ZAMM (part 3) - Chautauqua, then and now

Part 3 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM):

I have considered Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of my favorite books of all time - next to the Bible.

During a motorcycle trip from Minnesota to the West Coast, the narrator ascends to the heights of esoteric philosophy down to the practical wisdom of motorcycle maintenance.

Instead of asking the tired question - What's new?

He asks - What's best?

After re-reading the book this summer, I chose to blog about many of the ideas presented in this inquiry into values. Here is one of them.

Chautauqua.

That is one of the words that Pirsig grapples with to capture the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual journey he has laid out in his work.

The term originated in 1874. In western New York, the shores of Chautauqua Lake became the meeting place to educate Sunday School teachers during the summer break. These meetings blossomed into a national movement of adult education. The concept took legs as traveling tent-shows popped up across the country where people could hear popular talks and exchange ideas.

Theodore Roosevelt called this meeting

"the most American thing in America."

(check out - What was Chautauqua.)

The Death of Chautauqua?

The movement roared into the 20th century, but lost steam by the 1930s as radio, movies, then later TV pushed it aside.  How more so has the mass media in the 21st century crowded out deep and personal discussions where we have in addition to radio, TV, movies, all of the modern marvels of the 24/7 cable news cycle, internet, various types social media, various gadgets such as smart phones, iPads, etc.

As Pirsig rues in his "Chautauqua "  - though the stream of information runs broader and faster, it doesn't seem to run very deep.

Prequel to Chautauqua

Let's go back to the world's best seller of all times - the Bible, which records an earlier form of Chautauqua.

The Law of Moses prescribed a day off for rest (Exodus 20:8-11) offering an opportunity to slow down from the tyranny of the immediate and meditate on the spiritual and deeper meaning of life.  And this tradition has been Christianized and carried on well into the 20th century as many denominations have set aside Sundays as the "Lord's Day" for worship and spiritual reflection.  In the past, most businesses were closed.  People slowed down - at least for a day - to be with family and rest from their usual labors.

Yet our fast paced 21st century sophistication can be likened to St. Paul's encounter in Athens with the intelligentsia of the first century, who hung out with itching ears to hear the latest things. (Acts 17:16-34)

What's new? 

The philosophers wanted to know when they heard of Paul's preaching of some new foreign gods. And Paul told them ....

What's best!

He declared unto them the Unknown God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and preached the Gospel. Then the listeners scoffed when they heard of the resurrection. They were already jaded and ready to move on to the next new thing - but not the best thing.

Resurrection of Chautauqua

In spite of our fickleness and appetite for instant gratification, the Chautauqua movement lives on in the place it all began. Here is their website for talks in this fast and fickle 21st century - Chautauqua Institution.  Below is a short video about the movement that has carried on for more than 135 years.



21st century vitual Chautauqua

Though many may not visit the Chautauqua Institution, we have the tools to create right one where we are at. The internet can be a magnificent tool when the keyboard meets the hands of those with a heart ready for learning.

Access to the internet can be one of the greatest tools for democratization on the planet.  We can search for the best teachers who put themselves out there in cyberspace. Websites, blogs, social media can draw us into the discussion like many of these topics discussed in the original Chautauqua movement and so many more topics opened up in this amazing age.

How broad, wide, and deep we wish to go? What do we wish to learn? It's up to us. And that can be a challenging, yet magnificent thing.

Question:  What sites are a source for your private Chautauqua?


More articles in this series:

ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

ZAMM (part 2) - Journey through Life



Photo from Wikipedia: Chautauqua Stamp

September 11, 2001 - A Survivor's Faith

September 11, 2001.

Has it been 10 years?

Remember those images?

And many of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the news of these terrorist attacks on American soil. That day in 2001 was as shocking to us baby boomers as when some of us had heard that President Kennedy had been shot in 1963. Or that morning when the space shuttle Challenger had exploded in 1985.

That day - September 11, 2001 - and following ...

