Delicious Library 2

Posted on January 8, 2009 by seanb724

I learned of a new mac application today on another blog, and got to play with it a bit. It is basically a media library “organizer,” though I likely will just use it with books. It automatically pulled in all the music and movies from my iTunes library, so I do need to play with that a bit more.

The cool thing about books is that you can hold up the book’s UPC symbol to the mac’s built in iSight camera and it will attempt to scan it and pull in all the relevant info. (You can also use a bluetooth scanner…) I tried this out on about 30-40 books, and it was about 90% successful. The ones it failed on were Borders Classics books, and it appears that Delicious gets most of its data from Amazon, so that would make sense.

For books, it allows you to create “shelves” and drag and drop books from the library to the shelves. It also allows smart shelves, though I have yet to play with that.

I added a link to my “blogroll” but here is a direct link to my published library.

My Books

So far I like it, but there are a couple of key features missing.

The main feature I want is to be able to publish my “reading notes,” which I post on the blog, from the library manager. There is a place to add a “personal synopsis” and that would be ideal for keeping my notes. But I also want them published to the blog, and there is no way to do that. Since that is not possible today, I would at least like some way to tie the blog post to the book in my library. I am still working on that.

Also, when published to the web, if you click on the book cover, it only shows either my synopsis, if I have added one, or Amazon’s. But there is a bunch of other cool info in my manager that is not published, such as details about the book (size, pages, date published), quick info on reviews from amazon, etc. I am trying to figure out if I can have any other information that I can see linked to my public page. If I can’t, then just copying my notes from my blog into my synopsis may be the way to go, though I really want Amazon’s summary plus my notes available…

There are a bunch of other cool features, though I don’t know if I will use them all. But so far it seems like a handy tool and it is fun to “publish” my library and reading lists in a more visual way.

Let me know what you think. Is seeing a “virtual copy” of my library on the web cool to anyone else? 🙂

Reading List 2009

Posted on January 6, 2009 by seanb724

ancient_books

Last year was a year of much secular philosophy, mainly due to reading four Ayn Rand books, so this year I thought I would go the other way. I have gotten very interested in Reformed Theology recently, so I plan on working through a few books on that including the original Institutes of Christianity by John Calvin.

Here is my current list, in no particular order. A few of these I have already started, and I am sure more will be added as the year goes on.

The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
In Depth Study of Romans
- For some reason, Romans has come to me from a lot of angles the past 6 months, starting with an unexpected, long theological conversation I had with a Catholic Priest at Gatwick airport. Since that time, it continues to work its way to me one way or another…
- Have not picked one out yet, but I’m looking at this one.
ESV Study Bible
- I picked this up as a Christmas present for myself, and would like to work through it all, but I will probably go for a 2 year plan on this rather than the one year — my reading list for this year is already pretty substantial
The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin
- Reformed21 is doing a year long blog study on this, but my book won’t get here until 1/16! 😦
My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
- This is a daily devotional type book so I probably won’t read it all this year, but I would like to get it at some point and have it around.
CCIE Security book
- Need to pass CCIE Security written by 7/1!
Chi Running. Danny Dreyer.
- A book on running form, hopefully to continue to work on my knee issues. I have been running more and have not felt the knee too much.
What is Reformed Theology, RC Sproul
- I am already 1/2 way through this — excellent so far!
Yoga Anatomy
Leading with a Limp
The Screwtape Letters
- I’ve already read this, but I’d like to read with Kelly
The Tale of Despereaux
- I think I need more fiction! This was a great movie…
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote.
- After watching Capote a few weeks ago, I definitely want to read these.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Capote.
- Ditto above…

I think this is a fairly balanced list (workout/athletic, Bible + Bible Study, Biblical based fiction, “fun” fiction), though it is a little short on fiction and is unfortunately missing a “classic” — along the lines of the the books listed in “100 Must Read Books List.” I normally do try to read one or two of those a year. Hopefully I can fit one in, but right now this list is daunting enough!

The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake.

Posted on January 6, 2009 by seanb724

breece

Last year I came across a book of short stories that mentioned The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake, and I finally got around to reading it. Pancake’s stories garnered a lot of critical acclaim, yet he committed suicide at the age of 26, and these short stories are all he left behind.

I have to admit that I was not that impressed in the 1st half of the book, but thought the 2nd half was much better. However, the 1st half was read about 20 hours into the 40 hour trip back from Australia. So I decided the re-read the 1st several stories, and they were better than the 1st read!

The writing is direct and often dark, but engaging. Worth a read if you like short stories, which seems to be a lost art these days.

The Tale of Despereaux. 2008.

