Category: Review

January 15, 2026 – Good Things

January 15, 2026 /

Good Things by Samin Nosrat is the January selection of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. I have to admit that I groaned slightly on the inside when it was decided that this was the book that we were going to pursue. I guess for me I much more enjoy culinary fiction more so than another cookbook. I also kind of get a little of worn out of celebrity cooking personalities that put out cookbooks frequently

Several years ago, we covered Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. In fact, we did a month on each subject. I have to say that if there was one thing I took away from that was to salt beef early. But, I really did not put too much stock in the book. We also watched the Netflix series. But, after reading this book, I wonder if I got it all wrong.

Yes, I would call Nosrat a celebrity chef. I have seen her on Anthony Bordain’s No Reservations as well as well as other places. That being said, I do not see her putting out content like The Pioneer Woman, Bobby Flay or Emeril. This is her first book that she has published since Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. When starting this book, she admits that this is a very different book in that her first one was all about how to create something using what she calls the key elements with no recipes. Now that you have all of the tools you should need to be successful, this seems counterintuitive.

This one starts off with building some fundamental sauces or condiments or what have you. It then moves into techniques for cooking ingredients and then you would layer those sauces into the recipes. This book builds on dishes using a matrix. So, you can pick one or two or three vegetables that you have and then the sauce and a few sprinkles or spritzes and you have a finished product.

It is kind of a ground up approach or a reverse recipe. While most recipes show a picture and then a list of ingredients to make it, this book starts with an ingredient and then it provides three to ten recipes that can be made with that ingredient. Typically, you kind of look a category and then try to pick something that is appealing or read to see if you have everything. Whereas this book, you pick a vegetable and see what options you have to make something appealing.

This is the way that I cook and I suspect that this is the way many of us approach meals, especially for people with gardens or deep pantries. “I have a lot of such and such, what can I do with it”? It is so revolutionary, that it made me consider going back to Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat because I suspect that I missed the significance of it.

If there is one knock on the book to me, it is that I feel like the book uses a lot of semi-exotic ingredients. Nosrat is middle eastern born and it highly influenced her cooking. As an example I don’t know where I would find a Persian cucumber or labna. I would say that if you are going to use this book then it behooves you to do some research on sourcing middle eastern ingredients. The beauty of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat would be using whatever cucumber you can find.

I will also admit that I haven’t done much cooking from the book either. Part of it is because I have not finished reading it as of the time of writing. I have gotten through 75% which I feel qualifies me to be able to comment at this point. I am also somewhat dubious of grocery store produce and so things like eggplant need to wait until a better time of the year. I did broil some cauliflower the other night because I was feeling the pull of Nosrat.

In my opinion, this isn’t the first cookbook you should buy. I feel like this cookbook is for someone that already has some skills and desires to learn more. From there, you can really elevate things with the knowledge that Nosrat can impart. But, it is not too bad either. I suspect that if you knew nothing, you might come away wondering why they all are not organized this way.

End Your Programming Routine: Before Christmas, my son sent me a picture from Barnes and Noble. Good Things was the 2025 gift book of the year. He knew that it was on my bookshelf to read. It very well could be, it is that good.

January 9, 2026 – Mere Christianity, Book Four: Chapters 7-11

January 9, 2026 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

This section concludes “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. Next week I will do a complete review of the book per my usual methodologies. I also want to introduce that the next book is going to be “Then Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle if you want to get a jump start on reading that book. I am doing my best to keep up considering all of my free time is directed toward packing and moving.

In case you weren’t reading along, below is a one bullet summary of each chapter.

  • The Lords Prayer is to be spoken by the son of god.
  • Following Christian rules is not good enough because we will never be able to execute perfectly. Only once we accept that will Christianity work and we will be on our way to perfection.
  • People would prefer to be good enough rather than perfect. Perfect is only achieved through strict adherence to Christianity, see above.
  • If Christians are supposed to be nice than why aren’t all equally perceived as that? Think of where they would be without Christianity. All traits are gifts regardless of believer status or not.
  • Evolution can only take us so far and it is God’s plan to evolve us into better humans

The thing that I found interesting in this week’s reading was Lewis’ argument using evolution. In fact, I find Christianity’s general stance on evolution just plain wrong. It seems like it has been positioned so that you can only be on one side or the other. While I absolutely do not believe that humanity came from an amoeba or something, I see no reason why all life has not adapted to the environment. We even apply the same principles to livestock, pets and food with selective breeding. We even see the results in our lifetime.

