Below is a recent review of James K.A. Smith’s new book Desiring the Kingdom that I wrote for my Faith and Learning in American Culture class this semester with the incredible George Marsden. I hope it’s helpful.

The question of Christian education has been hotly debated for many years. What are the primary factors that shape a distinctively Christian education and what kind of content is learned? Is “content” even at the heart of Christian education? In his recent book, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation, James K.A. Smith argues for a renewed vision for Christian education. While there are certainly many things to be admired in “worldview” models of Christian education, Smith claims that we should instead root our models in the actual practices of Christian worship. Too often, Smith notes, Christian education has started with an insufficient anthropology that sees human beings primarily as thinking things and not as fully embodied creatures. What Smith calls for is an Augustinian renewal of our understanding of the human person, primarily as “embodied agents of desire or love” (47).

The problem with worldview thinking, Smith argues, is that much of it “owes more to modernity and the Enlightenment than it does to the holistic, biblical vision of human persons” (31). While Christian education certainly involves the passing of information from a “Christian perspective” to some degree, Smith believes that this is not formative enough. The starting point for Smith’s model is worship rather than worldview. To demonstrate this point, Smith boldly claims that

“Before we articulate a worldview, we worship… That’s the kind of animals we are, first and foremost: loving, desiring, affective, liturgical animals who, for the most part, don’t inhabit the world as thinkers or cognitive machines… given the sorts of animals we are, we pray before we believe, we worship before we know—or rather, we worship in order to know.” (33-34).

This is at the heart of this Augustinian renewal: rightly ordered loves.

Smith divides his “Human Person as Lover” model into three primary categories: love’s aim, love’s end, and love’s fulcrum/formation. Smith argues persuasively that the fundamental mode of the human person is love. We engage the world as lovers and it is what we love that defines us. When espousing his views, Smith rightly notes that the issue of love is essentially an issue of worship and he states that “our ultimate love is what we worship” (51). While this ultimate love should be God, sin has distorted our affections and has pointed them toward things that are not God. Much of the time these things are not inherently bad. Rather, they are usually good things, but anything other than God that we hold as ultimate in our lives necessarily is an issue of idolatry. Indeed, Smith rightly shows that at our core is a kind of constant “love pump” (52) that sin has caused to be aimed at the wrong things. Smith then goes on to engage with love’s end, or telos. What is the end to which we love? What we love is ultimately rooted in some kind of picture of human flourishing. Whatever supreme picture of human flourishing we hold will then govern the way we act, think, decide, and love. It is here that Smith argues persuasively for his anthropology of the human person primarily as lover:

“Rather than being pushed by beliefs, we are pulled by a telos that we desire. It’s not so much that we’re intellectually convinced and then we muster the willpower to pursue what we ought; rather, at a precognitive level, we are attracted to a vision of the good life that has been painted for us in stories and myths, images and icons” (54).

Because of the fact that our “love pump” is misdirected, there are many different pictures of human flourishing we end up holding. This picture amounts to nothing less than our view of the kingdom. The way we live and the habits that we hold flow from this picture largely as second nature. However, our habits also help to shape this picture, and, as Smith shows, this must be taken into account when thinking through the nature and shape of Christian education.

One of the most helpful aspects of Smith’s anthropology of the human person primarily as lover is that it opens up the factors that shape us past the realm of ideas and concepts. When love becomes the primary characteristic of the human person, cultural practices and institutions become kinds of liturgies and create what Smith calls “cultural pedagogies”. As Smith shows, even something as seemingly neutral as shopping at the mall becomes a powerful liturgical event that has a dramatic effect on our vision of the kingdom. While there are certainly different levels of this effect, for example, brushing one’s teeth does not likely have a significant impact on one’s ultimate love, things like going to church on Sundays and engaging in daily prayer have a significant impact on our vision of human flourishing. Smith outlines several “secular liturgies”, such as shopping at the mall and university education, deftly showing their formative nature and the subtle ways they direct our desires.

According to Smith, human beings are ultimately driven by desires and affections and these desires both help shape and are shaped by the activities that we participate in. In summarizing his goal, Smith writes,

“Fundamentally, the concern was to emphasize that Christianity is not only (or even primarily) a set of cognitive, heading believes; Christianity is not fundamentally a worldview… Rather, we sought to show that what Christians think and believe (and they do think and believe, and that’s a good thing!) grows out of what Christians do” (216).

Smith wants to root Christian education in the nature and practices of Christian worship. However, I am not entirely convinced that what we do takes on any more of a significant role in our development than what we think and believe. I don’t Smith intends to set up an either/or dichotomy between what we think and what we do, but he certainly places the weight of formation on the side of practices.