Posted on December 30, 2008 by seanb724

despereaux

Somewhat on the spur of the moment, due to a one day postponement in a trip to TN, we decided to take the kids to the movies and the only kids movie that was playing was the Tale of Despereaux. I had not heard of it, but after watching the trailer , we decided to give it a shot. What a pleasant surprise! I had recently decided that almost every major studio other than Pixar, and even Pixar to some extent, tries to engage adults with humor and innuendo that is not appropriate for all ages, even in G-rated movies. Despereaux does not do that at all, and what is even more interesting is that there is no hint of pop culture anywhere in the film.

Interestingly the article linked here came across one of my blog subscriptions after we got home, and it is worth a read. If you are short on time, here is one important quote:

It’s not rooted in any time. It’s not rooted in pop culture or in the moment, and I think that’s what makes it lasting. I think there are people reading this now as a 9- or a 10-year-old who are going to read it to their kids, just as I my give things that I read as a child, just like my wife gives Charlotte’s Web to our child.

There are things about a fairy tale that are just so epic, and so human, that they really sort of transcend that. There’s nothing wrong with those pop culture movies—I mean, I go to them—but this was a chance to make something that’s hopefully very rich and classic, with a lot of wonderful themes that are going to last. That’s what Kate did, and that’s what we tried to do.

There was one line in the movie along the lines of “as long as you have hope, you are free…” I have been trying to reconcile that with “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” but have not been able to do so yet. It seems that the definition of freedom is a recurring theme on this blog… Check out this search link.

Top Albums 2008

Posted on December 23, 2008 by seanb724

It seems like everyone else is doing top Albums of 2008, and it also looks like I don’t have many (or any!) of those albums. I guess I’m just not with it music-wise anymore. But I thought it would be fun to do my own list, so here are my top albums of 2008.
Notes:

These are albums added to my Library in 2008, not that were released in 2008, so my list will of course look much different than most others.
I used both objective and subjective criteria to rate these. Objective criteria are my play counts. Subjective criteria are my ratings and just thinking about where the album should be in the list.
This was much harder than I thought! While these are definitely my favorite albums of the year, it was not easy to pick a clear winner and there is often not much differentiation between the rankings.

1. Trans-siberian Orchestra, Beethoven’s Last Night. (2000)

This may seem like a quirky pick, but I love TSO, which is evident as they are my number 3 top played artist according to my playlist counts on ilike. That’s incredible since 3 of their 4 albums are Christmas albums (and I typically don’t play them year round!). Beethoven’s Last Night is a fascinating rock opera, and if you go for that kind of thing, this album MUST be in your library. The story line is great, and all the “riffs” of Beethoven’s classics (and Mozart too!) and how they are interwoven into the music are fantastic.

2. John Foreman Winter/Summer/Spring EPs. (2008)

Part of a larger group of 4 EP’s, the other one was released in 2007 (and added to my library in 2007). All 4 EP’s are fantastic, though my favorites are Summer and Fall. Foreman is a prolific writer, and all of his songs tend to strike a chord with me lyrically. This EP set is a nice break from Switchfoot (which is still one of my favorite bands) and allows Foreman to explore different sounds that don’t really fit the Switchfoot image.

3. Future of Forestry. Self titled EP and Twilight. (2006 and 2007)

I’m including both the EP and the album, but Twilight has all the songs of the EP and more. All of these songs are excellent, and this may be the “rockiest” sounding of all the albums in this list.

4. The Avett Brothers, Four Thieves Gone. (2006)

Home of my #1 played song in 2008 — “Left on Laura Left on Lisa.” The Avett Brothers are nothing if not quirky, but they have quickly become one of my favorite bands. Their sound defies categorization. While their early work could possibly fit under bluegrass, their later work doesn’t fit anywhere. But as singer/songwriters, they are awesome.

5. Okkervil River, The Stand Ins. (2008)

Great singer/songwriters… Each song is its own story, often fun, sometimes serious, always engaging. One review I read compared them to The Counting Crows, but I am not so sure I agree with that. CC are definitely darker, and mostly seem more personal/related to Adam Duritz, whereas Okkervil River seems more like stories written about others (though often sung in 1st person).

6. Mark Knopfler and Emmy Lou Harris, All the Roadrunning. (2006)

If you take the (somewhat) “soft rock” sound of Dire Straights, countrify it a little, and add a fantastic female vocal, you have this album. Great sound, great songs.

7. The Avett Brothers, The Gleam II. (2008)

One of my top 3 songs of the year, “Murder in the City,” is on this EP. These songs are somewhat more subdued than most other Avett Brothers Albums, but they continue to grow on me.

8. Radiohead. In Rainbows. (2007)

I guess I’m a little late, as this was #1, or at least top 5, in many top album lists last year. This is really the odd ball out in my list musically (partially because it is popular, but also because of the sound), but the music is good and often quite innovative, in my opinion.

