Blue Like Jazz: Movie & The Book

When Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz came out in 2003 and was the "must read" book throughout most of the decade in the Christian community I thought "this will be the book for me."

It wasn't.

I mean, it should have been.  Lifetime Christian questioning the structures of his religious upbringing while attending "America's most liberal campus"; Reed College...sounds like something that would immediately warm my heart.

It didn't.

Maybe it was a narrative that seemed to go all over the place (I know, its supposed to...like Jazz)

Maybe it was that fact that I was already living in the very liberal college town of Boulder Colorado and didn't need anymore "fuzzy around the edges" in my life.


Maybe it was the famous scene in the book where they set up the "confession booth" and ask forgiveness of non-Christians for all the bad stuff Christians had done like...you know like, the Crusades! (I thought, "Really, this guy is taking responsibility for a political conflict that occurred 1000 years ago.  Couldn't Christians apologize for something a little more recent and relevant...you know, like maybe Jerry Falwell?)

Whatever the reason, Blue Like Jazz remained on my bookshelf with a bookmark about 3/4 of the way through...unfinished.

Recently though Donald Miller was being interviewed on a podcast I listen to and he was talking about how the movie had come out and they screened it at Reed College.

That got my interest!



Miller, in the interview was pretty humble and engaging.  He talked about how some conservative groups he thought would hate the movie, loved it and some more "progressive" groups didn't.  Go figure...  Miller went on to talk about the screening at Reed and how 2000 people who came out at first to mock the movie, instead were by the films end, silent and reflective.

I was intrigued! I got home that evening and watched the movie in my living room.  (How did I watch the movie in Hong Kong you ask?  Well, lets just say, this is Asia and when I meet Donald Miller one day, I owe him 10 bucks)

The movie itself takes the narratives from the book and loosely translates them into the fictional account of Don, a southern Baptist teen heading off to his first year at a Christian university.  He discovers though that his hyper religious mother is having an affair with the youth pastor and in an act of rebellion to spite his mother, church, and faith, heads off to the very secular Reed College. 



Under the direction of Steve Taylor, the iconic 1980s Christian rocker who was popping religious church balloons far before it became fashionable, Blue Like Jazz creatively navigates a difficult tension between showing the real challenge a Christian has in engaging a "real world"...and not showing so much of that "real world" that no one under 18 is allowed to watch it. 

At the film's beginning Don lives in a Christian bubble.  Anyone who has lived in that bubble and has come out will cringe at some of the scenes depicted here including when Don, before heading off to Christian college, is made to stand in front of the church in full Sunday School issued "armor of God" costume.

Like anybody living in that bubble though and then stepping out, the initial steps can be disastrous.  Don quickly succumbs to the temptations of Reed College and from there the film spends the remainder of the story reestablishing his faith on more solid ground than how he had begun.  The film concludes with the infamous "confession booth" from the book but which was much more emotionally relevant...especially as it didn't focus on apologizing for the Crusades.

Blue Like Jazz is not for everyone and certainly pushes the boundary of what can be considered a "Christian" movie.   My guess though is the film's creator's didn't set out to make a "Christian" movie.  They set out to make a film about how one discovers a legitimate faith in Christ that can replace the cultural doppelganger Christianity that is so pervasive in America and the West.  A faith in Christ that can stand in the storm of modern voices that ridicule it.

Blue Like Jazz accomplishes this.  Its not a "great" movie...but its pretty darn good! 

Book Review: The Gospel in Ten Words

I've been doing a number of book reviews here at Beyond the Pale but this is the first review I have done where I have known the author on such a personal level.  Paul Ellis, author of the Escape to Reality blog http://escapetoreality.org/ , has published his first "Christian" book.  I have to designate the "Christian" part because Paul, as a university professor of 15 years in Hong Kong, is one of the most prolific authors in the field of International business.  Fortunately for us, Paul has shifted his energies from the academic arena to the area he is most passionate about; the Grace of God.

The Gospel in Ten Words unpacks the grace of God through the use of ten, often misunderstood, words.  I have been on a Christian book marathon since about February and I have read a number that have blessed me greatly.  However, I can name two that will have long term impact on me and I will be buying and passing out copies for years to come. 

The first was Brian Zahnd's Beauty Will Save the World which caused a paradigm shift in my thinking about what church is meant to be.

The second is Paul Ellis' Gospel in Ten Words which will become a major resource tool for me as it is, in all honesty, the best book on explaining the grace of God I have ever read.

Loved
Forgiven
Saved
Union
Accepted
Holy
Rightous
Died
New
Royal

Using these 10 words Paul defangs law, cripples self-righteous effort, and reminds the children of God that they are His children and that none can pluck them from His hand! Ten Words reminds us that the "good news" is indeed, good!

Because of Paul's many years as a Christian and ten years as a pastor, he may not have seen it all, but he's seen ALOT.  For this reason,  he is extremely adept at turning long entrenched religious structures inside out and exposing them for what they are; dead works that often keep the Children of God in chains and ignorant of their position as sons and daughters of the Most High.

For example, much of my Christian life has revolved around getting people to "accept Christ."  However, Ten Words suggests:

"The gospel is not an invitation to accept Jesus; it is the stunning announcement that He accepts you.  Although the law reveals it is impossible for you to make yourself acceptable and pleasing to God, the gospel of acceptance declares that in Christ you have been made acceptable for eternity.  Nothing you do can make you more or less pleasing to God than you already are.  All this is to the praise and glory of His grace."

