Charlie S's Personality

Extreme personality types like Charlie Sheen are almost like a drug in our society. The reason some people like to watch his rambling, manic, and almost incoherent interviews is that it gives them a sense of superiority and security to know that, at least, THEY'RE not that screwed up! Truth be told, though, I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact that many of us identify with Mr. Sheen; but through our own life experiences and conditioning we have learned to control how we express ourselves, knowing that only trouble could result in our lives if we didn't.

Egomaniacs and paranoids go hand in hand and may even be seen as flip sides to the same personalities in one individual. The common thread is an almost solipsist mentality: that one, while not being the universe itself, is at least the obvious focus of everything. When an egomaniac or a paranoid walks into a room where others are present, both presume that they are the automatic focus of everyone's attention. With one, the personal reaction is positive; with the other, it is negative. With Charlie Sheen, he seems to simultaneously take on both roles. He speaks as if he already knows the thoughts of those talking with him before they say anything. And by the way, there's no point in moving the conversation toward asking how anyone else is doing: there's only one person who counts!

My life, from time to time, has been cursed with people who have decided, like Charlie Sheen, that their personal narratives and opinions are the only thing that matters. Consequently, the only sustainable (but unsuitable) way I can interact with them is by nodding in agreement and offering terse affirmative interjections. I say terse because with these types it is difficult for me to even get a coherent phrase into the conversation, much less a complete sentence. And if I should accidentally let it slip out that I actually DISAGREE with any element of their idiosyncratic worldview... no matter how respectfully I express that disagreement...then they see that as a personal insult to them!

I see some tendencies of this narcissistic personality type within myself, unfortunately. But having experienced unrestrained behavior of the sort from others with makeups similar to Sheen, I have learned how offensive and demeaning openly expressing it can be, so I consciously try to avoid it. Instead, I deliberately look for things in others' lives that I feel they are interested in themselves and about which I feel enough interest to use as conversational themes, with me trying to be a good listener. Too bad Charlie and his types in my life never seemed to learn that. It reminds me of a line in Max Ehrmann's Desiderata:

Avoid loud and aggressive persons: they are vexatious to the spirit.

My Promising Return to Running

Yesterday I went to my local YMCA workout room to lift weights, do crunches and exercise on the elliptical cross-trainer machine. I spent about 39 minutes on the cross-trainer and performed 13 sets on the various weight equipment. Then I decided to see what would happen on the treadmill.

I had last previously run last Wednesday, a 1.25 trot around the two blocks surrounding my house. No knee pain then. Yesterday I tried the treadmill, setting it at a 9:40/mile pace with no incline. After 2.5 miles I stopped, with NO pain. What great news! This was the longest I had run since the painful Ocala Marathon this past January 23, so the healing of my IT band seems to be working quite well so far.

I plan on another run a few days from now, probably on Friday or Saturday. Maybe I'll run around my neighborhood and see if I can't step up the distance to 3 miles.

Still, I don't see more marathon runs in my future. Also, I need some new running shoes. As I continue make my recovery from the IT band injury, I need to go down to Tioga (west of Gainesville) and check out the running supply store there. I understand they analyze your feet according to your foot placement and arching and have shoes that can help to curtail future injuries. We'll see...

NBA Comments

I cannot believe that those running the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz have taken leave of their senses and traded their franchise player, star point guard Deron Williams away to the New Jersey Nets, especially when the team is desperately fighting for a final eighth place playoff spot in the Western Conference against several other teams. Williams was the one reason I ever rooted for Utah, so that franchise can kiss my allegiance goodbye. And perhaps that's just as well...any state where the majority population regards drinking coffee as sinful behavior, well...

Besides, I have traditionally been a Phoenix Suns fan, also because of their star point guard, in this case Steve Nash. Yes, Phoenix does lie in Arizona, another state with, in my opinion, serious attitude problems. So you can bet that if Nash, who has loudly expressed his vehement opposition to Arizona's recent reactionary anti-Latino politics, ever leaves that franchise it will also go the way of the Jazz into my "non-support" category. But for now, Nash is still there and, thanks to Utah's incredible throwaway of Williams, the Suns have climbed ahead of the Jazz in the standings to be only one spot away from a playoff position.

With Deron Williams now with the Nets, I am now a New Jersey fan. That's the way I generally am with basketball: I tend to follow players and THEN the teams they play for. That's why I won't root for the Miami Heat (with quitter Lebron James) but instead tend to support the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs with their retinues of talented and gutsy team-oriented players.

More on Arab Unrest in Middle East

Massive anti-government protests in many Arab nations have either toppled regimes (Tunisia, Egypt), turned into a bloody civil war (Libya), are in progress with mass demonstrations (Bahrain, Yemen), or are being desperately forestalled by government through hasty reform measures (Saudi Arabia). In all countries, one common thread unites them: the political leadership has been closed off to the general population for decades, both in terms of them being able to pick their leaders and of those leaders having to be held accountable for their decisions. In the USA, popular sentiment is with the people although most of the challenged authorities have friendly relations with America. This country is also heavily dependent on foreign oil, supplies of which are being threatened in countries like Libya, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. However...

I have heard the argument promoted by advocates for off-shore drilling (either off Florida, Virginia, or California) and in northern Alaska that "home-grown" oil will make us independent of those other unstable and often unfriendly oil producing nations and keep the prices down. While it is true that with more domestically produced petroleum we would at least be better protected from a complete shutdown of our oil supply (an unlikely possibility considering the diversity of petroleum sources across the world), the actual price of oil would still be based on world market standards and would be reflective of the overall price worldwide. Better to keep pushing hard for alternatives to petroleum for meeting our energy demands.

In Libya, the most bloodied nation among these uprisings, the entrenched leadership there has resorted to terrorism and war to keep their hold on power. Gadhafi is one of those deplorable people on this planet who, seeing himself as a leader of people, in term regards those people as his property instead of regarding himself as their servant. Since he doesn't seem capable of understanding that "his" people despise him, it looks as if he will only be toppled through force of arms, sad to say, with many having to sacrifice themselves to achieve this.

Wildfires Proliferating in Florida

It looks as if we in Florida are in for a rather severe stretch for the next couple of months, with wildfires proliferating throughout the state. This year's rate is much higher than last year's, due largely to the scarcity of rain, low humidity, and high winds. A formula for disaster, as I recall, that led to the scary 1998 fire season with its firestorms and even a county-wide evacuation (Flagler). My home Alachua county has not been spared, with several fires flaring up over the past few days. Nothing has approached the city of Gainesville itself, though. Yet.

I don't consider my home neighborhood at much of a risk of being inundated by a fire, but the smoke-laden air from fires even more than a hundred miles away can be almost unbearable to breathe if the wind is blowing the wrong way. For me, that would screw up a lot of my outdoors fitness activities, effectively driving me indoors. For others, especially those with breathing infirmities, it could cause much more serious problems.

Let's hope we get some precipitation, humidity, and calmer winds. And also that some bonehead won't start an uncontrollable fire with careless and illegal burning!

Brats and Bouncers

Lately at my local YMCA swimming pool, as the temperatures have climbed, so has the pool population density. Good for the YMCA, bad for me...

I keep thinking back to that South Park episode that features spoiled brat Eric Cartman trying to avoid the throng of little kids while going to the public swimming pool. His gripe was that they tended to pee in the water; my gripe with them is that they just get in my way. So they really aren't any different from the elderly ladies who go there for water aerobics, an activity that basically involves bouncing up and down in the water (thus I call them "bouncers").

I am trying to build up my swimming endurance to the point where I can just use the 25-meter lanes and completely avoid the shallow section. I may not be quite ready for the lanes yet, but I might just have to go ahead and take the "plunge". For I have had it with the brats and the bouncers.

Sunday afternoon: little kids all over the place. For someone who just wants to swim in a straight line and come back in the shallow end, trying to avoid them can become an exercise in futility. Monday was a different story: I went to the pool at 11 AM on a school day, thinking that I would avoid any hassles with the kids being at school. Wrong. Renegade bouncers (without a structured water aerobics class) were spread out throughout the shallow part, taking up way too much of the pool. I managed to find one little section that I thought I could swim back and forth in, but these ladies seemed to take a perverse sort of pleasure in drifting directly into my path. Finally, after only 20 laps I gave up and left the pool.

Maybe all is for the better anyway, if I want to become an endurance swimmer. I know I can physically handle the longer laps; my hangup is more psychological and simply won't be overcome without pushing through and gaining positive-reinforcing experiences. So either tomorrow or Friday I'll start those longer laps, which run through the pool's deep section. Hey, they've always got a lifeguard, hopefully prepared to pull my drowning ass out of the water!

Early Spring and Allergies For Me

Yesterday the unusually early and warm spring here in northern Florida hit me with full force. The previous day I spent two hours outside cutting down overgrown branches from trees around my yard. That in itself wasn't very helpful to my pollen allergies. Then yesterday I went out on a bicycle ride around the far northern part of Gainesville. The wind was a brutal 25 mph coming out of the south and the temperatures were climbing into the eighties on this, the last day of February. I finished my quite unpleasant ride after 73 minutes, but I'm afraid the effects went on much longer. I had since been suffering from all of the symptoms of the allergies I have undergone in previous years, in particular the nasal congestion, sneezing, and very dry, red eyes.

I don't remember having severe allergies like this last year, but then again back then in mid-February we were still experiencing temperatures dipping down to freezing. I used to take Zyrtec to help with the symptoms, but that made me annoyingly drowsy and I switched to Claritin, a less effective remedy but one with which I can function more effectively. Hopefully, these allergies will lift soon and I can enjoy life a little more. But I don't plan to stop doing what I usually do in spite of them.

