296 - new book

After taking a slight break from reading, I am back at it. It is an easy habit to not read.



I just finished Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. I really enjoyed Devil in the White City so much that I was looking forward to reading this one. And it did not disappoint. Larson writes non-fiction like it is reading a mystery novel.

This story follows two characters at the turn of 19th century, Marconi as he is inventing through trial and error wireless telegraphy and Dr. Crippen a little timid man who murders his overbearing wife and flees with his clueless lover.

Essentially, because of this new wireless technology and peoples appetite for a "killer-on-the-loose" scoop, it seems like this story may bet the first OJ/White Bronco chase that caught the world's attention.

...more interesting things to say, but I won't.

279 - Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

I finished this book last week and it was probably the quickest I have ever read a book that size. Being off work and spending days at the pool helped quite a bit.

I think this is my favorite of the series. It is action packed and some scenes are pretty intense. I am not going to say anything about the plot for those who have not read it yet.

Good book.

Good series

It's over (or is it?)

277 - back again

Back to work today. Bummer.
I enjoyed my time off last week.
I was literally up at the pool every day with the boys.
And when they went to the sand pit to make castles and rivers, I got to read Harry Potter.
I am almost done; I got a few chapters left.
I know, how can I stop reading when I am almost there.
Work...in the morning.
Will finish tonight.
I literally stayed away from the computer last week.
Will try to catch up soon.
Will soon post on recent music.

275 - My June Book

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling.

I have been reading these books slowly over these last 5-6 years. My pace has been to stay one step ahead of the movies. I guess I am two steps ahead of the movies now and the final book is about to be released. Can I wait for paperback?

I am glad to see that Harry Potter lost his whiney side that he had in the Order of the Phoenix. That was getting pretty painful to read.

I have some questions (Dash are you out there yet? I hope you have your internet connection set up at your new house and can soon join us. Dash is my resource for all thing HP.)

• The US versions of books 5, 6, and 7 are all monochrome (blue, green, yellow) compared to the earlier books. Is there a reason for this change compared to the earlier books?

• A lot of marketing for book 7 has been about Snape - good guy or bad guy. I thought book 6 cleared this up. Is there something I have missed? What are the theories out there?

I think that is all I have for right now. I got to get back to work.

271 - some books

The Broker by John Grisham

I started this book before my trip to Italy and finished it on a Eurostar train from Milan to Padova. I read this book for a couple of reasons - (1) Grisham books are a fun read and (2) the setting for this story takes place in the same region of Italy that I was travelling.

The main character is pardoned by the President and promptly sent to Italy to disappear. He has to assimilate into the culture and the quicker he does it the safer he is.

It was pretty neat to be reading about his escape to Milan on a Eurostar at the same time that I am on a Eurostar headed to Milan.


U2 By U2

Fascinating! I started off reading bits and pieces, but then committed myself to reading it all. It is a very large book and not easy to negotiate in bed. At first glance, it is easy to dismiss as a coffee table book with pretty pictures. The book contains the story of U2 from the beginning all the way through How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb told by Adam, Larry, Edge, and Bono.

They were telling in-depth stories that I had not heard before and it was quite a trip to read about the era of each album and listen to those albums within that context.

How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer

I am currently reading this book in parts and pieces. This is one of those books to better my knowledge on topics of interest both professionally and personally. The chapters I have read so far have been an art history class through the different era's given in a context of studying the current worldviews of thought and culture in relation to a christian worldview.

More later...

265 - casual reading

Here are a couple of books that I got for Christmas that I have casually been reading over the last couple of months:

U2 By U2
This is a coffee table sized book. It covers the span of the bands career with personal autobiographical stories, interviews, and great photos. I love it. I am a fan of the band and learning one's backstory and creative process has alway intrigued me.

Rick Steves' Venice 2007
I have always enjoyed Rick Steve's outlook on travel and I am jealous that he has a great job. He loves life, people, and travel. Vernal and I learned some great tips through his other books on our previous travels through Europe. I thought I get a good handle on Venice and the region before I head out.

Sidenote: Rick Steves' has a travel podcast through iTunes that is really good. It captures his quirky personality and informs on great travel destinations around the globe.

264 - february book

To Own a Dragon by Don MillerMy wife picked up this book at the MOPS convention where Don Miller was a guest speaker. Later she got him to sign our copy where he expressed his love to the both of us.Basically, this book is about growing up without a father, the need for mentoring of fatherless boys, and really understanding the concept of Heavenly Father. To Don, having a father was something he read about or saw on TV. The idea of having a father was just as foreign as a story he once read about a boy who owned a dragon. As far as life experiences, he felt he never learned the things he was suppose to about being a man, being responsible. That was a special club and he wasn't invited.

