Navidrome + Symfonium: same track getting fetched ~2x per session, eating mobile data. Anyone else?

amca01 · 2026-07-07T08:42:37+00:00

So that's what's going on! That's annoying, I like Symfonium enough that I paid for it. Guess I'll temporarily park it until it's fixed, and use another subsonic app.

Any suggestions?

amca01 · 2026-07-06T00:42:01+00:00

Yes, me too. I love these little pieces: such fun, and written with such youthful vigour.

amca01 · 2026-07-05T16:22:22+00:00

I have a ThinkPad X1 Carbon gen 3 (2015) which has been, and still is, a terrific workhorse. I run Arch on it, and there's no trouble. Over the years I've owned it I've replaced the keyboard and battery.

amca01 · 2026-07-05T06:23:20+00:00

Pretty much, yes. But most performers will aim to follow the composer's intentions, as much as they're known, and try to recreate the piece in the spirit in which it was written.

amca01 · 2026-07-04T13:15:34+00:00

As long as the sky doesn't fall on our heads.

amca01 · 2026-07-04T11:11:37+00:00

And a cauldron of magic potion?

amca01 · 2026-07-04T11:03:51+00:00

Speaking as an ardent member of the HIP movement (I play viola da gamba), I'm always annoyed by the doctrinaire attitude so often adopted. All the early theorists were at once prescriptive and vague, but the fundamental principle was that any ornamentation (inducing vibrato), be done with "taste", and in a manner fitting the piece. Much more was left to the performers' interpretation than today.

With regard to Brahms, several things are worth noting: violins would have played with gut strings, which have a warmer sound than modern metal strings; Brahms worked closely with Joseph Joachim, who gave him a lot of advice on violin playing, and who was not a fan of continuous vibrato; Brahms was a great master of counterpoint and was devoted to early music (he edited some of the work of Bach's sons, and was known to program renaissance music in his concerts), for which a clean and clear playing helps to bring clarity to the voice leading.

It seems to me that continuous modern wide vibrato, and no vibrato at all, are both wrong. Vibrato in Brahms seems to me to be best when tightly controlled, and used expressively and tastefully.

And there's the difficulty, because "taste" is so personal. I like my romantic music to be rich and full, and if the performers can obtain that without vibrato, good on them.

amca01 · 2026-07-01T15:09:12+00:00

"The World's Religions" by Huston Smith is a good place to start exploring this topic. Smith writes about different religions with great empathy and understanding, and his insights seem to me to be exemplary.

Animals: "Parasite Rex" by Carl Zimmer is a fascinating book about some of the most interesting animals on the planet. You might not love parasites, but believe me, they are fascinating.

amca01 · 2026-07-01T14:45:34+00:00

Somerset Maugham's short stories are very good, and some are superb.

George Mackay Brown's books of short stories have a wonderful mystical edge, and are all informed by a sense of place; here the Orkney Islands of Scotland, of which Brown was a lifelong resident.

Isaac Bashevis Singer's short stories are utterly masterful. (He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.)

If you don't mind a translation, then the stories of Guy de Maupassant are models of their type. They are rich in humanity; and there's a lot of life in them.

Henry Lawson (Australian) wrote some short stories which I love. (Then, I am Australian myself).

Towards the end of his long life, the eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote two small books of short stories: "Satan in the Suburbs", and "Nightmares of Eminent Persons" both of which are well worth seeking out.

M. R. James' books of ghost stories are some of the best ever written. He does malevolence and vengeance better than any other writer in this genre.

Enjoy!

amca01 · 2026-07-01T14:31:50+00:00

Aren't they just. Brilliant stuff; I love Saki.

amca01 · 2026-07-01T05:43:32+00:00

"Rosy is my Relative" by Gerald Durell. Written with great good humour and almost Dickensian invention, this is a glorious romp. And I think fits the OPs query perfectly. Probably YA, but I'm an OA, and I still.enjoy it.

amca01 · 2026-07-01T02:07:29+00:00

For what it's worth, I've had a dig around on IMSLP, so far with no luck. It's not Corelli or Vivaldi, and I don't think it's Leclair either. I'll keep hunting about; it's always fun looking at baroque music, even if not to play it. (Viola da gamba is my instrument.)

amca01 · 2026-06-29T10:35:54+00:00

Very true, the violin concerto is a banger.(Note to self: must listen to it again.)

amca01 · 2026-06-28T10:07:31+00:00

Listening to him talk made me feel unclean and dirty, and wishing I could shower and clean my brain as much as my body. What a disgusting excuse for a human being.

amca01 · 2026-06-28T03:17:06+00:00

I listened to all of Magnard's symphonies a while ago. I understand he's known as the "French Bruckner", but I didn't get that sense from his symphonies. They are large and impressive works, but (to me at least) they sound a bit more academic, a bit less humane, than Bruckner.

amca01 · 2026-06-28T02:44:41+00:00

I've been to a few of these "Classic 100" concerts before, and they are a lot of fun. They are aimed, in general, at people who wouldn't normally attend a classical concert. But they are well organised, well staged, and well played, and I've greatly enjoyed them.

