Book: The Prince

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I propose that the best self help books don't fall in that genre at all. I have no authority on the subject as I haven't read too many real self improvement books. This is probably due to the fact that it's impossible to stand under the "Self Help" sign at Barnes & Noble looking at books without feeling like you're sending a message to the world that you have personal problems. I love The Alchemist and that is a novel filled with bits of wisdom. The Prince is not a novel but it is infinitely quotable.

I read this during Christmas break over the din of 12 kids, ages 0-8, rampaging through my parents-in-law's house. Machiavelli writes what is essentially a manual for careful and calculated rule while dispersing principle after principle of wisdom, which seems crafted as much for everyday life as for political and military leadership. It is definitely one to be read again and again with plenty of highlights and personal notes.  It provided inspiration to me as a parent, in my career, in spirituality, among other ways. If you are concerned that your annual resolution processes not taking hold or you need to be more strategic in accomplishing what you want, take the few hours it takes to read and see if your framework shifts for the better.

Machiavelli gets blamed for all malevolent plottings and heartless strategy geared towards gaining and holding power over others. Manipulation is an important tool of any prince, his universal term for a leader. He shares the key to this framework when he speaks of Fortune, his universal term for fate. He says

"It is not unknown to me how many men have had, and still have, the opinion that the affairs of the world are in such wise governed by fortune and by God that men with their wisdom cannot direct them and that no one can even help them; and because of this they would have us believe that it is not necessary to labour much in affairs, but to let chance govern them. This opinion has been more credited in our times because of the great changes in affairs which have been seen, and may still be seen, every day, beyond all human conjecture. Sometimes pondering over this, I am in some degree inclined to their opinion. Nevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half, or perhaps a little less."

And therefore:

"The Prince who relies entirely on fortune is lost when it changes."

While he doesn't deny that power and control is a goal of leadership, Machiavelli's tone is more neutral, providing tools to help you accomplish whatever it is you want, be it for good or for evil. He admits that good leaders at times use evil tactics, but he never goes so far as to espouse outright evil. He really is more of an observer of shifts of power, of the successful and the unsuccessful, and shares his findings with the rest of us. He's not without an agenda, which revolves around movements in his contemporary Italy, but that doesn't taint the carefully distilled principles of leadership and power he lays out continually and simply.

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Concert: Wilco - Indianapolis, IN - September 13, 2011

Murat Theater
Indianapolis, IN
September 13, 2011

The ghosts of Wilco past

Yes, September 2011. I got that date right. Is it weird to post a review of a concert almost a year after it happened? Probably. I mean, I have this great picture here with the silhouette of the heads in the crowd, Jeff Tweedy and the rest of band with that blue lighting and all those ghosty things hanging all over the stage. It's not a photographic masterpiece by any means, but it reminds me of when I didn't have an iPhone and I don't have an account on Twitter or Tumblr yet so enjoy it. Or not.

I promise I wrote notes on this back then to help me when I actually wrote this post! Here is what I wrote as a prompt that I was supposed to expound upon whenever I wrote my full review:

full sound
electronic feel
community
so solid

Descriptive, I know. I guess it explains itself. This concert was a few weeks before their new album The Whole Love was released and it opened up with Art of Almost which had an electronic, rhythmic feel to it that was a bit of a change for Wilco to me. I've since listened to the new album but it hasn't yet really pulled me in. I suspect I may rediscover it in a year or two.

I also found on this old post some thoughts that Wilco inspired in me about the effectiveness and functions of different media forms:

"The thing that makes music so different from books and movies is that it is a slightly less effective way to tell a story. Film, in my opinion, is the most effective way to tell a story when you want to deliver a more specific message, but each format has its own benefits and drawbacks:

• Books: level of detail, ability to paint environment, description of inner thought
• Film: ability to paint/describe environment, rhythm, plot movement/story art
• Music - rhythm, evoke attitude/essence of environment, direct description of attitude/moral/feeling/emotion, etc.

"To me, music is more about evoking the essence of something, rather than describing in detail what it is or how it got there. Rhythm is a great tool for pushing, suspending, or maintaining a feeling through the use of tempo."

I suppose it must of been pretty deep if it got me thinking that stuff. The concert really was great, besides the drunk people behind us dancing far beyond the limits of their own personal space -- luckily they had to take a lot of smoking breaks. But that's where community comes in. They are big enough to sell out weeks before a new album comes out and they've got everybody chanting "Nothing!" 40 times in a row on Misunderstood, a classic pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot song of theirs, popular mostly as a live tune.

As far as "so solid" goes, these are technically proficient musicians and the expanded instrumental sections that you can only get live (intros, bridges, solos, transitions) reflect that the music is at the heart of the performance. Jeff Tweedy feels free and comfortable as the front man, sharing thoughts on the opening act, their music, and the rest of the tour--but you don't go to a Wilco concert for their showmanship. The music was solid and that's what made it great. And the hanging handkerchief ghosts.

