STS-135 Quick Facts

I was just thinking about a 1 paragraph mission summary for STS-135 in layman's terms.

If I was a commander.. I'd be like OK, let me see if I got this correct (rough and probably incorrect math)You want me to take this 122 ft long brick with an 80 ft wingspan, strapped to 1 MILLION lbs of rocket fuel providing 5.2 MILLION lbs of thrust.. and fly it at 17,000 miles per hour for 3 days, then do back flip and park it at a moving airport gate, that is oh.. 200 miles above the earth drop off some supplies and a year's worth of food....? Sure! no problem!

http://www.frontiernet.net/~docbob/shuttle.htm

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/135_flash/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing_Mechanisms

http://www.spaceflight101.com/sts-135-flight-day-3-photos.html

Shelter Me - a "Psalm" by Tab Benoit

UPDATE: Nobody corrected me, but in the mood of copyrighting, registering songs with ASCAP, etc... I searched for the writers/composers and discovered this song incredibly stuck in my head.. still was the creative work of Buddy and Julie Miller Check them out and follow them for some good stuff!

Preach it brother Tab!

This post is dedicated to all in the flood path even tougher than Tab Benoit's Tele Tone! Stay Dry, Y'all!

If you never listened to the lyrics.. you can read them in this note. It almost reads like a Psalm if you as me.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqzD92tUowY


Shelter Me – Tab Benoit

The Earth can shake, the sky come down, The mountains all fall to the ground.
But I will fear, none of these things. Shelter me, Lord underneath Your wings

Dark Waters rise, and thunder pounds, the wheels of war are going round,
And all the walls are crumbling
Shelter me Lord, underneath Your Wings. Shelter me Lord underneath Your wings

Hide me underneath Your wings. Hide me deep inside Your heart.
In Your refuge – cover me
The world can shake, but Lord I’m making You my hiding place.

The wind can blow, the rain can pour. The deluge breaks, the tempest roars, but in the storm my spirit sings oh shelter me Lord underneath Your wing. Shelter me Lord underneath Your wing.

Hide me underneath Your wings. Hide me deep inside Your heart.
In Your refuge, cover me.
The world can shake, but Lord I’m making You my hiding place.

Now on the day, You call for me. Someday when time, no more shall be.
I’ll say death, where is your sting? Shelter me Lord underneath Your wing
Shelter me Lord, underneath Your wing.

New life to old instrument friend the Tele-P-Rail Project

So after having my ole Tele Plus since oh.. 1992/1993 ish.. (I remember the fight with my new bride back then, but can't pin down the month and year I picked it up from Guitar and Banjo Studio in Beaumont.) I decided rather than start from scratch with a new project or search the world over for what I really wanted to try.. I'd modify the ole pal and see what I could get.

Here's the shopping list

Seymour Duncan P-Rails

Seymour Duncan Triple Shot

D'Addario /Planet Waves - Auto-Trim Locking Tuners

Mighty Mite Telecaster Bridge for Humbucker

An On-Off-On 3 way to replace the ON-ON-ON mini toggle

And a WHOLE BUNCH of Patience!

Here's how it ended up going;

I first thought I'd just change the Red-Dually in the bridge to a P-Rail.. and the neck pup to a Vintage Rail. I loved the tone of both and thought it might work..? HA! Nowhere near balance-able.. and MAN that P-Rail really whooped the V-Rail in tone. That project was really rough. I ended up spending oh.. $60 in mounting hardware parts.. Aluminum Flat bar, Wall Receptacle cover plates.. you name it.. I'm convinced that there is NOT on the market any mounting plate for a Tele-Plus to accept a standard humbucker. But the tone of the P-Rail was so inspiring, I set off on this quest.

I get all the stuff in.. check it out quickly and get started by pulling of the fairly brand new strings that I know I'll never get back through the body holes so I get over wasting brand new Elixirs and proceed.

Tuners 1st. - What..? I have to drill into the head....? They don't have the little posts that go into the drilled holes..? argh.. OK.. I get over that, measure twice, twice..and mount them. Some are bigger than others..? Or the tuner holes in the neck are smaller as the strings get smaller..?