Now

"Secure in your Father's favor you will become fearless and bold.  You will dine in the presence of your enemies and laugh in the face of adversity.  You will dance upon the waves of circumstance and when you are tried by fires of life you shall not be burned."

I've enjoyed the irony of seeing a very academic professor, whose previous professional articles on statistics, research, and business models I could barely understand, produce a book on the gospel that is so profound and yet, so simple.  Probably the reason for that is he ultimately brings everything back to Jesus!

The individual chapters are bite sized nuggets that can be easily digested in a short read.  Hence in the coming weeks and months I will be returning to the book to spend 20 minutes reading about "Holy" or "Loved"; allowing these foundations to be reenforced so that my "good news" remains good.

I really recommend you allow this book to be a blessing to you as much as it has been to me.  Check it out on Amazon here 

Book Review: Things Unseen by Mark Buchanan

If there is is a passion for me right now, it would have to be the Kingdom of Heaven.  For someone who spent years (decades) as a political junkie, I think many who have known me are surprised how much my "politics" have transformed themselves from "things below" to "things above". But "things" have a way of changing  when you move from a theology of "getting from here to Heaven" to "getting Heaven to come here". I realized that many of my "good intentions" not only failed to help bring God's Kingdom to Earth but actually inhibited it's coming at all.

It's in this new environment for me that a pastor friend from Colorado recommended, Things Unseen: Living in Light of Forever by Mark Buchanan.  It has been said that "some people are too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good."  Buchanan's premise is that without a proper fixation on heaven, you "earthly good" will be all but crippled.

Rather than paint Heaven as the great "Here After",  Things Unseen reveals a heaven that we can have written in our hearts.  A heaven that guides our actions and decisions here and now; and when the time comes that we do move on into eternity, we simply transition into the fulness of what we had already been living in. 

This "Heavenly-mindedness" says Buchanan, "is sanity.  It is the best regimen for keeping our hearts whole, our minds clear.  It allows us to enjoy earth's pleasures without debauchery.  It allows us to endure life's agonies without despair.  It allows us to see things from the widest possible perspective and in the truest possible proportions.  If anything can give us a true scale of values- one that enables us to sort out the disposable from the precious, the trinkets from the treasures, the surface from the substance- heavenly mindedness can."

Much of the book's strength rests on Buchanan's gift at spinning a phrase that makes our understanding of an issue more passionate and inspiring.  Take for example "holiness".  Any preacher announcing he will do a series on "holiness" will usually generate a collective groan from the congregation.  "Holiness" in Buchanan's hand however comes out like this:

"God intends the holy life to be an odyssey of wonder.  The religious impulse tends to make it into a journey both dreary and heavy, perilous and plodding.  But God designed holiness to be invigorating, the discovery of life so abundant that if He didn't unveil it for us, we would forever lack the imagination even to ask for it."

 See what I mean?

So if you are looking on getting a clearer view of Heaven before death rather than after, Things Unseen, should go on your "to read" list!

My review of Rob Bell's "Love Wins"

I realize I'm a little late to the party on this one.  Rob Bell's book, Love Wins has been out for more than a year now and the controversy surrounding it has moved on to other targets....but I've been on a book roll lately and this one was one I was meaning to get to.

Most of the controversy centers on Bell's flirting with universalism, which for those of you with a real job means that everyone will eventually be reconciled to God and no one is going to be left in hell to burn for all eternity.  What I always find interesting in any debate, and this one particular, is the attitude of peoples hearts when discussing it.  Seeing some Christian's reaction you'd almost believe they would be furious if many people were not thrown into the flames for all eternity.  Like a celestial crowd in a gladiatorial arena they  gleefully give a thumbs down to Caesar as he seeks their decision on whether a victim who has fought in the games should live or die.

Fortunately Bell brings a bigger and more loving interpretation to the debate.  Someone asked me after I finished the book what I thought.  I said I agreed with a large part of it.  Some of it was a bit of a creative stretch at times (Bell is an intelligent and creative guy).  For example his interpretation of the story of Lazarus and the rich ruler after death had me scratching my head a little but ALOT of what he brings to the table are questions that need to be asked and most church streams and denominations won't touch them with a ten foot pole.

And why?

Because if they do Pandora's Box would be opened and the whole thing could collapse. (which could lead to dancing :)

But didn't Jesus do that very thing?

Didn't he travel around asking questions that made the religious establishment very uncomfortable.  He'd say the Kingdom of God was like "this" or the Kingdom was like "that" in a way that made the priests and pastors of the day crazy with jealousy and anger.  Didn't Jesus then start saying that certain people were "in" when the religious leaders and holy men had declared them to be "out"?

(Believe me, humans are far more enthusiastic about throwing people into hell than God... could that affect our theology at all?)

For example when God says he desires all men to be saved, that every knee will bow and confess Christ to the glory of God the Father, that all creation will be reconciled in Christ... Does God get what he wants? Does the Creator and Author of Life get what he declares he wants to see happen?

Or does the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End, Does "I AM" give up at a certain point and admit, "I did what I could but that's about the best I'm going to get." 

