fixed impressions

Cacophony with Gonterian is on 8:00 to 11:00PM EST today/tonite. It’ll be my last show of the year, unless I sign up for the currently open new year’s eve slot.

I’m going to do IDM/Downtempo/Beats till a little before 10:00PM, then I’m going to wind up the RPM’s into Breakbeats to set up “The Fourth Dimension, with Shariyar” which starts at 11:00EST and really is a must listen if you like drum and bass.

Here’s the link (click on the photo, the live stream should start up in the media player of your choice.)

You can make requests during the show:

phone: (802)-656-4399
AIM: DJWRUV (preferred method)

Take it Easy.

G

After leaving you to figger out the songs for yourself for a while, and after blowing off a few requests for the playlists….I relent. I’ll be implementing cool features on the site that will show playlists from the tuner to help you pick your shows, but for now the analog, static method:

Gangstarr Hip-Hop Show:

1. “Reminisce”, Bilal, Common & Mos Def, Like Water for Chocolate
2. “In Memory Of”, Gangstarr, Moment of Truth
3. “Knowledge”, Ganstarr, Gangstarr
4. “Amongst the Madness”, The Nextmen, Amongst the Madness
5. “New York Straight Talk”, Ganstarr, Moment of Truth
6. “Runnin’ Remix”, NOTORIOUS BIG, EP
7. “Take 2 and Pass”, Gangstarr, Daily Operation
8. “When U’R Near Me”, Guru, Jazzmatazz
9. “Just To Get A Rep”, Gangstarr, EP
10. “Untouchables, Pt. 1″, NOTORIOUS BIG, EP
11. “Hits from the Bong”, Cypress Hill, Black Sunday
12. “JFK to LAX”, Gangstarr, Moment of Truth
13. “Have U Ever”, MC Lyte, Bad as I Wanna Be
14. “Mental Stamina”, Jeru the Damaja, Sun Rises in the East
15. “Da Bichez”, Jeru the Damaja, Sun Rises in the East

(FCC — Almost every track on this mix would be unplayable on FM due to “objectionable or offensive” content, therefore I can not encourage you to listen at church, your mother-in-law’s, or while getting pulled over by the police. That said, this is not “gangter rap”….it’s mostly great stuff and the language fits the music: Gangstarr!)

Though I now have the ability to use CD and MP3 in the mix, I just mostly use the vinyls. In this show, for the first time on FIX RADIO, there are a few CD tracks in the mix. Since I’m so used to vinyls, you can hear places where I trainwreck the mix and leave gaps or run into the next track on the CD when I mean to cut to vinyls…need some more practice cueing the CD stuff on the laptop. Ah, to be a beginner again. Buddha says this is one form of epiphany :: beginner’s mind. I’ll get it down. Bear with me while I “enjoy” my beginner’s mind. Ha!

Over and Out

G

So many things.

I guess the year 2005 is really almost over. For Fixed Impressions it’s only been half a year. But this site has come a long ways over the last six months and I’m happy to report that I will keep on doing it. With pleasure!

Matt Chester and the Indie Rock.

(Certainly a vintage photo: rear-brake with arch, freewheel, slack chain, threader headlocker, with -17 degree tall quill, dirt-drops, around shoulders not superlite hydration pack but tufo tubular-clinchers which he used for a while. –ed.)

Again, I lament the impending end-of-life for Matt Chester’s Blog. I’ve always been captivated by his progressive, bike-centric, holistic approach. On his blog he writes freely with whimsical and eclectic topic-hopping and with a superb command of bike-nacular. Long and humorous posts on building, being a radio DJ, and doh! will that land ever sell? It’s been better than TV reality shows, ’tis plain in black and white, and loads faster than almost any page on the web (especially mine, hehe.) And there is much to be learned from his dedication to low-impact simple living.

Positive + Determined + Skilled = Quality

I give you Matt Chester.

