The Beauty of Books

Because I work at home and travel very little, I have no need at present for a digital book reader. Even if I needed one, I would regret having to use it, though I recognize their utility. There's still something I resist about the sudden transformation of books from works of craft and art and utility to utility alone. To wit . . .

Because I was captivated by the Swedish movie versions of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series of novels (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), I decided I wanted to read the books themselves to see the author's original version of the stories. (Ten volumes were planned, with only three finished and published before Larsson died suddenly.)

The American publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., issued a nice four-volume boxed set just before Christmas—the three novels plus a fourth Afterword volume containing correspondence from the author as he wrote the stories and had them published. I wasn't enamored of the Knopf edition, but was attracted to the British edition—unfortunately now out of print. But I found a bookseller in San Francisco who had a still-shrink-wrapped boxed set from the British publisher, MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus. The British edition was typically understated compared to the American Knopf edition. So I bought them.

It's not hard to see why many people prefer to own finely printed and bound volumes compared to digital editions. The pictures below remind me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry asks George why he bothered keeping copies of books once he's read them. This is part of the reason why:

This gold dragon—highlighting the "Dragon Tattoo" motif—is imprinted on the side of the slipcase:

Even the thread used to sew the signatures together is beautiful! But—evidence that these are still mass-produced volumes: insufficient sanding of the edges (left) and a bubble of glue (right). But the picture shows the signatures of which books are made—the individual mini-books that are printed, then bound together to create the volume—nineteen signatures in this volume:

Fifteen in this one:

The British edition (unlike the Knopf edition) also came with a wall poster containing images of 36 different covers of the novels created by foreign publishers. More than 65 million copies of the novels have been published in hard copy, and well over a million copies for the Kindle have been purchased:

Not only are books beautiful themselves, repositories of books are as well. For Christmas, my son David gave me a gorgeous volume titled The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World (Abrams, 2003). It contains breathtaking large-format photos of some of the most beautiful and thoughtful "buildings" constructed throughout history to store the collected knowledge and art of man.

This is a foldout spread of the Great Hall in The Abbey Library of Saint Gall in Switzerland:

And a closer look at two of the panels:

I sent David the following reflections after my first perusal of this book:

1. In the non-American libraries, where collections are much older, imagine the labor that went into the binding BY HAND of these millions of volumes. Even though the printing press came online around 1455, books were still bound by hand, right? And not just the binding, but the gilding and lettering on the spines, etc. The man-hours represented by the binding of millions of volumes is staggering -- all for the preservation of knowledge.

2. Again, in the non-American libraries, I was struck by the admixture of art and literature. Libraries could have been sterile warehouses with shelves -- just a place to catalog and store books. But they were stored in the equivalent of palaces and cathedrals. The libraries themselves represent the height of art, sculpture, and architecture of their day. It speaks well for how books (and manuscripts and music scores and important papers) were viewed -- on a plane with royalty and deity, so ornate and thoughtful were their places of storage.

3. The contrast between American and European libraries. I think only two American libraries are featured -- the Library of Congress and the Boston Athanaeum. Purely from the perspective of the photos of the books on the shelves, the American library books are smaller, newer, less ornate than the books in the European libraries. That's obvious and easy to explain, of course -- America is a younger nation, etc. But it must also say something about the intellectual history of the two cultures -- our libraries look "lighter" than the European libraries. More than once, in looking at some of the European libraries, I thought, "That's what the library at the Biltmore House (Asheville) looks like." . . . It's because George Vanderbilt basically imported books from Europe (as he did furniture, tapestries, art, etc for the house) that it looks so much like a European library.

Solomon had it right: "Of making many books there is no end" (Ecc. 12:12). And it's a shame that they (save one) will wilt before the renovating flames yet to come. The destruction of the great Library at Alexandria in 48 B.C. (thanks, Julius Caesar), where much of the accumulated knowledge or the world was stored, is a warning to all who would hold books too tightly.

But while we have them, they are a pleasure to have and hold.

The Role of the Home in Making Practical Men

"A distinguished American writer says: 'The training and improvement of the physical, intellectual, social, and moral powers and sentiments of the youth of our country require something more than the school-house, academy, college, and university. The young mind should receive judicious training in the field, in the garden, in the barn, in the workshop, in the parlor, in the kitchen—in a word, around the hearthstone at home. Whatever intellectual attainments your son may have acquired, he is unfit to go forth into society if he has not had thrown around him the genial and purifying influences of parents, sisters, brothers, and the man-saving influence of the family government. The nation must look for virtue, wisdom, and strength to the education that controls and shapes the home policy of the family circle. There can be no love of country where there is no love of home. Patriotism, true and genuine, the only kind worthy of the name, derives its mighty strength from fountains that gush out around the hearthstone; and those who forget to cherish the household interests will soon learn to look with indifference upon the interests of their common country. We must cultivate the roots, not the tops. We must make the family government, the school, the farm, the church, the shop, the agricultural fairs, the laboratories of our future greatness. We must educate our sons to be farmers, artisans, architects, engineers, geologists, botanists, chemists—in a word, practical men. Their eyes must be turned from Washington to their States, counties, townships, districts, homes.'"

The originator of these words is identified only as "a distinguished American writer," quoted by Edmund Morris in his circa 1867 book, Farming for Boys. (Italics in the original.) The book is being serialized in Small Farmer's Journal. This quote is from Part VI, Chapter XIV, of the book reproduced in SFJ, Winter 2012, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 34-38.

