Chipmunks Singing in the Train

I was trying to digest my book 'The Undercover Economist' on the train when a bunch of noisy teenagers entered the cabin. The guys were loud; the gals were ok except when they laughed. The details of their group conversation became a public hearing. At one point, they were guessing who was the most hairy guy among them. They were inconsiderate but at their age, it is understandable to make some noise.

A few stops later, they alighted together. I thought the cabin has returned to its normal noise level. Out of the blue, a dance tune in chipmunk remixes was heard from my right where I seated. I thought it was just a ring tone which would stop eventually but it played in full duration. I turned and saw a lanky teenager leaning against the panel opposite my seat. I wasn't sure if the music orginated from him but he was holding a gadget in his hand. I leaned forward to see if there was any likelihood that it might come from the other side of the cabin. However, the passengers were either talking or had their earphones on. Naturally, this guy became my prime suspect. One dance tune followed another and they were all the irritating chipmunk versions. He probably couldn't care less if others enjoyed his kind of music. I would have plugged in my iPod if I had it in my bag. I was hoping that he would get off the train before I did but fat hope. I stared at him a few times. In the course of doing so, a teenage couple who sat next to me caught my attention. Both were in their school uniforms. The guy was obviously trying very hard to impress the gal. He sat and talked like a tough man, but his small, skinny frame didn't quite conjure up a macho image. The gal was soft-spoken and sat demurely throughout their conversation. I considered this a mismatch. But I was wrong. The gal suddenly changed seat to the opposite side and the word that she shouted across at that guy was 'Chxx Bye' (a vuglarity that is derogatory to woman). Her sitting style became a mirror image of the guy and I was embarrassed to see her white panty. In just a few minutes, she transformed from my fair lady to Madame mafia. I took back my word; they were a perfect match.

By random observation, it is quite accurate to conclude that teenagers are the attention seekers in the trains. Look around: Who sit in group on the floor and turn the cabin into a stock market? Teenagers. Whose phones ring with a woman screaming in horror or a MP3 of a heavy metal song? Teenagers. Who play music on speaker mode from their mobile phones? Teenagers. In this blog, I shall just air my frustration with loud music in the train.

At 34, I am still not too old to embrace the marvel of advance technology. But I'm sure that most communters on the train would rather apperciate a peaceful journey. The article 'Hello, you deaf ah?' on 8Days magazine no. 848 also shared my irritation with these inconsiderate teenagers. I was pissed off several times when they would wait for the chorus of their favorite song to end before answering their phones. Such negligence to answer their phones swiftly was intentional. How could they possibly not hear their damn phones ringing when the ring tones were set to the loudest? And what took them so long to answer the call when their phones were either in the pocket or in their hands? The same goes for teenagers who blast their music phones. Why must they play their music on speaker mode when the choice of earphones was there? If they were giving their ears a break, they should also give other passengers a break too!

My encounters so far were mainly teenage guys. From their nonchalance towards the gazes invited, they probably think that the music they are listening to make them look cool, and to play them loudly is a sure way of sending out a strong message. When I was a teenager, I felt groovy as I walked down the street with my walkman blasting the music of Rick Astley and Paula Abdul to my ears. The kind of music I listened to was a representative of the image I wanted to protray - fashionable and pop. I was a plain, boring guy during school days. My self-esteem was pretty low. Music lifted my spirit and in a way compensated for my lack of physical and intellectual attraction. In other word, I was an empty vessel that made a lot of noise (but only to my ears). Looking back, I don't think I was cool then. I was engaging in self-illusion at the expense of my eardrum. As I look at the teenagers now, I can see where they are coming from. However, they may not be aware that technically the playing of music in public from their phones requires a public performance licence for the sound recordings. The music stored in their phones may also be unauthorised digital copies. Perhaps when the music industry start to impose a licence directly or indirectly on end users for all purchases of music phones, teenagers will feel the pinch to pay a price for the noise pollution they caused in the train.

While there are announcement in the cabin to keep the train clean for the comfort of all passengers, it is also important to keep noise level in the train to the minimum. Whether it is the London tube, New York subway or the Bangkok BTS, I had my peaceful rides. These countries may not have train quality like ours, they certainly outbeat us by their considerate passengers. I urge the authorities to look into this issue. Here are my sugguestions:

>>>Include considerate use of music phones as part of our existing courteousy campaign.

>>>Include classroom discussion on all aspects of courteousy in the train as part of moral education. This need not be incorporated as part of the school curriculum.

