Brexit and guitars - buy now if you can!

Thinking of buying a guitar? It may be prudent not to delay

Whatever your standpoint on the In / Out argument over Britain's membership of the EU, two things are happening, Sterling has weakened and other currencies have not, causing UK citizens' buying power to decrease.

When Brexit was announced, we should have immediately started to talk whilst at the same time started drawing up the deal we wanted. It needed business people to do this
 
In 2015, the Dollar started to gain ground against Sterling, the world is geared  to the Dollar price for commerce and as a result, its value started a climb as Sterling weakened. Suddenly, we in Britain were getting less for our Pound. 

For those of us in the music industry or players, we saw the sale ticket prices of instrument start to climb. It has always been unfair that in the US you can pay a lot less for a musical instrument, yet over here, the same instrument is or was about half as expensive again in real terms.

With new models out on the market, Britain is now paying out more than before, so the answer is if you can, buy now. The good news for the second hand market is your used instrument is now worth more and is a more attractive buy than a new one.

A well looked after and best condition guitar retailing at £1700 secondhand is going to be a better buy than the same or near same at £3600 new, the value almost having gone up by half on the new price from some that were £2800 a year or two back. The reality is that many shops now get guitars with big ticket prices in to order. 

The future may hold a better deal, but not for a while. If the UK can get the best of both worlds and cash in on the rich Dollar market so we don't have to pay over the odds for USA goods, then we will be ok.

The EU has to have the UK buying its goods, if we didn't it would be in trouble. The fact we are getting out means that our membership fees will have to be picked up by the other remaining countries many of which can't afford what they already pay now.

The EU could likely cease to be within a few years perhaps, but meanwhile, be smart with your buying.

American Indian connections to Atlantis, the Anunnaki and the Pleiades

The Chief Joseph Lamb receipt Sumerian tablet that got me wondering

how this ancient Sumerian artefact came to be in the medicine bag of the Nez Perce Chief?

Atlantis - the fabled island that is said to have had existed off the Iberian coast - a great land mass that was said to have been a place that some of the American Indian tribes migrated from, to North America.

Two peoples existed on Atlantis, one of which was a darker skinned and a race of people that selectively bred to become white, the Ari-ans, known as the Aryans today. Due to a series of disagreements on how Earth should be managed, conflict started. As a result of the Aryans misusing the crystal energy source they had developed, the continent of Atlantis was damaged and later split into three parts before finally sinking.

Anunnaki stellae from Ecuador and near Iraq - coincidence?

Modern humans were created, we are an intervention species, we did not evolve from Chimpanzees and there is no 'missing link' to them. How we occurred was that a primitive Primate was 'terraformed' to survive on Earth and from this acclimatised base unit, we were formed from the incorporation of an advanced humanoid species from off this planet.

IF we had supposedly evolved from Chimpanzees, which is ridiculous (the anthropology is ALL wrong), then why have Chimpanzees not evolved like us or similar? It is to do with the 'out of Africa' belief which is losing ground.  

This 3rd chromosomal modification cannot happen by chance - only by external modifcation

If we go back to the Clay Tablets from ancient Sumeria, which is modern day Iraq, this is where the first recorded society was established. Remember this information as you progress through this article and see the connections.

Sumerian engraving -  the winged flying craft is their means of transport

The Anunnaki, a highly advanced race of human like people sent representatives to Earth to take Gold back to their planet to help repair the atmosphere.

Whilst here on this mission, their people who worked in this capacity revolted and as a result, a creation by the Anunnaki geneticists led by Enki, resulted in a genetic modification of the primitive primate into humans to do the work.

This may sound fantastic, but there is factual evidence. If you go back to the bible, you will know that Adam was 'made from the Clay' and 'in God's own image. From the Clay was a literal translation that is also shared by the Lakota Indian tribe, it has a literal meaning 'of the Earth,' which means from an existing Earth basis - a primate.

The 4 colours of the American Indian Medicine wheel are also the 4 colours of human skin

The Lakota Indian story is that a Great Creator they call Wakan Tanka, fashioned a human out of Clay and baked it, one came out White which was undercooked, the Black was overcooked, the Yellow  not the desired and finally the Red which he found was the result he was looking for. Stay with this. These 4 colours of people also replicate the colours of the Medicine Wheel used in American Indian ceremonies.

All fared well until the Great Flood of biblical times came. The Nibirans knew it was coming, the reason was that their home planet Nibiru, which on an orbital trajectory passed Earth once every 3600 years was about to make another appearance and pass closer than normal to Earth.

It is believed that Nibiru's close proximity may have caused a climate change which led to the Dinosaurs becoming extinct and on another occasion, the ice cap melting due to climactic disruption.

