Just Finished Reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

Last year I was treated to some of the most intriguing previews to a movie that I have ever seen.  Cloud Atlas was depicted as a flurry of spectacular scenes and special effects, with a star-studded cast to boot.  It was a must-see, as far as I was concerned.  And then I read a couple of reviews and changed my mind.  It seemed that the movie was based on the same-titled novel by David Mitchell, and if you didn't read the book first...you'd probably find yourself completely lost watching the film.  Oh well, I thought, I guess I'd better first read the book!  And I did, just completing it.  I must say that I was impressed, now looking forward to seeing the movie version (the trailers now make sense to me).

Cloud Atlas is actually a series of six nested novellas, with all but the middle one interrupted and completed in reverse order.  They are set in chronological order and span the early nineteenth century to a time hundreds of years in the future.  Each tale is complete unto itself, but at the same time has connections with the others.  There is a very strong theme of reincarnation here, so you may or may not need to set aside some of your own beliefs in order to flow with the reading.  But the most interesting aspect of Cloud Atlas is the author's deft use of language in each story, usually told in the first person and in line with the literary usage and style of the time in question.  For example, in the first story The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Mitchell writes out the story in that era's predominantly literary language, something that made me frequently scurry to my dictionary.  As the stories advance in time, up to the present area, the narrative language becomes more colloquial and familiar until Cloud Atlas turns toward the future, at which point it's language once again becomes more obtuse.  The "final" tale, which actually takes up the middle section of the book, is written in a futuristic, greatly altered English ingeniously projected by Mitchell upon that speculative time.  A master work in language, I must say.   So, about the movie, then...

If part of the great appeal to me in Cloud Atlas was the narrative language, then how can the cinematic rendition keep that magic?  This is where the screenwriters, directors, actors,and  special effects people need to step in and try to match David Mitchell's vision with their own arts and skills.  I look forward to seeing how well they did!

Please read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas.  It beats anything else I've read recently. 

Personal Blogs in Decline, Facebook (Scarily) Dominant

My wife is an avid Facebook user while I, on the other hand, not only didn't use it...I stopped my account.  She has a whopping number of "friends" on it and the instant communication is, at times, a little frightening.  For example, one day a couple of months ago, after my Ocala Half-Marathon performance, I was sitting in our dining room at my laptop while she was using our desktop a few feet away in the living room.  I decided to check out the on-line Ocala results and found, to my pleasant surprise, that I had finished quite well relative to the other race participants (78th out of 262 total runners, 7th out of 18 in my gender/age group) .  I casually told my wife these exact figures, to which she responding by asking me if I wouldn't mind her bragging on me with them on her Facebook site.  Sure, I said.  I had hardly said so, it seemed, before she began to report several congratulatory comments from her Facebook friends, and even more "likes". These people are really hooked in to this network...and why isn't that so surprising, with the smart phones they carry around with them, alerting them instantly to any change in status in their various e-mail and networking accounts?  In the meantime, hardly anyone reads this blog, and even those whose blogs I used to follow have abandoned theirs.  The amateur, personal blogs have been declining while the "pros" are still out there, doing quite well for themselves.

When I first set out on this blog nearly six years ago, I felt that I was doing something pretty bold, setting out my thoughts in public like this, available for anyone with Internet access to read.  But in that span relatively few people have taken the effort to read any of it, in spite of the fact that my articles, which cover many varied topics, could be reached via search engines.  Now, with my blog's name and URL change, they haven't been available through these engines.  So I am in a relatively isolated position here...especially in contrast to the Facebook users.

I see no reason to end this blog...and I don't want to get into Facebook.  Perhaps at a future date the good people at Google will adjust their search engines and once again allow users to archive older articles of mine that match their search topics.  But for me, this is all ultimately a moot point, for I am doing this primarily neither for networking nor providing information for others.  I am doing this as a personal discipline of writing.  And making my writings publicly available gives me a sense of accountability and causes me to be more careful in expressing myself in a manner that respects and interests any potential reader...

NCAA Tourney So Far

The buzz going around the college basketball world right now is the upstart Florida Gulf Coast College team, in only its second year as an NCAA Division I school, not only making it to the championship tournament but also winning its first two games and getting all the way to the "Sweet Sixteen".  I'm impressed as well, but now its time for them to graciously bow out as they face my Florida Gators in the next round this Friday night.  Not that I believe that will happen, though.  It will probably be a very hard-fought contest; nevertheless I see the Gators prevailing, if for no other reason than that their coach Billy Donovan will have laid out some very effective strategies for his players to stop the Eagles.  It will be an interesting game for me to watch: with my new schedule in place, it'll be smack dab in the middle of my "weekend"!

Elsewhere in the NCAA men's hoops tourney, things have been generally going well for my teams, with Florida, Louisville, and Miami advancing to this round.  North Carolina, though, fought gamely but lost out to Kansas, a very possible Gator opponent in the following round should they get by Florida Gulf Coast...

Blog Name, URL Changed

It is indeed sad to have to report this, but I had to change my blog's URL and title because a soft porn website, for whatever perverse reasons of theirs, decided to adopt the almost identical designations I had, which were legitimately based on my name. Jerks.  Still, it doesn't bother me too much as not very many people read this blog, anyway.  As a matter of fact, the change to what is essentially a deliberate chain of nonsensical, random syllables for my blog's title and URL is an opportunity for me to see just who around me is really taking the time to read my blog. 

But no way am I going to let anyone confuse my own personal blog with a soft porn site...

10th Anniversary of Special Theme Park Visit

Today is the tenth anniversary of a fun, diversionary trip to a theme park with my two children.  My wife was busy at the time, so I took the kids to Wild Adventures theme park on the outskirts of Valdosta, Georgia.  Will and Rebecca were both pretty much fearless with the thrill rides there, but I wasn't.  But I resolved to tackle all of them, no matter how daunting. 

So I rode scary coasters like Boomerang, Cheetah, Hangman, and Bugout.  I went on the straight-up-and-down exercise in terror known as Double Shot (Universal's Islands of Adventure has a larger, but smoother version in their Doctor Doom's Fear Fall ride).  And I partook of what scared me the most, looking up from ground level: Power Surge, a "circle" ride quite like no other, being tossed about and inverted in my seat far above the ground.  Oh, and let's not forget the gut-wrenching gravity torture machine, Pharoah's Fury, a boat-shaped ride that swung back and forth in ever-increasing swoops.  All of this I conquered on that day, a day in which I repeatedly faced my primordial fears and pressed on.  To others, this may sound a bit laughable...but it was a big deal to me.

After that trip, for about two or three years, I made a point of visiting theme parks to ride roller coasters and other thrill rides.  I had a great time with my children...but they were growing up and weren't as interested in the thrill ride experience as before.  And Melissa NEVER was.  So here I am, now, having gone for a few years since going on a thrill ride at a park.  The last time was in south Florida, in the city of Dania on a fantastic wooden rollercoaster appropriately called the Dania Beach Hurricane.  But I've heard this this great ride has been dismantled...so sad.

I don't know about the future for me and theme park thrill rides, and I only got out to a few parks in the Southeast.  Plus, I have to keep in mind that one negative drag on my enjoyment was the often inexcusably long time I had to spend waiting in line just for one ride.  Also, I tired of the long driving to and from the parks.  O.K., so I'm getting old and impatient.  Wait, I've always been impatient!

Late Night Shift and Weirdo Radio

I have been working at my graveyard shift for about a week and a half, and frankly, I seem to be adapting reasonably well to it.  The key to my success so far has been my ability to get home after work and quickly into bed and asleep...for a good, solid block of time.  I have been consistently waking up in mid-afternoon and forcing myself into directed, purposeful activity. The only real problem I have been experiencing so far is that, toward the end of my shift, I can feel a little strung out.  I do tend to take a short catnap, though, during my lunch break around 5 AM.   

With me being awake all night long, I am once again reacquainting myself with a certain peculiar late night talk show: Coast-to-Coast AM, which I call "Weirdo Radio".  I used to listen to it back in the 1990's when Art Bell hosted it.  Now, George Noory interviews the variety of guests and, while not as personable as Bell, still competently pulls it off.  Still, I'm more than a little taken aback at all of the conspiracy crap being pushed on it. I prefer shows on the paranormal, frankly.  I don't necessarily buy what's being said, but I somehow get good vibes listening to it!

NCAA March Madness Back

We've once again come to the time in the year when basketball couch potatoes like me follow the "madness" that is the NCAA basketball tournament.  Not to try to sound sexist, but I have focused my attention on the men's tourney and have discovered some teams that I plan to follow.  First of all is my hometown college team, the Florida Gators.  Then, a traditional favorite: the North Carolina Tarheels.  The University of Miami Hurricanes is another one.  But if I just went by the players and how much I enjoyed watching a team play, my hands-down favorite would be the Louisville Cardinals, with their incredible point guard Peyton Siva, one of those rare players who not only are committed to working with the coach and his vision for the team, but who also are talented and outstanding both on offense and defense.  With him, Louisville could well go the distance and win it all.  Fortunately for them, UF, NC, and Miami are placed in other regions and won't have to face them unless they make the Final Four (and the Gators and Hurricanes both stand a reasonable chance of doing so).  One of my dream scenarios is a Lousiville/Florida game!

The so-called "first round" began today with two games pitting the very worst, lowest seeded teams against each other.  One of them, Liberty, actually sported a losing record at 15-20!  I do wish they wouldn't call this the first round when it is just a preliminary round to whittle the bloated 68-team field down to a manageable 64.

