it’s good to be alive, even though every muscle in my body is sore…

Monday, 27th August 2007

Right now, every muscle in my body seems to be aching… a direct result from doing some intense cardio, doing some weight training, and performing my gigs this weekend.

Had a great gig in Leucadia. It was their annual street festival of sorts, and Le Papagayo had us perform outside near their patio area for entertainment.

The flamenco band was so loud! I wasn’t mic’d so I had to really play hard on drums. *Sigh* Someday, other musicians who are non-drummers will appreciate the fact that drums need to be mic’d properly for outdoor venues. You can’t just tell a drummer to play louder. Then I can’t play “dynamically” and everything is just all LOUD!

Anyway, I think that’s the flamenco guitarist’s inclination, to play a fusion of rock and flamenco music, because the sounds were all distorted and just plain loud. About three people in the audience were plugging their ears and I was afraid the whole time we performed that the police would come, or we’d get into some sort of trouble with the people putting on this event.

Either way, it was fun and we played (especially me, physically) REALLY hard!

We had a double header, but the second gig at The Turquoise was cancelled because every 4th Sunday another group performs there. But, the manager (who’s also a musician) really likes and appreciates us. He still fed us dinner and drinks for showing up. The manager on Sundays is really a nice guy.

Anyway, it gave me an opportunity to finally go to the ocean and try to catch a sunset, and this is what I captured with the new Nikon D40:

Moments like these… just seem to re-affirm how it’s important to cherish life and appreciate the beauty of the sky, the ocean and the sunset….

Filed under: Blog
Tagged: Blog

a quick note on sunday

Sunday, 26th August 2007

I really overdid it yesterday with the couple miles of walking and weight training. I bought a new curling bar from a local sports store along with some weights. It wasn’t so much the walking and the weight training, but mostly the running around doing Saturday errands all day. And, I did a second weight training session after buying the new weights and curling bar.

So, this morning I’m feeling exhausted and sore, and I’m getting ready to head out the door to do an outdoor afternoon concert in Leucadia, and I also have the gig later on tonight at The Turquoise. It’s going to be a long day and I’m sure I’ll be exhausted come tomorrow morning.

But, I must continue on with my regimen to get into supreme physical shape by my January 26th birthday.

Also, I bought a magnetic chess set for traveling and some chess strategy books. It was a special sale at Borders; 3 books and a small magnetic chess set for $9.99. And, I couldn’t resist getting Terminator 2 for $9.99 as well.

I’m not a great chess player, but I want to improve my game. My opponent is usually the computer, actually, chessmaster; and you can play several virtual players of varying levels and ranks. I’ve been going easy on myself with the easier opponents, just to get my feet wet again. It’s been a long time since I was seriously into chess, and back then I had a friend who kept beating me, but he was ranked at Master level. I think that’s what made me quit.

But being able to challenge virtual players at different levels I can have some good practice games.

Anyway, I have to run. It’s time to get ready for the gigs.

Filed under: Blog
Tagged: Blog

Keith Jarrett’s Tirade @Umbria

Thursday, 23rd August 2007

My longtime friend and musical colleague, Nathan Mills, sent me the link to this video with a “hmmmmm…..”

And being the devout Keith Jarrett fan that I am, naturally I was extremely upset when I first watched this.

As you can see, the video shows Keith Jarrett lashing out at the audience for using flash photography and video, using some pretty harsh language in the process.

It was extremely upsetting to me because I am watching my most favorite and revered jazz pianist, possibly the most important jazz pianist of the second half of the 20th century, lose his cool and curse at the audience, his fans who have paid some hefty sums of money to see him perform his music.

A part of me is angry with Jarrett for losing his cool, and cursing his fans. Mainly, because I’ve always looked up to him as a highly consummate and disciplined individual. I have most of his CDs and a good number of his DVDs, and aside from his typical quirks (the guttural sounds and jerky movements) I’ve always looked upon his work as pure genius and perfect artistry.

And I still do…

But, knowing that he is quite human, and not the God that I considered him to be, has definitely removed him from that lofty pedestal that I had once put him high upon.

With this video, things are different with how I appreciate Jarrett and his music. Yet at the same time, I still admire him for standing up to those people who do not respect his wishes, for if you’ve been any sort of fan of Jarrett’s, you know that he doesn’t appreciate any flash photography or videotaping at any of his concerts.

