Barack for president!!

Dear friends,

I have created a page on Barack Obama’s website for fundraising. If you’ve stumbled upon this blog entry by mistake, please visit my fundraising page at http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/ccellist. If you are tired of feeling like this country has lost its way, if you’re feeling disaffected and disempowered by the current election system, if you’re feeling pessimistic about the next few years, if you’d like to support Obama, but feel like it’s hopeless, or you don’t have time to volunteer, check out the page, and make a small donation. You’ll be amazed how good it will feel to have actively done something positive.

If you’re a McCain supporter and have stumbled upon this page, welcome! I respect your opinions though I disagree with them fundamentally. May the better candidate win.

New Facebook group

Dear friends,

I don’t like to get involved in sensitive political discussions very often unless I can ensure it will be an educational experience for both parties. This said, it makes me a little unconfortable to put this in writing b/c it is not my intention to offend my friends by saying something that might touch on something very personal.

That caveat out of the way, I’d like to mention a group I started on facebook that deals with the current political crisis between Russia and NATO. I am deeply troubled by the arrogance with which the US is approaching its foreign policy vis a vis Russia, treating its concerns as if they were irrelevant. Although the Bush administration insists on saying that “the Cold War is over”, we are in peril of starting a fresh Cold War if we continue to behave in a unilateralist manner, assuming that Russia is stupid to be concerned simply because we say so. Russia is not Iraq, and it would be a serious mistake to assume that we can treat Russia as cavalierly as we did Iraq.

I myself find that the Bush administration’s claims that its missile defense shield over Eastern Europe is not aimed at Russia a great deal more credible if the US did something concrete like unilaterally reduce its arsenal of nuclear weapons. Since this is unreaslistic, the US and NATO MUST start talking to Russia, addressing its concerns at a summit as if we were living in the Cold War. Otherwise we will reignite the Cold War, with troubling repercussions for the near future.

Url of the group is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28543335685. Please join if you feel the same way. I would be particularly interested in making this an international group if possible. None of the internet organizations that deal with international petitions has taken on this topic it seems. Perhaps if we get enough people joined we can draw attention to the need for dialogue, not denial.

Thank you.

Fearmongering in America

Dear friends,

Thank you for the article, I enjoy intellectually stimulating conversations. I respectfully submit the link to the original posted article online, and encourage people to take a look at it and all the comments that have been posted below it. They make for good reading as well. The link is http://www.theabsurdreport.com/2006/subject-historical-significance/.

As a student of history, one thing I really wish Mr. Kraft had mentioned but didn’t, was the principal way in which Hitler (a failed artist-cum-sign painter who had been in a German prison a mere decade earlier for a failed coup d’etat, in short, a nobody) was able to pose such a threat to the rest of the world in the first place. He and his party led a hysterical campaign of fear about the threat that world jewry posed to Germany, indeed to the world. The “dicey turning point” which enabled Hitler, who was legally elected as chancellor of Germany in 1933, to assume dictatorial power was the burning of the Reichtag and the fear it caused among Germans that the “fatherland” was under attack. This allowed him to push for the Enabling Act of March 23, 1933, a series of emergency measures which allowed him to rule by decree, dissolve parliament, and launch his war of world domination.

My personal feeling is that it is dangerous to make decisions based on fear. As much as world history has been defined by the clash of civilizations, very often this clash can often be traced to irrational fear, and those who would profit from generating it. It was irrational fear of Socialism and Communism that caused another nobody, Augusto Pinochet, to massacre thousands and disappear more thousands on another 9/11 (September 11, 1976) in Chile, my erstwhile home. Most of those killed were just trying to elect someone who gave them hope for a better life. Instead they were ruthlessly killed in our National Stadium and other places. We are still dealing with the aftermath of that national holocaust.

I’m afraid I don’t have any better answers than anyone else, it would be arrogant for me to believe so. As for Iraq, we went in, now we need to finish what we started. We should win and we should do a better job of letting democracy take hold, and this can only do good things for everyone. Even so, looking closer to home I remember something I read that has also been a truism to me, and I respectfully share with you: “those who have nothing to offer will turn to fear as a tactic instead.”