When I read this quote I was struck by the absence of such a worldview in modern literature. I read a lot, and these words jumped out at me as being from a different era. But regardless of era, they convey a settled way of thinking about life that is missing from postmodern thinking: the source of true education, the purpose of the home, how boys learn to be men, the intended distant influence of Washington, and others. Some will rail against pre-modern (1867) writing that excludes "girls" from the focus of training in the home. Note that this is a book titled Farming for Boys. If this author's point was to outline a system of industry for boys, the outline of a similarly vigorous industry for girls could be gleaned from Proverbs 31:10-31.

Chillun'

Ran across this sweet photo of two of my children the other day—Stephen and younger sister, Elizabeth. They were both participating in a wedding (early-mid 1980's) and were snapped by the wedding photographer. I only had the hard copy 8x10, and scanning it reduced a bit of the color—but not the soft effect the photographer used.

Citizen Legislators

On January 12, Representative Tim Johnson of Illinois issued a press release announcing the introduction of the Citizen Legislator Act in Congress. His goal is to return the Congress to the idea of citizen, rather than professional, legislators. The following are key elements of his bill:

Limits days in session to five per month or 60 business days per session.

Halves the salary of Representatives and Senators.

Permits members to have jobs outside of Congress so long as they do not derive their income as a result of the privilege of their office, such as speaking tours, lobbying, consulting, etc.

Allows members to choose benefit plans to reflect their lower salaries and allows them to opt out completely for a private option.

Cuts member office allowances, committee and leadership budgets in half.

Prohibits any grandfathering out of the new salary requirements and benefit packages for current members.

Cuts member salaries an additional 10 percent for every five business days Congress exceeds 60 business days in a session.

Given the fact that our current legislators would be voting to reduce their own pocketbooks, perks, and power if they voted for this bill, the chances are slim it will make it out of committee. And given the fact that life in 2012 is a lot more complicated than in the 1780's, Johnson's specific recommendations may be unrealistic. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. After all, anything would be an improvement over the Congress we have now. (Read more about the Act at Rep. Johnson's web site.)

Apple Trailers Speed Boost

I'm a big fan of the Apple movie trailers web site for keeping up with new movie releases. Each trailer has three streaming options (format sizes) plus four download options. The three streaming options are Automatic (smallest format), 480p (next largest format), and 720p (largest streaming format).

Traditionally, I have always used the 480p format since the 720p format took too long to stream an adequate buffer before play would begin. But a week or so ago I noticed that the 480p stream had slowed to a crawl; it was basically unusable. I had to revert to the small Automatic option just to watch a trailer without waiting forever for the stream to buffer in 480p. The problem seemed to be isolated to the Apple trailers since no other web sites suffered from slowdowns.

But today, things are different. The entire 480p stream now downloads in a few seconds, and the 720p is so fast that playback begins almost immediately. I can now watch trailers in the HUGE 720p HD format that I couldn't before.

I can only assume that the temporary slowdown was due to Apple working on the servers that deliver the streams (?). And that the huge speed boost is due to some streaming upgrade on their end. If anyone has a better explanation, let me know.

Friday 1-20-12 UPDATE: Friday evening, streaming of trailers has reverted to the former sluggish rate described above.

USSC to POTUS: "Butt out!"

In a rare unanimous decision (all the more significant in this case), the U.S. Supreme Court told the President of the United States to take his hands off the internal functions of churches in America. The government claimed that a Lutheran church exercised "employment discrimination" when it terminated the services of its minister. No so, the Court said unanimously. Here is part of Chief Justice Roberts' opinion: (Link)

“Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs. By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the free exercise clause, which protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments. According the state the power to determine which individuals will minister to the faithful also violates the establishment clause, which prohibits government involvement in such ecclesiastical decisions.”

Doing Vegan Right

James McWilliams is associate professor of history at Texas State University, San Marcos, and a frequent writer on food matters—and a vegan. In this excellent The Atlantic article—"The Evidence for a Vegan Diet"—he responds to numerous recent articles by foodies who bewail their failed attempts to thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet. His point: You have to do it right. Besides the abundant scientific data supporting the benefits of a plant-based diet, stories of people who did it right and transformed their lives are powerful.

This is an excellent article. I especially love his opening paragraph:

Here is a comprehensive list of what I ate, in one form or another, on the day I wrote this:

Kale, mustard greens, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, quinoa, amaranth, pinto beans, beets, parsnips, turnips, yellow peas, brown rice, kimchi, purple cabbage, butternut squash, blueberries, a banana, hemp seeds, flaxseed oil, snap peas, an apple, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachio nuts, garlic, broccoli, raisins, granola, avocado, polenta, salsa, a few saltines, a piece of raisin toast with apricot jam, tofu, coffee, olive oil, harisa, chickpeas, tomatoes, a small handful of chocolate chips, a couple of beers ... and a vitamin.

How to Get People to Give Blood

In his delightful memoir, A Year in Provence, English author Peter Mayle tells how he and his wife gave blood in their village to help a desperately ill child. I have written in this space on my experiences giving blood to the Red Cross where I live. If the Red Cross followed the French model—at least the way they do in the town of Gordes—they'd probably get a lot more donors:

In England, the reward for a bagful of blood is a cup of tea and a biscuit. But here, after being disconnected from our tubes, we were shown to a long table manned by volunteer waiters. What would we like? Coffee, chocolate, croissants, brioches, sandwiches of ham or garlic sausage, mugs of red or rosé wine? Eat up! Drink up! Replace those corpuscles! The stomach must be served! A young male nurse was hard at work with a corkscrew, and the supervising doctor in his long white coat wished us all bon appétit. If the steadily growing pile of empty [wine] bottles behind the bar was anything to go by, the appeal for blood was an undoubted success, both clinically and socially.

