Narrenschiff

Sometimes a book just rubs you the wrong way. I recently read a science fiction book called letters of the flesh; a fictional collection of letters by aliens that bond with human souls to allow both species to find salvation in infinity (an oversimplification but consider it the essence of the tale). It is an example of the pitfalls of science fiction (another post on that later), but what I have been thinking about why it irked me so.

I believe it's main sore point for me is the underlying assumption that the society of faith knows best and that suffering happens for the greater good. As B mentioned in book club "I'm a happy person, am I beyond salvation?" The idea that someone must be utterly broken before god can mould them to his purpose is uncomfortable to begin with before you add the question of who is involved in the remaking.

Honestly, I just can't separate the politics from it. I constantly look for some way to reconcile  the faith to the politics, but it never addressed by religious leaders (at least the ones I have found). I don't the solution.

A more personal fear I have alluded to with the title. The book fool is rarely from my mind. With authority easily questioned, I often wondered whether I'm reading the right books or not. Perhaps Wilde was right to say there are only well or poorly written books.
All this from a cheap sci-fi book.

Getting ready to head home.

Okay this: isn't very profound. I'm mostly do This to test out my phone. Morse substance to come.

First week of health

There is a starting point four everything. This week I have been exercising everyday for the first rime in six months. I won't lie, it has been a bit rough with my abs not loving it. Still there a sense of accomplishment at get the body moving.
Of course, week 2 is the real challenge.

Writing from the future with my thumbs

Well another device with the capacity to blog from anywhere. Although one could argue that my new toy, the Samsung galaxy, truly is able to blog anywhere provided itched a signal. So now I just need to find the time to write, something to write about, time, and the ability to type with my thumbs. Get ready brave new world.!
If this will ever post

Testing tech

This is a small post from my iPad. It is a test to see if it will let me blog "the go"--which in theory would increase the regularity of my posting. At the very least remove one more excuse.

Living in the not too distant future

As a book lover, and despite my best efforts, the digital format has become a larger item of thought than I would prefer. One should always strive for content in reading, but recently I find myself pondering the medium rather than the message so to speak. In my defense it is the statements of others that prompted this thinking rather than any ruminations of my own.

It all really circles around the mantra/comment of many readers that "they like the feel of a book". It has been repeated so often to me I find myself wondering if this isn't a knee jerk reaction and doesn't express their true thoughts on the matter. As a result, I'm trying to move beyond my own knee jerk reaction.

Yes, I enjoy the pleasure of getting through a thick tome, but otherwise my satisfaction is mostly from the content (as my enjoyment of online essays attest to). The main pleasure of paper books  appears to be not in their reading, but rather their place on my bookshelves. There is something about being surrounded by stacks of books that is comforting to the soul. The book as an item of decor doesn't sit well with me, I don't like the idea of being the book fool of the Ship of Fools.

The one distinct pleasure that digital has offered me--as the portability and storage has not been a selling factor for me (I live near a library and have a backlog of books. I am never wont for reading materials)--is that it feels like something out of Star Trek. Most e-readers look very close to the Pads used by the Federation as they mill about their Spartan quarters. All the data of humankind stored at their fingertips. It is a reassuring thought that the physical world will be less cluttered in the future.

The Star Trek metaphor is a short step from the SF metaphor of Star Trek vs. Star Wars, which I will conclude this simple thought. Star Wars is about what has been lost (the old republic, the Jedi, freedom) whereas Star Trek is about what will gained in a brighter future. If one must choose how the book universe will unfold, I think I will go with Star Trek. A future where one can still find and read the great books of history, although in a different format, is better than losing it.

Now I just need a device to give me more time to read.

Takeaway of the day: Fighting Back

    It is probably not a surprise to people that know me, but the past couple of elections have been rather depressing for me, not only did the outcome not meet my expectations, the election campaigns were sickening to watch. I'm not alone in my electoral sadness, and recently had a friend of mine describe their personal reaction and their attempt to "fight back" through writing. I must confess that my initial reaction was doubt, I'm a bit of an old school thinker when it comes to political change (I share Malcolm Gladwell's doubt of the need to bring "awareness" to an issue) and feel that you have to get your hands dirty to make stuff happen.

    So I left a wonderful party, my friend's words in my mind. After a day of thought, her particular phrase "My way of fighting back" came back to me. It made me wonder how one "fights back" when they are not a millionaire (or walking the corridors of power). So far I have come up with the following:

1. Living well; I believe Oscar Wilde said that living well is the best revenge
   
2. Enjoy what one has and the happiness of other; this weekend was a perfect example of that (Great news RR!!)
   
3. Participate where you can; write letters with your questions to your councilor, MPP, or MP. If it is well written, it might give them pause for thought. You never know how a good idea travels. Volunteer because sometimes you just need to be in the room and there is a shortage of people (See here for details)
   
4. Get ready for next time; nothing is eternal and things change. Stay informed, do #1-3 when you can
   

They are hard small steps, but they are steps and are more proactive that sitting around getting angry at opinion pages.

