Meet The Local Hero

About 6 or 7 months ago, I was contacted quite unexpectedly by a gentleman named Dragos Mostenescu. Dragos went on to explain that he was a producer, writer and actor in his native country of Romania, and that upon discovering my Blog, he and a friend of his, also named Dragos, Dragos Teglas, who is a film director, were very interested in my story.

In further conversation, Dragos mentioned that they already had an idea in place, for a short film, something along the lines of "Meet the Local Hero". Dragos provided me with links to his website and also for the other Dragos, so that I could see their past work and accomplishments, that they had each been involved in.

 

From left to right, Cosmin, Dragos M, The Ern, Oren, Me & Dragos T, plus Joy the dog and Kosher the kitten

Grandma been for a service.

Had Grandma for a service down at Pulman VW at Durham. £215.00 for a check over and to get her oil and oil filter changed. Really I was paying for the stamp in her service book.

VW Beetle GSR

Grandma has only done 400 miles or so since her last service and MOT.

Still love this car, she feels awesome to drive, yeah her un-resonated  exhaust can get annoying, however when I put my foot down and give her some gas, that deep burble is sooooo addictive.

VW Beetle GSR

I haven't bought any more mods for her, she has just been hibernating in her garage. I'm trying to save up to get Myrtle my 65 bug sorted. I need some serious money, so any donations welcome lol.

Just been to collect some pop out windows I ordered from Germany for Myrtle. They were at Parcel Force at Birtley, £101.50 import duty, man you get robbed left, right and centre these days. Nevermind the windows look spot on. I was a bit worried they might be naff quality, but on a quick inspection they look good.

VW Beetle GSR 

Just took a few pics before putting Grandma back to bed lol...

VW Beetle GSR 

Just out of interest I checked Parkers to see how much Grandma might be worth... £9000 to £11000, OMG! parkers is sniffing glue....

AI Art

Ooh just a little addendum...

So it appears Redbubble has decided to suspend my account. Apparently they don't have to give a reason, or even reply to any correspondence. No they just let artists spend hours and hours completing their "unique" designs, and then ban them.

 Reading further into the topic, this appears to happen a lot to people. I guess the folk at Redbubble just assume they are so big that one more person doesn't matter. Ah wel, keep moving forward and screw Redbubble... Lol

Whilst having a gander on YouTube, as there was nothing particularly interesting on TV the other evening I came across a video which was entitled, something like "7 ways to make a passive income digitally". Anyhoo  I watched the first part of the video, and I was pretty blown away when this guy got on about a thing called Midjourney. 

The guy went on to explain that in order to use Midjourney, you first have to download a thing called Discord. Discord is like a chat room type thing and once you have this installed you can then click on Midjourney. Obviously, you have to set up accounts for each thing.

So, Midjourney, is an Artificial Intelligence kind of affair. Don't ask me how it works, let's just say it's magic.

 

What do you do with it? It's really easy, just type in what sort of an image you are after, and the BOT after say 30 to 60 seconds will create an image. The more details you offer, the better the image.

 

Moto X in Space

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

 

Some of the quality is amazing, like a real photograph in some instances.

After I had used up my 25 free goes I decided to pay for a year's subscription, and I have been having great fun designing art which I pop on Redbubble.

 

Beautiful AI Woman

 

Redbubble allows you to put your designs on their site and then anyone who likes them can order various things, everything from clothing to house ware with your design placed on. You then get a commission after the cost of whatever the person has purchased, and Redbubble send off the stuff.

 

Concept Car

 

It's just a case of uploading your work, then not having to do anything, but hope someone finds your designs worthy of purchasing, so a passive income. Cool

New Takamine Guitar I just had to have

So I've gone and bought another guitar, it's a Takamine PTU441MTB New Yorker. These guitars I believe were a limited run here in the UK. I just missed out on the only other one I had seen for sale online at Guitar Guitar. I kind of spent too much time toing a froing, thinking to myself, "it's a lot of money for someone that can't play all that well just yet".

Takamine PTU441MTB

That said I am learning all the time and I can honestly say in the year I have been learning, there is not a day I haven't picked up one of my guitars and had a bit play around. So my way of thinking this guitar is money well spent, as with this particular guitar if I look after it, it will go up in value.

I purchased the Takamine  after seeing it advertised online at AStrings which is based down in Treforest, Pontypridd, Wales. After a few emails and telephone calls back and forth and speaking with Andrew the owner of the shop, who was very friendly and gave some great advice, I decided to treat myself.