Some time later, we received through the post our copy of Le Globule, the official magazine for the blood donors. Hundreds of liters had been collected that morning in Gordes, but the other statistic that interested me—the number of liters that had been drunk—was nowhere to be found, a tribute to medical discretion.

Uke Revival

In the early part of the 20th century, ukuleles were everywhere, having not yet been displaced by guitars as the most popular stringed instrument. The Martin guitar company made thousands and thousands of ukes—so many that they didn't even give them serial numbers which makes the vintage models hard to date and value today. But Martin stopped making them eventually when their popularity waned.

But a genuine, power-and-fire ukulele revival is under way. Martin started making them again a few years ago and now can't keep up with orders. And with Martin cranking them out again, boutique builders are cashing in as well, and popular rock 'n roots musicians are adding them to their repertoire (Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, Mumford and Sons, et al).

The hottest boutique uke builder right now is Mya-Moe Ukuleles in White Salmon, Washington, a husband-and-wife team (with a couple helpers) that is building drop-dead gorgeous instruments. You have to see the woods to believe them—here and keep clicking through them 600 plus ukes in the gallery.

Here's Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan doing one of her songs with her Mya-Moe:

Brevity

Blaise Bascal, the French polymath, is supposed to have once written, "I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter."

This counterintuitive statement illustrates what most of us know from experience (and what Strunk and White teach in The Elements of Style): It's much harder to write fewer words than more.

Put another way, writing is really rewriting and editing (cutting). I certainly violate the "less is more" principle in this blog (and conversation) but cannot afford that luxury in my work—as I have learned the hard way: A book contract once called for 80,000 words and I turned in 104,000—and was asked to cut 24,000 words. (In my defense, it was a marketing issue: The manuscript I turned in would have been more expensive to print and would have raised the cost of the book, hurting sales. Welcome to book publishing!)

For several years, I have written a series of pieces for a client that have to be exactly 130 words in length. Sometimes I turn in 129, sometimes 131—but 130 is the target. By the end of today I will have written 1,164 of these pieces, or a total of (approximately) 151,320 words. (That's enough words for a nice two-volume set on the history of something. It also demonstrates that the impressive two-volume history of something you've longed to write can be done—130 words at a time.)

Writing to an exact word count has been a great teacher. With word-count functions available in word processing software today, writing for an exact word-count target is a greatly under-utilized teaching tool. If teachers would assign their students the daily task of writing "your number one goal for today in exactly 17/23/29/31 words"—or some similar, short exercise—they would go a long way toward teaching students how to write well; how to choose, substitute, eliminate, and prioritize their words.

Just a thought.

(Delete that last line.)

Twelve Percent Less in Five Years

Mark Bittman, food columnist for The New York Times, talks about the reasons for a great trend in the U.S.: meat consumption is down 12 percent in the last five years. His conclusion: It has nothing to do with availability, prices, or any other external reason. Rather, people are eating less meat because they are choosing to eat less meat. Link.

Thought for the Day 16.0

From Seth Godin's blog:

One option is to struggle to be heard whenever you're in the room. Another is to be the sort of person who is missed when you're not.

The first involves making noise. The second involves making a difference.

At Least I Wasn't Texting

I had a two-hour drive on the freeway last night and had my camera with me so took a few time exposures of trucks passing by. Is it against the law to take pics while driving . . . yet?

Vegan Body Builders

New York Times article on vegan body builders here. (Thanks, Stephen.)

National Treasures

For the last several years, I have waited religiously for the broadcast of the annual Kennedy Center Honors awards ceremony. It is the best two hours of television I know of.

The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., honors five members of the artistic community—music, comedy, dance, theatre, film—in a gala ceremony that celebrates their achievements. Even if I am not already familiar with, or a fan of, each nominee's work, the 20 minutes devoted to each is an incredible, and always moving, introduction to their work. They are honored with a short movie retrospective of their work, then by performances by their peers that illustrate their achievements. It's a black tie event and the audience is filled with all manner of recognizable artists who come to honor their friends and peers.

The ceremony is held in the fall and broadcast a few weeks later on CBS. The production value is of the highest quality and a pure pleasure to watch. It is a celebration in the truest sense of the word. The productions seem to get better every year -- yet I rarely hear them mentioned by John Q. Public. I think lots of folks are missing something special. (There are tons of YouTube segments from past Kennedy Center Honors presentations.)

The 2011 awards went to saxophonist Sonny Rollins, Broadway actress Barbara Cook, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and actress Meryl Streep. There is always one representative from the "popular" music field that really gets the crowd on their feet, and this year it was Neil Diamond.

Following is the segment of this year's show honoring Diamond featuring performances by Rafael Saadiq, Jennifer Nettles, Lionel Ritchie, and Smokey Robinson. A couple of things that will help you enjoy the last song, "Sweet Caroline," that won't be immediately evident: "Sweet Caroline" is sung in the middle of the 8th inning at all Boston Red Sox home games, and it was inspired by Caroline Kennedy, the host of the honors show, when Diamond saw a picture of her when she was a little girl. You'll understand when you see it. Enjoy . . . and tune in next year! (And hats off to Meryl Streep for her engagement with every moment of the performances—not just Neil Diamond's, but all the honorees.) (There's a 2-3 second blank space in the video, but it continues.)

