sample innovation.

A while back I came across this post on current.com. The actual post itself is really cool and interesting. But what got me thinking a bit more was one of the comments left about one member's feelings of conflict over sampling. You can scroll down and read her comment and also see some of my thoughts. I'll probably repeat myself here as well.

Sampling definitely irked me at times. There's the obvious dislike for when someone does a poor job sampling something or takes something you feel is a classic that should never be touched and samples it. But what has been, at times, more troubling is the feeling if discomfort about sampling more generally: the feeling that when someone samples something there is a lack of innovation or creativity.

When kanYe first came out and everyone was talking about his sampling, I was kinda disappointed for a minute. I felt like: hey, here's this great music but it lacks originality. Originality is something I think we all respect, admire, and sometimes seek out. I think we want to be original, we want to be the first or we want to come up with it on our own.

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the types of individuals he calls "innovators" and the role they play in causing an epidemic to explode. [If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it] I'm not going to attempt to critique his writing or really give a detailed description of who he considers an innovator. But I know that a part of me, as I read the book, wanted to be an innovator.

But with time and thought and most importantly a little learning, I feel I've gotten past the discomfort I felt earlier. Originality, innovation, and creativity are all great. With sampling I think it is still possible to posses all of those. Sampling involves a creative process all its own and, to be done well, requires the building upon something from before but taking it to a different place. It can be an art all it's own and much of creation and art is based upon learning from and building upon what came before.

When you look at some of the things kanYe samples, I don't think many people would ever think to so what he does. Not only that but he was able to successfully sample Michael Jackson's P.Y.T. (which is the greatest song ever), a feat I thought impossible (you just don't mess with MJ, there's no need for it).

This is not meant to be a defense of kanYe but just thoughts more generally about the place of originality and innovation in our world. More accurately, it's a critique on how those ideas are defined and thought of more generally. To take something that already exists and make something new of it or with it is innovation itself, it requires a certain level of creativity and original thinking, because it was not used that way before.

Obviously it's easy to screw up. Sometimes sampling is the result of a lack of creativity, originality, etc. For example, The Departed was a great movie but I felt like Scorsese didn't deserve nearly the credit he got (especially an Academy Award) because of how it was a clear copy of the movie Infernal Affairs. [While I won't give Scorsese credit for his work, I definitely do think the actors in the movie did a marvelous job and deserve much credit for their work] But there shouldn't be any rush to disregard something "sampled" until inquiring into how what is sampled is used.

Anywho, I'm gonna go see what's on the food network and make myself hungry and then eat. Also, I've started yelping! hehe.

weekend update...

i'm in a familiar place, lying on a familiarly funny couch to lie down on in a familiar setting. taking full advantage of the long weekend, i drove up to sf for these few days and doubt i'll get a chance to write for the next few days so i'm gonna sneak in my usual recap a little before the trip ends. with that said, here's the usual list of fun times and highlights, along with some anticipated events...

• a nice drive on some open road with just music and thoughts
• sparking it up
• seeing the funny crowd at Circa
• Big Things Poppin at Gravity
• late nite grubbin
• finding out that Sauce isn't very good
  
• Cirque du Soleil's Kooza
• a nice Sunday brunch
• some time reading at the ol' Coffee Bean and then reading the Afterword to The Tipping Point at a small bookstore (my copy of the book was before the Afterword was included...weak)
  
• finally getting to check out Betelnut
• kicking back and just watching DVD to relax the nite away
  
• brunch with the boys at Stacks
• road trip with some company
• finally eating at Sonic (it was totally worth the short detour)
• belting out songs in the car ride home (Jam on!!!!!!!)
  

one of the best parts of this trip has been kicking it old skool style and being reminded how great some of my friendships are: how much i appreciate these people in my life and that the feeling goes both ways. sometimes it's all too easy to never express feelings in a clear or outright manner. but i think it's important to let people know your feelings, thoughts, and just plain gratitude for being the part of your life they are.

