BookMooch

Always on the lookout for a bargain when it comes to adding to my personal library, I recently discovered a pretty cool service on the web. It's called BookMooch, and apparently it's become quite popular in recent months. The basic idea is that by logging on, you're connecting to a network of people who have books they are willing to give away for free. The catch is that in order to participate, you have to be willing to give away some of your own volumes as well.

I like the basic spirit of this thing. Why pay money to retailers if another regular person like yourself is willing to mail it to your home address (or wherever else you want it delivered)? Not that I have anything against book stores - I have continued to browse their wares over the past several weeks and have even made purchases. But now I'm a bit more patient to see if I can snag a free copy of something I'd like instead.

This has also spurred me on to take a more discriminating look at the stacks o' books that have been piling up at various places around my house for so many years now. So far, I've mailed out six books (yes, there is a cost, for postage, paid by the person giving the book away.) I've received three, and later today I'll be picking up Crossan's Who Killed Jesus? (the person I'm mooching from happens to live just across the river from me!) I got a book of cartoons by Tom Tomorrow titled Penguin Soup for the Soul, a book from the "Introducing Series" on the philosophy of Baudrillard, and The Afterlife, a collection of short stories by John Updike. I've given away The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Microserfs, The Reivers and The Unvanquished, Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement, and The Rule of St. Benedict in English. This afternoon, I'm sending out a copy of A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. My main criteria for giving books away is that I don't see them as an essential part of my personal collection, or I don't imagine taking the time to re-read them when there are so many other good books out there that I haven't familiarized myself with yet.

So if you are a book fiend like me, you might want to check it out. The program is easy to use and it's fun browsing to see what people are looking to get rid of (and what they want!)

I wonder if there's anything like this for CDs and DVDs?

Birthday Presents

This past Saturday was my birthday. I had a nice time of it. My hometown of Wyoming MI put on the third annual Metro Cruise which is a fun event that gives thousands of people a chance to stare at cool cars that they will never own or even drive. At night our family went out to enjoy some good Mexican food at "On The Border."

I got some very nice gifts. A couple of DVD's, "The Fountain" and a great version of "Hamlet" produced by Kenneth Branagh, originally released in 1996 but just now available on disc after many legal entanglements were straightened out.

But by far the amazing thing I got was a Bose SoundDock for my iPod. It has already enhanced my enjoyment of music significantly by giving me something other than my computer speakers or my car stereo to play my incredible music collection. And boy does it sound fantastic! Especially for such a compact little system. So I've been off the computer and enjoying my upstairs more consistently ever since. Hence my relative quietness on this blog and elsewhere. Plus I've been doing a lot of writing for work and just haven't had much to say. But I assure you, if you are looking for THE BEST device to get sound from your iPod (that can fit on a small end-table and runs in the $300 price range, anyway) then this is the one you want. Julie and the kids really amazed me - I had no inkling they were going to splurge like this for me! What a great family! :o)

Tigers Lose To Indians

I spent today at Comerica Park, where a couple of friends and I got in on some of the late August pennant race action in a crucial game between AL Central Division contenders. Sad to say that our hometown boys, the Detroit Tigers, came up short, losing 3-1 in a fast paced and interesting game that regrettably just didn't turn out the way we wanted it to.

We've had tickets to this game for a few months. A few of us have had a tradition over the past dozen years or so of catching at least one big-league game as a group each summer, and we tend to favor the Thursday afternoon match-ups. Last year, we saw the Tigers get drubbed by the Chicago White Sox. 10-0 I think was the final score of that one, with the added feature of an hour-long rain delay at the start of the game. Today there was no rain out Detroit way, though we are still getting a lot of rain here on the west side of the state. But it was hot, in the mid-80s and humid all day long. A guy dressed in a full-body Tigger suit sat in the row ahead of us. When I first saw him, I said "I hope he's being paid to wear that," since it looked so unbearably warm to be wearing such a get-up. But he was just a fan, showing his true colors, I guess.

The game proceeded quite briskly, and after nine innings, neither team had scored. The atmosphere was tense, though we were all quite impressed with Tigers starter Nate Robertson, who pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings before being pulled after giving up a double. I was especially pleased, since I have Nate on my fantasy baseball team and appreciated the points he earned for my squad, the Ralph Hurlers.

