Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Vous pouvez me trouver dans le club

Hello from Paris!

I've been way to lazy to enter an internet cafe since we left the Bay Area so here I am in Paris on a rainy afternoon taking a break from all the walking. By the way...the title translates to "You can find me in the Club"

Being the extra witty fellow I am I was going to post from London with the title "You can find me in the Pub". You now know why I'm not a comedian or a speech writer.

Paris is not too much different from last time except for the cost. With the dollar very weak against the Euro and general inflation, I'm now paying over $5 for a crepe when it used to be $2.50! And London? Forget about London if you're on a budget. It's a very cool city and I really enjoyed it, but I was running to the ATM every chance I got.

To this point, London has been the better of the two cities. The people are much nicer, the weather was better and the Guinness was as expected. Bath was a great time too, but not long enough. We only got one night there since we had trouble with our car rental and we didn't get onto the road until about 12:30. We did however get to stop by Windsor Castle and Stonehenge.

As for Paris...well it's Paris. It's a beautiful city and quite romantic. This is the third time I've been here, so we've been trying to find new things to do and see. Buddhe Bar is nice and could certainly do well in the Bay Area. Of course, paying $15 for a mojito won't work in the Bay Area, but if you do it just right, we can charge $10 ;)

Since I'm in Paris, I won't stay in this cyber cafe too long...time to do more French things. Like eat crepes, drink cocktails with funny straws, and translate rap songs into French. Ahh Paris!

Friday, December 12, 2003

Tha O f'ing C

That's "The O.C." for all of you who didn't get it. No I'm not talking about the TV show (although it seems to be on everyone's mind nowadays)

I'm working from Irvine today since we dropped by SoCal for the weekend. Lemme tell you, the ability to work from so many different offices is great! For those that don't know, Irvine is one of the larger cities in Orange County. And for those that don't know, it borders the rich cities in O.C. like Newport, Laguna, etc.

Every time I work outta here, my friend and I can't stop counting the number of kick-ass cars we find on the roads. There are so many that we lose count just over lunch. It's not just lowly 3 series Bimmers and C-class Benzes. Anything less than a S500 and you're slumming. Seriously, it's common to see S600's, SL600's, CL600's and in every color of the rainbow. The real hard job here is keeping up with all the extra these people have on their cars...AMG, Brabus...damn I don't even know most of the other stuff.

This is just an extension of the LA car culture that many people may already know about. When driving down the 5 freeway, once you get to about Burbank you start noticing the difference from NorCal. You may not see as many nice cars as in Irvine, Newport, etc, but so many of the cars you see are kept in great condition. Nice sparkling wheels, lowered suspension, etc, etc. In NorCal you don't normally see this stuff except on the little pocket rockets that people race on weekends. In SoCal, everyone and their grannie has after-market wheels. That's one nice thing about not living in SoCal any more...I can be lazy about upkeep on my car and not be embarrassed. But once I'm down in SoCal, I start to notice the peeling paint on my hood, the scratches all over, etc, etc.

I'll definitely write more about the SoCal/NorCal differences soon. I rant much less about it now since I've been living in the Bay Area for almost 4 years now, but I'm still an Angeleno at heart and it just takes a few days back in SoCal to get my juices flowing. The Laker game on tonight will only help get my riled up. Watch out!

As a side note, we're heading off to Europe next Tuesday so I'll likely not be posting too often. Being the nerd that I am, I'm taking my laptop just so I can download pics off my digicam, but I doubt I'll be going online too much. I'll try to keep track of anything interesting that happens to us along the way.

Friday, December 05, 2003

Pandemic

I neglected to mention World AIDS Day earlier this week. I actually didn't think too much of it until bedtime when I was flipping channels and came across a show on VH1. I won't even comment about why this show was on Vh1 rather than MTV (actually, MTV didn't seem to give a damn even though the younger audience watching MTV should learn more about AIDS).

In any case, the VH1 show focused on some of the latest numbers about the spread of AIDS. However, it mainly focused on the points in time when people were forced to deal with AIDS in some way or other. Ranging from Rock Hudson and the shock of Hollywood to Majic Johnson and the shock of athletes. While the show was interesting, it didn't do justice to the seriousness of what AIDS is doing to much of the world.

Before proceeding, I should mention that for years I had thought that AIDS would be less serious than more common diseases in the 3rd World like malaria (which actually affects many more people every year). Over the past couple of years, however, I've come to realize that AIDS really could devastate entire populations in less than a decade. But rather than talk about these generalities, I encourage you all to read what the Economist has written. It's very frank words for a population that may be sick of hearing about AIDS.

This is a free article:
Help at Last

Unfortunately these articles are only for subscribers, but drop by a newstand if you get a chance and read these relatively short articles:
A Mixed Prognosis
Lifting the Veil

The most alarming thing about AIDS right now is that it literally will prevent an entire generation of children from prospering. Here's a rather devastating excerpt:

Governments everywhere should look at Africa and tremble. In some countries, more than half the population will still die of AIDS. All of Africa's famines are now AIDS-related: hungry people lack the strength to fight off sickness, sick people lack the strength to grow food, and dead parents cannot teach their children how to farm. Other regions can avoid this, but they must act now. The rewards will come slowly; it will be years before current investments make a dent in HIV prevalence, let alone the death rate. The worst is yet to come


I could say much more about the possible affect of AIDS if it is not addressed in significant ways in the next few years. The brightest spot seems to be South Africa, where after years of denying that HIV even causes AIDS, they have developed a very realistic and comprehensive plan to get medication to a large portion of the population. The size & smarts of this program dwarfs anything that has been planned previously and it should give us all hope.

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

Thanksgiving dirt

A friend has left a comment asking for more details about Thanksgiving dinner. Well, I don't want to diss too much on the family mainly because they are actually very kind at heart and were gracious hosts. The description in my previous post was mainly to get some smiles from readers :) In any case, though, it is all true...and as my man Homer J. Simpson so rightly pointed out, "It's funny because it's true"

As for ADD & ADHD, well, I'll admit that I'm very skeptical when it comes to behavioral problems, especially with children. That's not to say there isn't some valid biochemical imbalance in such children, but many times, I really wonder if the medical & psychiatric fields have not gone too far in defining diseases and conditions and looking for a drug to solve every little problem. Before I say anything else, I should mention that I don't have children myself and I haven't had to care for children with ADD (perhaps if I had such experience, my thoughts would be very different).

