Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Spotify 2019

I make pretty heavy use of my Spotify subscription, especially at work. Around this time every year, they provide a bunch of stats about what you listen to. Here are some of the stats and top 5 lists that they gave me:

  • Top song:: The Arcadian Wild – Silence a Stranger
  • Top 5 artists:
    • Jason Mraz
    • The Arcadian Wild
    • The Senate
    • Jonathan Coulton
    • John Mayer
  • Top Genres:
    • Neo mellow
    • Stomp and holler
    • Indiecoustica
    • Progressive bluegrass
    • Indie pop

I’ve never heard of most of those genres but sure, why not. If you know my listening history, you might be surprised to not see any country on there. That’s still a favorite of mine, but I keep this work account totally focused on the type of music listed above. If I start to mix it with country, the recommendations get very confusing and useless. If I stick with one area, the “Discover Weekly” list is much more useful.

benmartens December 16, 2019 Music

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 14

This week was a game to forget for the Seahawks. The defense was porous in the first half and aside from the first drive (which only ended in a field goal) the offense looked hapless. With the 49ers winning, the Seahawks are back in the wild card game. Locking up the division and getting home field advantage would be a huge deal for the Seahwaks but it’s an uphill battle now.

This wasn’t a super important week in our league as it was never going to change the playoff spots, but it did adjust the seeding a bit. Logan gets the #1 seed. He’ll take on Tim and Tyler will face off against Luke. Tyler went from the worst score last week to the highest score this week. And Logan posted exactly the same score that he had last week.

1. Ben (Kool Aid Kid)
2. Nick (Insert Creative Name) + 2
3. Tim (Beer-me) -1
4. Luke (Helmetheads) -1

One extra note: as I was writing this post I realized that I hadn’t clicked publish on last week’s post… and nobody commented. Am I talking to the wind? Please let me know if you want me to continue this next year.

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Tyler had 132.08 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Dad had 81.37 Tyler had 61.23 (Week 13) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Nick beat Dad by 46.40 Ben beat Tyler by 87.13 (Week 13) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tyler beat Tim by 11.11 Logan beat Tim by 0.41 (Week 11) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has a 3 game winning streak Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 4 game losing streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak (Week 6) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Drew Brees had 50.06 on Logan’s bench Aaron Rodgers had 53.76 on Ben’s bench (Week 7) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Lowest winning score Logan won with 106.96 Tyler beat Nick with 92.63 (Week 4) Tim beat Jim with 79.34 (2015)
Highest losing score Tim lost with 120.97 Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (Week 5) Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (2019)
benmartens December 11, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Harlem Globetrotters

When I was young, I remember going to see the Harlem Globetrotters and being amazed at the show. I’ve watched their tour schedule for the past couple years and they finally came to the Seattle area. Tickets were reasonable so we snagged three of them.

Elijah had a great time and the show was very entertaining. I wouldn’t want to go every time they come to town, but we all agreed it was worth seeing them. They added a “four point line” a few years ago. It’s 30 feet from the hoop. That’s more than 6 feet beyond the NBA line! I wish I had kept track of their average but at one point, one guy made SEVEN IN A ROW. I was equally impressed by how smoothly they all worked together to put on the show while also appearing to enjoy enjoying it even though they do the exact same stuff every day.

 

benmartens December 10, 2019 Family, Sports

IFTTT

Home automation is a never ending rabbit hole. I love gadgets and it intrigues me, but I also try to make sure that anything I do is transparent to Tyla. I used to make use of a Samsung Smart Things hub. It was a nice way to bridge all the various home automation technologies like Zigbee, Z-wave and WiFi. It unceremoniously died a few months ago and I had never been thrilled enough with it to want to buy a new one. Most of my devices were WiFi anyway so I decided to go all in on that.

You need something to execute all the programs (e.g. When I get home, turn the thermostat back up and turn on the Christmas tree) and there are plenty of gadgets that live in your house, but I decided to try using IFTTT for everything. The acronym stands for “If This Than That.” It’s a really simple way to set up triggers and actions across hundreds of different services, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with home automation. I’ve used it a bit for years but I’ve never fully relied on it.

