A Wireless Odyssey
The other day I saw a guitar that I thought was really boss and I quite fancied getting one. It would have cost me about £190 to go for it. I didn’t click on it (I almost did), but stepping back from making that decision I thought (sensibly) to myself that “hold on, I’ve got two semi acoustics and an electric and why not us them to improve rather than spending good money on something I didn’t really need (however good it looked).”
To use the guitar I was looking at (a Sonicake electric travel guitar) I’d have needed to wear headphones or connect to an amplifier. It made me think. I mean I always just strum either the Takemine or the Tanglewood unamplified—and I never play the electric at all. I’ve a 15W Marshall unused (and an old Gorilla 80, which I’m not entirely sure works). It made me think I should use it again. But tethering myself to the amp (or to the Gorilla) didn’t seem attractive. And so it is that I’ve bought a wireless system to make it a bit easier to strum away without trailing cables around.
I’ve gone for a relatively cheap system (less than a third of the price of the Sonicake guitar): Joyo JW-06 . I very easily paired the transmitter and receiver and got strumming away with the Takamine and the Marshall 15. The low battery light was showing on the fiddly Tanglewood controls which means I’ll have to undertake the even more fiddly change of the battery soon (the battery goes in through the sound hole and fits in a wee bag stuck to the inside of the body; I’ve only put in a battery once… and then never connected the thing to an amp anyway!).
It was good to play through an amp again, which I haven’t done for many many years (other than those periodic times I have played on other people’s amps at Open Mics). I’ll have to try the Telecaster tomorrow, though I dare say that will require new strings (I think I have some, but I may miss recall that). Hope the next door neighbour isn’t too upset by the new arrangement. Also hope it helps me improve on the guitar too. So while it’s not been a hello to Sonicake, it is a hello to Joyo. Hi.
To use the guitar I was looking at (a Sonicake electric travel guitar) I’d have needed to wear headphones or connect to an amplifier. It made me think. I mean I always just strum either the Takemine or the Tanglewood unamplified—and I never play the electric at all. I’ve a 15W Marshall unused (and an old Gorilla 80, which I’m not entirely sure works). It made me think I should use it again. But tethering myself to the amp (or to the Gorilla) didn’t seem attractive. And so it is that I’ve bought a wireless system to make it a bit easier to strum away without trailing cables around.
I’ve gone for a relatively cheap system (less than a third of the price of the Sonicake guitar): Joyo JW-06 . I very easily paired the transmitter and receiver and got strumming away with the Takamine and the Marshall 15. The low battery light was showing on the fiddly Tanglewood controls which means I’ll have to undertake the even more fiddly change of the battery soon (the battery goes in through the sound hole and fits in a wee bag stuck to the inside of the body; I’ve only put in a battery once… and then never connected the thing to an amp anyway!).
It was good to play through an amp again, which I haven’t done for many many years (other than those periodic times I have played on other people’s amps at Open Mics). I’ll have to try the Telecaster tomorrow, though I dare say that will require new strings (I think I have some, but I may miss recall that). Hope the next door neighbour isn’t too upset by the new arrangement. Also hope it helps me improve on the guitar too. So while it’s not been a hello to Sonicake, it is a hello to Joyo. Hi.
Comments
Camera and Vid
22/04/25 22:47 Filed in: camera | DJIPocket2
Have been enjoying using my new camera (the DJI Pocket 2) around town and about. It’s a bit fiddly—as it can do so much—and I’m still getting used to it. As well as straightforward photos and videos I have tried using the Hyperlapse a couple of times which produces quite cool results. I’ve even tried making a wee YouTube video with it (using footage I took with the camera in the Vines/Big House).
The Vines YouTube vid.
I’m at the bottom of the learning curve for both the camera and the video software (LumaFusion) and it will undoubtedly take quite a while for me to get to grips with. We’ll see how things improve over the coming weeks and months I guess. Practice makes perfect. Here are a few example photos and vids I’ve taken to date and a link to the YouTube vid. I dare say these will act as a baseline to judge any improvements I can make.