The true first round (naturally misnamed the "second" round) begins this Thursday.  I can't wait...

Restaurant Odors and the Sense of Smell

Over the past few months, I have had three disquieting experiences in local restaurants.  Each of the three is part of a different national chain...either franchised out or directly run by the corporation, I don't know.  The food is good and so is the service.  And they all seem to be popular, with customers coming in filling up the "joints" and reacting with favor to their dining experience.  But in each of these places, the minute I walk in I detect a nasty underlying odor.  It is an odor of decay and dirtiness, and is in all likelihood due to one factor: old, smelly carpeting.

In a way, though, I can understand why a lot of customers don't pick up on this unpleasant stench.  At one of the places, my wife had to point this out to me before I noticed.  But once she had, I wondered to myself how I could have missed it before, it was so bad.  It's as if, as humans, we've suppressed our sense of smell so much that someone else has to tell us when something doesn't smell right!  In any event, once I was alerted, I began to pick up the same disgusting odor elsewhere.

Could it be that people in general are losing their sense of smell, or like me, have they trained themselves not to recognize unpleasant odors when they arise?  Maybe it's a bit of both, I suppose.  But I don't want to frequent any of these places until they fix their problem!

My Substitute 10K Run

Yesterday I had an opportunity to run a 10 kilometer race in nearby Tioga, Florida.  I had thought of doing this more or less at the last minute, but I had some reservations about spending the money to enter it.  With a tee shirt and medal (and "free" admission to the post-race party I didn't want to attend), it would have cost me $35.  Without all of the above, they would have let me run in it and get my results posted on the Web for $20.  After giving the matter a little thought, I decided to step out of my own front door and run my own 10K course without spending a penny.  I deliberately timed the start of my private run to coincide with that event's starting time, 4:30 pm. Like much of the "official" race, my run went up and down residential streets.  I finished my run in 50:51, a personal best even though I stopped several times to drink Gatorade and walk a bit.  After it was over, I compared my times to comparable 10K races and found that in almost all of them, I would have finished at least third in my age group.  So I came away from the experience with a sense of satisfaction.

I like the social aspect of people getting together with a common interest and expressing that interest.  With running, of course, this manifests in the form of public road races.  Naturally, it costs money to organize and hold them, and participants should pay their share.  In the last few months, I ran a 10K race and two half-marathons.  But I don't need public affirmation as to how good a runner I am.  And even though I stood on the victory podium at the last half-marathon and received a prize for finishing second in my age group, during the actual race I had no idea which groups any of the runners around me were in.  So the competition factor in these public races tends to get a little abstract, anyway.

There is also a "tourism" factor that makes running in certain races more attractive than others.  For example, Tavares, with much of the run skirting pretty Lake Dora, was an interesting experience while Tioga, a place with which I am pretty familiar, promised little in this area.

In April there is a fun 5K walk/run, in Jacksonville, that Melissa and I are going to be in.  Other than that, though, I don't see me entering any more public running races for a while.  Maybe in the fall, we'll see... 

New Pope Hullabaloo

The hardly democratic "election" of Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be the next pope is rubbing me the wrong way.  For one, I was watching CNN's coverage of the news and was dismayed to find them completely abandoning any appearance whatsoever of objectivity, with excessive praise, even to the point of fawning, being the order of business.  That there might be some serious, controversial issues concerning this man and his past actions in Argentina has been completely glossed over.  And of course, completely forget about Fox"News" being objective, either.  But even on MSNBC, only Rachel Maddow, from what I can gather, has made any attempt to bring up some problematic points about the new Roman Catholic pope.  Chris Matthews, for example, was almost downright giddy about this selection.

It is an established feature of Judeo/Christian/Islamic dogma (in general) that homosexuality is "bad" and those such named deserve either second-class citizenship (in the more "civilized" parts where these religions predominate), banishment, or (in the more savage zones) even death.  And those promoting these views will always tell you that it isn't them...it's God (or Yahweh or Allah) saying this stuff within their scriptures.  Which were written down, of course, by PEOPLE with their own prejudices and agendas to promote.  Sorry, but I'm not buying into that bigotry.  Still, the incoming pope only recently engaged in a large-scale media blitz to prevent Argentina's president from being able to pass through their legislature a law allowing same-sex marriage in that country.  In other words, he robustly involved the Roman Catholic Church in the politics on an issue that said church wanted to impose on EVERYONE.  He has also clearly stated that, anywhere in the world where Catholic politicians hold office, if any of these politicians don't vote according to the positions on issues that the Church deems important, then priests are entitled to withhold giving Communion to them as a punishment.  Talk about interference in the affairs of other countries!

So I am quite a bit cynical about all the phony hullabaloo being generated about this "humble" pope, who took on the name of a venerated Catholic saint with the obvious intention, as I see it, of deceiving popular opinion as to his true intentions...which border on megalomania.  At least until someone shows me otherwise, that's going to be how I see this edition of the papacy...

Writing at Archer Road Starbucks

As part of the new routine I'm trying to develop, I am stopping by the Gainesville Starbucks on Archer Road near SW 34th Street after doing my treadmill run at the gym I'm a member of...all just before going in to work my graveyard shift. This Starbucks, though, is always so crowded with customers glued to their seats for hours, staring at their laptops (or other customers), that I find myself forced to sit outside. Fortunately, this little shopping center, of which Starbucks is just one store, has a huge outdoor food-court-style seating area. So that's cool, I suppose...as long as it isn't raining, that is, for the court is only partially covered over.

Still, sitting outside brings me to the old days back in 2007 when I would sit outside a different Starbucks (which no longer exists) just before going in to work and compose my blog articles. Back then, though, it was the middle of the day and I didn't seem to have too many other projects on my plate to occupy my attention.

Nevertheless, I would like to be able to choose to sit inside every now and then. I don't think, though, that whether I'm inside or outside really has much bearing on what I write. Instead, it's the feeling that, in a relatively short time, I'm going to have to get up and report to my job. So this isn't exactly conducive to speculation and imagination, two ingredients that I like to make use of in my writing. Tonight is only the second time I've tried this on my new schedule, though, so I should give myself a fighting chance to make a success out of it...

Trying to Establish Late Evening Blog Writing

This blog entry may seem a little shallow,  but my main purpose in writing it is to establish a disciplined routine of writing during the hour before I report to work at 11 pm (this is my second night on the graveyard shift).  I already did a 2.6 mile treadmill run at my local gym and plan to make pre-work/pre-writing runs a routine as well.  So far, so good...

It may well work out that I could get to sleep about an hour or so after I get off from work in the morning, so by late afternoon I could be fully functioning.  Today I was able to accomplish this, but I also know that each day at the beginning is a struggle as I try to change my sleeping/waking patterns.  Tonight I hope to not be as drowsy as last night...and then the next night even more awake.  We'll see, and I'll also keep my eyes open to any new job assignments that come up offering better working hours (along with good days off). But I don't think there will be very many opportunities in the future that don't involve working during the wee hours of the morning when most normal, sane people are happily tucked away in bed sleeping and dreaming...

Day One of New Graveyard Shift Behind Me

Well, I have crossed the first difficult hurdle in my attempted transition to working a new shift, one that has me returning after ten years to a late-night/early morning routine.  By the time I clocked out at 7:30 am, I was struggling, to say the least.  I managed to make my way back home driving the eight city miles through thick rush hour/school zone traffic, got a little bite to eat, jumped into bed...and promptly passed out for several hours.  That last part was auspicious: before, in the "old" days, I would have trouble getting myself to sleep after working the graveyard shift. 

Tonight is Step # 2 in my quest to accustom my mind and body to the change in schedule.  In the meantime, I still do what I can with the other routines in my life, wanting to keep up with my good studying and running projects.  The writing is important, too...maybe this change will actually step up my output...

President Obama Finally Sociable With Opposition

I have been hearing lately how President Obama, whom I have supported with my votes in each of his successful campaigns, is now inviting Republican opposition lawmakers to the White House where he is treating them with hospitality and friendliness.  While making his pitch, I'm sure, to try to persuade some of them to support some of his agenda against the unswerving, even irrational hostility generated by their leaders Mitch McConnell (Senate Minority Leader) and John Boehner (House Speaker). I've also been garnering reactions about this change of strategy from both conservative and liberal opinion makers.  The liberals seems to support Obama's sociable outreach, but some of the right-wing talk radio bigmouths are being critical of those GOP legislators who accepted the President's hospitality.  I have a deeper reaction, and it goes down to the heart of what I am currently feeling about Barack Obama as a leader.

Being a somewhat politically simple-minded soul, I have been naively believing for all these years that Obama was ALREADY reaching out and interacting with those Republican senators and congressmen.  All along...but no, apparently... he's had a "close door" policy against his opponents in Washington.  So if what I think that is coming out in the news is correct, then this president has long detached himself from the crucial process involved in political deal-making and arm-twisting.  Just take what perhaps the most successful president to get his programs passed by Congress, Lyndon Johnson, did all day, day after day.  He would be on the phone and directly communicating with those in Congress whose votes he needed to secure.  This necessary activity is something that our current president has thought himself to be too "above" to engage himself in.  Too bad.  And I wonder in retrospect how much of the obduracy of the Republican opposition in the Senate and House is due in large part to this...well, I'll say it...elitist attitude from the White House. 

