I was walking through my local Books-a-Million the other day, wondering how all of these successful general-fiction writers come up with successful story plot lines. I entered one of the aisles, looked around to make sure that there wasn't anyone I might accidentally bump into or trip over (many B-a-M customers like to sit on the floor), and closed my eyes. And then reached over to my right and pulled out the first book I touched. It was about a serial killer. Placing it back on the shelf, I then walked down a couple of steps and repeated myself. So did the book I picked: another serial killer story.
I stopped the experiment and began to examine book after book. No, I wasn't in the mystery section, but most of the books had as their premise a murderer on the loose. And then it hit me: books are marketed nowadays according to formulae similar to how popular music is marketed and played on broadcast radio. And instead of the diversity of stories that should be available, we end up getting a relatively sparse number of very successful authors churning out minor variations of their own (and each other's) works, much like the annoying homogeneity of crap being passed as music on broadcast radio. Yuck...
So I wonder how many aspiring writers have eschewed the overworked serial murderer story line and tried writing material of a more offbeat nature, resulting in their stories either never being published or suffering poor promotion leading to their lack of exposure in major book outlets.
Maybe I should write a parody of these tedious and ultimately boring serial killer books, but try to sell it as a serious work and see what happens. A kind of literary Spinal Tap, if you will...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Boda Real is Real Bull
Let's be clear about this: I am an American. And if there's one thing that is clearly positive about my heritage as an American, it is that my country was founded as a republic, divorced from the curse of royalty. Places with kings, queens, princes, princesses, czars, sultans, emperors,... however you may designate them, are plagued with essentially worthless people who inherit shameless amounts of wealth and have completely unmerited power to influence events in their countries. It is true that in today's world, most royalty is chiefly ceremonial and symbolic. But a lot of the reason for this change has been bloody revolts and wars against autocratic royal despots in the past. And to think that people are getting all excited and teary-eyed about a prince marrying his girlfriend in England? Unbelievable!
What makes things even worse are two buried news stories occurring at the same general time as this ludicrous event. Three hundred people, i.e. American people, have violently perished at the hands of an historic storm system that unleashed hundreds of tornadoes on heavily populated areas, chiefly in northern Alabama. And another historic event, the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor, with its very important cargo for studying the basic nature of the universe, was slated for Friday (but postponed for at least two days due to last-minute technical problems). But no, let's push these stories to the background, dress our journalists and announcers in ridiculous costumes, and fly them overseas for non-stop coverage of this non-event!
What I think is also funny (or sad, depending on how you look at it) is how even much more engrossed in the British "boda real" my Spanish-language television station Univision has been, apparently in response to its viewing audience. This floors me, especially considering that for most of the Latin American countries, their struggle for independence from hegemonistic European royalty was even more traumatic than was the Americans' struggle against the British during the Revolutionary War.
But I suppose that part of this fascination with today's wedding stems from our childhood memories of so many stories revolving around royalty. So instead of being realistic about how parasitic on society the REAL royalty is, we impose our fantasy visions on these basically common, ordinary people and elevate them to an undeserving status.
What makes things even worse are two buried news stories occurring at the same general time as this ludicrous event. Three hundred people, i.e. American people, have violently perished at the hands of an historic storm system that unleashed hundreds of tornadoes on heavily populated areas, chiefly in northern Alabama. And another historic event, the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor, with its very important cargo for studying the basic nature of the universe, was slated for Friday (but postponed for at least two days due to last-minute technical problems). But no, let's push these stories to the background, dress our journalists and announcers in ridiculous costumes, and fly them overseas for non-stop coverage of this non-event!
What I think is also funny (or sad, depending on how you look at it) is how even much more engrossed in the British "boda real" my Spanish-language television station Univision has been, apparently in response to its viewing audience. This floors me, especially considering that for most of the Latin American countries, their struggle for independence from hegemonistic European royalty was even more traumatic than was the Americans' struggle against the British during the Revolutionary War.
But I suppose that part of this fascination with today's wedding stems from our childhood memories of so many stories revolving around royalty. So instead of being realistic about how parasitic on society the REAL royalty is, we impose our fantasy visions on these basically common, ordinary people and elevate them to an undeserving status.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Ten-Mile Run Ahead of Killer Storm
Well, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic. But I did run ten miles late this morning, and it WAS ahead of a massive frontal storm system that, at last report, is responsible for at least 170 deaths throughout the southeastern U.S.. The front seems to have dipped to the northern fringe of Florida, just missing Gainesville. But some spinoff storms still cut through the area later today (but not anything like the devastation visited elsewhere, especially Alabama). Ironically, it was this front that largely helped me to reach ten miles by providing welcome shade with clouds leading ahead of it. And it never rained during the run, although a few sprinkles probably would have enhanced it.
The run was done under generally unpleasant weather conditions: the temperature ranged from 78 degrees at the start to 86 at the end. Humidity dropped during the run from a sticky 74% to a more manageable 63%.
My ten-mile run time was 1:36:40, reflecting my stubbornly predictable and comfortable long-distance running pace.
It certainly does raise my spirits to be able to return to a regular running routine. Once again, there was no hint throughout this workout that I had ever suffered any injury. Hooray! But that personal encouragement is tempered with the sadness over this terrible storm system's casualties.
The run was done under generally unpleasant weather conditions: the temperature ranged from 78 degrees at the start to 86 at the end. Humidity dropped during the run from a sticky 74% to a more manageable 63%.
My ten-mile run time was 1:36:40, reflecting my stubbornly predictable and comfortable long-distance running pace.
It certainly does raise my spirits to be able to return to a regular running routine. Once again, there was no hint throughout this workout that I had ever suffered any injury. Hooray! But that personal encouragement is tempered with the sadness over this terrible storm system's casualties.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Is Kobe the Best Right Now?
I was listening earlier today to a sports talk show on the radio (I think it was ESPN). The question being discussed was who the best player in basketball is right now. The announcers settled on Kobe Bryant. One of them pointed out that, in last night's playoff game against New Orleans, Bryant made a couple of stunning plays to the basket that only he could make. And he was supposedly nursing an ankle injury!
Well, apparently there wasn't any ankle injury and Bryant had been using it as an excuse for his lackluster play against the Hornets so far. Then last night, in the second quarter (after a very slow first quarter), he suddenly "made his statement" and his Los Angeles Lakers won to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. But does that show him to be the best player right now?
Remember, the announcers were referring to the present and not to the span of a player's career. Kobe Bryant has a solid claim to a "career best player" for his impressive total of NBA championship rings. But his performance lately has been spotty and erratic, to say the least. For me, I place much greater store in consistent greatness. Chicago's Derrick Rose and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, by that standard, have shown themselves to be much greater than Kobe Bryant. Right now.
Kobe Bryant, like Miami's Lebron James, has enormous talent, talent which at times is breathtaking. But much of the time in a game, at least as I see it, both of these superstar athletes simply won't play up to the level that they are capable of. It creates frustration for their teams' fans as they wonder when, if ever, their hero is finally going to get himself in the mood to "turn it on" in a game. For me, I come away from the experience with a feeling of having been manipulated somehow. I certainly wouldn't elevate someone like this to the title of "best".
Well, apparently there wasn't any ankle injury and Bryant had been using it as an excuse for his lackluster play against the Hornets so far. Then last night, in the second quarter (after a very slow first quarter), he suddenly "made his statement" and his Los Angeles Lakers won to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. But does that show him to be the best player right now?
Remember, the announcers were referring to the present and not to the span of a player's career. Kobe Bryant has a solid claim to a "career best player" for his impressive total of NBA championship rings. But his performance lately has been spotty and erratic, to say the least. For me, I place much greater store in consistent greatness. Chicago's Derrick Rose and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, by that standard, have shown themselves to be much greater than Kobe Bryant. Right now.
Kobe Bryant, like Miami's Lebron James, has enormous talent, talent which at times is breathtaking. But much of the time in a game, at least as I see it, both of these superstar athletes simply won't play up to the level that they are capable of. It creates frustration for their teams' fans as they wonder when, if ever, their hero is finally going to get himself in the mood to "turn it on" in a game. For me, I come away from the experience with a feeling of having been manipulated somehow. I certainly wouldn't elevate someone like this to the title of "best".
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Is My Injury Recovery Complete?
On March 22, I began to experience some familiar pain from my January IT band injury (in my right leg just below the knee) while on a neighborhood run, around the four-mile mark. I prudently laid off running for a weak to aid in my healing. Since then...
Starting on March 29 and including today, I have run on ten different occasions and amassed 57.5 miles. No pain! Today was a breakthrough of sorts: I ran on the road around my neighborhood for 8.15 miles (time 1:15:12) and only ended my run because, frankly, I had fallen out of shape due to resting from the injury and was too tired to continue (and it was hot and humid to boot). But no pain in the injured area.
So have I fully recovered? I might as well act as if I have, since it will probably take some time to gradually build my distance back up to the level I had previously enjoyed. But with several recent runs of over seven miles, I am already in the lower mileage level of the area I want to get to! I would just like to add a longer run, around 13-14 miles, once a week, and I will be content with running again.
Yes, I don't think it will be long before I am participating again in various community road races. Unfortunately, with the oncoming hot summer, they may be few and far between.