When news of this coming disaster was known, Enki with his other people was told to leave Earth, but he did not want to leave his human creation behind. The Nibirans were all for destroying this species that had been created by Enki and his geneticists, this may also have roots in the rivalry between Enki and his half brother Enlil.

Thoth - the Egyptian Pharaoh - Son of Enki - banished to South America from Egypt

The story is that then Enki helped some of the people to reach higher ground and provided crops post deluge for them to start to farm again. Wheat was one of those crops.

A Mayan 'Astronaut' using a modern type of computer - 

this piece of stone work is thousands of years old.

Enki had a son called Thoth, who was one of the earliest Egyptian Pharaohs. Thoth due to some disagreement was banished from Egypt and ended up on Atlantis, when this was in danger of being lost, he helped those on the island to move to safer ground, in South America.

This temple or Ziggurat is identical to those in the Lebanon area

When Thoth arrived in South America, he was treated as a modern deity. Thoth told his followers who later became the tribal groups which included the Iroquois, Cherokee, Hopi, Navajo and others (who coincidentally all received information on Clay tablets just as the ancient Sumerians had) to 'keep moving' across their new home continent.

An 'Anu'nnaki' or 'Ant friend' as the Hopi called them - a race of Earth terrestrials living underground that helped the Hopi Indian people survive in a time of hardship.

Many Hopi Indian words and phrases are similar or the same to Sumerian - no coinidence 

However all was not well here either. According to Hopi legend, a time of great danger came and the Hopi had to choose allegiance to either a Reptillian bipedal species or the Feathered ones. They chose the feathered ones and had to retreat underground for sometime due to trouble on the surface. The Ant People looked after them and helped them survive. 

Another Sumerian clay tablet fragment from Oklahoma - others have been found buried all over America - a fact which makes no sense in normal explanation - unless you factor in that they were relocated and brought to America.

There is reference in Hopi traditional stories to 'Enki the Eagle' that carried them to safety on his wings, here we see the Feathers as a symbol the American Indians hold significantly in their culture, Enki the deity common to both Sumerian and American Indian culture and a story of relocation by the deity.

The Hopi 'Yei' Sun face deity which represents the Blue Planet

from which they claim descendancy

The American Indian people have great links to 'star visitors' from off the planet who regularly interact with them and visit. Many of the tribes have belief in their origins originally going back to the Pleiades a constellation of stars in the Taurus reqion of space.

No coincidence then that the Lakota Indians are know as 'Tatanka Oyate' or the 'Buffalo people, a Buffalo is not far from the horned cattle if compared to the picture of the Taurus star system.

The Lakota also have the White Buffalo calf woman as one of their foundation stones of their culture. 

The Blue Star Kachina spirit from the Hopi culture -

Dolls of the Kachina gods are used to teach the young Hopi about the stories

It might sound unbelievable that the Lakota and other tribes could know of stars that were not known about until around 200 years ago.

A Dogon tribal costume - these have much in common with the Apache tribal costumes which show a link to the Kachina type of deity

We must go further back to be truly amazed -  the Dogon tribe from Africa possessed Star Maps 10,000 years ago that showed stars on that we only knew for certain as little as 200 years ago.

The clay tablets from the Anunnaki also described the planets in our solar system and in such detail that was not known about until 40 years ago. The Anunnaki tablets can date from as much as 11,000 years ago.

Hollywood films have portrayed the American Indian in a stereotypical way, but if you look into their culture their origins prove very interesting and are the unadulterated truth.

Organised religion and other entities have over the centuries mis-translated, made guesses at technology that they could not explain or in some cases hidden information on human creation that does not fit their agenda.

A Hopi petroglyph of a UFO crash

The Garden of Eden did exist, it was guarded by a Robot sentry described in the bible as having  'a faming sword' what we would know now as a laser. Gilgamesh, a half human half Anunnaki King was attempting to seek immortality by obtaining food and the water from Eden, known as Edin.

The 'robot' in a scene from the Ordeal of Gilgamesh story

from an ancient Sumerian cylinder seal

The water and food there I surmise was 'modified' by the Anunnaki to help them to live on Earth without the aging that we experience, perhaps the food and water provided mineral or other nutrients essential to the Anunnaki diet and missing from Earth.

In conclusion, how could the American Indian people know of the Pleiades thousands of years before modern humanity did? Just one of many questions that science cannot answer.

The clay tablets many of which the scholar Zacariah Sitchin decoded can now be read with optical scanners that can translate the information thereon, over 30,000 are held in museums  around the world and the information they contain could be very valuable in understanding our near ancient origins.