The fact that Lewis acknowledges evolution at all seems novel. Not only that, by his writing he has accepted evolution as scientifically viable and uses it in a debate about Christianity is certainly unique. The idea that if we pick a point in time and think about evolution was an astute point. His point was that if we were guessing what evolution would lead to in dinosaur times is bigger, stronger and better dinosaurs. Nobody saw that the brain would be the better weapon then claws and spikes.

Lewis is a proponent of humanity evolving more toward godliness. I think my view is a little myopic but it seems like it is a hard stretch to say the Hitler is an evolution of Ceaser. I am more than sure that Ceaser was racist as he was brutal, making him and Hitler pretty much on par, just with different body counts and abilities to execute their vision at scale. The difference I see is that Ceaser was a product of his culture which was universally racist and brutal where as Hitler rose to that position.

I think that if we buy the evolution argument, it didn’t start at the birth of Christ. It should have started with creation. As a matter of fact, we started with near perfect beings that were of God. All the Moses, Solomon, David or pick your old testament hero had some character faults as we all do. But my point is that we should be much closer to the evolvement into Godly beings and I just don’t see it.

Another point that I mostly agree with was Lewis’ evolution of species argument. I think where this works is the time frame of the human life. He states that no matter low long we wait, a field of grass will not evolve into a field of wheat. The only way to get wheat is to plow up the field to start over. The point being is that we need to make drastic changes when we want drastic results.

My problem with that argument is the actual comparison. I think a more effective argument would have been you can’t get wheat from an apple orchard. Because both grass and wheat are grasses and I suspect that they diverged from one another at some long, distant point. But, the message is still clear and said by Einstein in a little more effective way. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.”

End Your Programming Routine: Many of those other points I didn’t talk about today are standard Christian doctrine. Maybe if you are Atheist or Agnostic then discussing those items might do more than the impact on me. However, subverting a dyed in the wool non-Christian argument to support your argument is brilliant. Finding common ground is a surefire way to persuade someone to your argument.

January 2, 2026 – Mere Christianity, Book Four: Chapters 1-6

January 2, 2026 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

I think I am on the wagon again. Maybe it is just that the holidays have actually provided a little bit of downtime and so I have been able to find a little time to read. That being said, I only have twelve more chapters to go. I am going to do my darndest to see this book through, in successive weeks. This week makes six out of twelve, so only one more week to go.

So far, I admire Lewis’ attempt to do something that has seemingly been impossible over 2000 years of history. That would be make a logical argument for the existence of God. Although I am already a believer, I cannot say that this book would have done it for me, yet. This section might tip the scales one way or the other. What I can say is that theology from an Anglican point of view probably won’t get it done.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to throw a super quick summary of this week. Once again, this is a chapter per bullet Point.

  • Introduction to Lewis’ take on theology
  • The terms Bios – earthly life and Zoe – spiritual life
  • Lewis chooses the idea of predestination over free will
  • An introduction to the trinity – father, son and holy ghost
  • Jesus is of God, man is from god.
  • Salvation takes work. This is on purpose given that god could have created a perfect species, like Jesus.

I grew up going to church in a moderate, protestant denomination. In contrast, the Anglican church is a highly nuanced slice off of Catholism. This means that there are some relatively significant differences in Theology between the Christian belief poles of Catholics and Protestants. I would say now I lean toward more evangelical Protestantism which is probably even more different. One of those beliefs is in the trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Conservative sects treat each one of the trinity as individual units whereas the contemporary Protestants consider them one and the same.

I would say that is not worth going to battle over. But it is illustrative of something that is so fundamental in one interpretive of Christianity. For that reason, it is going to be difficult for a non-Anglican to take theology from an Anglican.

My family on my mom’s side is French. My grandfather was the son of two French immigrants. That makes me one quarter if you are doing the math. But the point being is that he was a dyed in the wool Catholic, church every Sunday no matter where you at. He even refused communion for almost forty years because of his divorce. I took a church official in Europe to re-instate him.

