Week Notes – Nov 01 to Nov 17 2025
🏢 I dealt with some stress at work when a younger colleague got fired. He was part of a project I was leading, so that was a bit of a challenge to rearrange things and get the deliverable on time.
💪 I got back to the gym, since now it's too cold for me to run outside.
🧐 I started Tai Chi classes and I didn't like them that much. I felt some discomfort on my knees and my low back. Maybe it's because I'm doing it barefoot, and it's mostly standing poses. This experience actually made me appreciate yoga even more.
🎧 I finished my listening to Nightwish official albums. I also watched some live performances and their official live albums. It's so cool that they have instrumental versions of some of their albums too, and these are great to listen to while I'm working, and I don't want lyrics.
🤘The Nightwish exploration led me to another band: Epica. I've had 2 Epica songs on my playlist called “Epic Metal” for years, but I never really listened to any of their albums. They are a Dutch symphonic metal band with orchestral arrangements and operatic choirs. I've listened to their first 4 albums so far. The cool thing about them is that they have concerts with full orchestras and live choirs.
📕I had an interesting discussion with my local Book Club about Neuromancer by William Gibson. I recognize its importance, even though I don't like the writing style. During the discussion, someone mentioned that Gibson got inspiration from an action movie called “Escape from New York” for aesthetics. Now I want to re-watch this movie, because I probably saw it when I was younger, but I don't remember much.
📖 I'm reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson now, which is a nice follow-up to Neuromancer that we planned for our book club discussion. I've never read it before, and while Neuromancer is gritty and minimalistic in its writing, Snow Crash is very expository. There are whole chapters with the main protagonist having a chat with The Librarian (which reminds of LLMs like ChatGPT) talking about Sumerian religion myths. It's very nerdy.
📌 Cool online reads:
📺 Videos I enjoyed:
- NIGHTWISH – Noise (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO): This is a cool music video of a song exploring our addiction to technology, screens, social media. I like this song, it’s a critique to our constant exposure to “endless noise” but is also a reminder that there is a rich world outside our devices.
Nightwish – The Day Of... (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO): And another Nightwish recent music video with a song that is a bit different from their previous work. It’s a critique of the constant news and sensationalism that feels like every day is the end of the world.
Epica “Consign To Oblivion” REACTION & ANALYSIS by Vocal Coach / Opera Singer: I love watching Elizabeth nerd out about voice technique, and she has done a couple about Epica songs.
Vocal Coach/Opera Singer REACTION & ANALYSIS Epica + Floor Jansen “Sancta Terra”: Another one with Epica, and this is cool because is Simone from Epica plus Nightwish’s vocalist Floor Jansen.
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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.