Category: General

It’s been a week now since we’ve arrived in Warsaw. Slowly getting to know the city, at least where things are, but the whyof city I think will take quite some time… It’s a curious place, ugly in many ways, yet that ugliness is also its beauty as well. We were having lunch and Lisa mentioned “caricature” and I think that touches on it, but there’s also more to it…

I was listening to George Crumb’s music while walking today and felt while walking and looking out at the city it started to make sense, but that it was bez sensu, without sense. That the logic of the city is it is without logic. The history of Warsaw is rich with highs and abject lows, so many different streams of historical events touching on many different aspects of life, and so much of that is present all at this very time it seems. A place where many difficult questions must have been asked…

I have been completely engaged by “Morton Feldman Says”. Reading felman’s conversations always brings out serious thinking, even in the laughter. Some things I read today touched on and brought out many thoughts I had been wanting to write about for some time.

One aspect of modern day music which is rather curious is the hiding of how one creates their work(at least in the computer music world this seems to be a trend), as if revealing the technique would unlock some mystery of the music, that the quality of the music is a result of the technique and not anything else. With older published music you can see everything, all the notes, notation, everything. One can analyze and see how it was all made and then you get to the point of “why does this work?”, or “why these choices?”. Then it gets interesting…

Technique in itself isn’t so interesting I think, it’s seems to be more a matter of the choices made.

There was another interview where Feldman is talking about Cage (I think it’s the “Here Comes Everybody” interview) and how much focus and energy he spent in making his pieces. Feldman often talks to about focus and how important it is. For me, I’ve had the thought lately that what you bring to the table when you do your work, your seriousness, focus, character, everything, when you go to do your work it all shows through, and that sometimes that matters more to the work than any technical concerns…

It’s now been two days since we’ve arrived in Warsaw. The first day was a bit of a blur since we flew overnight and slept very little, arrived to happily see all our bags arrived too (last summer we were not so lucky on our way to Krakow, but did have a layover in Chicago that time), made our way to our temporary place at a dorm/hotel, then wandered around the city a bit before meeting the real estate agent and the landlady to see the apartment we are wanting to rent. I was so tired that at times while we were just sitting I was passing out (if you are in Warsaw and saw a tall Korean guy passed out by the Stary MIasto, yes, that was me ^_^).

We ended up sleeping a lot last night which was very necessary, though we did make time to watch the end of regulation and the overtime session of the Germany-Italy World Cup game (very exciting!).

Today we explored the city a little more. When I was here four years ago it was only for a day and it was a whirlwind tour; I remember it being an ugly city and in some ways it is with its strange mix of architecture, but today wandering around I see that it is also very beautiful too, and maybe because of its strange mix of architecture. The city was warm today and felt serenely quiet; I think it will be a very good place to spend time thinking and working on music… I feel that I am only at the very beginning of getting to know this city and its people, but I am looking forward to it very much.

Now the France-Portugal game is starting, I have my copy of Morton Feldman Says that I picked up at St. Marks Bookshop before leaving New York (I had waited a month for Amazon to deliver it but it was always on wait, so I was very glad it was available at St. Marks, and so far am enjoying it very much; a very beautifully laid out book, the photos are fantastic, and of course its Feldman!), and some coffee from an instant coffee machine. Off to enjoy the evening!

We’ve been in New York now for a couple of nights… after Tai-Chi camp ended on Friday we did just a little bit of work that night, but then we managed in three days, one day each, to:

• Pack Our Entire Apartment
• Move Our Belongings to Storage
• Clean up the Apartment

The experience was exhausting; on Saturday we packed until 3:00AM, slept two and half hours, then woke up again at 5:30AM to continue packing. We left around 8:00AM to get coffee, then I went on to rent a truck and pick up a friend while Lisa went back to continue packing. My friend and I got the apartment, picked up our digital piano, went to his place and reassembled it for him to take care of, then back to the apartment. There, two other friends met up and we all moved everything for the next two hours. Lisa and I then drove to Santa Rosa to put everything in storage, came back, and then did a little cleaning before heading to our friend’s place to stay the night. We weren’t able to sleep too much as we had to return the truck very early in the morning, so after that we got some breakfast and then proceeded to clean the apartment for the rest of the day until we had to stop to get dinner with some friends.

