Walking in Faith and Counting the Joy

 

I'd Rather Be Jogging: Cardio Reluctance and Spiritual Growth

I’ve been going on prayer walks for the last few weeks. Not every night, but at least a few times per week I circle the neighborhood in prayer. Half of my neighborhood is an industrial park that flows into housing developments from the 30s and 40s. Watching a friend’s podcast on prayer walks got me curious. Walking is great after a meal anyway, I decided while the sun is still high enough in the sky I’d go. Once we hit October it gets too late for after dinner walks. I’m always sad for the colder temps and winter. It’s not the icy weather necessarily, but the loss of light. The early and late light is the best part of summer.

Just Cardio

I’ve struggled this year to maintain my 20 miles per week for jogging. My knees are quite sore, Runner’s Knee it’s called. The opportunity I have is to believe in God’s healing power over my life. I’m eager for a restored body. I’m doing strengthening exercises to force the knee to manage a heavier load. But until it’s healed, I’m finding other ways to do cardio. Walking is less strenuous on the knees, so I do a lot of it. Biking is as well, but I’m less familiar with where to begin. That probably seems daft. “Just climb on the seat and pedal moron!”

 I won’t say I don’t know how to ride a bike, but the last time I owned a bike I was in high school.

Then, it was a mountain bike. It seemed the best of both worlds, street and rough terrain. A lot of my friends from the running club have road bikes. That seemed the best option for me without a specific spot to go ride trails. We do have Turkey Mountain, but I’m more of a street rider anyway. And if a lot of the people I run with own ride road bikes, it makes more sense to follow their lead. Last Saturday I did. Purchased an alloy Cannondale that cost almost $2000. That’s a lot more than I ever expected to spend. But since high school was the last time I bought a bike, the inflation caught me off guard.

Just Pedal 

In my defense it was over 30 years ago. I didn’t need to spend that much. But the price point seemed to be in the middle of what legit bikes go for. No way was I going to spring for a carbon frame and double the price. Especially since I’m not sure how much riding I’m going to do.

During Covid I bought a stationary bike from a guy on Facebook marketplace. A familiar injury forced me to stop running then too. The bike worked well on low and medium speeds but gave an irritating whine whenever I ramped it up and tried to go hard. I had a local repair guy fix it. He put in new ball bearings, but the sound never went away. I finally gave up on it and stuck it in the corner. I mention the ordeal because it’s the last time I was even remotely interested in exercise that wasn’t jogging related. That’s always going to be my first love. But here I am again, looking for an alternative cardio fitness option while my knees recover. I’m in a better spiritual place this time because I’ve grown in faith. The only way to grow in faith is to step out and let God show you His promises in action. It’s frightening at first. We stumble around, unsure if we’re doing it right, looking for answers like a light switch in a dark room.

Just Walk

There’s usually a lot of yelling about the unfairness of it all. Immaturity gets us all at first. But with every trial we take another step toward the voice of God, calling us to keep going. He leads us further into the dark and our apprehension melts away. He gives us the strength to keep going with more faith each time. Eventually we stop questioning the “why’s” and “wherefores” of the situation. The sooner we recognize His control the sooner we let go. The Holy Spirit is called the helper. We are the doer. When we do, He helps.

I’m remembering what the last injury was like that sidelined me for a few months. During that time though I didn’t run at all. Now at least I’m still jogging on Saturdays. I signed up to be a run lead again and I didn’t want to let them down. Should I quit altogether for a few months? Maybe, but for now I’ll stick to Saturdays only. I have some of the same attitudes towards cardio that I had during my plantar fasciitis injury. If I can’t run, I’ll have to fill that void with something similar.

Conclusion

I noticed a guy doing an early jog at the fairgrounds this morning while I drove past on my way to work. That envious feeling gripped me for just a few seconds as I wished I could join him. Early morning runs fill me with such joy that it’s hard to overstate. I don’t mean the entire event is bliss. Really, it’s quite miserable in the heat, but at certain points in the run I feel amazing. Who knew that such a difficult, grueling experience could produce such a feeling of exuberance?

James says it like this, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (Chapter 1:2-4)

The kingdom of Cain: A Book Review

 

Cain, Abel and the Literature of Infamous Murders

What is it about the first murder that explains so much about human nature?

Summary

Cain, Abel, and their relationship to the Creator, are the starting point for an exploration on the literature of three historic murders. As a crime writer, Andrew Klavan is perfect for this assignment. It’s part history and part philosophy but reads like a treatise. The history is just the retelling of the infamous murders, while the philosophy is what we find in literature those murders inspired. Klavan takes on both parts but spend more time with the philosophy. He makes a strong case that a world without God is decadent and cruel. The world God made inspires art and beauty and creation; the world of fallen man inspires idolatry, ugliness and murder. Klavan sprinkles some personal testimony throughout the book as well.

 He is Christian Jew who came to Christ as an adult. An intellectual who loved the writings of the Marquis De Sade and Frederick Nietzsche, but recognized the dead end that rejecting God leads to. It’s in the spirit of that separation between light and dark that The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness begins.

The French Dandy

He examines three historical murders that inspired books and plays, loosely based on them. The first is a French murder by a pair of criminals, Pierre Francois Lacenaire and Victor Avril. They broke into the home of a local con man to steal money and ended up killing both the man and his mother. Hardly any money was found. But Lacenaire was a sharp dresser and an articulate man from an upper-class family. He excused his murderous instincts by blaming society and an unfair life. The murder inspired Fyodor Dostoevsky to write Crime and Punishment about a similar character named Roskalnikov. In the book however, the murderer becomes overwhelmed with guilt over the killing of two innocents. The story shows how a belief in God is essential for moral order, while a lack of believe causes chaos and death.

This contrast between a God’s way and our way is where the tension lies in our hearts. Those who reject a moral path, like Cain, replace His sovereignty with their own. In place of an ordered reality, they create a living hell. Klavan shows how the opposite of murder is creation. God creates us and we create in His image. Or we reject Him and bring death into the world.

Chicago Deviants 

That was the case with the murderous Chicago lovers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, in the 1920s. Both were disciples of Frederick Nietzsche and wanted to commit the perfect murder. Both were from wealthy families and intellectually gifted. Richard Loeb graduated from college at 17. They assumed their social status and privilege would be enough to get away with murder. They picked up 14-year-old Bobby Franks, a relative of Loeb, and killed him in the back seat. They dumped his body in the woods a few miles from the city, but Loeb accidentally dropped his glasses at the scene. After that, they plead guilty but avoided the death penalty thanks to the celebrity defense attorney Clarence Darrow.

Based on the famous trial, Alfred Hitcock filmed a movie called Rope, in which two gay lovers strangle and kill another to prove their superiority. The point of the movie is that, without a moral order people will create their own version of it. It’s based on the ideas found in Nietzschean philosophy on the idea of Übermensch. An Übermensch is a superhuman with high intellect that breaks away from the stricture moral order and creates another in place of it. The gay college friends in Rope who murder a classmate are steeped in this philosophy. I looked at a couple of reviews of the movie because I’ve never seen it. There is more fascination with the way Hitchcock shot the film to look like one continuous take, instead of about the murder itself. Apparently, Jimmy Stewart is fantastic as always.

Women Torturer

As for the final murder, Klavan summarizes the monster known as Ed Gein from Plainfield, Wisconsin. I won’t go into detail here. It’s as grizzly as it gets and I’d rather not recount his demonic crimes. But it’s worth noting that the movie Psycho was based on him, also the Silence of the Lambs in part was as well. The details of his heinous acts are mercifully short in the book. But detestable people like Gein can still serve to show us how depraved humanity can be.

