It Has Been Awhile

It has been a bit busy around here of late.

First there was a small issue with my heart, which decided that it wanted to go skippy all over, but just long enough to not allow the ICD to kick in, which made for having lots of energy around here.

Well, enough of that. I'm going to do some more photography over the next couple of weeks...hopefully some of these will show up...

My thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones and homes from the recent tornadoes and other storms that have ravaged the US midwest and southeast.

Interesting news on the manufacturing front...

As seen on this blog...http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2012/01/chinese-manufacturer-of-model-trains.html..a large Chinese manufacturing supplier has apparently gone under, taking some 3,000 workers on to the unemployed scenario. For further information check the site out and stay tuned ...things could get interesting here...

Some Ideas For Scratchbuilding...

Mostly pictorial stuff garnered over the previous period....

this is from the Accuride plant in east London

Oil storage facility in east London. The manways overhead are used to inspect the tops of trucks-just in case anyone left the hatches open...

Arkona ON is a small  community about an hours drive west of us here. There are a lot of old structures begging to be scratchbuilt here.

Almost mirror image plants near Atwood ON. Both had ye olde chainlink fencing around them...

Pre-Xmas Commentary

Well. It just so happens that my days are starting to get rather busy of late.

all kinds of Xmas parties to be had and all that. Plus the sales going on. Trying to find stuff for relatives one does not see very much through the year can be a bit of a chore. Me? Eh..I've actually had a good piece of news..some relatives are coming down with stuff on Xmas morning that I, supposedly, could use...that we'll see...

Layouts In Restricted Space.

Have a tiny space to set up a layout in?

How about an Industrial Switching Layout?

I am in the process of helping someone up here establish a small 2 foot deep by 6 foot long layout on a shelf unit of said dimension...that is what we are up to now.

Some ideas for industries...small metal fabrication plant, warehouse, furniture factory...can you come up with more?

Some Musical Musings

Sometimes I wonder about how pairings, or groupings, actually come about.

Take Metallica with Lou Reed for example.In my youth I would have thought that it would have been entertaining to come up with some 'imaginative' pairings as well. A few of us went around in downtown London ON thinking of groups and pairings that would have been interesting to see. Some that we thought of..only to discover did happen..were John Lee Hooker with The Groundhogs(T.S.McPhees' band), Ramones with Lemmy,  and now Lou Reed and Metallica.

I am willing to bet that we are going to see some fascinating scenarios fall out of the woodwork because of this. What is next?  Leonard Cohen with Motorhead? Britney Spears with Gorgorath? Justin Beiber with, oh, say Wu Tang? Think genres are getting mixed now..wait until some of those pairings start cropping up.

On to another musing.

What I am also thinking about is how one sets about their songwriting. Me? I'm either working the lyric thing first or my riffing thing...of course, then I get lost in both of these...and nothing comes about.
It is the same with my workflow on my DAW, I'm always coming up with some kind of flummox that leaves me asking myself whether I really know what I am doing...don't answer that! LOL!!

Listening To Some Good Stuff ....

My head has really been into more listening to music lately.

I'm having a feeling that I am starting to get more of an idea of where I am headed in terms of my own music as well. This can be a good thing or a bad thing really. For me, that is...

As for who I am listening to..well..try out some recordings I fell over on the newest music listing...there is a virtual treasure trove to be found herein....:)