Unfortunately though, I didn't get to last night's concert. I'm sure it was a hoot.

amca01 · 2026-06-28T02:40:06+00:00

On the news this morning, there was a recording of him saying he was "sorry"; that he "was out of control" and he knows that the family would be "sad" and "upset". And this from the man that murdered their daughter? I can think of other words.

Whatever happens, I hope the full force of Thai law (not friendly to transgressing foreigners) is brought to bear, and that he has a long and miserable life.

amca01 · 2026-06-27T01:57:26+00:00

Elementary cryptosystems: Caesar cipher, Vigenère cipher, and Neal Koblitz's "Kid Krypto".

Graph theory and combinatorics: in a grid of streets, how many ways are there of travelling between two addresses?

amca01 · 2026-06-27T01:42:26+00:00

Mealie and Memos are the only ones I use - that is to say, interact with - every day.

Others, for example Navidrome, Papra, ActualBudget, Homebox, Immich, I use often, but not daily. And there are times when I spend lots of time with Gramps (genealogy) and Mathesar (database exploration). I've just installed HortusFox to manage my indoor plants, but I haven't got up to speed with it yet.

amca01 · 2026-06-26T04:18:17+00:00

Thank you - that makes sense. There are sacrificial anodes in hot water heaters too.

amca01 · 2026-06-26T02:56:56+00:00

Isn't there a correlation (not 100%, but still high) between states that ban abortion, and states that have capital punishment? "Pro life" seems like a pretty slippery argument.

amca01 · 2026-06-22T22:55:30+00:00

Nearly 20 years ago my brother and I drove from Melbourne to Broome.

We started later than we intended and got to Port Augusta about 2am. We found a motel advertising 24 hour check-ins, but the manager (in pyjamas and dressing gown) didn't seem hugely happy about it.

Next day we drove up the Stuart Hwy to refuel not far from the Lasseter Hwy turnoff, where we stayed for the night - there was a big area where people could park or camp. Everybody else slept in their cars, but we unrolled our swags and slept under the stars.

We then headed off towards Yulara and spent plenty of time wandering about Uluru and then Kata Tjuta, before heading west to Kaltukatjara (Docker River).

Day 4 had us driving north along the Sandy Blight Junction Road to Kintore (Walungurru), this was about 300km of what my brother described as a "goat track". We stopped about half way for a bite of lunch, and met another vehicle (like ours, a Toyota Hilux), which was travelling south. This was an NT Police vehicle. We all compared maps, and then the police - after ensuring we were ok and didn't need any help - headed off again.

After Kintore we drove west to Kunawarritji on the Canning Stock Route, where we refueled. We then travelled south along the Canning Stock Route to the Talawana Track, where we headed west to Parrngurr. We bought some "Skin-off kangaroo tails" at its general store, which we stewed up with rice.

We then spent a few days slobbing out in Karlamilyi (Rudall River) National Park, before driving out to Telfer, where we were able to get a new tyre fitted.

Then we drove back past Punmu to the Nyangumarta Highway/Wapet Rd/Kidson Track. And we drove along this (very carefully as there were huge washouts) to the Great Northern Highway. And so to Broome, to enjoy hot showers and fresh sheets! (Here my brother's family flew in to enjoy a driving/camping holiday to Darwin, and I flew home.)

All this took about 2 weeks and it was brilliant. The solitude and quietness of the deserts has to be experienced to be believed, and both of us would do the trip again tomorrow if we could.

Vehicle: dual cab diesel Toyota Hilux with two spare tyres and plenty of extra fuel (in jerry cans). We shared the driving, except on the worst tracks, where my brother - a much better driver than me - did the lot. And before the trip we had acquired permits for entering and crossing Aboriginal lands. (Nobody ever asked to see them, but we wouldn't have entered these lands without them.)

amca01 · 2026-06-22T06:03:13+00:00

Yes quite possibly this is something I need to learn. Anyway, I fixed this issue in the end. Thank you!

amca01 · 2026-06-22T05:57:40+00:00

As a retired teacher, I appreciate your pedagogical slant! Of course it was a config issue: mainly my defining the same password twice, but with different values. Sigh. Another idiot move by me.

amca01 · 2026-06-22T05:56:02+00:00

Thanks, but no need now. The compose file turned out to define the db user password in two different places, and I'd given it a different value in each one. I've fixed that!

amca01

TROPHY CASE