Don writes in his usual humble, matter of fact memoir style filled with humor and personal stories.

I used to tease my friend Brian about wearing band t-shirts, but he said they are always great conversation starters. He is right, I wore one recently and immediately had someone identify that they liked the band.

I found the same thing true with books. When I read in public spaces there is always someone being nosy seeing what your reading and ready to comment if there is a commonality. This happened recently with my Don Miller book. I was at the gym and a man in his '60's told me that he is reading Don's books. He was really excited about his writing and thought that Don was doing good things for Christianity. I was surprised. I agree with him, but I never imagined Don's writing to connect with an older audience. Another person recently told me that she gets mad reading Blue Like Jazz, but realizes that she is mad at herself. She sees herself in the described situations and then the convictions sets in.

It is interesting to see author where people have such strong feelings and emotion. I look forward to read more from him.

260 - january book

"Evil is beyond the reach of no man."
"But can a man remove himself beyond the reach of evil?"

This months book to read was Thr3e by Ted Dekker. What I like about Dekker's writing is the way he can take a spiritual concept and use the story to flesh it out in a way that allows me to ponder those concepts versus being hit over the head with a sermon.

This thriller is about a seminary student who is targeted by a serial killer who works in riddles. The killer wants the protagonist to solve a riddle and confess his sin in a certain time amount and if he fails something blows up. The killer works in sequences of threes - 30, 60, 90 minutes, etc. and has a thing for opposites. The killer believes he is really no different form the seminary student - that sins of murder are equal with sins of gossip.

The themes of this book are inspired by the age old dilemma stated by Paul in Romans:
"For what I do is no the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing."

256 - December Books

The Promise by Ted Dekker
I picked this book up earlier this summer at a bookshop in Branson for 2.99. I like his other books, so why not a Christmas tale. It is a short story, one that you can read in15-30 minutes, and it is also ilustrated. It is the story of an orphaned mute boy set at the time of Baby Jesus' birth. Overall, it was a little too sappy and hokey for my liking. Oh well!


A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Miserable Mill and the Austere Academy by Lemony Snickets
I guess I am slowly reading this series of kids books. Well actually, they are quick reads, but I am taking my time on finishing the series. These were the 4th and 5th books in the series of 13. They are fun little reads. Not much to say about them.

255 - November book

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I just finished up a heady book on theory and architecture with Looking Around, so I was ready for something fun.

Ready the Harry Potter books are like going on vacation to a familiar area. I had the book a few weeks prior to when I was able to read it...the anticipation was building and I was ready to return to this land with known characters and sites and see what unknown bumps may be in the road.

Overall, it was a pretty good trip. I think it was the longest of them all. Harry, though, does seem to be getting a bit whiny...very misunderstood, but communication skills are something he needs to improve on.

245 - September

It's time to look back at the new music, dvd's, and books that I got involved with in the month of September.

My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse
Shara Worden has an amazing voice and I am not quite sure where to place it. This so called head cheerleader for Sufjan Steven's Illinoisemakers can fit within any genre, but this hauntingly beautiful album fall somewhere in the "arty" realm.

Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
...experimental pop from the Robinson's.



Starflyer 59 - My Island
...Jason Martin creates another amaizing album. My Island is more upbeat and bass heavy, but still maintains the SF59 sound.

Hem - Funnel Cloud
...It has been a while since I got a new album of songs from Over the Rhine or the Innocence Mission, so I thought Hem would fit right in for my smart pretty music with organic leanings and well crafted lyrics mood that I get in. And it did...a very pretty album (minus a couple countryish twang songs in the middle.) Good music to fall asleept to-as there seems to be a lullabye meets introspective broadway musical vibe.


U2 - ZOOTV - Live from Sydney
This is probably the greatest show I've seen live right up there with all the other U2 shows I've seen since ZooTV. This was the first "big" show I ever saw and by big I mean bigger than 1000 or so people. ZooTV came to Kansas City my freshman year in college back in 1992 and the ideas of that tour were begger than my 18 year old mind could comprehend on an intellectual level. I didn't know what postmodernism was at that time, let alone how to view critique and irony of postmodernism. This show was multi-media before multi-media existed. There is so much about this show - this blade runner, cyberpunk world- that was a commentary on culture and where it was going that as you watch it today, you see all the predictions were correct.


