Shady dealers hiding in the alleyways selling nip. Cats sitting on the curb nipped out of their minds rubbing the ground and batting at dust motes in the air. Social service workers with vials of Nipcan at the ready to treat overdoses.

The nip epidemic is out of hand and there’s national debate over incarcerating or treating nip addicts.

At 25 I was fervently anti-religion and was obnoxiously vocal about it.

Before then, I grew up in a politically conservative and very catholic house, and didn’t know anything outside of that. To me, that was normal. Turned 18, joined the military, and started seeing more of the world. That was an eye-opening time for me because for a while I was living and working in the deep south while also making friends who were very left leaning. What I saw was that Christianity seemed to mostly be home to the meatheads, racists, nationalists, and gun nuts.

Since then I’ve had an on-again-off-again relationship with religion, but at 55 I’ve more or less decided that it’s not for me and it never really was. I don’t care what other people practice anymore, I avoid discussions about it, and I walk away when anyone starts preaching to me. Whenever the door-to-door preachers come to my house (yeah we get those in my neighborhood) I just politely tell them that I’m very comfortable with my spirituality and thank them for stopping by and saying hello.

BŒUF!

No but in college I knew a girl named Muff Inman.

First movement of George Crumb’s Black Angels.

Common Bitch by Ween

Anything by The Hu

I write music, but I feel like a lot of the creative principles are the same…

First, keep your creative muscle in shape by exercising it daily. Write something. Even if it’s garbage. Keep a little library of ideas for future projects. Little efforts each day add up over time.

Second, don’t try to be creative in a vacuum. Read books, poems, short stories, from just about anyone. Let their style and their approach to language kickstart your own ideas.

If your song’s waveform isn’t a solid rectangle, what are you even doing!?!

I’m kinda in the same boat as you. Lifelong performer, self-taught recording engineer. Here’s my perspective on your questions:

1. It’s the producer who generally shapes the final product. A producer has a lot of say in a band’s sound, assisting with arrangement, directing what the engineer does, even coaching the band’s/artist’s performances.
2. If I’m producing a band, genre is an important consideration for the sonic choices I’m making. Let’s say I’m producing an album for a metalcore group. There are accepted conventions in terms of master chain, instrument tone, vocal delivery, and it’s my job to ensure the performances are up to those standards if I want the album to compete with what’s currently charting. Yeah that sounds formulaic. And, well, it kinda is, and I don’t necessarily like that it’s that way, but you want fans to not skip your song, right?
3. Kinda feel like this is self evident, but it’s as much an evolution in technology as it is in style. Digital made a lot of things possible and accelerated that evolution, and it’s not over.

Also your last paragraph reminded me of this:

• 1987 Washburn Force ABT bass guitar autographed by Nuno Bettencourt (ultra rare item)
• RFID badge to get into almost any lab in the game
• Ibuprofen 2-pack like what you get in workplace first aid kits
• Key fob to an unknown vehicle
• Friendly cat (uncommon item)
• Unlocked burner phone filled with memes and phone numbers for persons of ill repute (important for one specific side quest)
• Frog
• Can of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli

Good evening sir/ma’am, my name is Christopher Crozier and I am the legal representative for the Toronto Maple Leafs. This message is to inform you of the multiple felony larceny charges you may be facing for acquiring my client’s property, regardless of the means. As you claim ownership, you are legally culpable. Penalties range from fines to incarceration, and damages must also be paid to the victim monthly in perpetuity.

RCMP has been notified and dispatched to your location. You are hereby ordered to comply with their instructions when they arrive. We’ll see you in court.

I remember hearing a story that Diaghilev was actually delighted after the show because he knew that controversy puts asses in your theater seats.

I’d choose the concert at which Beethoven’s 5th Symphony was premiered. The full program for the evening was as follows:

First Half

Symphony No. 6 in F major (Pastoral), Op. 68

Aria: “Ah! perfido”, Op. 65 (for soprano and orchestra)

Gloria movement from the Mass in C major, Op. 86

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (performed by Beethoven as soloist)

Second Half

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

Sanctus and Benedictus movements from the Mass in C major, Op. 86

Solo piano improvisation by Beethoven

Choral Fantasy, Op. 80 (finishing the evening with choir, vocal soloists, piano, and orchestra)

I simply would like to have been present when the most recognizable piece of music ever written first hit the public’s ears, as well as have the chance to see the man himself performing at the top of his game.

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It was a quick read - pretty sure I burned through it in a weekend. Message was right up front, poignant, and unmistakable. Most importantly, it’s not “heady” literature. It’s written in a clear, accessible way, which is a good way to make sure your message reaches the widest audience possible.

That’s perfect! Thank you.

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Fate/destiny is nothing more than the intersections of the choices that we make that affect each other. It’s what you call it when what happens to you is out of your control and you cannot freely choose your way out of it. For example, you choose to get in my car and I choose to drive you somewhere. My free choice on where to go and how fast becomes your fate. You are fated to exist because two people chose to fuck. Scale that relationship to encompass a society and the complex ways in which we make choices, and it becomes evident that free will and fate/destiny are two sides of the same coin.

Well the problem is that I can no longer install Finale on my system and from what I’ve read, you’d need to use Finale to convert .musx files to Xtml for import. I might have to find another way or bug a friend of mine who might still have Finale to do it for me.

Do you know if MuseScore is able to import old files from Finale? That’s what used to use and not Finale is defunct and I’m not able to get at any of my old scores. Don’t see a FAQ on their page.