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Monday December 04

"A person who speaks of his illness nourishes his illness by speaking of it.  Often I have heard people say that if a pain exists it is a reality, 'and how can one deny it?'  It is so amusing to hear them say this, because reality is so far away, and our everyday life is such that from morning till evening we do nothing be deny it.  If one could only know where the truth lies, if one could only know what truth is - if one only were to know it and see it - one would think that all else is non-existent in reality.  If one studies the depth of this idea, one must admit the power of the word. "

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan

* * *

Monday, just another day full of meetings and greetings, and discretings, and completings.  Also a day full of compromises and surprises.  

Giving up what you wish for often enables the arrival of what you wish for.   For example, as soon as I had given up on my DSL, it began working again.   

* * *


Tuesday December 05

"Yet the depth of the world of each person is very different.  If a person has spoken a hundred words in one day, do you think that every word has the same power?  No, the power and effect  of a particular world depend upon the state in which that person was, and from what depth the word rises.  Upon this depend the power and light of that world.  For instance, with a person who has a habit of telling a lie, who is insincere, you have no force, while the one who speaks with conviction, who is sincere, who tells the truth - his word has a light, his word penetrates."

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

Still finding amazing things in this book.  It is a powerful medicine.  

* * *

Preparation for the arrival of guests from NYC today.  We are working on a demonstration that is a rough sketch, a working approximation of the next stage of features in the product we are building.  

Sometimes the scaffolding can be as beautiful as the temple that is being built.   PeterO and SteveE build great scaffolding. 

Next year, we will see how the Great Pyramid turns out...   

* * * 


Wednesday December 06

"Sometimes, from a person full of sadness and heartbroken, a voice comes, a word, full of sincerity; it has all the power to penetrate; it has such an effect upon the listener!"

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

Guests from NYC arrived and learned about who and how and why we are.   Guests, coming in to observe from the outside, precipitate something that would otherwise not come to life.  We had an audience today.

* * *

A delightful dinner this evening in Seattle's best Italian restaurant with excellent company.  I told some now-legendary and depressing stories about my own direct experiences with Mary Lou, Kurt, and Courtney, and my brief encounters with massive talent combined with intense, genetically-programmed self-destruction.

* * *

Met some excellent people this evening, post-dinner.  Turns out, we have some connections that I had not anticipated.  It is a very small world.  

* * *


Thursday December 07

"Question: When one has the desire to go into these things, what should one do if one's life is too busy?

Answer: In have heard many persons say that they have the greatest desire to give their time and thoughts to spiritual things, but because they have not attained a manner of living that leaves their mind free to keep to these things, they think they cannot take up anything spiritual.  I saw the reason of their argument.  It is quite true that in this world, as life is today, it is difficult to move without money.  material things apart, even in the spiritual things one cannot do without money.  If I were to give you the same lecture and I would not be sitting in a room, it would not become a lecture!  If the newspapers had not given the advertisement, if a notice had not been printed, you would not have known about it, and perhaps only two or three persons would have been kind enough to come and listen to oblige me. 

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

A quiet evening of patent writing after a full day of Extreme Program management.  Constantly impressed with this team.  Also, interviewed an excellent new programmer candidate today.

Biorhythms are scheduled to crash next week.  Given the current momentum, I'm doubting that.  

* * *

Had separate conversations today with two people who are working to objectively measure the value of their contributions to an ongoing, dynamic, ever-changing commercial process.   How subjective is the valuation of our work in the world?  At what point do we settle, and say "that's fair"?  

And at what point do we say, that's not enough, I'm worth more, with the proof and/or credibility to prove via with actions that back up the words?  

In theory, perhaps we are worth "whatever the market will bear." 

What the market will bear often depends upon the persistence, attitude and confidence of the person receiving the weight that the market will bear.

* * *

Greatly looking forward to tomorrow.

* * *


Friday December 08

"Life is a symphony, and the action of every person in this life is the playing of his particular part in the music.

There is nothing in the world that is not the instrument of God." 

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

My DSL is still down (again) -- this time it seems catastrophic.  Wrote a nasty message to Reflex today.  With service like this, who needs enemies?