American flags went up everywhere in my neighborhood.  One of the most famous images - Raising of the Flag at Ground Zero - appeared in all types of media. Politics as usual took a holiday as Democrats and Republicans seemed united for a change. The scheduled blood drive in my area for September 13 was so flush of volunteers that the attendants had to turn people away. We - the people - were all pulling together to get through this.

Prayer services ...

Back in 2001 ...
 
Houses of worship filled up in the following days. In New York City at citywide prayer service at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001, Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivered the following message: Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani, 107th Mayor. (For the full service, check out - New York City Prayer Service - C-SPAN Video Library.)
 
Tributes and prayers were offered around the world: World reaction to 9/11  In London, England, the Archbishop of Canterbury at St. Paul's Cathedral held a memorial service, attended by the Royal Family: Battle Hymn of the Republic - London 2001

And now in 2011 ...

On this 10th anniversary, there will be many prayer services throughout the country - such as this one at the Washington National Cathedral: A Call for Compassion. One church in New York City, planted two blocks from Ground Zero shortly after the 9/11 attacks, will participate in a live webcast with the Saddleback Church on the West Coast: Rick Warren: 9/11 National Prayer Day Planned 2 Blocks From Ground Zero

Yet, no clergy or formal prayers will be allowed at Ground Zero ...

As of date of this post, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not allow any clergy to offer formal prayers at the 10th anniversary of September 11. The mayor's spokesperson gave the rationale that the focus will be on the families of the thousands who have died.

Many have expressed dismay at such a decision as in this CNN article: 9/11 Ceremony won't include clergy or formal prayers. Though many have blogged about it and expressed their outrage, none of us can see the mayor's heart and discern his inner motives.  Yet, the fiat's of a mayor cannot suppress the expression of faith, especially those who have survived this attack.

Grace abounded and still abounds at Ground Zero

Here is a story of one of the survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center - the Dawn Robinson Story. It is one of faith and prayer and triumph.

Through the Eyes of a Survivor:

Part 1



Part 2



Dawn Robinson's story demonstrates how the urgency of immediate deadlines can quickly become irrelevant when suddenly faced with eternity.

We all are only here a short time, even if we live a natural life and die from old age.  Even Moses, who lived well over 100 years, thought so.  After wandering 40 years in the wilderness, seeing his generation pass away, Moses reflected on his experience with this perspective of human mortality:

¹⁰ The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

¹¹ Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

¹² So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalm 90 (King James Version)

This Septemeber 11th -

May we never forget.

May we keep the faith.

Related posts:

from 2010: Dancing on Top of the World Trade Center

from 2009: One Tuesday in September, eight years ago ...

Photo from Wiki-Commons: National Park Service 9-11 Statue of Liberty and WTC fire

ZAMM (part 2) - Journey through Life

Part 2 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM)

Remember board games? Long before computers, video games, etc. You may remember this one ...

The Game of Life

The Game of Life was invented in the 19th century by Milton Bradley.  A hundred years later, TV personality Art Linkletter became its spokesman in the 1960s and helped to make the game popular, again. (It was one of my favorites when I was a kid.)

In this 3 D board game, all the participants start out on a level playing field - one tiny plastic car inserted with one man (a blue peg) or woman (a pink peg). The car and its occupants (spouse, kids picked up along the way) jump along the wiggly line of squares on the board, following a path of twists and turns until you come to the end of road.

Along this Life's journey,the spin of the wheel and a few choices determines your career and salary, the inevitability of getting married, and possible expansion of the family. You go through good times with windfalls of cash. And there's the bad times of negative cash flow - taxes, payoffs to a fellow player who is wreaking revenge on you, helping a relative down on his luck.

Life reaches its climax at the Day of Reckoning. In the end, you will give an accounting of your worldly goods. Do you have enough cash to win? If not,you may opt to go for broke - putting all your assets on the wheel and giving it a spin. If fate has it and your number come up,you win the game. Hooray!  If not, you end up on the poor farm waiting for the others in the game to finish. In that case, the most fortunate - with piles of cash - retire to Millionaire's Acres.



End game?

In this version of Life, the end game is the one with the most money wins.  (That's if he/she doesn't get lucky at the spin of the wheel - kind of like winning the lottery.)  And I saw a bumper sticker expressing this world view once: The one who dies with the most toys wins.