I still support Obama, but my support has never been at the disturbing level of some others I've seen who act as he if were the Second Coming.  Now I am more skeptical of him, because it has taken more than four years in office for him to treat politicians whose outlooks on the issues are different with not only respect, but also an attitude of personal interest in their lives that anyone who isn't a complete imbecile should have been able to figure out was a necessary part of this nation's political process.  And what's even more incredible to me is that I used to watch him on C-Span2, the channel showing the deliberation of the U.S. Senate, when he used to be a senator (of Illinois) from 2005 to 2007...as he would show the most cordial, personable rapport with opposition-party senators during voting sessions.  How could he have forgotten this necessity?

My Work Hours Drastically Shift to Late Night

Today will be my final day on my afternoon/evening shift at my workplace, as I will be doing "graveyard shift" at the start of next week.  Since the summer of 2003, I have been reporting to work around 2:30-3:30 and walking out around 11 pm to midnight.  Starting this Sunday, though, I'll go back to reporting at 11 pm, which was pretty much the hours of day I worked for 15 out of the first 16 years I've worked here.  I changed my schedule for a few reasons, none of which being because I liked the hours; I've always had some difficulty with my sleeping patterns when working on the late night/early morning shift.  For one, it's difficult to get myself into a regular sleep routine over the course of the day.  For another, when I'm off I almost always revert back to the old "sleep at night" pattern instead of just sticking to the daytime sleeping I'm forced to do the rest of the week.  So I'm a little apprehensive about the hours.  Still, I'll have weekends off, I like the assignment location and duties, I'll have a better, more secure assignment status than the one I now have, and I can still bid (by seniority) on any other job assignment postings that I may prefer to the one I just got. 

Making such a change as the one I just made may see like a bit of risk-taking, but the way I see it is sometimes it's more risky to just stay where you are and do nothing.  Instead I chose proactivity. We'll see how it all goes in the next few weeks...

My Tavares Orange Blossom Half-Marathon Experience

Today I ran the Orange Blossom Half-Marathon in Tavares, Florida.  Tavares is in Lake County, located a few miles northwest of Orlando.  My wife grew up in that area and I even lived there a few months, back in 1987.  So the two of us made it a weekend down there, with Melissa entering their parallel 5K race, power-walking the distance in grand style.  The weather played a major, unexpected role as the temperatures plummeted while the wind whipped up strongly, with 30 mph-plus gusts.  I had a minor crisis trying to decided how much clothing I should put on for the race.  At the last minute I changed to something heavier, which I regretted soon after the start when my body predictably began to heat up from running.  So after a couple of miles I shed the long-sleeve shirt and then the run went on without a hitch.  The course began in Tavares' beautiful little downtown area, in Wooten Park on the shores of Lake Dora, and then more or less went eastward, into the town of Mount Dora and hugging the northern side of the lake. There were some loops in the course and a couple of "there-and-back" scenarios that I usually dislike; in this case, though, it gave Melissa and me the chance to touch base and encourage each other! And the sightseeing was great!

I physically did not feel as if I were running a very fast race, but feelings can often be deceptive.  I crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 53 seconds, which bested my previous best by about four and a half minutes.  I finished 44th out of 229 finishers, but the most unexpected result was that I finished second in my men's 55-59 age category, garnering a little prize and a photo opportunity on their victory podium.  That was nice, but standing around in the cold park with the wind getting worse by the minute was an ordeal.  During the race, I was by myself most of the time, which was a bit different from all the others I've been in when I ran for long stretches around other runners.

I'm very glad that I did this race, and more so that Melissa accompanied me.  We had a great time driving around the area and visiting places that brought up old memories.  And, of course, we also noted how much things had changed in some respects...

My February 2013 Running Report

February turned out to be an unexpectedly good month for my running, in spite of its beginning with me suffering from an upper respiratory malady and having concerns regarding work and family.  In fact, although I didn't reach the pinnacle of 200 miles that I attained in 31-day January, I made full use of this 28-day month, piling up 180.41 miles in all.  I also was able to maintain my personal record consecutive day running streak, at month's end standing at 304 days.  My longest run in February was for 10 miles.  I didn't participate in any public races, though. 

I tended to continue my routine of splitting up my daily runs into morning/road and night/treadmill components, establishing the truth that you can get yourself to do practically anything if you can just get first habituated to it!  The weather in February generally sucked, with ridiculously warm temperatures and suffocating humidity, making me sometimes question myself what planet I live on, of course with a nod to Star Trek's Dr. McCoy (I wonder if you know what I'm talking about).  Good news, though: winter seems to be back, at least at the start of March.  It's getting back down into the thirties at night, and the race I plan to run on March 3 promises to have a shivery start.  But that's cool...I mean REAL cool.  Literally, dude...

Guy Fieri and My Favorite TV Show

My cable television company provides a wide assortment of specialty channels.  There are channels for auto racing, tennis, golf, animals, and home and garden, just to scratch the surface.  There are also some channels that USED TO be specialty channels (MTV, History, The Learning Channel) but now just program useless garbage.  Usually I avoid specialty channels regardless of the garbage level.  And this usually also applies to another one, the Food Channel, because I generally detest shows on cooking.  You can have your Rachael Ray and Paula Deen...just keep 'em off my TV when I am in front of it, thank you.  And I really, deeply, detest those shows that pit cooks against each other in competitions or involve "experts" insulting the dishes of contestants.  But out of all the uselessness, there still stands one show on this channel that is so, so much fun to watch that it has become my current number one favorite show in all of television: Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

In Diners, Drive-In, and Dives, chef-in-his-own-right Guy Fieri (or just "Guy", that'll do fine) travels the USA searching for local eateries that produce excellent food for its customers.  The show is set up to filter out the "losers" in advance: all we end up seeing are just the successes, with Guy amiably chumming up with different restaurant owner/cooks as they demonstrate how they prepare their more popular dishes.  Guy has an infectious personality, with an uncanny ability to hit it off well with just about every sort of character (some pretty offbeat) that one might encounter whipping up a delicious meal somewhere.  Part of each visit (usually to three different establishments per half-hour episode) involves filming how the food is prepared, usually from scratch, back in the kitchen. The other part involves going to the dining area and showing how the food is presented to the tables, with Guy eliciting the "customary" fawning approval of customers.  I love the positive vibes of this show, something you sometimes want when flicking on the boob tube after a hard, grueling day at the office.  ...And also, I used to be one of those cooks back in a restaurant kitchen (for eight years, actually), prepping ingredients, mixing them, cooking them up, and setting them out for the server to present in the dining area. 

If you want a respite from a lot of the negative crap polluting our television programming, then take a break and watch Guy do his magic.  I dare you to watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and not smile! 

Reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

I am in the middle of reading David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas. And by that I mean I'm right smack in the middle of it, exactly halfway through.  You may have read this book, but most likely you've heard of it through last year's movie version.  When I saw the preview ads on television, I was instantly interested and wanted to see it upon its release.  However, I then read a couple of reviews that were a bit critical of the film.  The impression they gave me was that it would behoove me to first read the book in order to be able to properly follow and understand the movie.  So I skipped the cinematic run of Cloud Atlas and opted instead to obtain the book.  Good decision.

Already in the first 250 pages of this novel is enough material that I think would necessitate more than one movie...preferably three...to adequately give expression to the story's flow and character development.  I still, at this point, have no clue as to how the author will conclude what amounts to several nested, unfinished short tales that jump from the past through the present and then on to a speculative science fiction future.  There are subtle connections that tie the seemingly unrelated stories together, not to mention at least one character in each of them.  Each of them is written in a completely different writing style as well, which at first was cumbersome to plod through but which now I find to be delightful.

Except for the movie trailer and those two reviews, I went into reading Cloud Atlas cold, with no background knowledge of its author.  I'm sure David Mitchell is known in contemporary literary circles for this and other works, but when I tried to check out a copy of Cloud Atlas from my local public library (which serves the University of Florida community here in Alachua County), I discovered that they had no copies, but were in the process of ordering some in response to the high demand generated by the movie.  Well, finally I got to check out a copy...then began reading.  After reading a little of it, I then returned the book to the library and went down to a local bookstore and purchased a copy for my very own.

Cloud Atlas is a slow read, quite unlike books like the Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia series that I raced through.  I intend to write a more adequate review for it after I'm finished, but I will at this point say that I've already easily gotten my money's worth from this intriguing work. 

And yes, I plan to eventually watch that movie!

My Apathy with Sequester Issue

The news is focusing on the "sequester" possibility with our federal spending, when automatic drastic cuts with take place  across the board if an agreement cannot be reach by the rapidly approaching deadline between the President and Congress.  I know that this is something about which I should probably have a strong opinion to express on this blog, but instead all I can feel in this regard is a kind of numbed apathy.  Still, my instincts and discernment of the situation lead me to side with President Obama and the Democratic-led Senate against the Republican "controlled" House of Representatives.  I say "controlled" because this body seems out of control to me, with House Speaker John Boehner utterly incapable of convincing his own caucus to back any deal that he might reach with Obama.  Then the dude gets on TV and instead insults the President and the Democrats, as if that will accomplish anything constructive!  Personally, I think he should just resign from his leadership post since he has shown nothing resembling leadership.  Let another conservative get in there to try to work something out. Somebody who can actually behave like a leader instead of a whining crybaby!

No, I'm not even keeping up with how many days are left before the cuts kick in automatically.  But whatever happens, I'm sure that the two sides will put their own spins on it, complete with mutually contradicting alternative realities and "facts" with their eyes primarily focused on winning the next congressional election in 2014, not working together to solve the nation's problems.

