A victory for Asian Guys everywhere

Here is an interesting article about how the massive talent of an unknown 20-something korean guy playing the guitar in his room at mom and dad's house came to shock and awe the internet & guitar rock communities everywhere. This video brings a tear to my eye not just because of the way his guitar skills transcend any other guitar playing I've seen, but because the cold precision of his playing is reminiscent of the hours of piano and violin playing that ABC's like me put in everyday as we were growing up. Only on a much cooler instrument!

What's so sweet is the totally unassuming nature of this beast. His video was somewhat anonymously posted on the internet and it bore only screen names. In the video, the face of the player is obstructed by a beige baseball cap, and as word of this guys skills grew, the thing people wanted most to know was his identity. Through all the imitators and frauds who have popped up through the months, it looks like the real creator of the video has been found, and he looks like the kind of guy I went to chinese school with all throughout my childhood. It's refreshing, the way he wants his work and skill to speak for itself, with no packaging, or pizazz. He didn't want even his face to have an impact on the way people saw his work--when questioned about the use of his baseball cap to block his identity, he replied, “Main purpose of my recording is to hear the other’s suggestions about my playing.” He added, “I think play is more significant than appearance. Therefore I want the others to focus on my fingering and sound. Furthermore I know I’m not that handsome.”
In any case, you go, Jeong Hyun and Jerry. I'm proud of you!!

Hitting pretty close to home

You probably all heard of the rampage a Fremont driver went on yesterday, when he hit a pedestrian with a bicycle in Fremont, killing him, then drove to the city where he hit 14 more people in different locations. What you probably didn't know is that the road he lived on was just a few blocks away from my old home! And the place where he swerved from the far left lane to hit the pedestrian on the right side of the streen? at the Ferry lane and Fremont Blvd intersection, where I used to turn in to ranch 99 to shop for groceries and get pho, and greasy chinese.

I'm convinced this is the new form of terrorism, taking the killing to the streets of the US where all us infidels live. they say he started to get mentally unstable after a trip to afghanistan 2 months ago, and was paranoid about the devil being out to get him.

Feels like home

I found this to be an accurate portrayal of the flavor one gets from exploring and shopping in HK. It made me a bit reminiscent!

Breakdown

Almost 5 years since 9/11 and I still can't read about it without welling up and feeling like something inside is going to explode. Perhaps it's because of the constant new testimony and discovery of information about what really happened that morning.

Reading or listening to anything that has recording or the transcripts of real people has a tendency to crush me (as brad pitt would say). something like this, which was just released earlier this week, is particularly brutal because of the way we seem so helpless in our ability to defend ourselves. Most of this stems from systematic difficulties on communicating and synthesizing information, whether it be through the chain of command, from one location to another, or in the worst case, between organizations. working in a large organization myself, I deal with communication breakdowns and politics every day...but at least within the high-tech sector we have what's pretty cutting edge from an infrastructure perspective--instant messaging, web conferencing, web telephony. What's especially sobering is thinking about how antiquated and slow moving the IT systems of our miliary and government are--in these transcriptions, all conversations are one to one, phones are constantly buzzing, and so much information is passed by shouting over the shoulder.

After reading something like this, I wonder if there are countless other stories of people being organized, knowledgeable, heroic, and reacting to the situation in the right way; saving us all from a number of other unknown 9/11's that could have changed the world in a way that we'll never know. Hopefully.

Hi, Steve Jobs

Check out this funny blog written by (Someone Impersonating) Steve Jobs. It's pretty brash, but I imagine something pretty close to the actual truth. I especially love that entry about Larry. although I think that since they're friends it would be a bit more kind!