His lyrics are some of the the most intelligient written by the modern day folks artists or songwriter of any ilk. And his later work, although not in the least classic folk style material, showed an artistic maturity that could be dazzling. The lyrics could be at once cinematic, portraying a physical scene, and at the same time evocative of intense emotions.

And he used his voice with a keen sense of timing and phrasing -- it's fun just to listen to how he wraps a line around the tempo.

During his short life he was known as much for his politcs as his artistry, and he probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

The material here is that of his first two solo issue albums. His poetic masterpieces came later on Tape From California and Rehearsal for Retirement.

10 stars is a fair rating for these two CDs, imo.

His lyrics are some of the the most intelligient written by the modern day folks artists or songwriter of any ilk. And his later work, although not in the least classic folk style material, showed an artistic maturity that could be dazzling. The lyrics could be at once cinematic, portraying a physical scene, and at the same time evocative of intense emotions.

And he used his voice with a keen sense of timing and phrasing -- it's fun just to listen to how he wraps a line around the tempo.

During his short life he was known as much for his politcs as his artistry, and he probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

The material here is that of his first "non-folk-music" albums and contains some of his poetic masterpieces.

His lyrics are some of the the most intelligient written by the modern day folks artists or songwriter of any ilk. And his later work, although not in the least classic folk style material, showed an artistic maturity that could be dazzling. The lyrics could be at once cinematic, portraying a physical scene, and at the same time evocative of intense emotions.

And he used his voice with a keen sense of timing and phrasing -- it's fun just to listen to how he wraps a line around the tempo.

During his short life he was known as much for his politcs as his artistry, and he probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

The material here is that of his second "non-folk-music" albums and contains what some fans consider one of his poetic masterpieces -- the dark and unsettling story of "When in Rome."

But it all comes together in a pleasurable style that doesn't try to knock your socks off. But that's not to say that there is anything lacking in technique or talent. Listen to the mandolin on this CD -- calling this fellow proficient is like calling David Grisman adept.

I, too, remember listening to this band, or one of it's iterations over 20 years ago in Santa Barbara. Back then they were usually missing a banjo player but they had two guitarists, a flat picker and a finger-picker. What a combination! that band was hot hot hot!

On White Room, the band isn't trying to excite a night club audience that's knocking back pitchers of beer. It's a more studied and artful approach. The title track is a stark case in point. They have taken an old Jack Bruce tune from the days of the original hard rock trio "Cream" and put it to their own use. It's the first track on the album -- if you start out expecting pure bluegrass, this track will give you pause. But relax and give it a chance. Treat as an acquired taste. Open your mind and the CVDs will fill it with warm soulful sounds.

If you like string bands -- listen to this one.

The watch-type backup batteries are small but last a year or so.
The buttons are small, which is a bit of a pain, but it helps keep the whole thing small.

The display is small & hard to read if you have trouble reading read small text close up. I woul dhave liked a bigger display on the face of the unit. But with the display on top, it's easier to read if it's plugged into a wall outlet.

It has only one plug to control one appliance -- I would have liked two. I also wish it didn't paritally cover a second outlet on many extension cords.

Mechanical electric timer controls are easy to find and much cheaper. They generally allow same-every-day programming only and the clock stops if the power goes out. True digital timers are hard to find and cost much more but they give battery backup & flexible programming.

If you need a timer that keeps time during power losses, this one will serve you well.
I've used a half dozen or so of these since this model first came out a couple of years ago. Never had a any problems. Never had problems with the predecessor models either, but the DT17C-7 is smaller.

For example, if a water pump can pump so many gallons per hour, how long will it take for the pump to process all of the water in the tank? (It's not as simple as you might first think.) This book presents a model for that. Models are presented for sizing Ultraviolet sterilizers, skim filters, and determining processing rates for water processing devices generally.

But it is not all science; there is dogma here too. An unsupported claim is that ultraviolet sterilizers are one of the most important pieces of equipment for an aquaria. This is controversial at best and just plain false at worst. But in any event, there is no scientific support for the claim in the book.

The models are somewhat lacking also. The processing model for sizing ultraviolet sterilizers and determining proper flow rates does not take into account the replication rate of organisms. In fact, this matter is swept away with a wave of the hand, basically saying if you want to pick a different processing rate, go ahead. But no accurate model of sterilization can ignore the math involved with the rate of bacteria or protozoa replicating.

