Under the Weather, Resting and Watching TV

I could feel it coming on late Wednesday, and all day Friday I was virtually nonfunctional with this terrible viral attack that hit much harder than a regular cold...but not quite as bad as the flu.  Bad headache, coughing, sinus congestion, and general lack of vitality characterized this ailment.  Today was better...but I'm still a long way to recovery.  In the meantime, while I was essentially immobilized, I was able to take advantage of some free premium channel promotions that my local cable company (Cox in Gainesville) was offering.  All of the HBO channels and some of the other premium channels are being shown free of charge this weekend, and because of this I was able to "clean up" with some movies I had been meaning to watch.  I saw Spectre and Star Trek: Beyond, the latest two installments in the James Bond and Star Trek movie series, respectively.  I also watched Mockingjay, Parts I & II, based on the Hunger Games young adult book series that I had already read.  And I managed to finally watch JFK, Oliver Stone's conspiratorial masterpiece that laid out an alternative explanation for the assassination of our 35th president.  I enjoyed all of these...but that Star Trek movie was hard to follow with the plot's too-fast pace coupled with the overwhelming special effects: sometimes you can go just a little too far with the visuals at the story's expense.  I also enjoyed watching the University of Miami come from behind this afternoon to beat Virginia 44-28 and remain unbeaten, as well as "my" Florida Gators finally putting on an impressive performance while beating a good University of Alabama-Birmingham team 36-7.  And Michigan with their obnoxious coach Jim Harbaugh got whupped by Wisconsin, hooray...

Mexican league soccer is also on the boob tube right now, and I'll probably flick back and forth between football and that.  Speaking of soccer, after the American national team failed to qualify for next year's World Cup in Russia, I predict that the growing interest within this country for that sport will sadly diminish.  Aggravating the problem is that Major League Soccer, which is the premier professional league for the United States and Canada, had become very stingy with showing its games on TV, opting instead for premium packages that require extra payment.  Hey you soccer bigwigs: you don't pull that kind of nonsense with the viewing public when you're trying to promote your league and keep it afloat...