After a long hiatus I will again break from my edict of separating life from blog and write about a personal experience that was simply too profound not to write about. I have been to the depths of what can only be described as the seventh circle of bureaucratic hell. I have gone down to the fiery pit of the DOT and witnessed the darkest and most miserable state of the human psyche. It took a Herculean effort not to spiral down to a rancorous disposition that was so thick in the air that it impregnated it like a poison. There I was like Odysseus, tied to the head mast with wax in my ears I threw myself at the Sirens, a mere quarter-inch of Plexiglas between us, and came out unscathed and able to tell the things I've seen.
All hyperbole aside, if you have never had the (dis)pleasure of having your car towed in New York City, you probably should experience it at least once so as to test your mental mettle. To keep your head cool and your wits about you as you blankly stare at a clerk behind a Plexiglas window while he or she is trying to give you instructions that may very well determine whether or not you will see your vehicle before the next epoch, and while a line of grumpy, irate, angry, pissed off individuals are bustling behind you either taking out their frustrations on the person next to them or on the poor sap on the other end of their cellphone call thereby making it impossible for you to hear the aforementioned clerk since the DOT did not think it prudent that these hapless purveyors of bureaucratic torment get a microphone or at least a vent in the piece of plastic that separates them from you and that would allow their voice and the crucial pieces of information carried within it to reach your perked up ears, is a feat that only a brave and strong few can accomplish.
And so there I stood with my heart beating fast, palms sweating, craning my neck so that I may try to make out the words that are being thrown in my direction, but can do nothing but slam against the window in front of me. The words, barely audible over the raucous going on behind me. It took a great deal of restraint to not turn around and shout a hearty "Shut the f*ck up!!!!!" to the line of miserable souls behind me. Luckily all my papers were in order and I did not have to raise my voice or pull my hair or slam my forehead against the glass. Instead, my lovely companion and I turned around and took our belongings and our sanity with us to the waiting area.
What we ended up getting were two front row seats to a spectacle that is the human condition. It was as if we were being treated to a private show; a small production filled with fascinating characters that all shared the same, miserable fate, but whose personalities were so drastically different that each, while facing the same horrid and insufferable situation, dealt with it in entirely unique ways.
A man with motorcycle helmet in tow chose the dignified wrath method. He was especially terrifying because the man's face did not move and was blank of any and all emotion as he proceeded to raise his voice and with the adrenaline still coursing through his veins—he seemed to have just come from the gym—he proceeded to enunciate word as he very loudly, yet politely, repeatedly demanded that he be given back his documentation.
Another—a rabble-rouser if I've ever seen one—decided to take things into the realm of passive aggression. "Welcome to New York City, baby. Three hundred bucks, welcome to New York," he proceeded to lament in a thick, what sounded like a Middle Eastern accent. He snarkily snapped cellphone pictures of the sign that listed the hefty fees that one would incur in getting their car back into their possession. At one point he was admonished by the supervisor for standing by a clerk's window instead of being at the designated waiting area. He threw up his hand and in a slow, mocking manner walked in our direction and took a seat next to my steadfast companion.
A young girl was trying for sympathy when her voice started to quiver and her eyes began to well. She begged for the man behind the glass to take and read a piece of paper that granted her temporary driving privileges. Clearly the man did not know how to handle this rare case and therefore resorted to send her away until she came back with a real driver's license. When she began to feel that her pleas were falling on deaf ears, she proceeded to read from the paper herself, voice shaking, pointing to the lines that declared that she was fit to drive until mid-July.
A woman huddled in the corner with her mobile phone. With what she probably thought was a lowered voice, loaded with sarcasm and profanity she described her "great" day to whomever was on the other end. She seemed surprisingly cool for someone who was apparently so close to missing a flight to some unknown destination.
Many others made their way through the gauntlet, each unique and fascinating. A young, male duo that would probably feel more at home in a Lower East Side dive than in this cold, heartless office, seemed to have befriended the man with the accent. One of them once remarked, matter-of-factly, that he may not have the money to cover the fees. A young Asian male seemed calm until he reached the window at which point he broke down and began to raise his voice like the countless others. A Hispanic gentleman got tired of waiting so he marched up to the supervisor window and gave her a piece of his mind, allowing all of us to listen in on his abusive tirade. This must have put him on the fast track since he was the next one to be called up to the pay window. "That's how you get anything done around here," he offered up as a helpful tip to me.
