If you read this journal and are interested to seeing it publicly available, let me know: info (at) rezamusic (dot) com
10 Mar 2010 -
-
This is the kind of work I like to do -- to write a concert flier - not
to write court pleadings against lowlife dumbasses who have nothing better to do than bother other people.
- I absolutely hate using cellphones -- I feel the pain in my head which feels like shrinkwrap in a microwave.
- Dancing in the snow with Obladi, Penny Lane which is such a masterpiece.
- Culmination of the extreme project -- incredibly demanding.
-
Naturapath/homeopath fraud? 3 hour interview about her past led to her
getting a white powder in mail which is supposed to solve her problems!
9 Mar 2010 -
- Hundreds
slaughtered in Nigeria religious violence. Christians and Muslims are
still killing each other and Muslims are killing Muslims of a different
sect and humanity hasn't evolved psychologically except for a few. More
people need to get out of their shell of tribal mentality and dictates
of divisive thought.
- C. said he hates sledding -- he has a lot of patients injured in sledding accidents - much fewer than skiing incidents.
-
Great talk w/ Karen. She's amazing. And very generous. So is Jeff.
Their hearts and door is always open it seems. The early years of
a child are under-estimated in importance but they're the most
critical. A child learns to trust,
- M thinks the less school
the better -- to invest 1/2 the money in life enriching
experience like taking the kids to Europe to see their grandparents.
He thinks of school as a conveyor belt.
- Both E&K said the school is not so important but the teacher is.
-
Our parents bought a house near Raveshe No., the alternative
school based on ideas of Dr. Yamini-Sharif who was one of the leading
educational philosophers in the world, with ideas close to those of J.,
Krishnamurti, such as dangers of comparison in education. K
congratulated oneand said one was lucky to have gone to such a school.
- The main thing I dislike about living in California and most
of America is the size. Certain places like Manhattan is different but
most places are too big according to Haldane's theory which I agree
with "on being the right size".
-
Oak Grove School plays my CD as call waiting music -- it's cool -- they
wore out one CD after years of playing it and I sent a new one...
8 Mar 2010 -
-
This is a special day - I don't believe in day of this and day of that
as they're sometimes commercially promoted "boss's day" "secretaries
day" etc., but March 8 is a special day as it's the Woman's Day and
women have been suppressed throughout history by jealous, possessive,
chauvinist men. Even in Switzerland till 1970's women couldn't vote.
So, today is special. Talking about days, I wonder if birthdays have
significance actually -- if they are astrologically familiar time. I reminisced about berenjak - kafshe verniye barrag - shalvare
makhmale no - eid shopping done before birthday - excitement of coming
together - almost every kid in the class was invited - marjan and negar
spent the night every year - decorations - gifts - cake - play -
madness - love.
- Shazam is an amazing program. It recognized the amazing Beethoven piano
piece that permeated the being for hours after hearing it in the bus.
-
Phil Maynes is a fantastic songwriter and a killer musician. I remember the
Ovation he bought when he was 16 or so walking down Sunset road. It
came in post. He bought it with his salary as a paper-boy. I remembered his sign though I'm not into astrology.
- Rice & lentils give body joy. So does walking.
- When a hatred driven person learns to respect you, not by force, but out of understanding, there is hope for the world.
- Heard a new word today: 'thugocracy' which happens when fanatics have power.
-
He is a very capable musician but like many who get so sucked into
exotic cultures, that obsession has overtaken music. African music in
ice cold center of Europe was so unnatural, and it was boring. I love
some African music but this dingy flute improvisation with
uninteresting sounding little drums was not my cup of tea.
-
It's a pity that lyrics are sometimes written in bad grammer to comply
with the illiterate. A lyricist has a responsibility at least to those
learning the language to speak correctly. "we was" is flat out wrong
and off.
- She wondered if I'm not mad at X - of course not -
I don't hold things against people - I try to see people for the first
time every time - and if there is an issue, if I care for somebody (or
have to care for work or professional relationship) I talk to them
about it and work it out, and if I don't [care for them], they can go
to hell.
Mar 2010 -
-
The snow was making love to the Earth today. At the end it had a
climax of beauty -- huge pieces of snow, the size of ping-pong balls
danced down the sky smiling in their tender moves. They completely
overtook the earth & sky. Later the slowed, became smaller, and
gradually dissipated into eternity. Blue sky came.
- It's amazing how much work goes into preparation for a performance.
And working double-full-time it seems due to the extreme demands
of this project, the system is maxed out.
-
She laughed with the two guys and one became obsessed with her. It's
the sick world we live in. Some women same way, when a man is friendly
they imagine that he wants to sleep with them and when he doesn't they
get disappointed. And guys specially are so bad at getting hints and
interpret everything the way they want to hear it. For example girl
saying "I have a boyfriend, I'm not interested" gets interpreted as
"she's not interested b/c she has a boyfriend"! Directness and clarity
always works best - any ambiguity is used in favor of illusions.
-
He is 20 - young and short but with an awake heart and mind - another
internet addict - eats bread and bananas for food - loved the spider
catcher - "you were singing - it was very good - it was very good" :) [lg]
- Ulrich said storytelling weekend is big so I shifter the plan.
-
7 day old baby was crying, mother was puzzled - it was clear to
me why: he was too hot. She opened the zipper and he stopped crying :)
- Village kid was getting car sick even on a 10 minute ride for first years of her life. From unter- to ober- boez.
