Endgame Viable

Morning! I’m back with another live-written post on the morning of publishing day. I stopped doing this because it’s difficult and largely unfulfilling, but today I don’t have anything else readily available to post.

To be honest, in my mind, I’ve fully left Blaugust behind and moved on to other things. These are just the vestigial death throes of habit, and not wanting to give up mere days before the end.

In health news, I have radiation scheduled on the annoying spot of cancer in my pelvic bone starting the week after next, just after Labor Day. I expect it to be completely painless and have little effect on my life, other than having to drive out there every other day for two weeks.

In television news, I stumbled on the show Last One Laughing UK seasons 1 and 2, which is a who’s who of UK comedians. I know UK comedians way better than I know American comedians for some reason. Are there any American comedians anymore? I really don’t see them. There’s no American version of Taskmaster, for example. Anyway, the show was quite funny.

Otherwise, I’ve been working on various aspects of my secret music production project, which has lost a bit of focus since the initial frenzied steps.

I’ve been working to digitally transfer DAT tapes into REAPER projects. I got through 30 tapes or so, then my 30-year-old DAT deck started making very ominous, loud, electrical popping noises. ChatGPT thinks it might be the power supply dying.

I stopped, with about 15 tapes left to go. Luckily I deliberately ordered the tapes from most important to least important, so I’ve completed the ones I really wanted to get. The ones that are left, I honestly don’t know what’s on them.

I’m going to try the deck again today and hopefully that popping was just a one-time thing. Maybe it overheated and I should power it off between tapes from now on. I have little choice but to keep trying because it’s not like I can buy a new DAT player in 2026. The deck only has to last for another 15 tapes or so.

I previously mentioned I bought a used DR-660 drum machine, and it works. I also bought a used Roland Sound Canvas SC88pro, and it also works. The latest insane purchase is a used Yamaha TG77 tone generator I found on ebay. Like the Sound Canvas, it’s a Japanese model, so I’ll have to use a transformer. Fingers crossed that it will also work. That would be the last puzzle piece in restoring my old music tracks.