9. Bon Iver. Forever Emma, Forever Ago. (2007)

This has one of the strangest sounds of all, and I have listened to it a ton, but still have not really explored the lyrics like I normally do with my favorite music. Sometimes that comes with time, as I hear the sounds over and over, and eventually am more drawn into the lyrics. I don’t know if that will happen here or not, but I still like the sounds.

10. Sera Cahoone. Only as the Day is Long. (2008)

This is another along the lines of Bon Iver at #11 above… I’ve heard this many times, but have not really listened (dug into) it… But the sound is soothing and relaxing, and maybe I’ll get into the lyrics when the time is right.

11. August Rush. (2007)

Great movie, and there is enough decent music on the album to make it onto this list.

Honorable Mention: Led Zeppelin. Mothership. (2007).

Somewhat of a sentimental pick… I got this for $4.99 on Amazon, even though I already have all of their music. But since they once dominated my listening, back in late high school and most of college, I am putting this in as an “honorable mention.

And here are my top played songs for those songs added in 2008:

And top played artists (all-time):

(this will be interesting to compare against next year…)

One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.

Posted on December 17, 2008 by seanb724

arabian

This is the story of a husband who decides to marry a different lady each night, and have her murdered in the morning, so that he never has to worry about their “deceitful” ways. Along comes one woman who tricks him into keeping her alive by telling him stories each night. I was familiar with most of the individual stories she told, such as Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but had never read them as told here, intertwined within the larger story.

Call of The Wild; White Fang; Other Stories. Jack London.

Posted on December 16, 2008 by seanb724

london

I have been wanting to read Jack London since reading/watching Into the Wild, and finally got around to it. This version has Call of the Wild, White Fang, and five other stories. All of them were quite good. I especially liked the contrasting developments in White Fang compared to Call of the Wild. In one, the dog goes from civilized to wild, and the other from wild to civilized. And I liked “To Build a Fire” a lot as well.

One quote from Call of the Wild:

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field refusing quarter….

The other side of the world…

Posted on December 15, 2008 by seanb724

While in Busselton, Australia, about 200 km south of Perth, I wondered if I was “on the opposite” side of the world. Thinking about it, I thought it was probably pretty close.

There is a great circle mapper at the following web page, which shows RDU – PER to be about 11,554 miles, which is pretty close to half way around the world. (Officially, the circumference is 24,901 at the equator and 24,959 at the poles.)

http://gc.kls2.com/

And an even better visualization of this is the following “antipodal” map. And that shows, as far as land mass, that NC is as close to opposite of south-western australia as you can get!

worldrev

Recently watched movies…

Posted on December 12, 2008 by seanb724

Flying to Australia and back gives me a chance to watch a lot of movies. On a 13-15 hour flight, I can fit in 2 full movies and still find time to read and sleep and eat. What else is there to do? The flying time plus the movies running in the room constantly (Dad turns them on all the time), and I saw a bunch of movies. I won’t write much about most of them, and going forward, I won’t be posting about every movie I see, just those that strike my in some way, shape, or form.

Brief summaries:

Hancock – – not Will Smith’s best

Leatherheads – pretty good, I’ve always been impressed with Renee Zellweger… (Well, other than the 4 month marriage to Kenny Chesney! But she was awesome in Cold Mountain.)

Cats and Dogs – made me laugh. a lot. silly, but hilarious.

Momma Mia – much better than I thought. Very good.

Capote – I was so tired that I did not make it through, but I will watch the rest of it, maybe tonight. Philip Seymour Hoffman was amazing in what I did stay awake for.

Cool Hand Luke – Ok, but by no means was I blown away with it. Maybe my expectations were too high based on how much I have heard about it.

Ghosttown – odd in that it was very funny for about the 1st half of it, and then it got much more serious. I laughed hard during the funny part, and the serious part was good too, in a different way.

I saw parts of other movies, but that is good enough for now…

UPDATE: Wow, just finished Capote… No wonder Hoffman won the Oscar for Best Actor. Amazingly good movie, though not a “happy ending.” Makes me want to read Capote’s books now.

Australia: Ironman WA December 7th live-blog

Posted on December 6, 2008 by seanb724

In a few hours Ironman Western Australia will be underway, and in this post I hope to be able to keep everyone up to date as much as possible. I will be using Dad’s iPhone to get text updates into this post, and I hope to use wifi to get some photo’s in as well. Keep this page open in your browser and refresh it every now and again to see the latest info I have….

4:35 just dropped dad off in the TA. He was up at 2:30 and I got up an hour later.

5:38 Dad has his “wettie” on and we are heading down to the swim start.

5:53 Dad is in the water warming up. Beautiful sunrise. A bit chilly but it will warm up!

6:00 The pros are off!

6:19 1000+ swimmers in a mass start is something to behold.

6:27 I’m walking along the jetty trying to find Dad but there are so many swimmers I am having trouble.

6:37 I think I found him. I hope to post some pictures when be goes out on the 1st bike leg.

