/dev/null/kevin

I lost a good friend yesterday.  He lost his battle with cancer.  It was surprisingly swift.  I didn't want to post anything yesterday since it was April Fool's Day, which is a really bad day to deliver bad news.

John and I have played drums together for over 20 years now.  We both went to the same college (UC Davis) and were in the marching band.  I was still in college when he recruited me into an offshoot band called the California Repercussions.  We have been playing together, year round, ever since.  He became my mentor of drumming.  The band has taken multiple trips outside of the US, as well as a trip to Hawaii just last year, and the whole band is like an extended family.  The percussion section is even closer.

In addition to the Reapers, John and I also played percussion in various musical theater productions.  John has a massive collection of drums and percussion which he would lend to me at any time.  Where else can you borrow a set of timpani or a bell tree?  We would sub for each other and discuss the best way to play a song (much of the drum/percussion parts are improvised).  One of my favorite show memories is the two of us covering the entire West Side Story part, written for four percussionists.

John's last show (just weeks ago) was playing High School Musical with his 11 13 year old son, Eric.  I'm really glad that he got to do that.  I may be called up to take up John's part in the band.  I hope it's only temporary.  It would be nice if Eric could take his father's place in the future.

Here are some pictures from our trip to the 2007 Pro Bowl in Hawaii:

John and I with Hula Cheerleaders

Playing outside the Pro Bowl

People love to tell secrets.  It's part of human nature.  It's fun to gossip or reveal something special.  But some secrets need to stay secret.  I'm not talking about scandalous secrets, either, but rather the secret "tips" that people like to give.

Examples:

• Time saving tips for places like Disneyland
• Short cuts to bypass traffic
• Nice, intimate places to eat
• Loopholes to exploit

These limited resource tips can be ruined if the secret becomes too well known.  So you really have to ask yourself, will I destroy this tip by revealing it?

Conversely, you should always be skeptical of people willing to share their secrets with you, for a price.  Learn the secrets of getting rich working from home!  The odds are that if there really is a secret (and their probably isn't) said secret is ruined by telling everyone about it.  The real secret to getting rich by Doing Something is by selling the secret to getting rich by Doing Something.

There was a time when I tried to track where my junk mail was coming from.  Whenever I filled out my address, especially online, I would put a TAG into the second address field that identifies who I gave this address to.  Example:

Kevin Chu
Street Address
Attn: Paypal
City, State  ZIP

It never worked.

Not once have I ever received any kind of mail, junk or otherwise, that had my TAG in it.  Even when I receive regular mail from places I know have tagged the TAG isn't there.  Perhaps the computers filter it out; I really don't know.

Then today, I received an order I had placed online and had paid with Paypal.  The merchant used my Paypal address for shipping.  Lo and behold, there it was:

It was hand-written!

After hundreds of automated systems had ignored or filtered that tag, some diligent human copied it by hand.

Technology!  Its catching on!

One of the big local stories in Silicon Valley is the naming controversy of a Vietnamese area in San Jose.[1][2]  The two names battling it out are:

• Little Saigon (the old, unofficial name)
• Saigon Business District (the new name)

My wife has the obvious compromise name:

Little Saigon Business District

Duh?

McDonald's will sell you a gift card, but they won't always allow you to redeem it, which really is the most important part of the gift card (with apologies to Seinfeld). 

We received a McDonald's Arch Card for Christmas and my daughter was eager to use it.  We went to the McDonald's in the Stanford Shopping Center (more on why that's important later).  We ordered our food and my daughter wanted to pay with the card -- but she was denied!  They wouldn't take the card because they didn't have the proper equipment to read the card!  Say what?  Surely they meant the equipment was broken or the network was down.  Nope, they just didn't have it.

"You can only use these cards at participating stores."

Participating stores?  Why isn't this store participating?  Answer: the owner just hasn't bothered.  IMHO, that is just inexcusable.

I mentioned that we were in the Stanford Shopping Center.  If you are not familiar with Silicon Valley geography, Stanford Shopping Center is located in Palo Alto, California, right next to Stanford University (as you might have guessed from the name).  According to their own web page, they are "San Francisco Bay Area's premier shopping and dining experience" and they are not exaggerating.  Stanford is full of top end stores and is the mall for Palo Alto, Atherton, Woodside, and Portola Valley.  It's in these towns where you'll find the mansions of most Silicon Valley CEOs, dot-com millionaires and top sports athletes.  Basically, they are the Beverly Hills, Malibu and Hamptons of the Bay Area.

Thus, at this mall for the uber-rich, the McDonald's that charges 20% more for food can't find the time or money to install a fraking gift card reader.  That is lame.  Oh, and this card reader also seems to be the same reader that allows people to pay with credit and debit cards, too.

Technology!  You should look into it!

So remember, if you want to pay for your food at the Luddite Stanford Shopping Center McDonald's, they accept cash, gold coins, glass beads and post-dated stock options.  But no gift cards.

While A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is always a good watch, the best Thanksgiving special is its companion feature on the DVD, The Mayflower Voyagers.  It's part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series and it's quite good.  If you want to get back to the roots of the holiday and away from the shopping give it a watch.  It's only 24 minutes long but you'll likely learn something.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

San Francisco's ban on plastic bags starts today.  The news interviewed a shopper who supported the ban and she had this to say:

Thank goodness there are no more plastic bags in my shopping cart!

Yes.  Too bad those plastic bags were forced on you all those years.

