Reflections on Facebook and Twitter

Voyeurism made legal

Exhibitionism made normal

Narcissism indulged

Privacy be damned!

Instant Feedback

Substitute Analysts Couch

Diaries made public

Outlet for one’s inner graffiti artist

P.S. It's hard to believe how social media has become such a big part of our lives.

And changed our views on privacy, anonymity, exhibitionism, narcissism, and more.

Who am I to complain when most of you readers sashay your way to my blog from Facebook (after updating your status, checking out everyone else's, posting some pictures, adding some "Likes", and friending and de-friending people who have pleased or pissed you off, of course!).

By the way, if you are charged with formulating and executing social media policies at the company or organization where you work, you could shamelessly steal from Kodak, Intel or IBM, because they are considered the current champs when it comes to steering the social media scene.

But shhh...don't tell them I told you to do that. Otherwise they may sue me.  Or God forbid, defriend me!

Here's where you can read Kodak’s Social Media Tips.

Or Intel’s Social Media Guidelines.

Or IBM’s Social Computing (how quaint!!!!) Guidelines.

Meanwhile for those new to the social media scene, here's the Emily Post, the Miss Manners on social media etiquette. (you may want to follow these rules even if I ain't!!).

As always thanks for sashaying your way to my blog in spite of all the fun stuff right there on Facebook and Twitter.

And P.S. sorry for focusing exclusively on Facebook and Twitter, when there's MySpace, Linked in, Formspring, Ning, Tagged, Friendster, Pinterest and more.  Just keeping it simple!

Cricket, Glorious Cricket!

 

Robin Williams called it “Baseball on Valium”. Ajay Sachdev, a true Indian fan of cricket (who has previously guest-posted on Wodehouse and on advertising) gives us his view of the game...

Cricket, Glorious Cricket

The Last Genteel Game

By Ajay Sachdev

      I was all of seven when my neighbor a Group Captain in the Air- Force gifted me a cricket kit for my birthday. Thus began a lifelong love affair with the glorious game of cricket. On the face of it, cricket seemed like an absurdly long game, with a “test” match spread over five whole days. Imagine, a spectator sitting through five whole days of a game to see which team wins? You Americans must be saying that the rest of the world is crazy! (For my American readers, a cricket test match is played between two opposing teams of eleven players each, and each team is supposed to bowl out the opposition twice over an unlimited number of balls spread over five playing days)

       Boring? But, not at all! The lush green fields, the players immaculately clad in spotless white, the cherry red ball, the loud ‘thwack’ as bat connects with ball and sends it speeding to the boundary line for a ‘four’; the cry of eleven manly voices in unison shouting “Howzzat! ” as they appeal to the umpire for a decision for a batsman’s wicket; the blue skies and sunshine, make cricket the only sport in which a spectator can truly unwind over five whole days, with nothing to do in-between except relax. Where in today’s high pressure world will you find a sport like that? The English team even has a group of dedicated fans called the “Barmy Army” who follow it around the world and cheer it on during its matches!

       Cricket, devoid of the rough play which accompanies other team games such as football, rugby and hockey, can truly be called the last genteel game. While it’s common to see players and even umpires assaulted in other sports, in cricket, an extreme of hostility occurs when a bowler glares at a batsman who hits his ball out of the ground, or when a team resorts to “sledging”, a technique made famous by the Aussies, where bowlers and fielders try to psych a batsman out by verbal intimidation. But a player assaulting another player? Never! Or assaulting an umpire? God forbid!  The International Cricket Council’s strict code of conduct ensures that.

        Apart from the sheer pleasure, nay the pure joy of watching a cricket match, cricket in the Indian sub-continent, has evolved into a truly unifying force. In nations bereft of true heroes, players achieve instant stardom by their feats of valor on the playing field. The Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka teams have succeeded in evoking a strong patriotic fervor; a national spirit in these trying and divisive times.

     

The national pride when the Indian team wins a tournament or a vital cricket match is to be seen to be believed. Spontaneous joy erupts across the nation. People carrying the tri-color Indian flag pour out into the streets, riding motorcycles and whooping with joy. Fireworks are lit. Perfect strangers are stopped on the road and their hands shaken. Sweets are distributed, drinks stood all around. Nothing evokes patriotic fervor more than a cricket team victory.

