Does anybody really know what time it is?

kalipygian

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"click, ...., click, .... click, .... WWV National Bureau of Standards, Bolder, Colorado. At the tone, the Universal Coordinated Time will be fifteen hours, 24 minutes.... BEEEEEP, buzzada, buzzada, buzzada, click, buzzada, buzzada, buzzada, click, buzzada...."

Its been a while since I actually listened to it, but I have to confess to being a radio geek as well. Its the kind of thing you don't admit to very often. When you do, the conversation stops, people smile painfully at you and start looking around for an excuse to join another conversation.

As a kid on a slightly remote part of Kodiak Island in the mid 60's shortwave was quite literally the only radio broadcast there was, remember from WWVH 'when the tone changes the time will be ...........hours.........minutes greenwich mean time'. It was sufficiently entertaining to be left on for hours.
 

dannymawg

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Bummer. When did that happen?
And, no, I was unaware of R. Kelly's residence nearby. Must have been after my time there...
The same folks that own Metro and Double Door owned the building but sold it in 95-96 somewhere. By that time I was living on the south side anyway.

I'm there. What do they have on tap?
Beer :biggrin1:

Newcastle for sure as that's pretty much all I drink in the winter. That and Black and Tans. So they have Guinness and Harp too... Goose Island...

Almost forgot - the Brain has no televisions. Anywhere. Excepting the Araknoid game in the back. Also has tasty improv jazz on Sunday nights.

I have to confess to being a radio geek as well. Its the kind of thing you don't admit to very often. When you do, the conversation stops, people smile painfully at you and start looking around for an excuse to join another conversation.
It was sufficiently entertaining to be left on for hours.
Ah-HA! Fellow geeks identified! I lost interest in shortwave as I wound up never sitting/living in one place long enough to get back into it. I'll probably revisit it as old age advances... BTW JA, while I have your attention - I fully admire your posts and brain from here. The exchange between you and spiker in the religion thread fully influenced my thinking. I was just too unqualified/at a loss for words to chime in. Still am. Thanks to you both.

Oh! Thanks for telling me. My diamond watch had stopped stone-cold dead.
**Huge Chicago fan here**
Ah-HA! Fellow Chicago geeks identified! I really hate how the early stuff gets cubbyholed with the rest of their schmaltz. And how they always seem to be associated with those kids who were always hassled for being in marching/orchestra bands in HS. I'd love to cover this song with the caveat of the horn sections being replaced by crunchy Marshall stack guitars... [now there's what my new username shoulda been... Marshall Stack :tongue: ]

"And I said... yes! I said:"

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" - Chicago
As I was walking down the street one day
A man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was
on my watch, yeah
And I said

(I don't) Does anybody really know what time it is
(care) Does anybody really care
(about time) If so I can't imagine why
(oh no, no) We've all got time enough to cry

And I was walking down the street one day
A pretty lady looked at me and said her diamond watch had
stopped cold dead
And I said

(I don't) Does anybody really know what time it is
(care) Does anybody really care
(about time) If so I can't imagine why
(oh no, no) We've all got time enough to cry

And I was walking down the street one day
Being pushed and shoved by people trying to beat the clock
oh, so I just don't know
I just don't know
And I said, yes I said

[background vocal over third verse]
(People runnin' everywhere
Don't know the way to go
Don't know where I am
Can't see past the next step
Don't have to think past the last mile
Have no time to look around
Just run around, run around and think why)

(I don't) Does anybody really know what time it is
(care) Does anybody really care
(about time) If so I can't imagine why
(oh no, no) We've all got time enough to die

 

JustAsking

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... BTW JA, while I have your attention - I fully admire your posts and brain from here. The exchange between you and spiker in the religion thread fully influenced my thinking. I was just too unqualified/at a loss for words to chime in. Still am. Thanks to you both...

danny,
Thanks for the kind words. The question is in which direction did I influence you? Don't answer that here, though. Religion should stay in those threads that are clearly marked for easy avoidance. Also, I loved that first Chicago album.

As for geekitude, my geekness is certified by the FCC in the form of an amateur radio license. Am I the geekiest one here? ¿Quién es ma's geeky?
 

dannymawg

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danny,
Thanks for the kind words. The question is in which direction did I influence you? Don't answer that here, though. Religion should stay in those threads that are clearly marked for easy avoidance. Also, I loved that first Chicago album.

As for geekitude, my geekness is certified by the FCC in the form of an amateur radio license. Am I the geekiest one here? ¿Quién es ma's geeky?
Hardly :biggrin1:

Allow me to pound out a PM to you in the morning when I myself am/is/are less hammered...

And look at this - I started a thread that actually got off the ground!