In the case of these two children, I suppose taking the ADD drugs helps the whole family's life (not to mention the childrens' teachers' lives) easier and a bit more calm, but this weekend was a prime example of one of the downsides. These children don't take the drugs on weekends (including the whole long weekend) and it really showed since these boys just couldn't stop running around, spitting while munching on food, etc.

I feel like many times doctors and patients are looking for quick outs and look for a way to treat the "problem". I can only imagine how tough it is to care for two growing boys who are very hyperactive and can't keep their attention on anything, but I really feel like call this a disorder and giving the children drugs to calm them down is the wrong way to go.

First of all, such diagnoses imply that this condition is out of the norm of society. Aren't most young boys hyperactive? Does the rest of the world rely on drugs to address such problems or do they think it's a normal part of growing up?

Second of all, using a drug to make the problem go away isn't really solving the problem, it's just masking it. As far as I know, these drugs don't help to alter chemical imbalances permanently, they just temporarily calm the children down, don't they?

One of the issues with this is that taking the drugs helps the children to focus on school work etc. That may be true, but at the same time, shouldn't parents & teachers work with the children to help them focus and learn? Like I said, I haven't really dealt too much with ADD/ADHD children so I don't know how difficult they are to handle.

Overall I feel ADD/ADHD is one of those things that modern science and society have unecessarily deemed to be nusuances. Who knows, if I have to care for children who are excessively hyperactive and can't focus, I may resort to calling it ADD/ADHD and giving them drugs. At this point, however, I can't really see the validity.

I'd love to hear everyone else thoughts on this, especially from anyone familiar with caring for anyone with ADD/ADHD.

Monday, December 01, 2003

Mile High and Light Headed

Happy Thanksgiving folks. Yes, a bit late (as usual for me), but nevertheless, hope you all were able to spend time with family and friends.

We got back from a weekend trip in Denver to visit some family. Neither of us had been there so it was definitely an interesting trip. Among other things, we had Thanksgiving dinner at the house of a dysfunctional family (not my family, but friends of the family we stayed with), we did a bit of snowboarding in rather icey conditions, and we drank a lot of water.

As usual, let me bore you with details...without being too specific...I don't want to get tagged for talking about people that may know me :)

Dinner was actually quite fun. Two children with A.D.D., a very friendly rottweiler, a grandpa who races cars and lives in a double-wide, and a generally dis-combobulated aunt. Now if that doesn't make for a barrel of fun, I don't know what would. Thank God we're not related to them! In all seriousness though, I'm not too familiar with the goings-on in "American" familes. Since we grew up in an Indian household, we never really celebrated Thanksgiving. While I've had thanksgiving dinner at friends' houses before and even made the dinner with roommates, I've never had a formal t-giving dinner. The familial interactions were definitely jacked up in this case, but it was an interesting day nonetheless.

Snowboarding was rather disappointing. I was looking forward to some great snow since it had just stormed in Denver the weekend before. I figured it would be great to get in some smooth runs and teach my wife on soft powder. Unfortunately, most of the snow had hardened and some was really too icey. While I got in some decent boarding, I was slipping and skidding way too much to have fun. And my wife? Let's just say that hard snow is a really pain in the ass. Literally. Luckily, she still had fun and we'll be heading to Tahoe soon enough to try and get some powder.

On the climate front, let me tell you, Denver is really a mile high. It's really dry air. It's really thin air. I couldn't get enough water all weekend. I always felt a little sleepy and lightheaded (well, that could have been the drinking too). I was happy to come back to sea level and a little humidity in the bay area.

Oh, and visiting the family? Well, it's always fun to spend time with these folk. Since they recently moved to Denver it was nice to see their new home and their new life away from SoCal.

Overall, a good time was had by all. Now...onto the planning the rest of the holidays.

Monday, November 24, 2003

Music Actually

Yes, I admit it, I'm a sap when it comes to romantic comedies. We saw Love Actually over the weekend, and I didn't even have to be forced into seeing it. Granted, we intended to see Elf (I'm a sap for stupid comedies too), but since it was soldout, we took the next showing of this Hugh Grant vehicle.

I must say that I was pleasently surprised, however. The comedy was very witty (a la much British comedy). Moreover, Hugh Grant's sputtering indecisive facial expressions were kept to a minimum. While his expressions were fine in Four Weddings and a Funeral, I grew tired of them in oh so many of his other movies. So that said, I liked the way multiple story lines were presented. I think we've all become accustomed to multiple story lines since Pulp Fiction, but I dare say that many movies just don't do it well. In Love Actually, the stories aren't really weaved together with plot (some have faint ties), they're connected through music. While Quentin Tarantino does a great job with music choice in his films, the music in his films tends to be much more in your face...meaning you can't miss it. Love Actually is an example where the music (not the score) fills in the movie and makes sure there aren't gaps. Of course, there are many films where the music does this so I won't say that Love Actually is a one-of-a-kind.

Since I'm notoriously bad at remembering names connected with music (be it artist, album, or song title) I had to look up the music I heard while watching the movie. The selection is quite ecletic and jazzy in parts. Ranging from Dido, Norah Jones, and Joni Mitchell to Wyclef Jean, The Beach Boys, and Sugababes.

Since I like British comedies, this movie was bound to please at least a little. The music definitely gave it a bump of another 1/2 star. If you're into Brits and their laughs, check out Love Actually. If you detest Hugh Grant and everything European, definitely avoid this one.

Cheers!

Monday, November 17, 2003

Hail to the Cyborg!

So I'm sure everyone and their robot has been keeping track of California leadership. Arnold finally took office today and immediately repealed the much reviled car tax which Gray Davis had signed into law earlier this summer.

In and of itself, it's hard to be for or against the car registration tax without bring in your biases. I mean, you'll be for it if you think the state needs enough money to keep running. You'll be against it if you think the government already takes too much of citizens' paycheck or already spends too much of the taxes it levies.

