The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Online shopping: would you do it? That is, go online to sell? New affiliate marketing scheme? And AI-likenesses: will companies ask you to sign over your face and voice? That makes me look at the green card and business idea a little more seriously… Recorded a new walk n talk vlog about teaching ESL in China. Not sure how the industry is now, but it is still ticking along. Spring Festival, plans?...

Zuckerberg on Rogan, LOTS of so-called “TikTok Refugees” on XiaoHongShu… will this be a problem for China? New Language Vlog podcast up! Have spent a LOT of time editing videos these days and think I’ve finally got a way to publish more with less work. Emerging markets ready to bounce? India, China, what else? Kathleen Peddicord “How to Buy Real Estate Overseas” was the book and author. DuZhi appa...

Is TikTok banned yet? Big movement to XiaoHongShu, or at least some comments about the platform being better than FB and Insta. Those other platforms won’t be going away any time soon, though, cause they can monetize, XHS doesn’t. Off to the Military Museum - not bad. Lots of big equipment, no cafe or many places to sit down. What did we learn? China got invaded a bunch of times. Spent most of the...

Trying out the mic with the QuickTime, but the Notes application won’t use the Shure MV7+ as input. How did it all sound yesterday? This new MacBook is rather bass-y. Workout in, but barely! 7.02km in 1 hr 6 min 56 sec. 54 pull ups total, double that for push ups, triple for squats. Felt rough the entire time… like just slow. No deadlifts as I had an idea… to go to Tianjin, but then I realized I h...

Have you stopped writing 2024 yet? Very quiet in Beijing these days. Are schools out already? Working on a cheat sheet for Mandarin, is it okay to teach Mandarin Chinese? New language vlog up: Time for a change? - All about considering a job change… but does that mean a change of country, too? Here’s the difference of jet lag: -in Canada, you fall asleep at 8pm but there’s no more real “business”...

Health check done! Aaaaand… fell asleep once I got home. Out to JingA and then to a small cafe Legitimate business idea, or just fantasy? Money matters and mid-lifers, what gives? How much do you need to know? Workout in… at midnight: 6.44kms + slam ball work (nice and quiet so I don’t wake up the neighbourhood!) Language Vlog Podcast getting listeners… far sooner than my other podcasts! Donate to...

Listening back to old tracks, how do they sound? Not bad. Tennis elbow! OW! Full on owie! Wow, Justin Trudeau gone from office! Should Canada merge with the US?! Health check tomorrow, how will it go? New vlog recorded for the SLV, running time of around 25 minutes. Need to get better at this. New laptop helps immensely. Stock market, how you doing? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://w...

New year, new week! New jet lag! Up early and off to Tiananmen Square… then the camera died. Bald and Bankrupt?! WTF? This guy posts a video every now and then and has MILLIONS of followers on YouTube, and a book on HOW TO make it on YouTube?! Wow. I must be doing something wrong. Managed to get some reading done this morning, 30 minutes of Russian, an hour of Chinese, both DuChinese and Wen Cheng...

Kinda quiet around town, why so early? Might have to re-evaluate the comments I made earlier about the pule being gone. Is it just the holiday season? But where did all the people go so soon? Up at 2.30 in the morning! Two hours later than yesterday. So, am I moving in two hour increments? Chinese Course by Email continues, adding video components to it. I can see that I have to stick with this so...

Well, back into it. Yey? Time to change up the workout routines? Travel seems to knock off that cycle count. Launched the Chinese Course by Email… and already see how it can be improved. First iteration, Steve, first iteration. Videos, conversations, stories, lots more can be added. Current status of jet lag: 8 pm zonkertown, 2 am wake up. Made dinner, shut off the element, fell asleep. Have not b...

Сію, сію, посіваю З Новим роком всіх вітаю! Щоб Вам весело жилося, Щоб задумане збулося, Щоб ніколи не хворіли, Щоб нічого не боліло, Щоб у праці все горіло Та й в кишені шелестіло! Щоб, як квіти, Ви цвіли Та сто років прожили! It’s a new year, new day! And back in the Beijing, eh?! PSA: Back up your harddrives! Not a good weekend for flying, my heart goes out to the families and friends in Azerba...

Skipped Monday cause… I was in the air, so will catch up this weekend. LOOOONG TRIP. Eleven hours from Vancouver this time, 5.50 departure from Winnipeg. It was hard to leave, very emotional. Watched 1917, last episode of Succession Season 1, first episode on Season 2, a few episodes of Season 1 from Big Bang Theory. Reticent to return cause changes are a foot. December Drumming done mostly. Plans...

