My wife downloaded the audiobook version of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer from Borders.com for free.  They were doing some kind of promotion.  The book consists of six CD-length sections each over one hour long.  She saved it onto our Sansa Clip MP3 player so I could listen to it.

Into the Wild tells the true story of ill-fated wanderer Chris McCandless (A.K.A. Alexander Supertramp), a story made famous by this book, the article in Outside magazine also written by Krakauer that preceded it, and the film version of the story directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch that came out last year.  I had actually read the print version of the book about 10 years ago.  I remember finding the story somewhat depressing.  Last year I saw the movie version originally because it featured Alaska but I actually enjoyed it very much.  My wife’s downloading of the audiobook gave me a chance to give the book another try.  Maybe I’d like it better since I enjoyed the movie.  I felt it might also help put the events in the movie in better context with the true story.

While the movie switches between two parallel storylines (McCandless’s/ Supertramp’s time in Alaska and his wanderings through the contiguous U.S.) the book follows a much more haphazard path.  It begins with what’s actually the end of the story, goes back to the beginning, goes through much of the wanderings south of Alaska, switches to his background and family and eventually works its way back to the end.  After reading it, I felt I got the whole story and some good background info.  The order might coincide with how the story grew as Krakauer did his research, conducted interviews, and travelled to the places mentioned.  However, the book doesn’t quite give a sense of the order in which events took place.

Every chapter begins with a quote, usually a passage that McCandless/Supertramp had underlined or highlighted in one of his books.  Some of these quotes were included as dialogue in the movie.  They’re mostly quotes about nature, philosophy, and other beliefs that motivated the wandering.  They include passages from Jack London and Thoreau.  Some quotes get very deep and detailed sometimes making them difficult to follow when listened to on an audiobook.  One quote that did not appear at the beginning of a chapter but in one of McCandless’s letters struck a chord with me.  I’m not sure if it’s his original quote or if he got it from somewhere else.  It goes, “Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.”  I found this quote oddly comforting.

As expected, the book includes a lot of content not presented in the film.  It goes through all the doubling back in the wanderings.  It mentions the more mundane times such as him working at an Italian restaurant in Nevada for a few months.  The film actually portrays fewer than half of his travels and it overemphasizes ones that actually weren’t so significant.  The book mentions that McCandless went to Los Angeles to “get an ID.”  The movie has him spending a couple of days there wandering the streets, trying to get a bed at a homeless shelter, and imagining his life if he hadn’t chosen to reject society.  That’s just Hollywood building up events it feels are more interesting to the audience but it makes for a very different story.  What’s really interesting is that some of the actual events that were very exciting in the book were given less emphasis in the film such as McCandless’s journey down the Colorado River through Mexico.

The book provides more information about McCandless’s background and family.  The dysfunctional situations were a bit more subtle and complicated than how they were portrayed in the film.  There’s also more information about the aftermath such as his family’s and friends’ reactions and the public’s reaction.  Krakauer provides many of his own reactions and opinions.  He states very early in the book that his account is biased and he espouses many of his own theories on events and what motivated McCandless.  Much of what Krakauer learned came from McCandless’s journals and photos taken during his wanderings.  Other information is from interviews with family and friends and people McCandless met along the way.  There are some time periods for which Krakauer had no information requiring him to speculate.  As for McCandless’s motivations, Krakauer tries to paint the most favorable portrayal, however biased.  He notes that many people, especially Alaskans, disagree with him.  I disagree with some of his options but I think this is because Krakauer can relate to McCandless better than I can.

The book includes a chapter about other wanderers similar to McCandless.  Everett Reuss wandered the Southwestern U.S. in the 1930’s.  John Waterman made solo climbs of many peaks in northern and central Alaska sometimes with minimal equipment.  Krakauer notes the similarities and differences.  He seems to equate McCandless most closely with Reuss.  These other wanderers, explorers, and eccentrics underscore that McCandless is not wholly unique.

