frozen octopus

I am down to 70 albums on a dynamic list of music I keep giving myself to listen to. Don't know why, but I really like getting to the end of a list. Finishing this list is a sort of self-lesson to not do things like add every album from a record label to it. Keeping a list of interesting labels is a much more sane way to go.

What I really want lately is to be able to request my robot to "Get me an album of vibe or genre" and have it reference the cool list of record labels. It could surface music that is recently released and get that into my ears first. Then, if there is nothing out lately, it can find something older from those labels. It can see all the albums I have listened to since I list them on the site and suggest only ones I haven't heard before.

Basically, I just want to wake up, start listening to something from sources I want to support, and not go down the rabbit hole of staring at record covers. I love the rabbit hole of staring at record covers, but that is a thing for after getting things done.

Looks like the next action is to make a list of record labels.

Sometimes when I open an album from the list by an artist I don't know yet, it won't be out. It is set as a pre-release, and all the tracks are grayed out. Sometimes one or two will be listenable.

The intended effect of a pre-release is supposed to build tension and anticipation. It is supposed to get me excited for that magic day when the album is out. I worry that it is having the opposite effect on me, and maybe others.

Instead of anticipation, I am having more of an exasperation or disgruntled vibe happening. That vibe when you have a friend who always makes you a little late because they take too long getting ready.

I never know if it is just me or are others feeling it too. But I am noticing the pre-releasers are getting sorted into a different category in my mind. It's not fair because it is probably a label doing this to time things like press, distribution, etc.

" is annoying cause I need to do extra work" <--- This is happening.

" is annoying cause I need to do  <--- This is not happening.

As a musician, and someone who also helps out an indie label, it is on my mind every time it happens. The pre-release affect isn't happening with me and I worry about it because I love music and bands.

"Yes! The release is finally here! I can click the button and hear the sounds." <--- This is not happening.

"Fine, I'll put you in the text file with all the others that made me do data-entry just so I will hopefully remember to get around to in three months" <--- This is happening.

Your band is now on "the wait list" which is not fair but you made me put it on the list. Fun to ruminate on this. I bet if you ask me in a couple months, I will have a completely different opinion which is the fun of it all.

I went to the rehearsal studio last night to play some drums to get ready for an important show on Saturday. Playing drums alone is fun but sometimes there is a point where you have no idea what to play.

So I decided to use the time to get better at a kick drum technique I don't use often. There are two basic ways to hit a kick drum.

1. Press Only

Version one is press the kick pedal down for every hit with your toe. Every hit is strong. You end up bouncing the leg a lot. It uses more energy.

2. Press / Slide

The other is where you press down towards the front of the pedal (most far from the actual drum) with the toe. Then you kind of slide forward and place your whole foot on the pedal. It uses less energy after you master the motion. You can also get up to incredible speeds if you need it for your genre.

Which technique to go with?

Both.

I spent the time slowly trying to force myself to use method two last night for while. I got the motion down a little more solid and it started to feel pretty good. It definitely uses less energy and I think it is a little easier to keep the kick drum notes a little more even sounding.

I am still faster with just pushing but probably not for long.

Have the two ways down well and using them where appropriate. I can see myself using the Push/Slide one for long stretches of the same pattern to preserve energy and then with to the other for intense bursts. The Push only method sounds really cool so use that when it is needed.

I see it like a guitar player. You can strum up and down (ex: push/slide) which is more efficient. You can also just do downstrokes (ex: push only) which sounds really cool.

Get good at both and use when the time is right.

If you are following the Album feed from this website, you might have noticed a little chaos lately. I have been running all the old albums through Claude Cowork having it find and update any missing genres and record labels. It is doing it in batches and it is actually getting things in order. That's the good news.

The "bad" news is the updated albums are showing up in the RSS feed which is a little annoying. Sorry about that. It should be back to normal soon I promise. I think it is about 65-75% finished with the process. After that we'll be caught up and there will only be a couple albums in the feed daily like normal.

How's your blog going? Send me a link if you have one.

There are two computers on my desk. Computer #01, MacBook Pro, has Tahoe 26 running on it with Claude Cowork that I have been using for four months. Computer #02, Macbook Neo, has the Golden Gate 27 beta running on it so it has the new Siri AI.

Both are fun but they are drastically different. I have a system that I have been slowly building in Cowork living in a folder with markdown files. I need to slowly move this system over to Siri AI. Not knocking Cowork but Siri AI works locally so it is s.｡oO much faster doing a lot of things. There is also a ton of things Siri AI can't do yet.

A "house move" like this is a perfect time to do an audit of what I actually need any more. So I am going through the skills I have set up and my contexts to see what I actually need to get done. What needs automation? What can be an Apple Shortcut? What should I actually be doing that I was having Cowork do?

Just have a deep think and have fun building a plan. Try to get it all feeling like I am holding the rudder of the boat careening down the river as opposed to feeling like the boat.

An example of one area I am struggling with that I want to get sorted in System 2.0 are things like Weekly Reviews. I want to wake up on Friday, start my day, get asked the questions to answer to assess where things are, and have it process where I am at. I need it to happen so that it doesn't feel like a task though. Same with monthly, quarterly and yearly. How to answer the life audit questions that need to be answered on schedule but have it be kinda fun and magical?

The fun of moving.