Mmmmm,

Much of the book though deals with heaven and getting away from a Christianity that seeks primarily to get people a ticket to paradise rather than participating in Christ's plan of bringing reconciliation and "heaven" to earth now.  That we would be active participants in fulfilling Jesus' prayer that His will be done on earth as in heaven.

Bell says right now the earth is filled with a lot of different "wills" and Christianity should be bigger in scope than has often been the case.

I actually have a good friend who I have known closely since high school.  At one time he was a strong Christian believer but after some years left the faith.  He told me not long ago that he believed in God again but one of the reasons he didn't consider himself a Christian anymore was that Christians made God far to small.

And you know, I agree with him.  We have made God to small. Bell's book seeks to get our view of God back to the standing and scope it should be at.

Do I agree with every aspect of what Bell suggests in "Love Wins".  Probably not...but it is an important contribution in making Christianity the Body of Christ that will bring Life to those in our world that are desperately looking for it.

In the end though I agree with Bell that "Love Wins."

Day 0: St. Bees

Our friends Mark and Christine drove us from their place near the Wales border all the way up to the Coast to Coast starting point in St. Bees.

Of course it would't be a trip through merry old England without a side trip of some form. Our side trip came in the form of a stop to visit The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool. Gabriel is a HUGE Beatles fan but I had been telling him for weeks that we would not be able to stop in Liverpool on the way up as we were under a time crunch. Mark and Christine though thought it was doable but we decided to surprise him until the last minute. As we approached Liverpool he looked at me and I said, " Mark, is there anything you want to tell Gabriel?" Mark replied, " Thought we'd pop into Liverpool and see The Beatles museum". Yep, Gabriel was a happy.

After a tour of the lives of the Fab Four we were then off to ST. Bees. The rain hit just as we arrived in pulled into our B&B, The Stone Farm house. Dinner was at the Queens hotel up the road and we mostly settled on Fish and Chips except for Gabriel who got the Toad in the Hole. Jennings Bitter on tap and then we topped the evening off with a stroll down to the sea where we would begin the walk the following morning.

My Spring 2012 Reading List

We're into June and that means its time for a reading list update.  If you've been following the blog at all you know I've been on roll reading books concerning Christianity, the church, theology etc. etc.  For those of you used to a little more diversity in my recommendations (I apologize for no Stephen King this time) but I am certainly tacking in a particular direction right now.  I went so long without reading any books on Christianity that I think I'm making up for it now or something...anyhow...you be the judge.

The following books I have read, or am in the process of reading, since February this year:

Beauty will Save the World by Brian Zahnd.

Zahnd suggests that we need to focus a little less on apologetics and ethics in our Christianity and let the natural beauty inherent in the faith rise again to the surface.  Also has an amazing examination of the Sermon on the Mount which I unashamedly stole and used as a basis for a sermon a couple months ago.  This book lit the fire in me that resulted in a flurry of reading that follows.

Insurrection: To Believe is Human, to Doubt, Divine by Peter Rollins

Like Zahnd above, I first saw Peter Rollins when interviewed on The Harvest Show. (So blame them :)  Rollins writes in Insurrection that for many Christians, God is not part of the natural narrative of our lives but is wheeled out when needed to address a problem or or help in some manner.  Instead,  those that claim the Resurrection of Christ must be willing to take part in an Insurrection that challenges not only cultural foundations but the church's.  Normally I shun books like this because the writers tend to be burnt out and angry.  Rollins instead is both humble and gracious even as he is challenging the very pillars of your beliefs.  And he will challenge them....this book is not for the faint of heart.

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

I must admit for a while I tended to avoid Rob Bell.  I was enjoying his NOOMA videos back around 2007 but when Mark Driscoll said he was "off" I kinda took his word for it.  Then later I realized Driscoll is a bit "off", and for that matter so was I. (aren't we all really?) So when my friend recommended Velvet Elvis, I gave it a shot.  Loved it!  It's a fast read and gives a new angle to look at in regards to our faith.  I especially enjoy his knowledge of Jewish history and putting the New Testament in context of its Jewish roots.

Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince

I must admit I'd seen this guy on the christian channels before...and kept right on switching the channel.  My friend Paul Ellis though said I needed to give Prince a listen...and he was right! Then he bought me the book Destined to Reign and it has been like a devotional book for Tammy and I.  I don't read this book straight through so much as I read little bites and let it soak in.  Great insights into just how much God loves you!

 


Sacrilege by Hugh Halter

I actually met this guy in Denver Colorado years ago where his missional church Adullam is located.  Just finished this book and it is a great encouragement and practical guide for people wanting to make their church integrated with the community.  Oh, and as the title suggests, he smashes a few sacred cows along the way.


How (Not) to Speak of God by Peter Rollins

Yes, my second Rollins book in as many months.  In this earlier book Rollins outlines some of the services they do in a bar called The Menagerie for his faith group IKON. I read one of the services outloud to Tammy on the balcony last Sat. morning and she got so depressed  (they were trying to recreate the dark time of the soul the Apostles must have felt on the Sat. night between the Crucifixion and Resurrection) I thought she was going to jump...she didn't. Alright, that's an exaggeration; but it really affected her...as it was meant to.  OK, some of what they do at these meetings even offended me...oh yeah! :)  Loved it!