Andrew informed me that the guitar would be all set up before sending it off via courier, also letting me know he would send it Monday, with a delivery of Tuesday as he didn't like any of his stuff potentially be held up and stuck somewhere over the weekend. Andrew also asked what size I was and very kindly sent me an AStrings Tee shirt in with the guitar.

As promised, the guitar landed on Tuesday, my dad told me he wasn't in and that it had been left outside the door, so not best pleased with that, not sure who the courier was, just pleased my package wasn't nicked. I'd have been gutted and think I would have struggled to get a replacement.

I had been to work, and when I got in saw the big box my dad had put at the bottom of our stairs. Carrying it through to the sitting room, I carefully opened the packaging and removed the hard shell guitar case. Even the guitar case looks like a canny bit of kit, with Takamine emblazoned on it.

Takamine Hard Case

Opening the gold latches on the case and lifting the lid I got my first peek at my new guitar, I have to say it looked very impressive, I love the tobacco sunburst look. Upon taking it out of its case and having a close inspection, that's when I noticed all the really cool craftsman ship and was very happy with my purchase, even mores so when I had a little play of the songs and some riffs I now know.
 

Love the colour and overall finish

Amazing detail

Pre-Amp

I even had a go at playing a few songs I have written myself I know they won't be chart toppers or to everyone's taste, but hey I have enjoyed trying to put words together to make lyrics and then to try and get some semblance of a melody or tune. A lot of the stuff I have written is rather melancholy, as it's based on some of my life experience, which let's face it hasn't always gone according to plan.

I'm not a proper musician/guitarist, so rather than try and write a review of how I think this guitar sounds I've popped a link to a few reviews, well if anyone is interested anyhoo.

Music Radar



Guitar World

The Best Christmas presents are the ones you buy for yourself!

This week will be my 48th guitar lesson, Wow! Almost a year in. It has been a tough yet enjoyable journey so far. I tend to pick up my guitar or should I say guitars as I have somewhat been caught by the bug and now own several, nothing Uber expensive, just instruments that I enjoy the aesthetics of and the feel of when I lay my hands on them. I dare say if, or should I say in more positive terms "When" I become more proficient and skilled I wouldn't mind paying a small fortune for a top end bit of kit. I think a guitar and the melodies it allows you to play can become very personal, like a best friend in a way.

Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior.

 

Anyhoo before I get carried away and getting all deep, I thought I would share my latest buy, a Christmas Prezzie to myself if you like. I have been looking at buying a little more of an up market guitar. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Ibanez TCM 50 Talman, it has and continues to serve me well, hey maybe it was sheer boredom that got me looking at my next purchase, who knows.


As usual the internet has been a great source of information, thing is there is just Sooooo! Much choice. What has been very difficult is identifying things like how big and actual guitar is in the flesh, how it would feel in my hands? Plus there is nothing quite like actually listening with your own ears, live shall we say, compared to listening to a video on the likes of YouTube, where various mics and amps are used. Not only that most of the videos showing a guitar's playability are by people who can actually play a few licks very good, and not just a green horn like myself.


So after a few months of toying with the idea of a new guitar, checking out reviews and deciding just exactly what was going to fit my needs, I made a short list of top prospects.

Things I was looking for were a guitar that I could strum on and also do a spot of finger picking. The aesthetic appeal, I fancied something vintage looking, something with a bit of character and not overstated. I really like the look of the Sunburst guitars, or what are known as tobacco colour. Also, one of the most important things for me was that the guitar was not too big in its body. You see, I struggle with a bigger guitar when I am sitting trying to play. A bigger bodied guitar always slips off my prosthetic socket and I end up holding it more as if the guitar is resting on my lap, Lol.


My short list of guitars included 

Faith Venus Blood Moon.

Eastman AC308CE Ltd

Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior.

Oh! And I love the look of the Takamine PTU441MTB New Yorker, however this was a parlour size guitar and more suited to a finger style, which I am nowhere near being able to achieve so would not to get the best out of the guitar.

With  somewhat of an idea of what I was after, my dad and I popped through to Newcastle yesterday and visited Guitar Guitar. At least being able to have a look around the various electro acoustic guitars, I thought it would help in my decision.

Once at Guitar Guitar a very help sales assistant, named Tommy, was only too happy in my selection. Tommy showed and demonstrated a range of guitars, the first being a Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior, which was on my list. Tommy brought me a stool, so I  was able to have a seat and see how comfortable the guitar felt, and I was then able to have a short strum, opting for a tune I knew off by heart, and then I played a few chords just to get a feel for the guitar.

Next Tommy handed me a Taylor as I recall, I think it was a GS Mini. The guitar felt good in my hands and had a slightly brighter tone, however to the eye, for me just out of personal preference it didn't float my boat.

