Just Finished Reading Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

I just finished reading Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes...at least the English translation of this famous Spanish novel that was originally published in two volumes in 1605 and 1615.  Altogether it is a rather lengthy book to plow through and, despite the fact that it contains many smaller stories imbedded within the larger work, I have to admit that I had some difficulty sustaining my interest in reading through to the end.  After all, the basic premise of Don Quixote is laid out at its beginning, with its characters experiencing little change or growth throughout.  The two central characters are Alonso Quixado, an elderly minor Spanish noble, and a simple farmer named Sancho Panza.  Quixado, who has taken up with books about chivalry to the point where he believes that he is himself a knight errant, hires Sancho as his squire as he sets off on his adventures under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha.  He imagines Dulcinea, who is a working class woman in his home town with whom he has had no contact, as a princess who claims his loyalty and affections and for whom he performs all of his gallant deeds of knighthood. Quixote and Panza set off on their adventures in this book...not once or twice, but three different times, and this is probably the best way to divide up the story.  In his adventures, Quixote continually interprets normal, everyday experiences such as seeing windmills or a flock of sheep as being encounters with giants or enemy armies, made by enchanters to look like what Sancho plainly sees for what they really are.  And the "squire" regularly makes his opinions known to his master, often very much to the latter's consternation...it is Sancho's contribution to the tale that rescues it, in my opinion, with his inexhaustible supply of proverbs (some very silly) that he sprinkles liberally throughout all of his conversations.  As for Don Quixote, most of the people who encounter him don't take very long before they conclude that he is suffering from some kind of madness, but yet...

Outside of Don Quixote's own delusions pertaining to chivalry and his own role in it, he comes across as agreeable, knowledgeable, and wise...if a bit loquacious.  Those he encounters, once they become aware of his affliction, tend to show sympathy toward him and Sancho...although some, like the Duke and Duchess of the "second" book, concoct elaborate jokes to play on the two. Still, I was left reading about the ostensibly singular character Don Quixote with the feeling that his insanity/rationality duality is more common than one might suspect...

After reflecting on it a little, I can conjure up a list of people I know, both from my personal life (which I'll discreetly keep to myself) as well as some I only know from the media, who display genius and expertise in one or more fields but act totally clueless in others.  What makes them ultimately Quixotic, though, is that they themselves don't recognize their own foolishness when assessing their own shortcomings in some areas and insist that those around them "play along" with their self-delusions. I won't give out names, but I can think of politicians (including two current presidential candidates...I wonder if you know who I'm talking about), athletes, musicians, actors, and news media folks who fit these criteria.  But what's really disturbing is when people in large numbers appear to actually buy into their madness...         

My February 2016 Running Report

Although I was experiencing some physical maladies this past month of February, 2016, I managed to run at least a token amount each day and accumulated 171 total miles...usually accomplished with multiple, smaller runs spread throughout the day.  My longest single run was for 4.8 miles.  I had planned to participate in my hometown of Gainesville's Five Points Half-Marathon on the 21st, but felt too bad that weekend and decided that it would be prudent to pass this time around...

Next month I'd like to step up the mileage a bit, especially with regard to the distances I cover in single runs.  I also would like to run in two different 10K races: the Run for Haven event on the 12th in Tioga (which I ran last year) and the Trail of Payne 10K at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, just south of Gainesville, on the 26th.  The latter is a trail run, so the course may be a challenge...especially if it is run under rainy conditions (or if it had rained a lot in the days before the race).  As for the Tioga race, I loved the big outdoor party they held, with live music and "free" food for the paying runners...but the 4:30 pm race time did make it a little difficult to withstand with the hot temperatures that fell on us that March afternoon in 2015.  Maybe this year we'll catch a break and it'll be cooler...

