{Book Review} Citizens of London by Lynne Olson

All I can say is I wish I had history books this interesting back when I was in college. This book as you may know cover the contributions of three important American figures in Britain during the early years of World War II before the U.S. had declared war. The people examined are John Gilbert Winant the American Ambassador to Britain after Joe Kennedy was recalled home; Edward R. Murrow the head of CBS news in Europe at the time, and Averell Harriman a businessman who developed the lend-lease program that would provide weapons, technology and materials to the British during the early years of WWII.

Olsen explores through stories and anecdotes the lives of these men during this trying time for the England and how they made significant contributions to the war effort in England and hwo they were responsible for forging those early bonds that tied England and USA together in the battle against the Axis.

Olsen is a journalist not a history professor, so she tend to mix in a bit of opinion and makes some claims without really justifying them, but that is easily overlooked for how fun and interesting of a read this book is. As a journalist the author crafts and tells great stories and you learn so much about how people you never knew existed had a great effect on WWII, and that includes many other people beyond the main subjects of Murrow, Winant and Harriman.

If you are a fan of World War II history and politics I think you will enjoy this book like I did. It is not a military book by any means, but rather a book about political inner workings, creating public opinion and the economics of waging a war. If any of those things interest you, then I think you will find this book a great read.

{Product Review} Crest 3D White Whitestrips Vivid

I know it has been a long time since I have written or reviewed anything.  This is mainly due to my contributions to Sermons On The Mound (My God/Baseball Blog with Ben Chamberlin).  But I am back with a new product review, which isn’t really that much of a great product at all.

Disappointing with no real results.

The Crest 3D White Whitestrips Vivid are the lowest level of Whitestrip product line that Crest offers.  They offer an “Advanced Vivid” and a “Professional Effects” version of this product too.  And I can understand why, because I had little luck and no real whitening results from this version of the strips.

The strips are a bit difficult to apply and they don’t really want to stay stuck to your teeth.  And I know if they don’t stick to my teeth they are not going to be whitened at all.  I used the ten strips sets of strips in the package once a day for ten days and after all the hassle of trying to get them to stay put in my mouth I saw no discernable difference in the whiteness of my teeth when I finished using the product.

If you are looking for an over the counter teeth whitening product I would skip this one.  Perhaps try one of Crest’s two other versions, which according to packaging offer better whitening results and “Advanced Seal Technology” to help them stick to the teeth.  I am really not sure why if they have the better working and faster acting technology why they would put out a poor product like this?  So my recommendation is to skip this product and try something else.

{Book Review} The Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam

A Fascinating Book about Our Sub-Conscious and How It Influences Our Lives

The subtitle to this book is “How much our unconscious minds elect presidents, control markets, wage wars, and save out live.” And that is exactly what you get in this book. The book is a well written exposition on how our unconscious brain controls many of our decisions, prejudices and actions without us ever even knowing it.

Now basically the author Vedantam, has compiled the research of various studies and experiments on this topic and presented it in a way that is accessible, interesting and entertaining. I was truly fascinated at how much a part of brain that we never really “Think” with controls our everyday lives, sometimes causing us to do and say things that if we really thought about it we would never do, and other times that same part of our brain saves us from danger and trouble we would never see coming.

The author, Shankar Vedantam, is a journalist for the Washington Post and some people have knocked that fact, since he is not a Ph.D., researcher, or a scientist, I actually don’t mind. As a journalist I think the author presents all his content in very easy to read, understandable and well organized format, with a mix of some great individual stories of real people and how their lives were changed by this "hidden brain".

While this may not be a truly new concept to many; and other works like Freakonomics and The Tipping Point have covered similar areas, I still found this to be a really thought provoking and if the subject interests you and I would recommend this book.

{Product Review} Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating

A Course in Centering Prayer in Convenient Box Form

If you are interested in centering prayer and looking for a more multimedia introduction into the practice then this is a product you may be interested in.

What you receive is:

A relatively small spiral bound book which provides introductions, summaries and guides you through the other materials in the course.

