Video games have always been a part of my life. For a few years, I’d been trending downwards in terms of how much I play, but then COVID-19 hit. And Kevin Yang suggested we play a free cross-platform shooter. Anything to remind us of Halo 2 back in college.
It’s a goofy-ass game! In the same screen, you can easily have Batman, Iron Man, a banana wearing a tuxedo, a man dressed in a chicken suit, a kawaii girl, a walking fish, a guy with an 8-ball for a head, and a polar bear. All of them will be emoting too – one to Doja Cat, another to Dua Lipa, and yet another just doing the worm. Beyond the cartoony aesthetics and TikTok dances lies a deceptively difficult game. There’s a Minecraft-esque building mechanic that makes it different from any other shooter.
Most importantly though, it has reconnected me with old friends. We talk, own n00bs, talk some more, goof around. It’s great =).
With Clara being the superior instrument in pretty much every way, I don’t think about my other violin much. But she deserves it =).
When I first started taking lessons, I decided I needed a better instrument than my high school violin. That instrument was purchased for a grand total of $900, including case, bow, and stand. And it was just awful.
So I shopped around locally and ended up in David Stone’s shop in the U District. He regaled me with the story of a particular violin that he’d been restoring – “an early 19th century German fiddle found in an attic some dude who cared nothing for it.” The romantic in me sucked it all in – this violin was around during the early days of the United States, and she looks it!
She didn’t sound great, but multiple people told me that old violins like this will open up with playing and love. I christened her Rowena, because well, she’s old 😉
Unfortunately, Rowena never did open up in sound much. And I also struggled somewhat with playability, because being so old, her dimensions were a bit non-standard too. But I can’t bear to get rid of her, so she rests comfortably in her case.
My GT350 is loud. If I rev over 3000 RPM, cops from the next town over are queuing up to give me a ticket. It doesn’t help that I’m probably doing 80 in a 35 zone at that point =(.
So I took my car to her natural habitat: The Track. The closest one is Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA. It’s a pretty good one.
On the longest straightaway, it’s not unusual to reach 145 MPH. At the end of that is a generous braking zone to heel-toe 4th to 3rd at high RPM – reducing speed down to about 50 MPH for a long turn. Then, another downhill straightaway up to 100 MPH again before another heel-toe down to 2nd. Then, it’s like a windy mountain road, the aim being to maintain a line as much as possible through mild turns. Finally, the most critical corner, maintaining as much speed as possible entering the original straightaway.
In some ways, chasing a fast lap time is similar to training on the violin. You do the same thing over and over again, trying to get better and better. It’s about having an idea for what to do and practicing at executing on those ideas.
It has the Holy Trinity – manual, rear-wheel drive, and a V8.
Jack Holmes
I loved my E36 M3. Loved it. And for a time, I was determined to keep it as a second car =(
But I got promoted. And alas, before ICE (internal combustion engines) become relics, I was determined to own an American V8.
And what a V8 Ford shoved into the S550 GT350!! 8,250 redline. 526 horsepower. 5.2L displacement.Flat-plane crankshaft.
This thing is special. It reminds you of a Ferrari V8, but those are too small and high-pitched. It burbles like a big-block American V8, but it’s too light, refined, and crazed. It is somehow both.
GT350 2nd gear to redline flyby
Even after I became a car enthusiast, I never pegged myself as an American muscle car guy. And I still have little interest in a true muscle car (think the current Dodge Challenger line-up). But the current Mustang is, in my opinion, more European sports car than even the current generation M3. The GT350 is faster, more charismatic, louder, better-handling, and more unapologetic. And if nothing else, it’s nastier.
Yes, I prefer the clutch pedal feel of my M3. Yes, the GT350 is all exhaust noise, and I miss the induction noise of my old M3. But nothing matches the sonic experience and sheer power of taking my GT350 down a track straightaway.
Clara – from the Late Latin name Clarus meaning “clear, bright”
Clara is my beloved violin. Commissioned from David Wiebe in 2013 whose main claim to fame was making a few instruments for Yehudi Menuhin, I did not receive the instrument for a full two years – exactly Christmas of 2015. I had tried a number of instruments from local Seattle shops, but eventually took the plunge based on encouragement from my teachers (both of whom play on Wiebe’s).