>>>Put up sign like 'no music from portable hi-fi, mp3 players and mobile phones' in the cabin.

My advice to teenagers - use your music phone responsibly and that itself makes you cool.

I got a (RED) iPod as a gift last Christmas. It was pretty easy to get started with the iTune Jukebox, an interface that facilitates the transferring of songs from CDs to iPod. I was having a kick transferring songs after songs until the "Keith Urban - Days Go By" CD. It doesn't allow me to transfer the songs to my iPod. I knew I have picked a 'Copy-Protected' CD. It is among the copy-protected CDs released by EMI. Last year, the company abolished its copy-protection on all their CDs. If they have followed SonyBMG's footstep earlier, I could be listening to Keith's songs on my iPod now.

I am not upset that I was unable to have Keith's songs on my iPod because there are more unprotected CDs than protected CDs among my collection. Afterall, copy-protected CDs only enterted the market not long ago. The move by record companies to protect their music irk the consumers because copy-protection was executed at their expense. These CDs not only restrict playing on their existing media players, some plant booby traps in the form of malware in their PCs. The latter created a backlash against Sony BMG which led to the elimination of copy-protection on all CDs eventually.

The copy-protection on CDs rose from the abuse of the right to the CDs that consumers bought. The fine print at the back of every CDs state clearly what can't be done to that CD. A typical one read like this: "Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this recording prohibited." In layman term, this means just enjoy the music and don't mess with the CD. After working in the music licensing industry for 6 years, I spoke to a lot of ignorant individuals and companies that were clueless about this. The basis of imposing restriction on consumers is this: When record companies sell their CDs to music retailers, who in turn sell them to consumers, they did not sell away their right to the songs in the CDs. Just think. Hypothetically, if all copyright owners (record companies, composers and publishers) reached a consensus to sell away their rights of every song released in a CD, don't you think that an average CD will cost a bomb and not price at SGD18.00?

Copy-protection on CDs is a passé. Another form of copy-protection - Digital Rights Management or DRM entered the music industry with the rising trend of selling music out of the brick-and-motar way. This time, copy-protection on music that are sold online i.e. digital music. Unlike copy-protection on CDs, DRM affects both the consumers and online muisc retailers, and indirectly the digital device manufacturers such as Microsoft (Zune) and Apple (iPod). Basically, DRM restricts access to and usage of digital music.

On 6 February, 2007, a call to drop DRM was exalted by Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Since the release of his powerful missive, titled "Thoughts on Music" on Apple's website, techies and music fanatics are reading between the lines as Mr Jobs outlined 3 scenerios on the future of DRM technology and recommended its abolishment. The major four record companies, Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI are currently adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards Mr Job's proposal.

Though I have been speaking the tongue of copyright, I want to enjoy my music in peace without knowing the details of their business fight. Sooner or later, I will get to reap the fruit from their battle as Mr Jobs had put it across in his proposal:

"The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."

His arguements were not new in the industry; however, they were louder because he is the world most famous and powerful apple seller. Every company argues from their point of view to their advantages. In other word - a hidden agenda. Apple didn't introduce iTune for consumers' convenience, Microsoft didn't produce Zune for no reason, the record companies didn't sell music to advocate the value of music, and consumers didn't buy a product just because the sellers advertised it as the best. All parties know what's the best for them.

The prevalance of online piracy demonstrated the vulnerability of music in the face of technology. Consumers no longer enjoy the music in the way it should be like the older days, and technology no longer delivers music in the way it used to. Thus, the tussle of the 3 Cs - Copyright owners, Content providers and Consumers.

When music are shared freely online for free, the record companies (copyright owners) will not be happy because their CD sales are affected. To counter this, they took infringers to court and imposed copy-protection on their CDs and later digital music. Each DRM is different from another, such as Microsoft 'Playsforsure" and iPod "FairPlay". That's when licensing comes into the picture. With every company writing their own DRM software program, this means that music consumers purchased from a particular online store can only be played on the so-called official player of that store, ex. iTunes only goes with iPod. The restriction pisses consumers and heated discussions storm into online forums and blogs. Somebody has to do something. And Mr Jobs did. He proposed an interoperable system which consumers could buy music online from any stores and play them in any players. Consumer will surely be happier, but it would be at the expense of the (1) content provider (i-Tune), which means exposing the DRM (in the form of licensing) to competitors, a scenerio which Mr Jobs painted as leakage of secrets, and the (2) copyright owners, which means no protection to their music, turning it into easy prey for pirates.

