I was thinking about this the other day while driving through some old neighborhoods, and I can't shake the feeling that something vital has shifted in how we consume competition. It used to be that your entire social calendar, your weekend plans, and even your sense of local pride revolved around these small-scale, intense matchups. You knew the kids playing; you knew their parents, their teachers, and the local shop owners who would be sitting in the bleachers. It wasn't just about the score; it was about the communal experience of being part of a specific moment in time.
Lately, it feels like everything has migrated toward the professional or the highly polished, digital sphere. We spend our time watching superstars on our phones or streaming massive international tournaments, but there's a certain "soul" missing from that. When you watch a professional athlete, you’re watching a product. When you watch a local kid or a neighborhood team, you’re watching a person. You’re watching someone’s growth, their heartbreak, and their grit in real-time within your own backyard. There was a specific kind of tension in those local games—a feeling that every single play actually *mattered* to the people standing around the fence.
I remember being a kid and the sheer gravity of a local playoff game or a rivalry match. It didn't matter that it wasn't being broadcast on national television; to us, it felt like the center of the universe. You’d see the same faces every week, and there was this unspoken bond formed in the humidity of a summer evening or the biting chill of a late-season tournament. It provided a rhythm to the year. You knew when the season started, you knew when the tension would peak, and you knew when the quiet lull would follow.
Now, I feel like that rhythm is being lost to "content." Everything is curated to be consumed quickly, often by people who have zero connection to the participants. The "stakes" feel artificial because they are often manufactured by media cycles rather than felt by a community. I worry that as we move further into this era of hyper-individualized entertainment, we’re losing those shared physical spaces where local legends are made. We’re trading depth for breadth. We see more "action" than ever before, but do we feel it as deeply?
I’ve noticed that even the way we talk about these events has changed. It’s much more analytical now, much more focused on stats and "pro-style" breakdowns, even for amateur leagues. While I love a good deep dive into player efficiency, I miss the raw, unpolished emotion of just being a fan of the people you actually know. There’s a certain dignity in the struggle of local sports that doesn't always translate to the glitz of the big leagues.
I’m curious to hear from others who grew up in tight-knit communities or smaller towns. Do you think the shift toward professionalized, digital-first entertainment has robbed us of that local connection? Or am I just being nostalgic for a time when "big news" meant something much more local and personal?
I know nobody wants to slog through a massive wall of text, so I’ll keep this super short...
I'm looking for something a little different for this sub.
I want to find some people to hang out with during Christmas in Washington, D.C. (and maybe after, if we vibe).
After spending four long years working abroad, I finally moved back home. But honestly? Most of my old friends have either started families, moved away, or just gone totally MIA. It's making me realize that the holidays might end up being the loneliest time of year if I don't change things up.
So, I figured I'd check here to see if anyone else loves the downtown vibes this time of year but is dealing with the same thing (I'm guessing there are plenty of us 🙂 ).
That's really it. No specific criteria—male, female, age, doesn't matter. I just want good company to grab a hot dog or some pancakes with, have some fun conversations, and just soak up the atmosphere.
... Or maybe the Man from Maglaj could step up and score a few. Or maybe Sargent. Or even Tomlinson, just so we can give Ivanna a break. ... ... Honestly, I have no idea why Sargent isn't on this national team. Word on the street is that Puck would jump at the chance if Leo actually called him up.
Everyone seems to have totally forgotten about Miller.🤣
And what about Zagmeštar? Or Arslan? Actually, you know what, I might just call Leo right now—maybe he'll take me on at the last minute! 😎
In my opinion, our biggest enemy is just how old some of these younger players are getting... Even a year ago, Bailey mentioned they feel like they're aging fast and struggling to keep up with the back-to-back game schedule. That's why it's so great that the bench is finally deeper; it means the leaders can actually get some rest.
crimsonhound80 said:Look, there isn't a single program out there in the world that can just pull a vocal track away from the rest of the music on a standard waveform—I mean, from a finished studio recording you buy on an audio CD.