So next I start removing the bridge.. It seems like it was almost ready to fall off.. it came off so easily. I set the new one on there and hardly a hole lines up.. Uh.. D'Oh...? UHM...? After some thinking.. I come up with "well, stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.. right..?" swallow a few lumps.. and mark and drill... I get it mounted and split the difference on the string holes, keeping the assembly centered. This takes WAY WAY longer than I expected, but overall not to bad thinking all along.. 5 bridge screws are better than 3..? Right..?

I go to mount the Bridge P-Rail in the bridge plate.. Uh.. Oh Oh.. it bottoms out in the routed hole... HMM... and drilling holes for the Triple Shot in the bridge plate looks way trickier than I'm in the mood for.. I trim springs and mounting screws, get it all mounted and move on to the pick guard. I went cheap on this (like $12 delivered cheap on EBay) because I'm not real sure I'll keep the set up, etc.. it's about 75% hit or miss on the pick guard as far as hole lining up. The Volume/Tone curved out notch is about 1/4" off and the bridge notch out isn't even close for this particular bridge.. so it's Dremel time; cutting wheel, sanding drum and straight bit.. (I've since determined in a few to 6 months when I'll be due to change the strings.. I'll "Splurge" on a $25 Warmoth cut to specs pickguard!)

I get all that to fit, then the mounting screws for the Triple Shot extend out over the body routing..? Uhm..? HMM.. trim, hot melt glue.. and Voila..

Time to solder.. the triple shot is extremely easy once mounted.. and the 3 way saved the day since the triple shot on the bridge plate might be another 4 hour project.. maybe when I change that pickguard, so I can series/Parallel it as well..?

About 7 hours.. after starting this adventure.. I start to string her up MAN! These auto-Trim tuners are SWEET! Snip Snip as you tighten up the 1st half round.. I just put the Big E and thought.. let me make sure this works electronically before wasting a set.. so I plug it in..

WHOAH NELLIE! Amazing P-90 and single coil tones galore.. SWEET! It WORKED! haha..

I string the rest up dial in the intonation and height, etc.. and buzz buzz buzz... Uh Oh... (Crickets sounding).. Then I realize if I loosen the tuners and make them coil down instead of up.. I get the right action on the nut to end the buzzing.. Finish up the set up using the strobe tuner in Presonus StudioOne.. CHA CHING!!! I jam on it for almost an hour. Talk about some Blues Funk bite and grind.. and chime for weeks! It's like my old friend got a new voice! Plays the same as it has for 20 years.. but sings so much better!

And I have effectively eliminated probably all excuses for not having any tone I could dream I want for a project..

Sounds Great! Don't you agree..?

P-Rails Tele Testin' by TommyKib

If you are about to embark on a similar adventure.. I hop this blog post helps save you time and money.. but I could write 3 more blogs on what I learned through this project.. so hit me up if you want to chat about it.

Happy pickin' and God Bless!

TK

Amplitube Fender vs 64Bit DAW

I was hooked on the Amplitube Fender sound the night the iPad app came out. This thing does sound like some killer Fender amps for a mere $15! Provided you already have the $39.99 iRig. I knew right then that these guys know what Fender is supposed to sound like, and Fender didn't just license anyone. It was a bit of a no brainer for me when I got emailed a coupon code for Amplitube Fender for less than Half Price

Now I'm not hesitant at all to say I REALLY LOVE Presonus Studio One Pro DAW after spending more $$ than I care to admit, on Cubase, Sonar, Ableton, Roland, various I/O Devices.. etc.. The one window idea and straight upload to SoundCloud were pretty much a dream come true for my efficiency wishes.

So I buy the Amplitube Fender, install it.. open up StudioOne Pro 64 Bit.. and Nothing! NADA, ZILCH.. not a single hint of the Amplitube Fender VST, despite pointing at the folders more than once. HMM...? I open up Sonar 8.5 for the 1st time in several months, and shabang.. it's right there and sounds GREAT.. DARNIT! I think.. I really want to use it in StudioOne... HMM.. Standalone..? Do I want to be bouncing around to get this PERFECT SWEET TONE!?!?!

