The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

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...

Drum rudiments on tablet, practice pad, and a real drum, what's the difference? Tomorrow will be catch up day! Trying out... 'intermittent fasting'! Hip term for what's commonly referred to as 'skip a meal'! Pushing back when I eat and stopping at around 830 pm. Nothing but water and coffee in the morning. How is this different ftom the Chinese belief (often repeated by young students) of not eati...

Finished watching Wolyn, gruesome movie. I was warned that it was worse than Schindler's List and I can see why: the violence is excessive and personal. Truly horrifying to think things like this could have happened, even though this movie's story is itself fictional. Onto December Drumming and making my way through the tracks. Look on my website for more. I've posted tracks under each day. Pushin...

Watching Wolyn (Volhynia), translated as 'Hatred'. Polish movie about a Polish guy and a Ukrainian girl falling in love... and then a World War erupts. Oops. Poland, Russia, Ukraine, all vying for their land. Historical. Makes me appreciated where I've come from and where I am. December Drumming continues as I work on a few solos to catch up to things.

St. Mykolai today! Gold chocolate coins and Mandarin (easy-peel) oranges! December Drumming along, new tracks posted on my website! Have a listen! I like what I'm hearing so far. Website has been slow. Not sure why. May need to look into hosting mp3s somewhere else. Work week begins, more busy than I thought it would be. Spent the morning creating word lists for my Chinese class. Target remains Ma...

All about Track #5 for my December Drumming challenge. This one was a pleasant surprise, and not what I intended at all. I recorded three takes using three different kits: Chinese, Modern 909, and Big Room. After listening back a few times, I decided to go with the third take with the Big Room kit. To edit the track a little, I sent the project to my computer to work with Logic Pro. When I opened...

All about track #4 for my December Drumming challenge. This one is called 'Phone Tap Bap' (though I could have just as easily left out the Bap) and uses everyone's favourite device to make sound: the cell phone keyboard. Recorded with my cell phone, using my cell phone's keyboard, this is a rhythm played featuring the phone's haptic feedback system. I then imported the file into Logic Pro, killed...

Korean food Friday night. When in Beijing, try something exciting? Future of work? Skilling up? What more can I do to prepare? Where else is hiring these days? Could I maintain my current lifestyle if I shifted location? Back to backpacking days? Early 40s, people still ask, after mid-40s, do they still ask if you'll settle down? Today's drum track, want to try messing around with the Garageband s...

Router or rooter, British pronunciation or general pronunciation? The anatomy of a power nap: black out your eyes, take the pressure off of your lower back (lying on your side usually helps), relax your eyes or, if needed, close your eyes and then cross them, that is, look towards your nose while your eyelids are closed. Finally, use a timer so you're not thinking about getting up and set it for 4...

Happy December! Already! Last month of the year! Start of December Drumming, how does Decedrumber sound? Ha! I’ll get things organized… tomorrow. Right? If this start is any indication, I’ve got to get things better organized. Next week should be a bit easier. Today’s track: ride cymbal only! 2 minutes and 50 seconds of it! It’s a play around on the ride cymbal and, not going to lie, I kinda thoug...

Making asparagus with cheese and... sweet potatoes. Two separate meals. Asparagus part of dinner, sweet potatoes part of breakfast/lunch. Will try it out to see if this new time saver works or not. Have you ever tried to eat a grilled sweet potato? They're awesome but hard to peel. Should've thought about the soil situation for my plants, apparently it won't arrive until tomorrow. How do I take ca...