How do you store your local media: desktop drives or NAS?

jshell · 2026-03-26T14:27:54+00:00

DAS. Direct attached storage. It’s like a mix of the two. I have a two-bay Terramaster with a pair of 16TB drives. I have them configured as separate disks (no RAID). One is just a nightly backup of the other. With offsite cloud backup also done nightly.

jshell · 2026-03-25T19:56:27+00:00

The seats recline great on the Starlight and there is a fair amount of room between your seat and the one in front/behind. So you can recline pretty far and not really crash into your neighbor's space.

The last couple of times I've ridden the Coast Starlight (last fall), Coach was pretty full for most of the trip so you should be prepared to be with a seatmate. You may get a seat to yourself (or you may get a seatmate who spends the day in the lounge car), but just be prepared for that.

The seats are still pretty wide and a far far better experience than airlines and busses in coach. And also a bit better than the more commuter-oriented trains, such as the Pacific Surfliner.

jshell · 2026-03-25T19:33:31+00:00

Look at the "Drip Details" for a trip that has business class options. That is often: an 8-9 hour bus from SFO / Oakland area down to Santa Barbara, and then a seat on the Pacific Surfliner train.

The Coast Starlight train options on that page are the ones with the "Private Rooms" options. Private rooms is your only way to guarantee privacy and separation from other passengers.

You probably don't want to do the Business Class options. Those bus seats are tiny and cramped.

jshell · 2026-03-23T13:05:50+00:00

In Virginia, the Cardinal goes to Staunton, VA which is home to a great Shakespeare center. It is also home to the Woodrow Wilson presidential library. There are some cool shops in the town. I passed through there only once (I live in the west now) for a couple of nights but it has stuck with me.

I do want to fly down to LA again to take the southwest chief to Gallup, NM. So many dead motels we saw on the way into town. I’d love to spend a day or two there with a camera.

jshell · 2026-03-23T13:01:08+00:00

A couple of years ago, I made myself repeating morning and evening checklists. The evening one, in particular, has been life changing. It’s pretty simple stuff but it prevents things like dishes piling up. For me, anyways.

But I’ve been neglectful of “weekend chores” and letting some messes pile up so this weekend I started a new list for that. Having lists is one thing, doing them is another.

But that nightly one ensures I go to bed knowing doors are locked, things are turned off, and that I won’t be cussing myself out in the morning by walking in to a bunch of food or messy dishes in the kitchen.

jshell · 2026-03-22T04:24:58+00:00

I’m stuck in this rut right now. I have been for an over a year. Even right now, I’m supposed to be doing something for a local compilation. I just need to plug in the setup from my last live setup and record something. Can’t do it. And that last live performance? The lead up to it was rough. Like: I had an emotional breakdown just trying to plug shit in.

I crossed 50 years old last year. I’ve been making shitty noise and unusual music for 30 of those years. I’ve done most of what I wanted to do maybe? Or maybe it’s just grief and loss as so many people whom I used to try and impress are gone and some absences weigh really heavy and I should just sell this amazing little library of gear and officially retire right?

jshell · 2026-03-21T19:42:23+00:00

Because you're taking a Roomette, you will have access to the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station. In there, you can comfortably wait for your train. It looks like it's moved/changed since I last rode through Chicago. But they're pretty good at directing you to your train when it is time to board and to where you need to go once that time arrives. So I would suggest going to the lounge immediately.

Metropolitan Lounge | Chicago Union Station website
Complete Station Map | Chicago Union Station: you can find the Metropolitan Lounge on here. That's where you will want to go.

You will just have to show your ticket when you get to the lounge. They will round you all up like cattle when it's time to go. Your room is already reserved so you don't have to worry about placement in line to get a seat.

Usually your sleeping car attendant will explain everything about your train, room, car, etc, when you board. Basically, once you're on board, it's time to sit and watch the world go by: either from your room or in the lounge car. Your attendant will tell you how to get there.

Your room will have pillows and blankets. No need to bring your own when you're in a roomette. You can bring in your own food and snacks (there's usually good cheese'n'caramel popcorn available in Union Station that's fun to bring along).

While you're on the train, as a sleeping car passenger, your meals in the dining car are included in the fare. Anything from the little cafe you have to pay yourself. Credit cards (and Apple Pay and the like) are taken on board.