In the 10th inning, Cleveland took the lead as Tigers reliever Joel "Zoom Zoom" Zumaya gave up a few hits too many. The Tigers mounted a rally but left the tying run at second base and fell 2 1/2 games behind the Indians in the Central. Tough break for our guys. They ended up leaving 12 runners on base and had numerous opportunities to score throughout the afternoon. Even one run would have given them the badly needed win, and now they have to get beyond this and deal with the New York Yankees who are in town for a four-game set this weekend. We are very close to baseball crunch time right now and I'm feeling a little squeamish about Detroit's chance to repeat the amazing run of it they made last fall. But Cleveland is hardly poised to run away with the division either, so it's way too early to give in to despair.

As I left the stadium, Tom took my picture standing next to the new statue of Ernie Harwell, the Tigers' retired, Hall of Fame game announcer whose voice still epitomizes the game for so many of us who grew up listening to his calls on the radio.

On the way home, we listened to the sports talk guys try to outdo each other in saying ridiculous and provocative things about the Tigers and any number of other subjects. Once again, as I drove back to Grand Rapids, I made the transition from a wonderful sunny day in a very pleasant and enjoyable setting to a rainy, dark, overcast environment that signaled the end of a fun time. But it's good to be back home regardless of all that.

Mackinac Island

Julie and I left Grand Rapids early Monday morning. Torrential rains poured down on us as we dashed from our back door to our garage and even though we were excited to be heading up to Mackinac Island for a couple days, we harbored unspoken dread that the weather would not be as nice as we'd hope and that it would put a crimp on our ability to get around and enjoy ourselves.

As we drove further north, the rains continued, but with less intensity than we saw back at home. I asked Julie how many miles we would have to drive before the sun came out - she guessed 160, and I took a more optimistic approach and predicted 120. Around mile 125, we saw patches of blue overhead and confidence began to build that we were going to have at least OK weather after all.

Even when we got to the ferry at Mackinaw City, it was kind of greyish, windy and brisk, so we wore our jackets and decided to ride the ship inside rather than sit on the upper deck. But somewhere in the straits, a magical thing happened - the sun came out in full force, simple and common to so many of you, I know - and we never needed our jackets the rest of the time on the island, not even at night.

So we got off the ferry, walked ourselves and our one suitcase down to the Harbour View Inn, checked in, and proceeded to have about as pleasant of a two-day vacation as I could ever want to have. I don't have a lot to tell by way of stories. There were no particular adventures, pratfalls or calamities to report, just a nice romantic getaway in a lovely setting. Half nostalgia, half natural beauty and half indulgence in various comforts made for an abundance of enjoyment that a few pictures can only begin to hint at. So I'll drop a few of them in here in one of those Picasa collages and leave it at that.

Except to say that there really is something to the notion that Mackinac Island is an enchanted place. We left late Tuesday afternoon, the sun still shining down on us through a clear blue sky. But as soon as we stepped off the ferry, we saw jacketed passengers whose wind-blown faces conveyed the same uncertainty and anxiety that ours probably did the day before, wondering just how chilly and blustery their time on the island would be. I didn't bother trying to reassure them that everything on the island is better than what they normally experience on the mainland. I figure the surprise is more delightful if they discover it for themselves.

Wednesday morning, thunder and lightning and that same torrential rain woke us up as we laid in our beds at home. We silently prepared to re-enter the grim, mundane reality that we'll inhabit for the rest of this year and beyond...

23rd Annvy

As I mentioned somewhere below, yesterday (Aug. 18) was our wedding anniversary. I already described what we did during the day. In the evening, we went to an elementary school reunion that my wife's classmates were holding. She went to a small private school, Dutton Christian, near where we live now, and about half of her class of 30 was there last night, along with spouses, of course. So we hung out and I chatted with a few people I've gotten to know over the years and a few people I've never met before in my life. Then we went out for dinner to the Kobe Japanese Seafood and Steak House where we marveled at the finesse and occasional antics of our hibachi chef, who made spatulas twirl, spun eggs and flipped them back and forth in mid-air, flicked shrimp into the mouths of the group of guys sitting in the next booth over, made a flaming volcano out of a stack of onion rings, and after all that and more, served up a heaping portion of fresh, yummy teriyaki chicken (for Julie) and salmon (for me.) After that, we went home and took this picture. I wore the hat I won at the movie theater last spring to mark the occasion. (Get it? The Number 23? Pretty clever, huh?!?)


Tomorrow morning, bright and early, Julie and I are heading up to Mackinac Island for a couple of days, just the two of us! So I suppose my next post here will feature some pics and stories of what we did up in that quaint, historic, lovely and amusing place.

