Time casts a spell on you, but you won't forget me...
Okay, I have a lot of catching up to do, as promised, so here goes. There will be a lot of information under the cuts: the first cut will discuss what I did this weekend. Then I will talk about today in the regular entry. To keep the visible size of this entry down (it's going to be a large one, I know), I will include the unusually large (6) number of reviews in another cut--3 for history books, one for a movie ("Zoom") and the last two for cds (Fleetwood Mac's excellent "The Dance" and Sting's "Mercury Falling"). So, without any further ado, here goes.
Okay, as promised, I will go into further detail about services before going through the rest of my weekend, which should explain why I only caught up with livejournal now, so late on Monday night. The sermon this Sabbath was from Mr. Veller on angelic intervention. Now, the subject of angelic intervention is certainly an interesting one. It's the sort of subject I try to stay away from myself, because it is so complicated that there are no simple rules that can be taken from it without distorting the complexity of the picture. I know I have at least a couple of angelic intervention stories (which I will beg off of telling). For me, I have long been intrigued by why we are rescued from some situations but not from others. There are times when God intervenes to prevent some terrible things from happening, but others where we suffer horrendously without any seeming aid at all. The reasons for this are obscure--our rescue or lack thereof is not dependent at all (it seems) on our knowledge or faith or goodness, but rather depends on the will God has for us, and that is a terrifying and difficult thing to discern. If we are delivered from a trial, it is because God has been merciful on us and does not wish us to suffer, but if we are not, then there must be some meaning to find in that suffering, however difficult it may be to determine why God would have us suffer so greatly. Each of us has our own tale to tell in this regard. As long as we are alive, God is not through with us yet, and so we still have work to do.
Just after services ended Mr. Treybig came up to me and gave me UCG's policy guidelines (a rather thorogh and explicit set of guidelines, to be certain) that everyone who serves any capacity involving children and teens in UCG has to sign. The document, if enforced, is quite an excellent one. Of course, those who are not seriously disturbed would wish to protect young people from sexual abuse. That should be a given. As usual, though, enforcement tends to be the issue. I read through it rather closely, signed my John Hancock, and gave it back to him after the Bible Study ended. The Bible Study was one of those ironies of timing. You see, on Friday I got my (new) voter registration card (I happen to know, albeit slightly, the Hillsborough County commissioner of elections: who happens to be a restauranteur--he and his brother founded Buddy Freddy's, a southern-style buffet--and he also happens to be the former state representative when I lived outside of Plant City as a child). Okay, so that was a rather rambling introduction to an ironic event, but the Bible Study was on politics. While not directly forbidding voting, the Bible Study (such as it was) clearly implied that avoiding political behavior was morally superior to such involvement in the affairs of this world. Of course, much depends on how one defines politics and political involvement. Since I have more than a passing interest in political philosophy, and as it is an area I tend to study rather closely and frequently, I take a very broad meaning of politics--according to my judgment political behavior is any behavior which seeks to influence the decisions of others about anything. If one wishes to avoid political behavior it would be necessary to be a hermit in the cave, and I doubt any minister of any CoG group (save perhaps the most independent of the independents) would advocate such a thing. In fact, if one takes their argument to the logical conclusion (with a proper understanding of political behavior, that is), it would appear that the lower one's involvement in any sort of group, the less one practices politics, and the more righteous one is. As one reaches higher positions of responsibility and accountability in any organization (whether it is a business, a social group, a family, a church, a a political entity, even a wicked homeowner's association) the more one engages in political behavior. Power of any kind is inseperable from politics--and politics are a constant of any type group, becoming more political as it becomes more hierarchial and stratified. In short, physician, heal thyself. Or rather, let those with beams in their eye take them out before messing with the motes in the eyes of others. It has been my experience that those who rail the harshest against politics are in fact among its skillful users. And I, who study political philosophy closely, am quite a woeful practitioner of politics, to be honest. But as I have spent a great deal of time, energy, and pages on the matter of politics, I too must confess my deep involvement in political matters. Even in such mundane matters as political elections, my only appearance in USC's "Daily Trojan" paper was the day after the 2000 election, where my picture was on the cover. Sadly, the wrong name was attached to it, something I was unaware of (I did not make it a habit to read the paper religiously, as some of my classmates did). When they pointed out the picture to me, I called the paper up to correct that error. I found the whole situation rather entertaining, to say the least, even if the Election of 2000 did lead to a bunch of angry Democrats attempting to storm my dormroom when my roommate and I played "We Are The Champions" to celebrate (albeit prematurely) Bush's victory in Florida, and thus the Electoral College as a whole. My life is full of so many ironies, I know.
