I don’t know why… but I half expected Pi to sound like Beethoven… anyhow, here’s a site that’ll let you listen for yourself.
http://www.avoision.com/experiments/pi10k/pi10k.html
Musicial Pi
22-Mar-06Final Score: Holly: 0 – Fire Hydrant: 1
Most of y’alls know what happened… if you don’t lets just say I had a confrontation with a fire hydrant that I didn’t see while backing up on a steep hill.
My new personal mantra is…
“it’s just a car…”
“it’s just a car…”
“it’s just a car…”
Now please… have a moment of silence for my girl.
The Art of Finding Music
03-Feb-06I think the height of my musical interest was during high school and early college. I would spend hours upon hours listening to the radio (this is before MP3s were born). In order to not blow my entire allowance/paycheck on music I’d limit myself to buying a new CD once a month. Back then you were bound to the entire CD so it was more about liking an artist and their style than just liking the most popular song at the moment. In college I upped it to twice a month, or sometimes more if I bought used CDs. Regardless, I spent a lot of time figuring out what was worth my hard earned coinage.
These days, obtaining music is far cheaper and simpler than it used to be. You can go to the iTunes store, subscribe to a music service; or if you’re one of those twisted deviants of society, you can pirate it. Regardless access to music and information is easy. I think because of this, many of us put far less thought into our music. It’s easy to just download the hits of the moment and not pay attention to who’s singing them, what else they’ve recorded, or finding lesser known gems. The bad (if that’s not bad enough in itself) is that you’re not really identifying and listening to music that you like; but just choosing between what’s presented to you.
What seems infinitely harder now is figuring out what to listen to and try. There are studies showing that if you give a person too many options, they become riddled with indecision. That’s pretty much how I feel that about music now; too much to choose from and nothing to point you in a direction.
Although, the radio isn’t dead… afternoons at home after high school spent listening are. I find myself relying primarily on sporadic conversations with friends. A testament of the inefficiency of this is the fact that I didn’t know who Coldplay was until maybe 4 months ago… and Radiohead I just discovered 2 months ago. (Don’t worry I haven’t been in THAT thick of a bubble. I’ve ‘heard’ their music… and I’m ‘familiar’ with their names.. .but never made the associations between the bands and their songs… okay maybe I am THAT bad).
As is my first instinct with all that troubles me… I looked to Google for the solution. My goal was/is to find a community to share and learn about music. So far in my quest, I’ve come across a few interesting (and a lot of not so interesting) applications. I haven’t decided yet whether or not any of these are the holy grail I’m looking for; perhaps the solution will be to just make it myself.
If you find yourself suffering from the same malady as me… here are the top contenders:
Mercora – http://search.mercora.com/
This is my top contender so far. You can lookup a band/artist/genre, and it’ll return you whatever others out there are sharing. You can listen to whatever you want or let it stream it’s suggestions to you. You can also add friends and see what they’re listening to.
LastFM – http://www.last.fm
This site installs a plug0in to your music player and tracks your listening habits. It generates reports and makes recommendations based on what you listen to.
Pandora – http://www.pandora.com/
This site creates a custom station for you based on an artist/track/genre you specify.
If anyone has anything else they really like… let me know.
3 Degrees of Influence
03-Feb-06My mom called me earlier this week to deliver the strangest of news. She had recently talked to a relative of my Dad’s who had asked if I was registered with SAAVY (South Asian American Voting Youth). My mom told her that she didn’t know but it was doubtful since I’ve been voting since I was 18.
When my mom asked why she was asking, the auntie (surprised she didn’t already know) mentioned that it had been founded by my cousin a few years ago – after she found out from her mom that folks from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has visited her parent’s house asking about me. (Yes… I find it odd as well that I/we didn’t know about this… but my family is semi-dysfunctional, so what can I say).