All of the political shenanigans here in the state, including the car tax, have really put a focus on the way which politics works here. The Judgement? We're one fucked up state!

But while I've derided Arnold in the past and even put a lame title in this post, I really do hope that his term will be one characterized by a change in the political climate. So here's my logic to why we're so jacked up, why a change in the climate could fundamentally change the nature of politicking here, but also why things could get even worse (but let's hope we don't have to worry about things getting worse)

So here goes the novice's logic...

The tendancy of people to be skeptical of their politicans lead to direct democracy here in the state through the use of initiatives. Over time, these initiatives have become a pressure release (or last resort) when the legislators in Sacramento can't work out deals. If they couldn't get it done in the Capital, then heck, just take it to a direct vote. The allegiances of voters could be swayed more easily (hopefully). This method, I think has lead to Dems & Repubs not seeking to truly work things out. Afterall, why negotiate when, if you really think you have the best solution, you can just "take it to the people" and advertise your way to success!

I see this as a vicious cycle which lead politicians to be less willing to cross the aisles and with people becoming more and more cynical of the men and women they've voted into the office. So combine this climate with a bad economy, an unprecedented electricity problem, and a politician who seems to care about politicking but not a whit about democracy.

A small number of people who wanted to take advantage of the situation were able to snowball their disgust into a majority of the state feeling that it truly was time for radical change.

So here we are with Gov. Schwarzenegger. I'm sure a lot of people are still disgusted with the fact that he's in office. But I'd bet that a large portion of the people who hoped to never see him in office have finally come to grips with the reality. Moreover, I'd like to think that they are hopeful that since we're at this point, we may as well make the best of it. I'm definitely in that boat.

I really think the next few months will give everyone a chance to step back, take a breath, and really think about what they want from their state government. This will hopefully lead to a climate where negotiation and rational legislation is possible. I really do think that the radical change Californians voted for is not so much an about-face in policies, but a change in the political climate. With that hope, I think it'll give our leaders alreay in office a mandate to try to make things work.

We'll surely find out soon. There's always a chance that after these few months people will be just as disgusted with Sacramento as they were this past summer. If that happens, I really don't know what I'll say. But I'm an optimist, especially when it comes to the concept of democracy. So let's take this day as the first in a series of days where there is hope amongst the majority of Californians.

Our new governor has a mandate for changing the way things work. That's what he campaigned on (well, every politican campaigns for change when things aren't going great, but let's leave that aside). From the beginning, I've believed that Arnold truly wants to change things...I've ranged from being wary about the type of change he might want to bring (and who he wants to bring along a la Pete Wilson) to being in support of some of his ideas, but the whole time, I've believed he's sincere (or it could just be a great act). In any case, this is a chance to force the issue of change and I hope everyone involved, not just Arnold, is a part of that change.

Here's to democracy working for the better. And here's to all Californians participating in that process.

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Another perspective

Over the past few months I've returned to reading an online magazine which I used to read a few years ago. I turned back to Slate to get another perspective on current events. I'd been used to reading Salon, but was getting tired of the same viewpoints expressed on every issue - How bad is Bush? and Why should he be voted out?

Now, I'm the last to say that President Bush should remain in office, but Salon's articles just seemed to go on and on. Worst of all, I knew they were preaching to the choir. They were simply writing for people who wanted to hear about how horrible Bush is. Granted, Salon has some other sections which are interesting, but the main thrust of the magazine is obviously anti-conservative. I recently let my subscription lapse and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

So why Slate? A few reasons:

Good coverage on what's in national & international papers. This is actually quite a good resources since it gives you an idea of how different national papers cover the same story, but in different ways. Here's today's take on the papers. They do the same with international papers which is great for getting an idea of what's important to the rest of the world.

"Are you sure?" research on topics of the moment. Far from in-depth coverage, Slate offers something which is pretty cool...they confirm or refute various studies and popular opinion by doing some research into the numbers or other relevant facts. As an example, a recent Center for Public Integrity (CPI) report tried to show the connection between campaign donations & Iraq reconstruction contracts (eg, Halliburton & Bechtel, etc). While CPI said there was a direct connection, Slate showed that by the numbers, that's not the case. Of course, that's not to say that having friends in high places hasn't helped these companies, but Slate pointed out that the facts don't support CPI's assertions about donations directly leading to better contracts.

Generally, I like Slate because it has a light feel to skeptical, curious reporting. It doesn't take itself too seriously in the tone of writing, but at the same time, they have a clear stance on news..."Hey, wait a second..." I think this approach is much more useful than searching for exposes on neo-con baddies like Salon loves to do. I may not agree with everything that Slate has to say, but that's the point...I want to hear a good argument whether I agree with it or not.

Along the same lines, I don't stop my reading with the NY Times. I read the Economist, the Wall St Journal (when I get a chance) and various other publications that address issues which I think are important. While Salon addresses many of these issues, there's too much singing to the choir going on and too little skepticism about liberal thinking. Of course the NY Times is quite liberal, but I like to think that my reading of other pubs gives me a broader perspective than I would otherwise have.

Sunday, November 09, 2003

Lock your doors!

Just what we need...two pedophiles in the studio together. Michael Jackson & R Kelly have made a song together.

Behind the Times

So I've been going on about my 80's nostalgia, and I know I'm not the only one who loves the 80's. There have been many 80's websites and quite a few shows about that decade. Of course, I've missed the latest of the nostalgia bits until this evening. We just caught "I Love the 80's Strikes Back". So the memories are great, a great show to watch with friends over since you can all reminisce and joke around. Something I find odd about the show is some of the people commenting about the 80's. Some people are obvious 80's celebs like Boy George and Deborah "Debbie" Gibson, but there are also people talking that you wonder about. Like Mandy Moore. Wait a second, wasn't she like 5 years old when all this happened? How the heck would she have anything to say about the 80's?