In my view, both practice and worldview have significant impact on our vision of the kingdom. Much of what the New Testament says about what Christians are to do and how they are supposed to act are rooted in both liturgical practices and doctrine. One clear example of this is Ephesians 4:17-24. Note how many times Paul references teachings:

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles to, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (emphasis added).

In this passage, Paul references “deceitful desires”, but the answer is not only to “put on the new self” (changing what we do), but also the renewal in the “spirit of your minds” (changing what we think). Paul then goes on to address specific issues in the church of Ephesus, concluding, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Paul is asking for changes in practice, but it is rooted in the fact (the idea or concept, if you will) that God has already forgiven them in Christ. While our visions of the kingdom are certainly shaped by the practices that we take part in, it cannot be denied that we are also incredibly influenced by ideas and concepts.

Overall, Smith’s anthropology of the human person fundamentally as lover is an incredibly helpful model for discussing how a proper model of Christian education should be constructed. We certainly are more than just “thinking things” and too often this has been forgotten or ignored. While I don’t think Smith intends to completely abandon a model of education that emphasizes facts and ideas in favor of one that only emphasizes practices, he certainly argues that cultural practices and liturgies are the primary factor that influences our kingdom-visions of human flourishing. It seems wise to adopt a more moderate view that sees practices and concepts as both significant influences that shape our vision of the kingdom. Nevertheless, James K.A. Smith successfully changes the conversation about Christian education. No longer can we simply teach classes from a “Christian perspective” and consider it to be sufficient; we must go deeper. If human beings are primarily creatures of desire, the goal of a Christian education must seek to influence these desires, helping students to gain a biblical picture of the kingdom, rightly ordering all loves around the worship of our great God.

I learned about this last week and think it’s a wonderful idea to be a part of in your community. Pass this along where you can. Celebrity photographer, Jeremy Cowart, is organizing a photography movement on December 12th, for any photographers – amateur or professional – to give back to their community by donating their time, photography, and then giving the prints to people in need this Christmas/holiday season. It’s that simple, and this is about giving photographs and nothing more – no self or business promotions, etc.

Their Mission Statement reads:
Who Needs Pictures?
1. Find Someone in Need.
2. Take Their Portrait.
3. Print Their Portrait.
4. And, Deliver Them.

Please visit their main website for additional information, press releases, helpful videos on how you can help, stories, etc. Hope many more people will take their time to do something giving with their cameras this holiday season.

http://www.help-portrait.com/#/home

A picture I see daily when I login to LinkedIn: Mr. ABC recommends Mr. XYZ and right under Mr. XYZ recommends Mr. ABC. The first writes how the guy was a great employee / contractor and in less than an hour the other one recommends his former boss / customer. And do not forget to include a lot of superlatives likes: phenomenal, amazing, rare, one of the few etc.

I was actually thinking about some screenshots to illustrate that but I do not want to insult anyone )

Would you trust such recommendations? Do people really think they have any value? But still, I see such scenarios almost daily. I still do not understand why people recommend someone just because the person asked them to do so. You can always ignore the request or politely decline. What happens is that you logically adjust your respect to a person that recommends someone you know and about whom you think is a schmuck.

Recently I got contacted by a lady I once met about 8 years ago in a pub, asking me about recommendation. I politely refused since even if I know her, I actually never worked with her. She replied that it is OK, that she understands, but she is trying to get some recommendations to her profile since nobody wants to invite her for interview without references.

Really? People actually decide about inviting a person for interview based on the amount of LinkedIn references? That is scary! Sometimes I also get CVs with proud statements in the intro letter like “I have 14 recommendations on LinkedIn!”. Who cares about the quantity if quality is questionable?

It’s like search engines before Google came. It was enough to have a particular word many times repeated on the page and even more times repeated in the keywords section to be displayed on top of search results. And then came the PageRank and suddenly you could really find relevant stuff on the web.

In order to make a meaning of the references, LinkedIn and other business networks need to think about some kind of “TrustRank” related to people. It could be a formula, calculated (pretty much like the PageRank) from different values from your network.

Here are some ideas about what the formula could contain:

• Probably it has to work against the principle of PageRank – the fact that someone is many times recommended doesn’t increase his/her credibility – it can just mean he/she annoys a lot of people to get recommended.
• Is should dramatically lower the credibility of people who “cross recommend” each other within a short period of time (a few hours / days?).
• It could capture people’s credibility, real achievements and reputation from other sources on the web and blend that in. I know a few people who rarely recommend anyone. And if they do, I tend to really trust them.
• If a person is recommended by a colleague or boss you could track how long they were working together before the recommendation was created.
• Recommendations closer to the end of someones job position should be also discounted since people tend to pro-actively ask for recommendations when looking for a new job (I’m not saying that is bad, just that recommendations might not have that high value as opposed to a spontaneous recommendation when someone impresses you with their job).
• The users in the network could (maybe anonymously) score and comment recommendations of other people in their network to share if they agree or not.

