The Maiden Voyage of Taku-San, Part 2 (Patreon)

Last we left our hero, he was w̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶M̶A̶G̶F̶e̶s̶t̶ driving towards Florida a̶t̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶n̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ literally being passed by semis that carry tanks.

It was time to take off from hanging out with my pal Larry Oji aka Liontamer of OCR fame, so we grabbed a quick selfie in front of Taku-San and said goodbye a few times:

It seems nobody else in Georgia was around / still living there / available, so down 75 I went to Gainesville, to visit my pal Chris who I really hadn't seen since we tried to see if MAGFest 2 would be viable on a college campus. We got some fairly tasty pizza at a place that forgot about us a few times, but it gave us time to catch up on how he's living the dream of going to Japan all the time and I'm living the dream of driving my house to catch up with him:

Our time was short but fun! I got a quick tour of his home office, parked in a visitor spot, and plopped down into the bed afterwards, making a quick post.

I awoke to a surprise! My friend and fellow patron, Mike, messaged me all the way from Japan to let me know that Don, one of the founders of 8static, is now in Gainesville. We truly live in a tiny connected world. Don and I were able to grab a quick coffee and I showed him the synthesizer before he ran off to a meeting. He also gave me a fantastic book that I don't have an image of at the moment. I thrifted around in Gainesville a little bit and grabbed some tunes for the road, then decided it was time to head to Orlando. 

Reaching out to Orlando crew, it turned out my friends Doug and Michelle weren't quite as available as I thought, but no matter! I was able to catch up with my buddy Skitch, who met up with me for thrifting and pizza. Skitch and I talked about hanging out over the next few days, and then I got in touch with another friend, Eric, and parked near his place that night. 

After some food and catching up with Eric, Skitch freed up, so we met up again for more hijinks, including checking out his game collection. We talked about his schedule a little more, and I asked him what he was teaching. Music Production for Media! I asked if I could sit in on his class, and he mentioned I might not want to since it was an eight hour class on a Saturday. But then I asked him what the lesson was, and he said FMOD and Wwise. I mentioned I could show the class MODs and chiptune/demoscene stuff, effectively presenting the 30-year-old version of his lesson, and we agreed it would be pretty amusing.

There was a caveat: Full sail classes are kind of like cram school, and it was the last class of the term. Plus, it was already March so we were close to graduation. Everyone would be pretty checked out, Skitch warned. I decided to throw caution to the wind and do it anyway. We showed demos on the big screen, even though the video converter was upset with me...

How'd it go? Skitch was right, though I did get a few people to talk back to me in class. Only one student asked a question the entire time. Oh well! Perhaps the other students are at least more educated about the scene now, and it might become relevant to them in the future. This is the price I pay to try and spread the love - if you don't try, you don't know who you'll reach.

I like to reward interaction, so I flipped a card at the student who asked a question and offered a free download of a thing off my bandcamp. We then discussed Star Trek, 80's movies, and Japan for two hours along with Skitch and his lab assistant. It was a good end to the class. Skitch was kind enough to let me park in his driveway that night as well, but my time was running out and I didn't know what else to do in Orlando. It was time to head a little further south. 

Next stop was my friend Hex down in the West Palm Beach area. It had been way too long since I'd seen this guy, and he did this great piece of artwork of me even longer ago:

On my way to see Hex, I gave a call to the Steve, the guy that invented/engineered the AY-3-8910. I wanted to follow up on some of the things we talked about, not to mention actually meet the guy.

Steve mentioned he wasn't exactly close to Orlando, but I was welcome to stop by. I mentioned that any point in Florida was still closer than Maryland and that I'd be happy to drive. It turns out he was not terribly far from Hex, and one of the days he could meet up lined up with Hex's day off. Sweet!

Hex showed me around the WPB including a bar called Lost Weekend, where we kept running into people he knew. It was game night, so I played some games, tried a fairly tasty drink, and we caught up some. Meeting like-minded folks and catching some interesting live music was nice. 

Also, I had already been to a Publix, but I'd never had a "pub sub" which Hex told me was a must. We picked up some stuff from the store to enjoy while hanging out. Also, a delicious (and crazy) burrito was had from a nearby joint, which I'm not sure my body was entirely ready for.

Hex and I popped out a little on the early side in the morning to meet up with Steve, which was a blast. I'm not sure what I was expecting, to be honest. Steve is absolutely enamored by 3D.  We got to see Steve's office playground, where he was 3D printing Yodas, and we saw his movie collection with tons of 3D Blu-Ray. After some tasty coffee cake and sun tea, we got down to brass tacks.

I played a small variety of 8910 music for Steve, and we got some reactions. I showed him the synthesizer I was building (which everyone here has seen by now), one of the boards with an 8910 mounted on it. We read him an email from long-time 8910 enthusiast Yerzmyey. I'd say Steve was pretty moved by our love for the chip. I don't have a recording handy, but I recall him saying something like "You're all on another planet, I never intended for the chip to do anything like that!" We had a good laugh.

Steve said he had saved me a surprise, which turned out to be the first 5 years of BYTE Magazine! We also got a few other goodies, which I'll share in a future post because I want to do a sole history retrospective on all the things I've learned about the 8910. One of the cooler things though is something some of you have probably seen on social media...

This is the demonstration board for the AY-3-8910. Steve said the right-hand one was to demonstrate (in an era where computers would barely beep or make no sound at all) how easy it was to integrate sound into computers, and then the left-hand board was a retooling of that board to be a car alarm for his 1972 Challenger. These boards and other cool artifacts collected on the way will be on display in The Bloop Museum (blatant plug!) where I've been doing a lot of work lately.

As usual, some thrifting was had and I made Hex and his roomies watch the excellent Diggin' in the Carts (everyone's seen this, right?) and then it was back north for me.