I can’t think of a better way to end this missive than to quote another famous WWII figure, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In a difficult time for this country, indeed for the world, during his first inaugural address to the nation he said something that I believe carries a lot of relevance today. I hope this too will be shared with students nationwide:

“I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.” (Source: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057 / )

In the future…

Welcome to business in the 21st Century! I’m sitting here, trying to get quotes from Chinese companies on shipping personal effects back to the US from Shenzhen. Except rather than be involved in a long phone discussion, or a series of back-and-forth emails, I am doing all of this through IM via MSN Messenger. In this particular scenario it is because the person helping me doesn’t speak English well but can write it without problems. Since my spoken Chinese for business isn’t much better, I have agreed to take this rather unorthodox approach to doing business, and as it turns out, I like it! It somehow feels more personal than a phone call. Maybe it’s because I associate using IM’s with close friends. In any case, I appreciate the fact that both of us can pay attention to each other while simultaneously doing other things. Whereas on the phone you have to be on the line the whole time, leaving no room for distraction really, through IM you can type a message, go do something else (such as pack, weigh, then measure a box), and then when your PC beeps, it’s time to go check the IM window. Amazing…

Who knows, maybe some day we’ll order Pizza, doctor’s appointments, or repair people in this manner too… I look forward to that day. Of course, I don’t look forward to IM’s from telemarketers…. yuck!

Technorati Tags: Future, business, transactions, culture, technology, computers, software

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The Great Firewall: a workaround?

It’s always a tough call when you find something cool whether to keep it to yourself and enjoy the privacy, or whether to tell others and share in the joy. Kind of like sharing the existence of a really good, unknown restaurant, or a nice quiet spot in the park. It’s great as it is, but it’s difficult not to want to tell people about it.

I’ve always known getting around the pesky “Connection reset” problem was relatively simple provided you had access to someone else’s machine outside China. This was always easier said than done for me, however, until today. Turns out you can accomplish this with NoMachine’s NX Client software and one of their test servers. You log on to their server as a guest (I’m not going to tell you how. That’s what Google is for ), use the web browser that’s built in (Konqueror), and off you go. It’s faster than Privoxy/Tor, and you don’t have to worry about enabling Privoxy/Tor for every other website.

Of course, this will only work until China blocks access to No Machine’s website, but this will only prevent new users from gaining access to the test server. If you download the .nxs file and save it for later, then open it, there’s not much our dear old Communist Party can do short of blocking SSH connections altogether, which they won’t do. This is the beauty of the thing. The other thing that might happen though, is if thousands of people try this at the same time, NoMachine’s test servers will get overloaded and they’ll have to take them down. That will be a shame when it happens, but for at least a couple of months this should work alright. I don’t know if this has been documented somewhere, but if isn’t, now it is.

Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: The Great Firewall, China, censorship, Linux, NX, NoMachine, computers, the Internet, web access from China, Chinese web

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Sick… and a hostage??

The latest episode in what has become a nightmare work scenario is unfolding. SSO is preparing a full production of Madame Butterfly with performances on July 24 and 25. This happens to be my last concert obligation with the SSO before my contract, which I’ve respectfully declined to renew, ends. So I’ve told the orchestra I’m not coming back, that I’ve appreciated the opportunity to work here as principal, and could I please have my plane ticket home and my August salary and bonus early so I could be on my way. It was all very quiet, very civil, with no drama. At first Nie Bing, the personnel manager, agreed with no strings whatsoever. He even allowed me to miss any engagements the orchestra might have between the last performance of Butterfly and the beginning of the August break so I could show Beijing and Xi’an to my girlfriend who is visiting me. It was a very cordial meeting.

Now, I had every intention of fulfilling my obligations with the orchestra to the end, so I didn’t really need my plane ticket or my money right then and there. That would have been unreasonable. Later however, when I asked about when I might receive said plane ticket, salary and bonus, a much different Nie Bing surfaced. To make a long story short, he still agrees to everything, but he made a big show of having people dig through piles of unorganized documents in a file cabinet in search of my contract, so he could verify that I wasn’t lying to him about the plane ticket (I suppose when you are in the habit of lying as frequently as he seems to be you begin to trust no one). He also informed me that I wouldn’t receive a cent until after the last opera performance, presumably after verifying that I was there. In other words, I’m a hostage until I play those two concerts.

