Oberon's 2017 Thread - Part Two

Welcome to the second thread of 2017. I had not planned on starting this one based on our Costa Rica trip but the other thread was getting too long and I wanted to post some pictures from the trip so - new thread, vacation update.

About me: I am a trial and appellate attorney who lives and works in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am married to an elementary school teacher and am the father of three wonderful children (4, 9 and 12) who consume a lot of my free time. In the fall of 2015, we moved into a new home on a lake and are finally getting to the point that the house is fully ours. We bought a pontoon boat and dock and having been making great use of the lake.

My reading tastes run heavily to non-fiction. Books of history and travel are favorites. I also have a passion for African art that usually results in the addition of a couple of books every year as well as some art purchases.

Besides books, travel, art and theater are passions of mine. Last year we took a family vacation to Belize and Guatemala and I took a trip to London with my mother to watch theater. This year we went to Uvita, Costa Rica in the southern Pacific side of the country . My wife and I are also planning a trip to Chicago to see Hamilton in May.

I am participating in Suzanne's Non-Fiction challenge again and am enjoying it. I did finish War and Peace and still have hopes of reading Chernow's Alexander Hamilton.

Finally, the soccer season is about to kick off in full glory in Minnesota. I am avid follower of Minnesota United (aka The Loons) in their first MLS season. The first few games have been bleak but a recent win and some trades are giving us hope for the rest of the season. This year all of my children will be playing soccer and I am coaching all three so basically every evening until July will involve me being on a soccer field.

2016 Book Year in Review

My "to read" pile grew from 106 to 122. My unbroken streak of increasing the pile continues.

My top books for 2016 were:

1. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
2. A Labyrinth of Kingdoms by Steve Kemper
3. Our Kids by Robert Putnam
4. Red Notice by Bill Browder
5. The Unwinding by George Packer
6. The Marches by Rory Stewart

Books Read in 2017:

January

1. Baltimore, Volume 7: Empty Graves by Mike Mignola
2. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling
3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
4. India: A Portrait by Patrick French (audiobook)
5. Lafayette and the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell (audiobook)
6. El Deafo by Cece Bell
7. White Mughals by William Dalrymple
8. Canoeing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid
9. Guerrillas by Brahm Revel

February

10. The Opium War by Julia Lovell
11. Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
12. The Edge of the Empire by Bronwen Riley
13. Jack of Fables: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham
14. Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman
15. Wolverine: Logan by Brian Vaughan

March

16. The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer (audiobook)
17. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (audiobook)
18. Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre
19. Night by Elie Wiesel
20. Jungle of Stone by William Carlsen
21. Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson

April

22. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
23. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (audiobook)
23. The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer (audiobook)
24. The Oresteian Trilogy by Aeschylus
25. The Aleppo Codex by Matti Friedman (audiobook)
26. The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
27. Death and the Maidens by Greg Rucka
28. The Unexpected by Various
29. Toil and Trouble by Scott Mairghread

May

30. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson (audiobook)
31. Democracy by Alecos Papadatos
32. The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane (audiobook)
33. The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

June

34. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kupuscinski
35. The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner (audiobook)
36. We Stand on Guard by Brian Vaughan
37. The Adventures of Herge by Jose-Louis Bocquet
38. Battle Lines by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
39. The Shaolin Cowboy by Geof Darrow
40. Abe Sapien: The Secret Fire by Mike Mignola
41. Abe Sapien: The Desolate Shore by Mike Mignola
42. B.P.R.D.: End of Days by Mike Mignola
43. Hellboy and B.P.R.D.: 1953 by Mike Mignola
44. Fairest: In All the Land by Bill Willingham
45. White Man's Game by Stephanie Hanes
46. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (audiobook)

July

47. How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman
48. Macbeth: A Play by William Shakespeare by Gareth Hinds
49. Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra by Mike Costa
50. Sophocles, The Oedipus Rex Cycle by Sophocles
51. B.P.R.D.: Cometh the Hour by Mike Mignola
52. Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell (audiobook)
53. G.I. Joe: Operation Hiss by Brian Reed
54. The Vision: Little Better Than a Beast by Tom King
55. MWD: Hell is Coming Home by Brian Johnson
56. The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume II by H.P. Lovecraft
57. Abe Sapien: Lost Lives and Other Stories by Mike Mignola
58. Black Panther A Nation Under Our Feet, Book One by Ta-Nehisi Coates
59. Black Panther A Nation Under Our Feet, Book Two by Ta-Nehisi Coates
60. Sir Edward Grey Witchfinder: City of the Dead by Mike Mignola
61. The Third Horseman by William Rosen

August

62. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg
63. Usagi Yojimbo 31: The Hell Screen by Stan Sakai
64. The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen

While in Costa Rica we purchased a couple of pieces of Boruca art. The Boruca are an indigenous people in southern Costa Rica. Part of their traditions is an annual devil dance featuring elaborately carved masks. I picked up a small one (made for the tourist trade) while my wife latched on to this bright toucan that we saw lots of and admired.

Costa Rica update:

After two flights and a four hour drive we arrived at the house we rented for our time in Costa Rica. The house was a ways up the mountain and near a national park in the town of Uvita, Costa Rica.



The house was spectacular with a pool overlooking rainforest and the Pacific.



While we rented a car in Uvita, the drive from San Jose reconfirmed why I wasn't behind the wheel. Plus we made some interesting stops along the way including this bridge overlooking some massive crocodiles.

Our first full day in Uvita we did some boogie boarding in the morning and then surf lessons in the afternoon.



I will admit that I was probably the worst at it though I managed to get up a few times. The heat was pretty intense. It was over 95 everyday and with humidity in the 70% range the heat index was well over a 100 degrees every day. That was a bit tough for us pasty Minnesotans and especially me as heat stroke as a child has left me extra sensitive. So anyway, I only tried surfing a few times but the beach was magnificent. My daughter especially enjoyed it and did well with the surfing.

The second full day we crammed a lot in. We went zip lining in the morning and then did a mangrove tour in the afternoon.



Even Alex, our four year old, did ziplining. He was scared before the first run but when he did the first line he immediately asked if he could do it again.



The zip line course ended with what they called the Tarzan swing. It was a bit scary for someone like me who is afraid of heights. The rappelling down from some of the trees was the scariest for me.



The mangrove tour started with a delicious lunch on an island that had once been inhabited pretty deep in the mangroves.



We saw lots of iguanas, monkeys and basilisk lizards on the tour but the main wildlife were birds. These are white ibises that would flock into a particular batch of trees every night. There were well over a thousand birds in there. For the birders on LT we saw: white ibis, snowy egret, kingfisher, frigate birds, blue heron, great egret, yellow crown night heron, boat billed night heron, common black hawk, Muscovy duck, whimbrel, great tailed grackle, and osprey on the trip.

The next day was mainly planned by me. We drove about an hour south to a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring giant stone spheres carved by the Diquis people. Not a lot is known about the spheres but the site, Finca 6, is one of the few where the spheres remain in their original context. A lot of other ones were moved by agricultural activities and looting. The outing was my archeological/history component for the trip.







Also interesting to me was that Finca 6 is on part of an old United Fruit Company banana plantation. This was part of the banana plant infrastructure.

Because we aren't the sorts to lay around on vacation we also did a pretty intense horseback riding session. We went down the mountain to the beach repeatedly fording the Uvita river and stopping at a waterfall along the way. We saw monkeys, toucans, and scarlet macaws on the trip.






Unfortunately, the heat on this one proved to be too much for me. It didn't help that I had Alex on my horse for most of the trip adding to my overall heat. We had to cut the ride about 20 minutes short (we still rode for about four hours) as I was not doing well. As a result, we missed going out to the Whale's Tail formation at Uvita though we later went back on foot.

I do think there was a silver lining to the heat from the horseback ride as I went into the pool to try and bring my body temperature back to manageable levels. While laying in the water I happened to notice a visitor.





This mother sloth and her baby came down a massive tree right next to the pool. For reasons I can't explain, the sloth decided to come down and pose for about about 1/2 an hour. We got the top photo as well as these two along with tons of video and other photos. We never saw the sloths again even though I am pretty confident they remained in the same tree the whole time we were there. The canopy is simply so dense that you can't see them.

We considered ourselves pretty fortunate to see the sloth complete with its baby so close to us.

One of my favorite things to do is beach comb. In Uvita there were not that many shells but there was a fair amount of sand dollars. My middle son, Andrew, really wanted to find his own sand dollar to bring home so he and I went to the beach after the heat went down allowing me to get some good picture of the sunset as well as some sand dollars.

Our last full day we hiked to a different spring-fed pool on the mountain. The hike was arduous to say the least but the waterfall was fantastic. Plus, we got to see a poison dart frog that had been eluding us on the trip. On the hike we had a close encounter with what we think was a coral snake. Luckily it took off rather than got aggressive.

All in all it was a great trip. We enjoyed ourselves and saw and did a ton of stuff.

Happy new thread!

SLOTH!!!!!

I've been waiting for a picture - it was worth the wait. :)

Happy new one, Erik! Love the sloth :)

>13 drneutron: Thank you!

>14 ursula: I added a couple more in >10 Oberon:. We kind of went crazy with sloth photos.

>15 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

Happy new thread, Erik.

What wonderful photos! I'll pass on the ziplines and the crocodiles but the pool looks delightful as does much of the scenery. Enjoy yourselves.

What magnificent photos and travel report from your Costa Rica adventure, Erik! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. And to echo Ursula ... SLOTH!!!!

Happy new thread!! THANK YOU for posting all the wonderful photos!! What a great trip. Love the frog and the sloth!!

Happy new thread, Erik! Wow! you know how to do Spring Break! Looks like everyone had a fabulous time minus the event on horseback. Thanks for not posting pics of ssssssssnakes!

Happy new thread, Erik. Thanks for sharing your vacation photos, it is beautiful there. The sloth and the multi colored frog are my favorites :-)

Happy Friday, Erik and congrats on your shiny new thread.

