And Then The Universe Said It's Time To Take An Official Break
I was actually planning on taking an official break from all music blogging duties later this week, as my 3 little nieces are coming to town to visit during an upcoming heat wave that’s got ‘lake/pool day err day’ written all over it, but this morning my iPhone 6’s battery decided that it would completely check out of being an active participant in this existence and now it won’t even work when plugged in (which is how I’ve pretty much had to use for the past month).
And since I have long ago opted for a ‘pay as you go’ phone plan option that let’s me keep my monthly costs down to about $15 a month, that means that my dead phone does not come with an easy replacement that I can just pop into the store to get. I also live in an area where there is not an Apple store within 300kms + it turns out that the option of mailing my phone to Apple is “not currently available” for my ancient 2014 phone model.
So I did some Youtube-ing, and like with most diy fixes you search for on Youtube, I came away thinking, “I should be able to do that”…
… and then, because of my beautifully isolated mountown location, I ordered an iPhone 6 battery replacement kit from the bad-man-who-wants-to-travel-around-in-space-instead-of-end-world-hunger’s website and now I just have to wait around patiently without a phone until that package arrives and I can once again test out my ability to follow along to advice found on Youtube.
But, until that package arrives, I’m completely phone less. Which kinda makes it impossible to use / keep up with social media sites, especially Instagram, which kinda makes it seem like this would be the perfect time to just announce that I am taking a total break from posting any new HI54 content until I get either my phone working or some kind of replacement. This timing should also perfectly line up for the time that my nieces are in town visiting, so I was gonna be plenty busy enough with non-blogging duties anyways (ie. uncle-ing). Message delivered universe.
So consider this break in new content to be a good time to check out a bunch of HI54 stuff that maybe you missed or haven’t checked out in awhile. For example:
• Have you checked out MTR | FRESH TAPES before?
• Or what about FM/TV?
• And I bet there’s gotta be a few #HI54MIXCDS that you’ve never got around to listening to before + do you have any idea how many great music/movie/tv/book/etc recommendations can be found in all the HIGHLY RECOMMEND Q&As from over the years of doing that series?
• Are you curious about what’s going on lately with that ‘mountain town’ site I sometimes link out to / mention that I also work on?
• Honestly, just go to the HI54 homepage and keep scrolling until you find something that catches your fancy — there’s literally thousands of things that someone who is still reading this sentence might think is worth checking out further.
Here’s my personally subjective list of the top Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is revisiting a similar nostalgic distraction).
The 2020 quarantine had me doing a lot of 80s/90s video gaming (a hobby that has continued “post”-pandemic) — so here’s my personally subjective list of top Super Nintendo (SNES) games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is looking to get into a similar nostalgic distraction).
The Buddha’s ancient advice for becoming an enlightened being (aka: becoming a kind, compassionate, mindful, wise, non-attached & content person) seems to be designed around doing the personal work needed to start helping dismantle the exploitive capitalist system currently destroying our planet. Which feels timelessly timely, no?
The 2020 quarantine had me doing a lot of 80s/90s video gaming (a hobby that has continued “post”-pandemic) — so here’s my personally subjective list of top Turbo Grafx-16 / PC Engine games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is looking to get into a similar nostalgic distraction).
“Imagine a Sun Kil Moon record pressing pause on 'Inherent Vice' to grab another sixer out of the fridge and roll a joint on the back cover of a Bukowski novel.”
Here’s my personally subjective list of the top Playstation One (PS1/PSX) games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is revisiting a similar nostalgic distraction).
Here’s my personally subjective list of the top Gameboy Advance (GBA) games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is revisiting a similar nostalgic distraction).
“My favourite thing about the internet is that stuff like someone taking audio from a 2011 Charlie Kaufman lecture (and then setting it to beautifully shot imagery and a minimalist heartbeat backbeat) is something I'm able to just find and watch again & again, whenever I need a punch in the heart gut.”
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 1988 — featuring tunes from Pixies, Jungle Brothers, The Traveling Wilburys, Tracy Chapman, EPMD, Galaxie 500 + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘88 vintage to stick in your headphones.
“Fellas, the hooks are just astonishing. How are you getting away with this shit? I'm sobbing.”
