In December, I ran for a cumulative total of 178 miles and on 26 of the 31 days. Most of the days had me spacing my running out on several different shorter runs...my longest single run of the month was for 6.5 miles when, on December 5th, I ran the Lumber Around the Levee race, held at Barr Hammock Preserve between Micanopy and Paynes Prairie. I've tried different strategies of training in December without any one seeming to give me much progress. It's also been difficult here in north-central Florida with its unseasonably record hot temperatures and chronically high humidity...not conducive at all to road running. The other day it got up to 86 degrees...in the winter! I keep hearing talk about it eventually cooling around here...it sure would make my running more enjoyable...
Next month, on the 17th, will be the Ocala Half-Marathon...a race that I am already familiar with, having run this course in 2011 and 2013. Whether or not I'll be ready for it this time around remains to be seen...but I'm inclined to go ahead and enter it anyway and just cover the distance even if I have to walk for stretches at a time...
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
My Favorite Songs of 2015
As we're closing in on the end of 2015, it's time once again for me to review my favorite songs of the year. Since I tend to focus my music listening to independent/alternative rock, it should be no surprise that my list consists completely of that genre. 2015 was a good year, musically speaking, with many songs out that I liked to listen to. My sources for listening were either new albums of favorite musical acts that I acquired or my local alt-rock radio station, 100.5/WHHZ "The Buzz". Among the albums I enjoyed in 2015 were Kasabian's 48:13 (the title based on how long the album is), Sufjan Stevens's Carrie and Lowell (largely about his late parents), and Spoon's latest, They Want My Soul. The best of the lot, in my opinion, is the emotionally gut-wrenching Carrie and Lowell, which, as I have said before, merits a Grammy. Kasabian is a British band that recalls the brashness and musical talent of older groups like The Who and the Rolling Stones. Spoon is a great Texas-based alternative rock band...you may be familiar with their first hit from many years ago: I Turn My Camera On. That song Dreams by Beck...I like it a lot (it's a single released in advance of his upcoming new album), but it sounds an awful lot like MGMT's 2008 song Electric Feel in some places. And Awolnation and the Cold War Kids are two bands I'm going to be keeping my eye on next year. Well, without further ado, here's the list of my favorite songs of 2015, with the artist mentioned after each title...
1 TREAT...Kasabian
2 Hollow Moon...Awolnation
3 First...Cold War Kids
4 I Should Have Known Better...Sufjan Stevens
5 Death With Dignity...Sufjan Stevens
6 Rainy Taxi...Spoon
7 Dreams...Beck
8 Fourth of July...Sufjan Stevens
9 Blue Bucket of Gold...Sufjan Stevens
10 Agora...Bear Hands
11 Renegades...X Ambassadors
12 Cigarette Daydreams...Cage the Elephant
13 Mess is Mine...Vance Joy
14 Forgot My Broken Heart...Chris Cornell
15 Ex's and Oh's...Elle King
16 My Type...Saint Motel
1 TREAT...Kasabian
2 Hollow Moon...Awolnation
3 First...Cold War Kids
4 I Should Have Known Better...Sufjan Stevens
5 Death With Dignity...Sufjan Stevens
6 Rainy Taxi...Spoon
7 Dreams...Beck
8 Fourth of July...Sufjan Stevens
9 Blue Bucket of Gold...Sufjan Stevens
10 Agora...Bear Hands
11 Renegades...X Ambassadors
12 Cigarette Daydreams...Cage the Elephant
13 Mess is Mine...Vance Joy
14 Forgot My Broken Heart...Chris Cornell
15 Ex's and Oh's...Elle King
16 My Type...Saint Motel
Sunday, December 27, 2015
1972 Miami Dolphins Can Finally Break Out the Champagne
It took a while longer than most years, but with today's 20-13 loss to Atlanta, the Carolina Panthers finally lost a game for this 2015 season, depriving the National Football League once again of a team with a perfect record. The 1972 Miami Dolphins have been the only ones to accomplish this feat, but I was beginning to worry with Carolina's run this year. Just a couple of weeks ago against the same team, the Panthers destroyed the Falcons 38-0...so I didn't harbor any real hopes of an upset with their rematch earlier this afternoon. This just goes to show the unpredictability of this game. Now I can start to root for Carolina...and the old '72 Dolphins who are still around can break out the champagne and celebrate!
These old Miami alumni perform this ritual annually when the last remaining undefeated NFL team finally loses. I don't happen to have any of the bubbly drink around, but I am raising my imaginary glass with my imaginary drink in a toast to those Dolphin greats of the past and their unduplicated accomplishment...may only a future Miami team repeat it. But with the Dolphins' troubles in recent years, I'm not holding my breath in anticipation...
These old Miami alumni perform this ritual annually when the last remaining undefeated NFL team finally loses. I don't happen to have any of the bubbly drink around, but I am raising my imaginary glass with my imaginary drink in a toast to those Dolphin greats of the past and their unduplicated accomplishment...may only a future Miami team repeat it. But with the Dolphins' troubles in recent years, I'm not holding my breath in anticipation...
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Just Finished Reading The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl
Arthur C. Clarke, and Frederick Pohl to a lesser extent, are considered two of the twentieth century's most renown and respected science fiction writers. Both made it to this century as well before succumbing to ailments well into their eighties. The Last Theorem, published in 2008, is Clarke's final work, and his physical and mental conditions forced him to hand over its completion to Pohl. The novel's release coincided with the death of Clarke, known mostly to the general public for his 2001: A Space Odyssey...
