Last Thoughts of the Year December 31, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Christmas, Random, Weblog, WordPress.add a comment
This will be my last blog post of the year 2009. And, if it wasn’t for the WordPress App on my iPhone, I wouldn’t be able to submit and publish this last post because where I am I can’t use my laptop and there is no WiFi network or Internet access. This is all being done with my iPhone.
This has been an especially difficult year for many people, including myself. Much of my stress was work related, which is of course a blessing because I have a job (unlike many millions of people around the world). And, while it has been a difficult year, I have learned some valuable lessons and have seen people get back to the essentials of life.
One of the lessons is that you should be kind to everyone you come into contact with because you never know what they are going through. I know that when I’ve struggled this past year a kind word from a friend or coworker has really picked up my spirits and encouraged me. While I have not always done that myself (intentionally taking a minute to encourage someone with a kind word or action), I intend to make it a priority this coming year.
To state it in a more formal way, I resolve to be a kinder and more understanding person who takes time to help others and encourage everyone I come into contact with.
{Someone is knocking on the cabin door… I will be right back.}
Okay, it looks like I’ve just had my first test. Just as I finished writing my New Year’s resolution I had a neighbor stop by and ask me if he could “borrow” a roll of toilet paper. He and his friends are renting a cabin next door to my cabin and they ran out of toilet paper. So, as you might guess, I had a spare roll and gave him one. I even smiled and wished him and his friends a Happy New Year.
It’s nice to know that in this self-centered and self-absorbed age where everyone seems to be focused on their own happiness that we can still help each other.
I challenge you, dear reader, to look for opportunities to help someone, whether it be friend or stranger. It will make a difference for us all. And, you will be glad you did.
Good bye, 2009! Welcome to Earth, 2010!
Happy New Year, everyone! See you on the other side.
Reached a major mile stone on the road less traveled November 11, 2009
Posted by Matsu in History, Information Technology, News, Technology, Web, Weblog.add a comment
I am reaching the end of my fourth year blogging on WordPress.com and I just realized, or actually discovered, that this off-the-beaten-track blog site just reached a major accomplishment: over 100,000 page views (visits?). However you slice that statistic, it’s far more visitors than I expected, ever.
Granted, the past year I have not posted as often I had in the previous years. Life has just gotten too busy and keeping a digital presence with friends and family is accomplished with posts to Facebook and Twitter. But, now that I am less active, I have more followers than ever. In fact, I average about 120 visits per day. As you can see by the stats, my best day ever was only 1,000 hits, but that’s not bad for a guy that is on a less-traveled (and hard to find) road. It amazes me that the less active I am, and the more time that passes, the greater the number of hits to this site. I can’t say why that is, exactly. As far as I know, my mom is not running up the stats by visiting throughout the day hoping that I will have posted some new and fresh content.
Not that the number of visitors or page views matters, but at the current rate this site will reach 200,000 page views in only two years (half the amount of time it took to reach the first 100,000 visits/page views). I guess I should put something useful up here so people won’t regret dropping by from time to time.
If you are a new visitor to this blog site, welcome! And, if you are one of the readers that browse this way from time to time, thank you for your attention and interest in what I have to say. I hope that I have both amused you and informed you over the past several years. And, I hope to continue do that for several more years.
Smoke and mirrors September 22, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Fun, Photography, Random, Travel, Uncategorized.add a comment
Century Plaza Hotel in L.A.
During my recent visit to Los Angeles, I stayed at the Century Plaza Hotel. It was very nice. But, what I really liked was the view from the room that was randomly assigned to me for my visit. It was on the front side of the hotel facing, dead center, the uniquely architected (is that a word?) office building directly across the street. I couldn’t help but take some snap-shots of the view using my iPhone. The purpose of this blog post is to share those photos.
View from Century Plaza Hotel Balcony
The unique building across the street has a hole in it, literally. It’s hard to see if from the above image, but what you see through that hole is part of two other buildings. One of the things I really enjoyed about this room, in addition to the view, was the fountain seen in this photo. It helped to drown out (no pun intended) the city noises. The sound of the fountain was a little bit like the sounds you hear at the ocean. Or, it was as close as you might get to it in a metropolitan area like Century City.
View of buildings in L.A. at sunset
This wider-angle photo of the same view of the building across from my hotel room gives you a much better idea of how there are two separate buildings behind the building with the hole in it. To add to the strangeness, the two tall buildings behind are triangle shaped, not traditional buildings with four outside walls.
Yes, the hole is real. I’m not sure the thinking behind it, other than making it very unique, but there is no magic trick at play in these photos (no smoke or mirrors were used to produce these photos).
