Why I like music, playing music rather.

Today I asked myself whilst driving home, what was it about making music that made me love it so much?

As I started to dissect the reasons, I applied some of what I was teaching in tutorials today - about how images dominate and shape much of our perceptions. We live in a society that is fueled by visual communication.

Music on the other hand, involves listening and hearing, not looking and seeing. Playing music is beautiful because by and large, we can do it with our eyes closed (after some manner of instrumental proficiency, of course). We communicate through sounds. It is so beautiful jamming away with a band, big or small. Imagine a hundred people contributing to this symphony of sounds we cannot see, but can hear, and thus feel.

The truth is, aural communication, the lack of it, and understanding of it, is nowhere as purposefully designed as the visual world. The aural world takes a back seat and is a consequence of what is happening visually. What if, sounds shaped the world instead? How amazing would that possibly be?

Studies in acoustic ecology have developed a nifty new way to design the sounds around us, to better keep us at peace (yes, control too, but I trust it will not turn that way). Limited usage of it exists in Muzak, museums, installation art, and some buildings. It is a growing awareness, and one I am most glad to be a part of.

So, this is it. A short capture of my thoughts as I was driving home in my car, and into the driveway, and trying my best to remember to immortalize these thoughts, into words in this virtual reality.

Been a while... yet again.

In all honesty, all my attention has been focused on the upkeep and development of Wandering China, so this personal blog has been a tad neglected. Wandering China has been doing well, averaging 1500 unique readers a month. The dream is to eventually spend enough time to build it into a useful resource for understanding the Chinese diaspora's perceptions of what mainland China is doing today.

In any case. Here's the latest addition to the home, a little brown fence to liven up the walkway into the house. And with a little arrangement (the walking stick, plus a postcard, with a picture of a cottage sitting on a hill, in the flower pot), hopefully making an inviting entrance into the traveller's home.

Reflections

"The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to give it away" was a quote my dad picked up from an SMU advertisement back home in Singapore. And it rings true in my ears - more than an acceptable perspective to make meaning with the life direction I decided to take, it re-affirms another little bit of wisdom my mother used to share with me. It has shaped me into who I am today! It is originally in Mandarin, but when translated, it reads - "Helping others is the source of all true happiness".

Facebook beats Google for visitors: tracker

Noteworthy stuff.

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Facebook beats Google for visitors: tracker
March 18, 2010 - 7:01AM
Source - The Age

Social-networking star Facebook surpassed Google to become the most visited website in the United States for the first time last week.

Facebook's homepage finished the week ending March 13 as the most visited site in the country, according to industry tracker Hitwise.

The "important milestone", as described by Hitwise director of research Heather Dougherty, came as Facebook enjoyed a massive 185 per cent increase in visits in the same period, compared to the same week in 2009.

By comparison, visits to search engine home Google.com increased only nine per cent in the same time - although the tracker does not include Google property sites such as the popular Gmail email service, YouTube and Google Maps.

Taken together, Facebook.com and Google.com amounted to 14 per cent of the entire US internet visits last week, Dougherty said.

Google has been positioning challenges in recent months to Facebook and the micro-blogging site Twitter by adding the social-networking feature Buzz to its Gmail service.

In what could signal an escalating battle between Facebook and Google, the leading social-networking service celebrated its sixth birthday earlier this year with changes including a new message inbox that echoes Gmail's format.

Facebook boasts some 400 million users while Gmail had 176 million unique visitors in December, according to tracking firm comScore.

AFP

Sinatra hit has deadly record

Scary stuff! "The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you're somebody when you're really nobody. It covers up your failures. That's why it leads to fights." I trust none of the songs the band and myself have written so far will evoke such feelings! Music is much better for celebrating, healing wounds, and of course, chasing girls. Hah!

---

Sinatra hit has deadly record
Norimitsu Onishi, Philippines
The Age, February 8, 2010
It's not safe to sing My Way in karaoke bars.

AFTER a day of barbering, Rodolfo Gregorio went to his neighbourhood karaoke bar still smelling of talcum powder. Putting aside his glass of Red Horse Extra Strong beer, he grasped a microphone and briefly stilled the room with the Platters' My Prayer. Next, he belted out crowd-pleasers by Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.

But Mr Gregorio, 63, a witness to countless fistfights and occasional stabbings erupting from disputes over karaoke singing, did not dare choose one beloved classic: Frank Sinatra's My Way.

''I used to like My Way, but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,'' he said. ''You can get killed.''

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling My Way in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines. But the media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and include them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the ''My Way killings''.

The murders have spawned urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings a byproduct of the country's culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks.

Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for monopolising the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbours in a rage after they sang John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. And Filipinos, who pride themselves on their singing, may have a lower tolerance for bad singers.

Indeed, most of the My Way killings have reportedly occurred after the singer sang out of tune, causing other patrons to laugh or jeer.

''The trouble with My Way,'' said Mr Gregorio, ''is that everyone knows it and everyone has an opinion.''