* * *

Surprise phone call from England this morning.  Seems some ideas first explored about one year ago are coming back to life in a new way.  Not really a surprise, actually.  

Stay tuned. 

* * *

Also, a good meeting and brainstorm with GW at Uptown Espresso.  Getting in sync.  For the first time in quite a while, I now feel completely surrounded by talent, ambition, and good will on all sides. 

* * *

Excellent lunch in Freemont today with a friend.  Missing my long hair?   No.   Looking forward to the weekend. 

* * *

Saturday December 09

"In music the law of harmony is that the nearest note does not make a consonant interval.  This explains the prohibition of marriage between close relatives because of the nearness in merit and blood.  As a rule harmony lies in contrast.  Men fight with men and women quarrel with women, but the male and the female are as a rule harmonious with each other and a complete oneness makes a perfect harmony." 

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

Sitting at Curt's again with the usual crew.  Frank provided an excellent guidance this morning.  Then, I went to observe the first half hour of the Beginner's Circle before heading off to a patent-writing late morning and afternoon.

Auto-repeart soundtrack to patent-writing: Jane Siberry, Bound by the Beauty, and Gentle Giant, the Power and the Glory.  

"Gentle Giant are awesome, but you have to have a PHD in music to understand what they're doing. The music is so stunningly complex that it's sometimes difficult to absorb, After listening to albums like Octopus and Power And The Glory 50 times or more, I still hear something new each time that was different from the last time. Multi-part vocal harmonies galore. The best place to start would be with one of their more accessible albums, maybe Three Friends or In A Glass House." 

- excerpt from a Gentle Giant fan site

Also, finally posted some additional content to the other parts of this recently simplified site.

* * *

Later this Evening: invitation to a small, private listening session with BobW, TravisM, DeanJ, CurtG, and BillR chez Bill.  The new Rieflin-Connelly CD is mastered and ready for manufacturing.  

It's title: Largo.

lar·go (lärʹgō) Music adverb & adjective
In a very slow tempo, usually considered to be slower than adagio, and with great dignity. Used chiefly as a direction.

Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. 

An apt title for this music.  I want to hear at least half of this CD again.  To my ears, this music is the soundtrack to a Francesca Sundsten painting. circa 1996.  

For example:

It is a very European sound.  Chris is, of course, Scottish, but I hear more eastern Europe than western.  Fred Chalenor plays bass, and is reliably jaw-droppingly excellent. 

* * *

Trey is back in town.  Some good stuff in a recent entry:  

"But the real problem with this static nature is that you no longer have to listen. And why don’t you have to listen? Because your ‘part is already worked out.’ I’m not referring to writing now, but actual playing on-stage with other musicians. And this line of reasoning (that I am trying to squeeze out of my Sunday morning, soft little head) has lead to an amazing conclusion. And this is: what is the most important thing for the role of the bass player? THE most important thing? No, it’s not timing. No, it’s not pitch. No, no, no. Try again. It is this: the most important thing is that the soloist or the singer KNOWS that you are listening to them. Without that, it makes no difference how good of a player you are or how well you know the material. Without that, the whole scenario is screwed. Without that, there is no connection between the players. It’s all just for show, and not real. " 

- Trey's Diary 

Amen.  Something useful here for the greater Seattle Circle to hear.  Now, how to take this on?  Listening while playing.

This seems to set the stage nicely for our work in 2001.  If 2000 was about Dynamics and Circulation, for me, 2001 is about listening (and responding.)

* * *

11:31pm.  Laundry in the dryer, Jane playing in the CD player.   Looks like my DSL is back after One of 1000 Complaints.  Now let's see if it will let me upload this writing...  

If you can read this sentence, then the answer is: YES. 

* * *


Sunday December 10

"In the same way to one person music is a noise, or perhaps a harmonious group of notes.  For him it is a pastime, a certain amusement.  To another person there is some joy coming from it;  he is enjoying some pleasure, he feels the music which is coming to him.  Then there is a third person who sees the soul of the artist who is performing the music, who sees the spirit of one who wrote the music.  Even if the music were written a thousand years ago he hears this spirit in the music." 

