S Anand

Old songs in my music library

June 6, 2022 / Data, How I do things / Leave a Comment

My music library has around 1,000 songs (mostly Tamil and Hindi, with some Telugu and English film songs).

I spent this morning tagging them by year with mp3tag. (Manually. You don’t automate the pleasures of life.)

I thought my 1990s collection would be the largest. I was in college, listening to lots of music then. But surprisingly, my collection has grown post the 1990s.

I have 3 guesses why.

  1. Recency bias. I re-built this collection recently. Maybe I forgot older songs?
  2. Digitization bias. Maybe I listened to more songs as the cost of transmission/storage fell?
  3. Worsening standards. Maybe I used to be choosier about music?

Though I’m not sure of the above, there’s another interesting anomaly.

There is a spike in the 1960s.

I don’t need to guess this one. I know why. Those are the songs my parents liked. I grew up hearing them.

The oldest song Tamil song is from Thiruneelakantar (1939). It’s from my father’s collection. I’ve heard it often enough to still enjoy it.

The oldest Hindi song is from Jaal (1952). He has a fondness for Dev Anand’s songs. So do I. This one is a beauty.

The oldest Tamil song my mother introduced me to is from Parasakthi (1952). She used to dance to this song when young.

The earliest Hindi song she introduced me to was from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955). It’s the song I grew up on, and it’s still among my favorites. What a melody!

My wife prefers newer songs. But I have low standards and few preferences. It makes my life rather happy.

So, in celebration of Make Music Day on 21 June, I’m treating myself to 2 weeks of my collection from the 1960s!

PS: My full collection is at https://gist.github.com/sanand0/877637165b17239aa27beac03749c9a6

10 years later

March 17, 2022 / How I do things / Leave a Comment

On 12 Jan 2012, on a flight back from London, I wrote:

… it was clear in my mind. I would be an entrepreneur. I would create a small company that would probably fold. Then I’d do it again. And again, 10 times, because 1 in 10 companies survive. And finally, I’d be running a small business that’d be called successful by virtue of having survived. A modest, achievable ambition that I had the courage for.

10 years later, Gramener successively crossed 10 employees, 10 clients, 10 years, $10 mn and is on its way to 10 offices.

We just opened a new office at Hyderabad.

I have the same request as 10 years ago.

It’s scary but exciting. Wish me luck!

How to find a Chinese actor to cast in Hollywood

February 20, 2022 / Data / Leave a Comment

Film actors mostly act within their own industry.

For example, Hollywood actors act outside Hollywood just 10% of the time. Chinese actors act with non-Chinese actors just 1% of the time.

So, if you’re a Hollywood producer trying to cast a Chinese actor, how would you find them?

One way is to list Chinese actors with the largest number of Hollywood co-stars. Let’s see who tops that list.

#5. Pei-Pei Cheng

You may know her as Jade Fox, the sly governess in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), or Golden Swallow, the skilled swordsman sister in Come Drink With Me (1966), or even as the voice of the matchmaker who disgraces Mulan in Mulan (2020).

She mainly acts in Chinese films, co-starring nearly 180 times with actors like Hua Yueh, Lieh Lo, and Chung-Hsin Huang. But she’s also co-starred over 20 times with Hollywood actors like Jamie King (of Sin City), Peter Bowles (of The Bank Job), and Sandra Oh (of Grey’s Anatomy).

#4. Jet Li

You may know him as Han Sing, the martial artist and ex-cop in Romeo Must Die (2000), or Gabe Law, the former MultiVerse Authority agent in The One (2001), or Yin Yang, the unarmed member of The Expendables (2010).

He has co-starred over 100 times with Chinese actors like Jackie Chan, Simon Yam, and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. But he’s also co-starred 30 times with Hollywood actors like Antonio Banderas, Morgan Freeman, and Sylvester Stallone.

#3. Joan Chen

She’s famous as Wanrong, the Chinese empress in The Last Emperor (1987), Josie Packard, the owner of the Twin Peaks mill in Twin Peaks (1989), or Dr Ilsa Hayden, assistant to the villain Rico Dredd in Judge Dredd (1995).

She’s co-starred over 80 times with Chinese actors like Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Leon Lai, and Tony Ka Fai Leung. But she’s co-starred over 40 times with Hollywood actors like Michael Caine, Peter O’Toole, and Christopher Walken.

