From Delaney Buffett

Posted on by September 9, 2023

• I knew my dad my whole life, but in his final days, I saw who he was: a man whose spirit could not be broken. Despite the pain, he smiled everyday. He was kind when he had every excuse not to be. He told us not to be sad or scared, but to keep the party going.
And as much as I’d like to use that as an excuse to drink myself into an oblivion worthy of his literary heroes, I know it’s not what he meant. Yes, he loved his weed and his wine, but the truth is, most of the time, he was just high on life, and that is what he wanted for everyone: to enjoy the fantastic trip that life can be.
My dad was the joy he sang about. He was the hardest working person I’ve ever seen. He was a great man and an even better dad to my brother, sister and me. He was generous with friends and strangers alike. He had a deep admiration for the people he worked with, and he never took himself too seriously, which is probably what I loved most about him.
When I showed him the South Park episodes that parody him, he loved chuckling along. I remember teasing him about their Margaritaville blender jokes, and without missing a beat, he zinged me with: “You live off those fucking blenders!” He got me there.
Over the past few days, people have thanked me for sharing my dad with them, but I know he would have wanted me to thank his fans for sharing their lives with him. We are his family, but the stage was his home, and you, his band, and everyone on the road gave him the strength to keep going back.
I’ll pass along something my mom said to me: “Whenever you feel sad or lost, look for the messages in his music. There are plenty. »
My dad repeatedly told us how much he appreciated the doctors, nurses, and every person who was there for him during his battle with cancer. So to those who took care of my dad at home and in the hospital, I want to thank you for giving us more time together. I am eternally grateful. To the family and friends supporting us during this time, thank you for reminding me of the importance of human connection. I knew laughter was the best medicine, but it’s never rung truer than it does now. “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.
And a big thank you to everyone for your tributes, stories, and notes. My dad and I shared a love for words, so reading yours has lit up my darkest hour. And finally, to my dad, thank you. You turned nothing into something and gave me everything. I will never be able to repay you or my mom for my beautiful life. I will love you forever, and I will always keep the party going (responsibly, of course).

 

 

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The Color Blue: A Tale of Shades, Confusion, and Ancient Mysteries

[Scene: A bustling publishing house, where a heated argument ensues about the color of text on a book cover.]

Editor: I’m telling you, the text on this book is cerulean blue!

Designer: No way, it’s more of an aquamarine shade!

Writer: Hold on, I think it’s leaning towards seafoam green-blue.

Assistant: Guys, let’s settle this once and for all. Bring out the Pantone color chart!

[The Pantone color chart is dramatically brought to the center of attention.]

Editor: Look, here’s Pantone 2955 C, the exact match for the book’s text!

Designer: But wait, what about Pantone 320 C? It seems closer to me.

Writer: Are you sure? I think Pantone 3242 C hits the mark.

[The tension rises as each person passionately defends their chosen Pantone color.]

Assistant: Let’s take a step back from the Pantone frenzy and dive into the captivating world of the color blue itself.

[The scene transitions into an ancient setting, with characters wearing flowing robes.]

Ancient Sage: Ah, the color blue, a fascinating enigma. Did you know that the ancients lacked a word for blue?

Curious Scholar: No word for blue? How could that be?

Ancient Sage: They described the sky as bright, the sea as dark, but the color blue eluded their linguistic grasp.

[The scene shifts back to the present, the publishing house.]

Editor: It’s incredible to think that the ancients didn’t have a word for blue. Perhaps they knew something we don’t.

Designer: Maybe they understood that colors transcend language and can’t be confined to labels.

Writer: True, it’s a reminder that our perception of colors is shaped by our culture and experiences.

[Everyone pauses, reflecting on the profound realization.]

Assistant: In the midst of our debate, we’ve uncovered a deeper truth about the subjective nature of color perception. It’s not just about Pantone numbers or shades; it’s about how colors evoke emotions and spark creativity.

[The scene concludes with a sense of wonder and intrigue.]

Assistant: So, let us continue to embrace the beauty and diversity of the color blue, celebrating the shades that captivate our imaginations. From the deep navy to the refreshing cerulean, from aquamarine to seafoam, the color blue holds endless mysteries and invites us to explore its depths.

[As the curtain falls, the publishing house is filled with a newfound appreciation for the complexity and wonder of the color blue.]

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September 17th: Cars car

I was elated to see the footpath leading into the fields had been mowed since my last visit. I have no idea how you did it because it is pretty narrow and there’s a kissing gate at one end. Just a few feet onto the path I had a strong signal and it turned out to be this toy car from the movie Cars. Not sure if the text on the side is Japanese or a sound effect maybe?

