but enough with the excuses and on to whatever comes out of my mind...
so, i made what i believe was my 5th trip in 7 weekends up to SF this past weekend. the reason this trip was a bit different was most ppl didn't know about my plan. i wanted to surprise a couple different ppl and definitely succeeded with at least one of them...as for the other, read on... some highlights (as per usual post-SF blogging):
- winning the breakfast sammich of my choice by playing the McDonald's Monopoly game as I drove north
- actually succeeding in surprising someone (i can be terrible at keeping a surprise from someone)
- Bugs sniffing my butt (I'm referring to a dog, not insects...how gross would that be?!?!?!?!)
- not surprising Peter because he wasn't at the Bayside when I was
- being funny and going shopping with Peter and also taking in The Kingdom
- the classy dinner: pepperoni pizza and chicken kickers from Domino's
- Crashing girls nite out
- really funny attempts at getting into the clubs in North Beach without waiting in any of the lines
- ending up back at Fuse (and the 5 minutes of good music - 5 minutes of bad music rotation)
- 'fishing' back!
- "Are your friends into Korean men? Are they into affirmative action?"
- more late nite Chinese food
- breakfast of champions: double bacon cheeseburger from Burger King
- finally playing some golf and getting to catch up with a good buddy from law school
- the perfect fall weather up in SF
____________________
as for more serious topics, there have been many articles in the news lately of serious interest to me. while i spent a lot of time pontificating on the issues and writing about them, sadly it was in another forum (albeit one i thoroughly enjoy and waste too much time whilst at work on). even so, some thoughts of late...
the music industry:
The music industry won the first case brought against an alleged file-sharer to actually go get to a jury. Most of the thousands of other cases all ended in settlements for a few thousand dollars. [Interestingly, I saw somewhere that the recording industry is losing money thru all the settlements because the legal fees from bringing the claims in the first place are higher than what is received thru the settlements...I dunno whether that is true or not altho it does seem likely.] It's really unfortunate to see the recording industry sue its customers. beyond being bad business, it just upsets me. By complaining about lagging CD sales and blaming it on file-sharing and suing everyone in sight, the recording industry is screwing up in a handful of ways.
- It's as if they're trying to force CDs down our throats by pinning the blame in the way they do.
- They refuse to take any semblance of responsibility for the decline in sales [where is the accountability: how come no one saw this technology coming? why, when it became so hugely popular did they try to shut it down as opposed to embrace? what about all the crappy music that is out there these day?].
- They're alienating their customers by attacking them. Pushing away customers is not going to help CD sales or digital sales either.
- One of the legal minds at Sony argued that ripping a CD to your computer and placing the ripped music on your mp3 player is stealing - why is someone paying for such ridiculous arguments? And does Sony expect anyone to buy the CD and then go ahead and buy the mp3 as well?
- They're failing to realize that their current business model is flawed and that, in the end, music is about music, not profits and making money and the bottom line.
If good music is being made and the cost of said music is reasonable, I guarantee people would purchase it, even with file-sharing technology around making it easy to get what you want for free. I have gone out and bought many albums from my favorite artists because I know the music is good and I want to support these individuals, even if they don't really need the money. Could I just go ahead and download the music illegally for free? Of course I could. But the reason I don't is because I want to show my support and appreciation for something/someone...not because the law says no [don't get me wrong, I'm in no rush to do what I'm not allowed to but my point is that the real motivation is something the record companies can influence whereas it is much harder to deter someone from file-sharing, as the lawsuits show because even tho they're suing everyone it still happens].
The way the recording industry is set up takes away all the proper incentives: it takes away the incentive to make really good music, it takes away the incentive to pay for music. Beyond not wanting to buy crappy music, think about this: the artists make their money off of touring and merchandise sales [not records sales and not even licensing deals because the record companies own the master copies and licensing rights to the music for the most part]. So, if I care about an artist and want to support the artist, I'll do more in that endeavor by going to a concert or buying a t-shirt. I could go on for days, but I really shouldn't.
To be honest, a few months of work has shown me [as mentioned previously] that there are some things in life I am really passionate about and I want those things to be a part of my work life as well. Hopefully, in time, I will be able to bring everything in line [that's what it's all about right, taking a step forward so you can get closer to where you want to be?] and possibly make some small difference I feel is meaningful [i.e., I'm going to change the world in a big way for the better...ha!].
But yea, the music industry is all kinds of jacked up and it's unfortunate because there is so much potential. It's clear musicians aren't in it just for the money [or that many aren't]. Think about how many friends you have who are in a band or just think about how many bands there are out there playing local gigs, making no money off their music but continuing to make music and perform. I'm sure some people are about the money and that's unfortunate. There's nothing wrong with making big money off it I guess, but it shouldn't be why you do something like create music. But my point is that there are so many people out there willing to make amazing music for no money at all. The money only matters because of the record companies; they're ones who are only concerned with the bottom line, as opposed to artistic integrity, creativity, quality. Yes, musicians should be rewarded monetarily for their efforts [I'm not about to go off and say they don't deserve to get paid], but for all the griping about file-sharing, it's not the artist who is complaining too much [or even the one hurt by it all]. To shift topics, speaking of people getting paid...
____________________
education in america...
