New Ways of Doing Old Things
Some things that are interesting to me today.
Naomi is getting ready to host a concert on Friday1. We were able to chat a bit about album release strategy in conjunction with the show and I think this is a great question for everyone to ponder.
How do you sell an album in the age of streaming?
She casually told me about the songbook item at the merch booth. Then I asked about postcards, which she said she has covered with the bookmark product.
And if you pair either of these items with Bandcamp’s digital download codes which you can print on stickers, you now have a great way to distribute your album with a physical memento.
The lesson here is keep thinking of new ways to do old things.
Packing for a trip next week, I am paying attention to WEIGHT.
These things add up quickly. While some travellers are picky about what clothes are coming along, I need to make sure I have the most optimal music and video gear choices.
I want to have my bases covered from recording nature sounds and capturing sunrises, to being able to play guitar or plod along some techno.
Get wise to the game by using a cooking scale for your devices, and then try on the bag with some of your crap in there to get an idea of what’s going on (prototype).
GPT can also help calculate the ideal weight of a bag against the weight of your body (around 20%), by putting in some of your objects like MacBook Air, iPad and necessary chargers and cables.
A 65W multi-usb charger looks like a smart way to go if you want to cut down on power bricks.
I also think that if you use a smaller bag, the bag weights less and you take less stuff. This is where you get into a philosophy issue though because now you’re cutting down your buffer space and have less room to bring back new things you find on your journeys.
I finally solved the problem of keeping my teeth clean in between appointments.
I was tired of getting a lecture from Cathy every visit even though I was working hard at it. And then finally I had an appointment recently where she really didn’t have to do too much.
The biggest learning is to always use an electric, even if it costs $5.
Go as soft and gentle as you can find on the package as a good rule of thumb.
For many budget electrics you have to keep the brush moving and you have to apply it at the proper angle to your gums or else you can damage them.
And here was the kicker, I used a Sulcabrush to get at the spot behind the lower front back teeth.
The way it works is that gravity takes all the food you eat and drops it on the lower front teeth. If you’re a candy head then you got some other problems in the backseat but for the most part it’s going to the bottom front and then all over the tongue.
Cathy says the tongue is a giant sponge which is why you need a soft scraping strategy (a brush is fine, as is the electric toothbrush).
The Oral-B Pro 500 will be my upgrade from a $5 disposable electric Oral-B. With this type of brush you can worry less about damaging your gums from keeping it in the same spot because of the rotating head.
For travelling you can take the battery powered 100 edition which can be found for less than $20 ($15 USD). This eliminates the need for a bulky charging block.
Ok why not include a track for you? This one I played yesterday. I was supposed to get ready to go out for an appointment but I was onto something. I made it just on time.
See you next week 🥯 heads!
I'm actually in the market for a new electric brush so thanks for doing the lifting for me.