Wonderful photos of your holiday and also your notes about your trip. Thanks so much for sharing them. It looks like you had a GORGEOUS time.

>17 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. I wouldn't want to get too close to the crocodiles either. Some of them were huge. Zip lining on the other hand is well worth trying simply for the opportunity to get up into the canopy since so much is obscured from the ground.

>18 rosalita: Thanks Julia. The sloth was definitely my favorite.

>19 Berly: Thanks Kim!

>20 Carmenere: Lynda, I really wanted a picture of the snake! It took off too quickly. I will readily admit I would have used the telephoto lens and stayed well away from the snake but a good picture would have been great.

>21 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. We saw lots more frogs the last time we went including a number of other varieties of poison dart frogs. However, the previous trip was during the rainy season and it made a big difference.

>22 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! I need to get a few book reviews up to bring it current.

>4 Oberon: Added in the Boruca art pieces that we purchased.

Wow, great photos, Erik. What a trip!

Great photos Erik. Looks like you had a wonderful time. I do love the sloths. Did you sneak one back through customs?

Looks like 'twas a great trip, Erik. My aunt and uncle, both now deceased, spent their last years in Costa Rica. I think they missed out on the ziplining, horseback riding, and surfing. But they loved it there.

Fabulous photos and travelogue of your vacation, Erik! Thank you for sharing them with us.

I couldn't help but think of the last photos of your family that I remember, when you attended the Minnesota United FC match in the snow. Hopefully the weather in MSP is considerably nicer now.

>25 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. We had a great time.

>26 Caroline_McElwee: Not quite Caroline though my middle son bought a stuffed one back as a souvenir and claimed that he would "share" it with his little brother. They do look very cuddly don't they?

>27 weird_O: It was great Bill. I think your aunt and uncle had the right idea. We crammed in a lot because we had just over a week but Costa Rica is gorgeous. Without a calendar counting down I could spend a lot of time in a hammock overlooking the Pacific or just wandering the beach looking for sand dollars. Or eating - we did lots of that too.

>28 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. Things are better in Minnesota. We hit 70 degrees on Saturday. The dock is in the lake and the kids are starting outdoor soccer practice tonight so I think the boots and parkas can be packed up.

Loons Update:

Minnesota United lost (again) to Dallas FC. I got to watch the second half of the game and Minnesota actually looked like the better side. Dallas's goalie had a fantastic game. Considering that Dallas is one of the best teams in MLS and we have conceded record numbers of goals in other losses, the outcome wasn't terrible. It felt like if we had been a bit luckier we could have gotten a tie or a win out of the game against one of the better squads. So, midpack but not a contender - I can be ok with that if that is how we finish for the first MLS year.

Spent the weekend hosting the annual card event College friends have been getting together and playing the card game of 500 on an annual basis for 19 years now. People fly in from around the country. It is a lot of fun and we always go out for a good steak dinner on Saturday night. We went to Burch Steakhouse in Minneapolis this year and it was fantastic.

Not much reading accomplished though.

>29 Oberon: Spoke too soon. Woke up to snow on the ground.

>32 Oberon: Oof, that's a cruel trick to play, Mother Nature!

>29 Oberon: Ah. You beat me to it. Last night I saw a photo taken by a friend and former colleague in Atlanta who recently took a position at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, which showed snow accumulation from yesterday, I believe. He's originally from New Orleans, and he seemingly leaves town every weekend to escape the cold weather there.

What fantastic photos! Aside from the heat, it looks like a great and very exotic vacation. I'd love to look in the trees and spot a sloth and baby, lol.
Happy new thread!

>33 rosalita: Yeah unkind. Hopefully it will be melted in time for track practice tonight.

>34 kidzdoc: Shockingly, I can remember getting snow in May. The good news is that at this time of year it is usually melted by the afternoon.

>35 mstrust: Thank you! I am just not acclimated to the heat. The sloths were pretty special. We have seen them in the wild before but never that close. I would have been thrilled if they came down every day but no such luck.

We're getting snow today too. But it's better than whatever was falling this morning - it was like instead of having snow fall and turn into slush, Mother Nature just cut to the chase and had the slush fall directly from the sky. The dog refused her walk in that.

Time to put more here than just sloths and snow . . .



Jungle of Stone by William Carlsen

This book was my April read for the non-fiction challenge focused on passions. One of my passions is archeology (see >8 Oberon: above). Jungle of Stone is the story of John Stephenson and Frederick Catherwood's exploration of the Mayan civilization in Mexico and Central America and how the reports brought the civilization to the attention of much of the outer world.

As an initial matter it much be acknowledged that Stephenson and Catherwood were not the "first" to find virtually any of the Mayan cities. The cities were known to the local people who lived among the ruins and sometimes scavenged stones from them or used the areas for grazing. Nor were the ruins truly unknown to the Western world as some had been explored by the Spanish during the conquest while others were explored and written about by other explorers. However, none of this information was particularly accessible (the Spanish notes were buried so deep in the archives that they wouldn't be found until years later). Stephenson and Catherwood made several grueling trips through the Mayan heartland and were thorough in their documentation allowing them to connect widely dispersed cities with each other to arrive at the realization that what lay beneath the jungles of Central America were the remains of an empire, advanced in science and art. Moreover, Catherwood was an incredibly talented artist who meticulously recorded what they found in the jungle giving the subsequent books produced by Stephenson and Catherwood the ability to bring the ruins to light in a way that earlier accounts had been unable to capture.

The books produced by Stephenson and Catherwood captured the world's imagination. While the world knew of the Aztecs and Incans from the conquest, the Maya had risen and fallen before the conquest and were largely forgotten by the time the Spanish arrived. Stephenson and Catherwood established that the Americas had been home to powerful and vibrant civilizations on par with the ancient world.

In addition to the thrill of discovery, the book also contains much of a jungle exploration narrative. Stephenson and Catherwood ventured deep into the jungles of Central America braving disease, animals and insects, in search of the cities. To further complicate matters, most of Central America was embroiled in civil war at the time. Stephenson and Catherwood navigated hostile political territory that was every bit as dangerous as the physical barriers posed by the jungle. The political history of Central America is not something most readers are intimately familiar with and Jungle of Stone is a useful primer.

I loved this book. It was utterly fascinating to me and well written. Certainly the first five star book of 2017.

Catherwood's illustrations are amazing and deserve to be more widely known so I am putting some of my favorites here. One of my favorite anecdotes from Jungle of Stone was that Catherwood's drawings were so accurate that when archeologists finally deciphered Mayan script they were able to go back and use Catherwood's drawings to read inscriptions that had been lost in the 100+ years since Catherwood had made his drawings.

>38 Oberon: ouch, think you hit me with a book bullet there Erik. Might make a good birthday present for my sister too, later this year.

>40 Caroline_McElwee: I would apologize but I think book bullets are one of the best parts of LT. I think it will be a present for my dad who has an enthusiasm for the Maya.

Those are amazing illustrations. You're right to give Catherwood a pat on the back.

>37 ursula: Ursula, I failed to notice your comment prior to my review - apologies. Based on your photos it looks like you are having a more lingering winter than we are. The snow melted quickly enough here that appears to have mainly greened the grass. The lakes are all open and this morning I saw a bald eagle fishing over the lake.

>42 mstrust: I am trying to figure out if I framed a couple of the reprints whether my wife would let me hang them. There is no room for them at the office.

>44 Oberon: Sorry about the snow. I remember being in high school and getting snow in May out there. Hopefully spring will be kinder this year!

Between my daughter's photography and mine, inherited artwork and purchased stuff, and a very open floor plan, not to mention book shelves, I am out of wall space!! I think you should start having seasonal pictures. I have some that reside in the attic and I swap them out with others about every 6 months. I don't want to give any of my artwork up, but I keep adding to the collection! Don't tell your wife I suggested this, unless of course she loves the idea; then I want full credit!! ; ) The reprints would be awesome.

Wow wow wow! What wonderful holiday photos! I love the humble sloth, but sloth mama (I assume?) with sloth baby is just gorgeous. Those round boulders remind me go some naturally formed round boulders we have here in NZ....THe Moeraki boulders. They are at the ocean edge, so get covered in sea stuff from time to time.


>44 Oberon: we have a lot of windows and all that isn't window is bookshelf, so its the same with us!

>43 Oberon: We've had some decent weather, but then a cold snap. The river outside of the locks still has a lot of huge blocks of ice. But we're mostly in the 50s over the course of the next week and the piles of snow are mostly melted.

It's just crazy to think that the temperatures are going to increase by 20-30 degrees when I move!

>45 Berly: Yeah snow in May is a thing here sadly. Last year we got into the 70's in March but then had a relatively cold and wet April and May before it got nice in June again.

Seasonal art is a great idea. There is a tradition of that in Japan where an artist will paint a picture (the ones I have seen are always on hanging scrolls) and the scene being depicted will be shown in each of the four seasons, so the same tree in spring, summer, fall and winter. I am not sure if the same principal could be applied to Catherwood drawings of Mayan ruins.

>46 LovingLit: Yes that is the sloth mom and baby. I am not sure how long they carry the young around but my understanding is that is pretty rare to see both. The Moeraki boulders are really interesting. In the discussion of the Diquis spheres there are two theories of how they were made. One is that people laboriously chipped away at the rocks to make them spheres and the other is that the rocks were placed under waterfalls to use water to round the rocks. Looking at those boulders makes me think that it is a more valid theory than I had thoguht.

>47 ursula: We are about 5 to 10 degrees warmer here though I wouldn't call it ideal. We had outdoor soccer in a steady rain last night. California will be a big change but I would say a change for the better. I always thought I would miss snow at Christmas time but after a few Christmases in Florida I am definitely ok without it.

Happy Friday, Erik.

Hi Erik, wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend.

Wow - I love all the Costa Rica photos. Thanks for sharing them.

And you've hit me with a book bullet for Jungle of Stone. It sounds fascinating. I know much less about Central America than I would like.

Snow in May is possible here, too. We had snow forecast last night, but hooray! they were wrong. Instead it looks like we'll have a beautiful but slightly brisk day.

