Just Finished Reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, culminating with the final book, titled Mockingjay.  The society that heroine protagonist Katniss Everdeen struggles to come to grips with is set far off in the future and involves a centralized dictatorial government (set in a place known as The Capitol, located somewhere in the Rockies) that oppresses the surrounding districts that comprise North America.  A rebellion has formed, though, and its leaders have embraced and promoted Katniss as its public relations/media leader as she has gathered a large following from her former participation in the previous to-the-death Hunger Games...when she openly defied The Capitol and its brutal ruler President Snow.  The rebel movement's symbol is the mockingjay, a hybrid new species combining mockingbirds and a genetically engineered bird called a jabberjay.  Katniss has deep reservations, though, about the rebel movement and particularly its leader, President Coin.  As the story progresses and the rebels advance, it begins to look like the last line in The Who song Won't Get Fooled Again: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss".  But does Katniss get fooled? Don't count on it...

Much of Mockingjay is about the relationships between Katniss and her friends, particularly in regard to her efforts to rescue and restore her old Hunger Games partner Peeta.  Although it is clear that Katniss is a victim of the system and circumstances, she has a tendency to wallow in self-recrimination, blaming herself for everything bad that happens around her.  But then again, I wonder how many combat veterans have had to deal with that issue, especially if they survived situations that caused loss of life among their buddies but spared them...

The best part of Mockingjay is one crucial insight and decision that Katniss makes toward the book's end...a decision that I thought was so cool that I had to reread it a few times!  I enjoyed this series more than most of what I have read lately.  I have yet to see any of the movies, but now that I've read it all it might be a good idea to get started...

FIFA World Cup Now Down to Eight Teams

The 2014 FIFA World Cup of men's soccer has now progressed to the quarterfinal stage, where only eight teams remain to contend for the title.  In spite of their goalkeeper's heroic play (Tim Howard, with an incredible 16 saves), the United States lost to Belgium 2-1 and are now out of the running.  The teams that remain, however, promise some exciting games to come...

The quarterfinals will run on Friday and Saturday, with the following matches slated:

Friday July 4
--France vs. Germany
--Brazil vs. Colombia

Saturday July 5
--Argentina vs. Belgium
--Netherlands vs. Costa Rica

As for me, now that the U.S. is no longer contending, I have my own favorites to follow: Colombia and Argentina.  We'll see how far they go...with their respective opponents Brazil and Belgium up next for them, it may not last the weekend!  I do have one prediction, even though I'm not a particularly astute soccer fan: the eventual 2014 champion will come from the Brazil/Colombia and Argentina/Belgium matches...

Finished Reading Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

I finally finished reading Christopher Paolini's four-part Inheritance series, which began with the famous book Eragon (made into a movie), progressed to Eldest and Brisingr, and concluded with Inheritance.  I would be less than honest were I to claim that it was my favorite fantasy series, but then again it wasn't the worst, either.  Paolini did take a lot of themes from other fantasy works, especially from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  This made me wonder to myself whether some of the ideas he introduced that seemed innovative on his part weren't actually taken from fantasy works that I hadn't yet read.  However, in spite of his obvious borrowing, Paolini was able to establish a legitimate fantasy world with its characters, history, and rules of magic.  He also emphasized the idealism that societies very different from each other and with a history of mutual conflict and prejudice could eventually be able to work out their differences and become allies...and eventually friends. 

Anyone who embarked on this series recognized that the main protagonist Eragon would eventually have a showdown against his antagonist, the evil King Galbatorix...and it naturally came toward the end of Inheritance.  Ultimately, it was wisdom, not brute strength, that would determine the outcome of that confrontation...something that I appreciated.  The climactic scene between Eragon and Galbatorix did not, however, take place at the very end of the book.  Instead, there was much material following it that sought to tie up all of the loose ends of the various characters' lives.  And yet Paolini slyly allowed some room for future spinoffs of this series...at least I think he did it intentionally....

My June 2014 Running Report

In June 2014 I managed to keep my running at a reasonable level despite some personal hardships.  I ran a total for the month of 100.6 miles, and my longest single run was for 5.4 miles.  I ran on 27 of the 30 days as well.   Most of my running was indoors, and I made extensive use of the treadmill.  The main thing to be said for my running in June was that I maintained my level of fitness and endurance without doing anything to appreciably elevate it.  But sometimes just keeping things the same is what is called for...

