Short version:
I love my new headphones, Studio - beats by dr. dre (from Monster)
Long Version:
OK, I don't usually post product reviews, although my friends are always telling me that I should because I'm so anal about comparing features of different products and tracking the latest innovations. I guess to the extent that I do the research, I should be sharing that knowledge.
In any event, this review is not so much that result of thorough research as much as it is pure reaction and enthusiasm. OK, before I start on these particular headphones, let me give a little background.
If you work in the music industry, you are familiar with the terms "studio monitors" or "reference monitors" -- if you don't work in the industry, you'd just call them speakers. So, what's the difference? Well, ask 5 audio experts and you'll get 6 different answers :-)
Having said that, basically, studio monitors are intended to play back music exactly as it was recorded, so that someone who is recording or mixing music can hear exactly what is going on. Whereas speakers are sometimes designed to emphasize the bass or the treble depending on the type of music that the buyer is likely to listen to.
More recently, most studio monitors are "powered", that is they have their own built-in amplifer. That way, the sound of the music you play on them will not depend on the amplifier to which they are connected--it will vary only based on the input signal, i.e., the music (rather than the music + the amplifier).
So, now you know about studio monitors v. speakers -- let's talk about beats by dr. dre, the high-end studio monitors of the headphone world. This is a set of headphones, called Studio, that is made by Monster Cable. What is different about them? Well, a number of things, but the most prominent is: they are powered, just like studio monitors. And I would suggest that being "powered" is even more important and makes even more of a difference with headphones.
Why?
Well, many of the devices that people listen to these days are not big devices powered by a wall outlet, such as a cassette deck (remember those), or even a CD player, but rather a mobile phone or an MP3 player. These are small portable devices that don't have a lot of power and are typically connected to some cheesy, cheap earbud headphones (which can distort and damage your ears--I may need to write another blog post on this topic). So, even if you wanted to hook them up to some decent headphones, the devices wouldn't have the power to drive a good set of headphones very long.
Enter "beats by dr. dre". These headphones not only have high-quality components and great noise isolation, they also take two AAA batteries to power their speakers. This has a dramatic effect for a couple of reasons.
First, because the headphones provide the power, the quality of sound does not depend on the amp built into whatever device is the source of the music. Instead, if you provide the "Studio" headphones with the music input, they will amplify it clearly and and across the spectrum. I immediately noticed the quality of the bass, which normally is not very good whenever I listen to portable devices, and much of the music I love (music of the African Diaspora) is bass heavy, such as Reggae, Soca, and Funk.
Second, because the headphones are powering the speakers, you avoid the distortion that you sometimes get with cheaper mobile devices when you increase their signal output.
The design the Studio headphones is sleek and smart -- they look great and sound great. I was a little skeptical at first--I thought that they might be more of a gimmick associated with a big name (Dr. Dre). But when I tried them, they sounded great, and the concept made total sense--powered headphones!
Moreover, they use normal batteries. I have to confess, I'm so tired of devices with built in rechargeable batteries. It might seem like a nice idea, but in reality, if I'm out on a long hike or unicycle ride (yeah, that's what I do), and my MP3 player goes dead, I'm not going to have a laptop strapped to my back that I can use to recharge my MP3 player via USB. Just give me something that takes AAA or AA batteries. I buy rechargeables, and then I carry extras with me. Let's get Green people!
So, beats by dr. dre uses two AAA batteries -- just bring some extras with you -- very cool.
Now, I'll be honest, I probably won't use these headphones to DJ. I could, but the quality would be lost on me in that situation. These headphones are about listening to music just about everywhere else, and really being able to hear it!
And there is one more feature that I haven't checked out personally, but if it works as advertised, will be off the hook. You can hook these headphones to a phone that plays music (e.g. an iPhone, BlackBerry, etc) and with a special cable that comes with them, be able to press a button which pauses the music and allows you to answer the phone (built in mic!). Thus, you can have the phone/music functionality without being limited to the lame, eardrum destroying stock earbuds that come with your phone. I'll report on this later--once I get my new phone :-)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Great East Bay Tennis Instructor
I have noticed that the ratio of blog posts/online comments giving feedback weighs heavily in favor of the negative. That is, we blog/rant when someone/something/some company has done us wrong. When you're pissed off, you're motivated. But alas, we're not nearly so diligent when it comes to giving praise, at least not to the extent of posting it.
