Category: Recollection

Book Recollection: The Art of Bird Photography

Bird Photography by Arthur Morris
Today I bring you the first recollection of the young year.  Truth be told, I have been trying to get through this featured book for at least two years.  It has been all across North America as it is the book I would grab as my reading material on our cross country birding trips.  For some reason I kept getting sidetracked and would only get a few pages further regardless of how many days we were gone.  Luck would have it, I was able to FINALLY get through it while our recent trip to Texas – had a lot of driving time which gives plenty of opportunities to turn the pages … when Linda is driving, of course.  Do not make the assumption that the struggle to get through this book had anything to do with the quality – it is a worthwhile read, not overly technical beyond some detailed sections of exposure rules of thumb.  Even if you do not like reading, this book has some stunning photographs in it – absolutely stunning!  I find the better I get at photography, the more appreciative I get of the works from others.  Arthur Morris is a top notch photographer – add in the fact those pictures were done in film format is even more amazing.  I laughed to myself as he routinely mentions the thousands of film pictures he would take on a shoot – damn expensive in those days and huge separation along with glass costs between the professionals and amateurs like myself.

As a whole it did end up being a pretty quick read once I could dedicate myself to the task.  He reaffirmed a number of my hardened principles and gave me some things to think about and likely try.  At the end there is mention of a volume two available on CD that had the digital elements added to it – will probably pick that up some time too.  As a summary, I wouldn’t hesitate to take a gander at this book (may check out the CD instead for the digital aspects).  The shots are worth the time alone and will likely give you few more angles/options/poses to look for when you are out in the field.

In case you are wonder, this book appears to have been published back in 1998 with a large paperback version (the version I have) that came out in 2003.  Not sure if I ordered it special or got lucky when I ordered it, but my copy is officially signed by Arthur – nice little touch.  Hit the jump to see my takeaways.

Continue reading Book Recollection: The Art of Bird Photography

Book Recollection: Liberty and Tyranny

Mark Levin: Liberty and Tyranny

It was agility day in the household which means I had to pack my gear and head off to some small building somewhere in rural America to watch my dog navigate obstacles that rival any Spartan race .. well, a least for a dog that stands 9.5 inches tall and weighs a whopping 4.5 pounds. Linda was the official photographer for the event which is why I had to tag along even though there is a mountain of work to do at home (imagine Linda rolling her eyes about now). The good news is I get some time to work on the heavy lifting posts. Whenever it is time for a book recollection, a deep cleansing breath has to be made before diving into a pile of work. Of all the posts, the book reviews are probably the hardest in that they require documenting, verifying and reflecting on all the takeaways from the read. This was especially daunting with today’s featured read, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark Levin. Just to put it into perspective, this was only a 245 page paperback but had over 38 pages of cited reference. If you do not now Mark, he is a true Constitutional Conservative and knows his stuff. I would love to see him live debate someone of a differing political leaning. That would be a mauling like you have never seen one. Mark has been a constant staple on my radio for a number of years now and has had a priority slot during the whole election cycle. We differ on a few things but for the most part we are aligned on our political positions. Depending on where you are at on the spectrum, this is a highly recommended read. It will give good arguments for the conservative left, sway fodder for the independents and well, just might make a liberal’s world explode into tiny pieces. This book was written back in 2009 and has some eerie projects for the future under Obama. Whenever someone is standing in bewilderment on what just happened with the Trump election facts from this book come rolling up. It is pretty clear what the left agenda is and how it is permeating everywhere in our lives. The best way to comprehend it is to arm yourself with knowledge. Knowledge you will not get in the bias and deceitful mainstream media of today or from the established talking heads in our government.
As far as the book goes, it is not a light read. It took me a long time to get through this because every page caused me to spend extra time rereading for validation, bumping up against my own beliefs and then pondering the implications. Being that it is a product of 2009, there are a few areas that did not come to fruition, but 95% of it is dead on and still burning issues to this day. I am not sure what the future holds with Trump as of yet (will at least let him get in office before making any conclusions), but it sounds like draining the Washington Swamp is going to be more like a damn opening. Give it a read – if nothing else when we meet in the future we can pass over all these fact/areas and focus on new areas should we end up debating whether we’ve come to the end of the US yet. Meanwhile think I’ll go corner the market on safety pins and pacifiers – think there’s money to be made there with the potential number of people that are going to need them as of late (ha).

Hit the jump to see all the takeaways (and these were only the items I bothered to note).

