1. About which age would you say, "That was the happiest period of my life". Why?

Probably 2019. It was my last year of high school, and I had great hopes for the future – moving to Paris to study sociology. I also started my first actual band back then, though we didn't call that like that at the time. I was in a loving relationship, that although was unhealthy as ****, brought me a lot of joy while it lasted. I also discovered acid and shrooms just 6 months prior, and I was full on in my psychedelic period, which in itself was one of the best periods in my life.

2. Who usually prepares the food in your house? How much time do you spend in the kitchen per day?

Since I'm living alone, me. I don't spend more than an hour to prepare meals for the entire day.

Before that it was usually my mom (my dad would rather make breakfast. for everybody, and stuff like that), and she spends a whole lotta time in the kitchen. Though she prepares far better food than I could ever dream of making, so it makes sense.

3. What effect has MB had on your personality? Good, Bad or Zero?

Exactly zero as far as I can tell

Im not active enough for it to have any impact

4. If Elon Musk donated Twitter to you, what would you do with it?

Erase it from existence

5. What was your last musical surprise? - when you said to yourself, "I never imagined I'd enjoy something like this"

When I was 16 I discovered Manu Chao. The reason I mention him is because when I was in primary school, all my school mates would only play the ****tiest music I've ever heard (mostly modern pop and some electronic dance music), and one of the songs they would sometimes play during breaks was "Me Gustas Tu", which I found atrocious at the time (because of bias). When my first girlfriend said she was a Manu Chao fanatic, she opened a whole new world for me.

6. Now that you've posted in the Saturday 6-Pack, what's the next thing you will do today?

Smoke a joint and watch Get Back for the 5th time

Hey, I also had a change of heart about Manu Chau. I didn't find his music very interesting until I re-visited it a several years later and found it much more enjoyable than I remembered.
Here are some other opinions on Manu Chau:- https://www.musicbanter.com/reggae-s...manu-chao.html

Being the last Saturday of the year, some of these questions write themselves:-

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

Sleeping. Not really. Gonna have a few Hazy IPA's. Party time. lol

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?

Goose.

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Nothing that hasn't already been happening since people started recording weather stats.

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

Just the facts. Ma'am.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

I just moved out of C(r)ook County, but there's also a huge city located in that vicinity called Chicago. Property/sales taxes have been a hot topic for as long as I can remember and I hear people's dreams of someday getting the 'f' out all the time.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

My daughter. Because she's awesome like her Dad. :)

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

Drinking glühwein with my family
2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?
I've been really getting into African music this year, but not one specific genre
3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?
Rivers and lakes don't freeze over properly anymore (or rarely) so I haven't been able to go ice skating outdoors for many years, which is really upsetting because I'm very fond of it (meaning the typical Dutch long distance ice skating, to me ice hockey or figure skating is a bit wack)
4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?
I certainly want evidence, I'm not into anything religious or paranormal or spiritual
5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?
Well I've spent most of my life in/near Amsterdam and a village called Giethoorn, which are both popular tourist destinations for obvious reasons. In the UK I'm not surrounded by tourists, which is nice. The tourism industry often brings out the worst in both the tourists and the people who have to deal with them (including me, all the tourists walking on bike lanes exhaust my patience and politeness pretty quickly)
6. My favourite person in my family is.... because.... I don't have a favourite

Being the last Saturday of the year, some of these questions write themselves:-

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?


Sleeping probably. Not a holiday person.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?


I guess I explored the Goth Rock a bit through the Album survivor thread

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

We've been lucky in the Mid-Atlantic. Maybe the thunderstorms are a little more severe but the winters have been warmer overall, thus fewer snowstorms.

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

I don't. I'm one of those infamous "doubting Thomases" Christians love to hate.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

I live in Baltimore, what do you think? :laughing:

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

My Aunt Diane (God rest her soul). She was like an older sister to me.

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

I'm so grateful. My car broke down last night but my oldest friends from my home town are driving to my city to pick me up so I can celebrate with them. That means the world to me.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?

Publishing my collected writings from the last 12 years of record collecting was an astonishingly satisfying and rewarding endeavor. I'm presently working with a national publisher for a potential print edition as well.

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

I'm in Buffalo and we made international news for the worst winter storm in more than 50 years leaving least 39 dead. And 2022 marked Buffalo's record for the highest annual snowfall since 1939 with 179.4" of snow. My family is begging me to sell my house and move back to their city but I can't imagine moving an entire house of possessions, (to say nothing of the records).