So, in that vein I wanted to give a thumbs up to someone I just met--Bill Conway, the tennis director/instructor at Bay O Vista in San Leandro. I just finished a one-hour clinic with Bill and several other intermediate players. It was really fun, and I was wondering to myself, "Why haven't I been doing this for the past 15 years!"
I was a pretty high school tennis player. And I continued to play throughout my life, but I struggled with injuries here and there. But what seemed to really hold me back was just my own stubbornness in not being willing to take lessons or attend clinics. I figured, I knew all I needed to know, I just needed to practice. That wasn't true. First, I didn't know everything. Second, techniques and prevailing wisdom had changed. And third, there is no substitute for having someone watch you and give you feedback. I started to realize this last year, when I was reunited with an old friend and tennis partner, Leutrell MC Osborne, II. Leu gave me a couple of tips that really helped me -- and got me excited about tennis again.
Then, my other tennis buddy, Robert Wallace, took his racquet to get re-strung at Bay O Vista. I went with him to pick it up and met Bill Conway, the tennis pro there who did the stringing. It was so great to meet someone really relaxed, knowledgeable and confident in that knowledge without being overbearing. As luck would have it, my racquet popped a string that same day. I had Bill re-string it, and took his intermediate clinic the same day I picked up my racquet.
So, if you are looking for a good place to play and/or take lessons, I recommend Bay O Vista -- you don't need to be a member to attend their tennis clinics. And definitely say hi to Bill Conway.
So, in that vein I wanted to give a thumbs up to someone I just met--Bill Conway, the tennis director/instructor at Bay O Vista in San Leandro. I just finished a one-hour clinic with Bill and several other intermediate players. It was really fun, and I was wondering to myself, "Why haven't I been doing this for the past 15 years!"
I was a pretty high school tennis player. And I continued to play throughout my life, but I struggled with injuries here and there. But what seemed to really hold me back was just my own stubbornness in not being willing to take lessons or attend clinics. I figured, I knew all I needed to know, I just needed to practice. That wasn't true. First, I didn't know everything. Second, techniques and prevailing wisdom had changed. And third, there is no substitute for having someone watch you and give you feedback. I started to realize this last year, when I was reunited with an old friend and tennis partner, Leutrell MC Osborne, II. Leu gave me a couple of tips that really helped me -- and got me excited about tennis again.
Then, my other tennis buddy, Robert Wallace, took his racquet to get re-strung at Bay O Vista. I went with him to pick it up and met Bill Conway, the tennis pro there who did the stringing. It was so great to meet someone really relaxed, knowledgeable and confident in that knowledge without being overbearing. As luck would have it, my racquet popped a string that same day. I had Bill re-string it, and took his intermediate clinic the same day I picked up my racquet.
So, if you are looking for a good place to play and/or take lessons, I recommend Bay O Vista -- you don't need to be a member to attend their tennis clinics. And definitely say hi to Bill Conway.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Umpiring Baseball v. Being a Justice
I remember when Justice Roberts first made his analogy that being a Supreme Court Justice was like being an umpire, suggesting that he didn't make the rules he just applied them. I was amazed and deeply disappointed that none of the Senators had the brains or the balls to take on that analogy. I never blogged about it then, but now that the use of that analogy has reared its silly head during the vetting process of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, here is why I think that analogy is terribly flawed.
Baseball is a game, yet a fairly complex one. It has a set of rules that fills 125 pages, including numerous diagrams and over 40,000 words; this does not even count the index to the rules, which fills another 7 pages. You can find the rules here:
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp
The U.S. Constitution contained roughly 4500 words (I say "contained" because some of the original text was replaced during the amendment process, such as with the 12th Amendment); the Amendments tack on another 3500 words, which puts us at 8,000 words. That is one fifth of the number of words used to govern the game of baseball--and the U.S. Constitution did not include diagrams!