When I went to see him perform a solo piano concert in San Francisco, the concert staff specifically warned people about the use of flash photography or videotaping. Still, some idiots out in the audience took flash photos. And Jarrett walked up to the microphone and reprimanded those couple of people who took the photos. And at that particular concert, fortunately, he was pretty polite about it.

But just to speak in Keith Jarrett’s defense, he has long made it clear that he doesn’t want flash photography and videotaping at his concerts. And I guess if you are the artist and that is one request you demand from your audience, then that is the artist’s right and it should be respected, given the level of concentration required to perform an entire evening’s worth of improvised music.

A part of me felt let down because I saw Jarrett lose his temper in front of those people.

Another part of me, however, believes that the artist should stand up for his personal rights as an artist, and stand up for what he believes is a fair exchange between the artist and the audience.

Also, artists are typically very passionate individuals. And there has to be a certain level of passion and emotion in their work. And with Jarrett, his music is a lot of things… especially; revolutionary, defiant, passionate, angry, avante-garde, emotional….

…with that in mind, his expression of anger towards his audience for not meeting him halfway is perfectly understandable then. He is protesting, angry and defiant… it is a revolution against what Jarrett feels is his ideal in regards to the subtle and close relationship between the performer and the audience… between the appreciators of the art and the artist himself.

Sure, he lost his cool, and he ended up using some profanity. In reality, who hasn’t at one time or another. But at the same time, Keith Jarrett is human, is passionate, is emotional, because that’s what his music is all about….

After watching the video, the inspirational bubble definitely had burst, and I now saw Jarrett as a human and not a God of discipline and perfection.

But also, I can understand the ideals he fights for. It might be a losing battle in this digital world where it’s so easy to capture moments and events as they happen. But then again, I can understand his frustration.

And hopefully, this will be the last video I have to see of Jarrett losing his cool. Because, jazz musicians are supposed to look, act, and be cool.

I’m still a fan, nonetheless, because I think his music is THAT important… he has a long history that has been recorded on vinyl and in the digital format. It is music that is pure and uncompromised, and in the years to come will speak for itself, and live beyond the man who had created it.

Filed under: Music
Tagged: Angry Tirade, keith jarrett, Keith Jarrett Trio, Umbria Jazz Festival

50 more things about me…

Wednesday, 22nd August 2007

I absolutely felt compelled to do another list about me, inspired by all those lists created by fellow RBJ members for the RBJ Collaboration Project for this month.

Anyway, it’s hard to believe that I’ll be 50 next January 26… very hard, actually. I’m a sensitive soul, as Tokyo Rose has guessed. 50 is a major milestone in one’s life. I guess I’m thankful and feel blessed to have gotten this far in life. My wife attended the funeral for a co-worker’s child who recently passed away. That child was only a few months old.

So, I’m rather painfully aware that life, sometimes, can be cut short. And if any of us are alive today, then consider ourselves truly blessed, and survivors.

So, back to this 50 list thing… and the thought of turning 50…

To be honest. I don’t really feel 50. And deep inside, I feel like the perpetual child, refusing to acknowledge the fact that I belong to an older group of citizens. Being a musician, I think, helps me feel younger than my years. And I refuse to be “jaded”.

But since I’ll be turning 50 in the coming months, and being that I’m thinking of this new list of 50 things… I might as well let you all know a bit more about me and at the same time write about things that relate to being 50 and being who I am…. maybe, show a little of my philosophical, deeper side:

. . . .

01. Recently, discussing (with friends) various conspiracy theories and the apparent greedy and power-hungry individuals who are intent on controlling us, I was thinking to myself… these things truly sicken me. I guess ignorance is bliss in this matter, but also, I think focusing too much on the bad things in this world will only make one a bitter, angry person.

02. Because of #1, I truly believe that the best things in life are the simple things. A flower, a stroll through nature, the ocean, the sky, a cloud. a child’s smile, a friendly glance…

03. I don’t do drugs and don’t advise anyone to take them.

04. However, in college and in my early 20’s… a couple of times I experimented with psylocibin and LSD. I wasn’t just doing it to get “high”. I was trying to explore a deeper side of myself, another reality. I took down lots of notes about my experiences and fortunately I didn’t experience any “bad trips”. I was reading Carlos Castaneda’s “A Separate Reality” and was intrigued by his experiments with Peyote and Jimson Weed, and he wrote extensive notes that became a series of books on shamanism and other realities. He became an apprentice to an Indian sorceror named Don Juan.