So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobson & Dave Coleman

I never got around to reading The Shack but this is by the same authors.  Unlike the other books on this list,  this book is a novel.  Jake, is a pastor who meets the Apostle John in a modern day context.  Through a series of conversations Jake's understanding of what church is supposed to be, and what it has become are made front and center.  This book will resonate for anyone who has been a Christian for more than 5 years.  Since I've been a Christian for 37 years it REALLY resonates with me.  Oh, and you can get this book for free here

How God Became King by N.T Wright

Have downloaded the sample of this on my Kindle and am sure I will read the whole thing shortly.  I really enjoy Wright's take on the kingship of Christ and know it is a message the church at large needs to hear.

Well, that's what I've been reading the last 3-4 months...How about you?

I'm on a Book Roll Now: Reading Pete Rollin's "Insurrection"

In my last post I mentioned how I hadn't finished a "Christian" book in 10 years.  Even my wife was surprised when she read that.  Now, don't misunderstand, I've started a number over the years but for whatever reason, they lay half finished somewhere...and a few had some good things to say.

For whatever reason though (Holy Spirit anyone?), Zahnd's book Beauty will Save the World awakened something in me that was laying a little dormant...

...the sleeper must awaken.... (movie quote test for the film buffs)

Now I'm on a roll.  The Harvest Show (which is one of the few Christian shows I can enjoy because it assumes the audience has at least half a brain) ... anyhow, The Harvest Show which introduced me to Brian Zahnd just  had Peter Rollins on for an interview. ..and like Zahnd, I had never heard of him.

Rollins is an Irish Christian author, teacher, and self proclaimed "barroom philosopher".  And I began asking myself the age old question, "Why when the Irish speak of the things of God, does it  just sound so much cooler?"...Could it be because of Bono?

Anyhow, I've picked up Rollins latest book called "Insurrection: To Believe is Human, to Doubt is Divine"  I'm only about 20% into the book right now but Rollins has a great insight into what Christ suffered on the cross and how, if we are to be crucified with him as Paul extols, we need to share in that experience.



The story that we tell ourselves that makes sense of the world and gives it meaning was torn from Christ.  The religious system conspired for his execution, the political system (Rome) provided the means, and he was betrayed and deserted by those he loved.  In the Garden on the night before the crucifixion, Jesus chose the Father's will and gave up everything for God.

On the cross...He loses even God.  "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me?"

Rollins is not for the feint of heart but he brings a valuable perspective to the church.

And he's going to have written the 2nd Christian book I've read in its entirety in about 10 years.

The Book that is bringing my "Spiritual Mojo" back!

I've been a Christian for 36 years and in all of that time I can name 3 or 4 moments where I met a person, attended an event, or, as in this case, read a book that caused a fundamental paradigm shift in my faith and my understanding of the nature of God.  Its happened again...and perhaps none too soon.

The book is "Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the allure and mystery of Christianity" by Brian Zahnd.  I saw Zahnd interviewed by Drew Summeral on The Harvest Show and I was immediately intrigued.  He talked about Christ and his Lordship in a way that resonated with me so, of course, I had to check him out.

The next thing I knew I was downloading the above title onto my Kindle.  Now understand, I probably haven't finished a "Christian" book in almost 10 years (and I'm a voracious reader).  With Beauty I found I was upset when I got to work in the morning because it meant I had to stop reading.  But then I would subject my staff to a play by play analysis of what God was doing in my heart based on what I had read that day.

To put it bluntly... Beauty is helping to bring back my "spiritual mojo"!

Much of what the book discusses I've been nibbling around the edges for years.  Zahnd  puts words to the direction I felt God leading but was asking, "Does anyone else feel this as well?"

So what's the book about?

A lot of things really.   From the beauty of Christ's work on the cross to an understanding of the Kingdom of God and what it truly means to be a prophetic person.  That God has set up an alternative society and He is calling people to be part of it.

The book ends with an "unpacking" of the Sermon on the Mount which, rather than being the nice platitudes of Jesus that we should keep in mind from time to time, they are royal announcements of the fundamental underpinning of the new order which has come, and is now coming.

I'll finish by saying that the book mentions that the disciples were executed eventually by Rome not because they were sharing that if people received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they could be saved and go to heaven.

No, the disciples were executed because they were claiming a new King was sitting on the throne and were announcing the establishment of His Kingdom.

Yep, it's all coming back to me now.

Watch this space!!!!!!

My Year End Book Reviews 2011

On December 30 with one day to spare I met my goal of finishing Susanna Clark's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell before the end of 2011.  It is a huge tome of a novel so I was pushing to finish it so I could start 2012 with a fresh new book...yet to be determined.

But with 2011 bidding us a fond farewell I thought I would do a quick review of some of my favorite books of the year.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell :  What happens when you blend a Jane Austen or Charles Dickens novel with Harry Potter?  The alternative history novel follows two very distinct magicians as they attempt to  reintroduce magic into a Victorian England setting.  There were moments when the book gets a little slow but just when it starts to drag the book suddenly jumps to some of the best storytelling I've read in a while.  Whether using their magic to battle Napoleon Bonaparte or magical fairies Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell will leave you hoping for a sequel.



On China:  Henry Kissinger gives us his perspective on over 40 years of his first hand experience with the Middle Kingdom.  Kissinger's narrative has a nice flow and he gives great insights on how and why the Chinese see the world the way they do.  As someone who has himself had personal dealings in China for over 20 years I would heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in China.