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Ball
To: Travis Hartnett; news;
Sent: 12/10/00 12:34 AM
Subject: Blast from the BTV past 
Importance: Low

Excerpt from: MTV Online:

"Frontman Billy Corgan said he plans to reissue all of the group's albums within the next few years, with several of the reissues packaged with previously unreleased bonus tracks.

"There's tons of stuff we can live posthumously for a long time. We recorded a lot," Corgan, 33, said, adding that the band has multitrack tapes of more than 400 live shows that he would like to make available to fans when a reliable online distribution scheme develops.

"The band's archives are pretty deep. From a fan point of view, the variations on how the band played the songs live give us a lot of leeway," he said. "It's not like we always played one version of 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' we have five different versions of 'Bullet,' seven versions of 'Silverf---.' The band's sound and the band's attack always changed from year to year, so we can go pretty deep into our live catalog."

Among the unearthed gems that Corgan plans to bring to light are previously unreleased demos from the band's 1991 debut, Gish, as well the 28 additional songs recorded for the 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness."

-----Reply-----

From: Travis Hartnett
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2000 2:51 AM
To: Steve Ball
Subject: RE: Blast from the BTV past 


Shit -- if they just had fansite aggregation, they'd have a license to print money! No, wait -- not "print" -- "burn"...

TH 

Wonder where BillyC got that idea?  Maybe from his friend EddieV?  Wonder where EddieV got that idea?  

Wow - there are some really great ideas out there.  Sometimes it takes about a year for them to be (over) heard and acted on.  I guess the expensive and awkward backstage meeting with RobertF, DavidS, and BillyC that BTV facilitated last May is beginning to have some repercussions.  

Even if they did blow us off completely the next day. 

* * *

Up early this morning.  More laundry, and preparation for a red-eye Tuesday night to the east coast later this week to show off the latest demos and products. 

Gemini
Forget about planning ahead. As the Moon drifts into a new Sign, you enter a wonderful few days of living for the moment. If your golden ideas carried any weight, you and your loved ones would never have to work again. Maybe there really is a way to cash in on this power surge. Being in the right place at the right time allows you the opportunity of a lifetime. Make sure your pitch is brief and to the point. You should know by next week if your idea had any effect.


- InfoSpace Horoscopes

* * *

home

Monday December 11

Received some excellent mail today.  Including:

-----Original Message-----
From: CurtG 

Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 4:40 PM
To: TravisH; SteveE; SteveB; BillR;
Subject: a story


Frank was testing the part of the AAD 2001 site where we will be posting our observations. He input the following story:

Abdullah ben Yahya was showing a manuscript, which he had written, to a visitor. This man said: "But this word has been incorrectly spelt." He at once deleted the word and wrote it in the manner of which his guest approved.

When the man had left, Abdullah was asked: "Why did you do that, considering that the 'correction' was in fact inaccurate, and you wrote the wrong word where the original had been right?" 

He answered: "That was a social occasion. The man thought he was helping me, and thought that the expression of his ignorance was an indication of knowledge. I applied the behavior of culture and politeness, not the behavior of truth, because when people want politeness and social interchange, they cannot stand truth. Had I stood in the relation to this man as teacher to student, matters would have been different. Only stupid people and pedants imagine that their duty is to instruct everyone, when the motive of the people is generally not to seek instruction, but to attract attention." 

- CurtG

* * *

Also received some amazing photos in (e)mail today.  Wish I could show them here.  But no way.  I may be insane to keep this online diary, but I am not stoooopid. 

* * *

I slept very well last night, but still felt sleepy most of the afternoon.  Nearing winter: feel like hibernation. 

More patent writing and demo preparation before traveling east on a redeye tomorrow evening.  Don't really wish to travel right now, but it's part of the deal.  

In the tradition of technology letting me down this month, my Palm Vx took a major dump this afternoon.   

<< delete all ? >>   No, that would be bad.  Really bad.

So how to get it to stop flashing and asking me this question when I turn it on?  Perhaps, time to switch to the new iPaq we just got at Bootleg for the Turner demos...

