The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

The year is 2022! Whoops Never tell your teacher you have time, they'll fill it with homework. ... Even though I know that languages are learned on your own time, not class time. Classes are mini tests, the real learning happens in your own studies. Jumped a few percentage points today in my latest Chinese practice test. Hit 42%! Yey! But that's because I went through the chapter prior to the rela...

Well Happy Birthday Dad. Hope you are well. Dad passed away a few years ago prior to my current employment. He managed to visit China with my Mom the year before he died. The only thing that gets me is that the travel agency suggested he get a ten year visa! I did write a post and later made a recording of it on my website. It's titled Quotes From My Father. I'd encourage you to read it as it has...

Like hoping the teacher won't pick me in class, so I check my work allocations! Studied Chinese for FOUR HOURS today! Last practice test I took on Sept 20 2020 I scored 9/31, or 29%. This time I scored... 9/31. The exact same! WTF! Smells different, is it a different type of coal dust in the air? No more daily health checks! NATs still are. Jamuary continues... Updated some more of December Drummi...

Nice and quiet. People must be leaving as it is a month till Spring Festival... and the Olympics! Updated the website with a lot of last week's tracks. I see I missed a a few days in December Drumming, though one or two of them I know I recorded somewhere. Podcast about learning Chinese and why it's so difficult. Few, if any, cognates (words similar across languages), character / sound difference,...

All about today's Jamuary 2202 offering: Building Beats. Using Garageband to mix up an EDM track, here is something I put together in what I consider to be part two of a possible trilogy. Yesterday was the intro, today the main beat, tomorrow, what will it be? Tracks and commentaries up on stevensirski.com, take a look!

Up and at them! Happy New Year! Here is a little traditional verse my family used to say on the morning of the New Year. My Dad used to take us around to the Elders' houses after church to say this little verse. Here are the words with translation after: 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...

It's New Year's somewhere! Kiribati marks the day first, even New Zealand is already done! Was told I stink and I have to put away my cycling clothes soooo... working from home to begin in 2022?! A business idea I had... Watching Office Space (1999), remember that movie? Finishing up those December Drumming tracks and getting ready for Jamuary 2022. Let's get after it! Show notes and tracks up on...

Second to last day of the week, month and YEAR! Can't believe it's already the end of the year! Feels like only yesterday we were wondering if THE VIRUS would disappear with the likes of Trump and the year 2020. Turns out not. Was it a productive year for you? Did you get done the things you wanted to get done? What are you planning for next year? Looking to get a fitness band or watch or chest st...

Out and about! Talking to a few people who have studied English at the academic level and are able to write ESSAYS in it? Could this be a challenge for myself in 2022? To write an essay in Chinese? Something to think about... Could happen at the HSK 6 level but HSK 5 would still be a little bit tough. Huge difference between reading, writing and speaking a language. Show notes up on stevensirski.c...

Pay day! Bills! All the things I want, I need, but haven't had, so do I really need them? How to save money for rent and put your money to use. Guess I should go pay that hot water bill already. New tracks, DnB, and more in the works. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com! Hope your day is productive!

Monday already! Last week of 2021, last work week for this year! Hope you had a great weekend and are having a good holiday season! Writing up a post about my year, should have that up later in the week. Was going to post over the weekend but got rather busy! Friday I DID get up for my morning workout but Saturday was spent sourcing ingredients for... Perogies and kutya. Potato and cheddar cheese...

My own take on the idea of a "Drummer Boy" being present at the birth of a baby, Ie, The Little Drummer Boy. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com!

Unofficial get together of current and former work mates. Great to see and talk to the Next Generation and their hopes and dreams. Cynical Old Workers... look who's talking! Morning workouts... will they continue?! Show notes up on stevensirski.com

Up early and working out, here is the review... Not as bad as I thought it would be Could still drink coffee in between sets (don't tell me to drink water, I was) Squeaky floor made me self conscious Still able to do my full workout with high amount of intensity Fitness band didn't work. Could I be working out lightly every day? Didn't eat till 1128am... HUUUNNGRY! And a bit groggy in the morning...