        Cricket has experimented with shorter forms such as a One-Day-International, lasting just a day and comprising fifty overs each; and the latest T-20 cricket matches which comprise just twenty overs a side and last just three hours.

         These shorter versions draw the spectators in droves and are more watchable, since they produce results in a shorter time span. But for technical cricketing perfection and a languorous laid back experience, there’s nothing to beat the traditional five day Test Match. Unfortunately, in today’s high paced high pressure world, test cricket is slowly waning away.

           Whatever it’s form, cricket will always be cricket! Long Live Cricket! 

P.S.  Thanks Ajay for contributing this post.

P.S. 2: If you would like to locate Ajay's previous posts, or any other posts the easy way, click this link to see all previous posts on this blog in flipcard view.  After you click the link, navigate to the top right hand corner of the page to select other view options (mosaic, sidebar, snapshot, timeslide).  As always thanks for reading and hope you have a great weekend.

Baseball on Valium

 
“It’s basically baseball on Valium,” observed actor Robin Williams.

“Requires one to assume some indecent postures” commented writer Oscar Wilde.

“Organized loafing” opined William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1926.

But based on its popularity in India, I am interested in knowing what a true-blooded Indian fan would have to say.

The subject is cricket.

And coming this Saturday is a view from India by an ardent devotee and follower of the game.

Cricket. Glorious Cricket!

The Last Genteel Game 

by Ajay Sachdev

Read it Saturday.

P.S. India has had a great love affair with cricket ever since the British Raj introduced it in India circa 1721. In fact, in a country with multiple languages, cultures, religions and foods, cricket can be said to be the great unifier.

 P.S. 2: San Jose is home to BACA (Bay Area Cricket Alliance), one of the best organized cricket leagues in the USA, with more than 200 members playing. BACA has many different programs including a Youth Cricket Program. You can check them out here.

P.S.3: If you are an SFO Bay Area resident and want to catch all your favorite Cricket Matches, here are some ways Bay Area residents were able to watch the 2011 World Cup.

 P.S. 4: Arthur Salway, who writes poetry dedicated to cricket, has written a poem which captures the legacy of British cricket on India.  You can read this and his other cricket poems here.

P.S. 5: The image featured in this post is of Cricket 07, a cricket game for the Wii from Electronic Arts.  You can check out the game on Amazon here.

As always thanks for reading and have a fabulous day.

I am a good and faithful wife. I deserve to be loved.

“I am a good and faithful wife. I deserve to be loved.” Is this a good love-rule to have?

No says a fascinating book on mood therapy.

Written by Dr. David Burns, a renowned psychiatrist and therapist, the book says “I am a good and faithful wife. I deserve to be loved” is a love-rule that sets a woman up to have unrealistic expectations of her husband; then get angry and depressed when she does not get confirmation.

The love rule causes Sue, an angry and depressed patient of Dr. Burns, to experience a constant sense of danger.

Every time her husband does not give her an appropriate helping of love and attention, she takes it as a confirmation of her inadequacy. 

She then manipulates and demands his attention and respect to defend herself against a loss of self-esteem.

She resorts to one of the following 3 manipulations...

She intimidates her husband with emotional explosions.

Punishes him with her icy withdrawal.

Emotionally blackmails him by arousing his guilt.

Dr. Burns says in addition to the unpleasantness this creates, the love-rule of “If I am a good and faithful wife, I deserve to be loved” won’t work well in the long run. 

For a while, Sue’s manipulations will get her some of the attention she craves. 

But the price she pays is the love she receives isn’t (and can’t be) given freely and spontaneously. 

Sue’s spouse will feel exhausted, trapped, and controlled; and his resentment against her will build. 

Eventually – when he stops buying into the belief that he has to give in to her demands - his resentment will press for release and his desire for freedom will overpower him.

Dr. Burns helps Sue see the faulty thinking behind her love-rule and helps her rewrite the rule.

This is how she is cured of her anger and depression and able to save her marriage.