"Do you think at some point they lose all faith in humanity?" A question I floated to my companion about the city workers behind the glass, to which I received a hearty laugh as the response. This helped me to return to a more jovial state of mind as we both continued to observe and comment and laugh.
In the end, our stay was not as long or as filled with problems as most of the people we observed. I came away from the experience feeling pretty good about myself and how I was able to handle the stress that came at me like a steamroller the minute I saw my car missing from the spot where I had parked it on 10th Avenue. It is possible that were it not for the soothing effects that my partner had on me, I may very well would have flipped my lid. Maybe that would have made for a much more interesting blog post.
"When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane."
- Hermann Hesse
6.29.2008
6.11.2008
The More Things Change, The More They're Different
Point 01: Metallica still doesn't get it
Point 02: Vinyl is coming back (no, thankfully not in fashion)
Point 03: The back to the future of RAM
Usually I am not one to beat a dead horse, but when one is passionate about something or when a particular story touches on a personal note, one must check their equine sympathy at the door and give that bleeding beast at least one more, good whack. After my last post about Metallica's leap into new media I thought the band is finally turning the corner on the Napster brouhaha, but this week a strange feeling of déjà vu swept over me as the boys from SF again managed to get themselves into the news after their management got into an unnecessary and ill-advised battle with the music blogosphere.
Coming off what must have been an amazing high after nearly completing a long-awaited follow-up to... let's say ...And Justice for All, the band's representatives hosted a listening party in London for a selected group of music journalists. The bloggers were not specifically told not to write about what they heard, and they were not asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Following that, much to the chagrin of Metallica's wranglers, these online journalists happily did what they normally do, that is, they wrote a review (mostly positive) of the new album. This touched off a storm of calls and emails from Metallica's management demanding that the reviews be taken down. The bloggers complied, although not without some tongue-in-cheekiness.
As painful as it may be, Metallica needs to finally learn this lesson: don't piss off your audience; especially when they are in fact saying good things about your music. I sincerely hope that these unfortunate missteps were done without the guys' involvement, but instead were the brainchild of some 3rd-rate marketing ape. At a time when people have less and less attention to devote to any individual band, Metallica needs to generate some interest in their upcoming release. Having these bloggers share their thoughts on the new album would have done just that, but unfortunately the situation was completely mishandled and the Metallica name is once again tarnished as a result. Here's waiting for an apology, or at least an explanation.
Keeping with the theme of what once was old is new again, it appears that vinyl sales are on the rise. Shipments of LPs increased by 36% during the 2006-2007 period, while during the same period CD shipments decreased by 17%. It is hard to come up with a good explanation for this trend. It may very well be that the audiophile population is multiplying faster than previously predicted, however I tend to think that as music moves closer to an all-electronic format and delivery, some people yearn to get back to the days of cool album art and interesting liner notes, things that you just cannot get off of iTunes. While vinyl sales will likely never overtake those of newer formats (450 million CDs vs less than 1 million LPs in 2007) it may force publishers and distributors to provide more options and therefore value with digital music. These may include exclusive online content or the option to buy the CD jacket and liner notes separately from the music itself.
Finally, those who know their computer history (not many of you, I suspect) should recall that the second generation of RAM used a ferrite (magnetic) core to store 1s and 0s. Then integrated circuits came along and SRAM and DRAM came with them in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Magnetic cores were replaced by millions of transistors embedded in silicone chips. It seems now that things have come full-circle as Toshiba is close to perfecting a new type of RAM called MRAM. This RAM uses tiny magnetic elements to store bits. Because it uses magnets instead of transistors, MRAM is non-volatile. This means that like conventional, magnetic hard drives, it does not require a power source to hold on to the information that it stores. This yields some tremendous benefits such as a 90% reduction in power consumption and the ability to instantly boot an operating system. Toshiba estimates that MRAM will make conventional DRAM and SRAM obsolete around the year 2015.
There you have it, the cyclical nature of our universe reveals itself to us in all manners and forms.
"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative."
- H. G. Wells
UPDATE: Here's what the man on the street thinks about the recent rise in LP sales.
Point 02: Vinyl is coming back (no, thankfully not in fashion)
Point 03: The back to the future of RAM
Usually I am not one to beat a dead horse, but when one is passionate about something or when a particular story touches on a personal note, one must check their equine sympathy at the door and give that bleeding beast at least one more, good whack. After my last post about Metallica's leap into new media I thought the band is finally turning the corner on the Napster brouhaha, but this week a strange feeling of déjà vu swept over me as the boys from SF again managed to get themselves into the news after their management got into an unnecessary and ill-advised battle with the music blogosphere.