Tommy also gave me a look at a beautiful Alvarez Yairi. An amazing looking guitar with a slotted headstock. It was a parlour size, so a bit small for strumming, more of a finger picking instrument, plus at £1999 a little over budget at the moment. I mean some of these guitars, it would be like owning a supercar, yet not having a driving licence.

Back for another go on the Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior. I really liked the tones the guitar produced. Although it's smaller than my Ibanez Talman it sounds like it has more depth in the bass. So I opted to go with the Martin.

Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior.

Buying the guitar was simple too, I put a deposit down and got 3 months interest free on the remainder in store using Klarna. The guitar came with a small gig bag just to keep it safe and dust free.

Sapele Wood

Martin DJR-10E Dreadnought Junior.

 

I spent the whole of yesterday evening playing around with the wee Martin and have to say it is a joy to play and sounds great. I haven't tried plugging it in to an amp as yet, the guitar having a Fishman Sono tone with 2 controls that you get to through the sound hole. I love the understated nature of the guitar which looks slightly distressed and worn, with a mother-of-pearl inlay around the soundhole and mother-of-pearl fret inlays.

Now all I need to do is learn to play a lot better...

Loving this little Blackstar Carry On Guitar

I am now at week 39 of my guitar tuition, it has and, continues to be a lot more difficult than I first predicted, learning to play. That said, I am pretty proud of myself for not quitting, and I am still enjoying the learning curve, pushing myself to discover the various chord shapes, notes, scales and the what seems like endless things to  understand, in order to get a semblance of a tune from my guitars. 

So far I have learnt about tablature and I can play some fairly simple songs by finger picking. I can even string some chords together, with the correct chord shapes, and play a song.

My biggest accomplishment to date is being able to play The Foo Fighters, Times Like these on my acoustic guitar. It took me days and days of watching YouTube videos and then trying to memorize the chords. Not only that, I have even managed to add the embellishments just like in the original recording. Yeah! I still cock up now and again, miss a note or don't get my fingers in the right place, however one of the most difficult things I found was getting the strumming patterns down. The strumming patterns are a big part of every song and even if you are playing the correct chord, if the strumming pattern is incorrect, well the song just doesn't make sense.

Oh! And don't get me started on trying to sing along to a song whilst also trying to concentrate on playing it. My poor brain can't quite take all that information on board. I think the only song I can kind of sing along to is Mad World, the Michael Andrews version, and that is because it's finger picked and slow.

Anyhoo as I am enjoying my musical journey and no one can really say I am wasting either my time or money as I have practised playing my various guitars every day since I got them I decided to treat myself to yet another toy.

Blackstar Carry On Deluxe

I had seen the Blackstar Carry On reviewed some months earlier and really liked its small form factor. I thought it would be great as a sofa electric guitar. Something I could just pick up and have a bit play with. So I invested in a deluxe kit, getting it from PMT online.

Came well packaged

The Guitar and Amp are tiny

The Blackstar Carry On deluxe, comes with the guitar, obviously. I opted for the vintage white with the like a tortoiseshell finish. You also get

• Award Winning Fly 3 Bluetooth Mini Amp
• Premium Gig Bag With Rugged Fabric, Shoulder Strap and Multiple Pockets
• Quality Braided 2-meter Blackstar Guitar Cable
• Blackstar Webbing Guitar Strap
• 3 X Medium Blackstar Guitar Picks
• Travel Notebook to Write Down Ideas or Lyrics
• Blackstar 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

Following unboxing the guitar and Amp I had a go at playing a few tunes I knew. I practised a few scales and generally just played with the gear, trying different settings on both the guitar and Amp. From a total Noob's point of view, I have to say I was extremely impressed. For starters, the tension on the guitar strings, for it being a tiny guitar, is great. It's not really much bigger than my concert ukulele, the fretboard is longer, and for being such a small guitar feels quite wide, more like a regular guitar. The Blackstar Carry On is so easy to play, with my limited experience. I expect as I gain more experience and knowledge it will also play and sound even better 

Hard to get an idea of just how small the guitar is

 

I have an Ibanez GRGM21 I whilst I love that guitar for messing around with I have never felt the string tension or sound for that matter to be great. I don't know a great deal about guitar set up, but my low E string buzzes, it has been like this since new. Saying which I did have a go at adjusting the truss rod myself, after looking up a tutorial, and I think my little Ibanez sounds better.

