Recent media that I have ingested

Since it's been a while for posting my ramblings, I have continued to read, watch TV and movies.  So without further adu, let's start with books.

First up I recently finished They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell'Abate.  Baba Booey is the nickname that the author was given on the Howard Stern show over 20 years ago.  The book is an autobiography.  As with most people, there are triumphs and tragedies, people who anchor you, and people who drive you crazy.  This book is no different.  While a lot of people know Gary from the Stern show, his personal life is a lot different (as most people in the media usually are) and this is no different.  It's interesting how his family his relationship with his crazy Mother helped to actually strengthen his personality on when dealing with the public.  Overall the book is good, not great.  I would give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Next up on the hit parade, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris.  In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape". Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible. 

It was difficult to listen to at times as Harris described the atrocities that religion forces on various societies.  But he has to point of the atrocities to make his case of how terrible organized religion treats everyday people.  I agree with the premise of the book, and after reading this book, it only reaffirmed what I had felt before.  I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

A break from the books.  I saw Thor a last week, and I was impressed!  I was never a comicbook kid.  The only way I knew of the various superheros was from Saturday morning cartoons.  So when these vaious comicbook movies come out, I like the background story that a lot of them provide.  What I don't like is when they are a 'hit' and then go back and make  pre-quil.  Start at the begining and take it from there.  I think Marvel is kind of doing that with these movies that are leading up to The Avengers movie in 2012, essentially building a grand story from all of these individuals.
Anyway, the story is really good and I give it 4 our of 5 stars.



I'll add updates as I read and watch more.

Recent Media

In my free time, between working, gardening, family stuff, and household chores, these are the latest media that I have been involved.

Transformers: The Movie

Finally a good summer movie! In my previous posts I haven’t been too happy about the movies that I have seen this summer. Transformers was different. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have had to watch the cartoons to know what was going on, and you don’t. Basically, these guys over here are the good guys; these over there are the bad guys. Lots of action and the story moves along at a good pace.

The most interesting part of the movie is the visual effects. When you saw Star Wars, you knew something changed, and then you saw Jurassic Park, something changed. Then came The Matrix, and that was a big change. Transformers is one of those movies that is a new high-water mark for visual effects. I highly recommend seeing this movie! (And I don’t do that very often)

Einstein: His Life and Universe

If I haven’t mentioned it, I listen to audio books while riding the train to work. I saw an interview with the author of this book a while back and finally got around to getting the audio book. And it turned out to be a really good book. I’m not going to go into all of the details, but there is a lot that I can personally relate. Not that I am a genius or anything of the sort, but I do try to be a progressive thinker. And that is what Albert Einstein did in his life also. The physics seemed to be a means to an end. His interest in physics was an intense hobby, but in another age it could have been any subject. His personal life was even more interesting. Einstein separated from his first wife and married his cousin. This may seem odd today; I don’t think it was unheard of 100 years ago. There was never any plans for children between them, and none were conceived (both had children from previous marriages).

Einstein also went became a very public figure and was often asked for his opinion of world events. In the late 1920’s he became more involved with being a Zionist. With the anti-Semitic fervor in Germany, this lead to Einstein being ostracized by his country-men and others in the political and academic circles. Finally in 1933 with Hitler in power, he left Germany forever and none too soon. His house was ransacked and eventually seized by the Nazis.

It would take pages for a full review, but it was an interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone.

GO put your strengths to work

This is a business, self improvement type of book. There is apparently a Strength Improvement philosophy within business improvements circles and this book build on this philosophy. Essentially what the philosophy emphasizes is that you should improve the areas of your life that you have your most strength. As oppose to improving the areas that you are weakest. If you look at it from a grading point of view, if you go from an F to a D, there really isn’t much of an improvement. If you go from a B- to and A, that looks a lot better and you will improve your work much more. Thus working to improve your strengths as oppose to where you are weak, makes a bigger change for the better.

“Go put our strengths to work” gives examples of how to improve your strengths and case studies of how others have made improvements. I listened to the audio book and it comes with a CD of PDF files that can be used for exercises described in the audio. These were helpful to determine how to modify your work habits to make improvements.

Overall this was a good book if you have the job flexibility to modify your workflow. Personally I will try to use some of the techniques to assess where my strengths lay and where this will help me move forward in my career.

That’s all for media reviews, see you next time.