adventures in getting used to reading an analog clock
When you're used to reading a digital watch, switching to analog is literally learning to read time all over again.
There are tons of unbelievably cool looking clocks for cheap (all types, be it for wall, desk, nightstand use or whatever). Limiting yourself to just digital clocks means you're missing out on a whole ton of cool wristwatches and other clocks.
Believe me, after you see what you can get, you'll want to start getting more analog clocks.
My problem...
...is that I was totally used to a digital display and not analog when it came to telling time. This was a bit of problem when I started wearing an analog wristwatch.
The solution? Relearn the language of how time is told when using analog, which is purposely inexact.
The language of reading time on an analog clock
People get really confused by this, but I can assure you it's not confusing.
The top of the hour on the dial is minute position 12. 1:00pm would be stated as just "one" and nothing more unless you wanted to indicate daylight or lack thereof, i.e. "one in the morning" or "one in the afternoon".
The first large range of time on the dial is 1 to 5 where the word after or past is used.
Minute hand position 1 is five minutes after the hour (e.g. 1:05pm would be "five after one"). Minute hand position 2 is ten minutes after the hour (e.g. "ten past one"). Position 3 is a quarter-hour (e.g. "quarter after one"). Position 4 is twenty minutes (e.g. "twenty past one"). Position 5 is twenty-five minutes (e.g. "twenty-five after one").
The middle of the dial is hand position 6, half. The time of 1:30pm would be "half past one".
The second large range of time on the dial is 7 to 11 where the word of, to, until or the shortened 'til is used, and this is the part that confuses people most.
Instead of counting minutes after the hour, you're now counting minutes until the next hour.
Minute hand position 7 is twenty-five minutes before the next hour is reached (e.g. 1:35pm would be "twenty-five to two"). Position 8 is twenty minutes before the next hour (e.g. "twenty of two"). Position 9 is one quarter before the next hour (e.g. "quarter until two"). Position 10 is ten minutes before the next hour (e.g. "ten 'til two"). Position 11 is five minutes before the next hour (e.g. "five to two").
Round it
This is where the inexact part comes in.
Rounding the minute to the nearest major index makes it easier to tell the time faster, even though it technically results in the time stated being slightly wrong.
For example, if the time on the dial is 3:54pm, the minute hand is closest to the 11 position on the dial, so you round the time to 3:55pm. Since the minute hand is on the second large range of time on the dial, you're counting minutes until the next hour, therefore the time is stated as "five to four," meaning "five minutes until four o'clock".
Generally speaking, the rounding range is two minutes before or after a major index.
Here are two examples of that:
Anywhere from 6:28pm to 6:32pm would be "half past six".
Anywhere from 9:13am to 9:17am would be "quarter after nine".
WHY bother reading the time this way at all?
There are three reasons.
Reason #1: It makes fashionable watches readable
The Skagen SKW6106, much like my Orient Three Star, only has minute indices placed at five-minute intervals. Between those indices? Nothing. What this means is that just from looking at the dial, you basically never have absolutely exact to-the-minute time anywhere outside of those five-minute intervals...
...which is not a problem if you state the time inexactly as noted above.
You will notice that several Skagen brand models are similar to the style shown above, and that doesn't make them "bad" watches. It just means you have to know how to read an analog dial.
Reason #2: Exactness is not required
When I think of people that have a real need for exact times from a watch, I think of those who work in medical, scientific or engineering fields of work.
And I suppose you could also argue that runners, gym rats and college students (as in the kind who time exams) require exactness from their timepieces also.
But for everyone else? It's not necessary to have a watch that's absolutely exact. In fact, it's usually true the only thing that really matters is having a clock to check to make sure you're not too late nor too early for something.
This brings me to the third reason...
Reason #3: A less stressful, "most human" way of reading/telling time
The closest you can possibly get to having nearly-perfect timekeeping is with an atomic digital watch such as any Casio "waveceptor" model.
However, when it comes to reading the time, I'm finding analog is better. It's a "lazier," less stressful, more human way of checking the time.
When I first received my Orient Three Star, I saw there were no minor minute indices on the dial and thought, "Uh-oh. Will I be able to tell time on this thing?" Answer: Yes, of course I can, and easily.
True, I had to learn again how to read time, but it wasn't difficult. And now I prefer it.