In today world of technological prodigies and anti-copyright mavericks, software programs can be developed to circumvent these so called copy-protection if secrets of the DRM is leaked. As Mr Jobs put it:

"Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players."

Sorry, sir but consumers will embrace it with a heartbeat given the flexibility to play downloaded music on more players. The industry by now should know what is of interest to the consumers. And in actual fact, they care alot because their products and invention are nothing if nobody is buying them. But at the same time, content providers care a lot whether DRM can be abolished in the long term because firstly, the consumers don't like it and secondly, It would be hell to modify the existing DRM should the leaked secret get emploited by DRM haters. Hence, Mr Jobs suggested a third alternative - to abolish DRMs entirely. He seemed to have consulted his crystal ball and was pretty confident that the big four music companies would agree to let Apple and (others) distribute their music without any DRM protecton. His reasoning?

"The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy."

He made a good and strong point, and I totally agree with him. DRMs is a good try to curb online piracy but not effective. It will not work because no matter how secured the copy-protection is, it is still not written by God. A locksmith can break a lock made by another locksmith. DRM is a software program written by a programming genius and its codes can be broken by another programming genius. When there is a will, there is a way. Terrorism won't stop because terrorists are convinced that their action is perfectly righteous according to their religious belief. Therefore, crippling their network by an eye for an eye strategy will not work. Re-brainwash the brainwashed terrorists is the key to effectively bring the world to peace. In more civilised term "Education". Likewise for music piracy.

Copyright organizations, record companies and educational institutions worldwide have preached against piracy. Websites of oganizations like Pro-music and IFPI have enough information on copyright to turn away any pirate who sincerely wants to be a good citizen. So are they any improvement after all have been said and done? Surely yes. A handful out there must have already learned to respect copyright. The lessons are pretty easy to understand; it is just a matter of whether they want to be taught or prefer to be stubborn and learn their lessons the hard way. The industry was optimistic about copyright education on its onset, but is now acknowledging the fact that nothing beats the free culture of online music.

In my opinion, it all boils down to how a person perceives the value of music. I'm not talking about its monetary worth but its creative value to the industry and its personal value to you and me. Let's sidetrack from music and talk about jeans. Considering factors like colors, design and styles remain constant, would a jean lover buy a pair that instantly shapes the butt to that of Ricky Martin or J.Lo and costs only SGD18.00, or wear a free pair that doesn't accentuate the butt? Someone who truly loves music will hold its creation in high regards and
will not mind paying SGD18 for a CD even if he/she is offered a free pirated copy. The free culture of online music is for the greedy and the fake music fans. As Eminen had said: "If you can afford a computer, you can afford my CD". On the same note that computers are so affordable nowadays, anyone can be a 'Pirate of the Musicbean'.

Statistically, the age of people who engage in online piracy falls between 15 - 35. I name this group 'domestic pirates' who steals music comfortably at home. To educate these pirates, we have to first educate their family members. The industry and authority could collaoborate on an educational kit 'Music Piracy and your Family' and mass mail it to every parents. The objective is to reach out to parents who are computer illiterate and ecourage them to attend basic computer and Internet classes to effectively understand their kids' online activities. At the same time, the educational materials should be directed at (1) convincing parents that online piracy is the same as walking into a record store and taking CDs without paying, and (2) changing the mindset that when people do get caught, they can't be their kids. When copyright education is delivered door-to-door to each family, the concerted effort by all the other parties (copyright organizations, record companies, educational instituitons) is reinforced. When more people become anti-piracy, pirate syndicates will be losing their customers. Copyright education is not for these illicit organzitions because their mission is to make money. The plausible way is to first target their customers, reduce their demand and punish them by laws.

If music is treated as a free entertainment without an appreciation of all the hardwork behind, combating piracy is a losing battle. And please don't bullshit that music will be extinct one day if piracy continues. Personally, I don't see that it will be possible unless it is the end of the world. Ongoing education and down-to-earth facts are the essence to a healthy environment for everyone to enjoy music - peacefully.

The Best of 2006

Merlion Times
December 30, 2006

After reading 'The Best of 2006' in the Life! section of The Straits Times which I find the recommendations are rather personal, I decided why not I write my version of what are the best in books, movies, music and television this year. If the readers think I'm the pot calling the kettle black, they can try writing their version. Get what I'm driving at?

>>>Let's start with movies first.
1) The Lake House - starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.



