My Vinyl Weighs 2 Tons

Vinyl People from Howard Silver on Vimeo.

I started collecting records when I turned 11 and I have never looked back. The very first piece of vinyl I bought with my own birthday money was Billy Joel "Glasshouses". There was definitely something empowering about being able to contribute to the Saturday morning record sessions conducted by my father on his direct drive Marantz turntable. I remember being mesmerized by the tiny reflective balls illuminated red by some mysterious light source emanating from the insides of the turntable. I imagined them as little blobs of oil out of the lava lamp my uncle Victor had in his apartment years ago. The weekend play list my father spun was seemingly endless, especially if we had company. It was a toss up if you really were trying to nail down a genre that was my father's favourite but it teetered between Motown and Rock Latino most days but in the evenings he slowed it down for the ladies with some Sergio Mendes and Sad Bastard Music that they listened to in Ecuador lamenting their lost loves and such and such.

I have currently amassed a collection so incredibly huge and ever propagating that it has moved into the realms of insanity but I am always looking for more.Enjoy the video.




now fudge yourself

Happy T-Day

I was totally drawing a blank for turkey day until the Japanese saved my blog.

But We Thinks Apps Are "Hot"

Big Bang atom smasher sends beams in 2 directions


AP FILE - This May 31, 2007 file photo, shows a view of the LHC (large hadron AP – FILE - This May 31, 2007 file photo, shows a view of the LHC (large hadron collider) in its tunnel at … * World's Largest Atom Smasher Slideshow:World's Largest Atom Smasher By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 43 mins ago


GENEVA – The world's largest atom smasher made another leap forward Monday by circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time in the $10 billion machine after more than a year of repairs, organizers said. The true test will be in first two months of 2010, when scientists plan to start colliding protons to see what they can discover about the makeup of the universe and its tiniest particles. The Large Hadron Collider has been advancing faster than expected in its startup phase that began Friday night, said Rolf Heuer, director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN. "It went much faster than foreseen," said Fabiola Gianotti, who speaks for the Atlas experiment, one of four major detectors in rooms the size of cathedrals about 100 meters (300 feet) underground. "We're all very happy." It is possible that some unintended proton collisions began Monday or will occur soon at the places where the two beams cross as a side-effect of trying to synchronize the timing of two beams. Intentional proton collisions could begin within the next 10 days, mainly to check how the machine is working, said spokesman James Gillies. Ultimately, the collider aims to create conditions like they were 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang — which scientists think marked the creation of the universe billions of years ago. Physicists also hope the collider will help them see and understand other suspected phenomena, such as dark matter, antimatter and supersymmetry. The collider was started with great fanfare Sept. 10, 2008, only to be heavily damaged by an electrical fault nine days later. It has taken 14 months to repair and add protection systems to the machine before it was restarted. The protons on Monday were traveling at almost the speed of light — 11,000 times a second in each direction around the 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel under the Swiss-French border at Geneva. Initial signs are very good, physicists told a news conference. The beam is of superb quality, with the protons tightly packed into hairlike lines and guided by some 1,600 superconducting magnets — some 15 meters (50 feet) long — operating at temperatures colder than outer space for maximum electrical efficiency. So far the machine is operating at 450 billion electron volts of energy, which is relatively low compared with its design capability of more than 14 times that. It soon will overtake the world's current most powerful accelerator, the Tevatron at Fermilab outside Chicago, which operates at 1 trillion electron volts, or TeV. Myers said the CERN collider should be ramped up to 1.2 TeV by Christmas. CERN might decide to make the first collisions at the current low energy or at 1.2 TeV, but that will be more for calibration purposes than for making scientific discoveries, he said. Physicists said the discoveries could begin in the first half of next year when the collider reaches 3.5 TeV. CERN is hoping to have the first collisions at that energy in January or early February, said Gillies. "That would really mark the start of the research program," he said. Myers said the collider may even go up to 5 TeV before the end of 2010. Tejinder S. Virdee, a physicist from London's Imperial College who represents more than 2,000 scientists on CMS, another of the experiments with its own detectors at CERN, said it could take several years before the collider discovers the elusive Higgs boson, a particle that theoretically gives mass to other subatomic particles, and thus everything in the universe. That is because the Higgs boson is believed to be hard to see and needs powerful energy to be revealed, Virdee said. "This is going to take a few years," he said. Director-General Heuer said CERN was being as cautious as a driver would be with the first production model of a new car. "We'll never accelerate this the first time with a kick-start to its maximum velocity," he said. Once it is tested out, he added, "we can open windows into new physics and that could happen already next year. It depends on how kind nature is to us."