Great Florida Birding Trail...Trail?

This is a sign going west on NW 39th Avenue here in Gainesville. It appears to be pointing directly at the adjacent cemetery, but I think it was meant for NW 43rd Street, at the next traffic light. But if you think that the Great Florida Birding Trail runs along that street, then you are sadly mistaken. For the Great Florida Birding Trail, it turns out, is not really a trail at all. It mystically appears at various locations throughout the state wherever the state park service has concluded that birds hang out. The "trail" part is within park boundaries; to get there, forget hiking!

Here is the website for the Great Florida Birding Trail. For all practical purposes, it is just a repackaged presentation of Florida's state park system. And yes, I guess birds fit into it, sure. But it's not exactly as if the state of Florida issued a decree to birds to tell them to hang out there! Birds are wild creatures and live everywhere. I observe and hear several different species of wild birds whenever I walk around my block. I doubt that they are all that different from those I would encounter at Devil's Millhopper a couple of miles down the road (and the actual target for the above-pictured sign). Yeah, I bet the same sorts of birds even congregate at that cemetery!

Instead of burning up gasoline traveling to parks just to see birds, why not just look around you where you live and get to know the amazing diversity of wild avian life thriving there, smack dab in the midst of (God forbid) HUMANITY. On the other hand, these parks all have their own features that may draw visitors. But just to see birds on the Great Florida Birding "Trail"? Oh, please...

Curious About Kakuro

Kakuro has been my favorite puzzle for more than three years. Also known as "cross sums", it resembles more a crossword puzzle than its more popular cousin sudoku, only of course with numerals (a 1-9 range like sudoku) instead of letters filling in the boxes. But I find that kakuro exercises my logical faculties more than sudoku, and I have gotten quite good at it with my focus on the more difficult puzzles found in books like Mensa Kakuro, Black Belt Kakuro, and Kakuro Challenge.

Just three books with tough kakuro games. When I am in a large bookstore like Barnes and Nobles or the soon-to-be-defunct Borders, I see shelf after shelf of sudoku puzzles but only a handful of kakuro books. Why? Is there something wrong with kakuro that makes people want to avoid it? Or maybe there is only a relatively small, finite number of puzzles that can be constructed...

Ha, that last notion is ridiculous, so it must be that people either find kakuro to be too easy, too difficult, or just plain boring. Or maybe it's similar to indie/alternative music not being played on broadcast radio: the corporate-powers-that-be just don't see its potential popularity and simply won't promote it.

All I really know is that now I have exhausted all of the available books providing more advanced-level kakuro puzzles. Now I have to wait for each Thursday when my newspaper Gainesville Sun publishes their excellent, albeit small, kakuro puzzle. Not enough!

By the way, my blog spell-check recognizes "sudoku" as a word but not "kakuro". Corporate power Google. There you go.

Karno's Jr High Track Coach...and Life

In his book Ultramarathon Man, extreme endurance runner Dean "Karno" Karnazes gives a brief summary of his growing years, featuring some people who influenced him. Prominent among them was Karno's junior high track coach Jack McTavish, an ex-servicemen and a stickler for discipline and toughness. He had a philosophy about running races, no matter how long the distance. Start out running hard, and run hard throughout the race. Pacing is for chumps. And at the end of the race, if it doesn't hurt like hell, then you didn't try hard enough. Hmmm...

In the eighth grade, we had a brief (to me, much too brief) period in our physical education class when we ran around the track. I don't even think we would had have that opportunity had it not been for substitute teacher Coach Anderson, a running fanatic and general hard-ass on the order of McTavish. I remember Anderson giving us all a short inspirational lecture, accompanied by having us all do a 600 yard run around the track (that was then a long distance run to most of us). Being completely ignorant of the concept of pacing, I shot out at the start of the race and left everyone behind. Just like McTavish. Then I gutted it out throughout the run and won it. Painfully. Like McTavish. So that dude definitely had something going there with his philosophy on running.

But I think this goes much further in application than running. I have lately been getting myself up and active early each day and pushing myself until late at night, when I am completely exhausted. No, I am not in pain doing this, but in a sense it does hurt to stretch myself this way, deliberately placing myself out of my comfort zone.

I began pushing myself more after I had been sidelined from running due to a pulled tendon in my leg. When I went back to read passages from Ultramarathon Man, I saw broader life applications to Karno's way of thinking. And starting out strong and pushing myself hard throughout the day, no matter what I am involved in, is the main lesson I've picked up.

Blockbuster Close-Out Sale Brings Out Types

Yesterday, the two remaining Blockbuster movie/game rental stores in Gainesville began their week-long close-out sale before they close their doors for the last time. Movies were going pretty cheap, so I took my son over to the closest one, arriving about five minutes after the sale began. Already the parking lot was packed; inside it were wall-to-wall people scavenging for previously "rental" DVDs. I looked around in disbelief: customers were walking around carrying massive stacks of DVDs that they intended to buy. One woman had filled a baby stroller with hers! I wondered to myself where these people were going to find the time to watch all of the movies they were buying. And anyway, most of them are available on television if you just have the patience to wait until one of the many movie channels puts them on their lineups. I concluded that sales like this, such as the semiannual Friends of the Library used book sale, bring out the hoarders and scavengers in our community. And another less pleasant type as well.

As I drove down to the sale, I reached the last traffic light before the Blockbuster store. I pulled into the right turn lane. The light was red and I was second in a line of cars. The car in front was stopped, looking for an opening in the passing traffic to make a turn. Suddenly, the driver behind me began to sit on his horn to make the front car go. He had no view of the traffic himself, but was obviously in a big hurry and not concerned about complicating factors (such as simple reality). Finally, the lead car turned and I was in front, with the light still red (in Florida, you can turn right on red if it's clear unless otherwise specified). I decided that I had enough of this jerk and just sat there, though, and waited for the light to turn green for me. This totally infuriated the man-in-a-hurry and he blasted his horn nonstop. When I finally did turn, he quickly veered past me on my left, still sounding his horn at me. I drove on to Blockbuster.

I went around to the back of the store and parked. When we walked around the corner to the front of the store, we saw how crowded the parking lot was...and that honking dude's car was just pulling in! Evidently, he had wanted to get to Blockbuster when it opened and had been delayed, consequently subjecting anyone in his path to his wrath. So yes, there was a third type there at Blockbuster's: the irrationally panicky impatient.

I'm sorry to see the demise of video rental stores. I know that one can order movies now through the mail or directly from the Internet. Fine. But it takes away the enjoyment from simply browsing through the video store, allowing an interesting title here or there to capture one's attention and curiosity. Now that resource is disappearing. I'm afraid that bookstores are next: Borders is closing 200 stores, including the one in Gainesville, complete with its own clearance sale...

Hoarders, scavengers, and irrationally impatient: CONVERGE!

Everyone else: GET OUT OF THEIR WAY!

Does Democracy Motivate Arab Protesters?

When I hear about all of the anti-government demonstrations going on throughout Arabic-speaking autocracies in the Middle East, I cringe a little when I hear in the press that they are pro-democracy protests. I cringe even more when I witness a supposedly professionally ethical, objective journalist in the midst of one such crowd of demonstrators, encouraging and egging them on. After all, I'm looking at what's happening in my own country and...

Even with the civics curriculum supposedly having been taught to children during their school days (in whatever form or designation it was presented), there seems to be a growing tendency in America for the losing side in elections to (1) cry foul, the election was stolen (2000, 2004 Bush wins), (2) cry foul, the candidate was ineligible (2008 Obama and the "birthers"), (3) cry foul, the winning candidate duped the voters into voting for him or her and thus is somehow not to be truly respected as the winner, and/or (4) cry foul, the process itself has been tainted by special interests who control the political parties and media. So, without even a smidgen of an educational background that would teach people that in a democracy, losers need to respect the winners as their legitimately chosen leaders, how in the world can we expect those continually pouring out into the streets in places like Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, or Bahrain to be putting their lives on the line "for democracy"?

I think that the people in these lands have different reasons for rising up against their governments. Not having another rational means to address their many grievances is the obvious motivation, but just having crossed a threshold of momentum with the magnitude of the demonstrations has emboldened anyone with an axe to grind about anything to protest. And that includes the many in these lands who believe that the state has been too secular and not respectful of their religion. Many of these want a theocracy, not a democracy.

Those demonstrating also include, probably to a higher extent, those whose past, present, and foreseeable futures are mired in poverty as they see their corrupt leaders siphoning off their nations' wealth for their own personal gain. A socialist state may be more to their liking, whether or not democratic institutions accompany it.

Democracy is a fragile and sophisticated institution that requires a certain ability among the population to accept others with differing points of view. But from what I have witnessed so far, there is too much of a "We: Good Guys...Them: Bad Guys...Make Bad Guys Disappear" atmosphere among those pushing for change for any sustainable, workable democracy to gain traction in these countries. Yet. But I don't decry anyone for trying. Still, journalists and the media need to step back and consider the diversity of motives involved here in these protests.

Also, for a true democracy to work to any effective degree, there has to be a judicial system that is generally respected by the population and which is not thought of as being simply the tool of whomever happens to be in power. And the military has to have a strong sense of duty as an institution subordinate to the duly elected powers, not a power unto itself to determine policy (or even if elected civilian leaders stay or go). These countries have a long, long way to go, I'm afraid.

Of course I hope that I'm wrong about things and that all of these countries that are currently in turmoil can transform themselves into societies within which the government serves the people and allows itself to be regularly held accountable, through free elections (implying a concomitant free press) and an independent judiciary. But that seems to be asking for an awful lot, awfully soon.

