Paul Simon performs for home town crowd

Dan writes:
Paul Simon is one of my all-time favorite musical artists, from the folky early days of Simon & Garfunkel through Rhymin' Simon, Graceland and beyond. A lot of that has to do with my appreciation of a well-turned lyrical phrase, at which Simon excels.

I'd never had the chance to see him perform live, however, until he conveniently scheduled a concert near me (in Newark), at a time when I could get there (a Sunday evening), and put the tickets on sale at just the right time (for Julie to buy them as a present for my birthday).

So on Sunday night, Julie and I got to enjoy An Evening with Paul Simon in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's beautiful concert hall. Backed by an eight-piece band, he played selections from just about every phase of his career, from "Sounds of Silence" and "The Boxer" to "Dazzling Blue" and other songs from his latest album, "So Beautiful or So What."

Here I've strung together a few video clips I took, straining the capability of my pocket digital camera. The spotlight on Simon washed out his face except when I used the digital zoom for extreme close-ups, which then look grainy. And I only shot parts of a few songs, so these aren't necessarily the top highlights. But if you're a fan of the now-70-year-old Simon, you may enjoy seeing and hearing him perform some of his most familiar tunes.



At one point in the show, Simon explained that his reggae-influenced "Mother and Child Reunion" was inspired by a Jimmy Cliff song about a mother's son killed in Vietnam. He then introduced Cliff, who performed that song, harmonized with Simon on "Mother and Child Reunion" and sang his own hit, "The Harder They Come."

Jimmy Cliff, at right, sings "The Harder They Come"

It was amusing to watch members of the audience - mostly young guys and gals around our age - bouncing in their seats and singing and clapping along.

Book review: Fun with numbers

Hugh wrote this book review for the monthly newspaper of the Oak Crest community in Maryland:

If math was a favorite subject in school, you will love "Here’s Looking at Euclid" by Alex Bellos. Even if you remember your school math as a reincarnation of some medieval torture, there are still things in it you will like.

From Simon & Schuster

Bellos is a British journalist with a math degree from Oxford, so he knows his subject and writes about it in an easy-to-read style. The book is a history of mathematics, and the author has traveled extensively to research contributions to the subject by historical figures as well as to interview contemporary experts.

The chapters are roughly in chronological order, starting with the original number concepts of the human race. We learn about a tribe in the Amazon whose number perception consists of one, two, three, four-ish, and many; and a professor at Cornell who had trouble visualizing a hyperbolic plane, so she created one by crocheting it!

As the author says in the preface, you do not have to read all of the chapters, because each stands on its own. Even if you do not care about hyperbolic planes, or that pi had been carried out to 2.7 trillion decimal places by 2009, you might want to check out chapter six, “Playtime,” where you can learn about math puzzles, magic tricks, and games including Sudoku and Rubik’s Cube. If you are an artist, try chapter eight, “Gold Finger” to learn about the golden mean and the Fibonacci sequence and how they relate to the things you paint. If you ever play the slot machines, you should read chapter nine, “Chance is a fine Thing.” It probably won’t help you to win, but it will help you to understand the odds.

Even if you think math is boring, try "Here’s Looking at Euclid." It might change your mind.

Book reviews by Hugh: 'The Scarecrow' and 'Roadside Crosses'

Hugh writes:
For recreational reading, I am attracted to various authors with crime solving main characters. Among others, I like Stuart Wood’s characters Stone Barrington and Holly Barker, Harlen Coben’s Myron Bolitar and his irrepressible sidekick Win, Michael Connelly’s detective Harry Bosh, John Standford’s Lucas Devenport, James Patterson’s Alex Cross, and of course Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall.

I have just read two recent books of the genre with plots relating to computers and the internet: "The Scarecrow" and "Roadside Crosses."

Click the "Continue reading..." link below to see Hugh's reviews.

Wise words about science and faith

"Both religion and science seek an understanding of the universe and our place in it, but from different perspectives. ... Properly pursued, the two fields are complementary, neither antagonistic nor mutually exclusive."

