December 2004 - WAR

Those ubiquitous magnetic ribbons notwithstanding, it’s easy to forget sometimes that we are at war. Iraq’s so far away and the daily reports fade into white noise as things we’ve already heard before. Unless you no someone in the armed forces, chances are you go about your daily life without giving the situation much thought.

Back when Pierre Salinger had credibility, he and Eric Laurent wrote “Secret Dossier: The Hidden Agenda Behind the Gulf War.” It’s still a useful reference tool to understand the agendas coming from leaders in Washington, D.C., Bagdad and elsewhere at the time, but its importance has been diminished since the creation of the “Pierre Salinger syndrome” as the definition of a new Internet user who believes everything that’s on the Web. Salinger had read on the Internet in 1996 that TWA Flight 800 was accidentally shot down by the Navy and reported it as fact.

“The Struggle for Afghanistan,” by Nancy Peabody Newell and Richard S. Newell, takes you back to the time after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and had continually troubles quelling native uprisings. What makes this time period more interesting, of course, is that it set the stage for the eventual rise of the Taliban and you know where that led.
The same struggle is covered in textbook-like detail in “War in a Distant Country: Afghanistan Invasion and Resistance,” by David C. Isby. It’s interesting to note that in his chapter about the future of Afghanistan should the fighters ward off Soviet troops, he surmises that there was already growing mistrust of the former King among the Islamic population and the deposed leader might not be welcomed back.
“Charlie Wilson’s War” tells of the Texas congressman’s efforts to lead funding for the Afghan rebels and how those same fighters, now armed with weapons provided by the United States, would then view the U.S. as an enemy.

That changing political landscape is also addressed in “Tabilan,” written by Ahmed Rashid in 2000, just a year before the Islamic organization became well known to all Americans. This book tells of the Taliban’s rise and the connect with Bin Laden, going into the efforts under President Bill Clinton to blame Bin Laden for various terrorist activities and hunt him down.

Rashid also wrote “Jihad,” which relates the rise of the Islamic fundamentalist movement throughout Central Asia and details the ideologies and threats presented by groups such as the Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
“Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America” by Yossef Bodansky was written before the World Trade Center attacks, but hardly seems dated in tracing the origins and point of view of United States’ most wanted terrorist. This book also details the relationships between countries and how events have been staged to sway public opinion for or against a ruler, particularly finding ways to paint the U.S. as an enemy.
“Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam” gives some Iraqi perspective on things, including how Kuwait’s defiance of Mideast oil controls caused overproduction that greatly impacted Iraq’s economy, leading to the offensive into Kuwait.

“ Republic of Fear,” published in 1989, can take you back to the days when Saddam Hussein was in power and how he defeated opposition, controlled news accounts and even went to war with Iran as a means of taking attention away from internal problems, according to author Samir al-Khalil.

“Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War” is told by Evan Wright from the front lines in Iraq with U.S. soldiers, getting into the minds of the gung ho and the frightened. What’s particularly interesting is how they look at the Iraqi population and viewing war from the perspective of soldiers some of whom relate how similar firing from Humvee on the streets of Bagdad is to shooting people up in the Grand Theft Auto video games.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom” isn’t nearly as down and dirty, but supplies plenty of nice photographs to illustrate soldiers and battlegrounds. It reads a bit like an NBC promo at times; however, there are some good personal stories along with the tales and quotes from the newsmen.

Although Saudi Arabia is considered an ally of the United States, people here are suspicious of a country that has at least served as breeding ground for many terrorists – bin Laden himself was originally a Saudi. “The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom,” by Sandra Mackey, tells about how different life is in Saudi Arabia compared to the U.S. Women are completely controlled, even forbidden to drive, and the country is basically run by outsiders who do all of the menial tasks. Mackey writes that religion and government are inseparable and pervasive and religious law and public morals are fervently enforced. I’m sure this is the point at which some people might say they don’t sound all that different from the U.S. after all, but they’re probably reading this from Canada, having moved there after the last presidential election.

Finally, if all of this stuff is a little too serious, try some humor with the war stories in P.J. Bourke’s “Give War A Chance,” with chapters like “Hunting the Virtuous – How To Skin and Clean Them.” He finds the humor in various situations, such as a man chipping away pieces of the newly fallen Berlin War because he wanted a hunk of every color. There’s also some revealing information here, such as drug use and crime were stable, not rising, when President Reagan pushed his war on drugs, and the craze to get everyone drug tested for safety might had been overkill. For example, not one airline accident was ever attributed to a pilot who had taken drugs, O’ Rourke says, citing FAA statistics.

November 2004 -- Religion

“The Da Vinci Code” had people reading again, “Passion of the Christ” was a hit in theaters and on DVD and religion just might have been what got George W. Bush elected. Although people always seem to be lamenting about the decline of religion in everyday life, it certainly continues to be a mobilizing force. Of course, few times of the year hold as much religious significance with many people as Christmas. But, as you can tell from picking up some Lakewood Public Library books on holiday traditions, many customs are not derived from religious origins and some that you might believe are rooted in Christianity might actually stem from paganism or some other faith.

In “American Jesus,” author Stephen Prothero notes that the United States, although holding to its secular nature, also is a very religious country, and that Jesus has roots all over American popular culture. However, he notes how Jesus has also been “Americanized” and even has been interpreted and adopted by people of other faiths. Lest you think this is some treatise from the religious right, Prothero shies away from matters of particular beliefs. In what should offer some solace to dejected John Kerry supporters, he also goes into detail about Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs. Jefferson, thought to be an atheist, actually followed the life of Jesus closely, although he separated Jesus’ sayings from legends he thought were embellished. However, Jefferson thought his beliefs were a private matter and had nothing to do with governing the country – “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg,” Jefferson’s quoted as saying.

“ On Pagans, Jews and Christians” is a scholarly history of the development and refinement of religious beliefs. As such, it delves deeply into early societies, particularly the Greeks and Romans. Strictly for the advance theologian, I doubt casual readers would find this one too entertaining.
For those strictly interested in paganism, try “Being A Pagan: Druids, Wiccans and Witches Today,” by Ellen Evert Hopman and Lawrence Bond. In addition to providing some of the history, the book provides interviews with pagans and druids about their beliefs and how they are perceived by society at large. Although most people probably know by now that these religions are mainly about spirits of the Earth and the like, I’ll just add for the uninitiated that these religions are not about devil worship or anything of the sort.

“ Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience,” by Gus DiZerega, attempts to explore paganism for believers and explain its principles to Christians. Much like the last book, this one also gets into detail about how pagans have similar beliefs, but it’s a very personal thing – there’s no precise structure for how to go about expressing your connection with your natural surroundings. DiZerega gets to the root of the matter, outlining how pagans view the world as spiritual and find god in all the various things that comprise this world.
From a book trying to bring people together, here’s a title that will rattle a few people, “The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God?” by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. The book details how the stories of Jesus mirror pagan myth and the authors conclude that the tales are so similar that “the Jesus story was not a factual account of God’s one and only visit to planet Earth, but a mystical teaching story designed to help each one of us become a Christ.”