Gainesville Marathon Passes By as I Pass It Up

Today was the day of the LifeSouth Five Points of Life marathon/half-marathon here in Gainesville. I completely skipped it although I had considered just showing up to observe. I did run around the neighborhood for two miles this morning, doing this for the first time in a week and a half. I wanted to see how much, if any, I had healed from my IT band injury (a tendon inflammation around my right knee) from back in mid-January. I started out well (as usual), but after about a mile and a half began to feel that slight ache under my knee that I knew would eventually intensify into major pain if I continued much longer. So running is on hold, at least for the foreseeable future. That's all right, though, because only my running seems to be hampered by my leg injury.

Instead of running, I have been stepping up my fitness efforts in diverse areas: swimming, cycling, cross-trainer, weight training, walking...and that good old standby: yard work, bound to be more in demand as the temperatures seasonally rise. I am especially heartened by my swimming progress as I am gradually building up an endurance mirroring my running endurance.

Eventually, I'd like to return to running without pushing too hard or too far. I've already accomplished my marathon. Any future running will be done within reasonable parameters that take into account that I am a mortal human being with body parts susceptible to injury. My ideal scenario will be to mix running, swimming, and cycling throughout the week. Hey, wait a minute, that's the triathlon!

Arcade Fire Nets Grammy for Album

Arcade Fire just won the Grammy for best album of the year, The Suburbs. Arcade Fire, by the way, is an indie/alternative rock band whose music NEVER gets air play over broadcast radio. Instead, when I turn on my radio I hear: ancient songs from decades gone by, insipid kiddy-oriented pop, hip-hop drivel (or as Bo Diddley once termed it, "rap crap"), or jingoistic country sludge. Reality check for broadcasters: if Arcade Fire is so good, then why aren't you playing their music?

I just employed words like crap, sludge, and drivel in the previous paragraph to refer to the kind of music that I get on my radio. We did use to have a classical music station, but apparently that was deemed as too highbrow by the dean of journalism at the University of Florida when he switched the program format of Gainesville's public radio station to all-talk. Not that I object to their talk/news programming: I just wonder why we can't have at least SOME programming that fulfills me musically?

Someday, probably in the not-so-distant future, I'll take you on a little tour along my radio band and critique the various stations I encounter. But it may not be a very pleasant article to read!

Arcade Fire is one of my favorite bands. I have all three of their studio albums so far: Funeral, Neon Bible, and The Suburbs. Everything they've done, like with Radiohead, is eminently listenable. My favorite tune of theirs so far is Neighborhood #2 (Laika) (there are four "neighborhood" songs), from Funeral. But take it from me, just pick anything of theirs at random and you're bound to be pleased!

Stephen King's Full Dark No Stars

I have just read Stephen King's latest book Full Dark No Stars. It is a collection of four novellas, patterned after earlier works of his like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight. The stories all explore the dark side of human nature, especially that element within "ordinary" people that causes them to justify themselves when hurting, even killing, others. There are many gruesome passages very descriptive in graphic carnage, so any squeamish readers who are prone to nightmares may take notice and avoid this book.

The first story is 1922, a first-person account of a Nebraska farmer who enlists the help of his teenage son to murder his own wife (and his son's mother). I'm not giving anything away here; it is the ramifications of that act that determine the story's flow and ending. In 1922, King accomplishes something pretty cool: the transpiring events can either be explained in real, psychological terms or in a paranormal framework (but not both). This intrigues me and is why I recommend it (but not for its gore and violence).

Big Driver is another of Stephen King's many stories featuring a writer as the protagonist and a demented, violent psychopath from the country as the chief adversary. Probably my favorite story of the four, Big Driver nevertheless contains elements of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and King's earlier novel Desperation, neither of which I cared for very much.

Fair Extension presents a familiar story structure: a man with terminal cancer (and a bad case of jealousy toward his best friend) makes a deal with the devil. Only this time the terms are not the protagonist's soul (by this time in human history, souls are almost worthless to the Big Bad Dude), but rather that the stricken character's woes be transferred to someone else that he knows (sounds a lot like the King/Bachman novel Thinner). What struck me about Fair Extension was its unexpected ending, which violated the unspoken rule about "deals with the devil" stories.

The last story, A Good Marriage, was inspired (if you can call it inspiration) by the news about serial killer Dennis Rader, who lived a double life for decades as a community-active family man while at the same time invading women's homes and brutally torturing and murdering them. But King makes the serial killer's wife the protagonist in his story, and once again the violence ensues, along with the self-justification.

There are common elements to all four tales in Full Dark No Stars. In each the protagonist either embarks on a trail of violence or endorses the suffering of others with a sense of justification. But just as important--no, even more so (with the exception of Fair Extension), other people arise as willing accomplices to the acts or as a means of justifying them. And that aspect scares the #@$% out of me more than any of the suspense or violence in the stories. Maybe Stephen King would be happy to know this, moralist that I believe he is deep down inside.

Happyland in Vietnam

Yesterday I read a short article in the Gainesville Sun about a project on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam: the resort theme park Happyland. Construction on the $2 billion complex of five-star hotels, shops, and a full theme park has just begun and is slated for opening in 2014. Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father, is a major investor and attended ceremonies there marking the start of the construction. He stated, among other things, that he wanted to bring happiness to the Vietnamese people with this park, apparently patterned to a degree after Michaels's private Neverland park in California.

I say "fine" to all of this, with one caveat: it seems to me that the "happiness" that the Vietnamese people will ultimately derive from Happyland will be from the money that foreign tourists shell out there that in turn goes into the Vietnamese economy, further stimulating tourism and related businesses. This doesn't seem like Disney World to me, where one can find ordinary working people spending some time with their families. They will want to generate a lot of revenue from the park, and the price will most like reflect what relatively wealthy foreign tourists can afford, not what the average hard-working Vietnamese person has to offer. I'd like to think otherwise, but this seems awfully exclusive to me. But I could be proven wrong.

For Melissa

Happy Valentines Day, and Happy Birthday as well, to my wonderful, gorgeous wife Melissa. Baby, you're the greatest!!!

A Little Indie Rock on AOL Radio

I'm sitting here listening to AOL Radio on my computer. The channel is "Indie Rock Mix", and right now the group MGMT's song Time to Pretend is playing. It was my favorite song of 2008, and I never seem to tire of it. MGMT is from Brooklyn...

But of course, I also want to hear new songs and new artists...but now they're playing a familiar band, The Shins, doing Gone for Good. One of their older tracks and not one of my favorites, either. I did like their songs New Slang and Phantom Limb. Let's see what's up next...

Ah, here is a band I haven't heard before: Freelance Whales and their song Enzymes (which sounds a bit like MGMT material). I like it; I'll have to check this act out. They are from Queens, NY and started out just a couple of years ago...

And once again a new band: Good Old War, from Pennsylvania, with a mostly acoustic piece titled I Should Go. Nice and mellow, I wonder if this is typical of their work...

Here is an old familiar song from an old familiar band: The World at Large by Modest Mouse. Modest Mouse is frankly not one of my favorite indie bands, but I did like their songs Float On and Ocean Breathes Salty. As well as this one...

Whoa, and now Spoon is on with their big hit (in indie circles) I Turn My Camera On. I really dig this band a lot, having obtained five of their albums. Currently my favorite song of theirs is Merchants of Soul from their Gimme Fiction album.

AOL Radio nowadays seems to have merged with Last.fm; I wonder whether I might get more "new" indie rock artists just by going straight over to Last.fm...

Postal Consolidation Affecting Gainesville

The postal service here in Gainesville is currently undergoing a two-month internal study to decide how this city will fit into the new postal consolidation efforts. There is a possibility that much, if not all, of the outgoing mail processing will be transferred out to Jacksonville. If this happens, then my shift would essentially end and I would probably be transferred to incoming mail processing (oh yes, I guess you can infer from this that I work at the post office). Which would entail me going back to the "graveyard shift" that I worked (and struggled in) for so many years. The most junior employees involved in mail processing might end up being excessed to other offices outside of commuting distance, something that, compared to my own situation, would be quite unnerving and disruptive.

If I end up shifting my hours, then I can handle it. But since 2003, I have become very comfortable with my current afternoon/evening shift. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, consolidation will put the postal service in a more viable financial position. And more hopefully, this isn't just an example of people in higher-up positions trying to justify their own jobs by stirring up the pot and shuffling people (and the mail) around from Point A to Point B. But I can see the pressure that the postmaster general must be under to make some drastic changes in the postal service. First class mail volume has plummeted in recent years due to the Internet revolution. This has taken much needed revenue away from this organization, which (contrary to what some may believe) is not taxpayer funded but rather must financially support itself through its products and services.

Olbermann's MSNBC Stint Over

I am disappointed that Keith Olbermann and MSNBC had their falling out recently, leading to the star opinion-maker's departure. He is now going to have his own show on Currents, a politically progressive channel funded by Al Gore. I won't be able to watch Olbermann on it, since my cable company doesn't carry Currents. And looking at their so-called program "schedule", I can understand why. Maybe Olbermann's show can help them begin to put out a regular lineup of good shows.

What I will miss the most from Keith Olbermann are his sardonic rebuttals, usually to those on the far right on radio and on Fox News, crystallized in his Worst Persons in the World segment. Then again, I won't miss at all his refusal to have anyone on his show who isn't a head-nodding sycophant! I noticed that other MSNBC hosts like Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Lawrence O'Donnell, themselves all on the left side of the political spectrum and quite convicted in their opinions, welcome dissenting views and guests from the right on their shows. For some reason, though, the idea of doing this seems to offend Olbermann.