Kagemusha

Derek and I watched this late-period Kurosawa epic on Thursday and Friday evening (it's a three-hour movie, so we split it into two bits.) Though some consider this a lesser entry in the A.K. canon, we found it entertaining enough, though clearly not quite as sublime on all levels as Seven Samurai. Still, it was sufficient to get us barking out words in the clipped, gutteral, urgent manner of feudal Japanese warrior who make pronouncements to their superiors with sufficient emphasis, whenever we want to make a point or just have a laugh. I think we've about driven Lys and Julie crazy with it though, so it's time to chill...

If you don't know the story, it's pretty good. A samurai warlord has enlisted a rank peasant to serve as his double as a way of ensuring his safety in the treacherous environment they're stuck in. However, the lord meets an untimely but secret death, prompting his inner circle to prolong the illusion of his continuing grasp on power by having the double remain in his place during the various formal occasions where he would have to entertain visitors. The plot progresses surely enough to the point where a massive climactic battle becomes necessary, allowing Kurosawa to roll out the pageantry of late medieval Japan in his customarily gripping and impressive way. What I found most striking about the film is his amazing use of color and framing as his warriors zip back and forth across the screen in massive columns, on horseback up and down the ocean beach, across desolate, smoldering landscapes, giving a convincing evocation of the powerful cross-currents of history consuming so many thousands of courageous but anonymous lives as the powers that be send men to their irrefutable and seemingly inevitable destinies.

The battles aren't quite as visceral as Seven Samurai, nor are they as comprehensively magnificent in scale as in his follow-up to this film, Ran. But it was, IMO, worth the investment in time and attention to take notice of Kagemusha, the Shadow Warrior.

Fiber Fest

I was a good husband yesterday. (Hey, it was our 23rd wedding anniversary, so I could be rightly accused of merely hedging my bets...) Julie heard about an event called Fiber Fest, an annual gathering of knitters, yarn freaks and organic-leaning Whole Earth mamas. It took place in a rural area 45 minutes south of our home - Lys told her about it and Julie thought it would be kind of fun, especially since the animals that produced the various fibers would be there on display and for purchase, if one was really serious about it.

So we trekked off to the Allegan County Fairgrounds for a pleasant afternoon of strolling around looking at piles of fleece, women working spinning wheels and endless racks and displays of the numerous things one can make with long skeins of multi-colored yarn. As I wove my way through the main concourse of booths, I noted to myself that about the only men present were those who appeared to have a financial stake in the event. Them, and a few other good hubbies like me who were faithfully trailing along looking here and there for something that would hold our interest for more than a few minutes. I am all in favor of knitting and old fashioned crafts and simple living and all that, for those who are good at such things. But it ain't me, babe. No, no, no, it ain't me you're looking for, when it comes to making something useful out of all that fiber. I'm just too clumsy and impatient to ever see myself getting into it. I got too many other things to do than diddle a bunch of string in my hands...

Anyway, I did find ways to enjoy being there, just checking out the people, the scene, and eventually, the critters. We first came upon a sheep dog exhibition, where a trained pooch was showing us how he did his thing, following the master's orders and rounding up three skipping ewes by using tricks that had been partly trained but probably mostly bred into him over generations of specialization. That was fun to watch and contemplate. Then we made our way into the big barns, where we saw ordinary domesticated sheep get sheared right before our eyes, then pens full of Angora rabbits, a few alpacas and, my favorite, a large area that was full of more exotic sheep. I spent the most time checking out some Icelandic sheep, talking with a farmer who's been raising these breeds for about six years now, starting with half a dozen and now up to 65! Icelandic sheep were first introduced to North America only 20 years ago, and they are cute little things. Pretty small, loaded with deep, plush wool, curling horns and dark dainty little faces. I imagine they could be pretty cuddly, but I never got quite that close. Still, Julie was pretty enchanted with the sheep. She's talked for years about someday getting a goat (she drinks goat milk, and was raised a farm girl before we were married and I carted her off to suburbia) but this got us thinking that, who knows, maybe we would enjoy getting a couple of lambs too while we're at it.

She gathered up some literature on the subject. No matter what happens, it will be years, at least, before we get into raising any kind of animals outside of our current cats and parakeets. But if I ever drop a comment on this blog about bringing home an Icelandic sheep or two, you can mark 8/18/07 as the fateful day that got us started on that path.

Brandon & Curt

Tonight we celebrated the 20th birthday of Brandon & Curt, our twin sons/grandsons/nephews/brothers. We ate at the Mongolian Barbecue restaurant and the boys got a few fun things and a fair amount of cash and gift cards for gifts. Then we sat around and made jokes and yukked it up for a few hours with our family and their girlfriends. The party just broke up and here's a picture of my boys, the only one I took tonight actually, now having completed two decades worth of life!