According to Dr. Burns, faulty thinking is largely behind most angry and depressive states of mind.

The cure lies in addressing and correcting the faulty thinking.

Dr. Burns’ Mood Therapy book is designed to help you do just that.

It’s a do-it-yourself step by step guide to identifying and changing your faulty thinking.

The book is a tool-kit, and the exercises are time-tested – they are the same ones Dr. Burns and his colleagues have developed and used working with patients with many different problems and situations.

Depending on your situation, you will use different components of the tool-kit.

To help you, there are many examples provided based on real-life patients of Dr. Burns and his colleagues.

Most are common easy-to-relate-to situations.

There’s  Holly, the nineteen year old, who believes the world is a lousy place and life is just not worth living.

There’s Jed, a college student, who is consumed by guilt because he has done better than his depressed twin brother in every way and feels responsible that his brother has become a depressed recluse.

There’s Nancy, who is sure she’s a bad mother because she received a note from her son’s teacher informing her he is having difficulties in school.

And Annette, a successful single boutique owner, who gets very despondent on weekends and stays in bed, not being able to find the desire or energy to do anything else.

There’s even a grandmother who goes to pieces because her adult son comes down with depression and she feels guilty about passing the gene to him.

The book is called Feeling Good and you can check it out here.

P.S. Dr. Burns is currently Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. 

P.S. 2: Feeling Good is rated #1 book on depression, out of a list of 1,000 self-help books.

P.S. 3: Dr. Burns has written several other books, including sequels and companion books to Feeling Good.  His latest book is When Panic Attacks. You can read more about Dr. Burns at this link to his website.

The Colors of Life

                                       

 By John Paraskevopoulos

Most of us come back from the beach with seashells, lots of Vitamin D, wind-swept hair and sand in our shoes.  John Paraskevopoulos came back with this piece.  I am delighted blog readers are first to read it...

This last Spring Break was one of the best weeks of my life. I thought a lot about what made it so special, wherefrom came that resonant pleasure in each day that filled me so, and made me happy to be alive. I thought about the Wednesday of our spring break, when I had the joy of going to the beach with a group of some of my best friends, and I had a beautiful day. Coming back from the beach, I was utterly content with life. The next day, I was still content.

   I am a person who has had extensive experience with depression in my past, who has sat on railroad tracks in the dark of night waiting to be done in, who has felt the deepest depths of despair, and wanted nothing more than to die; and, lying in the afternoon sun that following day, I could not find a reason in the whole of the world to be unhappy. I thought about the sound of the ocean, of the tide: its hum, and rhythm, and its breathtaking yet passive power; and the warmth of the sun and the way the sand feels in your toes, and the taste of good food and the smiles and laughs of friends; the pretty white dress Amber wore, and the perfect blue shade of the sky, and the green of the trees coming down Highway 17. I pondered, and I wondered why I was suddenly so content, and I realized it was because I had had just that: a beautiful day. I became reminded of the power of beauty to bring pleasure, and touch the soul.

   It would seem to me, that in this world there is a higher truth to be found in beauty, and, more than that, a constant truth. When, to even (or especially) the largest questions, the universe offers no answers, and the human cognition fails in man’s everlasting search for meaning, Beauty is always there to warm the heart; to comfort, and to bring pleasure. When rationality fails to satisfy our deeper senses, Beauty always can, on an irrational level. When and where other truths fail to be consistent, Beauty remains always.

   There is a transcendent power to beauty, too, through which we find that higher truth; and I speak not only of aesthetic beauty, but also the beauty that is to be found in everything, large and small and even intangible. When we become lost in artwork, or the notes of beautiful music, or the depth of another person’s eyes, or the poetry of a landscape, it is beauty’s work, elevating us beyond the “getting and spending,” so to speak, of ordinary awareness.

