Candid Pick -Tending Gardens - Substack - Kana Lauren Chan's Newsletter About Life In A Japanese Village With Zero Waste

Kana L. Chan lives in a part of Japan where there is zero waste and she  has a Substack account dedicated to living life in that rural area.  Called Tending Gardens she explores life in Kamikatsu, a village that has zero waste.  

Take a look at our first Candid Pick.  Better yet subscribe to her newsletter and enjoy the stories she shares.

https://tendinggardens.substack.com/ is the link to the site you can read before subscribing.

Candid Comment - One Hit Wonders

A one hit wonder, there are lots of them and they still get airplay on radio stations because many are great songs, others not so much.  I happen to like the rarer songs out there that chart.  For example a band out of Ottawa in the 80's called Eight Seconds charted with Kiss You When It's Dangerous. The single from Almacantar their second album got them a few awards namely a Juno and CASBY, and was ranked 72 in the U.S.,
and 12 on the charts in Canada.  Blue Peter did very well the most notable song Don't Walk Past.  And, another artist that charted well with a signature song is Black. Wonderful Life charted very well in Europe and the U.K.

What makes a one hit Wonder notable is the quick rise peak and trail off then if the song has legs it hangs around for a long time.  One of the most notable of these is the Knack's My Sharona. The song consistently gets radio play and has been around since 1979.  It's been ranked amongst the top 10 one hit wonders whenever a chart of one hit wonders is compiled or voted on.  Aha's Take On Me also gets play on radio as do other songs like Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5.  

I am no music expert but, I know what I like and sure I like the big hits from bands that produce songs that chart in the top 10 routinely along with artists that do the same.  But, a one hit wonder tends to draw me in a little more because when I listen to the artists other songs I find other really interesting songs that I really like.  Jane Child had a song that charted really well, Don't Want To Fall In Love.  This is a great song, but another is All I Do, which is equally just as good as Don't Want To Fall in Love.  I have even heard songs from bands and artists that produced a one hit wonder that are better than the one hit Wonder.  Gary Numan Charted with Cars in North America and that for him here in the U.S. and Canada at least is a one hit wonder, he was more successful musically in the U.K.  But, he has other really fantastic songs, Are Friends Electric being one of my favorites from him. By the way Gary Numan is still active musically.  His latest effort is called Intruder. So it goes without saying that one hit wonders are a mixed bag of good great and meh.  I would encourage a listen to those one hit wonders for sure, but also you may want to dig a bit deeper into the artists other songs.  I bet you will find some interesting music.  And if you want to dive into rabbit holes just punch up a search for top 10 100 etc lists of one hit wonders.  You'll be busy for quite some time.  Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Candid Video - Zoom Event Ideas - Who Do You Want To Talk To?

Candid Conversations is bringing in a new feature, Zoom Events. It's not new, there are tons of these that are done each day, but what is interesting is that I have had chats in the past with some interesting people.  In fact I have had conversations with the same person 2 or more times. So I think it would be interesting to have a live Zoom chat and also include people in the chat to ask questions or have me ask questions on their behalf, or just have the video chat and post it here on Candid Conversations. Here is the where you as the reader can jump on in and help decide who I do the first one with. The four I have selected for voting are.

1. Peter Anthony Holder Stuph File host and Producer, he was interviewed by me in 2010, shortly after his Stuph File Podcast launched.  It'S All About The Stuph posted on March 14, 2010.

2. Christopher Schaffer has two interviews on the blog his first was about Exercising while studying at Troy University and recently we discussed Moon Over Sasova his book about his adventures in Slovakia during the 90's the book is a good read. 

3. LindaAnn Loschiavo knows a lot about Mae West. She did a Candid Conversation about a blog she has dedicated to Mae West. It is a really interesting tale, Mae West's life that is. The post appeared August 15 2015, interesting that was the day I got hired at my current company. LOL. Anyway here is the title. Ready, Come Up And See Me.