Intending to do for Christmas what another Guinness book did for records, “Guinness Book of Christmas” has a graphically pleasing, easily referenced collection of the history of everything to do with Christmas, from trees and other traditions, to songs and even holiday soccer matches (this was published in Great Britain).

“The Solstice Evergreen,” by Sheryl Ann Karas, focuses primarily on trees and how they were revered by many different cultures, although some other myths and legends are included.

“ The Trouble With Christmas,” by Tom Flynn, reveals how the vast majority of Christmas traditions pre-date Christianity or are modern additions and have no religious origins. The Christmas tree, for example, is often thought to be a 19th Century German tradition, but actually dates back to ancient cultures, including Egyptians, when the evergreen tree was viewed as a fertility symbol. Flynn notes that, with the increasing numbers of people in the U.S. who are not Christians, that the holiday itself will likely become the subject of controversy in coming years as people resent having other beliefs thrust upon them.

While Flynn briefly notes that there were other earlier gods with origins similar to Jesus, Acharya S goes into detail about Krishna, Horus and other gods portrayed similarly in “The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold.” She contends that Jesus was created by secret societies to unify the Roman empire, a thought that no doubt resonates in the minds of those who believe born again President George W. Bush’s actions are governed by the Skull and Crossbones secret sect.

Judging from its title, you might assume that “Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos,” by Robert D. Kaplan would be about Bush, either positive or negative. But it’s really about trying to understand the other side of the equation and how fundamentalists, such as militant Islamic groups currently in existence, use religion to mobilized the disenfranchised. “Today’s warriors come often from the hundreds of millions of unemployed young males in the developing world, angered by the income disparities that accompany globalization,” Kaplan writes. He adds that he saw warriors created from residents of Pakistani slums – “the children of those shantytowns had no moral or patriotic identity except that which their religious instructors gave them. An age of chemical and biological weapons is perfectly suited for religious martyrdom.

If all the history and analysis is a bit much, try the little side of religion in “Pagan Babies and Other Catholic Memories.” The title refers to the practice of donating “just pennies a day” to starving children worldwide and the book covers all sorts of subjects – like the Jesus on the dashboard and what to give a nun for Christmas - that would be familiar (and likely humorous) to anyone of Catholic upbringing, but particularly those who attended parochial school.

October 2004 -- Elections

If you’re tired of Swift boats and sound bites, there are plenty of options to delve deeper into the political arena, whether it’s third party candidates, spin doctoring or one of the many books devoted to the 2000 election, which appears to have generated more pages of type than any other in the history of the United States.

“The Other Candidates,” by Frank Smallwood, details those forgotten office-seekers who tried to gain the presidency as a member of a third (fourth, fifth, etc..) party. Learn what makes Communist Gus Hall run and how candidates like Independent John Anderson and American Independent George Wallace can put a scare into the major parties, even though they might not have much chance of winning (can anyone say Ralph Nader?). In case you’re wondering, the last outsider to claim the oval office was Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

It use to be that other parties can influence elections through fusion, basically a process by which third parties side with one of the dominant parties, often resulting in some influence on that candidate’s platform. “The Tyranny of the Two-Party System,” by Lisa Jane Disch, laments the loss of fusion and notes that it could help bring about candidates that liked rather than “the lesser of two evils.”

“America’s Elections” analyses all aspects of the election process, with writers presenting both sides of issues such as finance reform, the influence of political action committees and even whether to vote at all. In “Voting is Useless,” Bob Avakian argues that elections only serve to protect the interests of the ruling class and that votes are basically meaningless in a process in which they pick the candidates and the working class, through the media’s influence, follows in step.

It amazes me that people still decry “the liberal media” constantly, when corporations and wealthy families have amassed media outlets and slanted them to the right of the political spectrum. One example of that is Fox News, so it should come as no surprise that Fox News analyst Bill Sammon has a book titled “At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal an Election.” I’m sure some of Gore’s people went to extremes in a fight to take the presidency, such as send teams of lawyers to Florida to discredit Katherine Harris and contest results at every turn. Still, “stealing” sounds a bit extreme considering no one disputes that Gore won the popular vote. “Grand Theft 2000: Media Spectacle and a Stolen Election,” by Douglas Kellner, comes from the other side, basically claiming that the Supreme Court ignored the law and handed Bush the election in a political decision. Much of the attention is given to the spin control methods, forwarded by Bush’s people and operatives like Rush Limbaugh, used to discredit Gore’s challenge as a desperate move that smelled of sour grapes.

“The Accidental President,” by David A. Kaplan, also takes on Bush for seizing the election, but Gore doesn’t come away clean, either. Where this book is set apart is in its in-depth look behind the deliberations of the Supreme Court, which Kaplan maintains did not predetermine that Bush would win the day.

Baltimore Sun columnist Roger Simon gets into the act with “Divided We Stand: How Al Gore Beat George Bush and Lost the Presidency.” Simon sees the humor behind the important strategies. He also expands the scope beyond just the questionable days after the election, getting into topics such as Gore’s plans if Clinton were to have been impeached and Bush’s successful attacks on John McCain during the primary campaign. He also points out interesting facts that somehow got lost in the controversy, such as Gore’s 500,000 vote margin of victory wasn’t the closest ever – it was five times the John F. Kennedy’s 1960 margin of victory over Richard Nixon.
Simon also ridicules the state of contemporary politics in “Show Time: The American Political Circus and the Race for the White House,” which uses Bill Clinton’s election in 1996 to illustrate how handlers manipulate the public and how likeability became the most important quality in a presidential candidate.

“36 Days: The Complete Chronicle of the 2000 Presidential Election Crisis” may be the least biased of the bunch and is basically a rehash of New York Times articles rewritten, extended and arranged in book form. Kind of like a team yearbook or media guide, only this one gives details and statistics of a presidential race rather than a sports team.
Although the 2000 election was viewed by many as an indictment of the Electoral College, which somehow allows for a president who didn’t win the popular vote, “The Case Against Direct Election of the President,” by Judith Best, argues in favor of the current system. Her case is mainly based on “winner take all” state status as making all votes more important, whereas strictly counting up the votes would give far too much influence to the more populous states. She also argues that the current system allows for varied opinions and backgrounds to be heard because they’re part of a small pool within each state.

Of course, one state gets more attention that it warrants because of its status of hosting the first primary. “Grass Roots: One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary,” by Dayton Duncan, sets an even larger microscope over the state during 1987 and through the primaries of 1988, which eventually led to George Bush defeating Walter Mondale in the 1988 general election.

Another book relating to the 2000 election does’t even deal with Bush or Gore, but the 1876 election, in “Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden and the Stolen Election of 1876,” by Roy Morris Jr. Tilden actually received more votes, but a commission declared Hayes the winner following contested returns in Louisiana, South Carolina and, naturally, Florida, proving that history can indeed repeat.

