Just for the look: Peavey Solo guitar amp
This one looks so right.
It's not so much the size nor the capability of this smaller amp but rather the look of it that really works here.
The Peavey Solo guitar combo amp is a simple smaller guitar amplifier. It's 12-watt, has an 8-inch speaker, is solid state, has clean and lead channel, 3-band EQ and weighs about 12 pounds. Dimensions are 9.75" across, 16.12" height, 14.87" depth, which is small but not "desktop sized" small.
Is it battery powered? No. AC power is required, which I prefer. If you want something battery powered, small and feature-packed, see BOSS Katana-Mini...
...but I really like what you get with the Peavey Solo.
If there's one thing Peavey does well, they really know how to do simple-and-good right. Yes, they obviously make more complicated amps, but the Solo is a great example of well designed simplicity.
And, of course, there's the look of it. Even when small, Peavey amps look nice. The fonts are great, the knobs are spaced correctly and nothing looks out of place. Even the grill cloth used has a bit of an upscale look to it.
Are there better amps this size? Probably. But few look this good and have the thoughtfulness put into this design like the Solo has.
On an end note, I'll tell you what I mean by thoughtfulness. Look at the knobs. Each has a thick line where you can tell exactly where it's set even from a few feet away. It's extremely easy to tell where the separation of volume to EQ is. All fonts are bold and there's great contrast. No chrome or shiny bits anywhere because there doesn't need to be. Ultra-functional design.
More amps need to be designed this way.
Spacehunter, that '80s movie when 3D was a thing
This movie was a bit of a letdown.
I said after watching The Ice Pirates that I was going to watch this, and did.
First I'll that say The Ice Pirates is the better movie simply because it's more entertaining. Spacehunter looks better, sounds better and is more of a spectacle, but doesn't entertain as much.
The short lived 3D comeback of the early 1980s
Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone was one of a handful of movies from the '80s where one of its selling points was the whole 3D shtick.
I did in fact see this movie in 1983, in a theater, in 3D. Everybody in the theater was given those white 3D glasses where one lens was blue and the other red (the technical name is anaglyph 3D glasses). That was the 3D tech back then.
Anybody who is a fan of 3D movies knows there is good 3D and bad 3D. Spacehunter was good 3D, and the movie really took advantage of showing things that truly had a three-dimensional effect to them. Different shots and scenes are sprinkled throughout the film where even now, 38 years later, I still remember how cool that 3D effect was.
The crappy part is that when I watched it now, I could see every scene where the director purposely composed 3D-friendly shots, which of course I can't fully experience. Would it have made a difference if I watched it on a giant TV? No. A bigger picture doesn't magically bring 3D back.
"Get this out fast before Jedi is released!"
The release of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was May 25, 1983. The release of Spacehunter was May 20, 1983. Yes, just 5 days prior. Not a coincidence. Spacehunter had to beat the clock and get released before Jedi because otherwise they would have been clobbered at the box office and never made their money back on production cost.
Yes, they did make their money back, but not by much. It was very wise to have this released before Jedi, because had they not done that, the movie certainly would have lost money.
Wimpy story, but great visuals and sound
For literally every character in this movie, either a small amount of information was given about them to push the weak story along, or hardly any at all.
The three girls seen in the beginning? They each have names, but I guarantee you won't find out what those names are until looking at the end credits. Also, you will not get any info whatsoever on where these girls came from or why they're even important. All you're given is "Good guy must rescue these three girls that were on a cruise that got blown up." That's it.
You're never given a chance to care about any of the characters because of lack of info. And for any moment when the movie hints at telling you more about anybody, it just stops and goes back to the adventure stuff. The whole movie is like this.
Visually, yes, well done. Good sets, good costumes, good makeup, good lighting, good props. All good. Everything looks very sci-fi like the way it's supposed to. Some point out that there are certain things that look cheap, but I counter that by saying overall it's a good presentation.
Sound is also well done. I can hear everything that's going on and things are mixed well. It's a far cry better than many other 1980's movies.
I know now why I forgot this movie existed
Production is good, but it's the lack of story more than anything else that just kills this movie. It's the weak story that makes this flick so forgettable...
...and I believe that is why I totally forgot about it all these years until just recently.
What I liked about this movie when I saw it 38 years ago was the same thing I liked about it now. The visuals and spectacle of the whole thing. I was impressed by what I saw knowing it's a movie from 1983.
But as for story, there really isn't one. Spacehunter could have been so much more.
The Ice Pirates 1984
There are some movies that can only live in the time which they were made. This is one of them.
In the mid-2000s I started a journey to watch every single movie I had seen as a kid, especially for the ones I only had fuzzy memories of.
Examples of this are Logan's Run and The Gumball Rally.
I thought, incorrectly, that I had finally finished the journey when I saw The Black Cauldron. I was certain that yes, this was it. This was the last one.
No. There are two more. The Ice Pirates and Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone.
I just re-watched The Ice Pirates, and that's what I'm going to talk about now. I've not re-watched Spacehunter yet, but will very soon.
What is The Ice Pirates and why did it even happen?
This is a goofy sci-fi adventure movie from 1984, meaning it's 37 years old at the time I write this in 2021. I saw it originally when it was new.
The movie is exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. Pirates in space on a swashbuckling adventure.
