Stanced Sedona

 

    I know in my head that this is a crappy old minivan.

    I know that.

    But when I look at it, I don't see a 15-year-old mom-mobile with rust spots and 340,000 miles and mismatching door handles. It looks cool. It looks tough. I have driven this van all over the Colorado plateau. I've driven it to Kentucky more times that I can count. It's the most powerful car I've ever owned (245HP) and may be the fastest as well, both straight-line thanks to the variable valve timing and 24 valve V6, and maybe even on the twisties since tire technology has come so far (but I don't do twisties anymore because the Midwest is a grid and it's dangerous to drive fast through neighborhoods) (I used to fly through neighborhoods in Texas when I was young and foolish).

    We've bonded.

    So anyway, I just put snow tires on Nissan (rear wheel drive) alloy rims, and slapped them on my van. They're wider than stock, and have a wider offset. So the wheels are pretty flush with the fenders. I would love LOVE to put airbags in the suspension -- the front are basic struts, the back are just coil springs, so there's generic airbag kits out there but I can NOT justify the expense but DUDE, letting all the air out of the bags and driving around just slammed would make my heart so happy.

909 metal voices OUT OF MY SYSTEM!!!

    The 909 voice modules are designed, tweaked, printed, and ready for prime time! I do have a question in my mind about the 909HAT, which has a reverse sample playback, but the amplitude envelope can only go "forward" because it's derived analog.....ly... analogly? Probably not a word. Analogously is a word, but don't think it works there...

    So I've got a new obsession, which may be fruitless. The Make Noise Maths is the best-selling module ever. Never got it... never touched one... it's a slope generator that can be a VCO, a clock, a filter, an LFO, an envelope follower, and an envelope generator. Probably wavefolder, trigger-to-gate generator, gate-to-trigger gener ANYWAY, it's a versatile module that can do so much. I guess I'd rather have all those modules more custom-designed to do like... those things.

    BUT!!!!! The possibilities. The Maths is almost a Serge DUSG -- dual universal slope generator. The Internet is lousy with schematics for the DUSG and VSG (voltage-controlled slope generator), and it's a fascinating circuit with non-exotic parts, so I schematic'ed one up, routed the PCB, and I'm on the cusp of ordering a run of five (single) slope generators. I'm imagining putting all five of them in a case by themselves with a sequencer or two on the left, and a mixer/amp on the right. It may be a Ciat-Lonbarde-level nonsense machine (Peter Blasser doesn't know I exist but he's my pretend nemesis) but it might be really really interesting.

    So anyway, that's what has been happening to me. OH!!! Other stuff too -- my kid Houston threw a rod in his Chevy HHR so I replaced the whole engine, while the car was parked on the street so that was a big job. Had to pull an engine from a car five times (first engine pulled was the wrong type, 2nd engine pulled from Houston's car, 3rd engine pulled was correct type, but after installing it and getting it to run, discovered that it had a thrown rod same as Houston's engine so back out it came for the 4th engine pulled, 5th engine pulled was the correct type AND it runs great) and install an engine twice. I'm glad that job is done, but it was fun to have such a large project to sink my teeth into.

        Finally,  Beth and I went to see Depeche Mode. They make lots of really great sounds like "DOOM DOOM DOOM" and "KSSHHH" and stuff. Synthesized awesomeness! We ate fancy brie cheeses on the way there and back in Beth's Kia Rio, which is such a nifty little car.