Songs from Frank E screen shot 5 5 11

I have started writing songs.  It is a really magical sort of thing.  It was  hard at first to just relax about it.  I would be so uptight about what I was saying, how it would be taken or understood that I couldn’t commit to a first line.    Now I just have the attitude that they are what they are and that I should just keep writing and toss them over my shoulder like in figure drawing .   That said,  they take all the force of creation, and all the craft I can muster. some are very personal.  They end up being these revealing little gifts.  I have no idea were this stuff comes from and if think I do, in the end I realize I was wrong all along.  I have written about 12 songs in 12 months.  They come in waves. I’m not sure what to do with them They are all singer songwriter type stuff.  Me and my acoustic guitar. Mostly I enjoy playing them live for people, intimate settings. I’ve done some open mic nights which have been transformative but most of the time such.  Drunk people in a bar; hard crowd.   I have been recording, and want to put them on a CD shortly,  but recording and how to produce them opens another can of worms.   I don’t have many people to help me sort things out artistically.   ..Maybe you have some Ideas?

Solstice Returning by Frank E T

Lyric can be found at my soundcloud site.

2010 brought me great pleaser to work with the talented Carmen Caruso and her band Odd Owl.  It was lots of fun tracking with the band as well as the intensive mix sessions with Carmen.  The quirky pop tunes are not only contagiously danceable but smart, funny and provocative.    Purchase the CD here.

In addition to her work with Odd Owl, Carmen’s solo album “The Tree Philosophies” debut her sophisticated musical sense and playful compositional skills.  It was an honor to help with the finishing touches and master at MetaSonic.

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Tracking ‘fly by night’

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From Tucker June 3 2011 …but just then my tower blew so i was limping along with

the laptop and rolling hospital tray, which my caregiver-person-krewe was none too

pleased to see again.

praise for the monitor thingie:

“what is this small table? hey, tucker, you know what? I do not like this thing.” - nino

“hey what happened to the battlestar?… this thing sux! ” - michael v

“seriously, i’m going to name a freeway in frank truncales honor!”  - phillip

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For four years I have been sailing Del Corazon my little Choey Lee offshore 31 ketch. I had always assumed that the machining in the top of the rudder-post lined up with the rudder. In other words, if the tiller lined up mid-ship then the rudder would as well. One mid winter day I discovered that the rudder was off by about 5 or more degrees. To make matters worse I was convinced that after tying off the helm and tugging on the rudder with a boat hook I got it to move on the stock. I no longer felt comfortable sailing her and she sat in the slip until I could arrange for a haul out.

Economic times as they are, and the fact that I can barely afford to own a boat in the first place meant I needed to be smart and thrifty how I went about repairing this thing. I arranged with Carl at the Berkeley Marine Center for an overnight “haul and hang”. They would lift my boat at 5pm, I’d take the rudder off and they would splash me at 8am in the morning. I could then take my time to rebuild the rudder and avoid the lay days with the boat in my slip instead of the yard.

I prepared by doing as much of the work as possible in my slip. One of my concerns was the logistics of removing the prop and shaft, which needed to be removed in order for the rudder to come out. The bronze shaft is keyed and pinned into a steel coupling that bolts to the back of the transmission. I heard stories about difficulties separating these two parts so I decided better to do it in the slip rather than have difficulties in the sling at 8:00 at night. I used some bolts and an appropriately size socket to press the shaft out of the coupling.

The next problem was how to get the disabled boat around the marina both before and after the rudder comes out. The solution was to get my Avon inflatable and the 7.5 evinrude that had been in storage for the pass 3 years up and running. I repaired a few leaks in the Avon and after a number of rounds with the 2 stroke outboard motor my little tug was fit for service.

Finally all was ready to go for my haul and hang. I brought my now disabled boat over to the long dock at the Berkeley Marine Center were it waited for it’s turn to be hauled. It was there that one of the OCSC boats dragged its out board motor across my port quarter on the way into a slip. It made a gouge about two feet long and at its deepest about a 1/8 of an inch, through the still new looking Awlcraft paint down to the old gel coat.

Well I got to hand it to OCSC for their honesty and forthrightness. They had informed the Berkeley Marine Center of the mishap and agreed to cover the cost to have the damage repaired. When I went into to the BMC office a plan was already in affect to haul me and make the repairs at no charge to me. This meant I had about a week to do rudder repairs before the boat started accruing lay days.

That evening Del Corazon hung with her keel about three feet off the ground. I had quite the posse come out to help with the rudder removal which also included removing the prop and shaft. Thanks so much to Jack Suanders, Lathen Spalding, John Davie and Eli also Sky and Chiara.