I thought maybe she was older than suspected, but after checking, I found out she was born in 1984. So, at the most, she was 5! Mandy's got no business talking about this stuff. If she wants to talk about Britney, N'Sync, and the like, that's fine, but please, stay out of my nostalgia. :)

Speaking of oddball commentators on these types of shows...we were watching this show called Rank on E! (yes, I know, my TV viewing habits are horrible). So the idea of the show is to rank celebs on specific topics, like the hottest Hollywood bachelorette, etc. So of all people, AC Slater, shows up as an expert on the hottest single women in Hollywood. Let's leave aside the fact that I haven't seen Mario Lopez since Circus of the Stars, Beach Bicycle Cops, or some nonsense like that. Of course, there are other semi-celebs on this show commenting about hot actresses, but Mario stands out because he's got the crudest comments out of the bunch. While the other guys comment about how beautiful some actress is because of her skills, talent, yada yada, Mario gets right to the point. He just says "She's hot" with a stupid grin on his face. And you wonder why chicks dig Zack so much. Mario needs to learn from the Preppie.

Anyways, all I can say is that I'm hooked on this VH1 show. I haven't watched VH1 since the Pop-Up Video days but I think I may have to tune in more often. Tuning into the VH1 is the definite sign you're getting old. Woe is me.

Worry not, however, I'll report back with any stupidity I find while watching.

And worry even less, you'll find out even more about my horrible viewing habits over time. While I'd like to say I watch quality television, most of it is rather meaningless. Tune in for more soon!

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

A Place Everything...

And everything in its place...

A friend and I have started another blog which aims to be much more serious than the nonsense I post here. You'll find a perma-link on the side toolbar, but here's another link as well: Sangam. In Hindi, Sangam, means intersection. Our blog aims to look at the intersection of politics, economics, and soceity. It's something we've taken interest in with respect to bettering democracy. I think that with anything, you have to look at how things interact and where a happy medium can (or can't) be found.

This new blog is sort of an experiment for us since we're trying to go back and forth and toss ideas around (rather then just posting our latest opinions). Hopefully we'll come up with some gems while talking about all sorts of things.

Let me know what you think about it.

Get outta here!

Voyager 1 has finally left the solar system and no longer feels the effects of the Sun's gravity (at least according to some). Ok, since my blog isn't a place I normally use to report on the latest news, why is this here? Well, growing up, I was utterly obsessed with all things Space. I could name major moons of every planet and also tell them apart by picture; I could tell you where various spacecraft had been. Basically, I was a space geek.

This all came from a fascination with the pictures relayed to us from so far away. I remember staying up very late one night just so I could see the latest pics from Voyager 2 as it neared Neptune. Every time I saw pics of far away planets or moons I would imagine what it would be like to fly with the spacecraft. How dark would it be? How big would the planets seem? Would you feel a sense of moving past the planet?

This wondering obviously lead me to aspire to become an astronaut. In fact, the Challenger disaster devastated me like none of my classmates. Of course, I didn't pursue the astronaut career...I chose something much more bland, but my fascination still remained.

So anyways, reading about the recent "death" of Galileo brought back thoughts of Jupiter, etc. But hearing news about the old-school Voyagers really takes me back to my childhood since I grew up fascinated with how such simple machines (especially by today's standards) could send back such amazing images. Here's to the ingenuity in NASA & JPL. I don't know if kids these days are fascinated by spacecraft like I was, but I don't know if such moments in history will every be repeated.

Monday, November 03, 2003

Diddy runs the City

So I admit to hating on Sean P.Diddy Combs every chance I get. It all started about a year after Biggie's death when Puff just wouldn't quit on his memorial tributes to B.I.G. It really became a chance for him to take a spotlight every chance he got. My hating became worse over the years with his no talent rapping, constant MTV jockage, and J.Lo nonsense. Anyways, I take anything he does with a grain of salt because I figure he's just trying to grab the spotlight.

I have to give it to him though because this time he's utilized his fame for something worthwhile. He raised $2 million for various children's causes. Of course, his run came with an MTV special, but that's ok...he dun good and I'll stop the hating for a bit.

Sunday, November 02, 2003

It's going down...

BIG DAWG style!

Ok, so if you're not familiar with that saying, you're missing out on what Spike TV has been showing for a bit now (or you don't listen to Hot97 in NYC). Funkmaster Flex is a long-time DJ on Hot97 in New York and he's known to break the newest hip-hop (although there are contenders to the throne). Whether you like him or not, hip hop artists (and athletes) certainly give him play and his new show on SpikeTV is pretty interesting just because of that.

Basically, the show has Funk Flex going to different stars and either checking out their souped up rides, or, as with 50 Cent, taking it and restoring it. Now, I'm not really into such things, but it's still pretty cool what they do with these cars. Obviously a lot of money is put into these cars and it's truly amazing how these stars reflect their personalities with their cars. That's not to say all of these people philosophize over their car restoration, but some of them certainly do.

Anyways, the best thing about all this? The way the stars clown Funk Flex! The first episode I saw had Lil Kim & Eminem clowning Funk Flex's saying (It's going down BIG DAWG style!). It great to see such nonsense from people who usually act serious or are not very open. The hip hop world is such a production sometimes with rappers having to act all "hard" or tough, so these types of shows are a good change of pace. Funk definitely has fun with it.

I'm not much of a celebrity watcher, but seeing hip hop stars or athletes have fun like that is always a laugher, especially early on a Saturday morning. Talk about laugh out loud! Check it out if you get some time on Saturday morning. If you're not into cars you'll still enjoy it for the laughs.

BTW...went to the Heiroglyphics show at the Fillmore . I could go on about the show, but suffice it to say that watching a group perform to a hometown crowd is always fun. It's even better when you can watch them in a great venue like the Fillmore.

One of these days, I promise to post some more serious, analytical thoughts on pol, econ, desis, etc. Until I get some time, you'll have to bear with these random posts :)

Friday, October 31, 2003

My [Defense Secretary]'s Gone Crazy

Sorry for the lame Eminem reference, but I'm really starting to wonder about Donald Rumsfeld. Rummy wrote a memo a couple of weeks ago to his staff questioning the US's role in Iraq & Afghanistan. I haven't written about it up to now, but I was completely surprised by it. At first I wondered how such a doc could have surfaced to the public, then I realized that the memo must have been leaked on purpose. Why? Who knows... but my current belief is that Rummy wanted to save his ass, and the Admin let him do it. In other words, he was hedging his bets on public opinion of him - he's standing by Bush in the need for extended efforts, but he's also indicating that the Admin's PR campaign is full of it.

