Lost In Translation

Metallic

I liked the contrast of light and dark in this photo taken at Soho's in Harajuku.

Book Notes: The West and The Rest

This month’s reading club book, The West and The Rest by Roger Scrunton (a philosopher), was a short, but well-written and informative look at the ideas that led to attacks on 9/11. I thought that he was especially lucid about the fundamental differences that underlie the Christian and Muslim religions, mainly in that Christianity is concerned with conciliation to break the cycle of violence. Furthermore, he points out that Islamic societies are unable to break out of the paradigm of families and members of their religion, whereas the western countries are bound by citizenship that binds a society of strangers together fro a common purpose. He also points out the three major effects of the Khomeini’s revolution in Iranian 1981: 1) He showed that a Islamic government is a viable option in the modern world 2) He made the exportation of the Islamic Revolution the cornerstone of his foreign policy by support Hezbollah in Lebanon 3) He endowed the Islamic revolution with a Shiite physiognomy, which made martyrdom a central part of the strategy.

CD Notes: Face The Truth/Stephen Malkus

There's been several releases by bands and acts that I have liked in the past, but I haven't gotten around to getting them all yet (Gorillaz, New Order, etc...), but I went out of my way to get the new Stephen Malkus CD Face The Truth first. I was a bit diasppointed with Malkmus' last album, and this one sounds more like his previous band, Pavement than either of his previous records, but I miss the light airy feel of the frist album, that had the goovin' tune "The Hook" and the catchy, inventive "Jenny and The Ess-Dog." There are a few standout tracks "It Kills" and "Post-Paint Boy." But it feels uneven, "Kindling For The Master" is repetative and annoying-"No More Shoes" is a 8 minutes long! Perhaps it will grow on me, but so far I'm skipping a few tunes, which is not a good sign.

Summer BBQ

For the last few years I've been attending the TY Harbor Brewery Summer BBQ. It's a great location, on the river near Shinagawa, but a little far away to go there very often. The BBQ is great as well-burgers, sasuages, chicken, pork ribs, chili, salads, and micro brewed beer. My friend Marcus' band, The Conductors, played as well. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so great this year. The picture above is of me and some new freinds.

Book Notes: Moneyball

Moneyball by Michael Lewis is probably the best sports book ever written. It’s an in depth look into bargain basement approach of the Oakland A’s and their mastermind General Manager Billy Beane. Their approach is contrary to the traditional ways of making teams and playing ball. They have taken statistics and analyzed them and made them work for them on a number of levels. For one they’ve decided that contrary to typical baseball wisdom, moving runners with steals and bunts are unnecessary risks or wasteful maneuvers. Beane calls most of the shots, and a lot of them have paid off. For example, they picked up Scott Hattenberg, a Washington State native, whose career as a catcher was over. This is the guy they picked up to replace Jason Giambi when he left for the Yankees. But he was a tough out-he walked a lot and had a high on base percentage-precisely the things Beane was looking for in a hitter and he would come cheap-Beane converted him into a first baseman and he eventually blossomed into a better than average fielder as well. He likes to develop closers and then trade them for other players to fill in the holes as well. He is a master of thinking outside the box.

He also has a non-traditional approach to the draft, he isn’t so big on high school players who are untested-he prefers college players and there he likes to go on their merits as well. I was so fascinated by the book that I’ve been following the A’s closely, despite the fact I should hate them since they are in the same division as the Mariners, but if the Mariner’s can’t win it, and they won’t this year, then I’d like to see the A’s win it. The A’s have been struggling this year, but they have been on a winning streak, as of today 12 of 13 games, and have just moved past the Mariners in the standings. It’s interesting to see that they are doing it with some of the players Beane felt so strongly about in the draft like outfielder Nick Swisher and pitcher Joe Blanton. A really fascinating read, perhaps the best business book I ever read as well-I’d like to read more by Michael Lewis sometime and I’ve heard Liar’s Poker is also quite well-written.