Tag: The Concert for Bangladesh

Music was saved

When Steve Jobs came up with his 99-cent song idea, he saved musicians from the curse of piracy.

It’s all in the ether. But musicians get paid, however long the tail. Better than nothing at all.

More people get to hear those beautifully written pieces. I walked by a coffee shop yesterday.

On its walls displayed the AKAI tape decks. A by-gone era. We used to gather around it to listen to Steely Dan‘s DO IT AGAIN,  again and again (ironically, we followed the imperative i.e. Do it again) .

Musicians like George Harrison was throwing a concert for Bangladesh, wearing white suit, with his  rendition of “My Sweet Lord“‘s I really want to see you Lo.

Something about being together, globally and ecologically.

That was before the internet. Or else, with today’s broadband, more would have joined in with near-zero latency.

We live in an exiting age, with technology at our disposal. But do we see huge crowdfunding that does humanity proud?

I know, I know. It’s all ad-hoc now.

Think global, act local.

OK. I am all for green weekend.

And Electric Vehicle conversion, one car at a time.

But in the grandeur scale, we need a hero. Be they from the entertainment or sports, politics or business.

Something is broken. Perhaps the spirit of togetherness, of committing to a cause larger than ourselves.

Like Jobs, I do hope some technologists can come up with apps or simple business proposition that saves the music and saves the day.

Simple solution. Less than a dollar. And let music sing. Not when we can still spare a dollar for the brother. DO IT AGAIN.

PLAY IT AGAIN. I really want to see you Lo.

Less is more

In reading Steve Jobs, a theme keeps emerge: less is more.

He cut out the fat and all its distraction.

(being a veggie, he stayed true to form).

His closet was full of the same long-sleeve stretch shirt that defined his personal brand.

His take on wealth and money was also consistent with his 60’s philosophy.

Steve could be nice when he chose to, but working for him must have been a nightmare.

His current replacement was quoted as saying “someone must take charge and fix the problem in China i.e. suppliers”. Half an hour later, he turned to see the man in charge still sitting there “why are you still here?”. That man drove to SF airport and bought a ticket flying East.

It’s true that our world is better and certainly more beautiful with technologists like Steve who also doubled as art lovers (I-pod).

If life consists of only 0’s and 1’s, we would all be automatons.

Lucky for us, we got both Bohr and Beethoven, Newton and Nicholas Cage.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Yet people keep acquiring, acquiring, acquiring.

And the longer I live, the more I see this isn’t going to end.

The pursuit of happiness has meant the pursuit of things (think of exercising equipment for home you saw on night TV).

All I can recall from a Hermeneutic class was “a priori “(we read into a text what we had already thought it would say).  We have consitently misinterpreted the meaning of happiness. In fact, advertisers have done this for us (driving a Cadillac is cool. Hence, to be cool, you must own a Cadillac).

Those text-book writers managed to make complex something very simple.

Urban gangs could say “yo man, m..f…is a racist”. That would say it all.

In the age of Wikipedia, if we want to go in-depth about a topic, just click it and scroll down. The spread of information will multiply even more quickly than Gordon Moore had anticipated (IBM has found a way to save space in transistors, call it magnetization, as opposed to polarization as traditionally used). Devices will get smaller with longer battery life (Acer’s thinnest laptop).

But convenience and comfort don’t equate to happiness. Life has gone on for centuries unassisted by today’s accessories. A tribe in India (island) is still functioning without modern amenities. (Tourists tried to bribe them to “pole dance” for YouTube , raising the issue of “human zoo”.)

The happy countries index often lists Costa Rica and other S American countries.

Yes, quality of life index listed Scandanavian countries such as Norway and Finland. They got the oil, but equally distributed unlike Lybia. But happiness doesn’t confine to just Costa Rica as opposed to Costa Mesa (where South Coast Plaza Mall is located). Perhaps Steve saw something while living in India (My Sweet Lord).

Perhaps we too should reexamine what are the core things that make us happy.

Beauty is found in wild lilies and the grandest scene recurs at every sunset.

Sometimes we missed those moments of happiness, only to recognize them after the fact. Would it be simpler to give happiness the initiative to seek us out. I bet you it work out better that way.

Simon’s Sound of Silence

“In restless dream I walked alone” this time, w/ out Garfunkel.

Two moments of silence descended upon two reflecting pools.

It was so eerie that ten years ago, of all things, Matt Lauer was interviewing a Howard Hughes biographer when the TODAY show got interrupted.

I don’t think viewers ever follow up on the bio after that morning:

Sound of smoke.

Sound of stress.

Sound of silence.

Silence, ten years ago, was deafening.

More like being speechless. Same freeze-framing the day President Kennedy was shot.

Even for those who made a living by commentating and improvising.

“Ten thousand people maybe more”.

People talking without speaking.

People hearing without listening.

Simon remains one of a few voices from the 60’s, who traveled far to Africa,

to enrich his repertoire.

The globalization of music.

Continuing Music Education (George Harrison and the Sitar opening act at Concert for Bangladesh).

Over the span of 60 years, more Americans have turned warriors without borders, might they be in Europe, Pacific, SEA, M.E. or South Asia.

The names which are now etched into the 9/11 memorial represent a diverse pool of country origins.

First, we have to be able to trust strangers.

Then, we do business.

Finally, we party and share the grief.

Besides English as lingua franca, we got music. We got Rock and Roll, soft or hard.

Then we got Sound of Silence.

In the decade since, I have been more aware every time I fasten my seat belt, before take off.

Hundreds of air passengers, strapped in for known and unknown destiny.

Like the Hockey team from Russia.

Even the last survivor didn’t make it.

Flight 93 passengers took destiny back in their own hands.

The hijackers got hijacked in a 9/11 twisted plot. Then, rescue workers needed to be rescued.

No crescendo for an already stress-filled morning.

We wanted to get back to book reading and book reviewing.

We wanted our loved ones to come home.

Le Monde headlines the next day was “We are all Americans“.

If there were Twitter, our chosen top tweet would have been

“We’re all first-responders”.

In restless dream, I walked together.

Simon and Garfunkel: twin talents for Twin Towers.