I can't say that I admire Rummy, but I do think his straight-at-ya nature is a good thing. So this thing about losing his Mojo is humorous. What's interesting though is that his candid nature makes people like him and trust him; as such the release of his memo is seen as insight into his candid thoughts. That they may be, but I don't for a second think that Rummy wrote it thinking it would be seen by just his staff. It was written for all to see. Whatever benefit that my get him, I don't know.

It's a nice sign to see a wider base of opinions coming from this Admin, but I don't for a second think this is out of the control of the powers that be (ie, Rove). Let's see how much more honest the Admin will be about the current state of affairs. The real question though is not if they'll be more honest (they must be if they hope to win in 2004), but the question is will they back up their honesty with action any different than now?

Thursday, October 30, 2003

Chopping off the left hand to spite the right...

Ok, besides reading The Sport Guy's NBA preview (which made me laugh out loud), here's the best thing I've read all day. It doesn't get much better than Fox suing itself.

NBA thought of the hour

What is with the new Mavs unis?? They're shiny! Argh!

Yes, I'm obsessed with the new season
Yes, I'll try to keep it down.

[Puts head down for a timeout]

I'm FAN-TASTIC!

NBA season is upon us...hallelujah!

A few years ago (when I was unmarried) I would rush home from work, turn on the free preview of NBA PPV games on cable and watch all night. Man, that was the best...never a game to miss. But we decided not to buy the season package because A) We were too cheap, and more importantly B) We'd never leave the TV...for anything.

Now that I'm married, on business trips, etc, I hardly get time to watch any games, let alone some free preview. Needless to say, I missed the Lakers season opener. Can you believe that?! I missed their season opener! I found time to watch it, but damn Canadian TV didn't have it on. Somehow they thought that hockey more important. What's up with that?!

Anyways, I got back to the Bay Area last night and immediately turned on the game as soon as I got home. I luckily got to watch some of LeBron (aka King James). Is this guy 18 or 25?! He's just way too poised to be a recent high school grad. This is gonna be interesting. I'm not all ga-ga over him yet, but I'm pretty well impressed.

On a related note...one of the best things about NBA season starting up...is the commercials! I always loved the Nike basketball ads a few years back (Robinson, Duncan, MJ, Hardaway, you name it). Unfortunately, basketball ads have been pared way back. But the beginning of the season always has a few gems and I was able to catch a few of them. I'll add more commentary as time permits. For now though...go back to your TV and turn on the game!. If you don't have a TV, check out The Sports Guy's NBA preview!

Can ya tell I'm excited?

Thursday, October 23, 2003

iTunes

[Note: In case you haven't figured out, I'm a geek about some stuff and you'll notice it in this posting. I'm sure you'll notice in the future that I'm most geeky when it comes to "elegant" solutions; I think iTunes is one of those and thus I go on about it here. Read my other posts if you want a less geeky version of me!]

So I downloaded the Windows version of iTunes today since I really wanted to see if it was any better than other music players I've used previously. As background, I've been using Windows Media Player the most lately and have been decently satisfied with it. I can't say I've been pleased by Media Player, but it did the job of a basic music player and it apparently keeps track of what you've been listening to so you can listen to your "favorite" songs without having to consciously add them to a Favorites List. Anyways, I downloaded iTunes and was immediately displeased with how long it took to download & get running. Not that any Windows software is quick to d/l and setup, but I actually noticed this time how long it took to get to the setup options for iTunes. But in any case, no big deal there since I was doing the usual heavy multi-tasking (and that could have been why it took so long to setup since my laptop is being a bitch lately)

First impressions after getting iTunes running are very good! I must say that I'm really pleased with the simplicity of the interface. I don't plan on buying songs from the music service right now so I can't comment on that, but the music player itself is well organized. I like the Browse functionality to look through your music (by Genre, Artist, and Album). That was one aspect that I really didn't like about Windows Media Player; it have an Explorer drill-down interface to look through your music collection and you basically have to go back and forth between different branches to really explore your music...suffice it to say I don't explore my music unless I know exactly what I want to listen to. Even then, it's a pain to find what I want. iTunes has solved that by having three panes which you can view at the same time to explore and a fourth pane to see the actual songs. The best thing about it though is that the other panes change based on what you've selected in one pane. When you've got a large music collection, this system should make it quite easy to look through your music. I won't go through the trouble of trying to describe it so please go forth and download. And, of course, it also has the "Most Played" and "Favorites" lists which are auto-built according to how you play your music and rate your music.

Too bad you can't transfer songs onto non-iPod players though. I've got a Nomad so I'll still be using Playcenter to transfer stuff. I've heard there are other bugs with iTunes, but since many bugs have already been fixed and I've only used it for an hour or so, I haven't confronted any real problems. One geeky annoyance: iTunes only captures that you've played a song after you've played the entire song. This isn't a huge deal, except that it throws off the "most played" and "recently played" lists since the song won't be recognized as having been played unless you finish the whole song.

Anyways, I think I'll be switching to iTunes as my player of choice. It's an elegant solution to the problem of having large digital music collections with not enough time to organize them. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

OMG!

Better known as...like we didn't already expect it?!

In news that will rock the nation, ESPN's tourney to determine the best uni's in sports has ended in a disqualification of the Denver Broncos, resulting in a Michigan championship. Please...the fact that Denver got out of the first round was a tip-off. Damned Elway is probably using his dirty car dealership money to rig this stuff.

And don't forget...Antoine Walker is now a Maverick. Toine has thrown his first few barbs in the ring. Let's wait to hear more...and I can't wait to see the Mavs score 150 a night. Either that or 50 a night...with Antoine hogging the ball and jacking 'em up, you never know...

