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Pivot Point Episode Transcript. Length - 44:09 
Magnetofunky No. 181. It's Friday, March 12th, 2021. [intro theme] Yeah. Larry here. This week in the lab it's all about fitting the last piece of touring gear on the bike as the rain returned. Meanwshile, we mark 50 days of the new Biden era and a real feeling of turning a corner in the country. The music this time out is a nod to the brave citizens of Burma (I refuse to use the junta-preferred term Myanmar) continuing to fight back as the coup turns increasingly deadly. I went over to Reverbnation and found a mix of hip hop and danceable beats among the free MP3 stacks... [song] - 00:00 Ok, that was Super-Man - Kyaw Htut Swe (aka 'KhS'), Hip Hop MC from Yangon kicking it since 2005. Interesting thing, his is one of the few FB pages that hasn't been sut down yet by the military. He posted on the 9th that it was his birthday, but he wasn't happy. Yeah... This is a laid back (and often explicit - you bet your ass) international podzine and personal journal of extremely eclectic music and progressive politics, with a focus on energy independence for the 99%. My podpage is 1223studios.com/mfunky.h. The Twitter is @Magnetofunky. [Grid Theory] - 00:00 Rack Set In Grid Theory, Since the segments this week focus on the bikepacking gear, I'm starting at the first of the month - pay rent, pay bills, then time to go get the Axiom front rack... The only local store with it turned out to be the Sports Basement, had one rack in stock. Thumbs up: it was less than $30 with tax, much better than any online price. Thumbs down: it was missing washers and one of the 10-32 hex nuts for the eyelets. A weekend trip to the local hardware store scored the 10-32's, a fresh roll of Gorilla tape and some extra M6 6mm hex nuts and 1/4" washers for the U-bolts to ensure a snug fit on the forks. Meanwhile, my REI membership coupon from the gear I bought last year allowed me to score extra tent stakes for my camp stove's windscreen, and some quick dry bike socks. With much fiddling I managed to mount the racks onto the front fork, but because these particular legs don't taper down, the racks splayed wide out - not good at all. Another hardware store run scored a pair of 1/2" wide 1 3/4" dia. hose clamps to firmly mount the bottom section. The eyelet mounts are separate pieces, so I zip tied them and added electrical tape for padding. A few layers of electrical tape on the fork area for the hose clamps, then the top bracket was set and bolted down. The extra M6 nuts and washers levelled the rack out before finishing with the acorn nuts. The rack placement is much better now, leaving the final modification - how to strap the tarps to the racks in a way that won't have a loose end get caught in the wheel while riding... The lateral part is easy enough - the two extra compression straps I originally had on the rolled up sleeping pad. The vertical tie down is the issue. I considered voile straps or rok straps, but the loose end issue remained. Luckily, I have all that leftover material from the compression straps, so I decided to make a simple basket----[bell] Ok, the rack baskets in a bit... [Back To The Stage] - 00:00 All right, Back to The Stage, continuing the mix of Burma beats (though Reverbnation only has the M-word country listing). First up, Ur_My_Sunshine - thu rain, a pop/rap/classic rock artist in yangon, who didn't have a bio available, and his FB page was shut down by the junta. It's followed by Skunx, by the band SKUNX - Punk rock /Rap rock/Nu Metal outfit from Mandalay, led by vocalist Eugene, and their FB page is still going... [songs] - 00:00; 00:00 [Second Set] - 00:00 Ok, second short set opens with Sai Sai Kham Hlaing ft. Amara Phone, a live cut by TOOTOOT, a rock pop artist in Kyaukume with one FB page still up. We wrap up with mynewdj1 - eikattie, a DJ in Myo Chaung, with no bio, and of two FB pages, it looks like one was jacked, scrubbed and replaced by another user in Feb. hard to tell, but the number is nice if you turn it up... [songs] - 00:00; 00:00 ["Geeknotes"] - 00:00 Geeknotes: 50 Days In.. Hey, Geeknotes! Ok, as usual there's too much to rant about, but I'm acknowledging that this week the Biden Administration hit the 50 day mark - on the 1st official Anniversary of the panemic, the Covid relief bill made it through Congress with no support from the GQP (which kept trying to adjorn the session each day), Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland was finally sworn in, the vaccination rate is ramping up enough to surpass 100M people in 60, not 100 days, and the last whiny ass election lawsuit by P-Grabby was just thrown out by the right wing-dominated SCROTUS. Now that Biden has signed the relief bill into law, now, it finally feels like we've finally made the pivot into the new era, even as the Jan. 6 insurrection is continuing in GQP-dominated states as the Big Lie is turning into rampant voter suppression measures. Still, the dumpster fires are slowly being contained. Meanwhile, there's still common sense gun control and the stripped out minumim wage bills to wrangle over. I'm waiting for some GQP asshole to actually argue against $15/Hr. by claiming it's so generous the working