If politics get a little too serious for your tastes, try “The Mocking of the President” by Gerald Gardner. While it has all the lines about Jimmy Carter’s brother, Billy, Ronald Reagan’s naps and Walter Mondale’s uncanny ability to stir apathy, it could stand for a snappier arrangement to bring the quips to the forefront. As it is, you’re searching through chapters to find the best lines.

After checking out all these books, you can’t help but wonder what will be written about this year’s election. With Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the ongoing war in Iraq, the Swift veterans controversy and so on, it appears to have the makings of a memorable contest that should spawn plenty more reading material.

September 2004 --Circus, Carnivals

In one form or another, the circus and carnivals have been around for hundreds of years. Just when you think it’s a dated slice of nostalgia that went the way of the old Route 66, up comes something like the Jim Rose circus sideshow or people like the human tattooed puzzle known as the Enigma to illustrate that people still love to be entertained by the spectacular and the bizarre. Even traditional sideshows still have an audience, judging from the recent release of Tod Browning’s 1932 movie “Freaks” on DVD and popularity of the HBO series “Carnivale.”

Lakewood Public Library has many books devoted to circuses, sideshows and the like, so there’s something for you whether you favor biographies, the traditional three-ring extravaganza under a big top or the carnival sideshows.
“The American Circus: An Illustrated History” is a useful starting point for someone who wants to follow how the circus evolved from the questrian riding done by Philip Astley in the ring he created in 1768 to the modern versions with people such as big cat tamer Gunther Gebel-Williams. From this book, you can see how the circus has left its mark on the United States, including giving the country its mascot. According to author John Culhan, cartoonist Thomas Nast based his Uncle Sam character on clown Dan Rice, who dressed in patriotic colors and sang songs to entertain audiences.

“Ringmaster: My Year on the Road with the Greatest Show on Earth” by Kristopher Antekeier just happens to cover the only Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey show I attended, during the 1985 tour highlighted by the “unveiling” of what was said to be an actual unicorn. Antekeier was the ringmaster that year and writes about his experiences on the road and the goat with fused horns that was or wasn’t a unicorn, depending on your level of belief. There’s also a handy glossary of circus lingo so you can learn that a donniker is a portable toilet, Nurembergs refers to the trials clowns go through in presented new bits for possible inclusion in the show and the pie car is the greasiest spoon of a dining car on the circus train.

John Ringling North, who inherited the famous Ringling family circus, was more of a show producer than the huckster promoter type, according to author David Lewis Hammerstrom in “Big Top Boss: John Ringling North and the Circus.” Maybe it’s because he was detached from the day-to-day operations, as the author suggests, that he was able to break from traditions and reinvent the circus by infusing more of a Broadway style of production numbers. He also took the circus away from the big top tents and inside auditoriums, a 1955 move that forever changed the long-running circus.
The private life of John Ringling North is even more thoroughly covered in “A Ringling By Any Other Name: The Story of John Ringling North and His Circus,” which devotes a lot of attention to North’s personality, and in not-so-flattering tones. He’s presented as a man who frequently engaged in power plays and backstabbing to wrest control of an enterprise formerly run by several of his uncles.

The entire Ringling clan is the focus of “Those Amazing Ringlings and Their Circus” by Gene Plowden. The early formation of the circus is covered extensively, explaining how the circus took to trains in the 1870s to cover more towns and how advance teams, lead by a calliope, drummed up enthusiasm for the coming spectacle.

While the Ringlings may have had the best-known circus, P.T. Barnum was the king of the sideshow. In “Humbug: the Art of P.T. Barnum,” Neil Harris traces Phineas Taylor Barnum from his smalltown roots and first job at a country store to the pitchman famous for presenting human oddities like General Tom Thumb and the Fejee Mermaid. Barnum apparently learned the art of the deal (and sales pitch) early, trading for bottles and tin ware he then turned into prizes for a profitable lottery business. Harris notes Barnum’s pattern of discovering the unusual and presenting it as the bizarre, exploiting the press to drum up publicity by planting letters exposing his attractions as frauds and making money by creating controversy.

“P.T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man” by A.H. Saxson gets even more in-depth with the details of Barnum’s life and businesses, but does’t get much into the personality of the man. I’m not very well versed in the alternative comic character Zippy the Pinhead, but I would imagine it would have to have been inspired by Barnum’s “What is it?” exhibit with William Henry Johnson, who went by the name of Zip and was said to have a cone-shaped head. Barnum posed the question as to whether Zip was a man of a monkey, taking advantage of the debate surrounding the publication of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.”

Of course, Barnum wasn’t the first to showcase “freaks” to a curious public. “Freakery: Spectacle of the Extraordinary Body” is a serious of writings on the subject of freaks, with subjects such as “The Social Construction of Freaks” and “Intolerable Ambiguity: Freaks as/at the Limit.” Barnum and Tod Browning’s “Freaks” are also covered, as are freaks being shown dating back to the 1700s in England, where dwarf performers and conjoined twins entertained crowds.

“Freak Show” by Robert Bogdan is a less scholarly look at freaks like Hiram and Barney Davis, short, mentally retarded men known as the “Wild Men of Borneo.” He notes that the Hilton sisters wanted to be known as high-society show personalities, but couldn’t get past their label as freaks. Some people might say the same about the current Hilton hotel heiresses, but Daisy and Violet were twins joined at the buttocks who were popular sideshow attractions in the 1920s and 1930s.

Hucksters of another sort are discussed in “Medicine Show: Conning People and Making Them Like It,” which covers cure-alls such as Hamlin’s Wizard Oil and Genuine Kickapoo Indian Sagwa. Medicine shows were circuses in their own way, using performers to help drum up a crowd that pitchmen could then convince to buy their products, most of which, if they were effective at all, could offer some laxative quality. While such quackery seems like something from the distant past, some of the herbal remedies sold nowadays offer similar claims without government regulation or proof of effectiveness and relying on the phrase “all natural” to sooth concerns.
Not everything related to the circus and carnivals is about egomaniacs and freaks and cons, however. In “Women of Illusion: A Circus Family’s Story,” Donnalee Frega gives a personal account of the Huber family. She was inspired to write the book after a chance meeting with Betty Patrick, an elderly woman and Huber family member who spent her entire life in the circus. The very personal account relates how the circus was itself a family structure, in which outsiders were feared and people were more at home among the elephants and on the trapeze.

The trapeze serves as the focal point for reflection in “Learning to Fly: Reflections on Fear, Trust and the Joy of Letting Go” by Sam Keem. At age 61, Keem went to circus school to learn trapeze and experience his lifelong dream of flight. Through the course and his subsequent reinvention as a connoisseur of fear, he takes a journey of self-discovery.
With all the various forms of entertainment available nowadays, I’m not sure the circus is considered “The Greatest Show on Earth” anymore, but it does’t appear that it’s going to be going away, either.

August 2004 -- Death Penalty

I remember hearing as a child about how the general public overwhelmingly favored the death penalty, even though death sentences were not being carried out in Ohio and there were fewer elsewhere because of a Supreme Court ruling effectively struck down many state laws because the penalty was arbitrarily applied.