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

I'm an active member of The Center For Inquiry, a nonprofit promoting secular values and rational thinking. Their national headquarters is in my city and I attend several of their events each month. I love being able to critically engage rational skeptics in a dialogue to help keep my thinking in check and to avoid logical fallacies, the Dunning-Kruger effect, and cognitive biases wherever possible.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

Buffalo is the second-largest city in NYS. We have an incredible independent art and music scene, a ton of art and music festivals, and an awesome antiquing and thrifting community. We're known as "the City of Good Neighbors." We also have a killer antiquarian literature scene which draws collectors from around the world. The snowstorms aside, I really like it here. I'm not too sure about tourism, but those who reside here are steadfast and committed to their city.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

I don't have a very strong family. We don't celebrate the holidays together or anything. But I phone my mother every Sunday which provides a bit of comfort through the isolation of winter.

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?


Growling about how next year will be no better. Trouble is, I'm always right. :( No plans; watch the countdown/firework display on the telly with Karen then off to bed.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?


Don't think I "discovered" any new artist that I can think of really. I mean, I might have, but generally I don't tend to do that.

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Yeah. Much harsher winters (we had -11 C here a few weeks ago) and far more "tropical storms"/tail-ends of hurricanes than I ever remember. Plus, the weather is ****ed altogether.

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

I'm a big fan of logic. I prefer proof for things I'm told.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

Nobody here gets out alive.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

You don't specify living or dead. If living, Karen, because, you know. If dead, my mam, God rest her if he exists which I don't believe he does but just in case. And my auntie Eileen, a woman in a million.

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

I was going to a party but the host got covid, so I'm gonna see The Whale and hit up some bar to try to get my dick sucked instead.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?


I listened to a ridiculous amount of billy woods. As far as discovery, I finally get roots reggae and have been getting down on the classics. I've also been listening to a lot more soul and 50s music this year.

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Yeah we had a brutal summer. It seems a lot colder this winter too, I think we're experiencing a regression.

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

I only drift away from the facts when I think it's funny.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

Escapees, it's expensive out here.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

I have a handful of favourites and a good chunk of them that are definitely not on the list, but there's no clear frontrunner among the family members I keep around.

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?


I'll be on a Skype call with my best friend, drinking champagne

If we'll end the call sooner, then I'll be probably listening to a song I recorded today while drinking champagne and smoking a joint.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?


I fell in love with the Wings. I liked McCartney's Wings albums before, but I never actually truly loved any track or album (apart from "Band on the Run").

I discovered The Modern Lovers. Their first and only album is an absolute masterpiece.

My obsession with Shintaro Sakamoto continues.

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Until I turned 11-12 there was snow every single winter. And not snow as in it snowed for 2 days, but there were corridors made of ice and snow from December up until May/April (twice).

Ever since then, in Warsaw, it either snows for a week in December or it doesn't snow at all.

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

If you mean it in a religious way, then I don't drift away from that position. If someone says that some gods exist, then they better show some bulletproof evidence. Otherwise it's bull****.

I don't rely on facts only when it comes to taste and such things. Though I do often try to ground things I like and admire in some kind of thought-evidence.

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

When I lived in Poland – escapees. Nobody wants to live there unless they were conditioned from a young age to love their country.

In Paris? Tourists

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

Myself, because without me there would be no world for me to discover.

Other than that, I guess my father. He's really easy-going, knowledgable and smart, and though he can get over-bearing sometimes because of how nice he is trying to be to everyone (and how he oftentimes feels like no one is giving it back to him), he is the person that is most responsible for who I am today and what my overall interests are. Thanks, dad!

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

A modest party at a friend's house. We were seven at the table, cheering in the New Year, me raising a glass of Seven-Up as I was a designated driver.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?

Thanks to Plankton, I also learned about the jam band Goose this year. Also spent a lot of time acquainting myself with the discographies of Jefferson Airplane and DakhaBrakha

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Last 3 winters have been noticably milder than any of the previous 25. I measure winter temp by that well-known rate: sweater days per year. That has gone from a norm of 14 days a year to about 3.
Also dramatic coastal erosion. These are about the best before-and-after pics I could find:

(Like the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico is designated as non-tidal, so what the pics show is the change in position of the water's edge over a 10 year period: my guess, about 100 yards further in.)


4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

Yep, evidence-based beliefs for me, as it appears to be for everyone who's answered. Sometimes I speculate about what's beyond the reach of evidence: what's on the other side of the observable universe or what was before the Big Bang - and by speculate, I mean watching a YouTube video and thinking, "Ooo-eer! That's weird."

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

Net influx here: not just a big tourist turnover, but also people coming here to live. They are most commonly refugees from the cold of Canada or from the violence/pollution of Mexico City.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

My older sister was like an older sister to me. She was always kind, sympathetic and helpful to me, first as we grew up together, then as I admired the adult she became. RIP.

Definitely my favourite way of speculating!

you know what?
This dog is my favourite family member

https://i.postimg.cc/SNLmRBBF/IMG-6075.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/CMkg6yLB/IMG-3881.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/W4CBX8Bw/IMG-2565.jpg

I've just realized it