Crafted from North American maple and Englemann spruce, probably the most interesting thing about Clara is her one-piece top. Usually, violins are made with a two-piece top due to the ease of finding a suitably-sized piece of spruce. But David had a beautiful piece that was large enough and was eager to use it =).
The side and back sport maple with a wide flame, producing a rather mesmerizing effect!
The varnish is orange-brown. Visually, I could not be happier with my instrument *gushing*
Despite her name, Clara has a rather dark sound without being muddy. I have settled on Pirastro Passione gut strings over the years.
We’re going on 6 years, but a lifetime remains in the musical journey that Clara and I are on.
Have a listen!
Gustav Saenger – Intermezzo ScherzosoBruch Scottish Fantasy Mvt 3 Intro
I actually had no love for cars growing up. In fact, if I had any feeling at all back then, it was mild contempt for the loud ass mufflers and comically large wings people would stick on their base Civics. One guy I knew actually painted a the Chinese flag on his red Civic o_O.
Looking back though, I suppose it was always in my blood. My dad owned a ’67 Mustang at one point, but that was long gone by the time I came around. It’s a crying shame no pictures of that car seem to have survived. But even with a Camry station-wagon and Sienna in the stable, my dad made sure he at least got the V6 versions. And he’d always wax poetic about how smooth and reliable the engines were particularly after an oil change.
Fast forward to 2015. I’m driving a Prius – the most practical of cars for techies. I realize I have disposable income, and my friend Vikram baits me into taking the plunge into BMW. First, a 2013 328i with a 4-popper. But I soon learn that that is a bit disgraceful – a proper BMW ought to have an inline-6. So a 2011 335xi it is. The enthusiast spirit grows, and I begin to dislike even having AWD in a BMW.
And with that, I arrive at the first car that I ever loved. My 1997 BMW M3 – the so-called E36 M3. A halo car back in the day. Mine was a sedan in Boston Green.
With this car, I officially became a car enthusiast. She was a problem child for sure, and I ended up befriending a mechanic to deal with the frequent issues.
The E36 was the first M3 powered by an inline-6, the engine type that arguably makes BMW famous. The S52 engine in my car was addicting – amazing induction noise, great linear power delivery.
She was also my first daily-driven stick shift. In Seattle with the hills, this amounted to a bit of trial by fire, but count me in with the #savethemanuals crowd!
2 years with this beauty, but I was eventually sorely tempted by the promise of insane horsepower and sonic experience that only an American muscle car can provide.
Made sure she’s in good hands though. I carefully screened prospective buyers and ended up sending her off with a BMW enthusiastic building his collection of M3’s.
As a first post, I thought I’d start with the hobby that has been most important to me in adulthood – the violin and classical music!
Like any self-respecting Asian parents, mine forced me to start taking violin lessons at age 7. Boy I hated it. My mean Russian teacher stressed me out but not enough to motivate me to practice more than 10 minutes a week right before each lesson. As soon as my parents decided I was old enough to make my own decisions regarding stuff like this, I quit (age 16). I think I always loved the music, even if I didn’t realize it back then. It’s just I had other interests as a kid – video games, sports, being a moody teenager.
Fast forward 8 years – I’m 24, working, and looking for social hobbies. I have the brilliant idea to meet people in a community orchestra ;). I audition and fail for one. I audition for another and get in. I meet cool people, play for a year or two, and eventually become dissatisfied with my own abilities.
I start taking lessons of my own accord and with my own dime (gasp!). Ilkka and Marjorie Talvi are great. Ilkka used to be concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, and Marjorie used to play with the opera. Both are amazing players, but more importantly, they are gifted teachers who also know how to deal with adults. It took a while, but before I knew it, I was practicing quite a lot and realized this had become my primary hobby.
In 2015, I commissioned a new violin from David Wiebe, a violinmaker based in New York. I christened the instrument Clara =). More on her in a future post, but here’s one of her good angles!
And on to now. I’ve worked with Ilkka for almost 10 years and covered a tremendous amount of rep!
I’ve played in many settings – lessons, orchestras, musical pits, recitals, chamber music parties. And I can’t imagine my life without it all!
