Mine In Mono

A personal weblog by Robert, a Christian, aspiring minimalist, inveterate notetaker, budget audiophile and paper airplane mechanic.

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  • Blessed Adjacency

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of the gatekeepers. Even in an era where doing it yourself has never been easier, the patronage of entities like book publishers and record labels remains important. The case in point that revived my thoughts on the matter is the new EP I Call This One…

  • Skateboarding and Resilience

    Sometimes I regret that my kids never had the experiences I had with skateboarding.

  • Scout Gillett – Enough

    Years ago, a friend a colleague mentioned to me how she gets choked up at daddy/daughter songs. I thought to myself that I couldn’t even name a single song that would fit into that description. It’s interesting how our interest in different musical genres put us in touch with varied subject matters. With Scout Gillett’s…

  • Black Marble – Private Show

    Chris Stewart from Black Marble sets his Joy Division-like post punk to footage from a rodeo, what appears to be a county fair and a horse race. He plays his icy synth on the outskirts of a concert crowd watching a band that seems a much more likely rural attraction. Stewart doesn’t stray far from…

  • My Sabbath days are rarely boring. My wife Shira and I often have guests for Shabbat meals on Friday nights and Saturday lunches. And just about every Friday night, Shira and I play Scrabble, a board game that is perfect for Sabbath observers: no electricity and no writing (another Sabbath prohibition). How do we keep…

  • Good Things Come Too Late

    A new mammoth playground makes me wish my kids were young again.

  • Surface Noise

    When someone complained about the surface noise that came with listening to music on vinyl, the late BBC disc jockey John Peel (a notable lover of the format), was said to have replied, “Mate, life has surface noise.” It’s hard to argue with Peel’s assessment of life in this mortal coil. Who among us wouldn’t…

  • Invention of the Holy Cross

    Inspired by a post by @Jonah on Micro.blog, I looked into the art of Daniel Matsui. One of the images that captured my attention was the “INVENTION of the HOLY CROSS.” The image came with some apocraphyal stories to which I have become accustomed in the Orthodox Church. In the year AD 326, St. Helen,…

  • I’ll write a hymn again.

  • Shock Troops Of Gentrification

    Cities are turning to skateboarders to improve the atmosphere.