#2. Jackie Chan

The most famous Chinese martial arts actor in the world, and one of the highest-paid actors in the world, is famous as Detective Inspector Lee in Rush Hour (1998), Mr Han in The Karate Kid (2010), and the voice of Monkey in Kung Fu Panda (2008).

He has co-starred nearly 200 times with Chinese actors like Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Maggie Cheung, and Kent Cheng. But he’s co-starred over 50 times with Hollywood actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Owen Wilson, and Chris Tucker.

#1. Michelle Yeoh

You may know her as Wai Lin, the Chinese spy and James Bond’s ally in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Yu Shu Lien, the warrior swordswoman in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), or as Eleanor Young, the domineering mother-in-law in Crazy Rich Asians (2018).

She’s an actress at the borderline of the Chinese – Hollywood clusters. She’s acted ~60 times with Chinese actors like Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li. But she’s acted almost as many times with Hollywood actors like Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington.

More actors

Here are half a dozen more Chinese actors that have acted with Hollywood actors often.

Chow Yun-Fat
Donnie Yen
Andy Lau
Simon Yam
Gong Li
Josie Ho

It’s interesting to see that 3 of the top 6 (Chow Yun-Fat, Pei-Pei Cheng, and Michelle Yeoh) had all acted in the blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

So, perhaps the simple message to our Hollywood producer is to “look no further than the cast of the first foreign-language film to break the $100mn mark in the USA.”

Increasing calendar effectiveness by 2X

January 25, 2022 / Experiments, How I do things / 1 Comment

I took a 2022 goal to be 10X more effective. In Jan, I managed 2X. Here’s how.

What is effectiveness?

I don’t know. I’m figuring it out.

But to start off, I measured the number of people my actions directly impact. For example:

Clearly, the impact is not equal. But it’s a start.

How to measure it?

Since Dec 1, I categorized all my Outlook calendar entries into one of these categories:

Red is “low reach”. Green is “high reach”. This is what 6-10 Dec 2021 looked like:

I continued this for 8 weeks.

Did effectiveness increase?

In Week 1, I reached 30 people on average. This was the control week.

In Weeks 2-3, the reach increased from 30 to 77. In Weeks 4-8, it settled at 64.

So, yes, effectiveness increased. in Jan 2022, I reached twice as many people per week as when I started off.

I didn’t measure quality/impact. One-on-one coaching has more impact than a lecture. Reach is just a crude first approximation for effectiveness.

How did this happen?

What gets measured, improves. I’d categorize each entry on my calendar. This enabled 3 things:

  1. I’d try to remove low-reach (<50 reach – red) items. This reduced rom 45 to 29 hours a week.
  2. I’d try to add high-reach (>= 50 reach – green) items. This increased from 12 to 18 hours a week.

So, I now have 10 more hours of “me time” every week, while I still reach 2X as many people.

What next?

I’m exploring better measures of effectiveness. I believe:

  • Effectiveness is goal alignment. It’s personal, and purely a function of your priorities.
  • Effectiveness is multipled by assets. Actions that create assets improve effectiveness.

Once I discover a robust measure, I will to re-categorize my calendar and re-run this experiment.

If you use a measure of effectiveness of impact, please let me know — I’d love to learn from that.

I tested the best ways to mail people

January 6, 2022 / Experiments / Leave a Comment

I emailed My Year in 2021 to ~2,700 people. It had 3 experiments.

Do friends open my mail more than strangers?

I split the list into 2 groups:

  1. My contacts: ~1,000 people I knew (I’ve mailed them)
  2. Strangers: ~1,700 people I didn’t know (I’ve never mailed them)

My guess: strangers would open the mail 30% less often.

Reality: They opened it 40% less. 50% of my contacts opened the mail, vs only 28% of strangers.

Are the first and last links most clicked?

I sent 2 versions of the email to my contacts. The order of links was different.

My guess: the first and last links would be clicked 20% more often than those in the middle.

Reality: The links higher up were clicked more often 5/6 times. Click rates drop but don’t climb up at the end.

Do provocative subject lines increase open rates?

I sent 2 versions of the email to my contacts. The subject lines were different.

  1. Bland: “My year in 2021”
  2. Provocative: “Where I failed in 2021”

My guess: the provocative title will have 2X the open rate of the bland one.

Reality: The open rates were about the same (49% for provocative, 51% for bland). Either the second title was not provocative enough, or the bland was interesting enough. I need to re-run this experiment.

Learnings

I learned 3 things.

