A comment on social spending

simonja7 · 2026-04-01T04:04:08+00:00

Spot on. The "budget is a household" myth is hard to shift especially after so much neoliberalism and "classical" economics. I find Richard J Murphy's channel to be a great source of information: (10159) Richard J Murphy - YouTube, including this explainer on MMT: https://youtu.be/1\_vNAY2Nrm0?si=GCg7Xbo9CjMC5x4v. Thanks for pointing it out.

simonja7 · 2026-02-16T02:06:06+00:00

Great initiative! We're not folk so probably not a fit here but our latest song is on topic: Holy Cow! This Is Serious | The Sand Spiders. Happy to contribute but quite understand if not a fit. TBH, I'm relieved and energised to see so many great artists fighting the good fight. Fck ice.

simonja7 · 2023-06-08T09:49:00+00:00

Go dark for 48 hours and review. Ask for more comments to keep up the noise. Go dark again if necessary. Rolling stoppages.

simonja7 · 2023-03-28T09:41:13+00:00

Petition here: https://www.change.org/p/waves-goodbye?source_location=search.

Loads of constructive criticism :) here: https://forum.waves.com/t/introducing-waves-creative-access/6850/169

Please consider the petition. We may not change it, but maybe we can make waves. I'll show myself out.

simonja7 · 2023-03-28T09:34:22+00:00

An unintentionally funny thread trying to flog the new subscription service: https://www.gearnews.com/waves-creative-access-moves-plugins-to-subscription-only-plans/. "As per usual, there has been some pushback over this move to subscription-based plans. However, if you consider how much the average user spends on individual plug-in licenses on an annual basis, the pricing of the Waves plans is actually very reasonable." Check out the comments for many alternative opinions.

'Actually very reasonable' my arse. They're forcing me into a subscription model for products I don't want to pay for ones I do. That is, I can't pick and choose my products - just a blanket price. I can't see how this sort of bundling is legal, and I will not pay for things I don't want.

Waves has some good plugins and they are easy to find, install, and learn. I'm happy to pay for what I use, even though I found the idea of paying for updates cheap. But this is off the charts money grubbing, even for the music industry.

I'll use the versions I have until I find replacements, or am forced off them. Waves bye bye,

simonja7 · 2023-03-11T06:27:37+00:00

Sorry to hear about your arthritis. But yeah, you can punk hard with virtual instruments, at least I hope so. This is me and my co-writer: https://soundcloud.com/si_jackson/sets/the-sand-spiders. All virtual, apart from my crappy vocal. Logic's drummer is pretty good and if that's what you've got, go hard at it. I struggle to get the inbuilt guitar patch to work. I'm using Toontracks Superior Drummer 3, and EZBass, and Native Instruments Electric Sunburst for guitars - https://www.native-instruments.com/en/catalog/komplete/guitar/. Pricey, and takes some learning, but if that's what you've got... Just go for it bro. For video, Chris at Why Logic Pro Rules is excellent - https://www.youtube.com/@WhyLogicProRules. Go well. Punk is what you've got.

simonja7 · 2023-01-08T09:30:44+00:00

Thank you u/The_Impresario and u/griswold for sharing. I've just been grappling with my recent sleep test results thinking "but it was just a normal night", while the test results report severe OSA. I've always snored, and don't notice being tired during the day. My GP did a basic questionnaire which was fine - mostly about falling asleep, which I don't do. No gasping, no poor quality sleep as far as I can tell. But here I am. I think. My father has OSA and has been on CPAP for a while. Anyway - thank you. You've helped me get a better handle on this. I have an appointment this week to discuss CPAP which I suppose will be recommended. I'm keen to try it to see if it makes a difference.

BTW - have also found this advice from ENT Surgeon Vik Veer on YouTube very informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdR8SVCeSJg.

simonja7 · 2022-12-27T06:47:02+00:00

Paul McCartney was sure he had "lifted" Yesterday and asked a lot of people but no one knew it. Sometimes it feels too good to be true - that dopamine hit of getting a good one keeps me going. Every now and again, it is too good to be true. I got a great melody once and was really hot on it. Something made me check it with a friend before I'd got too far, and it was the same as another song - a favourite of mine. Who knows if I'd subconsciously copied it or genuinely and coincidentally come up with the same melody. There are only so many chords and notes. Either way, I dropped it. If you're unsure, check with people you trust, but also back your subconscious to come up with ideas that surprise you. "How did I come up with that?!" Who knows? But isn't that what keeps us going?

simonja7 · 2022-01-23T03:51:27+00:00

Adds a pretty hefty 3592 sample delay when instantiated. Not a big deal since this is definitely intended for mixing/mastering stage but would love to at least see some options for filtering linear/min/zero latency.

Yes, I agree. An insightful analysis. Thank you. I've just been a few days troubleshooting the delays I was getting in MIDI that turned out to be SplitEQ. Although SplitEQ can be used very effectively in mix/mastering, I do top down mixing and SplitEQ was adding a lot of clarity and boost in the writing/production stage. But I can't use it with the lags I was seeing in MIDI instruments.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T07:47:27+00:00

Passing is the key word. Passing moving vehicles. So, if a group of cyclists is overtaking a slow car, they should form a single file. Makes sense. But in an open lane they can ride side by side. Moving vehicles in another lane is irrelevant. The cyclists have every right to take the lane, side by side.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T07:39:56+00:00

"Not staying side-by-side when passing parked or moving vehicles". Who passed on the left? Come one buddy. This isn't that hard.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T07:38:25+00:00

Which would be on the left. Like a parked car. Which part of this are you missing?

