- SSAB – November 1, 2023
- SSAB – November 2, 2023
- SSAB – November 3, 2023
- SSAB – November 6, 2023
- SSAB – November 7, 2023
- SSAB – November 8, 2023
- SSAB – November 9, 2023
- SSAB – November 10, 2023
- SSAB – November 13, 2023
- SSAB – November 14, 2023
- SSAB – November 15, 2023
- SSAB – November 16, 2023
- SSAB – November 17, 2023
SSAB – November 1, 2023
New month! here we go!
Is the beard gone?! Nope. Kinda haven’t even been thinking about that. But is it men’s health awareness month.
Creative season starts..
NaNoWriMo – writing a book in a month, or trying to anyway. Will write it on… Twitter? Or Substack?
Considering upgrading some tech, Maschine+, Akai MPC, or just use the iPad? Some things to think about.
Episode 42 basically done… now who’s next?
Workouts in
5.5km in 42min 6.30 min pace
Medicine ball workout 2.5 sets of 8 rounds
After work kettle bells
Guest post interview! Ben Dawson, long time listener, went on vacation recently and convinced his tour guide, Rosey, to give a little bit of an interview, daily audio blog style: record and ask questions! She answers a few questions about how she got into being a tour guide, a bit of family history and what people can expect when they visit. The interview follows today’s episode and you can find Rosey on TikTok at rosey18.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good November!
SSAB – November 2, 2023
Recorded the last little bit of Episode 42, final mix and export. Should be good for tomorrow.
Smog is clearing, wind is up.
Ukrainian class, how was it? Rough.
Did look at some tech and decided to go on the cheaper end of things. Synodi and Nektar LX25 Mini. Why not Maschine+? Or Akai MPC+?
Tooth is hurting… I hope this is just a change in the seasons!
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 3, 2023
End of the week! For some! Not for me!
Not drinking this week has helped immensely!
Workouts in!
Lunch Running (a bunch)
60 pull ups with 6kg vest
120 push ups
180 squats
After work kbells interspersed with more work!
New toys arrived buuuuut… didn’t get a chance to unbox them just yet!
Episode 42 is done! Head to The Steven Sirski Podcast on Spotify NOW to stream!
Brad Seippel aka thruoutin, an American-born electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist. He’s been in China for over fifteen years and now runs his own studio here in Beijing. An electric pipa player, fluent in Chinese, and a touring musician, we talk things music, China and business.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 6, 2023
The heat is on!
Newsletter out
Getting cold outside!
Workouts in!
Lunch 6.4 km in 38 minutes
Kbell and skipping (need to get a new rope)
After work slow macebell swings
Will be getting some new equipment
How’s your Double 11 shopping?
Two months left in the year, does it matter?
Are Chinese companies replacing foreign management with local? What will the effect be?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good start of week!
SSAB – November 7, 2023
New language challenge: read for 20 minutes a day!
Yup, sick. How to deal with this? Usually lasts a day. Need to realize you’re sick and take the needed steps.
PSB visit done for another year, is a green card better?
Nektar MIDI board, will take some getting used to but it looks like a decent piece of hardware. Thinking… tour some time? What would it take to do such a thing?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 8, 2023
Pneumonia! Covid, flu and pneumonia all bogging up the hospitals!
Workouts outside again today so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow!
Lunch:
Run 7.54km in 42.17, a 4.52km??
Medicine ball workout = 3 full rounds of 8 sets
After work:
Slow weights
Work has slowed, this is nice.
Time to see the dentist! Apparently I’m like the only one who hasn’t gone in a long time.
How was Ukrainian class? Struggling…
Show notes n tracks up in stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 9, 2023
Website update! Finally!
Ahh spending the morning moving cables around… just to put them all back the same way
How was the dentist?! 劲松口腔
15% better? That’s exactly what this podcast will do! Read the research:
Flexiclass and group classes – time to try something new?
HSK class YouTube:
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 10, 2023
End of the week! Been light this week.
Workouts in!
Lunch:
Did NOT feel like working out. Started gentle on the treadmill with the weight vest then decided, No, I need to go run.
7.52km in 1 hr 2 min 32 sec with the weight vest
-interspersed with pull ups, push ups and squats
-also added sets of split squats
Evening: kettlebell lifts, I sadly don’t have a fixed set up for this.
Side street for dinner “Very Gouda”, Steve, maybe this is why you can’t lose weight?