This movie requires a quick and focus mind as you need to tune your chronological clock back and fro between 2004 and 2006. Thanks goodness that I watched it on DVD which allows me to pause and rewind to understand the plot. I am a slow processor. It is a magical love story and naturally, you got to be rich in emotion to appreciate the pace of this movie. Its central theme is about waiting and faith. There is a book titled 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen mentioned in the movie which I am reading now. It's a good read about the heartache of missed opportunities between lovers. The photo above is when this book was spoken of by Sandra Bullock. While some will prefer its Korean version II Mare, I'm standing by Mr Constantine.

2) Munich - starring Eric Bana, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Real events always intrigue me. The massacre of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in 1972 which took place a year before I was born, is a gruelsome page in history that saddens me. Instead of combing through the Internet for information, I bought the movie DVD and sat through more than 160 minutes of intense emotion. The pivotal scene when the terrorist stormed into the two apartments in Olympics Village was most disturbing. Everything that happened in the apartments was unimaginable. The weightlifters fought bravely to help their
fellow athletes escape but their muscles were no match for bullets. If non-fiction movie is not your type, try this on my account.

3) She's the Man - starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum.



With a bunch of bare-chested footballers and a cross-dressed roommate, Amanda (above jersey no. 13) with hunkalicious Channing (jersey no. 7), it's hard to dimiss the homosexual innuendo in this high school romance comedy. I got interested in this movie when I saw its trailer, particularly the locker-room scene where Amanda's hand was on Channing's butt. He freaked out, not knowing that 'he' was actually a 'she'. The 'he-she' identity mixed-up is what made Amanda a hilarious character. I'm starting to like her.

>>>When it comes to music, I make my confession on the dance floor. However, my recommendations for 2006 won't make you sway.

1) Album 'Safe in A Crazy World' - Corrine May.


When all the limelight shines on Stefanie Sun, this home-grown singer glows in her own way. Since her success with 'Journey' - a ballad with beautiful piano accompaniment, she has morphed into the female 'Jim Brickman' alike with her subsequent album 'Safe in a Crazy World' (above photo). Both albums skyrocketted her fame and her talent as singer-songwriter is finally recognised by the local fans. Corrine's songs send hope to a very unhopeful world today. You will find solace in tracks like 'LIttle SuperHero Girl', 'Free' and 'Angel in Disguise'.

2) 'In Between Dreams- Jack Johnson.


What kind of music do you think this album is about from its cover? I thought it was world music genre at first sight because of the tree. Actually, the man and his guitar say it all.

I sampled the first track 'Better Together' and knew right away that the album is going home with me. Because his diction is crystal clear, you wouldn't need lyrics to understand the first two verses of that song:

[There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
And no song that I could sing but I can try for your heart]
Imagine putting melody into those touching words.

When I listen to Jack, it feels like an old pal singing to me and strumming his guitar under the palm trees. All the 14 tracks are very aloha and if you put up a hammock in your apartment, you will probably feel like you are already in Hawaii.

PS: Jack is from Hawaii.

3) James Taylor at Christmas.


I was looking for an unique Christmas album and this cover caught my eyes. I find him cute in his beanie but my boss thinks otherwise. I didn't buy the album then but sampled a few tracks online. 'James Taylor" is new to me. From his voice, he sounds like those actor-turned-singer kind of calibre. However, it was exactly his non-decorative voice that I fall in love with. He strips away the techiques of a songbird and sings his heart out. Later, I found out that he has been singing long before I was born and have won the Best Pop Male Vocal Performance in 1971, 1977 and 2001.

There is no snow in Singapore but his voice brings winter to my doorstep. This is an euphemism commonly used locally to infer that someone sings badly. I, however, said it as a compliment: he puts you on a magic carpet ride and immerses you in his songs.

Although Christmas is over, I'm still listening to this album. 'James Taylor at Christmas' (photo above) is produced and arranged by the renowned Dave Grusin. If Jazz is your genre, you won't be disappointed. In your next visit to the record store, sample the track 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' feat Natalie Cole, and tell me if Natalie would stay in the house with you when it is nippy outside.

>>>Books are my favorite and I read alot every year. I only read two new releases this year; the rest are old titles.


1) The Devil Wears Prada - by Lauren Weisberger.

The same-titled movie was screened in New York but I didn't catch it when I was there in August because tickets were sold out. I have no idea what this movie is about and hence, the sensation it has caused is bewildering to me. Maybe the world 'Devil' helps to sell. To find out, I bought the novel at the airport bookstore on my flight back to Singapore.