EPISODE 091 kicks off with Benjamin Shaw adding bnjmnshw touches to Magana's lovely 'Inches Apart', and before things close out with a dusty gem from the underappreciated Blaze Foley, you'll get a secret taste of that sweet Sugar Rush 2 comp The Grey Estates put out last year, there'll be a short European Vacation, new Haley Heynderickx, Kevin Morby + more.
Welp, the time has come to officially pull the plug and start packing up all my music blogging stuff :(
Here’s my personally subjective list of the top Nintendo (NES) games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is revisiting a similar nostalgic distraction).
There was another attempt by a developer to get the City of Kimberley to change industrial zoning in the Marysville neighbourhood to allow for another ‘gas station car wash chainstore drive-thru’ development in the local area — click for more context on the divided 4-3 council vote to reject.
If you think you might also like to check out my attempt at talking about the importance of coming from a place of groundedness (especially in a world where so many seem pulled over to a polarizing position of groundlessness), this ‘Monthly Eh?!’ from January 2025 is for you.
2020 quarantine had me doing a lot of 80s/90s video gaming — and since we’re now living in ‘2020 Too’, here’s my list of the top 25 Sega Master System games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is looking to get into a similar nostalgic distraction).
Here’s my personally subjective list of the top Sega CD / Sega 32X games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is revisiting a similar nostalgic distraction).
The ‘MONTHLY EH’ for May+June 2025 was sent out to subscribed inboxes — and if you think you might also like to check out why I did a 2-for-1 monthly eh and why I’m probably taking a break from quite a lot of these ‘blogger tings’ until further notice, you can do exactly that OVER HERE.
As is often the case when sharing subjective thoughts online, especially if the topic is something “controversial” like politics (even if during an election cycle that one is participating in), the feedback received from others can often be a mix of mixed signals (for example: “eat shit asshole” vs “thanks”).
The ‘MONTHLY EH’ for April 2025 was sent out to subscribed inboxes — and if you think you might also like to check out the latest collection of “Hi! Here’s Five Things For Your Consideration”, you can do exactly that OVER HERE.
I shared some subjective thoughts on “strategic” voting whilst living in mountown riding far away from where any Ottawa pollsters do any actual polling + I’ve been gathering All-Candidate videos for more local area voting context — because this seems like a pretty important election to get engaged, eh?
The ‘MONTHLY EH’ for March 2025 was sent out to subscribed inboxes — and if you think you might also like to check out the latest collection of “Hi! Here’s Five Things For Your Consideration”, you can do exactly that OVER HERE.
The 2020 quarantine had me doing a lot of 80s/90s video gaming (a hobby that has continued “post”-pandemic) — so here’s my personally subjective list of top Gameboy / Gameboy Color games that are still fun/worth spending time playing all these years later (in case anyone else is looking to get into a similar nostalgic distraction).
The latest MONTHLY EH?! mailout for December 2024 was sent out to subscribed inboxes on the last day of the year… and now it is available for anyone to read on whatever day of whatever year it is now, whether one is freely subscribed or not, OVER HERE.
![THE (FINAL) BI-WEEKLY-ISH EH?! [the one from the second half of November 2024]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5086cca1c4aa785848ed57d1/1733063374882-X6KU721YF4KEBA3Z7ISG/InstaCover-30112024.jpg)
My self-assigned commitment to send out a twice-a-month newsletter while a 'Local Area Election Season' was blowing past highway 95/a is now completed — time to slip into something more monthly, eh?
![THE BI-WEEKLY-ISH EH?! [the one from the first half of November 2024]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5086cca1c4aa785848ed57d1/1732544166788-Y1E2L7RMICH2LHBJOB2E/BIWEEKLYEH-111124-cover.jpg)
The latest BI-WEEKLY-ISH newsletter talks about some post-US election posts (including a David Graeber video), as well as some thoughts about theory & practice (and teachings > teachers) — but you’ll have to jump over to Substack to read in full!
Here's the 26th instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together a High Five For… Mix’d CD.
EPISODE 078 kicks off with Frederick Squire's take on a song about a Book Of Love, and it closes out with a newer one from the king of Mosey. And a bunch of good stuff in between.
And then—fingers crossed that my diy battery replacement plan goes according to plan—HI54.BLOG should be back to it’s usual blogging duties in no time (as long as by “no time” we mean at least not until after July 2nd).
Enjoy this last bit of June & I’ll internet you next month!
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