The models also assume, quite impractically for real application of the models, that whenever a pump, filter or ultraviolet sterilizers returns water to a tank, the water is instantly and thoroughly mixed with the other water in the tank -- instant homogeneity. This assumption is useful in simplifying the model but it hardly applies to any real world situation. So the formulas for determing the number of times a given device will turnover all the water in an aquarium has little practical application. But even if that were not a problem, the correct number of turnovers is assumed more or less--unless you know a lot more about bacteria decomposition in various filters than most people do.

This book does a reasonable job of explain how the models are built. But the books focuses on certain equipment (the kind author's company sells?) and ignores others without presenting any scientific support for those choices. The book describes water pumps but only those having two moving parts; it ignores water pumps that have only one moving part, such as Eheim has used for years.

When presenting the formula for selecting a heater, the formula doesn't facdtor in the heat from water pumps (almost all water pumps, powerheads, filter [umps use the aquarium water to dissipate motor heat), lights, etc. So practical application of the formula is limited.

The book doesn't note the characteristic problem with fluidized bed/sand filters. All types of filters have good and bad points. The famous bad point of fluidized bed filters is that once the flow throw the sand becomes uneven at all, the unevenness exacerbates itself until you clean or replace the sand. And it's not hard for the sand to develop some uneveness.

So this is a good book as far as it goes. Rather than just saying, for example, this kind of filter works, it provides a mathematical model of (some of) how it works. That's a step in the right direction towards putting more science and less marketing hype and merely anecdotal data in the hobby. Developing the formulas is the right idea, but the formulas are not yet complete --and they focus on some equipment ignoring other, in some cases mor common, equipment. So it is only one step in the right direction; it doesn't make the whole trip.

With that in mind it's worth reading, although maybe best borrowed once from a library.

"In Blue" takes this repition to new heights of monotony with any redeeming features. It's like disco without the thumpa thumpa dance beat. There is nothing new or fresh about the music, lyrics or performances. It's as if this album is made up of the "B" sides of the songs on the prior album. Nothing inventive musically is going on. Nothing clever in the lyrics, lyrics, lyrics, and nothing original in the performances. Whatever "magic" they had before seems to be gone.

However, the editors seemed to have been rather overzealous. In places the text runs just short of the information you would expect, practically begging questions, and I suspect that the author's original text had the information and the editors decided to cut it to save pages. The information in aquarium set-up and maintenance sections is especially abrupt. It's not that the data is incorrect , but a little information can be dangerous. For example, it mentions that carbon is one of the things you can use in a filter but it doesn't discuss the reasons for, or virtues and problems of, using carbon in filters. It appears the editors allowed the author about one sentence for the topic of carbon -- not enough to do justice to the topic but it keeps down the price of a book with lots of color photographs.

Did I mention the photographs and drawings are absolutely excellent?

This hose wears well, resists abrasion, and doesn't kink. It appears at first glance to have an interntal wire for reinforcement, but the appearance is just a hollow ridge shape that coils the length of the hose and allows the hose to flex. The "coil" design and heavy plastic construction allow it to be sturdy yet remain flexible. This design means that the interior of the hose is not smooth -- the inverse shape of the ridge is mirrored on the interior. I thought this might make the hose clog easily but that is definitely not the case.

It is somewhat stiff -- stiffer than a good rubber garden hose but more than pliable enough for woodshop purposes. The cuff connector at one end of the hose allows the connector to rotate without twisting or winding the hose. This is a very good feature I would want on any hose.

The is no wire reinforcement because reinforcement is not needed with this hose. However, for those that believe an internal wire significantly reduces the builup of static, this hose doesn't fit that bill, it has no wire.

Plus, it is more comprehensive than other wood finishing books I've seen. It explains in detail the different application techniques, when and how to use them. There are plenty of helpful illustrations, including color photo examples of different stains and finishes on various woods. So it is a great reference source when working on a particular project and trying to decide the best finish or application technique to use.

I keep looking for other books on wood finishing that would add to what is in this book. But I haven't come across any yet.

The question-and-answer format that accompanies the text throughout is useful on questions of fish behavior but less so for technical info like "Why is my tank cloudy?" or "What's the advantage of a canister filter over a hang-on power filter?"

There must be better sources of info available. In fact, searching a few sites on the web will get you more & better technical info than this book contains. But the pictures are generaly very good & there are lots of them. For each fish there are descriptions of habitat conditions, although these are "in-the-wild" conditions, which don't necessarily include ones that will also work well in home aquaria.