After church I relaxed and read some (see second cut), and then I went over to Bobby's, where I swam with Bobby and his daughter Elizabeth, who was taking her second trip to the pool. She's already learning some important pool behaviors, such as kicking her legs in the water to keep afloat and holding the edges of the pool for safety. After that I dried off and we got another car seat to put in Bobby's car, so that he can take both of his wee children out. This is a good thing. I headed home before it was too late to drive (for me), but after it was too late for me to head on the computer.
Sunday I woke up and read for a couple of hours, always a relaxing way to begin the day for me whenever possible. Then I picked up Alan from the airport (since I had not checked my e-mail I did not know that it was the 18th anniversary of his Ph.D, a very nice milestone indeed). I had a lovely filet for lunch, checked out some Real Estate Owned properties, and then went home to discuss money matters with my folks (that means my mother, who is a very calculating person when it comes to finances, and I don't mean that as a slam, unless I mean to insult myself as well). Then I went over to Bobby's again where role playing games were the main event (I started my own FFX party, for example, and we had an in-depth discussion of FFX and FFX-2 with one of Bobby's neighbors and former coworkers, which included an amusing discussion of the relative virtues of Yuna and Lulu, a matter too obscure to discuss here at length). By that time it was fairly late, so I went home, realizing it was way too late to check my e-mail. So it had to wait until today.
Okay, today was a pretty busy day. I reviewed three plans, sent three plans of mine (and two of a coworker's) to the architect for him to seal (I hope he gets them tomorrow, but we'll see). I also added a plan to the FL website and sent a plan to PSI (a rival third party agency in Orlando--one I have it on good second-hand authority where a young lady from the neighboring congregation of my church works, though I have not met her yet) that was mistakenly sent to us by the engineer. After work it rained all evening, which drenched me on several occasions before I got home. I first dropped off the package for the architect, then went to the movies to see "Zoom" and finally arrived home, where I found to my surprise that 3 cds from Lala had arrived and that my (very late) birthday present (speaking of birthdays, my cousin Krystle had her 25th birthday today) arrived in the mail. I love birthday presents that are, like me, sharp and pointed. Blades are always a good present, and this one came with a throwing blade as well. Sweet. I don't know if it's a good thing that I find weapons such great presents, but it is what it is. It is somewhat of a family tradition (both sides of my family collect guns and knives and swords of various kinds), as is so much else in my life, as little as I like to admit it. Anyway, on to the reviews.
Book Review: "Don Troiani's American Battles" - Don Troiani
This is a great collection of paintings from a master of American military panting, Don Troiani. There are some pictures from the American Revolutionary and a few from colonial history, but the overwelming majority of these drawings are from the Civil War. The paintings themselves are superb examples of realism, and the lovely (and funny) footnotes below the drawings show how the subjects of paintings were researched, who commissioned the drawings, as well as the modeling for the paintings. Far more than a mere book of fantastic paintings (that alone would have been a worthwhile read), this is a book that demonstrates a clear commitment to realism to truth, even when it is extremely difficult to reconstruct the past accurately. No hack painter, Mr. Troiani even goes through exhausting research to find the color of the horse ridden by the subjects of his paintings. This clear commitment to detail is admirable in the extreme. We should all be so consumed about being right, and as focused on making the best possible guesses when clear answers are not present. It is only a shame that I was not aware of him before, though some of his works actually look familiar. Then again, I am a history nerd, so I'm sure some of the two dozen or more Civil War books I have include at least some of his masterful paintings. If you have the chance to see his paintings in collection or in this fine book, it is well worth taking the opportunity to see such paintings.