>48 Oberon: OR seasonal just means that's when the artwork is up on my walls. Not that the subject matter is necessarily Summer or Fall. ; )



Or just Happy Sunday!!

I love all the pictures! Especially the mama and baby sloth.

Happy Easter, Eric!

>49 Ameise1: & >50 Ameise1: I hope you had a lovely Easter Barbara. We had fantastic spring weather here.

>51 streamsong: So is May snow common or uncommon? It is rare here and I don't recall it ever lasting 24 hours - the ground temps are too warm. Also, Jungle of Stone was great and I hope you give it a try.

>52 Berly: This would require me to pay more attention than I presently do. I doubt I would regularly rotate anything!

>53 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia. Happy Easter!

We hosted the Easter celebration this year. My parents stayed up north so it was just my wife's family but it still meant eight adults and seven children. The weather was fantastic. As the USS Bonhomme Richard was returned to the lake Saturday we took the little kids out fishing for sunfish. They had a great time and caught lots of very small fish.

We are in the process of going over our advertising for the law firm. As part of that, people are, of course, trying to sell us on shiny new contracts. To sweeten the deal we got offered suite tickets to the Minnesota Twins. Me, my wife, my law partner and his wife all went to the game. Part of me is frustrated that such nice seats are all tied up by businesses that use them for marketing but it is nice when you are the beneficiary.

Sadly, the Twins lost 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians after leaving a ton of runners on base. Not good execution.

That's a nice lookin' ball park! I try to get to Camden Yards to see the Orioles once or twice a year and this one looks a lot like it. Of course, the O's are well known for leaving lots of runners on too... :)

>57 drneutron: It really is one of the best parks with a great view of the Minneapolis skyline. Sadly, it was even better when it was first inaugurated as there were pine trees in the black patch in center field. They got taken down after the first season because players claimed the trees made it harder to see incoming pitches. Given the way the Twins have played since the trees were removed I don't think that was a problem. Personally, I am a believer in the curse http://www.startribune.com/rand-curse-or-coincidence-target-field-trees-cut-team...

Happy Wednesday, Erik.

Pirate Hunters is the story of the search for a Golden Age pirate ship captained by Joseph Bannister.

The book combines archaeology, history and pirates and delivers on all three. The book weaves together the narrative of the search for the ship with the personal lives and conflicts of the searchers along with the history of Joseph Bannister and piracy in general.

It is an engaging story and well told although I will note that I agree with another reviewer that the author has unfortunate tendency to repeat himself. By the end of the book you have it thoroughly drilled into your head that identifying pirate ships is rare and finding one is all but unheard of.

If you have a general interest in pirates or undersea archaeology this is quick and enjoyable read.

>60 Oberon: I liked his Shadow Divers a lot, Erik - which was about scuba divers trying to dive to unheard of depths to investigate a wrecked WWII German U-Boat. I haven't read Pirate Hunters.

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

I continued a trend of reading books by Jon Krakauer while on vacation. Previously I read Into Thin Air and Into the Wild. Under the Banner of Heaven is not a man versus wild book but rather an account of brutal killings by fundamentalist mormons. Krakauer uses the killing to trace the founding of the mormon religion and then explains the various offshoots of the religion.

The short background is that mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith who claimed that he had found a series of gold plates supposedly documenting early history in North America prior to European settlement. Smith wrote down this story (known as the Book of Mormon) that is essentially a supplement to the Bible. Smith was killed by a mob, in no small part due to one of his "revelations" endorsing polygamy. A good chunk of the remaining mormons traveled with Brigham Young to what was then the Utah territory and started a community. As the US expanded, the US government came into conflict with the mormons. Ultimately this led to the main mormon church renouncing the practice of polygamy. This decision allowed mormonism to largely join mainstream American religious practices. However, it also caused a significant splintering of the faith with those who believed that polygamy was a fundamental religious tenant and should not be abandoned. This dispute, plus a tendency in mormonism to believe in personal revelations from God, led to a number of diverse mormon groups - most of which believed themselves to be true mormons.

It is within this framework that Krakauer covers the murders. Essentially, the murders believed that had received a revelation from God that they needed to "remove" one of their sister-in-laws and her infant child. They did so in horrific fashion although both of the killers maintain that they were right to follow God's order to kill the two. At trial there was an insanity defense presented and the issue of whether it was insane to be a religious fanatic was the issue the court had to address.

Krakauer presents a pretty unflattering picture of mormonism. Krakauer makes the point (which is genuine in my opinion) that he is not trying to damn mormonism specifically but all religious fundamentalism. That said, mormonism is a comparatively new religion where many of the events shaping the faith were recorded at the time. Candidly, it makes the faith seem crazy - akin to the scientologist belief in alien souls being released by volcanic explosions as part of a galactic war. Krakauer makes the point that if we had contemporaneous records of main stream Christianity it is likely that many of the "miracles" attested to in the Bible did not occur as claimed. Putting my cards on the table, I am not someone who believes that the Bible contains much if any literal truth but I know plenty of people who do. A close history of a religion built on faith is not pretty.

It may not have been the intention of the book but it left me with a very negative impression of mormonism. That aside, Krakauer is an excellent author and tells an interesting if dark story. He needs to write some more books so I have more vacation materials though I would just as soon he returned to the man versus wild genre.

>61 jnwelch: Joe, I liked this book well enough to put Shadow Divers on the list. The hunt for a German U-Boat is right up my alley.

>62 Oberon: I've got that one checked out from the library but haven't read it yet, so I'm skipping your review for now, Erik. I'll come back and compare notes once I've read it.

>62 Oberon: - Interesting that you don't capitalize Mormonism in your review (nor Scientology). But you do capitalize Christianity. Would you capitalize other Christian traditions?

(I keep trying to make this not sound snotty or judge-y. I'm an atheist so not offended - just genuinely curious!)

>62 Oberon: I hadn't realised he had written so many books! I know know him for Into the Wild.

>64 rosalita: Let me know what you think!

>65 katiekrug: I think LT automatically capitalized Christianity and did not Mormonism? I am not sure about say Lutheranism. I think Mormonism is further removed from Christianity. The other Christian denominations to me seem to be arguing over variations of the same thing while Mormonism tacked on a whole new set of scriptures that strike me as extra made up.

My eccentric use of capitalization was not a conscious attempt to signify a lesser legitimacy but I will concede that I do think of both (Scientology and Mormonism) as less legitimate faiths. I am not sure this is even attributable to their newness (which doesn't help) but rather to the fact that I find much of their practices abhorrent.

Much of Krakauer's book dealt with the practice of polygamous marriages involving very young girls (like 14). While today this sort of thing is principally done by fundamentalist mormons, it is pretty clear that this was an accepted tenet of faith until it became untenable for the main church and even then they sought to conceal such practices. In this aspect it seemed more cultish than anything else.

Anyway, I am not especially bothered if the connotation is one of less respect for those faiths as it would be an accurate reflection of my feelings.

>66 LovingLit: He had at least one more about campus rape culture that I have no interest in reading. Under the Banner of Heaven was troubling enough.

No more Blackhawks in the playoffs, Erik. They just went bleh for some reason.

>62 Oberon: While a Krakauer fan, I suspect this is one that won't rise too high the TBR list. The murder trial would be interesting for me, though. Fascinated that the defendants allowed an insanity defense. Would think they would have resisted having their faith portrayed in this fashion.

Bringing to mind the ongoing right wing conspiracy theorist/radio personality Alex Jones' trial over custody of his children. To his fans and followers he maintains his rants are all accurate and legit. His ex-wife wants to present them as proof of his unsuitability for child-rearing. And yet, his attorneys maintain he's a performance artist and it's all an act.

>68 jnwelch: My condolences Joe. I saw that score last night. Despite the Wild earning a reprieve the other night I think we will be joining you soon. I just don't see the Wild winning four straight from the Blues.

>69 michigantrumpet: Actually, one of the brothers refused to allow an insanity defense while the other did. It wasn't so much that they objected to others viewing their faith as a crazy, they both just genuinely believed that this was what God wanted them to do.

I have seen the bit about Alex Jones. Clever of the ex-wife - he certainly doesn't seem stable enough to raise children.

Loons Update: Loons win!



Minnesota United beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Sunday night. Andrew and I were in attendance having missed the first Loons win while in Costa Rica. Not nearly as many people as showed up for the home opener but still fun. The best part was that Minnesota's one goal was scored by Miguel Ibarra aka Batman. Ibarra played for Minnesota before the team moved up to MLS and was a fan favorite. He earned a call up to the National Team, the first for a second division player in something like 10 years. He was then traded to Liga MX where he didn't get much playing time. Before the season started, the United announced that they were signing Christian Ramirez aka Superman and Ibarra's best friend and bringing Ibarra back to Minnesota. Long time fans were very excited to see the two team up in MLS, the return of Batman and Superman.

Ramirez started immediately and has made a big impact thus far being in the Golden Boot race. Ibarra had up until now been struggling for playing time. Over the last couple of games he had slowly garnered some minutes and was making his presence felt. On Sunday, he got the start and worked tirelessly the whole game, finally being rewarded with his first MLS goal in front of the hometown crowd. It really felt like one of the major pieces of Minnesota soccer clicked home on Sunday. Great game with hope for more to come.

The North is Rising!

April 27th and it is snowing here. The snow is coating roofs and cars (and my boat cover) but is melting on the roads and grass. Still, a bit disheartening.

Quite an emotional swing reading your last two posts, Erik.

Yay! Loons win!

Boo! It's snowing!

Disheartening is a good word for snow at the end of April.

Nice photos from Minnesota United's win this weekend!

Several years ago I flew from Atlanta to Madison, WI in late April, and before I left I read that the forecast called for a significant snowfall there on the day of my arrival. I mentioned this to my best friend's Belgian wife, who was going to pick me up from MSN, and she assured me that this forecast couldn't possibly be right, since it was nearly May. I decided to trust the National Weather service more than Murielle, and sure enough there were 4-6 inches of fresh snow on the ground when the flight landed (fortunately I was ready for it). I mentioned the snow to her, and she replied, "What do you expect? You're in Wisconsin!"

