Football

Football by Chuck Klosterman

Football is the most popular sport in the United States. It dominates the TV ratings. The USA vs. Belgium world cup soccer game was the top rated non-NFL sports broadcast, and didn't come close to NFL playoff ratings. It was even behind two Thanksgiving day broadcasts. The Super bowl is always the most popular TV broadcast. Even Canadians are more likely to watch the super bowl than the Canadian Football Grey Cup Championship. The "defects" of football work to its advantage. There is intense action and then a lot of time to figure out what happened. The full game cannot be played casually. The "casual" versions like flag football are fundamentally different.

Football's great popularity is sowing the seeds of its downfall. College football is professionalizing, reducing the strong attachments that students would have to their team. At the lower levels, the dangers are driving parents away from letting their kids play. Outside the south, high school football has become less important. Football is dominating casual fans, but not producing new die hards. It is a conservative bastion in a liberalizing world. People will eventually lose interest and move on to something else. Horse racing was once an extremely popular spectator sport. Today, it is shadow of itself with a few niche events remaining. In the past horses were part of everyone's regular life. Not so anymore. Other dangers could impact football. A death on the field remains a possibility. Sports gambling is helping to increase interest now, but could also create issues. Professional football only surpassed baseball in the 1960s as the most popular American sport. Today, soccer is closing the gap among youth. How much longer will football dominate?

Hamlet: A BBC Radio Production

Hamlet: A BBC Radio Production by William Shakespeare

This production of Hamlet tries to hard to be different. Key soliloquies like "To be or not to be" or intentionally understated. I think I got the most from the opening commentary. The story deals with madness and revenge. Were the feigning madness or actually mad? It can be hard to tell. People accidentally die before the main combatants die. It is ridiculously famous, but hard to understand.

Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church

Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church by Philip Shenon

This at the Popes that have served since World War II through the context of progressive politics. The author expects Popes to liberalize the church, condemn pedophile priests and denounce Nazis and the holocaust. Anything that goes against progressive ideals is viewed as negative. Alas, life is not so black and white. The church advocates forgiveness must balance that against the many groups involved.   This creates problems when society demands blood for some activities while expect to tolerate others. Celibacy is hard in the hypersexual world. Are there enough that can keep this ideal? Should priests be allowed to marry? The author shows a favoritism towards social Popes like Francis while is upset that Benedict went from a maverick to a conservative. Conservative groups are painted in a negative. Should the Catholic try to fit in with modern culture? Or should it support the traditionalists? How can one leader make all sides happy?

Molloy

Molloy by Samuel Beckett

Beckett wrote Molloy originally in French, then later translated to English. The audiobook is narrated in English which makes it somewhat hard to grasp. Molloy is an old guy meandering around town. At times he is sucking on stones and determining how to count them. Later somebody is sent to track down Molloy. He ends up losing his abilities in the process. This may be better read so as not to be distracted by the accent.

The Golden Notebook

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

Rather than a novel, this reads like a long notebook of anecdotes lumped together. There are different parts of the author's life that are explored. She is communist during the time of the red scare. That provides a big part of her identity. However, she is losing faith in it. The bad actions of people like Stalin as well as some of the drivel that gets published have caused issues. She also explores her sex life. There seems to be many cases of having affairs with sexually frustrated married men. What is the place of women in the world and. how can she live an appropriately fulfilling life? The life of a novelist ties much of this together. Her novel explores areas that are verboten. Her status as a communist also makes it challenging. The book goes on and on and seems to repeat the same things told from a somewhat different angle.

The Radleys: A Novel

The Radleys: A Novel by Matt Haig

The Radleys are the typical suburban family. They happen to be vampires, but not even the kids know that until their instincts take over. The daughter is at a party where a drunk boy comes on to her and won't take no for an answer. When he refuses to stop she ends up biting him. After tasting blood, she can't stop. Then the parents tell them they are "vegetarian vampires". They also invite over his brother, a not vegetarian vampire who can help fix things (or make things worse.) The novel covers dark material in a light-hearted manner. There are a few people that know about vampires (like certain police group). There are some interesting conflicts with vampires and humans that are appropriately managed, as well as some interesting vampire transitions. I liked the light tone for the vampire work.

