SSAB – Jan 1, 2024
Back in the Jing! New Year New Me New You??
Newsletter out!
What did we do? I fell asleep!
How was the rest of Guangzhou? Relaxed, search for youtiao, rainy, went to the museum (free). To the airport and wow is travelling with carry on only great. Much better and efficient than Daxing.
Looking forward to 2024! What are your plans??
And a traditional Ukrainian poem for the New Year.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
SSAB – Jan 2, 2024
The story of 15 years of travel.
South Korea
Poland
Ukraine
Australia
Montreal
China
ESL teacher
Farm hand
Warehouse worker
Wannabe musician
What could possibly be next?
Show notes n tracks up on my website stevensirski.com
SSAB – Jan 3, 2024
How’s that for an intro?!
AI tools are making things look cool! Spent some time going through new tools.
Botexpress… AI chatbots made easy! Haven’t really figured out the costs just yet but it looks very promising.
ElevenLabs – AI voice, like Speechify but cheaper.
Tried out batch creating with ChatGPT+Canva. Essentially you could create a decent channel for $210: ChatCGPT, Canva and an AI voice generator.
Sure, you could go cheaper, but you’d be running around with different email accounts wasting ttime.
New toy with a DJI gimbal! Apparently, if I went all in with DJI Osmo, etc., I’d be able to AI-edit on my phone without transferring files… this has me thinking…
December Drumming finished! Jamuary gets under way. Yes, I still need to make a post. I thought you had to upload everything sequentially on Bandcamp, but apparently you can move tracks around.
Am I still working out? Yes! 6.5km at lunch in about 41.56, a 6.25 pace. After work kbells. Started mace and club swings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Basically working out every day, but not pushing things hard.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 4, 2024
Books I can read! Hahaha!… but do I still have the time?
Working on Episode 43! Coming together!
Jamuary… wow there are a lot of projects going on!
How is building everything up going? Learning email marketing, content creation workflow, different tools. I have a target of 140 hours and I’ve only done about 18 hours of research. I’m tracking everything on a spreadsheet so I can also remember what I’ve already covered.
Looking to build up language vlog over the year.
New weights! Where will I put them??
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
SSAB – Jan 5, 2024
In memory of my Father, Andy Sirski. Вічная пам’ять!
WTF is Obsidian?? I’ve come across it before and this seems to be part of the new method of note taking, along with Notion. I know some language learners use it but I never have. Key part of the program is its ability to store everything as text files so you don’t lose them.
Workouts in, 6km at lunch complete with pull ups, pushups, squats, and lunges. Total time was about 54.36. Did NOT want to workout but… does doing things that you don’t want to do increase your brain power? Latest Huberman Podcast is with none other than David Goggins during which they talk about doing the hard thing, the thing that sucks. Apparently this affects the anterior midcingulate cortex in the brain that is in control of decision making, etc. Doing hard things makes this grow so you get better at making decisions.
Episode 43 is done and uploaded! Head on over to Spotify to have a listen as Alyssa Brown of Brownie Bites joins me to talk about things China, business and baking. Hailing from the US, Alyssa has recently marked her FIFTH anniversary in the country and doesn’t seem to be bothered at all by the lockdowns. If anything, she put her time to good use by baking for others!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to have a listen at skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for creative audio!
Have a good weekend!
SSAB – Jan 8, 2024
Spent much of the day working on the big podcast, using Repurpose to make backups and publish to YouTube!
Jamuary continues with tracks updated. Trying to set up the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol board.
Thinking of music licensing ideas, airbit.com, audiojungle.com.
Creamfields Hong Kong already announcing presale! Should I go again this year??
Workouts in but was a bit slower today. I’m calculating each km as about 1400 steps which means I need 8960 to run four miles. Today did 7.3km but only 7518 steps, so is that only 5.37km? Confusing.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Happy beginning of the week!