Another chapter details Krakauer’s own perilous solo adventure.  When he was 23 years old he travelled on the cheap to Petersburg, Alaska to climb the dangerous face of a mountain known as Devil’s Thumb.  He had many setbacks and endured very dangerous ice climbs and harsh weather.  His journey was similar to McCandless in that it was fraught with danger, he went solo and was young and brash.  It differed in that he didn’t try to subsist off the land and he wasn’t as motivated by intellectual philosophies and thinking.  I was impressed with the detail of his account.  It was like I was right there with him.  The rest of the book never gets as detailed, but then, it’s not all about him.  I can understand the connection he felt with McCandless.

I’ve never felt as close a connection, especially when I first read the book 10 years ago.  My life followed a very different course from McCandless’s.  While he went from suburban Washington D.C. to Atlanta, GA to wandering the American West to the Alaskan wilderness, mine went from Juneau, Alaska to Salem, OR to Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA when I was nearly the same ages.  It’s like he tried to work his way out of society while I worked my way into it.  There are many differences and our motivations clearly differed but I believe we both sought our own desired adventures (in my case, still seeking).  I can relate to some of his gripes about society and the desire for adventure, but I could never understand the extremes to which he took himself despite Krakauer’s strong opinions and Sean Penn’s Hollywood magic.

The audiobook is read by Phillip Franklin who does a great job as the “voice” of Krakauer.  When quoting McCandless he makes his voice sound more carefree and exciting, embodying his youthful exuberance.  Overall, Krakauer did a great job writing the book.  In some ways, it’s just as much his story of trying to learn about and understand McCandless.  All readers should keep this in mind.  I didn’t really like the last chapter where Krakauer seems to go overboard in his justification but I understand what he’s trying to do.  McCandless probably never would have been this famous or even known to me if his story turned out differently.  He probably still wouldn’t have been so well-known if it wasn’t for Krakauer and, much later, Sean Penn.  What’s really ironic (and been noted by others) is that McCandless probably never would have wanted this fame.

To anyone mildly interested in the story, I recommended seeing the film before reading the book.  Keep in mind that it’s “inspired by” and not 100% based on the true story.  I should also warn that, despite being made by Hollywood, it does not have a Hollywood ending.  I probably would not have enjoyed the movie as much if I hadn’t already known this.  Then, if you’re interested in more background, check out the book.  Again, view it as someone else’s (i.e. Krakauer’s) interpretation and don’t accept everything he says and justifies without thorough consideration.  I try to focus on what I find most interesting and relatable, though that isn’t everything.  I wouldn’t call the story inspiring.  I found other stories of survival inspiring such as Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado.  But McCandless, Krakauer, and Penn were able to bring a good story out of the wild.

My wife read about Origin India in Rachael Ray Magazine.  The restaurant is going to be featured on one of Rachael Ray’s travel TV shows.  On Sunday, October 19, 2008 after going to the 11 am mass at Guardian Angel Cathedral we drove north on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip), turned right on Convention Center Drive and then turned right on Paradise Road.  Origin India is in a strip mall on the northeast corner of Paradise Road and E. Harmon Road, south of Flamingo Road.  The strip mall is across Paradise Road from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.  Also in the same strip mall is a frozen yogurt place called Red Mango.

We parked and entered Origin India.  It has an elegant setting with dim lighting, many dark tables with comfortable chairs, and Indian decorations on the walls.  Festive Indian music played over the speakers.  It was fairly empty, only one other table was occupied.  The waiter let us sit where we wanted.  He gave us lunch menus and the dinner menu since the latter offered much greater variety.  He was right.  The lunch menu only offered a few items under soups/salads and express lunch specials but the dinner menu had numerous items under headings such as appetizers, items from the tandoori oven, and entrée specials.  We placed all our orders from the dinner menu and while we waited they served us some papadoms with plum sauce and mint sauce.  Both sauces were good with the mint sauce sweet and refreshing.