The Space Odyssey series bears a similarity to The Last Theorem in that both involve advanced alien civilizations discovering humanity's emergence into space and use of nuclear weapons and judging the fate of our species based on the level of threat they believe we present. But the setting of The Last Theorem, which I just finished reading, is entirely different: Sri Lanka, an island nation just off the southern peninsula of India (and where Clarke lived), a few years (but not many) into the future. The chief protagonist, Ranjit Subramanian, is a young mathematician from there who is struggling to write an elegant proof for Fermat's Last Theorem...a problem that had baffled mathematicians for centuries until, in the 1990s, a very cumbersome computer-aided solution was provided. Ranjit's compelling personal story eventually intertwines with the book's other main subplot, namely the invasion of Earth and planned annihilation of humanity. Along the way, the authors take predictably political potshots at nationalism, militarism, and war...focusing chiefly against the policies of the United States and often referring to their invasion and occupation of Iraq. I get it...but I felt that, at times, I was being preached to instead of being told a story. Also, toward the end of the book the characters became less and less believable...especially the "Space Olympics" role of Ranjit's daughter...
But all things considered, this is but a story and they all break down on one level or another. After all, weren't Scott in Ivanhoe, Hugo in Les Miserables, and Tolstoy in War and Peace all deeply engaged in barely disguised political commentary? And to make a character memorable, he or she can't be completely ordinary and has to stand out from the crowd in some way. So yes, I enjoyed The Last Theorem for its story of Ranjit, as well as the many speculations about the possibilities and opportunities for us humans on Earth in the future...that is, if we can ever stop trying to destroy each other...
The Space Odyssey series bears a similarity to The Last Theorem in that both involve advanced alien civilizations discovering humanity's emergence into space and use of nuclear weapons and judging the fate of our species based on the level of threat they believe we present. But the setting of The Last Theorem, which I just finished reading, is entirely different: Sri Lanka, an island nation just off the southern peninsula of India (and where Clarke lived), a few years (but not many) into the future. The chief protagonist, Ranjit Subramanian, is a young mathematician from there who is struggling to write an elegant proof for Fermat's Last Theorem...a problem that had baffled mathematicians for centuries until, in the 1990s, a very cumbersome computer-aided solution was provided. Ranjit's compelling personal story eventually intertwines with the book's other main subplot, namely the invasion of Earth and planned annihilation of humanity. Along the way, the authors take predictably political potshots at nationalism, militarism, and war...focusing chiefly against the policies of the United States and often referring to their invasion and occupation of Iraq. I get it...but I felt that, at times, I was being preached to instead of being told a story. Also, toward the end of the book the characters became less and less believable...especially the "Space Olympics" role of Ranjit's daughter...
But all things considered, this is but a story and they all break down on one level or another. After all, weren't Scott in Ivanhoe, Hugo in Les Miserables, and Tolstoy in War and Peace all deeply engaged in barely disguised political commentary? And to make a character memorable, he or she can't be completely ordinary and has to stand out from the crowd in some way. So yes, I enjoyed The Last Theorem for its story of Ranjit, as well as the many speculations about the possibilities and opportunities for us humans on Earth in the future...that is, if we can ever stop trying to destroy each other...
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
The Republican Presidential Candidates, Part 2: Jeb Bush
And so I continue on with my own personal take on the Republican presidential candidates for 2016. Today I consider Jeb Bush...
At the start of this presidential campaign season, I expected Jeb Bush to coast to his party's nomination, much in the same way that Hillary Clinton is currently reasonably ahead in her Democratic race over chief opponent Bernie Sanders. I reasoned that, as in 2000 when Jeb's brother George W. faced off a single potentially formidable challenger in John McCain (while Democrat Al Gore was contending with Bill Bradley), Jeb would have some kind of offbeat populist GOP opponent like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul and then take over from there. While this type of scenario seems to have happened with Clinton and Sanders, Jeb Bush has found himself sliding further and further back in the polls...to the point where now he has only 3-5 % support nationwide among Republican voters. What happened?
Jeb Bush was already in trouble, even before his nemesis Donald Trump entered the race later than most of the other opponents. Bush was ostracized by the Tea Party faction of the party as being too "establishment", plus he had to contend with fellow Floridian polician, Senator Marco Rubio, upstaging him even in his home state. But the way I look at it, Jeb Bush didn't do himself any favors with his own words...
I have expressed in this blog that I thought that Jeb Bush was a pretty decent governor and that he seemed to be the only candidate in the Republican field that I felt I might support for president in 2016...not that I liked everything he did while he was leading my home state...not by a long shot. Unfortunately, throughout this campaign I have heard very little from this individual that expresses the more inclusionary vision he had as governor for eight years, his lucid and compelling speech and arguments from that era, or his sense of confidence he once had in abundance. Instead, he's been saying a lot of weird stuff and seems to have a delusional opinion of the candidacy of the current GOP leader, Donald Trump. One of the first weird things I heard from him in this campaign was that he was proud of being called "Jeb"...and that he had earned this privilege. Well, he's obviously a better man than me, for no one's ever called ME "Jeb"! As for Trump, in an interview right after a nationwide poll gave the real estate tycoon 36% Republican support...in contrast to Bush's meager 3%...Jeb flatly stated that there was no need to worry about whether he would support Trump if he were nominated. The reason, according to Jeb Bush, is that, in his opinion, Donald Trump is only an entertainer and not a serious candidate...
These types of comments reveal to me that Jeb Bush has sunk deeply into delusion and, as such, no longer merits my former high opinion of him as a politician with a good sense of discernment. He probably just needs quietly make his exit from the scene, something that fellow Republican Lindsey Graham has shown the good sense and wisdom to do. He'd probably do quite well for himself in the future as a high-paid lobbyist for some foreign country...
At the start of this presidential campaign season, I expected Jeb Bush to coast to his party's nomination, much in the same way that Hillary Clinton is currently reasonably ahead in her Democratic race over chief opponent Bernie Sanders. I reasoned that, as in 2000 when Jeb's brother George W. faced off a single potentially formidable challenger in John McCain (while Democrat Al Gore was contending with Bill Bradley), Jeb would have some kind of offbeat populist GOP opponent like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul and then take over from there. While this type of scenario seems to have happened with Clinton and Sanders, Jeb Bush has found himself sliding further and further back in the polls...to the point where now he has only 3-5 % support nationwide among Republican voters. What happened?
Jeb Bush was already in trouble, even before his nemesis Donald Trump entered the race later than most of the other opponents. Bush was ostracized by the Tea Party faction of the party as being too "establishment", plus he had to contend with fellow Floridian polician, Senator Marco Rubio, upstaging him even in his home state. But the way I look at it, Jeb Bush didn't do himself any favors with his own words...
