The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Cheaper to ChongQing? Only 18 hrs on the train? Later departure and only a small difference in arrival time?! // New HSK test prep book, is it enough? Brings my total HSK 5 textbook total to seven, including four textbooks and three prep books. // Do you need days off after a vacation? I think it's a good idea. // Getting ready! // Have a great Thursday! // stevensirski.com

Travel prep begins, tickets, hostels, hotels, scheduling. Chengdu >> ChongQing? // How do people even pack for a vacation? I'm not used to this short of trip! Is this what it's like being old? Or is this what it's like to be settled? // Dogs are back on the compound so things have gotten noisier. // Looking forward to warmer weather down South. // Also got some Python done: Snake, Pong, Turt...

THREE HOUR WAR MOVIE! Battle of Changjin. Good movie / story, no cheesey love lines. Patriotic, the US doesn't win, but certainly not anti-War. Takes place during Korean War. CG is noticeable but not distracting, sound is good. Long, but well paced. Would recommend to see. // Have a good Tuesday! // stevensirski.com

It's sooooooo quiiiieeeeeettttt! And it's nice. I ended up taking the weekend off from my studies as it was just so nice and quiet around the compound that I didn't feel like letting go a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet. It's what I think a sensory deprivation tank would be like.  //  Did take some time to play around with Logic Pro this weekend and came up with few tunes. No surprise, the be...

National Day Golden Week beings! Qing Jie Kuai le as they say on the Chinese socials!  //  Feeling the crunch as my studies are taking a lot of time each day, but I'm seeing progress and there is an end to each, mid-October for Python, and the end of the units for HSK 5 vocab.  //  More turtle work in Python. Want to also work on simpler projects to test my abilities on the fou...

Episode 27 is done, up and posted on my website stevensirski.com. Take a look, have a listen, with the New Age of Decay!  //  Spent FOUR HOURS in contact with the Chinese language today, sounds like a lot, right? 30 min vocabulary, 30 min short video, 30 min reading, 90 min movie (watched Red Sorghum), 60 min classssssss! The good thing is that my head didn't feel tired, I only moved on...

Kuaishou, Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), or Bilibili? Which one would you choose? There are some differences, but all provide similar types of short video content. Anyone actually use Snapchat for something useful? Even the dramas available on Kuaishou put Snapchat to shame.  //  Python progress as I've started working with Object Oriented Programming aaaaand.... the Turtle! Got that working...

BIRDS! // Are people heading out for National Day break already? // Skipping rope is now a subject to be studied, how many skips can you do in a minute? // Programming #FAIL as I could barely string together a few lines of code to access a value in a dictionary. At least I got some of the program breakdown correct! // Have a good day! // stevensirski.com

Gotta fix Anchor RSS feed, it's not working. // SSP27 recorded and being edited, to be released later this week! // Finally finished that comic book! Now back to the magazines. // New blog post up! // Is there ever a good time to watch a plane crash documentary? // Have a good start of week! // stevensirski.com

Sept 20, 2021: USA publishes lots of books about future tech, what about in China? // Red room with posters all around it outlining the duties of a good Party Member. What does it take to join the Party? Could that ever exist in Canada? // Found a good podcast to listen to in Chinese, slow, relevant. // Saturday was the air defense siren, could barely hear it. (Sound clip at end of Episode.) // Ti...

Drilling drilling drilling! Why is there always a drill? // Chinese reading progress, but how is my pronunciation? // Hitting a wall with Python! Or is it too many carbs for breakfast because of the Pop Tarts? Change of weather? // Nesting dictionaries, function outputs, and recursion! // Started watching Silicon Valley, thinking back to 2014! // Tickets to Chengdu: fly or ride? Four hours by plan...