Selfie in Doctor Duncans
A pint in The Vines
The Return of the Pilgrim
Trying Hyperlapse recording in the Euston Tap
Some garden exercise in Hyperlapse
The Vines YouTube vid.
I’m at the bottom of the learning curve for both the camera and the video software (LumaFusion) and it will undoubtedly take quite a while for me to get to grips with. We’ll see how things improve over the coming weeks and months I guess. Practice makes perfect. Here are a few example photos and vids I’ve taken to date and a link to the YouTube vid. I dare say these will act as a baseline to judge any improvements I can make.
Selfie in Doctor Duncans
A pint in The Vines
The Return of the Pilgrim
Trying Hyperlapse recording in the Euston Tap
Some garden exercise in Hyperlapse
I've Joined the RENegades
25/03/25 22:05 Filed in: music
I’ve only just discovered Ren properly in the last week or so and it has become the biggest rabbit hole I’ve fallen into. I saw ‘Hi Ren’ for the first time about ten days ago and heaven knows how many times I’ve seen the video since. I’ve largely watched it through countless ‘Reaction videos’ seeing other people get similarly gobsmacked by that video. It largely takes in lots of ‘oh, I wasn’t expecting that’ and a few tears. I wont describe it but the guitar, the performance and the words are beyond top notch.
Since then I’ve been listening to many of his other songs and videos including ‘Chalk Outlines’ with the equally talented performer, Chinchilla. And the trilogy of songs ‘Jenny’s/Screech’s/Violet’s Tales’ which is genius storytelling and far too impressive performances from Ren. He is so talented on multiple levels. A true genius artist.
Hi Ren
I’ve been asking everyone I bump into ‘Have you heard of Ren?’. The answer is usually ‘Wren? Like the bird?’ Then when it isn’t ’You mean REM?’ No ‘N’ not ‘M’. Like Ren and Stimpy without the Stimpy. I’ve only met a couple of people who know his stuff. It’s incredible when you see how talented his is and find he’s British too. He was born in Wales but spent much of his life in Brighton. As well as his videos you can find his performances busking, sometimes with massive crowds with ‘The Big Push’.
Chalk Outlines
I’d recommend getting on to him via ‘Hi Ren’, ‘Chalk Outlines’ then the three Tales. If they don’t blow you away then nothing will. The performances were filmed live in single takes—and Hi Ren is nine and half minutes long of a complex story. Be prepared to shed a tear or several. I did and so did all the people in the reaction videos. I wont go into all the health issues he’s had to contend with over many years, but those nine minutes or so of will tug at your heart strings with regard to the mental health side of them.
Jenny and Screech
That video itself has had over 47 million views, which can’t be bad for an independent artist that so many people haven’t heard of. I’m a RENegade now. It’s time you were too.
Since then I’ve been listening to many of his other songs and videos including ‘Chalk Outlines’ with the equally talented performer, Chinchilla. And the trilogy of songs ‘Jenny’s/Screech’s/Violet’s Tales’ which is genius storytelling and far too impressive performances from Ren. He is so talented on multiple levels. A true genius artist.
Hi Ren
I’ve been asking everyone I bump into ‘Have you heard of Ren?’. The answer is usually ‘Wren? Like the bird?’ Then when it isn’t ’You mean REM?’ No ‘N’ not ‘M’. Like Ren and Stimpy without the Stimpy. I’ve only met a couple of people who know his stuff. It’s incredible when you see how talented his is and find he’s British too. He was born in Wales but spent much of his life in Brighton. As well as his videos you can find his performances busking, sometimes with massive crowds with ‘The Big Push’.
Chalk Outlines
I’d recommend getting on to him via ‘Hi Ren’, ‘Chalk Outlines’ then the three Tales. If they don’t blow you away then nothing will. The performances were filmed live in single takes—and Hi Ren is nine and half minutes long of a complex story. Be prepared to shed a tear or several. I did and so did all the people in the reaction videos. I wont go into all the health issues he’s had to contend with over many years, but those nine minutes or so of will tug at your heart strings with regard to the mental health side of them.