In principle this would be troubling enough, but I suppose if you are afraid an employee is going to take the money and run then such a reaction wouldn’t sound so far-fetched. Actually, it says a lot about the quality of employment in an organization if the management is so afraid people are going to cut and run they have to hold their employees hostage in order to get them to fulfill their agreements. Like I said, I had no problem staying and participating in this final project of the season, even if it meant enduring more insults from the podium at the hands of the artistic director (more on this later).

As luck would have it, I have fallen ill. Somehow or other I’ve contracted a bad cold and what appears to be salmonella food-poisoning simultaneously. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact we’ve been rehearsing this opera about 5 or 6 hours a day for 8 days straight, with only one day off before that…

Salmonella poisoning is not pretty. Fortunately, I have the antibiotics I got from the local CVS back home for just such a purpose, and everything I’m eating is staying down, which means my body is getting the medicine it needs. But the intenstinal cramps are awful, and going to the bathroom has now become a hobby. I feel weak enough from both illnesses that I can barely move. I can type, but I can’t imagine sitting for 3 hours, playing music that is quite difficult and aerobic at a heightened level of concentration, in my current condition.

I’ve asked the advice of some Chinese friends, and the consensus seems to be that Yu Feng, the artistic director, won’t care in the least, and if you know the man this is not surprising. Seems to me he’d just as soon fire me and leave me without plane ticket, salary, or bonus than miss this “very important concert”. The contract says the orchestra is responsible for providing my way home if they do fire me, but they have a poor record of adhering to contract points in the best of times so I’m not holding my breath.

Theoretically I should be able to go the doctor, get a note that excuses me from any work for the next few days, and the orchestra would have to comply… or would they? I’m certain that if I did a series of unexplained occurences would delay delivery of my plane ticket, bonus, and salary. As it is I’m worried that someone is going to forget to bring the ticket and the money on the 25th even if I do play tonight and tomorrow. The orchestra and orchestra management offices go on break beginning on the 26th for a month.

Fortunately for me, the orchestra made the mistake of showing me the itinerary sheet for my flight, and it happens to be an eticket. So I memorized the reservation number so at least I can get home even if they decide not to give me the ticket. It’s paid for, and it’s in my name. I’ve verified this with the airline; my itinerary exists and is reachable with the code I obtained from the itinerary sheet.

So I’m a hostage. Either I play tonight and tomorrow, sick as I am, or I’m out nearly US$3000.

Nice job this turned out to be.

The state of things

When I began my employment with Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, there were close to 20 foreigners working here. Most of them were Russian, but there was also someone from New Zealand, Poland, four Americans (3 of whom hadn’t arrived yet), one from Australia, and one from Turkey. Over time we added to our mix one Ukrainian and a German percussionist.

As of today we have lost 3 Americans, the Australian, the Kiwi (New Zealand), the person from Poland, and the Ukrainian, in addition to one Russian who had been here 8 years. Except for the Australian and Kiwi whose contracts expired, everyone else has quit out of exasperation and desperation with the way the orchestra management was treating them. One of two things happened. Some were put into a position where they had no choice but to quit. They were threatened with having their contracts terminated for refusing to accept the senseless and grueling schedule imposed on us. Others resigned out of utter exasperation at not being given adequate redress of grievances. The orchestra management either refused to speak with us or told outright lies to our faces, making promises they had no intention of keeping, all the while feigning ignorance at having made the promises to begin with.

The last of the Americans resigned today. I am keeping them anonymous for their (and my) protection, but they have gracefully given me permission to publish their letter of resignation. This is how SSO gets rid of its foreigners. Enjoy:

“Sun, June 24th 2007

[To the management,]

I respectfully requested not to play the concert on Monday, June 25th. Mr. Nie Bing [the personnel manager] threatened that if I don’t play the concert on Monday, June 25th … my contract will be [summarily ended]. My wish was to not play this music which [is damaging to] my lips under the abusive conductor ….

