[quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“Tyc00n”][quote=“jdsmith”]
Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t about face or talent at all. Maybe it’s about money.
That is all.[/quote]
and that is the problem with the way Taiwanese think[/quote]
Why is that? The owner has a business. The business supports himself, his family and all of his employees.
Hiring someone who puts more butts in the chairs is good business.[/quote]
The problem is that the butts in the chairs don’t know the difference between music and a bikini wax, therefore the owner can’t care about the fact that 99.99234% of the stuff being played is crap, therefore discouraging anyone from actually learning to play MUSIC, because the God Dollah takes precidence over all …
[quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“Tyc00n”][quote=“jdsmith”]
Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t about face or talent at all. Maybe it’s about money.
That is all.[/quote]
and that is the problem with the way Taiwanese think[/quote]
Why is that? The owner has a business. The business supports himself, his family and all of his employees.
Hiring someone who puts more butts in the chairs is good business.[/quote]
I’m thinking along more general lines JD. Such as english schools that care less about education than making money. Never did I say that money wasn’t important. I think its just the order of priorities that is wrong.
Hey Mr. the poster. How about just going down there on your fairly-earned Friday between sets gig and giving it everything you have, no holding back, no compromises. What’s most important to you anyway? Are you going down there to make friends in the other band, make money, or just play in front of a crowd and have a good time?
[quote=“Tyc00n”][quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“Tyc00n”][quote=“jdsmith”]
Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t about face or talent at all. Maybe it’s about money.
That is all.[/quote]
and that is the problem with the way Taiwanese think[/quote]
Why is that? The owner has a business. The business supports himself, his family and all of his employees.
Hiring someone who puts more butts in the chairs is good business.[/quote]
I’m thinking along more general lines JD. Such as English schools that care less about education than making money. Never did I say that money wasn’t important. I think its just the order of priorities that is wrong.[/quote]
I wish one could make the best decision and have that be relfective of the best priorities. But in Taiwan, business, ANY business is beset with ungodly amounts of competition (not that that’s a bad thing always) and it makes the playing field wet and foggy. What observers may consider “selling out” many owners consider survival. It is NOT easy in business to be the good guy on this island. I will give you that.
[quote=“ralphy”][quote]whole problem is the way TWese think. in my opinion, their culture makes them unsuited to be musicians, real musicians. that’s a brash statement but i want to write an essay, in fact i have written essays, on why i believe this. a lot of the words they use are unsuitable for music, ie, “territory”, “li hai” and other terms would be better used for kung fu than music.
classical musicians are the exception to this. i feel a real kinship with them.[/quote]
Poster, can you clarify for me if you think Taiwanese have fragile egos towards most everything or just in the music field? If it’s just the music field I couldn’t say but I though all musicians had fragile egos? If it’s regarding other aspects of life I think you’re way off base. The only fragile egos I come across in Taiwan usually are other foreigners.[/quote]
guys, please understand that sometimes i write fast because of time constraints and therefore unintentionally come across as heavy handed on the TWese.I don’t mean to be.
but i understand EXACTLY what acearle is talking about with music retailers here. i’ve had people in music stores telling me similar shit since i’ve been here. in my philosophy, a music store should try to outfit you with the gear you NEED. if a retailer keeps this attitude he will make MORE sales than if he just tries to sell. for instance: “would you be needing any picks? i’ve got some new ones in that are really great.” “would you like to check out our straps? i’m running a special.”
when people can see that you REALLY CARE about getting them into the amp that’s right for them, maybe a cheaper guitar that performs better, okay maybe not a new guitar at all, maybe switching to some newer pickups and, some Sperzel locking tuners and a graph tech bridge and nut are all you need to get you gigging right. a few accessories make the player feel great. when i open my store, that’s the way i’ll do business.
i’m thinking about opening a store just for guitar accessories. what do you guys think?