Carthage: A New History

Carthage: A New History by Eve MacDonald

Carthage was one of the leaders of the ancient world. Then it lost a war to Rome and was destroyed. It's history is often told through the lense of it's vanquisher. That makes it somewhat difficult to piece together a history. This book explores some of the history including significant figures that were not named Hannibal. It straddles the line between academic and narrative history, in part because detailed sources for a narrative are lacking. It mentions the apparent child sacrifice remains, but does not see them as bad as others. Things end with Rome defeating them and saving only a science book.

The Wage Standard: What's Wrong in the Labor Market and How to Fix It

The Wage Standard: What's Wrong in the Labor Market and How to Fix It by Arindrajit Dube

I kept thinking "yes, but..." in response to the arguments in this book. He argues the minimum wage should be risen in part because many people spend a long time in minimum wage jobs. However, he focuses too much on looking at the wages and not at the jobs. Why are people stuck in these jobs? He dances around a few concerns, but misses some of the biggies. We require people to have health insurance, yet policies available publically are horrible compared to those you can get from companies. Work flexibility also comes into play.

The arguments with unions are also similar. With more heavily unionized and regulated job markets, employees that have jobs are better off, but it is harder for new employees to find jobs. It also limits new job creation. Longshoreman make huge amounts of money as blue collar workers. However, getting a job is extremely difficult for those not in the family. Tech jobs are high paying and much more open, but also more volatile. Big companies tend to be more lucrative, better places to work.  However, all these big companies started out small. It is extremely difficult to compete in the industry with big companies. New companies must typically start somewhere else. Tech companies opened their new markets and went from small to big. Tesla is still seen as a tech company, even as it competes with automakers. Unions typically succeed in companies that have grown and become fossilized. They help provide greater stability and predictability at the expense of dynamism. They also introduce friction and costs. 

The author complains about companies "subcontracting" out workers. Alas, that is driven by some of the same policies advocated. Companies have core competencies and labor relations. Hiring others to do non-core items is the wise choice. Especially with regulations, it can be difficult to keep track of everything in their own field, let alone many others.

There are many things wrong with the labor market. When people work as true independent contractors, they are free to set what they charge and find somebody willing to pay. Alas, the regulatory market forces people into "for-hire" schemes of employee and employer. People a century ago would cringe at this. Why are we making policies to further force people into this situation?

The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth

The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth by Nicolas Niarchos

There always seems to be a catch with technological solutions to environmental problems. Batteries help us use cleanly produced electrical power. However, modern batteries require rare earth metals which are primarily found in the Congo. A corrupt political regime is keen to extract bribes and kickbacks. Poor miners work in unsafe conditions and are willing to ransack te environment for a few more elements. The government has almost no money and provides little public service. Chinese companies are heavily involved and working to extract value. The few western companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they play by all the western rules, the Chinese will corner the market for the elements. If they play by the unwritten Congo rules, they run afoul of the west. There is even an Israeli businessman who is often involved. The whole situation somewhat reminds me of how early America did what it wanted to achieve technological dominance over Great Britain. Now it is China's turn, with the Africans failing to reap the rewards, even as their leaders become rich. 

Sentimental Education

Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert translated by Robert Baldick

This felt like a lite version of Les Miserables. There are some people with intertwined lives. There is a another revolution going on in France. The people are revolting, but having a hard time deciding what they really want to do. Those remaining are interested in affairs and the like. The central character is attracted to a woman. It was tough to the characters. The audiobook didn't mention the translator at all. Hopefully AI got it right. 