I have expressed in this blog that I thought that Jeb Bush was a pretty decent governor and that he seemed to be the only candidate in the Republican field that I felt I might support for president in 2016...not that I liked everything he did while he was leading my home state...not by a long shot. Unfortunately, throughout this campaign I have heard very little from this individual that expresses the more inclusionary vision he had as governor for eight years, his lucid and compelling speech and arguments from that era, or his sense of confidence he once had in abundance. Instead, he's been saying a lot of weird stuff and seems to have a delusional opinion of the candidacy of the current GOP leader, Donald Trump. One of the first weird things I heard from him in this campaign was that he was proud of being called "Jeb"...and that he had earned this privilege. Well, he's obviously a better man than me, for no one's ever called ME "Jeb"! As for Trump, in an interview right after a nationwide poll gave the real estate tycoon 36% Republican support...in contrast to Bush's meager 3%...Jeb flatly stated that there was no need to worry about whether he would support Trump if he were nominated. The reason, according to Jeb Bush, is that, in his opinion, Donald Trump is only an entertainer and not a serious candidate...
These types of comments reveal to me that Jeb Bush has sunk deeply into delusion and, as such, no longer merits my former high opinion of him as a politician with a good sense of discernment. He probably just needs quietly make his exit from the scene, something that fellow Republican Lindsey Graham has shown the good sense and wisdom to do. He'd probably do quite well for himself in the future as a high-paid lobbyist for some foreign country...
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Just Finished Reading Sue Grafton's "W" is for Wasted
Mystery novelist Sue Grafton is winding down her current Kinsey Millhone series with the titles based on letters from the alphabet and just the "Y" and "Z" books left to be published. As for myself, I've almost caught up with her writing, having just finished reading "W" is for Wasted. It may well be the longest book in this series so far...still, it is relatively short compared to some of the other books I've been plowing through of late...
It's still 1988 and Kinsey Millhone, a single (twice divorced) late-thirties private detective based in the mythical California coastal city of Santa Teresa (about where Santa Barbara would be) finds out about the recent deaths of two men: one is a shady private eye whose path she has crossed in earlier cases and the other is a completely unknown homeless man who left on his person a piece of paper with her name and office address and number on it. After being notified of this connection, she then is shocked to find that she had been appointed by him to be the executor of his estate...consisting of more than half a million dollars...to be distributed among those named in his will: Kinsey and Kinsey alone! This is enough to draw her into an increasingly complex mystery, one that somehow involves trial runs of medications, designed to treat alcoholism, given to homeless human guinea pigs. Grafton highlights the lives and plight of the homeless in this book, as well as making the point that there is as much diversity among them regarding their motivations, histories, and mental states as among the general population...
Kinsey also discovers a distant family relationship between herself and the deceased homeless man, which introduces her to her father's side of the family, something that had been hidden from her since she was left orphaned when both of her parents died in a car accident while she was still a young girl. Also, a new character, Ed the Cat, gets his introduction late in the series (better late than never)...and eventually plays an important role in the story's outcome. I thought "W" is for Wasted was one of Sue Grafton's better books, although once again I felt that she should have presented the narrative completely from Kinsey's perspective instead of jumping around to other characters as she has been doing for the last few books...
It's still 1988 and Kinsey Millhone, a single (twice divorced) late-thirties private detective based in the mythical California coastal city of Santa Teresa (about where Santa Barbara would be) finds out about the recent deaths of two men: one is a shady private eye whose path she has crossed in earlier cases and the other is a completely unknown homeless man who left on his person a piece of paper with her name and office address and number on it. After being notified of this connection, she then is shocked to find that she had been appointed by him to be the executor of his estate...consisting of more than half a million dollars...to be distributed among those named in his will: Kinsey and Kinsey alone! This is enough to draw her into an increasingly complex mystery, one that somehow involves trial runs of medications, designed to treat alcoholism, given to homeless human guinea pigs. Grafton highlights the lives and plight of the homeless in this book, as well as making the point that there is as much diversity among them regarding their motivations, histories, and mental states as among the general population...
Kinsey also discovers a distant family relationship between herself and the deceased homeless man, which introduces her to her father's side of the family, something that had been hidden from her since she was left orphaned when both of her parents died in a car accident while she was still a young girl. Also, a new character, Ed the Cat, gets his introduction late in the series (better late than never)...and eventually plays an important role in the story's outcome. I thought "W" is for Wasted was one of Sue Grafton's better books, although once again I felt that she should have presented the narrative completely from Kinsey's perspective instead of jumping around to other characters as she has been doing for the last few books...
Friday, December 18, 2015
Weather Finally Looking Like December
As I sit here, the temperatures are plummeting after unseasonably hot and muggy weather...it's about time! The high today should only reach the mid-60s (after ridiculously climbing up into the 80s recently) while tonight it will be dipping into the 30s...this should go on for the next three days or so. It will be pleasant while it lasts...but I expect things to warm up within the week again here in north central Florida. Not only has it been much warmer than usual, but it has rained considerably as well. I'm starting to wonder whether we'll ever have a cold, dry winter again. It's been a few years since I can remember going through one...
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The Most Painful Soccer Match I've Ever Watched
Last Sunday night, Mexico's Liga MX, its premier professional soccer league, held the final match in its 2015 Apertura championship playoffs. The two teams left vying for the title were university-based pro teams UNAM of Mexico City and UANL of Monterrey, usually respectively known simply by their feline nicknames Pumas and Tigres. The final round, as did the earlier ones, consisted of two games, with the contestants taking turns hosting them. The first leg of this series had been held last week at Monterrey, with Tigres...the team I have been supporting...winning convincingly, 3-0. Now the championship is based on the two-game aggregate goal total, so with Sunday's match in Mexico City my Tigres had quite a substantial lead. Very few thought that Pumas could stage a comeback from that much behind. So I sat down in front of my TV set at 9:30, comfortably and complacently expecting Tigres to easily just coast on to the championship. I should have known better...