Klavan isn’t interested in the murders themselves, but in how they’re used in culture to make points or show a moral universe. The art that comes from them is a warning to us about sexual depravity or vanity or selfish ambition. Those idols that take the place of God in our lives. The book also tries to show how human phycology, especially the Fruedian variety, is being used to explain devient behavior from the murderers. There is no better example of this than from the Leopold and Loeb trial. Clarrence Darrow argued that the boys shouldn't be given the death penalty because "forces beyond their control" made them do it. 

I think the author's point is that with rejection of Christian morality comes a lack of accountability for one's actions. Human phycology, rooted in evolutionary theory, is used all the time in court room settings. It's a way of explaining crime from a non Christian worldview and providing an excuse. 

Conclusion

A lot of the criticism I read about this book, didn’t think Klavan made the case that Christians can benefit from art that is salacious. I didn’t get the feeling from reading this book, that he thinks all paintings or movies or books are artistic. Some are trash and he’d probably agree. But when done right, artistic expression that illuminates good and beautiful things is a reflection of the Creator.  

The best parts of the book, in either case, is the author’s own history with the philosophy of Nietzsche and de Sade. His transformation from a lost soul to a new creation is what gives his words deep meaning. Andrew Klavan came to Christ because of a hole in atheism’s argument about a world without God. De Sade at least, according to the author, was the only consistent atheist. He reasoned that the only moral imperative was to increase one’s own power at the expense of others. That kind of thinking leads to what you get with the Marquis, imprisoned for his deviant sexual crimes. It also leads to leaders like Hitler and Pol Pot.

None of is immune from idolatrous thinking. Cain and Abel had the same parents, the same teaching and the same opportunity. One submitted to God’s way and the other rejected Him. Jealousy put Cain on a path toward death. Andrew Klavan's book is a fascinating read and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s a short book that will make you want to buy more of his writing.

Will the Iran War Be A Suez Moment for Trump?

 

Is the Iran War Just Begining, Or Are Is There A Plan To Finish?

Is the Iran war a Suez Crisis moment for the United States? Are we stretched thin with another war that leaves us with a less capable military and little influence on the global stage?

I heard Mark Steyn mention Suez in comparison to this current war. Just so you know the comparison isn’t mine. I had to fire up the google machine to make sure I had the facts straight. I remembered that the Suez Crisis had something to do with an upstart Egypt putting the British military in their place. Most historians mark this period as the point the British stopped being a regional threat. Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956. France and Britain feared a loss of trade routes and enlisted Israel in the attack. Technically the alliance won the war but lost diplomatically. The United States told them all to get out because it feared the war might bring in the Soviet Union.

Suez Crisis Aftermath

Great Britain and France acquiesced and let Egypt control the canal. It proved that neither European country could make war without permission from the Yankees. The comparison to Iran (I suppose) is in the possible disaster of this current war. The spending is the least of it. America’s reputation is at stake. From NATO to the Middle East, we don’t have the muscle anymore to enlist allies to the cause. We’re in a military alliance with the Europeans. Spain didn’t allow Trump to use their air base to launch attacks and refuel jets. France and Britain sent a few ships, but with the proviso that they be “defensive” only.

Part of this is a result of Trump just sending ships to the region without asking for help. The other part is that Europe’s militaries are a fraction of what they were in total troops and materiel. But then again, our military strength is also degraded because of the Ukraine war. We’ve sold valuable war materials to Zelensky and it’s cutting into our ability to prosecute the one in Iran. NATO can’t possibly look the same going forward. Muslim immigrants from north Africa and the Middle East will take over the native populations of Europe’s countries in the next 50 years. That presents a completely different future on cooperation with the US.

NATO’s Future

If our allies on the continent are disappearing, that leaves fickle ones like Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Middle East. The Saudi’s have a very modern air force and almost all of its jets sit on the runway while the US puts aircraft carriers in the Strait of Hormuz and does all the work. But both Saudi Arabia and Israel benefit from having Iran decimated. Only Israel is bombing sites and providing intel while the incredibly wealthy House of Saud does nothing. There are some reports that they’ve helped unofficially. Keep in mind, these are our best allies.

Iran is winning. They’re winning because inflicting small cuts and pretending to be interested in negotiation with Trump and Vance. Once the talks are set up, some IRGC crew in the Strait will fire on a US vessel. Or they’ll send drones to attack the embassy of an American ally like UAE or Bahrain. They’re winning this war asymmetrically, something they always do. It’s not because they’re such brilliant tacticians either. They’re smart sure, but mostly it’s for a simpler reason. They live there. You tend to defend the place you live more vigorously than that one you try to conquer.

And now they’ve got more help.

The Expanding War

They’re a state sponsor of terrorism around the world and now they’ve managed to get the Houthis involved. Mostly they attack Israel with drones (from Yemen) and disrupt commercial shipping. If it’s not obvious by now, this war is expanding. We need to get out of this now or begin yet another conflict that lasts decades. From the beginning, this war plan felt like it was drawn up on a cocktail napkin by a couple of staffers after a boozy night a DC bar. They never had a good answer for how to control the Hormuz Strait and the war aims have shifted from no nukes to regime change. Eventually they skuttled the regime change stuff and settled for controlling the Strait.

 Isreal might to blame for a lot of the intelligence errors, mostly thinking that the regime would fall with a few well-placed missiles. But did we have to go along with it? Of course not. You can’t blame Netanyahu for wanting to drag the United States into this. The Iranian regime was on life support after their economy cratered. It looked like it might fall. They retaliated against their own people and brutally crushed the dissent. We went into this hoping to nudge the Iranian people to rise up by bombing a few key areas and killing a few leaders.

Despite what the administration said about not allowing them to get a nuke, I think it was more about destabilizing the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Core) and trying to get a friendlier neighbor in Tehran. We destroyed Fordow last year. Yet somehow we need to go in again? I don’t buy it. Trump was the one president that wouldn’t fall for this endless war business. We were sure of it. Yet here we are again. I’m convinced that a lot of these conflicts we get into don’t have an end goal in mind.

The point is to dole out money and contracts to well placed companies. The longer it goes, the more money they make. Like the cement company with an interstate road contract, always finding more places to build roads whether we need them or not. It’s called a racket. I’m not accusing Trump of running a racket, but it feels like it’s baked in to the intelligence he gets.

Good News?

Jim Rickards was on War Room yesterday with an idea on how to get out of this. I’m not sure if he was just passing on information he’d heard from the intelligence community, but here it goes. The Defense Department deployed the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile which has a range of supposedly (1725 miles). We are able to hit Tehran from Diego Garcia with a cruising speed of Mach 5. It brings such destructive energy that destroys everything. The idea would be, hit the nuclear site in Tehran with the missile and cover your ears. The entire site would be dust. At least then the war’s stated objective would be accomplished, and we could turn the ships around. It might be the best thing to hope for. Winning looks like leaving. The sooner the better.

I’ve been reluctant to write about Trump and Iran because I love the president and want the administration to succeed. It doesn’t help to dump extra criticism on the pile when things are going poorly. But this whole effort was never going to work the way it was sold.  Foreign policy always overtakes whatever genuine problems we have within our borders. By foreign policy I mean war not diplomacy. This won’t be a Suez Crisis moment if we get out now.

Conclusion

I’ve never been a “let those foreigners fend for themselves” type of guy. But I’m nearly there. Trump’s attempt to expose institutional corruption gets derailed with every head fake from Iran on negotiation. It’s time to focus on corruption at home, whether in our election system or in the state billing fraud that’s been shown in Minnesota and California. Corruption explains nearly everything from the broken immigration system to human trafficking. It’s time for a reckoning. Let’s get our own house in order.

 

 

Putting in Work Tulsa Style

 

Jogging Through Tulsa and Acclimating to the Heat

I ran through town yesterday, the same as I have on countless Saturdays before. The stifling July heat broke me on a few occasions. I planned to do 10 miles. That’s a full day in the summer. I wasn’t worried that stopping and resting would equate to poor fitness levels. In the past, not being able to handle the heat would have made me think I hadn't run enough to cope. Nutrition is a tricky thing to get right anyway. Today I’m more focused on enjoying the run and taking my wins where I can. I started off feeling great. Ate a piece of toast and a handful of trail mix. Took a GU gel about 3 miles in. I knew the heat would eventually get me. I’m learning that hitting the wall and stopping for a few minutes doesn’t have to mean the day is over. You might have to muscle through a few more miles with sheer grit, but you've got more in the tank. Keep pushing.