Sorry Matt, but I can’t help but make fun of a raw-vegan titanium-only 700c-only frame-builder-guy who used to be the highest-framebuilder-in-Colorado yet doesn’t use drugs. Hah. Its just the wording that’s irresistible. Just wish I could afford to give the man an iBook. He seems to have bad computer karma, considering the number of times he’s lost a post or crashed a hard drive, probably an old eMachine or something.

No, really. I have the highest respect for Matt. I’ve only exchanged an email or two with him, but he was supportive of what I am doing and that really helped me to keep at it. Thanks again Matt. Rock on in the print world.

I’ve not posted too much about fixed lately. That’s partly by choice, and partly because I’m mostly just doing a commute or two here and there. I see the truly hard core VT bike commuters doing their thing on the worst days–from my car. Always feel bad when I see them on out those really tough days. Rock on VT core bike commuters. For now, I have to have my car to move stuff back and forth between office and warehouse–twice a week usually, and pre-holiday, it was sometimes daily. Web-store wonk I am. Someday perhaps, I’ll have an assistant to do the errands….ya, that’s it.

Not to beat the long-dead horse, but since I got the Uni and the REK all dialed in, they just work. I don’t do much to them, and they don’t need it. Air, lube. A wipe here, a little dusting there. I know that this east coast “snow” has a very high acidity and I’m vigilant in looking for rust and corrosion. But, for the most part my fix just keep rocking the road and trail.

(Yes, this is rare that you’ll find me put a “geared” bike on this site, but it’s intrigue is gear-irrelevent and I can’t shut up about it. –ed.)

I’m looking forward to riding mostly fixed again next year. And I’m always scheming for a new project. HA! I sometimes dream that Sheldon Brown will email me and tell me he has a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed fixed gear hub for me. My Raleigh 3-banger is irresistibly good to run errands on, is like 45 years old, mostly original and was made almost entirely of steel in Nottingham. You’d be very hard pressed to find any bike today that was made almost entirely in one factory (or compound in Raleigh’s case!) If I could get the 3 speed fix on there that would be a long-time dream (…are you reading Sheldon?) Coasting on a 38 pound steel bike is pretty fun though, especially when you’re fixed most of the time. Steel rims have a plush ride too. I love that old black steed. It looks really cool, with no restoration and very faded decals. It works damn well as is, maybe I should just leave well enough alone? Nah, someday I’ll get that hub (I’m that big of a geek.)

I’ve been regularly on single speed bikes for about 8 years now. And fixed, off and on for about the same. Interestingly, as a case study I’d say that I really didn’t catch the fixed bug the first couple times. I had a road fix set up on several different occasions in the past, but also had a regular road bike (henceforth to be referred to as a “highway bike”) and was into that kind of stuff….riding on the road. So the road fix didn’t seem appealing on group rides, or in the high wind that was so common in the high desert. Ultimately, I’d build a fix as a test, take it out for a few rides by myself, then convert to freewheel use. Often, I’d liquidate and go on to other projects.

Something changed. Only the last year did I really get into fixed. And I think because my approach is different now. I don’t race. I don’t train. I ride. I fix. I don’t road ride, really, unless I have no other choice. No inflammatory rhetoric to follow either. Road riders and road racers are fine people. Their desire to go in straight lines for long periods of time while drooling on their bar-mount HRM’s escapes me. Completely. (Oh, wait. Who was that guy who was so nervous to do his first criterium, he forgot his shoes? Ha! Been there, wannabe roadie. For couple years anyway, but only to get better for MTB. –ed.) Anyway, I don’t get into the road thing too much these days. Trail riding is where it’s at for me. Trail riding on fixed? Very cool. Again, not for going fast. And for sure, not for everybody. But for skills development, balance, pedaling suppleness? Fixed can’t be beat. Riding down hills on fixed is great training for understanding the physics of riding, braking, momentum and such. I like it. No crank-arms broken yet, but I ’spect my dainty SR’s to go next summer. A small price to pay to trail fix. So I got hooked on fixing. Still not sure why I didn’t really get it the first few times. Somehow I managed to come around.