Are you as sick of all this crap as I am?

Forget "Article of the Day" From Now On

Once I had this notion that my hordes of faithful readers out there would click onto my website each day to follow what I had written for that day.  The days of that notion are gone, regrettably, as I know now that folks are either into their little Facebook social networking feedback loops and completely miss this blog, or only access it via a search of their topic of interest.  In either case, taking the pains to put out a daily article makes no sense.  Therefore, from now on I'm publishing 'em when I write 'em...

This is why you're about to experience articles #2, #3, and #4 for this one date: I wrote all of them together, and in a very short time span (along with this one)...

Asssorted Thoughts

Just some random notes to keep up some semblance of continuity on this blog, which I'm still attached to.  Times have been busy for me of late, and all sorts of different things are going on in my personal life, most of which are for the better.  The family is doing fine as well. 

--I'm disappointed in this so-called "winter".  Right now, around 11:30 in the morning, the temperature is 80 degrees and expect to rise several more.  Ugh, I get enough of this the rest of the year here in northern Florida...why can 't I get a break from it for just a month or two?!

--The University of Florida men's basketball team this year is one of their all-time best.  Whether or not they can win the national championship, though, depends on how they can deal with pressure.  So far, though, each time they have surged in the national rankings, they quickly lost their next game.

--The Los Angeles Lakers are an enigma.  With all of their talent, at this writing they are still four games under .500.  The ultimate question the sports analysts are asking is whether Dwight Howard is finally getting into form and will play an important role in their success during the rest of the regular season.  He had a good game a couple of nights ago against Boston.  If the Lakers can play to that level the rest of the year, then they should be able to sneak into the playoffs.  And once they're able to accomplish that, who knows how far they will go...

--I am still running, with plans to enter a half-marathon race in Tavares, Florida, on March 3. 

--My workplace is undergoing draconian changes in employee assignments, reporting times, and days off.  Hopefully, my dear colleagues there will be able to adjust to the often very sudden demands put upon them with their altered schedules.  After all, we all have lives of our own, many of us with family members who depend on us to be there for them according to our availability.  A little more advance warning from the party making these changes would have been sheer, common courtesy.  But here we are and this is what we have to deal with...  

Re: Recent Sparcity of Blog Articles

In case you haven't noticed it (how couldn't you), this blog's entries have tended to be rather sparse in the past few days, even months.  I used to put out daily articles, but a combination of factors has slowed down my writing rate.  One is that my daily schedule is more full of other things, and any time I have left over to write often slips by or finds me too tired.  Another factor is that I have come to my wit's end with the nonsense I see going on in the news, particularly in the realm of politics.  I see a handful of folks on TV like the brilliant Rachel Maddow tackle and refute a lot of the worst head-on, but there is so much b.s. going on that I feel overcome should I  pay too much attention to it.  Of course, there are other things I can write about, but even with those I seem to have lost a crucial degree of interest in sharing my thoughts with others on the Web.  I don't know whether this will be permanent or is just short-term.  But that's how it is, anyway...

March Half-Marathon in the Works

It is looking more and more like I will be running in that Sunday, March 3 Orange Blossom Half-Marathon in Tavares/Mount Dora.  It also looks as if Melissa will be accompanying me; she plans to walk the 5K event when I run mine.  I just got that Satuday off so, we can make a weekend out of it! And that has special meaning because she grew up in that area in Lake County, while I myself lived there for a few months back in 1987.

Meanwhile, much further south where I grew up, half-marathons abound year-round.  There are two events held regularly, both in northern Dade County.  One is just east of North Miami Beach and the other is in Hialeah.  Both are trail runs, too.  It might be fun to try one or both of them out on future visits.  But the only reason I still have to visit there is to attend to my 86-year-old father.  Maybe I can schedule a trip there around when they're holding a half-marathon. But I don't think I'll be running anything long in south Florida during the hot and humid summer months: I had a bad experience down there a couple of years ago when I was almost overcome by the heat and humidity, and on a relatively short four-mile jog at that. 

Attractive [Personality] Models, Part II

Back a couple of years, I ran across a book written by ultra-marathon distance runner Dean Karnazes about his passion for this sport, aptly titled Ultramarathon Runner.  The book is more or less a rough autobiography of "Karno", as he is popularly known, as it relates to his running.  One thing that stood out in this account was this individual's very strong sense of purpose and determination when it came to identifying his goals and then acting upon them, regardless what anyone around him said about their attainability.  His philosophy mirrored that of one of his early running coaches: go all out from the very beginning until the finish, and if you have anything left at the end...then you didn't try hard enough!  Well, I think in order to live my life in this matter, I would need heaping amounts of both courage and faith in my eventual success in the face of the inevitable pain, exhaustion, and discouragement that heady, even sometimes outrageously ambitious undertakings can  elicit.  But I think that it has been these very factors, which would filter out most of us, that has motivated Karnazes in his efforts.  For he believes that his courage and the triumph of his doggedness WILL achieve success.  Period.  Karnazes hasn't just done this with his running exploits: he has also overachieved both in college, as a corporate executive, and as an independent entrepreneur. 

Do I personally know others like Karno? Not exactly: I know many people whose determination to achieve a difficult goal has been inspirational, but I couldn't really say that it was a defining characteristic of their personality.  And perhaps this, realistically, is where I would want to emulate someone like Mr. Karnazes...by identifying some specific areas in my life that I strongly desire to achieve greatness in and then pouring on the effort to go full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes!   

Attractive [Personality] Models, Part I

There is a type of personality that I envy; not that I actually would want to exchange identities with those who possess it.  For the most part, I tend to be reserved, passive, and not a wee bit suspicious concerning my interactions with others.  For anyone who knows anything about my upbringing as a child, this should not come as a surprise.  After all, we grow up emulating those around us the most and tend to adopt their demeanor and outlook, including how we see and react to other people.  But from time to time in my life, I have run across others who approach their social dealings in an entirely different manner, cultivating each individual relationship in conversation with the theme almost always being getting to know the other and their experiences and views.  You might think that this personality type exhibits some degree of maturity, but I encountered more of them in my early, pre-adolescent childhood among some of my age-group peers.  Then, going through puberty seemed to change a lot of them into reserved, hypercompetitive types with whom an interaction was seen as a contest, if not a threat to them.  But even in high school, I would occasionally (not often, though) run across a refreshing, friendly soul whose attitude was positive and interested.  The most striking occurrence with this was back in my tenth grade chemistry class when, out of the blue, a kid a year older than me, Steve, introduced himself and instituted a friendship.  He displayed a mixture of that childlike (not childish) enthusiasm and friendliness... plus something I would later abruptly recognize on PBS Playhouse's version of a forties' hit movie...

In the early 1980's, I had pretty much isolated myself from the world at large, living alone like a hermit except when the need arose to go to work (where I pretty much kept to myself as well, with some notable exceptions).  One exquisitely solitary evening at home, I had my tiny b/w television tuned in to the local Public Broadcasting channel when "their" new version of the old cinematic classic You Can't Take It With You came on.  The starring role in this one (more so than in the original 1938 movie) was the oddball family's "Grandpa" Martin Vanderhof, perfectly played by Jason Robards.  This character captivated me by his interest in others and his relaxed demeanor about life in general.  Robards stole the movie with his portrayal and made this 1984 version of an already popular story something that all good pieces of art, music, and literature do: it began to effect a change within me, in this case with me looking more outward than inward. 

I don't possess Martin's personality...at least most of the time I don't.  But I do often find myself engaging others in the very same type of banter that he did in that unforgettable show I saw nearly thirty years ago.  But get this: this character, by his own admission, had undergone a transformational change himself and had made a decision to value things that were more important.  His choice was to abandon the pursuit of a high-stress career, leaving the rat race to others.  My change may not manifest in the exact same way as his, but we just might end up in the same place, anyway.  I hope so, at least: he seemed to be one happy dude!

Some Half-Marathons in My Area

After successfully completing the Ocala Half-Marathon on January 20, I began to look ahead on the calendar for more upcoming races of this distance taking place in my general area.  Since I work on Saturdays and am off on Sundays, I focused on the races offered on Sunday and ignored the rest.  One race stuck out: the Tallahassee Half-Marathon, held on February 3.  I had only been in my home state's capital city once in my life, in 1994, and I was only then driving through it on my way to Texas.  A visit and a run...yes, that sounded appealing, at least at the beginning...

I was hoping that the Tallahassee Half-Marathon's course would wind through the various interesting sites of this important city, including Florida State University, Florida A&M, and the downtown area which features various state government buildings such as the state capitol.  Instead, though, when I visited the event's website, I discovered that, although the race did begin and end at FSU, it quickly turned down a "rails-to-trails" path that ran out of the city: a "there-and-back" course, avoiding the more interesting sites I wanted to experience as a runner/tourist.  That's a shame, because I already have a race like that in Gainesville: the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon, held in the late autumn on another converted railway-to-pathway (leading away from Gainesville...and then back).  It's fun to run in (I've done it twice so far), but I like the more tourist-friendly Five-Points event held in February, and which goes through the heart of Gainesville as well as the University of Florida.  Alas, though, I'm committed to something else (more important) this year when this race happens on February 17...

Well, my disappointment at the Tallahassee race course turned out to be a moot point as I had developed an annoying, nagging cough due to a cold combined with allergies.  I didn't feel up to running that distance anyway, so passing up on that race wasn't such a bad deal.  Besides...