Continue reading Book Recollection: Liberty and Tyranny

13.1 Redemption Miles

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  Coming to you from the first snow of the season which is occurring as I type.  When I checked last night they mentioned maybe an inch or two with no road accumulation .. well, that was yet another wrong forecast from our weather talking heads.  It started around 3am and hasn’t stopped since now into the middle of the afternoon.  Guessing we are currently somewhere in the 5-6 inch mark – when it will stop, nobody knows.  My main interest in the weather was we planned a Springdale run this morning and wanted to make sure my apparel matched the conditions.  Ended up having to switch a few layers after seeing the snow piling up.  I will tell you, there is few things more enjoyable than a nice 7 mile run in the snow especially when you can pass those miles in the company of good friends.

In keeping with that theme, figured it would be a good time to give you a break from the birds and wait for it … bring you a post on the last race of the season.
Peoria Half Marathon Oct 16, 2016

Yep, another year in the running book closed out with the Peoria Half Marathon completed back on October 16th.  I am not a big fan of this race, but it is conveniently close and most of all, I needed some race redemption.  If you remember from my previous post, the race before this wasn’t a stellar outing (link here).  This race was the third half marathon in less than 1.5 months and was a chance for me to prove to Linda that the previous race was just an anomaly.
Peoria Half Marathon Oct 16, 2016

Hit the jump to see how the race turned out!

Continue reading 13.1 Redemption Miles

Book Recollection: Flyover Nation

Flyhover Nation - Dana Loesch

First off, I’d like to congratulate my mother for kicking the crap out of the big “C” – we received excellent news today in stark contrast to what we were expecting to hear based on a pre-appointment call she got indicating bad things were occurring.  Apparently someone got their signals crossed on the communication.  Regardless, we are all extremely happy for her – way to fight it out!

Now on to today’s post featuring a new book recollection.  This particular book is called Flyover Nation and it was written by Dana Loesch.  A friend of mine lent me this offering (actually the same one who let me read his American Gun (link here).  Much like the Kyle book, this was a quick read – think it took me two days while traveling in the car to various places.  I had high hopes for this book especially since it was mentioned on a number of conservative outlets I frequent.  Unfortunately, it fell short of those lofty expectations by quite a big margin.  The book really doesn’t flow very well at all.  One minute she is discussing the merits of the Midwest and the next thing I know she is backhanding a fitness company because they do not have her favorite work out device.  The concept for the book is intriguing, although there may be some bias since I often catch myself looking up at the large jets passing over god’s country to their steel havens on the coast.  We do have a different mentality in the Midwest and contrary to every pseudo reporter at the biased liberal media machines – it isn’t the same values held in New York.  Cruz was right, but his decision to bring it out then was a foolish mistake.  We like our guns, we like nature and most of all we believe in SMALL government.  Dana attempts to bring these key differences to light, but often resorts to over-simplification, generalization and quite frankly overused stereotypes – yes, Dana, there are many who put more than one r in our washers, but generally keep that in check when talking to anyone outside our circles.  Based on the takeaway section below, there was quite a few tidbits that were worth noting from the book so it wasn’t wasted time.  The part that bothers me the most is she admits that she was an outspoken Liberal in her early years but then had a child and suddenly she found the conservative light and became a champion for their values.  So basically, when the left values no longer favored her, she jumped ship.  Congratulations for coming to your senses, but you have a lot of ground to make up before you come to the level of people born into strong valued communities, raised by high integrity parents and openly embraced all of her newfound conservative ideals at a tender age.  Add in all the axes she is still harboring to the other scattered topics and it just seems to lose a lot of its potential luster.    In summary, if you live in or at least from flyover country I’d probably put this deeper in your stack of reads.  If, instead, you think the Midwest is just a bunch of irritating hours before you get to the posh coastlines – then grab it for your next plane right – you might get a better understanding of who really makes this country the best in the world.

Hit the jump to read some of the key elements of the read.

Continue reading Book Recollection: Flyover Nation

Feeling the Steam

Welcome back everyone!  Due to the busy schedule last month, I didn’t get around to posting my annual run in the Summer heat!  June means the mercury is rising here in the Midwest.  That is exactly when the masochists that put on the Peoria Steamboat Classic race get to test the mettle of the area runners.  Once again, I was signed up for the Toughest 15K in Illinois.
Steamboat Classic 15K 2016

I was running it with Ryan and we had a secret advantage – this was our home course.  Remember all that training we did for the Marathon.. all those weekends  taking on the hills of Springdale and Glen Oak?  Well, the parts that gives this race the “Toughest” classification are those exact same hills.  This gave us a boost of confidence at the start of the race – well, as you know, I am pretty loose at the start of races – Hi Linda! (you can see Ryan just a bit behind me)

Steamboat Classic 15K 2016

Note, the lady in front has the 15K bib on (there is a 4 mile race that starts with us) – and so does the lady behind but she already looks terrified (not good seeing as there was 9.29 miles to go).