[quote=“theposter”]guys, please understand that sometimes i write fast because of time constraints and therefore unintentionally come across as heavy handed on the TWese.I don’t mean to be.
but i understand EXACTLY what acearle is talking about with music retailers here. i’ve had people in music stores telling me similar shit since i’ve been here. in my philosophy, a music store should try to outfit you with the gear you NEED. if a retailer keeps this attitude he will make MORE sales than if he just tries to sell. for instance: “would you be needing any picks? i’ve got some new ones in that are really great.” “would you like to check out our straps? i’m running a special.”
when people can see that you REALLY CARE about getting them into the amp that’s right for them, maybe a cheaper guitar that performs better, okay maybe not a new guitar at all, maybe switching to some newer pickups and, some Sperzel locking tuners and a graph tech bridge and nut are all you need to get you gigging right. a few accessories make the player feel great. when i open my store, that’s the way i’ll do business.
i’m thinking about opening a store just for guitar accessories. what do you guys think?[/quote]
Ummm…ok
Hey, if you want people to tell you that you sound great than be open to critque. There’s two sides to the coin afterall? Am I correct?
Play foreigner frequented establishments. Ya know what? As Kooky as you are, I’m pretty sure that if you play with the same creativity and conviction as you do in your posts then I have a sneaky suspicision that you play very well. So get out there and do it more often. Be proactive.
Thank you for the welcome and understanding my point of view.
I do not know if the above statement was directed at me or not but I would like to comment on it.
I do not agree with the “whatever is cool in culture X is the right thing, and your own culture is the wrong one because you are in another culture” mentality. If I gave you (or anyone) that impression, I gave the wrong impression. My bad. When you are in another culture other then your own, I believe it is important to share and teach others your culture while simultaneously learning and respecting other people’s culture.
What I was trying to express to theposter was his wording sounded a tad racist to me. Meaning, he clumped Taiwanese people together when he said " whole problem is the way TWese think." To me it sounded like when people use the context of “you people.”
Example:
You people can’t dance!
You people are ignorant!
You people killed Jesus! (I’m Jewish) (It was the Romans btw)
Now I know theposter is not as racist as I might have amplified it to be (we are all racist to some degree), as I stated before, that one little statement rubbed me the wrong way and I felt like expressing how it made me feel. Please do not read too much into it, I am not here to judge anyone or their point of views. I just shared my veiw about a tiny little sentance that struck me funny.
Off Topic:
Theposter, I would love to hear some sample’s of your work. Have any .mp3 samples for downloading?
[quote]I agree with Tom’s assessment of Taiwan. Although I don’t plan on leaving Taiwan anytime soon; I do believe this place gives some (most) people the impression that they can get away with anything. Taiwan/Asia as a whole isn’t bad but it suckers some into a mindset of : “Why? Because I can” type of attitude. Some foriengers here, which include myself, tend to lose touch with the do’s and don’t’s of back home.*
We all know that to some degree or another that Asia offers a freedom we couldn’t have back home per say and that the main reason we would ever consider returning to Taiwan/Asia is to become and enjoy being obscure once again. Nothing is certain here. But I would venture to guess that back home (where ever that is for any of us), most of us have an idea of certain goals and a direction as to where we’d like to be in life. Unlike here in Asia, where it seems to blow smoke up our pucker which drives some of us farther away from our friends, family and/or career. Procrastination.
I said this a while back regarding Taiwan: Taiwan’s like a beanbag chair…comfortable for the time being but difficult to get out of.
*We should never compare Taiwan to our native countries. We simply cannot have the same comparisons. Instead we should be measuring our own behavior with our own moral standards of which we were raised by nothing less or more. If you don’t like how Taiwan/Asia does things then stay true to yourself (hard…I know) because in the end you can’t blame a country…only yourself. A true sign of weakness is passin the buck and not ownin up. Do what’s good for you and stay true. Good Luck.
edit perhaps my entry needs to be redirected to another forum? A little too serious in nature for “Fun & Games”? Just a thought.