Book Review: "1805: Austerlitz" - Robert Goetz
Austerlitz was a decisive battle, leading to a decade of French hegenomy in Europe, and this book explicitly attempts to provide a balanced view of that battle, but it's a hard thing to do. I mean, how much drama can you put into a battle where despite equal numbers one army suffers four to five times the casualties of the winning army. I mean, making that sort of whipping dramatic is a challenge. This book does not quite manage to make the account entirely balanced, but the author cannot be blamed for the failure, but must be credited for a most noble attempt. The book is a compelling look at military genius as well as rank incompetence, and the accounts of the various generals and their actions, as well as the dispositions of the troops during the battle and its twists and turns, is excellent. If you are going to read a book about this most famous battle, the decisive campaign of the War of Fifth Coalition on land (see next book for the other decisive battle of that same war), this is a good one to start with. What is a shame is that the Austrian-Russian army fought so well in this battle, and was so shamefully led by many of its general commanders.
Book Review: "Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed The World" - Roy Adkins
The title of this book is somewhat ironic--this book focuses a lot both on the battle of Trafalgar, as well as on Nelson in particular, and the predominance of England on the sea during the nineteenth century. Of course, Nelson was mortally injured fairly early in the battle of Trafalgar, and so his involvement in his crowning battle, the last major sea battle involving all-wooden fleets, was slight. That does not take away from the totality of the British victory--no British ships were lost during either the battle or the hurricane afterwards, while almost twenty French and Spanish ships were lost. That is stunning, especially when one considers that the English were outnumbered and outgunned during the battle. This is an excellent page-turning book about the sea battle that basically ended France's attempts to match Britain on the seas. The book includes a lot of maps of the dispositions of the ships, which is helpful, since sea battles as this are somewhat complicated, and American's aren't so used to great sea battles (we still think that the Monitor-Merrimack duel was a great sea battle, and that involved 5 ships total, while this battle involved over 60 ships). Even after the battle is done the drama does not stop, not with the hurricane that follows or with the race to deliver the news of the victory (and Nelson's death) to England. All in all, this book is a fantastic read, and very well researched to boot. I highly recommend for the would-be naval historian and those who enjoy reading about English history.
Movie Review: "Zoom"
I did not see the movie I expected to see in "Zoom," instead, I saw a better one. Promoted as a "Sky High" sort of comedic movie about a group of kids with super powers, this movie ends up being something more touching and poigniant. A washed up former superhero called "Captain Zoom," played by Tim Allen as a bitter cynic, is brought to hurriedly train four spunky young people with natural gifts, when it is found out that his brother, long exiled in another dimension, is returning. Our heroes, of course, do not know this. You see, instead of this movie being merely a funny movie where four talented kids learn to work together involving lots of special effects and physical comedy (though, certainly, all of that does happen), this movie ended up striking a rather personal nerve to me. You see, Captain Zoom and his brother, Conner, were given huge amounts of radiation by the military (file this one under abuse of authority) in hopes of making them stronger, but instead it ended up turning Conner to the dark side, and the experience left Captain Zoom so embittered that he walked away from being a superhero altogether, his powers seemingly gone. It takes a lot to get him to move beyond his bitterness at being used for his talents, something I can understand all too well. There are even touches of romantic comedy in this film between the older teens among the young superheroes, as well as between Zoom and the lovely (albeit toned down) psychologist who has secret superpowers of her own. The ending is a happy one, and one that reminds us all that while we cannot undo the tragedies of the past, we can allow our experiences to help us protect the next generation from at least some of the suffering. That lesson, and the ways in which the misfit kids find ways of using their powers in socially constructive ways, is a lesson of hope for all of us misfits who are so often used for our talents but so shamefully treated when it comes time for socialization. There is a bit too much I can relate to personally in this movie, but that's how life goes sometimes.
Album Review: "The Dance" - Fleetwood Mac
The Chain - This is a fantastic opener, and a testament to the surprising unity behind a rather fractious band. The band sings and plays this song as if they mean it.
Dreams - This song has to be considered as somewhat obligatory, as it was the only #1 hit for Fleetwood Mac, but it's still an excellent song, and finely done in this live version.
Everywhere - A lovely Christine McVie number from "Tango In The Night," this is a hopeful song about love, again excellently done.
Rhiannon - Another relatively familiar song from the heyday of Fleetwood Mac, this song is again excellently done, very subtly and sparsely.
I'm So Afraid - A dark Lindsey Buckingham number, this song is pensive and moody--which fits Mr. Buckingham rather well. I happen to like this song a lot. It reflects chillingly well my terrifying fear of intimacy.