If You Don't Laugh out Loud at This . . .

If you don't laugh at Fred Armisen's question (he of Saturday Night Live), you probably don't laugh at The New Yorker cartoons either. My first thought after reading this—after laughing out loud—is that it would make a great New Yorker cartoon. See the whole newyorker.com article here.

This week, Margaret Talbot writes about Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, the comedic masterminds behind IFC’s “Portlandia.” We sent Gabriele Stabile to photograph the pair in New York. “Fred’s apartment has wonderful northern light, beautiful views of the Upper West Side, and an unbelievable vacuum-cleaner robot,” Stabile said. “One of the publicists showed up at the shoot eight and a half months pregnant, and Fred asked, ‘Does your husband know?’ When you’re around people who are seriously funny you realize how bad your jokes are.” Here are a few outtakes from Stabile’s shoot.

Thought for the Day 15.0

Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm --
which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to
be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such
quantities of commercial fertilizer. The genius of American farm
experts is very well demonstrated here: they can take a solution and
divide it neatly into two problems.

-Wendell Berry, farmer and author (b. 1934)

Fans and Their Objects

Nobody writes better, more sensible songs—and plays a more-muscled, yet articulate, acoustic guitar—than Darrell Scott. His Kentucky holler roots feed his songs and create a knowing rapport with his fans. I would love to have been part of the audience at this intimate performance of one of his best— "It's a Great Day to Be Alive." It must be so heartening for singer-songwriters to realize that their fans know the words to their songs.

In the song above, Scott plays a lovely koa Taylor guitar, but in this one he plays one of Stefan Sobell's gorgeous acoustics. He is a fabulous guitar player!

It's No Wonder . . .

It's no wonder thousands and thousands of women read Dee Drummond's blog every day (and some men, like me). She writes, and lives, "funny" and "funnier."

Why I Like FORBES

I like Forbes magazine for many reasons, and have for years. The magazine is not afraid to integrate a biblical worldview into their capitalist commitments, knowing that only capitalism allows the creation of excess to fuel charitable and other non-profit efforts. (As is often said, capitalism is the worst system in the world—except for all the others.) They print a favorite Bible verse, sent in by readers, on the back page of every issue. Rich Karlgaard, the publisher, is an active churchman who often mixes his spiritual insights with his business sense in his editorial column.

And they are willing to publish articles like this: "The Christmas Conspiracy: Spending Less = Giving More" by Keith Levy—an article that champions movements like Advent Conspiracy and Living Water International:

English Christmas

Amazed Again

I posted this video back on February 3. I recently emailed the link to a friend (we were discussing a magic trick) and in the days following I got tons of blog visits from people that he shared the link with and who they shared the link with, etc. It really is an entertaining magic trick if you missed it back in February. Just for fun, if you like it send the link to some friends so I can see how the virus spreads over the next few days. Once people see this they seem compelled to send it to friends: "Hey, watch this!" (P.S. I saw a video on YouTube that explains how the guy does the first trick -- and here's how he does the card trick.)

THE Question of the Ages Answered: What Is the Opening Chord to "Hard Day's Night"?

Best Way to Spend a Half-hour a Day

Link.

A Gaggle of Angels

I'm not sure what a group of angels is called—a multitude, a host, a flock, a gaggle? I kind of like gaggle so I'll go with that.

These gorgeous paintings of angels are by the wonderful artist Jane DesRosier (until recently of North Carolina, now Washington state). Actually, these are prints of her original paintings (couldn't have afforded the originals even if they'd been available). Six of them were mounted on birch plywood when I bought them from Jane, and four I mounted following her instructions. I think they are captivating—so reflective of the different personalities angels surely have.

Here's the group before I got them up on the wall:

And here are some close-ups—Jane does incredible amounts of layering and texturing; the colors are so deep. If you look closely on the third picture below you'll see a portion of Scripture text that's been layered into the paint:

And here they are grouped on the wall (I could have used some art direction here, but did the best I could):

I've posted this beautiful video of Jane in her studio before, but I'll post it again here so you can see this amazing artist at work painting "Jesus and Mother" (accompanied by Patty Griffin's song "Mary" -- gorgeous): Link. (Warning: when you land on the page, scroll immediately to the bottom of the page and turn off the music that plays automatically as it will conflict with the music in Jane's speed-painting video.

And here's another artist's (Katherine Labbe) portrait of Gritty Jane (as Jane DesRosier is known) herself—it looks a lot like her!

Thanks to God for Jane's great talent and to Jane for sharing it abundantly.

Winter Greens

Stopped by the Matthews Farmers Market this morning and came home with some beautiful winter greens: two bunches of collards, a bunch of regular spinach, two bunches of Bordeaux spinach (red stems), a giant head of Romaine lettuce and a head of red leaf lettuce. The temp was in the mid-30's this morning (lower overnight), and our local organic growers are still producing this beautiful produce:

I've been fortunate to have an abundant supply of Swiss chard growing in my own front bed. These chard plants are all from seeds from a plant that went to seed last year. I picked a leaf 21" long the other day (the leaf only, not counting the stem) and 10" wide to make a wrap for lunch.

Steve Jobs: Postmortem

One of America's best-known plant-based doctors, Dr. John McDougall, did a significant amount of research on Steve Jobs and the cancer that killed him, and offers some reflections on what caused his death—his vegan diet likely kept him alive longer than he might otherwise have lived, and the surgery he regretted not having sooner would not have saved him. Link.

