Dusty Chalk

Homework! The interview I had earlier this week gave me homework, so that's a good sign.

Audiobooks are books that are read to you. So yes, they do count as "books", but don't count as "reading". 😜

"...there's one underneath my bed..." - Alan Parsons, or whoever wrote the lyrics

I have not, I have not played any besides the one I have. But that's a good point, you should -- if at all possible, go try play one in person. (I have a ginormous beast of a keyboard controller that I inherited for free, the Akai Professional MPK88. Honestly, I would not recommend it, it's not a good beginner's keyboard. And most of my others are "synth action" / non-weighted.) Yamaha and Casio totally dominate the digital piano market, and for a good reason. I think the hard part would be deciding on which one, but I think you're perfectly good choosing just from those two brands. I happen to be happy with all of my Alesis gear, and I found that one on a page of best MIDI controllers, and it was the only one with built-in sound, but I agree that you should stick with digital pianos, that way you get what you want straight out of the box. Something else I noticed is that some digital pianos come without a built-in stand, so if you're comparing standless pianos with pianos with built-in stand, I would add the cost of a good stand to the ones without, or just stick with ones with built-in stands. Sorry for the long delay in replying, I had an interview today. It went well, I think.

Fernando Perdomo made an entire album in the yacht rock style, and he's done others as well: https://fernandoperdomo.bandcamp.com/album/yacht

Happy birthday! party favour noise

Condolences. Good girl, Isabella, good girl.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I actually have all of those things, plus lentils, so I'll give the original recipe a try. (Doctor wants me to go even more plant-based, and I love beans, so...)

What's that powder in the middle, garam masala?

I'll do research later, but here are some pointers: MIDI is now largely USB. If you have old gear, it might still use the old DIN plug, but essentially what you're asking for in the 2nd and 3rd bullets is the same thing. There are still some modules that use DIN, but at this point, unless it has some features that you desire, I would avoid those. 88 keys vs. 76 keys vs. 61 keys -- 76 is much easier to come by than 88, but they're common enough that I wouldn't go less than 61. "real-piano feel" -- what you sound like you're looking for is weighted or at least semi-weighted keys. Fatar keyboards are the best (often advertised as a feature), but will make the keyboard more expensive. Its own sound vs. MIDI controller -- a lot of musicians (myself included) use mostly DAW plugins to make their sound, so all we need is a MIDI controller. Even the free versions of Cubase come with synthesizers built-in, which are quite functional. I don't use them, but only because I'm more familiar with the Arturia set of synthesizer emulations. That said, I'm not recommending it, but just something to be wary of -- don't accidentally buy a MIDI controller and then wonder where the sound holes are -- there aren't any. However if you feel comfortable running your MIDI-controller->computer->speakers, you probably already have the latter 2/3, you just need the MIDI controller and software. It is my understanding that GarageBand is the free equivalent of Logic Pro, but I don't know if it comes with any sound-generating plugins. Free ones do exist, but I don't trust things I don't pay for. If you just want to start out with piano sounds, and build up your timbral palette with plugins, I would recommend a digital piano. Something like this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RecitalPro--alesis-recital-pro-88-key-hammer-action-digital-piano

Happy birthday, my friend! (party favour noise)

He's a brave man, reading the comment section of a 12-year-old YouTube video.

Also, 2, 5, and 7 are all divisible by one.

Exactly. FYI, that video was literally my introduction to Hiromi. I saw someone was playing with Chick Corea, so I watched it for Chick Corea, and ... she really holds her own! They communicate with their faces, she has her own style, is confident enough to come across as a duet partner/peer/equal, and has such joy that it's just effusive. Instant fan.

Thanks for letting me know. They lost me back in season 2, yet I still kept watching all the way to the end of season 3. I too am cautiously pessimistic, yet will probably give season 4 a chance. It got too pretentious for me, and that's saying something.

Chick Corea & Hiromi, Duet -- my favourite living pianist (Hiromi) and one of my favourite composer/pianists whose chosen genre is jazz...mostly (Corea). (swoon)

New Oceans of Slumber album today is freakin' LIT. I really love it. Fruit Town by Standards is pure, unadulterated old school mathrock. I really love it. Really joyful. That's all I got from today.

I can't. My brain would: Keith Jarrett, Sun Bear Concerts Frederic Chiu, Prokofiev: Complete Music for Solo Piano Devin Townsend Project, By a Thread: Live in London 2011 Oceansize, Feed to Feed Matt Elliott, Songs More realistically: Pink Floyd, Animals and Wish You Were Here (tie for first) Return to Forever, Romantic Warrior Yes, Tales from Topographic Oceans Yaya Kim, a.k.a. Yaya Mike Oldfield, Incantations Mentionable honors: Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) Split Enz, Waiata Peter Gabriel, melt and security Sheena Ringo, Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana (加爾基 精液 栗ノ花) Fox Capture Plan, Xronicle and Nebula Devics, The Stars at Saint Andrea, If You Forget Me..., and My Beautiful Sinking Ship Rob Dougan, Furious Angels Villagers of Ioannina City, Age of Aquarius The Gathering, How to Measure a Planet? and if_then_else King Buffalo, Acheron Talking Heads, Remain in Light and The Name of This Band is Talking Heads King Crimson, Islands, Red, and Discipline Kyros, Vox Humana Al1ce, The Thirteenth Hour Apoptygma Berzerk, Welcome to Earth The Tear Garden, Last Man to Fly Kraftwerk, 1, 2, Ralf und Florian, Autobahn, Man Machine, and Computer World Halou, Wiser Genesis, Selling England by the Pound Shotgun Messiah, Violent New Breed godhead, nothingness Talk Talk, The Party's Over, Spirit of Eden, and The Colour of Spring Voivod, everything from RRRöööaaarrr through The Outer Limits In the Nursery, Hindle Wakes Trio Italiano, Schubert Piano Trios Vol. 2 ...I give up.

Asked a Ukrainian friend if they were cheering, they said, "of course we are. It's probably fake, but we're still very happily cheering Russian stupidity and wastefulness propaganda".

So great. The second album -- Danger Money -- is entirely different -- trio: Eddie Jobson, John Wetton, and Terry Bozzio, but still worth hearing. I'm definitely a fan of both albums, but Holdsworth was mad good.

I, too, have the Ety's, only they were rebranded as something else, but I swear by 'em. Hold on, let me look... LOLOLOL I accidentally searched in "Prime Video" and got this: Kek, as the kids would say. I'm pretty sure I have the Hearos -- basically, rebranded Etymotics: Swear by 'em. Forgot 'em enough times that I went by the CVS near the ((no longer) new) 9:30 club, I've tried most of the foam ones, and they all change the sound profile (boomy). These are the closest thing to transparent I've found.

I have found exactly one fish and chips shop around here that meets my standards. That said, that one place was so good, I posted a Google review after just one visit. Oh well, I'm supposed to be on a diet anyway. Next time I'm out that way, we'll have to go to some of your favourite joints.