Shortest day of the year with the Winter Solstice! Did you notice? Inducing a change... what if I changed my workout time to the morning? Like 430am or 530am? Can it be done? Gives me more time in the evening, better restricted eating schedule, but will it be as intense? This is the question that needs to be answered. We will try... tomorrow! Show notes up on stevensirski.com! (ง •̀_•́)ง

All about the drum rudiments today as I have a go at trying out a few of the patterns in George Lawrence Stone's book, Stick Control for the Snare Drummer. LOTS of exercises but, when played back, it just sounded like someone practicing their rudiments. Add in some FX and reverse the track and... this is what you get. Keeping it simple and practicing at the same time. Show notes n tracks up on ste...

Dec 20/2021! Can only do this for another 79 years before it’ll be moved another day ahead! Reading Michio Kaku’s The Future of the Mind. I remember seeing it years ago but, after reading his other books, I felt this one was very much like a summary of what he had written before. Now, however, ten years later, it’s a good refresher. Interesting to see how the understanding of the human brain has o...

La dee dahhh... don't want to do this sooooo imma just gonna press some keys and see what happenss..... Then this happened. "Mixed Beats" is the pleasant accident that happened when I simply started pressing keys on the keyboard. Originally I was going to create an electronic track of some sort so I pulled up the "Advanced Machines" digital kit. I played along for a bit and created what I thought...

How about playing the drum set with one hand? Think it's possible? It is, but it's not easy to play very fast. This track is an attempt to play at around 120 BPM with only one hand, similar to playing the keyboard or piano with only one hand. It can be done but, as you'll hear, there are quite a few missed notes and places where the beat should be louder than it is. I'll leave it as is, this is ta...

Cold outside, windy cold. Being the old guy, what does it mean to be 'old'? Do you feel old? When 'kids' say 'adults', do you think they actually think you know what you're doing?! Yea, think about that... New track! Arkan on a Desk! Great reverb and rhythms on this track. Natural, one take. Intermittent fasting / restricted eating / 16 / 8 / whatever... fewer calories means deficit means loss of...

Whooops... not getting that done today! Workout complete though! Guess I gotta practice my rudiments after all since my sticking is all over the place... and slow! R L R R L R L L! Learning Chinese by reading a menu? Easier when the menu is variations of the same thing, not so easy when each item is completely different! And... if you could, what age would you go back to? How old would you return...

These hours and days are flying by. Not bad when you're having fun! Solstice coming up, then Christmas, then New Year's, then Olympics, then Spring Festival... I almost can't wait until the end of February! What's with the no uploading of podcast videos? I'll tell you why... And what about those drum tracks?! Show notes up on stevensirski.com, have a good one!

Early to work on a late start morning. #yey New tracks up for December Drumming: homages to the office worker. Use what you got to make rhythm! My offerings: pens and hands. Getting another NAT test tomorrow, some meetings with folks later in the week. Show notes and music tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a great week!

How late is too late :D New tracks up Bombers for the W! Two in a row! Grey Cup Champs! Feels like when I was growing up. Vaccine mandate: Beijing only, and mainly if you're in a customer service position, which I am distanced from because of teleconferencing. Applied to work from home. Mixed feelings but I know I'll save A LOT a of time. Starbucks busted for unsanitary practices! Intermittent fas...

Vaccine MANDATED. Would we have the same response if it was an alien creature? Would we reject vaccees for any sort of virus from outside of Earth? Something to think about anyway. Updated website, archives, etc. Morning with Chinese grammar, 1. 可... + verb + 的 = is it worth it? 2. ...好...以便 = prepare well so that... 3. 除非 (chu fei) = unless... Working on tracks. Hard to hit the proper note...