Temporary One - Another hopeful Christine McVie number, this tune expresses the wistful hope that the conflict/crisis (within the band?) will be a temporary one.
Bleed To Love Her - This Lindsey Buckingham number, which also appears on "Say You Will," is a dark song about an obsessive love.
Big Love - Another great Lindsey Buckingham number, this is yet another dark song about love gone wrong.
Landslide - The definitive version of this song (sorry Dixie Chicks), and the second single from this album, this version expresses a wise but somewhat nostalgic Stevie Nicks coming to turn with her past.
Say You Love Me - This is yet another hopeful love song from Chistine McVie, with a slight tinge of bittersweet irony, sung so sweetly as always by Ms. McVie. John McVie sings his first vocals ever on this song.
My Little Demon - Mick Fleetwood finally manages a drum solo in this dark (yet again) number from Lindsey Buckingham.
Silver Springs - My favorite song from this album, and the first single from the album, this is a never before released classic written originally during the "Rumours" sessions, and a great song about a doomed love from Stevie Nicks.
You Make Loving Fun - This is yet another hopeful love song from Christine McVie, again done very well.
Sweet Girl - Another nostlagic/reflective Stevie Nicks song, this song sounds somewhat autobiographical, and rather ironic if that is the case.
Go Your Own Way - This is another angry/moody/dark song from Lindsey Buckingham, and another of my favorites (of many) from this album. Is it a bad thing to relate to the ferosity of this song?
Tusk - This song is a great and dark song featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band. Every time I hear this song I think of "UCLA sucks..." Ah, the wistful memories of my undergraduate days. Thank you Mr. Buckingham.
Don't Stop - The unfortunate theme of Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, this is fitting closure for one of the best live albums I've ever heard (it's in the top 5, if not the top 2 or 3) of a band that hasn't stopped, yet.
Overall: This album is fantastic, without a single "skippable" track. For a live album, that is a fantastic achievement. This album proudly belongs in the Fleetwood Mac oevre, somewhere around their self-titled album and Rumours. The album is a blend of hits, obscure tracks, and the occasional new song. It was a worthy success for a band that had gone a decade without a hit album of new material, and four years without any material at all. This album stands as a rare live album from a legacy act that deserves status above that of a nostalgia tour, and that's saying something grand indeed.
Album Review - "Mercury Falling" - Sting
The Hounds Of Winter - This is a great opener to this album, a dark song of an abandoned lover facing both the literal and figurative winter of being alone.
I Hung My Head - This is a rather grim narrative song about a young man who draws a bead on a lone horseman, kills him, and then faces the death penalty of hanging. The title of this song, and most of its lyrics as well, are bitterly ironic.
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot - This is one of those "trust your intuition" songs, which I really I don't like, but the song itself is rather wise in questioning the advice of others, even if one cannot trust one's self either. It was the first single from the album, and a minor AC hit.
I Was Brought To My Senses - This song, a rare positive love song on the album, suggests the survival of hope even in the darkest of times, and it's quite a lovely song, with a very nice instrumental string part.
You Still Touch Me - The second single from this album, this is a bittersweet song about how a previous lover still touches someone long after she has left. Life is like that, sadly.
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying - The third single from this album (and my favorite song from the album), this is a song about recovering from an ugly divorce where adultery is involved. I actually attempted to sing this song in a church variety show, but the powers that be in the congregation were less than enthralled with the sort of grim realism I tend to have. While I would never glorify divorce (I know its ill effects all too well), one has to face reality, and divorce is a bitter reality for many people.
All Four Seasons - Again, this is a relatively positive song on an otherwise quite grim album, reflecting on the turning of the seasons of love and life, and reflecting that winter will not last forever, and that moods change quickly.
La Belle Dame Sans Regrets - This song, sung entirely in French, fits in with the album's theme of love and loss. The title itself seems to be a reference to the excellent poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," but perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.
Valparaiso - This song is another narrative one reflecting on a sailor's far distant love as he sails near the famous Chilean port of Valparaiso (a place I have visited personally).
Lithium Sunset - This is a rather dark little song, and I don't know how much to read into it, but it appears to be a reference to anti-depressant drugs, and the attempt to look to medicine to cure the ills of the mind. I think that is all I need to say about that.
