Book Review: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption

The film "The Shawshank Redemption" has been shown on TNT and AMC at least 1000 times.

I never knew it was all from a book written by Stephen King.

The original story isn't even a novel. It's part of a collection of novellas written by King in a book called Different Seasons. The story is only 71 pages long, yet the movie is almost identical. 90% of the story is the same, and I swear over half the dialogue is verbatim from the book. King wrote the story so well, and with so little extra fluff, that the film script could be written with very few changes.  It didn't need almost any additions or abridgments.

I've seen the T.V. version so many times that I couldn't read the book without hearing Morgan Freeman's voice the whole time. It was awesome.

This book is thought provoking. It takes you through justice, mercy, hope, kindness, as well as hate, disgust, intrigue, and the abuse of power.

We get a small glimpse of what it must be like to be in prison for 30 years, and how hard it would be to re-enter society. It helps us understand those who don't express their emotions the same way as we might. It shows the horrible things we'll endure, and even laugh at, if it's all we have.

This story can be read in a few hours, I recommend it.

Book Review: When March Went Mad

I needed a break from Leadership and Therapy books.  This was perfect. 

This is the first “Sports Book” I have ever read.  It is the story of the 1979 NCAA finals; the story of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird.

I have known about these two players my whole life.  Lakers v. Celtics.  They are two of the best players to ever to play the game.  Everyone knows that.  

I didn’t know about their college careers.  I never knew that Larry Bird almost never went to college.  He was dirt poor and he was amazingly shy.  (He was also amazingly crass and juvenile at times.)

He enrolled to play for Bobby Knight at Indiana, but dropped out before practice even started.  He couldn’t pay the $60 fee for his bowling class; his roommate was rich which made him feel awkward; and coach Knight didn’t say “Hi” to Larry when they passed each other on campus.  After being snubbed by his coach Bird packed his bags that afternoon and went home to French Lick, Indiana. (population 3000)

Bird then got a job driving the garbage truck in his home town.  He avoided all college recruiters, and likely would have stayed in French Lick and eventually become the Manager of Municipal Waste Management... if Indiana State hadn’t been so persistent.

They tracked him down, and then got blown off multiple times.  When Bird’s Grandma invited them in, Larry asked her to keep them distracted so he could sneak out the back door.  She made Larry sit down and talk with those gentlemen.

He enrolled at Indiana State to play for the Sycamores.  The unknown school went 33-0 his senior year, then came the NCAA Championship game against the Michigan State Spartans.

Magic Johnson was the exact opposite.  He had the golden smile, he was charismatic.  He loved, and I mean LOVED to talk to the press.  He was way too big to be a guard, but that’s what he played.  He was a great scorer, but an even better passer and playmaker.  He understood the game, and made the alley-oop a trademark. 

 

He chose MSU over the University of Michigan because he wanted to be the star.  He wanted to take a mediocre team and make them great.  He wanted to lead them to the NCAA championship.  His sophomore year, he did just that.  They went 25-6 and earned a spot in the championship game against Indiana State.

That game was the most hyped and anticipated college basketball game ever.  How can I say that?  It had the highest viewership and Nielsen rating of any college basketball game ever – yes all the way through 2012. 

35 million people watched that game live on television.  ¼ of all television sets in the United States tuned in.

It was the charismatic shining star of Magic vs. the awkward back country talent of Bird.

Most everyone knows the result of that game.  Now, thanks to this book, we know the back story.

This book is very well written.  It has everything.  For the sports fan it has the stats and sports talk.  For those looking for the human side – it tells about the families, the effects of success, the dinner table discussions and heart wrenching decisions.  It is a perfect meld of story-telling, biography, and basketball play by play.

I loved it.

Carnegie Hall - A Surprise Made Better by Ignorance

Yes, that is me (in the red circle) and I'm singing in Carnegie Hall.  That day was one of the most memorable in my life, but not for the reason you might think.

Of course it was amazing to be in New York City, to see the sights, to sing in that famous hall with professional soloists.  It was amazing to sing "The Messiah" on Palm Sunday.  It was spiritual, it was professional, it was educational, it was amazing.

The best part was a surprise.

I know classical music fairly well.  My mother has been a piano teacher my entire life - so growing up I heard endless renditions of classical music.  I loved it.  Every Christmas and Easter she would play some of Handel's Messiah and I would enjoy the music.

I knew the Hallelujah Chorus. It was that famous song they sang at Christmas every year - right?