-
Oh my God, Serra is 30! I still think she's 16. She's teaching first
grade at a hispanic school. Gotto spread the perfume around. I never
forget her mom's speech at the same school she's a principle of, Oak
Grove School, when Serra was a student there.
- He was caught
napping in the barn again instead of working. He dropped the
walki talki and quit his job. He's done it before - to leave
everything behind.
- Dave Anter is really cool. Guitar, amp, percussion, friendship.
- Amir Ghoreishi is so cool and an amazing dentist.
3 Mar 2010 - US vs. Swiss customer service (again)
-
World of difference between American customer service and Swiss. In
Swiss returning an item is as bad as committing a crime. She bought
something - same day, with receipt, she was shy to return it "she will
remember me" [as some sort of criminal for having returned this]. I
took it there and returned it without a problem. It's often not without
a problem to return things here.
- Planetwave guy (in US) said: you bought it so I want to make sure you're happy. World of difference.
2 Mar 2010 -
-
Many people, specially the young, take their happiness and health for
granted. But some who have known the pain of not having happiness and
health, some who have dived deep into the swamps of sorrow, do not
forsake happiness and health when they have it. Their numbers are few.
Those who give real importance to healing, to balance.
-
This is an environmental disaster: heard Tehran had 1 hour of snow the
entire winter and it immediately melted. It used to snow for days at a
time and stay heavily. Poor planet.
-
Dr. T told dad R is such an affectionate person, to hear his name makes
him happy. They washed the family cemetery. Funny he watched program of
guy who went to Rasht and Masooleh, and i also dreamed about Masoule.
-
Fender Amp Can weighs 6 kilos. Crate TX15 Taxi is 9 kilos. Both are 15
watts. Crate is 8 inch woofer, Fender 6. It's a pity Fender doesn't
make the ampcan anymore (since Aug 2008).
- Since Starbucks took over the Dedrich shops they killed the live music that Dedrich sometimes hosted.
- Chris White -- missing in action -- Blake will do some investigation.
-
Talked to Rowan - she's teaching yoga which seems to be the default
profession in Ojai -- there are more massage therapists and yoga
teachers there per capita than anywhere in the world.
- Niki is so loving -- every sentence of hers is filled with adoration and love. I was surprised she knew my birthday.
- Shadi told Tara story of Ramin's Dayee Farhad bringing him a violin. So both kids want a violin now.
1 Mar 2010 -
-
Grabbed the wild bull by the horns and tamed the sucker. It was
important to exclude extra bodies and streamline decision making to
only those who count.
- California kids saw snow and were amazed.
- S. has a nice offer for gig.
28 Feb 2010 -
-
In this country young discontented people are quickly put on
medications and it often screws them up. She looked awful - pale -
sleeps 3 hour nights - 9 subjects at school she's buried under... she
wants to stop to medications.
- Many young musicians are
technically good and have good musical ideas but the culture is not
there - the richness and maturity of an enriched life and travel and so
on, is not there -- one can transmit this to another by working very
close with someone.
- She had one bad experience and wants to
close the door to something that can help her. It's her call. Not the
first time that something helpful is ruined by an incompetent
practitioner. `
27 Feb 2010 -
- Talk to Ellen & Jeff and Michael & Brianna & Abby, Chris (msg).
- The aggressive brutal music many youngsters listen to effects them in a wrong way.
-
3 feet of snow in Upstate New York. Spring weather in Switzerland.
Lorenzo the Marouni man's business was slow. People don't want to think
of warm chestnuts when the weather is warm - it's too reminiscent of
the snow.
- These rude Peruvian bands come to the center of
the city, break all the rules, don't get a permit, use very loud
amplification, and the police did nothing about them (till later). I
could hear them all the way from the clock tower to the station.
- Received multiple invitations for accommodations.
- T&R both want violins and colorful balls.
-
Christa said you and I were like brother and sisters and I always have
a special place in her heart. Too bad she can't come because her dad is
ill.
- Why is so many of Mozart's pieces so cheesy and boring like much of French pop music?
27 Feb 2010 - SEC finally makes a move in the right direction
- http://sec.gov/rules/final/2010/34-61595.pdf - Better late than never. Better little than none. It's got a long way to go to tie up the hands of market manipulators.
26 Feb 2010 - Swisscom subsidiary caught
Source: Swissinfo.ch
http://sec.gov/rules/final/2010/34-61595.pdf
An
Italian subsidiary of Swiss telecommunications firm Swisscom has been
caught up in a tax fraud and money laundering investigation with
alleged mafia links.
However, the suspected fraud ring does not
end with Fastweb and Telecom Italia. Prosecutors have talked about a
string of fictional companies and law firms being set in numerous
countries and the involvement of Swiss banks in laundering the
ill-gotten gains.
24 Feb 2010 -
-
Got Assad brothers' Latin American music for two guitars for 5 francs
(1/7th of original price). I don't like the sound. It's got that ugly
chemical studio reverb which is good for pop music but kills classical
guitars. And Piazzolla is boring as ever. I can't even handle listening
to Piazzolla except maybe one of his works. The other pieces on the CD,
some great ones, are destroyed by the cellophane sounding reverb.
-
"In the second half of 2009, the number of spam messages sent per day
skyrocketed from 600 million to three billion, according to new
research."
-
GM to end Hummer after sale to Chinese buyer fails. Good news. Those
gas-guzzlers are a culmination of stupidity and irresponsibility.
-
Most senior analyst guy was trying hard to explain something that
sounded so complex and confusing. I said, are you saying what happens
if X logs and incident and it's ignored and he needs to escalate it
what he needs to do? He: yes! Mind can get itself so
tangled in complexity. It's a virtue to see things simply.