And, for the record, I support the ban, just not people too stupid to realize any of the following:

1. You've always had the choice to pick paper.
   
2. Both plastic and paper bags are easily recycled.
3. Reusable bags are cheap and easy and sometimes save you money.
   

Right now being green is fashionable.  While that's a good thing, it shouldn't be a fad.  Also, legislation will not fix everything.  You must take personal responsibility.  That shouldn't be a fad either.

Should you "Stay the Course" or "Know When to Fold 'Em"? 

I recently read an article on parenting that claimed telling kids "good effort" is better than telling them "good job" or "you're smart."  The concept of "too much praise is bad" has been around for a while.  Countries that don't focus on the students' self-esteem score better on tests than countries than heap on the praise (link).

So, the new thinking is to teach kids to try hard and not to give up.   New research (and I can't find the link here's a new one) shows that kids who are told "good effort" do better the next time they try a task, regardless of how well they did the first time.  Kids who are told "good job" do the same, or worse, the next time they try.  The assumption is that the "good job" kid likes the praise and is fearful of losing it if they can't do the task again.  Whereas, the "good effort" kid know he will get the same praise as long as he tries hard again.  Thus, rewarding the effort and not the result.

This is a reasonable, and I've been doing it with my daughter.  She's smart but she can also be lazy.  She figures out most things right away, and thus can get lots of "good girl" and "you're smart" praise.  But if she can't figure something out right away she gives up quickly.  I don't want her to do that because I know she can figure it out. 

Switching to "good effort" praise, and some Disney Princess videos with "never give up" themes, have had some positive impact.  She has learned no to give up.

But perhaps she has learned it too well.

She recently broke a rubber toy by stretching it too much.  I am The Fixer of the house.  I have repaired many things using my arsenal of glue, sewing kit and clear packing tape (duct tape is old school).  But this rubber toy was beyond my help.

"But Daddy, never give up!  You'll get it."

"Every rule has an exception" is also a good life lesson to teach. 

Wife: How was your sandwich?

Me: OK.

Wife: Was it tuna or chicken?

Me: I'm not sure.

Today I honor the memory of 9/11 by donating blood.

I urge anyone who is able to donate to do so.  Blood cannot be manufactured and donations are the only way of obtaining it.

The list of requirements to donate is long so if you've never given blood before call or visit the web site of a local blood bank.  The screening process is to protect the recipient of the blood.  There are no dangers to you, the donor.

The Red Cross is a good place to donate, as are your local hospitals and blood banks.  You can donate about once every 60 days so if not today then make it a regular thing.

If not for the benefit of mankind, donate for the free cookies and juice.

The man who made me a 49ers fan died today.  Thanks for the great times, Bill!

My dad and I really bonded watching the 1981 Superbowl run, especially "The Catch."   Then in the 1984 season, and a freshman in college, I didn't have a TV in my dorm room.  So every Sunday I would get up early (10am is early for a college student) and watch the games in the common room.  That Superbowl was played in my home town so I went home to experience all of the hype.

Even the years where they didn't win the Superbowl were great years.  I always like the way they won with class.  No showboating or pomp.  They really made it easy to be a fan.

Today, the "West Coast Offense" still proves to be proven success and many of Walsh's assistant coaches are all successful themselves. 

Thanks again, Bill!

Feel free to donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

...and the crowd loves it!

Here is a video I made last year of the same event.  We just got back from this year's spraying and it was even better because it was hotter.  My brother in law is now a captain at the station that does this.  He's the one holding my daughter at the end.

Happy 4th of July!

Today I celebrate eleven years married to my wife.  Yeah us!  This also concludes my month of gifts as June is packed full of such occasions.  It starts with my wife's birthday, my mom and grandmother's birthdays, our anniversary, Father's Day, and usually a wedding and graduation (or two).  At least part of Father's Day is for me now.  I can't wait until Hallmark turns Flag Day into a gift-giving occasion!

I think one of those jobs of tommorrow should be spell checker.

Tags: hillary clinton | spelling | tommorrow

Is it me or are 80s fashions coming back?  It's about the right time for it as retro 80s stuff is just starting to be cool now.

Retro usually only goes back about 25 years, mainly because retro stuff is only cool to those who weren't alive the first time around.  In the early 1980s, retro was the 50s (cf. Preppy).  We rejected the slovenly and sloppy 70s styles and music.  Disco was declared dead, clothes were neat and colorful, and music was techno and precise (no ad libbing allowed!).  Women's pants covered their belly buttons.

In the early 1990s the 60s retro came calling.  Bell bottoms and tie-dye were back, and grunge music took off.  Hair bands and over-produced music were banished to second billing behind "Puppet Show."    We even tried to recreate the magic with Woodstock '94 (aka Mudstock).

The late 1990s and early 2000s begot 70s retro.  Disco was back!  The song Y.M.C.A. became a staple at every wedding and karaoke bar in the nation.  Wayne's World made head banging to Queen cool.  Low, hip-hugger pants were required by law for everyone under the age of 25.

Fast forward to 2007.  Gone are the syncopated and funky rhythms in pop music.  They have been replaced with boring 80s repetitive 8th note bass lines (same same note).  Avril Lavigne's latest song sounds like the return of The Go Gos.  The kids in High School Musical dress like when I was in high school (class of '84).  Today I saw, not one, but two pictures of young, trend-setting, celebrities wearing pants that, I swear, are identical to ones my girlfriends wore while dancing to Duran Duran.  Goodbye low-rise jeans.  Goodbye belly buttons.  Hello suck-in-your-gut-high-waisted pants!

The 80s, for better or worse, are back.  Be prepared.  I'm pulling out all my thin ties now.

Tags: 80s | fashion | retro | music