The summer training is extremely valuable for those long distances that come later. Hills and heat make tough runners.

My knees were quite sore though. The physical therapist I’ve been visiting once per month said tendinitis is just frustrating to get over. It hangs around like an unwanted relative with nowhere else to stay. Thankfully it doesn’t keep me from jogging. The pain has made me a little surly though. My patience for most things has become very thin. From getting out of bed to answering calls from the general public at work, I’ve had to stop and think instead of reacting with a rude comment. I’ll have to work on that. Besides the irritation of it, I do feel myself getting stronger. Sunday’s, I do leg work at the gym and I can feel the knees getting stronger, if only a little. Squats and lunges are still not a possibility. Maybe in future I can bring back some of the lifts I used to do. For now, it’s too much pressure on sensitive knees.

Another difference between this year and last, is the reduced running schedule I’m currently on. A normal week for me is 20 miles spread across 4 days, Saturday being the longest day. During the end of my training cycle with Runner’s World, it’s more like 30 miles per week. This summer I’ve done roughly 15 miles per week with Saturday being the longest day. Those are rough weekly estimates, but I’m sure I haven’t jogged past 15 miles. The thinking is that if I give myself one extra day to rest the knees, I’ll be that much stronger. 

But there is always the chance that I’m getting softer because of the extra rest. I walked gingerly up the steps to my front door yesterday after my run and laid down on a towel for 10 minutes or so. Then I took a shower, ate some fruit and fell into a hard sleep for an hour. Maybe I need to log a few more hours in the sun.

On Friday I attended the monthly men’s breakfast through my church. I talked to Brett Wilson, a guy that used to bring his kids into my store for their football helmets and pads. He’s a triathlete. We talked nutrition and hydration. I imagine he must be around my age but I didn’t ask. He runs faster than me I’m sure. I saw him at a half marathon on Saint Patrick’s Day a few years ago. Not sure what time he ended up with, but he was moving quick. I’d say around 8:45 per mile. He explained to me that he loved to push himself, endurance sports are the perfect fit. I understood his passion and even agreed with it to some extent. I told him about my energy issues on marathons. He said he’d send me some info that helped him. I think my problem is food and he agreed. The lack of energy is probably a lack of food. Or at least, a lack of the right food. I’ll try to eat more before a morning run this time.

A new jogging cycle starts on Saturday and I’m leading the 10-11 minute pace group and I’m interested in new trends. Maybe this year, the new me is someone who eats more before the run and even during it. For people who don’t usually eat breakfast (me) this is a lot to ask. It means choking down meals when your body doesn’t want it. I started this to some degree last year but didn’t notice any improvement in energy. Like everything with jogging though, you have to try a new routine multiple times and measure the results. That might be my next post. 

 

Crime 101: A Review

 

Crime 101 Is a Character Study on Choices and Balance

Crime 101 is a classic heist movie with jewel theft, double crossing, high speed car chases and an exciting finish. It’s a solid film that doesn’t waste time and doesn’t leave loose ends. It’s focused on making the viewer understand that life is full of choices and when we look for money, we lose. Also, life is about balance, and a chaotic, selfish existence will lead to emptiness. Director Barry Layton did a character study, set in Los Angeles and made it a crime movie.

The basic framework goes like this.

Breakdown

A thief named Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) gets his jobs through a fence named “Money” (Nike Nolte) The movie opens with Mike following a crew of high end jewelers on their way to a sale. He robs them in a parking lot but is shot by one of the sellers with a hidden gun. The bullet leaves a trace of blood in the car, an important detail that will help detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) track him down.

After the initial heist, Mike gives the diamonds to his boss Money. The close call forces Mike to question the next job in Santa Barbara. He tells Money he has a bad feeling about it. Money just tells him to take some time off and instead, recruits a conscientious young motocross punk named Ormon to do the Santa Barbara job. Mike finds out and dumps Money. Then, Money has Ormon follow Mike to get information about Mike’s next job.

Halle Berry is an insurance agent (Sharon Colvin) who prospects high end, risky, clients and sells them insurance on their jewels and weddings. Despite promises from the upper management, they keep using her to close deals and dangle the promise of becoming a partner in the firm. One of her clients is the jewel seller that Mike robbed. Because of her lucrative contacts, Mike tries to recruit her for a new job where they can split the money. She gets offended. He tells her to leave a picture of a beach on her Instagram page if she changes her mind.

Meanwhile, Ormon tries to intercept Sharon after getting a tip from Mike’s tech contact about their relationship. In a thrilling chase scene through the dark streets of Los Angeles, Ormon dodges traffic on his motorcycle while being hounded by Mike. Mike eventually scares Ormon away, for a while. Sharon is denied another promotion at work, it’s clear by now she won’t get it at all. She takes her beach picture for Instagram and Mike shows up. They work out the details on the heist and agree to a split.

Mark Ruffalo’s character, Lou, has developed a theory about the jewel theft along the 101. When the blood sample in the car pings a match to Mike, Lou finds Mike’s foster mother and is able to match a face to a name. From here he develops a plan to ensnare Mike in a bait and switch robbery, with the help of Sharon.

Themes

There are a few consistent themes that run though this movie. All the main characters answer to someone who doesn’t have their best interest in mind, and in some cases are specifically taking from them. Money uses Mike for his talents and then sends an underling after him. Sharon’s boss at the insurance company strings her along so she’ll keep signing wealthy clients. He has no intention of making her a partner. Detective Lou Lubesnick’s is told to look the other way by his superior at the LAPD on multiple occasions. His principles prevent him from lying to help the police department. His wife has been cheating on him for a while and when he asks her how long it’s been going on, all she can say is “Do you really want to know?”

Even Ormon, the young thief with impulse control problems, is following in the footsteps of Mike by stealing for Money the old gangster.

Another theme is the idea of the beach as an escape, to offer balance to an unbalanced mind. This seems like a Buddhist interpretation of life. Even the way the director shows the 101 freeway from above at night. We see the 2 opposite directions of the road, reinforcing the idea of opposite choices. Chaos and order move in different directions. The soft new age voice on Sharon’s sleep app serves a counter to the stress we see in the rest of the film. She seeks peace, and sleep, but it’s not working.

Mike is an empty vessel. We see his struggle to have a relationship with a woman he met when she bumped into him on the freeway. His version of peace is the beach condo he escapes to, the lapping waves serving as a substitute for inner calm. Sharon tells Mike over cocktails that those who lived in chaos seek calm. But in doing so, she exposes her own search for it as well.

Lou joins a group yoga class, where he meets Sharon. He also gets an apartment on the beach when his wife kicks him out. His dress has even changes the last time he meets Sharon. He wears a loose unzipped hoodie while standing in the yoga classroom. All 3 of the characters are caught up in a competitive game of life and they’re looking to get out.

Conclusion

As for the acting, the performances were fantastic. Nick Nolte was underused as the abusive gangster, and substitute father, to young men hoping to make him proud. Chris Hemsworth is more versatile than I imagined. He does vulnerability well, it’s all in the face. I kept thinking of how much this reminded me of Michael Mann’s Heat, especially in the thief/detective relationship between Mike and Lou. In Crime 101 though, we get a fuller picture of the criminal and what makes him tick. Mark Ruffalo plays Lou gentle and frumpy, Popeye Doyle he is not. But his harmless nature fits perfectly with the situational ethics that unfold in the final scene.

I thoroughly enjoyed Crime 101.