For almost all of the first half (45 minutes) of the Pumas-Tigres finale, Tigres put up a strong defense...as they are know for...and shut out their opponent while maintaining control of the ball most of the time. As action was winding down, I thought that keeping that 3-0 advantage with only one half to go was a great success on the part of Tigres. But then, suddenly, with only seconds to go in the half, Pumas somehow managed to slip in a goal. Now the sum total was 3-1 Tigres. Not to worry, though...my team still had the big advantage. That advantage diminished further early in the second half when Pumas came up with another score, making the lead now only 3-2. For the next 30-35 minutes, it was all about Pumas attacking the goal over and over again, just missing scoring on a number of occassions. It was painful enough for me to watch this, especially after I originally had though I would have an easy game. But it did look as if Tigres would hold off Pumas...that is, until once again as THIS half was closing and Pumas scored again, tying it all up 3-3...
Now regulation time had ended and the two teams would have to play two 15-minute overtime periods to determine the winner. The TV announcers (on UniMas Channel), who all seemed to be on the side of Pumas, were so giddy with excitement that I had to turn down the sound to be able to withstand it all. Amazingly, Tigres were able to score a goal near the end of the first overtime period, giving them a 4-3 lead. And they held it well, all the way up to the end of the second overtime period...when they, for a third time, gave up a late goal to Pumas. That made it 4-4 and the contest was headed to a penalty kick shootout...
By this time I was so frustrated at the way this game had gone that I was convinced that Pumas would eventually win. But the first Pumas penalty kicker failed while the Tigres players were excellent in the shootout...Tigres prevailed on penalty kicks 4-2 and somehow managed to hold on and win the championship. But it sure wasn't very fun to watch...
For almost all of the first half (45 minutes) of the Pumas-Tigres finale, Tigres put up a strong defense...as they are know for...and shut out their opponent while maintaining control of the ball most of the time. As action was winding down, I thought that keeping that 3-0 advantage with only one half to go was a great success on the part of Tigres. But then, suddenly, with only seconds to go in the half, Pumas somehow managed to slip in a goal. Now the sum total was 3-1 Tigres. Not to worry, though...my team still had the big advantage. That advantage diminished further early in the second half when Pumas came up with another score, making the lead now only 3-2. For the next 30-35 minutes, it was all about Pumas attacking the goal over and over again, just missing scoring on a number of occassions. It was painful enough for me to watch this, especially after I originally had though I would have an easy game. But it did look as if Tigres would hold off Pumas...that is, until once again as THIS half was closing and Pumas scored again, tying it all up 3-3...
Now regulation time had ended and the two teams would have to play two 15-minute overtime periods to determine the winner. The TV announcers (on UniMas Channel), who all seemed to be on the side of Pumas, were so giddy with excitement that I had to turn down the sound to be able to withstand it all. Amazingly, Tigres were able to score a goal near the end of the first overtime period, giving them a 4-3 lead. And they held it well, all the way up to the end of the second overtime period...when they, for a third time, gave up a late goal to Pumas. That made it 4-4 and the contest was headed to a penalty kick shootout...
By this time I was so frustrated at the way this game had gone that I was convinced that Pumas would eventually win. But the first Pumas penalty kicker failed while the Tigres players were excellent in the shootout...Tigres prevailed on penalty kicks 4-2 and somehow managed to hold on and win the championship. But it sure wasn't very fun to watch...
Monday, December 14, 2015
Starting to Root for My Old Nemesis, the New England Patriots
Yesterday I found myself awkwardly rooting for my old National Football League nemesis, New England, as they faced the Houston Texans. Normally the Patriots are my least favorite of all the teams...mainly due to the fact that they have been consistently successful winning the same division in which "my" Miami Dolphins reside. But now that they have finally lost at least once this season (an undefeated Pat season had started to become a scary possibility) and have already clinched their AFC East Division (in which the Dolphins are still struggling just to get out of the cellar), I found myself in a situation where I was pulling for them to win a game. For the Texans, at 6-6, were barely leading their AFC South Division over 6-7 Indianapolis and 5-8 Jacksonville (after the Jags ran up the score on the Colts in an earlier afternoon game, 51-16). Since Jax now has a shot at winning this weak division, I wanted Houston to also go to 6-7 to close the gap between them to just one game. So yes, yesterday I was cheering on ol' Tom Brady, the Gronk, and that pesky Patriot secondary. Happily, they won and the Jaguars are still thick in the playoff hunt. This might not be the last time I root for New England in a game this season, though...
The Carolina Panthers, a team I generally like...in no small part because of their quarterback Cam Newton...are currently 13-0 and on track to enter the playoffs with an unblemished record. Should they reach the Super Bowl, the most likely team they'll be facing is...those same New England Patriots. And here is where another factor comes into play for me: the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team in NFL history to run the table and go undefeated in both the regular season and the playoffs. In subsequent years, there have been some teams, like the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2007 Patriots, who have come perilously close to duplicating this feat that I...as well as those from that '72 Dolphins team...want to remain exclusively the property of Miami. So as unlikely as it might have seemed just three weeks ago, I might just find myself holding my nose and rooting in the upcoming Super Bowl for the one team that I really, really dislike...
The Carolina Panthers, a team I generally like...in no small part because of their quarterback Cam Newton...are currently 13-0 and on track to enter the playoffs with an unblemished record. Should they reach the Super Bowl, the most likely team they'll be facing is...those same New England Patriots. And here is where another factor comes into play for me: the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team in NFL history to run the table and go undefeated in both the regular season and the playoffs. In subsequent years, there have been some teams, like the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2007 Patriots, who have come perilously close to duplicating this feat that I...as well as those from that '72 Dolphins team...want to remain exclusively the property of Miami. So as unlikely as it might have seemed just three weeks ago, I might just find myself holding my nose and rooting in the upcoming Super Bowl for the one team that I really, really dislike...