My mom has explained that the family felt that attending church was punitive growing up. It didn’t mean that she didn’t believe, it meant that she wanted to go about it in a different way. For that reason, she got caught up in the early 1970s crusader movement of the likes of Billy Graham. That is when she moved from Catholism to Protestantism. It never struck my Grandfather well as leaving the one and true religion. In fact, when I introduced my girlfriend as of Mexican descendance, he was over joyed that we might come back into the fold. He kept giving me Catholic publications to read and get educated. Sadly for him, her family also switched to Protestantism in the same time frame.

This is no slight at Catholism. I have a ton of respect for what the church continues to do for society, I just don’t quite go along with all of their beliefs. I would also be remissed to say that this is an organization that is made of people and has done a ton of bad things as well. That doesn’t take away from the potential to do good by acknowledging bad and working to be better. That is true Christianity.

All those words above are to say the it is difficult to take theology from only one perspective, especially one that I am already not totally jiggy with. Again, I should reiterate that Anglican is not Catholic, but it is so darn close. But heck, I should be giving Lewis props for attempting something so high brow.

There is more to this week than disagreeing over theology. I found some of his arguments very intriguing. Specifically over the word beget. God beget Jesus, meaning Jesus was of God. Whereas man is from god. This is why we are imperfect. If we were of God, then sin would not be an issue. The challenge to live a godly life is the test for immortality and it is not easy.

End Your Programming Routine: Some day, we will all know the answer to all of this. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water, I think it is best if I just read on and form my complete opinion after I have gotten the whole context. That is the fair thing to do. I had never considered that God could have just made a world of him and then none of this would be a discussion. I wonder why? I think we will find Lewis’ answer this week.

December 19, 2025 – Better Late Then Never

December 19, 2025 /

This is just another sign that I am over my head. Typically Fridays would be a book review or nothing at all. That being said, I have not had a single chance to read in the last couple of weeks. My typical day lately starts work at 5 AM and my head hits the pillow around 9:30 PM at the earliest. I am packing, wrapping or attending social obligations. However, this post was supposed to happen some time in October.

I probably have enough content to do two posts, so I will probably do something next week on my hunting trip. I really wanted to talk about the binocular harness and how it did so that is today. I invested pretty significantly in this setup based on hearsay from Meat Eater and you might want to know if it is worth the money. You can also tell that I am no good at selling things because I don’t even show the product in my picture. Here is a link to my previous article.

Today I won’t rehash the previous article but my thoughts on how the product worked. We are talking about the Badlands Bino Harness that I used every day for my week long hunt. First and foremost, I would put it on first things in the morning as we were getting ready to leave camp. When you try to put the harness on with the binoculars in them, gravity tends to pull the harness down making it difficult to snap together. It would be helpful to have a second set of hands when trying to get the apparatus on. Another added issue I had was that with my shoulder pain, I had some mobility problems reaching around. I never tried to put it on dry or empty.

Once I got the harness on, it was comfortable. I never really felt constrained when driving or sitting at the table for lunch. I also never felt any weight strain on my back or neck. I had no issues putting my coat on and my backpack after that. Some of the early days were in the upper seventies so I didn’t need a coat but only in the early morning and late afternoon. Due to the fact that it was difficult to get rigged up, I left it on from sunrise to sunset.

Later in the week, it started raining. The harness is water resistant but that doesn’t mean that I am. I was able to zip my coat over the the whole thing without problem. Another indication that it is not too bulky. If you are out of shape and hence a sweater, Wearing a bino harness is going to cause addition perspiration due to its padding and footprint on your chest.

It was comforting having my best pair of binoculars handy. Previous to owning this, I would carry a compact set of binoculars around my neck. This worked OK, except that sometimes I didn’t wear a shirt with a front pocket. There is no way I would walk around with loose binoculars banging around as I step over logs and such. The visual quality of my full size binoculars was certainly an upgrade.

I actually have more attachments/pockets for my harness then I used. I had it setup with the rangefinder and the utility pouches on the harness. I can say that I used my rangefinder for the first time where I wasn’t sitting still because I didn’t have to dig it out of my backpack. The utility pouch held my phone securely enough and I would be able to access it to look at maps while I was hiking. There is also room for my compass that I kept for backup and navigation purposes. One caveat is that the utility pouch is not waterproof. If you phone or whatever you put in that pouch is not, keep that in mind.

Did I like it? Heck yes. Here is my review.

