Comments on: The Weekend File: 11:29:08

By: sixsevenfive

sixsevenfive — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:49:45 +0000

With regard to number of sermons listened to per week: I have wondered whether the availability of so many sermons has had a negative effect on my ability to appreciate the weekly sermons delivered to my church.

Before mp3s, the only spoken Christian ’sermon audio’ I had was our pastor, once a week – quite an influence, relatively. Now, by the time Sunday comes around, I’ve listened to so many sermons by so many great preachers, that our pastor can’t possibly compete. My desire to sit through a sermon is, partly as a result, not as strong as it used to be, when it was a highlight of my week.

On a related note, having gotten used to commuting, exercising and house-working to mp3 sermons and other podcasts, it now feels like merely sitting there on Sunday morning while I listen is a misuse of my time. All this multitasking makes me fear that I’m losing the ability to be still.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:17:11 +0000

Michael, I just finished a book from the library that was very good. It is “Judging Thomas: The Life and Times of Clarence Thomas” by Ken Foskett. It was published in 2004. Last year I read Thomas’s book “My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir”. These two books are complementary; each book has a lot of information that the other one does not.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:00:46 +0000

Hey Sir,

If you’re moderating this, please fix my last typo, wasn’t paying attention, I guess.

Speaking of South Dakota, (in the last paragraph)

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:58:31 +0000

R. A. Salvatore, and his “biographies” of Drizzt Do’Urden.

Watch CSPAN2 on Saturday and Sunday nights and get recommendations and listen to authors on Book TV. Here is a link to the schedule:

http://www.booktv.org/schedule.aspx

They also show an episode of Booknotes. There are always good recommendations on that show. Here is a link to the site where they have clips to view. Excellent for Histories and Biographies.

http://www.booknotes.org/home/index.asp

“Gringos in Paradise” is a funny take on retiring south of the border.

I grew up in South Dakota and a couple years ago ran into the Buffalo book at the library. It’s a good read.

Speaking of South Dakots, have you read any of Kathleen Norris’s books? I really liked “The Cloister Walk”

By: Grant

Grant — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:06:00 +0000

Anna A reminded me of another book, by Robert Massie, titled Nicholas and Alexandra, about the last Tsar of Russia. It’s a blend of history and biography, written in the style of a novel. It’s long, but both good and informative. If you like it, Massie also wrote Dreadnought, a similar kind of book about the naval arms race leading up to WW1.

By: One more Mike

One more Mike — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:22:44 +0000

Biography: “A prince of our disorder” by John E. Mack. Bio of T.E. Lawrence, and best bio I ever read. It will keep you busy for a while.

By: Aliasmoi

Aliasmoi — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:59:23 +0000

American Scoundrel by Thomas Keneally. It’s been out for a long time, so it’s available in paperback. Lincoln’s First Nomination: Champagne, Deals, & Dirty Tricks by Jay C. Miner is also good. Of course, I actually know Jay C. Miner, so I’m prejudiced. Thomas Keneally also wrote a book about Lincoln, but I haven’t read it.

I don’t know how you feel about Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite books.

Anything by Sarah Vowell is fun. She’s a bit of a smart-butt, and I have deep affection for my fellow smart-butts.

What is the invitational system? Help a confused Quaker out.

By: Bernie Anderson

Bernie Anderson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:59:45 +0000

For what it’s worth, I think the fastest and easiest way to resize a photo on a Mac is in Preview, believe it or not. I was quite surprised to find that if you open a photo in Preview and click on tools … there are numerous editing options, including resizing. It’s easy-breezy … and beats Gimp hands down for something simple like resizing.

I was actually thinking about deleting Gimp. Hearing of your woes, perhaps I will just leave it alone.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:09:35 +0000

Michael,
Occasional poster here, a good group biography I just finished recently was Joseph Ellis’ “Founding Brothers” which is about Washington, Burr, Jefferson, Madison and John Quincy Adams.
Also I second the suggestion of getting your school library to join a library system, as long as your school is nonprofit it should be easy.
Interlibrary loan is a great way to get the books you want to read but can not afford to buy.

By: Anna A

Anna A — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:01:50 +0000

Two books that I have enjoyed are: “Michael and Natasha” by the Crawfords. It’s the story of the last Tsar’s brother and his wife. Very interesting, and poses the question, if Michael had be Tsar, would the Russian Revolution turned out differently?

“Buffalo for the Broken Heart” about a man deciding to raise buffalo rather than cattle in South Dakota.

One that looks promising, but I’ve read too much about WWI to want to try it, yet. “King, Kaiser, Tsar, Three Cousins who led the world to war”