 

Nightshade: A Review

Michael Connelly's New Edition: An Island Murder In LA County 

The king of crime fiction, Michael Connelly, has a new character to add to his growing network of cops and lawyers. Most readers know about Detective Harry Bosch and even Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer). Fewer recognize the name Renee Ballard, Connelly's newest detective who always enlists the help of the experienced Detective Bosch. This time Connelly set his visual, story telling powers on Catalina Island a short boat ride off the coast of Southern California. 

Embarrassingly I’d never heard of it before. I had to fire up the google machine. The scenery is breathtaking--beachy, sunny, warm. It’s basically a Conde Nast poster you would’ve seen at local shopping mall travel agency. There is a local native population and a wealthy cohort of mainlanders that pay exorbitant fees to join yacht clubs.  

Story

The novel centers on the Black Marlin Club and the Los Angeles County detective is named Stillwell. Here’s the background: a woman is found dead in the harbor, stuffed in a sail bag and wrapped up in an anchor. Stillwell (Stil) investigates the club (Black Marlin) where the woman worked as bartender and waitress. Because it’s a murder, the detectives in LA have jurisdiction of the case and are forced by their boss to work with Stil since he’s the local guy. We find out a little about his background and why he was banished to Catalina Island after an altercation with another detective, Ahearn. Both are forced to team up to solve the case which causes understandable friction.

The other case focuses on mutilated buffalo. Buffalo are protected on the island. That’s another thing I had to look up. I guess there are roughly 100 buffalo that roam freely on the island. Brought in for a movie shoot in the 1920s. They were just left behind once the movie wrapped. There is some disagreement on which movie the animals were brought in for. It was either “The Vanishing American” or “The Thundering Herd”. Now they’re part of the ecosystem, as well as a tourism draw for visitors every year.

The author gives us drips and drabs of how and why this eager detective ended up in a lovely, but dead end, corner of LA county. He is also dating the harbormaster, Tasha “Tash” Dano. Both were trying to keep it secret but gave up after realizing the lax nature of the law enforcement politics on the island. Deputies help with a lot of the daily work, but Stil is mostly a one man show. He’s the only law enforcement official within miles that is competent.

Television

I started this book thinking that he wouldn’t get enough content by writing stories about what happens on the island. Remember too, this is a new character and a new series that exists in the same space and time as Connelly’s other characters. I read somewhere that HBO is doing a series based on this crew at Catalina Island even though there are only two books so far. People tell me Bosch on Prime was good. I tried to watch it but couldn’t get over the clean looks of its lead character. Maybe I need to try again. The Lincoln Lawyer series on Netflix featured a Hispanic lawyer who dipped in and out of his accent while speaking English. The “Cisco” character landed flat as well. He looks like a B movie actor in a Harley Davidson leather jacket, someone you might see doing cos play at a comic con.

The most promising so far has been the Renee Ballard series on Prime. I love her. She’s gorgeous and talented but too old to be playing this role. The rest is a mix of sensitive male characters (eww) and “hero” gay couples that make the Cleavers look selfish. That and ‘boss bitches’ make it unlikely that I’ll watch again. It’s a little soapy and soft for my taste. It’s not quite the character from the pages, rough and unsophisticated.  Although to be fair, the newer Ballard books focus on cold cases. I think I’ll stick to the books for now. This is always the problem you run into when a favorite character is reimagined by a daytime TV writer. They shave off the edges and brighten everything up. If there is a silver lining, it’s that more people might pick up the novels and dive into the seedy LA crime universe the Connelly examines so well.

The Catalina Island series doesn't have a fan base yet, it seems too early for a TV show. But there are enough similarities between Stilwell and Bosch to make it work. Stilwell is aggressive like Bosch and skates the line between legal and illegal when he’s on a case. There isn’t much depth yet to his girlfriend Tash. I expect this romance to have problems along the way. She was born on the island and hates the city. He’s a LA cop who takes the ferry back constantly to work on cases and argue with his superiors. He still has one foot in Los Angeles. Along with Tash, readers were introduced a few dodgy locals (Baby Head and Mayor Doug Allen) as well, but we didn’t hear the end of their stories. Clearly these guys are going to be regulars going forward.

Conclusion

There is a scene near the beginning when the mayor corners Detective Stilwell about the body the police found in the water. He doesn’t want the news of the dead girl in the paper. Memorial Day weekend is a big event for the island and an ugly investigation would keep vacationers away. It reminds me of that classic scene from Jaws. Chief Brody gets talked into hiding information about the shark attack, after the mayor insists on keeping it quiet with a tourist holiday upon them. The small town politics of Amity Island from Jaws feels a little like Catalina Island in this series. Can’t wait for more.

 

Maintenance for the Good Life

 

Runners Need to Lift Weights for Long Term Consistency

There are no races on my horizon, even though the Oklahoma City Memorial is only a month away. I’m not going to sign up this year. Maybe it’s lazy of me, but I’m looking forward to dropping back to shorter Saturday runs with the weather starting to heat up. Last Saturday morning, the temperature climbed into the 70’s before I finished my 17 miles. Needless to say, I fell apart at around 14 miles and managed to jog lightly to about 15. The last 2 miles were spent walking slowly and stopping to let my heart rate come down.

As embarrassing as it was to flame out like that, it was unseasonably warm and I didn’t have enough salt in my body. Next time I won’t make that mistake.

The good news is that I’m content to make jogging a regular part of my life instead of just going hard for a month. That’s the equivalent of cramming for a midterm literature test by staying up all night. You might have a great race, but you won’t realize long term gains. The consistency of weekly jogging is what I’ve always been after. I’d like to do a marathon again at some point. For now, the idea of a big race sounds like more effort than I’m ready to give. As far as regular jogging goes it’s been quite consistent. I looked at my Garmin records from last year to get a yearly average. Last year I did roughly 50 miles more than this year. That works out to an extra 2 weeks, but it’s very close. I think the culprit, this year, was my long vacation and Christmas and subsequent illness afterward.

The year to year consistency is what I’m going for. I want to be fit more than I want to crush a time standard and set personal records. That’s the legacy I’ve started at least. Even if it’s frustrating to fall short of my marathon goals, they’re less important. This season I’m learning how to deal with nagging injuries and still be a productive runner. My knees give me trouble on occasion, so I’m spending more time warming up and stretching. A lot of this is what everyone does when they get older. We start paying attention to the little things, isometric work, foam rolling and even weights.  

Till recently, that’s meant doing some version of squats and lunges or quad raises. Mostly I just put a program together on the fly and spend about 45 minutes at the gym. Last Sunday I actually did a little research and found a plan to implement. I’ll try this for a month and see if any of my nagging injuries go away. It’s difficult to know what’s best for strength training. There are as many trainers and philosophies on lifting weights as there are gyms in the US. But you have to start somewhere. Any training is better than no training. I’ve spent enough time lifting to have a good foundation. Because I’ve had trouble with my knees I’m careful with certain movements that require a lot of extension.

The program I found on Youtube requires a lot of single leg movements. That’s something I haven’t done much of. The logic makes sense, running demands power from each leg separately and not together. I just never thought to do each movement separately. This program also demands 2 heavy lifts. I guess it surprised me a little. I think of heavy weights as something for football players and gym rats looking to max once a week. But in small doses it’s ideal for running. Who knew? I’ll have to go easy on the squats though. They’re very hard on knees if your form is even a little off.  

There are other ways to get in shape, but none are quite as simple and enjoyable as jogging. It requires you to adjust to the weather and buy a pair of shoes. The maintenance is up to you.

The Volunteer Military and a Lack of Accountability

 

Compulsory Service and a 'United' Country

I’ve had Iran on my mind for the last few weeks. I didn’t think Operation Epic Fury was a good idea, but naturally I want the best outcome for the country. When it comes to war, the best way to ensure our leaders make wise decisions is to raise the stakes. We’ve had a volunteer force for too long. Too few people are connected, through a son or daughter, with loss. The conflict is far away, it affects others. Gasoline has ticked up because of the lack of shipping through the straits of Hormuz. That’s as much as we’ve felt here at home. There needs to be some skin in the game where wars are concerned, or we’ll surely have more of them. The less connection there is between the servicemen and women and the people who live here, the less it feels like a real thing. The US needs to institute compulsory service for every citizen and get back control over the military.