The best you can do is just dampen it or turn it down.
A studio master basically just dumps all the instruments onto TWO channels: left and right.
In about 90% of cases, that vocal is sitting right in the center or maybe slightly panned to the left or right. The only way you could actually strip the vocals is using MIDI sequencers, but only if the whole thing was produced using the MIDI standard.
Software like Adobe Audition, Cubase, WaveLab, Cool Edit Pro, or Sound Forge won't help you here.
About fifteen years ago, you could actually get your hands on multiplexed wave CDs from the US where the main remastering was done on 36 to 48 channels. That let you "mute" individual instruments or voices one by one. But because of pirates even back then, they stopped making them. People would take high-quality recordings, add their own vocals, tweak the melody a bit, and boom—you had a cheap studio knockoff.😁
We've already all agreed on this, but honestly, you can do the best job of it in Adobe Audition, which should keep Richard Wright29 happy. 🙂
I don't actually have Audition, I've been using Final Cut Pro for ages so I'm just used to it, but the process is basically the same... I'll give it a shot once I'm on there and if I figure it out, I'll let you know. 🙂
Man, no worries at all! 🙂 I might try messing around with that if I get a free minute—if I figure it out before you do, I'll let you know. 👍
But hey, maybe try the same route you’d take to cut down noise... or play around with the frequencies? I think that's how it works, but honestly, who knows, I've never actually done it myself.
Richard Wright29 said:Man, I've been grinding through tutorials all day and still haven't found anything useful.🙄 I finally figured out how to isolate vocals, but when I tried it, the quality just went to k😠 I'm gonna keep tinkering with it, but you know me—when I start messing with stuff, I usually end up breaking it.🤣 Gonna take a break for a couple of days to clear my head. 🙂 If you dig up the name of that other software, let me know!
Look, man... I actually reached out to a bunch of top-tier pros today about this, and they all basically said what we already thought: it’s just not possible to do perfectly. Like, if you strip out enough frequencies to completely kill the background noise, you lose part of the vocal matrix too, so you're back at square one. Plus, everyone I talked to confirmed that Adobe Audition is really the gold standard for this.🙂 One guy even told me he tried those specialized voice extraction tools and couldn't get anywhere near the results he gets with Audition... So yeah, that's the reality. Did you get anywhere with Adobe Audition?
lianne said:I totally get it—I’m actually planning to move out to the coast to be near my boyfriend. I’ve always hated crowded cities, so hopefully things improve soon😬. But honestly, I just started this thread because while I might "save" myself, so many people end up stuck in these crazy little communities where living together becomes impossible... And who’s to say this won't happen in other places too? Though I doubt it, since in small towns everyone knows if, say, little Bobby from down the street is a jerk—the whole town knows😉... so they just stay away. It's that whole vibe where everyone knows everyone's business, which makes it easier to dodge the difficult personalities. Plus, those types tend to act out even more when they have their own space and peace (especially nature!)🙂
In my humble opinion, these kinds of escapes are often just attempts to run away from ourselves, and we all know how easy that is... Every environment has its own pros and cons, and that's really subjective. What works for one person might be a nightmare for another... I just know that plenty of people I've met who moved from rural areas to big cities felt like they finally found themselves, mostly because that "everyone knows everything" rule doesn't exist anymore.🙂
quiethound45 said:I’d probably start it over there too, I just don't know if they allow two identical threads on two different subforums... wouldn't want to get banned! Not sure how much slack the mods give us in those situations.😬 😁 😬
Oh, they won't ban you. Honestly, you could just ask them to move it over or see if they'll let you post it there. 🙂 If they aren't banning people for the way heavier stuff goes down here, I doubt they'd touch you for that.🙂
quiethound45 said:I was just using that thing with the key as an example, since that's what I'm used to... but it wasn't like this before—at least not nearly this much. I remember about 10 years ago, you might see someone get bumped on a subway or something over a seat once in a while, but nowadays? It feels like I'm running into these stupid little confrontations almost every single day. You honestly start feeling like people have just lost their minds and become intolerant toward everyone and everything...