After a month of transferring my home automation actions to IFTTT I have to say I’m very impressed. It works really well and it’s super easy to adjust/tweak/configure as needed. So for now I say goodbye to custom in-house solutions and hello to more generic cloud offerings. Let’s see if I still feel the same way in a year.

benmartens December 9, 2019 Gadgets

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 13

There have been so many great Seahawks games this year! These wins feel a lot different from the Super Bowl year when there were so many blowouts and “easy” wins. With the win on Monday night, they not only made Kirk Cousins the first QB to lose his first 8 MNF appearances, but they now jump to the 2nd seed in the playoffs as the top of the NFC West. The 49ers are 10-2 and in a wild card spot!

The playoffs are pretty much locked in our league. Next week would have been more interesting, but Russell snagged enough points to help Logan top Andy. Technically Tim could still miss the playoffs but that’s so unlikely that it’s not even worth explaining. Congrats to Luke, Logan, Tyler and Tim who will be battling for the playoffs in Week 15! This coming week will decide the seeding.

The power rankings? They’re just rubbing salt in my wounds.

1. Ben (Kool Aid Kid) +1
2. Tim (Beer-me) -1
3. Luke (Helmetheads)
4. Nick (Insert Creative Name)

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 148.36 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Tyler had 61.23 Was: Dad had 73.66 (Week 10) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Tyler by 87.13 Was: Luke beat Tyler by 71.46 (Week 10) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Logan beat Andy by 1.63 Logan beat Tim by 0.41 (Week 11) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has a 2 game winning streak Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 3 game losing streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak (Week 6) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Aaron Rodgers had 36.12 points as a free agent Aaron Rodgers had 53.76 on Ben’s bench (Week 7) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Lowest winning score Logan won with 106.96 Tyler beat Nick with 92.63 (Week 4) Tim beat Jim with 79.34 (2015)
Highest losing score Andy lost with 105.33 Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (Week 5) Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (2019)
benmartens December 4, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Ned Forrester’s Namesake

We watch a lot of Dude Perfect in this house. We’ve been through the entire back catalog and we’re going through the Nickelodeon show on Hulu now. One of our favorite characters is when Tyler plays Ned Forrester. It seemed like some random name so I never thought twice about it until the other night when they showed an exterior shot of their old office. Look at what is next door… Ed Forster, State Farm rep!

benmartens December 2, 2019 Commentary

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 12

Is it just me or did the Eagles get booed more in Philly than they would have in Seattle? Philly fans are rough. The Seahawks defense caused a lot of those bad plays that earned boos from the crowd. It was fun to see the turnovers being generated on a day when the offense wasn’t fully clicking. Well, it wasn’t clicking except for a great game from Penny. I keep hearing that Carson is the future and it’s ok to fumble a lot because he’s so good but … really? He has 6 fumbles this year. That’s enough for 12th worst in the NFL and he’s the only running back in the top 24 (all others are QBs).

After the dust settled in our league, Tim had beaten Luke to keep the Scherschel brothers in a tie with Tim edging Luke out slightly in total points. Logan lost to my dad to stay in that three way tie for 2nd. Tyler is on top after beating Andy. Looking at the records, point totals, and schedule, I think Tyler, Tim and Luke are pretty much a lock for the playoffs. Logan has the best odds of taking that 4th spot, but if Andy beats him this week then that gets a little more interesting. Only two weeks left in our regular season. Tim is going to be hard to stop with Lamar Jackson leading the way.

The power rankings have me up in 2nd despite my almost complete lack of a chance to make the playoffs and look who popped up into 4th! Our league standings are really odd this year when you look at points for/against.