My stay was more pleasant because of the view and the sounds produced by the fountain. Oh, and the weather (65 F degrees at night), didn’t hurt, either.
The new phone books are here (or, I’m on the list) September 21, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Information Technology, Management, Random, Technology, Uncategorized.add a comment
Last week I attended the Midsize Enterprise Summit (MES) conference for CIO’s. This year it took place in Los Angeles, California. At that conference, which is made up of CIO’s from many different industries all across the United States, the organizers picked what they called the top 50 CIO’s. Well, today I found out the list was published on the Internet by Reuters news agency.
If you know me, you’ll see my name in the list. If you don’t know me, then you probably don’t care. I am really just posting this link so extended family, friends, and colleagues can know about it. I e-mailed a couple of people already but I don’t intend to e-mail anyone else about it. Obviously, this kind of thing would never happen if it were not for my staff. It is because of their hard work and dedication that we were included in the list. So, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank them for making this possible.
The title of this post? Yup, I took the inspiration from Steve Martin and his movie, The Jerk. Do you remember that funny scene when the new phone books arrive and he discovered his name is included? Well, that’s a little how I felt when I discovered the list was out and I was included.
Eroica: How I met Beethoven’s Third September 19, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Japan, Music, Random.1 comment so far
As I was saying, just before I took a break from my blog, Beethoven’s Third Symphony is by far my favorite of all of his symphonies. Why? I’m glad you asked. I want to tell you the story of how I fell in love with the Eroica Symphony.
Title Page of the Eroica Symphony
As some of you know, I grew up in Japan. I was born in America, but my parents took me to Japan when I was only about six months old. Being a native speaker of the English language had its advantages in a land where many of the young professionals aspire to learn to speak English. And, to the advantage of many teenagers in my day, most of the Japanese professionals who studied English had all of the book-learning they needed but they lacked the ability to properly pronounce English words. They needed help with their pronunciation. The best way to do that was to pay an American kid (at kid’s wages) to practice spoken English. So, at approximately $25 per hour, I worked a couple of hours a week with a thirty-something Japanese businessman who struggled to speak English in a way that American’s could understand.
From time to time, I was asked to record a reading of some book or manuscript (usually a presentation of some sort to be delivered at an international conference) so the “student” of mine could then play it over and over while practicing their own pronunciation of the text.
Cassette Tape (Side A)
One day, when I was about 16 years old, the person who I was giving English speaking lessons to asked me to read and record the play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. That particular play was a favorite of the person I was instructing at the time. And, as often happened, he provided me with a used cassette tape to use for the recording. I had done this many times before, so it all seemed very commonplace to me at that time.
A few days after getting the recording assignment I placed the used cassette tape into my tape recorder and rather than start recording right away, I hit the play button. I’m not sure if it was a matter of curiosity or just a habit from playing so many tapes (at that time all of my music mixes were on cassette tapes, so I was playing them all the time).
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
What surprised me was the sound of an orchestra playing something that I didn’t recognize. After just a few bars, I was hooked. I let it play all the way through, which meant that I listened to the entire first side (side A) and flipped it over to listen to the other side. As it played, I was mesmerized. It just got better and better as it played. And, if you know Beethoven’s Third, it ends strong. That ending really got to me. I took the tape out and made note of the handwritten label that read, “Eroica.”
After listening to the tape a couple more times, I decided to keep the old tape and recorded my reading of the Death of a Salesman on a new cassette tape (something the student didn’t mind since I exchanged a new tape for his old used one). And, that’s how I met Beethoven’s Third.
You must understand, as a teenager I was not “into” classical music. Sure, I’d heard various classical pieces and had even been to the Tokyo Philharmonic Symphony to hear them play (it was required, not my choice). But my preferred type of music at that age was totally contemporary. Some of my favorite bands at the time were bands like America, Genesis, Eagles, Chicago, Boston, and Moody Blues (isn’t it funny that bands took on American cities for their name?). Okay, Dan Sims, I’ll admit that I also had a Bread album or two, but I didn’t listen to them that much! I mostly listened to 70’s rock and roll. So, it was really surprising to me that I actually enjoyed this random piece of classical music.
I can’t explain it, but even to this day when I hear even just a part of Beethoven’s Third Symphony, my ears perk up and I recognize it. If you are not familiar with it, you can listen to the entire 3rd symphony on YouTube. The two embedded videos below are the two halves of the same symphony. If you only listen to one, you might choose the second half (though I really like the opening few bars of the first half – it grabs you with the first note and after that it’s just a wonderful ride). Enjoy!
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Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony – Part 1:
Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony – Part 2:
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