After reading a few chapters on the plane, I knew the rest of the story will be an office battle between the bitchy lady boss, Miranda, an Editor-in-Chief in a prestigous fashion magazine 'Runway' and her assistant, Andrea. If you are in the same shitty plight as the progatonist, this book will entertain you out of your misery. Or perhaps learn a few tricks to handle the 'beaches' in your office. Eventually, everyone learns to read our bosses' mind. So did Andrea.

The thing that glued me to the book was the estranged relationship between Andrea and her boyfriend, Alex. When she tried very hard not to give her boss any chance of belittlement, her action caused her to lose every chance of spending time with Alex. In her battle with Miranda, she has also inevitably burned her love life. This is a recommended read for beginner bitches.

2) Train Man - by Makano HItori.




This is the worst book I have ever read. I paid a price of SGD23.10 (USD15.00) for judging a book by its cover.

The book is lifted directly from a chat forum in Japan and translated into English. It tells of how a geek rescued a girl on a train from a drunk commuter and posted his story online. He developed a crush on her and sought dating tips in the forum.

What's sickening about this story is the geek. From the advices he asked for, he was plain idiotic to me and put a guy's ego to shame. If you are thinking of improving your English by reading this book, you can be assured of picking up junks.

Because it is translated directly from a chat style of language, there is hardly any decent English sentence throughout its 403 pages. Other than the creative emoticons used in the forum, this book deserves a place in the dustbin.

>>>After my favorite, 'Desperate Housewives' ended it first season, I abandoned TV shows totally. My return to the google-box was in mid year when these shows stole my heart:

1) Prison Break - starring Wentworth Miller & Dominic Purcell.



These two men caught my eyes while I was holidaying in New York. Their faces graced a huge poster in Times Square with the caption 'WANTED'. I thought they were real prisoners. I will not go into details to prove my stupidity here.

Pretty face structural engineer, Michael Scotfield staged a bank robbery in order to get himself into the same prison where his brother, Lincoln Burrows was charged for 1st degree murder. His motive? To rescue Lincoln from death row for a crime he didn't committ.

Coincidentally, the firm where he worked for was responsible for the retrofitting of that prison. With access to its blueprints, he had a tatooist transferred section of the prison onto his whole body, cleverly disguised under gothic images. The seemingly ridiculous act unfold into a series of well engineered escape plan.

Outside the prison, Lincoln's ex girfriend, Veronica, a lawyer was also risking her life to find evidence to prove his innocence. In the course, she slowly uncovered a political scandal instrumental to Lincoln's incarceration. Inside the prison, things got complicated when Michael's plan to escape with his brother was discovered by more and more inmates. Under duress, an escape plan for 2 became a team.

Every inmate is a colorful character, especially the paedophile, T-Bag, played brilliantly by Robert Knepper. With more team members, it aroused the suspicion of nasty warden officer, Bellick (Wade Williams) and the escape got more sticky. In a determined effort to find out whatever Michael and his team were doing, Bellick recruited a young, new inmate to spy on them.

Episodes after episodes, suspense, violence, corruption and sodomy infiltrated the prison. Except the overated Wentworth Miller, this show is gonna imprisoned me on every Thursday.

2) Isaac (stylenetwork.com)- hosted by Isaac Mizrahi



"Oh, that's cute!"

That statement got me hopelessly hooked to my TV on very Saturday or Sunday. I got so mad when the local TV station keeps changing the time belt of this programme.

"Excuse me," I'm beginning to talk like Isaac.

"A talk show shouldn't be less important than a documentary, especially on a Saturday night."

The current time slot of 6 on a Sunday evening just couldn't compare to its original time at 11pm on a Saturday night. I want a late night talk show that I can chill out and not having to think about the dreadful Monday.

Isaac talks like my American boyfriend (except that my boyfriend doesn't gesticulate). Do I need a stronger reason to fall in love with the show? He is naturaly funny and very honest with his emotion. When he meets handsome men on his show, he is confident to let them know that he thinks they are hot. These men, mostly straight and sometimes, a few gay men, are never reserved to reciprocate his teasings. The hottest flirt was so far with Chef, Rocco Dispirito.

Alarmingly, the local authority did not censor the naughty part before airing on public channel. Perhaps, they didn't know that the host of this talk show is an openly gay fashion designer. Anyway, it's best this way.

********
Moto K