Sunday, December 13, 2015
The Republican Presidential Candidates, Part 1: Donald Trump
As a Democrat certain that I will support that party's eventual nominee, it might not seem very fair of me to describe, compare, and contrast the still high number of aspirants to the Republican presidential nomination in 2016...but you might be interested in how someone on the "other side" sees them. So here goes, with today's focus on Donald Trump...
The GOP front-runner employs a lot of blustery, overgeneralized speech in concert with a tendency to react in a most personal manner to any criticism he picks up from other candidates, celebrities, or journalists. In this way he has emulated the childish reality show figures now so popular on TV (like on Jersey Shore, Housewives of Wherever, Kardashians, etc.). This, along with the fact that he discusses the issues with the same finesse as some blue-collar worker informally sitting around on his lunch break talking politics with some of his pals (no disparagement intended here...I'm blue collar, too) gives Trump resonance with a large segment of the population and sets up a clear distinction between himself and the other candidates...in spite of the fact that as a multi-billionaire he is by far the most economically elite of the bunch. Also, apparently, a lot of folks out there want a strongman ruler whom they can blindly entrust to fix all the problems and make the bad people disappear, a ruler like the Godfather...or the Donald (just leave it all to me, I take care of everything, I make them an offer they can't refuse...and they'll like it). I don't however, go along with the extreme criticism that he is getting from others who call him a "hater", "racist", or "fascist". I don't think most of the Republican candidates running against Trump are that much different than he is on the immigration issue, whether discussing that of Mexicans or Syrian/Iraqi refugees. But the others have learned to carefully couch their words in more ideologically and politically correct ways while Trump is more like a bull in a china shop...
More than anything, Donald Trump is a salesman. Now, besides marketing real estate or his own television show, he is marketing his candidacy for the U.S. Presidency. That's just the way he is and does not, as floundering opponent Jeb Bush maintains, in any way mean that he is only an entertainer and not a serious candidate...
More to come on the various GOP candidates, right here on this blog off and on during the next few weeks. I'll probably also eventually get to the Democrats as well...
The GOP front-runner employs a lot of blustery, overgeneralized speech in concert with a tendency to react in a most personal manner to any criticism he picks up from other candidates, celebrities, or journalists. In this way he has emulated the childish reality show figures now so popular on TV (like on Jersey Shore, Housewives of Wherever, Kardashians, etc.). This, along with the fact that he discusses the issues with the same finesse as some blue-collar worker informally sitting around on his lunch break talking politics with some of his pals (no disparagement intended here...I'm blue collar, too) gives Trump resonance with a large segment of the population and sets up a clear distinction between himself and the other candidates...in spite of the fact that as a multi-billionaire he is by far the most economically elite of the bunch. Also, apparently, a lot of folks out there want a strongman ruler whom they can blindly entrust to fix all the problems and make the bad people disappear, a ruler like the Godfather...or the Donald (just leave it all to me, I take care of everything, I make them an offer they can't refuse...and they'll like it). I don't however, go along with the extreme criticism that he is getting from others who call him a "hater", "racist", or "fascist". I don't think most of the Republican candidates running against Trump are that much different than he is on the immigration issue, whether discussing that of Mexicans or Syrian/Iraqi refugees. But the others have learned to carefully couch their words in more ideologically and politically correct ways while Trump is more like a bull in a china shop...
More than anything, Donald Trump is a salesman. Now, besides marketing real estate or his own television show, he is marketing his candidacy for the U.S. Presidency. That's just the way he is and does not, as floundering opponent Jeb Bush maintains, in any way mean that he is only an entertainer and not a serious candidate...
More to come on the various GOP candidates, right here on this blog off and on during the next few weeks. I'll probably also eventually get to the Democrats as well...
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Just Finished Reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
In my mind, I had already put fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson on something like a pedestal after reading his Mistborn series, not to mention the incredible way he managed to finish the late Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. So when I heard that he had begun a new, long fantasy series I jumped right on into it, in spite of being a little burned out on the genre from having read so much of it recently. Sanderson's current project is The Stormlight Archive, and he has only written two books in it so far. A while back I read Book # 1, titled The Way of Kings. And now I've just finished the second one, a monstrously long book (1088 pages) called Words of Radiance...
Like many other writers in the fantasy and science fiction genres, Brandon Sanderson has created his own special universe in which special rules and sciences apply. In Mistborn, the characters who were "allomancers" could burn within themselves various metals that they had ingested, giving them special powers in the process. In the universe of Words of Radiance, gemstones, light emanating from conscious superstorms (hence "stormlight" in the series title), and cognitive entities called "spren" impart to the heroes (and their foes) enhanced abilities. Aside from the "science", Sanderson also depicts the societies with their own norms, taboos, and prejudices...very allegorical to what we have in our own real world. For example, people with light-colored eyes are treated as a "higher" order than those with dark eyes, clearly an analog to how folks have been judged by their skin color here. And with women, one of their hands is designated as the "safe hand", which must always be concealed in the presence of others...what rules of modesty do we practice in our world that might seem irrational to another brought up in a different culture? Also, in Sanderson's world, reading, writing, and scholarship are reserved almost exclusively for women...men are continually having to look for women to read to them since they are mostly illiterate...
The three main protagonists through which the narrative is usually told are still Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar...as they were in the first book. The narrative builds up throughout Words of Radiance to a showdown in the Broken Plains between the forces of humanity, led by Dalinar, and the Parshendi, humanoids who possess the ability to transform themselves into different forms...with the latest manifestation being of a very sinister nature. Some of the human characters are also finding themselves transforming into something new...yet old as well: the Knights Radiant, who in millenia past had defended the world against the Void-Bringers, agents of darkness which the Parshendi increasingly seem to be...
This series contains a lot of prophecy and history, often cryptically written or spoken, as is usually the case in this genre. Dreams and their interpretations figure into the story, another standard feature. In spite of all of the innovative features of his new series, above everything I like the way Brandon Sanderson deeply developed his characters to show their personalities, histories, and ongoing struggles. I'm looking forward to the next book, set to come out next year...