> 72 Oberon

Not sure where you live, but we had a nice light morning snow out here in rural Madison, Wisconsin.

After covering the new little still-to-bloom Magnolia for tonight's predicted near-freezing
low, I called my daughter to tell her to look outside (she went flying out to cover her first ever
planted crop of lovely Tulips), and recalled that the last true frost can still come here -
in Mid May!!!

>73 rosalita: The weather has been an emotional rollercoaster here. The weekend was gorgeous in the upper 60s and now we are barely above freezing.

>74 kidzdoc: 4-6 inches of snow in April is extreme even for here (or Wisconsin) but that is a great story. Hope you are still planning to see an Atlanta United game.

>75 m.belljackson: I am in a suburb of Minneapolis. I saw blankets draped over the neighbors flowers this morning. It is going to stay cool for a bit though hopefully not until May!

Brrrrr! Snow at the end of April. What a bummer. Hope the warmth comes back soon. Glad you have had such fun at both the Twins and the Loons!

>77 Berly: Ha! We are off to a soccer tournament in Cedar Rapids Iowa today where the forecast is in the 40's and there is an 80% chance of rain! Super excited to be standing outside all weekend.

>76 Oberon: I'm pretty sure I'll go to an Atlanta United game eventually. I did try to organize a group to go to Sunday's match against DC United, but that fell flat, and single tickets are now sold out. The May 28th match against NYC FC is doable, but that's also the weekend of the Atlanta Jazz Festival, which I plan to attend (jazz > soccer). I'll be in Europe (UK and Spain) for nearly the entire month of June, but hopefully I can go to a match in July or the first half of August.

>78 Oberon: Ugh.

>78 Oberon: Oh dear. Yes, it's raining briskly out there right now and only 43 degrees (I'm in Iowa City). I have season tickets for University of Iowa baseball and they have a home series this weekend but they keep shifting the starting time of games around to try to dodge the rain. We'll see if they get any games in.

>79 kidzdoc: That is pretty impressive that the fan base is selling out the games. Atlanta has built a pretty exciting team.

I would change your formula to jazz=soccer. Unless of course it was Wynton Marsalis then it would be Wynton>soccer.

>80 rosalita: Sadly I think it is warmer in Eden Prairie than it is in Iowa right now. We will see if we get both games in tomorrow and how miserable it gets. Stay tuned.

>81 Oberon: What's even more impressive is that Atlanta United are nearly completely filling a Division 1 football stadium (Georgia Tech's 55.000 seat Bobby Dodd Stadium), and not a soccer only field that has less than half its capacity. Unsurprisingly Atlanta United is leading the league in attendance so far:

Atlanta United: 50,565
Seattle Sounders: 42,891
Toronto FC: 27,273
Montreal Impact: 25.759
Minnesota United: 23,571
Orlando City: 25,527
LA Galaxy: 22,131
Vancouver Whitecaps: 21,681
New York City FC: 21,328
Portland Timbers: 21,144
Sporting Kansas City: 19,216
Real Salt Lake: 18,971
New York Red Bulls: 18,925
San Jose Earthquakes: 18,000
Houston Dynamo: 17,640
DC United: 16,429
Philadelphia Union: 15,973
FC Dallas: 15,870
Chicago Fire: 15,369
Colorado Rapids: 15,075
New England Revolution: 13,344
Columbus Crew: 12,659

It's good to see that Minnesota United is also near the top of the league in attendance, and I assume that they will sell more tickets once the weather is more conducive to soccer!

Atlanta United does need a better nickname, though; The Five Stripes isn't exactly memorable.

I hope that you're staying as dry and as warm as possible. Good luck to your crew!

I just checked the Atlanta Jazz Festival lineup for Sunday May 28, the date of Atlanta United's late afternoon match against NYC FC, and for that day soccer > jazz, unlike the previous two days. So, I'll see if I can organize a group to attend the match.

I'm not as big a Wynton Marsalis fan as I was when he first burst onto the scene in the early 1980s. Robert Glasper is playing on Friday night, and there are four must see performers playing on the Legends stage on Saturday (Regina Carter, Randy Weston (whose autobiography I read a year or two ago), Reńe Marie and Charles Lloyd). I could skip Sunday's concerts, but the (free) festival is taking place in Piedmont Park, a short walk from where I live, so I'll probably see one concert if I go to the Atlanta United match that afternoon.

I hope your visit to Cedar Rapids wasn't too soggy, Erik, but I suspect it was. The Hawkeye baseball team ended up playing a double-header Friday night, with the second game starting at 10:30 or so and finishing after midnight, and then the final game of the series on Saturday night after being delayed again by rain. I'm glad they got all the games in — and won all three — but I'm afraid they had to do it without me!

I will come back to the thread in a bit but a short update: miserable weekend. It was unrelentingly cold, rainy and windy. Despite that, the games got played and the girls were utterly flat. Admittedly the conditions were poor for a finesse team like ours but absolutely nothing connected. We controlled possession but ended up giving up fluke goals while getting nothing ourselves. The team went 0-2-1 with us giving up 1 goal in each game. My daughter scored the lone goal in the tie but it wasn't much of a consolation. To cap off the weekend the minivan got stuck in the parking lot because of all the mud and Andrew came back sick probably from the cold. Plus the Loons lost. Yuck.

>82 kidzdoc: Those are some impressive attendance numbers. I did not realize that Atlanta was out drawing Seattle. I have hopes for Minnesota but the attendance at recent games has been closer to 17,000. Hopefully a new soccer specific stadium and some wins will push us close to 20,000.

>83 kidzdoc: The Atlanta Jazz Festival sounds like a lot of fun. I have not been impressed by our local festivals although the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis brings in plenty of national acts in a neat venue.

>84 rosalita: You are right, it was soggy and very cold. I blame Iowa.

>72 Oberon: In a disappointing development it snowed here today so yes, there are things worse than April snow - May snow.

>86 Oberon: Yeah, sorry about that.

>87 Oberon: Well, at least it didn't snow here today!

>82 kidzdoc: & >86 Oberon: I am pretty impressed by the attendances to be honest. I did notice that soccer seems to be on the rise in the US. My club is Leeds United as you know and I was in attendance to witness a 3-3 draw where we came back from 3-0 down to almost snatch a victory that would have kept our play-off chances alive.

Our home average attendance in the Championship (England's second tier) was 27,699 which is not too shabby, I suppose.

>82 kidzdoc: What a pathetic showing by the New England Revolution. Not much soccer love here in the Northeast.

>85 Oberon: Ugh! What a tough weekend. Here's hoping your Monday is looking up.

>82 kidzdoc: 15,000 out of an 18,000 or so capacity stadium for the Rapids is not too bad, I guess. I always felt like it was pretty empty when I used to go, but I guess that was 4-5 years ago so maybe attendance has picked up.

>87 Oberon: There was some talk we might get snow but it's stayed just rain. I hate rain, so normally I'd prefer the snow. But at these temps, snow is just about as wet as the rain anyway so it hardly makes a difference. Hopefully we both get out of this weather pattern soon!

D.C. United should make a better showing attendance-wise, but they play in RFK Stadium which is buried deep in DC (not so accessible to the suburbanites whose kids actually play soccer) and which is, frankly, falling apart. I hear there's a new stadium in the works but who knows how long that'll take...

>88 rosalita: Taking personal responsibility for Iowa's weather? I appreciate that, apology accepted.

>89 PaulCranswick: Paul, is that typical for Championship league? I know Leeds has a pretty strong history. Minnesota, before it moved up to MLS, played in the NASL. A large crowd at that level in US is 10,000. I do agree with you that attendance is on the rise in the US.

>90 michigantrumpet: The Revolution aren't that bad a team so I am surprised it is so low. Have you been to a game?

>91 ursula: 18 to 20K is considered the goal for most MLS teams right now. Sporting KC's stadium is often held up as the gold standard for soccer specific stadiums in the US. Seattle has always been an outlier playing in a football stadium and regularly filling it. The current Minnesota stadium plans are looking at some where between 18K and 21K for most games. Atlanta might be going in a different direction with all the success they are having.

The snow here melted as soon as it hit so it was like rain but seeing the white flakes was sad for me.

>92 drneutron: Jim, the Redskins still fill RFK right? Playing in football stadium rarely looks good though Seattle and Atlanta are succeeding. The University of Minnesota stadium is a great football stadium but tough for soccer. The 17K at the last game looked kind of lost in the building.

I have been rolling along on my books and need to get some more reviews up but away from the subject of books, I finally watched La La Land tonight. I know it is a year old but I enjoyed it.

I also really enjoyed the series premier of American Gods. I am a fan of the book and the start of the series looks really promising. I especially liked the opening story of Odin coming to North America.

Hi, Erik! Happy Wet May! I somehow lost your thread in the shuffle and I missed so much interesting stuff. Your Costa Rica trip sounded wonderful and I loved all those photos, along with your bird and other wildlife sightings. It looks like a paradise.

I have also been reading some stellar NF as well. I am glad you liked the Krakauer. Have you Where Men Win Glory? If not, I really liked that one too.

I agree with you about Pirate Hunters being a bit slight but I can not recommend Shadow Divers high enough.

Stay dry, my friend.

>93 Oberon: Nah, the Redskins moved to Landover, just outside the Beltway a few years ago. THese days RFK is mainly used for DC United and a bunch of concerts and such in the summer.

Will the Redskins never change their name?

I doubt it - the owner is pretty dug in at this point. Maybe when the team passes hands. Fortunately, I don't care for them much. I'm more a Ravens fan, at least to the point that I care about football. Now, the O's are a completely different story... :)

>95 msf59: No worries Mark. Unlike some posters around here you can skip my thread for a while and not be five threads behind.

I have not read Where Men Win Glory but it is Krakauer book so with your endorsement I will put it on my list. I know he did Eiger Dreams as well but I haven't heard anyone talk about it so I don't know if it is any good.