4. Daniel Whiteson is a podcaster, and renowned physicist and I have interviewed him 2 times about his work and books.  He and Jorge Cham do a podcast on the iHeart radio network called Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe.  Daniel recently discussed their latest book.  The post was uploaded on November 7th 2021.

If you want to have me ask questions from you or if you want to join the room to ask your question se the info below re Patreon.  

Patreon : Would you like to be in the Zoom room or have your question asked by me to the person you choose to have me interview.  Click over to Patreon and for a small donation to help support Candid Conversations you can have your question asked or do it in the room.  

Zoom allows up to 100 in a room so I will look at possibly doing 10 people in the room being special guests who get to ask a question.  Another 20 would be selected to have me ask questions submitted by them.  

So who do you want me to interview?  Here is the link to my Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/candidcconversations then select a customer pledge. Include who you are voting for and then include what you would like, to ask or to have your question asked.  Remember 10 in the room to ask a question 20 others with questions I will ask that you submit.

Candid Conversation - Associate Professor Michael Schutz - About Not So Pleasant Beeping Noses Medical Devices Make

Everyone at one point in their life is going to end up in the hospital. Some only a few times others a lot. It's pretty rare for anyone not to step foot into a hospital at one point in their lifetime. Along with patients there are of course those working in hospitals or who have worked in one. I did in the 1980's as a security guard, though most of my time was spent as a parking lot attendant. I still remember on the night and afternoon shift having to go through the emergency room to get to the main guard post to drop off my cash bag when the Juravinsky was known as the Henderson General here in Hamilton. As I passed through the department I heard the beeps bells and other alert tones of the diagnostic apparatus. If you were not fully awake you got there real quick. Those noises are loud. I have also been a patient, those noises are loud.

Imagine now, the fact that the staff in a hospital have to listen to this for an entire 8 or 12 hour shift. It's not good, not good at all. Studies prove that and one professional is trying to do something about that. He is Michael Schutz, Associate Professor, School of the Arts at McMaster University in Hamilton. Professor Schutz thank you for taking a moment to do a Candid Conversation.

Professor Schutz: Thank you.

Cliff T.: Shout out to my Niece Miranda who is a Neo Natal Nurse at Mac, she has to hear these beeps during the shift I can imagine how annoying it must be. Professor Schutz is that what hospital staff in hospitals across the board tell you?

Professor Schutz: According to pretty much any medical staff I’ve spoke with, the noises are uniformly awful. One retired nurse even referred to her hospital as “beeping hellscape” which I think unfortunately sums it up nicely!

Cliff T.: I mentioned in my introduction that this has become and issue and studies show that those beeps heard in the hospital are not just annoying but, they are bad for health, would you elaborate on that, what effect do these beeps and tones have on people?

Professor Schutz: The most obvious health harm is that the existing alarms are so bad they are killing us. Literally. An FDA survey found problems with alarms implicated in the deaths of 566 patients. But even beyond their worst outcomes, there are major health implications for their annoyance. Disrupted sleep extends hospital stays, which means fewer beds for folks needing medical care, and increased costs for an already over-taxed medical system.

Cliff T.: So obviously Professor Schutz this needs to be fixed. But, the offending tones are on equipment already in place. Would this mean some sort of modification or would the equipment have to be swapped out?

Professor Schutz: That’s a really important question. My focus is primarily on designing new sounds that would work better, so I can’t really comment on the exact procedure in place for updating existing equipment. But I can tell you that new sounds are fairly easy to make, and can be designed in a way to be “backwards compatible” – meaning that if doctors and nurses know existing alarms, they’d recognize the new ones immediately. I also know that hospital medical equipment is continually updated. So whether these new sounds are simply part of the next round of medical equipment update, or whether we install them into existing systems, getting them changed isn’t the hard part. The difficultly is just getting people to realize that could be so much better. So often I heard people remark “I’ve always hated those beeps, but never knew they could be different.” Trust me – they can be VERY different!!