So I read up on the forums and sure enough. I have to used StudioOne in the 32 Bit variety if I want to have Amplitube as a plug in.

A quick install and one activation code less.. Voila! Works great.. and WHOAH.. now all these Sonar Producer edition plugins will work as well..? Really...? COOL!

So Here's the difference... with a pretty boring Chord variation I just pulled out of a song I'm working on.

Guitar Rig LE's Clean Twang

and here's the Amplitube Fender Clean Twin version

Those are both presets I just picked.. so I'm feeling pretty excited about having all the Fender Amp and Effects Pedals and Cabinets in my arsenal now.

Happy picking, or strummin' or pluckin...

Tommy

Petroleum Products in Our Daily Lives

I saw this small list of items that come from petroleum that we use in our daily lives. I really wanted to share it.. but they had it in a WEIRD format.. so I am re-listing it here in plain HTML..

With all the BP MC252 leak news coverage everyone keeps talking about Gas this Gas that.. cars needing gas is why they were drilling. Truth be known, less than half of a barrel of oil ends up as Gasoline, and not a drop ends up as waste.

This post might dissappear.. I'm copying from http://iprb.org/index.html Who knew there was such a petroleum industry in Illinois?

Petroleum Products in Our Daily Lives

CLOTHING/TEXTILES

Ballet tights	nylon cord	women's polyester blouses
beads	pajamas	women's polyester pants
bracelets	pantyhose	nylon zippers
plastic hangers	permanent press clothing	dresses
purses	flip flops	earrings
ribbons	fake fur	windbreakers
sandals	garment bags	shoe laces
rain coats	iron-on patches	sneakers
sweaters	men's nylon undershirts	sofa pillow material
men's polyester shirts	men's polyester slacks	tote bags
umbrellas

OFFICE

Ball point pens	diskettes	thermometer
Ink	computers	typewriter ribbon/cartridges
business card holders	copiers	waste baskets
calculators	printer ribbon cartridges	microfilm
carbon paper	protractor	name tags
correction fluid	ring binder
erasers	rulers
letter divider	scotch tape
magic markers	telephone

SPORTS/HOBBIES/GAMES

Back packs	fishing lures	air mattresses	Polaroid camera
beach balls	fishing poles	hang gliders	vinyl cases
cameras	footballs	glue containers	puzzles
darts	Frisbees	golf ball/bags	shotgun shell casing
ear plugs	knitting needles	waterproof jackets	stadium cushion
earphones	yarn	kites	tennis racquet
fabric dye	decoys	lifejacket	nylon strings
face protectors	volley balls	model cars	plastic water gun
fishing bobbers	soccer balls	oil paints	parachutes
fishing cylume light stick	earphones	playing cards	photographs
monofilament fishing lines	diving boards	poker chips	goggles
roller-skate wheels	whistles	guitar strings	picks
rafts	ice chests	tents	sleeping bags
pole vaulting poles	motorcycle helmets	skis	rubber cement
plastic flower pots	water skis	hot tub covers	sails
snorkels	monkey bars	photo albums	wet suits
flippers	tennis balls	boats	insulated boots

INFANT/CHILDREN

Acrylic toys	baby oil	laundry basket	waterproof pants
baby aspirin	bath soap	mittens	pacifiers
baby blanket	bibs	rattles	double-knit shirts
baby bottles	disposable diapers	baby shoes	teething ring
nipples	dolls	stuffed animals	baby lotion

MEDICAL

Allergy medication	cotton-tipped swabs	inhalator liquid	Pepto-Bismol
aspirin	first aid cream	lancet for blood testing	pill case
band aids	first aid kits	latex gloves	prescription bottle
burn lotion	glycerin	mosquito spray	rubbing alcohol
chap stick	heart valve replacement	nasal decongestant	surgical tape
syringes	Vaseline	antiseptics	hearing aids
anesthetics	artificial limbs	eye glasses	antihistamines
cortisone	vaporizers	Bactine	oxygen masks
stethoscope	prescription glasses

