funkadelic friday - cosmic slop

You ever want to watch a gaggle of black guys and one token white guy on acid?
No?
Running around New York?
No?

Oh well.

Funkadelic in their early hey day...




Fortunately its to the backdrop of a crazy cool song!
They had some good tunes back then.
At one time I had almost every funkadelic/parliament album.
Crazy chit.

Undercover Black Man: Interviews
(this kinda backs up the acid reference, kinda)


Parliament was the predecessor to Funkadelic,
the same core group of guys basically.

This is a fun song but for sure isn't typical of their sound.




Weird thing is,
it was written by a white girl - Ruth Copeland.
The words make more sense when heard from that context!




Good times back then!

Yeah I know it isn't friday but whose counting.

TP

anti-kabuki speakers - technics sb-a70

Yesterday I was flippin around craigslist and saw this ad for some speakers.
I should have saved a picture of the ad, it was kinda funny.
After looking at the picture of the speakers on my little droid phone,
I was expecting some typical medium sized bookshelf speakers.

not bookshelf speakers

These things are ridiculously huge.
The size of a 9 year old boy.
The woofer is a real 15" wide.

holy chit

They were in such clean condition,
I couldn't pass them up for $30!
Last night I hooked them up to that Kenwood ka-7600 receiver (85wpc)
which is now in the house garage
and holy chit...

In a cool coincidence the radio station (94.9FM) started playing this song.





(This was the only studio version without any ads!)
A friend Matt was over and he had to walk 2 houses down the alley to talk to his wife on the phone.
Perfect!
At 9:30PM though in our dark alley had to cut it short though.

monster speakers

The speakers are rated to 200W,
but the Kenwood seems to push these new speakers
and those (now) little ones on that top shelf just fine.

To give you a sense of how huge they are...39" tall...

dryer sized speakers

...as tall as our dryer!
Funny chit.

Even though they sound good now,
they are made about as cheaply as possible.
They are vinyl covered particle board that's about 3/8" thick.
It seems like the paper speakers themselves are OK though, for now,
typical late 80's/early 90's plastic goodness.

plastic engineering

This is what they are replacing...

Sansui sp-1500 speakers

These are a true representation of "Kabuki Speakers"
Back in the day, 60's & 70's,
the big japanese manufacturers were able to make some mean amplifiers and receivers,
but they were lost at the actual sound reproduction, or speaker engineering.
The idea was to throw as many speakers and crossovers in a sturdy wooden box.

5-way kabuki speaker

They reproduced the sound in a real "tinny"style,
which, according to legend, is what kabuki music sounds like.

This is what that Toadies song above sounds like kabuki style




And yes this is what those speakers sound like but worse.
I thought the speakers were broken at first,
but thats just how they were made, 40 years later anyway.

This is basically the reason why North American speaker only companies were able to thrive,
just by building a simple 2 or 3 way speaker system - big woofer, tweeter and midrange,
with a "bass reflex" hole in the front to let it breathe.
Definitely not a tough recipe to copy back in Japan!

So if you're scrounging around and come across some of these for cheap,
grab them!

TP

(funny, my wife just came home and saw them in the garage,
thinking I was gonna put these in the house.
She said it was ok if I get rid of all the other clutter!
Cool Wife XOXO!)

deal? thanks but no thanks...

Whenever I pay down my credit cards,
I get a bunch of random junk mail credit card offers.

This one takes the cake

quick click loans
- attn: sucker

These guys,
quick click loans, LLC
will loan me $3500,
with only a 96% interest rate over 3 years!
Awesome!

$3500 = $10,800

Using there handy chart...
-if I get $2600, I'll only have to pay them $8000 over 3 years.
-if I get $3500, I'll only have to pay them $10,800 over 3 years.

Deal!

Yep,
you guessed it,
the Grateful Dead have just the song for this



"don't you let that deal go down..."

Cool show in France '71,
this looks likes they're playing in someones backyard!

10 years later, but also in Europe,
and you can see the toll that cocaine and heroine can do!
Just kidding.
Ha.
Still rocks a 4 minute guitar solo though.

Ok,
real quick.
This is the same show and Pete Townshend stepped in for a couple songs.
Kinda fun to see how 3 very opposite guitar players try to jam,
although I think Jerry pulled Pete's guitar chord as its hard to hear!

and if you have another 10 minutes...

YouTube - Deal [Live at Gizah Sound & Light Theater, Cairo, Egypt,

This one is kinda cool.
1978, they're playing in Egypt,
in front of the Sphinx.
...hehe...

TP

"La Chuya" - Panga

Yes,

another panga to show you.

You guys thought I'd exhausted anything new to show you,

but no.

This is one of 4 that arrived this week.

"La Chuya"

Definitely not one of the prettier versions,

this one has had some rail modifications,

should help with a heavier load though.

perichbrothers (and sister): the Ultimate Panga - Dios Mio

Sadly,

this one has the same engine of the "Ultimate Panga" in my last Panga post,

however this one has a neat steering console,

making this one alot easier to control.

 coyote cockpit 

It has all the makings for a successful border run,

200 HP Yamaha, steering/throttle, compass, multiple batteries...

fuel

and most importantly a shit ton of gas!

I'm counting about 14 of these 8 gallon jugs,

which is at least 100 gallons.

That's alot of fuel for these skinny boats,

even with a 200 hp outboard.

I'd guess about 2-3 miles per gallon,

which gives it a "hauling-ass" range of 200+ miles roundtrip.

A good driver could find a cruising speed and almost double that mileage.

nice bench seats

With some quick mapwork...

