Monthly Archives: June 2020

Sleep Tight Science Trailer

Sleep Tight Science, our latest podcast venture was launched yesterday. We describe it simply:

Sleep Tight Science is an exciting science facts and stories podcast for the whole family. In each episode we investigate the questions that kids have about anything science related.

It’s a slight departure from our efforts to date, it should be far more collaborative, and I see it as a good next step in our growth before we start trying interviews. I have years of experience doing design interviews but I find the work that journalists do to be the stuff of magic.

Most shows in this genre feature people with peppy high pitched voices and are really exciting. Some are just really great. It will be fun to see how our approach resonates with listeners as we improve over time.

The podcast is currently waiting for the podcast/app world’s Saint Peter before it will start propagating through your favorite podcast app.

Sometimes slow is best

In his latest blood blog post Peter writes:

Early in the pandemic times, I noticed a small growth on my temple that, given the general sense of entropy in the air, was cause for concern. I made an appointment at my family doctor last week, and while he was pretty sure it was nothing to worry about, he offered to refer me to a dermatologist, cautioning that it might take some time to get an appointment, as we have only one dermatologist serving the entire Island. As it turned out, it took less than a week: my appointment was for this morning

Thankfully as it turns out it wasn’t a cause for concern, he was “simply a victim of age”. Which from my talks with my 87yr old uncle seems to be a common prognosis for those of us over 40 whenever you see a doctor. I think I’ve heard you aren’t 25 anymore at least 3x this year.

Far be it for me to say something nice about the PEI medical system, but sometimes the delay in seeing a professional can have a positive effect. I had a mole near my temple for seemingly forever, but a number of years ago it felt ‘alive’ and seemed to be getting larger (I did write about this but for the life of me I can’t find the post). Taiwan being the cancer Petri dish that it is, I thought the worst and scheduled an appointment with one of the best hospitals to seek this kind of treatment in Taiwan. Upon arrival the doctor looked at it and said that the mole was likely benign, but let’s ‘operate’, slice it off and send the biopsy off for tests. Ok, I said. And then I asked, when? She said, I’ll send you next door and we will do it immediately. Umm, could I have 5 minutes to chill and then make a decision?

Luckily it did indeed turn out to be nothing, but the speed from which we went from me thinking I had cancer, to being told it was likely benign, to getting my mole frozen and sliced off was disorienting. Sometimes we need time to process.

Signs of life

Though it’s still early in the season, Charlottetown seems so devoid of life without tourists. No families walking the streets, no kids, no one outside eating, none of the usual cacophony that comes with people on holiday. Sadly we have far too many restaurants and small business that such a small place can support, and many may fail or find their fortunes greatly diminished.

Perhaps, the government could take this as an opportunity to get Islanders to come downtown again. To be able to ride their bikes safely and walk the streets without worry of collision. I love dense cities, I lived in them for over 20 years, and it would be great to see the downtown become a place for people to congregate other than avoid due to lack of parking or whatever grievance people have.

It will be hard, as Islanders love of soulless big box stores seems to have no bounds (and pining for whatever Moncton has), but I would love the opportunity to make the downtown my one stop and to leave the car at home.

Dave’s Service Center to the rescue

With yesterday possibly being the best beach day of the year, I decided to try to finish up my days work and speed out to the North shore for sand and sun.

Unfortunately our car had other plans, and once we reached the QEH we pulled over to see what was banging on the inside of the car engine. I was thinking perhaps fox, cat or some large metal object left on the road. Luckily we saw nothing on the inside but the sound remained.

My understanding of the inner workings of a car is limited to the knowledge that when you press on the gas pedal it goes forward and you have to put fuel in it far too often. Something I’ll likely never get around to rectifying.

After a quick call to Daves Service Centre we slowly limped to their shop where they agreed to identify the problem so that I could go elsewhere to get a fix. They were already booked for the day but I trust them more than some other shop.

It was a “belt” that apparently seldom needs replacing, except in my case. They managed to fit it in and though it cost a bit, we were able to continue on our way a couple hours later with just enough time for my first visit to Richards for fish n chips.

Incidentally, I posted the above photo on Twitter and a friend DM’d aghast at all the people so close together without masks. My experience of late has been wherever I go most businesses have been following CPHO guidelines, but people have not changed. Most people do not use hand disinfecting stations, wear masks when in enclosed spaces, nor practice social distancing. There is little risk at preset but despite having all this time, I worry that we are still unprepared for when COVID-19 arrives on our shores in earnest.