Apparently Florida's Turnpike is just the right lane of this road, so I headed next to the Tampa area where several friends reside. Jeff aka Grimmtooth, one of my patrons here, offered a parking space to set up camp, which I happily accepted. Jeff regaled me with tales of Amiga BBS'ing and FidoNet, which was truly awesome. I'll let him recant in the comments if he so chooses.

While in the area, I was also able to catch up with my friend Mary, who I actually met at Nerdapalooza. That was Orlando in 2011, how time flies... Mary showed me numerous  amazing birds, we went thrifting for weird stuff, and caught up on life stuff. I hadn't seen her in awhile either, so it was nice to catch up.

On my way out of Tampa, I was able to catch up with Adrienne, another friend I hadn't seen in quite some time. We used to hang out all the time at anime and gaming conventions, with a heavy focus on retro, movies, and Metal Gear. It was a short visit, but I wanted to show off the RV and catch up for a little bit - we did, and it was great.

Next up, a trip around the panhandle to visit a fan of mine whose work I've also been following! Christina does some fantastic graphic and mixed-media art and has mentioned a variety of cool places to go, plus I needed a place to park for a little bit and clean house. She graciously offered a spot, and we got to hang out! A nearby sign was very apropos:

Fun adventures included meeting her awesome kid, and then we all did food at a tasty local pizza place, went to an excellent game shop, and saw some of the local scenery. We also got to muse about music, I got some cleaning time in, and we watched a bunch of sci-fi. Oh, and as a pizza enthusiast who had never tried Hungry Howie's, we also remedied that. Last but not least, I got to meet one of the most chill kitties ever:

Seriously, how cool and cute is this cat?

Before I knew it, it had been nearly a week. I had cleaned a layer of RV stuff, which was good. Between acquisitions from Steve, thrifting, and stuff left over from my move into the RV, the clutter was starting to take over. Also, check out this foggy night picture I have no idea where to put:

Getting what was an attempt at an early start, I began to head west again, this time to Pensacola to visit my buddy Glenn, another chiptune scener. Two 8static friends in one state! We didn't have long to visit, but we got some Indian food nearby, and roamed around a bit before Glenn had to get to bed for a busy next day. I found a Walmart that was out of the way to park at later that night, and the manager said to park away from the building and everything would be fine. 

Early in the morning I got a knock on the door from an irritable police officer, so it turns out even after confirming my location with the store I was not in a good spot to park. There was no reasoning with the guy; I told him I was just passing through and needed to rest my head, and I checked with the store and everything, but he wouldn't have it, so I left. 

I expected to have a little more time to get in touch with another one of my friends in Louisiana. If there was any time to do it, now was the time. I drove further west, texting to see if she was around and wanted to grab a bite. I had no idea where I would park that night, so I looked up some places to park nearby. It was pretty barren, but I located a free campground and figured I'd give a shot. 

When I heard back, I got my second surprise of the day. I screwed up and had completely forgotten she moved, and that she was behind me in Florida. So, where was the next place I could realistically stop? I decided to just drive straight to Texas.

Let's be clear: Interstate 10 isn't terribly exciting. There are probably a handful of interesting places to stop, but for someone just plowing through, you're gonna get a whole lot of the above pic. If you glance off to the side of the road, you'll see swampland, water, and trees growing out of the water:

Eventually, I went over some pretty cool bridges, including this one, the Israel LaFleur:

...and then I was in Texas.

There was one place I didn't know if I was going to hit on the way in or out of Texas, and it ended up being a good thing I stopped there on the way in. My buddy Maximo is in Houston, and not only was that right along I-10, it was pretty much the last large place I'd hit before my ultimate destination, Austin. I had been driving all day, and I was ready for a break. 

Fortunately, Maximo was available and recommended a neat late-night spot with a smorgasbord of asian food options. We got a pile of food, ate it, caught up, and then headed back to his place. I was able to snag a much-appreciated shower, and he and Holly (they're adorable, btw) tried some snacks with me, showed me their cool pad, and I even got to help them set up a soundboard for livestreaming.

Before I knew it, it was like 4 or 5 am, and I needed to crash. I just parked on the street and slept in the house at the apartment complex this time, since I would head out the next day. When I woke up, I briefly considered going to the Houston Space Center, but I didn't really have $30 of disposable income to throw at a visit. Next time.

Excitement built as I finally approached my "final" destination. I had been meaning to get to Austin all these years and finally, I was only hours away. It was a nice day, and I decided I would take the scenic-but-direct route rather than taking more I-10. Along the route, I saw Texas' answer to Wawa and Sheetz: Buc-ee's. I had been seeing these along the Interstate but most of the time it was an inconvenient stop; either I had just gotten gas, or just didn't have any reason to stop. Well, I decided after lunch (at Whataburger of course!) that I would just get a little bit of gas, just enough to get me to the next Buc-ee's, where I almost ran out of gas riding my fuel light to get there. 

What a sight. There are write-ups dedicated to the cult that follows this place, and I can see why. You can't even see everything in one picture: There were three fuel pavilions, and that's for a place that specifically forbids semi trucks. Thankfully, RVs and regular trucks were OK. The inside is probably twice the size of the largest Sheetz or Wawa I've ever been in, with several food stations (BBQ, roasted nuts, sandwiches, etc), a gift shop, a candy department, and drink coolers that line half the store. 

It kinda felt like I was in Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Speaking of hit the road, that's what I did, and I finally made it to Austin. I came in around rush hour, at the end of SXSW, and was expecting the worst. I was greeted by lots of great scenery and rolling hills, and actually not very many cars on my route.

I had a number of people to visit in Austin. Who was on the list? Who would be first?

Stay tuned for part 3...!