Hit the jump to read more about how the race went!

Continue reading Feeling the Steam

Book Recollection: American Gun

Chris Kyle: American Gun

Welcome to July everyone and while we are at it, Happy Birthday to our great country (preserving another year from the onslaught of socialists trying to destroy it). Just got back from spending some time down in Southern Illinois at Rend Lake. This is just south of Mt. Vernon and for you Chicagolites it is basically in South America. It ended up raining buckets but I managed to pull off a +1 which we will definitely get to this month. However, we are here today to discuss the latest cross off the reading list. Truthfully, this book really wasn’t on the list per-se, a friend of mine from work lent me this book thinking I might like it – and like it I did! This book was mostly written by Chris Kyle of American Sniper fame (link here).  Unfortunately he and his friend were gunned down by a sickness they were trying to cure.  Thanks to his wife and friends they were able to put the finishing touches on the book and publish it for all of us to enjoy.  It is a bit macabre to be reading the thoughts of a recently deceased individual, but if you can get past that you will definitely find this an interesting read if you are into the history of rifles and pistols – gun control advocates can pass right by this work and go straight for the government aisle and learn what unalienable rights are.

The premise of this book is Kyle took a look back in history and identified 10 firearms that had a significant impact on the shaping of the United States (I can imagine the deafening Liberal gasp).  Those 10 weapons of protection and war are: Kentucky Rifle, Spencer Repeater, Colt 45, Winchester 1873, 1903 Springfield, M1911, Thompson Machine Gun, M1 Garand, .38 Special and the M16.  All of these were very recognizable by me and I’ve even had the pleasure of firing the Colt, the 1911, the M1 Grand, .38 Specials and the M16 based AR15.  My favorite was the  Garand by far – fire it, and you will never ever forget it.  The power that rifle brought to the battlefield was incredible.  This is one of those books that falls in the category of a quick read. Chris’ style is very conversational and clear.  The entire book was read cover to cover on our trip back from Denver back in May (when I wasn’t driving ha).  Don’t let how quick the read was give the wrong impression it wasn’t entertaining.  On the contrary, I loved this book.  It isn’t often I get to learn so much history in such a short time.  It became pretty apparent that my early education was significantly lacking when it comes to American history.  Woefully insufficient to the point it was news to me that Truman was even involved in an assassination attempt – successfully defended by individuals who willingly put themselves in harm’s way including Coffelt who gave the ultimate price.  Another surprise was that the Americans lost 200 at the battle of Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights charges – always thought this was a complete slaughter rained down from the superior positions of the Spanish.  Don’t get me wrong, 200 is an absolute tragedy, but given the situation I thought the numbers were in the thousands (there were 1200 wounded).  There are way to many other gaps in my education that were filled to go into in this summary, so jumping to the recommendation –  Get this book!

Check out the jump to see my many takeaways.

Continue reading Book Recollection: American Gun

To the Depths of Hell and Back

Welcome to June everyone!  I thought I’d dedicate this month to some epic posts.  Epic in this context being personal accomplishments along with prize finds out in the field.  How about we start with a physical feat.  Almost 14 years ago to the day I hung up my martial arts hobby and replaced it with running.  Well, to be honest, it was replaced with a shuffle to end of my driveway.  The goal at that time was to finish a race in the Quad Cities called The Bix 7 (link here).  At that time 7 miles seemed like an unattainable dream.   Then came the 10K (technically a step back), the 15K (link here) and the mighty Half (link here).  All checks in my Life List!  6 Years ago, I embarked on a new running Life List item.  A Journey that brought its shares of ups and a multitude of downs.

That Life List Entry was to earn one of these!

Illinois Full I-Challenge Marathon April 30, 2016

That’s right, the badge of honor for any runner.  There are certainly longer running events, but the 26.2 is the gold standard for those of us that pound the pavement.  When you haven’t earned that right of passage, every 26.2 sticker/magnet you see on cars you pass on the road or spot in a parking lot is an absolute taunt.  For 6 years, those stickers haunted me and drove me to pick myself off the ground and start again after every setback.  My Life List items are embedded in my DNA – they are enshrined with dedication and motivate me every single day until they are accomplished.  365 days a year for 6 years it sat in the back of my conscious trying its best to defeat me… and that it did year after year:

Year 1: was spent trying to get beyond the dreaded Half distance

Year 2: resulted in a torn hamstring where it connects to the knee – another summer of rehab

Year 3: was a complete retooling of my running mechanics (link here) and strength training

Year 4: Heat Stroke about ended it all (link here) – starting from scratch again on the heat conditioning

Year 5 my targeted race was canceled by the sponsors after setting a record for miles in a year (link here) -note, I ended with well over 1350 for the year

Year 6 .. well that put me at the starting line of the Illinois Marathon.

