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I wrote this paper in graduate school. I recall being highly motivated by the subject, reading and researching as much for my own enjoyment as for this paper. It is dated June 1992, and received an A.

Chamber music had never been an integral part of French music until the end of the nineteenth century.  There were some notable works such as the trios and sonatas by Rameau, Couperin, and Leclair, but never was any emphasis placed on the chamber medium.  The events and individuals who led to the rise of chamber music in France at the end of the nineteenth century shall be the subject of this paper.

A reasonable figure with which to begin such a study would be Cesar Franck.  Because he is often hailed as the father of modern French chamber music, his contribution and influence shall be a point at which to begin such a discussion.  This paper, however, shall delve a generation beyond Franck to examine his influences, and to gain a better understanding of what may have led to his interest in chamber music.

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This is a college paper written in February 1990. It is a summary of President George Bush’s foreign policy in his first year in office.

When he ran for president in 1988, George Bush ran on his resume.  The experience which he cited included the ambassadorship to the United Nations, ambassador to China, CIA director, and vice-president.  Those jobs all prepared him for a career in foreign policy.  In his first year in office, President Bush did emphasize foreign policy, while primarily entrusting domestic affairs to Chief of Staff John Sununu, Budget Director Richard Darman, and Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady.

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I wrote this paper during my Senior year in college for an English course. I received an A in the class, so this paper must have earned a decent grade. It is dated July 25, 1990.

Justice and equality are two ideals which Americans claim as of the foundations of the United States.  It is ironic when looking back through American history to see how those who fought for such rights have been treated by mainstream America at the time.  Three men who were dedicated to justice and equality in America were Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Each of these lived to promote equality, and left behind documents for generations to study.

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This is a paper I wrote during a summer session in my last few months in college at Cal Poly Pomona. I still needed one lower level English course, so I took Eng 105 during the Summer. I received an A in this class, so this paper must have earned a decent grade. It is dated August 22, 1990.

A human feels the need to give to the less fortunate in the same way he may feel greed - both are instincts.  Some devote their entire lives to helping needy people and some devote their lives to selfishness.  It is interesting to note the way in which each are viewed when successful.  A successful philanthropist is thought of as generous and kind, though not prosperous in an economic way.  A “successful” miser is seen as practical or wise in a business sense.  The object of this discussion is not about the perception of these two opposites, but rather their views about giving.

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I must preface this by telling you upfront that I have a boatload of tangents to go on. Bear with me and enjoy the ride…

I’ve always been interested in the Apple vs Microsoft saga. It’s interesting to see the usual tables turned when it comes to the portable music player market. Apple has roughly 70% of the market, against about 3% for the Zune. It’s not unlike the browser and OS wars, which Microsoft dominates at 70% and 90% repsectively.

I kind of owned a first generation Zune in late 2006. I say “kind of” because it was given to me, and then taken back. Indian givers! Very long story there. But nonetheless, I had it for a while and was familiar with the first generation model.

Let me start by saying that I’ve always been the kind of guy to not do what everyone else is doing. I even remember as a kid when Star Wars came out in 1977 (did I just age myself there?) and all my friends were going to see it over and over… to the point that I refused to see it. I got sick of hearing about it and decided I wouldn’t allow myself to like it.

I guess I just hate hopping on the bandwagon.

Like the iPod. But read on.

Not that I’ve always been right, but I always pull for the underdogs, especially in a bandwagon atmosphere. The irony is that sometimes the underdog is one of the most powerful companies in the world.

Circa 1994. The hype about the next generation of Windows was already mind-numbing. I thought I would puke if I saw one more article about what would be called Windows 95. Everyone was on the bandwagon. I was already a Windows user, but still - the avalanche of speculation was simply too much. As an avid PC user, I wouldn’t even consider switching to a Mac at that time (or forever, for that matter - mental note for a future blog entry).

Enter IBM.

They had been marketing OS/2 as a Windows alternative. At the time I think they were still more powerful than Microsoft, so surely they could hang in the OS wars. I thought. I picked it up the new version of OS/2 (called “Warp” apparently because it ran programs so fast) and I liked it. It wasn’t quite as good as Windows 95 (which wasn’t out yet), but it was different and fresh and did everything I wanted it to do. And it was better than the current version of Windows. It was easy to get on the OS/2 bandwagon because there was so much room on there. I championed it as best I could, and other OS/2 users were pretty zealous. Not only did I like the operating system, but I thought it would benefit the PC world to have some stiff competition for Windows.

As we all know, Windows 95 came out on August 24, 1995 and most people forgot about OS/2 Warp by the 25th. So what did I know.

14 years later, the tables have turned. This time I’m pulling for Microsoft… the underdog. If anyone is going to break the iPod monopoly, who else but the kings of monopolies to do it? If you’re still not sure, ask Netscape. If you can find them.

Speaking of Netscape and web browsers, I’m still pulling for the underdog there. I use Firefox. So really, between OS/2 and Firefox, I’ve gone against Microsoft twice. Just keeping the bandwagon score straight, mind you.

