Common Ground: Reviews

July 2008 | Art & Soul

Reviews

BOOKS

The Thrive Diet: The Whole Food Way to Lose Weight, Reduce Stress and Stay Healthy for Life
by Brenden Brazier
(Da Capo Press)

Early on in his career as a professional Ironman triathelete, Brenden Brazier realized the quality of his rest and recovery — more specifically, diet — was as important as his intense physical training regimen. He began experimenting with ways of integrating diet into his training scheme, and the seeds of the Thrive Diet were sewn.

Brazier regards Thrive as “a way of life, more a philosophy than a program,” which stands in stark contrast to the fad diets that promise maximum weight loss with minimal change in lifestyle.

Brazier sets it straight: If you’re the typical North American glutton — consuming the empty calories available to you in highly processed foods, using coffee and sugary energy drinks as stimulants, trying to treat the symptoms of your stress/weight gain/high cholesterol/high blood pressures/fatigue/chronic pain rather than the root causes — you’re doing it all wrong.

Besides clearly written explanations of what he sees as the trouble with our eating and lifestyle habits — unnecessary physical and emotional stress — Brazier supplies readers with a plant-based diet rich in nutrients which both help the body conserve valuable energy and repair itself.

Brazier also includes a chapter on how our bad diets are contributing to the deteriorating condition of the planet, proving to this reader his credibility as someone serious about inspiring changes in the way we eat.

— Eric Larson

Sleeping Bag Yoga: Stretch!
Relax! Energize! For Hikers, Bikers and Kayakers
by Erin Widman
Illustrations Jean Bradbury
(Sasquatch Books)

What do you dream about when you have been out on a trail for several days? Blueberry pie? A bathtub and soft slippers? Two months into an epic trip through New Zealand and Asia with a bicycle, backpack and kayak, author Erin Widman realized the comfort of home she missed most was her daily yoga practice. So, swapping yoga mat for sleeping bag, she improvised a routine to soothe the aches and pains of days spent peddling, paddling and hiking.

Seattle publisher Sasquatch Books presents these field-tested yoga routines in a handy softback book that’s easily packable, whether you’re paddling up the Inland Passage, trekking Nepal or touring the Alps. By focusing on the holistic experience of yoga, which connects mind, body and spirit, the book emphasizes the opportunity to align your body and tune your attention in to the natural world around you.

The simple, informative book offers 26 yoga positions that require little space, arranged in a sequence to address all major muscle groups and accompanied by Jean Bradbury’s soft sketches, useful alignment tips and meditations. Even if you don’t have a big trip planned yet, let this book inspire you to get your yoga on in the great outdoors.

— Kristianne Huntsberger

The Dinner Diaries: Raising Whole Wheat Kids in a White Bread World
By Betsy Block
(Algonquin Books)

The road to eating healthy is bumpy enough for one person — between, say, weaning yourself off a fudge sauce addiction, concocting your own salad dressing and finding the time to dice, chop and otherwise prepare nutrient-rich meals. Betsy Block has herself plus her son, Zack, daughter, Maya, and, worst of all, her picky-eater husband, Andy, who refuses to touch “casseroles of any kind,” “many vegetables” and “most sauces” not to mention condiments, cheese, stews, seafood and yogurt.

What a nightmare.

In The Dinner Diaries, Block chronicles her attempts to change 10 areas of her family’s eating habits, including switching to local organic foods, substituting whole grains for white flour and determining which fish are on the safe list and which are too toxic, all while weeding through the conflicting information (raw milk! goat’s milk! no milk!) and fighting the biggest battle of all: her children’s sugar cravings (she caves on Halloween).

Her family’s diet does improve, and somewhere “between cakes and fries on the one hand, and sugarless millet-soy milk muffins on the other” Block finds her middle ground (thus hopefully preventing her kids from rebelling when they’re older). So kale chips for a snack it is. Great, mom. Now, how about a cupcake?

— Jenny Rough

FILM

Good Food
Directed by Mark Dworkin
and Melissa Young
movingimages.org

As we go to press, consumers in more than a dozen states are getting sick on tomatoes. Besides being a bummer for the individuals who are and will become physically affected, the public suspicion toward all tomatoes is likely to adversely affect those local growers whose crops are clean. If nothing else, this situation again sheds light on an agricultural system dominated by industrial ag and a decreasing number of family farms (which are no longer counted in the U.S. census) where livelihood is inextricably linked to the care for and quality of the crops. Good Food, a film by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young, who have a long list of human rights–themed docs between them, explore the benefits of operating small, organic farms by pointing to the emergence of an increasing number of small growers and local/organic-only consumers in the Pacific Northwest. Amid stunning visuals of rural Oregon and Washington landscapes, the film introduces viewers to the grain harvesters, ranchers, restaurateurs and distributors who are a part of this movement and connects us with a more sustainable and sensible way of putting good food on our tables.

— E.L.

MUSIC

Niyaz
Nine Heavens
(Six Degrees)

Last year, during a conversation with Azam Ali, Niyaz lead singer, Ali mentioned her three-piece Persian electronica outfit, which includes multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torkian and producer Carmen Rizzo was contemplating a double-disc for their sophomore release. One year and two discs later — one disc entirely acoustic, the other featuring the same songs tinkered and fueled by Rizzo’s exceptional digitalism — Niyaz further pushes the boundaries they began breaking with their 2005 debut. Ali, former vocalist of Vas, is used to groundbreaking circumstances — she has continually redefined the classical Persian, Urdu and even Baroque canons with tasteful flourishes of modernity. This process did not see full fruition until joining forces with the two men by her side. A boggling array of percussion, Torkian’s masterful playing on a variety of stringed instruments (guitar, viol, saz, rabab), Rizzo’s poignant ear for tasteful beats, and the centerpiece — Ali’s gorgeous vocals — keep this band on top of their game as the Persian world’s most inventive and courageous band.

— Derek Beres

K’naan
The Dusty Foot Philosopher
(Interdependent)

Once, at a festival in Winnipeg I watched K’naan stand on stage, bang a djembe and recite politically charged verse in front of thousands of people. There was such bravery in his voice and demeanor — you could say it’s in his blood. Fleeing Somalia at age 13 to Canada, K’naan has been active in the refugee plight in both poetry and hip-hop, the latter comprising the majority of this deluxe 20-track compilation. Featuring his now renowned dancehall-informed Soobax — with a boost to the bass, thankfully — and socially poignant cuts like “If Rap Gets Jealous” and “I Was Stabbed by Satan,” this is a great collection to enter this wordsmith’s world. K’naan has the rare ability to be both sonically ambitious and dexterous and lyrically conscious; he sprinkles sociological insight with a compelling street swagger. Taking the rhythm of Tracy Chapman with his own twist on “In the Beginning” (formerly “Voices of the Crossroads”) is indicative of his forward-thinking verbal acrobatics. But none is a greater entry point than the ultimately positive “Smile.” Even when he discusses tragedy, you have to feel inspired.

— D.B.

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