6:55 The jetty is closed a couple hundred meters from the turn so I can’t see him for now, but it looks like he will hit the 1/2 way point about 42 – 43 minutes or so.

6:58 FYI there will be a lot fewer posts later when I won’t see him that often!!

7:37 Still going strong, very methodical. Nearing the final turn on the swim and then maybe 300 meters in.

7:57 Hmmm… I lost him in the water when I had to walk off the jetty while the swimmers cut over. 😦

8:07 Bummer, I missed him out of the water and out of the transition. Ironmanlive.com, #182, will have better updates than me for while.

8:34 McDonalds just on the edge of town has wireless, so I will post some pictures now.

p1020115

8:56 Ok, heading back in to town now. I am bummed I missed him coming out of the water and the swim to bike transition!

9:37 I am standing at the 56 and 58 km mark where I should be able to see him twice within a minute or two. I hope I don’t miss him again.

9:53 He just went by, which means he is finishing the 1st 60km loop of the bike leg, and I won’t see him for a couple more hours. Time to get some brekky!

10:28 I am back at Samovar for brekky.

11:16 The pros just got off the bikes — about 10-12 racers all within 60 seconds of each other!!

12:53 I guess I missed Dad finishing lap 2 but he is out there now. I have been standing where I can watch both the pros on the run and the start of the bike loop.

14:07 Pro male (Berkel) just finished in 8:07 of so. 24 years old, 1st Ironman win. Shortis caught and passed him in the beginning of the 3rd lap, but Berkel would not let it stand.

14:09 Dad should be finishing the bike in the next little bit.

14:10 Shortis just came in. 38 years old. 44th ironman!!

14:56 Dad just came in off the bike. Asked for a coke.

15:21 After the transition and a little coke, he is off on the run.

15:25 McDonalds is about a 20 minute walk one way, and I only have about 5 or 6 pictures, so I will wait to post those.

15:26 The wind is picking up, and the flies are terrible. 😦

15:35 I’ve stepped into “The Goose” for tapas and a James Squire amber ale, my new favorite Australian brew. Here is the view:

The iPhone does not take the greatest pictures so I will use the real camera and post it later.

16:03 Sitting here watching all these great athletes run by really makes me want to get in shape!

17:11 Dad just passed by me, and I am still at The Goose. This is probably the 11km mark or so. I think he is about 1:50 into the run with 33km to go. He was running and looking fine, though he did not hear me yell “go Dad!” I thing “Butler” works better. 🙂

17:29 Hah! I sat here at The Goose for over 2 hours and when I went to use the rest room there was a big sign saying they have free Internet… So let me upload some more photos. These 1st two are at the end of the 1st bike leg.

Ok, no wonder Internet is free here. 1000 ms back to the states! 😦

Here he is coming off the bike and starting the run:

And this is him running by The Goose around the 11km mark:

17:43 Ok, that is all the pictures for now. Dad is on the 16 or 17k mark of the run. I won’t see him again for another hour, I would guess.

19:42 Dad just passed me, he is about 2 km from finishing the 2nd of 3 loops. He again is asking for a coke as he is having trouble eating and drinking, and is afraid to run until he gets something with fizz. I will try to get something before he returns, I’m 2 km.

20:08 on the last 14km run leg, I was able to get a coke and ice…

20:30 walking the last bit in with dad.

20:34 Oops, Marshall just said I could not walk with Dad too long. So he is on his own for a bit… He is feeling better with the coke, but is not ready to run.

20:57 I just ran back to the finish area. Apparently “walking with” is considered outside assistance here, so I stopped as soon as a Marshall asked if I would be walking with Dad for long. He has about 10km to go I would guess.

22:18 2km to go!

22:25 His stomach has not felt good during the run so he has been walking it in. Just a few more minutes.

22:38 just ran thru!

22:49 All done. We are going to pack up and call it a day. I’ll write more tomorrow. Finish time was somewher around 16:23 I think.

Dec 8 Follow-up…

We got home and showered and went right to bed, and this morning we got up and went right to breakfast, since Dad had not eaten anything last night. Official finish time according to ironman.com was 16:23:00. I did run across the finish line with Dad — he wanted me to — though it did feel a little funny since I had not raced at all.

I woke up with terribly painful heels for some reason. Maybe a combination of the long hike in keens in thick sugar sand and on the beach a few days ago, all the walking and running yesterday, etc. I took some ibuprofen, I’m wearing a pair of Dad’s compression socks, and they are doing better. I hurt worse than Dad and he is the one who raced!

I really don’t have any more pictures to post than what I had last night, as it got dark and then I was walking with Dad whenever the marshal would allow!

We had fun but we are a both looking forward to getting home and seeing our loved ones. We miss you all!

[ p.s. I cleaned up some of the typo’s I had yesterday while posting updates from the iphone…]