Under the Dome:  Probably the best Stephen King book since The Stand.  (Not that I've read every book since The Stand :)  A mysterious dome appears over a small town and nothing can get in...or out!  Bad people become worse and the good...well, they are tested.  I always find King having a real strong insight into the human condition and this novel examines how people react when normal social inhibitors are removed.





Stories I Only Tell My Friends: Rob Lowe's memoir was a lot of fun to read.  He has had an incredible film career and seems to have a Forrest Gumpesque ability to have been at some of the most interesting moments in recent history or having met with some of the most interesting people.  Read my complete review here:





A Prisoner of Birth: Jefferey Archer is a master storyteller.  In fact I think he went to jail at one point...for telling stories.  But this novel, which is a modern update of The Count of Monte Cristo, was a good fast paced read.  Not Archer's best book (for that you need to read Kane & Abel) but worth the time and effort.






Bossypants:  Tina Fey rocks!  This book was laugh out loud funny and was way to short.  I was literally on a long bus ride in Greece and, being a little bored,  used my Kindle to download Bossypants right from my seat.  I was embarrassing myself and causing heads to turn bursting out in laughter as I read it all somewhere between Athens and Corinth.

Game Change:  As a political junkie the idea of literally being a fly on the wall inside the campaigns of the 2008 presidential nominees was most appealing.  Obama, Hillary Clinton, McCain, Edwards, and Palin are all examined with some coming out looking better than others.  I could hardly put the book down and must admit to the attraction of feeling like you are included in the "inner circle" of presidential politics.  The movie version is coming out and its incredible how much Julianne Moore is able to "channel" Sarah Palin.


Anyhow, Have a Happy 2012 and find a good book to read!

Pet Peeves of Working in a Bookstore

For three years I got to work in what many consider a dream job;

...I worked in a bookstore.

Yes, I worked for Barnes & Noble Booksellers.  And yes, it was fun and got to work with some fantastic people, (and thanks to the magic that is Facebook, I able able to stay in contact with many of them.)

Anyhow, there are a 101 funny stories from my time there and they were often the direct result of the absurdity that is the American Consumer.  People are selfish and our retail led culture panders to that selfishness by, well, pretty much giving them whatever they want no matter how badly they act. 

Over the summer, Barnes & Noble's biggest competitor, Borders, filed for bankruptcy. With their stores closing, one employee apparently got to declare what the employees of any solvent retail organization would never dare;  He got to list a number of grievances that the employees had with their customers.  So, without further ado:

Here is a Borders Bookstore's employee' “Things We Never Told You: Ode to a bookstore death”(and you can believe Barnes & Noble employees have a similar list)

++ We hate when a book becomes popular simply because it was turned into a movie.


++ It confused us when we were asked where the non-fiction section is.


++ Nicholas Sparks is not a good writer … if you like him, fine, but facts are facts.


++ We greatly dislike the phrase “Quick question.” It’s never true. And everyone seems to have one.


++ Your summer reading list was our summer reading NIGHTMARE. Also, it’s called summer reading, not three days before school starts reading.

++ It’s true that we lean to the left and think Glenn Beck is an idiot.

++ We always knew when you were intently reading Better Homes and Gardens, it was really a hidden Playboy.

++ Most of the time when you returned books you read them already — and we were onto you.

++ Limit One Coupon did not mean one for every member of your family — this angered us. Also, we did know what coupons were out.

++ It never bothered us when you threatened to shop at Barnes & Noble. We’d rather you do if you’re putting up a stink.

++ “I was just here last week and saw this book there” meant nothing to us. The store changed once a week.

++ When you walked in and immediately said, “I’m looking for a book,” what you really meant to say is, “I would like you to find me a book.” You never looked. It’s fine, it’s our job — but let’s be correct about what’s really happening here.

++ If you don’t know the author, title, or genre, but you do know the color of the cover, we don’t either. How it was our fault that we couldn’t find it we’ll never understand.

To this I would like to add a few I remember from my time at the bookstore:

* Parents that let their kids pull out 20 books and then say, "Come on the attendant will put them away"

* People that would come with a STACK of books that obviously had not been bought there and try to return them

* People that would grab a book off the rack and then come up and say, "I'd like to return this book but I lost the receipt."

* Customers that would come into the coffee shop and have a whole other meal from a different restaurant.

* People that would buy, "Eat, Pray, Love"

* When people would get mad at Christmas because we had run out of "Hanukkah" wrapping paper.  (We only had 1 or 2 rolls every season)

I'm sure I could think of more but this "Ode" pretty much sums it up.

Book Review: Rob Lowe's "Stories I Only Tell My Friends"

I'm a sucker for a good showbiz memoir. Those of you that know me well also know that a move to Hollywood  and an attempt at movie stardom was the road ALMOST taken.

Yeah, in 1988 I was saving up for the big move to Los Angeles and often regale my friends in Detroit on what my Oscar acceptance speech was going to be one day or what quirky anecdote I was going to share with David Letterman when I was asked to be a guest on his show.