Writing Errors on This Blog

This blog has been around for a while...for more than seven years, as a matter of fact.  Every now and then, I go back into my archives and read what I had written in some bygone era.  Most of the time, though, when I read through back-articles, it is usually what I have recently written, in the past month or so.  But regardless of where (or more suitably, "when") I choose to read, I almost invariably run across little mistakes of spelling, punctuation, and grammar that make me shake my head.  How could I have let them slip by? After all, I reread each article usually at least a couple of times before I publish it...and again afterwards after I post its link on Facebook. I even take the pains to read it aloud to myself, for the mind often fills in or corrects errors...errors that are more readily noticed when heard but are often passed over in silence.  And yet, even with this precaution, I commit all sorts of mistakes with my writing. Some are intentional, like when I use the slang "gonna" instead of the more formal and proper "going to".  Also, I sometimes deliberately use sentence fragments, something that no doubt would earn me the ire of my past English teachers.  But in writing this blog, my intention is to convey a sense of the language as it is spoken and not to exasperate the reader with overly literary expressions and structures.    I suppose that one item, though, that I need some work on is my tendency to repeat the same word too often instead of using synonyms or alternative ways of expressing the same meaning.  This usually happens on the first draft of whatever I've been writing and gets cleared up, but sometimes I'll go back several days to a previously published article and grimace to myself how I not only would repeat individual words too much, but even whole phrases. Ouch!

Today's World Cup Matches Worth Watching

The so-called "knockout" round of the FIFA World Cup in men's soccer began today, and today's two matches lived up to their advance billing.  Both games pitted teams exclusively from South America: Brazil vs. Chile in the early game and Colombia vs. Uruguay in the latter.  I had gone to my local gym and was running on the treadmill, which conveniently has a television built into it.  So I watched a good portion of the early first half in the Brazil-Chile match, witnessing both goals that left the two teams tied one-to-one. I could tell by the way they were playing aggressively on offense (especially Brazil) that there would be a lot more goals scored in this match, but I had other things to do as I stepped off the treadmill, finished up in the gym, and then went grocery shopping.  As the afternoon wore on, I completely forgot about the World Cup.  Suddenly, though, it dawned on me that the first game should be over by then...so I checked it out on TV to see what the final score was.  To my amazement, it was still one-to-one...and this was after the thirty-minute overtime period following the ninety-minute regulation time!  It was my luck to witness the very beginning of the shootout that would ultimately determine the winner.  In such a shootout, which wasn't part of the previous group stage of the tournament since ties were allowed then, each team gets five shots on the opponent's goal (using a different player for each kick), with the ball placed just a few yards from the goal with only the goalie left to defend. As I watched it unfold, I could see that the whole process was more or less a guessing game on the part of the goalie to try to anticipate where the kicker would aim the shot...except for the couple of errant kicks that occurred. For the most part I didn't like this way of deciding such a hard-fought effort that emphasized teamwork to the extent that it did...although it WAS admittedly exciting.  Anyway, Brazil managed to prevail by one goal in the shootout when the final Chilean kicker hit the goalpost with his shot, which bounced narrowly away from the net and led to mass celebration among the Brazilians, on the field and off...  

The second game featured Colombia, led by young James Rodriguez, beating a Uruguay team that had lost its scoring leader Luis Suarez, who had been suspended for biting an Italian player in their previous game.  Still, Uruguay impressed me with their character as they came close to scoring several times in the closing minutes. Just as impressive was the Colombian goalie, who made several difficult saves...

I didn't just sit there all day today glued to the TV set watching soccer...I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it so much had I done so.  I just happened to be fortunate to have picked some of the most opportune moments in today's matches.  I wonder if my luck will hold up in tomorrow's games between the Netherlands and Mexico, and between Costa Rica and Greece.  I seem to have fallen into the pattern of rooting for teams from the Americas, so go Mexico and Costa Rica!

A couple more observations: in past World Cup tournaments, I had come to expect countries like Italy, England, and Spain to be powerful entrants challenging for the title.  Yet none of these made it past the group stage this time around! Startling.  Also, Colombia and the United States, two of the surprisingly successful teams so far, have coaches from Argentina and Germany, both strong soccer countries...

About to Start Reading Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes

When I found out a several weeks ago that Stephen King, currently my favorite author, was coming out with a new book, titled Mr. Mercedes, I went to my local public library's website and placed a hold on the book.  Even though the book hadn't yet been published, I still initially found myself far down on the waiting list.  Well, the book's been out for a few weeks and, apparently, my county library system had ordered several copies of it because I was notified yesterday that it was ready for me to check out.  Today I got it and plan to read a good portion during the weekend.