A set of 6 DVDs with lectures from the likes of Fr. Thomas Keating, Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler and Fr. Carl Arico about centering prayer.

Two audio CDs with tracks for introducing you to and taking you through a centering prayer session.

And a set of prayer cards to help assist you with entering the quiet time of reflection prior to centering prayer.

As has been mentioned by others the book is not super thorough, it serves as more of a guide to the course then a full text on the subject of centering prayer. I suggest if you are completely new to the concept of Centering prayer you may want to bundle this set with Fr. Thomas Keating’s book “Open Mind Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel,” which is a very complete take on centering prayer.

The DVDs too are nothing spectacular but are just video sessions of lectures that are given at Introduction to Centering Prayer retreats. They are not exciting or adrenaline pumping, but then if that is what you are looking for, I think you have the wrong practice.

I don’t think it is my role to appraise the practice of centering prayer but rather offer insight on this introductive course, which I find to be very complete and helpful to a beginner who just doesn’t know where to start or what to do. I believe short of taking a course in centering prayer in person at a seminar this is the next best thing you could use to introduce you to the practice of centering prayer. I found it complete, thorough and helpful; and if this is a subject you are interested in I think you may find it helpful too.

{Product Review} Five Star Flex Notebinder

Growing up in the 80's and 90's I had a glorious appreciation of the trapper keeper. The handsomely designed three ring binder that held nearly all of your school work, nay, your entire educational experience in one manageable book-ish contraption.

Thankfully things have changed and improved. The five star flex hybrid notebinder (as the company states) acts like a workbook and works like a binder. Both the front and back cover are made out of tough yet relatively thin plastic. they are held together by nylon fabric that lets you fold the front cover all the way behind the back cover like a notebook.

Everything is held together by three plastic/rubbery rings to hold papers and contents in. The notebinder comes with a small supply of ruled paper and graph paper (Three hole punched and very convenient). Also included are three heavy duty sheet protectors with tabs. And two heavy duty plastic divider sheets with pockets for holding paper, index cards and other paper products. The only thing this thing is missing is maybe a small zip up pencil case. Everything is held in place by three tough plastic rings that are fixed to the back cover of the the notebinder, they are a little tough to open and close but they are very secure and I doubt they would bust open even if the notebinder was drop from quite a height.

So this really seams like a logical evolution in where binders are going. You have the flexibility of a notebook where you can fold everything away and start taking notes and the storage capacity and utility of a three ring binder. This would be perfect for any student middle school through college.

{Cookbook Review} Cookin’ With Coolio by Coolio

Dare I Say the Greatest Cookbook of 2009! (By a Rapper)

Okay the last time I checked Coolio was relevant and a pop culture force about 10 years ago.  Since then the only time I think about Coolio is when "Amish Paradise" by Weird Al comes up in my shuffle mix.  Well readers that has changed with the release of his cook book: "Cookin' with Coolio, 5 star meals at a 1 star price" by Coolio the Ghetto Gourmet.

Right of the bat, this may be the best gag cookbook gift ever.  Not only does the book come from the self-proclaimed King of Kitchen pimps, the ingredients for recipes ask for amounts of seasoning in "Dime Bag" and "Nickel Bag" form (Don't worry you can covert to regular measurements).  Recipes include "Chicken Lettuce Blunts", "Kompton Fried Chicken", "Taco Jones" and "Chili Mac Pimpi".  And instructions include directions such as "Beat those eggs like a Mother#$%&er who crossed you" or "Spin them around like a stripper on a pole". 

Suffice to say I enjoyed the writing as much or more than the recipes themselves.

Now for the amazing part; these recipes are pretty good.  The ingredients asked for are easy to find and consist of most spices and ingredients you would have in a regular kitchen.  There are no crazy cooking techniques or anything more difficult than an average home cook could handle.  I cannot attest to how healthy most of the food is, but there is a good section on salads, vegetarian food and even a nice seafood section "It's Hard Out Here For A Shrimp". 