* * *

Exactly one year ago, I flew off to LA and then San Jose with David Singleton in search of BTV funding.  In the process, we met with a certain MarcG (and his attorney) who is now the head of a certain unnamed struggling web music merch comapny.  We met in Marc's house in the hills of Los Angeles.  Marc gave us some excellent advice, which we promptly ignored.  The next morning, we flew to San Jose where we composed a 14-slide powerpoint presentation in a Kinko's until late into the evening.  We woke up the next day, presented our presence and our presentation to some big wigs.   We shook hands one hour later on what we thought would be a simple, quick, and honorable deal.  Three months later, after much dancing and prancing, the check arrived, and the rest is history, still unfolding.  

What an amazing education this last year has been.

* * *

More mailbag funnies:

-----Original Message-----
From: TravisH 
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 3:56 PM
To: SteveB
Subject: What does a neat artist site look like?

http://www.josepharthur.com/frames/ 

-----Original Message-----
From: SteveB 
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 4:20 PM
To: TravisH
Cc: SteveE
Subject: RE: What does a neat artist site look like?

true - 

if you like pretentious, arty-farty, communistical, over-designed, "oh, look at me, I'm an artiste" kind of site...

In ze true artist site, ze muzique should schprekenze for itself...  failing that, black and white verdana is the s***t, man.

-schteve

-----Original Message-----
From: TravisH 
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 4:21 PM
To: SteveB
Subject: RE: What does a neat artist site look like?

Oh, I see you've looked at the Peter Gabriel site.

TH

* * *

9:01pm - home early, thinking about last night.  Time to touch my guitar this evening.  Two days in a row.  January is not far away now.  Better start getting back in shape.

* * *

Tuesday December 12

"The deep thinkers of all ages have therefore held one principle of awakening to life, and that principle is: emptying the self.  In other words, making oneself a clearer and fuller accommodation in order to accommodate all experiences more clearly and more fully.  All the tragedy of life, all its sorrows and pains belong mostly to the surface of the life in the world.  If one were fully awake to life, if one could respond to wonders, one would not need to communicate with spirits; for every atom in this world is a wonder for the one who sees with open eyes." 

- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Hazrat Inayat Khan 

* * *

5:42pm - Last minute tasks before getting out the door.  Pack, schmack.  We're talking about throwing two days of "NYC clothes" (read, "black") in one small suitcase.  

And don't forget the pillow...   this is a redeye afterall.

* * *

The highlight of my day so far: made a movie poster this afternoon.  Quest for Rejuvenation.  And a surprising phone call late in the afternoon.   

It's the simple things.

* * *

Now, off to face the lions with a PC full of meat.  This space will be quiet until Thursday evening.

* * *

Wednesday December 13

First shook hands with GeorgeZ exactly one year ago today.  A significant anniversary today, on two accounts.  Wishing friends well from a quiet distance today.

Stars of the week:  SteveE and PeterO.  And the entire dev team.

 

Also, many unsung heroes in this crowd.  

 

They know who they are.  So do I.  CurtG: (at least) one year of putting up with my nonsense on (at least) a daily basis.  JohnB and HansR - troopers with a conscience through thick and thin.   CarmineM, extreme programmer delivering extreme goods.  ChristinaC - doing what ever it takes and smiling all the way home.  KevinG - giving up other tempting opportunities at great opportunity cost to deliver the goods.  TravisH - taking the leap and seeing it through.  DaveH, IreneVN and JohnK - just making things work in the face of unlikely technology and constant last minute demands.   BenS - bouncing back with  loyalty and vengence.  LeahJ and FeliciaO - best damn cheerleaders in the Northwest.  KennethT and GregoryD - artful and heartful encoding.  BillB - going to the mat for loyalty and belief in the vision.  ChristianVB - taking the major leap.  JohnL - the unwavering rock upon which this structure has been built, GeorgeM, the quiet Beatle, always two+ months ahead of the curve.

 

Chances of pissing off those not singled-out here for extreme acts of thankless heroism:  good.

 

But heroes, you know who you are.  

 

Did I mention how proud I am of this entire team?