They brought our appetizer first: Potli Samosas or pastries filled with peas, cauliflower, potatoes, and spices.  Rachael Ray had recommended this appetizer in her magazine.  The pastries looked kind of like little bundles “tied” at the top.  They were served on a plate on top of a decorative grid made with the mint and plum sauce.  They were excellent especially with the mint and plum sauce.  The pastry was just slightly crunchy and never too brittle nor too chewy.  I could taste the pepper in the filling but it didn’t overwhelm the peas, potato, and cauliflower.  They were substantial but left plenty of room for the entrees to come.

Our entrees came soon after we finished the appetizer and, as the waiter had foretold, they were impressive.  My wife ordered the Chicken Chettinad that was chicken thighs cooked with spices that came with rice, lentils in sauce, and salad.  She mixed the chicken with the rice and greatly enjoyed it along with the lentils.  I ordered the Chicken Chili Milli that was chicken in spices char-grilled kabob style.  The spices were a fusion of Indian and East Asian.  It came with salad and some mint sauce and bits of red sauce spread decoratively.  Like my wife, I greatly enjoyed my entrée.  The chicken was spicy and the black charred parts gave it some crunch.  The spices also gave it a sweet flavor. The chicken was dark meat and perfectly cooked: grilled through but still juicy.  With both our entrees came a basket of naan bread that was fluffy, slightly charred and delicious.

Our lunch at Origin India was worthy of an excellent dinner just about anywhere.  With the elegant setting and mood lighting it seemed like a dinner even though it was just lunch.  The place never got very crowded, maybe 2-3 other parties came and went.  I overheard one of the waiters saying that it’s much busier at dinnertime and on weekdays.  The waiters were very attentive and nice.  They asked us where we came from.  We were able to use a coupon that we printed from the Internet and get 15% off.  If you like Indian food and want to try something other than all those crowded places and The Strip, check out Origin India.

 Mom and Dad (my in-laws) took us to Captain Crab for my birthday on Monday, October 6 (actually the day after my birthday).  We had first noticed the place when taking the 487 bus from work in Downtown L.A. to Mom and Dad’s.  The bus exits the 10 freeway at Del Mar Ave. and then goes west on Valley Blvd. in San Gabriel.  Captain Crab is in a two-story strip mall on the south side of Valley Blvd. across the street from Ajisen Ramen.  It’s in the part of the strip mall closest to the road making it very visible from there.  The San Gabriel Valley Tribune did a review of Captain Crab combined with a review of Fisherman’s Wharf, another seafood place that’s in the same strip mall.  They gave both places favorable ratings.

We arrived there after 6:30 pm but still easily found parking and were seated right away.  We had called ahead to make a short-notice reservation and they had already put the white plastic tablecloth on our table.  We were on the ground floor by the window and half of our seats were a bench along the wall.  There’s also an upstairs part that we didn’t see.  The ground floor had a nautical bar theme going with some rigging on the walls, lots of flatscreen TV’s showing Monday Night Football, and beer brands in neon lettering.  Dad asked that they change the channel to the Angels American League Division Series (ALDS) and they did so for one of the TV’s.

The menus were at our places on the table and they were fairly short.  They included the various crab and shrimp options along with sides and appetizers.  The menus had since been corrected since Captain Crab was reviewed by the Tribune.  They now said “Gumbo” instead of “Gumbi”.   A stand on our table had additional items to order such as appetizers and drinks.  We asked the server for recommendations and she suggested the shrimp.  We ordered it along with several items.

During the very short wait for our food they put bibs on us each with a picture of a red crab.  Then our food started arriving.  They first brought us the sweet potato fries that were hot but still good.  They tasted like they were made straight from the sweet potatoes with minimal processing.  Next came the shrimp in a large plastic bag in a metal bucket.  As the server said, it was very fresh, shelled easily, and tasted great.  We ordered it with the Captain’s Choice sauce, the mild option that had great garlicky flavor.  The shrimp came with the portions of corn-on-the-cob soaking in the same sauce.  Dad was smart in ordering two pieces for each of us.  They brought us the fried calamari appetizer that we ordered from the stand on our table.  Rather than the usual rings, the calamari was in strips coated in batter and fried.  Our server had warned us that it was chewy but I didn’t find it that way at all.  It was the right consistency and the coating was just slightly spicy.