Chinese reading going well, half impressed! Good side for practicing: mdbg.net has a section you can input text and it colour codes the tones and gives you the pinyin.
Lest we forget, Remembrance Day this weekend.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com.
Have a good one!
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
SSAB – November 13, 2023
Stats are in!
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/taobao-tmall-11-11-shopping-011100480.html
So how much did you buy? I could’ve bought more but am happy with what I got. I’ve set a goal of practicing for 15 minutes per day with this new Novation board. One of the first recordings follows!
Some articles about brain matter!
Language learning good! More grey matter in the executive brain function area.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150716135054.htm
Exercising in pollution bad! “Overall, the effect of air pollution on brain health was modest — roughly equivalent to half the effect of one year of aging, while the effects of vigorous activity on brain health were much larger — approximately equivalent to being three years younger.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211208161118.htm
https://n.neurology.org/content/98/4/e416
How many grey matter particles do I earn for every Chinese character I memorize?
Workouts in!
Lunch time run: 6.55 km in 37.01
10 kg Steel club workout
After work: kettle bell lifts
And why is my timing always off on my running? Does cadence have anything to do with it?
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/what-is-cadence-in-running#how-to-improve
https://therunningclinic.com/runners/blog/why-is-a-high-cadence-useful-for-runners/
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 14, 2023
How are those supplements doing? Have not been consistent. Weight is about the same, but body pain has been noticeable.
Organizing the studio – how else can I expand? How much more can I make fit?
Language learning and episodic memory, remember all those times you learned a Chinese character because of what it looks like? This is scene recall
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501256/
Hate listen on Spotify. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 15, 2023
I confess… I had McDonalds for breakfast. Didn’t post a picture because I didn’t want others to have the same idea. Be strong. Double sausage n egger, double chicken n egger. Hash browns. Soy milk (with sugar).
Workouts in, but changed it up since a bit of a reshuffle at work. Was able to use the treadmill for the lunchtime shift, then weights, then run.
Did weights first then a 6.5 km run.
-Kettle bell lifts for weights
-Used Xiaomi sports band instead of phone app and that threw off the km calculation even more! Counted the cadence and that was right, but the kms didn’t measure up with those before. No GPS data apparently.
Last year at this time, failing DELTA M1, failed HSK5. Where’s the end of studying Chinese?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 16, 2023
Birthday of an old school friend many years ago, but have lost touch. Last I saw, he had a kid. Moved away from the hometown but still in Canada.
Last Ukrainian class for a while.
Buying more books! But simpler ones now:
- 城南旧事 – Old Things in the South of the City
- 伊索寓言 – Aesop’s Fables
- 宝葫芦的秘密 – The Secret of the Treasure Gourd
- 一千零一夜 – One Thousand and One Night
- 会飞的猫 – Flying Cat
- 汤姆索亚历险记 – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- 小王子 – Little Prince
- 中国寓言故事 – Chinese fables
A switch up of the workouts, but nothing done today.
Setting up Episode 43, another local expat.
Looking at what tools I need if I don’t want to hire people just yet (or it’s cheaper to do myself).
Canva, Otter, website, ??
And X is unreadable today.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 17, 2023
End of week!
Workouts in!
How was the change up? DIDN’T happen!
Lunchtime run
-lunges
-pull ups push ups increased every round, six rounds total
1/2/3 2/4/6 3/6/9 4/8/12 5/10/15 6/12/18
Finding the compression garments useful.
Chinese books are readable! Easiest 25 minutes to date!
New APPs: Launchpad and Groovebox
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 20, 2023
It’s 20/23!
Upped the tech game, got Keyboard Maestro and a month long transcription service.
Workouts in!
Lunch run 5.5km or so in 36 min
Dual 5kg clubs
After work mace n clubs
Newsletter out!
Start of the work week, bro do you even know how to go?
Making your first $100,000 will probably be done working for someone else. Job hopping seems to be the key to moving up salaries.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good start of week!
SSAB – November 21, 2023
It’s the 21st? I hope I was saying that all day cause I don’t really remember. One month till the days start getting longer!
Chinese reading not so bad, learned 滚 gǔn to roll. Dolsch word list, 100 most common words in a language, these are good starting points but they need to be built upon.
Looking through Keyboard Maestro macros, apparently people use this for Logic and Pro Tools.
Sorting photos! How often do you do that?!? I’ll confess, I don’t know how to download from iCloud. How do I find my account again??