21 Feb 2010 -
-
Tara is in my heart -- god, it's been 6 years since she came back to
us. She wanted to skype instead of phone and we had a wonderful
one-on-one and shared good stories and laughters. Rusteen was busy
playing with chalk and when she went to call him he was onto dirt so
one hand had chalk on it and one in soil.
20 Feb 2010 -
-
Amazingly fulfilling performance. Sharing, power of good music, being
one mind and one heart with the listeners, their contribution, our very
strong repertoire, almost everyone knew almost every song, even a
youngster who hadn't heard an old song said cool. Those who like
everything you play. They trust your choice of songs and listen to even
things they don't know because of that trust and dig it. I
can tell immediately when a person is a Beatles fan. The honor to
perform the great work of genius musical mind of
lennon-mccartney(+martin), the great spirit was there, it filled
the room, it touched everybody deep in their hearts.
The policeman in the bus: I love your CD – it’s peaceful
& relaxing.
Angie did really well -- she was right there with her bass: solid and musical, and she sang her parts well.
"you're a good performer"
20 Feb 2010 -
- Another one bites the dust. Jecklin closed its CD shop. Bought several CD's -- top class, 38 fc CD's for 5 or 10 fcs.
- Didgeridoo is not a musical instrument. It's a sound-making instrument.
- Most of Jobim's music I don't like.
- Listened to 100 CD's and bought 10. Bought another 4 yesterday.
-
Asked her if she’s Andrea’s mother. I was sure though I’d never met her
before. Her face was a copy of Andreas’. Sure enough, she was :-)
19 Feb 2010 -
- Finally some good news coming out with Taliban asses getting kicked.
-
Tiger Woods did a well-staged apology. It didn't cut it. It appeared
insincere and that he only is sorry because he was caught and lost his
sponsors.
And he's taking therapy, treatment which also sounds superficial. At
least he had the character to apologize when caught, some idiots don't
even have that much character and think not admitting to mistakes is
strength -- no, it's stupidity. There is not much glory in being
insincerely sorry
after you're caught if you would have continued with the wrong action
if you hadn't been caught. But it's better than nothing. What I read
between his lines was, his main goal is to get his corporate sponsors
"business partners" back, and lines like: I don't know when I'll return
to golf but I don't rules out it will be this year. Ok, got it,
planting seed with the sponsors.
18 Feb 2010 -
Dr. Tek "Hi Tek" -- PhD in CS - said hardest part is to understand what the customer wants. I: for the customer to understand what they want (and good analyst helps that).
17 Feb 2010 -
In
an interview on MSNBC this morning, newly retiring Sen. Evan Bayh
declared the American political system "dysfunctional," riddled with
"brain-dead partisanship" and permanent campaigning. Flatly denying any
possibility that he'd seek the presidency or any other higher office,
Bayh argued that the American people needed to deliver a "shock" to
Congress by voting incumbents out en masse and replacing them with
people interested in reforming the process and governing for the good
of the people, rather than deep-pocketed special-interest groups. [The
Newsroom]
- S came - nice guy - stage manager for Pink Floyd. They take him to
tune drums for people like Gilmore. We welcomed him to jam with us
anytime and in due time build a repertoire. He has very good feel for
music but his technique is not a virtuosic drummer as he admits it
too... He played certain things amazingly well -- he has a good ear. We
like him.
-
X wants to bring in his buddy as a contractor at a time when company is
getting rid of contractors. So cunning political games are played --
standard things that make the corporate world suck: making
someone look bad, stepping on others to get ahead, etc.. I have
no interest in any of these games.
16 Feb 2010 -
- Feeling good despite a day of over eating and unintended sugar
(but still within calorie limit). Been doing launches / yoga / leg
exercises Angie gave etc.
- Dreamed of Mary Cadogan last night
- very lovely person and very kind. People were giving me money that I
wasn't asking for, for music.
15 Feb 2010 -
-
Talked with Donna after years. Unfortunately she's a hunter. She
remarried after x died. She speaks fluent Farsi still and said it's a
beautiful language. She remembers me in her kitchen "I always loved the
fact that you liked my cooking... it made it easier to cook when you
were around"... She wrote : "Dear Reza, I'm so very glad that you got
in touch with me. I can still see your sunshiney face in my kitchen,
snitching little bites of this and that and saying, "Bah, bah...this is
so good!" I always said that you were good for my kitchen."
14 Feb 2010 -
-
Angela's bass playing has improved so much -- her articulation is
solid on the right hand. Her left hand has stretched out and
strengthened. And of course improved technique in the hands of a
musical mind means great music. All that practice is paying off -- I'm
very touched -- and to play guitar in that bass canvas is a pleasure.
-
I never start a fight with someone. Never. But if someone picks a fight
-- and people sometimes do because they're stupid, shallow, crazy,
malicious, burdened by envy and jealousy, causeless hatred, fragmented,
abused, obsessed, etc. -- then he ends up really sorry because I don't
attack but when I get attacked the strike back has surprised myself too
-- because universal forces help a peaceful person who is attacked.
- Valentine's Day is meaningless to me. Every day is Valentine's day.
- Such sweetness.
- Peaceful powerful feeling. Special supplements. Great movie. Such tenderness.
-
Carnival has ended. Now bad musicians can find another reason to get
drunk. It's actually a good thing -- it's a celebration of joy instead
of worship of sorrow which many religions promote. The customs are
awesome -- very beautiful and creative.