05. Feeling a gentle, cool breeze on my face is one of my most favorite things in life.

06. I am always honored to have been named “skywatcher hedgie” by Cyn. I truly love looking up at the sky and its various colours and textures. And I try to take photos whenever I can. Perhaps, it is a metaphor for my entire life. Being that I’ve always been curious as to what lies ahead and beyond our means of understanding. To me, the sky is a reminder that there are things beyond our everyday lives, that there is a sense of grandeur that is always above us.

07. I love coffee. And it doesn’t have to be just Starbucks. I’m fair and impartial to just about any kind, even instant coffee.

08. Recently, I finally upgraded the RAM in my Powerbook G4. When I open up the laptop to install the memory, I found out that one of the RAM chips was loose! No wonder that computer was slow. I had originally started off with 512 Megs of RAM, and was actually working with only 256 Megs because of the loose RAM chip! So now, I’m up-to-speed with 867 megs of RAM. And it really speeded up things, so now I can truly work with iDVD and iMovie and not have to be frustrated with it running slow.

09. Flamenco music and Spanish guitar has been a big part of my musical life these past few months. So, I’ve been studying all about Flamenco music lately, and the band I’m in (Flamenco Nova!) is getting popular around town. I’m hoping this could really take off into something really good. The band has a lot of energy and potential, and the bandmembers are such nice individuals.

10. Spain, and Spanish culture have been entering into my life recently. People I know both online and in real life have recently visited Spain! I just find it odd, since recently joining Flamenco Nova!

11. My wife and I have been a bit traumatized lately, with regards to our son going off to college. Not only that we miss him. But, the whole thought and idea that we have a child, our first baby, in college now… for a parent, it’s sort of mind-blowing! So, recently, I’ve been looking at old photo albums and reminiscing…

12. Probably the most inspiring and influential song in my life is “Moon River”. It was the very first song I remember hearing when I was a toddler. And, I remember how I stood there in front of the old Motorola stereo listening to this song, half mesmerized, half in awe!

13. I was raised Roman Catholic and my parents to this day are faithful, devout Roman Catholics. I pretty much grew up questioning my faith, and studied other religions with the primary intent to see how Catholicism and Christianity in general “stacked-up” against the other world religions. After comparing all of the world’s great religions, I somehow fell into Hinduism and Buddhism.

14. After much soul searching, I would say that I have a great respect for the great religions of the world, and believe that they are all trying to unveil a universal truth of love and brotherhood (and sisterhood), and to teach us that a sense of morality and ethics is important for us to live our lives in peace and harmony.

15. In my years of studying religions and philosophies, I have somewhat drifted toward Albert Einstein’s beliefs…

a person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their super-personal value … regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a Divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities. Accordingly a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance of those super-personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation … In this sense religion is the age-old endeavour of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals, and constantly to strengthen their effects.
—Albert Einstein

and Buddhism…

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there’s any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism….
—Albert Einstein

Though, I don’t consider myself a truly devout Buddhist. I still want to keep my mind open to everything that’s out there.

16. Referring back to my brief experiments with LSD and Psylocibin… I always thought of them as religious, spiritual experiences… just a means of looking at the world through different senses and mind. A means to allow the consciousness to look at everything differently. And there is no need for me to take them again.

17. Religious symbols have always intrigued me. The crucifix. The statue of the Buddha. Hindu religious paintings. I have three statues of The Buddha, all over 15 inches tall. Large photographic prints of gurus Paramahansa Yogananda and Sri Yukteshwar, and a nice large photographic print of Jesus Christ.

18. My parents have a nice Catholic altar at their home, while I have a nice Buddhist altar at mine. Though, I have always been intrigued by their statue of the black Jesus!

19. I believe in ghosts and spirits and ESP.

20. I believe in #19 because of personal experiences I’ve had. I don’t really find them scary, per se. Just odd and strange.

21. I confess, I would like to be financially independent. Mainly to be able to travel and have the financial means to make recordings of original music, the proper way with no compromises.

22. When I swim in the ocean I always wear swimming fins just in case of strong rip currents, and even though I consider myself a pretty strong swimmer. When I swim in the ocean I like to really swim out there past the waves. Though, in the back of my mind, I still have this fear of sharks and jellyfish.

