Author: Michael J. A. Howe

Rating: 4/5

Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… suggests that genius is not a mysterious and mystical gift but the product of a combination of environment, personality, and sheer hard work. …’

Comments: Even though the author brushes off counter arguments or options too easily, his own comments  and explanations for genius are well presented and in-depth. I might not have agreed totally with those ideas, but now I appreciate the value of training and continuous study. After 1000 hours of study by anyone on any given subject means they are bound to improve. If they manage to reach 20,000 or even just 10,000 hours of study, they are likely to be in an elite class in that subject. Overall Genius Explained is a good book to read, even if the tone is slightly professor-ish.

- A fable about inspiring creativity and bringing new ideas to life -

Author: Jonathon A. Flaum Illustrations: Raina Bays

Rating: 4/5

Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… presents this beautiful and unique fable as a spring board to unlocking creativity and innovation in the workplace. …’

Comments: A well presented, concise, intelligent book in business management. It lost a rating point only because it was too short, the first fifty pages are mostly empty space with a few words telling the fable. On a side note maybe the term ‘middle way’ is over-used like a buzzword by people. The middle way is not always the right answer if you can pre-select the endpoints, stretching them farther out as needed, to rationalize the eventual middle-way centre choice you really wanted all along. Overall, how the paper fish learned to swim is a straightforward and helpful business management book worth reading.

Lyoto Machida loses to Mauricio Rua

I’m glad Mauricio won, but it didn’t look like Lyoto was at the top of his game. I would rather see a fast powerful Mauricio Rua win against a fast counter-striker Lyoto Machida, instead of this one sided knock-out.

Josh Koscheck beats Paul Daley

Josh Koscheck faked a head strike injury and then used boring wrestler hug-and-hold attacks to gain points and win the fight. He is not a fan favorite for good reason. Even so… Paul Daley did a weird punch attack after the fight was over. The UFC will probably have to make an example of him to save face with all the political associations. Maybe an after the bell punch gets a worse punishment than testing positive for steroids.

Kimbo Slice loses to Matt Mitrione

A good fight, but Kimbo Slice is still a bit of a let-down. It would be cooler for him to get knocked out instead of laying down tired turtling and hiding from punches. Matt Mitrione did pretty good. I’ll cheer for him in his next fight.

Overall UFC 113 was alright. Some of the other undercard fights, that I didn’t have a favorite on, were good enough fights to carry the show. It is a nice move for the UFC to broadcast a better undercard fight right after the mediocre main event. (No fault of Mauricio Rua.) Coming soon, I am already psyched for UFC 114 with Rampage’s return.

Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio Rua

The UFC has some troubles right with champs who don’t quite entertain the crowd. Lyoto is one of those champs. He deserves to win and gets enough judge points, but is sometime painfully boring to watch. Mauricio is entertaining, powerful, and fast. I am cheering for Mauricio Rua in this match.

Josh Koscheck vs Paul Daley

Paul Daley is a knock-out striker on a hot streak. It doesn’t get any better than that in the UFC. Go Paul. Josh Koscheck is great, but has has already had his couple of champ shots and didn’t quite make it. Let the rising star Paul Daley get this win.

Kimbo Slice vs Matt Mitrione

Un-related to how technically great Kimbo is… I will always watch his fights. I want him to win three in a row and unfairly jump straight to a Brock Lesnar match.

Overl UFC 113 looks pretty good. Quite a few other undercard fights look good, but I don’t really have favorites to win.

Author: Sylvia Browne

Rating: 3/5

Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… Sylvia augments current scientific research to provide us with detailed explanations about seemingly inexplicable concepts. …’

Comments: I usually enjoy Sylvia Browne books, but this one is just too short and choppy. It reads like tiny blog postings covering random interesting topics. Maybe she could have covered half or as many topics with double the commentary? Her ideas are interesting, but I don’t think they quite augment current scientific research as described inside the cover. Overall I am still a fan of Sylvia Browne, and I will search for more of her books, but I am not a fan of this particular book.

- and other Zen Koans to bring you joy -

Author: John Tarrants

Rating: 5/5

Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… This book deftly retells fourteen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. …’

Comments: Great book. Koans, commentaries, and side stories are all presented very well. It reads some-how like comfort food and not at all preachy. I picked one koan to think over. I will look definitely for more books by John Tarrants, possibly his The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life. Even if I don’t resolve my koan within the next year I will still keep this book with the maximum 5/5 rating.