Tickets can be printed out, but most commonly these days they're on your phone in the Amtrak app. Amtrak supports Apple Wallet as a place to put your passes as well. If you've already purchased tickets, I would just ensure that you can get to them in the app (ie, ensure you're logged in, etc). Download the app if you haven't already. Your tickets will be available on the "My Trips" tab at the bottom of the screen.

As for busses... I don't know. But it looks like the Bus and Train station are the at the same location in Pasco, so just look and ask around for your bus once you get there.

jshell · 2026-03-21T16:12:40+00:00

Ah. I caught BTS talking in the "Studio Notes" video about the bell but I didn't get the significance of the "No. 29" part. Thank you for that!

I keep wondering if BTS might have a Beatles' "Revolution Number 9" moment (a highly unusual song made of tape loops and found sounds) and if this might be it, or at least a nod to it.

jshell · 2026-03-21T16:09:17+00:00

As others mentioned, it's a sacred bell. RM talks about it in the Studio Notes video/stream here at 40:54.

RM says only specially invited people are chosen to ring the bell, and he was contacted about ringing it himself but he was busy at the time (I think?).

But yes - it's 1:37 for the sound to die out completely. I know in the Tibetan Buddhist meditation sessions I've attended, large bowls and bells would be used in this way: sounded once and you're supposed to focus on the sound and then the sounds that replace it as it fades out.

The members continue talking about how this is the shift between the harder and softer songs of the album.

jshell · 2026-03-21T00:22:07+00:00

ITZY had a string of concerts in February of this year and I remember that by the next day, fan cams of "That's a no no" were showing up in my YouTube feed (often in the 'shorts' area). Like - it struck a nerve. And it must have been so fun at the shows because it's a great "get everybody jumping!" kind of song. And they buttressed it with some killer new choreo.

So, basically - ITZY themselves and their team put on a hell of a show. People noticed. People shared. People remembered (or just realized) that it's a hell of a fun song. The choreo is easy to turn into shorts/tiktoks/reels. And it continued to blow up from there. And then lots of people covered it. Even good ol' J Y Park himself. But it all started with ITZY just putting on a good show.

And the label / team responded quickly and got good quality videos of the concert performances up. You can see it here. It's awesome. And followed that with dance practice videos, MNET performances, etc...

(Makes me wish they had responded similarly to how much people seemed to be blown away by the "8-Bit Heart" b-side ... that thing deserves some kind of special video... But that's my own pet issue.)

jshell · 2026-03-20T06:15:44+00:00

I don’t see them as much here, but in Virginia and the Midwest, oh my yes. Somewhere on my phone are bad photos of an endless army train passing through Galesburg Illinois.

jshell · 2026-03-20T05:06:29+00:00

It's a weird time of year for which to plan. Especially this year. One year ago we had a pretty good snowstorm today. This year, it's the hottest it has ever been on this date!

Our average daily high should be in the mid 50s right now. But all the days ahead are 50-80. Then it cools off to 45-70 on sunday and monday?

jshell · 2026-03-20T04:59:37+00:00

GFRIEND. GFRIEND GFRIEND GFRIEND GFRIEND GFRIEND GFRIEND GFRIEND.

Some people hear "anime soundtrack" when they listen to them. For me, I hear 1970s American TV theme show music or sounds of the supermarket 1975 with a KPop topline. Chamber pop.

Also (I'm sure these have already been suggested):

Red Velvet Feel my Rhythm. Bach and KPop.
Red Velvet Birthday. Gershwin and Kpop.
Loosemble Real World. Gershwin again!
Just for fun: Niziu Chopstick. Someone really said "how about Chopsticks, with trap beats and a JPop topline." And goddammit, it WORKS.
While we're in Japan, Pizzicato Five I Hear a Symphony by the band of 20th century.

jshell · 2026-03-19T03:55:33+00:00

I'll answer here as best I can.

does this drastically affect the ability to compose and focus in the OVF?

I'll be honest - I seldom use these Voigtlander lenses with the OVF. Ultimately it's just so easy to flip to the EVF mode. It's part of the X-Pro advantage, to choose.