   I thought more, and I thought more of what it means to be alive. I remembered coming down Highway 17, and thinking about the trees we passed by. How long had each been there? The specific answer would not be worthwhile, but, I imagined time-lapse footage of the growth of one tree, and I tried to conceive of how many sunrises and sunsets that tree had seen, how many cars had passed it, and how much change had occurred with the tree as a witness, in the drivers who passed by without notice, and the styles, and the cars, and the road itself. Reflecting on this later, I thought of myself. My experiences in life are meager and do not yet amount to much, but I imagined all of the cumulative steps my father and mother each took in their respective lives; all of their cumulative breaths; each and every of their struggles; and then the steps, struggles, and breaths of each of their parents; and their parents, and their parents. I thought of the road we traveled down, the highway, and the car: every individual man who sweated in the construction of each, his breaths, steps, and struggles. Life is a great, singular experiment, and a fantastic endeavor that each of us participates in. We all breathe the same air, together. Our collective history is summed up in textbooks but our individual histories are incalculable and inconceivable, and amount each to monuments of astounding wonder. I later could not find a single reason to be unhappy because of the weight of the history I saw around me, and its absolute beauty. To ignore that beauty, to be sorrowful in spite of the efforts, the energy of every step of each of my ancestors, taken under weights and burdens of sometimes the most extreme gravity, to deliver me to my current position, would be a dishonor to those who carried those weights.

   What is the meaning of life I could not rightly say to anybody; but what it means to be alive is something different, and appears to me to be cognizance. It appears to me to be awareness of one’s existence; but not just awareness that one exists; instead, more fully, the awareness of the beauty of one’s existence, and awareness of the beauty that surrounds us all.

   Sometimes tragedy strikes, and tragedy is inexplicable. Sadness will forever be unavoidable. It is part of us all and it is part of our histories likewise. But sometimes all it takes are pictures to remind us of the beauty of life. And, though death will always bring grief, I think of my own death and I smile at the thought of grass or a flower growing from atop my grave. Earth is a single organism and even as I die, life will continue, and the person I sculpted into myself will remain in the hearts of those who knew me.

   I would like to see our generation as a generation dedicated to observance of what it means to be alive. I would like our generation to be a generation dedicated to happiness, and each other. Such awareness and cognizance and dedication and clairvoyance would be difficult to attain, and I cannot attest to possessing any myself, but I dream of someday being able to wake up every morning and first thing say to myself, before allowing myself to be distracted by mercenary and immediate needs, “I am in paradise.”

   We are young, but each of us carries a huge untapped potential, and I would like to see us recognize and use it. I speak not of societal potential, the potential to earn money or rise in rank, but the greater potential: the potential to bring those things that are good and beautiful to those around us; the potential to make other people happy, sometimes with only our presence. Through thick and thin, tragedy and agony, the one thing I have found in this world to be the surest guarantee of happiness, the one thing that most surely brought me contentment that Wednesday at the beach, is that blissful romance of time spent with one’s ideal comrades, my friends whom I love.

Thank you.

What Can You Discover From A Trip To The Beach?

If you are previous guest poster, John Paraskevopoulos, this among other things:

“By Beauty’s truth, we can be elevated beyond the getting and spending of everyday awareness.”

John’s account of his spring break trip with his graduating senior class from Santa Teresa High goes straight from Highway 17 into exploring universal truths such as the power of beauty to make us happy and the transcendence of human life.

A masterly piece of writing, the post reminds us we should be more aware of the beauty of our own existence as also the beauty that surrounds us all.

Read it Tuesday.

Meanwhile, since the SFO Bay Area is home to some of the best and most celebrated beaches in the world, here’s a shortlist of some I have visited, with fun facts, most of which are common knowledge, but some which I got from scouring the web:

Stinson Beach, Marin County (20M North of the Golden Gate Bridge):

*Named for Nathan and Rose Stinson – who established the first campground at Stinson.

*Became popular after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when displaced San Francisco families relocated there and set up homes and businesses.

*Evolved into a popular weekend tourist destination with the advance of the motor-car and the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937.

* Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and his wife were both born and raised in the census-designated place known as Stinson Beach and part of Janis Joplin’s ashes were scattered at Stinson Beach; Stinson Beach is also the setting of Woody Allen’s Play It Again Sam.

You can read more about Stinson Beach here.

Capitola Beach, Santa Cruz County (1/2 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Thought to be the oldest beach on the West Coast.