So far, I recommended only 2 people, both colleagues from ZOOM that I know for 5 and 8 years on respectively. You have only one reputation on the web, do you? And even deleted posts still shows in the results…

Happy to hear your comments.

One of the great things about the manga-blogging contingent on Twitter is its spontaneity. Within hours (or more likely minutes) of David Welsh (Precocious Curmudgeon) noting the total absence of manga on the New York Times’ Graphic Novel Gift Guide, the notion of the Great Manga Gift Guide was born. (Here’s the Twitter hashtag, for the curious.) With no set rules and only a few practical guidelines to follow, the results so far have covered a wide spectrum of material and approaches–go to David’s round-up post to see some of the lists people have come up with!

My own manga reading skews heavily towards shoujo (girls’) series–a trend that was only strengthened when I began receiving predominantly shoujo review copies from VIZ Media. I’ve tried to compensate for that in my list, though, in hopes that there’ll be something for everyone here. And while the temptation at the end of the year is to suggest new series that started coming out in 2009, I’ve decided to focus on ten series which are currently available in English in their entirety so that new readers have the option of reading a complete story without waiting on new volumes.

None of these comments are terribly spoilery, but in a couple of cases may refer to events past the first volume when the series takes a while to establish the premise.

For those who’re fascinated by the mysterious (and sometimes twisted) things lurking in the human psyche and/or exploration of gender roles and perceptions: After School Nightmare.

Mashiro has a closely-guarded secret: although he looks and identifies as male, he’s actually caught between genders. Male from the waist up and female from the waist down, he badly wants to be “truly” male, but is desperately insecure and questioning about his identity. A school nurse brings him into a special class conducted after school, in which students–none of whom know each other’s identity–enter into a dream world, where they appear as reflections of their individual issues and neuroses. Mashiro develops relationships with two other students, Kureha and Sou, forming a very unusual triangle as they all try to overcome their demons. After School Nightmare is an intriguing piece of work, with good characters and interesting plot twists.

(10 volumes, available from Go!Comi.)

For those who crave a sweet story that tugs at the heartstrings: Aishiteruze Baby.

Kippei, a popular 15 year old boy, has his life changed overnight when his 5-year-old cousin Yuzuyu is abandoned with his family, none of whom have time to take charge of her. The task of being her primary caregiver falls on Kippei’s shoulders, and although he initially resists the idea, he and Yuzu gradually become close. It’s all incredibly cute, but it also deals well with Yuzu’s experience of losing her mother, and while Kippei and Yuzu’s relationship is at the heart of the story there’s also a strong love interest between Kippei and a classmate, Kokoro. Bonus points for Yuzuyu being a believable little kid.

(7 volumes, available from VIZ Media.)

For those who enjoy epics, mistaken identities, and star-crossed lovers: Basara.

My only reservation in recommending Basara is that some volumes are apparently difficult to lay hands on these days, which is a shame, because this is a fantastic story. Growing up in a post-apocalyptic Japan, Sarasa is a normal girl whose twin brother, Tatara, is the prophesied “child of destiny” who everyone believes will overthrow the tyrannical rulers of the country. But when Tatara is killed, Sarasa sacrifices her identity and adopts his name, starting a revolution in his place.

There’s a lot of great stuff in here. Sarasa is the kind of heroine who gets things done through pure determination, and is a fallible but gifted and charismatic leader. The people who surround her are a diverse and interesting bunch, and the romantic subplot is important without taking away from the epic scope of the events that unfold as Sarasa tries to fulfill “Tatara”’s destiny.

(27 volumes, available from VIZ Media.)

For those looking for a story about love and friendship with a touch of fantasy (which just happens to be one of the best-known manga around): Fruits Basket.

A recently orphaned, tender-hearted girl winds up living with a classmate and his two cousins, and as she gets to know them, she discovers that their family is cursed by the spirits of the Chinese zodiac animals. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because Fruits Basket has become incredibly popular in North America, and rightly so. There’s something here for just about everyone, with the mood ranging from the light humor you expect from a high school romantic comedy to a painful yet hopeful depiction of a family trying to break free of both a literal curse and a longstanding cycle of abuse. This is a powerful and skillfully crafted story with an amazing cast of characters, and it takes its potentially silly-sounding premise and explores the implications in a meaningful way.