Geekness = one of the most damaging aspects of my personality was my first job, in a hardware store in the early 80s. They had a local Lite FM station on the PA system, until ASCAP came in to threaten a lawsuit unless the store bought a Muzak system. Listening to stuff like this while mixing paint has caused me in later life to want to start a metal band that covers these songs. I mean come on - listen to the guitar solo - this would be so hot! :biggrin1: Keep the harmonies/structures, but just amp it up for the kids...

And once the Muzak system was installed, I rigged a hidden cassette deck to tape hours worth of the stuff for later "enjoyment". I have a bunch of ancient D90 cassettes somewhere that I need to search through to find a Muzak version of Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone" - I shit you not.

All of this is on top of the punk/metal/indie tendencies I have...

Back to the "time" theme... don't wanna geek out too hard...

"Time Of The Season" - The Zombies
 

JustAsking

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Keep up with your Morse code? That would be geeky, indeed.

Haha, for the last 40 years, yes. I am at a geeky 55 - 60 wpm, copying it in my head.

.-
-- .- -.
.-- .. - .... --- ..- -
-- --- .-. ... .
-.-. --- -.. .
.. ...
.-.. .. -.- .
.-
-.-. .-.. --- -.-. -.-
.-- .. - .... --- ..- -
.... .- -. -.. ...

:rolleyes:
"A man without morse code is like a clock without a face. "

To which I respond: .-.

(Geek trivia: When you think you have gotten the other guys message ok, you fire back the letter "R", which is shorthand for "Received". This goes way back to the landline telegraph days. When voice communications came along, they started using the phonetic word assigned to the letter "R", which is "Roger". Thats where that came from.

Also the term to receive and write down a morse code message is to "copy" it. The term is still used as jargon on voice communications. How many times have you heard Jack Bauer say, "Copy that" to Chloe? It has taken on the many connotations of "I heard that ok, I understand it, and I affirm it.")

...". I have a bunch of ancient D90 cassettes somewhere that I need to search through to find a Muzak version of Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone" - I shit you not.

All of this is on top of the punk/metal/indie tendencies I have...

You are the definitely the coolest geek on here. Way out of my league.

But then again, "Time is on my side, yes it is".
 

dannymawg

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No, its Quarter To Three. If you get that one you are too old.

(ouch) So set 'em up, Joe.
For you guys, and it's never too old: Sinatra
LOL - "psst.... which way is the audience, pally?"

You are the definitely the coolest geek on here. Way out of my league.
Aw go on :biggrin1:

"Out of my league" was the dominant thought while reading the religion threads. Still recovering from last night, so your PM will have to wait till tonight :redface:

Morse code = my time spent in my dad's friend's shack was right at the time where, for a few bucks in parts and a breadboard, one could build a Morse code decoder/display - so I was lazy in that respect. And I was spending more time tuning and listening to freaky stuff like that female voice that would broadcast, at seemingly random frequencies and times, a slow string of cryptic numbers: "4.... 6.... 2.... 7.... 1.... 5...." You ever hear that, or of it JA?

Here's some links to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, for those not bored out of their skulls by this thread and wondering what WWV is all about (seeing as this is what started the conversation):

NIST station WWV

hear a non-real time sample of the signal

Check your computer's clock against the national standard

Download free software to synchronize your computer's clock to the national standard

"Ticking away
the moments
that make up a dull day...
"
 

JustAsking

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"... a clock without hands," no?
Haha, yes, that's right. Copying fast morse code becomes an exercise in hearing each letter or even some whole words as unique sound bursts and not as a series of dots and dashes. So I had to speak your morse code out loud as "dit dah dah dit dit...", etc and write each letter down.

Time Out (album) - Dave Brubeck Quartet (Dave is the all-time master of time, and my all-time musical hero).
 

D_alex8

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"A man without morse code is like a clock without a face. "

"... a clock without hands," no?

Thank you and thank you, kind sirs.... I was beginning to think that I had "über-geeked", and that my morse post would sit unresponded to forevermore. :rolleyes: Now I feel safe in the knowledge that I am... well, no geekier than either of you. :eek: :cool: :wink:
 

JustAsking

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:rolleyes: Now I feel safe in the knowledge that I am... well, no geekier than either of you. :eek: :cool: :wink:
No, I can't leave it at that. I am convinced I am the biggest geek here, and definitely without the geeky coolness that dannymawg exhibits. Ok, Quien es ma's geeky:

I used to commute 45 minutes to work on I495 while doing morse code. I had an electronic keyer and precision paddles between the bucket seats and a little speaker between the two posts holding up the headrest. I talked to people all over the world in CW (morse code), including Antartica, while cruising along the highway. Can anyone top that for geekiness?

I might be able to win the geek contest Time After Time (Cindy Lauper).