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It’s A SAD, SAD, SAD CD

Even though I begged for another week to complete my SAD CD mix, I finalized the track listing today. I’ve got an idea for the artwork, but I’m out of CD labels, so I can’t print it out yet anyway (not only that, I have to buy them somewhere besides the usual place after last night.) After reading today’s post, I see that Ms. Music Whore is about at the same progress point as I.

At first I thought it would be tough to find music to fit the theme, it wasn’t really easy, but it wasn’t really that hard. I resisted filling up half the CD with one song, the live version of Whipping Post by the Allman Brothers Band. I knew the first song I wanted to use, Sad Old Red by Simply Red, and from there it just progressed. Being some one who doesn’t really listen to the lyrics all the time, just the overall feel, some of these songs may not actually be sad, but they sound that way to me (complete list is in the extended entry.)

I wonder if picking out 17 sad songs is the root cause of my depressive outlook the last couple of days, or has it just been the low 40 degree rainy days?

The Passion of the Christ

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, is the opening of Mel Gibson’s passion play. From the early reviews I don’t think I’ll be watching this movie. It is unflinchingly violent (admittedly those were violent times), the dialog is spoken in Latin and Aramaic (admittedly that is what they spoke back then) and it may be the most “truthful” telling of the crucifixion, but I smell overwrought film brought to the screen by the overwhelming star power of one Hollywood actor. Can I say “Battlefield Earth” without suffering the wrath of Christians?

For me, maybe, tomorrow night I will watch my favorite movie from that time, Jesus Christ Superstar.

Calvin Hates Sundays Too!

I’ve said it here before (more than once), I hate Sundays because it is followed by Monday. I even hate fall for sort of the same reason, it is followed by something I don’t like, winter. Well I’m not alone…

I Hate Sundays

One Outa Two Ain’t Bad

We got 8 minutes into Identity and turned it off. The secret to making a good serial killer movie is to either make the audience care for a) the killer or b) the victims, and in this short time we could tell we didn’t care for, nor would we ever care for, either.

Next up was Le Cercle Rouge and it was definitely anti-Hollywood. The pacing is deliberate and the dialog sparse, but maybe a just bit too much, at around the 2 hour mark I missed an important plot twist (possibly during one of the several 2 seconds naps I took) and when the bang, bang shoot-’em up ending happened I’m not sure exactly what took place. All in all a good movie, but don’t run right out to Blockbuster and get it.

I have such high hopes when I read the critical reviews about these films and then when I get them home and start watching them I wonder WTF was I thinking. After rereading the sleeve blurb on the last movie I have at home, Better Luck Tomorrow I’m not so sure I want to watch it anymore either.

Naqoyqatsi

For tonight’s internet pleasure I present one movie review and two links (one profoundly disturbing and and one profoundly narcasisitic.)

We watched Naqoyqatsi this afternoon and I was disappointed. Read the review of the fellow on the IMDB site, as he said it better than I could. I really loved Koyaanisqatsi when I saw it on a PBS station in the middle 80’s. I had a VHS copy of the movie, but it disappeared somewhere during a move. When it was finally released on DVD in 2002 I immediately bought a copy. It came packaged with the second movie of the trilogy, Powaqqatsi, which I had never seen. The first movie is still the best. The time-lapse photography is really thought provoking, making you look at everyday life in a new manner. Rent Koyaanisqatsi, if you like it watch the second one too, but leave #3, Naqoyqatsi alone. It is a shame because even though I don’t like the movie I feel compelled to buy it to complete the set…

I found this in a May of 2002 archive of one of my regular blog reads, The Neurotic Fishbowl: Spiderman. =8O

This one is from a current post of another regular read, Missives Anonymous: Fontifier

Fog Light DRL Mod Failure

Today I decided to tackle turning the OEM fog lights into DRLs following the instructions in the Miata.net garage article.

I found the relay under the dash (at least I thought I did) and pulled it free from the mount. I couldn’t figure out how to separate the relay from the connector though. I was going to pop out the red/yellow wire as instructed with its metal end still attached, so I could reverse the mod easy and not have to cut the wire. After struggling for a few minutes I though, what the heck, I’ll cut the wire. First I checked to see if I had some barrel splices to use, I didn’t. I figured I’d wait until I had everything else ready to go before I made a trip to the store.

Next task was to locate a +12v source that is only on when the ignition switch is in the run position. The article mentions he used the radio power wire, but totally fails to mention where it is. Hmmm. There are like 4 other relays in the same area, I don’t know what any of them are for, but one is bound to have a wire that I could use. Turned the key to run and checked for 12 volts. Got one, pink wire. Switched the ignition off, no power, bingo. I even started the car and the 12V goes away while the car is starting. Beautiful. I got a six inch piece of wire and a vampire tap and hooked into my new friend the pink wire.

Seeing as I don’t have any splices I don’t want to cut the red/yellow wire just yet, I’ll try testing it by just pushing my tapped wire into the red/yellow wire connector. I turn the key to run and sure enough there are lights shining on the wall. Yippee. I go around front to admire my handy work and, %@#$, the fogs aren’t on. But the low beams are!?! Now I check to see which page I printed out, as there are instructions in the garage on how to do just this, low beams as DRLs. Nope, I’ve got the right ones. Curious.

Well I wanted DRLS, I got ’em, let’s see if everything else works as advertised. Turn the stalk switch to parking lights and they come on and the lows stay on. Turn the switch to headlights and the lows stay on. With the lights on I hit the fog light switch, they turn on and the lows are still on. Hit the high beams and the fogs go out and the lows are still on.

Cycle thru the routine a couple times. A couple passes through is when I notice that when my new DRLs are on and I turn the headlights on with the switch the light on the wall seems marginally brighter. Can’t really tell how much because it is midday, but definitely brighter. This is something that the folks who have done the lows to DRL conversion complained about. In other cars the DRLs are the lows on reduced voltage so they are not as bright, but the Miata conversion ran the low beams at full power.

Here is where I start to wonder how much current is running through my little 22 gauge jumper. Do I have the right relay? Seeing as the red/yellow wire wasn’t cut, just where was I sending +12v? The instructions said it worked on a 2001 LS, did something change on the 03? So I unhooked the jumper from the red/yellow connector and taped it back. Going to call the dealer tomorrow and see if he will let me copy the fog light circuit diagram…

Made Up For The Neglect Today

It didn’t make it to the 60 degrees as promised today, but that didn’t stop Donna and I making the trip to Augusta with the top down this afternoon. We went over to Rader to run the Master’s Miata Club “newsletter”, The Driver, through their postage meter. The word newsletter is in quotes because it was actually a postcard. Last month it was just a one pager that included the wrap up of our one get together in December and little else, I called it a Mini-Driver. This month because the January meeting consisted of nothing but event planning, all that needed to be disseminated was the February events. They fit on a post card I called a Microminiature-Driver. Next month, the Subminiature-Driver, readable only using a microscope.

The Splash Green Miata was still unsold and sitting on the lot. Good thing Rader is running a sales business and not an automobile shelter, or they would have euthanized that car by now. Of course, they shouldn’t feel like the Lone Ranger because a search of the inventory of every dealer within 150 miles of me turns up 12 more of these albatrosses still collecting dust. At least Rader doesn’t have any of the horrible 2003 Strato Blue Special Editions clogging up heir inventory like so many other dealers, another search turns up twice as many (26) of them languishing unsold within that same 150 mile radius.