But what does the Good Book say? To paraphrase Job - You can't take it with you. (reference Job 1:20-21)

The Journey of Life

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance describes a journey. The author, Robert Pirsig, with his son (and another couple who travel with them part of the way) embark on a trip riding motorcycles, starting in Minnesota. Their odyssey takes them through the badlands of the Dakotas, the varied landscapes of Montana and Idaho, and down the West Coast - many times on the road less traveled.

The experience of the motorcycle allows them to connect with their environment otherwise missed in the artificial bubble of a car. These travelers sense changes in the landscape and climate as well as the attitude of the people about them.

During this journey, the author has flashbacks of his old life, the one in which he went insane. His former self had been erased in a mental institution -- almost. From this background he tells his story - his journey and lessons he has learned and observed on the rocky road of his search for the meaning of values ... and even grasping for an attribute of the Divine perhaps?

Good News for our journey

Many philosophers describe life as a journey, like Robert Pirsig in his watershed book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  Is the accumulation of material goods all there is?  Where are we?  Where have we been?  Where are we going? 

Yet, we are not totally left without a compass. The Real Game of Life comes with a Divine road map. Here is a sampling of the squares we may land on as mapped out by the Good Book.

Start of our journey:    We are all born into this imperfect world.

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:7 (King James Version)

First leg of the journey:    During childhood, the development of our talents may need guidance and encouragement.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 (King James Version)

New territory:    We need a GPS from above to guide us, especially when we are young and starting out life outside the home.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 (King James Version)

Warnings:    We need to discern the dangers in the road, ahead.

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Proverbs 1:10 (King James Version)

Alternate route:    Some of us may choose to get married and not go through our journey alone.

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Proverbs 18:22 (King James Version)

End of the road:    Near the end of life, we need assurance.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 (King James Version)

Exit sign and off-ramp:  The final exit comes when we leave the road of this life and step into eternity.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23:6 (King James Version)


Travel log:  It is being written in our lives every second.  Many have shared their experiences to  guide others on their journey in the real game of life.  Many have blogged about it and offered wonderful advice.  May the travel logs of others, who have mapped their way, help us to make wise choices along our path and avoid the dangers in the road ahead.

Question:  Any words of wisdom learned from your life's journey?


Check out:  ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance


Photo: everystockphoto.com:  The Game of Life

eReaders (Part 3) - PDFs cute and EZ

 

Most anyone who regularly uses the computer and peruses various types of files must have encountered documents in the PDF format.

And you need a special reader, such as an Adobe Reader, to look at it.

The PDF contents - text, graphics, format - display much like a picture on your screen.

Compared with other formats - various word docs (PC or mac), rich texts, plain texts, xml, html, etc. - the PDF has its good points ... and also has its ... erm ... features.

The upside of PDFs

raison d'etre

PDFs - Portable Document Formats - were a standard created so that the content of a file could be displayed in a form that would look the same regardless of its medium.

This solution has worked for various platforms and browsers - which can seem fickle when they display non-PDF material on the monitor. Likewise, for printers that can go rogue, PDF inputs deliver the expected output on the printed page.   What you see is what you get.

One of the features of eReaders - such as Kindle and Nook, as well as others - is the ability to download and display documents in the ubiquitous PDF format.  I have downloaded many articles and books as PDFs and have enjoyed the convenience of reading them at my leisure on my Nook. But PDFs have not been without their problems.

The downside of PDFs

It's always something!

Generally, PDFs are not as easy to handle on my Nook as the ePub format. Especially if they are big files.  Some of my downloaded PDFs are downright nasty.   Though they display their goodies on my PC, these PDFs deliver nothing but big X's (instead of the text and pictures) when side loaded on my Nook.

What to do?

I did two things.  I googled the problem for answers, and I also called a friend with a Nook.

Googling

Google is so handy for picking the shared memory of the internet. Other have been there, done that. And they are more than happy to tell the cyber world all about it.  As a result of googling, I came to some forums of those who had the same PDF problem. They had a cute solution. Literally.

