The day date is the best watch complication ever
Believe it or not, there's a part of my audience that actually likes it when I talk about watches (who knew?), so here's my take on my favorite watch complication, the day date.
For those not in the know, any feature on a watch that does something other than tell time is called a complication. If the watch shows the day of the month in a little window, that's called a "date complication". A watch that shows the day of the week and the day of the month is called a "day date complication."
An example of a day date is the Rolex Day-Date. The date is shown at the 3 position and the day is shown at the 12 position.
Is the day date complication Rolex-only territory? Hardly. You can get it cheap on a Casio such as the MRW200H for under 20 bucks.
Side note: At some point I will probably buy an MRW200H because it's a good cheap day date with a bezel that actually rotates so you can time things. Nice to have. Reliable, easy to read, rugged, lightweight. Doesn't get much better than that.
What about digital?
Digital is the absolute cheapest way to get a day date complication. In fact, it's actually a challenge to find a digital timepiece that is not a day date. The Casio F-91W, its steel "cousin" the A158 and A168 are all day dates.
In fact, every single new digital watch made by Casio is a day date, so if you want it, you can get it real easy.
Why is the day date the best watch complication ever?
It's not because of the time nor the date complication.
It's because of the day complication.
No matter what your age, be it young, old or somewhere in between, there are going to be times when you simply forget what day of the week it is. When it happens (and it will,) you're going to be thankful you're wearing a day date watch.
For me, a watch that doesn't have a day date complication is useless. I own a few watches that have a date complication but no day complication, and because of that I never wear them.
This is, incidentally, why I could never own a Rolex Submariner even if I had the money for it. Not having the day complication would drive me nuts. The Rolex Day-Date is literally the only Rolex I would actually find useful.
Fortunately, there are several day date watches out there.
What are the best cheap day date watches?
Casio and Timex own this domain.
Casio analog:
Timex analog:
- T20011 Easy Reader or T20041 Easy Reader
- Timex digital: Any
Is the ZOOM R8 still the best game in town for standalone multitrack recording?
Does the R8 still hold up? Let's find out.
Concerning audio recording, nobody records with analog anymore except for annoying hipsters (as if there were another kind.) Everyone records with digital.
With digital, you have three hardware platforms to use. PC, mobile and standalone.
With PC you can either use free software like Audacity or overcomplicated-for-the-sake-of-being-overcomplicated paid software like Avid Pro Tools.
With mobile, everything sucks. I'm not kidding. Smartphone or tablet, doesn't matter. It all sucks. Don't even go there.
Then there are standalone multitrack recorders. While there are many shapes and sizes of these things, the ones that are most popular are units that are 8-track recorders, as they're just the right size for most desks, and can easily fit into a backpack to take from place to place.
Presently, there are still only two 8-track recorders worth owning, the Tascam DP-008EX and the ZOOM R8.
I did own a Tascam DP-008 non-EX version before, but sold it and got the R8 instead. Not only does the R8 have a drum machine in it, but has a staggering amount of effects built into it for vocal, guitar or bass guitar use. The R8 just destroys the DP-008 in basically every way.
Actually, correction, every way except one. Size. Since the DP-008 doesn't have sliding faders on it, it is smaller. If you want the smallest footprint with a standalone 8-track, that's where the DP-008 shines. But everything else about it is inferior compared to the R8.
I did look around to see if any company has released any new standalone 8-track recorders. I couldn't find any...
...which means for a standalone 8-track recorder, yes, the Zoom R8 is still the best game in town. You can't do any better.
The only thing that sucks about the R8 is the manual. It's terrible. That's why I wrote a better one.
Guitar of the week #60 - Schecter E-1 Custom Special Edition
Just as cool as an Explorer, more affordable, and more available.
The Schecter E-1 Custom Special Edition is obviously, "heavily inspired" by the Gibson Explorer. If you like Explorers, you'll like the E-1.