Starting on March 29 and including today, I have run on ten different occasions and amassed 57.5 miles. No pain! Today was a breakthrough of sorts: I ran on the road around my neighborhood for 8.15 miles (time 1:15:12) and only ended my run because, frankly, I had fallen out of shape due to resting from the injury and was too tired to continue (and it was hot and humid to boot). But no pain in the injured area.
So have I fully recovered? I might as well act as if I have, since it will probably take some time to gradually build my distance back up to the level I had previously enjoyed. But with several recent runs of over seven miles, I am already in the lower mileage level of the area I want to get to! I would just like to add a longer run, around 13-14 miles, once a week, and I will be content with running again.
Yes, I don't think it will be long before I am participating again in various community road races. Unfortunately, with the oncoming hot summer, they may be few and far between.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Final Endeavor Mission Slated For Friday Liftoff
The space shuttle program is winding down as another shuttle, Endeavor, is scheduled for its final launch this Friday. There is so little popular interest in our space program anymore that it probably would have been largely ignored by the media were it not for the human interest angle with astronaut Mark Kelly being on of the crew. Kelly is the husband of recently-shot U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who apparently will be able to watch the launch.
It is a shame that so many care little or nothing about space exploration. To me, it represents the future of science and carries enormous significance for our ability to maintain our fragile Earth's ability to sustain life. But public apathy has instead allowed NASA, the federal agency charged with the responsibility of setting our goals and implementing them, to escape the needed scrutiny it needs to avoid slipping into a weighted-down bureaucracy instead of a dynamic, tightly managed organization with clear and ambitious missions.
When our last president presented his plan to go back to the moon and set up a permanent base there, the press reacted to it as if it were just a lame, fill-in news story. Soon after Bush laid out his vision, the story quickly died.
Space travel has little political traction with the ideological polarization currently intensifying in our country. The political right sees anything to do with the government as being inherently evil (unless it involves increasing discrimination against minorities and the poor, depriving women of reproductive freedom, promoting one particular religious worldview over others, or funding the military to ridiculous levels). The political left, on the other hand, seems to delight in negatively comparing public spending on space exploration to entitlement programs that it would like to see strengthened (the old "we can send a man to the moon but we won't help the poor" argument).
Hopefully, private industry will step in and help to revitalize space exploration. But don't expect a lot of media coverage on this. After all, the commercial news media of today is more interested in anticipating public interest for its stories, not creating it. Too bad.
It is a shame that so many care little or nothing about space exploration. To me, it represents the future of science and carries enormous significance for our ability to maintain our fragile Earth's ability to sustain life. But public apathy has instead allowed NASA, the federal agency charged with the responsibility of setting our goals and implementing them, to escape the needed scrutiny it needs to avoid slipping into a weighted-down bureaucracy instead of a dynamic, tightly managed organization with clear and ambitious missions.
When our last president presented his plan to go back to the moon and set up a permanent base there, the press reacted to it as if it were just a lame, fill-in news story. Soon after Bush laid out his vision, the story quickly died.
Space travel has little political traction with the ideological polarization currently intensifying in our country. The political right sees anything to do with the government as being inherently evil (unless it involves increasing discrimination against minorities and the poor, depriving women of reproductive freedom, promoting one particular religious worldview over others, or funding the military to ridiculous levels). The political left, on the other hand, seems to delight in negatively comparing public spending on space exploration to entitlement programs that it would like to see strengthened (the old "we can send a man to the moon but we won't help the poor" argument).
Hopefully, private industry will step in and help to revitalize space exploration. But don't expect a lot of media coverage on this. After all, the commercial news media of today is more interested in anticipating public interest for its stories, not creating it. Too bad.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Annoying Late Night for Me
Sometimes work can be a bit stressful toward the end of my shift, approaching 11 PM. After I get off from work, I would like to find a relatively quiet public place to unwind with a little decaf coffee and then go home. Try finding such a place in Gainesville, though! Still, I'm making it a kind of quest: surely there is someplace that isn't too loud, excessively lit, full of obnoxious people, and serves coffee that time of night...
The other night after a particularly stress-inducing shift, I went to my local 24-hour Krispy Kreme to find some solace and coffee. Mistake. There was a long line of customers as I entered, so I sat down and waited, pulling out a notebook to read. Only I couldn't read, everyone was so loud. And argumentative. It seems that some of the customers were irate because the red "hot doughnuts" sign wasn't on yet, and they wanted their doughnuts HOT, dammit. Then the comatose-looking attendant behind the counter asked a woman customer what she wanted, to which she replied a dozen glazed. This angered another customer, who had already ordered and was waiting for his dozen glazed doughnuts (are you beginning to see how irrational these people were). The woman actually apologized to the man for her order, probably realizing what a nutcase he was. All this and a myriad other conversations seemed to be amplified by the place's acoustics. And the lighting there would befit an interrogation room. Well, I eased on out of that joint and wrote off my experience as a lesson learned...
Maybe tonight I'll try one of those all-night restaurants where they expect you to order complete meals (like at IHOP or Perkins). Then I'll just sit there like the goth kids on South Park, annoying the servers by ordering only coffee and sitting there glued to the seat!
The other night after a particularly stress-inducing shift, I went to my local 24-hour Krispy Kreme to find some solace and coffee. Mistake. There was a long line of customers as I entered, so I sat down and waited, pulling out a notebook to read. Only I couldn't read, everyone was so loud. And argumentative. It seems that some of the customers were irate because the red "hot doughnuts" sign wasn't on yet, and they wanted their doughnuts HOT, dammit. Then the comatose-looking attendant behind the counter asked a woman customer what she wanted, to which she replied a dozen glazed. This angered another customer, who had already ordered and was waiting for his dozen glazed doughnuts (are you beginning to see how irrational these people were). The woman actually apologized to the man for her order, probably realizing what a nutcase he was. All this and a myriad other conversations seemed to be amplified by the place's acoustics. And the lighting there would befit an interrogation room. Well, I eased on out of that joint and wrote off my experience as a lesson learned...
Maybe tonight I'll try one of those all-night restaurants where they expect you to order complete meals (like at IHOP or Perkins). Then I'll just sit there like the goth kids on South Park, annoying the servers by ordering only coffee and sitting there glued to the seat!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Annoying Day for Me
Today was one of those interesting days I could do without, for the most part. For most of the morning, after I drove my daughter to school, I was too tired to do anything but sleep. So I slept in. Finally, at the last minute I decided to try another seven-mile run around the neighborhood. By then the temperature had climbed to the mid-eighties outside, making the run somewhat grueling. But I completed it nonetheless and was quite self-congratulatory as I walked back up to my front door, keys in hand. Only I had the wrong set of keys; my house key was locked up inside the house. With nobody home inside this time of day, I had to spend the next twenty minutes creeping around the house trying to find a way to break in. Finally, just about when I had given up hope, I found a way. But then I thought this is a security problem. If I could get in this way, then an intruder could as well. So I fixed that breach, making the next time I lock myself out of my house an assured disaster!
I had just enough time to wash up and get ready for work. But right after I started my car, it instantly died on me, completely. Great, now I was going to be late for work and who knows what was wrong with the car. After getting on the phone with my auto repairman, he suggested that I tighten the battery connections. Sure enough, when I did that the power came back on and I was only a few minutes late for work.
Even after that, the day dragged on and I felt sluggish and weak. Usually after a good run I am pretty sharp, so I wondered why. And then it hit me: I hadn't had any coffee all day! At my first break at 4:30, I drank a big cup and everything improved from then on.
It's interesting how predicaments like locking oneself out of the house or having the car inexplicably shut down can seem so catastrophic while they are going on. But looking back from my perspective just a few hours later, it all now seems rather trivial, not to mention funny!
I had just enough time to wash up and get ready for work. But right after I started my car, it instantly died on me, completely. Great, now I was going to be late for work and who knows what was wrong with the car. After getting on the phone with my auto repairman, he suggested that I tighten the battery connections. Sure enough, when I did that the power came back on and I was only a few minutes late for work.
Even after that, the day dragged on and I felt sluggish and weak. Usually after a good run I am pretty sharp, so I wondered why. And then it hit me: I hadn't had any coffee all day! At my first break at 4:30, I drank a big cup and everything improved from then on.
It's interesting how predicaments like locking oneself out of the house or having the car inexplicably shut down can seem so catastrophic while they are going on. But looking back from my perspective just a few hours later, it all now seems rather trivial, not to mention funny!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Swimming and Breathing
Sunday at the mega-used-book sale here in Gainesville I spent 50 cents on a swimming guide. It gave some tips for how to breathe while swimming. One was to practice breathing in the water by standing in place with the water at about shoulder level. Quickly inhale through the mouth and then dip under water by bending the knees. Slowly exhale through the nose and then briefly emerge to inhale again. Keep repeating indefinitely, if you can. For if you can do this without building up an oxygen debt or starting to gasp for air, then you have a working model for breathing while swimming. Or at least that's what the book implies.
In practice, it is different to do this while swimming. I am thinking about a lot of things besides breathing. I am balancing my body and concentrating on how I am positioning my arms, torso, and legs at any given moment. Most of the time (when I am swimming freestyle) my head is under water, so naturally I have to delay my breathing until my stroke is at the stage where my head is momentarily turned sideways out of the water. So the bobbing practice pushed in the book is helpful, but not entirely adequate.