23. Below could be considered my most favorite photo of me.

24. And, I guess this could be considered my least favorite photo of me. Notice the big bag of chips!

25. I love potato chips… I just can’t eat them. Look at pic above!

26. Recently, I’ve been working with weights and walking… this is a good thing. It seems I am forever trying to get myself in peak physical condition. Especially for the drumming.

27. For the past several years, I’d been spending enormous amounts of time online, mainly to develop the Rice Bowl Journals site, and for blogging. Recently, I don’t spend half the amount of time daily that I used to spend being online. In the future, I think I’ll be spending less and less time online.

28. Just yesterday, I bought a used version of War of the Worlds on DVD. I know others didn’t like the movie all that much, mainly because of various critiques regarding the movie itself (plot development, or lack thereof, plot holes and inconsistencies, etc.) but, I really like this movie even though I’m not a big Tom Cruise fan, nor do I like Dakota Fanning all that much. I do, however, love the special effects and the design of the tripods, and the brief battle scenes against the alien invaders.

29. Btw, I love movies with “special effects” and things that explode and go boom and rumble. Okay, one of these days I’m going to get a JBL subwoofer to match my current JBL tower speakers, so that those booms and rumbles and other low frequencies are faithfully reproduced…

30. Right now I’m currently torn between the LOTR Trilogy and the Star Wars Trilogy as being my favorite. I am leaning toward the Star Wars Trilogy out of nostalgia. But, LOTR might now be a close contender.

31. Lately, I’ve been procrastinating with regards to yard work and household chores.

32. Fortunately, I found my lost iPod shuffle a couple of days ago. It was hidden in a blanket in the hallway cabinets for some odd reason. So now, #31 should be easier to accomplish, now that I have mobile tunes I can listen to…

33. With regards to RBJ, I find myself more and more feeling alienated from the community, mainly because I am probably the oldest member there. And it seems to not matter whether I’m the founder or not… and it shouldn’t have to matter that I’m the founder, nor should it matter that I am the oldest.

34. Nowadays, I feel that RBJ will succeed and thrive if I am not too active in it. If I remain behind the scenes and let others have their voices… allowing hopefully, others to come out of the woodwork to participate. Somehow, I feel I hinder that progress, the more I join in… so, for the most part, being behind-the-scenes is my new motto.

35. From the all-time, most-viewed video clips on YouTube, the one with the laughing baby is my most favorite:

36. The spanish guitar piece, “Recuerdos De La Alhambra” by Francisco Tárrega, is probably my most favorite piece that the Flamenco band performs. Jordano has studied with the legendary Pepe Romero, and below is his teacher performing that very piece! Watch the fingers. Truly amazing technique!

37. Most of the time, I prefer solitude over the crowds, yet I really had a great time in New York City when I was there with the family a few years ago.

38. If it weren’t for the amount of rain the state gets, I would like to live in Washington State. I love the forests there and the view of Mount Rainier. I lived in Bremerton, Washington when I was in 1st and 2nd grades.

39. I’ve never been to Canada.

40. I wish I had travelled to Spain when the family and I visited Europe 2 years ago. We’ll have to plan another trip to Europe someday.

41. Do I believe in UFOs and aliens from another world? Well, I’ve never experienced anything like that, but I believe that there has to be more life out there in this universe than just us here on Earth.

42. I’m not really all that fond of Las Vegas. It’s just that I don’t gamble (never really interested me), and it seems like such a “fabricated” city. In fact, the only time I’ve ever enjoyed Las Vegas was when I performed there with Big Time Operator.

43. The family and I have recently been drinking Glaceau Vitamin Water. My favorites are multi-v lemonade (a-zinc) and green tea (c+egcg)… 50 calories per bottle with 13g sugar, no hi-fructose corn syrup.

44. There’s really nothing I’m interested in watching on TV right now. But, I do love to watch DVDs, and I consider myself a bit of a movie buff. I like them all… old classics, psychological thrillers, romantic comedies, foreign movies, blockbusters… whatever I consider is good cinema, I’m usually there to see it, either at home on DVD… or at the theaters.

45. I DO need to upgrade my home theater though. And I do have ideas about what I want in a high-end home theater set-up. It would just take a fortune to realize that!