Overall: The album is a clear concept album, opening and closing with the words "Mercury falling." The album is a good one, though the mood is mostly one of dark reflection on the failure of love and even the threatening approach of death and insanity. This is not light material. It is a good album, though, even if none of these songs were particularly large hits (except on the country charts, where "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" was a top 5 hit).
That's all...
Okay, as promised, I will go into further detail about services before going through the rest of my weekend, which should explain why I only caught up with livejournal now, so late on Monday night. The sermon this Sabbath was from Mr. Veller on angelic intervention. Now, the subject of angelic intervention is certainly an interesting one. It's the sort of subject I try to stay away from myself, because it is so complicated that there are no simple rules that can be taken from it without distorting the complexity of the picture. I know I have at least a couple of angelic intervention stories (which I will beg off of telling). For me, I have long been intrigued by why we are rescued from some situations but not from others. There are times when God intervenes to prevent some terrible things from happening, but others where we suffer horrendously without any seeming aid at all. The reasons for this are obscure--our rescue or lack thereof is not dependent at all (it seems) on our knowledge or faith or goodness, but rather depends on the will God has for us, and that is a terrifying and difficult thing to discern. If we are delivered from a trial, it is because God has been merciful on us and does not wish us to suffer, but if we are not, then there must be some meaning to find in that suffering, however difficult it may be to determine why God would have us suffer so greatly. Each of us has our own tale to tell in this regard. As long as we are alive, God is not through with us yet, and so we still have work to do.
Just after services ended Mr. Treybig came up to me and gave me UCG's policy guidelines (a rather thorogh and explicit set of guidelines, to be certain) that everyone who serves any capacity involving children and teens in UCG has to sign. The document, if enforced, is quite an excellent one. Of course, those who are not seriously disturbed would wish to protect young people from sexual abuse. That should be a given. As usual, though, enforcement tends to be the issue. I read through it rather closely, signed my John Hancock, and gave it back to him after the Bible Study ended. The Bible Study was one of those ironies of timing. You see, on Friday I got my (new) voter registration card (I happen to know, albeit slightly, the Hillsborough County commissioner of elections: who happens to be a restauranteur--he and his brother founded Buddy Freddy's, a southern-style buffet--and he also happens to be the former state representative when I lived outside of Plant City as a child). Okay, so that was a rather rambling introduction to an ironic event, but the Bible Study was on politics. While not directly forbidding voting, the Bible Study (such as it was) clearly implied that avoiding political behavior was morally superior to such involvement in the affairs of this world. Of course, much depends on how one defines politics and political involvement. Since I have more than a passing interest in political philosophy, and as it is an area I tend to study rather closely and frequently, I take a very broad meaning of politics--according to my judgment political behavior is any behavior which seeks to influence the decisions of others about anything. If one wishes to avoid political behavior it would be necessary to be a hermit in the cave, and I doubt any minister of any CoG group (save perhaps the most independent of the independents) would advocate such a thing. In fact, if one takes their argument to the logical conclusion (with a proper understanding of political behavior, that is), it would appear that the lower one's involvement in any sort of group, the less one practices politics, and the more righteous one is. As one reaches higher positions of responsibility and accountability in any organization (whether it is a business, a social group, a family, a church, a a political entity, even a wicked homeowner's association) the more one engages in political behavior. Power of any kind is inseperable from politics--and politics are a constant of any type group, becoming more political as it becomes more hierarchial and stratified. In short, physician, heal thyself. Or rather, let those with beams in their eye take them out before messing with the motes in the eyes of others. It has been my experience that those who rail the harshest against politics are in fact among its skillful users. And I, who study political philosophy closely, am quite a woeful practitioner of politics, to be honest. But as I have spent a great deal of time, energy, and pages on the matter of politics, I too must confess my deep involvement in political matters. Even in such mundane matters as political elections, my only appearance in USC's "Daily Trojan" paper was the day after the 2000 election, where my picture was on the cover. Sadly, the wrong name was attached to it, something I was unaware of (I did not make it a habit to read the paper religiously, as some of my classmates did). When they pointed out the picture to me, I called the paper up to correct that error. I found the whole situation rather entertaining, to say the least, even if the Election of 2000 did lead to a bunch of angry Democrats attempting to storm my dormroom when my roommate and I played "We Are The Champions" to celebrate (albeit prematurely) Bush's victory in Florida, and thus the Electoral College as a whole. My life is full of so many ironies, I know.