Upcoming Election, Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Commission

I received my sample ballot in the mail today for the March 15 Florida presidential preference primary and Gainesville local elections from my supervisor of elections.  There's not very much on the ballot: besides the Republican or Democratic presidential primaries, Gainesville only offers its mayoral race and District 4 in its city commission...and since I'm not in District 4, I can't vote in that race (although one of the contestants, Jim Konish, is a former classmate of mine from Nova High School).  It's O.K. that I can't vote for someone else's district...that's the way it should be in representative government.  I think Gainesville has worked out its city commission structure quite well: there is the mayor (who also gets to participate as a voting commissioner), two at-large seats (the whole city gets to vote on them), and four districted seats.  I reside in District 2, currently represented by Todd Chase.  Since the various districts have their own particular demographics, issues, and political leanings, it seems more likely as a result to have a city commission that better represents the diverse interests of its population.  One big problem: unless there is a bigger race on the ballot, such as the presidential campaign or statewide offices like U.S. Senate or governor, the voter participation in my local elections is abysmally low.  Take the last two elections here, for a commission seat and the runoff election: 12% turnout in both! 

There is also an Alachua County Commission, which is comprised of five seats each officially representing a drawn-out district for the entire county, of which Gainesville dominates with its much larger population than the outlying communities.  Unlike the case with the Gainesville City Commission, though, each county commissioner is elected at-large from the entire county, not just from the district he or she is supposed to represent.  Which doesn't make very much sense to me.  I live in Alachua County District 5, which is supposedly the district of Charles Chesnut IV.  But this commissioner was elected county-wide...doesn't that defeat the concept of representation by districts?  It would be as if the entire United States got to vote on who would be Florida's governor...wait a minute, that might not such a bad idea, considering the individual we've been stuck with for the past few years...

Starting to be Able to Follow Ice Hockey Games

The other night I was watching the National Hockey League game between the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings, taking place at Madison Square Garden and broadcast on NBC Sports (local Cox Channel 33).  I've written before about how difficult a time I've had trying to to follow the flow of the game, seeing how the small puck is so elusive and often hidden.  In spite of that, though, I was surprised to be able to better keep track of its movement...and actually enjoyed the game.  I wasn't pulling for one team over the other, although since I've been to New York once, and the hotel I stayed at is a short walking distance from the Garden, I tend to think of the Big Apple as almost a secondary home town.  The Rangers did pull out an overtime victory, 1-0, and I thought that the reduced three-on-three setup in overtime served to make the action more exciting...and should be extended to the entire game...

One other reason that I have had for not getting into watching ice hockey is that I've never played the sport...not even in its alternative form of field hockey.  Also, I've never ice-skated before, and therefore cannot easily imagine myself in the skates of those athletes in these games...unlike, for example, soccer, where I can sense the limitations of the players based partially on my own personal experience in this sport.  Also, I'm still a little lost at some of the rules of hockey...especially concerning off-side calls.  Still, I'm looking forward to watching more...I'm sure I'll pick up on what's going on eventually...

My home state of Florida has two NHL teams: the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.  Both are having good seasons this year, and the Lightning made it to the Stanley Cup finals last year.  However, although I'll probably end up rooting for them when I'm watching their games, I just don't have that level of fan loyalty built up yet...

Watched the Movie Bridge of Spies

Last year I saw preview after preview on TV of the new Tom Hanks film, Bridge of Spies.  Already acquainted with the infamous U-2 incident of 1960, I felt inclined to watch it eventually...but never got around to the theater.  Well, I did make it out there once, but there was that new Star Wars movie...

No problem...last week Melissa, Rebecca, Will and I sat down one evening and watched Bridge of Spies, which we had rented from Redbox.  Not exactly the theater, but then again it was convenient to be able to pause it from time to time.  Already knowing where the story was heading, I had expected to see a re-creation of an early-sixties East Europe, but I was stunned at the visual effects nonetheless.  After all, under Soviet domination, East Germany was treated in a much more punitive manner following World War II and many of its buildings, fifteen years after war's end, still looked bombed-out.  Amazing...