Those words from the introduction sum up the essential point of "Science and Faith: Partners in the Search for Truth," in which our own chemist and scholar debunks the idea that science and religion are incompatible rivals.

As a student of both fields, Daniel explains in very common-sense fashion how each has its limits but how together they can give us a fuller understanding of the world we live in.

In his writing, Daniel shares both his strong faith and his enthusiasm for the pursuit of knowledge.

The book, published this spring, is available from Amazon.com. Clicking the image here will take you to its page at Amazon, where you can also read the first few pages.

Recommended reading: Story of the Nez Perce

Hugh has written us a review of "The Last Indian War — The Nez Perce Story," by Elliot West, published earlier this year by Oxford University Press.

The nation that called themselves Nimiipuu (“the real people”) were named Nez Perce by the French traders that first encountered them. Their homeland encompassed what today is northeastern Oregon, southeastern Washington and most of north central Idaho. West describes the circumstances that triggered confrontations with white settlers and the U.S. Army, the migration of the Nez Perce, their battles with the U.S. Army and the plight of the Nez Perce after the surrender of Chief Joseph in October 1877.

Read Hugh's full review and find out more about the book.

Shanna's review: Britney's Circus

Shanna writes:
Mom and I went to the Britney Spears concert on March 11th at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. The show began with The Pussycat Dolls performing several of their songs. After they had finished, there was a 20 minute break or so before the "Circus" began.

At about 9 PM, several different types of circus performers took the stage. There were acrobats, martial artists, clowns, and so much more. My personal favorite act had two men holding a thin board in the air. A woman then balanced on the board, jumping into the air doing flips and and twists. She landed back on that thin board every single time. It was pretty cool.

Before we knew it, It was time for Britney to take the stage! Of course, everything Britney does, she does big. In true Britney fashion, she did not just walk onto the stage but was instead lowered from the ceiling into the center ring of the 3 ring circus stage.

Slideshow of photos from the Circus concert


I believe that this was my fifth Britney concert, and just like all the others, a Britney Spears concert is more than just singing and dancing on stage, it is a production. Something was always happening on stage. If Britney wasn't in the air, circling the main stage in a giant picture frame, she was sitting in a giant umbrella high above the center ring. At one point, a magician even put her in a box and sawed Britney in half.

Britney sang many of her hits, including "I'm a Slave for You" and "Baby One More Time." However the majority of the songs were from her past two albums entitled "Circus" and "Blackout." She was on stage for about 90 minutes of endless dancing, signing, pyrotechnics and circus tricks. To put it simply, Britney's concerts always exceeded my expectations and this one was no exception.

R puters making us dummerer?

Hugh writes about The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein. Here's an excerpt from his review:

While my father often told me he remembered seeing his first automobile, I remember seeing my first jet plane, television set, desktop computer, cell phone, and countless other modern devices. Science has handed us more gadgets and devices in the last 100 years than in all previous human history, and the exponential pace of development is not abating.

If Mark Bauerlein is correct, the young people he identifies as “The Millenials,” those born between 1980 and 2000, have carried the process so far that they do not see the need to learn anything from the past.

Bauerlein’s primary thesis is that the media and digital revolution touted as a great boom to education has not fulfilled the promise, and, in fact, has stifled important learning from books, magazines, newspapers and other hard copy sources.

Read Hugh's full review.

Still flying after all these years

Some 36 years after the band formed in California, the Eagles are currently on tour, presenting a three-hour show that includes selections from their new album Long Road Out of Eden and many of their greatest hits.

Dan and Julie went to the show at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday May 24.

Read Dan's review.

Steph & Chris see both sides of pop star

Cathy writes on Jan. 16, 2008--

Chris & Steph say "It was fun!" I think I would have to agree. After it seemed they would be unattainable, I did manage to obtain much coveted Hannah Montana tickets. I had signed up Stephanie for her fanclub and got the inside scoop through them about how and when to buy tickets. As part of their Christmas present, I ventured with them to Baltimore Jan. 8 to see the greatly anticipated concert.

Read Cathy's full story/review - with photos