Isolation: How will you pass the time?

What is this strange ancient technology of which you speak?
I'm reminded of a post-apocalyptic scene in Max Headroom, where one guy looks at the wreckage and asks "What's that?". The other replies "it's a book, a non-volatile storage medium. Everyone should have one!"
 
my daughter spent 7 days behind doors before her C19 test results negative but that was after a 2 week japan holiday and 4 weeks full on work shifts so she was kinda was enjoying the down time i just took her playstation games ..

From what i understand isolation may not mean 100% locked behind doors 24 /7 and that things like walking driving single person hobbies are allowed just dont interact with others.. So i'd go surfing fishing target shooting archery golf driving range car drives to places i no been but all just by myself or dear swmbo can come along or follow in the other car.. id look to volunteer my time on things like roadside rubbish collection or repairing my various club premises.. About the house i got the painting to be done which is itself a 2 week project plus i have heaps of work admin reports and plans to update so really 2 weeks is not enuff time..

oh wait could hire a sail boat or lake house boat for 2 weeks & see ya

actually i got 2 weeks holiday starting this Thursday :) and the above was handy to plan out my time off

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Don't forget to close the curtains until it all blows over
 
Not feeling sorry for myself but during lockdown I was blind with cataracts. I mainly stuck with the radio but I still listened to TV shows like the news or the Witcher.

I did move to Audible as I have a habit of consumming (sp?) books. However I also tend to nod off and found it difficult finding my place I had left.

I suffer with a few mental health issues and the only human contact I had was my son. It was weird been so reliant on one person. Mind you I could have chosen some more upbeat music than The Smiths/Joy Division/Leonard Cohen or The Cure
 
Astronomy too.
Did anyone take time in looking to the stars?
I did.
Binoculars 8 x 50 milky way, flat on your back!

It's funny you should mention that, as I've always lived in big cities, and suffered from urban haze so much that I'd never seen the Milky Way. However, I've just been on holiday to Georgia (hence nearly 2 weeks of silence from me on MB), and one of the things I requested was a chance to see it. Not only were we graced by a double rainbow as we entered the national park, but by evening the clouds had completely cleared, and sure enough as the sun set deeper below the horizon, the Milky Way started to appear. I've not played with post yet (too lazy to do that generally, but I might make an exception for these), but at least I have a semi-recognisable souvenir of the experience:
 
I also had my two SL1200 decks ready and operatable during the whole covid lock downs. It gave me the perfect chance to get my mixing skills back on track. Some time in, I just had to try the modern (Pioneer) way with the mp3 decks, but was just not satisfied and hence returned them.. Also I found them too bulky.
Until the latest “all in one” unit came out, the ddj rev7. This one i keep, as i can connect my analog decks. Also it has spinning wheels, which i like. It is more meant for scratching, but i don’t do that much.
 
So today, I went to work by train and rental bike, with mild cold symptoms, and there my daily antigen test turned up positive. The only place in town where I could get a PCR test with rapid result is a hospital a bit on the periphery, so I took a taxi there. From there, to get home, I had three options: by taxi - a bit expensive for my liking (probably sth like 35 €); or by buses - slow and complicated, and I might expose others unduly to my virus (same in taxi); or hike 12 km / 7.5 miles / 2:10 hours, mostly through fields and small villages. Since the weather is fair, and very mild for the season, like 18 °C, I opted for the latter. Not a bad choice at all!

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or hike 12 km / 7.5 miles / 2:10 hours, mostly through fields and small villages. Since the weather is fair, and very mild for the season, like 18 °C, I opted for the latter. Not a bad choice at all!
Looks lovely! Might I ask where this is? Without doxing yourself. Somewhere in Europe obviously. Looks green and cloudy, so I'm guessing northern Europe? Also looks flat and has rental bikes, so maybe The Netherlands?
 