After church I relaxed and read some (see second cut), and then I went over to Bobby's, where I swam with Bobby and his daughter Elizabeth, who was taking her second trip to the pool. She's already learning some important pool behaviors, such as kicking her legs in the water to keep afloat and holding the edges of the pool for safety. After that I dried off and we got another car seat to put in Bobby's car, so that he can take both of his wee children out. This is a good thing. I headed home before it was too late to drive (for me), but after it was too late for me to head on the computer.
Sunday I woke up and read for a couple of hours, always a relaxing way to begin the day for me whenever possible. Then I picked up Alan from the airport (since I had not checked my e-mail I did not know that it was the 18th anniversary of his Ph.D, a very nice milestone indeed). I had a lovely filet for lunch, checked out some Real Estate Owned properties, and then went home to discuss money matters with my folks (that means my mother, who is a very calculating person when it comes to finances, and I don't mean that as a slam, unless I mean to insult myself as well). Then I went over to Bobby's again where role playing games were the main event (I started my own FFX party, for example, and we had an in-depth discussion of FFX and FFX-2 with one of Bobby's neighbors and former coworkers, which included an amusing discussion of the relative virtues of Yuna and Lulu, a matter too obscure to discuss here at length). By that time it was fairly late, so I went home, realizing it was way too late to check my e-mail. So it had to wait until today.
Okay, today was a pretty busy day. I reviewed three plans, sent three plans of mine (and two of a coworker's) to the architect for him to seal (I hope he gets them tomorrow, but we'll see). I also added a plan to the FL website and sent a plan to PSI (a rival third party agency in Orlando--one I have it on good second-hand authority where a young lady from the neighboring congregation of my church works, though I have not met her yet) that was mistakenly sent to us by the engineer. After work it rained all evening, which drenched me on several occasions before I got home. I first dropped off the package for the architect, then went to the movies to see "Zoom" and finally arrived home, where I found to my surprise that 3 cds from Lala had arrived and that my (very late) birthday present (speaking of birthdays, my cousin Krystle had her 25th birthday today) arrived in the mail. I love birthday presents that are, like me, sharp and pointed. Blades are always a good present, and this one came with a throwing blade as well. Sweet. I don't know if it's a good thing that I find weapons such great presents, but it is what it is. It is somewhat of a family tradition (both sides of my family collect guns and knives and swords of various kinds), as is so much else in my life, as little as I like to admit it. Anyway, on to the reviews.
Book Review: "Don Troiani's American Battles" - Don Troiani
This is a great collection of paintings from a master of American military panting, Don Troiani. There are some pictures from the American Revolutionary and a few from colonial history, but the overwelming majority of these drawings are from the Civil War. The paintings themselves are superb examples of realism, and the lovely (and funny) footnotes below the drawings show how the subjects of paintings were researched, who commissioned the drawings, as well as the modeling for the paintings. Far more than a mere book of fantastic paintings (that alone would have been a worthwhile read), this is a book that demonstrates a clear commitment to realism to truth, even when it is extremely difficult to reconstruct the past accurately. No hack painter, Mr. Troiani even goes through exhausting research to find the color of the horse ridden by the subjects of his paintings. This clear commitment to detail is admirable in the extreme. We should all be so consumed about being right, and as focused on making the best possible guesses when clear answers are not present. It is only a shame that I was not aware of him before, though some of his works actually look familiar. Then again, I am a history nerd, so I'm sure some of the two dozen or more Civil War books I have include at least some of his masterful paintings. If you have the chance to see his paintings in collection or in this fine book, it is well worth taking the opportunity to see such paintings.
Book Review: "1805: Austerlitz" - Robert Goetz
Austerlitz was a decisive battle, leading to a decade of French hegenomy in Europe, and this book explicitly attempts to provide a balanced view of that battle, but it's a hard thing to do. I mean, how much drama can you put into a battle where despite equal numbers one army suffers four to five times the casualties of the winning army. I mean, making that sort of whipping dramatic is a challenge. This book does not quite manage to make the account entirely balanced, but the author cannot be blamed for the failure, but must be credited for a most noble attempt. The book is a compelling look at military genius as well as rank incompetence, and the accounts of the various generals and their actions, as well as the dispositions of the troops during the battle and its twists and turns, is excellent. If you are going to read a book about this most famous battle, the decisive campaign of the War of Fifth Coalition on land (see next book for the other decisive battle of that same war), this is a good one to start with. What is a shame is that the Austrian-Russian army fought so well in this battle, and was so shamefully led by many of its general commanders.