(That's Curt on the left and Brandon on the right)

Sunshine

I just got back from watching a late-show screening of the film Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle, who made Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later and Millions. That's a rather diverse and eclectic bunch of films. I'm impressed!

Sunshine fits into the realm of science fiction. The premise is that a group of 8 scientist/astronauts has been sent on a mission to "reignite the sun," which is in the process of shutting down and by extension, freezing the earth. So you have to swallow some premises which might get you wondering about if such an undertaking would ever be either necessary or attempted, but once you do, a very fascinating and suspenseful story unfolds. With absolutely magnificent visual elements scattered generously throughout the entire production, and a few theological elements tossed in, though not explored as fully as they could have been.

I won't say much about the story because it could get spoiled easily and it's best to be surprised, but I will say that I found the central dilemmas that the characters had to deal with to be very fascinating and mentally engaging. I went with a friend who had some mixed feelings about the direction that the film took toward the end, and I can understand that, but overall I found the film not only held my interest but stirred some of my contemplative faculties as well, something that I really enjoy when it happens through viewing a quality film.

Since Sunshine is not going to make a lot of money in screenings (it's only showing in one theater in Grand Rapids, the town where one could argue that cineplexes were born) I encourage you to check it out if you see it showing in your area. It's a unique film that pushes its viewers a bit more than usual (though it's not without its share of crowd-pleasing elements and some concessions to conventionality, in the scripting mainly, that cause the film to fall short of prominence in the pantheon of truly heady sci-fi films, e.g. 2001, the original Solaris, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Gattaca and others that I'm too tired to mentally reference at the moment.)

Barry

I've had enough already.

You might be thinking that I'm one of the millions who are more or less complaining about the incessant coverage of Barry Bonds, his home run record chase and the billionth-or-so attempt for commentators to come up with a variation on the them of "all the debates and questions swirling around his accomplishment." And if that's the case, you are partly right.

Mainly, I'm sick of all the negativity being spouted by the columnists and self-proclaimed "true baseball fans" toward Bonds and supposedly in support of Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and other great players of years gone by. Over the past few years and months, I have generally been able to digest their diatribes but with the record now broken, the level of pettiness, redundancy and obnoxiousness has been hard for me to stomach. Their points were made a long time ago, we all know where so many of them stand regarding their opinion of Barry Bonds the person, the athlete, the icon of this era of baseball and the record he now possesses.

Yes, I'm a Giants fan, have been since before Barry wore the uniform, so I have a bias here, I understand that. As a supporter of his team, I've benefitted from the incredibly high standard of performance that Bonds has maintained since he came to the Bay Area back in 1994. I liked the way he played the game when he was still in Pittsburgh, and I don't think he's all that far out of line in being wary and distant from the sports media guys who have been riding him hard for a long, long time. I have my own sense of ambiguity about the things he's alleged to have done re: performance enhancers in the early years of this decade, but I don't see any justification for the bitterness and sheer hostility that so many people freely unleash toward the guy. It gets me wondering just what these people get from all that venting, what kinds of pent-up frustrations and thwartings they must be struggling with, that it has to come out in sports columns, chat room comments, or wherever.

For the professional writers, I guess I can see that bashing Barry makes for easy and voluminous copy, but to me it's of the most pandering sort. And I have little respect for the rank-and-file fans who follow that lead, working themselves up to such levels of outrage over the steroid controversies that have been hung around Barry's neck. It seems like they've lost track of the fact that Barry Bonds is a truly exceptional athlete who has worked very hard for a long time to maintain a high level of skills at a game that he's played like no one before or since. I have no problem saying he's the greatest baseball player of my lifetime because nobody has come close to doing what he's done in terms of hitting, running, fielding and dealing with unprecedented levels of hostility from the media and general public. He's been pitched around for years, he's never really had the kind of supporting cast that a guy like Alex Rodriguez enjoys (though he's certainly had more in years past than he has the past few seasons) and he plays in a huge ballpark (that he makes look small because he hits the ball so far.)

To me, his story is very interesting and compelling (going back to his family history and the baseball legacy that he was born into) with a touch of the tragic about it as well as plenty of triumph. It's disappointing to me that so many of my fellow baseball fans have succumbed to such antagonism and made it so personal. No one should feel compelled to be "happy" about Barry Bonds' accomplishments, but I really do wonder how much one can really claim to appreciate the game itself and not show a basic level of respect for what he's done. It seems to me that the haters and complainers have put something else above their "love for the game" if they can't get past singling out one talented lightning-rod individual as the focus for what's wrong with baseball.