(23 volumes, available from TOKYOPOP. Gradually coming out in a hardback omnibus edition as well. ^_^)

For those who know geeks, love geeks, or are geeks: Genshiken.

Genshiken is the epic tale of an otaku club at a Japanese college [read: all of the geeks who don't fit in with the more specialized geek clubs] and a normal girl who gets sucked in via her boyfriend. Only not so much with the epic. Genshiken takes a group of people whose hobbies and ways of approaching life make them social outcasts, and both empathizes with them and pokes fun at them in a way that lets you know that the author loves them and expects readers to as well. The series tells their story and explores their passions–whether for cosplay, model building, doujinshi, anime, manga–and shows the people behind the stereotypes, through their own eyes and the eyes of an outsider who…doesn’t exactly come to love them, but develops a strong sense of “no one messes with my geeks but me”. And admit it–that’s more fun.

(9 volumes, available from Del Rey Manga.)

For those who appreciate a high school romantic comedy that has fun playing with its genre’s conventions: High School Debut.

Athletic, tomboyish Haruna starts her first year of high school with a mission: having devoted her junior high days to sports, she’s ready to find the romance promised by the countless heaps of shoujo manga she’s devoured. When it turns out that manga hasn’t really taught her how to catch herself a guy, Haruna concludes that what she really needs is a love coach, and she chooses Yoh, a popular older boy, to show her the ropes. Given that the next part of the premise is “he accepts, on the condition that Haruna can’t fall in love with him“, it may be obvious what happens next–but it happens with irresistible charm and enthusiasm. Haruna is a bit like the anti-shoujo heroine: she tries to do things by the book (literally), but her own personality is too strong. Her relationship with Yoh is one of those lovely ones where it’s obvious why the characters like each other, and what each of them brings to the table. High School Debut is a funny and heartfelt story that should appeal to new manga readers as well as fans of the genre.

(13 volumes, available from VIZ Media. Well, 12 of them are, and 13 will be out pretty soon.)

For those who love psychological drama, layered stories, and a driven, intelligent hero: Monster.

There are two Naoki Urasawa series that are all the rage right now: 20th Century Boys and Pluto (the latter being a retelling of Astro Boy) are both amazing pieces of work, and deserve all the praise being heaped on them as each new volume comes out in English. But this list is for complete-in-English series, so let’s talk about Urasawa’s Monster. Set in several cities across Europe, Monster gives us Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a brilliant brain surgeon who follows his ideals at the cost of his promising career, choosing to operate on a young boy instead of the prominent man admitted after him. Tenma is ostracized within the hospital for his politically-unwise decision, but the child survives…and grows up to become a fiercely intelligent sociopath, a fact Tenma discovers when he himself is falsely accused of murder. When no one believes his incredible story, Tenma becomes a wanted man, pursuing the boy he once saved in order to rectify his mistake and prevent any more deaths. In the process he uncovers a truth and a conspiracy far darker than he had imagined, and learns that countless lives are at stake.

Monster is a fascinating story, full of twists and turns and intriguing characters. It’s also very different from many non-manga readers’ image of “manga”, and could be just the thing for that person you know (we all know at least one) who insists that manga is all wide-eyed shallow fluff.

(18 volumes, available from VIZ Media.)

For those who’re drawn to fashion, creative minds, and difficult romances: Paradise Kiss.

A short, engaging series from the creator of NANA. Yukari is a high school student with no real sense of purpose whose life is turned upside down by a group of eccentric fashion design students who persuade her to model for their label, Paradise Kiss. As they befriend her and pull her into their world, Yukari discovers how much she’s been missing in her life and finds herself falling for George, the group’s designer. It’s a glittering world populated with believably flawed, charming, and (mostly) wonderful characters. I have a particular soft spot for the supporting cast, whose stories are just as interesting as the leads’ without ever quite taking the focus from them.

(5 volumes, available from TOKYOPOP.)

For those who want to read about self-discovery in a soft sci-fi package: Please Save My Earth.

Like Basara, Please Save My Earth can be a bit tricky to come by in its entirety, but it’s well worth tracking down. This shoujo classic tells the story of six high school students and a young boy who share similar dreams about living on the moon and observing Earth. As they meet each other and compare notes, they realize that what’s happening to them is something much bigger and more life-changing than a dream. Please Save My Earth manages to have a complex, intriguing story while focusing heavily on the characters’ relationships, particularly the connection between Alice, a shy teenage girl who can’t quite bring herself to accept what’s happening, and Rin, the little boy who lives next door to her and knows far more than he lets on. It also has some interesting world-building, although the sci-fi elements take a backseat to the characters’ journey of self-discovery.

