| Phaedo's Lyceum | |
| Version 4.0 Script Last Modified: December 31 1969 16:00:00. |
I got tired of making manual updates to this new version of the page. I wanted to track what I was reading as a sort of journal, but doing it all by hand got too time consuming. I put together a simple database interface so I could make updates on the road. I don't know if I am going to keep adding features to this or not, but it's an interesting start. I'll keep ya posted.
The lists below start with reviews I am adding as I write the script. I haven't decided yet whether to go back and include other types of reviews or to put some of my best-loved stuff on (C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, etc.). I'll keep you posted. At any given time I am reading (and/or listening to unabridged audiobooks) about 3 books. The order they may appear is somewhat random, so I am trying to sort the entries as they come from the database. Anyway, I am sure your mileage may vary, but hey, it's interesting to me. Having been doing this for some time, I think the last 5 reviews in each category is ok. I am working now on a new version of the page which will default to limiting the printed reviews/quotes but you will be able to click something to let you see them all. It's just cleaner this way. If however, you'd like to see everything, please click here |
| Jumping Off Places for Conversations Worth Remembering | |
|---|---|
| "I'm sorry, I left my thimballs and socialist reading material at home." | --Harold Crick. Zach Helm. Stranger Than Fiction. |
| "Once you realize that power will always end up with the sort of people who crave it, I think that there are worse people who could have it than Peter." | --Valentine Wiggen. Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game. |
| "In America, Political Will is a renewable resource." | --Al Gore. An Inconvenient Truth. |
| "But here the retreat is from the source of life, the treacherous sun, and no poetry adorns it because disillusionment cannot be beautiful." | --E.M. Forster. A Passage to India. |
| "Forgive everyone everything! Now!" | --Morrie. Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie. |
| Some Unasked Opinions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry Date | Title/Name | Author/Location | Thoughts | |
| Art | ||||
 November 01 2008 20:21:46. |
Pope-Leighey House | Frank Lloyd Wright | Toured the home today. It's been relocated from its original spot in the path of then-coming I66 in Falls Church to the Woodlawn Plantation grounds in Alexandria. A study in horizontal, the most striking feature is the absence of vertical lines in a home which is essentially a giant cypress box. Worth the trip. | |
| April 28 2005 12:55:51. | Wooden Mirror | Daniel Rozin | I have seen this installation only online, but I have to say I have thought about it quite a lot since the initial viewing. I think that my own way of thinking about the digital world we live in -- in the same thoughts as I consider shark fishing, or reading the next Harry Potter critique -- is an amalgam of things virtual and things tangible. I think this underlies the wooden mirror and its goals as well. If you check out the link, make sure to watch the video of the man in front of the mirror. I think the actions he makes, trying to ""trick"" the wooden analog world into emulating the digital, is indicative of the dance we're all doing. Maybe not... but check it out either way. | |
| February 05 2005 10:38:25. | Atrabiliarios | Doris Salcedo | As I mentioned in the blog, I have been considering and reconsidering this work for weeks now. A collection of shoes worn by women affected by violence in Colombia, seen through stretched cow stomach and surgical stiching, the installation is haunting, powerful, and strange. It makes me think not only of the subject matter Salcedo intends, but also of the past in all of us, the shoes we used to wear in roles we have abandoned or changed over time. The hazy view into the boxes of our life keeps me thinking about what paths we abandon -- accessing them only through the film of our memories. | |
| Blog | ||||
November 01 2008 20:33:21. |
Too Tired | Phaedo | I decided to add a new section here as a blog. Originally I was going to borrow some blogging software or try and do something with one of the commercial blogs, but I really like the integrated style of the site as I already have it, and since it's easy for me to add new categories, I'll just stick with this. More than just a normal entry on something like Facebook, I wanted to put in here how tired I have been lately. Work has gotten out of control and my time is spent on nothing but work from sun-up to sundown lately. It's difficult to even think about more important things like how wonderful my wife is, or making sure that my hometeaching families are doing well. I hope things get better soon. I have lost much of my faith in representative democracies, so even though I've worked to bring Obama in as president, I remain skeptical as to how much things will change. I know I am rambling, but, sometimes, that's precisely what I need to be able to do. I hope things get better tomorrow. | |
| DVD/Audio | ||||
| September 09 2004 09:12:57. | Beauty of the Rain | Dar Williams | Unbelievable. The album is amazing enough, but this is like listening to a Dar Williams environment. You feel like you're sitting in the center of the studio with everyone all around. As always the music is amazing and on this album a supporting cast including Bela Fleck, Alison Krauss, John Popper, and John Medeski help make this one for the record books. Rolling Stone, are you listening? Just like ""The Caution Horses"" by Cowboy Junkies, this one deserves Album Of The Year. Stunning Format. Buy it. | |