ScoreScoreAdvantagesDisadvantages
Value2/5Badlands have lots of accessories to customize your rig how you want it.Of all the choices out there, many are significantly cheaper with the same configuration that I used
Quality5/5This is a well built rig that fits binoculars snugly
Performance4/5All the gear you need in a place to easily get at when you want it.It is not the product’s problem that it is difficult to put on but maybe there is a better way.
Because of the semi-custom sizing, sometimes the flaps (magnets) would come open dug to snug fit
The small amount of MOLLE led to a compromise placement of the rangefinder pocket.

End Your Programming Routine: You may think that based on my scores, I didn’t like the product. I did, I really did. That being said, I probably should have purchased the cheaper option based on how much I am probably going to use it in the future. I would recommend this for a multiple season hunter. They can take advantage of the modularity based on multiple uses. I am one of those guys that has more money than time. No problem buying the best, just be aware that there are suitable alternatives.

December 12, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Three: Chapters 7-12

December 12, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

Two weeks in a row, what is happening? Did I get my mojo back or have major roadblocks been removed? No. But, I have gotten this far in the book and I would really like to keep the rhythm of at least the Friday reviews going. My neck is feeling a little better than it has in week’s past but this recent flurry of activity really has more to do with topics stubbed out months ago. Don’t hold your breath because we have a valid offer for this house which means that the move is one step closer.

This is the conclusion to virtues that we started last week. When I look at these six chapters as a whole, these are supposed to more important then the ones from last week. There are a couple of things jumbling around in my head, including pride is not actually a virtue but a sin and the opposite of the rest of the group. That weakens the overall argument when things are not completely buttoned up. Below is a couple words on the points of each chapter.

  • Love your neighbor
  • Pride is the worst sin
  • Love without like
  • Christianity is focused on Heaven without any real knowledge
  • Faith is a prerequisite to be a Christian.

When I look at this group, I see all of the most popular sermon topics. Faith, charity, hope, forgiveness and fighting pride are all of the tenants of Sunday morning. This is not to say that chastity or or marriage virtue are not important but they are typically not the focus in my experience. It seems appropriate that Lewis would put the focus on these virtues this week as they are in line with the typical Christian dogma.

I think that Lewis actually make some really good points this week. The Christian focus on things that we have no knowledge such as Heaven are pretty good fodder for non-believers. We like to come off as authorities in things that we really have no basis. In fact, we barely even have sources inside of the Bible and hearsay. While I choose to believe in the Bible, I will admit that the text has some dubious origins. I guess that is the very definition of faith.

Speaking of faith, this is an interesting topic. My definition of faith is belief in something that is not fully provable because of the desire to want it to be true. This can have what I would call good intonations and bad ones. We use that word in context of belief that a new coach will recruit better, hire better assistants, be able to see things other coaches did not. In other words, there is no definitive proof that the future will be better but that we want it to be.

We use faith as a transference of things that are too distant or outside of our circle of influence. I have faith that the fund managers for the mutual funds in my 401K are being executed to the best of their goals. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I want to believe it and as long as the funds are meeting my expectations. I have no idea whether those funds could have made 50% more and I never will because I am not there.

Faith has to have some ambiguity to it. If it is 12AM, it is not really faith to say that by 9AM the next day there will be daylight (in most months). Unless the sun explodes overnight this is more of a fact than faith. We can have faith that we will wake up the next morning, but that is not guaranteed. People of all ages go to sleep and don’t wake up. This is not to mention that there will come a day that will be our last. That being said, the probability that I will go to sleep and not wake up is extremely low. It is not nothing so I have faith.

I used the word dogma earlier in this post. That was intentional. I think where Lewis’ arguments here break down is the overall purpose of the work. You cannot use circular logic to prove something. God exists because you should take care of people less fortunate than yourself. It is commanded through the Old Testament and approached in softer ways through Jesus. That is not proof, the supporting the argument is reinforced by the very subject in doubt.

I don’t think anybody ever said that Lewis was a trained philosopher. Maybe his reputation as a celebrity was the best way to make a convincing argument. It happens all the time in this current culture. I guess what I am saying is that the overall argument is weakening for me. We will see if by the time we get to the end things hold up.