Now that it’s being used again, it’s interesting to note that polls show public support is dwindling, although maybe not as much in Ohio. For whatever reason, Ohio is becoming a leader in executions, with the latest on July 20 being the sixth this year, behind only the 10 in Texas.

Who knows what impact “In the Jury Room” might have on public opinion. The reality TV program aired its first episode recently and includes coverage of the capital murder trial of Mark Ducic in the courtroom of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy O’Donnell and takes viewers behind the scenes and into the jury room deliberations.
There’s certainly plenty to debate about when it comes to the death penalty, evidenced by the many books on the subject.

“The Death Penalty: A Historical and Theological Survey,” by James J. Megivern, covers centuries of history of religious beliefs and the death penalty, mostly from the perspective of the Catholic Church. There’s clearly a complex web of beliefs and exceptions given at different times to justify different actions.

“The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints” gives a history, without the religious focus, of the death penalty debate from the 18th Century to the present, starting with a 1701 speech to the British Parliament and up to modern times, even addressing whether the death penalty should be applied to terrorists – this, for a book published in 1991. Naturally, there are the standard arguments about whether it deters crime, if the state has the right to kill and the like. Skimming through the opinions, it’s clear that the debate really hasn’t changed much through the years and it’s so polarizing of a topic that it’s unlikely that people will ever come to complete agreement. Anyone interested in the history of the death penalty or writing a paper on the subject would have to pick up this book.

“The Death Penalty,” a Contemporary Issues Companion book, is similar in approach, without the history lesson. These are modern viewpoints, and cover more in-depth issues such as whether the death penalty is applied fairly, innocent people who were on death row. The book also adds some first-hand accounts from a judge who sentenced a defendant to death and a person who witnessed a friend’s execution.

I’ve not seen the movie “Dead Man Walking” (with Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon), but I can tell why the book by Sister Helen Prejean was a best-seller. First, you can’t help but wonder what a killer on death row might be like, because it’s (hopefully) so far from your normal frame of reference. But also, as you read about the nun’s visits with death row inmate Patrick Sonnier, it’s easy to get mixed feelings. I’m sure a death penalty advocate would have to stop and think just a little at seeing the human side of a killer, while a death penalty opponent has to feel a twinge when Prejean writes about the victim’s families.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, who faces the death penalty for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman, may be one of the most famous death row inmates. Abu-Jamal was a radical journalist, so it’s easy to see why people can believe he was framed by police. Then again, he had a gun and intervened in a skirmish between his brother and a police officer who wound up dead. This seems to be one of those debates in which one side will never be able to offer up proof that’s convincing enough to sway the other side. “Live From Death Row” doesn’t really get into his case, but reveals his daily life in the brutal world of prison and the injustices he sees within the justice system. One interesting note was the statistic that only 26 of 2,700 death row prisoners volunteered to be executed, and 21 of them were white, an usually high number considering that only about half of death row inmates are white. Jamal attributes this to an inability to cope with expulsion from society, something that’s already familiar to African-American inmates.
Polls I’ve seen always indicate public support for the death penalty, but in “Who Owns Death,” authors Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell note that the numbers of those in favor have decreased in the past decade as the numbers of executions have increased. They argue that people favor executions in general, but opinions change when faced with specifics or alternatives such as life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Author Austin Sarat also clearly writes from the anti-death penalty perspective in “When the State Kills.” He starts by using the Timothy McVeigh case as the most worthy incident in favor of capital punishment and tries to get into the culture of violence, arguing that society as a whole pay the price for state-sanctioned killing. Texas’ violent history of lynchings set the stage for that state’s lead in executions, as noted in “The Rope, The Chair and the Needle,” which focuses specifically on executions in Texas from 1923-1990 and addresses why that state has been so prolific in applying the death penalty. It also discusses why certain murderers find themselves on death row while others escape that fate.

Stephen Nathanson approaches the subject from an all-inclusive viewpoint, presenting the pros and cons in “An Eye for An Eye: The Morality of Punishing by Death,” but ultimately takes the stance that the death penalty is indeed immoral.
There are also books that avoid the debate altogether and take another point of view – that of the executioner. “The Last Face You’ll Ever See,” by Ivan Solotaroff, covers the lives of the people who flip the switch to supply the current, gas or chemicals that will execute the death penalty. Col. Donald Hocutt, longtime Mississippi executioner, gets particular attention and it’s clear that this type of work takes a mental toll.

“Lords of the Scaffold,” by Geoffrey Abbott, takes the same tact with regard to centuries of executioners, although not nearly as in-depth regarding their personalities and psyche. Chapters are devoted to the method used – I found interesting that the guillotine grew so popular that the devices were featured on jewelry and for children’s toys, showing things haven’t changed all that much over the centuries. It’s also interesting that the British author finds it appropriate that the United States “lovers of comfort” came up with the electric chair, allowing a “basically civilized posture in which to depart this life.”

Checking over the books dealing with the topic, it sure appears that there are more books attempting to rally public opinion than banning the death penalty than supporting it, but I suppose that’s partly because there’s less need to stir opinions to keep things the same as opposed to change.
However, as with the abortion debate, this is an emotional issue among people whose opinions are set and unlikely to waver

July 2004 -- Sports Training

Back in 1998, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire created a fan frenzy with their race to the single-season home run crown. Time and Barry Bonds’ subsequent triumphing of McGwire’s achievement have taken the luster off that shining moment, but even more damning was the reality that McGwire, while not on steroids, was taken a muscle-building supplement and Sosa may also have boosted his natural ability with additives.

Now, with questions looming about drugs and Olympic athletes, the big question becomes whether the public will maintain the same level of interest in the games. Perhaps people will watch, but with a more skeptical eye. To prepare you for the competition, Lakewood Public Library not only has books on the games themselves, but also all sorts of books on training methods so you can better understand what goes into becoming a world-class athlete and the temptations to cheat along the way.

Of course, books on training techniques also can be useful for weekend athletes who just want to get into better shape. Which reminds me of an interview with a doctor who treats professional athletes and maintains that they’re a separate breed with bodies and skills normal people can’t match, no matter how much they practice or how hard they train. I’m not sure I buy that argument, but then again, maybe that’s why some people take performance-enhancing drugs – to keep up with those who are more genetically blessed.

The news that four U.S. Olympic hopefuls may not make the trip to Athens likely comes as no surprise to Robert Voy, author of “Drugs, Sport and Politics.” In the 1991 book, the doctor, a former chief medical officer for the United States Olympic Committee, writes about the vast amount of cheating done to gain a competitive advantage.

Of course, the cheating has included performance enhancing drugs and supplements, long before the current controversy with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Voy argues that even athletes who don’t want to take steroids or other substances often do so out of fear of being at a disadvantage. He also says that no one really seems to care to crack down on the practice, either. “Drugs and Sports” also covers much of the same ground, with chapters devoted to topics like “State-Sponsored Drug Use Has Tarnished the Olympic Games.” However, International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch makes a contribution on how “The International Olympic Committee Stands Against Doping.”