Forty thousand words to govern every conceivable scenario that could arise in a game. Yet, fewer than 10,000 words to govern every conceivable scenario that could arise in a society. Is the Constiution really so complete that the Justices just "apply the rules" like umpires?
The obvious conclusion is: no, the framers could not have possibly thought of every scenario. (Which is one reason I think the term "framer" is appropriate; they build the framework, but the Constitutional house continues to be remodeled and upgraded to deal with the changing conditions in which it must house its society.)
One example is with guns. Many argue that a bill limiting handguns is not constitutional, but few argue that a bill limiting one's ability to have or build a nuclear weapon is unconstitutional. So, who draws the line on which "arms" we have a right to bear. At the time of the drafting, there were neither semi-automatic guns, nor nuclear bombs. Lines get drawn every day, and those that claim they don't are either disingenuous or just plain dumb.
I hope that some Senator's aide, or Jeffrey Toobin, will read this and please help put that inapt analogy to rest.
Baseball is a game, yet a fairly complex one. It has a set of rules that fills 125 pages, including numerous diagrams and over 40,000 words; this does not even count the index to the rules, which fills another 7 pages. You can find the rules here:
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp
The U.S. Constitution contained roughly 4500 words (I say "contained" because some of the original text was replaced during the amendment process, such as with the 12th Amendment); the Amendments tack on another 3500 words, which puts us at 8,000 words. That is one fifth of the number of words used to govern the game of baseball--and the U.S. Constitution did not include diagrams!
Forty thousand words to govern every conceivable scenario that could arise in a game. Yet, fewer than 10,000 words to govern every conceivable scenario that could arise in a society. Is the Constiution really so complete that the Justices just "apply the rules" like umpires?
The obvious conclusion is: no, the framers could not have possibly thought of every scenario. (Which is one reason I think the term "framer" is appropriate; they build the framework, but the Constitutional house continues to be remodeled and upgraded to deal with the changing conditions in which it must house its society.)
One example is with guns. Many argue that a bill limiting handguns is not constitutional, but few argue that a bill limiting one's ability to have or build a nuclear weapon is unconstitutional. So, who draws the line on which "arms" we have a right to bear. At the time of the drafting, there were neither semi-automatic guns, nor nuclear bombs. Lines get drawn every day, and those that claim they don't are either disingenuous or just plain dumb.
I hope that some Senator's aide, or Jeffrey Toobin, will read this and please help put that inapt analogy to rest.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Photos -- the right balance
As I went through old photos to find pictures of Marlon to put online, I discovered that, while we had spent a lot of time together, and had danced in several salsa groups together--including one I founded, and another Marlon founded--I didn't have a single picture of Marlon and me, arms over shoulders, in the classic friends' pose.
I also realized there were a number of other friends with whom I had no decent pictures (other than big group shots). I'll be the first to admit that I'm horrible about taking pictures. My friends kid me because I do a lot of crazy things (unicycle basketball, salsa in the street, etc.), but I'm too busy doing to be documenting.
Marlon is on the left in white shorts; I'm on the right in the white shirt.
My girlfriend, Rachel, is the opposite. She photos everything, too much so, in my humble opinion. But, I think there is a happy middle ground. You really do need to slow down once in a while and capture the moment with your friends. Appreciate them; be there, present, in the moment. Don't assume that they'll always be there, because they might not be, and then it's too late :-( You live in my mind's eye Marlon.
And to my friends, yes, the next time you see me, I may just force you to take a picture with me ;-)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Importing Contacts from Yahoo! into Google
After several years of trying, I was finally able to import my contacts from Yahoo! into Google. When I started a couple of years back, Google would choke on the number of contacts I was trying to import (> 2500) -- it would hang, and sputter, and then tell me that some subset of the contacts had been imported (ranging from 1000 to 1800).
Also, Google would choke on the size of some of the fields, e.g., I would use the Comments field extensively in Yahoo! Contacts--but Google apparently didn't allocate as much space to this field as Yahoo! did. The really disappointing/surprising thing was that Google was supposedly trying to grow GMail. Well, Yahoo! Mail has a lot more users than GMail, so you would think that they would want to make the migration process as easy as possible--and that they would have tested it.
