Community. Association. Matters… To me
July 29th, 2008
A recent attempt by a developer to build a non-conforming duplex in my neighbourhood has given me pause to think about what community really is.
The trend in older neighbourhoods like ours is to bulldoze, build substantial structures, and sell. Unfortunately, the huge cost involved in flipping a new construction motivates developers to maximize on the return as quickly as possible, without due regard for what they leave behind. We enjoy some very old, and very new homes, healthy lot sizes, and many large mature trees. I won’t pretend that I know how to design a home that is at once modern and integrates into an existing community, but I it seems obvious to me that it is common sense to try.
The objection from the residents was two fold:
- The consensus from the neighbourhood at large (not just the adjacent properties) was that no consideration was made for the aesthetic impact of this particular design.
- There was a clear violation of the zoning bylaws.
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My Fifty One Fifty
July 19th, 2008
As a sometime professional musician and sound engineer who has been recording and gigging for over twenty years I have always been pretty picky about my gear. Being a serial tinkerer, most of my equipment has big dose of homebrew, my guitars are no exception.
Last January I decided it was time to start planning some long overdue repairs on my favourite stage guitar pictured here:
This simple Yamaha Pacifica has been my go-to guitar for about 12 years. It’s a very versatile guitar capable a wide variety of sounds from bell-like Strat tones to well sustained Hard Rock crunch.
It has a two piece oiled swamp ash body with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker up front and a Blue/Gold Fender Lace Sensor at the neck. The bridge is a hard-tail Fender type string through body with Mike Christian Piezo saddles and a Bartolini active preamp. The neck is very narrow and very thin with an oiled bubinga fingerboard (which needs frets and the fingerboard is pretty worn). The original plan was to source a new neck, but that is the back-burner until a suitable replacement is in working order. Read the rest of this entry »