on a completely different note that is related to events of the weekend, for a while i've pondered reviewing place on Yelp. i feel like my writing abilities are not of the level to really do a great job reviewing, critique, opinionating about things. i also don't think i possess the necessary knowledge to be good at something like that, but i guess Yelp isn't really all about being formalistic. eating at Sauce and the accompanying disappointment have put me to the place where i think i'll really start using Yelp to leave reviews as well as read up on places. part of my hesitancy is that i'd want to include my favorite places i've already been to but now i'm planning on just starting now and starting with the places i go to as time goes by. so i guess that means i'll be starting off with Sauce, Venus, and Betelnut.

anywho, it's late and i'm already looking forward to brunch!

settled.

This past weekend I trekked all the way out to Covina (about 30 miles away) to pick up the dresser that matches my bed and bedside table from IKEA. It's funny to think that buying this silly piece of furniture due to my need to have matching furniture is what has finally allowed me to feel settled in my newish digs. i'm sure it seems silly but I've got all the furniture in order, even if I still need to get rid of one big thing taking up space unnecessarily.

It's more than just the furniture but it was like a missing piece. I feel at home here, something I didn't really feel just 30 feet down the hall. It was such a small place and one that I always knew was not permanent in any way. At least that how I always felt about it.

I'm not sure how long I'll be in this space. But I love this space and I know I'm hear for now. I'm looking forward to whatever is next but I'm taking the time to really enjoy the present and focus on the now. I'm enjoying this space to the full extent that I can and just trying to take a positive approach to each day, even if there are things about being here that are difficult. It's still a wonderful time and a pretty sweet place too.

The nicest thing about feeling settled here is that it adds a calmness to life. I can come home and just escape everything for a bit and really relax. When you don't feel settled, a place doesn't feel like home. An extend time like that for some reason takes a toll on an individual. So while Los Angeles may not feel like the long term place for me and while it is missing the people I care most about, at the least there is this small space I can come back to everyday and feel truly comfortable and at peace, even if the rest of life doesn't feel quite like that.

Anyone want to come visit?

sad.

i completely blanked on what i was going to write here. i'm about ready to hop in bed for the nite and do a little reading to unwind before another work week. i stopped off at my computer to read what my brother wrote on his blog about the passing of Jim Posante, one of the members of the faculty from our high school.

i never knew Jim very well, altho he and my brother were close and i imagine he knew more about me than i did him. to be honest, as a young kid in high school i was intimidated by his charismatic personality. i don't really know why, he seemed like a wonderful individual. hearing about his passing is deeply saddening even tho i wasn't close to him. he was a vital part of the Greenhills community, as well as that of Ann Arbor. i know he played an important role in the lives of many people who i care about and am close to, as well as many beyond that. so, not knowing exactly what to do, i share these thoughts here. my thoughts and prayers are with all his loved ones. and i'm thankful for the small amount i did get to know him.

i'll be back tomorrow to write more on other topics, but i felt a need to at least put down these few words.

a look back...

as is often the case when i write here, i've been meaning to get this post out for a few days now. due to a busy travel schedule, work, and feeling ill for the third time in like 7 weeks i'm writing now.

the obvious thing to do here is list a bunch of resolutions for the New Year. i'll get to that but i plan on starting with a look back at the year that was: 2007. highlights of the year include (in no particular order)...

• spending time at home for the holidays with family and great friends
• all the trips to the Bay
• finally getting a job
• moving into a one-bedroom apartment
• monday nite dinners with Jeremy
• meeting new ppl, making some new friends, and developing new connections with ppl
• being forced to stake my own place in this world again, reevaluating my place and my goals

i'm sure there is a ton of other stuff i could list here...but the point is that the year was full of great times and overall a great year. it was a year full of change, some big and some smaller, but i feel these years in our lives (whether you're going thru them, went thru them, or have yet to do so) are ones of transition and growth and figuring it all out.