poor will work less once they get it... Meanwhile, the recall effort against Gavin Newsome is proceeding, even though he still hasn't scerewed up bad enough to replace him with any of these state GQP rat bastards chomping at the bit to make things worse. Also locally, I was gonna make a stink about the many Walgreens stores closing in the city because of the uptick in shoplifting and other violent crimes, and the fact that the current SF DA Chesa Boudin is also getting the recall treatment because, for example, shoplifting is a misdemeanor unless you steal shit worth $950 and up. I like Walgreens, but it pissed off that the corp. is currently funding some of the red state voter suppression efforts, just like AT&T - And no, them giving cash to both sides is still shitty... Anyway, I'd rather touch on the vaccine progress, and one thing pointed out in a recent piece on Pacifica. The thing to consider about any Covid vaccine side effects when you get your one or two shots is that what you'd experience is how your body would respond to actually getting the virus, no matter which variant it would be, and if you have a severe reaction, you'll only feel it for a few days instead of weeks or worse. Also, regardless of the efficacy of the 3 vaccines, they all will 100% keep you out of an ICU ward and prevent death from the virus... And lastly, considering the continuing pace of relatives, friends and acquaintances dying from Covid, if you're someone who hasn't had death become a familiar presence in your life until you reached middle age, consider yourself supreme;y lucky... Ok, for the duration, if you like, or hate the show, give it a quick review. Go to ratethispodcast.com/mfunky. And, if you have promos, pluggers, gig info, an art opening, etc, send me an email and I'll start up the calendar next month, let's say by Earth Day. The address is [email protected]. And bands, artists and poets - download links, no attachments, please, and no promises... [Grid Practice] - 00:00 Basket Case... Ok, In Grid Practice, So, after visualizing, measuring and cutting, there was just enough material for two baskets with tie downs. I don't have heavy duty sewing gear, so the carpet tape-Gorilla tape combo plus zip ties will do for cross stitching, if needed. In a couple hours I had the left hand and right hand baskets done with 3" end loops dry fitted with painters tape, ready to go onto the rack. After dry mounting, I put carpet tape on the inside and Gorilla taped the outside loops to let the basket hang, and the tarp bags sit almost snug, but the planned tie down top straps were too short to reach the basket. The lateral compression straps were easy: One loop around the fork leg just above the U-bolt, zip tie the strap to the bracket bar and done. It's just big enough to fit the tarp bag through, and sinched down, it takes any weight stress off the basket, letting it function as a base. If I still need a vertical tie down, a simple bungee cord under the lateral strap will do. With both tarp bags strapped down, there's no discernable drag on moving the handlebars, but a shakedown road test with tell. The spotty off and on rain is back for now, but once a few consecutive sunny days return, testing the bikepacking gear is next, separately, then fully loaded... [One More Tune] - 00:00 Ok, for this week's One More Tune, we close out with Hlan Kha' Tot Chit Kyin Phaw Yayy - DJNayMyo, a DJ / Trance / Hard House artist with no city listed, no bio, no FB footprint. The other reason for mangling the song names is cause they're in Hmong ('munhg') and none of the translators could hang. Nice piece to crank it and close out with... [song] - 00:00 Nice... This week's music bed is a two-fer - Waterfall - 4T Thieves, and Virtual Vistas - Pandacetamol, from The Electric Home, a new co-op album produced by the two artists for Kahvi Collective. The album is dedicated to LaGrande, USA which as far back as 1912, had homes using electric powered heating and lighting. Well, OK. [Closing] - 00:00 Hey, this show is a 1223studios joint. I'm on almost all the popular podcast platforms, the latest being Castbox and Overcast. You can also say "Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Magnetofunky". Show notes are on the podpage. Send email to [email protected]. If you like the show, tell your friends, and: Now that the American Rescue Plan has been signed into law by Pres. Biden, any seditious red hat that still spouts the Big Lie that P-Grabby didn't lose the election should not only publicly refuse to take that $1400 check, they should send it to their orange lord and master who's already demanding it as a show of loyalty. I won't hold my breath, cause like Nancy Pelosi said about the GQP House and Senate assholes - they'll loudly vote 'no' and proudly take the dough... Show themes "Rocket Power" & "Spy Glass" by NY musician and composer Kevin MacLeod. Some additional audio from freesound.org. Next episode is set for whenever I have enough music and stuff to rant about, once we pass the Spring Equinox. I'm Larry, trying hard to stay chill at my garrett in the Mission, and this is Magnetofunky, from San Francisco, where we are proceeding through, no longer into, the darkness. |
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