- Reviewed iron
inhibitors and enhancers for friend and natural sources. Doctors
obviously say injection is the only way but in most cases, I believe,
they're wrong.
-
IBM showed my friend an ugly piece of almost binary looking long
paragraph. Friend pointed to one library saying this one I don't have!
13 Feb 2010 -
Goo
talk w/ UB. We joke that we switched places. Apparently KFA is denying
there is even informal discussion about the land. Troy said: if you
care about the work, just make a donation to the foundation.UB is very
kind and extended the offer.
Good talk w/ Asha. She: where you've been? Said she's always in my heart. Mark returns soon from India.
11 Feb 2010 -
-
People forget Karma. You hurt someone, or act with malicious mischief,
it comes back to you. There's Instant Karma as well as Delayed Karma.
-
White gold dancing down the sky blessing us with its frozen beauty.
Carnival started -- lots of bad musicians in great customs.
- Talked to Earnie Ale (Ernesto) -- it seemed like yesterday. He was in the desert.
Feb 2010 -
-
Just when you think you've seen it all, you run into Greg Gutfeld of
Fox News. Why is Fox News filled with one after another idiot?
- Advised her to return the hard disk and not buy one until she has
to because hardware prices have been going down for 20+ years. I just
bought 1.5 TB at price I paid for 300 GB a few years ago.
-
Desert State Of Mind -- Joshua Tree calling -- long talk with Tara.
Rattle snakes and scorpions don't attack unprovoked. It seems natural
and civil. But some people are worse than animals. They attack others
unprovoked just to have fun and get a kick out of it to spice up their
empty pointless confused lives and jealousy burdened minds. It's also
natural to warn an attacker before kicking their ass: the rattle snake
rattles its trail. It doesn't attack something that's too large for it
to eat, unprovoked. Scorpions that hide under rocks sometimes inject
people but she said it's rare and they never had a problem.
-
People don't like to see campers off the trails so campers have to go
deep inside the desert or sleep at campground where there are fire
rings and others.
- Mojave & Colorado Deserts (north & south) -- remember it from env.bio. class. --
- One Magic Click -- on the floor - legs on bed - one lower-mid body twist.
- Two concerts in the US on the horizon.
-
Now a driver's license can be renewed on the web. California is a great
state. Too bad it's doing so poorly financially. The big hit global
economy took as result of George Bush administration's miserably stupid
decisions impacts all fiscal entities.
- Guitar is the most beautiful instrument in this large orchestra.
-
There are so many loners here. Maybe not literally but practically. The
society is very though dominated here -- and therefore isolation and
separation is rampant -- I know so many people who have such distanced
lives even from their 'loved ones' -- kids who don't call or see
parents but rarely even when they live an hour away -- and flipping
thought which closes the door on so many possibilities.
- Mom says, when God closes one door, he opens another. (Not "he" as in Farsi "oo" is neutral - not male or female). - When thought closes doors, it remains closed.
8 Feb 2010 -
-
She asked about secrets of youth. Of course many factors are obvious.
Importantly also is lack of cognitive dissonance, managing stress, etc.
-- this led to the role of understanding, transformation of what-is,
correct place of thought, etc.
- She said Switz law is against marriage as married couples are taxed individually at rate of total income.
-
Told her to eat that banana soon - it's sitting on her desk blinking at
me all day -- hard for a bananaholic - but it's not bio so.... - She
messaged out of the blue that she likes his name. I learned a long time
ago not to argue with ladies - specially certain time during the month ! - Talking to Claire, it seems like yesterday that I was there -- she said it's a sign of affinity. -
Jackson Guitars are nice but too bad they're market positioned for
metal players only with an aweful red and black flashing site and an
aweful music in the background.
7 Feb 2010 -
- AA met Doors' drummer John Densmore who's a friend of JA.
- Talked to MA, AA, IB, BB. Four places confirmed.
- BB King has a lot of bad songs. Many people record a lot of bad
songs. As fillers, etc., but sometimes even their best is not that good.
-
Going through Paul Simon's catalogue of hits. Embarrassing to read he
didn't give Los Lobos any credit for their song ""It was not a pleasant
deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally — and in no way do I
exaggerate when I say — he stole the songs from us... We go into the
studio, and he had quite literally nothing. I mean, he had no ideas, no
concepts, and said, 'Well, let's just jam.' ...Paul goes, 'Hey, what's
that?' We start playing what we have of it, and it is exactly what you
hear on the record. So we're like, 'Oh, ok. We'll share this song.'
...A few months later, the record comes out and says 'Words and Music
by Paul Simon.' We were like, 'What the fuck is this?' We tried calling
him, and we can't find him. Weeks go by and our managers can't find
him. We finally track him down and ask him about our song, and he goes,
'Sue me. See what happens.'" (source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graceland_(album))
Reminds me to what Simon & Garfunkel did to Scarborough Fair!
-
I am not impressed by any of Paul Simon's solo material enough to want
to play any of them. He is a good musician but not a great song writer.
I like his work with Africans and love the percussion and drum works.
- Windows XP virtual memory custom size initial (MB): 2046, Maximum size (MB): 4092. Rule
of thumb: around 1.5 time RAM for initial and 3 times for maximum.
Having pagefile on a different partition of same drive doesn't help.
Having it on a separate drive helps. Anyway, for normal applications on
modern day systems with large RAM pagefile is not used but turning it
off drains the RAM when programs request address space which is usually
more than what they need.