Today I worked on my breathing at the pool, and it continues to be a work in progress. But I did learn something very significant today: I don't really tire much while swimming. My rest periods between laps are almost entirely because I am catching my breath, not because of any energy drain. And that gives me hope, because I am shortening those rest intervals with each time I go to the pool.
In practice, it is different to do this while swimming. I am thinking about a lot of things besides breathing. I am balancing my body and concentrating on how I am positioning my arms, torso, and legs at any given moment. Most of the time (when I am swimming freestyle) my head is under water, so naturally I have to delay my breathing until my stroke is at the stage where my head is momentarily turned sideways out of the water. So the bobbing practice pushed in the book is helpful, but not entirely adequate.
Today I worked on my breathing at the pool, and it continues to be a work in progress. But I did learn something very significant today: I don't really tire much while swimming. My rest periods between laps are almost entirely because I am catching my breath, not because of any energy drain. And that gives me hope, because I am shortening those rest intervals with each time I go to the pool.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Enjoying NBA Playoffs
I'm enjoying the National Basketball Association playoffs this year immensely. There have been some unexpectedly close games and some upsets as well. New York-Boston, Indiana-Chicago, Atlanta-Orlando, Philadelphia-Miami, Los Angeles-New Orleans, San Antonio-Memphis, Denver-Oklahoma City, and Dallas-Portland (the game I am currently watching) have all had competitive, interesting games (well, except for the latest Philadelphia-Miami game). The favorites have usually won, but even then the games have generally been tense and close, going down to the final minute in most cases.
I love this time of the year. NBA playoffs are a great source of entertainment for me. It's funny seeing how some players get traded from one team to another but somehow seem to be in the playoff picture every year!
This year I like Boston in the Eastern Conference and San Antonio in the West. The teams I am absolutely opposed to are Miami in the East and Oklahoma City in the West. My aversion to the Oklahoma City Thunder is probably irrational as I had always liked the franchise's previous location and name: the Seattle Supersonics. Oh well, at least they had enough sense to change the nickname when they moved, unlike the ridiculous Utah Jazz (formerly of New Orleans) and the even more ridiculous Memphis Grizzlies (formerly of Vancouver).
I love this time of the year. NBA playoffs are a great source of entertainment for me. It's funny seeing how some players get traded from one team to another but somehow seem to be in the playoff picture every year!
This year I like Boston in the Eastern Conference and San Antonio in the West. The teams I am absolutely opposed to are Miami in the East and Oklahoma City in the West. My aversion to the Oklahoma City Thunder is probably irrational as I had always liked the franchise's previous location and name: the Seattle Supersonics. Oh well, at least they had enough sense to change the nickname when they moved, unlike the ridiculous Utah Jazz (formerly of New Orleans) and the even more ridiculous Memphis Grizzlies (formerly of Vancouver).
Monday, April 18, 2011
Ditto to Karl Rove (This Time)
Karl Rove and I are seeing eye-to-eye, and that bothers me. For years I had regarded him as one of the chief culprits responsible for George W. Bush's shift to an ideological, right-wing presidency after initially running in 2000 as a moderate who could unite the country behind him (as he successfully had done with Texas as its governor). It was Bush's stubbornness during the initial months of 2001 in refusing to work with the Democrats in Congress that led me to switch my party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. So Rove is not exactly on my list of most-admired.
But Karl Rove has lately been quite vocal in his denunciation of new presidential hopeful Donald Trump, even calling him a "joke candidate". Why? Because Trump, who could have run strongly on his credentials as a very successful businessman qualified to take on the nation's economic problems as president, instead decided to go off the deep end and focus on Obama's birthplace, siding with the fringe "birther" movement that claims the current president to be illegally in office because he was supposedly born abroad and not in Hawaii. I initially had welcomed Trump's entry into the race until he showed that, beyond his business acumen, he was nuttier than a fruitcake.
But even setting aside the Trump nonsense, I find myself agreeing somewhat with Karl Rove, who wants there to be a field of stronger GOP candidates than there is right now. When November 2012 comes around, I want to have a choice between two candidates, either of whom I feel confident to be qualified to take over the reins of power in 2013. The last thing I want is for some simplistic demagogue to make it into office by repeating Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh's talking points. But except for Mitt Romney (who at least has a record in office of being reasonable, although he now is understandably trying to ingratiate himself with the party's right wing), I see no one who doesn't fit this description.
I don't think that Mr. Rove wants the Republicans to nominate political bomb-throwers like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, or Michelle Bachmann for the simple reason that their nomination would almost automatically guarantee Obama a second term. Rove wants the GOP to unite early in the campaign around a strong candidate who can win over independent and moderate voters, something crucial for their election in 2012. Instead, the Republicans may end up crippled with extremist teabaggers rejecting any moderation during the primary season and nominating a nutcase to run against Obama in the general election. Neither Rove nor I want this to happen.
But Karl Rove has lately been quite vocal in his denunciation of new presidential hopeful Donald Trump, even calling him a "joke candidate". Why? Because Trump, who could have run strongly on his credentials as a very successful businessman qualified to take on the nation's economic problems as president, instead decided to go off the deep end and focus on Obama's birthplace, siding with the fringe "birther" movement that claims the current president to be illegally in office because he was supposedly born abroad and not in Hawaii. I initially had welcomed Trump's entry into the race until he showed that, beyond his business acumen, he was nuttier than a fruitcake.
But even setting aside the Trump nonsense, I find myself agreeing somewhat with Karl Rove, who wants there to be a field of stronger GOP candidates than there is right now. When November 2012 comes around, I want to have a choice between two candidates, either of whom I feel confident to be qualified to take over the reins of power in 2013. The last thing I want is for some simplistic demagogue to make it into office by repeating Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh's talking points. But except for Mitt Romney (who at least has a record in office of being reasonable, although he now is understandably trying to ingratiate himself with the party's right wing), I see no one who doesn't fit this description.
I don't think that Mr. Rove wants the Republicans to nominate political bomb-throwers like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, or Michelle Bachmann for the simple reason that their nomination would almost automatically guarantee Obama a second term. Rove wants the GOP to unite early in the campaign around a strong candidate who can win over independent and moderate voters, something crucial for their election in 2012. Instead, the Republicans may end up crippled with extremist teabaggers rejecting any moderation during the primary season and nominating a nutcase to run against Obama in the general election. Neither Rove nor I want this to happen.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friends of the Library Sale: My Visit
Today Melissa and I went to the semi-annual Alachua County Friends of the Library book sale. This is a major event in Gainesville, and it draws many people to a warehouse located just north of downtown, a warehouse loaded to the hilt with books of (almost) all types. There are also many used CDs, audio cassettes, vinyl records, DVDs, and VHS tapes. The sale began yesterday and will conclude on Wednesday. Melissa bought a few books and I bought a couple (an elementary school Chinese story reader (in Chinese) and a book explaining swimming techniques and strategies). Since more books are added to the shelves each day, it might behoove me to pay a return visit there Tuesday or Wednesday.
The crowds there didn't bother me at all, but then again I wasn't really passionately searching for specific titles. So if there was an area that was overcongested, I just went to the next that wasn't. Besides, looking for specific books can be a little nerve-wracking even without having to deal with others competing for browsing space: other than areas specified by genre, books are shelved in no particular order, so one must look at each book to cover an area. That's too much of a hassle for me.
As I walked through the warehouse, I wondered how many of the out-of-print books on sale there would ever make it to electronic media like Kindle or The Nook. And would the prices of these books be such that the same folks who visit this massive used book sale be willing to buy them?
The crowds there didn't bother me at all, but then again I wasn't really passionately searching for specific titles. So if there was an area that was overcongested, I just went to the next that wasn't. Besides, looking for specific books can be a little nerve-wracking even without having to deal with others competing for browsing space: other than areas specified by genre, books are shelved in no particular order, so one must look at each book to cover an area. That's too much of a hassle for me.
As I walked through the warehouse, I wondered how many of the out-of-print books on sale there would ever make it to electronic media like Kindle or The Nook. And would the prices of these books be such that the same folks who visit this massive used book sale be willing to buy them?
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Bonds Guilty Verdict Baffling
I'm reading Thursday's news report of the verdict in the Barry Bonds perjury trial: guilty on one count, mistrials in the other three. The conviction wasn't for any perjury charge, though: Bonds is supposedly guilty of "obstructing justice" because he digressed and appeared "evasive" in his statements to the grand jury probing allegations that Bonds had purposefully taken injections of steroids and human growth hormone to boost his baseball performance. Uh-h-h, say that again?!
Bonds appeared in person as a "witness" before the grand jury, which in fact was there for one primary reason: to determine whether charges should be leveled at various alleged participants in the baseball doping scandal, Bonds himself one of them. I personally don't dig the idea that grand juries or congressional committees can subpoena people whom they know all along are the actual suspects of their investigations and then give them the third degree on the stand, probing and probing until they can catch them in some sort of contradiction. Then, in this "gotcha" game of theirs, they forget the original "crime" and level perjury charges against the witness. Only with Bonds, he wasn't convicted of perjury: it was for supplying information about his childhood and his friendship with personal trainer Greg Anderson, who has been tainted in the investigation. This information apparently didn't contribute much to the jury's knowledge about the case, but does that really constitute "obstruction of justice"? After all, Bonds was there in person. Anyone could have pressed him as much as they would have liked about any matter that they though was pertinent. The idea of a grand jury being incapable of doing this because they are not versed in legal intricacies is invalid: they have the power to recommend prosecution!