Like many other writers in the fantasy and science fiction genres, Brandon Sanderson has created his own special universe in which special rules and sciences apply. In Mistborn, the characters who were "allomancers" could burn within themselves various metals that they had ingested, giving them special powers in the process. In the universe of Words of Radiance, gemstones, light emanating from conscious superstorms (hence "stormlight" in the series title), and cognitive entities called "spren" impart to the heroes (and their foes) enhanced abilities. Aside from the "science", Sanderson also depicts the societies with their own norms, taboos, and prejudices...very allegorical to what we have in our own real world. For example, people with light-colored eyes are treated as a "higher" order than those with dark eyes, clearly an analog to how folks have been judged by their skin color here. And with women, one of their hands is designated as the "safe hand", which must always be concealed in the presence of others...what rules of modesty do we practice in our world that might seem irrational to another brought up in a different culture? Also, in Sanderson's world, reading, writing, and scholarship are reserved almost exclusively for women...men are continually having to look for women to read to them since they are mostly illiterate...
The three main protagonists through which the narrative is usually told are still Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar...as they were in the first book. The narrative builds up throughout Words of Radiance to a showdown in the Broken Plains between the forces of humanity, led by Dalinar, and the Parshendi, humanoids who possess the ability to transform themselves into different forms...with the latest manifestation being of a very sinister nature. Some of the human characters are also finding themselves transforming into something new...yet old as well: the Knights Radiant, who in millenia past had defended the world against the Void-Bringers, agents of darkness which the Parshendi increasingly seem to be...
This series contains a lot of prophecy and history, often cryptically written or spoken, as is usually the case in this genre. Dreams and their interpretations figure into the story, another standard feature. In spite of all of the innovative features of his new series, above everything I like the way Brandon Sanderson deeply developed his characters to show their personalities, histories, and ongoing struggles. I'm looking forward to the next book, set to come out next year...
Friday, December 11, 2015
Running Woes More Mental Than Physical
I have noticed recently that if I run while listening to my favorite music...usually from my MP3 player... then the time passes more pleasantly and I am not as aware of the psychological toll that the stress of covering long distances takes. The same can be said for running while listening to audio books...also from my MP3 player. The fact that my evaluation of how difficult or easy a particular run was depends so much on a distraction like music or a story tells me that most of my impediments in running right now are mental and not physical in nature. That's a hopeful conclusion, and I also believe that with the generally cooler temperatures this time of year, along with the realization that I need to re-accustom myself to road running, my future looks promising. I don't think I'll be venturing into marathon races anytime soon, but next month's Ocala Half-Marathon is looking more and more like a certainty and less and less like just a remote possibility...
I've also come to the conclusion that, concerning running, less can be better...especially regarding my old habit of running on consecutive days. I'm giving that a change, now running on alternate days and giving my body a chance to recover, heal, and grow. Also, I will be resuming an old strategy, picked up from marathon great Jeff Galloway, by inserting regular walking breaks within my long training runs...
I've also come to the conclusion that, concerning running, less can be better...especially regarding my old habit of running on consecutive days. I'm giving that a change, now running on alternate days and giving my body a chance to recover, heal, and grow. Also, I will be resuming an old strategy, picked up from marathon great Jeff Galloway, by inserting regular walking breaks within my long training runs...
Monday, December 7, 2015
Watching Some Sports Difficult if Not Impossible
I am a soccer fan, something you doubtless already know if you have been reading this blog for any amount of time. I can watch the English Premier League Saturdays and Sundays on TV by tuning in to NBC Sports (Gainesville's Cox Channel 33), NBC (Channel 9), or USA (Channel 29). When I want to watch the Mexican Liga MX matches, I depend on Univision (Channel 40). For games in Germany's Bundesliga, three Fox Sports channels (62,70, and 267) carry them. And the MLS season, just completed, had games shown on ESPN and Fox Sports. I've gotten into the habit of checking my television schedule guide to search for games shown on these different channels. Much to my dismay, though, I have often been "shut out" of soccer action while sports such as auto racing, boxing, UFC (a combination of boxing, kick-fighting, and wrestling), and poker (called a sport...REALLY?) are featured. And then I considered that, on the whole, I have little to complain about as I usually get to watch a lot of soccer, anyway. But then it occurred to me: where is the tennis coverage?
I can follow a sport like tennis, where the ball is visible and the action is at a pace I can follow...unlike ice hockey, which I've tried on numerous occasions to watch while never quite knowing where the puck actually is at any given moment (an affliction with which the camera operator also seems to chronically suffer). Not only is the flow in hockey too fast and the puck so small that it is usually concealed among the players, but a whole section of the playing rink is blocked from view by the near wall. This sport, along with auto racing, fighting in its various manifestations, and poker are either too painful, boring, or impossible for me to follow, but they dominate the programming on many sports channels...
Every time I see a network like ESPN showing hours of poker programming, I wonder about all of the legitimate sports that they could have been showing instead. Sports like tennis, rugby, Australian rules football, and cricket, to name a few of the more entertaining to watch. And even if some of these seem too exotic to show on ESPN, they can do better than poker. I know, I know, the networks will say that they just show what people like to watch. But if they showed more women's sports, like pro basketball and pro soccer, I think viewers would flock to this as well. And maybe women's deserved pay for excelling in their professional leagues would finally begin to climb to a respectable level instead of the pittance that it is right now...
I can follow a sport like tennis, where the ball is visible and the action is at a pace I can follow...unlike ice hockey, which I've tried on numerous occasions to watch while never quite knowing where the puck actually is at any given moment (an affliction with which the camera operator also seems to chronically suffer). Not only is the flow in hockey too fast and the puck so small that it is usually concealed among the players, but a whole section of the playing rink is blocked from view by the near wall. This sport, along with auto racing, fighting in its various manifestations, and poker are either too painful, boring, or impossible for me to follow, but they dominate the programming on many sports channels...