Coincidence

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that we've been watching Nip/Tuck for a few weeks. It's not a bad show and the fact that they've been showing several episodes a night recently has made it easy to get wrapped up in it. Rather than comment on the quality of this show or why it's engrossing, I just thought it was funny last night when the show had a song from a CD which I had just ripped ten minutes earlier.

One of last night's episodes had quite a few songs from the 80's, including one from ABC. For some reason I had decided to not rip this album when first going through my CD wallet, but last night I changed my mind just before dinner. Lo and behold, while winding down after dinner, one of their songs is played on Nip/Tuck. If the song had been by a better known band or something more recent (a la every WB show), it wouldn't have surprised me. But since ABC is a relatively obscure band and I recognized a non-hit of their's, I felt a little like an insider. Woo hoo! Of course, I had to groove to the album while on Light Rail this morning.

So the new method of rating a band: Can they make a tribute song to a mildly entertaining contemporary artist and make you groove in the way that only an 80's band can??

Sorry to say, only ABC qualifies, therefore, ABC is ranked at the top of the list.

Monday, October 20, 2003

A Tribute

I finally got around to ripping some of my CD collection to MP3s. I've done a few albums hear and there, but they were mainly newer albums like this, and this, and this. I finally decided to rip a few albums a day. Since I've been seeing the HP "Pictures of You" ad so much lately, I ripped a few albums from The Cure. I also ripped "Life After Death" (Ready To Die to be ripped when I can find the CD).

Anyways, since I've been enjoying these songs so much, I've been recalling quite a few memories from when these albums were new. Most of The Cure stuff takes me back to high school. Biggie takes me back to college. What listening to Biggie takes me back to specifically is when I first learned he had been shot dead in LA. Obviously I was shocked; learning about anyone's death sends a jolt through my bones even if I have no clue who the person is. But the wierdest fallout from learning about Biggie's death (and Tupac's) is that I get a lot of "false positives" when I hear a few songs by the same artist on the radio. I just keep thinking rappers are dropping dead!

Wait, before you get too confused, let me connect the dots. After each death, radio stations rightly paid tribute to Pac & Biggie by playing their songs non-stop. I first learned of both of their deaths after listening to back-to-back-to-back songs of their's. The DJ would break every few songs by referring to their deaths. So now, every time I hear more than one song by the same artist, I get this twing inside wondering if the artist has died or something. Let me tell you, "Rock Block Weekends" or "Blocktober" wreak havoc on my guts!

There have been quite a few times when the DJ is in the mix playing a few songs by Ice Cube, Too Short, or some other rapper and I immediately think, Damn, he died?!?!? Of course, this doubt is proven wrong when the DJ breaks in (way too late) to mention how Ice Cube (or whoever) is visiting the studio or is playing some venue over the weekend. Heh. Nice way to pay tribute...make me think their dead. Heh.

By the way, I mention Ice Cube here because he's the "rapper" (quotes intentional) I keep thinking has died. Don't ask me why, but these damned radio stations keep playing more than one of his songs in "tribute". First of all, there's not enough to pay tribute to, and second of all, why so often!?!. Yes, I know, i should be used to this by now, but what can I say? Maybe there's some part of me that's waiting to hear about Cube...wait...I didn't just type that ;)

Anyways, back to the task at hand: Ripping my album collection. I should have started this long ago. I've got hundreds of CDs filed away in wallets, most of which I haven't pulled out in years. Now, I'll actually be able to listen to these albums which I deemed worthy of buying. Talk about Tribute.

I'm back

Ok...due to way too many times where the Mo'Time website won't load, I'm back on Blogger/Blog*spot. Let's hope the Google folks live up to their rep and keep it in good working order...I'll spare you my other geeky reasons for coming back to Blog*spot.

Friday, October 17, 2003

Heartache

I've given props to the Sports Guy on the side, but here's another reason why I look forward to every column he writes. Somehow, he has a knack - really much more than that, an uncanny ability - for describing the exact emotions that he's feeling and helping his readers relate to what's going on is his head. This particular column takes me back to Spring 1996 when the UCLA Bruins collapsed against the Princeton Tigers in the first round of the Tourney - just one year after they had won the Championship. While I'm far from the devoted fan that Mr. Simmons is, I can say that I followed the Bruins' every step while in college. The heartache I felt after that loss is only something like a true Sox fan (or Cubbie's fan) is probably feeling after this week and Mr. Simmons has left no doubt in my mind about that. Kudos to him.

On a more upbeat note, The Sport Guy has just as much ability to relate the hilarity in sports, music, whatever, as well as the best parts of life. So readng his columns isn't just a place to find solace after a loss, it's a place to find a laugh after an Unintentionally Comedic moment or to simply nod in appreciation that some finally understands the average guy out there - whether he loves sports or not. The guy pours his heart into his team as well as his writing. I'm accustomed to writers and intellectuals imparting their knowledge on the world and making sure everyone knows how smart they are, but Mr. Simmons isn't about that...he's simply about telling a story and getting a few pounds of the fist (aka high-fives) from his friends.

Cut to the Game!

Fox Sports continues to find ways to annoy the sports fan. While they've been the inventors of some great stuff like the on-screen scoreboard and swooshing sounds while graphics come and go (and come and go), they've also been leaders in sports annoyances. With the current baseball playoffs, Fox has been trying to make as much money as possible by airing as many ads as possible. So many ads in fact, that pitches during the game are missed because a commercial is finishing up. And it's not just an occassional thing, it's pretty consistent - the beginning of any inning seems to be cut. What's crazy is that Fox says that even though the series have gone to seven games, they will be losing money. And this is with clear disregard for showing all pitches. Of course, we can also count on Fox not showing the game and instead showing close-ups of every random fan and player in the dugout. Seriously, I don't need to see every zit or in-grown hair. I'd much rather get a view of the runners or the pitcher-catcher communication. Let's not even talk about the commentators (Gimme Vin Scully any day!) Heck, it might be a lot to ask, but maybe even seeing the pitcher's wind-up would be nice! Of course, in their day, NBC annoyed the hell out of me with their basketball coverage, so it's not just Fox.