The Echo Wife

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

In this near-future world, cloning is fairly common. Famous figures are cloned to help protect them. The clones are specifically made inferior and cannot reproduce. The lead character, Dr. Evelyn Caldwell is a cloning researcher who has broken up with her husband Nathan. Her ex had wanted a child and the perfect wife. He had been creating clones of Evelyn with the characteristics he desired. After a dozen failures, he had created Martine who seemed to be the perfect wife. She was able to become pregnant with his child. However, they got into a big fight and Martine killed Nathan. Evelyn and Martine used their knowledge to dispose of the original body and create a Nathan clone. Martine later became unhinged when she found the remains of the other failed clones. They decide the best thing to do would to fake Martine's suicide (using another clone) and then have Martine escape to live with Evelyn, unbeknownst to Nathan. Evelyn offers to take care of Martine's baby (by secretly bringing it to its mom). How do ethics work in the world of cloning? Is a cloned being human or a biological product? 

Sweetpea

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

The lead character works a tedious journalism job by day. She survived a horrendous crime in her youth and had some training for survival by her father. She makes a regular "hit list" of people that have wronged her or others in various ways (from pedophiles to people taking too long in the checkout line.) She becomes the casual serial killer. Easly in the book she castrates a drunk that was coming onto her and pushes him to the river, only to return back as if nothing happens. She gets involved in other crimes. She later frames someone else for the crimes. The book has light, vulgar tone with plenty of dark humor. 

Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller

Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller by Steve Weinberg

The title is a bit misleading. This is primarily a biography of Ida Tarbell interleaved with a biography of Rockefeller. The "battle" is a muckraking exposé that happens near the end. Though not much of a battle, it did turn public sentiment away from Rockefeller. I'm not sure if he cared. He was heavily involved in running his company. However, for his philanthropy he did things quietly with little involvement. His strong Christian background may have contributed to this "doing good in secret". He helped found Rockefeller University and University of Chicago - two institutions that have produced a huge number of Nobel Prize winners. He also funded significant public health research and education. His philanthropic legacy is among the most important, yet least publicized.

Rockefeller first had to accumulate his fortune. He did that in the oil industry. He initially focussed on refining. Gradually he got into all aspects of oil. His companies grew and used economies of scale to their benefit. They got sweetheart deals from railroads to transport oil and were able to benefit from uses and innovation. Government tried to crack down on Standard Oil's power. However, they were often able to maneuver around these regulations to their benefit.

Ida Tarbell was from the original "oil country" in Pennsylvania. She was a dedicated career woman who loved to write. She had decided that she would not marry or date. (The author does bring up the possibility of lesbianism, but the evidence points to celibacy.) She had a falling out with a boss that may have been due to a romantic come on. She did not follow the feminist doctrine and advocate for woman to stay at home with their families. She settled into writing for a magazine and would heavily research her topics. She did big, heavily researched stories on Napoleon and Lincoln. Then her story finally intersected with Rockefeller as she did her story on Standard Oil. It brought her fame and sold well. It damaged Rockefeller. Both of their legacies relied on each other, even though they never met. 

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath, edited by Karen V. Kukil

I wonder how she feels about having her journals published completely. Perhaps she expected it all along, as they do seem very polished. Many of the thoughts from these journals went into her novel Bell Jar. In the start, she is very concerned with boys and sex. There are conflicting thoughts on a desire for a writing career and for raising a family. These thoughts continue on through later entries. There are also thoughts on suicide which provide prelude to her eventual death. The editors add a few comments, with the most valuable indicating gaps. She comes across as a social arts type.

Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems

Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems by Rita Dove

I had my firephone read this book to me. It may have been better to read the poems in print. There were some that dealt with watergate and slave politics. Also other bits of random poems. They went in one ear and out the other.