On March 3, in Tavares, Florida, there will be a half-marathon race that goes by some pretty lakeside scenery.  It's on a Sunday morning, too.  In 1987, I lived for about seven months down there in Lake County, a few miles west of Tavares in Leesburg (in the general vicinity of Orlando).  It's not a very long drive there and back, and the race looks very interesting.  So if things keep looking positive and I keep up my health, then maybe I'll try this one more half-marathon before the temperatures here in Florida begin to heat up in the springtime. 

There is one additional point I'd like to make about the way some of these races are organized, one that has made me scratch some of them off my list of possibilities. The race packet pick-up is often mandated the day before in the race's city, which means that, unless I already live near or relatively close by, I would have to make an overnight commitment to stay at a hotel (I think that's their cynical idea behind this policy) or make two long trips.  To the credit of the Tallahassee and Tavares organizers, neither of them made packet pickup a requirement the day before the race, giving runners the option of picking them up on raceday morning before the start.  Others are rigid with this pack pickup policy: if the race is farther from my home than Ocala (about 40 miles distant), these folks can just forget about my participation.  So another race taking place near Live Oak next month that could have been fun to run in won't see me anywhere near there since they have this ridiculous "day-before" mandated packet pickup policy...

My General Political Stances

It's been quite a while since I've written about politics.  So let me recap my general views on things in that area.  I tend to support more liberal positions on the issues, so that usually lands me squarely in the Democratic camp as opposed to the Republicans.  I like health insurance reform, but I think the recently enacted Affordable Care Act didn't go far enough and should have been tax-supported instead of having an enormous competitive disadvantage placed on the backs of American businesses, which really don't have a logical connection with health insurance benefits other than that, in the beginning, some companies offered them as a lure to employees and the practice gradually expanded.  I support immigration reform, which is needed for different reasons, not the least of which being that we don't need a subclass walking our supposedly free streets too afraid to seek police protection from the real criminals out there.  I support firearms regulation and actually do something the so-called conservatives usually insist upon (but don't when discussing gun control): I read the United States Constitution, specifically its Second Amendment, in the context of the late eighteenth century when it was written and when the fledgling nation had no standing peacetime army.  It depended upon its citizenry, along with their ready arms, to be quickly available in response to a military necessity.  Now that we have the world's most powerful standing armed forces, that need is unnecessary and the amendment is outmoded.  I believe that deficits and the national debt should not be interpreted in terms of raw dollar amounts, but rather in relation to the amount of gross domestic product...and that the tax breaks given to the wealthy in essence amount to the rich being the biggest "takers" of government entitlements.  I believe that patience and diplomacy should accompany our use of military and that the sheer presence of our forces in an troubled region can sometimes be an effective deterrent to threats against us, without necessarily instituting open conflict.  There are other issues, some of which you may fault me for omitting... but what I'm done here is cover some of the more pressing, headline-grabbing issues affecting us now...

My January 2013 Running Report

In January, my running mileage continued to mount as I continued to run both mornings and nights.  Also, each run tended to be for longer distances.  This was supposed to be the one month of the year that I could count on for pleasant, cool and cry conditions outdoors.  Instead, it was usually hot and humid.  Nevertheless, I plodded on and even did the Ocala Half-Marathon on the 20th, with an unanticipated fast (for me) time of 1:55:20.  Considering that I hadn't run a half-marathon in over a year, not to mention the very hilly course located primarily just south of Ocala, I was surprised how well this race went for me.  But for the past several days of the month, I have been suffering from upper respiratory tract woes and the running has dwindled.  Still...

I still managed to top 200 miles, with a total of 200.72 for January.  Also, I ran on every day, bringing my running streak to 276 consecutive days.  But this streak may not last very far into this month unless the health concern I just mentioned doesn't clear up.  My longest run was, naturally, the 13.1 mile half-marathon.

I don't see myself in February running as much as I did in January. Still, once I've recovered I hope to resume "running" up the mileage and at least adhere to my original 100-miles-per-month strategy...

Upcoming February Stress and My Serenity

The upcoming month of February, 2013 looms as one of those transitional (or transformational) times that I find myself passing through, albeit not necessarily as I would like.  It seems, though, that, like it or not, many areas of my life will be tested and most probably changed considerably by the time that March 1 rolls around.  Health, family, work...everything seems to be coming to a head in February.  Some things I see ahead for me that are for the good, but some give me an ominous feeling of foreboding.  There is a wonderful saying that some Christian circles use for stressful and potentially dangerous times like this, and it is called The Serenity Prayer, composed by Reinhold Niebuhr (this is just its first part):

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

I need to pass through what I see as a period of stressful instability in my various situations, but I can remain serene through it all!  As a matter of fact, this may be a vital survival strategy for me...

Renewing Interest in Watching Tennis

My 86-year old father is mentally sharp as a tack, although he often complains that the rest of his body seems to be breaking down.  One of his passions, something that he has enjoyed for decades, is watching professional tennis on TV.  I remember as a teenager following players like Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Billy Jean King, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Björn Borg in the 1970s, but once I moved away to live on my own I ceased to care about the sport.  So the years have passed and now it is 2013.  I talk regularly on the phone with my father, and he often brings up tennis.  He knows that I don't follow it, but still he speaks the names of various players and tournaments as if I know who and what he's talking about.  Well, I now feel I'm in a better position to hold my own in a tennis discussion with him because...

I already knew (from my dad) that the Australian Open was ongoing.  Favored Serena Williams had already been eliminated, and my father had already mentioned an upstart young American woman who had advanced far past her ranking.  On the men's side, my father favored Novak Djokovic over the others, which as it turns out is a good thing...he's the best player in the world right now! But I was only marginally aware of him until a few nights ago when I accidentally dozed off in front of the television with the channel on ESPN...and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to witness a live broadcast of an Australian Open semifinals match between Djokovic and fourth seeded David Ferrer.  Normally, I would have just dozed back off to sleep.  Instead I became entranced by the match and thought that maybe...just maybe, tennis wasn't all that boring to watch after all.  After Djokovic disposed of his opponent in straight sets, ESPN showed a replay of the final minutes in one of the women's semifinals pitting eventual champion Victoria Azarenka against that "upstart American" Sloane Stephens.  In one game, Azarenka had five match points against Stephens, including a double match point, but her young opponent managed to come from behind with incredible tenacity and win that game.  She eventually lost that match, but made a deep impression on me as someone who may end up ranked #1 in the not-to-distant future.

I also later saw the replay of the men's finals match between Djokovic and Andy Murray, which the former won with much more difficulty than he had in the semifinals. 

Tennis is something that I may find myself watching more of.  Of course, just knowing what I do now already greatly enhances the quality of the phone chats I have with my father.  But I also like the timelessness of the sport, something akin to baseball, where the athletes, coaches, fans, and officials aren't slaves to the clock...

Are L.A. Lakers Back on Track?

Last night I was watching a basketball game on TV.  There haven't been too many lately that have attracted my interest, but this one was special: the Los Angeles Lakers were hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder...and were slightly ahead early in the fourth quarter.  The Lakers were supposed to be the team to beat in the NBA this year after they acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.  But instead, they floundered and now find themselves on the outside of a playoff spot, several games under .500 with the regular season just past halfway over.  The problem with this team that has such a star lineup as the previous two, along with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace, has yet to figure out a way to work effectively together.  I know that the Miami Heat faced a similar situation a couple of years ago when they acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh, but at least they were generally winning their games.  The Lakers have looked comparatively weaker.  But very recently, it has begun to look as if they are beginning to get their "mojo" back.  This game against the Thunder, which has the best record in the NBA, showed a different LA team: everyone playing in harmony!  I was stunned by their lead, and wondered whether they could hold it until the end of the game.

I happened to encounter this game while running on a treadmill (which sports a built-in television) at my workout gym.  I sometimes play a little game of my own and tell myself I'll keep running until a specific thing happens on a show I'm watching (usually its ending). So I vowed to stay on the treadmill until this game was over, although I had originally only intended to run a couple of miles.  Instead, when the shocking final score of "Lakers 105, Thunder 96" was flashed on the screen, I had covered four miles.  Thanks for the inspiration, team!

I used to despise the Lakers because one of their players, Andrew Bynum, displayed thuggish behavior during the playoffs a couple of years ago against a Dallas Mavericks player.  He's gone, and they still have a problematic member in World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, a player with a long trail of behavior problems.  Still, he seems to fit well with the others and I do think that Nash and Bryant are incredible players.  So I'm rooting for them now.  We'll just have to see how lasting this resurgence truly is.  They already just made a huge statement by beating the Thunder!

Goal, Project, Routine, Habit, Event, Review

I am 56 years old, and I have a long way to go.  No, I don't mean by this that I know that I will live to be very old; nobody really knows what the next day, or for that matter, even the next minute will bring.  No, I mean that, for where I am standing right here in my life, there are several areas that could stand improvement, some being in the zone of "dire" improvement.  Some of these areas can be observed by others, while some are internal in nature, not readily discerned.  But all have the same basic features in common when it comes to tackling them and making some lasting improvement. 

First, there is the goal.  Say, for example,  that I want to keep my home and car clean, uncluttered, and organized (this turns out to be one of those "dire", observable needs). I first have to recognize not only that I want to improve in this area, but also be more specific in my aims.  Then comes a plan of action, sure to spotlight the need for routines. But often the first thing to do is an initial project...

