The other day I witnessed a commercial that shocked me..
“Circuit City Is Going Out Of Business”
Circuit City has been almost an epic place in my life. It was across the bridge and one of the first places I went once getting a driver’s licence. Before the rise of online stores and durring the times of the dot com boom I went to Circuit city and it’s neighbor “CompUSA” to buy everything from CD’s, Car Stereos, Computers, and Parts… When I needed a quick cable for something CC was the spot.
Seeing this giant leave in retreat boggles my mind and in a way makes me sad. It’s the end of an era. It’s speculation on my part, but I believe the box store was the product of the strip mall surge of the early 60′s.. In my era “Box Stores” dominated mass spots and culminated acres of Parking space like Kindoms unto themselves.
All box stores in one way or another shared common trates.. “1 Stop Shopping.” The theory was that by buying bulk products stores like these could amass big discounts that they passed on to the consumers. This model isn’t US centric either– Yamada Denki, Bic Camera, etc in Japan also followed this model. Alass however– no matter how big, Circuit City couldn’t weather this typhoon of spending stoppage. 
It leads to the next question as to what, then is the future. As one Circuit City Employee told me… “It’s all going online– Sales have dropped and even BestBuy (the apparent winner) is also feeling the pinch.” So indeed perhaps the in the wake of catastrophic economic failure the moral of the story was not that “Atmosphere of ‘Cool’” is what sold a product, but it’s price… For that was what Circuit city could get you… “Atmosphere”.
“FireDog” was their branding subsidiary that essentially did installation work of complex TV installs, Car Audio Installs, and Computer Setup (i.e. Personalization). I, in fact, used them once to install the wiring in a car I own because the previous user trashed the wiring in it or it didn’t exist. Regardless– the user experience mattered. It was an unique place where you could go to “touch” stuff.. That perhaps is the most thing I’ll miss about box stores. Half mall to window shop and half consumer playground to pick up stuff you had no hope of affording and using it (i.e. DSLRs, CONSOLES, Super Computers, Laptops).
Who is left in this game is uncertain… BestBuy might have survived, but at what cost? When newcomer “Netflix” came on board– it was scoffed by BlockBuster and Hollywood Video, but soon the concept turned into real competition and Blockbuster was forced to rethink it’s business model. Perhaps the future of Bestbuy must be a fusion of both the online world & tangible world.. Perhaps to transform stores from mega boutiques of gadgets and consumables to Full on show rooms with presentations and tutorials.
If it were me… (and it’s not) I would look to other “box-esk” stores like Home Depot, Staples, and Frys to see if I could secure a different cliental or offer different services.. Otherwise, BestBuy as it stands is doomed..or is it? My prediction is that BestBuy on this path will join the fate of CompUSA, Circuit City, and others by the end of this year or next. This calls for a major reorganization on how it does business..
As a part consumer and hobby-analyst my role in this remains to be a cautionous consumer and watchful observer… It’s not right to shame myself or guilt myself into buying at BestBuy for their sake– They must convince me that their drug is better then the one online..
In conclution.. I must say, I’m sure glad that for the years I spent going to Circuit City or CompUSA I never bought their “Protection Plan.”
~J out
This week it appears to be fair game for going ahead with the final summations of an administration pregnant with both trial and tribulations. For me I need to harken back to a time when I was 16, politically aware, but not a participant yet. To me the Clinton era was too riddled with trife– and at the time Mr. Gore was being slandered by some as being, perhaps (cough), more the same. However, he wasn’t.. Mr. Al Gore pursued much like AZ. Senator McCain last year to distance himself from his own administration chief in order to clear a solid path for himself.
Yet I believe for Mr. Bush a burgoning new class took the better half of the country, albeit by a slim majority, and at that point an era of “dubbya” was crisoned. Some enjoyed the charm of this man who was frank and not obsessed with image much like his predessor. Others began sewing seeds of discontent that bloomed into anger and then into hatred which is very common place now amoungst liberal communities.
As for legacy forecasting (which in realistic terms is what it is) by political forecasters it’s a tricky game to pin exactly what history will adjust it’s focus towards. Many of the commentators hold the views of the second half (the anti-Bush/Gore half) and there maybe concern that their slander might end up as the record. So if by any small measure I were to interject into the national dialog some measure by which we should ultimately judge both President G.W. Bush and President Elect Barack Obama… I would present two passages for consideration:
The first from one of Asia’s most influential philosophies and religions (Theravada Buddhism) and the other from China’s most famous philosopher Confucius…
. . .
In the Theravada sect of Buddhism there is a passage from the edict on the Way of Righteousness dealing with Hatred and Love I find useful for deturming hate and love of people– especially when we deal with someone like President Bush.
[From Dhammapada, 3-5, 201]
“He insulted me, he struck me,
He defeated me, he robbed me!”
Those who harbor such thought
Are never appeased in their hatred….
But those who do not harbor them
Are Quickly appeased.
Never in this world is hate
Appeased by hatred;
It is only appeased by love—
This is an eternal law (sanantana-dhamma). 30
Victory breeds hatred
For the defeated lie down in sorrow.
Above victory or defeat
The calm man dwells in peace.
It is not surprising or particularly unsettling that last year half of Americans, myself included, lost a race to the Democratic Nominee. However, for both sides we mustn’t harbor the by product of causality, but instead rise to the calm man who dwells in peace as the edict says. Why? because if we value honor, we must value humility so as to show the victors (and our deepest critics) that at all of our core we share a single solidarity as a nation– which [should] override all else.
Thus it is not in our place as active members of the present to critique a man or an administration at this very moment. Rather we should be convicted with a heavy heart to the success of our next Chief executive as it is the best way to balance harmony amongst all moral or political factions.