A Doll House

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

This play was a lot better than I remember it in high school. Nora is a ditzy materialistic housewife. She seems very excited about the promotion to bank manager her husband Torvald is about to receive. He chastises her for plotting to spend it before he has started to receive it. She has three kids, but likes to have the hired-help take care of them. She likes to buy presents for others, but just presents for herself. An old friend comes to town. She has been divorced and needs a job. Nora pulls some strings with her husband to secure a job at the bank. However, this ends up causing things to unwind for her. To give a job to her friend, her husband is letting Krogstad go. Nora had received a loan from Krogstad with a forged signature from her dying father. Krogstad holds this against her. (Nora had taken out the loan to help her husband convalesce in the south.) Nora doesn't want her husband to find out. However, he reads the letter from Krogstad and flips out. He is more concerned for himself than for Nora. Then when he receives the paid off note, he is happy again. It is Nora's turn to flip out and decide she will leave them to be independent.

Nora is quite unreliable and is prone to take things to extreme. I wasn't sure that she had really taken out the loan. Was she just exaggerating to feel better with her friends? When it appeared she did take out hte loan, she went to extremes to hide it from her husband and prevent it Krogstad from doing negative things. There was a lot of toeing around issues to try to get what was needed. Then when it came to that she did it, she flipped out and decided to drop her life and not live in a "Doll House". They both seem to delight in controlling each other. There seemed to be some love in the relationship, but also some mutual manipulation. They both were most interested in caring for themselves. Nora also came from a family with some not-so-good characters. Is the rash behavior and familial abandonment just another case of this behavior? The L.A. Theater Works production was well done with some great actors. This helps the play come alive.

The Brothers Karamazov

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett

The early part of the book was heavy on religious discussion. The end was a murder trial. In between it was quite slow moving. The early writing was good, but it went on for too long. The trial was fast paced and tied in some of the moral discussions of the early part.

Boring Asian Female

Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu

This reminded me of Best Offer Wins. In both cases, an Asian American lead is driven to succeed in the way she understands the American Dream, but goes off the rails. 

In this book, Elizabeth Zhang is in her last year at Columbia, getting ready to go to law school. She grew up in South Dakota with hard-working immigrant parents. She was the only Asian at her high school and never quite fit in. She went to Columbia because that was were the snobby elite in a TV show went. She had her mind set on attending Harvard Law school to achieve the life of wealth and prosperity that other classmates seemed to have. Then she learns she didn't get into Harvard Law, or any law school other than Georgetown. She also hears that another Asian female, got into Columbia. When Elizabeth talks with the pre-law advisor, the. feedback is that she has a good application, but that she is a "boring" Asian female. Then she seadil goes off the deep end.

She is convinced that Laura stole the spot at Harvard Law. She starts stalking Laura. She impersonates a high schooler to learn more about Laura. She even asks to be called Laura when making love. Then things get worse. She hatches a plan to get Laura's admission rescinded. She publishes an anonymous far-right blog in a way that would be identified as Laura. However, people eventually trace it to the male student whose login she used to publish it. He ends up dropping out of school, only to later become a right wing commentator. Elizabeth finds out she is pregnant. After getting money from the guy for an abortion, she decides instead to have the kid, so she can be less boring. She later sneaks into Laura's dorm, but Laura comes home (with limited mental functionality due to substance use.) After Laura finally realizes everything Elizabeth has done, Elizabeth sprayed her with pepper spray and got away. Laura dies from the spray. (she had a heart condition). Elizabeth showed no remorse, and was fine when another girl was charged with the manslaughter death. Elizabeth has a miscarriage. She later impersonates Laura in the Harvard law admit group. She has a big breakdown when the group calls her out as not being a real future student. After recovering, she gets a call from Harvard, letting her know there was an error with her score reporting and that she was now being offered a spot. 

Previously, Harvard said the decision was final and there was no way to validate the data. If only they hadn't Elizabeth would not have gone wacko. However, she showed clearly that she would do anything to have her desired success. Is this really the type of person you would want? The steps seemed logical, but the results were horrid. Is this an indictment of an over-driven Asian culture? The narrative was compelling and the characters. were interesting,  though I really wanted to see her charged rather than end up with her dream.