(21 volumes, available from VIZ Media.)

For those interested in historical drama, the politics of a rapidly-changing society, or heroes seeking redemption for past sins: Rurouni Kenshin.

Kenshin begins in 1878, just over a decade after Japan went through the massive social upheaval called the Bakumatsu and began to westernize. A wandering swordsman, Kenshin Himura winds up at a dojo run by a young woman named Kaoru, who isn’t at all sure what to make of him. Kenshin is unassuming and apparently harmless, but it quickly comes out that he’s also a former assassin once known as Hitokiri Battōsai, whose reputation as a brilliant swordsman haunts him as he travels the country, trying to atone for the lives he took for the sake of the cause he fought for. He tentatively settles at Kaoru’s dojo and begins to build a life and friendships there, but peace is impossible to come by when his legend still brings people after him to challenge him, settle old scores, or force him out of retirement.

(28 volumes, available from VIZ Media. Also currently coming out in shiny omnibus editions!)

Morning. From yesterdays monster Spotify update comes a very good new album by Swedish singer-songwriter Andi Almqvist. Give this album a try. You won’t be disappointed. Oh, and enjoy!

(More finds to come later today.)

Andi Almqvist – Glimmer

This is just a look at a site, not an attempt at a comprehensive review. It’s more of an informative overview than a critical piece. Hope you enjoy the first proper post on this blog, and please leave any comments below!

Puzzlin is a kids puzzles site. It’s a relatively new site, so its volume of content is limited. However, the content is there is fun and well designed.

The selection of kids puzzles is currently jigsaws, sliding blocks (otherwise known as 8-puzzles), word searches, hangman, and word jumble.  They’re pretty traditional puzzles, and that is one of the aims of the site: quality classic kids puzzles. All the puzzles are fully interactive, for example the jigsaw puzzle simply requires a drag and drop action for each piece to take them from the pile of pieces to the area set aside to construct the puzzle in. It’s obvious and simple, so kids will have no trouble using it.

Other kid friendly features are the generous snapping of things into place. What I mean by that is that placing things like jigsaw pieces, the blocks in the sliding blocks puzzles, or the letters in the word jumble snap into their destination slots with a pretty side margin of error which is ideal for use by kids. For the most part the interface is very obvious, but all of the puzzles have a set of instructions just in case. The site doesn’t require Flash or any other plugins/additional software for its interactivity, so it should just work on computers without any of that installed, which is a nice plus point.

Navigating the site is pretty simple  too. You’re presenting with a list of puzzle types on the homepage, it’s then one click through to a list of those puzzles, and another click to be playing — it’s very quick. When puzzles are completed there is a brief interval where a congratulatory image is shown before a list of puzzle suggestions is shown. Each puzzle appears to have a set of tags, so the suggestions are based on those as well as the type of puzzle. It’s a nice approach which keeps the stream of puzzles coming with very little delay, while providing a fun experience to kids that might have an interest in a particular theme.

Content wise, the puzzles are probably best suited for kids of about 5 to 10 years old. The word based puzzles would require a good command of basic English, and the picture based puzzles might require too much attention of younger kids. The artwork is cartoony in style, and there is a cute penguin mascot featured throughout the site’s pages and in some of the puzzles. Everything is suitable for kids — which is obviously important.

In summary; Puzzlin is a new, but fresh and entertaining kids puzzles site. There could be more content, but the works well in terms of interactivity and navigation for kids.

Enough rambling from me, check out Puzzlin’s selection of kids puzzles.

yes I am aware that I’m always lusting after vintage but this week its especially true. there are some beautiful vintage pieces out there so I’m going to share my favourites:

the Filagree floral bracelet

from Temporary Secretary

will definately add something to our outfit,

be it at a party or a wedding

it’s priced at £18

Paris stole my heart necklace

from This Charming Girl

is a classic piece,

with a gorgeous eiffel tour charm

it’s priced at £12.50

Vintage cream gem cocktail ring

from Love Hearts and Crosses

is simplistic but bold,

making it a perfect statement piece

it’s £7

The pearls and bow necklace

from Diamond In The Sky

combines the classicness of the pearls,

with the kitch bow

it’s priced £14

the 1900’s french book necklace

from Sugar Fairy Candy Plum

is a true one off as each pendant is made

with a different piece of a real french book

it’s £10

each site has more vintage items available and you could ofcourse find more by looking through the directory

I was listening to the Bob Rivers radio program on the way to work this morning, and heard a singer/songwriter by the name of Meiko. She was a guest on Bob’s show, and performed a few songs live in-studio.

I love female vocalists as you know. I’ve had links to two of my favorites, Duffy Bishop and Cindy Alexander, right here on the BS BLOG for some time.