Cliff T.: I heard your interview on Quirks and Quarks and I also heard the examples of tones you provided the one we now have and the one that would be better. I have to say Professor, that second more softer tone did catch my attention. Is that the case with most people who hear the comparison tones? And is there a difference in reaction from patients vs staff?

Professor Schutz: We find that the more musical sounds are just as good at getting attention when needed (and in some cases even better). They’re just a heck of a lot less annoying. Since we’re still tinkering with designs we’re mostly testing university students and online experiments. I would love to assess medical professionals in the future. We’re just holding off on that at the moment in part as our health care workers are so overworked, so I don’t want to both them with testing until we’ve worked out the basic science of the sounds. But as far as I can tell they would lead to similar results.

Cliff T.: I am a bit curious, what prompted studies into the sounds medical machines make?

Professor Schutz: It’s a long story! I’m a performing musician, and also a music cognition researcher. I got very interested in the psychology of music after discovering a surprising musical illusion (www.maplelab.net/illusion). Musical implications aside, it shows that our brain processes musical sounds in ways that are different than the kinds of sounds often used for research. What I call the “tone beep.” I find those tone beeps awfully annoying, and was disappointed to find the terrible beeps common in scientific studies of hearing.

So my team started synthesizing more complex sounds for our experiments on basic listening questions. And then one day a medical doctor got wind of this work, and introduced me to the problem of terrible beeps in the ICU. It was then I realized that some of the basic research questions my team specializes in have this really important application for public health. And I thought that was neat. We can actually use music perception to save lives. How cool is that?!

Cliff T.: What is the most common reaction you are getting when you speak on this topic with people who have never heard about this issue before?

Professor Schutz: I find people uniformly hate current alarm sounds. Most are shocked they could be changed, and often very excited. I’ve heard so many heart breaking stories about time people spent in hospitals being annoyed by them. Some people then get angry that they were subjected to such terrible sounds when they didn’t have to be this bad!

Cliff T.: I would assume that we are still in the early days with regard to deploying changes to medical devices audio outputs. What kind of progress have you seen on this front?

Professor Schutz: So far the reception has been wonderful! I’ve had the opportunity to connect with researchers all over the world interested in improving medical alarms. I’m usually the biggest “sound geek” in the room for these conversations, so they’re quite keen to hear about new ideas. Getting the opportunity to do things like the TEDx talk and the Quirks and Quarks segment have been really rewarding and helpful. I can reach more people with a 10 minute radio segment than a 10 page academic article! Recently someone from the IEC (International Electrotechnic Commission) reached out after hearing the Quirks and Quarks interview you heard, and I’m excited to possibly contribute some new ideas to future designs.

Cliff T.: I have to ask Professor Schutz. I know that this is serious stuff, but is there some sort of fun aspect to this. What is the cool factor in changing a medical machines tone or beep?

Professor Schutz: As a life-long audio geek, part of me is just tickled that I’ve found an “excuse” for playing around with sound. As a musician, I spend a lot of time thinking about sound, crafting musical sounds, and event exploring sounds in the world. As a researcher I focus on doing experiments with sound. And as it turns out, this all has an actual public health benefit. As my mother said after watching the TEDx talk, “wow, now I can tell my friends you are the kind of doctor who helps people”. Thanks mom 😀

Cliff T.: Professor Schutz thank you very much for taking time to reach out and do a Candid Conversation. It just goes to show that science can be very interesting, important and in a lot of ways fun.

Professor Schutz: My pleasure – always happy to help spread good ideas about better sound!

Professor Schutz is an Associate Professor, School of the Arts at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario Canada. To get an idea of what Professor Schutz does and is doing visit his McMaster Experts page by clicking this LINK 

Editors Note: Just to be clear on one thing re: hospital sounds. Professor Schutz stated, I'm not claiming the beeps are doing more harm than good. I would not recommend just silencing them all for example! My point is just that they could be a whole heck of a lot better. They serve a very useful and important role, which is why it's so acoustically tragic that they are built on
really terrible "beeps"

Candid Comment-Video Edition - Mothers day

I learned a lot from 4 women who were in my life.  They are all passed away now but the legacy of their teaching has never left me.  In this video I pay homage not only to my mother, but to may Aunties, Marlene and Helen.  Happy Mothers day. 