To get off my pedestal, let's talk about the teams themselves...I can't say I love (or hate) the Yankees or the Marlins. The main reason I was watching the two series was because of the hype around the Cubs and Sox. I don't really care that they both lost, but I doubt I'll be watching much of the World Series. Last night's game was definitely intense, what with the extra innings and the series on the line. Of course, I was thinking about how annoying the Fox coverage was throughout the whole thing, but you already know my thoughts on that...

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Desi Culture Today

I've been reading this book titled "Desis in the House" which I had hoped would provide some interesting insights into the New York Desi scene. I've only been to NYC once, but everything I've heard about the Indian community in that metro area and the general community there leads me to believe that what I'm used to in Desi culture may be quite different in NY. The book had been a recommendation on Not Really Indian so I gave it a chance. Sorry to say that I'm having a hard time finishing. While I may end up finishing the entire read, I doubt I'll find much to like about it. To be honest, even after reading this far in, I'm still not sure of what the author is trying to prove (as in What's her Point??)

I had expected the author to relate anecdotal experiences from interviews back to her own studies in anthropology and the South Asian Diaspora. I had expected the author to try to make sense of what she heard while interviewing desi parties regulars. Something as vibrant as Desi Culture in a city as energetic as NYC couldn't be turned into a pedantic lecture, could it? OF COURSE IT CAN. While I'm far from done reading this study, I don't think I've really gotten anything out of it. The author has brought up some interesting questions about the place of desis in a White/Caucasian & Black/African-American world. She's also brought up the topic of Indian gender roles and how they've reared their head in today's NYC. But instead of writing something meant to help readers understand themselves (or the desi community) better, she's taken this opportunity to write a 200 page anthro research paper. Those topics she brought up have been drowned in jargon and citations. The author has taken more time citing other anthro research and how it could be applied to her work than actually trying to relate what she has learned from her interviews and from her own experiences. As the author loves to use the term "remix", I'll apply it to her study...she's remixed the studies of many other people, adding in a sampling of interviews, and come up with something relating to the NYC club desi experience. The problem is she has focused too much on the terminology and methodology rather than the experience itself.

I've already mentioned what I had expected from this book, so I should also mention that if the author intended to write an exacting journal paper, then more power to her. However, my personal recommendation on this is to not bother. There are many other studies out there so I would suggest looking at those. If you really want to wade through the jargon found in this study, then more power to you.

On a related matter. I don't know if this is the author's doing, the editor's, or the publisher's, but even though this book is all about anthro studies and jargon, the titles throughout the book - chapters, sections, even the book itself - are very casual. Such titles pulled me in since they're quite enticing, but the content itself is quite different. I mean, who would't be pulled in by titles like "Desis in the House" and "To Be Young, Brown, and Hip." If anyone succeeded, it's the marketing department.

To end...I'm going to give this study two more chances. I'll be reading through the next few sections. If delving deeper into the pit changes my mind, I'll be honest and show you the egg on my face. I really do want to get more out of this book, if nothing else, because I paid $20 for it! For now, you're looking at a skeptic.

That Fan!

Not that I'm a die-hard baseball fan, but watching last night's Cubs-Marlins game was pretty heart-wrencing. The Cubbies are poised to become America's baseball team by virtue of being the loveable losers. But seriously, the meltdown they had in the 8th inning makes you wonder how you could snatch defeat from the hands of victory. Safe to say it wasn't just the fault of the fan who reached out to grab a foul ball, apparently preventing Moises Alou from catching it for an out. But that play was just the tip of the iceberg for the Cubs fall last night. The Chicago Tribune has a great quote from a fan, "You could tell we're better than Boston or he'd be dead already." And that in a nutshell captures why the Cubbies are loveable losers...even in the wake of such a terrible collapse, fans have the humor to comment how they're better than Red Sox fans. Word.

Sunday, October 12, 2003

Nostalgia

So, I'm going to date myself here...not only date myself, but seem silly while I'm at it. Why? Because I'm too young to really be able to reminisce, especially about something that's less than a decade old. Also, because the average kid who loves Limp Bizkit & 50 Cent will have no clue what I'm talking about.

HP has this new add for their digital photography. The ad is actually pretty cool since they take video and make sort of a collage out of various clips...basically making it seem like parts of the scene are photos in the world. It's hard to describe and unforutantely I can't find a free site which has the video, but if you watch TV, you'll prolly end up seeing it soon. You can always join AdCritic and find a lot of other ads as well.

Anyways, so here's the nostaglia part...the soundtrack to the ad is The Cure's "Pictures of You". Along with half of my high school, Robert Smith and his band mates were near gods in the 80's and 90's. The bass lines and Robert's voice just set the mood of teen angst at the time. It's definitely nice to hear songs from my younger days on TV, even if the song doesn't necessarily fit.

On the face of it, Pictures of You is perfect for this HP ad since the hook is "Looking so long at these pictures of you..." But if you listen to the whole song, it's more about not being connected to the one you love and never having anything more than the pictures to hold on to. I'm sure HP doesn't want to relay that kind of message to viewers, so they've smartly just included the hook and no other lyrics. Most companies that use pop songs do this, so it's not surprising at all...just funny when you know the whole song and know what's it talking about.

There's always the thing about "selling out" and why a band would pimp themselves to earn a few bucks. Well, if the band does it infrequently I don't think it's so bad. Besides, the Cure was never about the "Underground"; they were one of the most popular bands of the 80's and early 90's in certain groups so I don't think they ever felt like they needed to keep from getting too commercialized. At the same time, they were never your average pop band...they kept to their music regardless of how well it fit into the mainstream. It ended up fitting into the mainstream of rock, but never really hit the pop sensation level. Regardless, Pictures of You from the Disintegration album came at the height of The Cure's run at the top of New Wave/Alternative Rock so if there was to be any song of there's used for a TV ad, it's not surprising it's this song. The hook is pretty straight forward and, most importantly (and relevant for The Cure), the song is not soooo depressing.

Anyways, here's to songs we love being re-hashed for strictly commercial purposes.

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Thursday, October 09, 2003

Breaking News!