Alas, Jesus had other plans for yours truly and I took all that money I'd saved and headed out to Asia to be a missionary. I remember sitting in the parking lot of Burger King one day and saying to my friend Dave, "Should I move to L.A. and become a movie star or to Asia to be a missionary?"  Dave looked up from his Whopper, wiped his mouth and replied, "Steve, only you could be contemplating choices at such opposite ends of the spectrum."  In the end, the Holy Spirit got His way and overseas I went  

Of course I remember at one point laying on a bamboo floor trying to sleep in the hot Borneo heat thinking of all my L.A. money I'd shot to come there and saying to myself, "What in the hell have I just done?" 

Anyhow, back to Rob Lowe and his new memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends.  In it Lowe has delivered an insightful, intelligent, and very grounded look back at a career that has had both highs (The West Wing) and lows (dancing with Snow White at the Academy awards.) 

Because of his almost preternatural good looks Lowe can sometimes be erroneously dismissed as a "pretty boy".  This is unfortunate because what Stories instead reveals is a man with a sharp mind and a keen insight into the human condition.  For instance, when relating some of the tragedy to befall a number of friends and aquaintances living in the hedonistic counter culture of mid-1970's Malibu he states:

"To be counter to the culture, you are by definition willully and actively ignoring the culture, i.e. reality.  And when you ignore reality for too long you begin to feel imune to, or above, the gravitational pull that binds everyone else.  You are courting disaster"

Stories is filled with these observations and the former Brat Packer seems to both relish his successful situation as well as critiquing the absurdity of the system that got him there in the first place.

Lowe also has the uncanny "Forrest Gump" like quality of somehow connecting with every major person or event of the last 30 years.  For example as a 14 year old "nobody" his step father's sister is doing some technical work on a "Cheesy western" Sci-fi type movie.  She says it's stupid but if he wants to come down and watch some filming he can.  He goes to the warehouse where they are shooting and he gradually reveals that this "cheesy-western" Sci-fi movie is in fact Star Wars.  Whether he is meeting Liza Minelli, being chased on Halloween night by a baseball bat wielding Martin Sheen, or hanging out in history class with this funny kid sitting next to him named Robert Downey Jr., you are left thinking, "This guy has a lot of good stories to tell."

Lowe also seems to be aware of his audience.  This is no trashy Hollywood movie star "tell all".  He doesn't attempt to hide some of his bad choices but when addressed, are done tastefully in a manner that suggests that he has written this not just as a movie star, but as a husband and father. 

Anyhow, I literally can't put the book down and recommend it highly to readers of Beyond the Pale.  For someone who is fascinated with movies, story, and the creative process, I find myself enthralled with Lowe's tales.  He's a guy whose been around a long time, has seen a lot, and finally has sat down and wrote about it.  Ok, full disclosure. When I first saw St. Elmo's Fire in 1985, I came this close to getting an earring like his character Billy had in the film. Yep, it was the 80's and we did weird things.

In the end I find myself wishing I knew this guy personally just so I could hear some of these stories first hand over a nice meal and a cold beer.  Guess I'll just have to settle for the book...

Goodbye to my friend Jackie

Yesterday a friend of mine passed away.  Typically in this blog I've noted the passing of famous celebrities... but not today.  Jackie Bruce may have not been a celebrity, but to me and my family, she'll always be a star.

I met Jackie in October 2005 when I got a call from her asking if I would come in for an interview for Barnes & Noble.  They were looking for seasonal help and although I wasn't looking for a seasonal job, the holiday's were coming up, and I needed  money.

We sat in her office chatting and I knew almost instantly...I liked Jackie Bruce.  She was warm, funny and engaging and I began to see myself working at Barnes & Noble....and then she told me how much I would start at.  "We typically start our seasonal help out at $6.75 and hour." she muttered.

I froze!...I don't get out of bed for $6.75 an hour.  $6.75 an hour would be cool in say...1982, but in 2005 with a family?  I nearly (politely)  ended the interview there not to waste any of our time but the fact is I enjoyed talking with Jackie so much...I couldn't do it.  The interview ended with the usual "We'll call you" but in my mind, I was thinking "Its too bad I won't be working here."

Then 2 days later Jackie called.   I almost didn't want to answer as I didn't want to tell her "no".  But she said, "Steve, I'm not calling to offer you a job for the position you interviewed for. "

"Huh" I thought.

She went on, "Our Community Relations Manager just resigned and after our talk the other day I thought you would be great for the job."

And that's how I started working for Jackie Bruce. Three weeks later I was heading down to Jackie's home where she was hosting a Christmas party for the managerial team when my phone rang. It was another company I had interviewed with a couple months prior. They were offering me a position and a pay package that was much more than I would be making at Barnes & Noble. I got that sinking feeling inside thinking that I had just come on to this team...leaving them suddenly would be a real kick in the gut. I told them I would call them with a response the next day.

At the party I got to know Jackie's husband Rick and my son Gabriel got to be friends with their son Jack who had his bedroom decked out like Batman's lair. (Gabriel was sold) A couple co-worker's, Ben & Matt, lent me the DVDs of the TV series Firefly with the enthusiasm only we geeks could understand. As I watched the interplay of the evening I realized Jackie was the Queen and her management team didn't just work for her...they loved her and she loved them. This wasn't an obligatory work function, these folk wanted to be together and Jackie was the glue. Its then I realized I would enjoy living in a world orbiting Jackie Bruce. I called that other company the next day and declined their offer. (Incidentally, that company went out of business in 2008 during the recession...God does order our steps).