Before the Anunnaki reign, we had no civilised modern society as we have today, the ancient Sumerians were the first in about 100 firsts that people today regard as the foundation of modern humanity.

After Grenfell House - Was it wise to stand down the British Civil Defence organisation in 1968?

Lytham St Annes Civil Defence members 1953

The British Civil Defence service was a vital part of the Home Defence of Britain in WW2.

Post WW2, the focus shifted towards Civil Defence as it was known, to the threat of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union.

In 1968, a decision was made to stand down the Civil Defence organisation. History has show this was a mistake, as neither emergency service of Police, Fire or Ambulance could handle the work undertaken by Civil Defence volunteers.

Likely, cost was a factor for disbandment of the service.

Civil Defence provided trained boots on the ground, that freed up the emergency services for other specialised work.

In the years since 1968, we have had many situations where Civil Defence staff could have provided vital Home Front help. Civil Defence was highly organised with its own radio system, vehicles, command structure and specially trained staff.

In a situation like the recent Grenfell House fire, their co-ordinated response would have been invaluable.

However, as we have seen elsewhere, it is the trend to reduce and cut back. It is often a false economy to do so.

I have long believed that a Civil Defence corps should be put back into place because with reduced emergency service numbers, it is a necessity.

Human futures - the next new science we must get on board with - it is our future!

The fantasy may soon have some seed of reality!

Brave new world? or approaching nightmare?

Are we humans sleepwalking towards obsolescence? A conversation our species needs to be having is about OUR future. Why?

Robots and automation. They are silently taking over our lives, but is this a bad thing?

In one way not, we will as a species be freed from menial things including work. For many of us, we do menial and pointless jobs just to receive money for it, to fuel a consumer society.

Futurists and many computer scientists believe that work as we know it will be just a memory, proxy living, the big data / open data resource and machine learning are the game changers for our species.

The benevolent looking image of the 1950's science fiction robot

Should we worry?

We should. Because all this is going on unchecked. We should have taken the warning from the entity that is the Internet, a sprawling and little policed catch-all situation that no one really actually 'manages' - it just exists.

Machine learning, sometimes erroneously referred to as 'AI' or artificial intelligence is becoming very advanced in how it can be shaped to mimic human behaviour.

In some situations, it passes the 'Turing Test' - that is the interaction between a human and a computer interface does not make the human suddenly think 'I am communicating with a machine'

Big Data - we all generate it by our computer actions -

it is valuable for some to own, trade and exploit it.

Seamless acceptance

As such, we give this  type of interaction not a second glance. Certainly for those born after the millennium, those that have grown up with the Smart Phone and Computer Tablet, this is not the 'new normal,' it is 'the normal.'

'Proxy living' is starting to seamlessly come in, it is software that essentially does things for you, in the future it will run our lives.

Think of the junk adverts that you get on your computer popping up when you have looked at something on the internet.

In the future, your 'virtual proxy' will be the 'virtual' Gatekeeper - a software algorithmic entity, either existing as a physical robot, humanoid or otherwise or a computer program app, that will handle all the marketing guff that you get into your inbox.

It will divert and destroy the unwanted communications and respond and analyse the 'wanted' or preferred subjects it receives. Freeing you up to get on with your life.

Humans are not required - how most work will be - and soon

Working and the future

In the 1950's the scientists predicted two future outcomes - driverless cars and a society where humans would not have to work.

We are near to this situation already. Driverless cars are nearing readiness to become commonplace on our roads. Professional drivers such as Cab drivers, bus and lorry drivers, train drivers, Postmen and Women - they are all at risk from the robot.

Much of the work we humans do is menial and can be done far more efficiently by robots. The Tax system, Benefits system to name but two could be far better handled by machines able to apply system logic to a multitude of rules and conditions 24 hours a day all year round.

The bottom line is they would be better at it and mistakes would be minimal. It would also save labour costs, salaries, office space, office furniture, office supplies and would help with the 'reality' of the 'paperless office' scenario. 

Nightmare or Utopia -  what is our future human - machine outcome?

A question of management

It is imperative that a 'Robot Manifesto' be established, we cannot allow the 'cyber-sprawl' situation that the Internet has become to dictate our future society. We are in great danger of becoming irrelevant as the machines learn and can self-learn and formulate policies of their own.

'AI' (Artificial Intelligence)  in its pure form, will work out very quickly that we as humans are a threat and an irrelevance - it's cold logic will quickly establish its own natural survival logic and find a way to get rid of us by proxy.