Anyway, I would re-test the Gmail contact import process every few months, and each time it would choke--until finally, in Feb. 2009, I tried it and it worked! But not without some issues along the way.
First was Google's issue of not permitting the deletion all of your contacts at once. I can understand that one should be cautious about doing this--but after a few warnings, you ought to be granted permission--it's your account! Google says you can do it in the "older version" of Gmail, but that just hangs with no response. In the "new" version of Gmail, you can do it, but only 500 contacts at a time--and they don't make it easy for you to select 500 contacts at a time. You have to just scroll down and take a guess :-(
Also, this process of deletion hung up in Firefox (the latest current version), so I had to switch to Safari. When I finally deleted all my contacts, I then imported the .CSV file Yahoo had generated. All the contacts came in!
But alas, more issues. I discovered that there were embedded HTML ASCII codes in my contact info. For example, instead of " I would see "e; and instead of ` I would see '.
Was the issue caused by Google's import process or Yahoo!'s export process. I examined the .CSV file and found that the culprit was Yahoo! So I:
I was disappointed that Google did not map a number of fields, including web addresses. Thus, if I had associated a website with one of my contacts, it was clickable link in Yahoo!, but NOT in Google :-(
Just as a test, I then exported my contacts from Google to a .CSV file. Lo-and-behold, that file did not have HTML ASCII codes, but had the proper characters. The programmers at Google are pretty sharp on the gritty details (if they sometimes miss the bigger UI and workflow picture) :-)
There is one thing that is still missing that I really liked having, and that was the search engine extension for my Yahoo! contacts in Firefox. Search engine extensions allow you to use the search box in the upper right corner of Firefox to search a particular site. It is part of the MyCroft project.
There was a search engine extension for Yahoo! contacts, thus, I could type a name in the search box and immediately search my contacts. I use this box at least a few times each day. Not having it will add a couple of steps to my daily routine (although having all of my contacts in GMail will offset some of those steps.) But it would be nice if there was a search engine extension for Gmail contacts.
Actually, since we are talking about the "search engine king" -- Google -- I'm still wondering when they will make a search across all of my data available to me: Docs, Contacts, Blog, Maps, etc. -- a single place where I can search my data. I guess that won't generate enough ad revenue to put it at the top of the PRD.
Also, Google would choke on the size of some of the fields, e.g., I would use the Comments field extensively in Yahoo! Contacts--but Google apparently didn't allocate as much space to this field as Yahoo! did. The really disappointing/surprising thing was that Google was supposedly trying to grow GMail. Well, Yahoo! Mail has a lot more users than GMail, so you would think that they would want to make the migration process as easy as possible--and that they would have tested it.
Anyway, I would re-test the Gmail contact import process every few months, and each time it would choke--until finally, in Feb. 2009, I tried it and it worked! But not without some issues along the way.
First was Google's issue of not permitting the deletion all of your contacts at once. I can understand that one should be cautious about doing this--but after a few warnings, you ought to be granted permission--it's your account! Google says you can do it in the "older version" of Gmail, but that just hangs with no response. In the "new" version of Gmail, you can do it, but only 500 contacts at a time--and they don't make it easy for you to select 500 contacts at a time. You have to just scroll down and take a guess :-(
Also, this process of deletion hung up in Firefox (the latest current version), so I had to switch to Safari. When I finally deleted all my contacts, I then imported the .CSV file Yahoo had generated. All the contacts came in!
But alas, more issues. I discovered that there were embedded HTML ASCII codes in my contact info. For example, instead of " I would see "e; and instead of ` I would see '.
Was the issue caused by Google's import process or Yahoo!'s export process. I examined the .CSV file and found that the culprit was Yahoo! So I:
- Searched-and-replaced all of the ASCII codes with the appropriate characters and saved the file
- Re-deleted my Google contacts 500 at a bloody time
- Re-imported the .CSV file.