If being evasive when asked a question is a crime, then let's just go ahead and arrest all of our elected officials for the same thing every time one of them dodges a difficult question that a reporter poses to them. Or take me: once in my tenth grade English class I wrote a short, rambling paper off the top of my head summarizing a book that I never read and knew very little about, receiving my school's equivalent of a "B" grade on this assignment. Talk about an evasive narrative! Time to haul out the handcuffs and slap 'em on me, coppers!
Bonds appeared in person as a "witness" before the grand jury, which in fact was there for one primary reason: to determine whether charges should be leveled at various alleged participants in the baseball doping scandal, Bonds himself one of them. I personally don't dig the idea that grand juries or congressional committees can subpoena people whom they know all along are the actual suspects of their investigations and then give them the third degree on the stand, probing and probing until they can catch them in some sort of contradiction. Then, in this "gotcha" game of theirs, they forget the original "crime" and level perjury charges against the witness. Only with Bonds, he wasn't convicted of perjury: it was for supplying information about his childhood and his friendship with personal trainer Greg Anderson, who has been tainted in the investigation. This information apparently didn't contribute much to the jury's knowledge about the case, but does that really constitute "obstruction of justice"? After all, Bonds was there in person. Anyone could have pressed him as much as they would have liked about any matter that they though was pertinent. The idea of a grand jury being incapable of doing this because they are not versed in legal intricacies is invalid: they have the power to recommend prosecution!
If being evasive when asked a question is a crime, then let's just go ahead and arrest all of our elected officials for the same thing every time one of them dodges a difficult question that a reporter poses to them. Or take me: once in my tenth grade English class I wrote a short, rambling paper off the top of my head summarizing a book that I never read and knew very little about, receiving my school's equivalent of a "B" grade on this assignment. Talk about an evasive narrative! Time to haul out the handcuffs and slap 'em on me, coppers!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
My Kick-Ass 7-Mile Injury Recovery Run
Today I was more encouraged than ever about my recovery from the running injury to my right leg that hit me three months ago. This time I ran 7.18 miles around my neighborhood, experiencing no pain in the previously injured area just below my right knee. Now I am beginning to return to my running "comfort zone", having workouts of distances substantial enough to have the positive effects on my mind and body that I enjoyed so much last year. Never mind that the temperatures during the run were warm (78-81 degrees) or that I was tired and sweaty afterwards: this was a great triumph for me!
The 7.18 mile distance is the longest I have run pain-free since January 15, when I ran 26.6 miles. My time on today's run was typical for me, reflecting my habitual running pace: 1:08:04.
My ultimate goals with running are twofold:
(1) Return to a regimen of runs 3-4 times per week, with the distances ranging from 7 to 14 miles per run.
(2) Participate in half-marathons (13.1 miles) from now on (or in shorter-distance events).
And of course, as mentioned before, I also want to make swimming co-equal with running as an athletic activity. But if you read yesterday's article, you can see that I still have a long way to go before this is achieved.
The 7.18 mile distance is the longest I have run pain-free since January 15, when I ran 26.6 miles. My time on today's run was typical for me, reflecting my habitual running pace: 1:08:04.
My ultimate goals with running are twofold:
(1) Return to a regimen of runs 3-4 times per week, with the distances ranging from 7 to 14 miles per run.
(2) Participate in half-marathons (13.1 miles) from now on (or in shorter-distance events).
And of course, as mentioned before, I also want to make swimming co-equal with running as an athletic activity. But if you read yesterday's article, you can see that I still have a long way to go before this is achieved.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Swimming Compared to Running
Let me get this out first:
#1: I really, really, really want to become a good swimmer.
#2: I really, really, really want swimming to be an athletic activity of mine on an equal status as running.
and...
#3: I really, really, really am starting to see how this may not be at all feasible.
It all comes down to the sad fact that I am neither a dolphin nor a fish, so alas, I must create (or use some other party's creation of) an artificial environment in which I can temporarily depart from my naturally evolved tendencies as a land animal and "take the plunge'. If you're already lost, that just simply means that, to swim, I need first to find a pool to swim in!
Well, it just so happens that I already am a member in a pool-bearing YMCA, conveniently only a mile from my home. The only problem is that a lot of other folks like my YMCA's pool and want to use it, and not just for swimming laps. We have various swim teams, swimming classes, scuba diving classes, water aerobics, fitness groups, and of course, individual members in increasing numbers as the temperatures warm and the thought of a pool excursion becomes more and more attractive. And then there are the lap-swimmers, most of whom I am totally in awe regarding their ability to "do it", i.e. go back and forth across the 25-meter lanes without pausing, over and over again, no matter their age or apparent level of fitness. In spite of my near-adulation of these seasoned swimmers, they do represent a problem in that whenever I want to go swimming, I have to work around them.
Now let's look at running. Presuming that I am able to run, I can freaking run anywhere I want to, due to that now-fortunate fact that I am a land animal! And there is no premium on space with running: I can run even if there is a horde of runners going down the street! And there is no time limit either; I don't have to adjust my schedule to the select hours that the street is open, as is the case with the swimming pool.
I can run indoors at the YMCA on one of their treadmills, I can run down the streets of my neighborhood, I can run on a nearby track, I can run in my back yard, I can run through my house, ... hell, I can even just run in place! But if I want to swim, then I have to find somewhere to do that. And that ain't always so easy!
I have to hand it to my local YMCA: they have been good to swimmers, keeping their pool open throughout the winter as they have done. But they only have so much room in the pool, and there is already too much demand for access to it. I can only see this problem worsening as the season progresses through spring and into summer. There are other pools in Gainesville: one in the northeast section and the Westside Park pool, which for reasons only they know won't open this year until next month. So as it stands now, it is a hit-or-miss proposition whenever I prepare to go swimming as to whether I will actually have an available lane to swim in when I get there.
But not with running. I can just step outside my front door and go tearing down the road. It doesn't matter what else is going on: if it's storming outside I can go to that same YMCA and run on one of their many available treadmills...or as I said before I could even just run in place in my living room... while watching TV! Try swimming at home (without a swimming pool). Sorry, but the bathtub just doesn't cut it!
So availability really drastically separates swimming from running for me, even in a generally warm-weather state like Florida. There is also another difference between the two forms of physical activity...
When I have just finished a hot, sweaty, and tiring run, I feel like taking a shower, for sure. But just the same, the act of running makes me feel like I have somehow cleansed my body of toxins. But after a session in the pool swimming, I have the opposite feeling: I feel contaminated by the chlorine and god-knows-what-else was in the pool and--quick, get me into the shower and wash it all off!
#1: I really, really, really want to become a good swimmer.
#2: I really, really, really want swimming to be an athletic activity of mine on an equal status as running.
and...
#3: I really, really, really am starting to see how this may not be at all feasible.
It all comes down to the sad fact that I am neither a dolphin nor a fish, so alas, I must create (or use some other party's creation of) an artificial environment in which I can temporarily depart from my naturally evolved tendencies as a land animal and "take the plunge'. If you're already lost, that just simply means that, to swim, I need first to find a pool to swim in!
Well, it just so happens that I already am a member in a pool-bearing YMCA, conveniently only a mile from my home. The only problem is that a lot of other folks like my YMCA's pool and want to use it, and not just for swimming laps. We have various swim teams, swimming classes, scuba diving classes, water aerobics, fitness groups, and of course, individual members in increasing numbers as the temperatures warm and the thought of a pool excursion becomes more and more attractive. And then there are the lap-swimmers, most of whom I am totally in awe regarding their ability to "do it", i.e. go back and forth across the 25-meter lanes without pausing, over and over again, no matter their age or apparent level of fitness. In spite of my near-adulation of these seasoned swimmers, they do represent a problem in that whenever I want to go swimming, I have to work around them.
Now let's look at running. Presuming that I am able to run, I can freaking run anywhere I want to, due to that now-fortunate fact that I am a land animal! And there is no premium on space with running: I can run even if there is a horde of runners going down the street! And there is no time limit either; I don't have to adjust my schedule to the select hours that the street is open, as is the case with the swimming pool.
I can run indoors at the YMCA on one of their treadmills, I can run down the streets of my neighborhood, I can run on a nearby track, I can run in my back yard, I can run through my house, ... hell, I can even just run in place! But if I want to swim, then I have to find somewhere to do that. And that ain't always so easy!
I have to hand it to my local YMCA: they have been good to swimmers, keeping their pool open throughout the winter as they have done. But they only have so much room in the pool, and there is already too much demand for access to it. I can only see this problem worsening as the season progresses through spring and into summer. There are other pools in Gainesville: one in the northeast section and the Westside Park pool, which for reasons only they know won't open this year until next month. So as it stands now, it is a hit-or-miss proposition whenever I prepare to go swimming as to whether I will actually have an available lane to swim in when I get there.
But not with running. I can just step outside my front door and go tearing down the road. It doesn't matter what else is going on: if it's storming outside I can go to that same YMCA and run on one of their many available treadmills...or as I said before I could even just run in place in my living room... while watching TV! Try swimming at home (without a swimming pool). Sorry, but the bathtub just doesn't cut it!