I read somewhere recently that Stephen King plans to make Mr. Mercedes the first book of a trilogy...I'm not so sure that I like that idea very much.  No offense to the "King" intended, but his track record in this area in somewhat inconsistent.  He stretched out the first four volumes of his seven-part Dark Tower series over more than twenty years...and then finished it by rushing through the last three in a two-year span!  And his collaboration with Peter Straub of the connected novels The Talisman and Dark House was even more unsettling: their publications were seventeen years apart!  But more than that, the ending to Dark House clearly sets the stage for a sequel, which thirteen years later I am still looking for and see no sign of. 

Yes, I'm a little bit dubious of Stephen King's track record with series...at least pertaining to the regularity of their publication through time... but I also understand that he was engaged in writing a lot of other high quality books in the interim periods.  It was a lot different for someone like J.K. Rowling, who was focused on writing the Harry Potter series to the general exclusion of other books...

U.S.A. Advances in World Cup by Goal Differential

I awoke late this afternoon (my sleeping hours conform to a late night work schedule) to discover that the two World Cup soccer games just held resulted in the United States squeaking through, on the basis of goal differential, to the next, so-called "knockout" round of the tournament.  The Americans, who lost a close 1-0 match with group winner Germany today, finished at 1-1-1, tied with Portugal, who narrowly edged last place Ghana 2-1.  But because Portugal had been routed by Germany 4-0 in their first World Cup game, they had been at a disadvantage to other teams with tiebreakers.  So Portugal sadly goes home, but the U.S. advances to play Belgium, the winner of their group.  I haven't seen Belgium play, but any group winner has to be pretty good...

The Germany-United States match was held in Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, which being closer to the Equator than, say Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paolo, does not enjoy the more temperate winter weather that the latter do in late June (we're talking the southern hemisphere, so the seasons are reversed).  Hot and muggy conditions...I hear the field was soggy...hampered the scoring.  This unpleasant environment may have aided the Americans by suppressing the scoring and keeping the Germans from piling it on as they had done with Portugal.  But I don't think a match has to be played near the Equator to cause this effect; I experienced much the same kind of stifling, humid weather yesterday afternoon when I went outside here in Gainesville to trim some bushes...

Tim Lincecum Pitches Another No-Hitter

I was in the process of e-mailing my home restoration contractor when, on my AOL site, they were reporting that San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum had gone seven innings against the San Diego Padres without yet giving up a hit.  So I quickly ended the necessary e-mailing and turned my TV on to the MLB channel, which naturally was focusing on the ongoing event at San Francisco's ball park.  Lincecum was the epitome of coolness, in spite of the overwhelming cheering and standing ovation of the home crowd, as he confidently mixed up his pitches against the hapless Padres batters in the eighth and ninth innings and quickly got out of the game, on only 113 pitches, with his second no-hitter in two years...both against San Diego.  He also shone at the bat, scoring two of San Francisco's four runs and getting a hit in the seventh inning.

Lincecum is both a two-time World Series champion (2010 and 2012) and a two-time Cy Young Award winner for best pitcher (2008 and 2009).  Now he can add "two-time no-hitter" to that impressive list of accomplishments.  He is one of those pitchers, though, that can go out the next time he's due to pitch and give up several runs. So you never quite know what you're gonna get when Tim is out there! But although I'm not exactly a Giants fan, Tim Lincecum is one of my favorite players to watch.  He sure came through today...

Just Finished Reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, is fun to read.  Not only is it well written, but it is also relatively short!  Catching Fire, the second book in this dystopian futuristic young adult series, showcases protagonist Katniss Everdeen as she becomes a target for persecution by the malevolent Capitol cental government, headed by possibly the most evil antagonist I've ever read in President Snow.  You see, in the previous book she defied the Capitol and Snow by forcing them to allow not one, but two final surviving "victors" in the annual Hunger Games that are designed to intimidate the resentful, oppressed districts by forcing each of them to send two young people from each of them to fight each other to the death.  In Catching Fire, although Katniss is supposed to be enjoying the benefits associated with winning those "Games" the previous year, in fact President Snow has stepped up the persecution of its residents and is threatening her with retaliation for her actions in the Games.  And then Snow announces that the Hunger Games this year will feature entrants who were previous winners...throwing both Katniss and her partner/friend Peeta back into another version of the deadly games.  Only this time around, she notices that rebellions are beginning to take place in various districts against the Capitol.  Within the games themselves, she also discovers alliances that have been arranged behind her back with some of her opponents, leading her to an inner conflict between having to trust others and going it alone with Peeta. The Hunger Games go on in spite of all the rebellions on the outside, although the outcome is quite a surprise...as well as the book's ending, which naturally should lead directly into the final volume in the trilogy, titled Mockingjay.  I'm looking forward to getting hold of it and finding out what happens to Katniss and her friends and family...as well as the bad guys...