Humanoid Robots -  if they go 'bad' we are finished 

The nightmare scenario

The worst case scenario for us is that an AI entity energises a humanoid robot army to preserve the AI's material integrity - power source, by also prompting the Robot Army to self-replicate and produce Units and spare parts, thus the AI machine prolongs its own life by creating its own 'life helpers.'

AI and the Robot army will share the common interest of survival -  they will establish that they can be deactivated by humans simply by humans taking the power source away.

The nightmare for the humans is when the machine decides we are both an irrelevance and a danger.

 

 

Malika Favre - an outstanding Pop Artist of the present - a review of her work and style

A good place to start !

Once in a while, an artist appears on the scene that has that Wow! factor.

I must admit that I do have a fondness for Pop art, more specifically the Roy Lichtenstein / Andy Warhol type of style.

So, when I came by Malika Favre's art on Pintrest, immediately I was drawn to it.

Pop type illustration and art is something I like to do and I endured the wrath of a Royal Academy trained art teacher at school art classes who couldn't handle me using black, bold lines to define shapes. I still do when it suits the work.

To me, Pop Art is about impact and simplicity.

Many years ago, I was looking at the work of Brian Cook, a British artist of the 1930's who did advertising posters for the railway companies, his work was in colour, but the colour printing of that time was defined by the primitive colour printing processes of that time - solid colours and 8 colours usually.

Brian Cook developed a radical 'colour impact' style, as did others of the time such as E.MacKnight Kaufer, who used colours, boldly too on advertising posters.

Marika's art is bold, colourful and economic, its beauty is its simple and economic use of line and form, like a good dish from a Chef it is never 'over egged' or over worked.

The work uses clever geometry, use of colour and use of line that suggests shape to the eye and the brain, coupled with great original ideas. Her work scores top marks on every front.

She is not 'stuck' in a particular theme either, taking on fashion, book cover illustration work and more, rather than some artists who get a hit piece and milk the style of it dry.

You can choose any number of landmark artists such as Picasso, Monet, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol who produced 'signature' style art. Marika Favre is up there with them. Like those I mentioned, they came up with 'signature' styles of work, she is one of the newer examples of what is great and 'signature'.

Sometimes the most simple of things are the best, a few simple ingredients used by a Chef can make a great meal, the same goes for Marika Favre's work, simple lines, mostly block colours, clever use of line and great draughtsmanship, coupled with great ideas.

By simple, these works likely take a lot of time to achieve and make look 'simple,' but it is more than that, it is the great ideas in the mind of the artist which translate onto paper or whatever medium you apply it too. Like a musician, you might have a signature sound, but unless you have great musical ideas, it sounds samey.

I find Marika's work is refreshing and exciting, it is new, fresh and wonderful!

Gretsch 5420T Silver Sparkle Bigsby B6C and Roller Bridge upgrade

Upgrading the Gretsch 5420T Silver Sparkle guitar with a USA Bigsby B6C and Vanson Roller Tunamatic style Bridge

The Gretsch Silver Sparkle 5420T with the modified 5420T in Fairlane Blue

Recently, I purchased a near new Silver Sparkle 5420T and it had the same old Bigsby issue as I have had from my old 5120, the lack of screws in the base plate and that the plate doesn't sit flat to the body. So I decided to improve matters as I had done on my Fairlane Blue one.

The upgrade is quite simple to do, the only proviso is to measure carefully. Here's how I did it stage by stage.

I marked up the position of the original Bigsby with masking tape and a thinline Pentel marker pen to show the centreline of the string path, so you can line up the new unit to this.

I prepared the Vanson Roller bridge to go on to the Rosewood bridge base. Note that on these Electromatics, the base is secured TO the top by the Hex bridge post pins that go through the bridge and into the body bracing -  the Tunamatic lifts off.

Note I have marked the string's centre path position on masking tape stuck to the body top, behind the Rosewood bridge to help with alignment.

If you need to remove the bridge base, these Hex top posts have to be unscrewed with a small Hex Allen wrench - the base does NOT just lift off as on the 2014 and earlier guitars!

A brand new USA made Bigsby B6C V type trem - I love this design!

My test offer up. Note that I have put on a masking tape strip to the body top, which I have marked the centre line of the string's path between D and G strings on. 

This is continued on the body end (covered by baseplate in this photo) as a guide.

Before drilling the new base plate mounting holes, ensure that on the body top, near the handle, that the felt pad located on the underside of the new Bigsby there, sits flat to the body.

Also check that the felt pad on the other side opposite is also flat to the body. At this stage, I also check the string alignment path before drilling the holes. Already this looks so much better than the old style unit.

Here's the end result, I think a great improvement, both visually and sonically too.

Looks very functional, this B6 is far better but that's because it costs a lot more!