Efficiency and Access

Problems should be fixed in the quickest way possible. Layers add difficulty. In the federal government we call these layers red tape or bureaucracy. In the private sector it’s conglomerates. I’m not talking about efficiency only, but accessibility as well. If you need to update a driver’s license in a state you’ve recently moved, you’ll have to fill out a handful of forms. Make sure you’ve got 3 forms of ID and a recent water bill. God help you if you miss anything.

In the private sector the problems look a little different. If you rent an apartment in the city and need to complain about the air conditioner that doesn’t get cold, who do you complain to? If the property is owned on site, it’s easy. March up to the office, with a disgusted look on your face, and demand to speak to the manager.

 But what if it’s an out of state company? You can send an email and hope for the best. But even then, they’ll likely reply to your complaint with something dismissive like “We own, but don’t manage Crappy Living Inc”. You’ll have to find out who manages the company and send them an email. They’ll likely reply with “We sold off management of Crappy Living Inc to another management company out of New York called Crappier Living Inc. No email is available either. You do a little searching and find a phone number for Crappier Living Inc and decide to call. It’s an automated answering service and doesn’t have an option for complaints.

At what point do you finally give up and buy a box fan?

The lack of connection from owner to renter is a feature and not a bug. The accountability is to the shareholders of these conglomerates, and not the lowly renter. The more you scale up the worse it gets for you. It’s why the service industry is mostly terrible nowadays. Local businesses can be terrible too, but the impact of a bad review is felt immediately on their bottom line. They can’t afford to alienate their people who live in the same community they serve. The line between customer and owner is direct.

America’s Military

How does this relate to the military? America is a big country with a lot of interests and cultures doing their best to find commonality. Taxes and weather can’t be the only points of commonality. Military service should be compulsory for at least 2 years for everyone coming out of high school. When we object to foreign conflicts, we’re basically sending off a worthless email to be ignored. We have no real objection because we have a volunteer army. Technically we have a Selective Service that works like a backstop. That last time we used it was in 1972 for the Vietnam War. But a draft is a last resort. A better option is to have regular training for 2 years and avoid having to use a draft.

There is this idea on the Right that having a volunteer army means having a professional army. Because they want to be there, the thinking goes, their performance is high level. This is just ridiculous. We didn’t have much of an Army to speak of before World War II and still raised an amazing, highly proficient force. It’s called training. You can train most kids for combat. Some jobs are technical and some are physical, but everyone should have a place. It’s the connection that unites us together. The more the citizens of a country hold in common the easier it is to hold off threats to the homeland. Without that sense of duty to a place and a people, the further apart we grow in interests and philosophies.

As a side benefit, we’d have fewer wars. Americans would demand a serious rationale from their government before sending their kids off to a foreign country, the equivalent of stomping off to see the manager with a disgusted look on your face. A military that’s 4 times larger would guarantee a closer link between citizens and their government. Greater involvement means greater control.

Conclusion

 We use our military now like a mercenary force. They’re sent to countless Mid East countries, like Syria, that we aren’t even at war with. Parents with kids in the military today share too much of the burden of the loss. But the fix isn’t to just have a draft and bring in more kids. It’s to have a Pentagon (and leadership) that’s accountable to the citizens of the country for the well-being of the next generation. Having a volunteer force means the Pentagon can continue to send troops across the globe without a lot of objections from families. Their kids volunteered after all. Compulsory service encourages shared sacrifice across the country and is an effective brake on endless conflicts. You want fewer wars, demand compulsory service.

 

The Iran War is a Mistake

 

Get Out of Iran As Quickly As Possible

Despite the many good reasons for war with Iran, the wiser path is to squeeze them financially and let the Iranian people decide to overthrow the clerics. If the people of Iran won't overthrow their own cruel leaders then neither should we.  

Being against a war your country is engaged in requires a thorough explanation. Although the burden of proof should be on the ones prosecuting the war, it’s usually on the one’s opposing it. The Trump administration hasn’t considered the numerous chances for disaster if the Mullahs dig in. China could get involved and make this a very big war, Iranian leaders might hunker down and refuse a deal. Ground troops will be necessary if the US wants any influence over the new government. The US might not have enough munitions to go the full 4-6 week timeline that Karolin Leavitt (White House spokesman) mentioned.  

Why are we embroiled in another Mid East war?

 Last summer it was all about Iran’s nuclear ambition. What is it this time? I’m not one for beating up on team Trump for optics, but this is war. The one thing the American people deserve is a consistent answer on another Middle East war. Don’t tell us that’s Iran is close to getting another bomb either. Last summer we “Totally obliterated” the nuclear facility at Fordow. Those were the President’s words as he assured us it would be a while before Tehran could even think about rebuilding.

And now we have to go back, 9 months later, because they’re still a threat? I don’t think so.

Iran is the enemy of our allies in the Mid East, of whom there are quite a few now. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq: some of them are allies because they’re aligned with Saudi Arabia or because they signed the Abraham Accords.

Why now and not last summer?

The most recent protests in Iran by the people began in the Bazaar with the merchants. Money was stretched thin and prices went up, making life difficult. Those strikes led to larger protests. The Islamic government cracked down hard. It’s difficult to know exactly how many were killed, but it’s in the thousands. Many more were beaten and jailed. The situation on the ground looked desperate for the regime. Their nuclear ambitions were set way back. Their desperate people were fighting back and trying to take over. The US government led by the War Department, thought this was the best time to make a move and topple the Jenga tower that is the Iranian regime.

That’s the real reason. Opportunity in the form of protests, knocked.

But Iran only looks one way from the outside. This is an existential fight for them and they’re in a corner. They took a serious beating last year from Israel in the 12 Day War. Not to mention all of their proxies were decimated, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. But it’s still not likely they just raise their hands and surrender to the Great Satan. After the first wave of ballistic missile strikes from American and Israeli jets, they’ve hunkered down. The Islamic Republic is ready to defend their turf from a ground invasion, said their Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. This might be tough talk and chest thumping. I think it’s more in keeping with their obstinate behavior.  

Does this have anything to do with China?

Yes I think it does. If you know anything about Trump, it’s that he understands the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to be the biggest threat to the US. One way to take out your enemy is to hit their resources. China relies on oil from both Iran and Venezuela, both by evading US sanctions. We know what happened to Venezuela. They lost their president and their source of income in a matter of days. Trump wants to treat Iran the same way and cut China off from whatever resources Iran can sell them. This isolates China just enough and forces economic tightening in the country. Ironically, this is also the thing that potentially brings the CCP into the conflict. Once you start cutting off opportunities for growth and survival the only thing left is war.

None of this is to excuse China’s behavior in the South China Sea, or their economic warfare against American industries and their spying on American businesses. In the first few months of Trump’s second term, he forced Panama to make a deal with the US for use of the canal. And by extension, Panama kicked China out. Most of Trump’s big moves are designed to roll back the influence of Beijing.

Aren’t there good reasons for this War?

Yes, especially if settling old scores matters. Iran has been a Hydra for terrorism around the world since the revolution of 1979. Victor Davis Hanson said on his Signal YouTube channel that they’ve killed more Americans than any other country, since before the Iran/Iraq war. We lost 241 marines in Lebanon to a truck bomb outside their barracks. After we ousted Saddam from Iraq, Iran helped supply the Shia militias with weapons, IEDs and training. They stormed the embassy in Tehran, during the revolution, and held American hostages for over a year. Yes, we owe them.