So if you can get past the latent silliness of the presentation of the material I think you will find some good fun recipes, and you will probably laugh quite a bit too.

{Book Review} Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Once again Francis Chan makes you think.

I really enjoyed Chan's first book "Crazy Love", and this book is just as good. Chan has a great talent for getting you to take a hard look at yourself and see areas in your life where you may not be living according to what the Bible teaches. The great thing is that Francis doesn't preach hellfire and brimstone, or yell at you, or guilt trip you, or try to make you feel bad about yourself. He instead invites you on a journey to explore what the Bible says with him, and if you read along you tend to find that Chan is not doing much more than just talking about what is already there in the Bible for us to read.

In his new book "Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit" addresses (As you can guess by the title) the fact that today we dismiss the role of the of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit has the ability to live in all of Christ's followers, but how many of us, actually allow the Spirit to do that? In the book, Chan covers: why we need the Spirit in our lives; explores reasons why we may not engage the Holy Spirit or may feel uncomfortable with the idea; surveys the theology of the Holy Spirit; makes sure we want the Holy Spirit in our lives for the right reasons; talks about what a right relationship with the Holy Spirit looks like; dismisses the idea that a relationship with the Spirit will reveal God's plan for our life; and discusses what the Church could look like if we all lived with a right relationship with the spirit. Also Francis finishes each chapter with a short biography about someone who is or has lived a very Spirit filled life. Suffice to say he covers a lot of ground.

Despite all that is covered, the writing is very accessible, not technical or full of obscure theological terms or jargon. This is a book that can be easily understood by just about anyone, and I am sure it will challenge many, as it did me. This book has made me take a serious inward look at my relationship with the Holy Spirit and my motives relating to the Spirit. I encourage you to pick up a copy and give it a read yourself.

Duck Tails (Woo-Hoo)!

I have wanted to cook a duck for a very, very long time. In fact last holiday season I found one in the frozen poultry section of my local supermarket and I bought one. And I stuck it in the freezer and it sat there…under frozen pizzas…and frozen taquitos…and popsicles until this weekend, when I gathered the gumption and nerve to cook that bad boy..er mallard.

The first thing that surprised me was the nice thick layer of fat that ducks have under their skin. I knew this caused a problem in duck cookery as said fat tended to melt fall and then burn in the cooking process producing much smoke. The suppliers of my duck had been nice enough however to slice the skin open and cut into the duck fat in certain areas enough to allow for fat drainage.

Now I had read of certain applications where you boiled the duck first to rid it of its fat before crisping it in the oven. I thought of this, but then I thought it increased the amount of pans needed and I would hate to lose flavor form boiling my duck. Sounded like an awfully English/Irish way of cooking my fowl. And I thought I could do better.

Due to the outer layer of fat on the duck I knew there wasn't going to be much need for lubing or basting it also presented limited options for seasoning. I went with a straight forward liberal sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper all other the thing. I decided to keep it simple as this was my first experience.

After prepping, I then placed the duck on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Set into a preheated 375 degree oven and cook for 20 minutes per pound, in my case two hours.

I was left with a delicious bird with tasty moist meat, and a pan full of drippings.

The fat of the bird literally melted off into the pan, causing some smells of smoke at first, but eventually a lovely pool of fat formed that sizzled away any drips of juice from the bird.

I served the duck with some basmati rice, keeping it simply. A duck is basically all dark meat so the meat from the leg was as tasty as the meat from the breast. And I tried not to overcook as I always heard overcooking duck is bad. The cooking directions on the bag the duck came in said 22 minutes per pound. I shortened it a little bit and just made sure to check with a thermometer before serving. Juices were clear so I was in the clear. After dinner I got as much meat off as I could so that I can make duck tacos later…..should be yummy.

I plant to cook duck again, and hopefully get a little more creative too. Also my big plans a goose, during Christmas!

The Future of Movies at Home

I believe I have seen the future of movies at home and thy name is Netflix streaming.

