Does Democracy Motivate Arab Protesters?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gainesville Marathon Passes By as I Pass It Up

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

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

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

Arcade Fire Nets Grammy for Album

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

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

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

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

Stephen King's Full Dark No Stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happyland in Vietnam

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

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

For Melissa

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

A Little Indie Rock on AOL Radio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Postal Consolidation Affecting Gainesville

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

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

Olbermann's MSNBC Stint Over

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

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

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

Injury Recovery Period Extended, Plans Changed

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

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

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

My IT Band Injury Recovery Progress

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

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

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

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

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #1

#1: Us by Regina Spektor

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

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

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

1 US by Regina Spektor

2 THESE ARE MY TWISTED WORDS by Radiohead

3 MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES by Regina Spektor

4 RECKONER by Radiohead

5 MORNING BELL by Radiohead

6 FAUST ARP by Radiohead

7 I MIGHT BE WRONG by Radiohead

8 IN LIMBO by Radiohead

9 20 YEARS OF SNOW by Regina Spektor

10 GO TO SLEEP by Radiohead

11 SAIL TO THE MOON by Radiohead

12 BETTER by Regina Spektor

13 ARNIKA by Sufjan Stevens

14 I'M A PILOT by Fanfarlo

15 FOLDING CHAIR by Regina Spektor

What Kind of Democracy Awaits Egypt?

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

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

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

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

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

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #2

#2: These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead

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

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

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

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

Health Care Reform Law Struck Down

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

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

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

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

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

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #3

#3: Man of a Thousand Faces by Regina Spektor

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

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

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

Gainesville and Ocala Marathons Compared

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #4

#4: Reckoner by Radiohead

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

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

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

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

Packer Tie Firing Not an Outrage

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

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

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

My Favorite Songs of 2010: #5

#5: Morning Bell by Radiohead

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

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

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

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