Heather's Blogpile

Ducklips!

My upstairs speakers are based on a mid-70s pair of JBL L200 speakers. I loved the look of the cabinets, but the sound was a bit limited. So I added 2405 slot super-tweeters and built new crossovers to make them 3 ways. A few months back I bought a pair of JBL 2397 Smith horns - they are mid-range horns, made of grey painted MDF, and designed for a 2 inch compression driver, tho I'm using them with a pair of adapters and my (cheaper) 1 inch drivers. They replace the "round" horns that are in the cabinets, hidden behind the textured foam grill. They sounded very nice but the grey industrial paint was UGLY. So, I found an audio friend who offered to make me a pair in nice wood, and I chose walnut, to match the JBL L200 Cabinets they sit on. They look great and sound WONDERFUL!

Posted by Heather at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the Ashes - A reboot!!

Posted by Heather at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Washington Blade shut down after 40th anniversary

Watch this space! http://savetheblade.com/

Posted by Heather at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Meadows Celtic Festival and Highland Games - Richmond, VA

Had a great time over the weekend at our 3rd trip to the Meadows Festival and Highland Games. Last 2 times it was at the grounds of the Richmond racetrack, but this year it was at the Meadows site near Kings Dominion. Very cool time, even if it did rain most of the day Saturday! We got to see BarleyJuice and Rathkeltair, 2 really excellent groups with pipers, drank some beer, ate some great foot (Meat pies with HP sauce!!) and generally had a fun time with Emma's sister Dawn! Rathkeltair below, with Neil Anderson

Posted by Heather at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Solar Decathalon is coming!

http://www.solardecathlon.org/

For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.

Exact dates of the 2009 event are:

Oct. 08-16 — Teams compete in 10 contests
Oct. 09-13 — Houses are open to the public
Oct. 15-18 — Houses are open to the public
Oct. 19-21 — Teams disassemble their houses.

Posted by Heather at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Office nearly done!

Got the wall painted, emptied the old shelves, put the new system in place, and put everything back on the shelves. I still have a lot of stuff at my end (by the window) to sort through and thin out, but Emma has just done wonders sorting out here stuff! I even bought some 12inch oak board for additional shelves at my end! I did a quick Walnut stain and its darker that I wanted, but it'll do (once they fully dry). Wow - busy week and weekend!

Posted by Heather at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

'nother darned Modern wall system

Just got home after buying Greg's wall system - thank goodness again for the CRV - got everything loaded in! Its a tight fit, but after a slow drive around the beltway in rush hour, its here. With much help from Emma, its all unpacked and in the basement! Now all I have to do is empty our office, sand and paint the wall, reassemble the wall unit, and load all our books and software onto it. But, this is a good start!