Leaf Blowers - A Rant

[X-500]

I use to love autumn in Northeastern US. The turning color of the leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, hot apple cider ... the soothing rustling of dryed leaves ... and then came leaf blowers. Those incessant, droning, loud, two cycle contraptions that us lazy Americans can't seem to live without. Whatever happened to using rakes? Are we so fat and dumb that the thought of using some upper body strength sends us reeling into Lowes or Home Depot for the latest carbon emitting, nosie polluting, hurricane producing whatzamacallits!?! Not to mentions I cant' hear myself think, or write this venom while suburbanites are outside my postage size yard droning away with their ... noise -obsessing over having perfectly cleaned lawns. God forbid if we have some organic material left for the soil to have nurishment.
Forget trying to practice guitar while these morons are plugging away. What if I blast my 100 Watt Marshall, with my Stratocaster of course, out my front door when all of suburbia is sitting, predictably, in front of the stupid tube at night - watching reality shows! Go ahead soccer-SUV families, make my day.

Whew, I feel better now ...

[keith]

Interesting. Yes I'm bothered by the noise of leaf blowers, lawn mowers etc although I'm not as amped up about it as your thread. I've talked to other musicians about a similar topic and they generally are bothered by ambient noise. It doesn't necessarily have to be loud either.I wonder if the makeup of a musician possibly being a more sensitive listener is more sensitive to this noise.

[X-500]

Originally Posted by keith

"I'm not as amped up about it as your thread ... I wonder if the makeup of a musician possibly being a more sensitive listener is more sensitive to this noise."

Amped up, pun intended? Now I have terrible writer's remorse for attacking our grand American culture - suburbia. I suppose I should put my money were my mouth is and live where there are no leaf blowers ect. Admittedly, my wife and son would have no part in that. There is an emotional tone though that is struck by my experience as being a private pilot and having people complain about the "airplane noise," even though they very well knew about the airport that was there decades before they moved into their McMansions. However, they'll be the first to start their own noise maker to keep their blessed lawns looking pristine ... there I go again ...

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Amen! "acoustic rake" -- go unplugged people!

[cosmic gumbo]

It gets so darn noisy, I can't stand to go outside and wash my Volvo! Why does life have to be so hard?

[X-500]

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

It gets so darn noisy, I can't stand to go outside and wash my Volvo! Why does life have to be so hard?

Not for me. This is how I get my car washed!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

They've still got their tops on?! You should really visit Montreal.

[tejastani]

(new to forum) I play a big restaurant brunch gig a couple of times a year. An older man who works as busboy will occasionally pass thru the patio where I set up with a leaf blower. While I'm playing. The blower is in the neighborhood of Bflat, so I just play some bluesy stuff until he's gone.

[mr. beaumont]

i actually like when they bring the leaf blowers out on the campus where i teach--i like to walk outside on off periods and try to position myself between two of the workers so that the resultant sound is a consonant interval.

yes, i need to get out more.

[derek]

I never understood leaf blowers anyhow. You do what, blow the leaves off your yard to your neighbor's yard or street? They will just blow back. Rake and bag are the only sure way of removing leaves. Leaf blowing, a great waste of time imo.

[X-500]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

They've still got their tops on?! You should really visit Montreal.

I did visit Montreal in April to buy my X-700. Where were the topless mademoiselles

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by X-500

I did visit Montreal in April to buy my X-700. Where were the topless mademoiselles

I'd start with breakfast: Montreal Mirror - CLUBLAND '04 : Topless Breakfasts

I'm also thinking of topless car washes and topless hair salons.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by X-500

I did visit Montreal in April to buy my X-700. Where were the topless mademoiselles

Rue St. Catherine, likely!

[Goofsus4]

The leaf blower crowd is just getting all the guitarists back for those college days when their sleep was endlessly interrupted by drunkards who played the intro to Stairway to Heaven at 2am.

Leaf blowers are designed to "herd" the leaves into a pile where they are then collected for disposal. The blower just substitutes for the rake.

All that being said - I agree with you. Just rake your leaves. The appliances are noisy. I feel the same way about snow blowers, but I have to admit that I get a bit jealous when I am heading out for my third shift at shovelling my driveway duing a blizzard and I see a guy just casually pushing a snow blower up and down his driveway not even breaking a sweat.

But if you want to talk about noise - how about the proliferation of diesel pickup trucks? Don't even get me started about motorcycles with straight pipes. Living in Colorado I get my fill of both of those noisy abominations.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Where I live there is another another unique noise maker: propane cannons. There are exactly what the name implies, and are used to scare birds away from grape vines and fruit trees. What's really annoying about them is that they start at dawn. No need for an alarm clock!

[musicalbodger]

What's all this about a rake — shouldn't they all be using sweep picking?

[Goofsus4]

A worker is using an especially obnoxious leaf blower outside my office window right now!