this stage in life is a massively transitory one, where relationships change (beginning, ending, growing) and our goals and ideals meet the reality of the world. sometimes there's a big conflict in these things and other times a harmony. i'm betting for the most part it's a mix of both and it has been for me.

change can be difficult and scary and hard. but u grow and adapt and u make the changes ur own. then u look back with a certain awe at what transpired (sometimes wondering how u could have been so foolish and done some of the silly things u did) and see the growth and see how u've reached a better place or are on ur way towards one.

anyway, enough getting all philosophical on it.

other quick highlights i'd like to include are the following...

highlights from the Holidays at home:

• time with my family
  
• the enormous X-mas tree and all mom's awesome decorations
• getting to sleep in til noon
• hearing Nick sing, even if only a handful of carols
• TK Wu
• SF homies back in the Deuce
• the awesome spread of food for X-mas dinner
• 1971 Chateau D'Yquem
• getting my dance on with the old skool homies on my last nite in town

highlights from the brief New Year's Eve trip to the Bay:

• great food!
• spending time with ppl i really enjoy
• Rock Band
• Sam's bottle of Patron
• prom pics and all the other pics [check the flickr!!!]
• getting to see Meeeeeeeeeeeeechigan handle Florida
• relaxing on New Year's day and getting to check out a neat local movie theatre

__________________________

speaking of Meeeeeeeeeeeechigan...

i loved watching the game and seeing Meeeeechigan's tough style of play defeat Florida's spread offense. seeing the team play so well was a little bittersweet: it showed what truly could have been this season but it was also so satisfying beating Florida and also seeing the team play so well for Lloyd Carr and also see the seniors on the team finally get a victory in a bowl game.

something i found particularly interesting was how Lloyd Carr and what was largely an old skool style of Michigan football (with some aggressiveness and creativity thrown in) defeat what amounts to the incoming style of play of Coach Rich Rodriguez. and that is a subject i've had mixed feelings over...it's exciting but it's also change (see above). not only that, there are certain aspects of the spread offense that i'm not a huge fan of and not sold on. i just hope the new coach, while bringing in change also brings the consistency Michigan has maintained as well maintains certain aspects of the program and style of play. in dealing with change, adaptation is crucial and in this case i think that's as true for Rodriguez as it is for the players, fans, and so on.
_________________________

the New Year.

i thought a fair amount about resolutions recently. should they be few or many? specific and detailed or open-ended and broad? easy or difficult? as with everything, i think balance is key and everything in moderation. with that in mind, here are some things i plan on working on this year:

• eat healthier, workout more, and generally take better care of myself - i'm not getting any younger and it'd be nice to just generally feel healthier and fitter and more active
  
• develop more at work, work harder, learn more, and better prepare myself for whatever is next - lately i feel i'm not progressing as i should at work and that i don't know as much as i should at this point in time; maybe it's just me but i'd like to feel more knowledgeable and have a better sense of what's going on and how it all works
• be more creative, artistic, what have u - in '07 i got back into taking fotos a bit and it was a ton of fun and really rewarding; i want to take it a step further and spent more time with the arts and hopefully incorporate it into my career
• write more - both here and in my journal
• spend as much time as i can with the ppl i care most about and enjoy that time as much as possible - i get to spend less and less time with my family and that is difficult, at the same time i saw more of some really good friends than i did when i lived nearer to them
• not make the same mistakes i made before - or more importantly, learn from my past experiences and further develop who i feel i should be in life
• be more responsible and on top of things

i dunno, these are the things that came to mind right now. it's not as well formulated as i would like but these are all things i hope to improve on and intend to spend time on.

anywho, i hope everyone had a Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year!!!

home.

i'm extremely tired and should probably just go to sleep, but i miss my blog and it's been way too long since i've written. more importantly i've been thinking and feeling a lot as of late and thus have a need to write.

first of all, the gyros i ate at the fleetwood diner about 30 minutes ago has left me feel rather gross right now and my stomach is not particularly pleased with me. coupled with the smell of grease from the restaurant, i almost just want to die.