Is the E-1 better than the Explorer? Yes, no question about that. The strings are straight after the nut (better tuning stability,) the nut itself is a Graph Tech TUSQ XL, the inlays are real-deal mother of pearl blocks, the tuners are the locking type, the neck scale is 24.75-inch with 12-to-16-inch compound radius fingerboard, both pickups are Schecter USA made, with push/pull control on the knobs...
...and the guitar is basically awesome. Again, it is better than the Explorer in basically every way unless you're the type of person that's just "gotta have that Explorer".
Aside from the E-1 being a true player's guitar, I'm predicting this one is going to have some high resale value in the future, should you care about that sort of thing (and some do).
Mistakes Were Made
A new song made really, really fast. And I'll tell you how to make a song really fast too.
Last Friday I published and article that said I was going to release more music soon, and over the weekend I crafted one.
The entire song was recorded, mixed, mastered and published in under 2 hours. How was I able to get it done so fast? By purposely keeping the song simple.
Simple songwriting 101 for guitar
All you have to follow are 3 rules when you want to write a song really, really fast.
Rule #1: Simplify your songwriting
If your riffs get too complicated, you'll never complete the song.
With guitar, that basically means to chord a lot and make your chord structure simple. While Mistakes Were Made sounds complicated, it really isn't as it's just a fast delta style blues refrain.
Rule #2: Have your recording rig 100% ready-to-use
I use a ZOOM R8 multitrack recorder that has a drum machine in it, a guitar and a bass guitar. I also have a microphone for singing but didn't use it for Mistakes Were Made because it's an instrumental.
In the way my recording rig is set up, I can power on and be ready to record very quickly.
Rule #3: Be willing to make mistakes
The reason the song is called Mistakes Were Made is because mistakes are present in the song, but I left them in anyway. I'd record a track where I would mess up but just powered through until the end, then laid down the next track, then the next one, mixed, mastered, publish, done.
I record this way because a) getting the song done is important, and b) sometimes what seems like a big mistake can actually be "fixed in the mix" once other instruments are added in. Besides which, I have punch in/out editing on the R8 as does any other multitrack recorder, so it's not like it's difficult to fix a screw-up these days.
Done
Getting a song finished, published and DONE is a very satisfying thing. I waited far too long to release something new, so it felt good to finally do it.
Does this mean more music will be coming soon on a more regular basis? Hopefully, yes. :)
Oh, one final note: The guitar used for this song was the Squier Jazzmaster.
Casio Japan market A158 on the way
Some new songs are coming soon, but for now, a few words about a gold-tone Casio.
The Casio A158 has a gold tone face, sometimes known as a camel face. I already own an A158, but not in this colorway. I spent a few bucks more (literally, it was just around 4 bucks more) and ordered model A-158WEA-9JF.
Why did I do this? First, because the F-91W is great and the A158 is the F-91W in a steel version. Second, I didn't want an exact copy of my existing A158 since I already have one, so I figured I'd go for a gold tone. Third, I wanted a true JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Casio. The one I have on the way is direct from Japan, hence the JF at the end of the model name.
Does this mean the watch is made in Japan? No. All A158 models are China-made as far as I know. But what I'm hoping is that I get the JDM-specific packaging which is distinctively different than North American packaging. If I don't, oh well, I lost 4 bucks. But I'm hoping I do get it.
Casio watches with North American packaging for lower tier models are nothing but decidedly cheap blue and white boring boxes.
Casio watches with Japanese packaging, while just as cheap, are made hangtag style.
It is interesting that the Japan packaging does have English on the right side, possibly because this is meant for both Japan and certain English-speaking markets.
We used to get watch product packaging like this in America, but haven't for years because this style of packaging is supposed to be displayed in the open. As anyone who lives in America knows, you can't leave stuff in the open in a store because it will get stolen quickly.
Will I actually wear my gold-tone A158 once I get it? Absolutely. To date, I've never seen anyone around here wear one. I have seen the all-gold A159 version being worn, but that's too much gold for my taste. I like the metal color bracelet with the gold face. It works nicely for a little digital timepiece and has the right balance of gold and metal color without looking too garish. Works for me.