WeGene, would you let a Chinese company profile you? What about 23andme?
Show notes n tracks up in my website stevensirski.com
Just how much can you automate?
SSAB – November 22, 2023
Last of the warmth? Like clockwork… Little Snow day today and magic… the weather will turn cold in Beijing!
Workouts in!
Lunch time run: 6.5km within 37.16
Slam ball!
After work kettle bell flow
Ultramarathons are the new Corvette!
Ten ideas
- No stink socks
- No sweat sweater
- Cheap, but good compression clothes
- Pants with a money belt built in
- Clip on shoes
- Spray-on compression clothing
- Deodorant strips – stick and leave on
- Spray printer that attaches to your phone
- Portable pull up bar
- Portable rowing machine
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 23, 2023
These days are a flying by! Getting cold as the wind picks up! What are Beijing winters like?
Happy US Thanksgiving Day!
Spend an hour after work as a non-negotiable time to yourself for study. I did this with Mandarin, now with social media.
Air line points are expiring! Where to go?? Or what to buy?
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 24, 2023
Black Friday begins! What will you buy now?!?!?
How is Ukraine doing?
“Redefining Success in Ukraine: A New Strategy Must Balance Means and Ends” by Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/redefining-success-ukraine
-blames Trump, thinks he sides with Putin and Russia
-laments how many people Ukraine is losing, neglecting to consider the effect on Russia’s own population
Workouts in!
Lunch run 5.93km + pull ups, push ups, squats per round
-lunges along one side of the run way
After work: dogged kettlebell workout
How are gold and oil doing? Chinese markets seem to be stalled overall. Thanksgiving is usually some sort of turnaround.
Transcripts of the daily pcast… could I now make a weekly “best of”? What would I call it? Sirski’s Gold?!
Reading this book Mindset by Carol S Dweck, Ph.D. About developing a “growth” mindset instead of fixed. Points out all sorts of research and trials and stuff about how you need to have a flexible mindset and not stay rock-like in your beliefs. Not real new information, but it does have me questioning some of the things that I assume I’m flexible or “growth-oriented” about.
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good weekend, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday! Don’t spend too much!
SSAB – November 27, 2023
Episode 43 recorded!
Newsletter in the process!
Need to get a health check done soon.
Workouts in!
Lunchtime grind: barely made 5.29 km within 38 min 20 sec.
-Then steel club work
After work: mace swings and lifts.
Six days a week going to continue for a bit, how will this work over the next few months?
December Drumming starting up on Friday!
Show notes n tracks available on stevensirski.com
Have a good start of week!
SSAB – November 28, 2023
Newsletter out! Up-skilling in the age of AI? Worth it? Language learning, worth it?
Some neat plugins being created for ChatGPT, it’s a new skill and tech you’re going to have to learn. Take a look at https://aieducator.tools/
Silver moving, gold crawling, oil stocks falling.
Money in, money out! Rent due!
Pausing on the language vlog, want to consider a few things and move into longer form videos rather than shorts.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 29, 2023
Health check done, how was it?
Afternoon get together and a rather startling beer, sleep, and a midnight run. Maybe a good time to start splitting up my workouts?
Gold and silver moving!
The Land Before Time was released 35 years ago! Sad news about the girl who voiced Ducky.
Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one!
SSAB – November 30, 2023
End of the month! Already! What have you got left to do in 2023? Does it matter?
Setting up for December Drumming 2023! Address:
https://skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com/
Not sure if that will stay the same as apparently Skrski is an actual Polish name, while “skr” is apparently also onomatopoeic for the sound of cars screeching to a halt. I like the name, we’ll see how it goes. Looking to publish all of the previous years through Bandcamp as well.
Charlie Munger, 99, and Henry Kissinger, 100, have passed away.
Kissinger as Secretary of State helped build relations with China and the US and why the Mainland has the seat at the UN and not Taiwan. He also wrote a bunch of books that I could never really get into.
Munger helped Buffett make his billions. “What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does come.”
Read the history of Berkshire Hathaway before you quote Buffet or Munger again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway
Imagine owning stock in someone’s company.
Editing Episode 43, and setting up next Episodes!
Did you know you can get Google Cloud storage for like $48 CAD a year? Sync.com is based in Canada and offers 2TB storage for $72 a year.
Show notes n tracks are up on stevensirski.com
Have a good one and see you in the mix!