anyway...on to the realer stuff. i've been home for almost a whole week now and it's provided a lot to think about. i've had a great time back here but oddly i feel a sense of sadness. it's not a simple: "i miss home" feeling. it goes well beyond that to thoughts about things i miss that i know will never be in a permanent sense to also dissatisfaction with certain aspects of life right now.

being back here has been so wonderful. i've had great times with my closest friends and also shared times with those who aren't as close but are still individuals with a shared past. i feel like there's something about the group of kids who i went to high school (even those beyond my closest group of friends who i've stayed in really good touch with) and it's just this kind of unspoken bond of sorts that just feels good.

it's also been great being at home with my family and getting to spend some time with them. obviously no one could be more important (altho some of my friends definitely are like family).

these wonderful times definitely make me miss ann arbor and being here but i also realize, as i have before that these experiences are an alternate reality due to the holidays in which we all come back here. it's not what living here would really feel like. and it's not that i'm longing to come back here, as i mentioned already.

it's more that i see things i really love and know that these things are not a part of my normal, everyday life and they really won't be in a way. while my everyday life is pretty great, it's tough to know there are things i enjoy that aren't a part of the norm. but i'm lucky to have these times at home, with my family, with my friends, even just with myself in the most familiar of places.

at the end of the day, anytime i feel down i get this sense of not feeling like myself; i feel an urge to get back to being me. sadly, as great as many things are right now i feel that urge to a certain degree. at this point, knowing i feel that urge is what gnaws at me a little and honestly probably makes it all seem worse than it is...because it's not that bad. really, it's not and i'm not trying to say it is. i think i'm just being somewhat idealistic in my hopes and desires and feeling the discord between them and reality is sometimes difficult (even if they aren't as far apart as i may make them seem).


ok, it's like 3:10 am over here and i still feel ill from the food. time to try and sleep it off...

coming soon: new year's resolutions and highlights from home.

"In the conditions of the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, c'mon"

Tonite's title comes from the Common song Chi-City. I love the song and I really love when it hits that part of the song. Obviously he's referring to Chicago [a great city in its own right], but the city that speaks to me in that way is San Francisco. I spent another amazing weekend up there, in a place that always feels like home as opposed to some place I've left and am no longer familiar with. I'm sure part of it has to do with the fact that I was always learning about new things there...so even if I come up on something new it doesn't feel foreign in the usual sense. But there's a lot I do know and love. I actually had the chance to really just hang out in the City on Saturday and it was wonderful...really, really making me want to move back.

Anywho...the usual list of highlights:

• getting asked for directions twice while standing on the street with my rolling carry-on bag [who asks someone who is clearly traveling for directions?]
• hotel upgrade to the suite with 2 huge flat-panel TVs within 15 feet of each other, a stereos system, a shower and a separate tub, and a collection of CDs
• Kobe beef bacon cheeseburger and gyudon beef for dinner
• hotel goods as a present [i wish it was my idea...but it wasn't]
  
• lots and lots of shopping [premium jeans for me...but no winter coat]
• meeting some new ppl
• the guys winning in Taboo [I consider myself the difference maker - and "darling"]
• white elephant exchange, stealing the present i brought, and not getting anything except a box of funny cards in the end [not even the pooping reindeer!]
• strolling around a bit

It gets harder and harder to be away from such a great place where so many great ppl are, but I'll be back for New Year's eve and I'm sure again not long after that [by then I'll have earned 2 free round-trip tickets on Southwest...suhweet!] At the end of the day I feel like my real life is the time I spend up there [as well as the rest of my time traveling and being out & about], while my time here and working is some falsity. Maybe not falsity...but not a reality. But hey...i guess it's all real, all a part of life and all I can do now is work hard and continue to enjoy my free time. What comes next [be it now or in a while.

Some pics from the weekend as well as some black & whites I shot a little while ago up on the flickr page. I left my camera in the car so I didn't get any pics from the party...sadness. I should probably get some sleep after a fun and full weekend.