5 Feb 2010 -
-
Working from home is great -- compared to that noisy office, here I have peace and quiet and can be much more productive. -
What a mistake to go to town for lunch. It was nice to see one angel
among the crowds of ugly people with their ugly ways of smoking which
you simply can not get away from -- smokers have infiltrated
Switzerland and May 1 can not come too quickly. Many young people
smoke, stink in the bus, make a mess out of the bus stop -- but also
older people -- like that stinking woman in the bus.
- Copied files all night to new disk only to realize it was FAT32
formatted by default. I don't care, the machine did it - so it copied
during the day. New organization of digital assets.
Feb 2010 -
-
Too many calories yesterday – lunch with HK – I always learn something
from him – he is so much like me though much older - comes from the
same class - and has the same kind of father who did not take a penny
in bribe though he could have become very very rich if he had done so.
-
Perfect timing - took a chance on next train - had connecting bus and
made it to meeting on time. Khastan Tavanestan Ast. (wanting is
ability).
- He said it was the American movies that promoted
smoking and drinking -- before then, when he was younger, smoking was
not promoted -- till Hollywood movies came along,,,
-
He said programming is good for memory -- never thought of it that way
but it's true -- you have to have a large mental concept of the upper
and lower algorithms -- it's a very interesting job unlike accounting
which is boring and dry as hell. He heard a software manager in India
say Indians are good at software because culturally they're patient.
Not true. Indians are not any better at software than anybody else.
It's just that labor is cheap in India and the industry has boomed
because they offer programming at blue collar rates to western clients.
- Found an old friend - he's now a topnotch K9-dentist. "Over 50% of
cats and 85% of dogs over the age of 3 require professional dental
treatment."
- Why do 90% of jazz fusion funk songs sound alike? Very
similar active bass lines, same tempo, and same idea of a sometimes
nice melody followed by garbage improvisation.
-
When you need something and you don't have it and you look and it's
there, you take it as a positive sign. A perfect day for skiing.
Smokers at the station are missing out on the full grandeur the morning
has to offer. A morning that wipes out all past and makes future so
unimportant. Pure and brilliant. The trains puffs away the snow on the
rail as it smoothly scrolls to the station. Trees are hosting new snow
and ancient statues take a different form with a new tone of white.
- Very intense day at work. Some music at night splashes perfume on life.
-
Disaster Recovery is the most boring part of IT. I know a DR director
who quit for that reason. Like Security jobs -- boring because there's
never any action, well, here, in RSA and LA that's a different
story.
-
Having been an engineer helps a lot in managing engineers -- there are
certain wrong things to do, e.g., forcing them to get out of bed too
early which is what someone wanted to do -- let them work at night
which is what they prefer. They know better when they're more
productive.
-
As young teenagers we didn't listen to Britney Spears or other shallow
music like kids now do. We listened to Carpenters for example which has
a lot of musical value. Some songs 'can still make me cry, just like
before" and take me right back to the dusks and dawns of pre-revolution
Iran where love was in the air despite a corrupt system.
31 Jan 2010 - Nobodies who want to be somebody
- M is happy I gave him the gig. I need to go to an important meeting. -
Lots of snow - finally - it seems like the old days when a lot of snow
used to stay on the ground -- now with the planet warming it comes but
doesn't stay long. - One step away from getting a new gig. The cold call worked. -
With Swiss going non smoking lots of gigs are opening up. Real gigs
that move people separate the men from the boys -- the
artist-wanna-be's and cyber-kings-who-are-really-nobodies from real
musicians. I never consider myself to be anything until some bozo comes
along and wants to compare himself. I don't compare. The bozo does. And
he follows his own lame and retarded mind in finding sustenance in
comparison. Others put claims in your mind and want you to have claims
because that's the ugly way of the world. We surely are not short of
psychopaths in this world. They are everywhere and in places where
people are closer to each other just show up more. And the worst kind
are the ones who want to find fulfillment on the internet in every way
possible -- by bothering others or kissing up to them which is just the
other side of the same coin. - Plans for video are moving forward. -
I keep waiting for some good news against the bad guys but news is all
about bad news. The taxi driver in Vienna said he stopped reading the
news but can't get away. One piece of good news is that the SEC is
finally getting off its butt and is going to regulate short sellers
except that reportedly the two idiot Republican commissioners are
trying to block it after Republicans made the SEC a bed-partner of Wall
Street instead of the Cop that is supposed to protect Main Street.
Jan 2010 -
- Good meeting with B. We see eye to eye on possibility to collaborate.
- Tara 5 years old called to ask how to make baadbaadak :)
28 Jan 2010 -
- Money for CD came after 6 years!
-
There's a tiny village in AG that's known as suicide village. 2 farmers
killed themselves there. With suicide rate being so high in Switzerland
the saying "if you give the guy a free rope he hangs himself" is not an
appropriate remark as it can be taken literally!!
- Visited some cool computers such as the sexy IBM Z-10.
- Soon we'll be talking in terms of PB Petabytes (1024 TB) and EB Exabytes (1024 PB).
27 Jan 2010 - Gig
- The gig in Aarau was a lot of fun. We played two séance
for two large groups. The second séance was obviously better. Can't
wait for CH to go non-smoking so we can play in public places I refuse
to play at because of the smoke.
-
For some time now I've been counting calories (in my mind not
formally). The awareness is very good. You tend to avoid or minimize
high calorie food.
- Can you imagine people eat, the kind of food we eat once and feel guilty, every day!