Bridge of Spies is a true story, spanning the years 1957-62, focusing on the efforts of American lawyer James Donovan, played by Hanks, as he first defended accused Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on espionage charges and then was asked by the CIA to handle negotiations with the Soviet Union for the release of downed and captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers.  The U-2 flights over the U.S.S.R. were done at high-altitude to photograph our Cold War adversary's military activities...Powers's plane was shot down by a missile.  Donovan's task was to get the Soviets to agree to an exchange between convicted Soviet spy Abel and Powers.  The "bridge" in the movie's title refers to a famous bridge connecting East and West Berlin, where the transfer was to take place.  All of this is already known history, but just in case you don't know what happened at the end, I'll leave it for you to discover for yourself.  Just keep in mind that I was impressed by this movie, its direction, acting (especially that of Tom Hanks), and its faithfully true portrayal of the events and settings.  By the way, since much of the movie is set in East Berlin, it was fascinating to watch the building of the Berlin Wall as an event concurrent with the story's plot...

So go watch Bridge of Spies...especially if you have any kind of positive feelings about the old Soviet Union and how its policies affected the people under its control, whether as citizens of that country or of one of the satellite nations it dominated.  Those folks had it really tough back then and I wouldn't wish their ordeals on anyone...

Skipped Today's Gainesville Half-Marathon, More Opportunities Ahead

I decided to skip this year's Gainesville Five Points of Life Half-Marathon, which I ran in 2010, 2014, and 2015.  During the last three weeks I have gone from experiencing lower left back pain to a more general sense of physical malaise...both of which I've gone through before.  Under the circumstances, my running during this period dropped significantly and I felt that I wasn't in tip-top condition to tackle the 13.1-mile course.  Maybe next year...

I do feel better now, although lately it seems that the local pollen season has kicked into high gear and I'm having issues with that...I know, it sounds like I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, doesn't it?  Nevertheless, I haven't given up on my running, which has begun to pick up again.  And there are still a couple of months more of races ahead before the extended hot summer season we experience here in north-central Florida curtails the number of racing opportunities.  On March 12th & 26th there will be 10K races here in Gainesville while, in April, half-marathons are being offered in Ocala and Gainesville on the 16th and 24th, respectively and a 10K will take place in town on the 9th.  Interspersed between these are numerous 5K events, so there will be plenty of chances for me to get involved with some races if I want...

What I'd like to do the most with my running is get back to the routine I've had in the past of running around my neighborhood in the late morning/early afternoon hours before I go off to work.  I've found this time frame to work the best for me as the daytime temperatures haven't reached their maximum while the humidity from the previous night and early morning has usually dissipated to an acceptable level...

Listening to Conservative Talk Radio Lately

I've been listening to my local talk radio station, 97.3/WSKY "The Sky", for the past week while at work...and on the way in my car.  In particular, I've been following four different programs, all conservative right-wing shows: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Michael Savage.  Although all of them are very much against President Obama, Democrats, and anything politically liberal or even moderate, I have discovered some significant differences among them.  But they all share an enormous talent at elucidating their opinions while managing to daily fill a three-hour block of time: pretty impressive, whether or not you happen to agree with what they are saying...

While in non-campaign times, these four are all usually railing at their political enemies on the left or center, we happen to be in an election year and they find themselves divided concerning the Republican race for president.  Limbaugh and Hannity have each deliberately taken a neutral stance towards the candidates and have cultivated on-the-air interviews with them, while Levin and Savage have made their own personal choices known without equivocation.  Let's take a look at these latter two, whose shows I listen to from 6-9 pm and from 9 to midnight, respectively...

Mark Levin and Michael Savage take themselves very seriously with their own "movements": Levin with his insistence on the U.S. Constitution being only interpreted one way...HIS way...and Savage with his slogan of "Borders, Language, Culture" defining his take on the news.  Both remind me at times of the insane Peter Finch character of the newscaster in the 1976 movie Network, who one evening goes off the deep end and beings to rant incoherently...remember "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"?  But then again, at times, both of these guys can sound quite lucid and make their arguments compelling.  That makes me want to compare them to Don Quixote, the delusional fictional knight of Miguel Cervantes's imagination, who, when not dealing with the realm of chivalry, seems quite sane and reasonable...even wise and personable.  Only with Levin and Savage, it's not chivalry that turns them into mad ravers...it's the Democrats and Obama...