In a meeting with the [general] manager of the orchestra, I was promised … they would get a translator that could actually speak English. They [also] promised to give me a schedule a week in advance. It seems that those were lies. I was told about Monday’s [June 25th] performance on Saturday night. That is not one week in advance … [but] less than 2 days in advance. I asked a highly qualified translator to request an interview for the position of translator, … [but] the management told [them] that they are not looking for a translator.

I have never been more disappointed in my life. I am an artist, a musician, and deserve to be treated [as such] …. I do not respond well to threats of canceling my contract. I feel I have every right to not want to work this concert. If that means losing my job … so be it. You people do not want me here, and you have made that abundantly clear. I am happily leaving this orchestra with a very low opinion of Chinese professionalism. I will report this organization, and make sure that people know everything that has happened to me. My suggestion is to stop hiring foreigners if you do not know how to treat them.

<name omitted>”

Technorati Tags: Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, China, Chinese orchestras, working in China, expats in China, classical music

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A concert for teenagers

If I needed any evidence that China is teeming with talented teenage musicians, then a concert we did two nights ago should put that need to rest.

Among the concerts we have had this hellish week (details of which I will put in my next post), we played one in the brand new Shenzhen Concert Hall where we were (once again) the second act of a longer show. We performed the Poulenc Concerto for Two pianos with two very young Chinese pianists, both of whom have performed with us before. One of them I have met. She is studying at Curtis Institute and recently shared first place in the First Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition. She is very talented though I know she will benefit from the maturity years of experience will give her. I think she has a good career ahead of her.

Their performance was impressive. The Poulenc is a tricky piece to put together as any piece for two pianos is. Yet they managed to put it together with us in just one rehearsal (we were all sightreading because the orchestra continues to refuse to provide us with music ahead of time). They always came in together and at the right tempo, and their phrases, though not very daring, had musicality. This is not a piece that lends itself to passion or too much emotional input, but they showed as much care and finesse in the delicate moments as they showed fire in the more exciting sections of the first and last movements.

After they played and did their bows, eight more teens filed onstage to accept the audiences applause. Sadly I did not hear their performances, but having heard the quality of both young pianists I am left wondering whether I should have.

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Quantum computing… here we go?

Physorg.com reports on a breakthrough by the University of Delaware and Cambridge NanoTech in their experiments regarding ’spintronics’, or the ability to use information about electron spin in atoms of silicon to encode information, much like we use information about an electron’s charge state in computers today.

Whereas semiconductors nowadays operate on binary bits, which are represented by manipulating the charge of electrons in a silicon wafer (’on’ or ‘off’, ‘true’ or ‘false’), ’spintronics’ research hopes to usher in a new age of computer speed and performance by measuring and even controlling the angular momentum displayed by all electrons, and using this information to encode data.

The website reports that researchers for the first time successfully conducted the spin of electrons in a custom-made silicon chip, a process known as ’spin transport’.

Technorati Tags: Science, technology, computers, quantum computing, inventions

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SSO Tour of SE Asia – Reviews

Of course, the Chinese media has nothing but glowing comments for our performances in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia of the Buddhist Symphony. I say of course not because the glowing comments are not necessarily deserved, but because in the spirit of glorifying everything Chinese, Xinhua is making this concert incredibly larger than life. The performances were acceptable for this orchestra, though I do believe the chorus could have done with several more rehearsals. Still, I enjoyed the way the work came off. The real problems during the tour happened behind the scenes, but I’ll save that dirty little story for another day. Other reviews are available at the following links:

• http://english.sz.gov.cn/ln/200705/t20070511_199224.htm
• http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_37/node_84/2007/05/11/117884474119512.shtml

I have to say that I quite enjoyed performing the work, its 80-minute length notwithstanding. I in fact gave an interview to CCTV while in Jakarta detailing some of what I most appreciated about the work, mainly that it doesn’t sound like a Chinese work trying to sound Western, a “symphony with Chinese Characteristics” as it were. The Buddhist and Chinese themes all sound organic to the work as opposed to so much of the music we play, which ends up sounding like cheesy orchestrations a la 19th century of Chinese folk tunes done badly.

Technorati Tags: Music, Classical Music, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Chinese Orchestra, Travel, Life

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