They then brought us the Dungeoness crab, and the largest crab of that kind I’ve ever seen.  Its legs and claws were big and meaty.  After it had cooled, our server expertly broke it into four equal portions.  With the cracking tool they gave each of us I was able to extract the thick pieces of crabmeat fairly easily.  I thought it tasted good, though Dad felt it didn’t taste fresh despite the server’s assurances that it was. The last item they brought was sausage slices covered with the Captain’s Choice sauce.  There was enough for us to each have 1-2 slices and they all cost less than $3.00.  We were well sated when we finished and crab and shrimp shells piled high on our table.

We returned to Mom and Dad’s to have dessert.  My wife had some Straight Talk Crunch ice cream from Baskin Robbin’s and I had fresh strawberries.  We watched until the end of the Angels’ ill-fated ALDS game, watched a bit of some crazy Filipino fantasy soap opera and then drove home.  With the James Concert on Sunday evening followed by Captain Crab on Monday, our birthday month started off with a bang.

 On my birthday, Sunday, October 5, we saw the band James at the House of Blues Anaheim.  James are from Manchester, England and came together in the early 80’s.  They had their biggest hits in the late 80’s and early 90’s with songs like “Sit Down”, “Born of Frustration”, and “Laid”.  They disbanded in 2001 and reunited to record a new album and tour in 2007-2008.  This show at the House of Blues Anaheim was the last show of their North American tour.

Getting to the concert was more difficult than expected.  We thought we could follow directions similar to the ones we took to get to House of Blues Anaheim for the Sunday Gospel Brunch in August.  We would be coming from a different direction since we took the 210 east to the 57 south to get to Anaheim rather than the 605 south to the I-5 south.  From the 57 we exited at Katella, turned right to go west on Katella Avenue, drove for over two miles past the Anaheim Convention Center and under the I-5 before turning right at Disneyland Drive.  We had a little trouble finding Magic Way since there’s a couple of other entrances before it but we soon found it.  But once we got to where we thought we could turn left into parking for Downtown Disney, the lighted sign said that valet parking was to the left.  It said self-parking was forward and to the right.  This differed from our last trip there.  We followed the roads indicated by the sign and they seemed to be going to parking for Disneyland Park and not Downtown Disney.  So we turned into the entrance to the parking for Disneyland Hotel to ask the attendant what was going on.

The attendant confirmed that the situation was unusual.  Apparently, Miley Cyrus was having her Sweet 16 birthday party at Disneyland Park and parking for Downtown Disney was all taken up for that.  To park for Downtown Disney, we had to park in the Mickey & Friends parking structure for Disneyland parking.  Earlier that day we had checked www.imdb.com to find out what celebrities also had a birthday on October 5.  Besides Nicky Hilton, who we already knew about, there was songwriter Harold Faltermeyer (Axel F), rocker/activist Bob Geldof, horror writer Clive Barker, actress Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Theresa Heinz-Kerry, playwright/Czech leader Vaclav Havel, actress Kate Winslet, actor Guy Pearce, and hockey player Mario Lemieux; but no Miley Cyrus.  Further research revealed that her birthday is actually on November 23.  She got to celebrate seven weeks early and have Disneyland exclusively for her party.  The public had to pay $250 for a ticket to attend.

So we had to drive back down Magic Way.  We couldn’t turn around to go to the entrance to the structure so we ended up turning left on Disneyland Drive.  We made a U-turn where Ball Road crosses Disneyland Drive, also in a confusing area near the entrances and exits from the I-5.  Going south on Disneyland Drive, we followed the left lanes into the Mickey & Friends parking structure.  It’s a huge structure with an indoor ramp and lots of orange cones limiting where we could go.  We told the situation to the parking attendant and he reluctantly let us enter for free.  We parked on the next level, the Daisy section and had to get help from another attendant.  He told us to go to the other end of the structure, take the escalators down, and catch the tram.  We moved our car closer to that end of the structure and did as he said.  After asking another attendant, we caught that tram that was on our left as we went down the escalator.  The tram drove down some narrow roadway past still figures of Disney characters in Halloween costumes and among pumpkins some with lettering spelling out “Halloweentime.”  It soon arrived at its only stop, a square near the entrance to Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, and at one end of Downtown Disney.