Beloved

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The story is a slave story. Or perhaps a "trying to be free story". The main character struggles with life and death of a child and interaction with other whites and free blacks. I had trouble piecing together a narrative, though parts of it did jump out.

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence by Daniel Goleman

We are horrible at focussing today. Devices regularly distract us from the present. We are churning from one item to another without focus. Inner, outer and other focus are all key areas that can help us succeed. I found the book very well written at the start. (It even caught me off guard not being focussed enough!) The later part did seem to reiterate the main point a few too many times. The examples were good, but not as powerful as the start.

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run

Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Ted Widmer

Before reading this book, I didn't know much about Wings. I knew McCartney's post-Beatles band sang "Live and Let Die". I could also hum the corus for "Band on the Run". That was about it. This story is somewhere between an oral history and a narrative book. It starts with Paul and his wife retreating to the countryside to escape the limelight at the end of the Beatles era. However, the music bug will just not die. Paul does some work with studio musicians and then Wings came about as a relatively stable thing. There was a time there where they would do a "pop up tour" - going from city to city and playing a show with minimal advanced warning. I have trouble fathoming how there would not be crazy support for an ex-Beatle showing up in town. This would only have been possible in the days before cell phones and social media. Later they evolved to more traditional tours. These were always family affairs, with mom and dad in the band and the kids coming along from city to city. Wings got more popular. Then things came crashing down when Paul was busted for marijuana possession in Japan. The Beatles were a 60s band. Wings were a 70s band. Both pretty much ended as their representative decade ended. I found the story compelling even though I knew little about the band.

Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan

Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan by Richard Overy

The United States is unapologetic in the use of the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. It is believed that the bomb saved half a million American lives - more than the Japanese lives lost in the explosions. We often second guess the use today. However, the important question to ask is why did America of the time choose to drop the bomb? Americans were tired of the war. Germany had surrendered and Americans wanted to go home. However, Japanese kept fighting what seemed to be a losing cause. The American public now saw Japanese as less than human and wanted to do whatever it took to end the war as soon as possible. The atomic bomb seemed like a great solution. 

The firebombing of Tokyo was the most destructive conventional bombing in history. More people were immediately killed in this bombing than immediately by either of the atomic bombs. The Japanese initially dismissed the atomic bombs as just another big bomb. It is uncertain whether this bombing changed the timeline of the Japanese surrender. However, they did finally surrender not long after the bombing, leading to a cause and effect alignment in the minds of Americans.

This book is an interesting exploration of the bombing that looks at it from the lens of 1945 America while tying in modern knowledge of the Japanese mentality. It does a good job of exploring how people felt and why things were done as they were.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Apocalypse: Expert Advice for Doomsday Situations

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Apocalypse: Expert Advice for Doomsday Situations by David Borgenicht amd Joshua Piven

How would you handle the collapse of civilization. At first, the book purports to offer "survivalist" advice on gathering supplies. It gets more extreme as it discusses hoarding gold and building a hidden bunker. Then it goes off the deep end and turns pure comical. There are discussions of surviving widespread destruction from zombies, dinosaurs and aliens among others. This was probably more fun to write than it is to read.

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst

A couple went boating and got "lost at sea", needing to spend a long period of time on a raft. This was a stressful experience that ultimately made their relationship stronger. They had a few "false hope" near-rescues before they were finally saved. They received a lot of publicity afterwards. The experience proved transformative, and they kept a strong relationship through life.

This book is based on the account of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey. The "lost at sea" experience was only part of the story as the book focuses on the later impact of their life. (At first it felt odd to have it discuss the "post-shipwreck" experiences with so much remaining in the book, but it does make sense in the end.)

Luna: New Moon

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald

This is a long space opera about people on the moon. There are big families that control a lot of the moon activity. Law is primarily carried out as contract negotiations, thus there is little need for appeal. A marriage between two families goes bad and conflicts arise. The book is long and boring, and is lies much more in the "soap opera" realm.