I like lists

Time to rank R.E.M. albums again! (July 26, 2026)

I like doing this periodically because I never check my previous rankings until after, and it’s always fun (to me, at least) to see how albums shift up and down the list.

Onward!

  1. Out of Time (1991)
  2. Automatic for the People (1992)
  3. Monster (1994)
  4. Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
  5. Murmur (1983)
  6. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
  7. Green (1988)
  8. Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
  9. Reckoning (1984)
  10. Document (1987)
  11. Up (1998)
  12. Accelerate (2008)
  13. Collapse Into Now (2011)
  14. Reveal (2001)
  15. Around the Sun (2004)

Notes:

  • My current top 10 is every album before Bill Berry (drummer) left the band.
  • Around the Sun (2004) will never move from #15.
  • As I’ve grown older, I’ve started to appreciate experimental R.E.M. more.
  • But their later experiments were sometimes more indulgent and didn’t work well.
  • Accelerate is a fine album, but 18 years later, it feels like they were trying to rock just a little too hard.
  • Out of Time is #1 because it’s got everything: the band is mature, confident, willing to experiment, but still very clearly having fun with it all. Also, I really like “Texarkana.”
  • Monster is perhaps underrated. Yes, it’s got reverb and tremolo for days (years, really), but this was an album-length experiment that works. Stipe wears a different persona for every song, Buck’s guitar work is punchy and inventive and again, the band sounds like they are totally into the whole thing.
  • I would not argue with anyone over picking Automatic for the People as #1. It’s everything that Out of Time is, but richer, more mature (in a good way) and at times, surprisingly beautiful.
  • #5-9 could be in almost any order.
  • Collapse Into Now is a good send-off, it’s brought down by some lesser tracks. The good ones, though, are very good.
  • If I was recommending R.E.M. to someone unfamiliar with their work, I would pick these three albums: Out of Time, Automatic for the People, and Lifes Rich Pageant.

3 things I like about FIFA

Generally, I regard FIFA with indifference or vague ill will. I am not into sportsball, the organization is widely regarded as corrupt, it paid fealty to Trump to by awarding him a nonsensical “peace prize” which meant so much to him that he immediately turned around and launched an illegal war with Iran. Host cities for the World Cup will see little benefit other than a lot of extra costs.

But in the spirit of looking at the bright side of life1If you know, you know, here are 3 good things about FIFA, specifically in regard to Vancouver being one of the host cities:

  • A lot of people seem to genuinely enjoy the games
  • The SkyTrain is running on a more frequent schedule, which is aces for me when I need to use it (I just need to not use it when there is a game pending)
  • Science World admittedly looks pretty cute as a giant football/soccer ball
Image from cbc.ca

Day 8: Notes on surgery

Hopefully these notes keep getting shorter. But for now, a list:

  • Sleep continues to be an issue, but there is some progress:
    • I can sleep with the bed in its normal setting (it’s adjustable).
    • I’ve learned that sleeping on my good side is a bad idea because it makes my left shoulder hurt like crazy (which is extra ironic, since the good side is my right).
    • The Garmin watch is still having trouble figuring things out. It said I got no REM sleep last night, despite multiple dreams. But I’m still not sleeping great, regardless.
  • Energy level has flagged a bit the past few days, probably due to erratic sleep.
  • The incisions and tube wound seem to be healing up normally.
  • I’m a lot more flexible and mobile.
  • I’d like a nice bubble bath.
  • I re-read my take-home instructions, and it says I can’t carry more than 10 pounds for four weeks. By then I’ll have the muscle tone of an emaciated chipmunk.
  • Speaking of muscle, I seem to be shedding it, my weight has dropped about six pounds since leaving the hospital.

On balance, mostly good. I’d really like to have a decent night’s sleep again, though.

Five days after surgery, my top 5 least favourite things

Don’t worry, I’ll post a top 5 of most favourite things, too.