I have an Xbox 360 at home hooked up to my big television in the family room of the apartment. I also have a Netflix subscription which Amy and I share. A wonderful feature that Netflix offers for free to subscribers, who happen to have an Xbox 360 with an Xbox Live Gold Account, is you can receive free streaming of a pretty good selection of movies.

As long as you have a high speed internet connection you can watch movies for free in quite good resolution right on your TV at no extra cost. Now the picture is not quite as good as regular cable/satellite or DVD but it is pretty darn close. Now I know companies like AT&T and cable companies have been offering on-demand movies for quite a while, but the way Netflix in my opinion has a much better user interface, and a larger selection of movies. What makes me curious is what dictates which movies get to be streamed and which ones don't? Not all of the biggest movies make it to streaming but some do. But a lot of classic old movies do get out there, which is great.

In particular Amy and I were looking for a move to watch Halloween night. We figured a good Hitchcock thriller would nice. I was going to get one from Netflix, only I come to find out that a good majority of the Hitchcock movies are already available for streaming. So we will have quite a nice selection available come Saturday night.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that digital distribution/streaming is the future of the way we will watch movies at home. I would assume that by 2020, DVD/Blu-Ray may have already become a thing of the past. And everything will be either downloaded or streamed direct to us. The key obstacle will be portability. I have paid for this movie once to download and watch it at home. But now I want to take it with me on a trip, with a DVD that is easy, just take the disc. But with digital content it is not so easy. Supposedly Disney is trying to address this with a system of licenses, but I will believe it when I see it. Till then I have to choose between Marnie, The Trouble with Harry and Frenzy.

{Music Review} Lost At Sea by The Squirrel Nut Zippers

A Great Comeback Album for the Zippers!

It has been over nine years since the Squirrel Nut Zippers (SNZ) have released a new album and seven years since they released their greatest hits compilation. Thankfully I can say that after such a long wait this live album has made the wait worth it.

This CD takes you on a 17 track odyssey of a rollicking live performance by the reformed Zippers in Brooklyn, NY last year (2008). The track list comprises a veritable greatest hits list of the SNZ covering all of the favorites, and the occasional hidden gem.

Jimbo Mathus takes the role of lead vocals and Master of Ceremonies in the majority of the songs. His lead guitar also provides a driving energy for the band. Katharine Whalen also returns with providing her Billie Holiday-esque female vocals to the appropriate songs.

The band sounds just as tight and fun as you would remember them, sadly however former Zipper Tom Maxwell continues to be missing from this iteration of the band and I found his absence noticeable. The lyrics that were originally sung by him just don't quite seem the same when performed either by Jimbo or Kathleen. I find this my only fault with the album, and it is the one thing that keeps me from giving five stars.

If you have been a fan of the Zippers in the past, and remember them for their fun music and great energy, I am sure this album will not disappoint you.

{Music Review} "Miss Smith To You!' by Lavay Smith

Lavay Smith is sadly a rarity today. You will be very hard pressed to find another singer of her caliber anywhere. She brings you back to the day of Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, when clubs and concert halls where filled when a songstress, backed by a big band could take a song and real make it her own and make you feel it, make you want to get up and dance to it, be it slow of fast.

“Miss Smith To You!” is Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet-Lickers third album, and it matches if not surpasses previous the previous efforts with a great selection of songs, superb performances, and quality production. The songs range from slow ballads to medium tempo swings. Through it all Miss Smith is able to show off her voice and personality.

So in conclusion, if this is a style of music you enjoy (Big Band/Vocal Jazz), I do not think this album will disappoint you. It has a great selection of classic songs, the music of a talented group of musicians and the voice of one of the few who can really pull it off. To me this album really is a complete package, and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I have.

{Book Review} Drop Like Stars by Rob Bell

A different book with different ideas

Before getting this book I was really surprised by many of the comments and reviews I had read about it. It seemed like people were completely surprised by what this book was, what it contained and what it was about. It seemed like people didn’t research or read the product description of the book before purchasing it, or that they expected something completely normal from Rob Bell.