| Fiction | ||||
November 01 2008 20:25:30. |
Alvin Maker Series | Orson Scott Card | Trying to catch up my reviews as quickly as possible, this covers all members of the saga thus far. The re-telling of early Mormon history through an early-American Fantasy is a great way to bring some of the tougher aspects of the story without the threatening setting of real life. A great read. | |
| June 08 2008 17:38:26. | Shadow Puppets | Orson Scott Card | Still enjoying the series, though I am glad to see the end of Achilles. The story of the streets of Rotterdam needed to end. I can't wait to continue on .. | |
| June 08 2008 17:35:07. | Shadow of the Hegemon | Orson Scott Card | I am really enjoying the "world politics" angle, which is a lot more than I expected, though I think some of the book reads like a game of Risk. Well worth the read, I'll certainly continue the series. | |
| June 08 2008 17:31:32. | Ender's Shadow | Orson Scott Card | I was expecting something different from the initial story, but not really more than a temporary diversion. I have to say it was an excellent read, great flow, and a much more in-depth look at some of the characters. Bean has his faults of course, but I think that's what makes it so great. Well executed. | |
| April 14 2008 11:24:39. | Nim's Island | Wendy Orr | I liked the movie a lot -- though the use of fantasy around the animals was a nice touch. This carries through to the book as well. I think the situations in the book seemed more contrived than was necessary but it was a good read nontheless. | |
| Film | ||||
| May 04 2007 14:39:42. | Founding Fathers: Rebels with a Cause | Amy Huggins | I have heard about this series for several years and decided to pick it up on Netflix. I have to say it's precisely what I was looking for. Enough "under-the-surface" background on these great men mixed with the right mixture of fact to make things interesting, the series gets off to a great start. This episode speaks largely of the Adams cousins, with specific concentration on Sam Adams and his Sons of Liberty. Well done. | |
| September 28 2006 10:17:45. | School for Scoundrels | Todd Phillips | Terrible. If you're looking for how to be a scoundrel, this is definitely the movie to see on the subject. I am so dissapointed in Brother Heder's decision to be a part of this film, that I absolutely had to take the chance to write about it here. Should be rated R, and should be avoided by everyone in all cases. Skip it. | |
| September 24 2006 00:40:32. | Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind | Hayao Miyazaki | I had to put something in the database about this one. I know that it's the new thing to rant about how awesome Miyazaki's work is, but this really hit home for me. Adding to the environmental theme, I really enjoyed the direct refutation of the anger that "lives in the wind". This rampant anger and ease of upset is something that hits very close to me, and as a result, makes this a special one for the all-time list. Get it from Netflix. | |
| July 26 2006 00:46:30. | Beyond the Sea | Kevin Spacey | I decided early into the movie that I really dislike using violent reactions to emotional scenes to build tension in films. This one, as I expected, had some real blowouts between Bobby and Sandra which disappointed me. That said, the film delivers a poignant tale and I have to say that Spacey does a great job in the difficult last half-hour of the film. You can tell that this is his baby and his attention to detail shows in the effort and the film is worthy of the accolades it's received. | |
| July 14 2006 20:52:10. | Saints and Soldiers | Ryan Little | I just got this in on Netflix and am sad I missed it in the theater. I had expected an LDS take on a war film, but in fact, this is a great story about the personality of war and of those who fight it. I expect that I will try and get my grandfather, himself a veteran of the war in the Far East theater, and see how he feels about this re-telling of the events after the Battle of the Bulge. A great movie all around, and a war movie that doesn't disguise war, but one that the whole family can watch. Well done and well deserving of all its awards. | |
| Literary Criticism | ||||
| June 17 2007 00:37:13. | Faith Journey Through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogue With Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings | Russell W. Dalton | Much better than Walking with Frodo from the standpoint of literary criticism and a much better developed understanding of the underlying Christian aspects of modern folklore. Citing Joseph Campbell, rolling through the New and Old Testaments, and adding a devotional aspect which reminded me a bit of FHE lessons, this one was really well-developed and handled. | |
| June 17 2007 00:33:05. | Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings | Sarah Arthur | I really didn't know what to expect from this when I snagged it on Amazon a while back (just now made it through the stack and brought this with me on the cruise to Europe since I knew I'd have tons of downtime). I was pleasantly surprised that it is actually laid out a lot like a Family History manual -- so much so that I intend to teach some of the chapters in that manner over the next several weeks. Perhaps a bit simplistic when it comes to actual criticism, it works well for the devotional aspect Arthur claims. | |
