Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

I can't remember where I picked this book up from. Maybe it was that same bookapalooza event or whatever it was called a couple years ago. Anyway...Buddhist, Atheist? I'm in. Sign me up.

This book really approaches Buddhism from a different angle. The author takes a far more historically accurate and slightly more objective look into the life of the Buddha. Batchelor's angle is to strip away the social context and influence of India 2500 years ago, and just find Siddhartha Gotuma's unique personal teachings. Best example I can give would be the idea of reincarnation. That concept predates Buddhism. It was a Hindu idea at the time that was commonly accepted, so it made its way into what we know as Buddhism. It's a core tenet of Buddhism, in fact. But was it the Buddha's teaching? Or was that merely an artifact of the time in which he lived?

I've always viewed Buddhism as a philosophy first and foremost, and religion second. A lot of people approach it that way. There are plenty of Buddhist Jews or Buddhist Christians for instance. Hell, there are Buddhist Christian Monks. It's definitely not contrary or antagonistic to be a Buddhist AND hold some sort of religious faith (if that's your thing).

Batchelor sees Buddhism in a similar light. He was an ordained monk for over a decade, he was a disciple of the Dalai Lama and lived with him at Dharmsala, he's taught Buddhism all over the world, etc, but he ultimately disrobed, adopted a lay life and got married.

His "thing" is that he started to feel like a fraud when it came to some of the 'mystical' aspects of Buddhism, if you will. Buddhism is all about questioning things and all about empirical research and experience, but what if you question something as fundamental as reincarnation? Is that taking it too far? Can you still be Buddhist? What the hell happens to the concept of karma if you don't believe in reincarnation?

This is the kind of stuff that he tackles in this book. That, and he really does a pretty good deep dive on the true history of the Buddha. For starters, he wasn't a prince. Yeah, this book has some revelations. Well, at least it did for me.

Overall, it was a pretty good book. It's definitely a different angle and I really appreciated that fresh approach, especially considering I'm atheist and Buddhist. It was good to read a book from a renowned ex-monk who essentially says, "that's okay," "that's not in conflict."


Om mani padme hum

Fresh Dressed

This flick is actually quite a bit better than the trailer lets on. It looks a bit too glossy and superficial, but the movie comes off deeper and more down to earth than that.

Anything that starts in 1970's NYC with the classic era gangs is gonna be good. This doesn't disappoint. The documentary charts the origins of hip hop fashion to the NY boroughs when NY was straight up living "the Warriors." It takes it from there to the birth of hip hop via the b-boys and rides the wave to current day innovators. We see rappers starting their own labels like Rocawear, Wu Wear, and Sean Jean, and even before that we see street wear become "a thing."

There are some pretty cool interviews with local cats from back in the day, as well as big name rappers in the game like Nas and Kanye, etc.

I really dug this look back at hip hop fashion. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix if you like hip hop at all.

Wooooord. Woooooooord.

21 Days Under the Sky

Can't remember where I found out about this. Maybe it just popped up in my Netflix queue. Anyway, it's a biker road trip flick made in part by Dice Magazine. So it has credentials.

Four dudes ride from SF to NY in three weeks. A pretty awesome ride by anyone's standards. Would love to take that on.

They ride some pretty rad Harley choppers. Sissy bars, extended front ends with exaggerated rake, Coker tires, you know the drill. I wanna know where that dude got his serape vest. It's nice. But anyway...the bikes are legit.

The soundtrack is pretty good. But overall the movie is pretty shallow. You don't get to know any of the characters. It's just about getting some nice, artistic shots of the bikes traveling cross-country. Nothing more, nothing less. They try and weave in some sort of commentary on America and the history of bikers...but it's still pretty shallow.

It's not very long. I'd definitely recommend you watch it if you ride bikes or dig choppers. For sure.

The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen

I wanted to go back to being 8 years old again, when a young boy is fascinated with things like dinosaurs and Egypt. I already received a book on how to read hieroglyphics this year, which I haven't yet read, but I wanted something with a fascinating story. To quench my thirst I picked up this book on the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, written by the man who can claim that honor.

This is an old book w/ poorly reproduced photographs, but it cost more to ship it than to buy it used on Amazon so let's not complain. The thing I dug about it was that I believe most of the content was written shortly after the discovery, so it feels fresh. It doesn't have decades and research and hindsight to reflect back on. It's right there, after it happened, in the thick of it all. That means there are many unanswered questions, but the book is about the discovery, not the analysis.

Anyway, this is an interesting read about one of the most significant finds in archaeological history. You'll learn a lot. Recommended.

The Last Man on Earth

I watched this Vincent Price flick the other day. Marie bought the DVD for me years ago from Target for a couple bucks or something.

The Last Man on Earth is cool because it's totally the inspiration for Night of the Living Dead. Buuuuuuuuut it's not that good. NotLD is amazing. It's groundbreaking. TLMoE is just alright. 

The thing I actually really liked about The Last Man on Earth was the fact it was shot in Italy. I knew it was Italy immediately because of the iconic Brutalist architecture. I was first turned on to the aesthetic by Antonioni's films such as L'Eclisse and L'Avventura. Those monolithic concrete structures just seemed so fucking HEAVY. So futuristic. It was like a dystopian Jetsons. Somehow it was clearly from the future, yet we're talking early 1960's. No flying cars. No Rosy the Robot.