What Are We Paying You For?

How to Google

Great primer on how to use Google to search for maximum advantage—including using Google to perform math functions and metric/standard conversions. Here.

Oops! Chris Matthews Has Gone off the Reservation

Bicycle Friendly

Here's a great idea arising from a great story:

The cycling team at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky, takes regular, long training rides on the roads surrounding the college. They were approached by some local residents who said (paraphrasing), "We like seeing the cycling team come by on their training rides and would like to support the team. We'd like them to know that if they ever need any assistance, especially in more rural areas—food or water, a phone, medical or mechanical help, directions—they are free to knock on our doors and we'll help them any way we can."

So together, they came up with the "Bicycle Friendly" sticker above. It's large—about 6" in diameter—to affix to the mailboxes of homes that are "Bicycle Friendly." When cyclists see the sticker, they know there are "friendlies" living there who will welcome the opportunity to assist them if they need help. And local businesses have gotten on the bandwagon—coffee shops, restaurants, and others who welcome cyclists are displaying the stickers on their storefronts.

In a day when cyclists are viewed as a nuisance by many folks, it's encouraging to find people who, even though they don't ride themselves, are still "Bicycle Friendly."

You can learn more about the program here, and order your own "Bicycle Friendly" stickers for your own mailbox or storefront. Ordering info is on the web site, or you can send a PayPal payment to grigsbyd@lindsey.edu. Stickers are $1 each and $1 for s/h for every 25 stickers ordered. That's obviously a break-even price, but proceeds support the Lindsey Wilson College cycling team. I've ordered some and plan to take a few by the two bike shops near me to encourage them to participate in distributing them.

They've already sold the first run of 10,000 stickers with more on order!

Needed: Economic Freedom

John Mackey, CEO of Wholefoods, has a great Wall Street Journal opinion piece on the need for economic freedom in America—i.e., economic reforms that would get the American economy moving again. From his editorial:

So why is our economy barely growing and unemployment stuck at over 9%? I believe the answer is very simple: Economic freedom is declining in the U.S. In 2000, the U.S. was ranked third in the world behind only Hong Kong and Singapore in the Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by this newspaper and the Heritage Foundation. In 2011, we fell to ninth behind such countries as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland.

How Apple Makes Money

Apple's secret weapon for making money is to control the supply and production chain—from manufacturing to retail. A Bloomberg Businessweek article provides a jaw-dropping look at how Apple controls how its products are built, shipped, and sold. Just amazing.

When College Presidents Were Eloquent

In his November 9 column, George Will discusses the financial power of college football—how teams are switching conferences, and traveling thousands of miles cross-country for games, in pursuit of ever-larger television and bowl appearance payouts. As a contrast to the current state of affairs, he cites the refusal of Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University's first president, to allow Cornell's football team to travel to Cleveland to play Michigan's team in 1873:

"I will not permit 30 men to travel 400 miles merely to agitate a bag of wind."

That's the kind of elocution one expects from a college president!

How Cats Use Computers

My daughter and her cat, Trina, are bunking with me temporarily after relocating here for a new job. Here is how Trina uses my daughter's iBook—as a be-hind warmer, apparently. If Trina was a Lab, a Vizsla, a German Short-haired Pointer, a Weimaraner, or Rhodesian Ridgeback, she would have had the computer open reading Drudge, making trades, or setting up a night of poker with her pals. But not Trina. As far as she knows, the white plastic thing is a hotplate just for her. Cats.

The Ultimate Tweaker

If you don't have time (or interest) to read the just-released 600-page biography of Steve Jobs, a condensed version of Job's personality is at The New Yorker here. It's a quick read, but captures the darker side of the man who many know only as conquering hero. I confess to feeling much differently about Jobs after reading the biography. Before the book, I saw him as a genius with quirks. After the book I saw him as a deeply flawed man who I wonder if I would have enjoyed knowing.

This article uses the paradigm of the English Industrial Revolution as a way to think about Jobs. He was not an inventor but a tweaker—the most obvious example being his implementation of the technologies developed at Xerox's PARC center that appeared in the first Macintosh, and which the world thought Jobs & Co. had invented: the GUI (graphical user interface), the mouse, and more. There were portable music devices and cell phones before the iPod and iPhone—but Jobs tweaked what existed and made it great. And drove people crazy in the process.

He was such a perfectionist that it took eight years for him to begin furnishing the house he and his wife bought—he insisted they discuss the "purpose of a sofa" for a long time before buying one. Same with a washer and dryer. In the hospital he rejected nearly three score nurses before he found a couple he could tolerate, also rejecting the oxygen mask and finger BP sensor because of their poor design. These and MANY other examples are in the book—and there are enough in the New Yorker article to flesh out an accurate picture of the man.

Perhaps the saddest example of his perfectionism came near the end of the life (this story is in the biography, not in the article): He only got half-way toward deciding whether there is a God or not. In one of his final interviews with his biographer, Walter Isaacson, Jobs said he wasn't sure about the existence of God. He figured there is a "50-50 chance" that God exists. Taking eight years to decide about furniture is one thing. But taking a lifetime to decide about the existence of God is a far more weighty gamble—and an unnecessary one in light of the evidence:

"But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse." (Romans 1:19-20, The Message)

I can only hope that Job's perfectionism—the demands that he made on those around him—didn't carry over to his contemplation of the existence of God right up to his final moments of life. The verse just quoted says there is enough evidence to decide. But perhaps not enough for those who demand complete compliance to their standards.