1. Tim (Beer-me) +1
2. Ben (Kool Aid Kid) +1
3. Luke (Helmetheads) -2
4. Nick (Insert Creative Name) +1

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Tim had 138.49 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Logan had 90.85 Dad had 73.66 (Week 10) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Tim beat Luke by 36.82 Luke beat Tyler by 71.46 (Week 10) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Dad beat Logan by 13.51 Logan beat Tim by 0.41 (Week 11) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Dad has a 2 game winning streak Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 2 game losing streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak (Week 6) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Lamar Jackson had 46.26 for Tim Aaron Rodgers had 53.76 on Ben’s bench (Week 7) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Lowest winning score Dad beat Logan with 104.36 Tyler beat Nick with 92.63 (Week 4) Tim beat Jim with 79.34 (2015)
Highest losing score Nick lost with 110.26 Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (Week 5) Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (2019)
benmartens November 27, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 11 – Update

Remember the close game between Logan and Tim? Tim won by only 0.29 points. For the first time in Studio711 league history, a stat correction has changed the outcome of a game! Lamar Jackson had a stat correction which removed 7 yards from his rushing total. That means Tim lost 0.7 points and fell behind Logan. Ouch.

Luke, Logan and Tyler are now tied for the best record. This also changed quite a few of our stats. Updates are in italics.

 

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Logan had 130.55 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 87.48 Dad had 73.66 (Week 10) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Nick beat Tyler by 34.19 Luke beat Tyler by 71.46 (Week 10) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Logan beat Tim by 0.41 Was: Andy beat Tyler by 0.56 (Week 5) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Luke and Tim have 2 game winning streaks Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Tyler has a 2 game losing streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak (Week 6) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Lamar Jackson had 40.78 for Tim Aaron Rodgers had 53.76 on Ben’s bench (Week 7) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Lowest winning score Dad won with 105.07 Tyler beat Nick with 92.63 (Week 4) Tim beat Jim with 79.34 (2015)
Highest losing score Logan lost with 130.55 Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (Week 5) Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (2019)
benmartens November 22, 2019 Fantasy Sports

Wow in the World

One of Elijah’s favorite things to listen to in the car is a podcast called Wow in the World. It’s a science show aimed at kids, and they recently brought their live show to Seattle. We snagged some tickets and headed to Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

We were up in the second balcony, but we had a great view of the stage and enjoyed the show. I think Elijah had a lot of fun seeing the people behind the voices live and in person.

benmartens November 21, 2019 Family

Fantasy Football 2019 – Week 11

UPDATE: https://www.studio711.com/fantasy-football-2019-week-11-update/

There wasn’t a game for the Seahawks this week so hopefully they’ll come back rested and ready for their trip to Philadelphia.

Our league had plenty of drama though. There were so many upsets and shakeups in the standings! Most notably, 8th place Nick crushed 1st place Tyler. Dad beat Andy and Tim beat Logan by less than a point. I’m the only one who didn’t flip the tables on the standings as Luke beat me. After the dust settled, Luke, Tim and Tyler are tied for first. Logan and Andy are tied for 4th. There are only three games left in our regular season and it’s hard to guess how this is going to end! Next week’s key matchup is Luke vs. Tim as the brothers battle for potential sole possession of first place.

No change at the top of our power rankings:

1. Luke (Helmetheads)
2. Tim (Beer-me)
3. Ben (Kool Aid Kid)
4. Logan (Goat Roapers) +3

On to the weekly awards…

This Week This Season All Time
Highest Team Score Tim had 130.84 Luke had 202.63 (Week 5) Luke had 202.63 (2019)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 87.48 Dad had 73.66 (Week 10) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Nick beat Tyler by 34.19 Luke beat Tyler by 71.46 (Week 10) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Logan by 0.29 Was: Andy beat Tyler by 0.56 (Week 5) Tyler beat Nick by 0.01 (2018)
Longest Active Winning Streak Luke and Tim have 2 game winning streaks Luke has a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had 8 game winning streaks
Longest Active Losing Streak Logan has a 3 game losing streak Nick has a 6 game losing streak (Week 6) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
Highest Scoring Player Lamar Jackson had 41.48 for Tim Aaron Rodgers had 53.76 on Ben’s bench (Week 7) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Lowest winning score Dad won with 105.07 Tyler beat Nick with 92.63 (Week 4) Tim beat Jim with 79.34 (2015)
Highest losing score Logan lost with 130.55 Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (Week 5) Tim lost to Luke with 169.11 (2019)
benmartens November 20, 2019 Fantasy Sports