Digital is cool and all that, but analog time telling is just easier on the soul, if that makes any sense. I'll be keeping my digital timepieces because I still do use them periodically, but for my daily wearer, it's all analog all the way.
Rich's review of The Prisoner
"Who are you?"
"The New Number 2."
"Who is Number 1?"
"You are Number 6."
"I AM NOT A NUMBER! I AM A FREE MAN!"
[insert evil laugh here]
The Prisoner has had, as I've come to find out, great influence on both film and television for its storytelling and style; it also has a good following even though it only ran for 17 episodes from 1967 to early 1968.
I only found out about this show very recently, and am genuinely surprised I didn't learn of it sooner.
Generally speaking, what most fans of this show come to the conclusion of is that the series starts off great, but the ending is just plain awful.
Do I agree with this? Mostly, yes. I'll get more into that in a moment.
While watching episodes of this show, I guarantee you will pick out scenes that you've seen repeated in other shows and movies. You'll see the obvious influence from The Prisoner everywhere from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery to certain episodes of Star Trek: Voyager to a whole bunch of other shows and movies.
I wish there were more instances of Rovers
Most episodes of The Prisoner take place in a place called The Village, and that place has many security measures in place to make sure nobody escapes. The most interesting piece of security to keep people in check is what's known as a Rover.
A Rover is a thing that looks like a big white balloon, and you don't know whether it's alive or a machine or a strange combination of both. When it appears, a deafening roar is heard, not-so subtly hinting that it is, in fact, alive... but possibly not because it also makes an electronic style noise as well. The sole purpose of a Rover, as far as I know, is to either recapture or kill anyone who tries to escape The Village.
The Rover is also interesting for the fact that if it even suspects someone may try to escape, it will slowly follow just to make sure whomever it's following stays in line.
The powers who run The Village are the ones that deploy a Rover and it would appear all Rovers "live" in the sea (although in the first episode, a Rover manifests itself out of a water fountain). When one is requested, it shoots up from the sea floor to the surface, and then seeks out the target it's assigned to.
My only complaint about the Rovers? I wish the show had used them more.
Is the show any good?
This is where I talk about "good start, awful ending" concerning The Prisoner.
If you decide to watch this show, I obviously can't guarantee you'll feel the same way I do about it, but these are my observations.
At first, I was really emotionally invested in this show. It started off being mysterious and weird and I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what Number 6's real name was, I wanted to know more about The Village, I wanted to know where The Village was, and so on. There was certainly enough there to make me think, "Yeah, this is worth watching to see it through so my questions will answered to satisfy my curiosity."
Episodes 1 through 9 are great. Episodes 10 and 11 are where things started getting shaky. Episode 12... eh, not liking this... and then from 13 until the end, episode 17, is where everything goes down in flames.
I will say this however: At least there is an end. While true not all questions are answered and it's one of the most awful conclusions to a television show you will ever see in your life (I'm not kidding), it's better than no end.
If you're asking yourself, "Is the final episode really that bad?" Yes, it is that bad. I can understand what the show was trying to do, but ultimately it was just a total mess. Even when the final episode originally aired, viewers at the time were rightly ticked off.
Why the sudden sharp turn into the dumper at the end? One of the original co-creators of the show had left due to disagreements. He had written a far better end, but since he left, his story arc wasn't used. The end result is the mess that is the final episode.
Worth watching?
Yes.
Even though the final episode makes me wince, I still enjoyed watching The Prisoner. It's not like anything else I've seen before.
What I liked best was actually the fact I could not predict what was going to happen next; the show does this in a very good way.
With many TV shows, even for brand new ones made today, you'll be able to easily predict what will happen from scene to scene for episodes you've not even seen before. Why? Crappy writing and reused storylines over and over again...
...which does not happen in The Prisoner whatsoever, and that's good.
Sure, the show may be kitschy and campy at times, but what it does do right it does very well.
It is totally worth flipping over a few bucks to watch this.
Guitar of the week #54 - Reverend Sensei
I consider this one of the better offerings from Reverend just because it doesn't look dopey.
And what is a dopey looking Reverend? The Jetstream model. Everything looks good until you get to that headstock on that particular guitar, and it's all downhill from there.
The Sensei model however, looks way better. And it costs less.
Reverend's Sensei RA FM is specifically designed for rock and metal players, although it could suit any music style.