We walked through Downtown Disney and it seemed fairly crowded given that Disneyland was closed to the public.  When we arrived at the House of Blues they had the stairs roped off for ticket entry only.  First they checked our ID’s and gave us black wristbands.  Once inside, I noticed that others had received yellow wristbands.  When the checker saw my ID she said, “Happy birthday.”  Next we went through security that consisted of getting “wanded.”  After we climbed to the first landing, they took our tickets.  We noticed that the restaurant portion of the House of Blues was kept open, though separate from the concert venue.  We entered the venue through the upper level at 7:30 pm, half an hour after the doors opened.

The upper railing on the upper level was surrounded by stools all filled with people who had come before us.  On the way in we had passed a table selling James merchandise for cash only.  There was also a lower railing lined with chairs but it didn’t look accessible and we guessed it was for VIP’s only.  The upper level had one bar in the back and many quilts and tapestries hanging on the walls.  Most of the other concertgoers seemed to be around our age with some older and younger.  My wife saw some kids.  There were mostly Caucasians, a few Asians, and about even numbers of men and women.  We went down to the lower level, the same level where we sat for the Sunday Gospel Brunch.  We found a place to stand on the floor about 5-6 people from the front of the stage and to the left facing it.

The place seemed different from when we saw the Gospel singers.  There were lights behind silhouettes on the back walls of animals, jungle, and tribal scenes.  The TVs hanging from the ceiling showed the 7th inning of the American League Division Series (ALDS) between the Angels and the Boston Red Sox.  A large, quilt-like curtain was draped across the stage.  Above the curtain were various religious-like symbols such as a gold urn with fire representing Zoroastrianism, a white moon and star for Islam, an Asian symbol in red, the Virgin Mary, a Star of David, and the Yin-Yang symbol.  Above the bars along the sides blue chandeliers were hung.  A sign on the wall gave the capacity for the venue as 480 people.  I overheard someone say that the show did not sell out and that surprised me because it seemed so crowded.

At 8 pm the lights dimmed and the curtain opened to the opening band, Unkle Bob.  They’re an English band consisting of a bassist, guitarist, singer/guitarist, keyboard player, and drummer, all men.  They looked fairly clean cut.  The drummer wore a black T-shirt with a white cartoon rendering of the Count from Sesame Street and labeled as “The Count.”  For the first song, the guitarist and singer had acoustic guitars.  They started slow and acoustic gradually getting louder.  The singer had a husky voice that I didn’t find directly comparable to anyone else.  At times I thought it sounded like David Bowie and at others the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs, Richard Butler.  Their overall sound was slow, subdued, and pleasant almost as if they were sleepwalking.  Consistent with this impression, at the end of the first song, the singer casually asked, “Where are we?  Disney?  I think we might be.”

The background sported a grid of lights that we recognized from photos of the James show at the El Rey on October 2.  Unkle Bob did not use these lights and relied on the colorful spotlights usually using blue and green for the quieter songs, blue and red for the louder ones.  For the next song the bassist passed his electric bass to the guitarist and picked up a tambourine and drumstick.  This song was louder with a strong drum beat.  After the song the singer said this was their last night on tour with James.  For the next song they encouraged us to clap out the rhythm.  It had the repeated line “Say that you want me” and the bassist and guitarist contributed heavily to the background vocals.  The guitarist passed the bass guitar back to the bassist picked up an electric guitar for the next song that was faster with a strong drum beat and the repeated line, “Who do you think you are.”