Hearing this threw me for a bit of a loop. First and foremost I was delighted that she had the strength and resolve to take on a fight that I couldn’t/didn’t. For the first time I felt vindicated. It’s a really good feeling to know that there’s someone out there standing up for you. The whole time I was being investigated I felt singled out and alone. I didn’t think that anyone else understood or took seriously what was happening to me. While I like to make light of the fact that I’m on the terrorist watch list; it’s a very unsettling feeling knowing that people look at you differently then everyone else around you.
This news also got me thinking about the influence and impact that our actions and lives have upon each others. I haven’t seen or had a conversation with my cousin since before I left for college (10 years ago). And yet this relatively significant incident in my life turned out have a greater significance in hers. It reminds me of movies like Traffic and Crash. Whenever I watch stuff like that I think, “Wow, ya we are all interconnected”; but then go back to living my tunnel-vision life having the mindset that I’m in some sort of bubble.
In this case I’m glad that she was affected and that something good has come outta all this. (Although, I really do wish she didn’t refer to me as ‘straight-laced’ though).
Here’s links to some articles regarding my cuz and SAAVY:
Fighting for a Voice – http://www.alternet.org/story/18656/
Speaking with SAAVY – http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/features/issues/fall04/SAAVY.php
Speaking with SAAVY – http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/features/issues/fall04/SAAVY.php
Welcome to WordPress!
01-Feb-06As you can see the blog has a new ‘look’. This is more than just a change in style. Due to various external influences… y’alls know who you are… (thank you) I’ve been convinced to switch from Joomla (which is a damn fine content management system) to WordPress (which is as Rishi says is the ‘Gold Standard’ in blogging software).
So far I’ve managed to get the main posts and comments moved over w/out too much hassle and will hopefully get the rest of the content as well as some handy-dandy new features in soon enough.
“You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt
21-Jan-06This song came on as I was driving back home from dinner tonight. It seemed very appropo.
You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it’s time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.
A Corporate Quandary
20-Jan-06Today I got a call from a woman who worked in the HR department of some tech. company. She informed me that I was listed as a reference by a contractor who had until recently worked for us. As she uttered his name I was greeted by feelings of surprise, elation, and guilt.
The contractor who she was referring to had been the bane of my existence for the past few months. He had taken advantage of my sympathy during Hurricane Katrina and used it as a prolonged excuse to stop traveling to our Dallas office. He would give exaggerated estimates and still not accomplish his tasks by those deadlines. He would be openly rude towards other employees and try to use me as a shield. He even resisted coming into the office after I, others at my company, and the company we contracted him through had directly instructed him to do. On top of all that, the work that he did do was sub par. Unfortunately at the time given our company’s restrictions on how we hired contractors and the limited availability of resources with the expertise he claimed to have; I had no option but to make due with him.
So today when I got the phone call the first thought that passed through my head was… “Holy shit… that stupid fuck listed me as a reference… it’s my turn now bitch!” While as merited as any diatribe from me regarding his lack of skills and work ethic might be; I was confronted with another reality as I poised myself to answer the first question, “This man has two small kids and a wife”.
I found myself paralyzed with guilt and indecision. On one hand I felt compelled to be honest and upfront. Not only did he deserve it, but I had an obligation to my profession and my colleagues. On the other, my actions would have real consequences. This was no longer me complaining to my peers or my friends about his ineptitude. A family’s livelihood rested on what I was about to say.
As much as most of us purport to be assholes, most of the time the ‘asshole’ comments and actions we make have superficial repercussions. This time things were a bit different. Like a game the pieces were laid out in front of me and yet I knew my next move would change the reality of someone else’s life.
If given more time to decide which side of the line to stand on I’m not sure what I would have chosen – compassion or honesty. Time was not my ally however so I chose honesty. As much as I dislike ineptitude, I despise dishonesty even more. If he had simply been a bad developer I think I would have told the lady that he was a hard worker but somewhat inexperienced. But given all his misbehaviors I felt compelled to rat him out so to speak. I did restrain myself from ranting to her about all his antics, and only responded directly to her questions.