46. Yes, I have thought about getting a 50″ plasma HD-TV built into the wall along with speakers and audio/video components built into the walls too. Of course, money and finances hinder me from doing that right now.

47. As spiritually inclined as I am (I sometimes wish I lived in a buddhist monastery), I’m also materially inclined as well. But, I don’t wish to be greedy or filthy rich either… just wealthy enough to travel abroad and to enjoy some of the finer things in life.

48. I’ve always wanted to have a high-end, audiophile stereo system. It’s always been a dream of mine. And I like reading audiophile magazines sometimes. But at the same time, I’m perfectly happy listening to music on my little iPod shuffle. As long as I have audiophile headphones, though.

49. I consider my home my sanctuary… meaning, I don’t invite very many people to my house regularly. And rarely do I have friends and relatives visit, only on special occasions.

50. My recent projects at home? I’ve been working on organizing my family photos and maybe create some interesting scrapbooks. I finally got most of my loose photos organized into categories. Also, I have lots of family video on VHS that I’d like to digitize on DVD. *sigh* So many projects…..

. . . .

Okay, this took quite a bit of work and time… even more than the 101-things entry I did a few days ago. At least it’s done and I can move on… :o)

Filed under: Blog
Tagged: Blog

ample make this bed…

Friday, 17th August 2007

This poem has been on my thoughts recently…

AMPLE make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise’ yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.
—Emily Dickinson

Speaking of beds, I’m curious.

How many of you faithfully make your bed each day?

Are there days when you simply don’t have the time to make your bed?

Or, for the most part, are you able to make your bed each and every day?

For years, I’ve always had a problem with making the bed, until recently. Now I’m pretty committed to making sure the bed is made in the mornings.

Of course, that job has always been left to me. My wife doesn’t really have the time since she rushes in the mornings to get to work. Me, I’m the musician who works nights, so I guess it’s fallen on me to make the bed.

So now, I’m finally certain in my mind, that’s what I’m going to do every morning… wake up and make the bed. I’m firmly resolved in my mind that this will happen from now on… come what may.

And now, I must run off to make the bed….

Filed under: Blog
Tagged: Blog

Randomguru 101

Tuesday, 14th August 2007

101 Things About Me….

I know, rather cheesy with the 101 thing but I couldn’t resist, and I wanted to be a little different…..

This is for RBJ’s August 2007 Collaboration:

. . . .