26 Jan 2010 - Vienna
As Lennon said, "Made
a lightening trip to Vienna". I've always loved Vienna - perfect like
Zurich but much bigger -- lots of great bio shops and veg restaurants.
Organic and healthfood is big here like all German speaking
places. But Big Tobacco rules here. Buildings are either smoking or
have a smoking room without a separate ventilator so smoke spreads
everywhere. Stone age!!
-
The Who will do a "compact medley" at the Superbowl. "We're kinda doing
a mashup of stuff... a bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball
Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a
bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works -- it's quite a saga... A lot
of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it --
we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit
wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot." Pete Townsend
25 Jan 2010 -
- H had 30k emails in one weekend.
-
The Who will do a "compact medley" at the Superbowl. "We're kinda doing
a mashup of stuff... a bit of 'Baba O'Riley,' a bit of 'Pinball
Wizard,' a bit of the close of 'Tommy,' a bit of 'Who Are You,' and a
bit of 'Won't Get Fooled Again.' It works -- it's quite a saga... A lot
of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it --
we've always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit
wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot." Pete Townsend
24 Jan 2010 -
- G is coming to jam. - He's a great musician.
23 Jan 2010 -
-
S is coming to jam and maybe with one rehearsal to come play with us at
the next gig. I'm happy going it as a duo but am also open to having a
drummer -- only if it's the right one -- and there aren't that many
great musicians around. Most approach music too stiffly and lack the
emotion required for having a relaxed yet powerful groove and feel.
22 Jan 2010 -
- Jammed with B who is an amazing drummer. Now A knows what I meant by
playing with top notch musicians and why I didn't want to play with
these other drummers we've tried out so far. There was magic ! He
incorporated original African drums into a drum set. The African congos
make you want to cry from beauty. The sound is so warm and authentic,
innocent and pure, that no Remos, Pearls, and Ludwigs would ever be
able to manufacture such drums. He finished Jazz school and spent a year
in Africa. Very musical and skillful. It was such a pleasure to jam
with him. The drum beats and fills were spiritual orgasm. Utmost
beautiful music which as a producer gives me a ton of
imagination for possibilities of cooperation.
-
Dreamed of floods and natural disaster in California. Had no idea why. Today the news says:
"A
new storm with tornado-like strength pounded the Southern California
coast this afternoon, flipping a car, causing major street flooding,
damaging homes and stranding motorists. Witnesses reported seeing a
tornado touch down in Sunset Beach this afternoon and lift boats out of
the water as it came onshore, sheriff’s officials said."
- Heard from a great drummer who knows this music well and has great connections.
21 Jan 2010 -
-
Said no to a few drummers - two way or one way - it takes a lot to have
the right match. Sharing the same goals are extremely important. And
equally important the ability to comprehend and share
philosophical insights. A person who spends the rest of his or
her music life playing hell music doesn't belong in our band. A person
who doesn't speak my languages can't be in the band because I need to
communicate with them clearly, directly. And there are a lot of other
reasons and then come the esoteric ones which are actually not esoteric
but reflect on how one lives, one's actions, and also one's genes, IQ,
etc. Then comes blood. How much does this person have music in their
blood? How cultured they are, etc etc. -- with a young person who has
the right profile I can spend time and convey certain things -- with X
this was very successful -- she was able to understand what sound I
wanted and get it -- and she could hear that it sounds good. She
suffered from what a lot of young people suffer from specially in rich
countries: not being interested and passionate about anything in life,
and another big problem many young people have: lack of communication
skills.
-
Dell says for English press 3. Ok. Then the guy tries to argue that he
can't get me the right keyboard layout. I know he can. Instead of
trying he wants to argue. And I say I don't want to argue, and he says
he is doing me a favor by speaking English. No, because they have a
English speaking line. I asked for the manager whom after looking into
it said, you are right, we can order the right keyboard, I apologize...
- Sonja who speaks good English 20 minutes to translate a
short paragraph from English to German. Just shows how difficult German
is. On her trip to the US everyone called her Son-ja not Sonya.
-
He said many physiotherapists became osteopaths because of money but
now the rules for the certification are getting tougher (more years).
-
A lot of disabled people work at Vierlinden. I ordered a pie and said
everything with gestures (didn't feel like talking). She thought I
couldn't talk. At end I said danke. She was happy I can talk :)
20 Jan 2010 -
I
knew something was ticking today. It was in the air. It was in the
stomach as the crazy man used to tell Raman :) the osteopath did
wonders, and there's more to it than that. It's such a great field and
"school medicine" doesn't recognize it. Low calorie is way to go. Hip
knows end of therapy means it needs to be well. Shopping was 25 Fcs
even. Absolute clarity that Markus is the wrong person for us. Wrote
him a letter. Found 2 new drummers, both interested including a German
woman who is responding to my ad despite the tough criteria it had :)
She’s coming today! Got a lot of calls from other drummers too.
Got a gig in Geneva: “The client has had a good listen to your music and decided she does want to book you for her wedding.”
New keyboard arrived.
Lots of DVD’s etc. arrived from US.
Friend got some pearls.
18 Jan 2010 -
-
What a good feeling to have won over a group of cyber delinquents. It
was hard work dealing with these jackasses but at the end I succeeded
and all the hard work paid off. In itself, winning over deliquents is
not a feat to be proud of but given the circumstances it was a good
feeling regardless.
-
3 year old Rusteen cut the sock he as wearing with scissors and when
asked why he said, "I wanted to see what happens, but I was carefull" :)
17 Jan 2010 -
-
Great performance. There was love magic and music flew by its own grace.