I was disappointed that Google did not map a number of fields, including web addresses. Thus, if I had associated a website with one of my contacts, it was clickable link in Yahoo!, but NOT in Google :-(
Just as a test, I then exported my contacts from Google to a .CSV file. Lo-and-behold, that file did not have HTML ASCII codes, but had the proper characters. The programmers at Google are pretty sharp on the gritty details (if they sometimes miss the bigger UI and workflow picture) :-)
There is one thing that is still missing that I really liked having, and that was the search engine extension for my Yahoo! contacts in Firefox. Search engine extensions allow you to use the search box in the upper right corner of Firefox to search a particular site. It is part of the MyCroft project.
There was a search engine extension for Yahoo! contacts, thus, I could type a name in the search box and immediately search my contacts. I use this box at least a few times each day. Not having it will add a couple of steps to my daily routine (although having all of my contacts in GMail will offset some of those steps.) But it would be nice if there was a search engine extension for Gmail contacts.
Actually, since we are talking about the "search engine king" -- Google -- I'm still wondering when they will make a search across all of my data available to me: Docs, Contacts, Blog, Maps, etc. -- a single place where I can search my data. I guess that won't generate enough ad revenue to put it at the top of the PRD.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Our Friend Roar Kilaas is in the Hospital
Hi Friends,
As you know, I mostly use this list as an overly-upbeat message board about events and occasionally my thoughts on something. There have been times, however, when I have used this list to share bad or urgent news. This is one of the costs of having a life rich with good friends.
Last Sunday as most of us were getting ready to watch the Superbowl, Roar Kilaas, had an accident on his motorcycle. Many of you of know Roar; he is a good friend and kindred spirit of mine--an avid motorcyclist, great dancer of many styles (samba, salsa, rueda), drummer, and technologist. Roar is originally from Norway, but has been Berkeley based for many years, and is one of the nicest people
you will meet.
In his crash, Roar damaged his T7 and T8 vertabrae. As a result, he lost feeling below his chest. On Thursday, they operated on him to insert a metal rod in his back to relieve some pressure and clean up the damage. At this point, we don't know the long term prognosis.
What we do know is that, no matter what, Roar has a long recovery ahead of him, and he will need the support of his friends.
I have not been able to see him yet (they wouldn't let me in at ICU), but I am going out there today. He is now allowed to have visitors and would be happy to see his friends. I have been advised that in person visits are welcome, but not phone calls. He is in room 577 at John Muir Hospital. Visiting Hours are listed here:
http://www.johnmuirhealth.com/index.php/visiting_hours.html
Finally, regarding updates. Roar has many many friends. So I will not be able to respond to individual inquiries. And, if you can believe it, Roar is not on Facebook (I kind of like that fact).
Currently Louise Joanes is sending out updates via Roar's email address kroar920@yahoo.com -- so if you like, you can write to that address to be added to the update list.
What I imagine happening is that we will at some point probably set up two things: a Google Group [I have since created this group: Roar Power] for posting messages regarding Roar which people can subscribe to, and a Google Calendar to allow people to see a schedule for when Roar could use your help--if we all share the burden, it will be quite light and very gratifying. Once these are set up, I will send out a notice allowing people to opt-in.
Reminding you to drive safely and take a moment to appreciate your
health and the health of your loved ones
Jim
P.S. To those of you who I have neglected to write these past few weeks (months) I apologize, especially Gaspard in Goma, DRC--my thoughts are also with you my friend.
As you know, I mostly use this list as an overly-upbeat message board about events and occasionally my thoughts on something. There have been times, however, when I have used this list to share bad or urgent news. This is one of the costs of having a life rich with good friends.
Last Sunday as most of us were getting ready to watch the Superbowl, Roar Kilaas, had an accident on his motorcycle. Many of you of know Roar; he is a good friend and kindred spirit of mine--an avid motorcyclist, great dancer of many styles (samba, salsa, rueda), drummer, and technologist. Roar is originally from Norway, but has been Berkeley based for many years, and is one of the nicest people
you will meet.
In his crash, Roar damaged his T7 and T8 vertabrae. As a result, he lost feeling below his chest. On Thursday, they operated on him to insert a metal rod in his back to relieve some pressure and clean up the damage. At this point, we don't know the long term prognosis.
