January 2003 Archives

One of the things that I am trying to do these days is to try to record myself playing piano and singing. So, I bought a relatively cheap digital 4-track recorder/mixer, a microphone with a stand.

Frankly, I've never recorded myself playing piano. I think I might have recorded my voice, but that was a long, a very long time ago. So, I didn't actually realize how bad I was. I mean, I thought I sounded pretty good when I was playing piano by myself (and singing sometimes).

Since I was recording for the first time, I picked a tune that I was quite comfortable with (or so I thought). So, press "record" and happily I finish playing the tune. Okay, so let's hear what it sounds like. And then what I hear is this uneven tempo thingy without much regard for dynamics. :p

I... just... couldn't... listen... to... myself... It was very disappointing. I mean, I haven't practiced for a while, so definitely I need practice, but I realized that I must have been deluding myself all these times. :)

Anyway, I am off the piano and recording for a while. I learned that it requires quite a bit of more practices for recording and that hearing myself recorded will help me (eventually) get better at piano.

I just can't help but think that if the current Bush Administration is doing much harm to the U.S.'s overall power than good. By "power", I mean the power to influence others and convince them of one's own agenda.

It is undeniable that the U.S.'s hard power (or direct power, such as military or economy) is unmatched by any other countries now. Its military dominance will probably continue for a while (the only weakness about the U.S.'s military power is its own people, public opinions). And its economy as a hard power is as strong as its military. The U.S. still has most of the influential capitals and businesses of the world. Not only those, it also has one of the largest, most sophisticated markets in the world. Maybe, China will be and probably become the only real contender to the U.S.'s economic dominance. These are what makes others to regard the U.S. as a "bully", but so far, the bully's other sides have kept it under control.

However, the U.S.'s soft power seems to be diminishing recently. It probably peaked right after the World War II, but it has been slowly decaying (just like any other things) ever since. And in recent years, with the bubbles of the New Economy popped and with many corporate scandals, the other's perception of the American Dream and the American capitalism is becoming more realistic and less awe-inspiring.

And as the commercialization of everything has been accelerating in the U.S., the influence of the American culture seems to have become less. This mass-market-driven commercialization inevitably accompanies the "banalization" [my term] of the culture. That is, to appeal to broader audience (which means to be "efficient", "cost effective" and in "the economy of scale"), one has to appeal to more basic, "lower" common denominators. What was once regarded as "high culture" in the developing and 3rd countries, it becomes just some trendy cheap stuff as they get exposed to more variety.

And so far in the current administration, there has been several incidents where our ideals of democracy, equality, liberty and human rights have been shattered, even within the U.S. soils. After the 9-11, anywhere can be a battle field and the Bush/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft would believe that anything can be compromised. We hear about several U.S. citizens held in military facility without legal representation. We hear about some legal aliens held in prison for following what was asked of them. All this will just make the others think that the American ideals are nothing but fragile illusions that we ourselves will be ready throw away at a moment's notice. This makes it harder for others to believe that following the American way of life is the thing to do.

Anyway, as Mr. Nye noted, the U.S. cannot maintain the dominance in hard power forever. There will come a time when we have to rely on the accumulated soft power to make our interests heard by others. I just can't help but think that the current administration isn't helping at all.

A couple of days ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about the New Year's Resolutions and things each wants to do most in life. As I was comparing things with my friend's and also with those things I wanted to do long time ago (like in or before college), I noticed that there had been some changes to the mixture of my wishes.

It seems most of my previous "wishes" can be classified as one-time, or short-term projects, such as traveling to a particular location in the world, seeing a certain museum, an artwork, etc.

However, that kind of wishes no longer interests me that much. These days, it seems I am more incline to say that I would love to learn a new language, to play piano better, or to try my luck in cooking. That is, I seem to go for more mundane, but more lasting ("long-term") projects. If I go to some foreign countries, it would be more for a longer term, like a year or so and do something there.

Am I getting old? Maybe I am not getting much satisfaction from just doing something that would soon be forgotten mostly. Am I getting lazy? Maybe, but learning something is not that easy either, so maybe not. I guess I am getting a bit realistic (or better at calculating costs and benefits :p)

Anyway, I just thought that it was interesting to realize the changes in me.