 

Illinois Full I-Challenge Marathon April 30, 2016

Complete with a race day weather of non-stop rain, 10-23 mph winds and a pretty constant temp around 51.  Now the temperature couldn’t be more perfect, especially for someone who has to watch their heat exposure post the heat stroke incident.  The rain and wind .. not so perfect, in fact, downright SUCKAGE.  Linda took the shot above and is due a huge credit for braving the miserable weather to capture my big day.  At this point in the race, the main thing swirling in my head was “did I really train enough to make it through this”.  The more I thought about it, the more I began to doubt myself.

Hit the jump to see how this day turned out!

Continue reading To the Depths of Hell and Back

Book Recollection: It’s My Fault

Extreme Ownership

To make it an incredible three months in row (cheers, streamers, jubilation, cars overturning, cow tipping…), I’m going into bonus time to bring you another book recollection.  The title of this book is: IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT.  Now, to be honest, who would want to read a book with that title?  Truth is, that is not the name of the book – it is really named Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win.  It is authored by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin.  Two SEAL leaders that served in Task Unit Bruiser in the Iraqi war.  You may recognize that unit if you read or watched the American Sniper show.  Chris Kyle served in that unit during the same time.  Many of the accounts given in the book about the battle for Ramadi will actually ring true with the events that happened in Chris’s work – unfortunately, down to the heroes that lost their lives serving our country only to have their accomplishments diminished by politicians living in the safety earned by our military.  The two authors have since gone on to form a business consulting firm (Echelon Front LLC) that translates the lessons learned from the battlefield to everyday business scenarios.  The book itself is structured with an account from an Iraq mission or SEAL training followed by a translation into business principles and then an account of how they applied those concepts in a real world company.

I thought the first parts (the military account) was quite interesting and felt it gave a lot of missing detail from the American Sniper accounts (link here).   On the business side it could have been shortened to just a few pages because the message was always the same (say it with me) It is your fault.  If you are questioning your leaders then it is your fault because you didn’t dig deeper or ask enough questions to understand the mission appropriately.  If your leadership objectives failed, then it is (say it with me) your fault because you didn’t plan or communicate effectively for your subordinates.  I can accept this to a point but it seems like a convenient out for everyone else.  I like the concepts of decentralized leadership, critical simplicity and prioritize to focus.  I am also highly supportive of the concept that once a mission (or business objective) is agreed upon it is imperative that the team get behind it and execute.  Continually rehashing the same arguments, passive aggressive behavior and outright sabotage has felled many a good initiatives.

In summary, I thought the  military accounts were very good, giving insights into just how the SEALs go about taking over an entrenched enemy territory – translated, thank god there are heroes willing to give the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe with a true love for our country – if only I could say the same about our current political leaders.  I’ll let you be the judge on how well the military principles really  apply to the business world.  I think it would have been more effective to just have a mirrored page at the end of each chapter.

Hit the jump to see my takeaways:

Continue reading Book Recollection: It’s My Fault

Book Recollection: BOC Got it Wrong

The Reaper

Two months into the New Year and this is the second book recollection.  What’s next, 50 degrees out on the last day of January!?!  Oh wait, it was 50 degrees out yesterday here in the Midwest.  Strange times people, strange times.   Last month I brought you a recollection of 13 Hours which recounted the attack on the military/CIA in Benghazi.  Today’s featured book also has a military theme to it.  It is the autobiography of one of the 3rd Ranger Battalion’s deadliest snipers in Afghanistan during his 3-4 month stint from May to August 2009.  The book is by Ranger Nicholas Irving along with Gary Brozer and recounts his time when he set a record for most sniper kills in a single deployment.  Apparently, Chris Kyle has the overall, but Irving has the time element.  His tally, 33 confirmed kills.  During the course of this effort, he became known as “The Reaper” by his fellow solders for his effectiveness and contribution to keeping those in harm’s way as safe as possible.