So anyway, the fact that I found inanimate concrete structures to be the start of the show tells you something...

The zombies are interesting, too, from a film history perspective. They can talk. The walk slow and they moan. But they can talk. They still have memory. You rarely see that depicted other than the obligatory, "Braaaaaaaiiiiinsssss." So that was neat.

Oh, the continuity issues are fucking awful in this flick. There're numerous scenes where Price is driving somewhere in broad daylight then it cuts and it's pitch black then it cuts back and it's daylight again. Or dusk. Price's car even switches from a left hand drive to a right hand drive and back. So yeah, that kind of attention to detail is pretty lacking. The whole day/night/day thing was ridiculous.

Watch it if you're a horror completist. Otherwise, maybe watch a Stranger Things episode again.

Mark Webber: Aussie Grit - My Formula One Journey

I traded racing books with a co-worker again. This time around I gave him the Stig's bio and he gave me Mark Webber's bio.

It's good. Amongst other things it gives you a behind the curtain look at the shady aspects of F1.

Mark Webber is a successful motor racer from Australia. He was famous for his seven years at Red Bull when he was racing Formula One, but now he does endurance racing with Porsche in the LMP1 category. I.E. he races in the Le Mans 24 Hour race.

If you're into F1 then this is a good book to read. You learn a lot about how the teams work, how politics fucks things up, and you learn a bit more about the interesting details of the cars and what it all entails. It's cool stuff.

Mark seems very easy going and friendly (as much as one can tell from the book). Reminds me of fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo. Down for a laugh and a race. Leave the politics at the door.

He does spill some dirt on young Vettel, though. Vettel always seems like a whiny bitch when things don't go his way, and that's definitely touched on in the book since they were partners for a few years.

Anyway, this is a good, easy read for F1 fans. Recommended. If you don't care for the sport then you won't give a crap about this.

I am Thor

I was never a Thor fan, but as a big music bio fan I had to watch "I am Thor." Bodybuilding and heavy metal? Fuck yeah, I'll check it out.

In talking with Uberti about said movie today he described it as, "like a second rate The Story of Anvil." And that's a very good, succinct description. A lot of the production is handled by one dude. The audio is sketchy. The video quality varies quite a lot throughout the movie. It's all done on a shoestring budget.

Is it a good movie? No, not really. Is it an interesting story? Yeah. Is Thor any good? No. He should have stuck to bodybuilding. Dude was a beast. But y'know, a lot of people like his shit, so good for him. Whatever floats your boat.

The whole thing was worth learning one pretty crazy tidbit about Jerry Only and the Misfits. But I won't spoil it for  you...

He looks like He-Man.

Conspiracy of Brothers

I picked up a used copy of this at some big ol' book swap meet type of thing a while back. Booktopia, or Bookapolooza, or Bookmageddon, or something along those lines. It was at a mall. Zillions of individual book sellers. It had a biker on the front and purported to be about, "bikers, murder, and the law," so I was in.

Before we get into the book itself, just look at the typeface on the cover. The "C" is very interesting. It's like a condensed bastard child of Helvetica, Frutiger, and some unique display font. I dig it.

Anyway, the book is about a biker-on-biker murder in Canada, the trial, and the aftermath. It's a true story from the late 70's / early 80's. Mick Lowe does a great job as an investigative journalist diving into the minutia of this case. He builds a vivid picture of the fateful night and then takes the reader on a lengthy trip through courtrooms, penitentiaries, and outlaw clubhouses.

I found the courtroom drama a bit tedious, to be honest. But ultimately it was worth the ride. It was an inspiring and also incredibly sad and disappointing story. Do you like true crime? Do you ride? Read the book!

Grit

I joined the bookclub at work. First book I read with them was "Grit" by Angela Duckworth.

The idea of grit in the workplace is a bit of a buzzword right now. How do I hire for grit? What separates the men from the goats? We need gritty people, etc etc. I consider myself a pretty determined and disciplined person, so I was interested in reading up on the academic interpretation of grit. Are there lessons to be learned? Ways to teach it? Ways to hire for it?

In talking with my colleagues most felt the book was a bit long-winded. Duckworth seemed intent on showing the inner-workings of her conclusions to a point than some people felt was overkill. Example after example. It didn't bother me too much, though. It was a quick and easy read. The first night I read it I drank an espresso and stayed up until 2am getting through the first 100 pages. So for a business book / academic book, you could consider it a page-turner. 

I think grit is important. I'd be interested in hearing what my wife has to say about the book, if she chooses to read it. There's a brief chapter on parenting for grit. I paid particular attention to that as it will come in handy after October 25th. Fortunately for me, my parents were excellent examples of how to instill grit in a child. They just did what came natural to them, so I imagine their parents must have raised them in an equally gritty fashion. Disciplined and supportive. 

I'd recommend this to anyone in business, any parent, or anyone about to embark upon a particularly daunting new chapter or task in their life. Starting a new business? Prepping to run a marathon?

I think it's a pretty good book but I wouldn't rave about it. I'm recommending it cuz it's such a quick read that it's not going to take up too much time. You'll get something out of it.

Generation Iron

I watched this last year and decided it was time to give it a second viewing. I just re-read my original review, and while it was complementary I think it was a touch harsher than I feel about it now. That's how I felt at the time, so whatever. I liked it even more the second go round. 

If you lift and you've haven't seen it, get to it!