If you are interested in going beyond letter writing, The City of Toronto is looking for feedback on the services they provided (what is a priority and what should be cut/expanded). You can give your feedback through their website. It's easy to do and your voice is heard.

Election number three this fall; Hoping for the best (until I volunteer <smile>).

Go to the Birds

I realize now that for one that doesn't really have any ornithological skills, I have been to four bird aviaries in the past two years. On top of that, three were in other countries; apparently I'm willing to go out of one's way to see bird sanctuaries. The oddest fact is that I don't think I know any more about birds than I did before touring these places. My identification skills are next to nil and I don't possess any vocabulary to discuss birds--apart from the obvious differences of size, colour, and outlandish beaks. As someone who loves trivia. They are like nosily,  tropical shrines to my ignorance.

That said, I have always liked birds, particularly observing them.. It's like people watching, only they let you take pictures.

S

Eunoia

Or rather in pursuit of it.

If there is any lesson I feel I should walk away with from this past month is that there is a lot to fill my life when I don't pay attention. I remind myself that writing needs to make it on the daily task list, but somehow that got away from me in March..

It was not unproductive: clutter was dealt with, a hefty book was finally finished (more on that later), people were moved, paperwork was done, and present shopping was partially executed. There is probably more that I don't mind being on the Internet but it elude me right now. That's that; let's move on.

Back to the start, I have been thinking about Eunoia when I sat down to write today. The word means "beautiful thinking" in Greek (not sure if it's ancient or modern) and it has come into my thoughts while worrying about the fracturing of the media sphere (that we are living in a cocoon world where we only hear what will re-enforce what we already believe) and with my perpetual paranoid feelings that I have intellectual blind spots.

I desire Eunoia, a perfect way of thinking that focuses my mind and gives me the tools to venture out boldly rather than passive consuming the product of the day. To be able to see bias, but more importantly see the world as it is. Perhaps elections bring such feelings to the forefront or that I have been doing a droning, driving commute that lacks the people watching of the subway or walking. The desire finds its way into my thoughts often.

Unfortunately, I have not found a clear guide or path to Eunoia. So this return blog post will be a rather rambling it has turned out to be. Well, I back. Room for improvement-- which I suppose is the opposite of Eunoia; not sure if the Greeks had a word for that.

And the Oscar goes to...

I'm not sure which one of us came up with the idea, but my wife and I have been going through the 2011 Oscar nominated movies. Just before the long weekend we finished the last movie currently available on DVD which brought our total to 6 of the 10 movies nominated. Here's the breakdown:

Inception: I really enjoyed this one, S was a bit more luke warm about it. To me it was pure plot slick. A maze of a movie which captured you as only an intricate, and possibly pointless, machine can. That said, I wish we could get more science fiction movies that were not about virtual reality.
The Kid's are all right: It was a twist on a conventional comedy of a couple at middle age. The twist (lesbians)  gave the plot some novelty and I found myself attached to the characters (well some of them).
Winter's Bone: A very unconventional movie in the sense it follows a thriller from the standpoint of someone pretty detached from the action. The atmosphere was well done (a poverty stricken Ozark community), but the pacing was brutal and a lot of the dialogue was eye rolling. It's beauty gave when to the banal, similar to a walk in the woods, eventually the trees blur together if your course is too long.
The Social Network I really enjoyed the dialogue in this movie, quick and fun (it was written by the West Wing guy; Sorkin), but there were major plot problems for me. The motivation of the main character seemed very contrived (particularly as it is a major distortion of reality, his girlfriend was completely written out). It also feel back a jock vs. nerd dynamic which felt outdated to me. Still, it was enjoyable.
Toy Story 3  A fun movie, but I'm not sure why it got nominated, I mean Toy Story 1 would have made sense as it was something new, but the 3 movie is a children series? Seems odd to me. Still, I enjoyed the movie for what it was; a predictable kids movie with pretty graphic and some winks to the adults in the audience.
True Grit A western, but a well done western. It's a remake and one I prefer to its original. I enjoyed the wordy western dialogue (No "like" or "you go girl" for a hundred years). Similar to some of the other movies about, the plot didn't really throw me for too much of a loop, with dialogue and character carrying the day.

Which one should win? Out of the lot I have seen, I'm leaning towards Inception or The Kids are All Right. Social Network is up there too because despite its many flaws, it was a well made movie (reminded me of Citizen Kane).

We still have four movies to see, which will be difficult as they are only in theatres. Our current plan will allow us to see Black Swan and The King's Speech. So unfortunately the Oscars will happen before we can see The Fighter or 127 Hours. Still, at the end of the day, we got to see 8 well made movies. What more can you really ask for?

Happy viewing.