So availability really drastically separates swimming from running for me, even in a generally warm-weather state like Florida. There is also another difference between the two forms of physical activity...
When I have just finished a hot, sweaty, and tiring run, I feel like taking a shower, for sure. But just the same, the act of running makes me feel like I have somehow cleansed my body of toxins. But after a session in the pool swimming, I have the opposite feeling: I feel contaminated by the chlorine and god-knows-what-else was in the pool and--quick, get me into the shower and wash it all off!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
My String of Painless Runs
During the past few days, I have run on four different occasions:
April 5: 3.3 miles in 31:31
April 7: 5.8 miles in 53:24
April 10: 4.81 miles in 45:34
April 12: 6.2 miles in 57:04
The times are reflective of my typical overall pace when I am going out on longer runs: a comfortable lope between nine and ten minutes per mile. I have been more careful in my recovery from the leg injury I sustained in January. I have been mostly using the treadmill, but Sunday's 4.81 mile run was on the road. I have noticed that the treadmill creates a lesser shock on the legs upon impact, although with recovery I intend to gradually wean myself from it.
But the main news to report is that, in none of my runs did I experience any pain or even discomfort in my right knee area where my IT band injury was focused. Hooray! But I will continue to be cautiously optimistic while mixing my workouts with other activities. Like swimming, for example.
I have been assiduous with swimming on my off-days from running, doing multiple laps, gaining endurance, and practicing my breathing. I have also developed my breaststroke, although I still have a long way to go with it before I am comfortable swimming breaststroke 25-meter laps. But it seems to be the least tiring of the strokes, so learning it should add to my enjoyment of swimming.
April 5: 3.3 miles in 31:31
April 7: 5.8 miles in 53:24
April 10: 4.81 miles in 45:34
April 12: 6.2 miles in 57:04
The times are reflective of my typical overall pace when I am going out on longer runs: a comfortable lope between nine and ten minutes per mile. I have been more careful in my recovery from the leg injury I sustained in January. I have been mostly using the treadmill, but Sunday's 4.81 mile run was on the road. I have noticed that the treadmill creates a lesser shock on the legs upon impact, although with recovery I intend to gradually wean myself from it.
But the main news to report is that, in none of my runs did I experience any pain or even discomfort in my right knee area where my IT band injury was focused. Hooray! But I will continue to be cautiously optimistic while mixing my workouts with other activities. Like swimming, for example.
I have been assiduous with swimming on my off-days from running, doing multiple laps, gaining endurance, and practicing my breathing. I have also developed my breaststroke, although I still have a long way to go with it before I am comfortable swimming breaststroke 25-meter laps. But it seems to be the least tiring of the strokes, so learning it should add to my enjoyment of swimming.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sidewalks Not All They're Cracked Up to Be
I have a problem with sidewalks. They are supposed to be relatively safe paths for pedestrians to travel down, away from the dangers of street traffic. But the fact that most sidewalks are concrete, with cracks, makes them dangerous in themselves. Especially to those with various disabilities that limit their mobility. I'm thinking chiefly of the blind, near-blind, and elderly feeble. With the elderly a bad fall, because of their aged, brittle bones, can have a fatal cascading effect, and a bad fall can be as close as the next crack in a supposedly safe sidewalk. Cracks are put there to keep the expanding concrete intact, but what often happens is that shifts in the underlying ground will cause one segment of the sidewalk to lift slightly in relation to the next, causing a tripping hazard where the two segments meet. But one doesn't need to have a disability to be in danger: I have come close to some pretty awful falls myself while running on sidewalks.
And I don't know why concrete is used for sidewalks, anyway. Why not make all sidewalks from the same asphalt generally used for streets? That material, which incidentally is much softer of a surface to walk or run on than concrete, is not subject to the same cracking under pressure and thus doesn't require built-in cracks.
Last year (and into January this year), part of my long-distance training course involved running on sidewalks part of the way. I will not be doing this again, though. I must take care of my body and try to prevent injuries, especially to my feet, legs, and knees. It makes me wince to see others pounding down sidewalks while jogging, especially when I know that they have alternatives to this. I know at least that I won't be wincing at myself!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Are e-Readers for Me?
Today I walked into the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Jacksonville and tried out one of their demonstration models of The Nook electronic reader. I left more puzzled than ever as to why I would want to buy it.
For one, there are The Nook, Kindle, and iPad competing against each other in the e-reader market. What would happen if I were to invest in one of the readers that fizzled into extinction? Also, so what if I can download thousands of books onto my reader: for one, that means that I spent TENS of thousands of dollars on downloaded books and two, when am I going to find the time to read all of this stuff? Plus, I already have a FREE alternative to e-readers: the public library. I can look up a book online in the library's catalog and have it placed on hold at the branch library closest to me. When it's ready for pickup, I'll be notified. Then I can check it out for four weeks, with two renewals possible. And if they don't have the specific title I want? I can place a purchase suggestion, and they will in all probability buy it and have it ready for my checkout in the span of a few weeks.
There are other questions I have about e-readers, chief among them the portability of my purchases. I could see the feasibility of purchasing downloaded books if I were able to transfer them to newer e-readers or my home computer. What if I lose my e-reader or it becomes irreparably damaged? What happens to my purchased downloads on it and can they be replaced?
And what about the overwhelming amount of books that are out of print? E-readers are useless, unless of course those out-of-print books are eventually digitalized as well (this did happen with out-of-"print" musical records that became digitalized for computer and MP3 downloading).
I don't reject the idea of e-readers outright, but I am still a bit skeptical of their usefulness. For me right now, at least. Should my above-expressed concerns be addressed to my satisfaction in the future, though, I'm sure my opinion will change. But in the meantime, I am already swimming in abundant and quality reading material!
For one, there are The Nook, Kindle, and iPad competing against each other in the e-reader market. What would happen if I were to invest in one of the readers that fizzled into extinction? Also, so what if I can download thousands of books onto my reader: for one, that means that I spent TENS of thousands of dollars on downloaded books and two, when am I going to find the time to read all of this stuff? Plus, I already have a FREE alternative to e-readers: the public library. I can look up a book online in the library's catalog and have it placed on hold at the branch library closest to me. When it's ready for pickup, I'll be notified. Then I can check it out for four weeks, with two renewals possible. And if they don't have the specific title I want? I can place a purchase suggestion, and they will in all probability buy it and have it ready for my checkout in the span of a few weeks.
There are other questions I have about e-readers, chief among them the portability of my purchases. I could see the feasibility of purchasing downloaded books if I were able to transfer them to newer e-readers or my home computer. What if I lose my e-reader or it becomes irreparably damaged? What happens to my purchased downloads on it and can they be replaced?
And what about the overwhelming amount of books that are out of print? E-readers are useless, unless of course those out-of-print books are eventually digitalized as well (this did happen with out-of-"print" musical records that became digitalized for computer and MP3 downloading).
I don't reject the idea of e-readers outright, but I am still a bit skeptical of their usefulness. For me right now, at least. Should my above-expressed concerns be addressed to my satisfaction in the future, though, I'm sure my opinion will change. But in the meantime, I am already swimming in abundant and quality reading material!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
This Blog Now Four Years Old
Four years and one day ago, I began this blog. Now, some 1,300-plus articles later, it seems to be pretty much the same as how I began it: a hodgepodge of topics ranging from personal to philosophical to news and opinion to sports and entertainment. With a little weather thrown in on the side...
I don't know from day to day exactly what I will be writing about. Some days I either can't think of anything or I don't have the time, and that day lapses as a gap in the blog. But for the most part, I have tried successfully to publish something on a daily basis (even if it's silly).
I have no intention to end this blog anytime soon. In fact, I have some ideas up my sleeve to increase readership. But I will continue along the same format I have been using.
By the way, feel free to ready ANY of the many articles I have written since April 2007 and comment on any you'd like: I will read them all (and maybe comment on your comment). And there's no need to identify yourself either: just comment anonymously or leave a pseudonym instead of your actual name if you prefer.
I don't know from day to day exactly what I will be writing about. Some days I either can't think of anything or I don't have the time, and that day lapses as a gap in the blog. But for the most part, I have tried successfully to publish something on a daily basis (even if it's silly).
I have no intention to end this blog anytime soon. In fact, I have some ideas up my sleeve to increase readership. But I will continue along the same format I have been using.
By the way, feel free to ready ANY of the many articles I have written since April 2007 and comment on any you'd like: I will read them all (and maybe comment on your comment). And there's no need to identify yourself either: just comment anonymously or leave a pseudonym instead of your actual name if you prefer.
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Federal Debt Impasse and Shutdown
I don't want a federal government shutdown, but I applaud the president for not (yet) caving in to Republican demands, which go far beyond simply exercising fiscal restraint. If practicing fiscal responsibility were the single overriding factor in the GOP's push in congress this year, then I would be inclined to be sympathetic and supportive of their efforts. But unfortunately, their actions betray their words. For one, they keep insisting on deepening the deficit much more by giving tax breaks to the rich. Their chief argument for this is that it will stimulate economic growth. The irony is that the very same people condemned the Democrats a couple of years ago for their economic stimulus plan because it would increase the deficit. For another, the Republicans are tacking on a social agenda that kowtows to their religious base and to right-wing media. So we have demands to end any federal funding relating to an organization promoting family planning (which includes possible abortion decisions, although federal funds are already prohibited by law from being applied specifically there) as well as calls to completely cut off public broadcasting. These demands do very little to bring down the deficit, but they serve to shore up the base in their party.