“ The Sports Medicine Bible” appears to be just that – an exhaustive reference for sports-related conditioning and treatment of injuries. What’s nice is that there are training regimens provided for specific sports and purposes, such as improving flexibility. As noted in the book, health and sports are not necessarily correlated, as a good athlete can have the motor skills necessary to hit a baseball, for example, but might not be in top-notch health. Since it’s a few years old now, this may not be the definitive answer in all aspects of conditioning, but most of the tips and treatments are simply basic medicine and probably shouldn’t be swayed by the health philosophy of the moment.

“Sports Nutrition For Endurance Athletes” reads a lot like a textbook, with some breakout items attempting to spruce up an exhaustive rundown of the principles of sports nutrition. While it’s probably best for someone wanting to really delve into the topic, people who are looking for pointers can be helped in chapters devoted to running, skiing, biking and other specific sports, and there are handy charts listing nutritional information about various foods.

“The Encyclopedia of Sports & Fitness Nutrition” reads a bit like the “dummies” book series in how it’s arranged into easily reference chapters on subjects like the benefits of fitness, supplements and eating for fitness, complete with charts all separate boxes of information to quickly summarize certain specific areas, such as a brief rundown of various diets.

I’ve often wondered why, if sports are 90 percent mental as commentators often suggest, the mathematician nerds aren’t also the top jocks. Nevertheless, “Mental Training for Peak Performance” suggests that an important precursor of sports success is visualizing the event beforehand and remaining focused on the actions needed to achieve the goal. To be fair, it does make some sense – author Steven Ungerleider says that your body sends impulses to muscles to react in the necessary way even when you’re standing still and just thinking about the athletic activity. In this way, your body is learning the response necessary to complete the task at hand. I’m sure athletes can get some helpful techniques from this book, but I’m still not convinced you can turn an Albert Einstein into a Lance Armstrong.

The mental aspects of sports are also covered in “Playing in the Zone: Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions of Sports,” in which author Andrew Cooper philosophizes about how sports are like religion in the powerful needs that it fulfills. The “zone” is about that state of total concentration athletes get into in which they can’t miss a shot or get on a big hitting streak.

I remember when professional athletes talked about eating big steak dinners the day before a big game. Then it became all about pasta, with “carbo loading” being the rage. Carbohydrates are still important, but specific types and when to ingest them are a large part of the strategy to follow with “Dynamic Nutrition for Maximum Performance.” It gets a bit complicated at times, with much discussion about glycerides, amino acids and the like, but training tips are given for every sport and there’s information and charts that are useful to everyday people who just want to stay in shape.

For those who want that shape to be muscle-bound, “Pumped” promises the “straight facts” about drugs, supplements and training. A brother-in-law into body building claims there are few, if any, serious competitors who aren’t taking steroids or a similar muscle-building supplement. “Pumped” gives a complete breakdown of steroids and other supplements, explaining how they work, the types of people taking them and the risks involved. There are also chapters outlining the effects caffeine, alcohol and other substances have on the body, making it a bit more of a user’s guide to your body than simply a training tool for the next Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Power Body” focuses more on exercises, complete with pictures, that can be used to work your body into top sports shape. Anyone thinking about developing an exercise routine might want to check out which of these exercises fit your goals for sports purposes or just everyday health.

“The New Toughness Training for Sports” brings the mental and physical training elements together. Visualization and motivation techniques are provided, along with concepts such as your “Real Self,” which is how you really feel. Author James Loehr provides ways to bring out the “Performer Self” that can maximize your abilities.

To get ready for the Olympic games, how about brushing up on Olympic facts with “The Olympics’ Most Wanted,” a series of top 10 lists of odd occurrences, embarrassing moments, incredible performances and the just plain bizarre. Learn that live pigeons were once shot in an event, golfer Margaret Abbott won a medal in 1900 but thought she was in a local tournament and died never knowing she was an Olympic champion and read about various athletes who forgot or somehow missed their competitions. Unfortunately in that regard, I saw no mention of the boxer comedian John Camponera mentions in a sports routine of his – the boxer showed up at the ring without his gloves and was disqualified.

Whether you’re a spectator or an athlete yourself, there’s plenty of reading available to do before the games begin.

June 2004 --Lists

Ever come across something so simple, yet clever, that you wonder why you didn’t think of it first? That happened to me back in the 1980s when the “The Book of Lists” was published. As a constant list-maker myself, I could have come up with that one.

Little did I realize how many people shared my fondness for categorizing and ranking things. Everywhere you went, top 10s and various charts were popping up to proclaim the best albums, worst dressed or largest garden vegetables. USA Today, with its ubiquitous factoids, is geared toward much the same audience.

I’m sure some people would lament that books devoted to lists are pointless and beneath them. After all, you’re not going to see such fare chosen for Oprah or anyone else’s “book of the month” club. But, whether it’s the literary equivalent of junk food or not, apparently I’m not the only one taking a nibble now and then.

Of course, not all list books are the same, either. Although it’s amusing at times, I’m not all about the type featured in “1,003 Great Things About Getting Older,” with its quick-hitting quips such as “no one questions when you take a sick day.”

“The 100 Best Ways to Meet People” is in a similar vein. However, this book at least might get people thinking. I’ve come across far too many people who must be expecting their “soul mate” to come ringing at the door and they could use a little prodding.

Readers who would like to delve a little deeper than their book club selections may find a handy reference tool in “What to Read,” by Mickey Pearlman. Arranged by category (“Evil Lurks,” “Ain’t Love Grand”), it lists titles ranging from the familiar to the lesser known. Even when it covers the top authors, such as science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, it’s “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” that is suggested, rather than “Stranger in a Strange Land.”

Assistance in all sorts of areas is offered in “Real Life: The Ten Things Every Grown-Up Needs to Know,” a primer on handling life obstacles such as buying a car or home, investing and other stress-laden activities. Very readable, it can help calm nerves and adds a little humor, such as a section defining buzzwords used by real estate agents, such as “handyman’s special,” which means the current owner doesn’t know how to fix it, and “must be seen to be appreciated,” which translates as too expensive to list the price.

List books, like seemingly everything else, have been infiltrated by celebrities, such as Maria Shriver sharing “Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Went Out into the Real World.” I’m not sure if someone like Shriver has ever really been part of the real world – even with the meager jobs she says she started with, she always had a family more than capable of bailing her out so she didn’t need to make it on her own. Nonetheless, she does offer some useful, if obvious, advice about things like prioritizing, being able to work your way up the work ladder and maintaining friendships. The “Ten Things” are really chapters, so it’s not so much a book of lists as most of the others I checked out.

Staying on the celebrity front, there’s the “200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons” from People magazine and VH1. I’m a sucker for the TV programs listing the most metal moments, reasons the 1990s ruled and so forth, and this is sort of a published equivalent. However, there’s no numerical hierarchy, something that always adds a little spice to the debate. Still, there’s a top 10 that somehow includes Tom Cruise amidst long-standing icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Superman and Elvis.