16 Jan 2010 -
-
Rehearsal sucked. I miss Rosa'd artistic touch. The new musician is too
"heavy handed" and has problems with musicianship and dynamics and I am
not motivated. I guess years of playing with ultra-heavy rock bands
hurts people. The energy was too strange. Something in the
aura did not
put us at the same frequency. It was not just the smoke that hurt him.
There was something wrong which I can speculate but it's not my
business. Let's just say it is not a good match. I canceled him for the
next gig -- we'll
play duo -- and we'll see afterwards.
-
There are lowlife sickos in this world who are nothing and by bothering
other people want to be something. Of course it happens mostly to
people who've done something of value. Having best-selling CDs
like I've had is enough of a cause for these psychologically sick
people.
- News of Iran is too depressing. I don't know why I read it.
-
I’m glad it's out of my hair. No matter how nice of a guy he is,
he’s obviously not a fast learner. This was proven to me as he couldn’t do
the simple intro to a song despite showing him exactly how to do it
several time. A also noticed it. I need to work with Ace players,
someone to whom I say A he goes to Athens and back or as they say in
Persian, you say F and he goes to Farahzad. He played a couple of
pieces good, but in terms of musical maturity, Angie playing a
year with some direction from me about musicianship is far more
mature than his 10 years of playing heavy metal. I know a lot of
frustrated musicians here. Lots of them. I've seen very few Swiss
people who could play good Reggae or good anything groovy with real
groove. There are some, but not many. R has Spanish blood. She's also
artistic. She does really nice paintings -- things she loves to do she
can do them well. But she has other problems -- communications etc.,
but I have hope for her - still - not necessarily for working with us
but in general as a musician if she decides to pursue music more
seriously. That's it - to do anything right you gotto be serious about
it - and that includes having serious fun. She also had a heavy metal
background but I saw she could drop it easily and she did. She was more
ripe and I could guide her the way I heard music which people seem to
like.
I saw potential in
R. so I invested time in her. In M I don't see potential for doing what
I want which requires a high degree of subtleness. Maybe we'll find the
right person - or a drum machine. The frequencies just do not match.
Younger people might spend 6 months beating around this. I saw it in a
flash after the 3rd meeting. What is reveals itself.
15 Jan 2010 -
-
25 of Dey and still no snow or rain in Tehran and weather is like
Spring I heard on the phone today. Has winter forgotten Tehran or like
many others stays away because of air pollution?
- Some drummers have a hard time reading music. Whatever! Playing drums by
ear is very easy. It's good for any drummer to be able to read notes.
-
I am happy not to be on facebook. It's so superficial. I just get
on it sometimes when I have to or to see some friends' pictures that's
not elsewhere.
14 Jan 2010 -
-
We are constantly bombarded with unnecessary content. Media has a big
role. It was OJ Simpson case in the 90's. Now Palin is talking on Fox
catering to the fanatic crowd. At the same time she looked very bad in
a 60 Minutes interview with McCain's adviser who basically said what an
airhead she is.
Met
guy skiing - Chinese - he said 90% of people in China like the
government and they have freedom of speech as long as they don't want
the party to change. What he described sounded very capitalistic with a
big division in wealth. Also met 2 dutch sisters - one a blond
policewoman and some others.
I'd rather not read the news every day. News is normally bad news. It drags down creativity.
13 Jan 2010 -
-
Spoke to Uncle Yusef Ganjavi (Yousef, Joe Ganjavi) who was the head of
the Iranian National Gas Company many years ago. Such a great man
indeed. One of the greatest men I've known. He is now 87. Hopes if he
can survive this hard unusual English winter to fly to Canada to meet
my other uncle Ozhand who is the head of a university, and to go on an
Irish cruise and later come to Switzerland. Such immeasurable love. He
said hello to everyone. Hopefully we can celebrate his 100th birthday.
He said he'll invite everybody.
Jan 2010 -
-
Bought a $275 Boss outfit for $25. Bought $800 worth of clothes
for $150. No joke. Just a super post-holiday sale. That's why I never
pay full price for clothes.
- The bus stop indeed was like an ashtray. What a shame.
- Joubin called inviting one to Nice -- they heard my CD at dinner "what a feeling ... we loved it". [lg]
- Village girls may be more simple and loyal than big city women ...
- Body loved quinoa
- Elio quit smoking finally -- great news.
- Good talk during the walk about psychology and religious theory.
-
NH tax evader gets 37 years on weapons charges... Brown made several
outbursts throughout the hearing. At one point, he was removed from
court when he would not be quiet during testimony from a forensic
psychologist, who concluded Brown has narcissistic personality
disorder, characterized by grandiosity, a need for attention and a lack
of empathy. Singal referred to Brown as a 6-year-old child needing a
time-out. (AP). I know another sick guy in America like that:
"narcissistic personality disorder, characterized by grandiosity, a
need for attention and a lack of empathy."
-
Reza Jozi is wise. He saw cause of muscular cramps as over-workout,
lack of potassium (also magnesium) and dehydration. Recommended muscle relaxant ice and time and drinking water. He said after
certain age after work out it's harder for body to relax. So he takes a
pill sometimes. I do it naturally. He's been going to yoga class and
likes it.