CutePDF

There really is a free program - CutePDF. (Here is one place I found it: CutePDF Writer.) What is required is a Windows application that is able to print.  Well, I had those things.  So I downloaded the freeware and gave this cute solution a try. 

After the installation of CutePDF on my windows based PC, here are the steps I did to convert my problem PDF files:

* Select the problem PDF file
* Print the file, but choose the printer output - CutePDF Writer, which will result in some messages during the conversion that the file is being flattened. (If it is a large file, the conversion may take some time.)
* A "Save As" dialog box pops up allowing to save the CutePDF output to a filename of choice and location on the desktop
* Use this CutePDF as the import to the Nook

When the deed was done, I side loaded the converted PDF to my Nook -  voila!

I could see the goods.  Best of all this cute solution was free.

As for my second solution ....

I called a friend

My friend said it was EZ - literally.

And there was an app for that :

ezPDF

(Here is some info: ezPDF Reader)

For my Nook, I purchased the ezPDF Reader through my Barnes and Noble account. The store delivered the app to my Nook, like any eBook I had purchased through them. The app cost at the time $.99, but was worth every 99 pennies - plus tax.

This video describes ezPDF app quite well:



Now, I can open any PDF on my Nook that I have tried so far, even the offending PDFs. The app works well and has a page turning feature among others described in the video above that are not provided by cutePDF.

Downside, it's not free (but close to it - a plus).  And I have to open up the ezPDF app first, then look for my specific PDF file to read the document with ezPDF.

Otherwise, the ezPDF app does provide tools, which are similar to those that work on ePubs.  And I'm sure future apps will get even better.

Question:  Any advice in managing your PDFs on your eReaders?

photo form everystockphoto.com: eReader Comparison

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact

Since I was kid, I have loved science and was fascinated by good science fiction stories.

1960s
 
In early grade school, my first love was  Fireball XL5 during the age of the Space Race. Venus, the woman doctor and romantic interest of pilot Steve Zodiac, was my role model.

Then, as I approached junior high, along came Star Trek.  In the original series, the men were men (if they were not space aliens) and women wore very, very short skorts.  (Hey, this was the 1960s.)  And Mr. Spock was far-out, in many ways.

1970s .... 1980s
 
My college years, though, left little time for TV and little money for movies.  But during this time, the first of the Star Wars movies made its debut in 1977. And there were the endless reruns of the original Star Trek, followed by the first of many Star Trek movies.  And don't get me started on Star Trek - the Next Generation and its many other incarnations and movie sequels ....

1990s
 
Then came the 1990s, the other turn of the century.  The year 1997 was memorable in science fiction. Carl Sagan's book Contact was made into a movie. Though the movie deviated some from the book, the story on the big screen still told a good yarn and brought forth the long running discussion of science versus faith.

Hams make Contact?

The opening scene of Contact was awesome.   We (especially hams) never know where our electromagnetic emissions will end up as they spread out across the universe. In the final seconds of the clip below, ham radio sparked the love of science and exploration in a little girl.



Those familiar with the movie know that this little girl would grow up to become Dr. Ellie Arroway, the protagonist of the story.  And she was a ham.  Another role model,

21st Century?

Now, we live in an age dominated by the Internet, cell phones, and numerous gadgets that tap into cyberspace.  Ham radio may seem so last millennium. But as we have seen in the news, systems get hacked, systems go down.  Meanwhile, amateur radio communications still work in spite of attacks or disasters.  Ham radio is not only a fun hobby, but a skill that can be so important to communicate with each other during emergencies when our higher tech systems fail.

Hams - the Next Generation

Like in the story of Ellie Arroway, hams need to continue to inspire children to love science and explore.  Not only that, ham skills need to be passed on to -  Hams - the Next Generation.

Who knows?  Hams may be sorely needed during troubled days and the next big national emergency.

Question:  Any movies or shows inspire you to pursue your hobby?
 
Photo from Wiki Commons:  Very Large Array

ZAMM (part 1) - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Kulturbarer.