  1. Strangers open my mails less than I thought. Make more friends 🙂
  2. People scan emails top-down (not top-down, then bottom-up – like I do) and click on top links. Move the main link first.
  3. I’m no good at creating high-contrast variations in content. Take help.

How isolated is Bollywood from world cinema?

January 24, 2022 / Data, Visualisation / 2 Comments

These are the major group actors based on who they act with most.

Actors mostly act with other actors in the same…
  1. Language. Not country. For example, the Spanish / Mexican group is across countries. But Indian actors divide into North Indian and South Indian. It’s language, not country.
  2. Time period. Old American actors are a separate group from Hollywood. (Naturally. Brad Pitt was born after Humphrey Bogart died. They couldn’t have acted together.)
  3. Genre. Hollywood Porn actors don’t act with mainstream Hollywood. Same with Japanese Porn, Hollywood TV, and Hollywood Horror actors.

How are these groups themselves connected? Do Chinese actors act with Hollywood often? How isolated is Bollywood from world cinema?

Hollywood is the core group

Take groups that act with other groups at least 5% of the time. Mainstream Hollywood acts with British and Hollywood TV/Horror actors. All other clusters are isolated.

Indian & Japanese clusters emerge

Let’s go more liberal. Take groups that act with other groups at least 2% of the time. Hollywood forms a big connected cluster. It includes most of Europe — British, German, French, Czech, Yugoslavian & Italian actors.

North & South Indian actors form the first non-Hollywood cross-language cluster.

The Japanese and Japanese porn actors form a cluster too. (Interestingly, it’s easy for a Japanese porn actor to act with mainstream Japanese actors. Hollywood porn actors find it far harder to act with Hollywood.)

Among groups that act with other groups at least 1% of the time, we have:

Chinese & Korean cluster emerges

Chinese & South Korean actors form the first cross-country cross-language cluster.

Hollywood expands to act with Scandinavian, Spanish, Polish, Brazilian & Nigerian films.

Other film industries (Russian, Greek, Egyptian — even Hollywood Porn — are still isolated.)

World Cinema vs the rest

Among groups that act with other groups at least 0.5% of the time, we have:

  1. Turkish & Iranian groups coming together
  2. Indonesian actors acting with the Chinese
  3. Hollywood expanding to cover Russian, Greek, Egyptian, and finally, Hollywood Porn. (It’s easier for Brazilian / Nigerian to act with Hollywood than to be a Hollywood Porn actor.)

At this point, there are 6 actor groups that act with each other at least 1 out of 200 times (0.5%).

  1. World Cinema (Hollywood & friends)
  2. Japanese (mainstream & porn)
  3. Indian (North & South)
  4. Chinese, South Korean & Indonesian
  5. Turkish & Iranian
  6. Filipino

One world of cinema

If we look at groups that act with other groups at least 0.5% of the time, we have a far more unified picture. Almost every actor group acts with another group at least 1 out of 400 times.

But even here, there’s an exception. Filipino actors — the most insular major actor group in the world.

So, how isolated is Bollywood from World Cinema? For its size, it’s one of the most isolated actor groups. (But not as much as Iranian/Turkish or Filipino.)

My Year in 2021

December 31, 2024 / How I do things / 4 Comments

In 2021, I made 3 resolutions.

  1. Lose 10 kgs. I lost 5 kg in 3 months. But gained it back by the year-end.
  2. Fail big. I practiced confronting people – and failed. I still run from fights. Even when important.
  3. Calendar integrity. I stuck to my calendar 90% of the time. But personal commitments slipped.

On learning, I discovered network clusters. My PyCon talk on movie networks is the start of a fascinating exploration of actors that I’ll write more about.

On training, I designed a Tools for Data Science Course for IITM’s Bachelor’s in Data Science. I’m now a “faculty” at my alma mater, and no longer scared of it.

On self-improvement, I completed a Landmark course and continued Pranayama. Both helped my resolutions.

I also continued 2 habits from last year.

  1. Walk 10,000 steps daily. I averaged 10,200.
  2. Read 50 books. I read 52. Here are my reviews. (Which did you like? What would you recommend?)

In 2022, I plan to:

  1. Run 50 experiments. I’ll learn by disproving my beliefs with measurable tests.
  2. Speak at 10 global forums on data stories, and spread the beauty of data.
  3. Be 10X more effective. I’ll measure the impact and stop low-impact work.

I’m curious — what’s ONE thing you’d like to do in 2022?

