Author Archives: skierpage

music: Alan Tarney, solid producer

Posted on 2021-08-15 by skierpage

Leo Sayer’s “Once in a While” affected me as much as any other song. His urgent, increasingly desperate vocal stands out against the pleasant pop-rock stylings. After playing it 7 times in a row at increasing volume my landlord called: … Continue reading →

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music: Fred Astaire swings his sing

Posted on 2021-08-10 by skierpage

Everybody reveres Fred Astaire’s dancing, but he’s an underrated singer despite his light thin voice. The way he swings and syncopates “Let the rain pit-ter pat-ter but it really doesn’t matter if the skies are gray” in “Isn’t it a … Continue reading →

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eco: the big lie of recycling triangles

Posted on 2021-07-16 by skierpage

There’s a wave of articles about the plastic recycling problem, with predictable photos of mountains of plastic trash; Treehugger: Don’t Believe the ‘Store Drop-Off’ Label When It Comes to Plastic Packaging NPR: How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing … Continue reading →

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music: 20 great Elvis Costello songs are the tip of the iceberg

Posted on 2021-07-07 by skierpage

American Songwriter has a long click-through article “The Top 50 Elvis Costello Songs of All Time.” It’s a hell of a list (actually only 20, they updated the h1 heading but not the title) by one if the greats. We … Continue reading →

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computers: 18 years of ThinkPads

Posted on 2021-06-28 by skierpage

(from my series “lovingly preparing old electronics for reuse, only for them to be dumped in a pile of E-waste”) IBM originally came up with the “ThinkPad” name for its pen-operated “slate” personal computer running the PenPoint operating system. That … Continue reading →

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cars: Tesla Model S Plaid is a bargain at $131,000

Posted on 2021-06-17 by skierpage

The Tesla Model S Plaid is crazy. Nitpicking fans are arguing over whether 0-60 in 2 seconds (!) is real because 1-foot rollout and special pavement blah blah, but Motor Trend managed to do it and found: Faster projected quarter-mile … Continue reading →

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cars: genuine excellence vs. milking the ultra-rich

Posted on 2021-06-15 by skierpage

zOMG, the 25th McLaren F1 built with only 242 miles on the clock, including the luggage, the watch, the magnesium toolkit, … Moooo… Back in 1995 McLaren built a jaw-dropping advance on any production car and most race cars for … Continue reading →

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software: I can’t share what I see

Posted on 2021-05-26 by skierpage

I’ve now found two visuals that utterly defeat Google’s Android Camera AI: dim saturated orange sky at midday due to particulates high in the atmosphere from distant fires, and a lunar eclipse. Right now the Super Blood Flower Lunar Eclipse … Continue reading →

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books: good non-fiction

Posted on 2021-05-17 by skierpage

Some non-fiction books that I read on paper. I sometimes wish this stuff was more interactive, even beyond a Kindle. I want to read words (15-minute YouTube videos entertain more than instruct!) and have easier access to the particular things … Continue reading →

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design: buttons barred, suit yourself

Posted on 2021-05-13 by skierpage

When I had Perry’s of Bangkok tailor a suit for me (in a very different time and place!), I knew I didn’t want that anachronistic row of buttons on the jacket sleeves. They used to work: I had a science … Continue reading →

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