new update: piano journal

the DMV needs an express checkout line

I went to the DMV on Wednesday to pick up my vehicle tag. Guess how long that took? Over two hours. The place was packed and had to stand and wait for most of it. It would’ve been nice had they told me a few weeks back, when I applied for a new driver’s license and vehicle tag, that I would need an appointment to pick up my vehicle tag and avoid the long lines. I now know why going to the DMV is such an ordeal for many (I haven’t been to the DMV since I was 16) and I look around and everyone there just looks pissed at the world for being there. Even though I reserved an appointment online for a new driver’ license, taking a written driving test, applying for a new vehicle tag/registration, these took around three to four hours to complete a few weeks back. And then picking up my vehicle tag took another two hours for a total of 6 hours.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the DMV had an express checkout line for people who don’t have much paperwork to fill out or to pick up their tags? Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, given that it’s not a for-profit business that would see the benefit of providing better customer service. Hopefully, it’ll be awhile before I need to make another trip to the DMV…by then, everything can be completed online?

Martha Argerich concert

Last Friday, I got to see one of my favorite pianists, Martha Argerich, perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It’s a concert that I’ve been anticipating for some time now considering that Martha Argerich rarely gives public performances and is sixty-seven years old and has been known to cancel concerts.

Ms. Argerich’s interpretation of the Ravel Piano Concerto was spot-on. Her playing was very crisp as she didn’t overindulge in pedaling. The piano was a newer Steinway and sounded bright, which I thought was perfect for an Impressionist piece such as this one. The second movement (Adagio assai) was particularly satisfying. At some point during the concert, I came to realize that Ravel really suits Ms. Argerich as she is widely known for her agility (see octave passsage in Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto-third movement, or listen to her Liszt Sonata in B minor from her debut recital CD) without sounding the least bit tense. She made playing the fast and difficult third movement seem so effortless. The audience gave her a standing ovation and she performed two encores (one’s a four-hand arrangement of Ravel’s “Mother Goose” and another one’s a solo piece that I believe is a Schumann piece?). All in all, it was an awesome concert.

One thing I can take away from this: Really work on finger legato instead of relying heavily on the pedal. The way to do that is to relax, pay attention to breathing (lack of oxygen causes fingers to be tense) and just play loose.

i hope I get the chance to hear Ms. Argerich perform again.

testing @paylessparking

testing @paylessparking

testing http://is.gd/RMQ

testing http://is.gd/RMQ

Just watched (listened) to Mar…

Just watched (listened) to Martha Argerich perform Ravel Piano Concerto and two encore pieces. I’m speechless.

the forbidden fruit

Historians believe that the “apple” that Adam ate from the book of Genesis of the Bible or Torah was actually a pomegranate. I could believe it since apples taste ok, but pomegranates are delicious. If you can look past what a pain it is to get the seeds (arils) out, it is a wonderful fruit. So wonderful that in fact, last November I saw an advertisement at a Von’s supermarket selling pomegranates for a buck each (it must be cheaper to ship here since I think many farmers grow pomegranates here). Back in Florida, I might see a deal that’s 2 for $4. So I literally bought 50 pomegranates during that span. I had read that pomegranates can be kept in the refrigerator for a month (some claimed 3 months) so I decided to stock up on. I’d knock out the seeds to 3 pomegranates and store them in tupperware. I’d eat the pomegranate seeds out of a cup, add it to ice cream, throw some on some greens, you name it. A few years ago, I made a Persian dish, pomegranate chicken stew that had pomegranate juice as one of its main ingredients. The pomegranates gave the dish a nice tartness. It’s pretty healthy too, since pomegranates have loads of antioxidants and vitamins.

As much as I liked eating the pomegranates, I couldn’t finish all 50 of them. So I put maybe 15 in the fridge. I forgot about the pomegranates for awhile and last week, decided to see if they’re still good. The outside of the pomegranates turned a bit brown but when I cut it open, I couldn’t tell from the insides that it’s been nearly 4 months! It tasted really sweet. Taste-wise, pomegranates rank up there on my short list of favorite fruits. But the fact that pomegranates don’t go bad even after nearly 4 months in the fridge, might just bump it to top of my list.

how to bail out our public schools

Our public school system is a complete disaster. Compared to other industrialized nations, our students’ math and reading skills are appallingly poor and people like to scapegoat things such as music programs, physical education, and sex ed, of all things! And the lack of money to fund our schools.

Is it really about not having enough money? While money is needed to fund curriculum changes, but that’s the end all, be all to solving this problem. I agree with this commentary and its stance on what it takes to fix our education system. First and foremost, we need to recruit and hire better teachers. I know this because I’ve had some really shitty teachers growing up (K-12). Some teachers believed that effective teaching meant popping a VHS title such as “Sword in the Stone”, “Mary Poppins”, or “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” on Friday afternoons, instead of teaching us something useful.

We also need to make sure that our schools have well-rounded curriculums by including sports, music, art, etc. Without a well-rounded education, students have no chance at developing their creativity. They could only think on two planes and not understand the multiplex nature of tough problems today.

A few weeks ago, a founder of charter schools in the L.A. area came to give a talk about the charter schools that he’s been involved with. What I got out of it is that the charter school model should be more widely adopted as it makes schools more accountable, can be autonomous in their decision making so that the most qualified teachers are hired and retained, and students feel like they have a purpose by attending school. He threw out some staggering figures, such as the percentage of high school students in Los Angeles who actually graduate high school. I forgot what that figure what, but it was shockingly low.

If I ever have kids some day, I don’t think I would send them to a public school the way it is right now. Parents should always want their kids to have something better, so that their kids can live a better life than they did, are smarter than them, etc. I don’t want my kids to be dumber than me I.

some thoughts on Startup.com

Just finished watching Startup.com, a documentary about an internet startup company that failed during the dot com era. One of their co-founders came to give a talk to our New Ventures class a few weeks ago, sharing some of the lessons learned from their venture. While this venture was launched nearly 10 years ago, when it was relatively easy to get venture capital funding, I feel that it is still very relevant to the current times, even when funding is difficult to come by. One of the key mistakes the team made was in overemphasizing the importance of raising funds over strategy and building the company. They viewed their investors as their customers, when their customers really were the government and those who got parking tickets. The guest speaker also noted that they should’ve brought in more experienced people earlier on, who knew how to manage and had some experience in the public/government sector. The personality dynamics as depicted in the documentary was rather interesting too and I kept thinking how difficult it is to find good partners that would function well, even when the going gets tough? How to manage the big ego’s?

studying for our last microeco…

studying for our last microecon quiz. That class is completely useless.

slept 1.5 hours on Monday and …

slept 1.5 hours on Monday and 10.5 hours last night. Makes you really value rest.

got late night craving for som…

got late night craving for some good bowl of pho. Haven’t had pho in a while. there’s a pho place nearby. planning on getting some ph …

KFC or soup and salad for dinn…

KFC or soup and salad for dinner? It’s ceasy that kfc can offer $3 meals now

The other day I blogged about …

The other day I blogged about my [preliminary] thoughts on the proposed stimulus package. I’m sure my views will change after I wake up …

Should I go back home for spri…

Should I go back home for spring break? Need to decide soon.