Once the rudder was removed I ground away the fiberglass to expose the skeleton underneath. I was most concerned about the relatively small area were the stock attach to the rudder. I put a great big pipe wrench on the stock and a friend and I did our best to turn the stock in the blade…but nothing moved. I hit the wrench with a hammer, still nothing moved. I exposed a big beautiful C shaped stainless steel casting that attached the upper stock to the lower stock. It was in great shape with no evidence of cracks or rusting. It had some bar welded to it to add support to the blade and that was all in great shape. The upper stock was connected to the casting with a machined taper that was keyed and bolted with a large bronze nut that was pinned with a cotter. I removed the nut and hit the end of the shaft with a heavy hammer. One would think if the shaft was loose or moving there would be evidence by now. Nothing budged. The stock to blade connection was solid as a rock. They are indeed misaligned by about 5 degrees but non-the less solid.

Some of the old-timers in the yard made comment about how it is not the first time they have heard tale of a mysterious “spin”. All the experts that inspected it thought it was fine. A few folks thought I should weld it “just to make sure”. I didn’t really like the idea of welding. I showed it to a welder I have the utmost respect for and he was convinced that it was fine and that welding could even weaken it by concentrating the force in a much smaller area than that of the taper. This made the most sense to me and I finally had to chalk my spin up to winter madness.

I replaced the core material that I removed from the rudder with expanding foam. Then I epoxy glassed the blade back into shape. After a couple coats of epoxy barrier paint the rudder was ready for bottom paint.

The gudgeon that held the rudder at the bottom had worn egg shaped and had at least 1/8” of play. I brought it over to Dave at the Prop Shop in Richmond and he machined in a standard size bushing.

About this time Bob at the BMC was finishing up the repair to my hull. He did a great job. It is impressive that he can get a patch to look that good. Another good reason to use the Awlcraft branded paint instead of the Awlgrip.

While I waited for my bushing to be machined, I took the time to paint the long overdue nameplate. I had been working on the design for years, and always thought that I would carve the plate out of wood. The curve of the stern complicated the project so the carving never got under way. The stenciled stern plaque is “down and dirty” but I’m happy with the way it turned out.

My friend Dick Wren of Master Mariners fame, realizing I’ve been pinching pennies, gave me about a gallon and a half of high quality bottom paint that had been sitting in his garage too long for his worm prone mahogany bottomed boat. Now the Del Corazon has new black bottom paint.

The rudder and prop-shaft went in with out a hitch. The stuffing box on the prop-shaft was leaking profusely when splashed. BMC kept me in the sling until I had the leak under control, which took about 10 minutes of contortions.

Motoring back to my slip the rudder felt tighter. The new bushing in the gudgeon was worth the time and effort. I am glad that the whole adventure yielded a performance improvement.

When I got my boat back to the slip I was taken back by how dirty my boat had gotten in the yard. The EPA has cracked down on the boat yards water pollution and made it almost impossible to use water in the yard. All bottom paint needs to be removed with a dry sander attached to a vacuum with a HEPA filter. Gone are the days of wet sanding with a fire-brick. Consequently the yard never gets hosed down and when the wind picks up (or class at OCSC lets out) the yard turns into a dusty mess. Good idea to have your mask on.

After washing my boat down I realized that the Marine Contractor that had been boring holes and grinding a new iron ballast next to me in the yard had covered my boat in iron dust and particles. By the time I washed my boat, my recently painted cabin top and decks were covered in rust stains. It also appears that the particles have melted to make little mountain shaped pimples on the surface of the paint.  My super smooth awlgrip finish now looks impossibly dirty and to the touch feels like sand paper.

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In retrospect I should have been more concerned about the mess the contractor next to me was making. There is nobody to look after your boat but you. In the past I’ve been grinding fiberglass in the yard and been asked to stop and tarp off my work as not to get dust on other boats. The BMC must know the damage fall out from working with steel can cause. I did expect them to look after my interests and safeguard my property while in there care, in the yard.

I know shit happens. Boats get hit, paint drips, boats topple off of stands and things break. Boat yards are dangerous places. But as my dock mate said “ When you go into the yard you expect your boat to come out in better shape. You got a patch on your hull, stained paint and you paid them $300; sucker!” I got lots of stuff I want to do to my boat. The last thing I need to do is re-do the stuff I just did.

I like the folks at Berkeley Marine Center and over the years they have been good to me. I do all my work my self and I appreciate their tolerance and help with that. In the same respect, I do my best to abide by the yard rules, keep things tidy and pleasant and I pay my bills. So far the BMC seems sincere in trying to resolve this problem. They offered to acid wash my boat which Awlgrip expressly advises against. A week later and I’m still waiting to for a call with a reasonable and equitable solution. I’ll let you know how it goes..

1-2-2011:  Cree Partridge came to look at the boat and agreed to acid wash the boat.  After sitting on the work dock for two months with no progress I took the boat back to my slip.  I don’t expect BMC to follow up.  I’m sure they don’t really care.