Robert Pirsig used this word to describe Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  After 121 rejections, an editor was willing to take a chance on it.  Pirsig's book was first published in 1974 and it quickly and unexpectedly became a best seller - and it still is.

This Swedish word kulturbarer translates as "culture bearer."  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a culture-bearing book in the 20th century much in the way Uncle Tom's Cabin was a culture bearer for the 19th century.

 In my blogger profile, I have listed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance  - next the Bible - as one of my favorite books of all time.   This book has given me the tools to see the universe through a different filter of the mind.  Pirsig relates some difficult philosophies in the form of a story - which makes these concepts easier for the reader to digest and ruminate upon.

Written in the 1970s, the book came out when our culture was in flux. The Vietnam War came to an ignoble end; the counter culture of the 1960s was giving way to disillusionment; the first of many energy crises hit the country; Watergate lead to the only resignation of one of our presidents.  The ugly Gotham of the 20th century left many - perhaps as expressed by the counter culture - feeling disconnected.  Our values as a society and the certainty of our vision of the universe had been shaken.

Like orthodox Christians believe God is a Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Ghost -  so we humans are also trinity - body, mind, spirit.   And the title of this book captures the essence of a trinity as well.

Zen - the spiritual aspect, the caring about what we are doing
Art - the romantic, the artistic, the craftsmanship
Motorcycle Maintenance - the technology, the logical, the hard science

All three are connected in the totality of our being - who we are, what we are doing, and how we are going about life.

Below is a book review uploaded by AtlasRider on YouTube - given while riding - most appropriately - a motorcycle.



But this short review does not do the work justice.


In following posts about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I'll call ZAMM for short), I plan to expand the discussion into the 21st century.

Question:  Have you read the book?  If so, any thoughts?

Photo from Barnes & Noble:   Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

eReaders (Part 2) - Calibre

Before I settled on a dedicated eReader, I had read eBooks exclusively from my laptop.

It was fine when I was home at my computer, but my laptop wasn't always easy or convenient to take with me, even in different parts of the house. (Which is why I bought the Nook.)

The 21st century has brought us many technological wonders, especially in the media and its various presentations of written material.

As for computer displays, its various software, browsers, operating systems, etc. dictate how the material looks to the consumer and it isn't always consistent.  This "feature" has prompted many clever solutions.

Formats, formats, formats ....

PDFs
 
PDFs (portable document formats) have been a solution for a long time.

Upsides:

* PDFs are totally consistent in displaying the format.
* Also, one of the positives it that many PDF readers are free - such as the Adobe Reader Xs - and the software can be easily downloaded.

Downsides: 

*  PDFs can be less flexible in resizing.
*  The material is difficult or impossible to reorganize to the reader's desires.

The consistency, the universal availability of readers makes for the popular PDF format.

 

Other eReader formats

Speaking of free stuff ...

Major eBook retailers allow free download of their software to entice you to read and hopefully buy their wares.

Here are some examples big ones:

* Amazon - Kindle for PC

* Barnes & Noble - nook for PC

* Mobipocket - Mobipocker Reader

And this does not begin to cover the many ePub (electronic publication) formats that are out there - some eReaders for sale, some for free.

With all these different formats, a librarian would be handy to manage this new media.
 
So enter ....

Calibre

A friend had recommended Calibre - a free software reading system - which allows me to manage, convert, and load files onto my eReader of choice (NOOK).  For its website and download information on Calibre - click here.
  
I've downloaded Calibre and used it many times for such tasks as ...
 
* Managing the PDFs and ePubs I've downloaded on my PC
* Converting various formats to ePub, PDF, or format of my choice, which it supports
* Using the Calibre eReader for easy viewing of various works
* Editing the metadata about the author(s), publisher(s), and related information of the works
* Side loading files to my Nook, while keeping the works on my PC
* Exercising the option to load eBooks I've purchased onto Calibre

The demo on the link explains it quite well: Demo

I am pleased at this solution, which allows me to read the books, articles, files of various formats and export them to Nook.

It's about choice.

And best of all ... it's free.

 
Question: Have you tried this? If so, what do you think?


Photo from: Calibre