Over the next two years I got to spend a lot of time with Jackie. What I loved about her is that she could be crazy fun with a slightly perverse sense of humor and yet at the same time, be so grounded. She was one of the most secure, grounded people I have ever met. She was madly in love with her husband Rick and completely devoted to her children. At work, she was a sea of calm. I never saw her flustered or lash out at anyone. When the bigwigs from corporate would come by, she was unfazed. That's probably why they decided to promote her to a bigwig at corporate and move her to New York!

And she was kind and thoughtful.  When I developed cancer in 2007 she encouraged me at every step of the journey.  Returning  from the doctor with the prognosis that everything was going to be good she got teary eyed she was so happy.  Soon after my surgery she was visiting Tammy and I in my hospital room.  There I was, emaciated with tubes coming out my neck. She held my hand and let me know I was in everyone's thoughts and prayers.  That was Jackie Bruce!

People come in and out of your life and as much as you'd like to stay in touch, it's not always possible. With Jackie, I knew we would always keep in touch. Tammy and I planned on visiting her and Rick in New York. When I learned yesterday of her passing I looked up the last messaging we had on Facebook which is still archived. It read:


Jacqueline Bruce to Steve Hackman
You two look great. We would love to come to China for a visit. How long do you think you will be living over there?


Steve Hackman to Jacqueline Bruce
Hey Jackie!!! I'm not kidding when I say I was just thinking of you and were hoping you would get on Facebook so we could stay in touch. China has been GREAT!! Check out www.tamsteve.blogspot.com Hope New York is treating you well. Say hi to Rick


I know one day I'll see Jackie again in a better place. While at Barnes & Noble I became a sort of default "chaplain" at the store and Jackie I would often talk of God and her Christian faith. She once confessed to me that after she hired me she told the management team at their next meeting, "He is a bit religious..." :)

I'll miss Jackie Bruce. I have spent the last 24 hours remembering 101 good times I had with her and my old friends at Barnes & Noble. The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows midnight launch party, freezing to death in the nosebleed seats at a Rockies game, Christmas parties, summer parties, drinks at the Purple Martini...living in Jackie's world was FUN!

I have never stopped praying for the Bruce's over this last year and now I pray for Rick and the children. I pray God's grace for them at this tragic time.

I wish I could be with some of the gang from Barnes & Noble right now so we could swap stories and laugh because that's what Jackie would have wanted. Baring that, I stopped off after work at an Italian restaurant on the beach near my home. I ordered a glass of red wine, (the drink of choice for Jackie Bruce), stared out at the sea, and thought of my old friend.

Good bye Jackie, you'll be missed.

Lovin' on my Kindle!

I have a confession to make!  I've been seeing a mistress.  The really embarrassing thing is that I was introduced to her by my wife Tammy.  And now my life will never be the same...

Yes, Tammy bought me an Amazon Kindle for my birthday!

I was one of those people who swore I would never give up books for an e-book reader.  Reading books off a computer screen?...Painful!  (Albeit though, far less painful than watching "reality" TV shows)

But then a good friend of mine (thank you Francis) showed my wife and I his Kindle and Tammy got it into her head that this is something I would like.  And wouldn't you know, my birthday surprise was a 3G Amazon Kindle that arrived just in time to take with me on vacation to Italy.

First of all let me say, the days of lugging 3-4 different books on vacation are over.  My slim little 8.5 ounce "mistress" weighs less than your average paperback and can hold up to 3500 books.  In addition, the 3G wireless is free for the lifetime of the product which means if I'm stuck in an area with no wi-fi, I can nearly always access the web through my Kindle.  Granted the browser is a little clumsy but it works in a pinch.

Also, you know when you are taking off and landing on an airplane and they ask you to "close all electronic and portable devices until the pilot says its ok to use them" (like listening to U2 on my 4 gig iPod Nano is somehow going to flummix the state of the art navigational system onboard a Boeing 747) .  Well most flight attendants don't quite know what I'm doing and continue to let me read my Kindle as they remind the guy next to me to close his laptop.

I just got my first magazine subscription on the Kindle as well and although critics mention the loss of perusing many articles at once, I find the lack of peripheral distraction causes me to read the articles more thoroughly.  Reading The New Yorker on my Amazon Kindle while drinking an espresso at Starbuck's; yes, I've truly become pathetic! :)

Couple other quick points: 

• the ease of shopping: When we were in Tuscany we started discussing the book "Under a Tuscan Sun." around the kitchen table.   Rather than think that I have to pick that up when I'm next in a bookstore, I went online with my Kindle, found the book in the "Kindle Store" and without leaving the kitchen table, I had a copy in about 45 seconds.

• I'm just reading more!  I've always been a big reader but now that I've got my lightweight Kindle with me whether I'm on the subway, waiting for a ferry, or riding a bus, you will usually catch me reading.

• The "e-ink" that the Kindle screen uses is so crisp and "booklike" when I get to the end of a page I instictivly  reach up to turn the page before realizing I just need to press the button.

• Many of the classics written before 1950 are available for free and I've already downloaded a number of them onto my virtual bookshelf.  Anything from Shakespeare, to the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, or the writing of Charles Finny; they're all there for the taking.