Set List: Art of Almost, I Might, Misunderstood, At Least That's What You Said, Bull Black Nova, In A Future Age, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Handshake Drugs, War On War, Born Alone, You Are My Face, Impossible Germany, Via Chicago, Dawned On Me, I'm Always In Love, A Shot In the Arm

Encore: Hummingbird, Whole Love, Jesus, etc., Walken, I'm The Man Who Loves You

Film: Chronicle

"Boys will be boys" the poster says. Do you ever wonder what it was like to be a teenager? What are the youth of today really like? What are they really dealing with? Is there any hope for them? Society sends a lot of messages, both negative and positive, but one thing is for sure: it's a difficult time of life. Mostly I figure it's about the same as it was for me, but I find I don't quite remember what that was. Chronicle takes on the task of reminding us.

The story is told in a unique way, fitting well with that task. Take a superhero creation story, add some real-life, teenage drama, focus on the misunderstood self-destructive recluse, and throw in some J.J. Abrams style first-person shakey-cam with some serious urban destruction a la Cloverfield and you've got Chronicle. However it also takes the supernatural and makes it real, both in the environment and within the characters.

A film that kind of flew under the radar, I didn't know much about Chronicle going in other than that it was about teenagers stumbling upon super powers and that it had garnered a decent response from critics (85% on Rotten Tomatoes). Once it began the style was set immediately. Most of the story is told through the handheld camera of Andrew, a reclusive high school senior whose only real friend is his cousin Matt. Andrew takes the camera wherever he goes, despite the questions and taunts of others. Any social interaction takes place through the camera lens.

You quickly get a feel for Andrew's situation. His mother is seriously sick with some sort of respiratory disease. His dad is an abusive and angry drunk no longer able to work that blames his problems on others. No one is reaching out to Andrew and he isn't really reaching back. The exception being his cousin Matt, who we are to understand is more or less a "normal" teen. Matt persuades Andrew to come to a rave, but the issue of the camera comes up. "I'm just saying... maybe you shouldn't take a camera to the party," says Matt. Andrew is unfazed. Later that night it becomes convenient he did as we follow them out in the woods where Andrew, Matt, and another boy, Steve, stumble upon something in the forest which has an odd effect on them.

Telekinesis. At least that's one definition suggested. Basically the three of them realize they can now move, bend, and control physical objects. They start small pelting each other with objects in the back yard, and, like any group of boys, start getting curious. Things begin to escalate. They try out pranks like moving someone's shopping cart... and then their car. Andrew's camera follows providing a chronicle (get it... they call the genre found footage) of it all.

It's like a muscle which grows stronger as they exercise it. Andrew is especially gifted, and thrives on the friendship and encouragement of his two new buddies. The only physical side affect seems to be a nose bleed now and then. Soon they can fly. They take some serious risks. They have a lot of fun and become close, spending all their time together. Andrew seems to be doing well and may even become popular. Steven, who becomes his best friend, is a grounding influence on him, seeing things in Andrew others never had. Trials ensue and Andrew has a hard time dealing with them. Trials lead to tragedies and Matt finds himself trying to set boundaries while Andrew seems only to be breaking them.

Chronicle provides an impressively accurate exploration of the psyche of the teenage boy. Yes they have a tendency towards curiosity that often turns into chaos (in this case the chaos is extreme), but there is also a desire to be accepted and to find an honest outlet for friendship and feelings. This all comes to a head as Andrew draws deeper into the darker recesses of his character lashing out at those around him, breaking Matt's rules along the way.

The young filmmakers, Director Josh Trank (27) and Writer Max Landis (26) - this is the first major project for both - use the supernatural to take this understanding of the reality of youth to its extreme. The characters' newfound power becomes representative of the raw and brilliant potential of youth. At its basest that translates into a metaphor for puberty, but it's really about learning to navigate the growing process in becoming an adult. In the final scene Trank and Landis show this at its best, telling us there is hope in the rising generation but that maturity sometimes comes at a cost.

Book: Team of Rivals

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After months of reading I've finally finished this epic and definitive telling of Lincoln's political career. Don't think that this wasn't a page turner, though, because it definitely held my attention amidst a slurry of personal events (moving, finishing grad school, a 8 to now 12 month old girl, new job, holidays, etc). Goodwin's writing is direct and clear which makes it easy to connect with Lincoln. Although we all know the major events in the man's life (election, Civil War, assassination, etc.) when you read through it in Team of Rivals the writing leaves you in suspense enough that you try and suppress the inevitable, making it a much more exciting read than I would have imagined. Especially tragic are the final chapters. Realizing the context in Lincoln's life surrounding his assassination, if you didn't already know, makes the event so much more heartbreaking. It left me replaying multiple "if only..." scenarios in my mind, pointlessly reviewing the coincidences that contributed to his death, as well as the historical implications if it had not occurred.

Did I mention that Goodwin is an intense Lincoln lover, clearly outlining the reasons, again and again, why he is the most important figure in America's history? I don't read a lot of history so I can't say if her writing borders on over-apologetic, but I'll take the Pulitzer prize and universal critical acclaim for the book as evidence against that. She just loves Lincoln and you get pulled right in on that as you follow along.

Don't read it for it's Civil War history. While it certainly focuses it's time in that period of Lincoln's life, its primary purpose is always describing the man himself and rarely leaves his side.

The real reason I started this book, however, was so that I'd have some context before reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. That's still on my to-read list but this was more than I had expected.