From a book perspective, it is a fairly fast read.  I liked the conversational approach to the autobiography as it is written in a manner that is easy to understand even if you have not spent time in the military.  I thought the authors did an excellent job of conveying the stress that comes with the job and just enough technical details that you feel like you are coming away a little more educated on the life of a sniper.  Having previously read Kyle’s book (link here), one thing stood out in stark contrast.  As mentioned in that review, I got a strong feeling that Chris was pretty arrogant.  Don’t get me wrong, I agree that would clearly be a byproduct of that career and possibly a requirement to accomplish what he did, but that really stuck out in that book.  Contrasting that with this book, Nicholas really put his ego on check even recounting numerous times when he had made a mistake in judgement (luckily those didn’t get him killed allowing him to learn from them instead).  He also featured his sniper mate Mike Pemberton, the interaction between them during a mission and even some of Mike’s heroic moments – him falling in an 80ft hole that extended into another 40ft of water still haunts me since it is one of my biggest fears of being confined in the dark with little hope for escape.  I refer to him as mate rather than spotter since Pemberton was as much of as shooter as he was a spotter – first time I have been exposed to that type of sniper team relationship.  In summary, I thought the book was a good read.  It was pretty fast to get through – think it took me only 5 or 6 sessions to make it through – again, the conversational feel contributes to the easy flow through the book. Hats off to Ranger Nicholas Irving for serving his country with honor!  May your government never forget your contributions or let you down if you ever encounter times of need.

Sorry, Blue Oyster Cult – you got it wrong – you need to “Fear the Reaper”.

Hit the jump to see my takeaways from the read!

Continue reading Book Recollection: BOC Got it Wrong

She Lied, People Died

13 Hours

I’ve decided it is time to give you a break from the Yellowstone pictures. The new year brought a renewed interest in getting through my ever growing reading backlog. First book out of the gates comes at a perfect time as are country is in of the midst of assessing the integrity of politicians competing for the White House. Obviously integrity wasn’t a criteria in the previous two elections, but one can only hope people will do the diligence expected out of participants in one of the greatest rights (and duties) we have living in a democracy. Against the liberal media’s best attempts, the story of Benghazi made it to print and even a recently released movie. 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff is the account from the heroes that took matters into their own hands to defend their countrymen from an attack at our US Outpost in Benghazi, Libya. Specifically it is the account of Mark “Oz” Geist, Kris “Tanto” Paronto, John “Tig” Tigen, Tyron “Rone” Woods, Jack Silva. Dave “DB” Benton, Glen “Bob” Doherty, David Ubben and Scott Wickland who came to the aid of the outpost while it was being attacked and then eventually the attack on the CIA Annex. Rone, Doherty and IT expert Sean Smith gave the ultimate sacrifice that night while politicians schemed against and lied to the American people. It was bad enough with what little came out in the news at the time, but downright disgusting after reading this account. Hillary so famously quipped “What difference does it make” when questioned on Capitol Hill. I only wish they would have allowed the family of those three killed to answer… to answer why it matters that a politician decided it was more important to lie to the American people as to the cause of the attack … of course, the media failed to latch on to that little tidbit on the basis she told her daughter the real story that night.

From a book perspective, I thought as a whole it did not live up to the other military books I’ve read in the past. When you read Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell or any of the Dick Couch books on the special forces, you get the feeling you are there with the subjects of the book, feeling what they feel, assessing the same inputs and wondering what you would have done in a similar situation. The first part of the book is filled with odd tangential statements that felt more like filler than message carriers. This feeling carried for about 2/3rds of the way through the book at which point our heroes made their way back to the Annex. There was actually very little about Ambassador Stevens due to them losing contact with him in the burning safe haven. Even the tragic death of Sean that night was handled in a subdued manner – again.. the narrative just didn’t bring me into the situation well. This changed when the story made its way to the Annex conflict where Rone and Doherty lost their lives and Oz was badly injured. I was not aware of the details of the Annex, so Mitchell brought me up to speed on that – even on the whole “stand-down” concept which everyone stateside has been trying to deny. Call it what you want.. they were ready to help, they were in the car to head into harm’s way and they were told to wait to the breaking point when they opted to take decision making into their own hands. The other scary part of the recount was the 17 February Brigade – from what I can tell a local militia that was contracted to provide security for the Compound. I do not recall whose brilliant idea that was, but it was clear the heroes did not trust them, nor could they readily tell them apart from the terrorists that were attacking them – a dangerous combination for sure!

Most of the pictures didn’t really add much to the book, with the exception of one picture of Stevens’ body being hauled out of the burning build – truly haunting. All said, see the movie or read the book. You owe it to yourself and to the CIA operatives, security protection agents and others whose lives were forever changed that night – some giving the ultimate sacrifice and others suffering physical and emotional debt.

Hit the jump to see what I took away from the read!

Continue reading She Lied, People Died