hrmmn.

can i push the 2nd law, here, a little?

how much usable energy can i get from my lightbulbs?

answer: i don't have to calculate it to know the answer is not much. but, i wonder if i could string enough cells together....

https://www.ecopowerup.com/knowledge/charge-solar-without-sun/

and, how feasible is a diy solar option for a few kwh per day?

i know that the batteries suck, but i'm only using 5-6 kwh per day, with the fans running. when i was trying to save energy last winter, i was using closer to 2-3 on the average day.

so, if i can jimmy up the consumer circuit to a solar converter into a battery that only has to save a few kwh at a time and just let the grid take care of the appliances and lights, maybe i can get the number under $45 without worrying about it as much.

i don't know, though. i'll have to look at it.

so, i did my groceries this morning, made some pasta, took a shower and fell asleep.

the sage smell was back when i got out of the shower, and it might not be coming from upstairs at all. this is a constant problem in this place: i can't actually tell where the smells are coming from, or what is causing them. so, last night it seemed like somebody was burning sage to cover the smell; this morning, it seemed more like the smell was coming from the heaters. it seems to be better, now.

but, i have no choice: i'm going to need to turn the fan off between now and 7:00 in the morning, and i'm going to have to leave it off and i'm going to have to hope the smell clears out. if it doesn't, i'm going to have to suffer through it until i can get to the root source of it.

so, what happened on thursday?

mindful of the impending yearly catastrophe that canadians call winter, i did a large amount of grocery shopping on hallowe'en (which wasn't so bad weather wise, at least at first.) with the intent to allow for minimal foraging until the end of the month, while hoping for the opportunity to take advantage of a nice day or two, mid to late month. i knew i was going to have to get out to toronto at some point but i had no intention of getting to any concerts in the region until closer to the end of the month.

but, my laptop crashed on the night of the third (corrupt boot sector. lengthy but easy fix.), which gave me several days to sort through the listings for the month, and i pulled out a night i couldn't miss out on. would you skip this night?

detroit component:
early evening show: tchaikovsky's first piano concerto at the orchestra hall
evening show: black midi, which are a noise rock band from the uk that has worked with damo suzuki

windsor component:
late show: lushh, which are an electronic jazz band from kalamazoo
potential late late show: heart attack kids, which are a punk band from london, on

that's a stacked night. i couldn't miss it.

but, i missed it. this is what happened...

i was running a little late as it was, but when i got to the bus station in windsor, the attendant informed me that the tunnel was closing for the night. what that would mean is that i'd have to find a way to get back over the bridge after black midi and, even if i could figure it out, i'd blow the late shows. it just wasn't worth it. alas...

so, i just stayed in windsor, which meant i caught the early show at phog, and then the late show at phog and then the late late show at meteor (and then went back to phog for a beer).

lushh were passively enjoyable, but i actually didn't find them to be mind-bending in any particular way. i didn't want to just go home after coming face to face with the bus situation, so i stayed. but, i wouldn't actually go out of my way for this. it tended to drag a little with superfluous space-filling solos that actually weren't that great, creating a large amount of empty space that was often not taken advantage of as well as it could have been. i tend to pay more attention to guitarists, but it was the drummer that tended to carry them. he didn't seem that interested in the idea of aphex twin remixing queen, though; he treated the proposition like i was proposing some kind of infidelity. or, maybe that was masking a physical attraction that he didn't know how to grapple with. hey, that happens. i'll back off, but offer's open...

it's not like it was a bad show; if you get the chance, you should take the time to give it a few minutes. you'll note that the particular link i'm posting is a bit more guitar-focused (and also very recent), so it actually kind of demonstrates the point: it just didn't quite get off the ground, for me. i need a bit more than that to really get into it.

but, i would choose not to skip them a second time, just in case.

i ran across the street after the set to catch what was left and was kind of baffled by the energy, which i was not expecting. i'm actually not 100% certain what i even saw at all. what i was expecting was a kind of rootsy mid-period whites stripes kind of thing, but they showed up with a bassist and a female drummer (i think she was the drummer for wine lips, as she was using the wine lips kit) and just tore the place down. they introduced themselves as the heart attack kids, but this was not the same band. so, was it also the bassist for wine lips? is there some merging going on here?

it's been a while since i heard something quite like this, which actually had some nirvana-ish undertones in all of the right ways. like i say, it just ripped.

but, this is an emergent phenomenon, so i have no link to share - just the observation that the heart attack kids have evolved, and a recommendation that you check them out.

so, i ended up back at phog for a last beer, listened to some kids talk about philosophy and stuff and stumbled out late into the cold...

...and it was, indeed, cold - cold enough that i stopped a few times to warm up. i was reminded why i don't do this at this time of year. according to the thermostat, it wasn't that bad, but the wind was brutal. it was a difficult walk, at points.

but, i got me some nachos, took me a shower and then slept all day.

so, there's the review. it could be a while before the next one.

why can't we have nice, bright fruity smells instead of these thick, dirty herby smells?

yuck.

ok, so what else did i do tonight?

not much.

the catch-up is done, though. next is the review from the other night.

how's the smell? it smells like somebody's burning sage or something, which is every bit as unhealthy and every bit as gross as burning any other kind of plant. i would support a total residential ban on the stuff. if you want to bathe yourself in carcinogens as a part of your stone age religious ceremony, which is just hilarious in it's idiocy, then go do it on the reserve - it's something that shouldn't be happening in urban centres. ever.

as somebody with native ancestry, i find the whole thing to be flat out embarrassing.

but, i don't think there's a native american ritual happening upstairs, i think somebody's just dumb enough to think it hides the smell. it doesn't. in fact, it's actually worse. pot stinks but it's a lighter smell; sage is thick and heavy and oppressive in it's abject disgustingness.

i need to get some groceries this morning and do laundry one more time before i have to adjust to the new electrical reality - and, yes, i'm going to have to turn the fan off. if i end up coughing for hours and hours, he'll have to send the complaint to the ministry. i can't afford to run the fan anymore. i'll have to just take a lot of hot showers to blow the stink off, instead.

so, review first. then groceries. then liner notes when i get back. and, i guess i lost a week, didn't i?

you know, the oesp is set up like a contract.

i'd have to take a look at it, but i wonder if i could sue.