I'm truly staggered to find only two album reviews ahead of mine.

Good Lord, people. Here is some of the sublimest music ever conceived by the mind of man.

If you own a set of headphones, if you possess a capacity for infinite wonder, if you wish to thrum to the mysterious and gorgeous waves of the universe, then you simply cannot make a better purchase for [the price].

A small sum in return for the trillion billion miles you will travel.

Every single music lover out there is searching for that moment, that
ecstatic CLICK, when all of a sudden your brain opens up YES! YES! YES!

It goes like this: HO-HUM, HO-HUM, HO-HUM, HO-HUM, HO-HUM, HO-HUM, HO-HUM, YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

And so we have "Daybreaker" by Beth Orton, an album that sits in the corner moping politely to itself, not really attracting any attention, just quietly moping away. You give it a little pat on the head, wish it well, and go walking off in search of something a little more upbeat, something with a little more life.

You come back a few hours later, mope together for a few moments, then move on again.

"Why can't you be more like last time?" you ask. "Like Central Reservation. Why can't you shake it off?"

Oh yes, it's a ho-hum affair.

At first.

And then suddenly -- it may be track 5, or any of the last 3 tracks -- you are absolutely rooted to the spot. You don't want to go anywhere else. You wanna sit in the corner and mope together, to really explore what's going on inside.

What can I say, it's a beautiful album.

This is a long review, but I hope you hang in there.

Just to put everything in context, I've bought the
following golf books in the last few months:

How to Break 90 (Tomasi, et al)
The 30-Second Golf Swing (Tomasi)
Five Fundamentals (Hogan)
Five Fundamentals (Elkington)

Plus I've flipped through dozens of books in the
store. And I've visited every golf site know to man.
Or woman.

We're talking minimal improvement after 2 months
of hard work -- and I'm a fairly gifted athlete, modesty
aside.

Minimal improvement and not much joy. And this is
a game I used to LOVE in my teens.

Minimal improvement.

And just in case you thought I was looking for instant
mastery, I'm not. There's no such thing anyway.

But I WAS looking for a ray of hope. A ray that says,
"If you stick to this general way, improvements and
a sense of accomplishment WILL come with time."

Enter "Extraordinary Golf."

Read it a couple of days ago with a growing sense
of excitement.

This morning I tried some of Shoemaker's
awareness/concentration exercises down in the
basement for 45 minutes. (Then started making up
some of my own!)

Was CONSISTENTLY making 30-foot chips to within
about 18 inches of the "hole". And sometimes IN THE
HOLE.

I'm talking about 95 out of 100 very very good shots,
(to within 2 or 3 feet) simply by PAYING ATTENTION
to what was going on, NOT trying to fix anything, and
simply having FUN.

I know you may think you're a technique player, but listen
to this:

I started playing shots leaning waaay forward, waaay backward,
on my left leg only, on my right leg only, holding the club miles
from my body, in too tight, up against the wall, with the left hand
only, with the right hand only, all sorts of crazy contortions --
AND WAS STILL KNOCKING THEM CLOSE TO THE HOLE!!!

Simply by paying FULL attention to what I was doing (primarily
the FULL arc of the clubhead) in an easy, free-spirited way.

Shoemaker is right. Most players DON'T concentrate for the full
2 seconds it takes to swing. Their minds are filled with all sorts of
distractions and FEARS. Especially the fear of looking bad.

But when you just step up with full awareness in a spirit of inquiry,
open to any possibility, not fixated on results, it is remarkable what happens.

This stuff actually works!

I discovered that I "lose" the clubhead near the top of my backswing.
I suddenly lose awareness of it. But when I calmly maintain focus on
where the clubhead is THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SWING and
FORGET ABOUT THE RESULTS amazing things happen.

I also found out I"lose" the clubhead when I putt.

So I decided to line up a 35-foot putt while MAINTAINING AWARENESS
in the clubhead.

The FIRST putt ended up ONE INCH from the hole.

The SECOND putt ended up TWO INCHES from the hole.

The "trick" if there is one, is to FORGET about FIXING and start
OBSERVING what you're DOING.

Even if you miss every putt and every chip while you practice, even
if your shots miss by a mile, THE MAIN THING IS YOU STAY AWARE
OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING FOR THE ENTIRE 2 SECONDS.

That should be your only concern. "Can I track the cluubhead
throughout the entire swing?"

Even if you try hitting the ball backwards through your legs, if you
pay full attention to the clubhead you'll putt it or chip it pretty close.

The technique therefore is how you use your brain! How you pay
attention. And how you let go.

I demonstrated this morning that where you place your foot, where you
place your weight, where you grip the club, etc. is NOWHERE NEAR
AS IMPORTANT AS BEING AWARE OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

Exercises:

1. Try Shoemakers mesmerizing "club-throwing" technique (you'll
discover your natural timing this way) ...

and also try:

2. Paying full attention to, say, the full arc of the clubhead
paying NO REGARD WHATSOEVER to where the ball goes.
Just observe your awareness with the clubhead.