*Named for the heroine of The Hidden Hand, a novel by E.D.E.N. Southworth.

*The Venetian Hotel which sits on the right of the pier is a designated National Historic Place.

*The beach was attacked by hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters (a type of bird) in 1961, an event that was to become the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’.

You can read more about the City of Capitola and Capitola Beach here.

Santa Cruz Beach, Santa Cruz County (1/2 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Famous for its Boardwalk, which is California’s oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside amusement parks on the West Coast, you pay for parking and rides, but there is no admission fee and the beach is public.

*Considered one of the best spots in the world for surfing.

*From June 17 thru September 2, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk hosts Free Friday Nights Bands on the Beach at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

*There’s plenty to see and visit in and around Santa Cruz... Roaring Camp Railroad, Mystery Spot, Pasatiempo Golf Club, Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park, Pacific Garden Mall and the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.

You can read more about Santa Cruz beach and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk here and here.

Monterey Beach, Monterey County (1 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Setting of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men.

*Home to popular tourist attractions such as Fisherman’s Wharf and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

*Kayaking, scuba-diving, surfing, whale watching and beach-going are among the many water activities you can enjoy at Monterey Beach.

*Historic landmarks include California’s first theatre, and Colton Hall - where California’s first constitution was written.

You can learn more about Monterey here and here.

Carmel By The Sea, Monterey County, 1 hr 30 mins from San Jose

*Usually combined with a visit to Pebble Beach Golf Course and 17 Mile Drive.

*City of poets and actors, many of whom served as mayors for a term, including Clint Eastwood (1986-1988); it’s also where legendary photographer Ansel Adams printed and published a majority of his life’s works.

*Home to a historic artists colony, the one described in Jack London’s The Valley of the Moon -  Carmel has over 100 art galleries.

*A dog-friendly city where most hotels and restaurants accept dogs;  shoes with heels higher than 2 inches require a permit, though.

You can find out more about Carmel By the Sea, Pebble Beach and 17 mile drive here, here and here.

P.S. Hope you enjoyed this quick primer on some of the best SFO Bay Area beaches. You should bookmark the links to all of them, since each has something unique to offer and is worth a visit on its own.  The wonderful part is that since Capitola, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel are all along Highway 1, you can plan an itinerary which covers them all. Amazon offers books, dvds and cds to read before or bring along.

P.S. 2:  If you are an artist and would like to explore an artists colony in India, you should look at Cholamandal near Mahabalipuram in Southern India.  You can even do an internship there through an organization called Diversity Abroad.  Learn more about a Cholamandal internship through Diversity Abroad here.

P.S. 3:  Don’t forget to mark Tuesday for John’s post about his trip to the beach. Meanwhile, if you want to read his previous post On the Importance of Language Arts, you can read it here.

P.S. 4: Finally, here's a sprinkling of what you can find on Amazon in connection with Capitola, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. 

What Your Starbucks Drink Says About You

(Based on the preferences of my teenage daughter and her friends - and my own ham analysis)...

Tall Extra Coffee Caramel Frappuchino: - There’s a Tiger Mom somewhere in the background. Your lot probably includes multiple AP classes and first period class would be impossible without the extra caffeine. 

Grande Chai Iced Tea with Soy Milk: - You bear the classic marks of a starter health nut – tea and soy milk.

Passion Tea Lemonade Grande: - You are an individualist.  When others zig, you zag.

Tall Anything With Vanilla: - You are easy going and uncomplicated. Stay that way. 

Vente Mocha Coconut Frappuchino: – You are a party animal.  You like to be where the fun is.

Vente Iced Non-Fat Chai Latte: - You pride yourself on your physique.  Either that, or this is your way to fool people you are fitness focused.

Tall Iced Coffee: - You are financially savvy and know the value of money.

Grande Double Chocolate Chip Frappuchino with Peppermint: - You are a novelty-seeker; a Martha Stewart’s dream come true. 

Any Size Double Chocolate Chip Frappuchino: - Sneaky, but clever.  This kind of order can only be placed when someone else is picking up the tab.