End Your Programming Routine: It is not explicitly stated in the book or in some of the other analysis that I read that we have shifted from proof completed to what is inside of Christianity. I am speculating that this where we are at this point. That being said, I go back to this work being a message of hope during the Nazi air raids of WWII. Strict adherence to Christian chastity doesn’t really do that for most. They might have wanted some faith that their bomb shelters were good enough. I don’t know, I am getting a little lost in the point now.

December 11, 2025 – Nobu: A Memoir

December 11, 2025 /

Do you know Nobu? I really didn’t until I read this book. Nobu: The Memoir is the Left Coast Culinary Book Club for November. Yes, I know that it is mid-December and that is how far behind I am. The good news is that this month we will be doing a comfort themed book with everybody using the Betty Crocker cookbook. I am not reading that one.

So, who is Nobu? He is the celebrity chef that is credited with popularizing Japanese food in America. According to his story, he opened his first and flagship restaurant in the LA area in the mid-1980s. My truth is that I have never heard of him until I read the book, but I am certainly aware of his protégé Morimoto from Iron Chef fame.

I think that his fame to me is a bit circuitous in my life. Living on the West coast, we have always been closer to Asia. When I was in early middle school (about that time frame), we hosted a Japanese Exchange student. My wife had a Japanese student as a roommate (mid-1990s) and they are still close today. This is a long way from eating and liking Japanese food but it was exposure.

This was also the time frame that Japanese cars became main stream acceptable. You have to understand that there was a lot of anti-Japanese bias prior to this point. There were too many long memories about war in the Pacific as a result of World War II. My own grandfather, refused to even be passed on the road by a Volkswagen. But, he did buy a brand new Honda Accord in 1982. As new generations succeed older generations, that icy acceptance starts thaw.

None of that has anything to do with the book but I was setting the table about how this was something new. I won’t give away all of the book but Nobu’s path was interesting. As a result of getting in trouble as a teenager, he was sentenced to supervised training as a sushi chef. That foster relationship turned out to be a globe trotting opportunity for Nobu.

Adherence to principals, proximity and providing something unique were also fortuitous to Nobu as well. This is where he met Robert DeNiro and where his celebrity status became solidified. With DeNiro financially backing exclusive expansion Nobu went from being a principled establishment to a luxury brand.

It is kind of surprising that I had never heard of him before. But then again, I don’t live my life by the Food Channel or food media; I participate in it I suppose. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the point in the book where he had an establishment in Las Vegas until after we came home. Otherwise, I would have made a point to go there considering I was reading the book on the plane there and back.

I never want to attribute success to luck. I do think that there was a bit of luck involved but I do not want to discount that Nobu created a lot of that luck. He is a big believer in craft mastery and good ideals. This would be things like making sushi to the best of his ability as well as greeting all of the guests at some point in the meal. If he would have just stayed behind the prep station, he possibly would never had met DeNiro.

I think that Nobu’s personality really resonates with me. He has no faith in pedigree. A person may not have all of the ultimate abilities to become a head chef when they are a dishwasher. But, on the other hand they are almost always capable of more. Master one skill and take the opportunity to do the next thing. There is a lot of grounding in that methodology as well. It helps a person have compassion for others.

I have found this in my own career when I started working for these mega corporations. My experience got me hired but my degree status has kept me pretty static over the last five years. I don’t have an MBA and I am not really that interested in it. But because I don’t, I just keep doing what I am doing regardless of the fact that I am capable of so much more. Nobu definitely doesn’t run my company.

He also talks about the concept of fusion as well. Nobu says that fusion is not two dissimilar things put together but a respect for local ingredients adopted under the practices of a Japanese restaurant. He used an example of a popular slider that got nixed from the menu because the Japanese palate traditionally doesn’t use bread buns. They instead developed a rice cake version. I respect that.

End Your Programming Routine: I like this book because I found it inspirational. It is a true American success story. It doesn’t talk too much about the food, but it definitely has inspired me to respect the craft of sushi more than I have. With my experience being almost exclusively national chains and ‘Asian’ restaurants, I really would like to try something made with passion and an eye toward excellence.

December 5, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Three: Chapters 1-6

December 5, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

Hopefully you have all finished the book by now. I have not but maybe you listened to my podcast of excuses yesterday. I really did not plan to just go silent for weeks but my life runs me at this point. Those are the the things that I can do along with the things that I have to do and limited by the things that I am able to do. Enough of that.

Below are the bullet point summary. One for each chapter.