Very well-made

Looks and sound the part

The colour combo looks great

The strings strung through the rear of the guitar body

Strings feel amazing on such a small guitar

 

The wee Blackstar sounds awesome through the small Fly 3 amp. I mean considering the amp is like tiny, it kicks out a decent punch, more than loud enough for jamming, or should I say in my case making a noise in my sitting room.

The pick guard looks awesome too

Wee Guitar

Chrome Tuners

As I am new to this game, I can't really say much more than that. I am not knowledgeable enough to go on about pickups, and so forth. I did find a list of specs so for anyone interested so thought I'd pop them here.

• Body: Okoume (Gaboon Mahogany), single piece construction for body and neck
• Fingerboard: Laurel, 19 frets
• Scale Length: 20.7" (527mm)
• Pickups: Mini-humbucker with coil-split via the Volume pot
• Controls: Volume (pull for coil-split), Tone
• Machine Heads: Der Jung Sealed Tuners x 6, 1:14 gear ratio
• Strings: D'Addario EXL145 nickel wound strings, 12-54 (Heavy)
• Finishes: Vintage White with tortoiseshell binding and tortoiseshell scratch plate

Ok I am off to try to play something.

Take Care.

A little quiet job on the Abarth whilst off work...

 I have been off work since last Tuesday, after having to come home following not feeling at all well. In fact, I haven't quiet felt myself for going on 3 weeks now. It all started with a migraine, which persisted and eventually turned into a headache. The following day I felt the same, and as the weeks went on I just didn't feel great with this constant bad head.

Anyhoo I was taking prescribed medication to try and combat the migraines, a drug named Naproxen. I was taking the recommended dose each day and as the first week went on I was starting to have weird dizzy spells, where I felt a bit disassociated and like I was having a panic attack.

As I work in a hospital, my colleagues got an obs machine and took my blood pressure, and it was something like 177/110. One of the friendly doctors upon our ward checked me out and recommended I go home, so that is where I have been.

I have managed to get in and see a friendly GP, and she has prescribed some blood pressure tablets and I have to go for an ECG and bloods, just to try and get to the bottom of why I have been feeling so off. Turns out, Naproxen is really bad at raising your Blood pressure, as is Ibuprofen.

So this week I have pretty much been taking it easy, even cutting down on my daily cycling, only doing around 5 miles per day on the turbo trainer.

On to my Abarth. I ordered some sound deadening, some stuff called Dodo Mat. I got it from Amazon, ordering it one day and it arriving the next. It was lashing down yesterday, well I think it was, that is another thing that is affecting me my concentration and memory.

Dodo Mat sound deadening

Dodo Mat

 Well today, as it was sunny, my dad and I removed the door cards from the Abarth, and we fitted the sound deadening. We had already had the driver's door card off, last week as the wee car has an annoying rattle coming from somewhere, I actually think it's the driver's window.

The door cards come off relatively easy, there are a couple of covers to remove, one chrome one that goes on the interior door handle and another that is like a small rectangle shape, and this is in the door grab handle, where the arm rest is positioned. Once you get these off, there are 3 Allen head bolts to remove, and then you have to try and use something to pry the door card from their plastic retainers. My dad had a proper type of tool, so the cards came off fairly easy.

Door handle cover

Other cover in handle

Once the door card is away from the clips, you have to remove the cable that operates the door handle and on the driver's side the power window switch connection. From there I used a hairdryer to heat the soft door membrane, you need to keep this intact as much as possible. We got it off so far then just peeled it back, just needed enough to be able to get access to the inside of the door skins.

Door Card  Removed

Door catch cable and power window cable at bottom

Heating up membrane, just watch you don't stretch it too much

The first sheet of Dodo I heated with the hairdryer, however, soon discovered that it became so sticky that I couldn't get it in place correctly without it sticking to something. The best method was to just measure the sheet of deadening with the backing on, trim it if necessary, then only peel about an inch of the paper backing off and sticking that inch in place, then remove the rest of the backing as you work the sheet onto the door skin. As it was a relatively warm day, the sheets stuck no problem. We used a combination of a roller where we could roll the sheets and where we couldn't just a firm bit of pressure, until the deadening was in place and secure.

Became way too sticky

 

Oh! By the way, I bought a pack of 12 sheets of Dodo and I think I had about one sheet left over after doing the doors. I have ordered another pack of 12 so that I can do the boot. One pack comes in at £25 from Amazon.  

 


As you can hear in the video, it doesn't half make a difference to the sound of the car when tapping on the door.

Steering lock

Oh! And I also ordered a steering lock from Halford's so popped down to pick that up yesterday. It's a sturdy bit of kit I have one for my VW Beetle GSR, it won't stop a serious thief, however it is a good deterrent for the opportunist, every little helps in this day and age.