Every time I see a network like ESPN showing hours of poker programming, I wonder about all of the legitimate sports that they could have been showing instead. Sports like tennis, rugby, Australian rules football, and cricket, to name a few of the more entertaining to watch. And even if some of these seem too exotic to show on ESPN, they can do better than poker. I know, I know, the networks will say that they just show what people like to watch. But if they showed more women's sports, like pro basketball and pro soccer, I think viewers would flock to this as well. And maybe women's deserved pay for excelling in their professional leagues would finally begin to climb to a respectable level instead of the pittance that it is right now...
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Ran the 6.5 Mile "Lumber Around the Levee" Race in Micanopy Today
Alachua County recently acquired some wetland areas lying between the town of Micanopy and Paynes Prairie. At Barr Hammock Preserve, just off Wacahoota Road on the west side of I-75, Off-the-Grid Racing just held a 6.5-mile trail run on a looping levee...hence its name "Lumber Around the Levee". The raised, mostly grassy trail cuts through low-lying marshlands and prairies, and we were warned about possibly encountering alligators and snakes during this morning's race. There were only about thirty runners, making this easily the lowest-attended race I've ever run. I say "race" tongue-in-cheek, though, because my goal here was just to cover the distance without trying to set any personal records or beat anyone. That's good, because I did just that...I finished in 1:03:12, just a little faster than a 10 minutes per mile pace...and the great majority of the runners were much faster. Even with that, though, at about the 5-mile mark and on to the end, I had some difficulty with the high 85% humidity...although the temperature was a pleasant 61. It was overcast the entire time, which eliminated any glare. I didn't see any 'gators, but there was one big, nasty-looking snake on the trail about a half-mile past the starting line...
My one mishap during the race came at about 2.2 miles, where I tripped over a tree root and went sprawling forward onto the ground. My falling instincts must be pretty good for I came out of it none the worse except for some scrapes around my left knee...it was more embarrassing then anything else. I'm glad I got to run this event after missing two other local races last month. Still, I'm going to need to do better if I want to be successful in either of the local area's two half-marathons coming up in January and February...
Here is the website for the race at Off-the-Grid Racing. One of the attendants at the end of the race told me that they would be posting the race results on it as soon as they could...
My one mishap during the race came at about 2.2 miles, where I tripped over a tree root and went sprawling forward onto the ground. My falling instincts must be pretty good for I came out of it none the worse except for some scrapes around my left knee...it was more embarrassing then anything else. I'm glad I got to run this event after missing two other local races last month. Still, I'm going to need to do better if I want to be successful in either of the local area's two half-marathons coming up in January and February...
Here is the website for the race at Off-the-Grid Racing. One of the attendants at the end of the race told me that they would be posting the race results on it as soon as they could...
Terrorists Want Suspicion Cast Upon All Muslims
With Wednesday's attack by a couple against a special needs care
center in San Bernardino, California that resulted, at present count, in
14 deaths and 21 injuries, I feel that I am beginning to understand
something fundamental about the aims of radical Islam, rooted in the
Wahhabi sect of the Arabian peninsula (started in the 1700s, more than 1,000 years after the start of Islam, ostensibly to return to the "fundamental" roots of the religion), as expressed in terrorist acts
concocted by ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and their followers...
The man in the attack was a five-year employee of the company who angrily left a Christmas party they were holding for the staff, of which he was a part. That this may have just been an act was shown by evidence that he and his wife, whom he had met while visiting Saudi Arabia two years earlier, had already been planning something for some time. They were suited up for combat and had 2 automatic rifles, 2 handguns, and at their apartment were 12 bombs and 1600+ rounds of ammunition, factors that express premeditation and extensive preparation for their murderous acts. The initial scenario of a worker disgruntled with his colleagues turned out to just be a smoke-screen for the terrorists' true intentions: the man (whose name does not deserve mention) "attended" the party only to scout it out and determine the strategy that he and his accomplice would employ. Leaving angrily only covered up his true intentions...
ISIS, which Islamic leaders have been disavowing as not being a part of their faith, pejoratively calling it "DAESH", wants their brand of ideology to be seen by the world as being synonymous with Islam. They want to co-opt the entire religion for their own peculiar ideology, and having Muslims everywhere viewed with suspicion of possibly sharing their violent and murderous take on society is an integral part of this strategy...as demonstrated by the nature of these many "isolated" attacks that have recently been perpetrated in disparate locations, with those performing them regularly and openly identifying with Islam and acknowledging ISIS as their authority. My recommendation is to combat this by engaging the Muslim community, not isolating it, and exchange information with each other regarding our positions and perspectives. Sure, be secure...but also engage...
The man in the attack was a five-year employee of the company who angrily left a Christmas party they were holding for the staff, of which he was a part. That this may have just been an act was shown by evidence that he and his wife, whom he had met while visiting Saudi Arabia two years earlier, had already been planning something for some time. They were suited up for combat and had 2 automatic rifles, 2 handguns, and at their apartment were 12 bombs and 1600+ rounds of ammunition, factors that express premeditation and extensive preparation for their murderous acts. The initial scenario of a worker disgruntled with his colleagues turned out to just be a smoke-screen for the terrorists' true intentions: the man (whose name does not deserve mention) "attended" the party only to scout it out and determine the strategy that he and his accomplice would employ. Leaving angrily only covered up his true intentions...
ISIS, which Islamic leaders have been disavowing as not being a part of their faith, pejoratively calling it "DAESH", wants their brand of ideology to be seen by the world as being synonymous with Islam. They want to co-opt the entire religion for their own peculiar ideology, and having Muslims everywhere viewed with suspicion of possibly sharing their violent and murderous take on society is an integral part of this strategy...as demonstrated by the nature of these many "isolated" attacks that have recently been perpetrated in disparate locations, with those performing them regularly and openly identifying with Islam and acknowledging ISIS as their authority. My recommendation is to combat this by engaging the Muslim community, not isolating it, and exchange information with each other regarding our positions and perspectives. Sure, be secure...but also engage...