Coming off what must have been an amazing high after nearly completing a long-awaited follow-up to... let's say ...And Justice for All, the band's representatives hosted a listening party in London for a selected group of music journalists. The bloggers were not specifically told not to write about what they heard, and they were not asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Following that, much to the chagrin of Metallica's wranglers, these online journalists happily did what they normally do, that is, they wrote a review (mostly positive) of the new album. This touched off a storm of calls and emails from Metallica's management demanding that the reviews be taken down. The bloggers complied, although not without some tongue-in-cheekiness.
As painful as it may be, Metallica needs to finally learn this lesson: don't piss off your audience; especially when they are in fact saying good things about your music. I sincerely hope that these unfortunate missteps were done without the guys' involvement, but instead were the brainchild of some 3rd-rate marketing ape. At a time when people have less and less attention to devote to any individual band, Metallica needs to generate some interest in their upcoming release. Having these bloggers share their thoughts on the new album would have done just that, but unfortunately the situation was completely mishandled and the Metallica name is once again tarnished as a result. Here's waiting for an apology, or at least an explanation.
Keeping with the theme of what once was old is new again, it appears that vinyl sales are on the rise. Shipments of LPs increased by 36% during the 2006-2007 period, while during the same period CD shipments decreased by 17%. It is hard to come up with a good explanation for this trend. It may very well be that the audiophile population is multiplying faster than previously predicted, however I tend to think that as music moves closer to an all-electronic format and delivery, some people yearn to get back to the days of cool album art and interesting liner notes, things that you just cannot get off of iTunes. While vinyl sales will likely never overtake those of newer formats (450 million CDs vs less than 1 million LPs in 2007) it may force publishers and distributors to provide more options and therefore value with digital music. These may include exclusive online content or the option to buy the CD jacket and liner notes separately from the music itself.
Finally, those who know their computer history (not many of you, I suspect) should recall that the second generation of RAM used a ferrite (magnetic) core to store 1s and 0s. Then integrated circuits came along and SRAM and DRAM came with them in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Magnetic cores were replaced by millions of transistors embedded in silicone chips. It seems now that things have come full-circle as Toshiba is close to perfecting a new type of RAM called MRAM. This RAM uses tiny magnetic elements to store bits. Because it uses magnets instead of transistors, MRAM is non-volatile. This means that like conventional, magnetic hard drives, it does not require a power source to hold on to the information that it stores. This yields some tremendous benefits such as a 90% reduction in power consumption and the ability to instantly boot an operating system. Toshiba estimates that MRAM will make conventional DRAM and SRAM obsolete around the year 2015.
There you have it, the cyclical nature of our universe reveals itself to us in all manners and forms.
"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative."
- H. G. Wells
UPDATE: Here's what the man on the street thinks about the recent rise in LP sales.
6.01.2008
It's the music, stupid
Point 01: Metallica vs the fans
The public has been clamoring for updates and I have not been able to deliver due to some major personal developments (good ones). When I started this blog I made a promise to myself never to cross the line and write about things that happen in my 3-D life. I will not break that promise here. Those that know me are aware of the latest happenings and I want to thank all those who were involved in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your help, encouragement, support, and most importantly friendship.
This week one of my most beloved bands, Metallica, made a splash as it tried a foray into the world of online music. This seemed like a welcome departure from the Metallica of 2000, which had an angry Lars Ulrich appear in front of reporters and TV cameras and lambaste Shawn Fanning and Napster. This sadly misguided tirade ended up backfiring as it alienated many of the band's die-hard fans. It also made the band look hypocritical. Metallica was a local Bay Area band that grew into a mega-act because of its fans trading bootleg tapes of their shows and music. As a direct result of these 'pirates,' Metallica earned a fiercely loyal following that ended up launching the band to the summit of Mt. Olympus of metal music.
As it turns out, many former fans have still not gotten over Napster-gate and made it apparent in the comments to Wired's coverage of Mission: Metallica. The comments were so overwhelmingly negative against the band that it lead Wired to write a second piece about how sour the Metallica fans still are. The article's main focus is on Napster and how it tarnished the reputation of a once-great band.
I, however, submit that most of this griping about Metallica has nothing to do with Napster (at least not anymore). Had the band produced anything worth listening to, anything that was worth the title of 'Metallica record' in the past 8 years we would have all happily forgiven and forgotten. But the sad fact of the matter is that Metallica is not the same band that we fell in love with, and these diatribes against its online offering is a reflection of just that.