African-Americans, Diabetes, and Veganism

The American Diabetes Association says that 14.7 percent of African-Americans over the age of 20 have diabetes. A new study from Loma Linda University found that vegan African-Americans have a 70 percent reduced risk of being diabetic, while lacto-ovo African-American vegetarians (those who eat dairy and eggs but not meat) have a 53 percent reduced risk of being diabetic.

With the Centers for Disease Control saying that one-third of American adults (all races) could be diabetic by 2050, you wonder why this vegan/vegetarian solution is not being shouted from the government rooftops. Can you spell m-e-a-t a-n-d d-a-i-r-y l-o-b-b-y ?

Read the article here. (Thanks, Daniel)

How to Change Your Genes

Great Atlantic article summarizing some research on the effects of lifestyle on genes. In short, poor lifestyle choices (e.g., smoking) can make good genes go rogue, but people with genetic markers for, say, heart disease can greatly decrease the likelihood of the disease through things like exercise and eating more fruits and vegetables. The idea that our health and longevity are genetically predetermined and outside our control is no longer viewed as correct.

Summer Camp

If you're in the market for a summer retreat in the beautiful Adirondacks of upstate New York, you'll want to check out this unbelievable offering from Sotheby's—a collection of rustic structures on 42 acres on a lake, yours for $6.5 million. If you look at it for fun (I'm obviously not in the Sotheby's market), be sure to click on the various links (Interior, Exterior, etc.) to see more pics than those on the home page. Especially stunning are the pics taken at night showing the expanse of stars (the point is made that the nighttime pics are not Photoshop'd—that's really how it looks at night). The pic I've posted here is of the outdoor fireplace. Can you see yourself sitting around this on a brisk New York night? See it here.

What the Occupiers Need

(Thanks to Robert)

Viewing Jesus Wrightly

Former Anglican bishop (now professor at St. Andrews University in Scotland) N.T. "Tom" Wright is probably the leading evangelical New Testament scholar working today. I've always liked his perspective—creative and biblical. He has a new book out about Jesus (Simply Jesus—A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters) and is interviewed by FOX News here. Unfortunately, FOX News videos rarely play on my Mac through Safari or Chrome, though on Firefox they work okay. Viewer beware.

Give a Turkey a Break

Every year, the New York Times Well blog goes vegetarian for Thanksgiving, publishing three weeks of recipes (daily) leading up to the big day. This year's recipes started yesterday with four beautiful dishes: Coconut Butternut Squash Soup, Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries, Massaged Kale Salad with Cranberries and Cashews, and Seven-Vegetable Couscous. While they call this a "vegetarian" Thanksgiving, these first-four recipes are vegan—and the forthcoming recipes can likely easily be made vegan if there are any offending ingredients.

Vegan Endurance

The Tour de France is often called the most challenging sport of endurance in the world—three weeks and 2,000+ kilometers pedaling up and down mountains while sitting on a hard, skinny seat. But last year, long-time American pro cyclist Dave Zabriskie became the first cyclist to ride the Tour as a vegan, proving that plant foods are plenty adequate for strength and endurance. In his own words:

“I started watching a few documentaries and in conjunction with that I took a food sensitivity test. I had some allergies so the first thing I did was cut meat out of my diet. Then it was dairy and the last thing was the eggs. This year I become the first pro to ride the Tour de France totally vegan. It was a change that was important to me for an environmental reason as well. There are a lot of benefits to it. Of course it was tough at times. I’d see team-mates wolfing down hamburgers but I’m over the craving part of it. Then I turned it into an animal rights issue, a cruelty issue, and I began reading up about that too. That helped to reinforce my faith in the diet. I don’t preach to my team or anyone else. It’s just a choice I made. There are some hardcore versions of veganism that say you can’t have leather products but i’m not going to start tearing the seats out of my car. But perhaps I’ll be more conscious of things I’ll buy in the future.”

Spearfishing in Heaven?

I recently enjoyed reading John Eldredge's latest book, Beautiful Outlaw—Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus.

Those who have read Eldredge's previous books—especially Wild at Heart—know his perspective on spirituality to be muscular, aggressive, and humanistic in a good way—using Jesus' perfect humanity as a template for Christian spirituality, especially for men. For Eldredge, Jesus seems to be Sir Lancelot, William Wallace (Braveheart), and Tristan Ludlow (Legends of the Fall) rolled into one.

Eldredge has done us a favor in his books by reminding us that Jesus was a man and helping to restore an image of what it meant to be the Second Adam. Beautiful Outlaw spotlights the extravagant, disruptive, scandalous, cunning (Eldredge's words) nature of Jesus, along with His more familiar virtues of humility, honest, and beauty. So far, so good—until the end of the book.

In the last four pages of the book, Eldredge recounts an interview in which he was asked a question for which he wasn't prepared:

"What are you looking forward to with Jesus?"

He realized that, for all the thought he had put into his present experience with Jesus, he hadn't given a lot of thought to his future with Jesus. The question made him remember that a day is coming when he will see Jesus face-to-face and share life with Him.

For my part, when I read the interviewer's question, my first thought was, "Do you mean 'looking forward to' in the sense of the rest of my life here on earth?" or "Do you mean 'looking forward to' in the sense of the future as eternity?"

Eldredge obviously understood the question as referring to eternity, to heaven, because he cites the passage from Matthew 19:28-29 in which Jesus tells His disciples,

"In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will

rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule,

starting with the twelve tribes of Israel."