Top 5 Least Favourite Things about Surgery (5 days later)

  1. Struggling to sleep comfortably at night with two incisions and a sutured wound in my left side, as well as a left shoulder that tends to get sore when I lay down, due to the chest tube that was inserted somewhere in a line directly below it.
  2. Lack of stamina. If I walk at my usual pace (brisk), my chest starts to hurt after maybe 30 seconds. Which is an improvement, actually!
  3. Being cut off from a lot of normal activities, most notably running.
  4. Fear of pulling sutures/accidentally lifting more than the advised 10 pounds and complicating the recovery.
  5. General soreness/feeling off/mood.

Here is Maru the cat in a bowl.

Things I could do that kind of amaze me now

Because when I think of doing them now, it seems…improbable.

  • Solving a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute. Not world record stuff, but I could solve it pretty quick.
  • Jumping hurdles. I actually won the hurdles race one year at my junior high. I still have no idea how I didn’t face-plant. Or won.
  • Playing chess and being decent at it. I still know the rules, but today I’d be a complete noob on strategy.
  • Bending my thumb down to touch my wrist. It kind of freaks me out that I was that flexible. Maybe I should still be that flexible?
  • More as I remember them!

Now and zen

If I was a musician and Robert Plant hadn’t already used it, I would totally make an album called “Now and Zen.”

Here are some things I find that produce a zen-like quality for me, where I lose myself in the activity, and my mind can unlock to drift and ponder and take me away from the world for a while.

  • Running. That runner’s high thing you hear about is real. Also, this can vary a bit based on conditions. If the terrain is slippery due to ice and whatnot, it’s harder to find zen because I’m concerned about face-planting. But generally, running is very calming to my brain.
  • Drawing. Especially when I do bird art, which is almost like colouring in a colouring book. The application of colour is very soothing.
  • Writing. Even on this blog, sometimes! The quote at the top of this site is accurate, but a lot of writers forget how it feels to get in the proverbial zone. You are taken, briefly, to another place, and it’s great. When you leave, it’s almost like a memory wipe occurs, so writing becomes a “chore” again, instead of a secret delight.
  • Picking up litter with a picker and bucket. This requires a certain amount of hand-eye coordination because grabbing cigarette butts off the ground can be trickier than you’d think. But the activity is so mellow and gentle, it’s nice just to slowly move around the condo complex and surrounding area and plink away at the occasional bits of litter.

Seriously, though, when am I getting a new phone?

My phone history, apart from what we now quaintly call “landlines” began in 2009 with a Samsung flip phone and effectively ended in January 2021 when I bought an iPhone 12.

During that 12-year period, I went through 7 phones (get all the juicy details on each in this post):

  • Samsung M320 (it cost $40, which seems surreal now)
  • iPhone 4
  • Samsung Galaxy S3
  • iPhone 5c
  • iPhone 6
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 12

Other than the dalliance with the S3, you may have noticed an early pattern: I got a new phone pretty much every year. Then after the iPhone 6 I skipped a generation. With the iPhone 8, I skipped two generations (the 10 and 11–the 9 never existed). And now, I have skipped four generations, with the fifth about to launch next month.

The main reason is phone tech improved. They got faster, got much better cameras, and starting around five or so years ago reached a point many would consider “good enough.” Everything since then is iterative, not revolutionary, in the same way computers get better or TVs improve. You only notice the differences if you go a long time between upgrades.

My current phone, which debuted in September 2020 and which I purchased in January 2021, is reporting 83% battery health, yet there are days when I plug it in before bed, and it’s still at 90-95% charge, because most of the time I don’t use the phone at all.

I rarely check social media, which I have largely abandoned save for Mastodon, anyway. I message a few people, take photos here and there, check the weather, make actual phone calls very occasionally and not much else. I never play games on my phone. I don’t read on it, nor write long messages. I may occasionally scan my email. Sometimes I use the calculator. I’ll add food to the grocery list.

I actually stopped using the Photos app after Apple’s misguided1Misguided is apparently now Apple’s north star when it comes to design, especially for software revamp in iOS 18.

Basically, my phone is just a tool I sometimes use for certain things. I’m not one of those people that must breathlessly check the socials every time I get a free nanosecond. I am content to amuse myself with my own thoughts. Since getting my “good enough” iPhone 12, the tech lust to get a newer phone has disappeared.

The cause hasn’t been helped by Apple crawling up its own butt and becoming a terrible company in the past five years, either. I would not buy a new iPhone at this point, even if they scrapped the shockingly misguided2See? UI refresh known as “Liquid Glass”.