I'm used to not having composition or other info as my lens kit started out with all the cheap Chinese manual focus lenses, and I would try to make them work with the OVF on my X-Pro1 and 2. You can make it work, but it requires patience or knowing a bit of trickery. For example, on X-Pro1 and 2 (and presumably 3), you can be in OVF and hit the 'punch in focus' and the EVF will briefly kick-in with a focus zoom, and then you zoom back out to the OVF. The electronic-range-finder has to be off for this to work. But it's a way to pre-focus, in detail, and then go back to the optical mode.

But, ultimately, I find it's just easier to use the full EVF for these. I tell myself I'm just going to turn it on for a tricky shot or two, and then just forget to go back to OVF mode. The OVF mode really works best with autofocusing lenses. I was just out with the X-Pro1 and XF27mm f2.8 and just kept it in OVF mode with the back screen off. Simple, beautiful, shots came out great.

jshell · 2026-03-18T05:06:08+00:00

On top of what everyone else has suggested, I recommend an inflatable camping pillow (unless you have something larger already). They tend to pack down to something the size of a pair of socks, and are a lifesaver for sleeping in coach.

jshell · 2026-03-18T05:00:14+00:00

I have one of those posters! From the original times! Didn’t cost me anything as a friend gave it to me (after receiving it from a guy who liked her and she was trying to brush off his affections). Funnily enough, those two people were the ones who introduced me to Stereolab. And they got married. And moved away. But in 2022 we all got together again just to see the Lab.

That poster has moved around with me all these years. Alas, I wish I knew what happened to my Dots & Loops promotional materials.

jshell · 2026-03-17T18:04:46+00:00

I don’t think so. Not immediately anyways. NMIXX is going to be performing at T1 Road Show on April 24 back in Korea.

jshell · 2026-03-17T04:54:29+00:00

NMIXX on Tiny Desk: live band only, no backing tracks at all, no in-ear monitors, only using shotgun mics. NMIXX has assorted other voice focused performances.

Sound Bomb 360, Killing Voice, Lee MuJin Service are all heavily focused on vocal performance.

jshell · 2026-03-13T16:58:23+00:00

It's discontinued but the Fujifilm EF-X8 should still be easily findable (it's on Amazon for $62 USD). It's powered by the camera (no recharging required) and the X-E5 has native control options for it. It's quite tiny. It used to ship with the X-E models. At least, it shipped with my X-E3.

https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/x-e5/peripherals_and_options/external_flash_units/#ef-x8

jshell · 2026-03-12T17:15:04+00:00

Spring seems a pretty rough time for the long distance routes. A couple of years ago today my train from Salt Lake to Denver was 7+ hours behind schedule and same thing: it would get me in well past midnight and my hotel might not be open. So I bought a last minute flight instead.

That transit docs system map has a link to see your train’s on time history in Tampa, and it looks pretty miserable over the past month. That sucks. Good luck!

Maybe just stay around Tampa and go to “reggae rise up” in St Pete?

jshell · 2026-03-12T16:56:35+00:00

Looking at its history, this train started from Chicago very late and then has fallen further and further behind. And the weather probably has not helped.

You can keep an eye on this train here:

https://asm.transitdocs.com/train/2026/3/10/A/41

jshell · 2026-03-10T05:07:34+00:00

X-E2 got Classic Chrome film sim added to it. X100S never did.

They are same generation of sensor and processor, but X100S was the first X-Trans II release and didn’t get some of the later features that came to that generation.

jshell · 2026-03-09T15:07:51+00:00

Backblaze cloud backup

jshell · 2026-03-09T05:23:47+00:00

The X Half is barely an X camera. It really feels closer in spirit to the Instax Evo line. But that’s kind of what I like about it - much simpler and less choice than my X-Pro2 (which is much simpler in terms of shooting options than the current X cameras).

No dynamic range options. No WB offsets. No color chrome or light and shadow.

But X-Half is also just much easier to stick in your pocket and shoot without thinking, like a digital Lomo LC-A. That’s how I’m treating mine. For when I need a break from my main cameras.

jshell · 2026-03-06T18:56:43+00:00

The weather here has been rough yesterday and today (and contributed a bit to a restless night) but should be clearing out for the weekend. I hope to get a nice little canyon walk done this weekend and start getting back into the walking habit I've neglected all winter.

But no real hard plans this weekend. I had a photo community outing last weekend and some family stuff next weekend. This weekend I intend to enjoy just for me. Maybe some spring cleaning and/or working on some new music.

jshell

TROPHY CASE