When I first started writing here (and porting my posts over from Google+ when it closed its doors in 2018), I didn’t set out with a grand plan to get to any particular number - I just ploughed on through when the urge took me and I felt as though I had something to say! There was no calendar, no strategy and certainly no counter running!
I just wanted a space to put thoughts down, tinker with things that interested me and share whatever happened to be occupying my time. Today, this post happens to be number 1,000. If you didn't know, a salmagundi, by definition, is a miscellany - a dish composed of many disparate ingredients mixed together. Looking back across the archive, the blog has certainly lived up to its name. Its name and mine! The Salmon of Salmagundi! I don't have an exact record of when I posted my first post in Google+ but it's now well over 10 years - and possibly 15 - ported across here in the summer of 2018.
If you were to lay out every entry side-by-side, it would look less like a single publication and more like the top of a well-used workbench! A large chunk of those thousand posts has been dedicated to hardware - mobile phones, foldables, e-ink tablets, custom ROMs, obscure gadgets and the endless pursuit of the setup that actually works! We’ve seen the smartphone market evolve from quirky, experimental form factors into polished slabs of glass, only to bend and fold themselves into new shapes all over again. I’ve always found as much enjoyment in taking software apart or tweaking a niche budget device as I have in unboxing a flagship. For every review of a polished mainstream phone, there’s been an entry dedicated to coaxing a few more years of life out of a classic piece of kit, swapping operating systems or testing whether a paper-like screen really lives up to the hype.
Then there is the music. If tech represents the modern, restless itch to see what’s coming next, the music posts have always been about slowing down. Dropping the stylus onto a vinyl record forces a different kind of attention. Over the years, I’ve used these pages to talk through album pressings, soundscapes, audio gear and the sheer tactile satisfaction of physical media. Whether dissecting the production details on a classic album or detailing a pre-amp tweak, those posts have always felt like taking a break from the noise of the digital world to just sit back and listen. My real enjoyment has come from the resurgence of vinyl LPs though and I've had great fun over the years re-collecting what was lost from back in the day - and sharing that nostalgia here.
And, of course, the films and television. My reviews here have never been about chasing whatever blockbuster is currently dominating the multiplex. Instead, Salmagundi has been a place for digging into the side alleys of cinema - indie thrillers, oddball horror, European cinema, lost sci-fi gems and the occasional film that left me wondering what on earth the director was thinking! Writing about film is always a nice counterweight to tech hardware. A phone is measured in gigabytes, battery cycles and refresh rates; a film is measured by whether it kept you gripped for ninety minutes or made you want to drop a brief, honest summary onto the blog the moment the credits rolled. I also, now and again, add a guest review from one of our community pals, who have penned a review of their own and want somewhere online to post it.
Between the major categories lie the posts that don't fit anywhere else - the odd tools, the desk arrangements, the podcast companion notes for Whatever Works and the small observations on day-to-day projects. Those are often the most fun to write. They capture the immediate moment: fixing a piece of audio kit, setting up a new workflow or simply sharing a thought that didn't belong in a formal show recording. And speaking of podcasts, I always publish a list each month here in my blog of what the team and I have been recording and getting out there into podcast land. More spicy ingredients for that Salmagundi!
Reaching 1,000 posts isn't a finish line; it’s just a nice milestone on the road. The core appeal of running a blog like this hasn't changed since post No. 1. It remains a personal, independent corner of the web - free from algorithms dictating what ought to be written and driven entirely by genuine curiosity. To anyone who has dropped by to read a single review, leave a comment, agree or disagree with a film take, or follow along through the podcasts: thank you for your interest and support. Here’s to the next batch of tech, vinyl, films and whatever else happens to land on the desk next week!
Most of what I write here ends up in our MeWe Social Groups as well, so do check those out via the links here on my blog - and feel free to tune into any of our audio podcasts that takes your fancy. We always have a lot of fun, whatever the topic, and you'll be welcome along.
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