  • Morality is a set of rules that attempt to regulate individuals internally as well as between each other. All rules are equally important and not to be picked and chosen.
  • Prudence, temperance and justice are three virtues essential to Christianity. These are not binary, all or nothing ideals but have degrees of gray that have to be weighed.
  • Biblical views should support political opinions and not run them.
  • Psychoanalysis, very popular and up and coming academic idea is separating the unconscious from free will. This is controversial idea when equating self worth and sin. Those were Lewis’ thoughts.
  • Sexual morality; repress it and get more of it. Yet, Lewis subscribes to the traditional idea of celibacy outside of marriage. It does seem a little counter intuitive.
  • Being in love and relationship love are two different things. This is the concept that relationships change or progress over time. Interestingly, the begins the chapter with divorce and that is why it is important to recognize the progression of love.

It is good that I did this chapter summary weeks ago because I have a hard time remembering what I read two months ago. This is really half of what Lewis was trying to get across but it makes it more convenient for me to split this section in two. What is he saying anyway? I say that the message is that morality is necessary to the human race.

You might say what does morality have to do with proving that there is a God? I would probably be in your camp as well. Lewis tries to make the connection between God and morality. After all, the Old Testament is generally many, many pages of Jewish laws largely about morality. The new covenant sends Jesus to edit many of those laws.

I think that it is an interesting idea that Lewis comes up with that morality is not to control people or sort them out per se. Rather, he has this idea that morality is a training ground for Heaven. Meaning, these are the skills necessary to be successful in Heaven. I suppose that you could say people self select entrance to Heaven by being moral or not. I really do not know how this could be proven.

I really do like the idea that virtues are not binary. When I learned the ten commandments as a child, I learned the words “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. But, I have heard the more modern “Do not Murder” which I think is actually more appropriate. If the commandment was more in my language, then so many biblical heroes would have violated that commandment and could have never been in favor of god. That is also presupposing that there are exceptions for things like war and self defense. My personal feeling is that it would be better to stick to “Thou Shalt Not Kill” but then there are always those gray areas like what if it was an accident? Therefore, I have to agree that morality is not binary.

The world is full of paradoxes. I mean what about surrogate parenting. I really don’t believe that it is infidelity but by the strict definition of fidelity we have somehow agreed that this is a place where a woman bears a child that does not belong to her is morally OK. To play devil’s advocate, what if God was saying that particular couple was not supposed to have kids for whatever reason? And what if that reason was that one of the parents poisoned their bodies with diet or drugs or whatever? Or what if the person just did not want to go through the pregnancy process (Paris Hilton anybody)? The permutations are endless.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week we will get the full effect of this Book and what Lewis was trying to do. It seems amongst the literary analysis there is some speculation that this is a weaker argument then the first two books. I tend to agree but that doesn’t mean that we cant refine a little value out of this. Let’s keep going into pride, hope and faith next week.

November 7, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Two

November 7, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

I have to feel a little bit bad about going dark for over a month. It was never my intention to do absolutely nothing and in fact, I read Book Two in September. That was plenty of time to at least keep this series on schedule as this was supposed to be posted October 4. I kept reading still and there should be no reason to delay any longer.

I have plenty of reasons why I took a break, but a lot of it was that time just slipped away. I was getting ready for hunting and then I was gone for a week and then I had to clean-up as well as a host of other things that needed doing. So, I really had to shake the cobwebs out of my head to try and remember what this book was about as well as the poignant points that Lewis made.

I have to admit, I was born a Christian. I don’t know if my mom still has the audio tape but I was a toddler reciting The Lord’s Prayer as well as some of the Ten Commandments. For that reason, faith is ingrained in my being. There is no question about my beliefs but unlike many faithful and unfaithful alike, I am open to the idea that I am wrong. That is the scientist in me.

Since it has been so long, let me refresh a minute. Mere Christianity was a radio broadcast made for the British people during the WWII German bombing raid as a way to keep hope. Lewis claims that this text is a direct translation of his words without any editing. It would be interesting to see if there is an audio file out there somewhere. I bet so. The bullet points below are the highlights that I took out of each chapter.