I need to buy a copy of Shadow Divers. I had one in my hands at the store the other day and bought Travels with Herodotus instead.

>96 drneutron: I didn't know that - shows how much NFL I watch these days.

>97 m.belljackson: Way past time, IMO though my grandmother was a devoted Skins fan.

>93 Oberon: These are the Championship averages for the season. Newcastle who have the biggest stadium outside the top league and Aston Villa who are also a team of some stature have raised the figures. Brighton's figures show up because they are at the top of the league. Leeds traditionally have the largest away following of any of the clubs and its ticket prices are the most expensive of any club outside the Premier League at about £30 per game. Leeds' attendances are also hit because they have to seek special permission to open the top tier of their main stand and because given their national stature they are on live TV the most.

http://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-championship-2016-2017/1/

This is how the Premier League compares.

http://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/eng-premier-league-2016-2017/1/

>99 Oberon: I think Eiger Dreams is a collection of articles and things Krakauer had written for Outside magazine and other places, not really a "book" as such. I haven't read it yet for that reason.

Another plug for Shadow Divers here, Erik. Really good.

>101 PaulCranswick: Very interesting Paul. It certainly shows that the states are a ways behind in attendance but not completely out of touch. Atlanta and Seattle post numbers that would be respectable in Champions League.

>102 ursula: Ursuala, pretty sure you are right that it is a collection of pieces - that wouldn't turn me off per se, I just want to know how good it is.

>103 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Clearly I made the wrong choice on my selection.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is an excellent book and deserves to be widely read.

The book is structured as a letter by Coates to his son. Coates's son is deeply impacted by the injustice towards black people, especially by police and the reality that the American justice system fails to bring true justice in most cases. Coates explains, in fairly harsh terms, that this is the reality of being black in America and that the nation's history is most often defined by its exploitation of blacks. That exploitation necessarily involves violence and that the killing of black men by white police officers is a direct outgrowth of that exploitation.

Coates speaks of his childhood, growing up in dangerous neighborhoods and his own experience as a black man in America. He talks powerfully about his education at Howard University (the "mecca") and how that education allowed Coates to connect his experience to the larger black experience in America. He also deals with the death of a friend who is shot by a police officer for dubiously suspicious behavior and how that death drove home to Coates how fragile basic safety can be just because you were born black. This leads Coates to muse on his struggles and fears to raise his son and how powerless he feels in his ability to protect his son.

The book is raw, depressing and powerful. As someone who does not fear the neighborhood where I am raising my children and do not generally consider the police a danger to my or my children's safety it is a hard book to internalize. Part of me wished for a solutions section to the book where Coates could talk about how to make things better. It isn't there and I understand why it isn't there. Coates is making his readers face the reality of modern America and how much of the American dream has been denied people, specifically black people, based upon their race.

Magnificently done with a distinctive and unique voice. The book has lingered in my thoughts for weeks.

>105 Oberon:

One way that things could be made better would be for the current Mayor of Chicago to reverse his decision to close local schools in low income neighborhoods.
All schools have the potential to become strong Community Centers, to offer a myriad of needed services, and to connect every child and family with mentors, books, a library, a gym, safety, protection...

Equally important is to establish viable Job Centers in the neighborhoods. As workers earn a decent living, family businesses can emerge again, as well as investments of satellite businesses from corporations.

Walking Police Patrols are also critical and, paired with outreach workers, can make a real difference in areas wracked by violence and drugs and death.

Within the last year, our friend's only child - a son studying to be a cook - was shot to death while sitting in his car.

Another tragic loss for the South Side of Chicago.

>105 Oberon: That's an excellent review of Between the World and Me, Erik. If you post it on the book page, I'll thumb it.

>106 m.belljackson: Good ideas, Marianne. Agree re the school closings - and the rest. Arggh, I'm very sorry about your friend's child. Tragic, frustrating, and devastating no doubt for your friend.

>106 m.belljackson: All good suggestions but it will take local and national change to make a difference.

>107 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. I went ahead and posted it even though it violates my rule about adding a book that I don't own. My justification is that it was an important book that I want a copy in my personal collection to lend or reread.

>105 Oberon: Well done indeed, Erik, and I've added my thumb. That book continues to linger in my mind more than a year after I read it. I think Coates is pretty amazing. I subscribed to The Atlantic magazine largely to read his columns.

>109 rosalita: Interesting. I came to Coates in reverse. I think his article in the Atlantic entitled My President Was Black convinced me I needed to read Between the World and Me

>108 Oberon: Thanks, Erik. Thumb applied.

The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer

Not what I would call light reading but fascinating. I consider myself a decent student of history but there is a fairly large gap in my knowledge base between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. This book provided a lot of information in a pretty concise manner. While much of the book dealt with European history, the book did cover some of what is known in the Americas as well as China, Korea, Japan, India and the Middle East. It was a sparse as to Africa, a pet peeve of mine, as archeology has provided a better understanding of Africa prior to European colonization. That said, it must be acknowledged that apart from the Islamic north of Africa and Christian Ethiopia, the written record is sparse.

What struck me most about this book was how long the Roman empire echoed forward long after its fall. Pieces of Roman tradition and Roman organization persisted centuries after the Empire collapsed. The overview provide by Wise Bauer gave the reader the opportunity to see the broader whole and how it fit together which I enjoyed a great deal.

Apparently there are other books in the series. I listened to this one on audiobook and my library does not have others on audio so I am not sure when I will get to it but I enjoyed this comprehensive history.

>111 jnwelch: Thanks Joe!

>105 Oberon: & >108 Oberon: I read the Dutch translation of Between the world and me earlier this year, from the library. After reading I immediately bought my own copy.

>105 Oberon: I agree with you Erik. A fine book. For me, a massive Baldwin fan, the quality of writing isn't quite there, but I'll be reading more of him.

The documentary based on a Baldwin manuscript I Am Not Your Negro is excellent.

>114 FAMeulstee: Great minds think a like! I like having copies of books that had a noticeable impact on my thinking.

>115 Caroline_McElwee: I was thinking about watching that documentary over the weekend. Glad to see your endorsement of it.

>116 Oberon: I am not as bad as I used to be, Erik, in earlier years I wanted a copy of EVERY book I liked. Nowadays, due to lack of space, I only want to own the books that made an impact or were notable in an other way.

Wishing you a great weekend, Erik.

>117 FAMeulstee: Lack of space and funds prevents me from buying absolutely everything but I definitely like to pick up copies of the books I liked the most.

>118 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul.

The (delayed) weekend update:

Saturday ended up being very crazy for me. The schedule was:

Coach track 8-10AM
Soccer pictures 10:15 AM with daughter
Soccer picture 10:45 AM with son
ODP soccer with daughter 1-4 pm (plus 40 minute car ride each way)
Coach soccer 3-4PM for youngest son
Attend Epilepsy Foundation Gala 5:30 PM-10:30 PM

Made for a long day.

Loons update: Loons Win! 2-0 over Sporting KC

I went with my older two kids and my parents to the Loons game on Sunday. Beautiful day and even more beautiful game. I am almost inclined to think that the Loons marketing people got to write the script for the game. The Loons started their number one draft pick Abu Danladi in his first game and then had him score his first MLS goal off of an assist from Miguel Ibarra (see >71 Oberon: for more on Ibarra). For the second goal, Christian Ramirez scored continuing his contention for the Golden Boot Award. Ramirez was assisted by Ibarra.

Sporting KC is in a tie for the top record in the Western Conference so the Loons were major underdogs. To have a 2-0 win in a nationally televised game was a pretty big deal. It showed that the start of the season was an anomaly and that people should not be taking Minnesota for granted. Right now we sit 2 point out of the playoffs behind Vancouver. I still don't expect a playoff slot but it is fun to dream.

Wow, I got tired just reading about your Saturday, Erik! At least the weather was nice?

>122 rosalita: It was gorgeous. Almost too nice really. It was overcast when we went to the United game so I didn't bring sunscreen. Immediately the sun came out so we baked the whole time. I have a bit of a sunburn but I will take that over the previous weekend's frostbite!

>120 Oberon: Wow. Just wow. That's a heck of a day. I'd take sunburn over frostbite (especially in MAY) anytime. Aloe helps. ; )

Well done, Loons!

Atlanta United is in a bit of a scoring slump lately.

>124 Berly: Yes, I was pretty wiped out by the end of the evening. I have been applying aloe!

>125 kidzdoc: Don't look now but Minnesota has the same number of points as Atlanta (though with one more game played). Clawing our way back to respectability.

I finished The Road to Little Dribbling this morning on the way back from court. I was kind of disappointed. Bryson declared just about everything in Britain to be splendid. Anyway, started in on The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane which I am enjoying more.

>126 Oberon: Excellent! I want to see Atlanta United and Minnesota United do well in their inaugural seasons.

>128 kidzdoc: As do I. I am looking forward to the rematch down in Atlanta. Minnesota doesn't have to win but it would be nice to put the 7-1 demolition from our home opener permanently behind us.

>127 Oberon: I found Little Dribbling to be a slight disappointment as well, but mostly because he was in full-on Old Man Bryson Rant Mode about The Way Things Used To Be, which can be funny in small doses but gets tiresome. It's probably the one fault I find with his writing across most of his books, actually.

>130 rosalita: Yes, plenty of rants about how stupid people have become. While I agree on some of his points it isn't like celebrity culture was better 30 years ago. It was crap then and remains crap. Parts of the book were interesting but there were several too many villages pronounced splendid based on a brief walk about and a stop at the pub. Mind you, I would happily get paid to do that job it just didn't make for an enthralling book.

Toil & Trouble by Scott Mairghread

Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays so I was inclined to like this story anyway but I thought this was an interesting take. The Macbeth story is told from the perspective of the three witches. Each witch is a girl/woman who has died at some point in Scotland's past and has come back with magical powers to help guide the land. Thus the Macbeth story is portrayed, at least in part, as a contest between the witches who initially disagree on Macbeth, and Macbeth's son, fitness to rule. Of course the witches conclude that Macbeth is not suitable to rule as is obvious from the play. Still, I enjoyed how they got to the conclusion. An enjoyable graphic novel.