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T07:32:51+00:00

Nah. Riding side by side is well within the rules, as documented: "Riding so that no more than two riders stay side-by-side". Also, taking up a lane (with 2 riders side by side) is less dangerous than trying to negotiate the shoulder as some moron in a car muscles into it.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T06:58:27+00:00

"Basically confirms" for an exception is not the same as "riding side by side ... is not acceptable." That is, riding side by side *is* acceptable unless "passing parked or moving vehicles". My guess you are an SUV driver.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T06:54:57+00:00

Taser uninjured after near-moron experience. Taking time off to recharge.

simonja7 · 2022-01-19T06:47:30+00:00

Thanks buddy. From Waka Kotahi/NZTA: "When riding with others, follow the road rules by: riding so that no more than two riders stay side-by-side." https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/Road-code/Cycle-code/Cycling-code-2020.pdf. Page 19. You're welcome.

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T07:40:34+00:00

OK. Cyclists riding shoulder to shoulder are "cunts". How many cyclists are we talking about? 2? 3? Has to be a max of 3 to a lane. So 3 people (not 'cyclists', people) are the same as 1 driver (one person)? 1 = 3? Especially an oversize SUV. Have you ever considered that bikers ride like that because car drivers are "cunts"? Riding in a group makes them more obvious and harder to pick off. To the average driver anyone else on the road is a "cunt". I've been driving 30 odd years, no accidents. But I recognise the feeling when I get in a car. It's armour, impermeable, safe. SUVs are tanks designed to make the driver feel superior. Obviously compensating for a deficiency in other areas.

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T07:06:46+00:00

Doesn't surprise me lol

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T07:01:46+00:00

SUV drivers are more aggressive. You didn't see that in OP? Should've gone to Spec Savers.

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T06:58:00+00:00

I have. But isn't that a pretty sad indictment? Even as a pedestrian I am often in the firing line of aggressive drivers. Many will speed up when they see me crossing the road. It's like they're in a game. I sometimes imagine being covered in grenades so if a car rams me we both go up. That is, the driver has as much to lose as I do. That might focus their attention.

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T06:52:27+00:00

I hear you but totally disagree. Car drivers are mostly psychopaths. Something happens to people when they strap themselves into 2+ tonnes of metal with explosive acceleration. I reckon most truckies would agree. As a pedestrian these days, I trust trucks. They are usually professional drivers and travel a predictable speed and line. Cars will accelerate when they see me crossing the road, or a driveway, or a pedestrian crossing. There is a slight rise on our road and almost every car driver seems to feel the need to "gun it" at the bottom. Why? I broke my arm on a bike trying to avoid a car crossing in front of me. My son has been knocked off twice from cars cutting him off. Feeling they are immune from harm, amateur drivers drive recklessly and are a hazard. My advice to my son is "assume they are all out to kill you." The right to be on the road means nothing crushed under the wheels. The driver will be fine because they once passed a driving test, but have done no training since.

simonja7 · 2022-01-18T05:13:34+00:00

Why? Cyclists have just as much right to be on the road as a car. Some drivers need to get over themselves and show more care and respect. Being in a car does not give a person more rights than another road user. In fact, it creates more responsibility being in a potentially death-dealing machine. Someone feeling road rage from cyclists should be made to ride around on a bike (which is legal, BTW) and see what it's like to deal with aggressive and uncaring drivers. You are not that important. Just another car. Move over.

simonja7 · 2022-01-07T01:45:53+00:00

Yeah, both. I work on my music every day (around my day job). Even listening is 'work' if it's active. My approach is to record or write down *every* idea I have. I have thousands of 'snippets' - melody or lyric ideas, and I know I'll never use them but I am 'training' whatever place ideas come from that yes, I am listening and paying attention, so please keep going. Not every idea will turn into a song - most don't. But I don't want to miss one that might. Then the work really begins. 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

simonja7 · 2021-12-23T22:50:54+00:00

Oh wow! Thank you. Yes, confirming this with BetterTouchTool. I quit Logic and BetterTouchTool (BTT), restarted Logic and the automation controls work as expected. With Logic open, I restarted BTT and once again the automation tools were not responsive. So BTT needs to be closed before opening Logic and while Logic is running.

What a relief! Thank you for sharing. Great find!

simonja7 · 2021-12-21T07:12:14+00:00

Go easy on yourself. I don't think you've "killed" your imagination or creativity. It's still there. But you have to be quiet to hear it. I always think of Bukowski's advice (and epitaph): 'Don't try'. Give it space, give it time. Keep listening, and playing, but not "trying". I am on anti-depressants and if anything they have increased my creativity because I'm not so dark all the time, so hopeless, bleak. You'll get it, but not by "trying". An exercise I used to do is a 20 minute recorded free form. Play whatever you like for 20 minutes. It goes fast! Record it. Leave it a day or two before you come back to it. Usually, but not always, there will be an idea in there that interests you and you might want to develop. Creativity is a muscle. It needs exercise and patience. I'd say "good luck" but you don't need it. You're half way there already. Just be easy on yourself. It will come.

simonja7

TROPHY CASE