The following Tuesday we took care of last minute things in SF, including a last brief period of cleaning and throwing away stuff, then finished off the experience with a nice trip to Kabuki Spa to finally use a gift certificate Lisa had given me a couple years ago as a present. (The trip to the spa was absolutely fantastic and incredibly welcome in relieving the exhaustion of the previous nights).

A very nice dinner that night with our friends who were letting us stay with them, a final trip to Bob’s Doughnuts, and then a movie to finish out the night.

The following morning, a small bit of last minute checking up on things, then a minute fiasco with getting picked up for the airport, but then we were on our way. We had been so busy the past six weeks that I don’t think it even sunk in for me until that morning that yes, we were going to be in New York, that five days later we’d be in Warsaw, then after that would be living there for almost a year.

So now, just taking in the city, walking around amongst a landscape of memories of a previous life here, finding myself detached but curious, life still a bit of a dream but very happy to enjoy the time with my brother, cousin, and dear friends from New York.

Today starts my last week at work at Eveo… I’ve been working here almost 3.5 years and this has been the only job I’ve had since moving to San Francisco, and so looking back at my time here in SF I associate a great deal of it with the experiences of this job. I had thought the other day that as workers we spend a great deal of our time together, and so all the more reason that it is so lucky that I have had the chance to work with a really great group of people that I can consider my dear friends.

Farewell Dinner

Thursday last week, my company put together a farewell dinner for me at a very nice restaurant Bocce in North Beach. The food was delicious and the company fantastic; a very warm night with good conversation and many meaningful words spoken. At the end of dinner, my friends surprised me with a present: a Creative Vision:M portable mp3/photo/video player! My friend Alex organized the purchasing of the present and knew just the one to get. (After all these years it’s my first mp3 player!). I was very touched by the present and it has been just fantastic.

After dinner, most of moved on to a bar, then on to a private karaoke room. We spent the rest of the night singing away our favorite tunes. ^_^ It was as nice a celebration as I’ve ever had, and one which I will remember very fondly.

Endless Lunch in the Park

On Sunday, Corinne, Mike, Alex, Nick and I got together with our signficant others at Golden Gate Park for a Barbecue. Beer, food, and playing a lot of hacky sack made for a nice, long get together of friends. The day was overcast and a bit chilly, but the company was warm and the hours spent seemed all too short, or perhaps just not enough.

While walking from the park at the end of our time there, I wondered to myself why we hadn’t been doing this before? It really was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday. I guess it’s only now that the time of year is amenable to such excursions, but I guess it wasn’t just a matter of getting together at the park but simply just getting together.

I’ll miss my friends here very much and will value spending the time with them that I can until we leave for Warsaw. I know already that this group of people will likely never again all work together, so am grateful for the time that this brief part of our individual histories came together. I am sure too that there will be another “Endless Lunch” ahead when Lisa and I return from Warsaw, and will be looking forward to again seeing my friends.

Today at lunch we sat at the park by Levi’s Plaza and there I sat looking up at the trees, the leaves gently moving about in the wind.  Since the first time I was in Poland it’s been one of my most favorite experiences in life, to look up at trees and watching the leaves, whether it is during the day or at dusk or dawn when it is only silhouettes one sees.

Sitting there today, looking up, the thought came across my mind that if the rest of my days were spent simply looking up at the trees, fascinated by and appreciative of these beautiful gestures, it would have been a life well lived…

I found a wonderful video of Lutoslawski conducting the London Sinfonietta in the performance of his Chain I. Fantastic!

If anyone knows where I can download or purchase a copy of this, please do let me know.