Looking Around - A Journey Through Arcitecture by Witold Rybczynski
I still have few pages left on this book that is a critique of Architecture and Theory as it explores different areas from the history and ideas of home to public buildings with modern and post-modern thought. It is a very facinating read and has a lot of content to soak up, so I am not a speedy reader with this book.

238 - August Recap: music and books

Now that the month of August has come to an end, it is time for me to look back at the new records the I've been listening to and my monthly book that I have read.

Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels
The first thing anybody mentions about this band is the unique percussion style - that is a tapdancer as their percussion. TATW is a very unique sounding band because of the tap dancing and foot stomping and hand claps...very organic with horns, organs, acoustic guitars, keys and a trio of harmonic vocals.

Leigh Nash - Blue on Blue
Leigh first solo album since the break-up of Sixpence None the Richer finds her doing accessible and smart adult alternative pop.
Sigur Ros - Saeglopur EP
The Saeglopur EP has an extended version of Saeglopur plus three new songs of beauty. Along with this EP is a DVD that includes three of their music videos from Takk... The videos are powerful cinematic stories the describe the music or is it the other way around?

Erik Larson - The Devil in the White City
"A thousand trains a day entered or left Chicago." - is the first line of this book that reads like a novel but is the true story of the Chicago Worlds Fair (The Columbian Exposition) that took place in the early 1890's. This story follows the lives of two men who were linked by this historic event. The first man is Daniel Burnham who was the Architect responsible for this daunting task of designing and building the Fair in a short amount of time. The second man is H.H. Holmes - considered America's first serial killer whose warm charm lured many young women visiting a "big city" for the first time into his hotel or "castle."

228 - the July report

The recap of new music and books read in the month of July. (for my own personal inventory.)

Fair - the Best Worst Case Scenario
The new band from Aaron Sprinkle (Poor Old Lu, Roseblossom Punch) is a great modern guitar summer pop album. This is a great sounding album and he has turned into a good singer and songwriter.

Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
No, the Avalanche is not an EP. It is a full 20 songs and over 70 minutes of music. The Avalanche is not quite as compelling as Illinois, but that is the nature of songs that are outakes and didn't make the cut for the original album. The funny thing is that the songwriting quality of these outtakes is still better than 90% of music coming out today anyway.

Thom Yorke - the Eraser
The Eraser sounds really nice in my headphones. I am waiting for the fall and the cool weather to really dig deep into that album.

Donald Miller - Through Painted Deserts
I just took a road trip with two guys in an old VW van. Thanks for the journey. This is the story that is often referenced in his book Blue Like Jazz.

219

I just started reading a new book by Don Miller called Through Painted Deserts. It is a book about a road trip in an old VW van and a lot of Don's thought on life as he is driving over the open road. So far, it is pretty interesting. I like the way he thinks. Sometimes, I wonder if you have to stop what you are doing to think or maybe, just writing causes you to think through these really intelligent ideas...now I'm rambling.

So far he has hit on how vs. why questions. I think this is the common theme for the book - as it has appeared in several chapters. Most of us live in the how questions, but it is the why questions that we find God. For example, evolution can explain how we came into being, but it can not explain why.

I also read something that I have never heard before, that I thought would be good discussion. He and his friend were talking about the perfect woman. He says:

I've heard it said there are two types of men in this world--one is looking for a woman to make his life complete and the other is looking for a woman to join his complete life. I don't think one is better than the other...

Hmmm! Is one better than the other? I am not sure yet which one I am. I wonder if you can go through phases - one where she completes you and then later since you are complete she joins you. Or I wonder if a single man of 38 has a complete life but looking for someone to join him? All sorts of scenarios, one could work out.

218 - June music and books

Mojave 3 - Puzzles Like You...I have been a longtime fan of Neil Halstead and his bands M3 and earlier Slowdive. M3 has been mostly really slow sleepy alt-county sort of tunes, but this album is upbeat with more of a sunny california sound. Brit-pop of course. I paid full price at Borders, because I don't think I could find it anywhere else.

Keane - Under the Iron Sea...I really like this album. I wondered if they could do much else after their first album - since they are piano, drums, and voice, but this is quite a mature record and a bit moody. ($8.48 at NFM.)

Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer...I was debating on picking this up. I liked this band a few year ago, but quickly grew tired of his whiny voice and 8th grade lyrics. I didn't care too much for the last record either. But with Daniel Lanois producing and the current song on the radio was pretty good for a summertime song, I figured I'd give him one more chance. Two bum records and your out. My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised that most of the songs are pretty good. It's still a little whiny, but a lot better than I expected. ($8.48 at NFM.)