Although celebrities often serve as pitchmen (and women), “The 100 Best TV Commercials” focus more on creativity than star power. Many recognizable spots are here, such as the Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad from the 1970s. There are also many you may not recognize, as European commercials dominate the ranks.

If you’re the type whom steps away during the commercials, how about “The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made,” released in 1999 for those who may wonder if a more recent film made the cut. Like many movie “best” lists, it’s skewed toward drama and away from comedy, but “Airplane” and “Clueless” are surprise entries, although I can’t agree with letting “The Princess Bride” off the list.

As much as ranking movies spurs debate, few subjects of lists can get things going like talking music. “Billboard Top 1,000 Singles” may solve some debates about how well a record sold, but this is purely objective, presenting the sales charts from 1955-1996. Good or not, “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks was the number two record in 1974. I’m betting few people would know that “Stayin’ Alive” was not the big hit for the Bee Gees in 1978. It was only number four, compared to the record of the year – “Night Fever.” Yep, there’s a lot of that useless, yet interesting, kind of information in this book.

Still, champion of trivial knowledge has to be “The Top 10 of Everything.” In the 2003 edition, there are lists of the deepest caves, cloudiest places (Cleveland does not make the list), types of sharks that have killed the most humans, last names derived from occupations and so many more subjects to keep a list fan scouring over the pages endlessly. I’m sure Lakewood Public Library has many more fine examples of the genre, but they’ll have to wait for another list.

April 2004 --CONSPIRACIES

When I think about conspiracies, it reminds me of Michael Myers in “So I Married An Axe Murderer.” In his role as the Scottish dad, he informs the main character of the Pentavirate, a secret group that runs the world (and included Colonel Sanders when he was alive – “He puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly”).

But I’m also reminded of the quote “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” (Also mentioned in one of the books I read, though I can’t remember which). Even people not prone to easily accept conspiracies are suspicious of government and can be lead to believe that things aren’t exactly as official sources state – witness the doubts about whether there was any reliable information about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction.

President George W. Bush makes particularly good conspiracy fodder because of his membership in the Yale University Skull and Crossbones society, the subject of “Secrets of the Tomb,” by Alexandra Robbins.
The book details the history, ritual and secrecy of the Order of the Skull and Crossbones and is sure to get some interest this year, as Bush’s challenger, Democrat John Kerry is also a member, leading the conspiracy-minded to argue that it doesn’t matter who’s elected because they have the same goals.

Robbins provides all the background on how the group functions, its meeting hall (the Tomb) and initiation ceremony. As for secret plans for the world, it’s suggested that members do more favors for each other than get together to hatch plots – Robbins says members were involved in deploying the atomic bomb, the Bay of Pigs invasion and even financed Adolf Hitler, but that it was done on an individual basis. I suppose that means that this election might not be meaningless, with the Skull and Crossbones agenda forwarded regardless of who is elected. Then again, maybe some secrets were just too rooted for the author to unearth.

“Rule by Secrecy,” by Jim Marrs (“Alien Agenda”), provides much theorizing about a power elite that controls world events, but does little to substantiate these claims. Sure, some connections are made, he tells about how U.S. bankers financed Sadaam Hussein’s arms buildup and names important leaders who belonged to secret societies.
He even takes on the Bible – calling it a hodgepodge of myths and legends that included passages written in codes that have been lost over time.

While I’m willing to be convinced of such things, the compelling facts either aren’t here or I just missed them in my quest for bottom-line answers. Still, it seems that the author’s primary purpose is to motivate readers to question what the read and hear and he succeeds in providing enough solid material to open minds to possibilities.
“Keepers of the Secrets: Unveiling the Mystical Societies” by Robert Siblerud is more historical in nature, reading as sort of a textbook for those who want to learn about Shamanism, Druids, Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Witches and more secret organizations than you would have thought existed. The book also provided my pop culture-obsessed mind with a little tidbit related to “The Princess Bride” in Agrippa, a 16 Century author of a book on magic whose name coincides with a form of swordplay mentioned in the movie.

A common theme among conspiracy believers is covered in “The New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies,” which promotes the idea that “they” want to create a one world government. Much of the author William T. Still’s ire is directed at the Freemasons, whose God is said to be Lucifer, whom Masons believe never fell from the heavens and is the real God. However, Still acknowledges that most Freemasons do not know the true origin and nature of their organization.

It’s not called a New World Order, but the same basic premise lies behind “Conspirator’s Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300,” the 300 being the powerful elite who decide what countries prosper, where to stage wars and so forth. Written by a professional intelligence officer, it tells about the Club of Rome and other clubs that are really part of the same group led by the queen of England, president of the United States and other influential people.
There’s also a handy checklist of institutions that are under the 300’s control, including the ACLU, Harvard University, NORML, Hospice Inc., YMCA and other seemingly innocuous entities.

In “Secret Societies & Subversive Movements,” author Nesta H. Webster notes that secret societies are not necessarily formed with evil intent, but are corrupted by nefarious influences.

Jewish people are singled out as a controlling power (that doesn’t even have to be totally secret), with the author making the dubious statement that “no subversive movement in the world today is either pro-French, pro-British or anti-Semitic.” The positive nod to the French is a bit suspect given that the author also has penned a series of books on the French Revolution and would appear to have a bias toward that nationality.

Somewhat more believable, and decidedly more readable, is “UFOs, JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don’t Have to Be Crazy to Believe,” by comedian Richard Belzer. He notes that George H. Bush, when asked about a possible conspiracy to kill JFK, responded that people think Elvis is still alive, avoiding the subject while discrediting it at the same time.
Much of the book is devoted to the JFK shooting and the various inconsistencies in the official government version.

He also points to faked evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald was a Communist, done to provide motive and keep focus on the single shooter theory. Even if you don’t believe in Belzer’s conclusions, it’s a good read because it’s written in a lively manner, as you would expect from a comedian, rather that the profoundly serious, endless ranting found in a lot of these conspiracy books.

Although not quite as entertaining, “Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America,” by Robert Alan Goldberg, was one of the more fascinating books among the conspiracy tomes I read.
What makes this one standout is that it gathers together information on the related topic from several points of view. For example, the chapter on JFK, while definitely slanted against the official Warren Commission version, presents many accounts of the incident and possible motives, rather than dwelling on a single theory. The chapter on relations between blacks and Jews, chronicling the radical teachings of Wallace D. Ford (who maintained that God created blacks and a Mr. Yacub created the devilish white race), was interesting and something I was familiar with.

Although some of the conspiracy stuff tends to be so incredulous as to be without merit whatsoever (or maybe these theories are planted to throw you off from the real conspiracies), there’s certainly enough at stake to suspect that weren’t not given the whole truth. That’s what makes shows like “X-Files” work – it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the U.S. government would cover up an alien spacecraft found in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

Still, that also leads me to question whether those in charge would even favor a New World Order. One government shuts out too many entrenched interests. Plus, there’s too much to be gained from maintaining nationalistic fervor, like in George Orwell noted in “1984” with the enemy de jour, whether it be Eurasia or Eastasia.Then again, maybe “they” only maintain the semblance of individual nations to further “their” interests. See, it’s not too hard to believe in conspiracies after all.