I'm pretty sure the last time I saw this was literally in the 1980s. My fuzzy memories of that time tell me that not only did I see it in a movie theater, but I also watched it at home either as a VHS videocassette rental or from seeing it on television during the summer. I'm convinced I saw this a few times long ago due to how many scenes I actually remembered while re-watching it. When you see a movie once, then don't see it again for decades, you barely remember anything about it. But I was recognizing and remembering a good chunk of this movie, so I had to have seen it a handful of times.
It's a fun movie and I liked it. But seeing it now all these years later reminds of why this movie happened in the first place.
The sole reason this movie happened because of Star Wars. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a ton of sci-fi movies and television shows happened because space adventure and space fantasy storylines were hot-hot-hot. Everybody was trying to cash in.
Yes, sci-fi adventure/fantasy movies had been around a long time (see The Forbidden Planet), but when Star Wars had its original three movie run from 1977 to 1983, the influence it had was far and wide. And that's how movies like The Ice Pirates happened.
Is this movie a spoof of Star Wars? No. A lot of people think it is, but it's not. The movie does tell a story that is its own thing. As such, it's not a parody, meaning not a spoof. This isn't Spaceballs.
Worth watching?
This movie is certainly more than old enough to qualify as vintage era, given it's almost 40 years old.
With that said, if you like the original Star Wars and want to see a "byproduct movie" specifically from that era, then yes, you'll like The Ice Pirates.
A list of ridiculously accurate watches
When you want to-the-second accuracy, only certain watches can cut the mustard.
Certain types of guys like watches that are really, really accurate, almost to an obsessive level.
I'll start with the Bulova Precisionist. The second sweep is the smoothest you'll ever see (and I'm not kidding), and only gains or loses a few seconds per year. Is it an atomic sync watch? No. The watch, all on its own, is literally that accurate. You'd think a watch like this would sell for thousands. It's way, way less than that.
The one issue some guys have with the Bulova Precisionist is the battery life. It's ridiculously accurate, but only has about 2.5 years before a battery change is required...
...and that's where solar atomic watches are usually the go-to for guys that want ridiculously good accuracy and a watch that doesn't need a battery change for 10 years. As long as a solar powered watch is kept in the light (room light is just fine,) the battery can easily last a decade. Sometimes even as long as 20 years.
The list below are all solar atomic watches, because when you want super accuracy with zero maintenance, you go solar atomic.
The list
- Any solar atomic Casio G-SHOCK - These are mostly digital, but it's tough, it's accurate and can take a beating.
- Any Casio Waveceptor Tough Solar model - To note, not all Casio Waveceptor watches are solar. Only the ones that specifically have "Tough Solar" printed on the dial are as such. If you don't like the look of a G-SHOCK and want something more traditional and smaller, check these out.
- Any Citizen Promaster "Blue Angels" model - These have complicated dials, some are 100% analog, some ana-digi, some with regular strap, some with metal bracelet. They're also all big. However, these watches in addition to being solar atomic have a ton of features. Chronograph, full date, time zones, all auto-synchronized. You get a ton of watch for the money.
Honorable mention: Any Seiko SNE model. If it's a Seiko and the model name starts with SNE, it's solar, but not atomic, meaning it's a regular quartz movement.
I mention the Seiko SNE because there are several smaller models that can very easily be used as dress watch timepieces for a more upscale look. Everything you can think of is offered. White dial, black dial, green dial, blue dial, date, day-date, chronograph, leather straps, stainless steel bracelet, gold, two-tone, black, smooth bezel, fluted bezel, round, square, rectangle... it's all there. The SNE is the "secret weapon" of Seiko. Very reliable and a crazy amount of choices.
NUX JTC PRO might be the best guitar looper right now
There is a very specific reason for this.
Loopers are easy to find of all various shapes, sizes and capabilities. But the NUX JTC PRO has something to it that's really nice which actually has nothing to do with looping at all.
What most guys who use loopers want is something with a drum machine in it. There are several loopers that do that. However, a very longstanding complaint is that there is no way to separate the output of the drums from the looped guitar.
Well, you can with this one. It is literally as easy as outputting the looped guitar to the L (left) channel and drums to the R (right) channel, feed to a multitrack unit like the ZOOM R8, and ta-da, done.
To be clear, many loopers with drum machines built in can have drums vs. loop volume levels adjusted, but you cannot separate the signal path of the drums from the loop, whereas you can with this pedal.
By easily outputting two separate channels, this actually works out very nicely for both live performances and when you want to feed your loops/songs to a multitrack unit later.
I'm not saying the drum machine in the NUX is great, because it isn't. The drums are basic but they sound good enough. It's the fact you can separate the signal paths that really makes this thing worth getting.
I should also note that this is an advanced looper, meaning it's not super easy to use. This isn't the fault of NUX at all. Any advanced looper takes time to go through to figure out everything it can do. However, the NUX does have a good design to it. Yes, it's a "double wide" pedal, but that's what allows it to have all its inputs/outputs on the rear side.
Some may disagree with having all the jacks on the back as that doesn't make it the most pedalboard-friendly, but I believe it makes for easier cable management.
Is this NUX a true stereo looper? No, because it does not have left and right inputs. It has left and right outputs for signal path separation, but that's it. This means you will have to live in mono-only world with this looper.
Given the nice price of this looper, that's acceptable.