u/Demonweed

This week I'm getting my hands on a JUNO D8 after a long drought without a proper performance instrument in the house. A day or two later, I will be taking delivery on an EV-5 pedal, but I didn't even order anything to plug into the hold slot. I thought a remnant from my 90s kit would suffice.

Yet I'm learning that there is a sort of yin-yang conflict between Yamaha and Roland technical designers. While my old board was a Roland XP-80, I used a Yamaha pedal as my sustain with it. Now I'm checking out Youtube videos about how to change up the open vs. closed circuit status of the pedal's electronics. Yet I also see on forums that the right system adjustment, the pedal can deliver normal sustain function.

I have a high degree of confidence that even if the open/closed circuit status of the hold pedal is inverted by protocol that I would not wreck my shiny new synthesizer with this experiment. Of course the appropriate corporate response is to advise holding off on any sustain function until I obtain a DP-10 unit. Knowing what I do about this circuitry issue, should I just physically modify this pedal right now even before my JUNO D8 arrives (an electronics task so simple I doubt I would botch it,) use system settings to manage it's non-Roland open/closed behavior, or really wait until a DP-10 is available before activating any functions through the hold pedal jack.

I propose a script with two endings. One is an elegant allegory. Even though some of the character names might be telling, all the clownishness stems from the absurdities of political life as well as the foolishness of opposing wind power in 2026. Our protagonist makes some angry speeches from platforms just under windmills, but he does not physically attack one. His undoing is an unsustainable accumulation of dishonesty and mean spirited actions.

Then the other ending breaks the spell of this straightforward political satire with a shock. The Senator does physically attack a modern wind turbine from the ground. This is only disturbing in the way watching a psychotic break is disturbing. Then he gets control of a heavy duty drone, smashing it right into the turbine above. The audience barely has time to see the colossal blade crushing the main character before we cut to black.

A lot of video games without dragons get better when dragons show up in a sequel. HBO just now openly explored the intensity and brutality of dragon fights. Unlike stagnant franchises like Mortal Kombat, this is a promising new realm of spectacular conflict.

Atari's mid-90s Primal Rage project could serve as a template for this. Being able to recover health by devouring people roaming the battlefield was a satisfying mechanic that has not been deployed in recent years. What do you all think about a new fighting video game focus on dragon vs. dragon bouts?

I was just editing a document with long write-ups of various mortal homelands on the surface of the world in my largest project. As I got to thinking about where I would like to be in my own fantasy, I settled on a few of choices spots . . .

• Caldera Elegans is a small city where every residence is within walking distance of multiple mineral springs and hot springs each famed for their curative properties. It is the preferred retirement destination for elites from the Truscan Empire. Yet immigration is heavily regulated, and the export of either building materials or water from the area is strictly illegal.

• Tablön is an island well north of most comfortable climes, yet made downright tropical by the daily intervention of powerful wizards. Similarly powerful wizards operate practices that can transform old and/or unsightly people into their own visual ideals -- for a price. Basically, I put Miami right off the coast of a Scandinavian-themed region because I thought it made for an interesting narrative springboard.

• Blarneyston is not terribly wealthy nor home to uniquely curative terrain features, but it is known for its hospitality. Many generations ago, this community was devastated by an infiltration of dopplegangers turning family members against one another for their own amusement. Nowadays, visitors are routinely invited and funded for a night of wild drinking to confirm that they are not hostile shapeshifters. This has a boisterous spillover effect into the overall nightlife of this large Tuathon town.

Whether it is one or three or whole gaggle of fun locations, where do people in your worlds go to relax and recharge? In the darkest realms, good folks are that much more likely to crave festivities where they are viable. In the happiest worlds, surely the trio I outlined above can be surpassed. As for myself, I'm enough of an old man I wish I had a spot in C.E. less than a block from some soothing hot springs, but I sure can remember times when the other two spots would have seemed like ideal locations for celebrations.

It got all the bosses worked up to when they heard a real life wurst case scenario was in progress.

I just followed up a really profound TV experience with a few sad songs. In the process, I got to musing about a parallel. Many bars make salted nuts, pretzels, and/or popcorn freely available because those snacks are cheap yet they make customers thirsty, and thus more eager to pay for another drink.

To set the scene, in a legal environment where people are buying weed and smoking it on site to socialize with other stoners, the overall vibe is bluesrock and the house band practices more than a few musical tearjerkers. Obviously a band that is always doing sad stuff is not going to draw a big crowd, but a band that strategically performs tragic music could build a big crowd then make them sad.

So how fucking evil am I to have this idea? I might as well call the venue P.J. McBuzzkills, right? Sure, it would boost performance of in house weed sales; but at what cost? On the flip side, what if it all created a bunch of beautiful emotional rollercoasters that well-equipped patrons could ride out, finding even greater than usual bliss through the catharsis of that up and down journey. After all, even the worst of my musings still called for that house band to be >50% upbeat numbers that would put butts in seats (if not get them up dancing.) So what say you, fellow devotees of Mary Jane?

I never really took to smartphones, having been too poor to get one before it was clearly apparent the platform promoted slower processes of learning and cognitive growth. Yet I have long been a fan of spending time with desktop computers, where I am not strongly disadvantaged in terms of expression or perception. I believe this platform preference supports the possibility of greater influence.

While leaning in to that preference, I have recently taken to a few gamified methods of improving typing speed, since I believe greater proficiency with my method of literary expression will lead to superior articulation when I find myself in a conflict that requires a proper keyboard warrior.

As I embrace all this in the hope if will be a non-zero nudge toward a true post-materialist future, I also wonder what sorts of efforts others around the world are presently making to support their communities and/or undermine economic oligarchy. I am prepared to be outright humiliated by the much greater sacrifices of others, so do not be shy about sharing the particulars of your efforts to be a more effective supporter of modernity's most downtrodden peoples.