  • God has many believers regardless of religious origins.
  • How can bad things happen in a world with a good god?
  • Acceptance of good automatically implies that there is evil. Good has to have evil but evil does not have to have good.
  • No free will, no choice. Without free will then there would be no choice because it would just be pre-programmed.
  • Jesus was manifested as man to better relate to people. God was already supernatural this was a different approach.
  • Without Christianity, it does not necessarily mean damnation. This is Lewis’ interpretation of theology.

There are probably a lot of different analogies I could use here. The one I am going to use is when you are sick. Now, I am fortunate that I have never had anything serious like my wife has gone through but at least it is something everyone should be able to relate to. The last time I was sick (early June) I felt cruddy but not so bad that I kept working and doing what was in my social calendar. You know that when you are living that way, you take for granted what not being sick feels like.

There have been times for me that I have been quite a bit sicker. I felt like all the energy I could muster was to go to bed. I might get up to have some soup or get some water or take more medicine so I could go back to bed. My whole point is that feeling well is very difficult to describe but when you are sick, you sure recognize that sick feels terrible compared to well.

This is my attempt to relate what Lewis is saying without evil there is no good. Just like without sickness, there is no wellness. Without the dichotomy we would probably have no concept or any such vocabulary. Suppose that there were areas of the planet that had air that was not 77% Nitrogen and 16% Oxygen but some combination of poisonous gas. We would have to make a special term for good air versus rotten air. But, since we do not it is not even a concept.

Free will is a very similar argument as good as evil. This is why I focused primarily on that aspect Lewis’s commentary. I have often heard the argument that how can there be a good God when such evil exists in the world? You know, I can’t really answer that but to use Lewis’ philosophy. On my scale at least, I don’t know if there is an equal level of good to evil in this world. I will take solace in the best is yet to come.

End Your Programming Routine: What a bold thing to do. Try to come up with a philosophical argument for something that is nearly unprovable. I know that Catholics claim saints and divine miracles and the like but something extraordinary does not prove the existence of God. But the way that Lewis goes about the argument could only be done by a converted Athiest.

September 26, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book One

September 26, 2025 /

http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

In case you didn’t buy, borrow or check out this book good news, it is in the public domain. I posted the link above for you to read along. I wish that I would have known it before I purchased it. Sure it was cheap, but free is always better.

I will be honest, I didn’t know a stitch about this book before I read it. It was recommended because of some of my other purchases on Amazon. It turns out that this is a compilation of radio broadcasts that CS Lewis did during World War II. It was meant as a morale piece for the British citizens and soldiers who had impending gloom and fear over possible Nazi invasion. I have to admit that I have been enjoying it tremendously because it is a very logical and composed argument for the existence of God.

It’s funny that I get to use my inner scientist and Christian now. They are two things that are not distinctly compatible. But, this Book (1) is all about merging the two. A huge theme is this idea of Natural law and a debatable concept of moral law. Natural law is scientifically provable such as gravity and believe me you can do a lot of math if you want to prove it.

If you need a less technical description, drop something on earth and it will always fall to the ground. There is no choice by the object be it rock or person. Notice I didn’t say if you were in the upper atmosphere or anywhere in the universe and drop something, That is also part of Newton’s Law of gravitation but it puts too many variables into a laymen’s argument. But that makes it absolute, observable proof of natural laws existing and there is no possible, logical argument otherwise.

If we as humans can agree that there are some absolutes, then we can agree on some other things such as morality. Democrats, Republicans, Independents and non-voters alike would agree that you should not walk-up and punch a baby. Before someone says that it happens, I would have to say that those people are not right as in normal. We can fins supporting evidence because the belief is held in China, India, Zimbabwe and everywhere as well.

Humans can agree that there is some universal morality such as don’t steal and don’t hurt other people. So, while I understand the pro abortion argument that a fetus is not a living being, I do believe that it is a warped justification for not taking personal responsibility for the consequences of sex. And this is the counter argument for natural moral law is that it can be argued or debatable.

Despite it’s flaws, the fact that we can acknowledge morality existing without being scientifically provable is a sign of an external force. Why do we agree that stealing is wrong? Animals do not hold such beliefs. This is because they do not hold humanity. Sure, they might be trained not to steal or they might be afraid of the pack leader or whatever analog I am talking about but animal behavior is about instinct. I want food, there is food there, I am going to take it when I get a chance even if it is possibly detrimental to me and my existence. My dog is trained not to eat of the counter and yet if I leave something overnight there is a good chance it is gone in the morning.

