Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I’ve been tearing through audio books this summer, spending more than I should at Audible.com. It started with a couple film books as I was preparing for the Film as Narrative class that I am teaching for the Department of English during the first summer session, and now I am reading about Buddhism, working my way through titles such as Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery, by Chögyam Trungpa.
If I take the fast route, and if I hit the lights right, I can bike from my home in south Davis to my office on the west side of campus in the time it takes to listen to three Stevie Wonder songs. Typically and preferably, I take the long path to work, meandering comfortably along Putah Creek, and encountering no vehicles except for occasional other bicycles. This commute rewards me not only because of the fresh air and the opportunity to greet everyone along the green belt, but also because I take the time to listen to a chapter or more of my current book.
My recently restarted meditation process has resulted in one welcome benefit: a growing ability to focus. One way this manifests itself, I’ve discovered, is through my ability to listen to audio books at accelerated rates. Typical conversation is shared at about 150 words per minute, but I can play my audiobooks comfortably at about 150% speed and still follow, at least when I concentrate. For me, this is a practiced skill, one that can be further improved. For instance, I have blind friends in town for whom my sped-up rate of listening would be lugubriously slow – I’m amazed at how quickly and effectively they can process aural information.
Self-impressed with my practice of eating up the pages of books this summer, I still find myself zoning out whenever I bike for a short stretch alongside Interstate 80. I find that on West Chiles Road, just before Hamel Lane, the traffic noise interferes significantly with the speakers of the iPhone in my shirt pocket (I know not to use headphones on a bike). Sometimes I back the book up 30 seconds to see what I missed, while at other times I just resign myself to having missed 30 seconds of information, story, or poetry. At such moments I realize that most of us, including especially myself, are like bike commuters along a highway much of the time, in that we find that outside noise interferes with our own thinking processes. Some of us continue for years this way, welcoming other people’s noise and seeking any sort of distraction rather than merely sitting for a moment with our own thoughts.
As the Buddha said, “Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.” Mastering one’s self may seem too ambitious for the summer. I would be happy just to practice better understanding what I am thinking about, and why.
In addition to topics raised above, tonight expect questions about undertakers, elves, German titles, taking cures, active compounds, kidney ailments, sweetness, eastern Europe, seas, consumerist autonomy, smaller than Taurus, what you can only imagine, momentous deaths, carboniferosity?, American cities, Harry Potter, David Bowie remarks, retired numbers, John Brown, harnesses, future slackers, bands that are filled with young men, Cheez Whiz, Scottish tips, divided houses, three initials, soft drinks, drivable city visits, facts that you know but which your teammates do not, bellicosity, limestone, world-changing books, rivers, fall dragons, Korea, future Fries, acts of rebellion, Miami, and Shakespeare.
I hope you can join us this evening. As Helen Keller says, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”
Your Quizmaster
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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Books and Authors. Who narrates F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby?
- Current Events. What supermarket chain that is moving its headquarters from Woodland to Davis?
- Sports: World Cup Finals. Who lost to France?
P.S. These are the last weeks for you to see the summer 2018 productions of the Davis Shakespeare Festival. Tickets are still available!