HEALTH & BEAUTY

cologne	hair brushes	lipstick	permanent wave curlers
perfume	hair color	mascara	petroleum jelly
comb	foam rubber curlers	denture adhesives	shampoo
contact lens/case	hair spray	hand lotion	shaving foam
cough syrup	hearing aids	hair dryers	shoe inserts
dentures	Keri body lotion	face masks	skin cleanser
deodorants	laxatives	moisturizing cream	soap holder
disposable razors	leather conditioner	mouth wash	sun glasses
facial toner	lens cleanser	nail polish	sunscreen
tooth brushes	toothpaste tubes	vitamins	synthetic wigs
bubble bath	soap	capsules

KITCHEN/HOUSEHOLD

vinegar bottles	egg carton	meat trays	trash bags
bread box	freezer containers	melamine dishware	tumblers
cake decorations	jars	microwave divided dishes	utensils
candles	freezer bags	milk jugs	vacuum bottles
coasters	gelatin molds	nylon spatulas	wax paper
coffee pots	ice cream scoops	oven bags	mops
drinking cups	ice trays	plastic containers	fabric softener
detergent	liter bottles	plastic table service	drain stoppers
dish drainer	lunch boxes	pudding molds	sponges
dish scrubber brush	baggies	drinking straws	Styrofoam
paper cup dispenser	measuring cups	Teflon coated pans	table cloths
refrigerator shelves

FURNISHINGS

Carpet padding	naugahyde	Venetian blinds	TV cabinets
extension cords	picture frames	flocked wallpaper	shower doors
Formica	refrigerator lining	vinyl-coated wallpaper	curtains
kitchen carpet	shag carpet	welcome mats	fan blades
lamps	shower curtain	patio furniture	swings
linoleum	upholstery material	rugs

BUILDING/HOME MAINTENANCE

caulking material	light switch plates	plunger	faucet washer
clothesline	measuring tape	polyurethane stain	water pipe
electric saw	paint brush	propane bottles	wood floor cleaner/wax
vinyl electrical tape	plastic pipe	shingles (asphalt)	light panels
garden hose	plastic wood	spackling paste	awnings
glazing compound	Plexiglas	spray paint	enamel
epoxy paint	artificial turf	folding doors	floor wax
glue	house paint	paint rollers	toilet seats
water pipes	putty	solvents	roofing material
plywood adhesive	sockets	propane

AUTOMOBILE

Anti-freeze	flat tire fix	street paving (asphalt)	car battery case
coolant	motor oil	tires	loud speakers
bearing grease	sports car bodies	traffic cones	car enamel
brake fluid	dash boards	windshield wipers	visors
car sound insulation	oil filters	car seats	convertible tops
fan belts	gasoline

MISCELLANEOUS

Ash trays	dog food dishes	tool boxes	cd's
balloons	dog leash	tape recorders	synthetic rubber
bubble gum	dog toys	flashlights	nylon rope
bungee strap	fertilizer	flight bags	disposable lighters
cassette player	flea collars	flutes	lighter fluid
cigarette case	electric blankets	tool racks	name tags
cigarette filters	ammonia	insecticides	newspaper tubes
calibrated container	insect repellent	food preservatives	phonograph records
crayons	ice buckets	dyes	pillows
credit cards	flashlights	fly swatter	plastic cup holder
dice	movie film	k-resin	plastic tie
polyethylene	polypropylene	rain bonnets	luggage
video cassettes	charcoal lighter	rayon	safety glasses
safety gloves	safety hats	shoe polish	signs
cassette tapes	toys	watch bands	waterproof boots
shopping bags	bed spreads	traffic cones	check books covers
tobacco pouches	clothes hangers	flea collars	flavors
masking tape	safety flares	flags	signs
butane

Did we miss any?
There are thousands of products out there.
email iprb@yahoo.com to include items you know that are made from petroleum.