March 2004 --Documentaries

Documentaries aren’t going to be supplanting blockbusters like the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy from the box office charts, but filmmakers like Michael Moore (“Roger & Me,” “Bowling for Columbine”) have helped increase the genre’s popularity and make them a staple of every film society series.
Of course, it helps to have stimulating subject material. Among documentaries I checked out from Lakewood Public Library recently, “American Mullet” stands several hairs beyond the rest simply because of the novelty factor.

As the DVD case notes indicate, the short in the front, long in back haircut has curiosity cache through popular websites like ratemymullet.com and mulletlovers.com. Unfortunately, though the movie itself, while interesting in its attempt give a face to the much-maligned ’do, is more serious than I expected. Instead of a Daily Show approach, it’s pretty much straightforward documentary and most of the subjects don’t really hold interest after a short time.

Another title that intrigued me was “Scared Straight,” if only because I vaguely remembered watching it on TV many years ago. On the DVD, you not only see the juvenile delinquents’ visit with the “lifers” prisoners at Rahway, but there’s an update segment showing how they fared 20 years later, with the vast majority going on to become productive members of society. It seemed a little odd that the prisoners are still doing what appeared to be exactly the same program, but I’m sure coming face to face with hardened murderers will always leave an impression on youths who think they’re tough for beating up classmates or stealing cars.

From that same era comes “Can’t Stop the Music,” a movie that doubles as the semi-authentic tale of the creation of the Village People. Basically standard common folk making good stuff, a “Rocky” with a band instead of a boxer. What was surprising about this one was the modern-looking cinematography. While the outfits showed the age, the overall look of the film didn’t have that dated feel to it.

I can’t say the same for “Naqoyqatsi,” from documentary filmmaker Godfrey Reggio, whose works incorporate shifting images and speeds to make a statement about people and the world we live in. Whereas his other films deal more with images of people, “Naqoyqatsi” (Hopi Indian for “war as a way of life”) deal more with electronic images, reminiscent of when I first started seeing so-called “multi media” presentations. Kind of neat to see the shifting images, but the scenery and the Philip Glass score gets dull after awhile if you’re not really into the New Age thing.

Much closer to my frame of reference is “Crumb,” the story of underground comix (for some reason is just needs to be misspelled) writer/artist Robert Crumb. Dark, depressing, yet somehow intriguing, it paints the comic industry in a not very glamorous hue. Although I never got into Crumb’s stuff myself, if you’re a comic fan you’ve seen Fritz the Cat or some of his other works and you know about his penchant for drawing rather large women, at least compared to the waifs with augmentation that are typical in most comic books.

A different type of art form is covered in “Body Art,” which presents modern wearers of tattoos and body piercing in a historical context, showing how these forms were adapted from tribal customs. What’s nice is that it’s fairly current and shows some modern tattoos.

While you can certainly learn something from that film, “Crop Circles: Quest for Truth” is more in line with what you’d consider standard documentary fare. Director William Gazecki’s other noted work, “Waco: Rules of Engagement,” is probably more interesting that this drawn-out chronicle of speculation. I’ve never paid too much attention to the phenomenon, so it was surprise to see so many intricate designs have been discovered, things that look more like Spirograph creations than the plain circles I was more familiar with. However, this never really built toward anything resembling a conclusion and didn’t get much into hoaxes, leaving the story feeling a bit incomplete.

“Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie” also was a little less than what I would have liked as far as entertainment value. I guess I was expecting more “Atomic Café”-type propaganda footage, whereas this was more of a history of the scientific pursuit of atomic weapons. However, that old time classroom-style filmstrip can be found in “Religion,” a collection of shorts that preach about various evils, such as drugs, sex and rock ’n’ roll in the often unintentionally funny “Youth Suicide Fantasy.” This is just a sampling of the collection of documentaries at the library, many of which, as you can tell, are geared to a bit off-center tastes, perfect for a genre that isn’t exactly mainstream to begin with.

February 2004 --FORIEGN FILMS

Although I’ve seen hundreds of movies, maybe even thousands, I’ve never considered myself a movie buff – that’s someone who freaks out about Oscar nominations, gushes about directors and their masterpieces and sees a lot of films with subtitles.

Not that I’m opposed to all films critics consider “classics” or foreign movies, it’s more that I consider a comedy like “The Princess Bride” as worthy of praise as serious, arty stuff like “Life is Beautiful.” I still shudder at how much critics fawned for Roberto Benigni.

But, as I learned again while sampling some of Lakewood Public Library’s extensive foreign film collection on DVD (probably the best of any library in the area outside of Cleveland Public Library’s main branch), just because a movie was made elsewhere doesn’t mean it’s all serious or inaccessible to casual moviegoers. Just like audiences here, people in other countries like to laugh or be scared as well as take in a thought-provoking reel of celluloid.
One that fit that category was “Elling,” a 2001 Norwegian tale about two misfits who leave a state home to try independent living. Nice pacing keeps the interest up and subtle comedy help keep this from being one of those affliction-type flicks that everyone says is good, but no one really wants to watch again.

“Therese,” a French film that’s the true story of a young girl who followed her faith and joined a convent at age 15 and then died of tuberculosis while still a girl, was a bit more along those lines, at least for me. Certainly moving and propelled by a fantastic performance in the lead role, it still wasn’t my kind of thing. However, it seemed to be well done for that sort of thing.

I’m betting director David Lynch has seen the 1972 Japanese film “Ectasy of the Angels,” in which military extremists known by code names and fueled by the idealism and righteousness of youth carry on a crusade against the system. The Lynch-like touch comes from intermingling of the violence with the jazz nightclub with a singer that made me think of how Lynch used Julee Cruise in the TV series “Twin Peaks.”Perhaps the movie I just didn’t get was “The Saragosa Manuscripts,” a 1965 fantasy about an army captain who envisions himself in stories within stories as he travels across Spain. The stories cross each other and frequently open up in other directions to the point that it’s hard to figure out what’s happening, what’s only in the dream/fantasy realm and what I just didn’t care about. The writing on the case mentions it being presented (whatever that means) by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, so it has the serious film buff seal of approval, if not mine.

I figured Fellini’s “Satyricon” would be the movie I wouldn’t understand, given what I’d heard about the director. This tale of decadence set in the times of Roman emperor Nero had some strange-looking characters and unusual scenes, but wasn’t nearly as far out as I’d expected. Nor was it particularly engaging. Kind of reminded me of a “Clash of the Titans” or something like that, only with less action and more homoeroticism.
Maybe the most strange-looking movie of the bunch was “Viy” (or “spirit of evil”), a Russian picture with a witch, vampires and other creatures encountered by a theology student. Reminded me a lot of horror movies of the 1960s.

“The Devil’s Backbone,” a 2002 film, was much more along the lines of modern horror/thrillers, with “The Others” and “The Sixth Sense” cited on the case to provide reference points. A nice combination of supernatural and suspense that relies more on story than special effects.