President Obama really has no choice but to stand firm. His party has already gone far enough to accommodate Republican deficit concerns by essentially agreeing to an earlier GOP proposal cutting $30 billion. But it seems that with each step the Democrats take to reach an agreement, the Republicans step back further and make more demands. I am convinced that the Republicans want this shutdown and believe that they can turn it to their political advantage. And who knows, with the way the American voters turned to wacko fringe right-wing elements in the 2010 election, they may be right. To steal a line from Michael Moore, "Dude, where's my country?"
President Obama is not an extreme left-wing president as his political opponents have alleged. If anything, he has shown himself to be a collaborator, always searching out coalitions and compromises. This is not necessarily a positive trait, though. The health care reform act, which received almost zero Republican support, nevertheless was watered down so much during its legislation through various amendments and compromises that it is now only a shadow of its original vision. That Obama allowed Libya's Gadhafi time to regroup while seeking an international consensus for military intervention has created a bloody stalemate there.
It's about time that our president draw a line and adhere to it. Now.
President Obama really has no choice but to stand firm. His party has already gone far enough to accommodate Republican deficit concerns by essentially agreeing to an earlier GOP proposal cutting $30 billion. But it seems that with each step the Democrats take to reach an agreement, the Republicans step back further and make more demands. I am convinced that the Republicans want this shutdown and believe that they can turn it to their political advantage. And who knows, with the way the American voters turned to wacko fringe right-wing elements in the 2010 election, they may be right. To steal a line from Michael Moore, "Dude, where's my country?"
President Obama is not an extreme left-wing president as his political opponents have alleged. If anything, he has shown himself to be a collaborator, always searching out coalitions and compromises. This is not necessarily a positive trait, though. The health care reform act, which received almost zero Republican support, nevertheless was watered down so much during its legislation through various amendments and compromises that it is now only a shadow of its original vision. That Obama allowed Libya's Gadhafi time to regroup while seeking an international consensus for military intervention has created a bloody stalemate there.
It's about time that our president draw a line and adhere to it. Now.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The So-Called "Bad" Game
I have heard a lot about how "bad" the recent NCAA men's basketball championship game was between Butler and Connecticut, held this past Monday evening. The main rationale for this complaint was that both teams, and especially Butler, missed a lot of shots throughout the game. Butler only made 12 of 64 field goal attempts, a new record percentage low for NCAA championship games. The analysts on CBS were beside themselves slamming both teams and the game as a whole. But I have a different interpretation.
Butler and Connecticut both made it to the final primarily by virtue of their tenacious defensive play. In an earlier tournament game, Florida's usually frenzied, high-octane offense was slowed down effectively by Butler, which won the game at the end when the Gators simply could not stop them from scoring on drive after drive after drive. That Connecticut was so effective in pressuring Butler to take bad shots is to their credit as a championship team and shouldn't detract from Butler. I have followed many Florida basketball games over the years, and the analysts always judged the opponent's field goal percentage in terms of Florida's defense. If the opponent had a low percentage, then the Gators were given credit for doing a good job defending them. That's the way I see Butler's poor shooting performance in Monday's game: Connecticut did a good job defending them, consequently winning 53-41.
I have seen times like during the NBA All-Star game when there has been little or no defensive pressure applied by either team to the other. There was a lot of scoring and some spectacular-looking drives to the basket as well as difficult-looking three-point shots, but it wasn't well-played basketball to me. The game between Butler and Connecticut was a good, hard fought out game that determined a true champion: the Connecticut Huskies!
Butler and Connecticut both made it to the final primarily by virtue of their tenacious defensive play. In an earlier tournament game, Florida's usually frenzied, high-octane offense was slowed down effectively by Butler, which won the game at the end when the Gators simply could not stop them from scoring on drive after drive after drive. That Connecticut was so effective in pressuring Butler to take bad shots is to their credit as a championship team and shouldn't detract from Butler. I have followed many Florida basketball games over the years, and the analysts always judged the opponent's field goal percentage in terms of Florida's defense. If the opponent had a low percentage, then the Gators were given credit for doing a good job defending them. That's the way I see Butler's poor shooting performance in Monday's game: Connecticut did a good job defending them, consequently winning 53-41.
I have seen times like during the NBA All-Star game when there has been little or no defensive pressure applied by either team to the other. There was a lot of scoring and some spectacular-looking drives to the basket as well as difficult-looking three-point shots, but it wasn't well-played basketball to me. The game between Butler and Connecticut was a good, hard fought out game that determined a true champion: the Connecticut Huskies!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
My MP3 Playlist
As long as I am into making lists of songs, I might as well list the songs I listen regularly to on my "favorites" playlist on my MP3 player. On it are the usual suspects: Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Sufjan Stevens, Nirvana, Metric, MGMT, Spoon, and a not-so-new act that I just recently discovered: DeVotchka. DeVotchka's current indie/alternative hit 100 Other Lovers is currently my favorite song of the year, along with Radiohead's These Are My Twisted Words. By the way, I just heard Radiohead's new album The King of Limbs. I like all of the songs, but I was mistaken in an earlier article I wrote, believing then that Twisted Words would be one of the tracks. It isn't, and Radiohead's new album only has eight songs. But I'll take it!
Here's my playlist, in the order that I hear the songs:
These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead
Merchants of Soul by Spoon
Faust Arp by Radiohead
Morning Bell (Kid A version) by Radiohead
I Might Be Wrong by Radiohead
In Limbo by Radiohead
Go to Sleep by Radiohead
Sail to the Moon by Radiohead
Scentless Apprentice by Nirvana
Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens
Better by Regina Spektor
Reckoner by Radiohead
Morning Bell (Amnesiac version) by Radiohead
20 Years of Snow by Regina Spektor
Idioteque by Radiohead
Time to Pretend by MGMT
Man of a Thousand Faces by Regina Spektor
Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head by Sufjan Stevens
Us by Regina Spektor
Dumb by Nirvana
Calculation (Theme) by Metric
100 Other Lovers by DeVotchka
Why not try listening to some of these and tell me what you think!
Here's my playlist, in the order that I hear the songs:
These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead
Merchants of Soul by Spoon
Faust Arp by Radiohead
Morning Bell (Kid A version) by Radiohead
I Might Be Wrong by Radiohead
In Limbo by Radiohead
Go to Sleep by Radiohead
Sail to the Moon by Radiohead
Scentless Apprentice by Nirvana
Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens
Better by Regina Spektor
Reckoner by Radiohead
Morning Bell (Amnesiac version) by Radiohead
20 Years of Snow by Regina Spektor
Idioteque by Radiohead
Time to Pretend by MGMT
Man of a Thousand Faces by Regina Spektor
Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head by Sufjan Stevens
Us by Regina Spektor
Dumb by Nirvana
Calculation (Theme) by Metric
100 Other Lovers by DeVotchka
Why not try listening to some of these and tell me what you think!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
List Madness: Beatles From Top to Bottom
This is my highly personal, very subjective list of studio-recorded Beatles songs (excluding the BBC recordings) from top favorite to least favorite. In compiling it, I combined some tracks together into single songs: from the album Sgt Pepper, I combined that title song's reprise with the final track A Day in the Life, the way radio used to play it. And from Abbey Road, I combined the individual components of the two outstanding medleys there into coherent pieces.
I was going to list each song's album, the way I had done earlier when I put out a similar list of Led Zeppelin songs. But until the Sgt. Pepper album came out, the U.K. and U.S. released different albums simultaneously, making the identification of each song's album a major headache. So I left the albums off this list. Sorry...
I think the Beatles are the greatest, and I like most of their material a lot. It isn't until I get around #170-180 on this list that I come across songs that begin to irritate me. So a song that seems buried on the list isn't necessarily one I don't value.
One more note: the least favorite song here is actually pretty good, musically. It's message, though, was so abhorrent that it sank straight to the bottom!
Well, here goes my list...