[/quote]
I posted this in another thread and I’m lookin for a bite on the subject. Pray I’m not accused of spamming because I’m going to stick it into another thread where this subject has been discussed.
the other night the guitar player asked me a question:
“can you play the solo from xxxwhatever song? if so get up with us at the end” i said “nah i don’t think so. never played it before”. he looked really happy.
but thinking about it: he’s bringing a pea shooter to a knife fight. WHY WOULD I WANT TO PLAY THE SOLO ON THE RECORD? give me a song and I’LL PLAY MY OWN SOLO or at least try to.
so here we can see clearly the differnece in thinking. my view of playing the guitar is finding YOUR OWN WAY AROUND THE FRETBOARD. his is the opposite
i said before that the way music is thought of here is different from what i was brought up on and i think this is a clear example.
another thing i HATE is competitions. guaranteed i won’t win any guitar competition because i can’t/won’t dive bomb the whammy and tap like a fucking eddie VH wannabe (it was cool when eddie did it, but everybody else looks silly). i tried to learn tapping and it’s just not for me. and i don’t have enough fast twitch muscle fibers to be a speed player. (hey EC is called “slow hand” and everybody likes it. hopefully that’s good enough company, at least good enough an icon-standard to shoot for). I’ve got some ways of moving around jazz that are my own. i’m proud of that. but it won’t win a guitar contest. i only know that i think lines in REAL TIME and not from memory. i think two notes and then the next two. sometimes a whole phrase, but it’s spur of the moment, not planned.
Sorry to go :offtopic: here for a minute, but, I don’t buy that notion.
A racist is a person who believes that any individual can be understood by his race… i.e., that his race determines his character and intelligence, for instance.
I don’t believe this at all. I think there are quite a few people who do not believe that we are products of our “races”.
If you think you are a racist to some degree, that’s fine. But, please do not tar me or others with the same brush.
Sorry to go :offtopic: here for a minute, but, I don’t buy that notion.
A racist is a person who believes that any individual can be understood by his race… i.e., that his race determines his character and intelligence, for instance.
I don’t believe this at all. I think there are quite a few people who do not believe that we are products of our “races”.
If you think you are a racist to some degree, that’s fine. But, please do not tar me or others with the same brush.[/quote]
If you believe in the study of genetics then it puts you between a rock and a hard place. Dog’s are a good example. Certain breeds made for certain deeds. Whatever…this convo is sticky to get into. I for one don’t want to be labeled anything. Carry on.
[quote=“Tigerman”]
If you think you are a racist to some degree, that’s fine. But, please do not tar me or others with the same brush.[/quote]
I apologize that you took what I said so personally. When I wrote “everyone” I did not mean to single you or anyone out and label them. I chose to word it that way to not offend the original poster when responding to him and only him. It looks like I did not offend the original poster (which was my goal with the wording I chose), however, I offended you. Collateral damage I suppose. All I can say is that I meant no harm to anyone when posting my opinion to the original poster.
After saying that, I could easily get involved in a discussion about racism and prejudice in all of us for it is something I have life experience in. I would enjoy sharing my views while hearing other views on that particular subject. Unfortunately, this is not the thread to continue that topic on.
PM me and we can get a few people together at a tea house and share views on that if you wish to discuss it further. Maybe we both can open our vision a little wider.
No need to apologize. I didn’t think that you meant to offend. And actually, I didn’t take your remark personally. Its just one of those notions that are popularly held but with which I disagree.
We have all been prejudged, and we’ve all prejudged others at one or more times. That doesn’t require racism.
You’re right.
I’ve discussed this topic a million times, on-line and in the real world. Maybe we’ll meet some time and have an opportunity to discuss racism. But, my schedule is full and its difficult for me to make arrangements from day to day.
i’m not talking about how "great " i am. i am simply stating my own musical basis and viewpoint. there are many out there who do the same, and better. but the TENDENCY here is for route learning and competetiveness, which in my opinion are another way to go, but not my way. believe me or not-i don’t care. i don’t care if you think i suck. you think i play for people’s approval? could care less.
Sorry to go :offtopic: here for a minute, but, I don’t buy that notion.
A racist is a person who believes that any individual can be understood by his race… i.e., that his race determines his character and intelligence, for instance.
I don’t believe this at all. I think there are quite a few people who do not believe that we are products of our “races”.
If you think you are a racist to some degree, that’s fine. But, please do not tar me or others with the same brush.[/quote]
Determines sure, but influences? For sure environment plays major role in determining character, but intelligence and various other attributes is shown to have a very high correlation to certain genes which also correlates to race.
You may not want to believe it, but its science. Of course its also your choice not to believe in science if that is the case.