- A friend is concerned about her lack of motivation. The
classic answer is to set your goal high enough to get motivate but not
too high to burn out. Beside that, there are a number of other factors
in play which are worth exploring. She's going to a psychic channeler
to get help. I don't think that's necessary! One can explore a lot in
dialogue with oneself or with a good friend. A long term problem took a
lot of her energy. Now the problem is gone and she has more time. The
brain meanwhile is used to being in a state of having problems. It
easily forgets 5 years of pain and compares what should be with what
has been a long time ago. Perhaps we will talk more after her meeting
with the channeler. There's a lot that can be explored. The society is
hard here and makes people very self-demanding and hard on themselves.
I don't believe in psychotherapy as it is generally applied but finding
roots of habits are important.
Jan 2010 -
Music Fashion
- Fashion in sound of music changes every few months or weeks even
(e.g. in NYC).
- I don't follow fashion. I don't believe in fashion. Fashion only
benefits fashion makers. Fashion is too transient.
- Our sound will emerge on its own. I am not looking for it.
-
I do want to do more with keyboards but guitar will always be a central
figure in my music, and the world needs that because too much of new
music is dominated by too much keys and beats.
- Stuart Smith is a great artist. He carried all the lead guitar on
Eagles tour.
Jan 2010 -
Emotionally Deprived Swiss Kids
- Friend stopped smoking after one session of mental ginger discussion
we had.
-
Unless they're really needy the parents I know would never charge their
child for use of the occasional use of their car. In Switzerland it's
normal I guess. Even parents who make good money, charge the kid by
kilometer for the use of car. Hard to swallow but it is what it is....
Actually, come to think of it, it's sick, it's flipping sick -- that
your kid buys something and needs a car to go pick it up and you charge
the kid mileage while you have a good salary and the kid earns pennies
compared to your dollar.. Incomprehensible.
-
The Swiss parents both had miserable childhoods, deprived of emotions
and love. So they don't know any better. They're loving and smart and
so I suggested putting some ginger in their mind -- provide a different
perspective on things. There's something very uncool to charge a kid
IRS mileage rate which is more than the price of renting a car to
borrow the car for 2 hours to pick up a personal item and not for
business. Putting it in a form of a question is non confrontational and
it may make them start thinking there's a different way...
-
A Swiss grandmother told her kid who was then a mother herself: if your
kid cries just lock her in the bathroom until she stops crying. Years
later the mother admits she received bad child-raising instructions.
Jan 2010 -
Cleanup After George W. Bush's Disastrous Mess
-
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed stricter
health standards for smog, replacing a Bush-era limit that ran counter
to scientific recommendations."
Jan 2010 - New Leonardo
- "Profile of the Bella Principessa"
was bought from Kate Ganz in 2007 for about $19,000 for a rich
anonymous Swiss
collector. Fingerprint matching has experts believing it's Leonardo Da
Vinci.
It
is now estimated to be worth $150 million and the first Leonardo
painting to have been discovered in a 100 years. The Swiss collector is
ecstatic. Ganz is in denial: "Nothing that I have seen or read in the
past two years has changed my mind, I do not believe that this drawing
is by Leonardo da Vinci".
-
Sign says 7 articles only in express lane. Woman goes with 15. Groups
them and says it's 7 (5 bottles of jam she called 1 item).
- People are cool and even the cashier doesn't react or says anything
in a similar case my friend saw.
- Got almost hit with a car two times today by these mad drivers.
- Bought drum set today.
- A little bit of progress at a time.
Jan 2010 - Full Moon
I wish I could run and hide from the full moon.
It
seems that everytime I say something to some one that everybody else
wanted to say it too but didn't or couldn't, they smile in approval.
E.g., train today told girl blasting rap, sorry, I don't want to hear
this. Or girl on bus shouting on her cell phone, sorry, this is a
public bus, please keep it down. In both cases others who were also
bothered by the noise signaled their approval of my comments.
Jan 2010 - Azari
He
said my positive prejudice towards Turks (Azari's) is due to my
"fetrat" which he defined as "esalat mabni be ehsas" linked to my
upbringing around Azari speaking grandparents, mom, etc. and fondness
of that rich warm emotional culture.
He cited case of a boss
who was badmouthing a subordinate tea-man, and an Azari office mate
emotionally slapped the boss. He said if it was a Mazandarani person he
might have ignored it. He said it's a genetic matter -- that Azaris
speak what they fee.
I am wary of stereotypes but there might be
some truth to the fact that different cultures have different
temperaments, values, etc.
3 Jan 2010 -
-
People are so unnecessarily stressed and hurt by drugs that are so
decadent and so common such as caffeine and nicotine and alcohol.
-
A problem should never be approached by the attitude "forget it" "it
can't be done" "impossible". Never. Otherwise it surely will become
impossible as all doors are shut immediately. A much more intelligent
approach is to start with not knowing - without stress - without
hysteria and emotional reaction - in calmness - and ask, what is the
problem? what creative ways can be found to solve it. If after thorough
investigation it is determined that it can not be solved that's a
different story than starting with a "can't do" attitude.
-
I am a feminist in the sense of believing in the freedom and equality
of women and feel utmost upset that women has been treated the way she
has been. I have a deep rooted distrust towards women when it
comes to "love
& relationship". Basis of it is Neda Notley, a girl I knew in
Iran
as a teenager and all that I've seen in women specially in the big
cities. I am very cautiously optimistic that someone from a small
village who is not corrupted by ways of the ego and the world can be
loyal. Otherwise, by default I don't trust my heart with any woman and
surely depend on none. I trust Angela though. She's not a woman. She's
an angel. Oh, I remember another Neda -- it was surely before I was 7
-- maybe 4 and 5 -- she used to come - eat - and leave.
Grandma
would wonder: you came to play! Very practical girl already!