Mark Levin has decided that Ted Cruz is the only true conservative candidate in the GOP field, something I find laughable.  And since Donald Trump and Marco Rubio have been criticizing Cruz a lot lately, Levin has been treating them with barely-concealed contempt on his show.  Of course, Cruz is a frequent call-in guest.  What a surprise.  It's also not very surprising that Donald Trump has appeared on Michael Savage's show, since Savage is strongly supporting him...and consequently is, in turn, running down his Republican opponents.  Each host has his ongoing conspiracy theory: Levin thinks that the Republican Party establishment has a plan to prevent either Trump or Cruz  from obtaining a majority of delegates going into the convention and to force a deadlock, resolvable with an establishment candidate getting the nomination at the end.  Savage, for his part, keeps insinuating that Obama somehow was responsible for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's recent death at a west Texas resort without showing any evidence...instead, he keeps replaying a Godfather Part II scene where a Nevada senator is framed in a "family"-owned brothel...

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, by contrast with Levin and Savage, seem to be downright gentlemen...that is until they begin to talk about Democrats, especially our president.  And then they, too, jump into the mud and wallow around.  Still, they can be pretty funny at times... 

As for me, I want the politicians I vote for to have well-thought out positions on the issues, although it is well-nigh impossible that I'll agree with them on everything.  Conservatives have some really good points to consider, but I am sick and tired of the tendency of some of them to tar and feather anyone left of far right with epithets, conspiracy accusations, and predictions of apocalypse.  Likewise, I don't appreciate progressives on the left smugly acting as if theirs is the only intelligent, caring political philosophy and that those on the right are bigots, ignorant dupes, and sell-outs to the rich and powerful.  I want politicians to take clear stands on the important issues, but also to understand and compassionately accept that, if elected, they become the leader of all...even those who opposed them in the election...and that their responsibilities extend beyond those within their own political camp...

The U.S. Supreme Court, Scalia's Death, and His Replacement

Throughout the history of this country, the Supreme Court has had its factions and divisions, with the differences usually falling along the lines of the political parties with their views on society and governance.  Often the Court has been slanted heavily to one side or the other...but in recent years it has been divided pretty much evenly...well, as evenly as an odd number of justices could make it.  Five-to-four rulings have predominated, with Justices Roberts and Kennedy usually making up the swing votes.  But now, with Justice Scalia's recent death, the division between "conservatives" and "liberals" is a deadlocked four-to-four.  And President Obama is in position to change the ideological balance, even if he gets a moderate nominee confirmed...Scalia was the strong voice of the conservation faction. 

Those in the political world, almost all being Republicans or conservative independents, treat Scalia's passing as if it will permanently affect the composition of the SCOTUS.  But several of the justices are in their advanced years, including some liberals appointed by Democratic presidents.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg has certainly had her share of health issues, and is viewed by some as the next justice to leave the Court.  We don't know who will win this November's presidential election, but it is almost a sure bet that the winner, possibly a Republican, will be picking her successor.  And if it IS a Republican, then we'll be hearing the same worries about the ideological balance being upset...except that it will be coming from the Democrats.

There is plenty of time this year for the President to present a nominee to the Senate and let the process go through.  The Republicans have a solid majority there and can choose to accept or reject the nominee, who I hope will be someone acceptable as a reasonable choice.  There are a couple of lower court judges already confirmed by this Senate...and I don't discount the idea of the President picking a moderate senator...even a Republican...for the vacant Supreme Court seat.  Whatever his pick, though, this president needs to be more engaged in the process and be willing to meet and discuss this important nomination in a spirit of cooperation with the key senators involved, especially those in the Judiciary Committee...