I’ve just added a third.

I was quite taken by what I heard on the radio, and went to the Bob Rivers Show website as soon as I got to my desk. I was thrilled to find 4 videos of her in-studio performance already uploaded there. Check them out:

Meiko Video #1

Meiko Video #2

Meiko Video #3

Meiko Video #4

Here’s what wiki has on Meiko. You can also see more videos on her myspace page.

I’m interested to learn what you think!

For those of my fellow bloggers here at WordPress, you probably don’t need to be told about the new email subscription widget that has been released.  You will probably have already decided whether or not to add it to your sidebars.

For those of you who are non-bloggers, or non-WordPress bloggers, I have to say it is a really nifty addition.

I subscribed to Oh Waily so that I could see it in action, and immediately after publishing my post this morning I popped over to my email account. Before I could blink my eyes there was the newly minted post waiting for me. No delay. No need for a feed reader if you’re only reading one or two blogs regularly.  In fact, it couldn’t get much more passive than this.

If you are not a technology type person, or are unfamiliar with the world of RSS, then this is probably a good answer for you. You will get a fair approximation of the actual blog post (in html) via email.  You don’t get the full blog template, just the post contents.  But if you are not interested in the ephemera♥ that sometimes is a blog sidebar, then that should suit you very well.

You simply have to visit the blog website once, click on the Subscription button in the sidebar, enter the email address you want the blog posts delivered to and Bob’s your Auntie.

What are you waiting for?  Go on, click here and then click on the subscription button under the title “Oh Waily By Email”.

—

♥ the only problem with avoiding the ephemera is that you don’t really get to know the blogger and their tastes if you avoid the sidebars.  I for one have found more than one interesting blog after another by blogroll hopping.  If you have a rainy afternoon one weekend and can’t be bothered doing the housework, I would recommend that you try blog-hopping.  You may find a whole new, and interesting world, opening up to you.

Our Library Director, Judy Lockman tells about her booklife in this week’s installment of “5 Questions”:

Last book read:  Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story by C. David Heymann

Wow, this was a real eye-opener. Even though Mr. Heymann reveals foibles and less than heroic behavior, both Bobby and Jackie remain intoxicating twentieth century icons, perhaps even more so now that we know them as real people.

A favorite childhood book: Heidi by Johanna Spyri -  I wanted to leave my childhood home in Massapequa and move in with Heidi and her grandfather.

Your favorite book of all time: Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger -  I read it for the first time when I was in eighth grade and fell in love with Holden Caulfield.   I’ve read the book several times again over my lifetime and  am deeply moved by Salinger’s ability to convey love, loss,  anxiety, ambivalence and longing- all the truths of human experience.

Book that changed your life: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey

Book you most want to read again for the first time:  Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

If you didn’t already know, Alan DeNiro’s first novel, Total Oblivion, More or Less, is now out, and you should be reading it, cause it is fantastic.  And while you’re at it, if you missed his short story collection, Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead, from a few years back, you should take the time to get it, too.  You will not be sorry, only amazed.

Although many will disagree, I believe that web personalisation is a good technique used by e-commerce businesses.  After experiencing the use of this technology in sites such as Amazon, Youtube, and Facebook, I have decided that the pros significantly outweigh the cons.

Personalisation simply means that the website alters its content in a way in which best matches the needs and/or characteristics of the end user.  To personalise web pages, e-commerce businesses use techniques such as content-based filtering and collaborative filtering.

Content-based filtering recommends items to a customer based on previous transactions, whereas collaborative filtering uses profiling techniques based on customer groupings for example, customers of a particular group (Age, occupation etc) could be assumed to be interested in products of interest to others that are in the group.

The best example of web personalisation I can think of would be amazon.  As an amazon user, I often find myself looking through the list of recommendations they provide me with as soon as I log on.  In the past I have purchased items from amazon I otherwise wouldn’t have heard of but for these recommendations.   This is an excellent way for businesses to advertise their products and for customers to easily explore the site for items which are likely to interest them.

The screenshot above was taken of my page of recommendations on Amazon.co.uk.  It clearly shows how useful and user-friendly this personalisation technique can be.

Another good example of personalisation would be Youtube.  Although not an e-commerce site, it shows clearly how a website can make good use of web personalisation.  You are able to personalise your profile any way you want, from adding backgrounds, to re-arranging items on the page.  Youtube also keep a record of every video you view on the site.  From this, they can come up with a large number of different videos you may be interested in watching and display them in a recommendations section on the home page as seen below.