People have asked me why I didn't just get an iPad which has been especially the "must get" device here in Hong Kong.  Admittedly, the iPad looks pretty cool, but I'm not exactly sure what I would use it for and everyone I ask here that has one seems unsure as well.   When asked they say things like, "its cool, and you can play games."  Not a convincing argument!

For me though, I like to read and I'm lovin' on my Kindle.

You have to watch "Centennial"!

Ok, but first you should read Centennial.

In 1999 I decided to tackle James Michener's celebrated novel about rugged Colorado...if for no other reason than I was getting ready to move there in just a few months. So, while on vacation in Malaysia I spent about 4 days where I scarcely left the hotel pool.

My routine would be a dip in the water, then walk back to my deck chair, light up a cigar (ah, the glory days of when I was still able to smoke them :) and lounge in paradise while being mesmerized by one of the best pieces of storytelling I had ever read.

When I finished reading the book my mom (who was also a big fan) bought me the complete NBC mini-series done back in 1978. At over 20 hours in length, the Centennial miniseries has been the only attempt to capture one of Mitchner's novels in its entirety on film. As a family, we probably watch it every 2-3 years but recently the whole series has been put out on DVD. So, I decided it was time to retire the videos...

And what's great about the series:

The story: Its the story of America...warts and all. It spans almost 200 years starting with the late 1700's and ending in the 1970's. You get to follow beloved characters as youngsters, watch them marry, raise families, grow old and finally die. You see it all; the settlement of the American West, the tragic displacement of the American Indian, the range wars, the cattle drives, famines, storms, immigration...the story of our country. Its no surprise that the series is sometimes shown in high school American history classes.

The Characters James Michener writes some good novels, and I've read many of them, but in Centennial he outdoes even himself. From the French Trapper Pasquinel to the Scotsman Alexander McKeag, the Mennonite Levi Zendt to the potato farmer Hans Brumbaugh I get caught up in the lives of these characters like few other stories. It brings one back to a primal time when two men's bonds of trust were cemented because they approached each other "without fear."

The "half-breed", Jaq Pasquinel is perhaps one of the most interesting characters portrayed. Horribly brutal one moment, merciful the next...he is caught between two cultures and not fully accepted by either. One moment I "hate" him, the next, I pity him. The complexity of the character defies sterotypes.


(A good scene from the movie with an aging Pasquinel (Robert Conrad) and his now adult son, Jaq)

The Actors For a guy like me whose formative years were honed on 70's and 80's television, the actors who bring Centennial to life are a "whose who" of the times. Richard Chamberlain as McKeag, Robert Conrad as Pasqunel. There is Lynn Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Gregory Harrison, and Robert Vaughn. A baby faced Mark Harmon stands out when he defies orders to gun down innocent Indians, invoking a court martial in the process. Watching Dennis Weaver play the tough but fair cattle man R.J. Poteet, I'm struck by the thought of what the world could be if men like him actually existed.

But what shines most is Michener's story of the human condition. Innocent people sometimes die, the criminal sometimes goes unpunished, hard work is not always rewarded but through it all, good does shine through.

I encourage you to get a copy of Centennial which you can do here and spend a few evenings watching a great story about America.

Eat, Pray,...Marry?

When I worked at Barnes & Noble I had a terrible habit; I would judge a person simply on their reading choices. People who bought biographies or histories of people or times that I thought interesting were deemed worthy of further conversation. Those that chose to to peruse the New Age or Self Improvement areas could be prayed for. Someone who inquired about computer tomes such as C++ could be strategically ignored. Romance readers were to be pitied and Sports readers could be humored.

At the bottom of the list though were the ladies who walked in and asked for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert's book was an anecdotal biography of the new life she found after divorce traveling the world and her experiences with food (Eat), spirituality (Pray), and eventually romance with a Brazilian man she meets in Indonesia (Love). Not a day went by that some lady didn't come in asking for that book and I got to admit, I got a little cynical. Probably because I have traveled the world experiencing food, spirituality, and ultimately my lover but she's making millions on her story and I'm...well...maybe I need to write a book instead of this stupid blog :)

Anyhow, you can imagine how I felt when I saw she was releasing a new book on marriage called Committed that details her relationship with her lover from Eat, Pray, Love All I could think was, "Thank God I'm not at the book store anymore" :)

But when I read a CNN article interview with Gilbert I was dumbfounded.

I totally agreed with her take on marriage...at least most of it!

Gilbert did a lot of research into the history of marriage and how it is implemented in various cultures. She mentions that when cultures move from more conservative values based on commitment to more liberal notions of marriages based on love then divorce rates increase. I must admit, whenever someone has said to me that the reason they divorced was the love was gone, I'm always like, "Huh?". What has that got to do with it.

Says Gilbert:

If you look at the history of marriage, anytime you see a conservative culture of arranged marriage being replaced by a more liberal culture of romantic marriage ... you will see divorce rates start to rise immediately.

It turns out that love is a very fragile notion upon which to base a very important and complicated institution. I think most people throughout history would look at the way we choose our marriages today and just think, my God, these people took huge risks. They risk their future, financial stability, property and their heirs on something as fragile and delicate as romantic affection.

It's not that that necessarily means that I advocate a return to arranged marriage, it just helps put in perspective why contemporary western marital arrangements can become so chaotic.

When love dies, and that's the only thing that holds you together, there is nothing to keep the marriage intact.

I couldn't have said it better myself.