | Tue., Oct 28, 2008 - 16:55:59 | |
| Lucky Man Introduction | David Francey | Tue., Oct 28, 2008 - 16:55:49 | |
| Broken Glass | David Francey | Tue., Oct 28, 2008 - 16:55:38 | |
| Broken Glass Introduction | David Francey | Tue., Oct 28, 2008 - 16:55:28 | |
| Broken Glass | David Francey | Fri., Oct 24, 2008 - 23:23:14 | What a touching song ... |
| Weepin' Willow Blues | Brooks Williams | Tue., Jul 8, 2008 - 15:11:35 | (12-stringer) #1 of 3 in a 14 mins set. |
| Black Keys | Steven Dillon | Tue., Jul 8, 2008 - 15:11:35 | (12-stringer) #2 of 3 in a 14 mins set. |
| Well You Needn't | Danny Gatton And Joey DeFrancesco | Tue., Jul 8, 2008 - 15:11:35 | (12-stringer) #3 of 3 in a 14 mins set. |
| Sunday Morning | David Francey | Mon., Jun 23, 2008 - 15:14:09 | |
| Wanna Be Loved | David Francey | Mon., Jun 23, 2008 - 14:36:12 | |
| Tonight In My Dreams | David Francey | Mon., Jun 23, 2008 - 14:03:25 | |
| Oh My Surprise | Batdorf & Rodney | Mon., May 12, 2008 - 12:39:49 | |
| I Will Not Be Afraid | Batdorf & McLean | Mon., May 12, 2008 - 11:51:26 | |
| Never Had To Ask | Batdorf & McLean | Mon., May 12, 2008 - 11:50:47 | Love you, Jim ... |
| Adolescent Rant | Don White | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 15:28:52 | (12-stringer) #3 of 3 in a 16 mins set. |
| Offering | Clarelynn Rose | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 15:28:51 | (12-stringer) #1 of 3 in a 16 mins set. |
| Red Herring | Kris Delmhorst | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 15:28:51 | (12-stringer) #2 of 3 in a 16 mins set. |
| Reina's Lullaby | Brooks Williams | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 13:19:47 | (12-stringer) #1 of 3 in a 9 mins set. |
| She Loves Me (When I Try) | Brooks Williams | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 13:19:47 | (12-stringer) #2 of 3 in a 9 mins set. |
| Carolyn's Ramble To Cashel | Watercarvers Guild | Wed., May 7, 2008 - 13:19:47 | (12-stringer) #3 of 3 in a 9 mins set. |
| Top 15 artists requested | ||
| Artist | Times requested | Percent of 1,303 total requests |
| Stephen Bennett | 101 | 8% |
| 3 Blind Mice | 93 | 7% |
| Chris Proctor | 60 | 5% |
| Brooks Williams | 58 | 4% |
| John Batdorf | 41 | 3% |
| Thom Bresh & Buster B Jones | 38 | 3% |
| Roger Lasley | 36 | 3% |
| Clarelynn Rose | 34 | 3% |
| Joel Mabus | 29 | 2% |
| The Waybacks | 25 | 2% |
| Buster B Jones | 24 | 2% |
| Emily Elbert | 23 | 2% |
| Johnsmith | 23 | 2% |
| Jake Schepps | 21 | 2% |
| Larry Zarella | 20 | 2% |