You figure the take-off point from the Coronado Islands

is about 13 miles from the US border,

that should give an easy 80 mile trek up the coast.

coronado islands location

So what happened?

I'm figuring engine problems,

or that bright green paint.

camouflage

So easy fixes for next time

- some subdued paint

- a kicker motor

A kicker motor is basically a small "just in case" outboard,

between 15 to 40 hp,

enough to at least move the boat.

Of course it would be a tiller steer on a custom bracket,

but definitely better than nothing.

Remember that rusty nail prop cotter pin,

from the first Panga post?

That would make a perfectly good engine useless,

like a flat tire on a car.

perichbrothers (and sister): panga to the promised land

rusty nail

What would really be trick would be 2 60HP or 100HP outboards.

They'd get the speed of 200 HP,

with the reliability of 2 motors.

With the ability to run on one engine to save fuel or engine failure.

So,

anyone wondering what "La Chuya" means?

jesusa

Chuy is the nickname for Jesus.

Since most boats have girl names,

La Chuya is the femine version of Chuy, 

or Jesusa.

TP

Red Ram - dodge truck rocket launcher

I was reading internet news about Libya,
and had to rip off this picture.

Libyan Rebels

This picture is so surreal looking.
Six Libyan rebels, a dodge truck modified with a rocket launcher,
open expanse of desert, flying rocket.

In a way the photo looks photoshopped.
The rocket launcher is alot more subdued looking than the rest of the shot.
It probably is real though,
as there is a real looking dust cloud from the rocket.

Ok,
so wide open expanse of desert,
you can kinda see the horizon out there.
What the hell are these guys shooting at?
Isn't there supposed to be some kind of equation/training for aiming these things?
I can't tell who is in charge of the aim,
maybe the guy praying with the freakishly long fingers?

Also,
if you've read my "panga promised land" posts,
I'm also a big believer in camouflage.

Somehow these guys scored this truck/rocket launcher package,
and don't see that it is, well,
RED.

They are alone,
in a huge sea of tan sand and brown bushes,
in a RED dodge truck with a frigging rocket launcher.

target practice

If there's a tank over there that they are shooting at,
or even another bright red dodge rocket launcher truck,
good luck.

Thanks Altaf Qadri for taking this picture.

Crazy times.

TP

how to - rebuild brake calipers

Sometimes it is dangerous to answer phone calls or texts from certain people.
A good friend, Matt, is one of those people.

matt at bevmo

This photo has a little story - real quick.
A new BEVMO store opened up a mile or so from the house.
One night on the way to the shop,
I decided to drop by.
This was the night I got the bottle of "Old Grand Dad".
perichbrothers (and sister): chief and old grand-dad - double whammy sweet spot
Anyway,
I hadn't seen Matt in months,
but who did I run in to at Bevmo at 9pm on a Sunday - Matt.

*****

Ok,
where was I.

Oh yeah,
so I got a text from him the other day,
"replacing front brakes..."
Oh chit. should I answer?

So he brings a couple dirty frozen brake calipers to the house,
and his kids,
with some rebuild kits and a box of rubber gloves.
"just need your vice!"
"for an hour or so"
-that was the warning.-
"I've never rebuilt these, have you?"
That was the other warning.

Since the wife was working and I had the kids,
we had to do the work at the house,
with my limited tool selection.

yeehaw - white lightning

After diagnosing the situation,
it seemed a couple shots were in order.
Of all things to start the job with.
Holy Chit.

Needless to say,
rebuilding these (pictureless) calipers wasn't as easy as the rubber block ring and dust seal looked.
2 out of the 4 pistons slid out relatively quick,
one was stuck good,
the other was stuck real good.

caveman engineering

Everyone knows when something is stuck,
bring in the fire.
At the shop,
there's a half dozen torches - oxy/acetylene, mapp gas, propane.
At the house. Hmm.

So what else to do but fill that thing with some lamp oil/gas
and some rag bits and create some heat.

what not to do

Always make sure there are no flammables around your fire.

While this story looks like it should end in catastrophe,
somehow it worked.
The superstuck piston freed up.
6 hour job, no problem...

Now that we're experts at rebuilding calipers off a 70's mercedes benz,
not sure if I'm gonna answer Matt's texts next time!

TP

going the extra mile

Some of these boat jobs border on the ridiculous.
Sadly, many yachts and large work boats
were built with untested design ideas,
with no true idea of a working lifespan.

On top of that,
most systems are laid down while the boat is being built,
so problems are usually underneath floors or panels,
very difficult to get at.

This most recent one has been a test of patience,
and my brother actually pulled a couple wild cards to help finish the job.

So remember this picture of him?

Trevor in an open space

What do you think could be the MOST opposite of this picture.

Ok,
I'll give you a clue.

holey chit

This is a hatch in the walkway of a yacht.
I had crawled in that little space there on the left,
definitely a tight squeeze.

Well my brother, Trevor,
going the extra mile to make the customer happy,
was able to crawl even further in that hole,
to install a couple hose "P" clamps.

"Puta Madre"

When you work with spanish speaking guys,
you learn alot of rich slang.
I wasn't able to fit in this little hole,
but if I was,
I'd be using alot of this.
"Puta Madre".

Remember to saturate your spanish with
"Buey" which sounds like "way" or "guey" (dude)
and "Si-mon" (yea, man).
You'll than sound like an authentic Baja Mexican.

hole in a hole

My brother is only a little shorter than I am,
but he's actually thicker.
I'm not sure how he fit in there.

Trevor in a tight space

Yep,
good times, good times.

TP