Jenny and Screech
That video itself has had over 47 million views, which can’t be bad for an independent artist that so many people haven’t heard of. I’m a RENegade now. It’s time you were too.
The DJI Pocket 2 is in the House
24/03/25 12:23 Filed in: camera | DJIPocket2
The DJI Pocket 2 has arrived and is finally in my clumsy paws. It looks brilliant, but there will be a lot to learn about it—and additional things like video editing. It’s the start of a wee journey. Although it may be a complicated one too.
I’ve tried a few things with it so far and whilst I haven’t always got it right on the first go I hasn’t taken too long. I’ve got it following me in Selfie mode and recorded myself walking along the road with it to see what the gimbals do for me both in Selfie and non-selfie modes.
I think with just a few days of recording little bits I should learn a fair bit.
Next up after getting used to the filming I’ll have to learn about the best way of editing. I dare say I’ll start with using iMovie on my MacBook, but I’ll probably give a few other apps and sites a go too—like CapCut on my iPad.
I’ve tried a few things with it so far and whilst I haven’t always got it right on the first go I hasn’t taken too long. I’ve got it following me in Selfie mode and recorded myself walking along the road with it to see what the gimbals do for me both in Selfie and non-selfie modes.
I think with just a few days of recording little bits I should learn a fair bit.
Next up after getting used to the filming I’ll have to learn about the best way of editing. I dare say I’ll start with using iMovie on my MacBook, but I’ll probably give a few other apps and sites a go too—like CapCut on my iPad.
A New Camera to Come
16/03/25 10:18 Filed in: Photos
I use to photos regularly with both a DSLR and a very decent compact zoom (Lumix TZ-70). The Lumix took over as my camera of choice due to its size and its fab zoom. Eventually like most compact zooms it had to die through the pumping action of opening and closing the camera the zoom inevitably pumps any dust into its gubbins. Once that becomes too much to ignore the camera is no longer viable—there is no simple way of cleaning the compact’s innards and to get it done professionally would cost more than buying another damn camera. Modern times, eh?
So without the compact I’ve been left with just taking photos on my phone. It’s not the same. And I don’t seem ready to go back to the DSLR (assuming it is still okay) as I already carry enough bulk and weight around with me even without a DSLR and lens (or two)..
And so it is that I have decided to buy a new camera. But I’ve gone quite left field with it and bought a small video camera that would be good for both photos (to some extent) and have the flexibility to do video recording, I bought a second hand DJI Pocket 1 last week, but when it turned up the battery was goosed (it’s an internal thing and not designed for replacement (like the pumping action fooking a camera lens, a battery that can’t be replaced… Modern Times). Anyway I’ve sent it back and paid a little more to get the newer, better one: a DJI Pocket 2. Should arrive mid week. Here’s hoping the battery still works or else I’ll have to give up.
Anyway the Pocket 2 (and the 3–indeed the 1) look fabulous. I’m gonna have a good time playing around with it. Who knows, I may end up posting a few Vlogs with it. They would likely revolve around pubs and Pokémon (not necessarily combined) and maybe some guitar strumming. Watch this space (and pray for the battery to come).
So without the compact I’ve been left with just taking photos on my phone. It’s not the same. And I don’t seem ready to go back to the DSLR (assuming it is still okay) as I already carry enough bulk and weight around with me even without a DSLR and lens (or two)..
And so it is that I have decided to buy a new camera. But I’ve gone quite left field with it and bought a small video camera that would be good for both photos (to some extent) and have the flexibility to do video recording, I bought a second hand DJI Pocket 1 last week, but when it turned up the battery was goosed (it’s an internal thing and not designed for replacement (like the pumping action fooking a camera lens, a battery that can’t be replaced… Modern Times). Anyway I’ve sent it back and paid a little more to get the newer, better one: a DJI Pocket 2. Should arrive mid week. Here’s hoping the battery still works or else I’ll have to give up.