If the Republicans in the Senate choose to stonewall Obama's nomination until after the election, they risk having to deal with another Democratic president...and that president's nominee may be much further to the left that what President Obama may have offered.  And also, should they refuse to deal in good faith with Obama, this issue could prove to be a major rallying point to get Democratic voters to the polls this November.  I'd like to see a qualified, centrist nominee get confirmed quickly in order to defuse this standoff and allow the Supreme Court to continue its deliberations with a complete roster of nine justices...

Currently Reading Two-Handed Engine by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore

As I mentioned a few days ago on this blog, I am reading a large short story collection of the works, albeit incomplete, of the late husband-wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. (Catherine Lucille) Moore.  The genres of this book, titled Two-Handed Engine, range from science fiction to fantasy to horror.  The thirty-seven stories, most of which are collaborations of the couple, are arranged in their order of first publication starting in 1933 and ending in 1955.  I am also reading the book in that order, and have just finished the first four stories...

The first story in the book is Shambleau, accredited as a solo work of C.L. Moore.  It is a science fiction tale, set on Mars of the future, that spreads the contemporary belief of the author's time that Venus was a wet, marshy planet with its own life forms and that there was life on Mars as well.  But the main character, an adventurer named Northwest Smith (resembling Hans Solo of Star Wars fame), is human through and through.  While on Mars on nefarious smuggling business (like Solo), he encounters a mob of angry Martians chasing down a small, frightened woman.  Smith, being of a gallant nature, holds off the attackers and takes her in.  As the story wears on, this "woman" turns out to be a completely different life form, which she calls "Shambleau" but bears an unmistakable similarity to a monster from old Greek mythology...and Smith finds himself in a life and death crisis...

Henry Kuttner alone wrote The Graveyard Rats, the 1936 second story of the book...you just might guess that this is a horror tale.  And it is, in the tradition of Kuttner's renown predecessors Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.  The title pretty much states what's going on here, and the rats are particularly ferocious and ravenous...

The third story in Two-Handed Engine is A Gnome There Was, a fantasy also by Kuttner, published in 1941.  In it Tim Crockett, a young Californian labor organizer, travels east to a coal mine, where he disguises his intentions while being completely oblivious to that dynamite explosion about to happen...too late...but wait, he's not dead!  Somehow, he has been transformed into a different kind of creature...I suppose you can infer the rest.   Kuttner explores here a hidden society of fanciful creatures with their peculiar and often very funny norms...

Story number four is The Twonky, the first collaboration of Kuttner and Moore in the book and published in 1942 under the pseudonym Lewis Padgett.  I read it many years ago in a "year's best" science fiction anthology.  It struck me then as a forerunner of a much better story of theirs, titled Mimsy Were the Borogoves, published the following year.  Still, it stands well on its own.  A time-traveler from a much more technologically advanced era finds himself accidentally transported to a radio assembly factory in, I suppose, the authors' contemporary time of the early 1940s.  Having temporarily lost his memory through the turbulent time travel, he is ordered by the plant's foreman to go to work, i.e. build radios.  Drawing from his own knowledge, he builds a radio...but one with much more advanced features...and then recovers his memory and vanishes to return to his own time.  Meanwhile, this radio, called a Twonky, is bought by a couple, who subsequently get treated to its more insidious and sinister nature...

Well, that's four stories down and thirty-three to go!

Happy Birthday, Melissa...and Happy St. Valentine's Day!

My wife Melissa has one of those interesting birthdays: it falls right on a holiday of sorts...and what a holiday: St. Valentine's Day!  So, to my dear, beautiful Valentine, Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Eighth Harry Potter Book Coming Out July 31

I was watching MSNBC just now and was surprised to see, scrolling at the bottom of the screen, the news that J.K. Rowling would be releasing a new Harry Potter book, the eighth in the series, on July 31 this year.  After investigating this online, I discovered that the new installment, titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will be in two parts and is to pick up where the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ended...nineteen years later with his youngest child, Albus Severus, entering Hogwarts Academy for the first time.  The original story for this new book was written for a play that will open in London on July 30, the day before the book's release.  And why July 31? Why, it's Harry's birthday, of course! 