I've come across a few articles about the current status of education in this country over the past few weeks. There was the results of the "No Child Left Behind" program, showing moderate [if even that] gains in some areas [altho there were no gains in others]. Articles on affirmative action were also of interest. An op-ed about the need for better education overall came across my eyes and pretty much summed up a lot of what the other articles inspired in my mind.
I am not going to debate whether or not affirmative action is a good or bad thing [I find Clarence Thomas's opinions on the matter rather annoying and foolish...altho I feel that way about many of his opinions] and I don't know enough about "No Child Left Behind" to fairly speak on it [altho I'm sure I could sound like I know enough to do so, haha].
At the end of the day, I'm just going to get back to my point from a few posts ago: the education system in this country is in need of severe repair. The disparity in terms of the best and worst schools is deplorable and robs so many individuals of the opportunity to learn, grow, and make a difference in this world. I know I am blessed when it comes to schooling: I went to a funky and amazing Montessori school for elementary school and then an amazing college prep school for junior high [what we termed "middle school"] and high school. After that [and largely because of the schools I went to] I went on to UCLA and then Hastings for law school. I'm sure there are a ton of kids out there who could or could have accomplished much more than I if given the opportunities I received. Not to say I didn't take advantage of the opportunities or try my best...I just know there are people more gifted than I am [ok, so maybe not but still].
Anyway, it shouldn't be like that. I mean, to a certain extent there must be individual accountability and certain people need to also take some level of responsibility, such as parents. You can't force anyone to learn in the end, but parents can play a crucial role in creating the desire to learn, grow, succeed. But beyond that, the system needs to do the same. There should be books, there should be good teachers who inspire students, there should be so many things that are missing right now.
Speaking of teachers, now I can explain how I got here from the music industry. I've discussed whether or not entertainers [such as musicians, actors, etc.] and athletes are overpaid for what they go. My opinions aside, it's clear that the educators of our future are, for the most part, not paid well enough. Apparently we don't value those who play one of the biggest roles in molding and shaping out futures. Personally, the teachers throughout my life in 'lower' education [if college and grad school are 'higher' education I'm assuming high school and earlier are 'lower'] played significant roles in my life. I feel they provided a sense of direction and imparted certain lessons, values, attitudes, or maybe just ways of thinking that have stuck with me throughout my life and gotten me to where I am now.
There are many great teachers out there and I'm sure there are many not great teachers too. I think we need to appreciate our educators more and obviously compensate them better, but at the same time it's also important to ensure they are doing a good job. One of the articles I read showed how paper tests done to evaluate teachers are pretty much useless; something needs to be done about that fact. You can't just throw money at any problem; you need to ensure high quality teachers are available to all and at every level. Problems like a lack of diversity in higher education and just the general academic failings of this country occur on many levels and it is important to address each level, with a focus on getting to the root of it all.
____________________
In the end I get frustrated with myself. I sit here with all these opinions on matters but don't do much about them. I was definitely not the public interest person at Hastings and never did much but sit and study in college. When it comes to my career ambitions they're aligned more along the lines of the artistic/creative...almost getting into the entertainment field [altho I honestly believe my passions lie in something deeper than just becoming some hot shot entertainment lawyer]. I do hope to at the least use my law degree to make some contribution to the artistic world.
As a way of combining the two big topics of this ridiculous post, I'll write about this: programs like "Save the Music" are awesome. I learned about how important extracurricular activities can be for kids in elementary school and high school. In particular, it appears that music programs and other arts can be particularly beneficial. As of now I'd like to find my way into some involvement along those lines and more generally supporting the arts.
It's easy to look at the arts and just see the mainstream: see the actors and the performers on the big stage. When looked at in this manner one sees a certain triviality to being involved in that world: the Hollywood image where people are just overly rich, get away with anything they want, and so on. That's not really the world I envisions myself a part of with my legal career. Don't get me wrong, I would like to be a part of certain portions of that world. I would like to be a part of the music industry, hopefully generating some amount of change and doing more to protect the creators, more to ensure a higher quality product is produced, more to make the industry thrive for the right reasons [as opposed to bullying people who really can't do much but give in, hopefully being able to pay the few thousands just to settle]. But I would also like to work with smaller artists, to work with arts foundations and organizations that help out the struggling artist who just needs the right opportunity or that ensure kids in schools get the chance to explore their creative abilities.
I'm sure some of this is just a romantic vision of life I possess. Some of it is simply an interest in a variety of different things because I'm young, inexperienced, and don't know precisely what I want to do with my life. Another factor is the not necessarily knowing exactly how to get where I want to be problem. Anyway, enough rambling...I guess this is what happens when you go a while without blogging after doing so consistently for a period of time. But will I have anything else to write about anytime soon?
Well, to cap off...here are some of the articles I read that inspired some of tonite's thoughts [I actually started this post while at work today and then just now finished it up...]:
- the future of the music industry: a quorum
- Music industry sues it's customers and wins...sadness
- related: wow, going after someone with 2 kids who makes $36,ooo a year - the recording industry must really be pressed for cash [I guess it's not as bad as when they named some kid in one of their suits]
- Sony's lame thievery argument [this one really upsets me]
- Radiohead says pay what u want
- an article on affirmative action
- the need for better schools
- an interesting article about college admissions
- a funny open letter to the RIAA
- my nerdy side: a legal look at the appeal in the RIAA's most recent victory
- is the RIAA losing money on all of this?
- file-sharing continues to grow
No comments:
Post a Comment