Sojka's Call

Maybe I will get to some of the more traditional lists of movies and books later.  In the meantime, this is going to be about impactful life changes and how those came about.   Several initially disparate pieces of information along with some self-reflection caused me to realize my sleep was sub-optimal.   More on that in this blog post on sleep .   Here is the best music list for 2022. Music My tastes this year ran heavy on pop, r&b, psychedelia, and a little trip/hip-hop.  These were ranked according to how many songs ended up highly rated during the year.  All were released in 2022.  This turned out to be a good year for the kind of music I like.  Links to where you can buy these and listen to the whole album in the title . There is also a representative vid for each one to check out for a quick check and see.  Enjoy! Various Artists - After Dark 4 (2022)   Harvey Sutherland - Boy (2022) Vinyl Williams - Cosmop...

 What is sleeping to you?  Seems so freakin' simple - right?   "Get a good nights sleep" we are told.  To be healthy and burn fat properly and recover from hard workouts, you must have at least 7 hours and preferably 8 hours of sleep.  But, don't sleep too much!!! A little epiphany I had was that 1) laying in bed is not the same as 2) sleeping.  Obvious, I know.  But, honestly, I had not separated those two in my mind completely.    On an extended visit with my daughter and son-in-law we talked a little about their use of the Apple Smart Watch for sleep monitoring.  And, my daughter-in-law said at my daughter's wedding, that she used some kind of sound monitoring app that worked OK.  I looked at all kinds of sleep monitoring devices and got very confused. Let's just say I am not an Apple Fanboy and was looking for an alternative.  One person had good luck with the Fitbit and I was leaning that way.   On my yearly...

Music, coffee, and food!  Maybe I'll add more later - what are you curious about?  What floated your boat in 2021?  Leave a comment.      Music  Based on the number of 4 and 5 rated songs per album these were my top 20 albums released in 2021 .  Once I got to around 15 many albums tied and there is another 10 that could be interchanged with the last five.    The linked videos are not necessarily the best songs from each album or EP.  Mostly, they were the first one I found when looking for a vid from the album.  Leave a comment on loves, hates, and any I missed that should have been here.   Pearl & The Oysters - Flowerland (2021) I loved the psychedelic sound of Flowerland and the not-take-yourself-seriously feel to the songs.  Musicianship is high with outstanding vocals and harmonies.  This album grew on me and I loved the playfulness and joy found in this music.     Rochelle Jordan -...

 Maybe you are young now and feel invincible.  Are you someone now in their 50's or 60's and still feel great and want to stay that way?  What are some of the keys to a long life with cycling part of your regular recreation?   The picture to the left is of Paul Danhaus about half way into the RAAM (Race Across America) and the contraption he came up with to deal with neck problems.  Look closely at this picture and his neck position.  The muscles and connective tissues are stretched in the front and compressed in the back.  It doesn't take a medical doctor or physical therapist to imagine what happens to the human body when held in this position for hours per week over many years.   The muscles in the front of the neck tend to weaken.  The vertebrae in the neck get compressed.  The muscles in the back of the neck shorten.  The trapezoids start to over-compensate for the weakening in other muscles.   In an effort ...

 Best Music These are my top albums ranked according to how many 4 or 5 rated songs the album had.  The links below (mouse over song name) are to representative songs of each album.  This is not a rank of the individual songs.   1. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?   Album of The Year 2. The Orielles - Disco Volador 3. Tops - I Feel Alive   4. Aluna - Renaissance 5. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 6. The Blessed Madonna - Club Future Nostalgia  7. Victoria Monet - JAGUAR   8. Georgia - Seeking Thrills  Here is a live version of the same song that is really nice 9. Teyana Taylor - The Album 10.Tame Impala - The Slow Rush  11. Empress Of - I'm Your Empress Of 12. Kayobe - Islands To Bridges  13. TOKiMONSTA - Oasis Nocturno  14. Widowspeak - Plum  15. Washed Out - Purple Noon  16. Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine  17. Anchor & Braille - TENSION  18. Weste - Abanico 19. George Clanton & Nick Hexum - Geor...

Music The best album of each genre was based on my ratings of songs on Jriver Media Player that I recorded during the year.   I figured ratings gathered over several months were more reliable of my overall impression than a snapshot of my tastes over the the last month of the year while writing this post. There was some really good hip-hop this year that got marred by excessive auto-tune.  I can handle some amount like what Future has become a multi-millionaire doing.  But, as an example, the excellent music on Khalid's Suncity was overshadowed on much of it by autotune that did not add anything and distracted from great music. The difference between the number of tracks I really liked on albums 5-24 was one song.  The top 4 were a cut above with Chris the clear standout. Here is my top 24 albums from 2018. --> --> Rank Artist Album 1 Christine and the Queens Chris 2 Masego Lady Lady 3 Ariana Grande Sweetener 4 Kali Uchis Isolation 5 DJ K...