The idea of a website keeping record of your searches and purchases may to some people’s discontent.  Many argue that they would prefer to surf anonymously and purchase items without being hassled with a list of recommendations.  A small portion of those who are interested in the recommendations would also complain that they don’t get accurate enough results.  There are also a few other turn-offs for web personalisation such as security in some cases, but then again, nothings perfect.  Personalisation benefits millions of internet users every day by saving time and money, producing better, relevant information and making users feel at home when they visit a website.  This is the reason I am pro-personalisation, however it is just my opinion and others may be drawn to different conclusions.

Are you looking for a unique place to hold your small gathering, of blowing off some steam before your big day? Well I have two for you! Carson City Saloon and Easy Street bar & restaurant. I love these two legendary Pittsburgh hot-spots. You can host your bachelor/bachelorette party in the private room at Carson City, or run a muck with with the crowd, in one of the nation’s best sports bars!!
Easy Street (Brought to you from the Carson City brain-trust) is a nice venue for your smaller wedding receptions, or special celebrations, but don’t let me tell the story….

Whether you’re in something borrowed and blue, turning the big 4-0 or landing a new account at work. Easy Street can provide the perfect setting for you! With our outside patio and family style seating, we provide a welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff to set the mood for any occasion large or small. Our patio can accommodate up to 150 people and our entire bar/restaurant can accommodate up to 300 people. We customize every event to ensure we deliver exactly what you need. Join us, roll your windows down, relax and take a ride down Easy Street.

Our event planning is perfect for: Corporate Functions, Wedding Receptions, Rehearsal Dinners, Bridal Showers and much more.
Contact our event coordinator Laura Wilcox today by email easystreetpghevents@yahoo.com or by phone at

412-235-7984 or 724-554-5488
to book your next private event.

http://www.easystreetpittsburgh.com
http://www.carsoncitysaloon.com/

Seeing as we’ve got special guest Kelvin Andrews flying over from London on friday 11th December to grace the decks at the next Pisi Love party, I thought i’d do a quick overview of Creative Use Records, Kelvins disco re-edit record label he runs with his brother and fellow Soul Mekanik, Danny Spencer.

Kelvin started Creative Use in 2003 to fuel his obsession of leftfield disco and expose these oddities to a new generation of dancefloor disciples. A forerunner of the re-edit craze we now find ourself in, Creative Use took obscure leftfield gems form disco, new wave, acid house and funk and amended them for modern use.

These include Prince, Kid Creole, Cat Stevens, the ever so rare “Tam-Tam Pour L’Ethiopie” by Starvation as well as Riuchi Sakamoto’s timeless classic “Riot In Lagos” (which we featured here a few months back).

As well as a platform for their own edits they released contributions from Mark Seven as well as an extra special 12″ from man of the moment Mark E.

DISCOGRAPHY

Creative Use 01
Acid House Gone
A1 Don’t Go Cool
B1 The Bootleg Of Dorothy Parker
Side B is a re-edit of Prince.

Creative Use 02
Even Stevens
A1 Even Stevens
B1 Rummage Through A Sack Of Photos
Side A was Cat Stevens’ “Was A Dog A Doughnut”
Side B was  Riuchi Sakamoto “Riot In Lagos”

Creative Use 03
Bounty Girls
A1 African Frog Charity
B1 Bounty Girls
Side A was Starvation ‘Tam-Tam Pour L’Ethiopie’
Side B was Kid Creole ‘Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy’

Creative Use 04
Divine Edits Mark Seven
A1 Sermon (Serotonin Edit)
B1 Heaven
B2 Higher (Editnot)

Creative Use 05
Mark E
A1 Sun Shadow
B1 Night Mover*
Side A is a remix of Labelle’s ‘Moon Shadow’.
Side B is a re-edit of The Detroit Experiment’s ‘Highest’

Creative Use 06
Soul Mekanik
A1 Beam Me Up
B1 Are You Jeff Vader
Side A is a Raymond Scott tune.

Kelvin Andrews will be making his Romanian debut at PISI LOVE, friday 11th December with Logan (Haules Baules) and Riley. Location to be announced.

This week I have been asked to explain my view on personalization in e-commerce. Personalization of web pages is based on the characteristics of an individual such as their interests. Personalization implies that the changes are based on implicit data, such as items purchased or pages viewed. I am all for personalization as I believe it helps the user to discover more items based upon their interests on previous products they have bought. This as a company can only benefit them as this method could tempt customers into purchasing more. I have a few examples shown below.

There are also some criticism of personalization like customers saying it does not work and is a waste of money. This can be down to the product type and how often a user purchases of a certain website. New users can’t expect to see all their interests appear infront of them after only purchasing one item. It can take up to at least 10 products before a good knowledge of the customer can be created. The recommended items also depends on the product as some products may not have an ideal match therefore may show irrelevant recommended items. Also if you buy your children games or products then these kind of products may be found within your recommended searches.