Metallica lost its edge and when they decided to take Bob Rock on as producer of their first mainstream hit Metallica (The Black Album). Rock was the man behind the boards for bands like Skid Row and Bon Jovi, bands that pioneered the very type of music that Metallica and its fans were rebelling against. While Richie and Jon and Sebastian Bach were running around on stage wearing lipstick and teased out hair, the boys from San Fran were on stage, kicking ass in black jeans and t-shirts while blasting out epic, thrashy riffs and face-melting solos.
While the Black Album gained Metallica a wider, more popular appeal (22 million copies sold worldwide), Metallica lost its core following and are still struggling to win it back. Releasing a down-tuned, tin-can popping, solo-less mess known as St. Anger did not do the band any favors. Their latest effort slated for a September '08 release, on paper, looks like a return to the Metallica of old. Taking over for Bob Rock is legendary producer Rick Rubin (Danzig, Slayer, System of a Down). The songs are back in standard tuning and Kirk is back to writing solos. I anxiously await their latest effort, but not without a tinge of apprehension. This, their 9th studio album, has the potential to make us love the band again (Metallica is the reason why I learned guitar), or it may be the final nail in the coffin for a band that while having an unparalleled catalog simply could not (or would not) keep their long-time fans coming back for more.
"To me the most boring thing in the world is safe, mainstream heavy metal...I'd rather listen to Madonna."
- Lars Ulrich
The public has been clamoring for updates and I have not been able to deliver due to some major personal developments (good ones). When I started this blog I made a promise to myself never to cross the line and write about things that happen in my 3-D life. I will not break that promise here. Those that know me are aware of the latest happenings and I want to thank all those who were involved in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your help, encouragement, support, and most importantly friendship.
This week one of my most beloved bands, Metallica, made a splash as it tried a foray into the world of online music. This seemed like a welcome departure from the Metallica of 2000, which had an angry Lars Ulrich appear in front of reporters and TV cameras and lambaste Shawn Fanning and Napster. This sadly misguided tirade ended up backfiring as it alienated many of the band's die-hard fans. It also made the band look hypocritical. Metallica was a local Bay Area band that grew into a mega-act because of its fans trading bootleg tapes of their shows and music. As a direct result of these 'pirates,' Metallica earned a fiercely loyal following that ended up launching the band to the summit of Mt. Olympus of metal music.
As it turns out, many former fans have still not gotten over Napster-gate and made it apparent in the comments to Wired's coverage of Mission: Metallica. The comments were so overwhelmingly negative against the band that it lead Wired to write a second piece about how sour the Metallica fans still are. The article's main focus is on Napster and how it tarnished the reputation of a once-great band.
I, however, submit that most of this griping about Metallica has nothing to do with Napster (at least not anymore). Had the band produced anything worth listening to, anything that was worth the title of 'Metallica record' in the past 8 years we would have all happily forgiven and forgotten. But the sad fact of the matter is that Metallica is not the same band that we fell in love with, and these diatribes against its online offering is a reflection of just that.
Metallica lost its edge and when they decided to take Bob Rock on as producer of their first mainstream hit Metallica (The Black Album). Rock was the man behind the boards for bands like Skid Row and Bon Jovi, bands that pioneered the very type of music that Metallica and its fans were rebelling against. While Richie and Jon and Sebastian Bach were running around on stage wearing lipstick and teased out hair, the boys from San Fran were on stage, kicking ass in black jeans and t-shirts while blasting out epic, thrashy riffs and face-melting solos.
While the Black Album gained Metallica a wider, more popular appeal (22 million copies sold worldwide), Metallica lost its core following and are still struggling to win it back. Releasing a down-tuned, tin-can popping, solo-less mess known as St. Anger did not do the band any favors. Their latest effort slated for a September '08 release, on paper, looks like a return to the Metallica of old. Taking over for Bob Rock is legendary producer Rick Rubin (Danzig, Slayer, System of a Down). The songs are back in standard tuning and Kirk is back to writing solos. I anxiously await their latest effort, but not without a tinge of apprehension. This, their 9th studio album, has the potential to make us love the band again (Metallica is the reason why I learned guitar), or it may be the final nail in the coffin for a band that while having an unparalleled catalog simply could not (or would not) keep their long-time fans coming back for more.
"To me the most boring thing in the world is safe, mainstream heavy metal...I'd rather listen to Madonna."
- Lars Ulrich
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