OK, I'm done. Unless someone has a comment and wants to egg me on some more.

Cell phone static

A month ago, one of my sons had his cellphone stolen out of his truck in the middle of the night. (The door was unlocked, it wasn't a break-in.) We reported the phone stolen the next night, when he was unable to find it, and service was suspended. Through some detective work (basically, calling the numbers that the culprit had dialed) I was successful in getting the phone back, so we had the service restored. We discovered that the thief had downloaded a number of ringtones between 4 am and 10 am the morning after the phone had been stolen, and I assumed that the phone company would not hold us liable for the expense. I got our bill on Friday and saw that the ringtones came to nearly $60, so I called Customer Service to have the charges erased from my account. Instead, I was informed that we are still liable for all charges made to the phone up until the time it was reported stolen!

I was astonished to hear this. I went through the full explanation with one rep, then appealed to a supervisor but all she could offer was to give our account 100 free minutes - hardly enough to make up the expense! They also said they could restore the ringtones (that were since deleted) but we're hardly interested in that - they were some pretty ignorant and rude rap songs.

I told the representatives that I am determined to find another provider if that's the best they can do. They were apologetic and patient, and I maintained my composure, but I let them know that this inflexibility is highly offensive to me. I can understand why they might want to hold the line in most cases in waiving these kinds of charges - it would be easy to say "somebody else downloaded without my permission" and try to evade paying the fees. But I expect to be taken more seriously in these circumstances and it doesn't seem right to me that they should be able to penalize customers like this with impunity.

I have five accounts with this company and I am pretty serious about taking my business elsewhere! So I'm going to spend some time this coming week seeing which cellphone carrier would be interested in coming to my aid (and picking up the cancellation fees on my contract.) If anyone reading this has suggestions or thoughts on possible next steps that I could take to resolve this, weigh in. I'm thinking I will call during regular business hours to see if there's anyone higher up in the ranks who can give me a break.

Beautiful Girls

OK, it's time for my latest grumblings about pop music. A new #1 song took over the Billboard Hot 100 yesterday, a little ditty called "Beautiful Girls" performed by a youngster named Sean Kingston. The tune jumped all the way up from #23 - apparently he has caught the fancy of MySpace users and his Jamaican-influenced sound is now considered pretty hot.

I hadn't heard the song until after I'd downloaded it, and I have to admit that I was at first incredulous that this song managed to catch on so strong. His voice is just kind of awkward and child-like, and he himself is such an ordinary-looking, chubby teenager that I didn't get what set him apart. However, a closer listen makes it clear - the music is a pretty clear sample from Ben E. King's classic "Stand By Me" ensuring instant familiarity to millions, and once the vocals have settled into your brain, the sing-songy lines feel quickly and easily comfortable. But the part that really gets me is how he uses the word "suicidal" ("SOOO-i-SYD-ul! SOOO-i-SYD-ul!") as the main hook in the lyric. I don't think that's ever been done before, at least, not in a #1 hit!

So that got me thinking about how commonplace and casual the idea of "feeling suicidal" has become among our young people these days, to the point that it becomes the lyrical centerpiece to a little snippet of pop fluff on the summertime airwaves. My perspective on teenage suicide and other emotionally dramatic behavior is highly skewed because of where I work, but I'm not at all interested in censoring or shaming the boy for his choice of words. (Apparently, MTV has deleted "suicidal" from the video, leaving a silent gap in the vocal track, while a radio version of the song uses "in denial" in place of "suicidal." How silly!) How odd that he's apparently generated a bit of backlash from some quarters, since he apparently made the decision that he would not curse on his records (he is only 17, let's see if that pledge makes it to his next album - I'd be happy if it did. I'm really getting tired of obligatory F-bombs by such non-aggro artists as Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, etc., each of whom tossed in pointless swearing on their recent #1 hits over the past several months...)

Anyway, "Beautiful Girls" replaced "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's, a Chicago-based pop-punk band, at the top of the Hot 100. That song was originally released in 2005 but perseverance, strategic marketing and constant touring over the past couple of years have resulted in the current success. I saw the video for this song just before I left for work today. It got me thinking of Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" for some reason - a gentle, sentimental, slightly weepy number that doesn't sound like much at first but has its charms with increased familiarity. I don't quite expect the Plain White T's to go on to have the kind of career that S&G had, but go ahead, let 'em try and see what they can come up with!