Life force is unique to our known world. It is going to be a pretty tough sell to me to say that all rocks will someday be some sort of living entity. I will admit that it’s very existence cannot be measured but on the other hand, we can see the results of when it is destroyed and therefore can empirically see that it exists. I am not completely turned off to evolution theory but I have not seen a link that life consistently strives to improve moving completely from a single celled organism to a human.

If that were true, I don’t believe (and neither does Lewis) that we would have moral law. In that case, people would steal because they can get away with it. Sure, plenty of people do but then what happens when they are stolen from? They don’t like it too much hence they also believe in moral law, just a perverted version of it.

End Your Programming Routine: Pretty cool huh. Next week I will discuss Book 2. It is no wonder this book was popular, it is a well laid out argument without resulting in name calling or condemnation. The book really doesn’t try to justify human existence using the big bang but to use human nature itself to support the existence of God. It is the best argument I have ever heard and the best defense against the lack of hard proof because it is right under our noses.

September 24, 2025 – A Booze Hound’s Guide to Gourmet

September 24, 2025 /

A Booze Hound’s Guide to Gourmet is the September selection for the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. As the president, one of my practices is to let the host select the book/theme for the meal. This one came up in July but we had already set our plans in motion for the month and I try to get things solidified as early as possible so that people have time to find it at the library or order it or whatever the preference for obtaining the book.

I heard that the host selected the book because he was a local author. While trying to substantiate that, I found it rather difficult. I found an Australian, children’s author. I also found drug kingpin as well as the lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Who knows.

I suspect that based on the book, this is the author’s seminal work. The website that is attached is still operational albeit very simple and dated. The typeset and formatting of the book looks like it was written in Microsoft Publisher and amateurish. Many of the photos that accompany the recipes have a low resolution and even sometimes un-appetizing look to them.

But let’s not pick at the man, at least he has published a book. To tell you the truth, I look at some of the photos that I take and sort of hold my mouth. Then I rationalize my poor work by saying, ‘hey, it’s free. I am not making a cent on any of this.’ The real truth is that that I get in the heat of the moment and snap a picture. Later when I get ready to write, I look at past history (my pictures) and say to myself that I wish I had done more when I had the chance.

Any man that has fought through formatting hell to get to a publishable book state has my respect. There have been many a document that I have spent thirty minutes to an hour trying to get a page break or text wrap to look correct. I do have to say that technology has come a long way in my career and lifetime since I have been working with it.

The most fascinating part of the book is the backstory. According to McGuiness, he spent twenty years as a charter captain in the Caribbean. While the book doesn’t go into this aspect extensively, I imagine that he is sailing a small group of wealthy people around for a week or more. Part of his duties is to produce the meals and this book is a reflection of what was on the menu as well as meeting expectations by this group of clients.

Informally, I would say that about fifty percent of the recipes contain alcohol. It is not as forward as the title would lead. Alcohol is largely relegated to marinades, sauces and deserts. They are certainly not the featured components of the recipes. The foreword even suggests that they can be omitted if desired.

One interesting thing that McGuiness did was that there was a section of entire meals. In that, he put a Gantt chart for all of the events to plan the meal. If you don’t know what that means it would be like saying twenty minutes in you should be doing x, y and z. That looks like browning the meal, chopping the vegetables and warming the oven. Instead of single recipes that you have to figure out, he has mapped it all out. I like that and I think that restaurants would do better by just telling you how it is going to go rather than the other way around.

I will be honest, I haven’t made anything out of the book. Even for the LCCBC dinner I hadn’t had a chance to finish it or look close enough to make a proper decision on what to make. Now that I have finished the book, I probably will not make anything from it. I just didn’t have a compelling dish that I felt inspired to make. There were a few recipes that peaked my interest, but honestly when would I make a Turducken? Thanksgiving is the only time for the three of us. I asked my wife about risotto and lobster stuffed Cornish game hens, she said too many competing flavors and I have to agree.

End Your Programming Routine: The final verdict on this one is a no. The title is misleading from a novelty standpoint. I am positive that the recipes are fine but I already have a plethora of cookbooks that I could pick out any number of dishes to make a fine meal. It might be worth considering if you timing is terrible and you just want a whole meal already laid out that might be semi-fancy. But that is as far as I can go with this one.