Still, I'd like to be able to watch Olbermann from time to time. It looks as if that will be later than sooner, though. Then again, I don't quite understand the criteria that my local cable TV company uses to decide which channels they will air. Maybe I'll turn on my TV one day and Currents will be there!

Injury Recovery Period Extended, Plans Changed

It looks as if my running recovery may be a little more drawn out. I ran 2.72 miles earlier today, with the soreness in my right leg beginning to present itself very gradually about a mile and a half into it. I didn't allow myself to run long enough for it to hurt like it did during the marathon, so I cut short a planned 4.1 mile run. Since the run, my leg has felt fine, with no pain to speak of. But with the LifeSouth Five Points race less than two weeks away, it is pretty obvious that I had better stay away from it, marathon or half-marathon.

Instead, I will step up other fitness activities, like swimming, cycling, walking, weight-training, and riding the cross-trainer (elliptical machine). Gradually, over a period of weeks, I will reintroduce some light running. I won't be training for any future marathons, though. But with shorter distances, who knows what I'll eventually do? I do expect an eventual full recovery from this IT band injury, but the watchword here is "patience".

I am especially interested in getting back to the pool and working on my swimming form and endurance. Of course, for that I'll need a little cooperation from the weather, please!

My IT Band Injury Recovery Progress

As mentioned before on this blog, I came down with a leg injury the week before my participation in January 23's Ocala Marathon. It was insidious; the first sign was a seemingly normal ache around the outer portion of my right knee following my breakthrough first-ever marathon run, accomplished on January 15 around northern Gainesville. The next week saw my training runs marred by some pain in that area after having run a few miles. Still, I felt that there was a good chance that I could make it through the Ocala Marathon, pain or not. Wrong, oh-so wrong. I was hurting so much that I had to walk the final seven miles (although it still counts as my second successful marathon finish). In retrospect, though, I should have skipped this event. Especially after discovering the nature of my injury: inflammation of my right iliotibial band, a long section of tissue that stretches the outer length of the leg and attaches itself at various crucial points, most notably at the knee. IT band injuries, as they are more commonly known, need a lot of rest, not more aggravation! I spent the next two weeks completely avoiding any running, although other forms of exercise like walking, swimming, bicycling, and working on the elliptical cross-training machine at my local gym have not bothered me in the slightest. This may be a good sign after I read that cycling should be avoided during recovery. Perhaps my strain wasn't all that severe (I hope).

Yesterday I ran around the block next to my house (two thirds of a mile). There was no pain, always a good sign. But then again, in my previous runs, it always took me running a few miles before any pain set in. So tomorrow (if it ever stops raining around here) I will attempt a 4.1 mile run. If that goes well, then on Thursday I'll step up the mileage even more.

I think that there is a distinct possibility that new running shoes may have been a contributing factor to my IT band injury, so I'm going back to my old Reeboks. I also plan a visit to a local specialty running store to try to buy a pair of shoes that are the most similar in design to these Reeboks, the particular model of which sadly seems to be out of production.

If all continues to go well, then I might just enter the Gainesville LifeSouth Five Points Half-Marathon for February 23. It would be a great victory for me should I be able to overcome this injury in time for it. But I am also readying myself for the possibility that the road to full recovery may take a while longer.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #1

#1: Us by Regina Spektor

I can't remember exactly when or where I first heard anything by Regina Spektor: it was some time early last year and on either my TV's adult alternative music channel or AOL Radio indie-rock (the most likely of the two). But once I had discovered her, I never looked back and quickly obtained all five of her studio albums. Her third, titled Soviet Kitsch (2004), contains my favorite song of 2010: Us. This track stands out from the other songs on that album, itself still overall a pretty good work. Us is an anthem with a cryptic meaning: Regina seems to be speaking of fleeting fame, scapegoating, and struggling in a world of a "den of thieves". Although the lyrics are interesting, it is the exciting musical mood, complete with a complex instrumental arrangement, that won it over for me. Us is anthemic, to be sure: I just don't quite understand the message! But I'm still trying...

I understand that Regina Spektor's next album will be from her recent London concert. I don't know about any new studio album in the works, though. Take your time, Regina, I have plenty of your stuff already to listen to! And it never grows old, either.

And here's a recap of my favorites from 2020 (click on title to read articles for #2-15):

1 US by Regina Spektor

2 THESE ARE MY TWISTED WORDS by Radiohead

3 MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES by Regina Spektor

4 RECKONER by Radiohead

5 MORNING BELL by Radiohead

6 FAUST ARP by Radiohead

7 I MIGHT BE WRONG by Radiohead

8 IN LIMBO by Radiohead

9 20 YEARS OF SNOW by Regina Spektor

10 GO TO SLEEP by Radiohead

11 SAIL TO THE MOON by Radiohead

12 BETTER by Regina Spektor

13 ARNIKA by Sufjan Stevens

14 I'M A PILOT by Fanfarlo

15 FOLDING CHAIR by Regina Spektor

What Kind of Democracy Awaits Egypt?

As I watch the turmoil transpiring in Egypt from day to day, it leads me to ponder what kind of democracy this great nation would enjoy should the protesters of President Hosni Mubarak's 29-year autocratic rule succeed in overthrowing his regime and replacing it with a freely elected ruler and political party. I hear that Egypt's opposition to Mubarak is very fractured, without a single unifying organization (like South Africa's African National Congress was). If this continues, then I see two possible developments.

A splintered opposition would seem to work in the favor of Mubarak trying to prolong his power. After all, if I were him I might myself ask whether, just because a lot of people were demonstrating against me, that meant that the majority of Egyptians opposed my rule. I wouldn't necessarily automatically assume that my entire country had given up on me.

If Mubarak were to give up the reins of his power soon, then Egypt would be left with an assortment of disparate political factions that would have to work out their relationships with each other during a free electoral process. Ideally, the electoral outcome would resemble other democratic nations like the US, France, or Britain, where the opposing main parties are split enough in popularity among the general population so that one side can be thrown out every few years in favor of the other. Should Mubarak, however, decide to tough it out for as long as he can, then there is the greater probability that a more unified opposition, likely under the banner of a political party, will arise to oust him. If this happens, then I can see a future in a democratic Egypt dominated by one party that stays in power for decades, feeding off of its own corruption. I see examples of this having happened in places like Mexico and Zimbabwe.

What I don't see in Egypt is something like the Iranian Revolution of 1978, when a relatively sophisticated, secular society became dominated by hardline religious extremists. But then again, it is amazing, looking back at history, how such a seemingly rational people as the Germans suddenly allowed themselves to be transformed into a completely totalitarian society with the ascent of Hitler and the Nazis during the early 1930's. But on the other hand, one could argue that it was the combination of an economic catastrophe, national humiliation after a war, and a sense of betrayal leading to a propensity for scapegoating that led to Hitler's rise to power. All elements I am fearful to say may be present among the Egyptian people to varying degrees.

Whatever the case, I wish the best for Egypt. Not because of how this would help American foreign policy, but because I want these people to be able to be free to pursue their own happiness without being under the boot of a tyrant or a totalitarian ideology. To this end, I hope that Hosni Mubarak departs sooner than later.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #2

#2: These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead

I picked up my #2 song of last year as a free download off of Radiohead's official website. They have been recording material for their upcoming album (and beyond). These Are My Twisted Words impressed me the very first time I heard it, a very rare occurrence in my long personal history of listening to music. A very fast-paced piece, it suits my long-distance running quite well. I almost want to put it on "repeat" and forget the other songs I usually play during my training!

These Are My Twisted Words is more instrumental in nature than most of Radiohead's other songs, with a very long initial buildup of drums, guitar, and string bass (or its electronic equivalent). When Thom Yorke finally breaks in with his singing, it is more of a break from the main part of the song, namely the instrumental "accompaniment".

Since These Are My Twisted Words came out for me in the middle of December last year, it is difficult for me to make it my #1 song of 2010, although it is hands-down my favorite in 2011.

So that leaves me with only the top song of 2010 to write about. Remember, this list I have composed comprises music that I just heard for the first time last year, although some songs may have come out earlier. Number one is a case in point, having been released in 2004. But I'll leave that for another time...

Health Care Reform Law Struck Down

While I am supportive of health care insurance reform, I never was on board with the individual mandate provision that required Americans to buy health insurance from private companies or face stiff fines from the government. The idea that simply being alive makes one fiscally liable to a PRIVATE industry is to me clearly wrong, be it ultimately judged constitutional or not. Well, now Roger Vinson, a federal judge in Florida, has struck down the entire recently enacted "Patient and Affordable Care Act." The next step will be an appeal by the government to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I wouldn't necessarily have had a major problem with the individual mandate to buy health insurance had the originally-designed bill, with a public option, been passed and signed into law. With a public option, such a mandate could be rationalized in much the same way that the old military draft laws were, i.e. as being in the public, national interests. Also, with a public option there would be a more effective mechanism of controlling what could be upward-spiraling prices that could bankrupt people who are only trying to simply comply with the law. The idea that someone is FORCED BY LAW to contribute to a private company's profits, to me, is the epitome of fascism: the marriage of government and private business at the expense of individual liberty.

I have heard the counterargument that motorists are mandated in most states to purchase liability insurance from private companies. But one isn't born a motorist and can choose not to be one if they don't want to. Simply being alive should not make one incur a continual liability to private interests!