Here’s the plan: pack, buy, take off. We’ll see if it works. Why am I so reticent to go back? Just found so many things to do here I guess! Took a look at a new MacBook Pro… sweet machines, could I make it work? Santa Lucia for pizza. Canadian energy looking to heat up the New Year as the Chinese stock market looks to be on the very brink of a break out. This is crazy! Santa Claus Rally under way?...

Boxing Day! Did you buy anything? No. DID go to the Nutcracker with the nieces. There’s another job that eluded me: professional dancer. Did you know I used to Ukrainian dance? Went on a walk in the evening, am I feeling nostalgic about Winnipeg’s weather? Stopped by a hockey rink, haven’t been on one in ages. What if… not China? Scary question. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.p...

Boh Pre vichney! Бог предвічний народився, Прийшов днесь із небес, Щоб спасти люд свій весь, І утішився. Christmas Day done and did! What did you get? Church in the morning, 10am. Meeting some of the old faces. Old choir leader, and last Sunday met a former elementary school classmate! Nice day today, went out for a walk. Most things closed. Noticed, lots of pizza places and cannabis shops, do the...

Ikonostasis - THAT’S the word I was looking for yesterday! Tracking Santa… I did this last year 😂😂 Sviat Vechir - 12 dishes… not sure we did all of them. Pan Am closed at 11.30 am soooo off to Goodlife Fitness for a FREE “trial” introduction. What typically goes on for Ukrainian Christmas? Well, one change is the date of the event from January 7th to December 25th. Food, family, and church servi...

Christmas Eve eve! New SLV podcast out! Newsletter out too! Main Street, how is it? Everything except pharmacies and church-sponsored buildings were closed along the strip between Selkirk and Jarvis. Higgins used to be a hooker area. Barriers coming down downtown, how much did it cost?!? LOTS! Church, how is it? Booking tickets back, time for a change? Layoffs - does it matter? The companies menti...

Brother n and fam off to Argentina! Other family arriving and going! Everybody seems to have time off! Not too many shorts posted this week as I’ve been pre-occupied and… it’s difficult to coordinate across time zones. Workout in! Shoulders, rows, deadlifts, accessories, and… excite bike for 15 minutes. Sprint for seconds every minute on the minute. Had to get a Theraband rubber bar cause my elbow...

Super greens, are they worth it? Or just eat vegetables? Canada Post back to work! Any more strikes on the horizon? Walk around outside, up Wellington Crescent and down to Osborne Village. Monetization strategies: 1-webinars: intro to China, intro to teaching English? Intro to learning languages 2-English club online 3-vlogs, shorts, podcasts, language checks 4-ebooks: how to learn a language, how...

I think these workouts are keeping me sane. Today: squats, bench and accessories, didn’t try to push it too much. One lady there showed up with a nice grey outfit on… a change from her regular gym attire. Only 10 minutes on the stairs master because I spent 10 on the excite bike or whatever it is. Dreadful! Also working on a “trading stocks for foreigners in China” tutorial. Might be something peo...

The Phantom Train – Ed Huckeby Why is winter so cold? Because it’s in Decemburrrr! Why did Rudolf get in trouble for his high school report card? He went down in history. Would be nice to have two weeks off instead of just working all the time, day in and day out. What holidays would I have if I had my own business? Even still, this trip hasn’t been a “vacation”, it’s been rather busy! Bell MTS ta...

More snow, and an old building burned down: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/century-old-manitoba-creamery-burns-down-in-major-fire-1.7145198 Tried Popeye’s chicken, not sure how often I’d have that. Language Vlog Podcast Episode 20 is out! And another donation! New language check video out, too! Looking at university positions in China: would I be better able to leverage my time and energy there, even...

Is the Friday the 13th?! It is! And ALMOST a full moon. Full workout in, added ten pounds to the deadlift to total 95+95+45‎ = 235. Thirty minutes on the stepper, but went mostly easy. Rows and shoulders as well. Feeling a bit of tennis elbow so had to pull back on the accessories, will have to get another band or something. Did some Chinese reading while on the warm up walk. Then Cantonese in the...

LinkedIn No Go - not the marketing scheme of old, will need to re-do some things. Canada video doing okay, but is it China for the win? Book buying: do I even need these? Do I have the time? I Heard There was a Secret Chord by Daniel J Levitin, A Short History of Canada by Desmond Morton, The Trunk by Kim Ryeo-Ryeong. Chinese stocks prepping a pop… again. Never mind stocks, how’s your Cantonese? T...

Where does a country’s central bank buy gold from? I mean, China didn’t allow the buying of gold for the last year then all of a sudden restarted just a month ago or so. McNally Robinson for lunch, do you still buy books?? Reading Crucial Conversations. Bought it years ago, never read it. Workout in! Squat did well, bench was done with dumbbells (got up to 65 lbs each hand) LinkedIn blocking my ms...