Before working to maintain my home area, I first need to undertake the major, time consuming task of overhauling the mess I've built up over the years.  This project is not necessarily something that can always be broken down to daily routines.  Rather, large blocks of time often have to be set to get this work done.  In other areas, it isn't necessarily time that is a factor: obtaining the necessary equipment and tools for the goal is often a prerequisite.  Once that initial project has been completed, though, it is time to institute routines...

Routines are regular actions I take, and for which I record my progress, that are designed to improve the area of my goal.  So when I spend time and effort working on my car, in my yard, or house (and especially that cluttered garage), I time myself and write down time spent, along with the nature of the activity.  Sometimes doing this before I plan out routines gives me a more realistic picture of what I am capable of doing, avoiding making unrealistic targets that set me up for failure.  Once these routines become a part of my unconscious behavior, they become habits...

Developing good habits is the ultimately successful outcome in any self-improvement goal.  Because, after all, I am by definition trying improving my self, and I want the habits to be healthful and part of me.  But along with developed constructive habits goes something that, in my opinion, makes them more permanent: the event...

An event, or test, if you will, exposes the results of a self-improvement program, usually in a more public or social setting.  With keeping my home environment clean and in order, this might well mean having people over for company...even regular group meetings for various purposes.  In running, the event would be a public race.  Writing could be culminated in seeking publishing for money (this blog is automatically published and counts to me as more of a routine). Each area can have its own type of event that publicly demonstrates what has been accomplished.

Finally, there is one other stage to self-improvement, one that I think often gets neglected: review.  Looking back through my records (and memory) at my goals and their fulfillment (or lack thereof) can shed light on what is really important and what isn't.  It can lead the way to new goals or a redirection of old ones.  The problem with reviewing is that too often, no time is set aside to perform this necessary function. 

The goal, project, routine, habit, event, and review are each important elements within a program of self-improvement.  Taken together, they greatly enhance the prospects for success and personal empowerment...

The Running Tourist Thwarted

When I first became interested in entering the longer running races like marathons and half-marathons a few years ago, I naturally went on the blogosphere to see what other similarly interested folks were writing about the topic and their experiences.  One blogger, a woman a few years older than me, had just completed the Walt Disney World Marathon (I think it was January 2010).  She wasn't a fast runner and that didn't bother her a bit, something that I could definitely relate to.  Instead, while completing this theme park course she would take pictures of what was going on around her, effectively becoming a "running tourist".  I thought that this would a cool thing for me to take up, too.  I had just finished a local half-marathon, my first ever, and discovered by surfing the Net just how many there were nationwide.  I also had plans then of lengthening my distance to the marathon event.  Had I the free time and funds, this would have been a fun ongoing adventure.  But alas,  I am limited in what I can do.  Still, I have thought of taking pictures while in the races I do enter.  With poor results...

Take this last race I ran, the Ocala Half-Marathon, a few days ago.  I had thought about bringing my Kodak digital camera along, but instead opted for running with my cellphone and its camera.  Bad decision.  The few photos I took on it were too blurry to use.  Better to just strap on a fanny pack and take out the Kodak instead when a photo opportunity presents itself.  More than that, though, I found myself too caught up in the running to pay that much attention to my surrounding environment.  And the start of the race was relatively dark, anyway. 

The last time I was in Ocala running this course, I had been forced to walk much of it due to a leg injury.  I enjoyed the sightseeing, at least, and wished then I had carried a camera along.  But this time, the running changed my focus, even though I could have looked around more.  I wondered why I'm like this and then it dawned on me that when I am training, I am either running around my neighborhood, past house after house, or using the treadmill.  With the latter, I had better not look around too much or I'll lose my balance on the machine.  And with the former, I have been very careful not to look as if I am casing the neighborhood by gawking at other people's private residences.  So I generally look down the road instead.  Frankly, after all of these years of running past the same houses, I couldn't begin to describe what the great majority of them even look like...

So if and when I enter another half-marathon, I'll just strap on that fanny pack and whip out that Kodak.  And resurrect the running tourist...

Jerks on the Half-Marathon Course

Regarding Sunday's half-marathon I ran in, I noticed something again that had happened to me the previous half-marathon I participated in more than a year before.  At a relatively early time in the race (with this one it was around the five-mile mark), a male runner passed me...and then slowed down, as if he were trying to express something to me.  I, in turn, had to slow down and get behind him, because at that time runners were coming at me head-on in the opposite direction and he had essentially forced me into their path when he passed.  I think he knew this and deliberately pulled this stunt just to get my attention.  A little while down the road I passed him again...and then he would speed up and pass me...and then slow down.  This went on for miles.  He was changing his pace over and over again while I kept at a pretty constant rate.  Finally, toward the race's end, he seemed to be permanently behind me.  Until just as we were about to cross the finish line, when he suddenly sprinted full-throttle past me and crossed the finish line.  I meant to ask him after the race what all this b.s. of his was about, since he was obviously much younger than me and I looked like a pretty old dude.  But this creepy person had disappeared.  Later I found that he was in his early thirties by looking at the results. 

This guy obviously was trying to personally compete with me among the 262 runners entered, for reasons only he knows.  So he was competitive: I get it, this is a race, after all.   But had he done what I did and run at a more challenging pace for himself, he would have been perfectly capable of running five to ten minutes faster.  I myself was spent at the end, with no capacity to sprint to the finish line.  So he, in my opinion, is little more than a coward in his sport, too chicken-**it to take a chance and see what's he's really made of.  Instead he picks a "fight" with a complete stranger who is old enough to have been his father...

A similar instance occurred at the DeLeon Springs Half-Marathon I ran back in January 2012.  Another runner decided to do this same coy act on the course of speeding up and then slowing down for me to pass him.  And then sprint past me at the end.  Another dude who could have finished much faster had he decided to gut it out like a real man and not pick a contest with another entrant who wasn't even in on the "joke". 

Lance Armstrong and the Competitive Psyche

The news is out, not that it's really news, as far as I am concerned.  Lance Armstrong has finally admitted to all sorts of illegal drug use in order to gain an unfair advantage over his opponents in bicycle racing.  In each of the seven Tour de France competitions that he won, Armstrong was doping himself up, according to his own words expressed in a recently released interview with Oprah Winfrey.  But I already knew the dude had been doing this: many witnesses, including his own teammates, had testified to this fact already.  It is annoying, but I suppose also human for someone to belligerently and repeatedly deny their guilt even when confronted with the facts.  That, though, isn't what this article is about.  It's about the competitive psyche of folks like Armstrong.

I think it can possibly be a dangerous lure for someone to have just enough talent in an athletic area that they can catch "competitive fever" and go all out for that championship in whatever sport they happen to be involved with.  I see people involved in running who are like this.  I'm not one of them because I'm not all that talented.  But others are consumed with competition, and it is from these that a few are so fanatical and single-minded about winning that they will cut any corner, violate any rule, in order to get their "victory fix".  I don't personally know of any athletes who have crossed the line into illicit doping, but at least in the sport of running I know of some who define themselves in terms of how fast their times are.  Needless to say, I don't "qualify" to be in the same company.

That doesn't mean, though, that I don't care how fast I run my races.  Before yesterday's Ocala Half-Marathon that I ran in, I set the bar pretty low for myself as far as personal goals were concerned: just finish the danged race without having to walk!  But as the race developed, I found myself in a competitive cloud, trying to outpace other runners and finish fast.  Crossing that finish line was in itself important, to be sure, but at the moment it happened I was keenly aware of my finishing time as well! So I have a competitive streak within me, too.  But although I tend to get caught up in the fervor while the race is on and sometimes brag a little if I finish relatively well, I don't enter races with the view of beating others or setting personal records.  And the thought of cheating by using banned substances defeats the whole purpose of it all, since (1) I'm not in a class where my results would matter to others beyond myself or closest friends and family and (2) (more importantly) using those substances would be tantamount to getting on a bicycle and whizzing by the other runners while proclaiming myself faster than them, an idiotic notion. And, of course, there are the ethical ramifications of cheating.
 
Sports are games, and as such shouldn't be taken so seriously.  But there are some people how don't know how to lighten up and take the significance of "their" sport into perspective.  They seem to have an issue with self-esteem, with winning a prerequisite to feeling good about oneself.  But when they win, more often then not they are arrogant about it, as if this means that they are better than others.  I remember a lot of this in high school, and my track team had some real athletic snobs on it.  It's no wonder, in fact, that with all of the performance-enhancing chemicals floating around in the black market, that many athletes at the top of their sport would jump at the chance to gain an edge...and "matter", at least in their own minds. Of course, the fact that the big money to be made in sports is usually reserved for the very top performers is an aggravating factor leading to illegal doping...

Happy With Ocala Half-Marathon Experience

This morning I ran the Ocala Half-Marathon, marking the second time in three years I've gone down there (in 2011 I entered their marathon).  This time I wanted simply to enjoy running the course to completion, something impossible the last time when a leg injury forced me to walk much of the distance.  And it was a resounding success as I finished the 13.1-mile course in 1 hour 55 minutes 20 seconds, pretty much tying my personal record for this distance.  The fact that the course was very hilly made this time surprising to me, along with fact that I hadn't run this far at one time since I ran the DeLeon Springs Half-Marathon on New Years Day 2012. Here are the results from the event's website.

The starting temperature at the 7:15 AM starting time was in the mid-fifties and rose to around 70 by the race's completion.  The humidity was high throughout (a negative), but the sky was mostly overcast (a definite positive, eliminating sunrise glare).  I had loaded up by eating a whole pizza the night before and had plenty of energy to sustain me throughout.