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Here’s what it looked like before it was lost on the footpath. Apparently it’s a special colour changing model released in September of 2017:

I checked several different spots on the way down the path but there wasn’t much of note. A lot of iron signals that discouraged me from doing more digging and several dog walkers that kept me moving along. 🙂

Once in the field I found a musket ball, which wasn’t a surprise as this is one field over from where the ammo cache was found and if I remember the old map data correctly, these three fields were all one field back in the day.

I also found an unknown coin and a very shiny naval button probably Victorian or more recent:

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It’s gold-plated on the front, the reverse says ‘Made in England’ but does not include a maker’s name.

The prize of the day though was this text book quality spectacle buckle from late 15th-early 16th century. It is in really good shape for being 8 inches down in very rocky soil:

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Cheers, and thank you again for a good day’s detecting!

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livery button

 

This was found very near where I live south of Salisbury. There was once a Royal Kennel associated with the area and Longford Castle is just down the road. I imagine that was the origin of this piece.

Fascinating info on the resident of that castle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pleydell-Bouverie,_3rd_Earl_of_Radnor

Livery Button

AirTag

Posted on by September 23, 2022

I found a STL for using an AirTag to track your pet but it was in two pieces with tiny screws in it. I played around with it in Tinkercad and made about 6 test prints but ended up with a one piece print that I was able to work with.

I used the flexi TPA filament so I could squeeze the AirTag into the mount. I could have printed it at a hight density or with a smaller tip to get a smoother print but I was happy with my first successful mod. It worked well until our cat slipped out of the collar and it got hung up under some fallen timbers. To it’s credit, the air tag is still checking in months after it was lost.

Robot Tommy takes a tumble

Posted on by September 22, 2021

This is a long one but it has an audio component I hope you can appreciate. First I need you to hear the first few seconds of this video:  Almost everyone will recognise it as the opening notes from the song “Land down Under” by Men at Work. But to me it has another meaning altogether.
We moved a lot when I was a kid and on one occasion my new bedroom was on the third floor up a tight twisty old staircase. I was only allowed to bring my most prized possessions with me: some books, some comics, a box of cool rocks I’d found and balanced on top of all that was Tommy the Atomic Robot. One of my uncles gave me Tommy. Tommy was older than I was but still sorta worked. When you activated him he would light up and say “I am the Atomic Powered Robot! Please give my best wishes to everybody!”(At least that’s what I think he said, Tommy slurred his words most of the time.
I was trying to be very careful going up that stair but being a chubby little kid one of my belt loops caught on the end of the railing and put me off balance. I fell back a step and the entire stack of items slipped off the bottom-most book, tumbled down the stairs, and bounced out of sight below. I’m sure I yelled Noooooooo! as the stack slid out of my hands and poor Tommy hit step after step making musical mechanical noises all the way down.
I am here to tell you, that Tommy made the exact same notes on the way down as the opening notes of Land Down Under! I felt alternating waves of horror and surprise as he went ‘ping ping pingy ping!‘ all the way down and out of sight.
My mom was at the bottom of the stairs and heard me shout and saw all my stuff come crashing down towards her. She  shouted up “Are you alright?” I replied That I was, but couldn’t stop alternately laughing and crying over Tommy’s last performance.

Cheers,

FlashJ

 

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Bianca and Space Ken

Posted on by September 16, 2021

I saw the name Bianca someplace today and it reminded me of playing with a cousin once when I was a kid. She had two dolls; one a normal 1970s Barbie and another off brand doll in much the same mold that she called Bianca. The only thing I remember about Bianca was that she had red hair and I think she was named after a friend of her mom’s. At first I did not want to play dolls with her but boredom took over and I joined in. She gave me a beat up and weathered Ken doll that was clearly not as well loved as the other two. At some point I molded some aluminum foil around Ken’s shoulders like a short jacket, gave it some peaks or fins and declared he was now an astronaut. My cousin disliked my deviation from her narrative and took Ken away. She also took the foil off of ‘Space Ken’ and put it on Bianca instead and declared her ‘Space Barbie.’ I still tried to suggest a few ideas to my cousin (Funny how I don’t remember her name but can remember her dolls!) but she rejected them all. When my Aunt Katherine asked me why I stopped playing with my cousin, I told her the basic storyline and how it was my idea in the first place, etc. etc. I recall my Aunt Katherine sniffing critically at me and saying “She can do what she wants with them dolls, but Bianca could never go to space, she smokes too much, if you ask me.”