Or Liquid ass if you go by Apple’s original YouTube thumbnail:

Apple eventually uploaded a new thumbnail.

Anyway, this leads to the question I pose in the title of this post: When am I getting a new phone?

I think it will come down to a combination of things, most likely something like this:

  • When Apple stops supporting the iPhone 12 with updates, which will probably happen in a few years, though I have no immediate plans to update to “iOS 26” because of the awful aforementioned Liquid Glass revamp. Even here, security updates would probably extend the life of the phone to 2028 or 2029, years that once existed only in bad near-future science fiction.
  • When battery life becomes unacceptably poor. I think this may take a good while to happen, especially with my usage.
  • If I find a deal on a new/newish phone that is too good to resist. I have no idea how likely this is, but it ain’t happened yet.
  • I decide my iPhone 12 cameras are now potato quality (they already are if you zoom in at all) and can no longer tolerate them. This is actually not very likely. I have an actual mirrorless camera for taking good photos of things.

Looking over the list, it seems I’m likely to keep cracking wise about my iPhone 12 for some time yet. But we’ll see.

Five random thoughts, July 31, 2025

In random order:

  • The “Liquid Glass” UI redesign being spread across all of Apple’s operating systems has pretty much confirmed in my mind that Apple’s best designers have either left the company or are being overruled by people who have no sense of design.
  • I’m not sure if I like having a Conservative prime minster who ran as a Liberal.
  • I did not have getting multiple injections into my abdomen this month on my bingo card (see: Stabbing the abs for more.)
  • I continue to be puzzled and occasionally flummoxed by the lack of awareness exhibited by so many people when in a public space.
  • Smartphones are a good thing, social media owned and operated by Big Tech is a very bad thing.

Canada Day random thoughts, 2025 edition

  • It could be worse.
  • It could also be better.
  • It’s very summer-like today, after the first week of summer was cool and a bit damp. A lot of people prefer the latter, even though we get it for about six months of the year.
  • There will probably be some fireworks going off later this evening.
  • The new sidewalks on our street are very bright in the sun.
  • I feel like more people cheat now than, say, ten years ago, possibly because more people are realizing they won’t get caught. This is not a good thing.
  • I have an itchy bug bite on my left leg. I have nothing in particular to help with this, except the power of my mind insisting it’s not really itchy at all.
  • I still love Bongo Cat. He is currently wearing a pineapple.
  • Apparently, Canadian patriotism is surging. A house a few blocks away is positively festooned with Canadian flags. I’m not sure how I feel about this, because nationalism generally leads to bad things.
  • I’ve seen reports that people are getting dumber. This feels right to me.
  • Am I getting dumber? My phone is often at 90% charge at the end of the day (even though it’s 4.5 years old). I think this is helping to preserve some brain cells.
  • When birding in Pitt Meadows, I went to check the temperature on my phone and it couldn’t pull the data in because of a very weak cell connection. It please me that such places exist, and you don’t even have to go too far to find them. Also, places where you can’t hear any traffic.
  • My leg is still itchy.

My brain is complicated and is thinking on its own (I think)

As I’ve reported before, my trusty Garmin Forerunner 255 has been reporting that I have been under a great deal of stress, experiencing high stress while sleeping and generally having Very Stressful days for about two months now. At first, I thought it was misinterpreting my kidney infection as stress and acted accordingly. But I’ve been off the antibiotics for a few weeks now and haven’t seen any return of symptoms, yet the Very Stressful reports persist.

So, I thought, maybe it’s something else. What else has coincided with the infection over the past few months?

  • I have basically stopped running. This isn’t permanent, I took a break after tripping and hurting my hands on my last run on December 30, then got hit with resurgent infection, finally seemed to recover from that and now there is snow on the ground. But I will run again.
  • Dealing with the infection and aftermath (there are more tests forthcoming for other things discovered that may be innocuous or could be more serious).
  • I have done little in the way of creativity: few drawings, no work on the game. I have been writing, but it’s mainly been the nonsense you’re reading on this blog right now.
  • Dealing with condo/strata stuff, as we restarted our efforts to shed the current council and management company (the latter of which specifically started harassing us last summer).