Below are the video and a photo om my mom.

My Mother Shirley.  This photo dates back to the late 2000s in Montreal QC. Canada.  Probably around 2011.

RIP Mom, your missed and still loved.

Footnote: The aunt I speaking about with regard to creativity is my Aunt Helen.

Candid Comment - The Writers Challenge

This one is for the creators of content, bloggers, websites magazines etc.  Writing can be fun.  It can be challenging.  And sometimes it can get boring.  Then there are times when you get to place where the thoughts ideas or content just don't jive.  I have to admit that coming up with interviews and putting up content can be daunting especially when I am trying to figure out what would work on the platform I am writing for.  I have 3, this blog and Mixed Nuts, Medium and Substack.  Each have different audiences so creating content that will engage and bring back repeat readers is a bit of a challenge.  

One challenge is writers block, having an idea and not being able to express it or finding that there is nothing that grabs the writer and says write about this.  That does happen from time to time.  The other thing that can be a bit of a challenge or a lot is wanting to write about really sensitive topics.  It's one thing to have a newspaper or media organization to support you when you dive into a hot topic it's another when you are the one man band so to speak.  There are topics I really want to jump into and discuss with people and comment on  here on this blog.  I don't because writing on those hot topics can unleash some real serious blowback. So that means not touching the so called hot button or ensuring that there is coverage on all the angles possible to avoid a fight or that I can defend the point.  

I know some out there are going to read this and say dude your a chicken for not handling the hot topics.  To a degree that is true, no one likes to be bashed for what they say and yes that includes me.  That said it goes with the territory, not everyone is going to like what I put up on a blog or site or on another platform.  I am pretty sure I can handle that.  What would be far more difficult to handle is a lawsuit or criminal charge. To avoid that I have to use common sense in posting content.  That means writing content that is balanced and accurate.  These are keys to success, and I think I  have that.  knowing the subject matter means research which is what I do.  So I would like to offer up tips for those who are currently writing and those who want to do so.

1. Research research research:  For the love of God research the topic before you write about it.  I have seen a few things that are just not accurate in my time.  And it does drive me nuts.  So if you do not know the topic research so you have enough understanding before you write.

2. Bias does play a role: Bias is a thing, I write from a point of knowledge but I also have a bias and yes it does come through at times.  Just make sure to do your best to remove it as often as possible, your writing should be neutral and fair.

3. Obey the law: Copywrite, criminal law, civil law.  All apply to bloggers.  Going forward and describing a how to do a crime, copying another persons work and posting it as your own or not citing sources is a bad idea and saying someone did something they did not, ooof bad plan.  You can get sued, you can get arrested and you can be ordered to take content down.  Simply put check before you post. If you can't answer no to whether the post can lead to an offence under the law, violation of copywrite or is factually incorrect then do not post it.

4. Write for everyone: You should write at a level where most people can get your point.  The ideal level is grade 8 grammar and spelling.  Now I have to admit not my strong point.  Funny story though English was one of my better subjects.  Still I have to say that style, sentence structure, grammar and spelling can be a challenge.  That said I suggest proofing your work before posting it.

5. Writers block and no content ideas: This is a thing.  There are times you will get writers block, you will get bored writing and yes you will not find a story that fits you or the platform you are creating content for.  Step back and do something else then com back to the task.  There are times you may just have to plough through and post something especially if you are being paid for your work.  Most times though you can take a break and reboot.

The writers challenge is actually a bunch of them rolled into one but, if you want to write and even get paid for your writing you have to face it.  

Until the next post be well and stay safe.