Books in 2021

December 30, 2021 / How I do things, Top 10 lists / 15 Comments

On my Goodreads 2021 reading challenge, I read 52/50 books in 2021. I managed 47/50 in 2020 (see 2020 reviews) and 26/24 in 2019.

Here’s what I read (best books first).

Mind-blowing

  1. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. It’s the best non-fiction I’ve read in 5 years. It focuses Wealth and Happiness. It’s short. I finished it in a day. But it’s deep. I can spend a decade practicing just a single sentence. It’s available at navalmanack.com as a free e-book and audio book.
  2. Rhythm of War. The 4th book of the Stormlight Archives is an action-packed fantasy. A great gift for teenagers. In an extra-ordinary magic system, Brandon Sanderson builds up to the greatest climax I’ve read. What an ending!
  3. Death Note #1-#12. Light Yagami gets hold of a “death note”. If he writes a name on it, they die. “L” is out to catch him. In a cat-and-mouse psychological thriller, Light and L work next to each other, share their plans, and still try to outwit the other. It’s like chess. The pieces are visible. But it’s the strategy that counts. A brilliant comic series.

Life-changing

  1. Atomic Habits. A systematic, well-researched approach to creating (and stopping) habits that last. It’s the best “Habits” book in the market right now..
  2. Being Mortal. A thoughtful, practical guide on dealing with old age. Must read for those with aging parents. It helps that Atul Gawande is a great storyteller and draws from his personal experiences.
  3. Originals. Teaches you how to be more creative and take risks safely. If Creativity Inc inspired you, this book is a way to build Pixar’s magic into your teams. An easy-to-read piece by Adam Grant, backed by solid research.
  4. Combatting Cult Mind Control. The gold-standard in knowing when someone’s in a cult, and how to escape the cult. Opened up a whole new world for me.
  5. Rich Dad Poor Dad. Teaches you to make money work for you rather than you working for money. I was shocked when I realized that the middle class buys liabilities (a house to live in) while the rich buy assets (a house to rent out).
  6. Think Again. Teaches you how to stop fooling yourself and avoid blindspots by checking your assumptions, enjoy learning from mistakes, and open up people’s minds — especially your own. Yet another easy-to-read piece by Adam Grant, backed by solid research.
  7. Influence. A research-backed guide on the science of influencing people subconsciously. Reciprocity, consistency, social proof, authority, scarcity — these are signals we react to unknowingly.
  8. Dawnshard. Book #3.5 of the Stormlight Archives. A handicapped shipowner and her winged reptile pet travel to a mysterious island that no one returns from. With a typical Brandon Sanderson climax that moves this from “interesting” to “life changing”.
  9. From Data to Stories. The first & only comic data story book, with step-by-step cricket analysis explained by comic characters. This was written by Gramener’s Story Labs team using Comicgen characters.

Interesting

  1. The First Law #1-#3. Joe Abercrombie. A wizard assembles 3 flawed heroes for a quest.
  2. Shoe Dog. The Nike founder story.
  3. Skin In The Game. On accountability & commitment.
  4. That Will Never Work. The Netflix co-founder story.
  5. Sycamore Row. John Grisham. An old man’s will leaves everything to his servant.
  6. A Time To Kill. John Grisham. An African American’s on trial for murdering his daughter’s rapists.
  7. The Psychology of Money. How to make money work for you than the other way around.
  8. Detective William Warwick #2-#4. Jeffrey Archer. More adventures from Dt. Warwick.
  9. Zoom. A wordless book that zooms out on every successive page, and nothing is what it appears.

Readable

  1. The Goblin Emperor. Katherine Addison. A Goblin half-son inherits the throne and political intrigue.
  2. A Time for Mercy. John Grisham. An African American kid’s on trial for shooting a cop.
  3. The Rithmatist. Brandon Sanderson. In a world where chalk drawings come to life, a student investigates murders.
  4. Karna: The King of Anga. Kevin Missal. A fictionalized story of how Karna re-takes the kingdom of Anga against Jarasandha.
  5. Asterix #34-#38. The latest adventures of Asterix & Obelix, the gauls.
  6. Infinity Blade #1-#2. Brandon Sanderson. Deathless immortals battle each other, and discover their origins.
  7. Old Man’s War. John Scalzi. Senior citizens are given a physical boost and sent to fight aliens.
  8. Measure What Matters. The definitive guide on how to use OKRs (Objectives & Key Results).
  9. The Maze Runner #1-#3. Kids escape from a maze prison and discover why they were there.