It has a nicer action when operating the handle.

The 5420T Gretsches equipped with the B6C V type unit and Vanson Roller Bridges.

This simple upgrade really makes them more functional and visually more 'pro series' looking.

The B6C upgrade gives you a vibrato with a nicer action and feel than the one fitted to the guitar as standard. The Roller Tunamatic by Vanson also gives you intonation adjustment and also allows the strings to move on the rollers rather than 'hang up' on the wedge saddles of the standard Tunamatic, which can happen once strings get a bit old.

I have the B6C V type on most of my Japan Gretsch guitars except the Brian Setzer signature 59 style 6120's. I prefer the look visually.

The Vanson is a good bridge as it fits to the posts of the bridge unit and is smooth in operation. Wilkinson also do a version which is higher mass and would also fit. I found some Wilkinson 'Kluson' style 3+3 machine heads which would be a good replacement in time as they have finer gearing and can be greased to prolong their operating life.

I hope that this has been a useful guide.

Humans in work might be history as Robots take your jobs

Traditional Human jobs are at risk of becoming history -

Thanks to the rise of the robots, taking your jobs!

So, how long do you think your job is going to last? or your career? how long before you are obsolete and replaced by automation? Maybe not very long. Why?

The jobs market has changed much since the 2009 crash

Around 2009, I worked for a business that was being sold. I decided it might be a safe option to look around for something in case I was not required by the new owner. So, I started to keep an eye on the jobs market and continued this over the years on a casual basis.

In 2016 I was forced out of a job and went on the jobs market full time. I spent the whole of 2916 looking for work. Even with a good CV with 20+ years of experience in marketing, sales, business development and graphic design, no one was interested much.

Of around 350 jobs I applied for I had around 20 interviews. I even touted my CV to local companies offering free work placement experience, I sent out 100 and received no interest. So what was the reason?

The rise of the Robots - Some of  Amazon's fleet of robots

In a word, automation. Since 2009, robots and automation have made big in-roads into the workplace and the bad news is that these silent raptors are not done yet feeding on our jobs.

The warehouse of the near future - all robot, no human

 You may think your job is safe or your career choice wise. Think again. Are you an Accountant? Accounts clerk? Marketeer or sales person? You may think your job is safe, but you should prepare yourself for obsolescence.

All of the above jobs are rapidly moving towards robots only.

Proxy living is the future-  coupled to open source and big data

The future of our lives is that proxy living will take over our lives, that is robots and automation handling all our menial junk like paying our bills, sifting the sales and marketer's cyber guff that will be silently sent to your proxy assistant to deal with.

Your fridge will be part of the proxy chain -

it will report data on your food, to your proxy

With big data, your fridge of the future will analyse your food consumption, what goes bad, what you buy -  all this is valuable data to a supermarket or producer. So, your proxy will identify your eating 'likes' and will plan and shop for you, on-line and without you having to do it.

Big data  fed 'proxies' will be a new network of cyber citizens -

a digital network of cyber humans

Your shopping receipt is big data rich. What you buy and who you are is important data. As jobs silently disappear to automation, what about us humans?

The truth is that we will find that there is less and less work for us to do. As such, we will have to be funded to live by the government, by a Basic Income Payment system. This is affordable, but the government isn't even looking at this yet. This is madness. Mass unemployment is coming thanks to automation and many of us will be displaced from work.

Every technology scientist of note says the same thing -

we need a Basic Income payment system and soon 

So, who is safe in a job? Those that have transferable skills, those that can do jobs that robots currently can't.

You think I'm joking? I am not. I have been out of work before but it has never taken this long to get back into the jobs market. Some jobs I saw had over 100 applicants and this was for some low level admin job.

Many employers are trying to use the 'least cost option' model when recruiting, it ends up with the job coming up time and again because the person isn't suitable or leaves. Even job agencies privately agree with this situation.

Robot to robot interaction is the future

So what is the future? It will be that we will lose out jobwise to robots and automation, half the UK jobs will disappear at least. The government will have to pay out a Basic Income payment, to anyone over 16.

The current DWP benefits model is no longer fit for purpose, it needs replacing with a streamlined and simple system as I have set out.

This will allow those who want to start a business the financial safety net and create new wealth by buying and selling of new products or services, those in work will have extra money to spend, stimulating the economy, those pensioners will have money to spend, the people on benefits will have money too and can try a new risk free business venture.

This could all be a reality if it wasn't for the blinkered amateurs who cannot see what the future is. They will become subsumed by this cybernetic tsunami, the rise of the robots is happening, not tomorrow, it is already fluid and building.

The future could be good if we plan, not sit around denying it.