001. I’m right-handed.

002. I don’t smoke.

003. I drink alcoholic beverages occasionally. Not everyday.

004. Generally, I’m an optimist.

005. But at the same time I worry a lot.

006. Playing piano is something I love to do.

007. I have played piano since 5.

008. I’ve played drums since 9.

009. Blue is my favorite colour.

010. But most of the time I like to wear black.

011. I love to eat.

012. I’m a vegan, and mostly eat raw foods.

013. I was never blessed with a fast metabolism.

014. So, I have to exercise and move about constantly if I want to stay slim.

015. I love yoga. I just need to do it everyday.

016. I love meditation. And I really need to do that everyday too.

017. Gardening is one of my favorite past-times.

018. Life has been moving too fast lately.

019. Sometimes, I don’t take too well to criticism.

020. But I will listen to people’s advice in order to improve myself.

021. I hate failure, but I understand it’s a path to success.

022. So, I have failed many times in my life.

023. At the same time, I realize that sometimes one must fail in order to succeed.

024. I worked at a large financial institution for 12.5 years of my life.

025. While I was a banker for those 12.5 years, I was still a musician.

026. I got laid off from my banking job.

027. Being laid off devastated me. It took a long time for me to recover.

028. I never wore braces.

029. I would like to lose about 25 lbs.

030. Sometimes, I think I’m a failure.

031. Of course, there have been shining moments when I was a winner.

032. For most of my life I’ve lived in San Diego.

033. I really love computers.

034. We have 6 computers in our family… on a network, of course.

035. My home network is called “Lord Shiva’s Ashram”.

036. I really, really love chocolate ice cream!

037. I haven’t had chocolate ice cream in a long, long time….

038. My biggest triumph was meeting the love of my life.

039. My wife is way better than chocolate ice cream!

040. My wife is an angel. She met me (fortunately) at the lowest point in my life.

041. I have contemplated suicide once or twice.

042. I use an electric tooth brush.

043. I sleep on the left side of the bed.

044. Once-in-a-while, I get painful leg cramps at night.

045. I haven’t gotten a painful leg cramp in a long time. *knock on wood*

046. At times, I feel I am crying on the inside.

047. Many times I am saddened by the terrible tragedies occuring in the world.

048. Sometimes, I like to sleep naked.

049. Most of the time though, I sleep with pajama pants and an old tanktop.

050. I almost drowned in the ocean when I was 18.

051. I lone surfer saved me and he came down from this huge wave like an angel.

052. I really thought I was a goner when I almost drowned.

053. I never got a chance to thank the surfer who saved me. He mysteriously disappeared.

054. Performing music keeps me going in life.

055. Equally important is my family: My wife and two sons.

056. My wife and two sons are my best friends in the whole wide world.

057. A movie I never grow tired of? Star Wars: A New Hope

058. Another movie I never grow tired of? It’s A Wonderful Life

059. Someday I will own previously mentioned movie on DVD.

060. I have an innie.

061. In college I weighted 145 lbs.

062. I’m not particularly satisfied with my current weight.

063. I’m not picky. I can listen to anything musically.

064. I consider myself an ethno-musicologist.

065. I really love the music of the Himalayas… Nepal, Tibet, India…

066. Most of my early childhood was spent in Coronado Island, CA.

067. I don’t particularly like shopping.

068. But, I do go shopping when there is something specific I need.

069. This is a good place in the list to say that I’m a very sexual person.

070. I love to burn candles and incense.

071. I almost burned the house down when I was a kid. So I’m very careful with fire.

072. I’m not a very politically minded individual.

073. Nor do I like sports all that much.

074. However, I love the Summer Olympics with a passion.

075. I lack discipline in many things. For one, I need to be more organized.

076. I first got online back in 1989, when I logged on to BBS’s.

077. Back then, I also logged on to my college’s IBM Mainframes from my Mac SE.

078, I first logged onto the Internet back in 1992. It was all text-only back then and very primitive compared to today.

079. The very first time I used a computer was back in 1978. When I used my friend’s Apple-E Computer.

080. The first time I used a computer in a working environment was in 1983, on IBM and Sanyo PC’s.

081. My favorite computer game on the Mac was “Beyond Dark Castle”.

082. I don’t play many computer games any more. Not enough time. Life’s too short at my age.

083. But I like a good board game once-in-a-while. My favorites are Axis and Allies, Monopoly, and Chess. And Scrabble!

084. I love photography. But I consider myself an artist/amateur photographer.

085. I have had a coin and stamp collection since back when I was in the boy scouts.

086. I have other collections too. I’m a pack rat who seriously needs to clean out his garage and have a huge garage sale.

087. Old movies I cherish: The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben Hur (1959), and Casablanca (1942).

088. Hmm… not much of a reader of fiction and novels. But, I have tons of computer books and how-to books.

089. I’m a total neat freak. I love to keep things organized, which I’ve always found to be an uphill battle.

090. I’m not so much a religious person but I am a spiritual person.

091. I believe in love-at-first-sight, because I experienced it firsthand. It was a very intense deja-vu experience that I can still picture vividly in my mind.

092. I used to write letters everyday to my soulmate, even though we lived in the same city.

093. I consider myself a Buddhist, though I was raised a Christian (Catholic).

094. I study both Buddhism and Christianity, and somehow believe in both.

095. My latest passion is working with digital photography, photoshop and Picasa 3.0.

096. My latest obsession is watching old movies on the DVD player.

097. Ideal car? If I had the money I’d be happy with a BMW 745-IL or a Mercedes SLK-500 hardtop convertible. Sorry, I won’t buy American any more, Ford sucks… and I own one.

098. If I had the money I’d fly back to Europe for an extended vacation. But in reality the family and I are planning a Summer vacation to the Philippines and Asia.

099. Well, I also have this burning desire to travel to the Himalayas one day, and visit a Tibetan Monastery.

100. The latest toy I’m salivating over is a Nikon Telephoto Zoom Lens…..

101. Actually, forget about number 097. Instead of a luxury car I would love to finally own a Steinway Grand Piano in a shiny black finish. (Update: My wife gave me a Yamaha Grand Piano for my 50th birthday!)

Filed under: Selected Posts
Tagged: 101 things about me, bio, blog, randomguru