Book Review: "Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed The World" - Roy Adkins
The title of this book is somewhat ironic--this book focuses a lot both on the battle of Trafalgar, as well as on Nelson in particular, and the predominance of England on the sea during the nineteenth century. Of course, Nelson was mortally injured fairly early in the battle of Trafalgar, and so his involvement in his crowning battle, the last major sea battle involving all-wooden fleets, was slight. That does not take away from the totality of the British victory--no British ships were lost during either the battle or the hurricane afterwards, while almost twenty French and Spanish ships were lost. That is stunning, especially when one considers that the English were outnumbered and outgunned during the battle. This is an excellent page-turning book about the sea battle that basically ended France's attempts to match Britain on the seas. The book includes a lot of maps of the dispositions of the ships, which is helpful, since sea battles as this are somewhat complicated, and American's aren't so used to great sea battles (we still think that the Monitor-Merrimack duel was a great sea battle, and that involved 5 ships total, while this battle involved over 60 ships). Even after the battle is done the drama does not stop, not with the hurricane that follows or with the race to deliver the news of the victory (and Nelson's death) to England. All in all, this book is a fantastic read, and very well researched to boot. I highly recommend for the would-be naval historian and those who enjoy reading about English history.
Movie Review: "Zoom"
I did not see the movie I expected to see in "Zoom," instead, I saw a better one. Promoted as a "Sky High" sort of comedic movie about a group of kids with super powers, this movie ends up being something more touching and poigniant. A washed up former superhero called "Captain Zoom," played by Tim Allen as a bitter cynic, is brought to hurriedly train four spunky young people with natural gifts, when it is found out that his brother, long exiled in another dimension, is returning. Our heroes, of course, do not know this. You see, instead of this movie being merely a funny movie where four talented kids learn to work together involving lots of special effects and physical comedy (though, certainly, all of that does happen), this movie ended up striking a rather personal nerve to me. You see, Captain Zoom and his brother, Conner, were given huge amounts of radiation by the military (file this one under abuse of authority) in hopes of making them stronger, but instead it ended up turning Conner to the dark side, and the experience left Captain Zoom so embittered that he walked away from being a superhero altogether, his powers seemingly gone. It takes a lot to get him to move beyond his bitterness at being used for his talents, something I can understand all too well. There are even touches of romantic comedy in this film between the older teens among the young superheroes, as well as between Zoom and the lovely (albeit toned down) psychologist who has secret superpowers of her own. The ending is a happy one, and one that reminds us all that while we cannot undo the tragedies of the past, we can allow our experiences to help us protect the next generation from at least some of the suffering. That lesson, and the ways in which the misfit kids find ways of using their powers in socially constructive ways, is a lesson of hope for all of us misfits who are so often used for our talents but so shamefully treated when it comes time for socialization. There is a bit too much I can relate to personally in this movie, but that's how life goes sometimes.
Album Review: "The Dance" - Fleetwood Mac
The Chain - This is a fantastic opener, and a testament to the surprising unity behind a rather fractious band. The band sings and plays this song as if they mean it.
Dreams - This song has to be considered as somewhat obligatory, as it was the only #1 hit for Fleetwood Mac, but it's still an excellent song, and finely done in this live version.
Everywhere - A lovely Christine McVie number from "Tango In The Night," this is a hopeful song about love, again excellently done.
Rhiannon - Another relatively familiar song from the heyday of Fleetwood Mac, this song is again excellently done, very subtly and sparsely.
I'm So Afraid - A dark Lindsey Buckingham number, this song is pensive and moody--which fits Mr. Buckingham rather well. I happen to like this song a lot. It reflects chillingly well my terrifying fear of intimacy.
Temporary One - Another hopeful Christine McVie number, this tune expresses the wistful hope that the conflict/crisis (within the band?) will be a temporary one.
Bleed To Love Her - This Lindsey Buckingham number, which also appears on "Say You Will," is a dark song about an obsessive love.