Whereas those thrills were more of the mind, “Tell Me Something” is more of the action-thriller variety. The South Korean mystery about a serial killer fits right in with films like “Seven” and “American Psycho.”
While it has some suspense, “Betty” is more a drama about a woman whose child dies in an accident. Her abusive mother replaces the boy by kidnapping another child, kind of like in “Raising Arizona,” only the argument this time being that the boy’s natural mother was unfit, so maybe it’s OK to take her child. It’s one of those movies in which everyone’s looking for what they can get and you’re wondering who’s going to get what they want and who’s going to get what they deserve.

Unscrupulous characters also abound in “Rifiti” a 1955 French black-and-white film about a jewel heist. Very film noir and “crime doesn’t pay” kind of stuff with nonetheless at least somewhat redeeming characters, despite their criminal ways.Ruffians are also the central characters in “Kids Return,” a Japanese film about two juvenile delinquents and the separate paths they take – one as a boxer and the other as a gangland apprentice. What was refreshing about this film was that it wasn’t that one became angelic and the other went on a spiraling course downward.

A noble gangster’s the title character in “The Tale of Zatoichi,” one of a series of films about a blind samurai who fights for the little people, although still working as a sword for hire. Very much in the manga tradition of the lonely warrior traversing the land, like a “Lone Wolf and Cub.”
As these titles show, there’s a wide variety of movies under the “foreign film” heading and there’s something suitable for every taste. You don’t have to have a top 10 list of films no one else has seen to enjoy a foreign film.
And you also have the advantage of getting discs that don’t circulate as often as the latest Hollywood blockbuster, so you have a better chance the DVD won’t freeze up while playing – a problem I commonly find among library DVDs. While DVDs can last a lifetime, that’s only if they’re handled properly – too many people are under the misguided impression that DVDs can’t be damaged.

January 2004 --Home Remodeling

For a while there, it seemed like the old Warhol expression would have to be changed to “In the future everyone will have their own talk show for 15 minutes.” Then reality TV hit home and spun off in all directions, including “Trading Spaces,” the success of which prompted a seemingly endless supply of home remodeling shows.
There are family versions, renovations for those with eclectic tastes and even a show utilizing the celebrity status of “Friends” star Courtney Cox. Naturally, some viewers watching these shows start thinking about changing their own spaces. If you’re in this category, Lakewood Public Library has plenty of reference tools to help with the project.

This month, there’s a special kiosk in the center of the second floor reference area devoted to home repair books, so check it out. I perused some of these books, including “Decorating with Flea Market Finds,” from the folks at Country Living magazine. Which reminds me of an experience I had at a flea market in which someone asked my wife (who had green hair at the time) what type of country she decorates in, just assuming that everyone starts with the base of a country theme. But I digress. Back to the book, it focuses on baskets, pottery, glass and other items that you can use to give atmosphere to your house and gives a pretty good rundown within these areas. One thing that made me wince, however, was the handful of “grab it” features highlighting “hot” items such as steel motel chairs. Yes, these things may be popular, but it really doesn’t matter if that’s not the look you’re going for.

Another magazine, this time Better Homes and Gardens, gets into the act with “Small House, Big Style,” which describes designs of specific houses as examples of what can be done. There are some elements that can be adapted into Lakewood homes, particularly in regard to under stairs storage areas, but cost is not really considered – things like raising roofs are probably beyond the means and desires of most people just looking to make their places a bit nicer, rather than build a dream home.

A more modest approach is taken in “Lost and Found: Decorating with Unexpected Objects,” by Joanna Wissinger. As a collector, I thoroughly enjoyed the endorsement given to decorating with collections, such as neon beer signs, carnival objects and so forth. The author also covers furniture made from unusual objects, such as a chairs incorporating a surfboard and car fin, as well as more subdued looks, and benches with concrete blocks or granite slabs.

Rather than show specific homes or pieces of furniture, general tips are offered in “Elegant and Easy Rooms: 250 Trade Secrets for Decorating Your Home.” Author Dylan Landis sets forth the premise from the start that homes do not have to be “perfect,” but should display a style that reflects the residents. All sorts of tips are given for dealing with paint colors, wallcoverings, drapes and more, including ways to overcome problems such as heightening a room with paint by having a pale ceiling extend a foot down slightly darker walls – just what I did in my living room without knowing it was a good thing. Ways are also provided to address dormers and the sorts of nooks often found in Lakewood homes, particularly in third floor living spaces.
Maybe Lakewood houses are back in style, as “Creating the Not So Big House,” by Sarah Susanka, suggests that people are through with the large houses of the outer ’burbs and prefer smaller living quarters over the “impersonal starter castles” with their waste open spaces. The author took 25 houses that were built/remodeled and featured concepts featured in her earlier book, “The Not So Big House.” Although many features of these projects are house-specific, there are plenty of interesting touches that can inspire you to redesign your own abode. Whereas that book is rich in photography, the focus in “Home Decorating for Dummies” is on being a reference tool to be used to address questions about styles, floors, colors, bathrooms and windows, giving a quick breakdown on what’s available and the attributes of each option.

Helpful hints are also the stock-in-trade of “Trade Secrets from ‘Use What You Have’ Decorating,” by Lauri Ward. There are a lot of useful tips regarding planning and organization, as well as ways to deal with all sorts of situations, including storage. Ward has some definitive opinions, so be prepared to have committed one of the 10 common mistakes she lists and don’t be offended if you like loveseats, clearly a sore spot with her. She’s also big on having U-shaped “conversation” (I guess that means living) rooms, rather than the always wrong (in her opinion) L-shaped arrangement that is not conducive to conversation.

From functional reference tomes we move on to a book long on style in “Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic,” which is filled with pictures and drawings to illustrate the author’s very countryish take on incorporating flea market and antique store purchases into your home. There is advice on cleaning brass, removing rust and beverage rings and the like, but the book is more about looks and showing photos of fabrics, furniture and prints that are, for lack of a better term, very girlish.
Even Queen Martha endorses the thrift route in “Good Things From Tag Sales and Flea Markets.” It’s hard to imagine Martha Stewart at many of the flea markets I’ve scoured, but she’s assembled a book that covers the basics of things used to spruce up a home, even giving info on preparation and how to haggle, which certainly conjures up an image. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to create a nice house, according to Gwen Ellis and Ann Janssen in “Decorating on a Shoestring.” They suggest looking at what you have and trying to come up with other uses, such as moving that old dresser into the living room. They arrange their suggestions by area, so you can easily find tips for what to do with entryways, formal dining rooms, kitchens and so on. At the end of each chapter is a handy list of things to do to address the subject in an inexpensive manner.

Now, none of these books may have anything as interesting as the castle-themed makeover I saw on “Monster House” (with a drawbridge dining table), but there’s plenty help out there to do it yourself, no matter the budget and house, and not have to worry about whether you trust your neighbor’s tastes enough to be willing to submit to “Trading Spaces.”