Now I'm going to have to go to my local Books-a-Million to see if they're planning to have another big Harry Potter party on the eve of its publication.  But since Kindles and their like will probably take up much of the sales of this new Potter book, I don't know if its hardbound release will have as much public celebratory fanfare.  We'll see...

Some Observations About the Presidential Campaign

Here are some things I noticed about the presidential campaign so far, the day after the New Hampshire primary...

Any time a Republican candidate starts looking good in the polls, the others gang up on him.  When Ted Cruz rose to the top in Iowa, both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio went after him.  Then after Rubio made his unexpected good showing in that state's caucuses, he was attacked without mercy.  Now we have Trump back on top with John Kasich on the upsurge...expect both the Donald and the rest of the "gang" to pile on Kasich...

On one of the cable news channels...I believe it was MSNBC...they did a poll of New Hampshire voters after they voted in the primary.  According to the results, almost half of them didn't make their decision about whom they were going to vote for until the final days...this in spite of the fact that the campaign had been going on strong in the media since last spring and their own state had been inundated with information on the candidates and their records and positions...along with many opportunities over the past several months for the voters to evaluate their character and qualifications for the job.  What's wrong with these people, I ask myself...

Another pattern about the electorate that makes me scratch my head in puzzlement is the voter turnout issue.  Bernie Sanders was on the podium last night in exultant victory, lauding the very high voter turnout in the primary.  And it was, by all accounts, high.  Fine, I'm O.K. with that.  And in the presidential general election, it usually is pretty high as well.  Good, good, good.  But then wait two years for the so-called "off-year" elections that determine all of the House of Representatives, a third of the Senate seats, and a substantial portion of the Governors, and voter turnout goes way down, especially as I have recently observed, among those same Democratic voters who were so proud of themselves two years earlier for their active involvement in the political process.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: something is wrong with the system when a state like my Florida can go for liberal Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, elect tea party Republican Rick Scott in 2010, go once again for Obama in 2012...and, of course, turn right back around and reelect Scott in 2014.  It's not the politicians who are in the wrong: it's the electorate with their inconsistent, herky-jerky voter turnout record...

Two Books I'm Reading Now

The two books that I am currently reading are both pretty lengthy: Don Quixote by Don Miguel de Cervantes and Two-Handed Engine by Henry Kuttner and C.L. (Catherine Lucille) Moore.  You've most likely heard of the former, with the delusional self-proclaimed knight engaging in combat against windmills while his simple "squire" Sancho Panza suffers along, with his own delusions to deal with.  But there is much, much more to this book, which reads more like a modern novel than the early 17th century composition that it was.  I'm approaching the halfway point...when I'm finished I will no doubt write a review...

The other book, Two-Handed Engine, spans the science fiction and fantasy short story writing career of the husband-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, with their collaborations usually accredited to pseudonyms like Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O'Donnell.  I've already read some of their stories, which I picked up from other sci-fi anthologies.  Since this book I have now is more than 900 pages in length, with 37 stories, I'm bound to be at it for a while.  Maybe instead of waiting until I've finished the entire book before reviewing it, I'll instead write my reactions for each group of three or four stories I've just read as I go along.  I'm deeply looking forward to this reading experience, for Kuttner/Moore already are the authors of my all-time favorite science fiction story: Mimsy Were the Borogoves, which is also in this book...

Changing Time and Setting of My Blog Writing

I'm trying out a new schedule and strategy for studying and writing, beginning today.  I remember that back in 2007-08, when I began this blog, I would routinely write out articles in the early afternoon, just before I went off to work.  I usually did this while sitting in a coffee shop like Starbucks.  Well, now I am out again, before work and sitting here with my coffee (not Starbucks...but a nice place nearby).  The only difference between now and then is that then I would write out my articles on my portable AlphaSmart word processor and then post them the next day from my home computer, while now I'll be posting on the same day, right after I've finished writing...