Anyway the Pocket 2 (and the 3–indeed the 1) look fabulous. I’m gonna have a good time playing around with it. Who knows, I may end up posting a few Vlogs with it. They would likely revolve around pubs and Pokémon (not necessarily combined) and maybe some guitar strumming. Watch this space (and pray for the battery to come).
The Welcome Return to BJs
10/02/25 23:23 Filed in: Writing
Several weeks ago I found myself looking at various Apps for recording To Do lists etc on my phone. I was surprised at how many had monthly or annual charges. It put me off; to the point I recalled I used to keep—and enjoy—Bullet Journals: quite quickly I came to the decision to return to them. At the end of the day paying for a blank journal twice a year would be cheaper than paying for an App. Whilst it’s one more thing to carry around (or keep track of at home) it does have the benefit of being one less thing adding to my digital footprint. Not peering at my phone for any time at all would be time well spent and make me feel better I reckon.
I do currently use Calendar a lot for general daily To Do lists on my iPhone, but a more meaty, structured way of recording and scheduling seems beneficial—and would beneficially add to my WRITING one way or another. One thing I need to do is to STRUCTURE and timetable writing. So I’m back to the BJs—which I promise to only shorten to BuJo in future. Honest.
I do currently use Calendar a lot for general daily To Do lists on my iPhone, but a more meaty, structured way of recording and scheduling seems beneficial—and would beneficially add to my WRITING one way or another. One thing I need to do is to STRUCTURE and timetable writing. So I’m back to the BJs—which I promise to only shorten to BuJo in future. Honest.
Routes and Routes (and occasional curves)
I’ve used Routes in Pokémon Go a few times, but given my usual (non Pokémon) routes around Liverpool I thought it would be good to have some which fit my more common walks around the city. So to that end I’ve created a few of my own. This means that now if I am walking between Dr Duncan’s and the Vines, or the Vines and the Grapes I can follow these paths rather than find a path a little out of the way by the necessity of following other prescribed routes; for instance there’s one from the Vines (or Lidl) to the top of Bold Street. They may be close to where I want to go to, but they leave me walking a bit of a way from my ultimate destination.
The first time I set up a route it was from a very common walk of mine between the key venues of The Vines (Big House) and Dr Duncan’s. The former being where I quite often watch the matches on the telly boxes and the latter being the lovely pub closest to Queen Square (where my bus comes in). Unfortunately either my phone or provider developed a GPS issue and so for my first one it randomly put in a strange switch back to the route—so if you want to do it you have to double back on yourself and start the route again to complete the route (it’s not too far but it is not ideal to retrace your steps in that way).
A wayward wiggle on the way from the Doctors
To those that haven’t done it; you actually select a start point and the end point (which have to be Gyms or Poké Stops) and then you physically do the walk you want to between them. When you get to the end you have to put in some details (name and description etc) but unfortunately there’s no editing capability if there are any errors which you’d like to correct (like this GPS one).
I’ve since created my second route (Vines to the Grapes) and then a third (The Grapes to The Philharmonic). In reality I was doing it to the Queen of Hope Street, but there is no Poké Stop for the QOHS so needs must.
Anyways, if you want to do a decent pub crawl taking in three consecutive routes (and hence pick up some Zygarde Cells on the way!) then you could follow these three (‘From the Doctors to the Big’ - ‘Grapes & Vines’ - ‘From the Grapes and Upwards’) whilst taking in the following pubs:
Dr Duncans
The Vines
Dispensary
Grapes
Belvedere
Caledonia
Queen of Hope Street
Philharmonic Pub
If you don’t get any Zygarde Cells you can at least get yourself some decent ales and your daily steps in (and maybe catch some decent footy as well).