(The Message)

He goes on to emphasize the "re-creation of the world," calling it "a renewed heavens, a renewed earth":

"My friends, I hope you understand that we get the entire glorious kingdom back. Sunlight on water, songbirds in a forest; desert sands under moonlight; vineyards just before harvest—Jesus fully intends to restore the glorious world he gave us. Paradise lost; paradise regained. A hundred times over." (pp. 217-218)

In his eloquent way, Eldredge paints a picture of Eden reborn, the anticipation of which is hard to deny. But typical of Eldredge, he tends to read back into Eden romantic aspects of our fallen world, both in human and non-human dimensions. For example, will there really be deserts—"desert sands under moonlight"—in the new earth? Aren't deserts a sign of environmental disruption, hardly typical of "paradise regained"?

Quibbles aside, I was with him as he built a case for the joy of knowing, and being known by, Jesus in the "re-creation of the world." Only after painting the picture of what raced through his mind as he pondered the interviewer's question does Eldredge give us his answer—what he is looking forward to with Jesus when the world is restored to its created glory:

"Spearfishing." (p. 218)

Spearfishing?

He explained:

"I know this beautiful world will be ours again and so will Jesus, and all the time imaginable to play together. Beauty. Intimacy. Adventure. The very things we were given at the dawn of time. But honestly, more than all that, I'm just looking forward to seeing him, looking into his eyes, hugging him as Peter did on the beach and not letting go for a very long time." (p. 218, italics added)

First, credit is due for his priority of simply seeing Jesus rather than playing together. But his dream of "spearfishing" with Jesus in heaven, reflective of "the very things we were given at the dawn of time," is hugely problematic, biblically speaking.

Before saying why, I'm going to cut Eldredge some slack. The man is a hiker, a hunter, a high-mountain man—think William Wallace in High Sierra instead of Highlands plaid and Tristan Ludlow in Merrills instead of moccasins. His meal of choice is fresh meat on the bone and trout in the pan—preferably killed and cleaned with his own hands. So, not surprisingly, his idea of how to spend a day with Jesus in heaven is "spearfishing."

And that's where Eldredge gets into trouble biblically—reading the proclivities of fallen human beings back into an unfallen Eden ("the dawn of time") or forward into a recreated new earth ("the restored glorious world").

Where, in Genesis, does one find the image or idea of Adam spearing a fish, leaving a trail of blood in the water, for his food? God's prescribed diet for humankind was plants (Genesis 1:29). Yes, after the fall of humanity into sin and Eden into disrepair, a concession was made to allow man to consume animals for food (Genesis 9:1-6). But such a practice was not present at "the dawn of time."

And from where does the idea of Jesus being an enthusiast of killing animals for sport come? Jesus entered human history thousands of years past "the dawn of time" when concessionary practices were well established, such as raising animals for their by-products and pulling nets of fish from the sea. In fact, He facilitated such cultural practices by advising His disciples where to cast their nets to find a bountiful catch. He even ate a piece of fish Himself as a demonstration of His physical resurrection (and perhaps ate flesh foods on other occasions as well).

Jesus chose not to try to restore Eden in three years of ministry. Rather, He introduced the present-and-future kingdom of God in which all things (as Eldredge rightly notes) will be ultimately restored, ultimately recreated. But even though Jesus lived in the concessionary parenthesis in which we ourselves live, we don't see Him in Scripture as the blood-and-bone adventurer that Eldredge and those in the "Christian sportsman" movement want Him to be—taking pleasure in spilling the blood of animals for sport or even for food when such killing for food is neither original (Genesis 1:29) or necessary (as in today's world where plant foods are abundant).

How does the idea of "spearfishing with Jesus" fit with Isaiah's image of the future recreation?

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lied down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,

and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

(Isaiah 11:6-9)

That sounds like an Edenic setting, something to be found at the "dawn of time." And Isaiah says it will happen in the future—at least until John Eldredge and Jesus show up with their spears, bows and arrows, and guns and knives and start recreating the fall all over again on the new earth, staining soil and water with the blood of animals who were created to trust man, not fear him (Genesis 2:19-20).

Really? Something tells me Jesus won't be part of that adventure, nor will He sanction Eldredge or any other citizen of the New Jerusalem marring the eternal kingdom with behavior that is characteristic of fallen humanity.

Here's where I'll cut Eldredge a second portion of slack. What if he used "spearfishing" as a metaphor for "guys hanging out doing what guys do"? What if he used "spearfishing" as a way to say "spending time around the campfire with Jesus and a PBR, talking about life in guy terms"?

If that's what Eldredge meant, that's what he should have said. In Beautiful Outlaw and his previous books, he has established himself as a man's man who likes to hunt and fish and live in the great outdoors. So when he says he looks forward to spearfishing with Jesus in heaven, one can only assume he means shooting a barbed arrow through a defenseless fish, mortally wounding it, spilling its blood in the ocean simply because it's possible to do so.

In either case—whether Eldredge is speaking literally or metaphorically about spearfishing—it's an example of mature, thinking Christians not having a biblical theology of animals. Whether one uses hunting as a metaphor for "fun and fellowship" or a reference to a literal act, in neither case is there biblical grounds for doing so. The Bible gives no indication that animals were treated with anything less than complete respect at "the dawn of time" or will be in the restoration of all things. The fact that we treat them otherwise during the concessionary parenthesis of this age is a sign of our fallenness, not our maturity. (What Christian could be called mature who uses the concession of divorce as a way to casually and without cause dishonor the Edenic, permanent institution of marriage? The same question applies to animals. Concession does not equal creed; permission does not equal prescription.)