I had the privilege of being a member of my high school's top choir - Royal Blue.  There were about 24 of us, and that year's big project was to learn the Messiah so we could sing it with three college choirs and one other high school in Carnegie Hall with professional soloists.  We spent months practicing.  We went really slowly through the music at first and worked our way up to tempo.  By the time March came we all knew our parts, and we knew them well.  I must have sung the Hallelujah Chorus 100 times between individual rehearsal and Tenor sectionals, and entire choir rehearsals.

I knew the song.  I could sing it with my eyes closed.

Then the day came.  We began at Part 2 song 22: Behold the Lamb of God.  After singing 5 songs and listening in rapture to multiple arias by the soloists - it was time.

The Orchestra began the music I knew so well.  I literally felt my face flush in anticipation.  This was what I had waited for.  The conductor gave us the sign and our voices rang out "HALLELUJAH."

Then the unexpected happened.  As we opened our mouths to sing the second "Hallelujah" - the entire audience rose to it's feet.  I literally stopped singing for one moment as I stared at the audience.  I stood there thinking "our singing is so inspirational that they couldn't help but stand."  It was the greatest moment ever.  I sang my heart out for those people.  I made that song as powerful as my 16 year old lungs could muster.  We finished with "Worthy is the Lamb" and the Amen chorus.  Then we stood and enjoyed the appreciative applause of the audience.

No one told me till the next day that since 1756 it has been a tradition to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus.

Ignorance is bliss, right?

Book Review: The Princess Bride

Pure Fun.  I don't know how else to describe this book.

First, a little personal history of this book and me:

This story is an integral part of my life.  It is literally a part of the culture of my family and friends.  I quote it in conversation on a regular basis.  I have watched the movie dozens if not hundreds of times.  At any moment I could recite the entire movie and I’ll bet it would be 95% verbatim.  Earlier this year for a church talent show – I performed the entire movie in 5 minutes by chopping the script down to my favorite parts and using 113 screen shots. (here’s my script)

SO – I like this story… (just a little bit)

The movie is great because it starts in the current day with a little boy who is sick, and his Grandpa comes to read him a book: “The Princess Bride” - by S. Morgenstern.  Throughout the movie and telling of the story it cuts back to the boy and his Grandpa as they interrupt the story with funny quips, questions, or explanations.  It great.

I never knew the book was written the same way.

The book, by William Goldman, starts out with the story of Goldman’s own childhood.  When he was home sick his father came to read him the original book by Morgenstern.  When Goldman becomes an adult he buys the book to read it to his son, but finds that Morgenstern’s original book is not the same version his Grandpa told him.  The book has all these boring parts – histories of the kingdom, who planted what flowers where, the trying on of wedding dresses, etc…

So in Goldman’s version of “The Princess Bride” he leaves all that stuff out.  He interjects in the story every once in a while to tell you what he cut out and why, (and how his Grandpa told the story the right way) – and then gets you back to the action.

It’s fun, it’s hilarious, and it’s all a beautiful lie.

There never was an S. Morgenstern.  There never was an original book.  Goldman made up the whole thing.  I think he found the perfect way to write a book the way he wanted and skip any parts he didn’t want to write.  He simply said his book was an abridgement.

If he doesn’t know how to connect two parts of the story – just skip it and say it was boring.  If he thought a section was getting boring, or too intense – just cut as the "abridger" and explain what happened.

IT’S AWESOME!

This book has it all - Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

Read it, Love it.

Book Review: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

     Good book, great examples, but the author was little presumptuous.  Maybe he has a right to be.  He has published 60 book and sold 19 million copies with some on the New York Times Best Seller list.  He speaks to Fortune 500 Companies and international government leaders.
So maybe he’s earned the right to be a little presumptuous and prideful.  Even so – I felt like his ego got in the way.

First the Positive:

     This book makes sense.  It gives real life examples, and teaches about leadership in a way that is intuitive, but in ways I never considered before.  It shows that great leaders do not have every leadership skills.  They simply have more of them (or have better developed them) than their peers.

This book gives wonderful examples: Harriet Tubman, John Wooden, Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, etc…

     Leaders don’t make themselves great, they make others great.  

     A leader isn’t always the one in charge, but they are the one that is followed.  If you are ever asked to lead a group – don’t start by telling the people what to do.  Figure out who in the group everyone already follows – then earn that person’s respect.  Lead that person, and you will lead the group.

     This book made me think quite seriously about the upcoming presidential election. 

In my eye - President Obama was the most inspirational candidate I’ve ever seen.  He literally inspired the world, and was awarded a Nobel Prize for it.  The man has serious leadership skills.  But he still can’t get congress to agree or get much done.  Maybe no one can, but this book made me hope for that candidate.  Man or woman, Democrat or Republican, I hope to see that candidate become President.

     This book teaches us how to recognize the leadership skills we have, how to hone our skills, and how to develop the skills we lack.