A few years ago, our friend Therese from Tai-Chi Class invited us out to watch the KFOG Kaboom, a fantastic fireworks show put on by the KFOG radio station every year that they organize and sync up to a 20 minute long medley of rock music. I had never really been too much a fan of fireworks as they always seemed somewhat… wasteful(I still have some reservations about it all…). But I have to say that that evening, listening to the music, the fireworks in sync, us out on one of the piers, the fireworks so close and so well done, they truly were a fantastic spectacle.

Last year we had forgotten it was happening, much like this year, and both then and tonight, sitting in our apartment and hearing the thunderous noise, Lisa and I opened our blinds to see the fireworks in the near distance, a great view straight from our apartment window. We turned on the radio and tuned into KFOG, watched the fireworks and listening to the music: a strangely beautiful dance of lights against the night sky.

It’s been a few weeks now since the Alumni Concert and now that things have settled back down for me I realized I had not spent time to reflect on the concert…

The Alumni Concert at the University of Georgia was such a nice event. It was a real joy to see so many old friends whom were fellow students when I was there at the University, getting to catch up with them in both their lives and in their music. I saw a few old Professors there as well and was very glad to reconnect with them. I was very happy to be able o share my piece at this concert with my friends and professors as well the rest of the audience.
I think that it’s a real credit to my old professor, Dr. Leonard V. Ball, that he put in so much effort to put on such a great concert, and perhaps more importantly that he has had so many students who have gone on to explore many different interests in electronic music. I think it wasn’t only techniques he taught(though he does this very well), but also a sense of exploration that we all took with us when we left that school, and that I think is so much more important.

All in all it was a very warm and positive experience to be back in Athens with this fine group of people. I only hope that we will all be able to see each other more often in the future.

^_^

Today, Lisa and I rented a car and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County to visit Muir Woods National Park. It was hard to believe that we’ve lived here a few years now and that we haven’t gone to explore such a beautiful placeuntil today.
Overcast but seemingly appropriate, we travelled to Marin listening to Feist, driving up and down windy streets until finding the park. Once inside we attended the free Ecology talk, learning all about the Redwood trees and why they grow so specifically to the coastal area, and how they are able to gather water from the fog. The park has a few signs along the main trail with information as well as numbered signs that corresponded to the guide map we received, and was all very informative.

We walked along the main path which followed along a creek until we got down to bridge number 4, where after we crossed and headed back towards the entrance via the Hillside Path. The experience of being within the woods was truly astonishing. The air was incredibly rich and fresh, filled with a sort of tangible energy, and every breath seemed to vitalize the mind, the body, and the spirit. The Redwoods, having been there hundreds of years, felt timeless and serene as we walked amongst them. The sounds of the water were soothing and delightful as we hiked along the paths.

It was such a peaceful time there, hiking around together, smiling away, connected with each other and with the forest…

Leaving the park, we drove back to San Francisco listening to Mamoru Fujieda’s Patterns of Plants which was perfect for the return trip. The time in Muir Woods left a very deep impression and I was very much inspired. As we walked through the forest today, many sounds real and imagined went through my mind and I felt deeply moved to begin working on a new piece of music. I am sure that the experiences from today will stay with me for quite some time; I am looking forward to the next time we can find our way back to the forest and to the mountains…

Last week Thursday I finished up my piece Etude. It will premiere at the University of Georgia Alumni Concert on April 5th so I will publish it on the web after that is completed. It’s been a long a process–almost a year, off and on–in creating this work. It’s also a bit strange too to be finished, to have spent all that time and focus on the piece and to now be without that weight, now wondering what to work on next…

I’ve been a bit low in energy since finishing the piece. I guess I’m catching up on sleep from all the late nights I spent the past year and especially the last six weeks. I’m beginning to get back to working now on music and programming as well as balancing out my time a bit more for things I put to the side while in that last stretch of work to finish working on Etude. The weather should bring some sun tomorrow and I am looking forward to that, and hopefully this sense of exhaustion will melt away and my attention will be focused again on new work.

Next week will be the premiere and I am looking very forward to heading off to Georgia for that and also to see my parents and old friends. I’ve been listening to the piece every day since finishing and find I am still pleased with how it has turned out and take that as a good sign, and am looking forward to sharing the piece after the premiere.