SSAB – Jan 9, 2024
GuoBaoRiu for dinner! ShuangJingXuan – but we ordered waaaay too much! Only THREE dishes and the gupbaoriu (which the restaurant is famous for) took half an hour to prepare. By the time it arrived, we weren’t hungry any more! Ended up taking a lot home with us.
Tweaked the shoulder, so now I gotta figure out how to rehab that.
Lots of old podcasts now posted on YouTube, go subscribe to the new channel!
An update on music licensing: Audio Jungle, owned by Envato, isn’t accepting new applicants for its music licensing but AirBit is. There’s also a place called traktrain, but haven’t looked into them just yet.
Tomorrow a day off, and a few more next week. THIS is starting to feel like the holiday season!
Don’t forget to have a listen to Episode 43 of the big pcast on Spotify with Alyssa Brown. All about baking in Beijing!
And finally, drop by skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com to see what’s happening over there. Finally able to update several years’ worth of tracks.
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 10, 2024
End of an era! No more dog meat in South Korea after 2027:
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/dog-meat-will-be-off-the-menu-in-south-korea-3ec5b05f?mod=itp_wsj,djemITP_h
Where are all the babies?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-population-births-decline-womens-rights-5af9937b?
TWO or THREE walks today? Why??? Cause I fell asleep after dinner last night! Woke up at midnight!
Workouts in! 7.42km in 47 min 23 sec. Got this done late so I figured I’d just do my weights too, so I did 45 minutes of kbell work.
Looking at getting a climbing rope and some battle ropes, might be fun to add.
Signed up for a Chinese listening challenge: pick a target (21 hours) and see how far you can get over the next three weeks. Have a look at Hacking Chinese website under their “challenges” section.
Newsletter out! Head over to Substack to read the latest!
And finally, skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for all the creative audio you need.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 11, 2024
Is this what peace is? Is this what a “normal” life is? How could this change? Work has slowed considerably.
Elections in Taiwan… maybe that’s why the internet connections are slow.
Chinese markets: Mainland vs outside – watching FXI ETF that contains a lot of the big names here on the Mainland (but trade in Hong Kong).
Chinese language challenge, another 1.5 hours done or so. Listened to this CrossTalk guy 郭德纲 (Guo DeDang) and a podcast called Bu MingBai on Apple Podcasts. If anything, this challenge will expose me to other sources to listen to. JUST watched an episode of 家有女儿!
SKRSKI MUZIK up and running on Bandacamp, take a listen. Link in the show notes!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 12, 2024
Must be getting close to remitting money to Canada because…. fkg lost it today! Confirm your account they say! Canada bank says we can provide you with the account info in a PDF doc please provide an email! And back and forth it goes and where my money is… everybody knows: not in either my monetary deposit banks.
Must’ve taken something out of me cause lunch time run was sloooooow. Also in pain. Forearms hurt, right shoulder tweaked. May need to back down for a bit.
Updated the website, looking for a new provider as Bluehost has become almost unusable. Also should finally create a macro to do some of this work for me.
Listening to more Chinese as the challenge continues.
STVSKRSKI up on Bandcamp, adding YouTube too??
Have a good weekend!
Show notes up on stevensirski.com
SSAB – Jan 15, 2024
New week new me!? No, not at all!
Whisky tasting! Aiyamaya, do NOT need to do that too often!
- Ardbeg Wee Beastie
- Ardbeg An Oa
- Ardbeg Ten Year
- The Balvenie 15 year (Madeira Cask)
- Laphroaig Four Oak
- Jura 14 tear
- Talisker Fort Ruighe
- Islay Mist
- Aberfeldy
- Johnnie Walker Red Label (mixed with Stone’s Original Ginger)
Managed to get a 7km run in beforehand, today too ran 6.5km in 39 minutes. Slow workout after work.
New DJI mics coming! Not sure if I’d upgrade.
New tracks up on skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 16, 2024
Go to your happy place.
Nifty Notes export script for Mac users:
Also looking to build up a method to email my posts to my website.