Outfitted for this particular guitar are Railhammer pickups where you have rails under the wound strings and poles under the plain strings. This actually does make sense, because wound strings vibrate "off the pole" more often, and since there are rails for the wound area, you get more sound out of the string. At the same time, the plain/unwound strings keep their poles for the best possible clarity.
Typical to every Reverend (as far as I know) is a bass contour knob. It's a way of adjusting the overall voice of the sound via a passive bass roll-off. This does help out when switching from amp to direct plug-in and back again, as you can adjust the bass "kick" for whatever you're plugging in to.
Other quick specs: 24.75-inch scale (like a Les Paul), 12-inch radius fingerboard (again, like a Les Paul), medium oval neck shape (like a Fender), 22 medium jumbo frets.
Not exactly like a Les Paul, not exactly like a Fender, but borrows from both, while at the same time having electronics goodies that make it truly a Reverend original feel and sound.
Is the Reverend worth its price? That's up to you, but you do get a lot of guitar for the money. Reverend builds guitars right, no question about that.
How to find a refurbished guitar, bass, amp or effect
You might want to bookmark this page as it will literally save you hours of searching.
Many guitars are sold as refurbished instruments. You just have to find them.
"Refurbished" does not necessarily mean "used". It can mean the item was a return (customer bought it, didn't like it, returned it), a demo instrument (guitar has been in a guitar store for a while and played/tested by many but not bought), a "B-stock" (slight defect, usually a dent in the body or scratch), and so on.
That being said, some example searches might be:
- refurbished electric guitar
- refurbished guitar amplifier
- refurbished guitar effect
- refurbished acoustic guitar
- refurbished electric bass guitar
- refurbished acoustic bass guitar
Does "refurbished" mean you get a warranty?
Usually, yes.
What kinds of guitars, amps, basses and effects are available as refurbished?
All kinds. Cheap, mid-tier and high-end.
All you needed were the search types to find the refurbs...
...and now you have them.
Happy hunting.
Orient Three Star (Tri Star) watch review
A back-to-basics Japanese self-winding automatic. And it's really cool.
This watch was gifted to me by reader Chuck (thank you, Chuck!), so my total cost for this particular timepiece was $0.00...
...but this is absolutely worth buying. What a steal this watch is for what you get.
Name confusion
I've seen this watch go by not one but three names, Orient Three Star, Orient Tri Star and Orient Crystal. I've also seen two different dials. One has blocks and the other sticks. I went with blocks, which is what I wanted.
Supposedly, the proper name for this timepiece is the Orient Three Star, sometimes written as Orient 3 Star.
I've not seen any of these watches for sale under the model name Crystal. Some call it that because the word Crystal is physically printed on the dial just below the three stars.
A whole bunch of people call it the Tri Star, so... whatever, I guess. Three Star, Tri Star... doesn't really matter.
Several firsts
This is my very first mechanical watch; it has no battery in it whatsoever.
This is also my first self-winding automatic watch.
This is also my first watch to feature a second hand that beats 21,600 times per hour (as in 6 beats/ticks per second.)
The specs
Lots of contradicting information from listing to listing about the Three Star. However, I measured the thing myself, so now I have the accurate figures.
- Case size without crown: 37mm
- Case size with crown: 38mm
- Lug-to-lug: 42mm
- Lug width: 19mm (you can get away with 18mm however with a strap change)
- Thickness: 11mm
- Crystal: Flat (meaning not domed)
- Case back: Screw-on
- Water resistance rating: 30 meters (meaning splash resistant, not really waterproof)
This watch fits on my wrist very nicely. I do have small wrists, but had to remove 4 links to get the bracelet to fit. Also bear in mind that the clasp has 8 micro adjustment holes, which is quite a bit.
In other words, unless you have Sasquatch-sized wrists, it should fit just about anyone.
The look
The Three Star to me is old-school Japanese watch styling. And believe me, its look totally works.
What I was first taken by out-of-the-box is how much better the watch looks in person compared to online photos. Night and day difference. In product photos, the Three Star looks cheap, but in person it looks like a proper gentleman's watch.
Ordinarily, I do not like a watch dial that is nothing but symbols, but the way the Three Star is designed works well.
For some, the date window might be a little too small, but I'm totally okay with it.
Operating this basic Japanese automatic
When I found out this watch was coming my way, I looked up some information on it. I'm glad I did, else I would have been quite confused (only because of my inexperience with timepieces like this).