I'd like to expand the range of my topics, which recently have been relatively limited in comparison to earlier years.  In any event, I appreciate your readership and hope that you'll find my articles interesting, regardless of your own personal interests or whether you necessarily agree with my opinions...

Denver Defense Dominates Super Bowl

I was rooting for Denver, out of gratitude, to win this year's Super Bowl after they ruined the season of my Miami Dolphins' nemesis, the New England Patriots.  No, I've never cared for Peyton Manning...although his only fault in my eyes was that he was the quarterback of the also equally-hated Colts (for older Dolphins fans like me) for many years.  Still, I'm happy for him as it looks as if he will retire as a Super Bowl champion after his Broncos' defense destroyed the Carolina Panthers en route to a 24-10 championship tonight.  I just finished watching the game, but I concur with the TV announcers who believe that Denver's Von Miller, who caused two fumbles from Carolina's quarterback Cam Newton that led to the Broncos' two touchdowns, should be the game's MVP.  I was a little dismayed at the end, though, after Denver upped their advantage to 24-10...it seemed as if the Panthers had just given up, even though there was still a little time left to try to get back into the game.  But they punted on fourth down deep in their own territory, and by the time they got the ball back, it was too late to do anything...

This might be called by some an "ugly" game, but that's how it usually is when the defense dominates the opposing offense on the field.  Carolina's defense also contained Denver's offense, but the Broncos were able to cause more crucial, big turnovers to secure the win.  After the initial disappointment, I anticipate that Carolina and Cam will recover and make another good run at the title next year.  But I'll be pulling for Tampa Bay to improve enough to challenge them in their division in 2016...

String of Good Soccer Matches on TV Today

Last Sunday I strained my back somehow while getting up from a chair.  So, for the past week, I've been struggling through life, functioning as best as I can at home and work, and gradually recovering from day to day.  Finally, I made to this weekend...whew!  Today, the first of my two days off, saw me sleeping late into the morning...in the process missing the important soccer match that NBC Sports (Gainesville's Cox Channel 33) was showing between English Premier League leader Leicester City and one of their main challengers, Manchester City.  Although few are giving upstart Leicester a chance to win the title, they keep holding their advantage in the league and are now, after 25 games and drubbing Manchester City 3-1 today (and on the road at that), 5 points ahead of second-place Tottenham (also a surprise contender).  And there are only 13 games left in the season.  What a turnaround from last year...

As late as the end of March in the 2014-15 season, Leicester City, just promoted from the second tier league Football League Championship, was deeply mired in last place with only 4 wins, 18 losses, 7 draws...and only 9 games left in the season.  Then, inexplicably, the Foxes caught fire and won 7 of those final games with only 1 loss and a draw, shooting out of last place and away from relegation (i.e. demotion to the next lower league).  They have kept up that torrid pace this year with their high powered offense, led by their star forward Jamie Vardy, who plays hard at both offense and defense...

So I missed that first game this morning, but I was able to toggle back and forth between the Tottenham-Watford and Liverpool-Sunderland matches.  Fox Sports was showing Germany's Bundesliga as well today: I got to see a couple of good matches earlier...Borussia Dortmund-Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich-Bayer Leverkusen.  As I write this I'm watching the Borussia Mönchengladbach-Werder Bremen match (which is a replay from yesterday).  And I found out, that on two of my Spanish-language channels, three different Mexican Liga MX games will be shown this evening...

With the cold, dreary weather outside and the need for me to recuperate from that freak back strain, what could be better than to have a day off and an opportunity to watch my favorite sport?  Forget Super Bowl Sunday:  Soccer Saturday rules !!!

Just Finished Reading James Patterson's Season of the Machete

Since this is my third consecutive review of a James Patterson novel, you just might come to the conclusion that I have totally immersed myself in this popular mystery/crime writer's works...but you'd be wrong.  Especially after I just finished his second published novel, titled Season of the Machete...