How I read books

  1. Select. I add book recommendations on my GoodReads – to read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.
  2. Listen. I listen to non-fiction audiobooks during walks.
  3. Read: I read fiction as ePUBs on my laptop or phone.
  4. Stop: I stop reading books that are boring, with no guilt. I’ve better things to do.

Can foreigners enter Hollywood?

February 2, 2022 / Data / 6 Comments

An aspiring Malaysian actor posted on Reddit:

I am a 18-year old biracial Malaysian kid who wants to be an actor in Hollywood. I’m taking a diploma for performing arts in a college called Sunway University in 8 days and I’m considering pulling out of it because why do something that I like when my dreams might never be fulfilled and the price for taking this diploma is seriously expensive. I am starting to doubt my chances of making it to Hollywood and I suffer from extreme anxiety. Is it possible for someone like me to enter Hollywood? What are my chances?

Breaking into Hollywood is hard. As a foreigner, it would be even harder. So I asked myself:

Do Hollywood actors act with foreigners?

Let’s take Will Smith. He frequently acts with Martin Lawrence, Tommy Lee Jones, Jaden Smith, Jon Voight, and 84 other actors.

His every co-star is a Hollywood actor, except the Spanish actor Jordi Mollà in Bad Boys II, and the Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari in Aladdin. Will Smith acts with just 2% of foreign co-stars.

On the other hand, Jackie Chan is more cosmopolitan. He acts with:

Of his 224 co-stars, 70 are non-Chinese. Jackie Chan acts with over 30% foreign co-stars.

Are Chinese films be more foreigner-friendly? Should our Malaysian friend try there instead?

Is Hollywood less open to foreigners than other countries?

I took all movie actors across the world and broke them into groups using a community structure. Actors within the group act mostly within themselves, and less with other groups.

The largest group is Hollywood, with ~80,000 actors (mostly American). They act with each other 90% of the time and act with other groups only 10% of the time.

In comparison, the Chinese group has ~20,000 actors. They act with each other 98% of the time. When they do act outside the group, it’s mostly with Hollywood (0.5%), Japanese (0.3%), South Korean (0.3%), and Indonesian (0.1%)

Clearly, Jackie Chan is more the exception than the norm.

But among the large groups, there are 2 groups that are even more insular than Chinese actors.

The ~8,200 Turkish actors act only with each other 99.1% of the time, occasionally venturing to act with Iranian actors (0.2%).

Even more insular are the ~7,000 Filipino actors who act with each other 99.3% of the time. They occasionally venture out to act in Hollywood 0.2% of the time.

There are no other sizeable groups of actors that’re as insulated.

Hollywood is actually among the most cosmopolitan groups, along with the West European films. So, to our budding Malaysian actor, I’d say:

It’s hard to get an acting break. As a foreigner, it’s 10 times harder in Hollywood. But you’re better off in Hollwood or Western Europe than in any other country, where it would be 50 to 100 times as hard!

Picking gifts is hard

February 20, 2022 / How I do things / Leave a Comment

What do you pick for someone you don’t know well enough?

I generally pick books. I know books well enough to match them to people’s personalities. Even if they’re not a book reader. (The risk is that they might have already read the book.) As for the kids, toys like the tiny tower diy playhouses for sale would bring them so much joy.

The other safe item is food. Chocolates, dry fruits, etc. Everyone likes them. (Even if they’re dieting, dry fruits and dark chocolates are fine.)

Beyond that, it’s a hard problem.

I went through some popular gift choices. There are a few good ideas there, but very few safe bets. For example:

  • A Tortoiseshell Face Mask Chain. What’s that?
  • A stress relief ball or perhaps other stress-relieving products from sites like CBD UK. Hmm… not a bad idea, actually.
  • A notebook. Except that I stopped writing in 2001.
  • A USB rechargeable lighter. But who do I know that smokes, whom I want to encourage?
  • A purse. I’ve never bought one in my life. My wife never likes the ones I point to. So…
  • A hot water flask. Again, not a bad idea, actually.

… and the lists go on.

But most gifts I receive for my talks are promotional.

  • Plaques or certificates. Some people put these up in their cabin. I don’t have a cabin.
  • Branded photo frames. I don’t have photos either.
  • Company-branded USB car USB charger socket. I don’t drive much.
  • Their book or brochure. I’ve either already read it or never will.

If they’re wrapped in bubble wrap, I throw away the gift and pop the bubble wrap with my daughter.

So I just added a section to my talks page.

“If you want to send gifts, I only accept dry fruits.”