Looks lovely! Might I ask where this is? Without doxing yourself. Somewhere in Europe obviously. Looks green and cloudy, so I'm guessing northern Europe? Also looks flat and has rental bikes, so maybe The Netherlands?
Not very far from the Dutch border in Germany. In fact, minutes before taking this picture, I touched on a village a straight reading of which's name translates to "Towards Holland" - although I am not sure of the actual ethymology.
 
Well, I was close. As an American that hasn't been to Germany yet, I still see it as big industrial cities or the rolling Tyrol, the mountains of Bavaria and steep valleys of the Rhine. Need to get out more.
 
As isolation continues and now that my Tetris goal has been accomplished I've moved on to finally getting around to recording a bunch of songs I wrote around twenty years ago. Tried many times over the decades but because of my inability to program drums I always gave up. Luckily my girlfriend has a Mac and I've suddenly realised that the Garageband drummer is TERRIFIC.

Some rough mixes of a few of my songs here if any of y'all want a listen:

https://www.bandlab.com/toddlanders
 
Some rough mixes of a few of my songs here if any of y'all want a listen:

https://www.bandlab.com/toddlanders

George Harrison meets Bob Dylan meets Rory in a mildly trippy garage. Thanks for sharing! Especially liked the vulnerable yet self-embracing introspectiveness and the synthy main riff of 'Momma, what's wrong with me?'. You're special and we're lucky to have you here Rory. You fit right in!
 
Yes good one Rory, Getting some 'Cardiacs' like vibes from some of the songs. I wouldn't call them rough mixes, much better than my mine, mine are just muddy and crappily recorded, unfortunately I just haven't had the time to rework them over the last couple of years

PS in 'dontcha wish your girlfriend was' is the synth a sample of someone saying 'alcohol' or is that just me imagining it
 
Yes good one Rory, Getting some 'Cardiacs' like vibes from some of the songs. I wouldn't call them rough mixes, much better than my mine, mine are just muddy and crappily recorded, unfortunately I just haven't had the time to rework them over the last couple of years

Not heard of Cardiacs; I'll check em out. And thanks for the compliments, much appreciated. To be honest I was a bit sad that mine were sounding muddy too, despite spending way too much time on them, but a bit of EQing (had forgotten about that) and, more than anything, using an online mastering service really brought everything to life.

Stick your songs in bandlab.com/mastering (it's free) and see what difference it makes.

PS in 'dontcha wish your girlfriend was' is the synth a sample of someone saying 'alcohol' or is that just me imagining it

You were imagining it. ;)

But I hear things in them too, and seem to have had quite a few happy accidents where some random noise appeared for no reason and just kind of worked, which I then incorporated into the track.

Anyway, gonna say 'album' kind of finished for now. There's tons more I could do but it's good enough for purpose.

Can be heard and/or downloaded here and here if anyone fancies it:

www.soundcloud.com/thetoddlanders/sets/if-2-was-9
www.tinyurl.com/thetoddlanders-if-2-was-9
 
Anyway, gonna say 'album' kind of finished for now. There's tons more I could do but it's good enough for purpose.
Hey congrats, I will have a listen
If 2 was 9? Oh wait hendrix if 6 was 9, wow I never realized till now 69, I feel so stupid. I just always enjoyed the song but never made that connection. Though 2 > 9 I dont get, I would say couple = big family but thats prolly wrong. but no importa

mate its not muddy, you want dreck listen to my stuff .. so much bad recording & mixing, its like reverb etc even though I dont use it so much Im a first take guy is good, not because Im lazy, its just I dont have the time(*).
I will say as a music lover dont record lots of songs , just a few tunes but hone them to perfection, maybe rerecord a song in a different style, afterwards maybe you take parts and improve the original tune. Here Im also talking to myself.
Come back in 6months, reappraise your songs

(*) Actually cause Im a bit drunk now (not worked today, just babysat) this is a perfect example of very muddy, your recording are better than this

Source: https://soundcloud.com/zed-zeek/stupidfuck-1?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

very muddy but it shows Rory mate, sing from the heart, flaws and all., always be true to yourself, once I finish work in some months (hopefully), I can work on my music
 
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