So, that’s a lot of stuff. Some I can deal with easily. I can fix not running by running. I can fix not drawing by drawing. The health stuff I just need to put aside for now. I feel fine and there’s nothing else to be done at the moment.

But the condo stuff, this got my attention this morning when I realized something: My mind wanders over to it constantly. When I say constantly, I am not engaging in hyperbole, or even just regular bole. Multiple times this morning, I caught myself thinking about condo stuff. It just comes up, unbidden, in my mind. Really, it’s kind of weird. It’s like my brain has adapted to just slotting in thoughts about the condo/strata whenever I’m not focused on anything else.

I think this may be a large part of my Very Stressful days.

Now, I do and will have to deal with strata stuff for at least a few more months, so there is no escaping it. But I don’t need to be constantly thinking about it. So my goal is to somehow train my mind to not think about it or if I do, to quickly divert to some other thought, such as:

  • Kittens
  • Puppies
  • Pop Tarts (just thinking, not eating)
  • Grassy meadows
  • Summer
  • A nice relaxing bubble bath
  • Walking alone among sequoias
  • Etc.

Basically, anything that will focus me away from strata and onto something relaxing.

I’ll see how it goes and report my findings soon, in the name of science and possibly my sanity.

Random things I remember from growing up in Duncan in the 1970s

I was six when the 1970s started and 16 when it ended, so it pretty much encapsulates all of my childhood that I can still remember. Or think I can remember.

Kids, hold onto your smartphones as you hear about the primitive olden days:

  • Having a single phone in the house, in the hallway. It had a long coiled cord and was rotary. In the first few years it was also a party line (for those unaware, this meant the line was literally shared with other people, so your neighbours could listen in on your conversations if they weren’t heavy breathers).
  • One TV, in the living room. Maybe a 20 or 25-inch screen? It was colour, though! The guys watched Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday. I was not really into hockey. I was an artist! (See entry below on The Letterbox.)
  • The neighbours at the end of the block had seven chestnut trees in their yard. We would put chestnuts on shoestrings and have chestnut fights, one of many dumb things we did as kids.
  • Speaking of dumb things: lawn darts! We played on the boulevard in front of the house.
  • A less dumb activity was bouncing on inner tubes in the same spot, using them as somewhat inefficient trampolines.
  • I would chop wood for our fireplace, because you were allowed fireplaces in the city back then. It was cozy in the winter.
  • I remember the Saucy Dragon arcade in downtown Duncan, which went on to be one of multiple arcades. In 1984, I even got my first job working at one. I eventually learned all the moves in the laser disc game Space Ace and could complete it on a single quarter. I believe all the arcades are gone now.
  • I’ve mentioned it before, but the stationery store, called The Letterbox, was a place I loved hanging out in. I was a writing nerd. I guess I still am. I’d buy fountain pens, refills, typewriter ribbons, art pencils and sketchpads there. And other stuff. It was my version of a candy store. It’s long gone. But there’s now a Staples.
  • Riding my bike without a helmet. No one wore helmets, it wasn’t even a point of discussion. I did fall a few times, but never cracked my skull open.
  • I got bit by every possible animal you can think of. I had probably 10x more tetanus shots than the average person.
  • The McDonald’s opening in August 1978 (yes, I remember) was a major event. The day before, a friend and I rode our bikes through the parking lot and counted the stalls. It was 70 or so, as I recall. A Filet-o-Fish sandwich, my favourite at the time, cost 65 cents. Previously, to eat at a McDonald’s, we had to have our parents drive us to Victoria or Nanaimo. In 1978, Duncan arrived. The McDonald’s, of course, is still there.
  • When I went to high school, literally just at the end of the street, I came home for lunch and got addicted to All My Children for a few years. Like the arcades, it, too, is gone.
  • More random things as I think of them.

Quotes that may not inspire you

It is always darkest before dawn. Unless you’re locked inside a broom closet.

A stitch in time will probably undo the fabric of reality

Every cloud has a tiny, angrier cloud inside it

Time heals all wounds, except shark scars because those are rad

When life gives you lemons, give life a kick in its lemon-soaked pants