Not to mention, the reasons I mentioned regarding China and their belligerence toward American hegemony. But in this case the risks outweigh the rewards. If we wanted revenge on Iran for the marines, we should’ve taken it years ago. This is going back 40 plus years. So that’s not a legitimate reason for a full scale war.

Why I’m against this war 

Our missile supplies are low. The US military is low on munitions thanks to our support of Ukraine to fight Russia. We’ve sent a lot of our ballistic weapons to keep a war going that no one seems to care about. But even if we had an inexhaustible pile to light up sky with, you can’t know what’s happening on the ground. You’ll need to send in ground troops at some point.

For all the talk about not using ground troops, I don’t believe we’ll get out of there without committing troops. Part of the goal is to get a leader that can make a deal with Israel and the US, not to use terrorism against them. This is where it gets messy, changing regimes and sliding in someone you prefer rarely works out. I don’t trust that these protesters in Iran are actually on our side. I bought this nonsense about peoples yearning-to-be-free during the Iraq war. I’m not falling for the everyone deserves democracy anymore. No should be a slave in their own country and it’s tragic how they’ve been treated by the theocracy.

But at some point, peoples have to cast off their oppressors. If they constantly need help from outside armies, I’d say they aren’t ready yet. This current crop of Iranian people are the children of the ones who chose an Islamic Republic over a secular one. If they want to go back to a secular republic, let them. Just don’t help them.   

Conclusion

I think we can still make this a quick war by declaring victory soon. Trump wants unconditional surrender and defines it as, the regime not having enough military capability to threaten their people or neighbors. That’s not really surrender in the classic sense but it’s close enough. But the issue with these open-ended wars is the increasing responsibilities that get pulled in. The mission grows and metastasizes into a tumor that makes us all sick. Then it’s a muddle for years because no one knows how to do the surgery.

Trump famously likes to “Win”. That can be a good thing here if he’s ready to call anything Iran gives him a win. It might not be enough for the Department of War, or the CIA or the ‘conflict bros’ (Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton). But it’s a lot better than another 20 year war where we sacrifice American lives and get nothing in return.

Let’s not do that here.

I hope I’m wrong on this war and the benefits win out. But the last 2 decades do not give me hope.  

 

 

 

 

The Olympic Games and the Super Bowl: The Occult Reigns

Alternatives Like TPUSA's Halftime Show Are the Way Forward

I’ve been watching the Olympics for the last few weeks. It’s in Italy this year, Milan and Cortina. Not only at home but also at work, I’ll find the Peacock channel and let it play. I don’t watch every event, but I catch enough of it to say I’ve seen a lot this year. Not everyone gets to watch TV. Lucky me I guess.

During the opening ceremony the athletes lit a pentagram while fireworks that resembled flames illuminated the background. Flames and torches and ceremonies are part of the Olympics, why did this one feel occultic? Probably because everything in the public eye is anti Christian, overtly so. I can’t tell you where the particular ceremony originates (historically) or what deities they glorify. But nearly all of these world or international events display some form of paganism.

These ‘artistic’ displays are either pagan or just outright satanic. The Super Bowl halftime shows are all slutty performance theater and ominous ritual. They’ve all taken on a darker quality than I can remember. Not that rock and roll from the 80s and 90s was moral, but the veil that used to hide that sinful nature is gone. Even Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance from a few years ago was all red and black. A lot of this imagery feels uncomfortable to me. I can’t always pinpoint why.

For years I brushed off suggestions that these public venues were loaded with satanic imagery. But it’s getting harder to ignore. I can’t tell you what every symbol or dance number means in an artistic sense, but I know a pentagram when I see one. Last year’s summer games in Paris showed a mock version of the Last Supper with drag queens. The excuses always ring hollow. They always follow the same trajectory “You rubes don’t understand the blend of the ancient and the modern, or the sacred and the profane”. It’s art you see? But it’s always Jesus and Christianity that’s mocked. Or in the case of the NFL, traditional values.

This year I had a choice to watch a different halftime show for the Super Bowl. Thanks to Turning Point USA, millions of fans tuned into Kid Rock and handful of country artists for a free show. Like a lot of Americans during the Super Bowl, I was at a party with friends. We shut off the game at the halfway point and put YouTube on. None of us were huge Kid Rock fans, but having an alternative that wasn’t divisive was a breath of fresh air. Kid Rock, for his part, has been talking about Jesus to anyone who will listen the last few years. I assume he’s genuine. I can’t say whether or not his opinions and beliefs are orthodox. But he is shining a light where others are shrouded in darkness. Hopefully Turning Point does this every year. I imagine a lot of artists who don’t get to play the Super Bowl would sign up to play even one song.

Who doesn’t want millions of people to hear their music? I’m sure there is a stigma associated with playing exclusively to a patriotic audience. But those numbers don’t lie. As an up and coming artist, how many fans could potentially buy your music after a 5-minute performance? Besides, if this becomes a regular feature of Super Bowls going forward it will garner bigger names every year. The most important thing is that Christians, and citizens who are just bothered by the anti-American shade of the NFL, have another option. This is the way forward in a lot of national and international events.

 Turning off the TV is always an option too. I did this for a while with baseball and football. Their support of Black Lives Matter and the chaos in Minneapolis during Covid really got to me. But I love sports. Americans would like to have sports and entertainment without all the Satan worship. That probably sounds like hyperbole, but it’s becoming more overt international programing. Sam Smith performed a very evil concert at the Grammys in 2023. How can anyone honestly say that it wasn’t a demonic display? I’m not even going to link to it. Google it if you want to see it.

As for the Olympics, it’s best to just avoid the opening ceremony right now. It’s a shame too because I love seeing all the athletes walk together under their country’s flag. Christians have a reputation as being prudish about immorality and offense content. Every time some raunchy live event happens we get trampled with articles about “satanic panic”. Fact checkers get going, correcting ‘false’ posts about artists. One fact check in particular caught my attention. The Weeknd apparently flashed the word “Satan” on screen at a concert in Denmark. The fact checker was frustrated that online users got the venue wrong. Got that? It wasn’t that artist The Weeknd didn’t flash the word “Satan” at a recent concert, but the time and place were not correct. Unbelievable.

Alternatives are the way forward. Don’t like the artist at halftime, how about another option? The further these sports get from their mission of putting watchable games on TV the worse everyone is. Stay away from preachy messaging and occult laden shows. This isn’t just a grumpy NFL fan talking either. That Kid Rock show pulled in over 6 million views just on YouTube. If nothing else it proves that others would like an alternative. Keep them coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity and Critical Thinking: Read and Write

 

Turn off the TV and Read a Book, Or Write an Essay

I unplugged my Roku device the other day and took it to work. Not so that I could plug it in at work, but so that I couldn’t watch it at home for a while. Work is just a holding spot. I’ll get it back when I think I’ve earned it. I needed to cut out distractions and streaming shows have made me a bit lazy. I’m writing less. I’m reading less. I’m studying for this new work assignment less. Time is slipping through my fingers and despite my awareness of it, laziness can still get the best of me. Not that I sit and stare at the screen while episode after episode loads automatically. But my laziness has been enough to force a change. Even if just on the margins, I can increase my creativity just a bit.

Fortunately I’ve started reading and writing more, both are precursors to higher level thinking. This is a new year after all. I need to get back to reading traditional books again. News websites form the bulk of my reading for most of the week. But books aren’t quite as depressing as the daily news, which is often designed to give you the most horrific stories. Elon Musk said that the news tries to answer the question, “What’s the worst thing that happened in the world today?” So less is more where that’s concerned. This is often tougher than it sounds if you’re like me and suffer from a kind of current events FOMO.

An honest question to ask, why should reading some mindless book count for more than watching TV? How can one consider hours of true crime novels to be of higher worth than hours of Court TV? Instinctively I’d say it comes from a more creative part of your brain. Reading forces you to create mental pictures and your comprehension and focus lock in. This is more or less the view of social media. I did some quick, unscientific, research from Quora and Reddit. Both are good for getting a sense of what people think, the equivalent of polling the audience from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? TV is passive while reading is active. That’s not to say you can’t learn anything watching a show, but you can also zone out and refuse to connect dots.