What we do know is that, no matter what, Roar has a long recovery ahead of him, and he will need the support of his friends.
I have not been able to see him yet (they wouldn't let me in at ICU), but I am going out there today. He is now allowed to have visitors and would be happy to see his friends. I have been advised that in person visits are welcome, but not phone calls. He is in room 577 at John Muir Hospital. Visiting Hours are listed here:
http://www.johnmuirhealth.com/
Finally, regarding updates. Roar has many many friends. So I will not be able to respond to individual inquiries. And, if you can believe it, Roar is not on Facebook (I kind of like that fact).
Currently Louise Joanes is sending out updates via Roar's email address kroar920@yahoo.com -- so if you like, you can write to that address to be added to the update list.
What I imagine happening is that we will at some point probably set up two things: a Google Group [I have since created this group: Roar Power] for posting messages regarding Roar which people can subscribe to, and a Google Calendar to allow people to see a schedule for when Roar could use your help--if we all share the burden, it will be quite light and very gratifying. Once these are set up, I will send out a notice allowing people to opt-in.
Reminding you to drive safely and take a moment to appreciate your
health and the health of your loved ones
Jim
P.S. To those of you who I have neglected to write these past few weeks (months) I apologize, especially Gaspard in Goma, DRC--my thoughts are also with you my friend.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
One story from this historic night
Dear Friends,
It seems that just when I start to lose faith, to allow cynicism to get the better of me, the American people--my people--show me their collective wisdom. Tonight, Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America: convincingly.
An African-American lawyer friend invited me to her house to watch the election results. By the time I arrived, around 8:30pm PST, John McCain had reportedly called Obama to concede the race. Her house, which I had never visited before, is in Richmond, CA--the murder capital of Northern California. When I told people I was going to Richmond they half-joked that if Obama lost, I would not be able to get out of Richmond safely.
But Obama didn't lose. He won. The results poured in swiftly. By 9pm PST, John McCain was on the TV screen making a concession speech. I cried during that speech. I simply couldn't control emotion that I didn't even know I possessed for this election. I cried because McCain gave a speech that reminded me of the decent man that I knew he was, the man of the 2000 campaign who swore off negative ads, the man who called torture what it was and opposed it, the man who called for campaign finance reform; but that man seemed to disappear during this campaign until he gave his concession speech. In it, he recognized Obama's achievement, he quieted the crowd's negative reaction, and he called for unity and support of our newly elected president.
In fact, what really made me well up with emotion was that McCain's speech brought home the fact that the election of Barack Obama, a man with an African father and an American mother, with a strange, Arabic-sounding name in the most anti-Arab period in American history, the election of this man was a REALITY. And I was proud again. I was proud to be American. I was proud that my people saw past skin, past names, past hype and misdirection, and simply heard the man, and decided this is the man we chose to lead us.
I left her house (after listening enrapt to Obama's speech acknowledging his victory) and went to another friend's* house in Oakland. This friend is also an African-American--a lawyer turned businessman. He was raised in D.C. and attended an Ivy League college and a top law school--one of the brightest people I know, and also one of the most controlled. I have never seen him get too excited, too angry, or even a bit drunk; very controlled--he actually reminded me of Obama, and vice versa.
But when I showed up at his house in which he and his wife were hosting a small party, it was clear he had been drinking. And you know what, we were going to drink some more, and that was just fine! I have known him for nearly 25 years, I had stayed with his family in DC, and in all that time I had never seen him in such a state. It was one of relaxed exuberance! He had let his guard down and he was downright giddy!
No one can see into a person's mind and soul with certainty. But knowing this man as well as I do, here is what I was seeing. My friend was never one to limit himself, to say that he couldn't do something because race would hold him back in American society. And although he believed that he could do anything, and I believed he could do anything, I suspect that in the deepest recess of his mind there was some doubt, some concern that his "blackness" might hold him back ever so slightly, ever so unjustly.