The folks who organized this event, along with the volunteers and other runners, were all friendly and easy to talk with.  I have no complaints on any front (well, maybe one about one of the runners) and plan to enter the Ocala Half-Marathon next year...as long as my health holds up, that is.

I credit much of my running success in this race to the fact that, although I rarely did long training runs, I still amassed a lot of mileage by running twice on many days.  I also lost some weight in the process, and that no doubt helped me to "drag" my body though 13.1 miles...

2013 Ocala Half-Marathon Almost Here

As the number of days before this Sunday's Ocala Half-Marathon dwindles, I am trying to train in the best possible way to avoid any injuries while maintaining my running endurance level.  The two seem to run contrary to each other, though.  If I run too much, that increases the risk of a strain or pull.  That's what happened in 2011 when I trained too much in the two weeks before the Ocala Marathon; I was in pain for most of that race, having to walk the past seven miles with an IT-band injury.  But the way I see it, after my recent nearly-eleven mile run to see if I could handle the race distance of 13.1 miles, just sticking to what I have been doing is probably the best way to success.  After all, I won't be losing endurance this way...

I will run moderately short distances on Saturday and Monday.  That should help both in pre-race readiness and in post-race recovery.  I am not trying to beat anyone and, quite frankly, am not very concerned with my personal finishing time.  Just being able to run in this event, which features some pretty scenic views and back roads, is a treat.  I'll be happy just covering the race course successfully to completion, running this time across the finish line (instead of walking).

List Madness: Kasabian Songs Rated From Top To Bottom

Kasabian is a British alternative rock band that has made four albums in the past eight years.  I first heard their music in 2005 when my local alternative rock radio station (which has since abandoned that genre) frequently played their hit Club Foot.  Not particularly liking this piece at the time, I ignored them until the next song they played a few months later: L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever).  And then the following song was even better: Reason is Treason.  All three were from their debut eponymous album.  Later I acquired their subsequent works and have developed quite an attachment to their music.  Instead of repeating information about the band's members, here is a link to the article in Wikipedia.

Lately, Kasabian has become the band that I predominantly listen to, especially while out running.  So I decided to do what I've done with other musical acts and list their songs according to my liking.  Please note, though, that ALL of their material is good, even that #45 track!

Following each song's listing is a letter standing for the album it's from: [k] Kasabian, [e] Empire, [w] West Ryder Lunatic Asylum, and [v] Velociraptor!.  The band is still intact, in fact trying to get a foothold in the United States market by touring over here.  Good luck to them!  Anyway, here's my highly subjective, personal list...

1 Fire [w]
2 Me Plus One [e]
3 Test Transmission [k]
4 Secret Alphabets [w]
5 Days Are Forgotten [v]
6 Sun Rise Light Flies [e]
7 Reason is Treason [k]
8 I Hear Voices [v]
9 L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever) [k]
10 Velociraptor! [v]
11 Switchblade Smiles [v]
12 Processed Beats [k]
13 Stuntman [e]
14 Butcher Blues [k]
15 Where Did All the Love Go [w]
16 Pinch Roller/Cutt Off [k]
17 Empire [e]
18 Swarfiga [w]
19 Running Battle [k]
20 Last Trip (In Flight) [e]
21 Shoot the Runner [e]
22 Fast Fuse [w]
23 Ovary Stripe [k]
24 I.D./Orange [k]
25 Re-Wired [v]
26 Let's Roll Just Like We Used To [v]
27 Club Foot [k]
28 British Legion [e]
29 By My Side [e]
30 Underdog [w]
31 Seek & Destroy [e]
32 Apnoea [e]
33 Thick as Thieves [w]
34 Happiness [w]
35 Vlad the Impaler [w]
36 Take Aim [w]
37 West Ryder Silver Bullet [w]
38 U Boat [k]
39 The Doberman [e]
40 Man of Simple Pleasures [v]
41 Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter From the Storm) [v]
42 Neon Noon [v]
43 Goodbye Kiss [v]
44 Ladies & Gentlemen, Roll the Dice [w]
45 La Feé Verte [v]

Twilight 10.84 Mile Run

Yesterday at twilight, with the temperature at an unseasonably unpleasant 79 degrees, I set out on what I determined would be a test run.  Testing what, you might ask.  Testing my ability to withstand a 13.1 mile run, I might answer.  For I intend to register and run in the Ocala Half-Marathon, scheduled to take place this coming Sunday morning, January 20.  But first I had to see how I did on a longer-than-usual run. I had been amassing some impressive mileage recently but they were split runs.  I had to see what I could do in a single run...

As it turned out, I had nothing to be worried about.  I ran 10.84 miles and could have gone further had the nighttime poor visibility not made more running nearly impossible.  I had been concerned about hitting an "energy wall" when I would be too exhausted to finish.  That had happened to me a couple of years ago at about the 20-mile mark when I was training for the marathon.  But no energy wall this time; I just felt sore, which was to be expected since I hadn't covered this distance in nearly a year.  So now I'm waiting to see how well I recover from yesterday's run.  Today I ran 2.38 miles around my neighborhood and will most likely run a couple more on the treadmill later tonight.  Then, if I still feel good, I'll sign up for the race.  Should be fun.

I should have a easier go at it on race day morning, the way I see it.  For one, it should be cooler.  For another, I will have done my "carb-loading" the day before and should have more energy reserved for this race.  I have been wanting to return to the site of my painful 2011 marathon finish, when an IT-band injury compelled me to walk the last 7 miles of the 26.2 mile race.  This time I'm sticking with the half-marathon event, although the course is, for all purposes, the same, albeit without a repeated loop and a detour in the early goings...

NFL Now Down to Conference Title Games

The National Football League divisional playoffs are finished, so now we are left with the conference championship games to be decided next Sunday.  And then the winners will go on to the Super Bowl to determine the champion for this year.  I have had mixed results regarding my preferences (not necessarily the best teams) and their "survival".  This weekend saw me go 2-2 with the games: Green Bay sadly lost out to San Francisco and Houston (which I don't like anyway) fell to my nemesis New England (I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, understand).  On the plus side, though, the two teams I liked the most, Atlanta and Baltimore, won their games against Seattle and Denver, respectively (although the emotional theatrics demonstrated by the Ravens' soon-to-retire linebacker Ray Lewis were embarrassing, to put it diplomatically).  Oh by the way, you Denver fans...

I am still beside myself about the horrible way that the Denver Bronco management, in particular John Elway, treated Tim Tebow after he heroically lead his team from last place to division champion and a spot in the playoffs they had been missing out on for years.  Then to top it off, he led his team to a win against the then-defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round.  They lost in the division playoff round the next week.  And now we come to this year and Tebow's replacement, "Mister Perfect" Peyton Manning, who was supposed to be their certain ticket to the Super Bowl.  But guess what? They didn't advance any further in the playoffs then Tebow's team and are now OUT!!! Whoopee! I hope they NEVER make it to the Super Bowl after the way they treated ol' Timmy...

For the remaining teams, here are my personal preferences:

1-Baltimore Ravens
2-Atlanta Falcons
3-San Francisco 49ers
4-New England Patriots

But it won't exactly hurt my feeling if "my" teams lose and those pesky Pats win it all.  After all, at least they had the decency to avoid going undefeated this year...

Don't Give Up, But Change is O.K.

As I wrote in a letter to a loved one recently, a sign posted very visibly in the workout room of my local 24-hour gym (by the treadmills) gives the famous Winston Churchill quote "Never, never, never give up".  It is intended to be a motivational tool for the members as they work hard to get in shape.  I'm on board with it, too, but with one caveat...

Yes, determination usually pays off with our goals.  Keep trying and eventually there should be a positive payoff.  It helps, also, to be focused on one's goals with specific outcomes in mind, to be completed according to a timetable, however loosely that is devised.  Time should be allotted as well, giving a regular period when priority is given to working on the goals in question.  Good and well, I say.  But...

Sometimes, as goals are pursued, it becomes increasingly apparent that they really aren't the ones worth pursuing, and they change. This changing of goals to things more worthwhile isn't a violation of Churchill's exortation, though: it is a sign of maturity, not an indication of "giving" up, but rather "growing" up...

Unpleasantly Warm, Muggy Weather and My Running

I am quite beside myself with the state of the "winter" weather here in northern Florida.  Every day it's muggy and warm, not exactly conducive to the type of long, pleasant runs I had been anticipating for now.  Instead, I am left with the choice of building up my mileage by combining two separate runs: one in the morning pounding the streets of my neighborhood and then one late night after work, in my 24-hour workout gym on a treadmill.  Together I have been putting up impressive numbers (for myself) and am on pace to surpass last month's total.  Still, I would gladly trade that second treadmill run for a longer morning run in the cool, dry January air that used to exist in a bygone age.  Apparently it does not anymore, and from what I have seen on weather reports, no relief is in sight.

Surveillance Nation

There used to be an ethic in this country, at least perfunctorily adhered to, that it was a virtue to mind one's own business and live and let live.  But it seems that lately, and this may be partially due to 9/11 and a heightened sense of insecurity among the population, that as long as anyone sets foot outside their own front door, they are sure to come under scrutiny and surveillance.  It can also be argued that we have little privacy within our own homes, either, because of the unwelcome fact that practically anything we do on the Internet, on our own private computers inside our own formerly private domiciles, is subject to being traced.  And if we have cable, even what we watch on TV can be traced by the cable company; they even drive around neighborhoods with their "sweep analyzers" checking out homes to make sure no one is watching any "unauthorized" channels. But the saddest thing about it is that if I belabor this overwhelming loss of privacy and dignity to others, than I stand the risk of sounding like one of those paranoid ranters who see conspiracies everywhere and usually focus on them as being exclusively directed at themselves.  But I don't subscribe to this delusional thinking; I'm just reporting what I see.