The infeasibility of the current bill, at least temporarily struck down in federal court, makes a single-payer system, supported by TAXES (you know, the traditional way we used to fund things), even more attractive to me. But the political climate here in the United States will never allow for such a drastic but necessary change, I'm afraid.

Who knows, perhaps the Supreme Court will overrule Judge Vinson and restore the health care reform act. There are parts of it that I like, most notably the provision prohibiting denial of coverage due to preexisting conditions and the extension to 26 years of age for offspring to be eligible for coverage under their parents' policies. Let's hope that at least these will remain in effect after all of the upcoming legal and legislative wrangling is over.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #3

#3: Man of a Thousand Faces by Regina Spektor

Aside from the facts that Regina Spektor is a gifted piano player, a creative genius, and an exceptional singer, her song Man of a Thousand Faces speaks to me on a personal level that few other songs have ever been able to do. It speaks of a man who has weathered turmoil within his life and finally come to a sense of peace, contentment, and simplicity. He sits in a chair by the window, and "smiles at the moon like he knows her". I dig that line, since I tend to treat the celestial bodies I see at night, be they stars, planets, or the moon, as friends of a sort. Well, I dig the whole song, and hearing Regina singing it doesn't hurt!

As a side note, there is a line in the song that refers to the subject during his past and how he would go his favorite bookstore and tear pages out of books, stashing them in his pocket. When I first heard this I was instantly taken to the second Harry Potter movie (not book) The Chamber of Secrets. In it, Harry's school adversary Draco Malfoy is shown doing just that: ripping a page out of a book in a bookstore and stashing it in his pocket. Making me sometimes refer to Man of a Thousand Faces as "Draco's Song". It doesn't hurt my sense of identification with the song, either, since as I have said before on this blog, I think Draco Malfoy (as flawed as he was...no, because he was as flawed as he was) was one of the more realistically portrayed characters in Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Man of a Thousand Faces is the final track on her latest album, 2009's Far. I wonder when her next album is coming out!

Gainesville and Ocala Marathons Compared

Gainesville and Ocala, two modest-sized north central Florida cities, hold marathon races a month apart. The Ocala Marathon, which I just completed by humbly limping across the finish line with a leg injury, emphasizes a "country" course, dominated by horse farms and large rural estates. Gainesville's LifeSouth Five Points event, which takes place in three weeks (I ran in its half-marathon last year), goes right through the heart of town, an urban experience. Having run in each race, I have my own conclusions as to which course is more wisely designed.

In the first place, it needs to be noted that anyone who is in shape to run a marathon can run their own event by themselves by simply designing their own course. I accomplished this on January 15, using Mapmyrun.com to measure out my distances to cover the needed 26.2 miles (I ran 26.6 then). I began the run in my driveway and ended it there. Pretty convenient, right? For one to run in a public race, there needs to be a different kind of payoff to cover the drawbacks of such a run ($60-100 entry fees, unpredictable weather conditions and personal health issues on race day, travel expenses and complications, getting time off from work, etc). Some runners feel the need to publicly "prove" or verify to others that they indeed have completed a marathon, so just privately doing it (like I did on the 15th) just won't cut it for them. Another factor that can serve as an attraction for participation in a marathon is the "tourist" angle: getting to know different places more intimately by simply running down their streets. It is here that I would like to compare the Gainesville and Ocala marathon events.

The Gainesville Five Points Marathon is, as said, urban in nature. It is designed to go straight down some of the busiest streets in Gainesville as well as passing through some historic districts and the University of Florida campus. The Ocala Marathon, by contrast, promotes its course of scenic rural roads, supposedly away from all of the traffic congestion. But this is a completely false argument: I had MUCH MORE trouble with cars in Ocala than I did in Gainesville. As a matter of fact, runners were told that, for much of the race, they would be "sharing the road" with motorists. Unfortunately, I don't think that many of the motorists there were aware that they were supposed to "share the road" with the runners!

Another advantage that Gainesville had over Ocala was that the course for the former was completely non-repeating, while with the latter there was much "there-and-back" retracing of paths and, for the marathoners, the need to repeat an eight-mile long loop. Besides this repetition making the Ocala course more tedious than Gainesville's, Ocala also had to keep street lanes closed for the runners for much longer than with Gainesville, which could gradually reopen roads as the lagging runners passed different points. The result was relative order in a largely urban race and congestion in a supposedly rural one.

Finally, I don't know about you, but once I've seen two or three horse farms and cow pastures, along with a few wealthy estates sprinkled in, I tend to lose interest in my surroundings. But put me in the heart of a city, even within Ocala for that matter, and there is always something interesting to draw my attention and make the journey more enjoyable.

So I guess you can tell which town I prefer to run a marathon in (or a half-marathon, for that matter). Gainesville rules!

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #4

#4: Reckoner by Radiohead

It's probably an exercise in futility to try to discern whether or not a particular song I hear was inspired by an earlier artist, or perhaps even serving as a tribute. So instead of trying to read the minds of the members of the English band Radiohead regarding their 2007 song Reckoner, I'll just say that it bears to me a great degree of resemblance to the works of the late great American soul artist Marvin Gaye.

It may seem strange that I make this comparison, considering the reputation that Radiohead has for being an innovative alternative rock band, but it might be worthwhile remembering what an innovator Marvin Gaye himself was. Remember What's Going On in 1971? Besides, I dig Marvin Gaye's music with only a very few exceptions.

Reckoner is from the album In Rainbows, noted for its diversity of musical styles. On this track, I like the high-pitched crooning voice of Thom Yorke; it was obviously produced on multiple tracks to allow him to harmonize with himself. And as with Faust Arp, the background symphonic-sounding music cuts in at opportune moments to add a beautiful touch.

I suppose that, with my ever-widening collection of independent/alternative music, I should try listening to a greater variety of acts than this 2010 list of mine indicates. But alas, I tend to get fanatical about a good artist or band and go overboard listening to their songs. So it was last year for me with Regina Spektor and Radiohead. Yes, I think I'll dub 2010 as the Year of Reginahead!

Packer Tie Firing Not an Outrage

The other morning, as I was drinking some coffee and waiting for my daughter to get herself ready for school, I happened to have the TV on ABC's Good Morning America. Besides their news, on this morning they kept running a teaser about some guy who was fired from his job for coming to work wearing a tie that promoted his football team. Sounds pretty outrageous, doesn't it? The visuals showed the tie: the Green Bay Packers was the dude's team. Oh. The mystery was beginning to unravel, and so was the outrage. Then, further information was offered up: this all happened in Chicago, at a car sales lot. The soon-to-be ex-employee was a car salesman coming to work at this high-profile, public job...again, where? Chicago. Oh, by the way, the previous Sunday, Green Bay beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game (held in Chicago) to decide who was going to the Super Bowl. Besides that, Green Bay and Chicago are bitter divisional rivals, not to mention the longest rivals in professional football history.

So we know now that this guy shows up to work for this company as their representative to try to convince Chicago-area residents to buy cars from them. While rubbing in their faces, every time they look at him, the fact that his Packers just beat their Bears in their team's most important game in years. Brilliant. But wait, Good Morning America was going to have the salesman on to present his side of the story. I told my wife that I bet he didn't instantly get fired as the story's buildup implied, but rather was given a chance by his boss to remove the tie. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. According to the ex-salesman's own account, the store's manager told him not once, but twice, to remove his Green Bay Packers tie. He outright refused and by his own admission became angry and argumentative with his boss. Only after that happened was he given his dismissal.

So there is usually another side to any story that has a sensationalist angle to it. It seems, on the surface, a major outrage that wearing a harmless tie promoting one's sports team could make one lose his job. But as it turned out, it was arrogant insubordination, probably in a very public setting, that really caused the salesman to be fired. A supervisor or manager merits at least an outward display of respect from the employees he or she is responsible for. The salesman put his boss on the spot with his refusal. If I were in that manager's shoes, I don't know that I would have insisted that the tie be removed. But if I had given a similar instruction to an employee under my charge and that employee repeatedly and angrily refused to comply, I would have no qualms with sacking them.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #5

#5: Morning Bell by Radiohead

When I was a child in the early 1960's, I had a set bedtime that prevented me from watching much of the prime time television that my parents enjoyed. One of the shows that they liked but deprived me of watching (or so they thought) was Twilight Zone. I would often sneak out of my room and go down the hallway just far enough to see our only TV set, with my parents sitting out-of-view around the corner. I got quite good at this subterfuge over the years, even daring myself at times to climb up the hall's walls with my feet pressed at each side, all the way up to the ceiling. But I digress...

One night I was stealing a look at a particularly interesting Twilight Zone episode. In it, a sister and her little brother discovered that they could dive into their family swimming pool and come out in another reality, full of playful kids in the country and a kindly granny-type woman who looked after everyone. The two children found out later that their parents were getting a divorce and each was given a choice as to which they would want to live with. So there was a distinct possibility that sister and brother would be split up. The swimming pool was the focal point of that episode and dictated how the children would answer their parents. And now I finally come to my #5 pick of 2010: Radiohead's somber Morning Bell.

Morning Bell is a song about an ugly divorce, if I interpreted it correctly. One of the early lines is "You can keep the furniture" and Thom Yorke, apparently assuming the role of one of the splitting parties, cries out "Release me!" throughout the song. The song's last line is the most haunting, though: "Cut the kids in half". And I get taken back to that unforgettable Twilight Zone episode, whose title I discovered years later was The Bewitching Pool.

I love just about everything about Morning Bell: melody, musical arrangement, singing, you name it. What's more is that there are two entirely different versions of the song. On the album Kid A, it appears as a standard band piece that one might hear in a concert. On Amnesiac, it is a lush, multi-layered track with the flavor of experiencing a dream. Both are fantastic!