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Buddha Mind

Incredibly expanding, peaceful loving Buddha mind.
No boundaries.
Unattainable yet ever-present.
Do I strive or peel away?
Do I grab or just hold my hand so close and open?
Settling surely like a speck of dust.
I can taste the sourness of my own disappointments melt into a sweet life sustaining calm.
I am held in the lap of my own love.
Incredibly expanding,
peaceful,
loving,
Buddha mind.

Lover

You are like death, and the origin of the universe.
You are like what is going to happen tomorrow or why I did that stupid thing yesterday.
You are like a UFO and the reason for the great Pyramids.
You are a mystery,
a great wonder,
creating thousands of questions
that will never be answered
or can only unfold with eternity.

I can smell the musk
of the tortured animal mind
that thinks it can
that foolishly strives
to solve the puzzle
that he has created for himself.

I and my wise old friend
look out onto the stars
in awe of the great mystery
enjoying it’s beauty
as one
unfolds
into the next.

Guitar

Oh ancient friend,
dependable lover.
With my hands on you
I feel the form of the beloved.
Your scent curiously sweet.
Your dance so fine and quick
that the reverberation does fill the room
a hall
the universe.
The limits of space and time do not confine
your true potential.
You sooth the eternal.
Your comfort extends beyond the realm of the senses.
Color shape and form surrender to pure emotion.

How is it you fit so perfectly in my arms?
Never bringing up the last time,
or the next time..
…here only now
You mirror my every thought,
emotion
and movement
with the truest song.
Your gentle fragrance
speaks of the love that made you.
You are sun earth water and trees.
Together,
we touch the divine

Muse

When I hear those sounds
I see her dancing
the Himalayas in the background
the Ganges at her feet
spinning out blessings
my breath is one with hers
I can smell all of creation
oozing from willing pores
perpetually, silently, ecstatic
in those sounds.

I finally replaced my camera that went missing.  I ended up buying a Lumix LX3.  One of the more outstanding features of this camera is the 24mm f2 lens.

During my research for a new camera I got interested in VR technologies.  There are only a few things needed to make these 360 x 180 interactive movies.  First is a good tripod with a special mount that places the ideal pivot point of the camera lens at the center of rotation. This eliminates any parallax that would be observed as objects in the foreground moving in relation to those in the back.

This is the mount I made for about $10.

You also need a program that will stitch the multiple photos together.  There are many; I use PTgui on my Mac.

Using the 24mm (35mm equivelent) lens it takes about 24 photos to cover the complete 360×180 panorama including the zenith and the nadir.   I have also been doing multiple shot exposure bracketing that later get merged to the final panorama in HDR style.  This brings the total picture count close to 80 for a single panorama.

Because these panoramas take so many photos, there is plenty of room for error like pieces missing or double images of people, cars or boats that have moved since you last shot.   More often than not photoshop is used to correct, repair or fabricate portions of the panorama.

Please enjoy these photos in fullscreen mode and take some time to zoom into the nooks and crannies. To view click on the linked panorama title.  Movie will open in another window with your Quicktime player.  Click and drag to navigate. “shift” to zoom in “option” zoom out.

in-the-yard I love the boat yard and the Berkeley Marine Center is my home turf.

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lake-circle1 Lake Merit is a great local walk for me. Sunset here brings out Oakland’s diversity.

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marina-entrance At this spot you really get a feel for the expanse of the bay.

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dc-cockpit Trying to make a quicktime vr from the cockpit of a sailboat on the water is bound to yield questionable results.  Still I find this shot pretty interesting despite the problems.

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whitney I find artists work spaces fascinating.  This potters studio is the first in a work space series.

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bud-farm1bws1 Indoor marijuana cultivation is growing like crazy.  I was pleased to get the opportunity to  photograph this urban grow space.

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This piece was meticulously designed and carefully crafted to complement the refined taste of the owner of this turn of the century Berkeley/Albany bungalow. Hand rubbed oil finish provides a rich, dynamic luster to the certified sustainably harvested cherry.

Here you can see a detail of the joinery where the two pieces of the 14 foot top meet.  The pop out fireplace creates definition from the bookshelves.

Myself and the homeowners are quite pleased with the way this project turned out.

This projects started with the post on the left.  Just a little something architectural to hide the utilities on the side of the house. Then the scope of the work expanded to a low fence and a concrete pad to house and hide the trash and recycling.

Finally the beefy low sweeping gate was added for just a touch more privacy.  It was great to work with the talented Dave Davids who not only developed the color design, but also had a hand in the landscaping and overall development of the project.

9×12 Acrylic and Oil on canvas paper, circa 1992.

The design for this little stair case was inspired by existing architecture in this Piedmont Tudor home. All the peieces were costom milled In order to get the proportions just right.