1 Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End
2 For No One
3 Eleanor Rigby
4 Strawberry Fields Forever
5 Twist and Shout
6 Blackbird
7 Tomorrow Never Knows
8 Happy Just to Dance With You
9 Good Night
10 The Two of Us
11 Sgt. Pepper reprise/A Day in the Life
12 Across the Universe
13 Old Brown Shoe
14 Doctor Robert
15 Words of Love
16 PS I Love You
17 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
18 The Inner Light
19 Slow Down
20 Hello Goodbye
21 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
22 And Your Bird Can Sing
23 All You Need Is Love
24 All Together Now
25 You Can't Do That
26 When I Get Home
27 She's a Woman
28 Michelle
29 Long Tall Sally
30 The Long and Winding Road
31 I'll Cry Instead
32 I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
33 I Am the Walrus
34 I Saw Her Standing There
35 Get Back (singles version)
36 Every Little Thing
37 Martha My Dear
38 Another Girl
39 Things We Said Today
40 Ticket to Ride
41 Everbody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
42 We Can Work It Out
43 She's Leaving Home
44 I'm a Loser
45 While My Guitar Gently Weeps
46 Yesterday
47 Revolution 9
48 What You're Doing
49 The Night Before
50 Fixing a Hole
51 Revolution (singles version)
52 Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
53 It Won't Be Long
54 Norwegian Wood
55 Anna
56 Honey Pie
57 Back in the USSR
58 Hey Jude
59 I've Got a Feeling
60 Penny Lane
61 It's Getting Better
62 Here, There, and Everywhere
63 I'm Only Sleeping
64 Your Mother Should Know
65 Taxman
66 Money
67 Thank You Girl
68 And I Love Her
69 Love Me Do
70 Paperback Writer
71 I'll Be Back
72 I've Just Seen a Face
73 If I Needed Someone
74 Cry Baby Cry
75 Hold Me Tight
76 She Said She Said
77 In My Life
78 Sun King
79 Wait
80 I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
81 I'll Follow the Sun
82 Tell Me Why
83 Matchbox
84 You Never Give Me Your Money
85 Got to Get You Into My Life
86 Don't Bother Me
87 I Want to Tell You
88 For You Blue
90 Lady Madonna
91 I Call Your Name
92 I Will
93 Boys
94 Rock and Roll Music
95 Daytripper
96 Devil in Her Heart
97 Do You Want to Know a Secret
98 Glass Onion
99 Yes It Is
100 I'm Down
101 A Hard Day's Night
102 Anytime at All
103 You're Gonna Lose That Girl
104 Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
105 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
106 Fool on the Hill
107 Sexy Sadie
108 Bad Boy
109 Drive My Car
110 I Want to Your Hand
111 Lovely Rita Meter Maid
112 Baby You're a Rich Man
113 Good Morning Good Morning
114 Savoy Truffle
115 Mother Nature's Son
116 Why Don't We Do It In the Road
117 Tell Me What You See
118 Because
119 I Need You
120 Think for Yourself
121 Baby's in Black
122 Can't Buy Me Love
123 The Rain
124 Girl
125 From Me to You
126 Sie Lieb Dich
127 Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite
128 I Want You (She's So Heavy)
129 You Really Got a Hold On Me
130 I'm Looking Through You
131 Mother Nature's Son
132 Helter Skelter
133 Love You To
134 Birthday
135 It's Only Love
136 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
137 Happiness is a Warm Gun
138 Yer Blues
139 Good Day Sunshine
140 Help!
141 Not a Second Time
142 Revolution 1 (white album version)
143 You Won't See Me
144 Dear Prudence
145 Long, Long, Long
146 When I'm 64
147 I Should Have Known Better
148 I Feel Fine
149 All My Loving
150 There's a Place
151 Roll Over Beethoven
152 She Loves You
153 Rocky Raccoon
154 The Word
155 Within You Without You
156 Kansas City
157 Mr Moonlight
158 All I've Gotta Do
159 Dig It
160 Magical Mystery Tour
161 Please Please Me
162 Don't Pass Me By
163 Octopus's Garden
164 Misery
165 You Won't See Me
166 It's All Too Much
167 No Reply
168 Chains
169 I Wanna Be Your Man
170 Piggies
171 Honey Don't
172 I'm So Tired
173 Let It Be
174 If I Fell
175 One After 909
176 What Goes On
177 Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
178 Ask Me Why
179 Act Naturally
180 Oh! Darling
181 Yellow Submarine
182 You Like Me Too Much
183 Maxwell's Silver Hammer
184 A Taste of Honey
185 I Dig a Pony
186 I'll Get You
187 Till There Was You
188 Dizzy Miss Lizzy
189 Julia
190 Please Mr Postman
191 Something
192 Blue Jay Way
193 Eight Days a Week
194 Don't Let Me Down
195 Baby It's You
196 This Boy
197 Wild Honey Pie
198 Flying
199 I Me Mine
200 Hey Bulldog
201 Her Majesty
202 The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
203 Come Together
204 Maggie Mae
205 You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)
206 Only a Northern Song
207 Free as a Bird
208 Real Love
209 Run For Your Life
I was going to list each song's album, the way I had done earlier when I put out a similar list of Led Zeppelin songs. But until the Sgt. Pepper album came out, the U.K. and U.S. released different albums simultaneously, making the identification of each song's album a major headache. So I left the albums off this list. Sorry...
I think the Beatles are the greatest, and I like most of their material a lot. It isn't until I get around #170-180 on this list that I come across songs that begin to irritate me. So a song that seems buried on the list isn't necessarily one I don't value.
One more note: the least favorite song here is actually pretty good, musically. It's message, though, was so abhorrent that it sank straight to the bottom!
Well, here goes my list...
1 Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End
2 For No One
3 Eleanor Rigby
4 Strawberry Fields Forever
5 Twist and Shout
6 Blackbird
7 Tomorrow Never Knows
8 Happy Just to Dance With You
9 Good Night
10 The Two of Us
11 Sgt. Pepper reprise/A Day in the Life
12 Across the Universe
13 Old Brown Shoe
14 Doctor Robert
15 Words of Love
16 PS I Love You
17 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
18 The Inner Light
19 Slow Down
20 Hello Goodbye
21 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
22 And Your Bird Can Sing
23 All You Need Is Love
24 All Together Now
25 You Can't Do That
26 When I Get Home
27 She's a Woman
28 Michelle
29 Long Tall Sally
30 The Long and Winding Road
31 I'll Cry Instead
32 I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
33 I Am the Walrus
34 I Saw Her Standing There
35 Get Back (singles version)
36 Every Little Thing
37 Martha My Dear
38 Another Girl
39 Things We Said Today
40 Ticket to Ride
41 Everbody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
42 We Can Work It Out
43 She's Leaving Home
44 I'm a Loser
45 While My Guitar Gently Weeps
46 Yesterday
47 Revolution 9
48 What You're Doing
49 The Night Before
50 Fixing a Hole
51 Revolution (singles version)
52 Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
53 It Won't Be Long
54 Norwegian Wood
55 Anna
56 Honey Pie
57 Back in the USSR
58 Hey Jude
59 I've Got a Feeling
60 Penny Lane
61 It's Getting Better
62 Here, There, and Everywhere
63 I'm Only Sleeping
64 Your Mother Should Know
65 Taxman
66 Money
67 Thank You Girl
68 And I Love Her
69 Love Me Do
70 Paperback Writer
71 I'll Be Back
72 I've Just Seen a Face
73 If I Needed Someone
74 Cry Baby Cry
75 Hold Me Tight
76 She Said She Said
77 In My Life
78 Sun King
79 Wait
80 I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
81 I'll Follow the Sun
82 Tell Me Why
83 Matchbox
84 You Never Give Me Your Money
85 Got to Get You Into My Life
86 Don't Bother Me
87 I Want to Tell You
88 For You Blue
90 Lady Madonna
91 I Call Your Name
92 I Will
93 Boys
94 Rock and Roll Music
95 Daytripper
96 Devil in Her Heart
97 Do You Want to Know a Secret
98 Glass Onion
99 Yes It Is
100 I'm Down
101 A Hard Day's Night
102 Anytime at All
103 You're Gonna Lose That Girl
104 Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
105 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
106 Fool on the Hill
107 Sexy Sadie
108 Bad Boy
109 Drive My Car
110 I Want to Your Hand
111 Lovely Rita Meter Maid
112 Baby You're a Rich Man
113 Good Morning Good Morning
114 Savoy Truffle
115 Mother Nature's Son
116 Why Don't We Do It In the Road
117 Tell Me What You See
118 Because
119 I Need You
120 Think for Yourself
121 Baby's in Black
122 Can't Buy Me Love
123 The Rain
124 Girl
125 From Me to You
126 Sie Lieb Dich
127 Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite
128 I Want You (She's So Heavy)
129 You Really Got a Hold On Me
130 I'm Looking Through You
131 Mother Nature's Son
132 Helter Skelter
133 Love You To
134 Birthday
135 It's Only Love
136 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
137 Happiness is a Warm Gun
138 Yer Blues
139 Good Day Sunshine
140 Help!
141 Not a Second Time
142 Revolution 1 (white album version)
143 You Won't See Me
144 Dear Prudence
145 Long, Long, Long
146 When I'm 64
147 I Should Have Known Better
148 I Feel Fine
149 All My Loving
150 There's a Place
151 Roll Over Beethoven
152 She Loves You
153 Rocky Raccoon
154 The Word
155 Within You Without You
156 Kansas City
157 Mr Moonlight
158 All I've Gotta Do
159 Dig It
160 Magical Mystery Tour
161 Please Please Me
162 Don't Pass Me By
163 Octopus's Garden
164 Misery
165 You Won't See Me
166 It's All Too Much
167 No Reply
168 Chains
169 I Wanna Be Your Man
170 Piggies
171 Honey Don't
172 I'm So Tired
173 Let It Be
174 If I Fell
175 One After 909
176 What Goes On
177 Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
178 Ask Me Why
179 Act Naturally
180 Oh! Darling
181 Yellow Submarine
182 You Like Me Too Much
183 Maxwell's Silver Hammer
184 A Taste of Honey
185 I Dig a Pony
186 I'll Get You
187 Till There Was You
188 Dizzy Miss Lizzy
189 Julia
190 Please Mr Postman
191 Something
192 Blue Jay Way
193 Eight Days a Week
194 Don't Let Me Down
195 Baby It's You
196 This Boy
197 Wild Honey Pie
198 Flying
199 I Me Mine
200 Hey Bulldog
201 Her Majesty
202 The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
203 Come Together
204 Maggie Mae
205 You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)
206 Only a Northern Song
207 Free as a Bird
208 Real Love
209 Run For Your Life
Monday, April 4, 2011
Positive Negative Experience
Sometimes when I get up early in the day, I get a little tired in the afternoon. If I find myself in a stressful situation, that fatigue can contribute to anxiety and possible resulting bad decisions on my part. Case in point: today I got up a little after 6 AM. This afternoon, instead of taking a good, long nap I went shopping in a very congested part of town, in a very crowded store that wasn't being managed very well. Driving home I realized that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to rest anytime soon, so I reacted to the stress by going to the nearby Dunkin' Donuts and blowing some of my money on a coffee and a couple of doughnuts. Doughnuts are just about the last thing I need to be eating, for various reasons. But I happen to be one of those poor souls who tend to react to stress and fatigue by eating sweets, and here I was doing just that. I rationalized my action by taking stuff inside Dunkin' Donuts to study while I stuffed my face. But once inside, I had no peace: the entire miserable time was taken up with noisy workers, noisy customers, and noisy customers' even noisier screaming kids. A-A-A-G-H!!!