The Fit Elderly

It was apparent to me from the get-go, before Sunday's Ocala Marathon race even began, that I would be running in special company. All around me were people at least my age or older. Some were much, much older. For the first half of the race, when I was actually mostly running, I had surged ahead of most of them (although a few were clearly very fast, like "Maddog" John Wallace). But as I walked through most of the race's end (due to my intensifying right leg pain, dammit), one by one almost all of the remainder caught up with me and passed me. This repeated experience of observing happy, fit, and often very elderly runners completing a 26.2-mile MARATHON made a deep impression on me. But it wasn't the first time I've seen this sort of thing.

When it's real cold outside and below freezing, my local YMCA's heated swimming pool remains closed. But once the outside temperature gets into the mid-thirties, the tarps are pulled back and the pool is opened for anyone intrepid enough to venture a swim. And just what kind of person would that be? From my safe (and wimpy) position in their exercise room, I have observed elderly person after elderly person (never anyone young) walk out to the pool when it is that cold, in typical "summer" swimwear. Then the young lifeguard would come out of the office to guard them, bundled to the hilt in winter protective clothing, hunched over, and shivering. Then the swimmers would do their seemingly endless laps, showing no discomfort whatsoever from the cold!

When I think of the kids in my age group that I went to school with, I wonder how each of them has turned out by now with their health, and what their prospects are for old age. Cancers and systemic chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease can hit pretty early, often by one's late thirties. For many of those who survive into their sixties and seventies, they are often-as-not saddled with chronic infirmities or disabilities that interfere with their mobility and ability to enjoy life to its fullest. And then there are THESE people I see around me, swimming in the near-freezing cold and running marathons, with no end in sight as to what they can do! Guess which group I want to be a part of??!!

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #6

#6: Faust Arp by Radiohead

Radiohead's last release is an eclectic album titled In Rainbows, released in 2007. In it the group explores various musical styles, as well as seeming to pay tribute to influential acts from the past. In Faust Arp, one of Radiohead's shortest-ever songs, I sense the influence of the Beatles. In fact, the guitar background sounds an awful lot like Dear Prudence, one of John Lennon's contributions to the White Album. The melody and lyrics go off in an entirely different direction though, and what sounds like an orchestral string section (or an electronic representation thereof) cuts in at opportune moments, creating a beautiful effect. So much intensity in such a short and overtly understated piece... Thom Yorke sings Faust Arp straight and without affect, almost as if he were simply speaking his case (one of apparent frustration) at the listener. It works!

Speaking of the Beatles, sometimes I wonder about the direction that the individual members took with their solo careers after the breakup, marveling at how their output tended to suffer in quality without their collaborative and critical influence on each other. Faust Arp is an example of a song that I would have expected from someone like Paul McCartney, instead of some of the drivel that he actually put out (such as Another Day or My Love).

In Rainbows provides one more song on my personal 2010 favorites list, and it also appears to be a tribute to a great act of the past. But I'll leave that one to another day.

Ocala Marathon Completed, With Pain

I completed the Ocala Marathon today, but I had to spend a considerable portion of the race walking because of some pain coming from my right leg near the knee. This pain, which I first noticed as a minor twinge after my first-ever marathon run on January 15, never happens at the beginning of a run, and it didn't with today's. Around the 5-mile mark, I noticed a little aching in that area. It worsened until, by around 10 miles, I had to increase my walking breaks. For the next 9 miles, the walking increased while the running proportionately decreased. Finally, by mile marker #19 the pain while running was too much for me and I had to walk the rest of the way. Although my time was horrendous (a tad over 6 hours), I still received a lovely medal for having completed the 26.2 mile Ocala Marathon.

I'm going to take a needed break from running for at least a couple of weeks (and possibly longer) in order for the injured part of my leg to properly heal. I strongly doubt that I will be running the marathon in Gainesville next month as planned. But the half-marathon? Well, that may be in the works should my leg make a complete recovery.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #7

#7: I Might be Wrong by Radiohead

I Might be Wrong is a relentless, pummeling track from Radiohead's remarkable 2001 Amnesiac album. It is a song tailor-made for becoming a great hit, but it remained on that album as a "deep" track, unreleased as a single. And it makes me wonder why others closer to the music and who are involved in marketing decisions can't seem to realize the treasures that they are passing up. I've seen this with several Radiohead songs, reminding me of the numerous sensational R.E.M. songs that have remained buried deep within their albums, never seeing the light of day on broadcast radio (to use a rather inappropriate metaphor).

Although Thom Yorke charms us throughout I Might be Wrong with his beautiful high-pitched singing voice, here he takes a back seat to the instruments, in particular the drums as they interplay with the guitars. This may well be one of the best percussion pieces I've ever heard. The closing section of the song, following a brief pause, is quite impressive.

Amnesiac is often thought of as being the album full of songs not quite "good" enough to be on Kid A, which was recorded at the same time and released a year earlier. To me, the quality on both is uniformly phenomenal.

NFL Conference Championship Games This Sunday

Well, time for another of my vicarious sports ramblings...

It is once again the weekend for the National Football League conference championship games. The surprises are that teams like New England, Indianapolis, and last year's Super Bowl champion New Orleans are absent this year. Instead, we see the New York Jets on the road, "pitted" against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the American Conference final, while in the National Conference the Green Bay Packers will play in Chicago against the Bears. These will be cold, northern winter games played out in the open in domeless stadiums. Just thinking of that game in Chicago makes me want to shiver!

I like the swagger and showmanship of the Jets, even though they are bitter divisional rivals of "my" team, the eternally-disappointing Miami Dolphins. Couple this with the fact that they are playing the Steelers, a franchise that I have generally loathed since the mid-1970's, and you have in me an ardent New York supporter, at least for this game.

As for Green Bay vs. Chicago, I happen to like both teams. But I REALLY like the Packers with their premium quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It's fun to root for a team every now and then that doesn't act as if it is hellbent on self-destruction every time its offense is out on the field (a dig at the Dolphins' play for the last few years, except for 2008). I also like Jay Cutler, the Bears' quarterback, although he sometimes seems to forget which team he is supposed to throw the ball to!

The sports media pundits are split on who will win the Steelers/Jets game, but they generally agree that the Packers will beat the Bears. Which probably means that the former game, predicted to be close, will be a blowout and that the latter will be won by Chicago!

My Head in the Clouds

It seems as if lately there have been a multitude of problems besieging my little family. The flooring in our house had to be partially redone, our thirteen-year-old dog was suddenly sick and needed to be seen by the veterinarian, assorted health, work, school, and social issues have confronted us to varying degrees, and the weather...yes, that pretty much sucked, too, with it either being too hot, too cold, too humid, too foggy, too windy,...you get the picture.

As a matter of fact, regarding the weather, I tend to sometimes have my "head in the clouds". For example, my wife earlier today told me "When it rains, it pours", in obvious reference to our little pile of problems. To which I gave an answer that Mr. Spock might have said: "Yes, I agree! It seems I'm always waiting for the rain to stop, but it keeps going on in spite of what the forecast says." And to which the family members present (wife and daughter) erupted into howls of laughter.

I suppose I could have later claimed to have made my ridiculous remark with the deliberate aim of lifting everyone's spirits. Well, no, not really, but it worked out that way anyway...my family knows perfectly well what a nut I am about the weather!

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #8

#8: In Limbo by Radiohead

In Limbo is an example, in my opinion, of a song that continually breaks down and then reorganizes itself. The resulting alternating order and chaos is pretty fascinating to me, and the lyrics conveyed by Thom Yorke's trademark doleful singing caps it. It also has a very cool jazzy sound to it as well, quite a different type of Radiohead song.

And why not? In Limbo is from Radiohead's fourth studio album Kid A (2000), an admittedly experimental work in which the band tried out anything and everything that might create a special sound. Kid A is my favorite Radiohead album, followed closely by 2001's Amnesiac. Both works were recorded at the same time and could have been released as a double album. Instead, they came out as two distinct releases. If you want the best from this band, these are the two albums you want to obtain!

And once again, of course, as was the case with Go to Sleep, I came to love In Limbo while on my long training runs, listening to them on my MP3. It has the effect of performing a "reset" in my mind, completely distracting me from anything else that has been going on and allowing me to refocus my thoughts in a more positive, constructive direction. That is ironic since the song's lyrics aren't really all that positive (Thom has "lost his way" in it)!

More on Tucson and Using Guns in Debate

After reading some of the editorial letters and articles recently about the tenor of political debate leading up to and following the Tucson shootings, it may be necessary for me to reiterate my position. Some of the letters I read pick on President Obama, trying to make it sound as if he, of all people, were promoting a climate of political violence. I consider these opinions to be sheer nonsense and dismiss them out of hand. Others emphasize that the perpetrator of the shootings in Tucson was mentally disturbed, not acting with a deliberate, thought-out political agenda against anyone. These people tend to put all of the recent gun-toting and gun-shooting in political rallies and ads into the context of "open and rigorous debate", appealing to their readers' innate sense of freedom of expression. I don't automatically dismiss this argument, because it contains elements worth considering.

I'm all for open and rigorous debate, and it's true that the alleged shooter in Arizona seemed to be mentally unhinged, to put it very mildly. But you can debate people, even getting personally insulting about it, without bringing the implied threat of using guns and violence into the dialogue. As a matter of fact, those who bring firearms into any political discussion, be it symbolically in an advertisement or literally at a rally, have emphatically ENDED the debate, as far as THEY are concerned. They are saying that this is the way they feel, they are not changing their view, and they will back up their position with a gun. Period.