While that should be our creed, the platform by which Mr. Obama must rise to is of a very different standard. Confucius, while talking on many subjects, spoke on goverence. His pupal Mencius wrote of a lecture his master gave on Leading people much like Obama will have to do in the coming days:
From the Analects,
“The master (Confucius) said, “lead them by means of government policies and regulate them through punishments, and the people will be evasive and have no sense of shame. Lead them by means of virtue and regulate them through rituals and they will have a sense of shame and moreover have standards.”
To Mr. Obama, a choice will be offered for which style of government he will establish. Failure is not an option and we should not desire it– no matter how tempting the end result might be. The time of a neverending campaign should be retired with President Bush.
I hope that my little words of zen reflect upon the greater establishment as words of caution and confort. If not, it’s of equal importance that we try to incorporate these into our lives… so as to reflect what we want the next generation to model after.
And that’s my little words of Zen for you today.
~J out
It’s not too late to with everyone a happy 2009 yet is it?
Happy New Years everyone!
You may have noticed that with the new year came a new design. I’ve worked to redesign the site back into a more “blog” format. Previous I wanted a “website” but the features of that system (drupal) I just never came around to use. So I’m back with word press for awhile until I find something cooler.
To start off the new year I wanted to start with some books I plan on reading this year. All are Asian specific with 3 being Japan specific. I’ve sampled these books and have had them on my list for while, but never got around to reading them or buying them. However on a trip to powell’s book in Portland.. I made an effort, as a gesture to the new years, to pick them up and read them when I can.
The books are as follows:
Learning To Bow By Bruce Feiler. This book NPR reviewed a number of months ago when interviewing one of their contributors: Bruce Feiler. The book is about his stint in the JET Programme as an ALT in Sano, Japan. It’s a hilarious rendition of the trifles and trials of a foreigner learning the hard way of being a member of a community and being a teacher in a foreign place with foreign rules. Mr. Feiler does a great job of blending his personal annotations about teaching in Sano with history about Japan’s education system and certain traditions.
Since I hope to pursue a similar job this year I thought it only prudent that I pick up Mr. Feiler’s book. Having only read to the third chapter this a book that’s a true page turner. I recommend it to anyone who wants to teach in Japan or, for that matter, watched “Lost In Translation” (found it funny) and wants more…
The Great Wave By Christopher Benfey
(True be told I haven’t started this book yet so I’m going to defer for the moment to Booklist’s summary)
From Booklist
For aesthetes dissatisfied with the upholstered world of late Victorian taste, Japan offered a cultural richness that mesmerized an unusual gallery of American characters. Their collecting and publicizing of all things Japanese animates this braided tour of cultural encounter. Of the people Benfey follows, none but Henry Adams is a household name today, and he was a latecomer to the Japanese fad, a languid, solace-seeking (after his wife’s suicide) tourist among Benfey’s group. More distinctive are those who initially sailed to Japan after the Meiji restoration of 1868. Benfey recounts Edward Sylvester Morse’s seminal importance; he went to Japan as an anatomist of mollusks and returned as a popular writer and lecturer on Japanese style, particularly architecture. Others brought back immense quantities of artwork, or, like muralist John La Farge, sought a creative change in Japan’s land- and seascapes. Conveying both rapture and disappointment with Japanese culture, Benfey draws a sophisticated portrait of the period’s personalities. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association.
This book appeared to be pretty interesting when I picked it up. I was looking for a book written somewhere between the early Meiji years and post Perry years so I hope this book will do the trick..
Japan A Reinterpretation By Patrick Smith
(Again I haven’t started this book so I’ll refer to Amazon’s Review First)
Amazon.com Review
For years westerners have viewed Japan as a nation of democratic, hard-working, unabashedly pro-Western people, a viewpoint promulgated mainly by a group of postwar scholars known as the Chrysanthemum Club. Journalist Patrick Smith takes a hard, fresh look at Japan and its relations with the West–particularly the United States–in Japan: A Reinterpretation. Smith asserts that the economic miracle we in the West have long admired was achieved at the expense of true political reform, creating a corporation instead of a democracy. Now that the miracle has collapsed, the Japanese are in a state of cultural, political, and social malaise. Smith approaches Japan from many different directions: first by reinterpreting the country’s postwar history as presented by the Chrysanthemum Club, then by delving into the lives of ordinary Japanese. From the overworked salarymen to the upper echelons of Japanese politicians, Patrick Smith paints a bold new picture of a nation suffering from overdevelopment. In addition, Japan: A Reinterpretation focuses on infrequently examined topics such as Japan’s educators and writers. Though some of Smith’s statements may seem a bit hyperbolic, his book is solidly researched and impeccably presented.
Sometimes Powell’s have recommendations and this was one of them. It appears to be a great that dives into more “good questions to be asked” of a complex society like Japan. I’m a tad wary of books that promulgate some “grand solution” Japan must accept or “some great problem” book, but I’ll give this one a try. Of course, I also bought it for the cool cover…
Finally:
Three Cups of Tea By Greg Mortenson (and David Oliver Relin).
While I haven’t started this book, It’s been one I wanted to read since Graduation 2008 at Lewis and Clark. Author Greg Mortenson was very gracious to speak at our ceremony and it also happened to be where he was awarded his Doctor’s Degree. So Mr. Mortenson, I believe, is a LC Alumni (like me) and during the ceremony gave a moving story of his ordeal in Pakistan and how he turned that into building schools and connecting with the local society.
Ok and this is what Publisher’s Weekly said,
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse’s unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town’s first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson’s efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers’ hearts. (Mar.)
And that wraps up 2009′s books I want to read sometime this year.
Thanks,
~Josh The R3dragon