The first time I set up a route it was from a very common walk of mine between the key venues of The Vines (Big House) and Dr Duncan’s. The former being where I quite often watch the matches on the telly boxes and the latter being the lovely pub closest to Queen Square (where my bus comes in). Unfortunately either my phone or provider developed a GPS issue and so for my first one it randomly put in a strange switch back to the route—so if you want to do it you have to double back on yourself and start the route again to complete the route (it’s not too far but it is not ideal to retrace your steps in that way).
A wayward wiggle on the way from the Doctors
To those that haven’t done it; you actually select a start point and the end point (which have to be Gyms or Poké Stops) and then you physically do the walk you want to between them. When you get to the end you have to put in some details (name and description etc) but unfortunately there’s no editing capability if there are any errors which you’d like to correct (like this GPS one).
I’ve since created my second route (Vines to the Grapes) and then a third (The Grapes to The Philharmonic). In reality I was doing it to the Queen of Hope Street, but there is no Poké Stop for the QOHS so needs must.
Anyways, if you want to do a decent pub crawl taking in three consecutive routes (and hence pick up some Zygarde Cells on the way!) then you could follow these three (‘From the Doctors to the Big’ - ‘Grapes & Vines’ - ‘From the Grapes and Upwards’) whilst taking in the following pubs:
Dr Duncans
The Vines
Dispensary
Grapes
Belvedere
Caledonia
Queen of Hope Street
Philharmonic Pub
If you don’t get any Zygarde Cells you can at least get yourself some decent ales and your daily steps in (and maybe catch some decent footy as well).
Guitars
Broke a guitar string the other week on the Tanglewood. Had to get a new set, which I got around to fitting on Friday. Boy they sounded fresh and zingy. It was that point that I thought that maybe I should have got two sets and changed the strings on the Takamine. They were similarly two or more years old (probably significantly more). So I got myself a second set and now I have two fresh and zingy guitars. A job well done—and definitely one that needed doing.
Got myself a winder tool for the first time (definitely quicker and better than just using your fingers on the machine heads), and it had a string cutter on it which helped a lot too. PSA: Defo use the correct tools for any job. It helps a lot in all matters.
Won’t leave it two years (plus) again between strings. Even galvanised me to put up a wee video about it on YouTube (first one in a damn long time). Now I just need to play some darn tunes again.
Got myself a winder tool for the first time (definitely quicker and better than just using your fingers on the machine heads), and it had a string cutter on it which helped a lot too. PSA: Defo use the correct tools for any job. It helps a lot in all matters.
Won’t leave it two years (plus) again between strings. Even galvanised me to put up a wee video about it on YouTube (first one in a damn long time). Now I just need to play some darn tunes again.
Damn Phones, Damnable Deliveries
17/01/25 14:13 Filed in: Phone
Three years ago I bought a refurbished iPhone X from Back Market. It did well for me, but after a screen breakage and occasionally overheating battery I ended up moving on to a Samsung Galaxy S9+, which was kindly passed on to me. I need a phone for work. Anyhoo it has got to a point where it too has been slightly damaged and it is beyond financial common sense to get it fixed, so I’ve had to get myself a newer phone. Once more I’ve gone for a refurbed Apple iPhone (this time a 2020 SE). The X would have been seven years old so a newer phone is called for. It’s nice to get back to an Apple from Android. I’m truly an Apple fan. Just hope the memory is enough for me (I’ve gone for a 64GB rather than a 256GB X). The phone was with me in a couple of days and so far after some initial fear it seems the 64GB could be enough. We shall see if that continues to be the case.
Always a pain having to get new a new case etc when you change these things ain’t it? Not sure how many cases I’ve got—or thrown out—the different phone sizes and the positions of the camera lenses etc mean the cases can never be used again. Maybe I’ll have to think of some other use for them.
Refurbed phones are defo the way to go anyway—less than a ton for a decent phone. Lovely. Looking forward to getting used to it. The new iOS seems quite different and buttons that used to do one thing now do other things. It should be a relatively shallow learning curve though.