I’ve definitely been noticing it too, and I talk about it all the time... which is why I mentioned that this stuff really falls under sociology, too. 🙂
quiethound45 said:🙂 haha—you guys just made my day! I honestly thought I was the only one feeling this way 😳 ...just kidding, obviously 😬 anyway, who knows—I feel like it’s more about a person's character and how they were raised—like their mindset and psyche—so that's why I leaned toward psychology... because if you look at it psychologically, people can choose to attack someone for no reason or they can choose not to... it's down to the individual... and yeah, I agree that a massive amount of factors have tanked social tolerance to zero, and people have become awful regarding that due to all sorts of internal issues... but we all have problems, and we don't all go around biting people...
To give a specific example, my last walk with my dog really brought this home for me...
I'm out walking, thinking about my own stress (this huge Bar Exam 😳 😬), and my dog—who is seriously the sweetest thing and wouldn't hurt a fly—is just strolling along peacefully. She stopped in front of me to wait, but some guy cut around me and ended up right in front of her. He just turned around and started screaming at me for absolutely no reason, yelling about leashes and whatnot—I was just stunned... he wasn't even bothered by us, and I even told him she wouldn't hurt him and suggested he just walk around if he was worried so I could keep moving, but he just kept shouting... totally irrational... Look, there are jerks everywhere, I'm used to it... but it hit me hard because in that same situation, I would have just walked around the dog and kept going (especially since the street is wide enough for a semi-truck, and she was just on the edge, so he basically had to stop behind her—it was like he was looking for a fight 😕)... I don't know... I'm just sad. I'm not worried about myself, but what if someone like that just hits a dog out of nowhere tomorrow? (They actually tried that once!!!) Or attacks a kid and leaves them in shock... I don't know... this intolerant society really scares me...👎
Okay, in this specific case, it's not just psychological, it's clearly a mental health issue with that guy. 🙂 But I think, generally speaking, this whole topic could also fall under sociology because the threshold for everyday tolerance is incredibly low and getting more alarming by the day... and I don't mean general tolerance, but specifically toward those small, daily things that shape our overall perception... This man clearly has some history with dogs, and he's in a mental state—maybe permanent, maybe just temporary—where he has this aggressive impulse. Who knows, maybe it has nothing to do with your gender or age; for people like him, any obstacle feels like a bigger challenge, which just gives them more room to act on those impulses. 🙂
Stan said:That sounds just like me... I’ve got plenty of patience and I don't snap immediately. I stay calm, I keep it together, but once someone crosses the line, I react. People try to take advantage of a chill person because they think you're a pushover, but if they push too far, you've gotta show some teeth.
...some people act like they're the only ones with issues and get way too sensitive, but honestly, people are just like that... there are all kinds out there...
maybe they only start threads about people who are laid-back and way too tolerant
quiethound45 said:Where did all that old-school tolerance go? Why does it feel like everyone is just looking for a fight these days? My whole philosophy is basically "live and let live." I try to be respectful and mind my own business, but lately, people are snapping at me for absolutely nothing—just walking my dog or grabbing groceries. It’s so random! What happened? Where is this constant hostility coming from? Honestly, it feels pretty pathetic, and I just can't wrap my head around why it's getting so much worse.
Man, there's no way to answer that in just a few sentences... honestly, it feels like asking "why do we even exist?" 🙂 It's probably a mix of everything—evolution, shifts in how our society works, legal changes, the economy, new generations taking over, genetics... all of it hitting at once. 🙂 But you're definitely not imagining things, 🙂you aren't alone in noticing this.
To be real, this feels more like a question for sociology than psychology. Like you said, it seems more like a massive societal issue rather than just an individual thing, even if it's tied to mental health struggles.
I actually tried to dig around for that software you mentioned—the one that’s supposedly better than Audacity—but I haven't tracked it down yet. I'll let you know if I find it. 🙂 Fingers crossed you get everything working with Audacity, let me know how it goes! 🙂