I am one to wait around to see about things. I used to want everything new and techy and cool. After pissing off bunches of cash and breaking a bunch of shit over many years, I kind of morphed into a more cautious, though equally curious type. I guess that’s the way I approached fixed. Cautious of the “stupid fad” aspect of it, I took my time to warm up to it. I had taken my time getting a dedicated single speed mountain bike, why rush into a seemingly more impractical bike? Tale told. Current Score — Fixed Gear : 1 — Gonterian : 0. My patience has been well rewarded too. I have two nicely fitting and function specific fixes that are great to ride, and a Fixed/Free Vulture 26″ in the works.

Quality craftsmanship is 10% attitude 90% dedication. 5% inspiration 95% perspiration (OK i fudge it a little.) Function follows quality.

FIX RADIO TUNER (beta)

I’ve got the new style tuner code implemented now. I’ll be adding the playlist windows as soon as I retrieve my playlists from WRUV. They are hand written and must be reviewed by the executive staff due to FCC regulations, so I either have to hand write a second copy, or wait a week to pick them up. So far the latter has been the only possibility. It would be great to have a computer to type them into live. Then I could just print two copies….WRUV web-master Brian is on it. Anyway, hope you like the new tuner. I will send the new code to my “satellite” hosts (I think

there are 5 of you now.)

Over and Out.

G

6:00 to 8:00PM EST today/tonite.

Here’s the link (click on the photo, yo.)

Yes, FIX RADIO is back. Still many technical hurdles to conquer, but y’all know I’m happiest when things work but not exactly right. On this “simply vinyl” mix you’ll hear a return to crappy quality voice-overs. My bad. I still haven’t got back to the good set-up I had at the Worth St. studio. Nonetheless, the station is back in operation and I have new capabilities for expanding the madness.

I’m taking down the old tuner now, and will get the new one up as soon as life permits…hopefully tonite or tomorrow nite. My holiday apologies for my repeated excuses and stalling tactics. ‘Course if there are any Flash developers out there who would like to help, this dog could use a bone (Flash widget with Actionscript.) I’m working on it, but I’m definitely not a pro, so with out help y’all will need some patience. Progress is happening, but I want a really good tuner, and I’m not there yet.

Enjoy this darker downtempo show. Click on the “FIX Studio” photo to start your show!

Over and Out

G

I recorded the first of hopefully many great shows in the new FIX studios. Just a matter of some hole drilling and cat5 cable running after work today and the new tuner and show will be up.

I’m on tonite on in place of Trans-Europe Express. I’ll be on from about 1000PM-1230PM EST.

I’m continuing to do different things in these “other” slots. Tonite will be dub, beats, and then breakbeats late. Enjoy the show.

New FIX Radio shows will begin to be posted this weekend.

Here’s the LINK

OK. After making noise for years about skiing to work, I did it. Great.

Only took 40 minutes in, with some trail breaking. 30 minutes on the way home with the hills working in my favor. Really got the blood flowing and feeling great. Burns more calories than riding and you get really cool looks from people in their cars when they see that there is an alternative to cars,…no matter what the weather. Boo yah!

Over and Out.

I’m sure no one would have even looked up to watch me ski if I lived in Oslo, or even Anchorage. Shouts out to DORT and DAVE in AK if you read this.

G

After a hiatus while I moved, FIX Radio will re-emerge after the weekend with a new look and some new mixes. I’ve added the ability to mix digital sources with vinyl. This allows me access to 6000 more songs, so variety and depth should show improvement. I also have a better microphone for voice overs as well. I’m working on a widget that will give you not just a pop-player, but also a pop-up playlist as well. It’s still in alpha mode, so be a little patient for that.

Finally its snowing and I’m tempted to ski to work today, more on that later: if I do it.

Over and Out.

G

Take it easy.

Calm. Down.

Write some feedback. I turned comments off for some reason a while back. Not sure why. Just thought I hadn’t heard from anyone for a while, then I realized there was no comment link, duh.

Really cold and not snowing, motivation to ride : low.