It has come to the point with me that, regardless the circumstance I find myself in, I have a peripheral awareness of sources of surveillance around me.  I walk into a store and check for the security cameras, often well concealed.  Most traffic lights I pass beneath have their cameras pointing down into my car. My workplace is so loaded with surveillance and "scrutinizers" that it sometimes feels that even my private thoughts are being scanned.  Even at church of all places, I can't just face forward with my thoughts without someone from the praise and worship team staring down at me from the stage.  And my cell phone, with its GPS feature, can pinpoint and broadcast my exact spot on the map to "concerned" parties, whether I like it or not.

Needless to say, as I sit here at my favorite Starbucks in Magnolia Parke on 39th Avenue, where I have been a regular customer since it opened in 2000, there is a handy-dandy surveillance camera above recording me.  Just in case I'm one of those dangerous types, I suppose...   

Second Thoughts on Racing As 15K Event Approaches

Having recently expressed how little I want to participate in public running races, I may have to backtrack on that a bit as I consider entering a 15K (9.3 miles) race on the 26th of this month.  It's the Newnan's Lake 15K, which takes place around...Newnan's Lake, a relatively large lake due east of Gainesville.  The scenery there is reportedly very pretty, so maybe I'll get to run in a race that is pleasing to my eyes for a change.  I just completed a pretty easy eight-mile run yesterday, so tacking on an extra mile or so doesn't seem like anything that should cause me problems.  Since I'm not going to run in any half-marathons for a while, this race may be one of the last chances I have this year to run a race of reasonable distance (instead of those overcrowded, too-short 5K events).  Maybe I'll take along my digital camera for this one as I play the role of "running tourist".

I would like someday to go back to half-marathons, and think that this will eventually come to fruition.  The FivePoints half-marathon here in Gainesville will take place at a time that I'll be out of town, anyway (mid-February), so any question of my participation in it is a moot point, anyway.  But next year?  We'll see...

Another Great Dreary Day Run

Today it was dreary and overcast, with occasional drizzles and heavier rain into the evening.  It reminded me of that strange Christmas day in 2010 when, after first hesitating to go running due to forecasts of rain coupled with an annoying smoky haze settled over the area, I decided to try it anyway, amassing 20 miles before running out of energy just before the rain began to fall heavily (and the sky was nearly pitch black).  It was 63 degrees at about 3 PM when I set out on my more modest run today, intending to cover 4 or 5 miles around my neighborhood.  But there was something about the dark ambiance that appealed to me and I kept extending my run until I finished with 8.05 miles, the longest distance I have run at one time since April 9 of last year, when I covered 10 miles.  I felt that I could have matched that today as well but didn't want to push myself too hard. 

At the beginning of today's run, the weather was dry.  But about halfway through, rain began to drizzle lightly, lasting until I had finished.  The rain was a rather pleasant experience, I have to admit.  I can't remember when I have last run during a downpour: maybe I should deliberately try a short run when the next one happens to see how it goes for me...

It may seem to be a contradiction that I tend to pace myself faster when the sun is beating down on me, while I want to keep running and running when it's so grey and dark.  But running long and running fast are really two different things:  I like the endurance aspect of this activity more...

Churchill Optimism Quote

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.       ---Winston Churchill

A few weeks ago I wrote someone about this quote, which I think accomplishes the three-fold requirement of an enduring piece of wisdom: it's short, it's catchy, and above all, it's applicable to just about any area in our lives.  Churchill was speaking from the context of a wartime leader, and his people were enduring severe hardship as the enemy was bombing British cities, their economy was under strict rationing, and their soldiers were putting their lives on the line for their country.  In the midst of this situation, it would be only too easy to become negative and dwell on the surrounding difficulty.  But I know people around me who are living in affluence but can only find things to complain about how their lives are going.  When they grumble, it makes me wonder just how much they themselves contributed to their state of relative wealth, and how much they instead are benefiting from the work and sacrifice of others.  Because with an realistically optimistic attitude, I believe, comes one of gratitude and proactivity.

For me to have a "rosy" view of the future, I need to believe that I have an element of choice as to how I personally can contribute to its shaping.  For me to just remain passive and expect things to "work themselves out" would tend, or so it seems, to cause me to adopt a more pessimistic mindset in the long run.  Besides, a busy person, centered in the present moment, has little time to be gloomy about things.  Especially when there is so much cool stuff to do and experience!

GOP Clueless, Sticks With Boehner

I wish that the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives, which apparently has little desire to follow or respect its Speaker John Boehner, would have just selected someone else whose leadership skills they respected, or at least feared.  Instead, it looks as if part of our federal government will continue to be under the dominion of a bunch of extremists who will do everything they can to ensure that this country of mine declines...just so that they can then proclaim Barack Obama to be a failure as a president.  But wait, they've already done that, haven't they, even after he was just reelected.  Then again, though, as I have predicted beforehand, we're hearing that his  reelection was "stolen", wasn't it?

More of crybaby, profane John to come.

God help us...

This Year's Chick-fil-A and Sugar Bowls

I've been watching some of these season-ending football games, and with most of them I couldn't care less who won.  Take New Year's Eve's Chick-fil-A bowl in Atlanta between Louisiana State and Clemson.  I was confronted with this game on my television screen as being "the" football game available to watch, so I arbitrarily chose LSU to root for.  But as the game wore on, I came to admire Clemson, especially their talented and determined quarterback Tajh Boyd. It was also becoming apparent as the game progressed that, although the LSU team seemed to possess more overall talent and size than their opponent, they seemed to be more poorly coached.  Finally, I switched my allegiance completely to Clemson when the LSU coach foolishly called three consecutive passing plays (all incomplete, each stopping the clock) late in the game when they were protecting a two-point lead and were supposedly trying to run out the clock.  Clemson got the ball back, drove down the field (largely due to the intrepid Mr. Boyd) and kicked a game-winning field goal with time running out. I felt good about Clemson's victory although I had pulled against them for most of the game.  As for this bowl's sponsors, not only do I resent them changing the name of this game from the Peach Bowl to one exclusively of a corporate entity, but I also quickly tired of those endless Chick-fil-A commercials that were supposed to be funny.  But I don't see anything funny about a company whose leaders funnel some of their profits into a homophobic political agenda under the cover of religious doctrine.  Don't expect to see me anywhere near one of their restaurants anytime soon... 

Tonight the Sugar Bowl pits my Florida Gators against the Louisville Cardinals.  I'll be working so I won't be able to see this game, one where I actually care who wins.  Although many see this game as a mismatch with Florida heavily favored, I know better: the Gators have tended this year to play to the level of their opponent, be it higher or lower.  Expect a close game tonight, with Florida prevailing while people around wonder if they're really all that good: that's the way it's been for them all season!

*******
Later...
The better team, Louisville, won 33-23.  Still, I am proud of Florida's improvement this year and look forward to more progress next year!

My Favorite Songs of 2012

Well, 2012 is ending and I suppose it's time for me to list my favorite songs of the year.  You may notice, however, that few of the songs listed are current: these are songs that I enjoyed listening to in 2012, not those that received radio play or promotion.  As a matter of fact, I have deliberately shunned radio music, as it all pretty much sucks.  So those great musical celebrities I see on TV that I'm supposed to be interested in following...well, most of their "monster" hits I've never heard!  And I don't care to hear them, either...

My focus of musical interest in 2012 was pretty much restricted to five acts: the now defunct Gorillaz, Beck (who hasn't released anything new in five years), Linkin Park, Regina Spektor, and Kasabian.  Of these Regina and Kasabian have the most recent releases with songs on my list.  My current favorite act to listen to is Kasabian, an England alternative rock band that has released four albums so far.  I plan to list all of these songs in a future article, ranked from best to least liked. 

Here's my list of personal favorites spanning 2012:

1 Firewood by Regina Spektor
2 Fire by Kasabian
3 Open by Regina Spektor
4 Me Plus One by Kasabian
5 Blackout by Linkin Park
6 Test Transmission by Kasabian
7 Think I'm In Love by Beck
8 Novacane by Beck
9 Secret Alphabets by Kasabian
10 Days Are Forgotten by Kasabian
11 "Messing" With My Head by Beck (euphemistically retitled by me)
12 Sun Rise Light Flies by Kasabian
13 Pay No Mind by Beck
14 Dead Melodies by Beck
15 Wretches and Kings by Linkin Park
16 Timebomb by Beck
17 Reason is Treason by Kasabian
18 I Hear Voices by Kasabian
19 To Binge by Gorillaz
20 Small Town Moon by Regina Spektor
21 L.S.F. by Kasabian
22 Motorcade by Beck
23 Youthless by Beck
24 Veliceraptor! by Kasabian
25 Beercan by Beck
26 Lost Cause by Beck
27 Butcher Blues by Kasabian
28 Empire by Kasabian
29 Jackass by Beck
30 Stuntman by Kasabian

And were I to name an Album of the Year, I'd have to go with Regina Spektor's What We Saw From the Cheap Seats.  But all of Kasabian's albums are quite impressive, too...