One crown, one button
On the right side of the case is the crown, and above that one button.
When pressed in, the crown does nothing. When pulled to first position, you can adjust the date. When pulled to second position, you can adjust the time.
The button's only function is to adjust the day. You adjust the time until the day changes after passing midnight, then set the day from there. The days are stated in both English and Spanish. Pick the day in your language. Easy enough.
No manual wind
The way to wind the watch is dirt simple. Either just wear the thing and walk around, or hold the watch in your hand and shake it (gently) back and forth. When you do this, you actually hear the spring winding. And because it's a self-winding automatic, there is no way to overwind it, as there is a clutch inside that will disengage the winding once full tension is reached.
How long do you have to shake it so it runs all day (and usually well beyond that?) A minute or less. Takes hardly any time at all.
Power reserve
The reserve is reported to be about 45 hours. If you don't move much, just shake it back and forth for a minute or so every morning and that's all there is to it to keep the watch running.
Non-hackable seconds
The Three Star's movement does not have hackable seconds. The instant the mainspring has tension, the second hand starts and there's no way to stop it until the watch winds down.
What this means is that there isn't any way to set super-precise time on the Three Star. At any time you will be anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds off, which on this watch is not a big deal.
Readability
Yes, it passes the 2-second test... mostly
The 2-second test, as I first mentioned here, means a watch dial design that passes that test is good if you can glance and read the time from it in less than 2 seconds.
The Three Star does pass this test for two reasons. First, it has an uncluttered dial, and second, the minute hands are as such where they can be distinguished just about anywhere...
...except the 3 position, because that's where the date window is. When either hand is over that, it gets a bit washed out. Not really a big deal, I suppose.
Minute indices in 5 minute increments only
The Three Star's dial has indices spread 5 minutes apart. In between those indices is nothing.
Was I upset about this? Surprisingly, no I wasn't. And the reason for that is it's easy enough to estimate what the minute is between any of the two indices.
The ticking...
...is darned near perfect.
First, it's a quiet tick. Lovely.
Second, because of the 21,600 beats per hour, when you hold it up to the ear you hear a fast tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick and it's a nice sound.
Third, when away from the ear, you don't hear it at all.
It's a tick done right, that's for sure.
Bracelet
Functional, but feels a bit cheap. I'm personally okay with it, but it is a bit thin and the edges are a little sharp.
Fortunately, it would be very easy to change the bracelet out to something else, such as black leather or a NATO, if desired.
Is this a real Japan movement?
The bottom of the Three Star's dial has a small jumble of numbers that appears to be caliber information in the smallest print ever. I was able to read it, and Japan is mentioned. But I wasn't able to find anything further from searching that number online.
I tried looking up my Three Star's caliber information from the case back, but that didn't really lead me anywhere either.
My guess is that unless what's stated on the dial is blatantly lying to me (which I doubt), I do believe the automatic movement is truly Japanese. I don't know if this means the movement was made in Japan or designed in Japan and constructed elsewhere like Thailand or Indonesia. Not a clue. All I know is that the dial states it's a Japan movement.
Why does this matter? Some watch enthusiasts consider this information to be a big deal even on low-end models like the Three Star.
The bad
There are three things I don't like about the Three Star.
First, the metal bracelet, while nice and light, feels a bit sharp around the edges. An oyster bracelet this is definitely not.
Second, I've already managed to scratch the case. The stainless steel somehow got a little scuff near the 6 position in less than a week of owning it. I imagine with regular wear that my Three Star is going to get all sorts of scratched up over time. Then again, that's what happens when you wear a watch regularly.
And yes, I do plan on wearing it regularly because I actually like this timepiece quite a bit.
Third, the lume is totally worthless.The hands have lume and there are dots on the dial for every index except the 3 position because the date window is there. But it's a very low-powered lume and there's no way to read this thing in the dark.
Best low-end self-winding automatic?
Yes.
The Three Star is a great introduction to a self-winding automatic. It's a simple watch that's easy to figure out. Definitely the easiest day-date analog I've ever used. For the price, you really can't do any better.
I think the best reason to buy an Orient Three Star is just for the fact it's a "workhorse automatic." It looks nice enough, it fairly light for what it is (mine after removing links to fit my wrist is just 81g,) it seems to be accurate from my experience with it thus far, and yeah, good watch. I'm happy to own it.