The Loose Associations Podcast

Alright. This is just me fooling around. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I loved this book!

It is a broad and sweeping romance with prominent elements of mystery and horror. But it remains endearing. Set in the politically unstable and corrupt environment of post World War II Madrid, the tone is sad, dark and poetic.There are some scenes in the book that are so disturbing that I had to put the book down for a moment, only to quickly pick it right back up.

The overall theme of the book is obsessive passion. My take is that passion is a good thing to a degree, but when it reaches the point of obsession, it can be dismal and toxic.

This book is a big recommend!

Compromise and human nature

I posted this on The Talking Reef Internet forum. In the discussion lounge, fellow reef keepers began to air their political gripes. This is what I had to offer. (Click Here to see the original thread.)

I came here to read about fish stuff, and ran smack into the middle of a full out political debate!

I look at it this way, things are never as good as they seem and things are never as bad as they seem. What seems absolutely 100% right to you seems 100% wrong to someone else. There is no point in arguing because we are all at some level entrenched in our belief systems. We fall prey to the logical fallacy of confirmation bias to substantiate our world view, and we tend to aggregate around people with similar views.

That’s fine, its the way we are wired. But that is why we need a political process to achieve progress through compromise.

That is also why we need things like reef tanks. We need neutral common ground on which to relate to each other. Otherwise we’d all be at each others throats!

A moment during my run

The other night I went for a run after sunset around the neighborhood. Along the way I had a moment that I thought was worth sharing.

As usual, I was listening to music on my iPhone. My favorite is progressive rock/metal and my latest infatuation has been the band Tool. Their music is dark, complex, dynamic, moving, thoughtful, and at times disturbing. Maynard James Keenan is a freak of nature. His vocals are aching at times. His lyrics are very intellegent, but frequently strike an emotional chord. The other star is Danny Carey, the drummer. His tracks are as artful as they are technically proficient.

On the Lateralus CD, there is a song called Ticks and Leeches. It’s not the best song on the album, that honor would go to either Schism or Parabola, but it is still very good. It starts out as a loud jam in an odd time signature with Kennan screaming the lyrics. In the middle of the song, there is a stark chage in the tone and tempo to a darkly beautiful and hypnotic interlude.

I was listening to this song, running on a path through some trees. Just as the song dynamically shifted, the trees opened up revealing a long moon lit meadow with high grass and hundreds of lightning bugs twinkling in the dark depths. I stopped and savored this for a moment, letting the music rush over me.

I went on to finish my run with lifted spirits.

Drift

Drift

Book Review: The Rocket that Fell to Earth by Jeff Pearlman

The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality by Jeff Pearlman

This is a well written book about someone that I used to idolize

Roger Clemens was an intimidating pitcher that dominated well into his 40’s. He was known for his work ethic, and his longevity was attributed to his hard work in the gym while off the field.

It turns out that this, in fact, was too good to be true. There is ample evidence that when Clemens started to show signs of aging, and he lost his zip, he turned to steroids.

This, unfortunately, was not that unusual. Baseball was riddled with performance enhancing drugs. What is amazing is the arrogance, deceit, and malignant competitiveness. Clemens was a great pitcher, because that is all he did. It seems that his development was arrested in almost every other way. The praise and worship that he received from fans, and even other players was constant, and he began to believe it. The myth overshadowed the reality so much that even Clemens was under its spell.

When the allegations of steroid use were made public by the Mitchell report, he unraveled much like he often did while pitching in high pressure situations. Instead of owning up to his transgressions and settling with a modicum of dignity, he took the low road and feverishly (and at times comically) denied steroid use. This escalated all the way up to lying under oath before congress and exposing himself to the real risk of doing some serious prison time.

This was a captivating story that made clear the dangers inherent in fame and fortune. Excellent summer reading.

View all my reviews.

Review – Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ken Follet, formerly known as a cold war spy novelist, has indulged his fascination with Englands historical cathedrals and castles by writing this epic tale. The story chronicles the lives and the intrigue required to build a cathedral. All the while, the reader is also given a very descriptive and textured (and often graphic) historical look at day to day existence in medieval Englan

It explores themes of passion, faith, greed and corruption. The villain, William Haleigh, is truly despicable, while the heroes (Tom, Jack etc.) are flawed and at times reluctant.

Although it clocks in at almost 1000 pages, it is well paced and held my attention quite well. It was well worth the time and effort.

View all my reviews.