A website that uses personalization throughout its website is Amazon. When a user signs up to Amazon, they gives personal details such as name and email address. This information is used to create personalized greetings throughout the site such as “Hello, Simon”. It could also come in the form if email with your name titled at the top. This is known as explicit personalization because the site creates greetings using information obtained directly from the customer.

Amazon also provides customers with personalized product recommendations based on their previous purchases and the purchases of customers with similar interests. This type of personalization is implicit because the site is tracking purchase information behind the scenes, without direct customer participation. My account on Amazon shows my recommended items are for the Xbox 360 as I have bought Xbox 360 games from Amazon before.

I believe I will make this my recommendations blog addition.  I’m out of updates and not feeling especially rant-motivated this morning and there is most definitely a short-list of wonders that have amused me of late.

First up, before I even talk music or movies, have you seen this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr9_5uZn6ds  Ricky Gervais has to be one of my most favourite people of all time and if you haven’t spent a good amount of time with the British Office then please do.  Awkward has never been so delightful.

The second thing I’m going to recommend is the short, but sweet and perfectly quaint Pushing Daisies series.  The banter is witty, the look of it is beautiful and the story is full of whimsy.  It actually makes a zombie story read  like a fairytale.  Bravo.

So, in my quest to find something a little more pop-esque and uplifting on the music side of things, I discovered Anya Marina (Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II.)  Now, I’m not usually one for chick music (and I mean that with the greatest respect to chicks and chick musicians everywhere) but there’s something about this woman’s vibe I really dig.  Sometimes cute and child-like, sometimes impossibly sexy…it’s just a fun album to have on while, oh say, curled up on your wee couch with your mac on a rainy Thursday morning. http://www.myspace.com/anyamarina

And, to keep with an earlier thread, I’m going to suggest that if you haven’t seen Zombieland yet, do.  I know, I know, looks kinda stupid, but it’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time.  I’m also wondering if anyone’s read Dave Eggers’ Wild Things?  I’m such a fan of his writing and it was such a beautiful film…I’m guessing the book’s gotta be the touching masterpiece I’m imagining, but I haven’t picked it up yet.

Final and most delicious recommendation: if you’re in the GTA and are hittin’ up Leslieville for brunch, it is worth the wait in line to go to Lady Marmalade.  It’s one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had (avocado, brie & bacon eggs benny…am I right?) and the coffee delicious, the atmosphere warm.

Voila, some of my most favourite things (well, this morning anyways.)

Jay-Z’s newest album is fantastic, start to finish. I’ve been playing it on non-stop repeat at the gym! Empire State of Mind is my new run-an-extra-half-mile song. The live performance with Alicia Keys at this year’s AMA’s was a crowd pleaser.

Rent this movie!

It’s not a Spinal Tap knock-off. It’s the real-deal documentary on a truly seminal metal band that never quite made it.

Entertaining, thought-provoking, misty-eyed and funny! It’s a sweet, charming and touching story of a very real Canadian metal band that hasn’t put down the drum stick or picks for 30 years. You just want to grab them and give them a big, heart-felt hug through the whole fick.

Rent This Movie!

For all my fellow same-sex lovers out there who get the “When are you bringing home someone special for the holidays?” speech every year, I have a few suggestions.

Stay gender neutral. Ladies, if your nosey relatives ask if there are any special guys in your life, you can easily say no without any fault of conscience.  I pulled this trick off for years and no one ever caught the sparkle in my eye…I think…

Focus on other aspects of your life. For example, highlight your (ahem) ambitious career goals and admirable educational accomplishments by following this carefully constructed script:

“I’m sorry [Grandma/Uncle Ebert/relative-I-don't-even-like], but I just don’t have time in my life for a serious [boyfriend/girlfriend] right now. I’m much too busy [working/studying/solving the Middle East crisis] so I can become a successful [doctor/lawyer/politician] someday.”

If they give you any crap about “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” with suggestive winking and nudging, it’s best to hold the puke in your mouth and make your way to the nearest washroom. I hope you didn’t have the eggnog.

If all else fails, I suggest to kindly tell your relative to pass the potatoes to the nearest homosexual and see what happens. If they get passed to your brother, you are off the hook! Sit back and enjoy the show!

On a more serious note, if you think you can pull it off, try to pull it off. If there’s even the slightest chance that the gracious holiday spirit will move your family to truly “make the yuletide gay,” why not go for it? There’s nothing like sharing mom’s dry turkey with all of your loved ones.

Happy Holidays!