As for the idea that those who have used guns and cross-hairs in their political messages haven't contributed to the problem because it was a mentally ill person who seems to be responsible for the massacre, this doesn't stand up to scrutiny either. For the whole point of the recent criticisms directed against using implied violence in ads or on websites against political opponents is based on the assumption that, while rational people may only just be swayed or offended at viewing them, someone with mental or emotional issues may go over the edge, consequently feeling a sense of justification and legitimacy for violently dealing with their paranoid delusions against the "enemy".

Ever since Obama has been president (and even before), paranoia has abounded in the media regarding his beliefs and intentions. The idea has apparently been to whip up as much irrational fear and hatred against this gentle, decent man who, although possibly carrying a more liberal agenda than many would like to see, is simply trying to do his best to help serve his country.

I would like to see political debate rise to the level where issues and philosophies can be debated rationally and respectfully. There ARE people from both the political left and right, both in the media and public office, who could raise the standards of political debate while maintaining their principles. They need to stand up more forcefully and be heard as clear alternatives to the hatemongers and demagogues who are so active and popular today.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #9

#9: 20 Years of Snow by Regina Spektor

20 Years of Snow, from Regina Spektor's 2006 Begin to Hope album, highlights her virtuosity with the piano. It is an exercise in musical turbulence, quite a trip to listen to. The song's narrative centers around the first twenty years of a woman's life, her father, and her present attitudes (or at least that's how I read it). Like Radiohead's Go to Sleep, it is a very exciting, stirring song, certain to increase the listener's pulse.

As with many songs I like, I imagine my own videos of it. One version has a young woman sweating in the hot Florida summertime while jogging. The scene transforms itself into a winter snowstorm, and she is bundled up struggling against the snow. Flashbacks from her childhood ensue, featuring her relationship with her father. Toward the song's end, its atonal nature and the cynical lyrics about strangers create a dank, dark scene of her moving around among sinister-looking men. And then she is back on the sweltering jogging trail, her outer appearance hiding the "20 years of snow" buried deep within her.

This is the sort of thing that comes from me listening to the same great songs repeatedly while piling up the miles running down roads in the hot, Florida summer: I tend to go off into flights of fantasy. But even if you just listen to the music of 20 Years of Snow for its own sake, this song kicks ass!

Damned Fool Achieves Marathon Milestone

The great comedic actor W.C Fields reportedly once said, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use in being a damned fool about it." I must be a damned fool because today I finally completed a marathon during my training. Unlike with the previous two long 20-mile runs, I encountered no "wall" beyond which I had no energy to continue. Instead, the night before I ate an entire large pizza and then continued eating at home after work. In running jargon, this is called "carb-loading". Often, before different marathon races, the organizers will offer a spaghetti or pancake dinner for the entrants. This carbohydrate loading makes a huge difference, something that I will never again forget to do.

My actual run today was 26.6 miles, well beyond the marathon length (26.2 miles). My finishing time was 4:23:01. At the beginning of my workout, the temperature was 62 with a 35% humidity. At its close, the numbers were 61 degrees and 42%. There was no precipitation and the sky gradually became overcast as the run progressed. An occasionally strong wind blew from the NNE.

My recovery from my training marathon couldn't be better. I feel energetic, my pulse is slowing, and I am only having to deal with some expected soreness in my legs.

Now I just need to sign up for the Ocala Marathon. The upcoming runs I do this week will be around 7-13 miles.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #10

#10: Go to Sleep by Radiohead

Go to Sleep, also from Radiohead's 2003 release Hail to the Thief, is a much more up-tempo piece than Sail to the Moon. From the start, it also conveys a darker, more sinister tone, its almost incomprehensible lyrics notwithstanding.

Go to Sleep is a hard rocker that would have fit in quite well with Gainesville radio's Rock-104 (before it turned country last year, that is). That it never received the airplay it merited is another example, I'm afraid, of a general lack of vision within broadcast radio.

When I had originally compiled my Radiohead collection and transferred it over to my MP3 player, Go to Sleep was just another track. But as I listened to my MP3 while running, this song would come up. I noticed that it had the effect of energizing me and making me more determined. It screams defiance, and that resonates deeply with me!

Go to Sleep is a really short song, but it packs a big punch. If you hear it, I can pretty much guarantee that going to sleep will be just about the last thing you think of! Especially with that intense, off-key repeated guitar riff at the end!

Hail to the Thief has other tracks I like besides There There, Sail to the Moon, and Go to Sleep. Most notable are Scatterbrain, 2 + 2 = 5, and A Punchup at a Wedding (don't you love these titles).

More on My Running

As January 23, the date of the Ocala Marathon, draws nearer and nearer, I find myself still unregistered for it. The reason is simple: I don't want to spend a lot of money registering for a race that I end up not running in. I decided to see how I do on my long run Saturday. Then, in all likelihood I'll sign up and show up for the race, ready or not to complete a grueling 26.2 mile run.

I feel better this week after my runs of Tuesday and earlier today. Unlike with Sunday's run, the day before which I hardly ate anything and miraculously still managed to run 20.75 miles, I had eaten quite well the nights before these two runs (of 8.1 and 13.77 miles). I had enormous energy reserves and cruised through each workout. Tomorrow night I have my plan in place: during my lunch break at work, I am going to eat an entire Little Caesar's large pizza. After work, I'll shovel in some more food. Then we'll see what happens the next day. I predict a new personal distance record.

If it turns out on January 23 that I am not up to a 26.2 mile run, then I'll just walk as much as I have to in order to complete the distance. I just hope it doesn't rain. But then again, I suppose the unpredictable weather is an integral part of the suspense leading up to the race. I wonder whether the Ocala newspaper (whatever it's called) will print the race results the following day.

The Ocala Marathon has its own website showing a map of the race course as well as giving instructions to pick up the necessary racing packet at a local hotel on Saturday, January 22. After I pick up my racing packet, I plan to trace out the course in my car so that it won't be a complete mystery come race day.

Climate of Violence Fomented by Political Gun Nuts

Regarding the recent shooting deaths in Arizona, I partially blame the political and media idiots who have fomented a climate of acceptable violence by using symbolism promoting it in their messages. Sarah Palin's example is the most glaring: cross-hairs over the Democrats whose stances she politically opposes, on a map on her website. Shooting victim Representative Gabrielle Giffords was one whom she targeted. But Palin isn't the only one. West Virginia's Joe Manchin, a Democrat, put out ads during last year's senatorial campaign in which he was shooting at targets that represented liberal values he opposes (to show what a gun toting, good ol' boy he was), just to be elected West Virginia senator over a Tea Party wingnut. Closer to home, Debbie Boyd (another Democrat), apparently having seen Manchin's commercials, decided to copy him to show the local yokels how gun-crazy (and therefore electable) she was (she lost her Florida house race anyway). Then there were those gun nuts carrying their arms openly into political rallies, one even showing up at an Obama event in New Hampshire (and the dude even looked like Lee Harvey Oswald).

I would like to believe that these widespread attempts by some to intimidate their political opponents through the not-so-subtle threat of using armed violence has finally peaked out and will subside.

I sadly don't think these people have learned anything, though, and more tragedies like the Arizona shootings will continue to occur. They are very heavily into self-justification and have convenient media stars (like Beck, Hannity, Coulter, Savage, Levin, and Limbaugh) to prop them up by insisting that the "other side" is just as bad. But I see nothing of the sort happening from the political left that is going on with the paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed extreme right, abetted by the likes of Palin and Beck.

Training Wall Hit Again, Marathon Looms

Sunday I set out on a long run, intending to go as far as I could go, possibly even up to marathon distance (26.2 miles). The weather was conducive (in the low 50's throughout), I had no externally-imposed time limits to my run, and I had just broken in a pair of new, well-cushioned running shoes on Friday. I was determined to break through the 20-mile barrier from my Christmas run, beyond which I was then unable to continue.

Everything went quite well until I reached the same damned point in my run, and WHAM!...I ran smack into the "wall" again. I said to myself, "Self, this isn't going to work, you're just not cut out to run a marathon, just stick with the half-marathons". I changed my course to go directly home, but as I entered the final full block, a loose, ferocious pit bull began to bark at me from down the street and chase me. Before I got any closer, I turned around and ran the other way, marveling at how inconsiderate some neighbors can be and how little they must care about their dogs' welfare to allow them to run loose like that. I managed to detour around the next block and reach home. Although the dog incident at the run's end angered me, the result of it all was that I ended up marginally running my longest distance ever: 20.75 miles, with a time of 3:23:47.

I hadn't registered yet for January 23's Ocala Marathon, so I thought I might just run in the half-marathon event there instead. But Melissa convinced me to hang in there and give it one more try next weekend. I then remembered that I had hardly eaten anything the day before my run and my body's energy reserves were probably very low. Maybe I actually did quite well considering that fact alone. Also, so what if I enter the Ocala Marathon and can't finish it, or maybe have to walk the last few miles back at the end? I'm still gaining the valuable experience of participating in such an event, and the Gainesville Five Points Marathon is still out there to run in on February 20 if I want.

So after giving it some more thought (and realizing that my recovery from Sunday's run was much better than the one I did on Christmas day), I'm sticking with the intention of entering the Ocala Marathon. Even though there's no guarantee that I'll be able to finish it.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #11

#11: Sail to the Moon by Radiohead

Off Radiohead's 2003 Hail to the Thief album, Sail to the Moon is a slow-moving, elegantly mysterious piece that evokes a lot of imagery. I picture myself in a boat out in the ocean, with the rising moon just above the horizon. The waters are relatively peaceful, and it seems that I am indeed "sailing to the moon". The song's actual lyrics are cryptic, although if I wanted I'm sure I could analyze and decipher them. But for me it's the music, featuring Thom Yorke's brilliant high-pitched singing, that makes this song so great.