| June 17 2007 00:27:50. | Looking for God in Harry Potter | John Granger | I first read Granger's Hidden Key to Harry Potter several years ago and I was pleasantly surprised with this revised version. Granger's comprehension of the formulas used to weave Ms. Rowling's stories across the series helps to make his point by locating the series within very normalized lines of Christian Fantasy fiction. There is a long exposition of Christian symbols which would be useful to the novice at working out some of the more esoteric aspects of the Muggles' search. | |
| June 05 2006 21:32:24. | Harry Potter Investigated by Fans for Fans | Galadriel Waters, E.L. Fossa, Astre Mithrandir | This is basically a hodge-podge of short essays collected from the online forums. They range from the very simplistic to very esoteric and overall it was worth reading. For me, some of the exposition on time-travel and surrounding alchemy and Arthurian legend held a lot of interest. Don't even think about it unless you've mastered at least the first 5 books -- preferably in both the domestic and international editions. | |
| March 22 2006 11:23:45. | Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter (Analysis of Book 5) | Galadriel Waters, E.L. Fossa, Astre Mithrandir | The next in the series definitely does not dissappoint. Best for those who are truly dedicated to understanding absolutely everything going on in the text and not for those who are simply casual readers. I suggest you have read EVERYTHING Rowling has written, especially the charity books before even beginning. Having read both the US and UK versions will help as well. | |
| Music | ||||
| July 05 2005 12:39:49. | Program 06-30-2005 | Mormon Tabernacle Choir | Excellent show. The acoustics in HP Pavilion are quite lacking for a performance of this caliber, but the beauty and orchestration of the choir shone through nonetheless. I especially enjoyed the Nigerian Carol and the close of the program with one of my personal favorites, Battle Hymn of the Republic. | |
| October 24 2004 12:12:00. | Panic in the Streets | Widespread Panic | Been a while since I listened to the gang from Georgia. I missed em, this one is going on to the iPod rotation for sure. Pick it up, it's got a good assortment of the old and new. | |
| Poetry | ||||
| November 28 2004 01:03:34. | Marriage of Heaven and Hell | William Blake | I've recently picked up poetry again after several years of absence. I have to admit that I remembered Blake having a much more cogent argument than I saw in this work. Basically, he's trying to combine the sensed and the believed. While I understand what's going on, I don't buy it. Don't recommend it for first time attempts with Blake, but for those who've been down this road before the illuminations are amazing. (Review refers to the Norton annotated illuminated version). | |
| Religion, Ethics, and Epistemology | ||||
| January 22 2008 20:20:22. | The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up | Rich Blake | I originally heard about this book by perusing Amazon recommendations and the story intrigued me. Besides being a great story, I really enjoyed the candor behind the investigation of this modern miracle. | |
| June 17 2007 01:20:16. | Faith Journey Through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogue With Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings | Russell W. Dalton | Much better than Walking with Frodo from the standpoint of literary criticism and a much better developed understanding of the underlying Christian aspects of modern folklore. Citing Joseph Campbell, rolling through the New and Old Testaments, and adding a devotional aspect which reminded me a bit of FHE lessons, this one was really well-developed and handled. I expect it will also find its way into lessons as I teach them over time. | |
| June 17 2007 00:37:19. | Faith Journey Through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogue With Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings | Russell W. Dalton | Much better than Walking with Frodo from the standpoint of literary criticism and a much better developed understanding of the underlying Christian aspects of modern folklore. Citing Joseph Campbell, rolling through the New and Old Testaments, and adding a devotional aspect which reminded me a bit of FHE lessons, this one was really well-developed and handled. | |
| June 17 2007 00:33:00. | Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings | Sarah Arthur | I really didn't know what to expect from this when I snagged it on Amazon a while back (just now made it through the stack and brought this with me on the cruise to Europe since I knew I'd have tons of downtime). I was pleasantly surprised that it is actually laid out a lot like a Family History manual -- so much so that I intend to teach some of the chapters in that manner over the next several weeks. Perhaps a bit simplistic when it comes to actual criticism, it works well for the devotional aspect Arthur claims. | |
| June 17 2007 00:27:57. | Looking for God in Harry Potter | John Granger | I first read Granger's Hidden Key to Harry Potter several years ago and I was pleasantly surprised with this revised version. Granger's comprehension of the formulas used to weave Ms. Rowling's stories across the series helps to make his point by locating the series within very normalized lines of Christian Fantasy fiction. There is a long exposition of Christian symbols which would be useful to the novice at working out some of the more esoteric aspects of the Muggles' search. | |
| Theater | ||||