How is your Chinese listening going? More of CyberPink, 不明白, Stochastic Volatility.
Jamuary continues! More tracks uploaded.
Will have a couple of days off this week so hopefully can get a few things cleaned up and cleared out.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for all sorts of fun musical stylings.
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 17, 2024
That’s what it feels like to have a few days off… GUILT-FREE!
Workouts in! Lunch time run on the treadmill 5.17km in 45 min, followed by an after work workout of some light and slow lifts.
End of one booklet, the beginning of another… how to choose which new booklet to start?
More automation! Pixelmator and Shortcuts APP on Apple products. Want to add text to photos as that would simplify my workflow in the evenings.
Listening through Jamuary tracks, not bad. Only one spoken word track this year. The guy who started the whole thing is still at it… 16 years! Seems some of his songs have gotten rather political as of late, but he has made one song about breaking the law because he turned all of his songs into NFTs and sold one in an auction. Since he earned more than $10,000 USD from cryptocurrency, it turns out to be a felony. Some new law in the US. Still admire the guy’s ability to generate a song each and every day.
Thinking ahead to February, film February? Feature February? I’d like to write a 90-minute feature film/movie, though I’m not sure I’d want to do it live action. I’m starting to think of some other ways to tackle this type of project. Might be an interesting challenge to see if I can do it all on my own throughout the year?
Today’s listening to Chinese:
Listened to 23 min of 不明白 podcast Episode 80; 83 minutes of Stochastic Volatility (April 1, 2020); another 35 min of another Stochastic Volatility episode; 25 minutes of 王志安的播客 (Jan 9, 2024); 24 min of Seahorse Planet (海马星球) Jan 1, 2024.
TOTAL: 190 minutes
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 18, 2024
Finally time to think!
Automation! Got more working… though not exactly the way I want it to. Cleaning downloads. Still using Automator though I know there are other programs that can do this, ie Hazel and Keyboard Maestro.
And finally setting up a Time Machine… backup.
Organized coins! Have you ever done this?? Collected a bunch of old coins from the travels and finally put them into a binder. Same with some old paper money. Might be worth something someday! Probably not much.
Chinese listening:
- 52 min 不明白
- 35 CyberPink
- 54 min – 大波福娃
Dinosaurs! 兽脚类恐龙 (shòujiǎolèikǒnglóng) dinosaurs! The T-Rex, velociraptor, etc.
Did they just all eat each other??
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com!
Have a good one!
SSAB – Jan 19, 2024
Money is back! Count your blessings! Whatever did go wrong? Would you try again?!
But be careful how you treat people online, they may just live in your building! Or was that just the neighbour’s son who I’ve met before?
I think I need a plumber… sink is plugged again.
Workouts in! 7kms in 1hr 10 min, cause I was running slow and doing all the other add ins I do. Push ups, pull ups, lunges, squats. Then some heavy kbell lifts afterwards.
Which notebook did you end up using? Older one. It has fewer pages so I might use it up faster.
Spent the day hooking up the LX MINI board I have. Took a bit of figuring out and doesn’t really work with Logic Pro.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
And don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have s good weekend!
SSAB – January 22, 2024
Hot pot and cycling
A theatre play 故宫博物院大型沉浸式家
角端 庭音乐剧《甪端》 – The Forbidden City Large Scale Immersive Family Spectacle “Jiao Duan” – A story about the end caps and other figurines on display at the Forbidden City.
Internet a bust
Sink a bust
Things happen in threes, right? This completes the money triad?
Brother-in-law’s brother passed away.
Newsletter in the works
Workouts in! 5.65km in 39.54.
Jamuary! one week left!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good start of week!
SSAB – January 23, 2024
Newsletter out!
https://stevensirski.substack.com/p/a-banking-fiasco
Automation – is it worth it or is it just a distraction? Automator, Keyboard Maestro, Shortcuts. Am I just distracting myself??
Chinese listening continues. Two hours is getting easier to fit in, but there is always a battle between extensive listening for language learning purposes and informational listening from English podcasts.