I hope for his and his family’s sake that sooner than later that he’ll realize that he has more to lose than to gain by being dishonest. (And that he shouldn’t list me as a reference).
“Mission Accomplished”
18-Jan-06A few weeks ago I decided to rededicate myself to “Operation Car Stereo”. In preparation for my offensive I re-soldered all the connectors, remounted the harness, and strategically plotted every aspect of my plan. I decided that this time I would strike in the middle of the day when the sunlight would work to my favor.
The moment of truth had finally come the following Saturday afternoon. I drove my car out into the back lot of my apartment building. I meticulously connected all the wires and slowly pushed the head unit into the harness until I heard that magical ‘click’. This time it fit. With confidence I turned the ignition to “On” and pressed the power button. To my delight the display lit up and I was greeted by the sweet sound of success.
“Mission Accomplished”.
I was on cloud nine, my life once again had meaning. Granted it wasn’t perfect by any means – the unit still stuck out a little farther than I would have liked and the color wasn’t the exact shade of amber as the rest of my interior. But whatever, minor details… the tides had turned, the is was the pivotal battle and victory was mine. The music was once again back in my life. And so for the next two weeks I drove my car in bliss; rockin’ out to The Postal Service and Hot Hot Heat.
All was well until one night while driving home from work I realized that the sound wasn’t coming out of one of the speakers. “No problem”, I thought “It’s just a loose connector. I’ll just pull the unit out and make sure it’s connected securely”. So as soon as I got home I set upon my new mission. It was only
a minor setback – one which I could easily remedy.
With the unit powered “On” I popped off the bezel, and pulled the unit out of the harness. A little jiggling and… “Voila!” I was back in stereo.
“Mission Re-Accomplished”.
With the unit still powered “On” (I figured I’d be able to make sure the connector didn’t get loose again as I reinserted the unit) I started pushing the unit back into place. And that’s when it happened… the lights when off. There was no power. I pulled the unit out and checked all the wires. I turned the car on and off. I tried this at least a
dozen times to no avail. The unit was dead.
I’ve tried a few more times since then and still nothing. I must have shorted something. Lucky for me it’s under warranty and I’ll get the chance to fight another day. Until then it’s back to practicing ‘Do Re Mi’ to myself… I wonder if G. Dub practices “Do Re Mi”.
Vegas Bowl Baby, Vegas Bowl!
19-Dec-05Well… We (Cal) didn’t do quite as well as we all hoped/expected… I won’t go into details as to why (Ayoob)… but we did make the Vegas Bowl.
So Go Bears!
It started out a good idea…
12-Dec-05So I’d like to think that we’ve all had this happen to us. You have what you think is a brilliant idea… okay maybe not necessarily a ‘brilliant’ idea, but at least a ‘good’ idea and you decide “I’ve got to do it”
And so of course as you start down the path of accomplishing this grand scheme that you believe will provide you with a sense of fulfillment and self worth and in general make you and your life indisputably better only to find it’s not exactly as simple/ideal as you expected it to be.
If you’re like me each problem or ‘minor setback’ you encounter only doubles your determination. Before you know it you’ve lost sight of the original goal and your only objective is to get past whatever the current problem you’re dealing with happens to be. So you work and work… running into one problem after another becoming more and more entrenched in problems. Eventually you hit a point that brings you out of the euphoric stupor that’s been consuming you to find yourself mired knee deep in a pile of shit saying to yourself… “How the hell did I get here?”
As some of you know I decided to install a new head unit in my car. It seemed like a simple thing to do… definitely a good way to save money and learn about my car. Ha! Such was the dream… but in the end it was not meant to be… The unit is too long, the harness doesn’t quite fit properly, and so now I’ve got myself a car with a bunch of wires sticking out where the radio used to be.
Looking back, you can always identify that one moment, that one decision that led you to the point of no return, the move that got you caught in that proverbial jet wash. What was it this time? Definitely when I decided to take a hand saw to the entrails of my car.