     It also gives a great test for leadership ability.  Wanna see if you're a leader? Lead volunteers.

Lead a group of people who are not getting paid, and have no obligation to follow you.  If you can lead them, and accomplish your goals - you can lead anyone.

Now the Negative:

     The back cover of the book says in big bold lettering “A Life-Changing  Book Gets Even Better.”

It reminded me of a quotation in the book - “Being in power is like being a lady.  If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” - Margaret Thatcher

Well… if you have to tell people this is a life changing book, it probably isn’t.

     I also took issue with this 10^th Anniversary revised version of the book.

The book has the exact same title, but 2 laws are completely different.  The author explains that over the last 10 years he realized that 2 of the “Laws” were really subsets of other laws.  He then describes how he was lucky enough o discover 2 new laws to replace them thus leaving the title of the book the same.
     Yeah – sounds like good marketing skills, not like a real life changing discovery.

Final Thought: The positives far outweigh the negatives.  This book is worthwhile, and it will help you grow.  Read it.

Favorite Quotes:

“Titles don’t have much value when it comes to leading.  True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned.  It comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned.”  - p. 13

“Being in power is like being a lady.  If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” - Margaret Thatcher, p. 16

“The secret of our success is found in our daily agenda” - Tag Short, p. 25

"Most people overestimate the importance of events and underestimate the power of processes." – p. 26

“Champions don’t become champions in the ring, they are merely recognized there.” – p. 30

“The bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves, but how far we advance others.” – p. 51

“The more intentional you have been in growing personally, the more you have to offer.” – p. 54

“The Handshake of the host affects the taste of the roast.” – Benjamin Franklin, p. 59

“You can’t get too much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West, p. 65

“One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you.” – D.A. Peer, p. 81

 “Who you attract is not determined by what you want.  It’s determined by who you are.” – p. 104

“Always touch a person’s heart before you ask him for a hand.” – p. 123

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – T. Roosevelt, p. 144

“Great things happen when you don’t care who gets the credit.” – Mark Twain, p. 148

“Nothing is more confusing than people who give good advice but set a bad example.” – N. V. Peale, p. 161

“Every message that people receive is filtered through the messenger who delivers it.” – p. 172

 “You want to continually praise effort but reward accomplishment.” – p. 206

“Busyness does not equal productivity.” – p. 207

"A leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, 'Wrong jungle!'" - Stephen Covey, p. 208

“Life is like a parachute jump; you’ve got to get it right the first time.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, p. 257

“Success is not measured by what you are leaving to, but by what you are leaving behind.” – C. Musgrove, p. 261

“We have made at least a start in discovering the meaning in human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit.” – E. Trueblood, p. 262

Book Review: Things Might Go Terribly Horribly Wrong

The title is perfect.  It describes the real problem behind anxiety disorders.  The key word is "MIGHT."

Anxiety is not about things that are going wrong - that's called fear.  Anxiety is about things that might go wrong, and this book gives many many ways to deal with that thought.

This book gives wonderful advice and I think it's for real people with real anxiety.  It doesn't patronize the reader.  It doesn't try to re-label their suffering.  This book does not free you from anxiety, but rather helps you realize that anxiety does not have to limit your life.  The authors quote many many other people, and they're great.  When they see the need to employ an overused cliché - they acknowledge the fact.
e.g. "Even the longest journey begins with a single step (sorry for the cliché)"

When they explain the consequences and results of our anxiety, it's truly horrifying.
 e.g. The number of people who have shot and killed the wrong person on accident because they were anxious.

They understand anxiety - and they can explain it in a readable, manageable way.

They explain one of my favorite points.  Most goals made by addicts are anxiety provoking.  The goal "I'll never drink alcohol again" can only be achieved by dying.  Until you die you can only fail or still be working toward the goal.  Every day you either worry you will fail, or you actually do fail (thus freeing yourself from the anxiety of uncertainty.)

The most useful part to me was about values.  Throughout the book the authors ask you to try multiple activities or games.  They either reveal anxiety, or help you deal with it.
The two activities about values were wonderful.  First I ranked the importance of each of my values, then how well I was living each.
Then I spent 30 minutes writing out my values. I had 9 categories, and 3 detailed values in each category.  It really helped me see how I can make better goals that are in line with my values.
Then even if I don't reach the goal, I'm still heading in the right direction.
Remember - "If you can achieve, earn, attain, or complete it, it's not a value - it's a goal."

Good Quotes:

"The creation of your identity is an ongoing, dynamic process." - Wilson or Dufrene

"The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4:00 p.m. on some idle Tuesday." - Mary Schmich

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Shakespeare

"There was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently." - Shakespeare

Book Review: Alice in Wonderland

Well, I finally read it.  After all the movies and re-tellings and plays and musicals, I finally read Alice on Wonderland.