Shoemaker is operating in a field of elite mind/body practitioners,
a field of geniuses who know true power lies in the STUDENT'S
HANDS. These coaches/artists include Lorin Roche (grab all his meditation books) and George Leonard (grab all his books) and others.

You won't regret it.

Your scores WILL drop if you read this book (thoroughly)
and start putting its commonsense advice into practice.

Of all the instructional books I've read in ANY category (and
I say this as a professional writer myself), this one stands
out for its clarity, sense of humor, and easy readability.

However, for the next edition, let there be more diagrams!

In spite of the authors' brilliant description of the swing -- the
best I have read yet -- I wish they'd have included a diagram
of a solid take-away, my own personal golf bugaboo.

(Perhaps the authors assume we already know how to do it.)

All the same, for a relatively small cash outlay you can't beat
this book.

But you will beat your friends.

I should know, as it did for me.

If you're prepared to put the time in and study study study
these pictures, then go out and shoot shoot shoot literally
thousands of photographs (I shot 5,000+ in my first year),
then accurately anaylze what you are doing right, you WILL
improve.

If you think one quick read is all you need then you're
deluding yourself. Instant mastery is a joke and you'd
be foolish to look for quick fixes.

But for a SOLID grounding in what works and what doesn't,
you can't beat this book.

You may also want to investigate "The Art of Black and
White Photography " by John Garrett.

But most of all, shoot away.

A terrific "quest" novel, one of the finest, about a man in search of himself.

Hilarious from the moment Henderson steps onto African soil (practically every word out of his mouth is a pure delight), it is nonetheless a deeply affecting novel; a stunner; one that stays with you forever.

Bellow's work is like that.

Months after putting one of his books down, it will creep up on you. And somehow grow inside you.

Oddly, as irresistible as he is I find him slow-going (in a good way). I simply cannot read Bellow quickly.

So take your time. And enjoy.

Hilarious, scathing, wistful, beautiful.

Incredibly modern; the language is as fresh as if Thackeray had penned it yesterday.

A pure delight from beginning to end.

If you're one of those booklovers who reads as much as anthing else in order to get to know the author, in order to sit down and share a beer with him (or her) as it were, then this is your book.

You will come to adore Thackeray, to wish he were your best friend.

In short, if you love Henry Fielding's brand of humor and conversation with the reader in Tom Jones, then you will love Vanity Fair.

This Penguin edition features a brilliant introduction by John Carey, in which he draws comparisons between Vanity Fair and another sumpreme work of art: War and Peace.

In fact he argues that without Vanity Fair, there may never have been a War and Peace.

Ahh, Dobbin. A character that will live in my heart forever.

Certainly the most lyrical, at the very least.

A feast for lovers of the English language.

A feast for lovers, too.

Simply consider Chapter 7. Never has young
love ached this much, or sounded so wistfully
seductive.

For me the finest chapter in American letters.

A lot of people will tell you this is a political
novel, but don't pay that much mind. Politics
is simply the backdrop here.

The real story is good/evil, redemption, love,
betrayal, fatherhood, corruption, idealism gone
awry, and a dozen other themes.

Watch carefully whenever the words "white" or
"black" are mentioned. What is their significance?

Is Warren telling us that good and evil exist side
by side? Within the same being? Are inseparable?

See for yourself.

One sad note however: the use of the N-word.

Certainly the most lyrical, at the very least.

A feast for lovers of the English language.

A feast for lovers, too.

Simply consider Chapter 7. Never has young
love ached this much, or sounded so wistfully
seductive.

For me the finest chapter in American letters.

A lot of people will tell you this is a political
novel, but don't pay that much mind. Politics
is simply the backdrop here.

The real story is good/evil, redemption, love,
betrayal, fatherhood, corruption, idealism gone
awry, and a dozen other themes.

Watch carefully whenever the words "white" or
"black" are mentioned. What is their significance?

Is Warren telling us that good and evil exist side
by side? Within the same being? Are inseparable?

See for yourself.

One sad note however: the use of the N-word.

I'm getting annoyed at all these people criticizing "18."

"It's more of the same."

"It sounds like PLAY."

"It sounds like B-sides of PLAY."

Enuf already. Moby makes music his way. If you want something different, find another artist. You got a limited attention span? Find some other amusement. Find some other wagon to jump on. If you can't accept a man who has developed his own style, a style that works, mind you, if you can't accept this album for what it is, leave already.

Yes, "18' is similar to PLAY.

But as an album it's even BETTER than PLAY.

Cohesive, melancholy, brooding, anthemic, and ultimately uplifting, it is the perfect album for writing to, making out to, working out to, or slipping on headphones and walking to.

I will admit that the best moments of PLAY exceed the best moments of "18", but overall Moby has outdone himself here.

This will probably sound arrogant, but I think intelligent listeners will really get a kick out this album.

Radiohead may be blazing wild new trails year to year, but you can't hold it against Moby for sticking to and perfecting his.