Differences between people and races is influenced by genetic variation, but environment plays a much larger role. Therefore cultural differences between races also have a huge impact in creating diversity. (for better or worse).
To me, racism isn’t about the inherent differences between races, but creating different rules for races.
I realise this topic is one of the most difficult topic and one that geneticists prefer to avoid. Perhaps it really is better to not go there.
My personal opinion is that any genetic trend within any given race is so small that even the variability within someone’s own race is much larger and that for any random individual it makes very little impact to their life. The only place where it becomes more obvious is when those little differences become emphasised, such as at the highest level of sport where even microseconds count.
You cant deny that athletic racial differences dont exist. Its obvious.
So based on what I’ve written, do you think I’m racist Tigerman?
[quote=“theposter”]
… but the TENDENCY here is for route learning and competetiveness, which in my opinion are another way to go,…[/quote]
But the thing is that most of the pro musicians here didn’t study here. Most of my friends, at least, studied in the US.
Almost all of the Jazz musicians here (or at least the ones who play at Riverside) studied in the US.
The only musician here I know over 30 who didn’t is my friend Eric. Who studied at Leeds.
But seems like you are talking about a cover band. And seriously, cover band musicians aren’t typically the best anywhere are they?
My understanding is that many, if not all, of the tests that measure intelligence are culture and or gender baised. I’m not convinced that there is a perfectly objective way to measure intelligence. Moreover, I believe that there are different types of intelligence. As such, I’m not convinced that any of those things “shown” prove anything.
Its not a matter of my believing in science, or not. I trust most in what we call scientific method. But, I understand that scientific method is only, IMO, the best method of trying to understand things. Science hasn’t explained everything to us, yet, however. And scientific method is only as reliable as the humans performing the same.
No doubt there are some obvious differences in what we still usually refer to as the different “races”. But, from my understanding, there is more variation within a “race” than there is inter-racially. I believe that culture and environment, rather than race, determines how we humans turn out.
There are two primary definitions given for “racism”. The first is the one that I used… it is the one that describes a belief. Remember, “racism” is a belief… it is an “ism”.
The second definition is, IMO, the politically correct definition… its the one that defines racism as as a type of conduct… i.e., as discrimination based on race.
I don’t like that (second) definition because 1) it doesn’t define a belief (ism) and 2) its just way too PC… also, what if I prefer the way black girls look… what if I like dark skin and the texture of their hair? That is discrimination based on race, but, I don’t think most people would regard that preference as a “racist” preference.
Regarding the “inherent” differences between the “races”… I don’t think there are any. Unless you are referring simply to the way we appear… fine, there are some differences, but, those are, IMO, insignificant in connection with the issue of our characters and intelligences.
I think they avoid it due to the political sensitivity of the topic. But, I like discussing the matter. So far I am not convinced by any study that asserts that our character and intelligence is a matter of race. Want to look at dogs? Sure, there are many breeds of dogs, and these different breeds result in different looks and sizes, and even in physical abilities for certain tasks. But, all dogs are about equally intelligent or dopey, and they all share the same basic characters… they are all basically wolves at heart. The differences in appearance are insignificant in terms of their essential “dogness”. We humans are about the same, IMO.
Perhaps. But, that has not much to do with 99.999% of the rest of us. Moreover, physical abilities have little, IMO, to do with our intelligences and characters in terms of race.
I’m not convinced that it is obvious. However, if these differences are obvious, then IMO, the differences between human “races” are similar to the differences between different breeds of dogs. Sure, a greyhound runs faster than a Basset Hound… but, both breeds share similar intelligences and characteristics in terms of “dogness”… And it is “dogness” that is important to being a dog… running fast isn’t an important character trait of a dog… it helps if you are chasing fast prey… but I think that being a dog means behaving towards other dogs and creatures in a way that is similar to the way that all other dogs behave. We don’t say that a slow dog isn’t a dog. Nor do we deem him any less of a dog than a fast dog.
Dunno if my idea is being made clear?
Well, we’re using different definitions of “racism”. I believe that “racism” is a belief, and you stated that “racism” is about “different rules for races”… although later you started talking about perceived differences in physical attributes and abilities.
Based on the definition of “racism” that I prefer to use, you haven’t shown me that you are a “racist”.
…