>132 Oberon: That sounds like a fun one!

>132 Oberon: Oooh, I'm a Macbeth fan too! I'll look for that one.

Ditto for me, Erik. Added to the WL.

Will definitely be looking for that one, it has gone onto the wish list.

>132 Oberon: Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson and Kezia Douglas.

The leaders of the three main political parties in Scotland are all female. Whither MacBeth?

132

Looks like this would make a great movie!

And, Roman Polanski's MACBETH is a classic to revisit.

>138 m.belljackson: seconding on the Polanski MacBeth. Brilliant production.

>133 Berly: I certainly thought so.

>134 mstrust:, >135 jnwelch:, >136 lunacat: Hope you like it!

>137 PaulCranswick: Are you attributing magical powers to them Paul?

>138 m.belljackson:, >139 Caroline_McElwee: I have not seen the Polanski Macbeth. I watched the Kurzel version with Michael Fassbender as Macbeth and it was harrowing.

Another crazy weekend in the books. Sufficiently crazy as to delay my update to mid-week. As long as it was for me, it was a beast for my daughter and I was left in awe of my daughter by the end of the weekend.

On Friday afternoon we found out that my daughter had made the first cut for ODP. ODP stands for Olympic Development Program and is basically the first step in becoming a national team player. The first stage was self-selecting. The best players in the state for an age bracket came out and competed against each for three hours straight while they were evaluated by coaches. They then cut more than half of the kids leaving 40 or so kids that constitute the state pool. Those kids then train once a week for several weeks and then are further winnowed down to make a state team consisting of 16 field players and 2 goalies who travel to Missouri to play other state teams and form a regional pool. At my daughter's age there is nothing further than the regional pool as there is no U12 national team but in a couple of years there are national teams for older youth players. Anyway, she made the first big cut and is now in the state pool and is competing for a spot on the state team - which brings us back to the weekend.

Saturday morning the kids had a track meet. Both kids did well with my daughter running a 400 meter and 100 meter race. From there she played two tournament games with about an hour break between the games. We then came home and spent the evening with neighbors who were having a party to celebrate the sale of their old house. The next morning (Mother's Day) we were back on the field by 9AM for another soccer game that the girls won putting them into the championship game. The girls lost the championship 1-0 based upon a dubious free kick but such is soccer. From the championship we returned home long enough to feed the kids and then bundled my daughter into the car for the first ODP practice/evaluation for the state team which went for a solid hour and a half.

I was exhausted myself and astonished that she could even stand much less play soccer. I gave serious consideration to telling her to skip ODP but she had worked really hard to get there and didn't want to miss it. She didn't run at her full speed but when the teams played large sided games she managed to score five goals and no one else on either side scored one despite playing with and against the best 40 or so girls her age. We won't know for a month if she makes the state team but she is off to a heck of a start.

Loons update: The Loons lost to Toronto FC, arguably the best team in the league. It was a very tight game and the Loons acquitted themselves well at 3-2 but it felt like a missed opportunity to really make a statement.

Given the craziness of the weekend we were late in celebrating a Minnesota high holiday - the fishing opener. Monday night, Andrew and I went out to the dock and made up for it. He got a bunch of sunfish and mastered taking the fish off by himself while I got a bass, some crappies, and a northern pike.

The approach of the fishing opener sent me looking through old photographs for a photo I remembered of myself and my grandfather. It took a couple of weeks of looking but it was finally found with my wife's assistance. The photo is from 2006. My grandparents came up to Minnesota (I think this may have been the last time they did) and stayed with my parents at their home on the lake. My wife and I brought our then 1 1/2 year old daughter up to visit.

This is probably one of the last times I went fishing with my grandfather. He had taught me to fish as they had owned a home near Park Rapids Minnesota on a lake in the early 80's before moving to Florida. We saw both of my grandparents a number of times after this in Florida and both of them met Andrew but neither of them lived to meet Alexander.

You never recognize that something is the last time until after the fact.

That's a great pic of you and your grandfather. I had a similar experience growing up - my grandfather was the one who taught me to fish and we had some great times out on the lake.

>144 Oberon: Nice, Erik. I'm envious - both my grandfathers were gone by the time I was six. I'm glad my 94 year old dad is sticking around for our kids.

Congratulations to your daughter, Erik. Good luck on her being chosen for the state team; given her productive day it would seem certain that she would make the cut.

Nice fishing photos, especially the one with you and your grandfather. I'm hopeful that I can go fishing with my father later this year; we haven't done that for years. My maternal grandfather died when I was young, and although I know that he liked fishing I don't have any memories of us fishing together.

Hi Erik. Congratulations to your daughter and her ODP adventure! It sounds like she is off to an awesome start. Five goals agains the best of the best and no else even close to her scoring stats is pretty darn impressive.

Love the photo of you fishing with your grandfather. How nice to have those special memories and the photos, too.

Great news for your daughter Erik. Nice to see the fishermen in your family too.

>145 drneutron: I think being a grandfather and teaching fishing to grandchildren sounds like an almost perfect job description. Something to aspire to.

>146 jnwelch: I lost my paternal grandfather around that age Joe but I was certainly lucky that the other three got to meet great grandchildren. Your dad is doing well to be 94.

>147 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. We will see. I am working on controlling her expectations (and mine) but yeah. I think you should certainly go fishing with your dad. No time like the present.

>148 Berly: Thanks Kim. I have a hard time thinking that they aren't looking for that kind of scoring ability but then my dad bias is pretty high too. I also want her to celebrate where she is at without adding to the pressure that she is already putting on herself.

I am glad to have found the photo of grandpa. I knew it was out there but it is easy to lose specific digital photos when it is so easy to take and store thousands of photographs.

>149 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you Caroline.

>144 Oberon: A last note on this photo that an eagle-eyed friend pointed out when I put it on Facebook: there is a gin and tonic clearly visible at my feet. This is my foreign service grandfather for whom the sun was always over the yardarm somewhere in the English empire.

Congrats to your daughter and all her athletic accomplishments!
And I love the inter-generational fishing photos.

>152 banjo123: Thanks! Hopefully her academic accomplishments will be what carries her forward but the athletics are fun.

Weekend update: It rained all weekend and the Loons lost again.

(Did manage to socialize with friends and family so it wasn't a total loss)

>105 Oberon: Part of me wished for a solutions section to the book where Coates could talk about how to make things better. It isn't there and I understand why it isn't there. Coates is making his readers face the reality of modern America and how much of the American dream has been denied people, specifically black people, based upon their race.
That is a sobering insight.
The book sounds very promising though. Is it recently published?

>141 Oberon: I gave serious consideration to telling her to skip ODP but she had worked really hard to get there and didn't want to miss it.
Intrinsically motivated! That is the way to go, by all accounts. Good for her!!

>155 LovingLit: I think it came out last year so relatively new.

As for intrinsically motivated I agree. That said, one of my favorite memories of her soccer career is her asking if she could have ice cream after a game and me telling her that she could go if she got a hat trick. She promptly went out and did just that. A number of parents commented on how motivated she seemed. Proof that she can be extrinsically motivated too.

The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane

I really, really enjoyed this book. I think it is mainly for the writing which I can only describe as lush. I want to be able to write like Macfarlane.

This book is about paths and the interaction between people and the space they inhabit. The inspiration for the book is the writing of Edward Thomas, a poet who died in the First World War. Macfarlane starts with Thomas's writings and then sets out to come up with his thought on traveling. Much of the travel is by foot as Macfarlane traces some of the oldest walking paths in Britain discussing their current state, their history and the people affected by the paths. However, Macfarlane does not confine himself to walking in Britain. He also follows a sea path in Scotland, a walk in Palestine and a walk in Spain along the pilgrim route to Santiago.

Macfarlane compares and contrasts the walks (and sea voyage) and includes memorable stories and characters along the way but unlike a Bryson book, Macfarlane reads more like a meditation on the land. Very poetic in feel.

The review does not do justice to the book but it is not an easily categorized work.

>157 Oberon: Sounds good, Erik, I recently read Macfarlanes The Wild Places and liked it.

>158 FAMeulstee: Do you think The Wild Places is worth the read then? I haven't decided yet as to whether I want to read some of Macfarlane's other books.

Nice review of The Old Ways, Erik. Someone else recently praised that book, so I'll add it to my wish list.

>160 kidzdoc: I hope you like it Darryl. Be warned though, it might make you want to try some walking toward Santiago when you are next in Spain.

Well that was almost a book bullet, but I went to look at The Old Ways and it was already on my wish list. I am not sure whose fault that was.

>161 Oberon: Ha! If it means I can stay in Spain longer then I'm all for a walk to Santiago de Compostela, especially since I'll be on the coastal route when I'm in Bilbao.

>162 banjo123: And here I was ready to take credit . . .

>163 kidzdoc: Now I really want to come join you in Bilbao. Walking the Camino is an ambition of mine.

>159 Oberon: I liked it, Erik, you can find my thoughts on the book msg 43, 5th thread.

>165 FAMeulstee: Thanks for the link.

We are in Chicago for four days to see Hamilton. First time that we have gone without the kids in 11 years. Saw the Robie house by Frank Lloyd Wright and did an architecture boat cruise today. Hoping to hit the Field Museum and Oriental Institute tomorrow.

>167 Oberon: I loved that boat tour!

>168 banjo123: It has been a highlight. The docent was fantastic.

>167 Oberon: Sounds like a fun trip all around! I have not toured the Robie house but loved my tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio in Oak Park a number of years ago. The boat tour is on my to-do list next time I am in Chicago in the summer.

How fun!! Have a great time in Chicago (love that city!) and I will try not to be too jealous when you tell us how great Hamilton is.

>169 Oberon:

Lucky you to see Chicago's highlights! Robin House was across from my dorm room at the University of Chicago - also next to
impressive Rockefeller Chapel and near the often overlooked Oriental Institute. As well, The Medici coffee house is almost across
from the first Powell's Bookstore. Have fun!