Reading forces you to pay attention and create your own world. The author will describe much of it, but your mind will fill in the details. Writing takes reading and supercharges it. The world creation that your mind does automatically when absorbing words is only the first step. World creation doesn’t just mean fantasy kingdoms like ‘middle earth’ either. It means the world you present to the reader. If you write fiction you have to write a character that makes sense. I just finished reading John Grisham’s “The Widow”. His description of the title character is needy, forgetful and desperate to be seen as wealthy by those around her. It’s the world according to Grisham in this small Virginia town. He’s really good at bringing the reading into the legal world by explaining terms through characters.  

The world can also be your version of how things should be, or how you understand them. I wrote an article years ago, trying to convince Oklahomans to reject medical marijuana. Signature seekers were everywhere at the time. I couldn’t go into a Reasor’s (grocery) without someone asking me to sign this or that petition to legalize it. Promoters leaned into the “medicine” angle, which was always bullshit. I did a little research on California and Colorado. At the time they were the only states with an extensive record to draw from. Typically, it was a disaster for a lot of reasons.

The world I tried to present was one of carnage and decay if legalization went forward. The trick is to be convincing. You have to know a few things about Oklahoma law for starters, or the world falls apart. For instance, we have a provision that allows a question to go on the ballot with only a handful of signatures. This low threshold allowed the group Oklahomans for Health to put it on the primary ballot and get it passed. It’s not enough to say what you’re for or what you’re against, opinions must come with concrete examples. I think my article holds up today as an editorial against a notoriously bad idea. But I had to first write out some thought problems in my world and knock down what didn’t make sense.

It’s not the textbook definition of world building, but it presents the same challenges of consistency in logic and timelines. Because writing can feel like work I’ll often avoid it. Writing is concerned with critical thinking and reading with creative thinking. TV or streaming shows are neither. Going forward I’ll have to be more disciplined. I can reward myself with a book.

Born to Run: A Review

 

'Born to Run' is an Engaging Story on Endurance Running, Written with Passion

I finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Written over 15 years ago, it’s an examination of endurance running, the Tarahumara Indian tribe and what it means about the science of running. McDougall begins by following a mythical runner in Mexico who jogs across the country, hermit like, for the sheer joy of it. This extreme athlete is named Caballo Blanco (White Horse) and tells McDougall about his idea to bring the best ultramarathon runners to the dangerous Copper Mountains for an exclusive race. It’s an unofficial race in the some of the driest, rockiest terrain on earth. What seems like a crazy idea, turns out to have momentum. Caballo convinced a few of the top ultra marathon runners in the US (Scott Jurek, Ted McDonald, Billy Bonehead and Jenn Shelton) to try his makeshift course.

Race in Mexico

Through a series of connections, they all agree to meet in Mexico and run with Caballo and a handful of bashful Tarahumara. This 50 mile race through the Cooper Mountains is the backdrop for a short history of the Tarahumara indians and their inclusion in a notorious ultramarathon known as Leadville in 1993. From that race, the author traces the seeds of barefoot running and the science of how humans do it. Humans are the only mammals that can run and breathe at the same time. Which in theory, means they can outrun prey over a long distance. At least that’s where some of this research takes the reader.

Caballo is the central character whose mysterious life isn’t revealed until the end. We only get drips and drabs of his past. Jenn and Billy are hard partying surf bums, cocky and reckless, that discovered distance running just a few years before. They’ve both stacked up a handful of wins in a short time. Scott Jurek is a legend in ultra marathon running by this point, by far the most recognizable name in the group. Ted McDonald, barefoot Ted, is an eccentric who’s discovered the benefits of running with either flat shoes or no shoes.

the author is himself a runner and joins the group for the race in Mexico while recounting the once in a lifetime experience. The subtext of the book is, are humans meant to run such long distances or is it damaging to the body? The answer is yes, and no. Humans are meant to run if they do it correctly. The damage is minimal when the technique is right.

In the spirit of proper form, Christopher McDougall begins working with a trainer. Most of what he learned remains a fixture in long distance running today. Take quick steps and shorten your stride, keep your heart rate low and burn fat instead of sugar. The point of teaching your body to burn fat instead is that it’s a more consistent source of energy. To get there, you need to stay below your aerobic threshold or heavy breathing. As most runners can attest though, running with a low heart rate is difficult.

Barefoot Trends

Another aspect of author Christopher McDougall’s training is strengthening his feet. Flatter shoes, or huarache sandals like the Tarahumara use, allow your feet to adapt to surfaces better than cushioned Nikes do. Between the tribes and barefoot Ted, the book spends a good deal of time on the benefits of running in sandals or shoeless. I remember there being a barefoot jogging trend around the time this book came out. McDougall makes a solid case for it. But shoe companies still put out ever more cushioning in their latest models. I suspect it’s because most non-runners buy the majority of the shoes anyway. How many ultra marathon runners do you know? It’s still a very niche sport even among fitness enthusiasts. That doesn't translate to big sales.

McDougall also changed his diet and started eating more like a Tarahumara indian. That meant a lot of “fruit, beans, yams, whole grains and vegetables.” He started eating salads at breakfast and became a convert, partly because you can stuff yourself and still have energy for a workout. He started doing pushups and lunges instead of stretching. The increased strength worked to sharpen his balance, and he began to become a better athlete and not just a better runner.

 I like his description from page 212 and 213 on the improvement. “Because I was eating lighter and hadn’t been laid up once by injury, I was able to run more; because I was running more, I was sleeping great, feeling relaxed, and watching my resting heart rate drop. My personality had even changed: The grouchiness and temper I’d considered part of my Irish-Italian DNA had ebbed so much that my wife remarked ‘Hey, if this comes from ultrarunning I’ll tie your shoes for you.’ I knew aerobic exercise was a powerful antidepressant, but I hadn’t realized it could be so profoundly mood stabilizing and–I hate to use the word—meditative. If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.”

Conclusion

For all the foot racing history and anthropology this book covers, its best feature is the enthusiasm of the author. Nothing gets people interested in a hobby or lifestyle change the way an honest promoter can. I wasn’t sold on the idea that our early ancestors used to run down prey until it dropped from exhaustion. But Christopher McDougall, the journalist who found a story in the heart of the Sierra Madres and improved his own fitness as a result? That’s the best story of all. It inspires me.

 

  

Gimme Chaos: The Chicago Bears 2026 Season So Far

The Chicago Bears Are the Miracle Team of This Season

The Chicago Bears pulled off another upset in dramatic, heart stopping fashion last night. The late game, come from behind wins are an identity for a team that’s having success with a first year coach and second year quarterback. They might lose their next playoff game and take some needed rest. But even if that happens, this has been a miraculous season. I’ve never seen a team like this and I can’t wait to see them again.

It's been a while since the Bears faithful have been this optimistic about the future.

The Past is the Past

 Lovie Smith’s 2005-06 team got to the Super Bowl and lost to Payton Manning’s Colts. The defense was dynamic; they won the turnover battle in nearly every game. Charles Tillman and Brian Urlacher anchored what’s considered the best defense since the legendary 1986 Super Bowl team. Rex Grossman, who they drafted in 2003, threw for over 3000 yards that year and 23 touchdowns. He did throw it a lot of interceptions that year, 20 to be exact. But they always managed to get over the line thanks to Devin Hester’s incredible 5 kick return touchdowns.

They managed a few wild card births in 2018 and in 2020 but lost both times in the first round. Since then, it’s been a lot of mediocre football. The Bears seemed to have an identity much like the Steelers, historically good defenses and average offenses.