Tall Tap Dispensed H₂O: - 2 alternate futures await you. A Gandhian future.  A Warren Buffett future.  Which will you pick?

P.S.  Hope you enjoyed these Starbucks personality profiles from the Folgers-addled brain of an amateur psychologist - even if before you came to the end, you decided you were disgusted with the stereotyping, and furthermore, "she does not know beans!" Guilty on both counts.

P.S. 2:  This post is dedicated to the Tall Extra Coffee Caramel Frappucino in my life.  Tiger Mom (partially reformed) loves you. Thanks also to the students of Santa Teresa High who shared their Starbucks preferences with us.
P.S. 3: Inspiration for this post came from a P.G. Wodehouse character called Mr. Mulliner. Mr. Mulliner is the resident raconteur of Angler's Rest Pub, where he and his bar buddies are known only by their beverages. Mr. Mulliner is a Hot Scotch and Lemon.  If you are curious about Wodehouse, you should read Splendid Post, What! by guest poster Ajay Sachdev.
P.S. 4: More than one reference has been made to Tiger Mom in this post. Who or what is Tiger Mom?  The book below informs you.  If you are too lazy to read and would rather watch a video,  you can view Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central taking on Tiger Mom at this link.  
As  always thanks for reading! 

Virtualoso - An Expert At Working Virtually

Are you a Virtualoso?

You are if...

1. When someone says “Let’s Meet”, your response is “Okay, I will send out a Live Meeting request, Go To Meeting Request or Webex request”

2. You do not require a conference room to have a meeting - you typically meet in Cyberspace

3. Your laptop and a phone are all you need to conduct a meeting – be that a presentation, a demo, a training program or a weekly status meeting. Your productivity is not tied to anything else.

4. Starbucks is your second office and you have a pretty good handle on all the other public places where Wi-Fi is available - Panera, Barnes & Nobles, Le Boulanger, et al.

5. With the tools in your kit, you can have an instant meeting – no need to sync calendars, schedule a conference room or hunt down an InFocus.

6. Your clients know you by your name, your voice and electronic persona - not your face or your style of dressing.  And vice versa.

7. You can take on a project of any size virtually – small, medium, large.

8. You’re an expert at sharing all kinds of documents right from your desktop - Powerpoint documents, Word documents, Excel documents, Xactly Screens (which is applicable to people in my line of work) and more.

9. Your comfort with doing things virtually makes you more likely to sign up for Webinars than Seminars.

10. And last but not least, you have a bring it on attitude when it comes to tools which can help you be more efficient in the virtual environment –e-mail, instant messaging, teleconferencing, video conferencing, web-based file hosting services such as Drop Box, and more.

Virtualoso...Isn’t it time you became one?

P.S.  I started being a Virtualoso when I got my first laptop (this was back when Palm was still part of 3Com).

Currently as a contract Business Architect for Solutions Partners Inc, an Xactly Implementations partner, my projects are completely virtual and I have used all of the tools mentioned in this post.

Gleanings from The Teaching Company* – Part V

by Jim Cobb

This article is the fifth in a series summarizing courses I’ve watched from The Teaching Company.  I try to keep my horizons broad but, if readers see a definite leaning toward the liberal arts and social studies, just consider the source.  Available on audio cassette, audio CD, audio download or DVD, these courses cover the full panoply of learning.  Lectures are thirty minutes each with course length varying from twelve to as many as eighty lectures.  A booklet containing lecture notes and an extended bibliography accompany each course.  Separate bound transcripts can also be ordered.  The audio cassettes are, naturally, the most reasonably priced but I find the quotes, key points and illustrations seen in the videos well worth the price.  The prices in the catalog may be a shock but all of the courses are sold at greatly reduced prices eventually.  Many of the courses are also available from local public libraries.  The Teaching Company can be reached at 1-800-832-2412 or http://www.thegreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx.  A purchase will bring forth an occasional free on-line lecture via email.

The Dead Sea Scrolls – Professor Gary Rendsburg – Rutgers – 24 lectures

With the recent traveling exhibits of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Professor Rendsburg’s lectures take on new importance. He divides the topic into four in-depth parts while teaching on how the scrolls could have affected early Christianity.