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Freedom: Two Different Interpretations
When I was a kid in elementary school in the 1960s, I caught on quickly to the stark difference, repeatedly ground into us, between living in communist countries like China or the Soviet Union (almost always then simply called "Russia"). We were free and they weren't, period. So, to us in our immaturity, freedom meant being able to do or say whatever we wanted without suffering any negative consequences therefrom. After all, it's a free country, isn't it? Later on, some of us learned (while some didn't) that the "freedom" we enjoyed here in America was that the GOVERNMENT could not restrict our speech, movements, and associations and that, apart from the state not coming down on us (as long as we didn't break any laws, that is), our behavior did carry the potential for negative consequences. That's called "growing up" and becoming a mature member of adult society. Nevertheless, as a kid I never considered my "freedom" as a right in the way that many in the current "Millenial" and "Generation X" generations see it, for the term has two disparate meanings...
Freedom can mean the ability to make one's own choices in life...that's the way I've understood it and lived it out in my life, for better or for worse. But freedom can also be interpreted as freedom "from" things that people don't like...like hate speech and writing, or even anything that violates whatever the current political correctness codes happen to be. Comedian Chris Rock has stated that he won't perform his often politically incorrect act, full of biting satire as it is, on college campuses anymore because of the self-righteous mindset of the students, so many of whom regarding anything that pokes fun at a segment of the population as bigoted, racist, or even hateful. After some isolated incidents of racism at the University of Missouri recently, one of the students, who happened to African-American, was interviewed on TV. She expressed that she felt she was being discriminated against...the culmination of the interview revealed that this feeling was because some bigoted white moron had written something racist publicly somewhere and that the University's president hadn't reacted vehemently enough against this provocation. I'm sorry, but this country has had enough racism in its history (and, sadly, in the real news of today: look at the police killings of unarmed blacks, over and over again...even when they are already in custody) for people to act as if they have some kind of inalienable right to be "free" of others offending them. If you are offended, then say so...but it is not yet a crime to be offensive. If and when offensive speech does become illegal, we will become like those totalitarian nations of my youth that we used to be so dead-set against...
Freedom can mean the ability to make one's own choices in life...that's the way I've understood it and lived it out in my life, for better or for worse. But freedom can also be interpreted as freedom "from" things that people don't like...like hate speech and writing, or even anything that violates whatever the current political correctness codes happen to be. Comedian Chris Rock has stated that he won't perform his often politically incorrect act, full of biting satire as it is, on college campuses anymore because of the self-righteous mindset of the students, so many of whom regarding anything that pokes fun at a segment of the population as bigoted, racist, or even hateful. After some isolated incidents of racism at the University of Missouri recently, one of the students, who happened to African-American, was interviewed on TV. She expressed that she felt she was being discriminated against...the culmination of the interview revealed that this feeling was because some bigoted white moron had written something racist publicly somewhere and that the University's president hadn't reacted vehemently enough against this provocation. I'm sorry, but this country has had enough racism in its history (and, sadly, in the real news of today: look at the police killings of unarmed blacks, over and over again...even when they are already in custody) for people to act as if they have some kind of inalienable right to be "free" of others offending them. If you are offended, then say so...but it is not yet a crime to be offensive. If and when offensive speech does become illegal, we will become like those totalitarian nations of my youth that we used to be so dead-set against...
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
My Preferences for the 2015 College Football Playoffs
Up until last Saturday night's debacle against cross-state rivals Florida State, I was closely following the late-season college football games affecting top-ranked teams. My goal in this was to "will" the schools that were ranked higher than the University of Florida in the polls to lose, giving the Gators a better chance at making the four-team championship playoffs. This all, of course, hinged on Florida somehow winning both against FSU and in next Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game. But recently my Gators have essentially been "half-gators", with only the defensive half of the team playing at championship level. That was sadly also the case in the contest with the Seminoles, with the Tallahassee team winning 27-2. But now that any hope of Florida contending for the national championship, with their 10-2 record (and #18 ranking), has ended, I have now been freed to root for the rest of the top teams based on my preferences instead of calculating which ones threatened the Gators' chances the most. So now...
So now I'm looking at the rankings and I see some teams I like...and some I traditionally loathe. Right now, in ranking order, it's Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa going to the playoffs were the season to end right now. But since we have one more weekend, loaded with conference championship playoffs (including severe underdog Florida against Alabama in the SEC), that picture is likely to change. North Carolina could upset Clemson in the ACC and Iowa will probably (at least I hope) lose to Michigan State in the Big Ten. Oklahoma won the Big 12 title in a conference without a playoff...chances are they already have a playoff spot reserved for themselves...unfortunately...since they're one of the teams I usually vehemently root against. And further on the outside in the rankings are Ohio State, and Stanford. Ohio State won't play next weekend either, since they were eliminated in the regular season for the Big Ten title by Michigan State. But all this aside, what are my preferences among the possible teams still in the playoff hunt? Here are MY rankings by preference:
1 Michigan State
2 Clemson
3 North Carolina (assuming beating Clemson gives them a spot...a stretch)
4 Iowa
5 Stanford (very unlikely to make the playoffs)
6 Ohio State
7 Oklahoma
8 (easily my least favorite) Alabama
So now I'm looking at the rankings and I see some teams I like...and some I traditionally loathe. Right now, in ranking order, it's Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Iowa going to the playoffs were the season to end right now. But since we have one more weekend, loaded with conference championship playoffs (including severe underdog Florida against Alabama in the SEC), that picture is likely to change. North Carolina could upset Clemson in the ACC and Iowa will probably (at least I hope) lose to Michigan State in the Big Ten. Oklahoma won the Big 12 title in a conference without a playoff...chances are they already have a playoff spot reserved for themselves...unfortunately...since they're one of the teams I usually vehemently root against. And further on the outside in the rankings are Ohio State, and Stanford. Ohio State won't play next weekend either, since they were eliminated in the regular season for the Big Ten title by Michigan State. But all this aside, what are my preferences among the possible teams still in the playoff hunt? Here are MY rankings by preference:
1 Michigan State
2 Clemson
3 North Carolina (assuming beating Clemson gives them a spot...a stretch)
4 Iowa
5 Stanford (very unlikely to make the playoffs)
6 Ohio State
7 Oklahoma
8 (easily my least favorite) Alabama
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