More 9F GMT pictures and details

On By Paul HubbardIn Watches1 Comment

As noted in Coming soon to a WIS near you and Grand Seiko 9F GMTs are out!, I can’t wait to see these. As Seiko does press events, pictures and details are emerging, here’s what I’ve found so far with links to source materials.

From this WUS thread by user yonsson, click for full size versions:

Some gorgeous pictures in there! And the lime looks excellent. Interesting to see it next to the (unaffordable, yet grail) Blancpain Bathyscaphe 38mm.

From the Japanese-language oomiya blog (I recommend using the translate feature in Chrome):

Just gorgeous. On reflection, it’s hella expensive, I mean $3,500 for a quartz watch? For half that, you can get a superbly-made Citizen with solar power and perpetual calendar, with the same intrinsic 5 seconds per year accuracy.

And the lugs are, as confirmed by yonsson, a terrible 19mm. Some 20mm straps will fit, but a bad design decision.

A great pity that the green dial version forgoes the lume: (another yonsson picture)

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The Empty Core of the Trump Mystique | The New Republic

On By Paul HubbardIn Politics, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Another pertinent factor is envy, a basic human emotion that rising social inequality can only exacerbate. To put it in cruder terms: “The world sucks for me, so I am going to make it suck for you too. I have lost my job, my status as a white male, and may even lose my gun. So you, my smug, privileged friend, are going to lose your civil liberties, your faith in social progress, your endangered species, your affirmative action, your reproductive freedom, your international alliances, your ‘wonderful’ exchange student from Syria.”

A stellar and thought-provoking essay.

via The Empty Core of the Trump Mystique | The New Republic

BWV 1008 – Cello suite No. 2 in D minor – All of Bach

On By Paul HubbardIn Music, UncategorizedLeave a comment

One of my ongoing joys in life is a weekly-ish email from the ‘All of Bach’ project in the Netherlands. Not just a well-filmed and recorded performance, but conductor/performer notes and historical context.

I have a few performances of the cello suites, and prefer Rostropovich but this is well worth your time.

It’s odd, I’m used to modern rapid-rewards, short attention span videos so these require a bit of focus to watch.

via BWV 1008 – Cello suite No. 2 in D minor – All of Bach

The Cruelty Is the Point – The Atlantic

On By Paul HubbardIn Politics, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Trump’s only true skill is the con, his only fundamental belief is that the United States is the birthright of straight, white, Christian men, and his only real, authentic pleasure is in cruelty. It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united. And as long as he makes them feel that way, they will let him get away with anything, no matter what it costs them.

Read the whole thing. I don’t want to devolve into another rant-y political blog, but this is worth sharing.

via The Cruelty Is the Point – The Atlantic