I ate my two doughnuts (which didn't taste all that good either) and left feeling angry. Now separated from that negative experience for a few hours, I have changed my interpretation of it all; I am glad that it went bad for me, since this will help me to change my bad habit of stressful eating. Also...
It also gave me something to write about on this blog today besides that evil, very disturbed individual and his supporting cast of nonentity sycophant idiots who knowingly caused the deaths of several people overseas with their book burning party...in my own home town. Way to go, A.H.'s!
I ate my two doughnuts (which didn't taste all that good either) and left feeling angry. Now separated from that negative experience for a few hours, I have changed my interpretation of it all; I am glad that it went bad for me, since this will help me to change my bad habit of stressful eating. Also...
It also gave me something to write about on this blog today besides that evil, very disturbed individual and his supporting cast of nonentity sycophant idiots who knowingly caused the deaths of several people overseas with their book burning party...in my own home town. Way to go, A.H.'s!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Butler This Year's Butler
It seems that with every year in the NCAA men's basketball championship tournament, at least one low-seeded team from an obscure college goes far in it, even sometimes making the vaunted Final Four. Last year, Butler University (in Indiana) surprised everyone with the Bulldogs not only making it to the Final Four, but also getting to the national championship game against Duke and barely losing it to the heavy favorite. So the doubtless-overpaid sports television and radio pundits have been at it this year, wondering which underdog will go far in the tournament, and phrasing the question as "Who is this year's Butler?" Well, guess what? Butler is this year's Butler!
Once again lowly Butler University got it going at tourney time and is now on the cusp of a national championship, with only the Connecticut Huskies standing in their way. The canines play each other for the title on Monday evening.
I thought that Virginia Commonwealth, Butler's most recent opponent, had all of the markings of a great upstart, energetic team playing well beyond its record. But I was wrong, and the team that kept my Florida Gators from reaching the Final Four this year by beating them in overtime has endured.
Still, I haven't forgiven Butler for knocking out my Gators: I'm pulling for the hairy dogs at UConn!
Once again lowly Butler University got it going at tourney time and is now on the cusp of a national championship, with only the Connecticut Huskies standing in their way. The canines play each other for the title on Monday evening.
I thought that Virginia Commonwealth, Butler's most recent opponent, had all of the markings of a great upstart, energetic team playing well beyond its record. But I was wrong, and the team that kept my Florida Gators from reaching the Final Four this year by beating them in overtime has endured.
Still, I haven't forgiven Butler for knocking out my Gators: I'm pulling for the hairy dogs at UConn!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Press, Human Rights, and Military Intervention
Seeing that the issue of international human rights is so crucial to us as Americans to the point that we consider militarily intervening from time to time in other countries in order to prevent the most flagrant abuses, it would behoove us to examine the role that the press plays in targeting one nation for human rights abuse charges over another. For example, regarding the situation in western Africa's Ivory Coast, where a sitting president's refusal to relinquish power after losing an election has led to a very bloody civil war, the press coverage has been minimal, to say the least. And guess what? You don't hear our president weighing in on any possible intervention to save lives there. But Libya is another matter. The press has seized on the overall theme of recent Arab popular revolts in many countries and has made Libya's war-torn population a more compelling case for intervention. To me, intervention would have made sense had it been done in a more timely manner, before the dictatorship there had been given time to reestablish military dominance over the rebels. Now it seems that the so-called humanitarian intervention on the part of the U.S. and its NATO allies is only serving to create a stalemate. And stalemates can end up costing a lot more lives than would a quick ending to the war, regardless who wins.
The situation in Libya being what it may be now, the fact still remains that the world is full of places where human rights are grossly ignored, places that the press virtually ignores as well. So why did the U.S. get involved in Libya?
Well, for one, Libya is a major oil producer, with western European nations its chief customers. For another, the U.S. fleet is already in the Mediterranean, right off the Libyan shores. It is already in position to launch missiles and bomb strategic targets there. Neither of these conditions applies elsewhere, especially to Ivory Coast. Also, Libyan tyrant Colonel Gadhafi is a proven instigator of international terrorism, having caused the deaths of innocent Americans while maintaining a bellicose posture in the past toward other nations in the area, particularly Israel, Egypt, and Chad. The same cannot be said for Ivory Coast's intransigent president.
So is the press primarily responsible for making Libya a priority for intervention over other human rights crises, or are the self-interests of the neighboring nations, the United States, and the West in general the true determining factors? And if protecting human rights is being used as a cover for protecting or promoting national self-interests, isn't a free and independent press, with all of the ethics pertaining to the field of journalism, responsible for pointing this out consistently and vehemently?
The situation in Libya being what it may be now, the fact still remains that the world is full of places where human rights are grossly ignored, places that the press virtually ignores as well. So why did the U.S. get involved in Libya?
Well, for one, Libya is a major oil producer, with western European nations its chief customers. For another, the U.S. fleet is already in the Mediterranean, right off the Libyan shores. It is already in position to launch missiles and bomb strategic targets there. Neither of these conditions applies elsewhere, especially to Ivory Coast. Also, Libyan tyrant Colonel Gadhafi is a proven instigator of international terrorism, having caused the deaths of innocent Americans while maintaining a bellicose posture in the past toward other nations in the area, particularly Israel, Egypt, and Chad. The same cannot be said for Ivory Coast's intransigent president.
So is the press primarily responsible for making Libya a priority for intervention over other human rights crises, or are the self-interests of the neighboring nations, the United States, and the West in general the true determining factors? And if protecting human rights is being used as a cover for protecting or promoting national self-interests, isn't a free and independent press, with all of the ethics pertaining to the field of journalism, responsible for pointing this out consistently and vehemently?
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Beatles and Lists
Forthcoming on this blog is a list of just about all of the studio-recorded Beatles songs (excluding their BBC recordings), with them ranked from top to bottom according to MY tastes. I decided to do this after watching VH1's show of their own list of the 100 top musical acts of all-time. I confess that I only saw the final hour when they were going through the top ten. I could guess ahead that acts like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and of course the Beatles would be revealed to be at the top. But I was astonished that, after Elvis was presented to be only at #7, Prince was ranked ahead of the King at #6. This artist, also known as The Artist Formerly Known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, is in my opinion one of the supremely overrated acts in the history of pop music (and that's saying a lot). And coming in ahead of Presley? Ouch!
So as VH1 approached #1, it occurred to me that this station might pull a fast one this time and dethrone the Fab Four in favor of the late Mister Moonwalk. When #2 was shown, I breathed a sigh of relief: Jackson was there, and the Beatles made it through another year of this highly subjective scrutiny. Then I thought why do I care what others think? And then the preposterous thought boomeranged back: maybe others care about what I think! Hence, the upcoming list of my favorite Beatle tunes.
I do think that it is interesting that the Beatles are supposedly the top act of all time, since I hardly ever hear any of their music played on my sorry radio anymore. But that's O.K. with me: I have just about everything of theirs on MP3 and can even play out all of their songs in my head, I know them so well.
Everyone who followed popular music during their childhood always carries the memories of those songs and artists as personal markers of the events in their lives which happened while growing up. For me, the Beatles played a major role in my childhood. Hearing various songs conjures up vivid memories of things going around me at various times during the 1960's. How about you? Whom, if anyone, did you listen to in your youth?
So as VH1 approached #1, it occurred to me that this station might pull a fast one this time and dethrone the Fab Four in favor of the late Mister Moonwalk. When #2 was shown, I breathed a sigh of relief: Jackson was there, and the Beatles made it through another year of this highly subjective scrutiny. Then I thought why do I care what others think? And then the preposterous thought boomeranged back: maybe others care about what I think! Hence, the upcoming list of my favorite Beatle tunes.
I do think that it is interesting that the Beatles are supposedly the top act of all time, since I hardly ever hear any of their music played on my sorry radio anymore. But that's O.K. with me: I have just about everything of theirs on MP3 and can even play out all of their songs in my head, I know them so well.
Everyone who followed popular music during their childhood always carries the memories of those songs and artists as personal markers of the events in their lives which happened while growing up. For me, the Beatles played a major role in my childhood. Hearing various songs conjures up vivid memories of things going around me at various times during the 1960's. How about you? Whom, if anyone, did you listen to in your youth?
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