Written by Mark White on October 4th, 2009
Forthcoming, I promise.
I’ve been somewhat distracted in the past few weeks; there’s no one specific area that’s had me swamped, just the general pressure of the business – it’s a tough commercial environment, in case you haven’t noticed – and optimistically planning for a new phase of growth in 2010.
There have been however a number of topics I’m keen to write up: one is my recent endeavors with SIP, VoIP, and Asterisk in particular (I’ve become a big fan). I also want to put up a post about some of the “initiatives” I’ve seen from so-called “leading” VCs in Australia lately.
On a serious note, Mother Nature has given the South Pacific, India and Indonesia an absolute battering in these past few weeks, and my thoughts are with those who have friends and family in peril, pain, or uniquely challenging situations as a result.
And finally, I want to start bragging about a number of initiatives we’ve been cooking up in the labs of late, which is one of the things fueling my optimism for the next calendar year.
So its Sunday night, October 4th, and I’m going to plan a blog entry each day this week. Stay tuned.
Posted in Business, Venture Capital | 1 Response »
Written by Mark White on August 7th, 2009
When artists release an album (or a CD), its usually given a name. In 1968 the Beatles released a double album that was significant for its lack of a title, or any graphics other than the band’s name. It came to be known as the White Album, and we were at QPAC last night to see the sold-out White Album Concert, featuring Chris Cheney, Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Josh Pyke.
Musical Director Stewart D’Arrietta performed a similar role when actor John Waters performed the Glass Onion shows a few years ago – a musical tour through the life of John Lennon, and he was clearly well qualified to put the White Album concerts together. The Beatles never performed the White Album publicly – legend has it they were barely on speaking terms through its recording, often working in different studios to complete it – and it took an impressive lineup (3 brass, 5 strings, 2 drummers, 2 keyboardists, 2 guitarists and bass) to recreate it musically last night. But what a sound. And vocally, Messrs Cheney, Rogers, Jamieson and Pyke alternated throughout the evening, combining for only Ob La Di and the encore (Revolution and Why Don’t We Do It In the Road).
Josh Pyke was a revelation – I’m not a fan but his solo rendition of Blackbird (he played the acoustic guitar parts) was superb. Jamieson was kind of non-descript, bringing a sort of faux “lizard king” theatrical presence to his songs. Tim Rogers is certainly one of a kind, and he was absolutely the most animated and theatrically engaging player of the night.
But Cheney….. Chris Cheney was superb.
Getting the good rock songs certainly helped, and his opening with Back in the USSR was insanely good. But three-quarters of the way through the first act (album) his rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps rightly earned a standing ovation. It was insanely good – vocally, and musically the guitar solo just blew everyone away. Eric Clapton was (uncredited) responsible for the original solo, and I think even he would have been impressed by how it was performed last night.
Rogers took Revolution in a faithful performance – all the instrumentation was faithfully brilliant – but none of his songs lifted the way Cheney’s did.
It made us wish that the Beatles themselves, somehow, somewhere, could have performed more of their work in a modern acoustic/technological setting. George Martin’s string and brass arrangements were brilliant, and performed superbly by the players on the night. Lyrically, musically, the Beatles were on their own. They blazed trails that have been the foundation of popular music as we know it. And just for a little while last night one could almost close your eyes and believe it was happening again for real.
Posted in Brisbane | No Responses »
Tags: chris cheney, living end, the beatles, tim rogers, white album, you am i
Written by Mark White on August 5th, 2009
If you had’ve suggested a couple of years ago that we could be blogging – or using literally any Web2.0 application – while sitting on a train, I would have been dubious. But here I am, en-route to Varsity Lakes for a board meeting, writing a blog post on a train.
Connectivity is via 3G (NextG, if you want to be specific) and the latency/bandwidth is quite good. I can even use Whereis Everyone to check my location on a map – which is kind of cool to get a sense of the journey.
I did something similar last month, once I got my UK 3G problems resolved. The Vodafone top-up-and-go solution worked remarkably well, once I had the original device and SIM replaced. Of course network coverage was varied, but on the train ride to Claygate from Waterloo I was chatting with my brother in Sydney quite comfortably.
So there you go, a blog post from a train. Sure beats driving!
Posted in LBS, Mobile | No Responses »
Written by Mark White on July 22nd, 2009
I’m spending a few days this week in Singapore – I think this is my fourth visit so far this year. I spent a lot of time here in the late ’90’s with Tandem and then Compaq, so remain pretty familiar with the island.
It has been interesting to take stock of the economic situation up here; while I’m somewhat detached from the rigours of the local property market, there are some telling signs that Singapore is as challenged as most other countries by the GFC, yet better-equipped to deal with it. Firstly, the government announced yesterday that it was way ahead of its public service recruitment goals for the next two years, and unusually for Singapore, was making quite a number of mid-career appointments – usually public service recruitment is restricted to new graduates. One can only suggest this acceleration is at least in part due to a higher than planned unemployment rate in the private sector.
Secondly, it was telling to hear of Chip Goodyear’s sudden withdrawal from the CEO-in-waiting position at Temasek, with Ho Ching remaining as Executive Director and CEO. And this despite a multi-year, well documented succession process. The Straits Times remains coy on the reasons, quoted as “strategic differences” between Mr Goodyear and the board. But as one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, I can’t help but wonder if its a case of the board now simply wanting to maintain the status quo with the proven – and politically safer – existing leadership team.
Finally, I’ve been continually fascinated with efforts the government makes to stimulate progress in the technological and innovation sense; part economical, part through piloting fresh initiatives and seeking private companies who can deliver and lead public technology efforts. We’re aiming for involvement in several of these projects, and while time will tell whether or not we are successful, I think it will be far from my last visit to the island republic in 2009.
On the downside, it’s raining this morning, and sans umbrella, I have no idea how I am going to get to my meetings without getting soaked. Because it’s Singapore, of course – and that’s what happens here. And I love it.
Posted in Business, Politics | No Responses »