I think most every one of us had this same doubt about whether a Black man could be elected President. And then it happened. And it was as if a burden had been lifted off of my friend's back, as if the asterisk next to "you can do anything" had been erased--and he truly could do anything. Because if a half-African man named Barack Hussein Obama, who was born to parents whose marriage would have been illegal in 16 states at the time, can be elected the President of the United States, then anyone who has the brains, talent, and determination to chase their dreams will not be held back by their skin color in American society.
Whether you believe in the truth of that last statement, Barack Obama is proof of at least the potential of its truth. And I believe it will allow a whole generation of people like my friend to breathe easy just for a moment, to let their guard down and be downright giddy at the prospect that the only things that they will be judged on are those relevant to the task at hand.
Sleep well America, tomorrow the real work begins.
Peace,
Jim
* I do not wish to include his name to respect his privacy.
It seems that just when I start to lose faith, to allow cynicism to get the better of me, the American people--my people--show me their collective wisdom. Tonight, Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America: convincingly.
An African-American lawyer friend invited me to her house to watch the election results. By the time I arrived, around 8:30pm PST, John McCain had reportedly called Obama to concede the race. Her house, which I had never visited before, is in Richmond, CA--the murder capital of Northern California. When I told people I was going to Richmond they half-joked that if Obama lost, I would not be able to get out of Richmond safely.
But Obama didn't lose. He won. The results poured in swiftly. By 9pm PST, John McCain was on the TV screen making a concession speech. I cried during that speech. I simply couldn't control emotion that I didn't even know I possessed for this election. I cried because McCain gave a speech that reminded me of the decent man that I knew he was, the man of the 2000 campaign who swore off negative ads, the man who called torture what it was and opposed it, the man who called for campaign finance reform; but that man seemed to disappear during this campaign until he gave his concession speech. In it, he recognized Obama's achievement, he quieted the crowd's negative reaction, and he called for unity and support of our newly elected president.
In fact, what really made me well up with emotion was that McCain's speech brought home the fact that the election of Barack Obama, a man with an African father and an American mother, with a strange, Arabic-sounding name in the most anti-Arab period in American history, the election of this man was a REALITY. And I was proud again. I was proud to be American. I was proud that my people saw past skin, past names, past hype and misdirection, and simply heard the man, and decided this is the man we chose to lead us.
I left her house (after listening enrapt to Obama's speech acknowledging his victory) and went to another friend's* house in Oakland. This friend is also an African-American--a lawyer turned businessman. He was raised in D.C. and attended an Ivy League college and a top law school--one of the brightest people I know, and also one of the most controlled. I have never seen him get too excited, too angry, or even a bit drunk; very controlled--he actually reminded me of Obama, and vice versa.
But when I showed up at his house in which he and his wife were hosting a small party, it was clear he had been drinking. And you know what, we were going to drink some more, and that was just fine! I have known him for nearly 25 years, I had stayed with his family in DC, and in all that time I had never seen him in such a state. It was one of relaxed exuberance! He had let his guard down and he was downright giddy!
No one can see into a person's mind and soul with certainty. But knowing this man as well as I do, here is what I was seeing. My friend was never one to limit himself, to say that he couldn't do something because race would hold him back in American society. And although he believed that he could do anything, and I believed he could do anything, I suspect that in the deepest recess of his mind there was some doubt, some concern that his "blackness" might hold him back ever so slightly, ever so unjustly.
I think most every one of us had this same doubt about whether a Black man could be elected President. And then it happened. And it was as if a burden had been lifted off of my friend's back, as if the asterisk next to "you can do anything" had been erased--and he truly could do anything. Because if a half-African man named Barack Hussein Obama, who was born to parents whose marriage would have been illegal in 16 states at the time, can be elected the President of the United States, then anyone who has the brains, talent, and determination to chase their dreams will not be held back by their skin color in American society.
Whether you believe in the truth of that last statement, Barack Obama is proof of at least the potential of its truth. And I believe it will allow a whole generation of people like my friend to breathe easy just for a moment, to let their guard down and be downright giddy at the prospect that the only things that they will be judged on are those relevant to the task at hand.
Sleep well America, tomorrow the real work begins.
Peace,
Jim
* I do not wish to include his name to respect his privacy.
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