If you want a thought-provoking, biblically-based book on the humanity of Jesus (that doesn't diminish His divinity at the same time), read Beautiful Outlaw. Just don't make the mistake Eldredge makes of reading into your present or future life with Jesus everything that fallen man has invented for pleasure or entertainment—like the killing of animals.

God is in the process of conforming us to the true image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). We only distort and delay the process when we imagine Jesus looking in a mirror and seeing us.

The Skill of Blaming Others

At a fundraiser in San Francisco yesterday, president Obama said,

"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge."

The arrogance of that statement is stunning. Imagine: in three short years—since he became president—America's people have lost their ambition, their imagination, and their willingness to dream and build big. None of it is his fault, of course. It's all our fault. For some reason, which he failed to reveal, America's entire ideological ethic has changed.

I wonder if he can't see the correlation: This so-called loss of ambition, imagination, and ability to build big has happened on his watch. (It goes without saying that there has been no loss of ambition, imagination, or ability. People are doing what is natural in the face of the unknown—consolidating in a defensive position until the enemy leaves the gates.)

More and more, the evidence is that this man is in way over his head. For his own sake (and ours), I hope his misery ends next November.

Welcome to Amerika 2

In my humble opinion (and that of lots of businessmen), the number one impediment to job creation and economic growth in America is the Obama administration—period—for at least three reasons: excessive regulations, the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and uncertainty about future costs connected to ObamaCare. Businesses can't grow, and won't grow, until something is done about all three.

I have followed the story of the Gibson Guitar Company for months now. Their factory was raided in 2009 (by armed federal SWAT teams) for suspicion of breaking laws relating to the importation of certain kinds of woods used in guitars—woods that are on endangered species lists in certain countries. Gibson maintains its innocence (they have never been charged with any violation) and the countries of Madagascar and India have said Gibson violated no export laws of their countries. Yet Gibson continues to be persecuted by the federal government. This is a great example of the kind of irrelevant and unnecessary interference by the government in business.

Here's a short interview with the president of Gibson summarizing the situation:

Thought for the Day 14.0

In the preface to his new book, Suicide of a Superpower—Will America Survive to 2025?, Pat Buchanan asks,

"What happened to the country we grew up in?"

The last paragraph of the Preface provides an eloquent summary of what has gone wrong:

"When the faith dies, the culture dies, the civilization dies, the people die. That is the progression. And as the faith that gave birth to the West is dying in the West, peoples of European descent from the steppes of Russia to the coast of California have begun to die out, as the Third World treks north to claim the estate. The last decade provided corroborating if not conclusive proof that we are in the Indian summer of our civilization. Historian Arnold Toynbee wrote, 'Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.' And so it is. We are the Prodigal Sons who squandered their inheritance; but, unlike the Prodigal Son, we can't go home again."

Ron Paul: Still Making the Most Sense

Ron Paul is still making a lot of good sense. Here he is on last Sunday's Meet the Press:

Remembering with Excellence

It's not enough for Apple to create insanely great products (Jobs' term) -- they even do insanely great memorial services. The outdoor memorial service for Steve Jobs was great: reminiscences by Tim Cook, the new CEO, Bill Campbell, longtime board member, Johnny Ives, who designs the Apple products, and most compelling, Al Gore, Apple board member. For all of Gore's wacky politics, the man is a terrific speaker. Music by Nora Jones and Coldplay—wow! I got tears and chills listening to the Coldplay song that backed one of the early iPod commercials.

The whole service is a reminder that good and great are not enough in life—only insanely great will change the world.

You can watch the service here.

Need for Speed

While watching a YouTube video, I accidentally control-clicked (Mac; right-click on PC) on the video window while it was playing and discovered a choice to view my download speed for YouTube videos for the last month compared to other local communities, my state, and the USA. As you can see from the chart below, I averaged about 13 megabytes per second download speed while watching YouTube videos—significantly higher than the other averages presented. I wonder how accurate these numbers are? With the proliferation of broad-band connections (I have Road Runner Turbo), I would think average download speeds would be higher than 4-5 megabytes per second. Knowing, however, how many homeowners use DSL to connect to the Internet, which is VERY slow compared to cable (see the "Windstream" rating in the lower-left corner—3.3 mpbs—which is a local telephone/DSL Internet provider in my area), perhaps the numbers are accurate. But my speed of 13 mbps from YouTube is still significantly less than what I get when testing my down-and-up-load speeds at sites like speakeasy.net and speedtest.net (depending on the time of day around 21-25 mbps). Understandably, downloading a video from YouTube might be slower than a clean packet download from a test site.

Watch a YouTube video and check your own download speed compared to other averages.

At least once a year . . .

At least once a year, I try to spend an hour at the web site of the Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio to watch videos of the acoustic artists and bands that have performed there. Blue Rock is located near Austin, Texas, and combines a high-end music production facility with a small, intimate concert venue. They keep a regular schedule of top indie and labeled acoustic artists coming through. Most are unknown to me, I'm sorry to say, but I thoroughly enjoy the professionally produced video summaries of their concerts. Well worth an hour or two of time.

Biblical Illiteracy

What's wrong with this picture? (If the Wall Street occupiers don't know any more about the economy than they do about the Bible, they're in for a disappointing run.)