>170 rosalita: The boat tour was fantastic. Highly recommended.

>171 Berly: I could lie but Hamilton lived up to the hype. Loved it.

>172 m.belljackson: We made a trip back for the Oriental Institute! Loved it. Fascinating little museum. Deserves a comprehensive guide book.

Recap post:









Back from our trip to Chicago with friends and without children. In order are the Robie House, 2 images from the wonderful Oriental Institute, Picasso's baboon, a huge totem pole from the Field, Time Transfixed by Rene Magritte at the Art Institute of Chicago, my wife and I in front of the Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, and Hamilton shortly before the play started.

What a wonderful trip Erik.

I tried to get a ticket to 'Hamilton' in the UK, it opens in November, but it is sold out until June next year, and no more tickets going on sale until the end of the year.

Looks like you a had a good time in Chicago, Erik.
I like the Magritte painting :-)

The Bean! (That's what locals call the Cloud Gate sculpture.) I never get tired of walking all around and under and through it. That looks like a great trip!

Great photos, Erik! Thanks for posting the Picasso sculpture as well. Have a great time in Chicago!

Thank you for the Robie House and Oriental Institute photos - what wonderful memories.

When you return to Chicago, you might want to add the FLW Unitarian Church
and Peterson's Ice Cream Parlor to your list - both in Oak Park, which also has FLW tours.

Shame on me, I missed a whole month omn your thread.

>141 Oberon: Congrats on your daughter's success.

>174 Oberon: Great photos.

Happy Sunday, Erik.

Cool pics! We were in Chicago Saturday with the son and the girlfriend. Spent most of the day at the Field Museum, then pizza, then a stroll on the riverwalk. Looks like you had a great time!

>175 Caroline_McElwee: Ouch. That sounds worse than here. We were just looking at more tickets to plan a return trip with the kids and NY was cost prohibitive for tickets but Chicago wasn't that bad (relatively).

>176 FAMeulstee: Thanks! I really liked the Magritte painting too and didn't recall seeing it the last time I visited the Art Institute.

>177 rosalita: We call it the Bean too - in fact my wife and I used it to troll our oldest daughter who wanted to come. We sent it to her with the caption "Wish you could have "bean" here." She didn't think it was as funny as we did.

>178 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. Stay safe in London.

>179 m.belljackson: An FLW tour sounds like a lot of fun. I appreciate the recommendation.

>180 Ameise1: All is forgiven Barbara. Easy to lose track of threads.

>181 drneutron: That sounds like a nice time Jim. The weather was fantastic while we were there.

Loons update: The Loons returned to early season form this past weekend - sadly, this meant it was pretty much a debacle. The Loons were pretty depleted by injuries and by international call ups (players leaving to play for their country's national team) but they still looked bad.

I guess it is a sign of progress that bad didn't mean seven goals against but it still wasn't a game to remember for Minnesota.

Looks like your trip was AWESOME!! So glad you had fun.

Let's not talk about the Loons....

Enjoy your Sunday. : )

>184 Oberon: Sorry to see that The Loons were not up to the mark again this week, Erik. My own club, Leeds, have no manager/coach again after Garry Monk quit due to the club's seeming reluctance to extend his contract for the long term. We are now searching for Manager number 8 in just 5 years.

>185 Berly: Thanks Kim. Loons need to be doing some acquisitions with the summer transfer window I think.

>186 PaulCranswick: That is not a recipe for consistency. Sounds almost like the Mexican national team and their manager of the month.

>141 Oberon:

My wife put this up on Facebook Tuesday - from first start at soccer to now. Our ferocious 12 year old made the state team this week after another grueling selection process. We are really proud of her and more than a little apprehensive about simply putting her on a bus to Missouri to play soccer for a week.

>188 Oberon: Wow, love the then-and-now photos. Congratulations to your daughter for making the state team! I don't know much about soccer, but I know enough to realize just how much hard work goes into performing at that level in any sport. I'm sure you and your wife are very proud of her.

>189 rosalita: Thanks. She is very excited and we are very proud.

Congrats to your daughter!! That is very exciting. Love the then and now photos.

Congratulations to your daughter, a fine achievement. Commiserations to dad, seeing her go off in the world without him at her shoulder!

LOL .. those are great then and now photos of your daughter. I hope she enjoys her match and has a great adventure in Missouri.

Happy Saturday, Erik. Glad you had a good time in Chicago. Plenty of stuff to do, that is for sure. I plan on going to the Art Institute this coming week. I have not been there in a few years.

Congrats on your daughter making the state team. How exciting.

Happy Father's Day!!

>191 Berly: Thank you!

>192 Caroline_McElwee: Harder than I thought it would be! Figured I had a few more years.

>193 cameling: Thanks Caro. I really hope she has fun.

>194 msf59: Thanks Mark. We had a great time in Chicago. The Art Institute is a fantastic treasure.

>195 Berly: Thanks!

Another soccer filled weekend. Andrew played up an age bracket for a tournament this weekend and absolutely dominated - scoring 13 goals in four games. He all but single-handedly won the tournament bracket. Two games Sunday plus two practices for Sophia on Sunday meant that I spent very little of Father's Day at home.

Early this morning I put Sophia on the bus for Missouri. Hopefully that will be a great experience for her. A brief anecdote: last night we were on the way to the last practice for the state team before their trip to Missouri and my daughter was expressing concerns about not knowing anyone and not making friends. Before practice started I pointed out several other girls who were standing about by themselves trying not to appear awkward and suggested that she could introduce herself. Another mother was doing the same with her daughter who was also clearly worried about not knowing other girls (some of the girls who made the state team play for some of Minnesota's "elite" academy teams and thus know other girls on the team where as others are the only kids from their club to make the team). The girls rolled their eyes at their parents trying to do introductions. However, at the end of practice in the parking lot we encountered the same girl and her mother talking about the bus ride in the morning. It was pretty clear that the other girl was upset and feeling isolated and alone and really wanted someone to sit by on the bus. To her credit, Sophia volunteered to sit together right away. This morning, she met the other girl at the bus and arranged their seating together.

Interesting to see the girls at this age with such equal parts confidence and insecurity.

In other news, the Loons lost. Again. The one bright spot is that I did get a four pack of the new beer introduced by Surly Brewery to celebrate the inaugural season of Minnesota United.

I need to catch up on my reviews of actual books later this week but I am trying to finish off Theodore Rex before it has to go back to the library so that has been consuming my free time.

I think kids being away from home and learning how to be on their own is so important (says the one with no kids). I went away to school at 13/14 and while it was hard, I was so much better equipped to deal with college, starting a job, etc. than a lot of my cohorts. So while it's hard on Dad, just know this experience will serve her well in the future, soccer or no soccer :)

>198 katiekrug: I find myself totally agreeing based on my personal experience and philosophically. It is much, much harder in practice than I thought it would be.

Oh, totally. I get that. I was just trying to help buck you up ;-)

>200 katiekrug: Appreciated :)

Hello Oberon! Happy belated Father's Day to you!

(I accidentally posted on the wrong thread. Apologies.)

I hope you get some interesting updates from Sophia during her trip, Erik. When my 15 year old nephew went on a rugby trip for a week, all he sent were photos of food he was eating. My cousin said that he hadn't a clue where his son was but knew at least he was eating well, and therefore he should be fine. LOL..

>202 brodiew2: Thanks Brodie. Good to see you stopping by.

>203 cameling: I have had limited updates thus far - that said, she has my old, retired iPhone. As a result, her photos automatically pop up in my phone photostream. Yesterday apparently involved several of the girls tying their hair across their faces to make mustaches. It looked pretty odd but they appeared to be having fun doing it.

Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

This is a true, modern day archeology story about the finding of a lost city in the jungle of Honduras. I had read Preston's articles about the search in the New Yorker and National Geographic so I was pretty familiar with the overall story but I still enjoyed the book a lot.

There have long been stories of abandoned cities in the jungles of Honduras. However, the density of the jungles and the danger of the environment has largely thwarted prior attempts to pinpoint such cities. This book discusses the use of a new technique, LIDAR, that allows for aerial surveys using lasers. What is so valuable about the technology is that the data can be used to generate maps without the jungle canopy. Thus, manmade structures that are ordinarily concealed by the jungle show up clearly on LIDAR scans. The use of LIDAR in Honduras revealed multiple structures hidden beneath the jungle canopy and allowed for a visit to one of the cities. Preston, working as a journalist, was on one of the visits.

From an archaeological standpoint, there is relatively little know about the people who built these cities. Preston puts forward a convincing narrative that they are likely refugees from the collapse of the Mayan civilization but it will take excavations to truly answer who these people were.

Much of the book reads like an adventure story with Preston encountering poison snakes and disease in the Honduran jungle. I confess that I am glad that I read this after we returned from trekking about the jungles of Costa Rica because his descriptions raised my paranoia level substantially. This is definitely not a book that will make you want to wander around Central American jungles, regardless of the opportunity for lost civilizations.

In a world where there appears to be few undiscovered places, Preston tells a unique and interesting story about a genuine discovery and the dangers that accompany making such a find. Highly recommended.

Trying to catch up on some reviews. Also, ODP update - the girls should be back late tonight. They went 2 and 1 while playing in St. Louis with Sophia notching at least one goal. I haven't gotten much more of an update than that but I am looking forward to talking with her. She has to rest up as her regular team is back in action tomorrow afternoon in a local tournament. Hopefully her time in ODP has inspired her.

Also - Loons Win! Minnesota United played a midweek game against the Portland Timbers last night and won it 3 to 2. This was especially nice as it was the Timbers who pounded the Loons in their first MLS game 5-1 in Portland. Evidence of substantial improvement. Now if we can just take it to Atlanta . . .



Either way, I doubt Atlanta has a cool beer like we do!

White Man's Game by Stephanie Hanes

White Man's Game is an examination of wildlife preservation, especially as it is practiced in Southern Africa.

