Jacobs Externality in Rock History

Who created heavy metal? Tony Iommy. But, Tony might deliver pizza if Django Reinhardt didn't inspire him to keep playing. Django in jazz, Tony in rock, kind of two different industries. So, it's a case of Jacobs externality.

1) Brian May, PhD: "Tony Iommi is the true father of heavy metal"; Eddie Van Halen: "Without Tony, heavy metal wouldn't exist".

2) On the last day at the factory (Tony decided to quit 'normal' job to fully play music), a machine accidentally cut the tip of his middle and ring fingers. Future seemed to fall into pieces...

3) A mindful friend gave Tony a Django Reinhardt record. Django only played with two fingers, index and middle ones, for soloing..the other fingers were paralyzed due to a fire accident.

4) If the fire accident stopped Django, Tony's spirit might never rise again...and the world would never hear Black Sabbath, the template of heavy metal !!!

In sum, the essence/history of metal can be summed into three words: Never Give Up!..or rather in two words?: Jacobs Externality? Tony Iommi? Iommy-Reinhardt?

Rocklahoma 2011

It is a personal rockumentary on my trip to Rocklahoma 2011.
Table of contents:

• 00:00-00:13, Opening
• 00:13-03:20, On the road
  
• 03:21-05:21, Yay, arrived!
• 05:22-07:20, Slide show 1
• 07:20-09:10, The peak Sunday
• 09:10-end, Slide show 2

Enjoy!

Happy Fourth

Personal video documentation on the Happy Fourth 2011.
TOC:

• 00:00-00:03, Opening
• 00:03-00:50, Free kids
• 00:50-01:07, We the people
• 01:17-03:27, Parade
• 03:27-03:59, Fireworks picnic
• 03:59-04:58, JIMI HENDRIX !
• 04:58-08:50, the Fireworks ! (video)
• 08:50-09:16, Credit

HD version is available on Youtube.

Rokenrol Trip: Fantasy vs Reality

Salah satu fantasi masa remaja saya adalah mengendari Shelby Mustang 1966 GT 350 sendirian dari Pantai Timur sampai Pantai Barat Amerika. Musik rock digeber keras sepanjang perjalanan. Menyusuri Rute 66 yang legendaris, melewati kota-kota kecil yang hampir mati. Mampir ke klub-klub musik blues, berharap bertemu titisan Robert Johnson atau Stevie Ray Vaughn. Jalan malam menembus padang pasir atau badlands.

Seringkali ditengah kelas, alih-alih menyalin isi papan tulis, saya lebih sibuk membongkar-pasang playlist yang akan menemani "perjalanan spiritual" ini (seakan-akan berangkat minggu depan haha...). Night Ranger's (You Can Still) Rock In America, Def Leppard's Hello America, Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, Jimi Hendrix's Hear My Train Comin', Procol Harum's Whisky Train, Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode, dan David Lee Roth's Tobacoo Road termasuk dalam daftar teratas.

Karena menginjak Amerika baru kesampaian setelah dewasa dan berkeluarga, maka fantasi itu perlu dimodifikasi. Nevertheless, it still rocks too! (Disergap hujan badai di London, OH, mampir ke Cleveland's Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, dan ditutup di Chicago's Lollapalooza 2010 sebelum pulang ke Urbana).

Dokumentasi video perjalanan juga dapat dilihat di Youtube.

My Homes

Home goes beyond a geographical concept. To me it's a state of mind, so I'm happy to call Surabaya and Champaign-Urbana as my homes.

Beatles defines home as a sanctuary from a hectic day 'cause you'll see the loved ones. Home is where you sense a peaceful and beautiful moment, right goes straight to your heart as you're listening to Vito Bratta's finest solo. Home is sweet, cause you know you won't be left all alone.

The Curse of Education

Despite a long time Education for All movement, we can observe many inequalities in education or education-induced inequality. Underachievement in education is one of the most potent factors in transmitting poverty across generation. Low income groups have high drop out rates and lower progression from primary to secondary education. Differences in educational attainment, allied to wider social and cultural factors, help explain male-female income gaps in many economies.

Social scientists have long observed the "curse of education". Here is some important linkages:

Education, inequality, poverty-The educational system in many developing countries act to increase rather than decrease income inequalities because:

• There is positive correlation between education and income.
• The poor are effectively denied access to secondary and higher education because of higher cost (mainly opportunity cost) lower benefit (more difficult to get high pay jobs in urban areas due to lack of connection). So rate of dropouts much higher for the poor.
• Family environment, peer group interaction, and early malnutrition and poor health all work to the disadvantage of poor students in learning.
• Curricula have strong urban bias and pay little attention to priority needs of majority of student who live and work in rural areas.
• The wholesale import of formal educational system from developed countries into developing countries contributes not only to external brain drain (migration to developed countries) but also to internal brain drain (diverting attention of professionals from local problems and needs).

So, whether education lead to greater inequality should be a disturbing question. Whatever the answer, our attitudes toward it will determine whether education becomes a tool of liberation or of oppression.

Hardiknas 2 Mei 2011

Hari ini ber-solilokui Hymne Guru (ah, mataku membasah).

Apa kabar Wajib Belajar Indonesia? Sebagian jawaban dapat ditemukan disini:

• Barro & Lee. Datanya kaya, bisa dipakai sekedar untuk perbandingan snapshot maupun melihat lebih jauh bagaimana kontribusi modal manusia terhadap kinerja ekonomi.
  
• Statistik pendidikan UNESCO maupun indikator pembangunan manusia UNDP.
  

Tentu saja, banyak cerita lain, antara duka ketimpangan akses pendidikan maupun cita prestasi anak bangsa, yang tak tertangkap oleh angka-angka diatas. Tak salah kiranya, jika Richard E. Smalley (Nobel Kimia 1996) menyebut pendidikan sebagai salah satu dari 10 masalah terbesar kemanusiaan dalam 50 tahun mendatang.