My first thought - "that was it?"

This book does not seem well crafted or really very interesting.  It's creative, but it seems more like Lewis Carroll simply dictated what he saw while on drugs.  It is very imaginative, and it has a few fun characters.  This can't make up for the fact that none of the characters are well explored, the story doesn't make much sense, it just kind of jumps from one random scene to the next.

I guess if Carroll was just trying to point out that our dreams make no sense, then he succeeded.  But as for writing an intriguing tale, well....he failed to intrigue me.

Book Review: A Tale of Two Cities

This is the second book by Dickens I have read.  It is a very thoughtful and moving story, but like many of Dickens books, it is not a quick or easy read.  I like to read books in 1 or 2 days.  I started this book once about 5 years ago, and never got past chapter 6 (The Shoemaker).  This time I read it leisurely over a month.  I admit that the first half of the book was still very slow.  I didn't understand the point of all these random characters, and why we needed so much detail about each.  I got bored with years of dinner parties and vague conversations.

Then the French Revolution starts, and all the seemingly random threads of plot begin to weave together.  We read gruesome and harrowing details of the guillotine and the unpredictable people's court that sends tens if not hundreds to their death every day.
 

This book has many great themes; the best being reflected in this line: “The vigorous tenacity of love is always so much stronger than hate.” There are stories of redemption, hate, forgiveness, sacrifice, undying love, and fierce loyalty.  The last half of the book is a roller-coaster ride of emotion changing quickly from elation to defeat and then hope rising again. 

Last impressions: Life's purpose is to love and serve others...(and try to avoid women who knit)

Favorite Quotes:

(Opening paragraph) - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

"Then tell the Wind and Fire where to stop, but don't tell me."

“The vigorous tenacity of love is always so much stronger than hate.”

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Most disturbing quote: (a man singing as he saws wood) 

"My work is my business. See my saw! I call it my Little Guillotine. La, la, la; La, la, la! And off his head comes!...I call myself the Samson of the firewood guillotine. See here again! Loo, loo, loo; Loo, loo, loo! And off her head comes! Now, a child. Tickle, tickle; Pickle, pickle! And off its head comes. All the family!"

Home Birth v. Hospital Birth

I'm a doctor.  I am not an OB/GYN, but I've delivered around 50 babies, so I know a little bit about the subject.  I've had friends do home births, use a mid-wife, bath tub, etc...  I've been in emergency C-sections, worked in the NICU, seen a true knot in the umbilical cord, seen cords wrapped around the babies neck, seen shoulder dislocations etc...
I've also have 4 children of my own, and delivered one of them myself.

My opinion may be valid, but if I were you, I'd want more than my opinion.  I'd want to know the results of thousands of births, in multiple states, with all different doctors, patients, circumstances, etc...

This post is not to tell you whether or not to have a home birth - this is to give good information so you can make an informed choice.

According to a study in "Nurse Midwifery" - If a birth is completely uncomplicated:

 - Home birth is 68% cheaper on average (no insurance)
      - Hospital average cost is $7,600 (with insurance you pay around $2000)
      - Mid-wife home birth cost is $2,500

Mom's who choose home birth are usually healthier, have less risk-factors, etc....

A Canadian study looked at around 10,000 births from 2001-2004.  It showed that home births had comparable mortality rates, and had far less complications.
HOME BIRTHS:
 - Less meconium aspiration
 - Less post-partum hemorrhage
 - Less obstetric interventions (fetal heart monitoring)

 A U.S. study was completed which looked at all studies done since 1947.  It included the results of 342,056 planned home and 207,551 planned hospital deliveries.  It showed:

HOME BIRTHS:
 - Less procedures: epidurals, fetal heart monitors
 - Less episiotomies and operative deliveries (both vaginal and cesarean)
 - Less infections, lacerations, hemorrahges, and retained placentas
However, there was one significant disadvantage to home birth
 - neonatal death rate DOUBLED with home birth.
 - neonatal death rate TRIPLED in home births where the baby had no genetic problems.

Granted - the death rate went up from .15% to .3%   - So the risk is still very small.

In summary:
 - Home births are cheaper, as long as you don't get transferred to the hospital.
 - Home births certainly have less interventions, lacerations, complications etc.
 - Home births may have a higher death rate in the US.

Around the globe:
The British OB/GYN association supports home births.  The US OB/GYN association does not.
Australia announced a major reform this year to support and promote midwife led births.  A review of 3 huge Cochrane meta-analyses showed no difference in outcomes for low-risk mothers.