I heard the Celine Dion version of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" tonight on the radio. It reminded me of what a great song that is. I can't say that I track with everything that Lennon stood for, but I do believe that at the core of the Christmas season is the message of peace, that found in Jesus. So in that sense, war really is over. You can download Lennon's version of the song below.
Red River (1948). One of my favorite Western films. You can't beat a cattle drive from the plains of Texas to the fertile ground of Abilene, Kansas. Throw in a little father/step-son drama and it makes for one of the great films in the Western genre.
Island House, Vinalhaven, Maine, August 2009 © Allison V. Smith
What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell, a collection of pieces Gladwell wrote for The New Yorker. I'm also asking for a year-long subscription to The New Yorker. I put Gladwell and Chuck Klosterman on the top of my list of favorite modern non-fiction authors.
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy by Bill Simmons. Read an excerpt in which Simmons discusses his theory for why Patrick Ewing is the 39th greatest NBA player ever.
It's Christmas time. Here for your listening/downloading pleasure are a few indie-types playing holiday songs both classic and original.
Tonight I found myself reading a piece by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker. The article, entitled "How David Beats Goliath: When Underdogs Break the Rules", examines the strategies, both successful and unsuccessful, employed by underdogs when facing heavy favorites. Like most of Gladwell's writing, the article is bent towards the cerebral, jumping from junior-high girls basketball to Lawrence of Arabia to the Traveller Trillion Credit Squadron tournament (a naval war game) and back. Still, I found the lessons for success to be intriguingly practical: effort trumps ability; play to your strengths and away from your weaknesses; don't be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom. You can read the article at the link below. Also, check out Gladwell's blog if you are interested.
Panhandle II © Mark Feiden
While sitting in the doctor's office yesterday, I read an interesting article in Sports Illustrated entitled "The Hoops Whisperer", highlighting NBA trainer Idan Ravine. The article, which is actually an excerpt from Chris Ballard's book The Art of the Beautiful Game, explores Ravine's unorthodox training methods and the intimate attention he pays to his clients' psyche. The article reminded me of something you might find in a Malcolm Gladwell book. Though this article features NBA athletes, the principles of psychology Ravin uses to tailor his approach to each client are useful regardless of industry. The article, which you can access through the link below, is well worth the five minutes it takes to read.
Animal Collective release a new EP today entitled Fall Be Kind. I just bought it on iTunes. I love love love the track "What Would I Want? Sky". Check it out below. In other news, I wish fall would be more kind to me.
My new favorite iPhone application is Words with Friends. Basically it's an asynchronous game of Scrabble. I can't get enough - especially with the epic battle currently underway with Ben Rector. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you need this app. Oh, and my user name is just my first and last name. Find me on there and we'll play!
