When my wife purchased and downloaded Born to Run to our Kindles earlier this year, I found myself only marginally interested.  I am not really into running, and I am also not into motivational sports books.  They are fine and all, but I have never read one and had it impact my life.  It was only in a fit of boredom caused by another book I had downloaded that I started browsing through the library of unread books on my Kindle, and decided to read the first chapter.  Once I started I could barely put it down.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is about many things, with running as the main thread that stitches the story together.  While running is the central theme, the interesting parts are the characters, the cultures, and the science.

The book is advertised as the story of a tribe of super-runners in the Copper Canyons of Mexico known as the Tarahumara (or Raramuri, their name for themselves).  This tribe of Native Mexicans are amazing distance runners.  Pregnant women have been known to run double-marathon distances in a day.  Their most popular sport is a game in which runners can cover hundreds of miles chasing a ball.  And if this book were just about the Tarahumara, it would be fascinating enough.  Instead, the author Christopher McDougall takes us on a ride through the modern distance-running world.  Through this journey we meet any number of fascinating people, all on their own, unique paths.  To me this was the heart and soul of the book.  Several outrageous characters stand out; the prize fighter that ran away from civilization, the greatest distance runner of all time, the woman we beats all the women and all the men at any number of 100 mile races, the hippy that sold a shoe company on the idea that cushioned shoes were bad.

A surprising twist in the book was the science.  One of the themes that McDougall (and the runners in the book) revisit over and over is barefoot or minimally-padded running.  McDougall cites numerous, recent scientific studies on the subject, and interviews scientists that study running.  While the anecdotal evidence is fun to read, the scientific weight that McDougall brings to the argue is substantial.  Nike is evil, barefoot running is good, and humans may very well have evolved to be distance runners.  All these points gradually work their way from being opinion to verifiable facts during the course of the book (the evolution story is a little more than I am willing to dive into here).

I found this book fascinating and enjoyable.  I was disappointed when it was over.  I look forward to reading more of this fine author’s work.

Philip Jose Farmer wrote a serious of science fiction books that are collectively known as The Riverworld.  The works are classics in the realm of science fiction literature.  The first book in the series, To You Scattered Bodies Go, won The Hugo in 1972.  I have read all of the books from the original series, and thoroughly enjoyed them.  Farmer wrote another novel using the Riverworld characters after what was supposed to be the final novel, and also has published various short stories in The Riverworld universe.

SciFi made a failed pilot for a Riverworld Series a few years back.  I remember watching it, and remember that it sucked.  But the general idea behind the movie/pilot was very interesting, which eventually led me to read the books.  In a way this rather bad 86 minutes of television is responsible for my discovery of a great set of novels.

On April 18th SciFi is taking another stab at telling The Riverworld story with a new, four-hour Riverworld movie/miniseries.  It looks like it will be much better that their earlier effort.  From the few clues I garnered from the trailer it would appear they have included much more from the books.

I would be a fool to become a Scientologist.

[This was an April Fools joke.]

Those that know me and my wife Rita know that we have long held some very specific, religious beliefs.  We both have scientific backgrounds, and have long held that evidence and reasoning should drive one’s belief system and one’s life.

Then we found Scientology.  L. Ron Hubbard was a horrible science fiction writer, so thankfully he was able to serve as our true savior by introducing us to the truth.  Its incredibly empowering to finally realize where humanity came from, and what our destiny can be!

Rita and I have turned over our 401k, IRA and savings accounts to The Church of Scientology, which immediately bought us a middle-level rank in the church!  In just a few years we could be at Thetan-level 45!

In hindsight I cannot believe how I have mocked the church for so long.  I think I probably always believed, in my heart, that Scientology was correct.  Heck, I have been on the Thetan path since college; I joined a fraternity called Theta Tau, which secretly has deep ties to the Church of Scientology (oops!  not so secret now!).

In the coming days and weeks Rita and I will be reaching out to all of our friends and family to join the church and share in the knowledge that we are all aliens on this planet, and we have a destiny.  And Tom Cruise isn’t nuts!

When I was little  we lived in Newcastle, WY.  My mother and father were public school teachers.  In the summers they did a number of things.  For a couple of summers my father worked as a park ranger at Jewel Cave National Monument.  I grew up listening to stories about my father’s time at Jewel Cave.

Jewel is a beautiful cave.  Jewel is an apt description.  There are many crystalline features that make it a must see if you are visiting The Black Hills.  I found this video online from National Public Radio about a spelunking adventure at Jewel:

If you haven’t noticed I support Non-Believers Giving Aid, a great, new charitable organization that is designed to provide aid to the victims of the Haiti earthquake and beyond.  Please give if you can.  Currently the money donated is split 50/50 between Doctors Without Borders and The Red Cross.  And you can be sure that there aren’t any bibles being bought with the money, and those providing aid aren’t doing so with the caveat that the victims listen to a sermon first.

GivingAid.RichardDawkins.net