Delay

There are many variations of the saying:

“People overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in five years”.

You can swap it for month/year, 5/50 years and so on.

The general idea (and rule) is that most projects usually take twice as long and cost twice as much.

I learned it a long time ago and always incorporate it when estimating the finished job (plus I add a couple of days for ‘emergencies’).

What usually happens is that we deliver ahead of schedule, on a lower budget, looking like geniuses.

Which is, of course, false. But it’s always better to underpromise and overdeliver than vice versa.

Paulina is finding out the hard way that things, especially in a creative space, always take longer than anticipated.

Which is funny (to me).

It’s still going well, even though we have to delay the launch for a week or two. Better to get it done well than fast.

P.S.

Black Friday is a scam. I said it.

And yet I always mark the date and a list of things I want to buy, because BF can be worth it for software and some hardware.

We got new plugins for CF work, and I bought quite a few ebooks for my Kindle, too.

WORK

Casefile/Podcasting

I finished work on the first episode that will drop in January.

It’s not a ‘2026 season’ episode but rather a 10th-year anniversary special. It’s great, and we can’t wait to share it.

In the meantime, we’ve been sharing our past Casefile Presents shows on the main feed, dropping the first episodes. Last Saturday, we released The Detective’s Dilemma, our 2022 podcast.

I am still going through the 2026 music libraries and am nearly finished. I had a change of heart since the last newsletter. I still use the Mutate function, but I noticed it doesn’t work with all my libraries, throwing out wild suggestions.

But instead of selecting a new line of patches for each cue and texture, I incorporated the Match function, which looks for similar sounds in the library (rather than layers like the Mutate function does).

Dog’s Lounge

Paulina is still recording, as I am preparing scripts for new articles for her blog as well as podcast episodes for her to record, which should happen soon.

YouTube

In the latest video, I look at why doing some accents is fine, but others are a no-no and deemed offensive.

BOOKS

The School of Life by Alain de Botton

Alain is one of my favourite modern thinkers/writers/philosophers. I read many of his books and follow the YouTube channel. This one is a sort of compilation of all the ideas around emotional intelligence, what it means to be a well-rounded human and why it’s impossible to be one, as we are all quite flawed.

LIVE

Riverdance 30

Since I got tickets ages ago, I've been looking forward to this dance/music/performance group inspired by traditional Irish music and dance. We go to the theatre often, but this was an outstanding show with the audience gasping and being in awe of the incredible dancing (and tapping skills).

Energetic, fun and well worth it. Plus, I low-key fell in love with the leading violin/fiddle player.

(not in a creepy way).

Bad Omens

Before getting the tickets, I asked Paulina if she was happy to drive to London (Alexandra Palace) for the gig. She did, and so we went a day after Riverdance.

We first saw Bad Omens when they were supporting BMTH and immediately got interested. They are a part of the new wave of metalcore/alt rock/alt metal wave, getting massive recognition and hype due to TikTok viral songs and shorts.

The gig was awesome, but the crowd was something else. There was a mixed bag of gig goers, but also an overly excited fan base, which reminded me of Sleep Token/BMTH - a sort of cult-like following. Phones everywhere.

Mix it all together with alcohol and, imho, over an over-the-top mosh pit (they aren’t that heavy, come on), and it got quite wild.

We then drove 2.5hrs back home.

MOVIES/TV

Andor S2

Finally got around to the second (and last) season of the best Star Wars story in recent memory. Andor is what the new sequels, series and movies should have been (as was Rogue One, obviously). A story set in the SW world but as far away from the Skywalker saga as possible. The gritty and grounded storytelling, with matching visuals, sounds and music by Nicholas Britell, all show that it can be done right. And how rare it is.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you (hopefully!) next week!

Mike

https://mikemigas.com/

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