My party weekend

Jen’s in NYC, and Jake and I are hanging out this weekend and doing guy stuff. Foodwise, that means a lot of Chinese buffet.

Homewise, that means a lot of hanging out in pajamas. I’ve been fiddling around the house, doing externally-appearing non-productive things. One day I replaced all the blown bulbs in the ceiling lights. That took me two hours, and shows no apparent lighting gains.

My big shipment of cables came in from Monoprice.com. I re-wired the main stereo with new thicker high-quality RCA (i.e, red and white plugs) cables. This seems to have decreased the strange interference/hiss that I was getting from the amp on the phono stage setting. None of that audiophile cable cult stuff -- my replacement RCA cables cost $3.50 a pair, but feel much more substantial than the thinner ones that come with the equipment. I may order some Blue Jean Cables speaker cables next. I bought some speakers on eBay, and will pick them up tomorrow. A pair of Celestion A2 floorstanding speakers - $2000 in 1997, now $175.00 on eBay. In my mind, it was cheaper than buying floor stands for my existing 1997 speakers.

I also put together a wall rack in the garage which holds 4 bikes. Glamorous stuff.

On Thursday I bought a six pack of hard apple cider, based on an expected leisurely and fancy poolside weekend. I still have all six. On the other hand, teh chocolate chip cookies I baked (straight out of the Toll House package) are gone.

I took Jake out for disc golf this afternoon with Remy and his Dad Jon. It was 94+ degrees, and Jake didn’t enjoy it that much. I enjoyed it, even though Jon kicked my butt.

Since I don’t have any coverage for Jake, I didn’t get to bike or exercise this weekend. I was really stiff and limpy on Friday, but a little better today.

With Jen gone, the dog has to suck up to me, and he is gamely attempting to do so.

Music of the Moment - Mahler's 7th Symphony, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Noseda). I'm listening to the cover disc for the September issue of BBC Music Magazine. Since Jake has claimed the living room, I'm listening and typing in the guest room with the small speakers. It's not conducive to large scale orchestral works. That said, it's a fairly intricate and varied work. It's kind of like a singles collection more than an integrated work, but that facilitates listening to it in pieces. It's the opposite of Symphony Fantastique (or Dark Side of the Moon), where you strap into the chair like a Maxell commercial for an interactive listen.