The professor begins with how the scrolls were discovered, purchased, translated and published. This story would make John LeCarre jealous; the intrigue, politics and physical danger make for a thrilling tale.

For historians, the key part of the lectures comes from what Rendsburg calls the “explicit sectuality” seen from the scrolls. These works were written by a small Jewish sect, the Essenes. The Essenes were a small player in the struggle within Judaism between major sects such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their comments on these other sects throw light on this turbulent period of Jewish history.

The scrolls themselves are divided into three kinds: ones that describe the rules governing the Essene community, translations and copies of books of the Old Testament and commentaries on the religious situation in Israel at the time. Taken as a whole, the scrolls have had major impacts on theological and historical scholarship, validating some later translations of the Old Testament while throwing other theories into doubt. Rendsburg’s attempts to link the scrolls with Christianity may be well intentioned but are weak.

Professor Rensburg’s style is exciting but he seems to be repetitive at times. The lectures have some fine illustrations. You can access more information and pricing here.

Robert E. Lee and His High Command - Professor Gary W. Gallagher, - The University of Texas at Austin - 24 lectures

With so many Southern governors threatening succession, I though I’d better freshen up on my staff work before I’m called back to join my regiment in Missouri. Professor Gallagher’s lectures have prompted me to think about heading to Canada instead.

Gallagher’s main thesis is that the Army of Northern Virginia was the iconic institution of the South even during the war. Given the failure of everything else in the Confederacy, his point seems strong. The key to the army’s success and defeat was its officer corps, the subject of his lectures.

The first three lectures deal with Lee himself. Like most historians, Gallagher finds it difficult to criticize the “Marble Man”. Lee comes across as a victim of his situation, playing a very bad hand as well as he can. The question never addressed is why, given the South’s obvious disadvantages, did Lee accept command of the South’s premier army. Gallagher points out that, as Lee’s best commanders were killed or invalided, Lee became less effective. Did he not expect attrition of good officers?

Gallagher then turns to lectures on Lee’s corps commanders: Longstreet, Jackson, etc. He gives many insights not only to these general’s strengths but their weaknesses, noting that those few who managed to survive “burnt out” as the war progressed.

Division and Brigade commanders are investigated as well. Gallagher here divides these officers into two groups: those who grew to meet the challenge and those who Lee had to promote simply because no one else was around. Instructors of organizational classes should take note.

Professor Gallagher has an easy-going style and provides helpful maps and pictures. You can access more information and pricing here.

Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past – Professor Allen C. Guelzo – Gettysburg College – 24 Lectures

For a historian, lecturing on historiography is like removing one’s own appendix; you know where it is, you have a scalpel but that first cut is bound to be painful. Nonetheless, Professor Guelzo does an admirable job on a potentially sticky subject.

The first points dealt with are the definition and uses of history. The term “history” tends to be tossed around like a ball in the infield after a good defensive play. The fact that truth in history is so elusive makes the subject derogatory in some circles. The hard nut of the matter is one must understand the writing of history before any historical work can be used.

Guelzo starts with Homer where history takes the form of epic poem. The first prose historian was Herodotus who celebrated the triumph of the Greeks over the Persians. The story then goes on through antiquity and the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and post-World War II. Each of these periods developed unique types of histories. For example, Roman historians wrote on other civilizations to show how Rome lost sight of old virtues. The Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries were both analytical and optimistic while Twentieth Century historians became absolutely gloomy after World War I.

The list of historians Guelzo describes is extensive, perhaps exhaustive. He not only describes their work but also the events that made an impact on them. Surprisingly, a few, like Wisconsin’s own Frederick Jackson Turner, made an impact on society in turn.

Professor Guelzo has a comfortable style. Graphics are limited to portraits and we historians are not a glamorous lot. More information and pricing can be accessed here.

The Medieval World – Professor Dorsey Armstrong--Purdue– 36 lectures

Well finally! The Teaching Company has discovered that women teach history too. Professor Armstrong brings to her subject matter insights that compliment Professor Phillip Daileader’s three-set handling of the period, reviewed in Part III of this series.