Back Market quickly processed the order and sent it out by Royal Mail. I was a little surprised the Tracked delivery was delivered to the Purple Bin (the waste to landfill bin). They even kindly took a photo of the bin to prove delivery. The mind boggles. Even Amazon don’t send stuff to the rubbish. Bin Day was the next day and I did rescue it in time; thankfully.
Links:
Back Market
Always a pain having to get new a new case etc when you change these things ain’t it? Not sure how many cases I’ve got—or thrown out—the different phone sizes and the positions of the camera lenses etc mean the cases can never be used again. Maybe I’ll have to think of some other use for them.
Refurbed phones are defo the way to go anyway—less than a ton for a decent phone. Lovely. Looking forward to getting used to it. The new iOS seems quite different and buttons that used to do one thing now do other things. It should be a relatively shallow learning curve though.
Back Market quickly processed the order and sent it out by Royal Mail. I was a little surprised the Tracked delivery was delivered to the Purple Bin (the waste to landfill bin). They even kindly took a photo of the bin to prove delivery. The mind boggles. Even Amazon don’t send stuff to the rubbish. Bin Day was the next day and I did rescue it in time; thankfully.
Links:
Back Market
Storygraph and that Twitter Shite
19/11/24 00:29 Filed in: Storygraph | reading
I’ve been tweeting a lot less lately on both my Zevonesque and RealeLiverpool accounts as its death by a thousand cuts (many more really) continues. It’s obviously a lot less friendly or useful than it used to be and many people have either stopped going on it, or using it—or left it completely. For now I think I’ll just stop using it in the hope that Musk sells it to someone who cares about what it was/could be (now that he’s got what he wants out of it for his MAGA lot). It’s probably beyond rescuing to be fair and it’s the hope that kills us, isn’t it?
I created Bluesky accounts for both names last year with the hope that maybe it could do the Twitter thing in a better way. It’s taken a year (yes, it turns out I was an early adopter) but things seem to be taking off on it, with sports clubs and newspapers leaving Twitter for Bluesky. So maybe it has a damn good chance. I’ve been using the Zevonesque account a fair bit, but haven’t touched the RealeLiverpool one. Sadly I want to use it, but I can’t log onto it and I can’t remember what email address I used to set it up—so I can’t reset the password. Bummer! Fingers crossed I can sort it out, or else I’ll have to register a slightly different named one in its stead I guess.
In other I.T./App news I’ve moved on to Storygraph from Goodreads. It seems a nice simple App and works well—and on Android as well as AppleOS. Exporting all my data from my years of using Goodreads worked quickly and seamlessly—as far as I can tell. I like the visuals from the pie charts and the selection from those pie pieces works well too. It’s only been a day or two… but farewell Musk… and farewell Bezos. When I say farewell I mean…
Hope to see some more of you guys on Bluesky and maybe Storygraph too (haven’t looked at the social side of that yet, perhaps there isn’t one).
I created Bluesky accounts for both names last year with the hope that maybe it could do the Twitter thing in a better way. It’s taken a year (yes, it turns out I was an early adopter) but things seem to be taking off on it, with sports clubs and newspapers leaving Twitter for Bluesky. So maybe it has a damn good chance. I’ve been using the Zevonesque account a fair bit, but haven’t touched the RealeLiverpool one. Sadly I want to use it, but I can’t log onto it and I can’t remember what email address I used to set it up—so I can’t reset the password. Bummer! Fingers crossed I can sort it out, or else I’ll have to register a slightly different named one in its stead I guess.
In other I.T./App news I’ve moved on to Storygraph from Goodreads. It seems a nice simple App and works well—and on Android as well as AppleOS. Exporting all my data from my years of using Goodreads worked quickly and seamlessly—as far as I can tell. I like the visuals from the pie charts and the selection from those pie pieces works well too. It’s only been a day or two… but farewell Musk… and farewell Bezos. When I say farewell I mean…
Hope to see some more of you guys on Bluesky and maybe Storygraph too (haven’t looked at the social side of that yet, perhaps there isn’t one).