Others point to the song itself. The lyrics, written by Paul Anka for Sinatra as an unapologetic summing up of his career, are about a tough guy who "when there was doubt", simply "ate it up and spit it out''.

'' 'I did it my way' - it's so arrogant," said Butch Albarracin, the owner of Centre for Pop, a Manila-based singing school that has propelled the careers of many famous singers.

"The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you're somebody when you're really nobody. It covers up your failures. That's why it leads to fights."

NEW YORK TIMES

Students walk 400 km to get to hometown

Inspiring!


- - - 


Students walk 400 km to get to hometown

Source - AsiaOne, 02 Feb 2010


Two college students, who were short of funds, walked 400 km in seven days to reach Yongzhou, their hometown in the province, Changsha Evening News reported Friday.

Jiang Wenlong, 19, and Zhang Linghui, 20, both in their junior year in a college in Changsha, started walking on Jan 21 and reached Yongzhou on Jan 28.

They said they enjoyed the mega-marathon walk as they got a chance to absorb the beautiful scenery their province has to offer.

iphone effect: Urban Word of the Day

shortly after one person in the group brings out their iphone, the rest follow suit, ultimately ending all conversation and eye contact.

"Hey, what do you want to order for drinks?" "Not sure, let's see what Imbibe Magazine has for their best beer this month." First iphone comes out of the pocket--enter safari search. Next iphone comes out--enter Facebook post. Third iphone makes an entrance -- the iphone effect has arrived.

source - http://iphone-effect.urbanup.com/4354603

pale blue dot.

from where, to where

who the hell knows

a pale blue dot

on a canvas of dark

everyone we have ever known

everything we have ever heard

every way there is to fathom

everyone we have yet to meet

a pale blue dot

on a canvas of dark

specks of bright so we can see at night

and that is where

we shall arrange to meet.

bob's take on this.

Seagulls and pride

Captured whilst having fish and chips by the bay. It was a massively cold summer day. Friend asked - these seagulls look like they are suffering in the cold - why? And there always seemed to be one leader up front. They took turns to battle to stand in front of formation.

My answer - pride. And we all laughed.

Check out the formation, and fuzzy feathers against the wind.

It's simple: India doesn't want to see its citizens harmed

So sad to experience this happening in a place many times voted as the top city to live in the world. That joyful vibe to the place has somewhat dissipated over the years, and quickly replaced by seeds of misunderstandings, and imposing agendas.

It really is simple, all it takes is a little understanding and a willingness to walk hand in hand. It does not help sometimes that Asian communities like to cluster together like packs. Integration is the key, though the road has already been set by poorly planned immigration programmes flooding the country without knowing how to do the job properly.

- - -

It's simple: India doesn't want to see its citizens harmed
Source - The Age, 15 Jan 2010

Picture the scene of a car accident. An injured person lies on the ground needing help while the two drivers squabble over who caused the crash. That's about how intelligent the debate over attacks on Indian students has been.

It is embarrassing to watch politicians, police and the media in Australia and India engage in a dialogue that has so far been fatuous and, quite frankly, infantile.

On both sides there has been a lot of hot air and finger pointing. It's a dialogue of the deaf.

Victoria Police, announcing the lack of evidence for a racial motive after Nitin Garg's murder in a Yarraville park early this month, tell us Indian students are safer in Australia than in India. So what? Commentators tell us that terrible crimes are committed in India, too. So what?

And politicians, who tell us Australia is a safe destination for students, make matters worse by parroting a mantra that feeds the perception that Australia is either in denial or avoiding the issue.

Similarly, in India the reaction by some politicians has been hysterical. External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna said Garg's death was a ''heinous crime against humanity'' that would have a bearing on bilateral relations. Indeed, it was a heinous crime and it is understandable that the minister should want to passionately indicate his alarm, but to evoke something along the lines of genocide was simply absurd.

As if matters were not surreal enough, those in the Indian media who have been frothing at the mouth with indignation, disseminating inaccurate information with their breathless reporting and engaging in pompous moralising, have done a spectacular job of dragging the level of debate down as low as it could possibly go.

We have seen this cycle repeated every time an Indian student is attacked in Australia, and there is no sign it will be any different next time an incident occurs. But beyond the vacuous debate, an interesting picture is becoming visible.
India's growing confidence as an emerging superpower is on display. It will not tolerate its citizens being pushed around and it will not be shy in saying so. And Australia, whether it likes it or not, carries much racial baggage.

The White Australia policy may have ended more than 30 years ago, but it casts a very long shadow. Historically speaking, Pauline Hanson and the Cronulla riots are fresh incidents hitting an old nerve.

Add to this a globally connected, technologically sophisticated media that never sleeps. News from anywhere in the world is part of a 24/7 cutthroat cycle to get the headlines first. It is in this context that the debate over attacks on students is being played out.

And perhaps, somewhere deep in the background, is the rumbling over Australia's refusal to sell uranium to India.
But while the babble and hype has been going on, a single refreshing note of clarity has been sounded. India's erudite Minister of State, Shashi Tharoor, has sought to focus on what is at the heart of the matter.