Season of the Machete is a thrown-together conglomeration of all sorts of cynical literary and cinematic themes that have worn themselves thin.  The story takes place in a foreign country (a small Caribbean nation with a Jamaican culture but not Jamaica per se) and the CIA and American organized crime bosses are in cahoots as they try to manipulate the politics of that country to their mutual advantage.  To this end, they agree to hire assassins (in the form of a married couple dedicated to the profession) to create a scenario of fear and unrest through a series of brutal murders that appear to have been committed by revolutionaries on the island.  But one man...our protagonist...has seen the hit man at a murder site and the hunt is on...who'll catch him first...or will he catch one of the culprits?  If this sounds like a scenario from the Robert Redford movie Three Days of the Condor (released in 1975, two years before this book's publication), don't be surprised: Patterson even made a thinly-disguised reference to the movie...

If you like repeated gory scenes of brutality and killing interspersed with double crosses gone out of control, along with no one ever being quite sure who is the hunter and who is the hunted...then this is the story for you.  I found it to be altogether tedious...I began to wish for a giant asteroid collision to happen at the end, just to put all of these pathetic and unlikable people out of their misery...

In other words, I don't recommend Season of the Machete.  But it is short enough to where you wouldn't be making much of a reading commitment should you decide to ignore my advice and tackle it anyway...

I think I'll take a little break from James Patterson, but I'm certain to return and see what some other works of his are like.  I did, after all, like The Thomas Berryman Number and Along Came a Spider...

UF #9 on Nat'l Signing Day

No, I don't remember the name of the organization ranking the schools signing star high school recruits today in college football...but I saw it on one of the mainstream sports cable channels and it looks as if Jim McElwain, Florida's head coach, has done a pretty good job in competition against his rivals for the top talent: Florida was given #9 ranking in terms of their signings.  In contrast, their former coach, Will Muschamp, recently hired at South Carolina, seemed quite content with his school's #29 ranking on Signing Day...making me wonder whether that might not also have been the result for Florida had he remained with them.  Of course, although it's important to have talent at the outset on your team, it's also crucial to have the knowledge and means to develop the skills these entering college players as they take their level of play to a higher level.   One thing I noticed about the rankings, though, is that they don't reveal how successful a particular program was in filling positions that they are deficient in.  For the Gators, they desperately need talent on the offensive line.  And a decent placekicker wouldn't hurt, either.  Maybe that Crawfordville, Florida signee Feleipe Franks...also the nation's #5 ranked high school quarterback as well as a very competent kicker...can fill the bill here.  I know one thing: Florida fans won't have very much patience this upcoming season if they see the same kind of stagnant offense they saw for the last half of 2015.  Coach McElwain be warned...

Iowa Results Change Campaign

The 2016 presidential campaign season has finally entered its "real" stage after months upon months of public opinion polls, contentious debates, and mind-numbing exchanges of insults via Twitter, stump speeches, and media interviews.  The "inevitable" Republican, Donald Trump, didn't win yesterday's Iowa Caucuses as expected: Texas senator Ted Cruz pulled out the victory with 28% of the vote while Trump only mustered 24%.  But the real story on the GOP side in Iowa, in my opinion, was the surge for Florida senator Marco Rubio, who nearly beat out Trump with 23%.  Watch out for this guy...if Trump doesn't recover quickly, Rubio may well storm through to the nomination...

On the Democratic side, it was nearly a dead heat between Hillary Clinton and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders: both sides are currently spinning the results in their candidate's favor, of course.  Sanders has a large edge in young voters and independents, while Clinton...unlike in 2008 against Barack Obama...has a large margin over her opponent among African-Americans...

Next week is the New Hampshire Primary.  Sanders, whose state of Vermont is right next door, is a shoo-in according to the polls...Clinton just needs to close the gap in order to keep her momentum heading into South Carolina and the other Southern states, where she is much stronger among Democrats.  With the Republicans, Trump needs to win New Hampshire (which he should, with a large margin over his opponents in the opinion polls).  Cruz, like Clinton, sees his main strength down the line in the South.  But if Rubio can gain votes on Trump in New Hampshire like he unexpectedly did in Iowa...watch out!