The lead singer prefaced the next song by saying, “We’d like to dedicate the next song to Saul Davies for doing so much for us.”  This song was slower and began with the keyboard sounding like a piano.  Its chorus included the line “Out of the middle of a bad dream . . . “   The next song was “another new one called ‘So Strong’.”  Like some others it started slow and gradually got louder and faster.  Before the next song, the last one, the lead singer said, “Thank you very much for having us.  Enjoy James.”  It also had a loud drum beat and the guitarist looked like he was playing the strings with a capo.  The song got very loud towards the end and they seemed to work themselves into a frenzy.  They ended at 8:30 pm and the curtain came down.  I overheard someone say that Unkle Bob had cut out a duet that they’ve done at other performances.

The canned music came back on and the TVs showed the Angels in the 11th inning.  They had switched to showing the band during the performance.  As we waited the floor got more crowded.  People tried to squeeze in between us who had taken our places hours earlier.  Someone near us had gas and afterward my wife read a forum post of someone apologizing for that, saying that they had a burrito at an eatery in Downtown Disney.  At around 8:50 pm I heard some drumming from behind the curtain.  The canned music played the song “Spiraling” by Keane.
 
At 9:12 pm the lights dimmed and the curtains opened to James.  They played a lesser-known song, “Dream Thrum” that had a slow beginning and gradually got louder.  It had the repeated line “Oh, oh I’ve changed.”  James consists of bassist Jim Glennie, after whom the band is named; guitarist/violinist Saul Davies, whose violin looked like crossbow; lead singer Tim Booth who wore a roomy black knit hat over his bald head and a black blazer over a white dress shirt; lead guitarist Larry Gott who wore sunglasses and was also bald; keyboard player Mark Hunter; drummer Dave Baynton-Power, also bald; and trumpeter Andy Diagram who didn’t show up prominently until the next song.  They didn’t look like a bunch of guys in their forties.  Tim Booth was very thin, probably from all the dancing.  My wife said that Jim Glennie looked no different from when she saw James many years ago when she was in college.  The previously unused grid of lights was in full use changing color and with lights “moving” back and forth.  As they finished the first song Tim said, “Welcome to Disneyland!”

Tim removed the hat for the next song, “Oh My Heart” that was off their latest album, “Hey Ma” released this year.  Andy sang some background vocals.  Before the next song, Tim said, “You guys are really crammed in here.”  His loud whoop and a cheer from the audience began “Born of Frustration”.  He danced intensely during the guitar solos as did some of the audience, one near me.  The grid of lights showed a rainbow of colors.  The next song, “Ring the Bells” began very loud, got more subdued for the verse and then louder for the chorus.  Tim had removed his blazer and white lights shot across a red background on the grid.  The song got very loud at the end.  The next one was the lesser known “Senorita” that featured red spotlights, flashing blue gridlights, and Andy playing tambourine.  It ended with Tim whispering into the mike.

They introduced the next song as the title track from their new album, “Hey Ma”.  It began quietly with acoustic guitar and then got much louder when the electric instruments kicked in at the second verse.  It got even louder for the chorus with Tim wailing the title line.  Before the next song Tim said, “This is about birth.”  It was “Bubbles”, a slower song with a loud beat also off their latest album.  Andy played this panel on a music stand with a drumstick that sounded like a low bass drum.  The song got a bit faster midway through.  Tim ended it by hitting the panel a couple of times himself, one of the only times during the concert that he played an instrument.  They performed the next song “Seven” from the album of the same name.  Tim went to our end of the stage and reached out to the crowd.  The song had a strong keyboard beginning and the gridlights twinkled.

“Let’s change things up a bit,” said Tim before the next song.  “It sounds like I’m under water.”

“You sound great!” someone in the crowd answered.

“Thanks.  You should come up here and sing, but not this song.”

They then went straight into the beginning of “Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)”, a song that would get louder.  Saul switched back to the violin for the next song, “I Wanna Go Home” from the latest album.  It started with just Tim singing, Larry on acoustic guitar, and Saul on violin.  But they soon added a loud drum beat and bass line and by the end Saul was assisting Dave on drums.  The background sported smoke and blue spotlights.  They then did the very vocal new song “Of Mountains and Heroes and Men”.  Tim sang about rambling poets while sounding like one.  They didn’t use the gridlights but relied on red and blue spotlights.  The performance featured Andy prominently on trumpet.  For the next song, “Out To Get You” Mark, the keyboard player, played a small portable keyboard with a tube for blowing.  They used no lights other than the red stoplights.  It was a slower song that got louder by the end.  Saul ended it with an intense violin solo.