Corrine Bailey Rae - S/T...This was Vernal's pick. She saw Corrine perform on some PBS show and later we saw her on the late night shows. She is classified as R&B, but her style is more of a throw back to the old R&B artist of the 70's with natural instruments instead of synthisized. ($9 somthing at NFM.)

Starflyer 59 - I Win E.P....another 3 songs of perfect pop and one moody-dark instrumental to preclude the upcoming album. (online - $7.99)

Pony Express - Fraud E.P....Fuzz pop or rock- whatever you call it. This CD was free plus $1.25 for s/h from Velvet Blue Music as a thanks to it's fans. No, thank you!

Angels & Demons - Dan Brown...I finished this book earlier in the month. Thanks to BB for the loan. It's a fun read - mystery and suspense. The multiple endings get a little far-fetched.

The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis...I started rereading the series a few years ago when I was taking my Architectural exams. I would pause from studying and read a book. I read the first six and kept picking up different books to read. Now I have completed the set. I bet the next time I read this I'll be reading them to my kids.

211 - May music and more

May was a good month for music. First here's a story:

Last summer, I got an album by the band Elkland. When I tried to download it onto iTunes so that I could listen to it on my iPod, it was copyright protected through the mother label company of Sony/BMG??? Bummer...at the time, we didn't have a high speed internet connection either, so I couldn't attempt to load their media player that would allow me to maybe make a digital file. Now that I have high speed, I remembered that cd and plopped it into my computer and it took me to a website where there is a class action lawsuit against Sony/BMG??? for this software that was put on these discs. The did to quite a few albums. I followed the directions in how I could participate and in return for mailing in my old disc, I got:

• a new Elkland disc with out the copy protection.
• downloadable digital files of the Elkland cd.
• 3 full album downloads from iTunes of my choice from a list of selected Sony/BMG??? artist.

The list of Artist to choose from wasn't the best, but I found some albums I was interested in. It's free, right? No one gets hurt.

I figured a little Frank would be good to have as one of my free choices.

Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound... was one of those albums that I wanted to here, but didn't really want to pay for. Now I have it for free.

Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me...I was very interested in this one. She is very bizarre and the album is quite eclectic. It goes from billie holliday to eminem to showtunes. It is very whimsical and reminds me of girls I knew in art school. My 3rd free choice.

hammock - stranded under endless skies ep...4 beautiful instrumental songs of ambient guitars, drones, and other noises. I was in the mood for some nighttime music and thought it would be perfect for the mountains.
The Concretes - In Colour...perfect summer music from a band from Sweden. I heard a song of theirs from one of my music podcasts and had to seek them out. This was music for a roadtrip to colorado.
The Weepies - Say I am You...another discovery through a podcast. Mostly female vocals but often shared or led by a guys voice too. This music is a bit more folky along the lines of the Innocence Mission or 10,000 Maniacs. I am so in love with one of their songs...so beautiful.

Asobi Seksu - Citrus...one of my favorite activities on vacations is shopping for music in a different city. The new music will always be a reminder of that trip. I picked up the next tow albums from Virgin Megastore in Denver. Again, I heard a song from this band on a podcast. Their sound is dreampop and I love it.

Editors - the Back Room...also picked up at Virgin. This British band is getting compared to Interpol because the vocals are very similar, but after sampling the music in Virgin - their music was really strong and seemed more dynamic than Interpol. Musically, it's a great album.

I read through this book in the past month - very funny. I using this book in our Sunday School class this summer - I am so fired. It was a good run - I guess Dust will have to take over teaching duties.

April showers forth music

April was a busy month for music and a cheap one. I didn't spend more than $10 dollars on an album. Also, because I won a cash prize at work to help compensate and I redeemed a gift certificate.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe special 2-disc version.
Okay, so this is not music, but I am still watching the special features. I was going thru special feature withdrawel ever since I watched all of the Return of the King 4-disc version. It is good to see that the crew at Weta is still doing their thing. I also missed New Zealand.

The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
I got this albums with some of the prize money I won.

Over the Rhine - Live from Nowhere volume 1
I pre-ordered this album back in December. The band was going to tape some of their Christmas shows and release a live album. It is an independent release, so once it's gone - it is gone.
Morrissey - Ringleaders of the Tormentors
I used the rest of my prize money to buy this one.

Ladytron - Witching Hour
I used an iTunes gift certificate to buy this one.

Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
I picked up this album because I was curious and it was dirt cheap.

This month I read Blink by Ted Dekker. Seminole, thanks for the loan. It was a good read and we have already discussed a bit about the book. It is easy to have faith when you can see possible futures, but when that gift is lost, do you loose faith in the one who can change futures?