Ever since Hail to the Thief came out, many have thought (myself included) that it was a political album taking swipes at the Bush administration for "stealing" the 2000 election and invading Iraq in early 2003. But although there seem to be oblique references to politics throughout (Sail to the Moon even contains a reference to "the President"), Radiohead itself has repeatedly denied that this album has a political message to convey. Be that what it may, it is a beautiful work. For years, the only song I heard from it was the single release There There, which I made my favorite song of 2003. But Hail to the Thief, as good as it is, isn't my favorite Radiohead album (by far). That's how good I think they are.

Vicarious Sports Nonsense...and Me

I'm not too happy with the fact that my semi-prediction that none of the NFL Florida teams might make the playoffs was borne out. On the other hand, suppose they had? And suppose one of them made it all the way to the Super Bowl and won it? How would that have made any difference in my life?

I have been vicariously following sports since childhood. I had the experience during my teens of my favorite team, the Miami Dolphins, winning the Super Bowl twice and even going completely undefeated one year. I also have seen three Florida Gators national championships in football and two in basketball. But truth be told, although it was fun to root for them and eventually witness them winning those titles, the experiences had a very minuscule effect on my overall happiness.

One year, when I was thirteen, I sensed this disconnect early on and tried an experiment on myself. I concocted an imaginary league in an imaginary sport. I created eight teams: Columbus, Houston, Memphis, Newark, Rochester, St. Louis, San Antonio, and Washington. I set up a season that comprised 154 games (like the old pre-sixties major league baseball seasons) and had the teams play each other in round-robin fashion (remember, without even specifying the sport). Then, I would shuffle a deck of cards and draw a pair at a time. The higher number would give a victory to the designated team, and I went through an entire season this way, writing down the "standings" as I went along. This game only went on for a few hours sometime during August 1970, but I still remember that completely unreal season to this date!

Washington started out strong and took an early lead over the others. Then Columbus surged and led for most of the middle of the season. About two thirds of the way through, there was a mad scramble for many "weeks" as the teams would jockey for position and the lead. Only Memphis seemed to be having a "bad" season, being in last most of the time. Toward the end, Newark (which I had for some reason decided to root for) surged way ahead in the standings over the rest. But then, unexpectedly, toward the end they went into a slump and Columbus squeaked out ahead and won a very tight finish over Newark and Memphis (who surged at the end). Early leader Washington ended up in last place, but all eight teams finished within six games of each other. The final standings:

1-Columbus (80-74)
2t-Memphis (79-75)
2t-Newark (79-75)
4t-Houston (77-77)
4t-St.Louis (77-77)
7t-Rochester (75-79)
7t-San Antonio (75-79)
8-Washington (74-80)

Remember, none of this really happened, the teams represented no particular sport, and I played this game more than thirty years ago. Yet the season and its outcome means as much to me as do any of the teams and seasons I've followed over the years!

The point to all this is that I think there are two ways one can follow a sport. Either you can enjoy the sport for its own sake, becoming a connoisseur of sorts, or you can become engrossed in the winning/losing/standings part. I noticed that I tend to be in the latter category. For example, sometimes when my favorite NFL team, the Miami Dolphins, is playing and the game is being covered on TV or radio, I will deliberately avoid watching or listening to it because I get too anxious as to how they're doing. I remember their win/loss records over the years, although it ultimately matters little to me whether they do well or not.

Isn't that silly??!!

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #12

#12: Better by Regina Spektor

This song has a most spectacular beginning, building up to a piano,/electric guitar/drum crescendo before Regina cuts in with her sweet voice. Better is a song of assurance and compassion, with Regina asking, "If I kiss you where it hurts, will you feel better?". Don't we all need some help from other now and then in lifting up our spirits? Life can get to be such a grind sometimes. When I hear Better, not only do I feel comforted, but I also feel more conducive toward comforting others with problems...although I may not exactly go down Regina's proposed pathway toward accomplishing that.

Better is one of those songs that has the perfect feel of a Top Ten mainstream hit, but as usual broadcast radio has virtually ignored it. For me the main thing is that I have it on my MP3, which I listen to while running and at work. It helped me get through some grueling, hot summer runs, adding a little "pep in my step" (as my wife Melissa would say). So who needs 5-Hour Energy? I have something Better!

Speaking of radio, I have heard Regina Spektor from time to time on "Starbucks Radio" and at Publix grocery. So the rest of the world isn't entirely devoid of musical taste!

Better is from Regina Spektor's 2006 album Begin to Hope. As I had stated a few days ago, this personal countdown of my favorites of 2010 is based on songs I liked in 2010, regardless when they were released.

House's Constitution Reading

Yesterday I was watching the newly-convened US House of Representatives, now under a Republican majority, on C-Span. Featured was a reading of the United States Constitution, to be split up in a bipartisan fashion among high-ranking members. But before the reading could commence, a few inquiries were raised on the Democratic side regarding which version of the Constitution was to be read.

I didn't know there were different versions of the Constitution, did you? Apparently, there are some parts of the original document that have in subsequent years been rendered "null and void" by amendments. The most notable are the stipulations as to how slave-holding states were to be allotted representatives, with the infamous "three fifths of a man" as the stated standard for counting slaves. Obviously, those who practically worship the Constitution as almost a religious document and plan to use it in the upcoming session to further their own political agenda did not want those embarrassing sections read, so they had it "white"-washed, so to speak. Only one problem with that, as I see it.

The body of the Constitution is still there, with nothing deleted (not even those sections sanctioning slavery). The sections superseded by amendments (most notably the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th) are still there and would be restored should those amendments ever be repealed. You can't erase the core body of the Constitution, but you can repeal amendments. I say this because there is a move afoot to change the 14th Amendment, which was originally intended to give black former slaves citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law. One of this amendment's clauses bestows American citizenship on anyone born on US soil, and many undocumented immigrants in recent years have gained such citizenship for their children as they were born in this country. Legislators with a hard-line approach to the immigration issue, like South Carolina's Lindsey Graham (who has regrettably backtracked on his previous commitment to a more reasonable and comprehensive immigration reform policy), want the 14th Amendment modified or least reinterpreted to exclude these children from citizenship.

So the amendments don't automatically supersede the main body of the Constitution. Instead, it is how the courts (and the legislators and presidents who place them in their positions) who determine how the amendments are interpreted. It is ironic that the 14th Amendment seems to currently be up for attack since beginning soon after its enactment in 1868, a very anti-civil-rights and pro-corporate Supreme Court for decades refused to apply it to protect blacks from discrimination and instead abused it to give corporations special legal status as "persons".

It was legitimate for lawmakers to raise an issue over the Constitution's reading yesterday. They weren't trying to stop the document from being read, but rather were trying to educate the public about its true nature and how subject it is to different interpretations, and even at times abuse.

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #13

#13: Arnika by Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens, whose existence I was completely unaware of before February 2009, has released a flurry of material over the past year after a hiatus of three years between releases. For some artists this type of gap isn't that big of a deal; for Stevens, who gained a reputation as a prolific, creative musician, it was causing a bit of concern among his fans.

Late 2009 saw the release of a CD/DVD package of his completely instrumental The BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), a venture into a more classical genre. Then this past fall, within a span of a few weeks, he suddenly announced the release of first an EP, All Delighted People, and then a full LP, The Age of Adz.

I procured all three releases and feel pretty good about them. With The BQE I saw the difficulty about trying to relate a symphonic work to an old, dirty, and overcongested highway, so I instead just decided to appreciate the music for its own value. It fits along with other similar works from other artists over the ages. All Delighted People and The Age of Adz, though, represent a substantive change with Stevens from his previous three vocal albums, which dealt with states (namely Michigan and Illinois) as themes and as points of departure for folk, autobiographical and disguised spiritual songs. Stevens is no longer "doing the states". These two most recent releases are, in my opinion, quite emotionally unbalanced, seeming to reflect the efforts of an artist who has undergone a good amount of pain in his life over the last couple of years.

It's tough to have a neurological condition that can't seem to be specifically diagnosed; about fourteen years ago I suddenly developed numbness over various parts of my body without a definitive diagnosis, and it was troublesome to me. Stevens apparently came down with something more debilitating but still equally unidentifiable. Add to that other personal issues and you have someone with a lot of grief to pour out. And that seems to be what he did on All Delighted People and The Age of Adz.

I generally don't like the songs of Sufjan Stevens' latest releases as much as the ones he put out earlier. He sounds over-the-edge with his emotions, and I'm not too keen on repeatedly hearing his voice breaking as if he is about to haul off and have a major crying fit. But in the middle of this, on his less-publicized EP All Delighted People, is a beautiful song: Arnika.

Arnika epitomizes anguish and expresses the sentiments of someone who feels that, although chronologically still young, he is already "tired of life". The music hearkens back to songs like Pittsfield (from The Avalanche) and Romanus (from Greetings from Michigan). Personally, I think Stevens would have been better off just expressing his problems through this song and then trying to pick things up a bit with the others. Instead, personal grief pervades both albums (with occasional disguised Christian-themed tracks such as Vesuvius and Djohariah).

Arnika, although sad, has stuck with me as being one of the classic (albeit almost completely unknown) Sufjan Stevens songs. I like this artist and appreciate his efforts. I'm looking forward to his future works with interest and anticipation.

Oh, and I hope he's feeling better now!