For me, this book met my expectations and really presented some ideas that made me think. First, this is not a small little hardback book like Rob’s previous works (Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians). This is a larger hardback, 12 inch by 10 inch; basically the size of a good coffee table book. True to what others have said the book does not contain a ton of writing but rather is full of colored pages and photos/portraits of objects and scenes. The writing is interspersed in the same parsed style of short sentences and fragments that are Rob Bell’s style. As far as the book and artwork go they are quite nice and do a good job of helping Rob make his points, but everything is in a matte finish, I feel the book could have benefitted from glossy sheets, but I can only guess that would have raised the price of the book significantly. Oh and no, you can’t read through this book in 10 minutes as I have read some people say. If you work your way through this book in ten minutes you miss the point and I recommend you return the book, because you will get nothing more out of it.

As far as content goes, I think Rob came up with the idea of this being an “Art Book” hence the chapter’s titles: “The Art of Disruption”, “The Art of Honesty”, “The Art of the Ache”, “The Art of Solidarity”, “The Art of Elimination” and “The Art of Failure”. And I think by reading those chapter titles you can get an idea of where Rob is taking the reader. And an interesting note the table of contents is at the rear of the book rather than the front, an interesting idea that gets the reader right into the book without any presuppositions.

Overall I found the book to be thought provoking and it made me think about subjects like disruption, ache, and failure in ways I had not before. This book doesn’t delve into deep theology, hermeneutics, or psychology but rather it explores what it means to be human and what we all experience. I benefited from reading this book and I pray you may too.

{Book Review} Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman

Very Fun & Interesting Read, Disappointingly Short

I took up this graphic novel at the recommendation of Blair Butler. And I am happy to report I was not disappointed. The pages contain an original story, compelling artwork, and a tale filled with interesting characters. My only complaint was that I found it painfully short. I finished it in a few hours and I was left desperately wanting more. But in the grand scheme of things, I suppose that is a good thing. Better to be left wanting more at the end of the story then to be sick of it and just want it to be over.

Most likely you already know the basics of the story, in the future the Catholic Church funds research and discovers time travel and decides to send a force of people back in time to right the wrongs of the church and other. Hilarious high jinks and frivolity ensue….okay not really, but we do get an interesting at an alternate history and how the human condition shapes the destiny of man. In between wonderfully composed panels you have the occasional page or two of written transcript that is used to reveal characters motivations and feelings in long form, but fear not, for even that read is quite fascinating.

So if you are look for a remarkable story that will get you thinking and you don’t mind a concise (If not short) telling of that story then I believe you will thoroughly enjoy this book, as did I. After this introduction to Jonathan Hickman I plan to read his other works very soon.

{Book Review} A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Feels like It Was Thrown Together

This book that I just finished reading wasn’t originally what Donald Miller had in mind when he started writing his new book. However while in the process of penning his new book things weren’t working out, he went to his publishers told them that and what we got was “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”.

Now don’t get me wrong I really enjoy Donald Miller. I like the fact he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Most of the time his essay style works quite well and makes for easy reading and he can be quite funny. He has good observations and he really can speak to the Millennials of this generation. But, I just feel like this book was thrown together.

This book is organized in Miller’s typical essay form. And centers on few central topics: The writing of script for the movie “Blue Like Jazz”; the idea of story, what makes a good story ,and the fact we are all living stories and should try to live good ones; and the Donald dealing with his issues with his Father who was missing from his life. In between these central topic s he peppers various essays about different topics and relates them to his “Story” and how he is trying to live a great “Story”.

I did like the book, I don’t feel bad that I read it, Don is still a heck of a writer, but I just felt like this book was all over the place and that the theme he used to hold it together “Story” was rather week. Also Miller would jump from one essay where he would be joking and not taking himself seriously at all and then move into a subject that you could tell he really cared about and it just didn’t flow well. So while this is an enjoyable read it is not one of Miller’s best and I really think he can do better, and I just think he kind of had to force this one out, and you can tell he did.