Saturday, August 30, 2008

Soil & “Pimp” – Death Jazz From Japan



SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS are a six person Japanese Jazz outfit consisting of Shacho (agitator, spirit), Tabu zombie (trumpet), Motoharu (sax), Josei (piano), Akita Goldman (bass) and Midorin (drums). They preform their own intense brand of alternative, aggressive jazz they call “Death Jazz”.

Friday, August 29, 2008

What if I had 100 Million

For a long time while I was in college, I asked what I'd do with the money I make later in life. I didn't really have an answer other than to buy a dope house. Lately, I figured what that would be.

I will invest in a record label, game studio, and high-end fashion label/brand.
Specifically, the bands will promote my clothing label and the music game will be based on the bands and their music. I love synergy, collaborations, and building legos.

Tell me if I'm wrong but I seriously believe in a tipping point in one's career where things become easier and easier based on your resources and/or skills you accumulate. It's kind of like a huge poker game except that there is no such thing as buy-in and most players start off at the table scrapping for as many chips as possible to create their playground.

Actions speak louder than words.


Growing older allows you to realize who people really are behind everything you think they are.

It's scary because in most cases what you think they are is most ideal. And the reality is that over time they aren't and you either face the truth or continue to blind yourself in your own biases.

Actions speak louder than words. Its so simple, nobody is perfect.

Chinese Cab Drivers


Random facts to keep me in my seat and working:

* Cab drivers in Beijing make 2000-3000RMB per month

* Cab drivers take 15 days off a month

* Two cab drivers alternate between 24 hour-long shifts

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A new demo track

I made a new demo track with my guitar and trusty drum machine around a month ago. The plan was to spend a few more days to mix it properly and maybe do a few re-recordings here and there to polish it up, but it's looking less and less likely that will happen in the near future. So here it is until I get around to that.

Click Here

For those who are interested, the track was created using the Line6 Riffworks software and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. It took me two days: 6+ hours on day one to do the recording and 6+ hours on day two to do the mixing. So yeah, that explains why it needs work.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Pics from Olympic Events

USA vs. France


Japan vs. Korea


Yao and Lebron

Beijing Olympics 2008

So the 2008 Olympics are finally at an end. A cool US$45billion spent on the event, worth it?


A quarter of the budget was spent on the Birds Nest, Water cube, Airport, Olympic village and other venues. The rest of the budget on upgrading city infrastructure such as communication, transportation, support, and technology. Many of which I presume would happen sooner or later and sped up due to the event.

I'm under the impression the money was well spent. It was an extravagant party for sure, but sometimes it's necessary to flaunt and celebrate when you can afford it :D
Aside from minor misdemaneours like Tibet and the pre-recording of the Opening Ceremony girl singing (how is that a problem?) China showed the world how far they've come and what they are capable of. The entire event was like an excuse to host a lavish party and mingle with the world. And any president with a little bit of brains was smart enough to make attendance.
Throughout the process, China grew and its people received plenty of international exposure and respect in return. You can't buy some of those things with money.


Now ain't I glad to have moved here at the right time to enjoy this upgrade.

Monday, August 18, 2008

The Hong Kong MTR (subway station) is by far the best subway network I've come across in my travels. It's clean, safe, uniform, and incredibly well maintained over the years. They demonstrate how a subway operation should be run.

We don't realize what cards we've been dealt until you look outside.

+++ Hotel Costes vol.11 +++

Monday, August 11, 2008

Beardyman

I actually wanted to talk about the insane Beijing Olympics opening ceremony...but maybe in my next post. Below is probably the smartest human beatbox I've seen.

The Wave of Downloadable Console Games..

PixelJunk: Eden, one of the few online download-able games at the PlayStation PS3 store, makes me feel like I should still be in games. I'm not going to bother explaining how the game works because it's not going to make sense, but it's definitely worth the 12USD when you're hanging out on the couch with two other buddies (3 Player Co-op!!!).

As a 'casual gamer' & developer, I feel like this is where the small guys can make big waves. Other interesting titles include 'flOw' and 'Everyday Shooter' (or 'Braid' on Xbox Live Arcade). I still swear by Harmotion along with these gems.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Inline with the Beijing Olympics ceremony today, here is a short BBC feature by the masterminds of Gorillaz (Damon Alburn & Jamie Hewlett).

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Janelle Monae

If you're looking for something new to listen to...

Janelle sounds like a female Gnarls Barkley

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The Chinese Internet Gold Mine

I hate writing business plans. Writing a business plan is equivalent to having a proper technical design document of an entire software project scoped out. You need to spell out the entire venture and chances are that in execution nothing will go as planned.

So while I plough through my own business plan, I thought I'd share some of my research about the Chinese internet:

- As of June 2008, China has the most netizens in the world. This is around 18% of 1.3billion people compared to second place; the United States has 223.1M netizens which is around 71% penetration.

- Research firm BDA China Ltd. estimates that China’s online population will keep growing by 18 percent annually - a modest estimation, considering that this growth was 56% this year - and reach 490 million by 2012.

- According to a report by professors at HKUST, they expect the Chinese economy to surpass that of the U.S in purchasing power terms between 2012 and 2015; by 2025, China is likely the world’s largest economic power by any measure.

- Survey of 16-25 year olds:
I live some of my life online: CN 86%, US 42%
Online is as real as offline: CN 37%, US 16%
I have a parallel life online: CN 61%, US 13%
The Internet helps me make friends: CN 77%, US 30%

Sorry, I hate sourcing, but i'll send them to you if you ask. Now back to my business plan...

Monday, August 04, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympics Mascot

In a move towards getting my blog banned in China (where it already does every once so often), I'm going to hate on the olympic mascot today. Well, I'm open to comments (especially if you can change my mind about them), but my honest opinion is that they are ugly. Period.

I like the Olympics logo, but the mascot just doesn't quite cut it. It's as if they had hired me to be their character artist. And even so, I would have been smart enough to outsource it to someone who can do a better job. Characters like those can only bubble up the chain when people either don't care, have bad taste, or are corrupt.

Macau

I was in Macau with my family last week. We went to see team USA basketball take Turkey apart at the Venetian.

From January through November 2006, Macau casinos took in $6.485 billion from slots and table games, beating the Vegas' $6.079 billion, according to Macau's Statistics and Census Service and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Although I still have my doubts about truth of those numbers, its surprising to know that gambling revenue of Macau has already surpassed that of Las Vegas. That automatically makes Macau the ultimate future destination of sin.