But then again I’m no fan of Apple, let me just say that up front. I don’t know if it was their proprietary hardware back in the day, or how the typical smug Mac user would spew his anti-PC propaganda. Maybe I just never liked calling my computer a “Mac.” I really don’t like that name. It sounds like the name of a dog or something. “Mac” - blah. Anyway, I used a Mac for several years and yes I did have some issues with it, but I understand why people like them. It wasn’t bad at all, don’t get me wrong. I do see the appeal. So I don’t look down on Apple users or proponents, at least until they start PC bashing. I just don’t want to be an Apple user, nor do I want to go out of my way to contribute to Apple’s success.

So in late 2006, Microsoft released their first generation Zune, most likely to the scoffs of all those smug Mac users from my past. Sure, it was inferior to the iPod, but I do recall showing it to several teenagers who owned iPods, who all said it was “tight.” I liked more about it than I didn’t like.

But yeah - it wasn’t quite ready for prime time. My biggest complaint was that it was just too big and, looking back, it did lack some key features. But that size - it was the mp3 player equivalent of one of those huge late 80’s cell phones.

So Microsoft dug into those deep pockets and put some money into the next release, the second generation Zune. It is a very worthy competitor to the iPod. It has an enhanced interface, large screen, wireless syncing, touch-sensitive pad, FM radio tuner, and all the bells you’d expect from a prime time media player.

If you’re already on the iPod bandwagon, chances are you aren’t going to jump off. If you’re looking for something new, don’t want to be the next yuppy iPod user, or are trying to decide between the two, I can highly recommend the second generation Zune.

There is the Zune Marketplace, which is a worthy competitor to iTunes. You can purchase tracks one at a time, or you can subscribe to a Zune Pass, which allows you unlimited downloads for $15 a month. A caveat is that if you cancel your subscription, you will lose those downloads. But hey you know you’ll download thousands of songs and listen to the hell out of them, so you know it’s worth it. And you won’t have the RIAA knocking at your door. It’s the cost of 1 CD per month for unlimited music. It’s a good deal. And surprisingly, you’ll often find hard to find tracks that are impossible to find on P2P services such as Limewire. And it’s legit. For example, I found a song by a band I saw back in LA in the 80’s called Hellion. In fact their entire album was available.

It remains to be seen if the Zune can actually make enough of a dent in the market to survive. I’m willing to take the risk. I don’t fall for “Don’t buy a Zune because nobody has one” or “They won’t last” because I don’t care. Nothing lasts forever. Remember when DOS was the main operating system? Remember going to a music store and having to choose between LP’s and cassettes? Remember record stores for that matter? Don’t be such a bandwagon jumper that you let someone else sway you.

If you’re an Apple or iPod zealot, don’t come to me crying about how biased I am. I AM biased, because I don’t like Apple, because I hate being on the bandwagon with everyone else, and because I actually LIKE the Zune. I freely admit my bias. There are plenty of iPod and Zune apologist sites, which this is not. I don’t care if Microsoft and Apple both go down in flames. In this particular battle, I choose Microsoft and gave some of the reasons why. It’s my opinion. You’ll live.

The world is full of lemmings, so don’t be one. Look around for once. Don’t just jump on the most crowded bandwagon. There’s still room over here on the Zune bandwagon.

For now.

OK so I’ve been quite critical of the far right of the political spectrum, particularly the religious right. Just to be fair, I’m equally offended by the far left, and particularly many of the “elders” of the left, who have roots in the 1960’s young cultural movement… Hippies, flower children, beatniks, et al, were responsible for the explosion of teen sex and drug use in our country. But why don’t they own up to it? Here’s a rant I wrote back in 1999 that I still stand by today…

Many of the problems in America today can be traced back to the so-called peace movement of the 1960’s. The hippies of the 1960’s were a bunch of stoned whacked-out youth who happened to have some great music. And like to complain about “the establishment.”

The Woodstock concert is remembered as an event of historical significance. It was significant for the talent that played, not for the people who attended. There were half a million stoned hippies rolling around in the mud for a “greater cause.” But that cause for most people wasn’t the war - it was drugs and sex. If they were so peaceful, then why did they tear down the fence and barge in, forcing the promoters to lose so much money? I guess freedom at someone else’s expense was OK for them.

Look at the problems in our country. So many of them have roots in drug use, which goes back to the hippies who in many cases introduced or popularized them.

Then the hippies grew up and became parents. But instead of growing up, many became permissive and wanted to be “cool” parents. Their children grew up to mock authority, to take drug abuse lightly, and to devalue morals. And now these hippies are becoming grandparents, they see the problems their grandkids are facing, and now they say “it wasn’t like this when I was a kid.” It probably wasn’t, but they planted the seeds themselves.

But these hippies will insist that they came from a great era where peace and love ruled. They will find a way to blame Republicans or minorities or the schools - or anyone but themselves.

Vietnam was their cause, and a good one. It was a war that should have never been fought. But that war has nothing to do with drugs, permissiveness, and defiance.

Bottom line…
The hippies of the 1960’s have forever stained this country, and they don’t have the courage to admit it. Hippies were the first to ever use drugs or even bring them into this country, but they were on the front lines of the explosion in popularity which did not exist before that era.