helado Negro is a Pimp

I never blinked! And he's my cousin.

Who Could Win A Slap Fight?

I think the image file name is labeled "Henry Rollins would destroy you in a sack race!". Kinda of suits the weather today with it's downright shitty attitude and hopeless negativeness. I looked that word up; I spelled it right. It's kinda dreary and dreamlike but fairly scary like a suburban Sleepy Hollow type hamlet this neighborhood I live in so the tone is quite boorish on this entry. I have been quite slack on my entries and I apologize(to nobody)and would like to extend my hand in negotiating a truce with my brain..I have just recently gone EXTREMELY part-time at the wash so there will be a drought with the stories from that place and minor adjustments to spending some home time. I started wearing a watch again(applause),thank you , thank you..Because of my previous employment I stopped wearing a watch because it would interfere with the day to day activities that my job entailed. Also I'm growing a circa 1970's porno mustache for shits and giggles. I think I look more disturbing than when I dyed my head blue and shaved a checkerboard pattern in it.

The children of today have absolutely no clue what originality is. The fact is most "originality"today is a copy of something else anyway but the true inspiration is really what counts when you cut to the bone. What's the SYMBOLOGY you ask?(I know that word is imaginary) The Balls are gone from everything.Huevos!!Courage!! Strictly homogenized I scream! The silent majority is growing in this country, they got out and voted but now they are right back in their living room sitting in front of the tube expecting everything to be resolved in 4 years. The damage from the bush administration is far reaching and excuse me for noticing but the appeal of this country for immigrants(which all Americans are,except the native peoples who settle here from the land bridge)was the strong middle class which has all but completely disappeared. Myself included I feel like I am about 1 paycheck from the street most days. I'm no slouch when it comes to hustlin' and making some money, my work ethic is strong. I have a strong set of skills ranging from every aspect in the construction field, hotel restaurant experience,computer skills,bow hunting skills,knife skills(I own 34 knives) and still the market has seriously dried up in my area.

On a separate and more relevant tangent I have to recommend the film "The Boat That Rocked"or"Pirate Radio" whichever title you prefer. My only comment is that my foot never stopped tapping because the soundtrack is excellent. I recall saying many,many years ago to a friend of mine,"Thank god for the British Invasion!". I had always imagined the world full of the douchy guys who sing White Guy doo-wop at the beginning of "CryBaby". I highly recommend it to anyone who has a pulse and possesses opposable thumbs. Also if you are a big Nick Frost fan from the flick "Shaun of the Dead"fame he has a semi-major role in this movie but on the flip side he does get naked too which is mad gross,Bee!! Personally, I though Bill Nighy is an amazing character actor because he is so on point.

"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY"
TOO LEGIT TO QUIT ON THE ZUNE

Once in a great while something smacks me in the face when I least expect it. In this case it was a band called Bad Lieutenant which to my surprise was New Order or Joy Division whatever.I really haven't had the chance to research this band to make a proper review of it but it hooked me from the get-go.Just masterfully done.Perfect for a day like this. Hey, I'll put that on again.

More Reasons To Love Baltimore

Big Ass Pick-Up Trucks Make You Cool

Acrylic and Sharpie 2009



Just wanted to post some new art....