frozen octopus

There is something about the arc of going to and coming back from a show that resonates with me.

It isn't just being at the show itself. It is the whole process of thinking about the show, studying up on who is playing, exploring the area around the venue, time tables, talking to people, thinking about future music, and things like that.

Then when you get back there is stuff to put away, things I've gathered to check out later to peruse, choosing wind down music, and things like that.

You change slightly after going out for some music. It's like you are a meteor and something bumps your course slightly. It changes your orbit a bit.

Took advantage of the dollar to yen exchange rate and leveled up my winter coat. A random fashion reset which is rare for me. Enough so that my significant keeps asking me "who are you". Nothing too crazy but it's for sure a departure from previous vibes. Getting used to the length but have a longer one is already better for waiting on a train platform.

Got four meters of green fabric in Nippori's fabric town the other day. A two meter sheet of at a photo shop is like 10000円/$100 or something. I got the four meters for 400円/$4.

Finally got around to doing a green screen chroma key test and it totally worked. Just need to figure out some way to do the lighting better and in a way that is portable. Also, need to get my head around getting the edge on the video being cut out.

I couldn’t resist the temptation to take photos of the fireworks tonight. I am never going to look at them or use them for anything.

I started the NaNoWriMo writing challenge a week late because a family member was in Tokyo for the first week. The writing has started and it's both mind-opening plus a slog at the same time.

I am averaging 1604 words a day so far on the NaNoWriMo challenge. My total word count is 8024 words in five days.

One thing I've noticed so far is my writing pattern has a distinct pattern to it.

I start slow and rambling for 300 words. Then some idea I should probably do someday comes out and I flesh it out for the next 800 hundred-ish words or so.

The remaining words is usually me trying to keep the ball in the air while I try to slog on to get to the 1,667 goal.

Wexwwac w wwwwwww CC W ww eves is Swwt www wwwYés what y aww weed. Wwww V w *

This was in my spot of things to post someday so it is now posted. Hopefully someone finds it useful. 👆🏻

My band's RSS feed stopped being valid. It took me a while to see what was breaking. Something with my date format was causing things to not validate. Once I spotted it, things started validating.

I had this for my date which seems correct...

Mon, 30 October 2023 08:00:00 +0900

Turns out that you need to use the short version of the month...

Wed, 02 Oct 2002 08:00:00 +0900

So use "Oct" and not "October".

My bandmate has an emoji system for keeping track of how far a long a song is. I am totally going to steal it for my random projects:

• 🥚= a new idea is beginning
• 🐣= a new idea in process
• 🐥= a new idea is finished

This blog is definitly 🥚. Not even close to 🐥.

Apple Music has been lame on my laptop lately. When I click play on the first song, it just skips to the next song, then the next, and then the next. Nothing gets played. Sometimes it works trying playing it again.

What usually happens it I just say "eff it" and listen to a podcast.

I was getting to the end of the last song on the first album from the list when a recommendation from a friend arrived for the second album on the list. Nice timing, nice album.

## Today's Music

- 0mni Trio "Skeleton Keys" #electronic
- Mdou Moctar "Afrique Victime" #rock
 

Got lucky and found a cool yakitori place near our friend's hotel. Bonus points for getting a table outside on a hot night.

Did an hour of drum practice tonight to get ready for practice on Saturday. Practice for practice.

We set up a compost bucket on our veranda to see if we could get some free dirt from our food scraps. I wasn't skeptical but also wasn't 100% sure if a bucket can keep up with two people.

It's working pretty well actually. The soil is dark and rich and it's generating heat.

So stoked to go see fireworks tomorrow. It's been four years since they did the last ones in our area.

Things are easier with good tools. My new glasses rule.

I am working on a 15 second video for the mpls ltd record label. My first inspiration was to do a frame-by-frame animation. Sketched the idea out and might have to go a different direction. My idea seems really rushed in that short of a time span.

Second inspiration is to grab pieces of the bands videos and animate over it.

きっと = surely

I always forget how to say "surely" in Japanese.

Both of us were craving ramen so we went to a local chain shop called Miso Kuma (miso bear). We got one bowl of miso ramen and one bowl of salt ramen. Both were good but the salt one was way better for a hot day.

Going out to see off a couple friends from Spain. They are heading home after a long, busy trip in Japan. Hopefully get some karaoke in tonight.

Tanabata today. It's a day for wish-making. No wish instantly popped into my mind so I decided to give the wish-granters some time off.