As an NFL team they relied on their defense to score more than other teams. The Caleb Williams led team feels determined to give their fans a heart attack on every close game. Last night was the first round of the playoffs. Bears drew the Packers. Yikes. No Bears fan wanted to play them, even at home. Green Bay has a 51-20 win advantage over Chicago since the 90’s. Why start with the 90’s? Because it’s during the Favre era, and the subsequent dominance of their quarterbacks. Three quality starters to be exact, Favre, Rogers and Love have led consistent winners during that time. Chicago has had more quarterbacks than windy days in January.

Present and Future

So No. I didn’t want to play the Packers. It felt like the Bears snuck away with a win during the last meeting. We split the regular season games this year. Both went down to last tick of the clock. But this team has come from behind in 7 games this year in the 4^th quarter to win. Last night’s victory was easily the most dramatic. Chicago was down 21-3 at halftime while the silent crowd looked on with horror at the ensuing beat down of their beloved Monsters of the Midway.

Jordan Love’s offense ran through the Bears defense like crap through a goose. Bears coach Ben Johnson insisted on going for every 4^th down conversion on offense. What seemed risky was just a way to avoid letting the defense back on the field.

Johnson told the sideline reporter at halftime that he was just maximizing the possessions. It’s not an unusual move. They’ve done this to some degree all season. But last night they were going for it on their own 35 yard line, a seriously dumb idea unless your defense is falling apart. To everyone’s surprise however, the defense made some real adjustments after halftime and kept the Packers to a handful of 3 and outs.

The Rest of the Story

 That still left a sclerotic offense. Three field goals seemed to be all they could muster. Then Deandre Swift caught a pass and finally scooted in for a TD. Suddenly the Bears were back in the game with a 21-16 score. The Packers answered quickly with another touchdown pass to Doubs to make it 27-16.

Bears add another 8 points with a pass to Zaccheaus and a 2 point conversion to Loveland. DJ Moore then caught a touchdown pass to give the Bears a 31-27 advantage. The Packers kicker Mcmannus missed a critical field goal which forced them into needing a touchdown drive in the final minute. The newly energized defense, and the increasing crowd noise, was just enough to dash the hopes of the Wild Card Packers. All of Chicago stood in unison, jangled nerves and bated breath, as Jordan Love tried in vain to complete a hail Mary touchdown pass. Then we celebrated. All of Chicago lost its collective mind as the hated rivals fell for the second time this season.

 Who knew they could beat the Packers more than once in a season?

Conclusion

It's easy to think of this team as chaotic because of their late game heroics. Good teams win by building a lead and then defending it. At least that’s what we’ve come to expect from strategic offenses like Brady’s Patriots and Manning’s Colts. But there is a freewheeling aspect to this offense by its quick, athletic quarterback. He completed a deep pass to Rome Odunze off his back foot, falling away like Jordan against the Knicks. That particular play was on a 4^th down scramble to keep the final drive moving down the field. The game would’ve been over had it been knocked down or dropped. But this team survives on these ‘not done yet’ heroics constantly. You might even call it a brand. For now at least, it’s how they roll.

I’ll take it. I’ll take the heart palpitations, the sweating, the cursing and the crying. I’ll take the nervous laughter and the angry texts to family when they fall behind or turn the ball over. I’ll take the risky 4^th down passes in their own territory and the 10-minute scrambles to find an open receiver. I’ll take the chaos, the energy, the passion and the wins. Let’s Go Bears!

 

We Came We Saw We Left: A Family Gap Year--Book Review

 

The Family That Travels Together Learns Together

Years ago my girlfriend bought me a book years ago called Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science. Its author is Charles Wheelan, a lecturer at Dartmouth and all around statistics geek. One measure of how well someone knows their topic is the extent to which they can explain it to a novice. Yes…me. It’s is the best book I’ve read on the mechanics of banking, paper money and how it explains almost everything relating to exchange. He writes simply. That’s the best thing you can do.

The Gift of Books

I was in Barnes and Noble doing some Christmas shopping, for others naturally. I searched the travel section because I love the genre thought others might enjoy it. We Came We Saw We Left: A Family Gap Year caught my attention on the upper shelf. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a good cover image. It’s an aerial view of a bus kicking up dirt on a backcountry road and a view of the ocean. Based on where the family traveled, I’d say it’s in South America, but who knows? It gives off a remote vacation vibe. I wanted to go there. I wanted to read the book. The gift giving would have to wait.

The title is dopey. I’m not a title snob at all, but you have to give me more than “We Left”. I get that there’s a subtitle about this being a vacation trip with the family. But a little more of a theme would help. Like, “We Came We Saw We Survived”, or “We Came We Saw We Grew”. Better? Maybe not much, but it’s just non-descript and leaves me with a blank space about the nature of the trip. At least “We Came We Saw, Yada Yada Yada” would have been funnier.  

The Gift of Travel

Ultimately not a big deal however, the author created an fun and interesting read. I didn’t realize until after reading the little blurb on the back that it’s the Naked Economics guy, Charles Wheelan. Once an author makes an impression there is a good chance I’ll read them again. I bought it right there. Actually, I searched my library app for a free copy and free availability. Who could have predicted? It was available. So No I didn’t buy it.

A lot of what’s interesting about the story is how they were able to take a 9 month vacation around the world with the whole family. Charles and his wife have 3 kids. The oldest daughter was in her last year of high school. The other two, one daughter and a young son, were old enough to travel with the family and appreciate it. At least appreciate it in that teenager sense, where their own friends and interests still outrank a trip with the parental units. The idea for the gap year trip came from Charles and his wife Leah, who did a similar trip as newlyweds. If travel brings you joy then travel. It’s not for every person and certainly not every family. But the Wheelans place great importance on experiences in foreign places. Making a priority for the family is admirable.

The Gift of Accounting

They rented their home for at least part of the trip to their cousins. It solved two problems right away, a caretaker for the dogs and money for expenses. The couple planned the trip with tight budgeting and started saving in advance. It sounds like Leah was the gatekeeper of the finances. Nine months can get expensive with all the flying and apartment renting they did. At one point Charles mentions avoiding Europe altogether because of the cost. But they did travel through South America, Australia, Africa and Asia.

Along the way came the usual travel problems of illness and missed flights, lost goods and bureaucratic silliness. Katrina, the oldest daughter picked up a flesh eating bacteria on her ankle that antibiotics didn’t help. The other two, Sophie and CJ take online classes but struggle to keep up and turn in the work. The Wheelans struggle to stay on top of the kids’ education while distractions abound. I’d expect this to be the most difficult aspect of bouncing around the world. Kids need routine when it comes to homework. Then again, without friends and school activities filing up the week, they should have more time. But it’s vacation too.

The Gift of Learning

My favorite story was of the family’s trip to the Amazon. In a series of dangerous trips up the river and through caves, they took chances and learned how to support each other. It felt a bit like a metaphor for the whole idea of taking a gap year. From the finances to the planning and the diversions in between, there is a lot that goes into a global adventure and it’s not a guarantee you’ll enjoy it. You might also get robbed or violently ill from eating something your body couldn’t handle. Living from country to country like this isn’t for the faint of heart. But that’s also the point of doing it. You might find a new passion for surfing in Australia or hiking in Patagonia. Adventure means leaving what’s comfortable and striking out. If you’re up for it, it might make you a life long globe trekker. It’s what Charles and Leah discovered after their first year of marriage.

Conclusion

I talked to an Irishman just the other day about the travel habits of Americans. He asked where I visited when I flew to Ireland with my brother and friend. I rattled off a list of cities and regions. “How long were you there?” he asked. I told him 10 days and he shook his head. “You can’t see it like that”. What he meant was, don’t move around so much. As Americans we do too much on vacation. That’s the stereotype at least. It holds up here with the Wheelans as well. Obviously they enjoyed it, so it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s my only critique of the trip. They covered too much territory for a 9 month trip. Likely the kids will develop an appreciation for travel though and make it an essential part of their children’s education. Well done guys.