Are we finally seeing a turnaround in Chinese stocks and in oil?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com!
Have a good Tuesday!
SSAB – January 24, 2024
And they came through! SkyRemit with the remittance to the Canada! $84 deposited… roughly how much I lost on the conversion. So what happened? Account number was a mix of the transit number, leading zero, and the account number. I had never seen that before NOR was it on the bank transfer info I had sent them. NOWHERE!
Chinese stonks! Where will they go this year?? 宁德时代 (300750) looks like it’s completed a bottoming formation. Qingdao Pijiu (600600) also looks promising. TongHuaShun (300033) is rallying. Prediction? EVs and Chinese stocks will do well this year. ***Do your own research and don’t rely on a podcast for your financial advice! This is just what I see and how I interpret things! Do your own due diligence and talk to your financial advisor before making any financial moves!
Workouts in! 6.54km in 38.40. A six minute kilometre? Didn’t feel like it. Kbells and creative lifts after work. Back hurts though, unrelated?
Slowing getting things together for the language vlog, looking ahead to my 2024 language goals. Need to figure out a better and more efficient schedule.
How do you favourite a food in Eleme?? I ordered the wrong 糖醋里脊. Still ate it.
A week left of Jamuary, though I’m thinking I may very continue on in another way after the month is done. Thinking of another idea…
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good hump day!
SSAB – January 25, 2024
Looks like I’m at least a little bit right on the Chinese market moves. But don’t take my word for it, do your own due diligence and talk to your own financial advisor before doing anything!
Automation in the works! Spent the evening trying out a few things and made some progress. It’s becoming more comfortable but I certainly have a long way to go. When does it end?
Spent some time going through potential B-roll clips, have you ever thought of using your extra footage as filler?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Next year, might separate those out.
Have a good one!
SSAB – January 26, 2024
Last Friday of January! Still work tomorrow.
Eeesh, a little uninspired with the Jamuary tracks as of late. But looking forward to the next challenge.
Workouts in! 6.5km with all the dipsie doodads as per usual: every round included 10 pull ups, 20 push ups, 30 squats and 20 lunges. Of course, some heavy kbell lifts after work as well.
COVID and flu, is it coming back? Not likely. Though my throat is scratchy these days.
Travel plans for the Spring Festival? It is warming up. Where would I go? Wouldn’t mind doing a cycling trip or two over the next few months.
Chinese stonks on the rise… forgot to talk about that yesterday!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a look at skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good weekend!
SSAB – January 29, 2024
Cookies pies and payday!
Sore throat, hope it’s not serious!
Lunchtime run on the treadmill cause it’s too smoggy. Four kilometres in about 40 min. Did do some light weights after work but was also busy creating a…
…Notion Calendar! Neat little program. Free, with a paid version too. Already I can see how it’s a useful tool. All can be done on Google online apps too, but I’ve heard a lot of people talk about this program.
End of January, end of Jamuary! Next project begins February 1st! Two ideas: one, work on a feature length something or other. Two, keep creating music tracks and posting online.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for all the creative audio you need and more!
Have a good start of week!
SSAB – January 30, 2024
It’s the 30th! Did you know this year is a leap year? We get an extra day in February.
Chinese stonks stalled, or simply falling? New restrictions on short selling.
Jamuary wrapping up
February filming- maybe I could do something else?
STVSKRSKI looking to branch this out. Offer sample packs with every purchase??
Newsletter never did finish as I got looking into live DJing.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – January 31, 2024
End of the month! What a month!
Jamuary done! Now to tidy up, backup and archive.
New project will get going soon.
Newsletter in the pipeline, look for it soon.
February what to do, plan? Script? Shoot?
Workouts in! Feeling a little bit better and stronger. 6.63km in 41.07. Some slam ball action. Kbells after work. And do you remember me saying one of the reasons I run four miles and not three or two? Now I remember!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com
Have a good one!