| March 28 2007 23:47:39. | Honk! | Anthony Drewe (Book, Lyrics) and George Stiles (Music) | A friend from church plays Maureen in this delightful show. We took some kids along with us and everyone had a great time. The music is catchy -- especially "Warts and All" and its reprises, the story is memorable and well-told. I thought that the denouement left something to be desired, but it seems to be more a problem with too-quick resolution in the writing than in the performance. Definitely check it out. | |
| September 28 2005 01:50:10. | The Haunting of Winchester | Mary Bracken Phillips | Went to see this as a part of our season tickets to the theater. While the plot was somewhat transparent, the play ended on an up note. A lot more language than I hoped, or indeed was necessary -- they could have made a sharper point without dragging the audience down into the depths with the sinners -- but the overall message was one of forgiveness and hope. I think I'd have to say I enjoyed the experience, but I think some rework will likely help stitch it together better. The denouement left something to be desired and the purpose and working of the light was never quite clear: sometimes self-loathing leading to a path of forgiveness would allow one to enter, in other cases, the pleading of the widow worked. Otherwise, a consistent message well-delivered and well-played. Go check it out. | |
| July 19 2005 01:36:59. | Exceptions to Gravity | Avner Eisenberg | Avner the Eccentric puts on an extremely funny, wholesome show for the whole family. Amanda actually took the entire Relief Society to the show for Enrichment night as well. He combines mime, magic, vaudeville, and acrobatics for a mesmerizing demonstration of communication without words. An honest treat, I was glad to be a part of it. If the show comes to you, don't delay. | |
| February 19 2005 02:50:43. | Caroline, Or Change | Book and lyrics by Tony Kushner. Music by Jeanine Tesori. | The play between change in the pockets and change on the wind for 1963 Louisiana is made a bit too sharp perhaps, but the story remains a good one. I spent most of my time mesmerized by the skills of the performers, but I did appreciate the way in which the politics of the world can intrude on the only basement in the bayou; and the personal trials and tribulations of individuals demonstrate themselves in the world of their town and in JFK's assassination. A particularly good ""discussion"" between Caroline's daughter and Noah's grandfather brought all of the tension we experience and mix together in the amalgam we call life to a head just outside the kitchen. If the show comes to your town check it out -- if nothing else, the singers are amazing. | |
| Travel and Nature | ||||
| October 27 2007 21:40:14. | Boat Docking (Close Quarters Maneuvering for Small Craft) | Charles T. Low | I've not yet had a chance to get out on the water since reading this book, but I like the concentration on spring lines and his analysis of the physics of the wind and water should definitely help. A surprisingly slow read despite the size and number of illustrations. Low packs a ton of information in his small boat. | |
| March 28 2007 23:44:34. | Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded | Simon Winchester | Really well-written and worth the read. Winchester goes through painstaking background not only around the geology, physics, and chemistry of the world's largest eruption, but also of the economic, social, and political aspects surrounding Java, Sumatra, and modern Indonesia since the eruption. Some aspects of his takes on militant Islam since the eruption might not be spot-on, but they do find some interesting parallels. | |
| February 03 2007 10:37:19. | Seven Years in Tibet | Heinrich Harrer | I wanted to get a better idea of buddhism as it affects those who live it on a daily basis and Tibet is known as perhaps the most pious state in the world. I have to say I was not disappointed in the least. Harrer's basically gotten together a collection of his journal entries describing his time in Tibet and as the personal tutor of western civilization to the Dalai Lama. Definitely worth the read if you're interested in this sort of thing. Very lilting style, though that might be attributed to the english translation. Not off-putting however. | |
| January 15 2007 22:26:42. | One River | Wade Davis | I really liked this a lot. I had read The Serpent and the Rainbow when I was younger and really got into Davis's style and demeanor. He can relate fact through the eyes of a fiction narrator and it hasn't been lost on One River. Since I've been spending a lot more time around comparative religion lately, I was mostly interested in the shamanistic and animistic religions in the region (which are covered in great detail) over and above the ethnobotany. But it still kept me riveted. Part Indiana Jones, part biology lesson, check it out. | |
| October 27 2006 13:54:50. | Greece: Secrets of the Past (IMAX) | Stephen Judson and John Boorstin | Since we're heading to Santorini next year, I thought it would be good to get out and see this one while it was here in town at the Imax. Narrated by "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"'s Nia Vardalos and taking place around Santorini and Athens (and in a great deal of CGI) this one was definitely worth the watch. If it comes to your town make sure to check it out. The scene with the fisheye-wide IMAX shot as we helicopter up the coast and into Athens is the best in the film. | |
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