The diary entries of a little girl who is now 30! ~ Part 2 - Page 228

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiteki 

You just like cute stuff lol.  I saw those Pioneer whiskey barrel speakers yesterday too btw, very nice looking bookshelf speakers, they didn't have a demo facility =/.  The internet is deceiving, I saw the Pioneer S-DJ08's too, they are insane looking in real life --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyzDj041sC8

 

I've seen those in stores, they are very imposing!

Personally, as much as I like cute things, I like my speakers brutal or sharp lol.

Always wanted to hear this Sony glass speaker:

Speaking of which, I went to a regional part of Australia (Wondonga / Albury) and I was surprised to find that the 'food bowl' of Australia (or at least that part) seems to be doing pretty well. The local council seemed to have a lot of resources to put into civic infrastructure and eccentric projects like dispersing bronzed objects in secret locations throughout the town as a Christmas / art celebration. I went to a hospital in the area (I was there to visit someone whose mother was sick) and was really surprised to find out here, where I always thought was nowhere, was a really startling piece of brutalist architecture. I wandered through this hospital (which really looked more like either an art gallery or a technical college) snapping pictures because I'd never seen anything like it in Australia. It was a bizarre combination of beautiful natural light, glass, jagged concrete and something altogether quite alienating. The building had aged a lot, but I'm always attracted to the brutal and decaying.

I looked it up when I got home, and found out it was a former college where the design was pretty strongly influenced by a union movement which wanted the unembellished architecture to represent the skills of the builders.

Tumblr is down at the moment, but I thought I would post some pics here because it blew my mind:

An Orwellian nightmare of a hospital entrance.

This walkway / tunnel through the hospital grounds just utterly transfixed me. It looked like something out of a sci fi set.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

^ As badass as that tunnel is, I have to wonder what some people are thinking when they design hospitals. Especially having spent much of my time in them. It's like, "hey, let's make them as cold, imposing, and futuristic as possible. That'll help people cope." Maybe they think the futura sci-fi vibe will help instill confidence that science-y things are going on and people there know what they're doing. But it certain doesn't foster any sense of humanism, which is important in my view.

Well, this was a college converted into a hospital. I definitely think it was a poor choice for a hospital, it felt like some kind of European Science with a capital S facility. What I saw of the actual wards was quite hospitable though.

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

"Malt" has such a delicious connotation to it, so when I think "pure malt speakers" it just makes me crave them like some alcohol or some milk balls lol. I wonder if they have a certain smell in the wood? I am really curious to hear what they sound like, to hear if they sound "malty."

The woofer cone looked kinda shaggy, like it was some kind of second-hand paper, I'm not sure.  I think they are certainly an exotic speaker.  Then again, I'm not sure if Kevlar is more exotic, five times stronger than steel, and made by humans?

By the way, yesterday, 12th of December, 2012, 12-12-12, was supposed to be a lucky day for love, just fyi.  Actually my girlfriend sent me hatemail via sms, nice, I don't stand up for her or smt.

Edit:  Not fishing for hugs, just complaining nonchalantly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

 

 

 

 

An Orwellian nightmare of a hospital entrance.

 

 

 

 

This walkway / tunnel through the hospital grounds just utterly transfixed me. It looked like something out of a sci fi set.

Looks better then some of the private hospitals 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

 

Edit #1: Also OH GOD I hate those cramps where your feet lock up and the only way to fix it is to walk around. GO AWAY ARGH.

 

Edit #2: I get similar cramps in my hands when I've been writing for a while. To my knowledge I haven't been writing with my feet any time recently however. Unless I'm doing it in my sleep. That would be very interesting.

 

Edit #2.5: Maybe I need more potassium?

Usually, a nice daily dose of ample water, sleep, and a balanced diet are good. But you didn't need me to tell you that. Cramps suck, but they do happen as a fact of life. They usually manifest when people are tired, usually from lack of sleep and not enough hydration, leading to localized electrolyte imbalance. I would recommend eating a few bananas, but that'd be persisting in a misconception that people are 'losing electrolytes'... that really only happens after extremely intensive exercise. If this is happening on a normal day, I'd recommend a masseuse and a nice big bottle of water. Maybe some meditation. You'll rehydrate and de-stress.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiteki   Try an assortment of nuts and seeds, or dietary supplement pills, whichever you can find first. It could be a lack of calcium, look up hypocalcemia.

Unlikely it's hypocalcemia. She'd be in big trouble if it were. It's not hypokalemia, either. These are terms that we attribute to system-wide electrolyte imbalances and will affect multiple organ systems. Cramps are localized, due to osmotic stasis of electrolytes. Sorry about the curt replies, people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

 

 

An Orwellian nightmare of a hospital entrance.

 

 

This walkway / tunnel through the hospital grounds just utterly transfixed me. It looked like something out of a sci fi set.

This is not a temporary structure? Usually, healthcare corporations at least have the foresight not to creep out their patients before admission... I could understand if this were a hospital constructed in the Eastern Bloc during the 70s, but it looks pretty new.

I want the new Schiit mini stack so much. Any donors? ;)

In all seriousness, it seems to be a good value. And hella sexy.

******* FedEx made me wait until 7:30PM for my amp >: (

I haven't actually used it yet since I've been busy but I must say I love its presence on my audio table thing even though the front panel is 2mm off center, which... is kind of complaint worthy at this price?  Iuno, the thing's still beautiful. 

I love the power light; it's charming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomscy2000 

This is not a temporary structure? Usually, healthcare corporations at least have the foresight not to creep out their patients before admission... I could understand if this were a hospital constructed in the Eastern Bloc during the 70s, but it looks pretty new.

A little of both really. The college is from the 1970's but the hospital conversion is recent.

http://blog.adonline.id.au/clyde-cameron-college/

A nice little write up about the history of the building. 

Originally Posted by mosshorn 

I want the new Schiit mini stack so much. Any donors? ;)

 

In all seriousness, it seems to be a good value. And hella sexy.

Actually... jeez, their new tiny DAC does look pretty good!  It's using CM6631, AK4396 and AD8616.

As I've written before, the AK4396 is a very 'complete' sounding DAC (at least the one I had...), in the first diary thread I used to post links about one since it transformed my audio experience.  I PM'd a person which has it too and he replied "yes I still use it, no need to look further".

When the AK4396 was new it was called "the miracle DAC" for various technical reasons, like it can oversample at 128x even at 192kHz and yada yada, and it's made in Japan, hahaha.

At the moment, with DAC's, all I really want is the Hifimediy CS direct out and I'm waiting for the iBasso ES9018 x4.  Ah, and I want the new KORG of course which went out of stock all over Japan.

In the meantime I'm supposed to be modifying my Lite DAC-AH with the help of an EE at diyaudio but I'm lazy with that project.

The Cicadas were pretty affordable (all things considered) when they were out, right?  I was reading up on Moth Audio a few weeks ago but forgot a lot of it.

oh boy, I was just listening to my Musiland Dragon DAC for around half an hour, by accident, and I was wondering "why does everything sound much crappier than usual today?", then eventually I noticed I was listening to the Musiland, not my CS4398, lol.

See, accidents like that just prove to me how different DAC's sound.  If it's not proven in an ABX or academic essay yet well that's another story entirely.