They did two more songs from their latest album.  “Upside” began with a heavy piano-sounding keyboard and everyone else subdued.  The song got much louder and more anthemic for the chorus with the music nearly drowning out Tim’s vocals.  Tim picked up a cowbell and drumstick for the next song, “Whiteboy”.  He waved his right index finger when singing, “Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh.”  Saul started playing the loud guitar beginning of the next song but then stopped because he felt something didn’t sound right.  Tim teased him by singing the line “Getting away with it all messed up.”  They had a little discussion about what might be wrong before sorting it out.  Tim asked whether anyone had gone to the October 2 show at the El Rey and there were many cheers from the crowd.  Then he said, “Well, we didn’t do this one,” and they went into the raucous beginning of “Tomorrow.”  The crowd really got into it, singing along and dancing.  But they got even more excited with the next song that Tim introduced as “a Thank-you letter to Patty Smith and Doris Lessing who kept me sane through my teens.”  Their performance of “Sit Down” had a more subdued, piano-heavy beginning than the recording but got much louder after the first verse.  I didn’t see anyone sitting down during the song.  Tim sang part of the last verse a cappella.  Before the next song Tim said something like “You all live in Disneyland.  There’s Mickey Mouse.  In Disneyland you leave all souls at the door.  We’re gonna bring some soul to Disneyland.”  He picked up a megaphone and started singing “Sound” and used it for certain parts of the song.  The drums were loud and Andy played lots of trumpet parts.  The gridlights flashed red and green.  They played an extended instrumental part to which Tim danced wildly.  They ended to wild cheering, walked to the front of the stage and then departed at 10:45 pm.

The cheers were loud and increasing and soon the band was back out.  Tim said, “We would have been back sooner but we have old men in the band with prostate problems and we’ve been drinking.”  They then played “Gold Mother” that featured a heavy and fast bass drum.  Tim used the megaphone some more.  He prefaced the next song as “an unabashed love song for Kate where ever she may be.”  “Just Like Fred Astaire” began with only piano accompaniment through the first chorus when everyone else joined in.  Tim’s vocals were loud and clear.  After they finished that one, Tim asked, “How long have we got?  Can we do two more?”  Saul asked, “What’s the fine if we go over?” and Tim asked, “Will we get spanked by Mickey Mouse?”  Tim said that they were gonna do “Laid” and another but then said, “We’ll do this because we don’t want to be the band that doesn’t do the song that everyone can sing along to.”  With only the keyboard and vocals they went through the first verse of “Sometimes”.  Then everyone else joined in, the singer and bassist of Unkle Bob joined them on stage.  Some young women also came on stage and danced.  My wife later read that one of them was the daughter of a band member.  They played an extended version, went a cappella for a chorus and then had us, the crowd, clap out and repeatedly sing the line “Sometimes I look in your eyes I can see your soul.”  They finished, walked to the front of the stage, bowed and left and the curtain fell for the final time at 11:10 pm.

We left just as the canned music came back on.  Downtown Disney was noticeably less crowded and the stores were closed.  We caught the tram and as we rode back we heard and saw the impressive fireworks from Miley Cyrus’s Sweet 16.  We didn’t get home until after 12.

With the initial parking problems our evening seemed “Born of Frustration” and we didn’t get to the concert until after “Seven.”  But that was still before they would “Ring the Bell” so we “Got away with it (all messed up).”  By the end we wanted to “Sit Down” and were thinking “I wanna go home.”  But overall the concert was an “Upside” and more birthday festivities were to come “Tomorrow.”