More Chinese grammar practice! One, S V1 O VS T! Two, no 为! // Food battle in a comic book: to dip or not to dip. // Today's movie: 秋菊打官司, The Story of Qiuju. Words learned: 兽医，理，说法了，只准载货，笔〔筆〕代，调解，干部，新潮发屋（髮），差错，产科。 // Python Day 8 and 9: Hangman and nested lists. // Hope Thursday is good! // stevensirski.com

Tuna and pasta for dinner! Cheap! Easy! Quick! // Podcast Episode set up for this weekend! // Crushing Chinese studies early in the morning! Get it done! Put in the time! // Pythoning all day, Hangman, Ciphers, and more! // Hope Wednesday is good to you! // stevensirski.com

Officially Mid-Autumn! Got a good shot of the moon! // Moon cakes, anyone? // Nice day but stayed inside to study Python! Randomisation, loops, and FizzBuzz! // The difference between a programming language and a human language... // Continuing on with HSK 5 vocabulary building. If only I could do the same for the grammar structures! // Hope your Tuesday is going well! // stevensirski.com

USA publishes lots of books about future tech, what about in China? // Red room with posters all around it outlining the duties of a good Party Member. What does it take to join the Party? Could that ever exist in Canada? // Found a good podcast to listen to in Chinese, slow, relevant. // Saturday was the air defense siren, could barely hear it. (Sound clip at end of Episode.) // Tims changed the...

Sept 13, 2021 - Quiet weekend ends in musical madness!  // Full lamb served at Western Mahua, a famous Xinjiang Muslim-style restaurant in Beijing!  //  Found chocolate Moon Cakes!  //  So ends the weekend! So begins another spin!  Everyday is your birthday!  // Hope your weekend was great!  //  stevensirski.com ... Sept 14, 2021 - Python in Blender? Ga...

No language studies done today. // Last day of work for A MONTH! // Workout partner for today, and I'm asked why I study so much! Part of it was due to my upbringing. // A lot of plans for the next month, how many will get done? // Sound clip: The sound of evening falling in Beijing. // Have a great weekend! // stevensirski.com

48 hours to make a game? Four days to learn Python? How long should we spend before actually doing something?  //  Looked into the Unity game development program, uses C#. How much of this do I need to learn?  //  Watched 可可西里 or Mountain Patrol this morning. Not the most uplifting movie but I still recommend it. About a Beijing reporter going to Tibet to follow a volunteer group of patrolmen...

It's not an age thing, I'm just telling you you're old. - Thanks Steve!  // Cyberdogs, Cyberhorses, what's next??  //  Python not a bad choice to learn.  //  Why aren't more people here in China learning it? Am I in the midst of a career change and not even know it?  //  Makes me think of the BIG COMPANIES that have many divisions. Are we any different?  //  Tried some soundtracking,  have a liste...

Python in Blender? Game development? Unity and Unreal?! All free? A Chinese movie watch list! // Chinese movies: 周润发 / 天注定 / 南京！ 南京 / 孔雀 / 山河故人 / 万箭穿心 / 虎爸虎妈 / 可可西里 / 肖申克的救赎 / 鸟类迁徙 / 地久天长 / 千与千寻 / 李米的猜想 / 疯狂的石头 / 宁浩 / 你好李焕英 / 少年的你 / 无问西东 / 岁月神偷 / 盲山 // Have fun at work! // stevensirski.com

All of the music files and sound tracks from this week's Episodes all compiled into one place. Rain (Sept 6), Beat Mix (Sept 7), Morning Storm (Sept 9), First Test Beat and The State of the Drum (Sept 10). Enjoy!  //  stevensirski.com

Full week of Episodes from September 6th to 10th, 2021.  Labour Day in Canada, just another work day in China. // Mid-Autumn Fest coming up, time to eat Moon Cakes. Starbucks' hit or miss attempts at the dessert. // Got a haircut, what's it like? A digression on getting a haircut in Beijing, China. // Have a great week! // stevensirski.com Getting close to that day to mark going around the Su...

Quiet weekend ends in musical madness!  // Full lamb served at Western Mahua, a famous Xinjiang Muslim-style restaurant in Beijing!  //  Found chocolate Moon Cakes!  //  So ends the weekend! So begins another spin!  Everyday is your birthday!  // Hope your weekend was great!  //  stevensirski.com

Another spin around the begins!  // Teacher's Day, so make to wish all of your teachers a happy day and a good start to the new school year!  //  Was able to get some Chinese character review in plus some Russian vocab and grammar. Took a look at the TORFL Elementary Test and, though it looks kind of easy, there were some key words I didn't know in such a "simple" test.  //  Afternoon was spent re...

THUNDERSTORM to start the day, still did morning walk and Chinese characters but GOT SOAKED! // Some Russian grammar practice and then prepped A1/2 practice test. // APP research for audio and video. Found some. // Time to vlog? // Got a massage gun! Good for some things. // Hope Thursday is well. Another spin around the sun about to start. // stevensirski.com