Big Love - Another great Lindsey Buckingham number, this is yet another dark song about love gone wrong.
Landslide - The definitive version of this song (sorry Dixie Chicks), and the second single from this album, this version expresses a wise but somewhat nostalgic Stevie Nicks coming to turn with her past.
Say You Love Me - This is yet another hopeful love song from Chistine McVie, with a slight tinge of bittersweet irony, sung so sweetly as always by Ms. McVie. John McVie sings his first vocals ever on this song.
My Little Demon - Mick Fleetwood finally manages a drum solo in this dark (yet again) number from Lindsey Buckingham.
Silver Springs - My favorite song from this album, and the first single from the album, this is a never before released classic written originally during the "Rumours" sessions, and a great song about a doomed love from Stevie Nicks.
You Make Loving Fun - This is yet another hopeful love song from Christine McVie, again done very well.
Sweet Girl - Another nostlagic/reflective Stevie Nicks song, this song sounds somewhat autobiographical, and rather ironic if that is the case.
Go Your Own Way - This is another angry/moody/dark song from Lindsey Buckingham, and another of my favorites (of many) from this album. Is it a bad thing to relate to the ferosity of this song?
Tusk - This song is a great and dark song featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band. Every time I hear this song I think of "UCLA sucks..." Ah, the wistful memories of my undergraduate days. Thank you Mr. Buckingham.
Don't Stop - The unfortunate theme of Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, this is fitting closure for one of the best live albums I've ever heard (it's in the top 5, if not the top 2 or 3) of a band that hasn't stopped, yet.
Overall: This album is fantastic, without a single "skippable" track. For a live album, that is a fantastic achievement. This album proudly belongs in the Fleetwood Mac oevre, somewhere around their self-titled album and Rumours. The album is a blend of hits, obscure tracks, and the occasional new song. It was a worthy success for a band that had gone a decade without a hit album of new material, and four years without any material at all. This album stands as a rare live album from a legacy act that deserves status above that of a nostalgia tour, and that's saying something grand indeed.
Album Review - "Mercury Falling" - Sting
The Hounds Of Winter - This is a great opener to this album, a dark song of an abandoned lover facing both the literal and figurative winter of being alone.
I Hung My Head - This is a rather grim narrative song about a young man who draws a bead on a lone horseman, kills him, and then faces the death penalty of hanging. The title of this song, and most of its lyrics as well, are bitterly ironic.
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot - This is one of those "trust your intuition" songs, which I really I don't like, but the song itself is rather wise in questioning the advice of others, even if one cannot trust one's self either. It was the first single from the album, and a minor AC hit.
I Was Brought To My Senses - This song, a rare positive love song on the album, suggests the survival of hope even in the darkest of times, and it's quite a lovely song, with a very nice instrumental string part.
You Still Touch Me - The second single from this album, this is a bittersweet song about how a previous lover still touches someone long after she has left. Life is like that, sadly.
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying - The third single from this album (and my favorite song from the album), this is a song about recovering from an ugly divorce where adultery is involved. I actually attempted to sing this song in a church variety show, but the powers that be in the congregation were less than enthralled with the sort of grim realism I tend to have. While I would never glorify divorce (I know its ill effects all too well), one has to face reality, and divorce is a bitter reality for many people.
All Four Seasons - Again, this is a relatively positive song on an otherwise quite grim album, reflecting on the turning of the seasons of love and life, and reflecting that winter will not last forever, and that moods change quickly.
La Belle Dame Sans Regrets - This song, sung entirely in French, fits in with the album's theme of love and loss. The title itself seems to be a reference to the excellent poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," but perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.
Valparaiso - This song is another narrative one reflecting on a sailor's far distant love as he sails near the famous Chilean port of Valparaiso (a place I have visited personally).
Lithium Sunset - This is a rather dark little song, and I don't know how much to read into it, but it appears to be a reference to anti-depressant drugs, and the attempt to look to medicine to cure the ills of the mind. I think that is all I need to say about that.
Overall: The album is a clear concept album, opening and closing with the words "Mercury falling." The album is a good one, though the mood is mostly one of dark reflection on the failure of love and even the threatening approach of death and insanity. This is not light material. It is a good album, though, even if none of these songs were particularly large hits (except on the country charts, where "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" was a top 5 hit).
That's all...