When I spoke to him a few days ago, he made two important points: first, that Australia has a crime problem in the suburbs that it must attend to, and second, that India is within its rights to speak out when its citizens face danger.
''The whole racism issue has really coloured this debate in an unhealthy way, because when our media either seizes on that, or the Australian media in turn respond critically, we are essentially dealing with not black or brown or white, but red herrings,'' he said.

''We value our relationship with Australia, it's a friendly country … The truth is this is a problem of law and order, one that Australia is dealing with and needs to deal with internally. But it cannot but affect us when our citizens are reported to be suffering.''

And in a nod towards the nuances of the debate, he acknowledged the impact that India's ''agitated media'' had had on the Indian public by its constant reporting of Australian racism. ''Without wanting to exaggerate in any way the extent of this violence, it does worry us how this has become almost a dominant perception of Australia in the minds of so many Indians,'' he said.

In a few elegant words, Tharoor cut to the heart of the issue and it is worth quoting him in full: ''For an Indian mother to hear that her son has been assaulted in Australia, it little matters to her whether he was assaulted because of his race, or because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because he was the wrong colour or the wrong height, or was carrying an iPod. She doesn't want her son to be assaulted.

''It's a very common human feeling and that's essentially what this is all about.''

Sushi Das is an Age senior writer. She is in India as a guest of the Indian Government.

Siamese Bananas

Check out the Awesome Siamese Banana! Almost did not have the heart to consume the guy. :) Its fate? Key ingredient for a pretty good banana milk shake.

Rail chaos as mercury nudges 45

Insanely hot today. Had to endure a little more than two hours on the road today on an airport run, and the 43 degree heat was not easy to bear. Had to constantly keep hydrated, and the car's air-conditioning brought some relief.

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Rail chaos as mercury nudges 45
Source - The Age, 11 Jan 2010

Commuters faced widespread train disruptions as extreme heat again took its toll on the metropolitan rail network.

As the temperature passed 43 in the city, and nudged 45 in outer western suburbs and Geelong, 110 trains had been cancelled across the network by 6pm.

All but three train lines were experiencing cancellations and buses replaced trains on two lines. Metro Trains reported disruptions on all lines except Glen Waverley, Pakenham, Racecourse and Stony Point...

...Temperatures reached 43.6 in Melbourne at 4.58pm but the highest reading so far was 44.9 degrees at Geelong airport at 3.29pm.

Other highs were recorded at Avalon (44.6 at 3.24pm); Laverton (44.7 at 4.32pm); Westmere (44.2 at 2.59pm) and Dartmoor (44.2 at 1.13pm).

The temperature is expected to ease to 21 in Melbourne overnight, then start climbing again tomorrow before a cool change blows in about midday.

art.

overheard on entourage -

art is only the search, not the final form.

def.

Bob's Mash

The Ten Essentials

Hiking has been a wonderful past-time for a while now. Long walks keep me happy nowadays as it allows all my senses to be in touch. It is never quite the same behind the glass of a car window, with a CD player blasting away, or worse, always through the TV on a couch. Thought this would be nice to share.

The Ten Essentials By Karen Berger

source - http://www.gorp.com/hiking-guide/travel-ta-hiking-wilderness-skills-sidwcmdev_058018.html

In the 1930s, the Mountaineers, a Seattle-based hiking, climbing, and conservation organization, came up with a list of 10 essential items that no climber should be without.

Map. A map not only tells you where you are and how far you have to go, it can help you find campsites, water, and an emergency exit route in case of an accident.

Compass. A compass can help you find your way through unfamiliar terrain—especially in bad weather where you can't see the landmarks.

Water and a way to purify it. Without enough water, your body's muscles and organs simply can't perform as well: You'll be susceptible to hypothermia and altitude sickness. not to mention the abject misery of raging thirst.

Extra Food. Any number of things could keep you out longer than expected: a lengthy detour, getting lost, an injury, difficult terrain. A few ounces of extra food will help keep up energy and morale.

Rain Gear and extra clothing. Because the weatherman is not always right. Especially above treeline, bring along extra layers. Two rules: Avoid cotton (it keeps moisture close to your skin), and always carry a hat.

Firestarter and matches. The warmth of a fire and a hot drink can help prevent an encounter with hypothermia. And fires are a great way to signal for help if you get lost.

First aid kit. Prepackaged first aid kits for hikers are available at outfitters. Double your effectiveness with knowledge: Take a basic first aid class with the American Red Cross or a Wilderness First Aid class, offered by many hiking organizations.

Army knife or multi-purpose tool. These enable you to cut strips of cloth into bandages, remove splinters, fix broken eyeglasses, and perform a whole host of repairs on malfunctioning gear—not to mention cut cheese and open cans.

Flashlight and extra bulbs. For finding your way in the dark and signaling for help.

Sun screen and sun glasses. Especially above treeline when there is a skin-scorching combination of sun and snow, you'll need sunglasses to prevent snowblindness, and sunscreen to prevent sunburn.