In short, it is not a happy picture. There is simply not enough true wilderness left to maintain wild species. As a result, conservation "successes" are often a fiction. Early in the book, Hanes examines African wild dogs which have been reestablished in a fenced in preserve. While there are indeed African wild dogs in the preserve they are genetically isolated and need to be managed by humans to control the populations. Effectively, Hanes' point is that the wild dogs have not been saved as a wild species but are in something more akin to a gigantic zoo with much of the attendant oversight that comes with a zoo population.

The overall futility of saving much of Africa's animals in anything other than human regulated national parks is one of the major themes of the book. The other is paternalistic and perhaps colonial take on conservation that exists today.

To illustrate her point, Hanes focuses on an American billionaire Greg Carr and his efforts to restore Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. The park was largely depopulated of animal species as part of the Mozambique civil war and the subsequent poverty has only increased the poaching in the park.

Carr sets out to restore animals to the park, hoping to create both a thriving ecological park while enhancing the standard of living for the average citizens who reside outside of the park.

Hanes does a very good job of detailing how disruptive such a project is, how confusing and colonial like it is to have a wealthy white man show up and begin erecting fences around a place that had been hunting and farming land. Hanes also shows how such parks have their origins in colonial hunting practices - essentially protecting animals for the benefit of white foreigners.

Carr's effort to restore Gorongosa comes off as an updated white savior of Africa story with little actual progress to show for the time, money and effort invested. To some degree, I feel like Hanes was unnecessarily harsh about Carr's failures. However, I believe part of her point was to condemn the idea itself and thus used Carr's efforts to illustrate the problem. Essentially, if a large, well funded group like Carr's operating with government support and receiving laudatory press and employing NGO best practices can fail to meet so many of its goals then the problem isn't the effort but the making of the attempt. If Carr can't succeed then perhaps no one can.

As someone who has had the fortune of going on a Southern African safari and considered it a true lifetime highlight, Hanes's book is hard to read. But better solutions can't be developed unless we can look at the situation and accurately assess the failings. A very interesting book about the West's relationship with Africa and our collective relationship with the natural world.

Another day, another loss for the Loons. Hopefully we can get some midfield help when the transfer window opens.

On the plus side, my daughter entered a 5k today and won her age category on her first time out. Excited to see how she does in middle school cross country this fall.

>208 Oberon: Awesome news about the daughter's race! Congrats!

Congratulations on the track and football successes of your daughter, and the Loons! I see that Atlanta United is playing Minnesota United on Tuesday October 3rd at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which should be nearly finished. I don't know my work schedule but I should be in town that day, so I'll see if I can rustle up a group to go to the match.

Nice review of White Man's Game. I suspect that conditions for African wildlife will continue to worsen with time.

>209 drneutron: Thank you! Very surreal experience seeing her succeed so quickly.

>210 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. You should certainly go to an Atlanta United game. Hopefully the Loons will put up a more respectable game this time out.

Eric--Congrats to your daughter on her 5K win! That's exciting. Wishing the Loons good luck.

>212 Berly: Thanks Kim. The Loons signed a young Scottish attacker the other day. Hoping he can make a difference. Still need some midfield help.

Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell

After finishing War and Peace I wanted to do a bit more reading on the Napoleonic wars. This fit the bill nicely. The author, Bernard Cornwell, is known for his fiction especially the Sharpe's series. Cornwell brings his ability to tell a good story to this history of the battle.

I have not visited Waterloo but I have spent lots of time walking American Civil War battlefields. To me, it is often difficult to understand how battles develop and unfold even when you can see the ground that was fought over. Reading an academic history without seeing the land makes it much, much more difficult. Which brings me to why I liked this book so much, Cornwell does an excellent job of helping you understand how the battle was fought and why it was fought where it was. In doing so, he makes the whole of the battle far more understandable and compelling.

Cornwell also does a nice job of explaining the tactics of the era, the larger strategic issues and the diplomatic disputes that surrounded Waterloo. I also liked how readily Cornwell acknowledged that there are aspects of the battle that are unknown and will likely remain unknown. As a writer of fiction it would have been easier for him to simply gloss over some of these disputes but he meets them head on and acknowledges that some things will always remain in dispute about Waterloo. All and all, this was a very well done book about one of the great battles of history with plenty of context to allow the reader to appreciate its significance.

Great review of Waterloo, Erik!

>215 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. Hope you have a great weekend.

Erik--Soccer weekend here! Jack's team made the semi-finals in a tournament. Hoping for two games today.... Very nice review of Waterloo. Happy Sunday!

>217 Berly: We also had a soccer weekend playing in Minnesota's largest soccer tournament that draws teams from such places as Spain, Uganda and Costa Rica. Sadly, we got eliminated in the quarter-finals yesterday. Best of luck to Jack and his team.

Your tournament was definitely more global than ours, but Jack's team won!!

>219 Berly: I would take a win over more teams too! Did have a bit of consolation as the championship featured the team that knocked us out. Still, not how I would have prefered to end an otherwise pretty successful season. Such is life.

Congrats to your daughter's race and what a relief it must be that photos she's taking with your old phone pops up in your current phone, so even if she's not calling or texting as often as you'd like, the photos are evidence that she's ok and still having tons of fun.

Loved your review of Lost City of the Monkey God. Definitely something I'd like to read, so off to the library list it goes. So, despite your wonderful Costa Rican trekking adventure, you're not inclined, after reading this book, to don a battered hat, carry a whip and make like Indiana Jones?

Good review of Waterloo, Erik. I came to it via Cornwell's Sharpe series. Sharpe's Waterloo is an enjoyable fictional take on the battle.

>221 cameling: Thanks Caro. I would certainly like to continue an Indiana Jones impersonation but perhaps in places with fewer truly deadly residents. I don't have Indiana's phobia of snakes but Lost City of the Monkey God should give any informed reader a healthy respect for snakes!

>222 jnwelch: I have a bunch of the Sharpe series in my unread books so I will certainly get to them at some point. Perhaps right before I do my reread of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin series.

I love that series, Erik. Sharpe and Harper are great characters, and the historical events are well-portrayed.

My dad loved the Aubrey Maturin series. I'm more of a Hornblower aficionado, although I liked the A-Ms I read.

>224 jnwelch: While I appreciate Hornblower, Patrick O'Brian is definitely the way to go. Did you make it through a couple of them? The nautical jargon can be difficult for a book or two but I loved the series once I got past that.

Update: we are embarking on our version of the Great American Roadtrip tomorrow. I am anticipating that it will be more akin to a Griswold vacation but we shall see. Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Mount Rushmore and places in between. Should be back in a week.

No Wally World?

Have fun! And remember to NOT tie the dog to the back bumper...

Have a great time!

>227 katiekrug: Important tip i.e. the dog. We have plans to leave the family dog behind - it will be a long enough road trip with just the kids.

>228 mstrust: Thanks!

What about Aunt Edna?

Sounds like great fun. Haven't been to any of those monuments, but I don't think we make it to them. Have a good time.

Re: Aunt Edna...

Audrey: "She breathed on me! A dead person breathed on me!"

I love that movie so much. No one will watch it with me because I recite all the dialogue along with the actors.

>231 weird_O: & >232 katiekrug: I at least know better than to go skinny-dipping in a too cold pool.

Beware of pretty girls in red Ferraris.

Also, damp picnic sandwiches.

Enjoy your excellent adventures, Erik!

>224 jnwelch: I did get through two of the Aubrey/Maturins, Erik. (My dad read them all). I liked them, but didn't get immersed like you and he did. I don't know what separates Hornblower fans from A-M fans, but I've read all of the Hornblower books, and would read more if they existed.

Happy vacation, Erik.

Hi Erik! Enjoy your roadtrip!

>226 Oberon: I have been on that very trip and it is a great one!! Have lots of fun.

Update: made it to Billings, Montana with a stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Children all still alive.

Fingers crossed that your vacation continues to be murder-free. Hope you're having fun!

>241 Oberon: *snerk*

>241 Oberon: In induced comas?

>241 Oberon: LOL. How are the children's parents doing?

Yay wifi! We are in West Yellowstone tonight. Haven't seen a grizzly yet but have seen lots of other wildlife. It has been an extremely large amount of driving thus far.

Happy vacation, Erik! I LOVE Yellowstone and I really want to get back there and enjoy it for a longer visit. Any plans on driving through the northern loop? It is really pretty and much quieter up there.

Have a great time!

>234 katiekrug: Duly warned.

>235 rosalita: Thank you!

>236 jnwelch: I would encourage you to try again but I understand.

>237 Ameise1: Barbara.

>239 banjo123: Thanks!

>240 Berly: Kim, so far so good.

>242 mstrust: No deaths today.

>243 drneutron: Come on - every parent thinks about it.

>244 weird_O: Viable solution.

>245 kidzdoc: Well the parents shared a pitcher of sangria at a surprisingly good Spanish restaurant last night.

>247 msf59: We stayed just outside of the northeast gate are first night so we went in and out of Lamar Valley several times.

Saw a grizzly bear and wolves tonight. Moose and bighorn sheep are the only major animals we have yet to see. And mountain lions I guess but I do not expect to see one of those.

"Come on - every parent thinks about it." LOL, Eric!

Continue to have fun and good luck seeing the moose and bighorn sheep.

>249 Oberon: Well done. Adult beverages are my favorite analgesics.

>249 Oberon: I've often thought about marketing Children's Chewable Valium. It would make a fortune... :)

>250 Oberon:

Mostly (Laura Ingalls Wilder is an exception), people only hear the

mountain lion/catamount/cougar/puma/panther/mountain screamer

late at night.

Back in town and uneaten by bears. Need to get caught up on the threads and start a new one here but soccer tryouts and work have been slowing down my progress. Hopefully I will get caught up over the weekend.

Oh and did see a number of moose in the Grand Tetons.

Welcome home and hurray for the mooses!!

>255 Oberon: So glad that you didn't let the bears feast upon you and yours Erik!

Have a great weekend.

>257 Berly: We were very excited to see them - I put up a picture of one we saw on the new thread!

>258 PaulCranswick: Me too Paul though there were moments on that car ride . . .

The new and long overdue third thread is up. Please come on over.