Booth Finished

We have finished, bar finding a way to affix a panel to the door, our latest changes to the podcast booth. I should say, Sheryl finished, as my ability to put anything together is hampered by my absolute lack of patience.

Tomorrow we will take some time before we record to check if the booth has as dead and dry a sound we were hoping for.

New Vocal Booth

Helped along by Covid-19 isolation and an aging brain, I can’t remember exactly when we last invested in our podcasting pod. But months past we created a sound isolation booth comprised of Rockwool boards, wrapped in black sheets to keep the fibres out of our lungs. We use our storage room for this purpose but the rules of bootstrapping suggested we first start small, and so the first implementation was simply a covering around a cheap IKEA desk. This worked remarkably well and helped to create as dead an environment as possible, without going to the other extreme which would be investing in a whisper room. Not capturing the sound of the room is important to us, and if you listened to any podcasts of late, those that due to Covid are now recording remote, suffer from the sounds of kitchen tiles. With the exception of Ira Glass who I believe records in his clothes closet.

We still live in an apartment building (thanks COVID) and so it’s difficult to be completely noiseless. We are at the mercy of our upstairs neighbours and various electrical feedback loops, but thanks to or current set-up our biggest problem has been eliminating annoying mouth noises that most commonly occur due to various hydration issues.

We could have stayed with this set-up for the foreseeable future but for the fact that the ideal mic placement on the desk made recording uncomfortable. Proper vocal technique requires the free flow of air from the bottom of your abdomen through your vocal chords and out your mouth. I was always hunched over and Sheryl found our set-up limiting.

This weekend we decided to sound proof the whole room and despite a lack of planning it looks like it might work out.

Freddie Lim on Taiwan’s Covid Response

Freddy Lim, vocalist of the metal band Chthonic and a member of parliament in Taiwan, discusses with Emily Y. Wu amongst many things, the success of Taiwan’s Covid-19 response and some of the challenges it poses to personal freedom. Metalhead Politics (政治重金屬), is a joint production of Ghost Island Media (鬼島之音) and the Taiwanese heavy metal band CHTHONIC (閃靈).

Whatever you do don’t sit down

Though I tried in the beginning I just couldn’t summon the motivation to participate in CrossFit workouts, or workouts of any kind, in our living room during the time when everything was shut down and we stayed home. I preferred to simply work and by the end of the day I had little energy for much else. It’s a tad disappointing.

When the temperature made it possible to run without freezing to death I did manage to slowly add weekly mileage to the point that this week I was due to run 50km. It continues to increase until basically I run out of time. As the heart specialist at the QEH reminded me at least 12 times during a recent visit, I’m not 25 anymore, and though at that age I was so plump I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs, my preparation and recovery needs have changed greatly. So while I have been running, I haven’t been stretching, or warming up, or much of anything. I have been just dragging myself out the door in hope of gaining some mental clarity.

I have noticed my achilles complaining and I’ve been getting all kinds of cramps and other warnings.

So then I went to the first socially distanced CrossFit class on Monday. The owner worked hard to create as safe an environment as possible; quite laudable. I laughed at my new found inability to do push-ups and my loss of grip strength. The air squats felt fine and it was nice to stretch my hip abductors. I took it easy and just tried to appreciate the ability to get out the house to move my body.

Except, as the day went on yesterday I got progressively sore (DOMS) to the point that this morning I asked Camren to bend over and pick up a wrapper on the floor that I dropped.

I’ll recover but there is nothing worse than sitting down after using your body in new or demanding ways. Which is what I have been doing and am now suffering from.

The weekend

This was the first weekend since we were in lockdown/stay at home* that I wasn’t working. It was a long cycle of work, I usually prefer short bursts of activity or 6 week cycles ala Basecamp but work I find is a great way to get through periods of uncertainty, and if I have the rare pleasure of working on something I like, it’s fun.

Other than running, I didn’t do anything, it felt odd, and I had these periods of mild anxiety from the belief that I should be doing something. With the warm temperatures we could have gone somewhere, though I have no idea where that somewhere would be. My kids seem to be at an age that suggesting we drive to Georgetown for fun would illicit strange looks. Actually if suggested, I might give strange looks too.

*there are so many terms I get confused.