Hope that got your attention, because CNN sure hope it does every time they put that up on the screen. But I have a feeling you don't really give a damn about the latest random bit of news coming out of Atlanta. If you haven't noticed yet, CNN's website as well as the TV station are filled to the brim with overemphasized trivia and "news". The website is bordering on tabloid while the station is way beyond information overload.

Do I really need to know that Beyonce will be releasing not one, but two clothing lines to appease both the Ghetto Fab in her as well as the Prada/Gucci/Manolo wearing Queen that her man Jay-Z loves?

Now, I don't want to make it seem like CNN's the only TV/Web media outlet that does this, but there are certainly better ways to satisfy the news junkie in all of us. Take ESPN for example...they along with Fox Sports started the trend of the news ticker, as far as I can remember. While the latest sports scores are perfect for this, especially on a busy sports day when every sports stat is important, the lack of meaningful non-sports news just makes a ticker useless. What's more, it desensitizes us to the news which actually means something. So not only does the ticker not bring anything to the table, it takes away from the table...Props to the Sports Guy for simplifying the decision making process...if it takes away from the table, get rid of it!

So what's the solution? Well, news tickers scrolling across your TV screen are here to stay; in fact they're spreading (E!, Oxygen, etc). The nature of the web also makes posting the latest random news online very easy. But how about supplementing shallow news items with in-depth coverage of not just the "story" but the larger problem at hand. ESPN does this all the time with in-depth stories about everything from drug use by atheletes to the trend of younger and younger athletes. The fact of the matter is that even though ESPN satisfies the trivia, stats & sports junkie in all of us, they actually do a better job at giving perspective to readers about issues beyond the latest tidbit. Sure, we love ESPN for all the hilarity on Page 2, but I certainly appreciate the attempts by ESPN to look at the more serious side of sports. I may take te seriousness is small doses, but at least I have the option.

But lets be realistic, ESPN is far from the perfect place to learn about meaningful issues which will actually affect us. That crown certainly has to go to BBC News. Sure, BBC gives info junkies what they need, but they also give people a real chance to learn about the issues around a news event like a bombing in the Middle East. And if you've never heard the BBC World Service, it's time to check it out. Perhaps you don't want to listen to a 25 minute report on the future role of the UN, but the fact that a news agency has the insight to actually consider that the role of the UN could change significantly and that listeners should pause and think about it is heartening.

You hear talk about how The People need to be more concerned about "real issues" Well, how about the major media outlets giving us a chance to learn about what the issues are? A two minute report on World News Tonight isn't enough, a headline or two isn't enough. You can say that the media are simply responding to what The Market wants, but the fact that BBC news is as successful as it is, should tell us that there is a real market for it.

I'm not going to continue this rant by talking about American media cow-towing to the current Bush administration or anything like that. The argument could be made either way, but regardless of the admin currently in power, journalism is about curiousity and skepticism. If journalism is about nothing more than relaying the latest events, then is it really giving us what we need?

So let's give props to the outlets that try to give us a wider view on things: BBC, NPR, New York Times, etc. My list is a certainly left-leaning, but regardless of left or right, let's all demand more from our news. It's time for more than news tickers and ranting on talk shows.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Ready to go, Eh?

And with that, here's my first post. I'm not sure where this blog will take me, but I'll try to keep everyone interested in the latest tidbits.

I'm currently in Toronto on business for a few days, and it only took about 30 mins before I heard my first "Eh". But don't get me wrong...as Heavy D used to say...I got nothing but love for our neighbors to the north. Heck, their brand of music TV actually plays videos occassionally and you get to see wierdo European & French-Canadian acts you can't even hope to see on MTV2. Thought MC Solaar was a trip? Check out Tangiers

Of course, all this about Canada is just smokescreen so I don't have to talk about our new Gubernator. As a friend rightly pointed out, there have now been two, count 'em TWO, actors from "Predator" elected to governer in the US. Let's hope this trend doesn't continue to Apollo Creed, who, if you didn't know, has broken bread not just with Arnold, but with Sly Stallone.

And we Americans think the Canadians are screwy?!?

In all seriousness though, I understand where the sentiment comes from. The citizenry of any state or nation is usually quite uncaring about their elected representatives until someone or something wakes them up to the reality of the situation. They're mad as hell and they're just not gonna take it any more...of course what they will take is someone who talks generalities and about "changing" things. That's about right for a politician these days.

This time quite a few things came together to put Gray on the hotseat. As usual though, the citizen's ire has been focused because of a misguided notion that somebody new could clean things up. More power to Arnold, but let's face it, Gray's only real fault here is that he couldn't figure out the most important thing about being a politician: Making friends out of enemies. The budget? Well, the whole electricity debacle was put into law by our friend Pete Wilson, not by Gray. The economy and jobs situation is a more a result of the economic cycle and mis-guided federal policy. Gray certainly did he darnest to screw things up further and tried to apologize by passing laws he had previously opposed (and came off looking foolish and obviously trying to make up with The People), but Arnold's not going to be able to change the situation 180 degrees. Let's hope Arnold can make the friends he needs to create at least a little lasting change in Sacramento. Let's also hope that Arnold sees the light on Prop 54 as well as Prop 187. Everyone says they're tired of partisan politics, now The People will get a chance to see just how serious our representatives are about making amends. All cynicism aside, I think Arnold will get an unusually long leash on trying to make change. The People are very forgiving and especially when you've got a big smile, surgically-perfected face, and tight abs, they do indeed give you a lot of chances to succeed. However, if, as I expect, he sweeps some of the dirt under the rug, instead of sweeping all of it out the door, we'll be back to the usual a year from now with The People quite disillusioned and wondering where the world is headed. Conversely, if the jobs situation picks up, it won't matter what the hell Arnold does...people will be too busy cashing their paychecks to care.

What I hadn't even thought about though, is that Arnold gets to work with his erstwhile opponent, Cruz. Afterall, Bustamonte is still the Lt. Governor. How they get along could give us a good idea of how genuine Arnold is in his promises to change the state of things.

So anyways, I better leave something else to write about another time. I plan to talk a lot more about the realities of politics and re-connecting The People with their representatives as well as The System. Come back for more later. Thusly, time for me to click Publish