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise is a book recently released by Barack Obama’s campaign for president that lays out what he plans to do if elected.  The foreword to the book is by Barack Obama himself.  We got the audio version of the book from the Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis.  The reader is Andre Blake who does a great job.  He reads passionately and when quoting from Obama’s speeches, he ratchets up the enthusiasm.  He also does a good job reciting the transcripts of some of Obama’s speeches in the last chapters as if he (Andre Blake) is giving the speeches.

The book covers many issues ranging from the economy to healthcare, education, foreign policy, energy independence, and government ethics.  It details how Obama will address these issues and often prefaces statements with “As president, Barack Obama will . . . “  Each chapter begins with a quote from one of Obama’s speeches and covers one major issue or group of related issues.  I found the ordering of the issues by chapter a bit haphazard with the book sometimes switching between foreign and domestic or economic and social issues.  I can’t think of a major issue that the book may have skipped.  It even addresses infrastructure and the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

The scope of the issues covered by the book is appropriately comprehensive but the degree of depth in which each issue is covered varies.  When addressing government ethics, the book presents some good, practical ideas such as making important cabinet and government meetings viewable by the public via the Internet.  The section on families reveals a thorough understanding of what single-parent families go through.  Obama should know since he came from one, though he acknowledges that he was luckier than most since his grandparents played a very active role in raising him.  However, coverage of healthcare and education are a bit vague.  For the former the book describes how the plan will allow those that are satisfied with their coverage to keep it at a lower cost and those dissatisfied or lacking coverage to be given a choice of programs similar to what members of Congress get.  Well, what do members of congress get?  If the plan is “similar to” but not “the same as” then what are the differences?  Do members of Congress pay coinsurance or copayments and will the plan also require them?  The book also mentions reducing medical errors and making the process more efficient but it doesn’t say how.

I’m also not 100% satisfied with how the book addresses education.  It says that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) needs to be “fixed” rather than replaced, how testing needs to be “improved” and “good” teachers rewarded.  It doesn’t go into much more detail than that.  I prefer Hillary Clinton’s statement that she would end NCLB because it turns students into “little test takers”.  But I do like how the book repeatedly says that parents should turn off the TV and the video games and have their children open a book once in a while.

The book isn’t just about what Obama plans to do for America.  It also urges Americans to act.  In addition to urging parents to help their children study, it urges people to participate in national service whether through the military, volunteering, or other methods.  Real change requires contributions from everyone, not just the Federal Government.  A more general discussion describes how the American way used to be if you worked hard you could achieve success.  But that’s changed and not because of the American people and not because of some accident beyond our control but because of misguided leadership and interests other than those of most Americans influencing government.  Obama’s plan is to restore the American way.

Most of Obama’s plans require more government spending.  The book mentions increasing the size of the military to reduce deployment time lengths, expanding AmeriCorps, investing in renewable energies, and giving schools the resources they need to satisfy the NCLB requirements.  It also describes keeping taxes the same for those making moderate incomes, and giving them family tax credits.  These actions will not add revenue.  But tax cuts for the rich will be eliminated along with breaks for large corporations and the tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas.  Will that be enough to pay for all the new and expanded programs?  It’s not clear from the book.  I almost wish the book included a rough budget proposal to show how everything will balance out.

The last chapters of the book consist of eight speeches by Obama including the announcement of his candidacy, his win in Iowa, loss in New Hampshire, response to the Reverent Wright’s comments, and a speech delivered in Berlin, Germany about international relations.  The speeches repeat many of the points made earlier in the book.  They include statements more applicable to the topics of the speeches (eg. Reverend Wright) and statements of personal experience (e.g. his grandparents’ raising him).  They’re all very long speeches read clearly and passionately by Andre Blake.  Some almost seem dated given how many things have happened in this past year alone.

Overall, the book gave me a slightly more favorable impression of Obama’s candidacy.  My doubts about it were mostly confirmed but some things impressed me such as increasing transparency of government, supporting dads who pay child support, and helping families.  I’ll be paying attention to the debates in the next couple of weeks and maybe do some more research to determine what kind of change I can believe in.