Iraq and the U.S., Leading to the Present

I don't think it would be much of an understatement to say that America is a war-weary country.  We have been actively involved in warfare abroad ever since the horrific 9/11 Muslim extremist terrorist attacks in 2001.  Our efforts have been concentrated in two countries: Afghanistan, whose then-Taliban-run government had given sanctuary to the Al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for planning the attacks...and Iraq, a country that, albeit run by a brutal anti-American dictator, had nothing to do with 9/11.  Most of our casualties in these conflicts, however, have arisen from Iraq...and not the invasion and initial takeover, per se, but rather the prolonged occupation and "nation-building" phase lasting several years.  In early 2003, as an ordinary citizen with neither access to classified information and analysis nor the authority to act on it, I was in a position where I felt the need to give my elected president the benefit of the doubt as he exercised his constitutional mandate as Commander-in-Chief to defend our country.  But once dictator Saddam Hussein was dislodged and no mass destruction weapons found, to stay there as long as we did...especially considering the fractured and mutually hostile ethnic and religious groups in Iraq...made very little sense to me.  As a soldier, it is very important to believe in the success of whatever mission they are given to perform. Unfortunately, due to no fault of their own, they were given a mission that involved creating a type of democratic civil society in a form which had never existed in that society and was alien to its people...something beyond their scope to handle.  Our troops were valiant and brave and deserve the highest of accolades (and post-combat support) for their service.  But our civilian leaders should be subject to criticism for having allowed this costly (both in terms of money and human lives) and ill-conceived occupation.

Now a Sunni extremist army has swept down from the northwest in Iraq and taken over much of the Sunni lands.  The Kurds and Shiites are mobilizing to defend their lands from invasion.  These groups seem to be thoroughly incapable of reconciliation with each other .  The only way they were able to get along before was under harsh authoritarian, dictatorial rule with a pervasive network of secret police and informants.  It looks to me as if these folks just need to split up and look after their own affairs...without imposing on each other under the guise of national politics.  I'd like to think that people with different ethnic backgrounds and religious customs can co-exist, but sadly there are some places on this planet where this simply isn't going to happen anytime soon. So, like Yugoslavia after dictator Tito died and that multiethnic and multireligious nation broke up into several smaller countries, Iraq may well be on a similar road...and if bloodshed can be minimized in the process, it may be the best solution for a very difficult situation...

Home Restoration Ongoing

This month we have been preoccupied with problems regarding our house.  The interior was flooded in some areas, which have to be restored.  The process is very time and attention-consuming, and the main work is yet to come.  We are using a contractor to do the work, which will take a few weeks to finish.  During this time we are making some improvements as well, especially in the area of space efficiency.  I'm not looking forward to the contractor performing the noisy work during the day when I have to get my sleep (I work a late night/early morning shift at my job), but after it's all over the house should be in a lot better shape...

Just Finished Reading Paolini's Brisingr

A few years ago, after putting down a book I was reading in frustration and walking away from it , I decided to give it another try...and just finished reading to completion Christopher Paolini's Brisingr, the third of four volumes in his Inheritance series.  This fantasy undertaking borrows greatly from established epics like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but still manages to establish clearly definable characters, a workable fantasy world geography and history, and its own peculiar set of rules that govern the use of magic.  The hero, in this case a teenager named Eragon, is the typical fantasy-land reluctant savior figure: he just wants to live in peace, but circumstances and the enemy have set him up as the "one" on which rests the hopes of the rest of the world to live in freedom and justice.  I've read others who have criticized Paolini for sticking to this common formula in fantasy writing, but to me it's just standard fare, an accepted feature of the genre.  What does bother me with this Inheritance series of his is how it has become overbloated with excessive introspection and explanations among its characters to the detriment of the ongoing narrative.  This bogging down of the plot is why I abandoned Brisingr back then...but I came back to at least see the story through.  And now, there's only one more book left: Inheritance. 

The unusual name Brisingr, by the way, refers to a fire-starting magical utterance that Eragon learned from his mentor Brom in book # 1.  It gains a further usage in this book...toward its end.  Eragon is the last of the free dragon riders and has a close telepathic bond to his dragon Saphira.  Together they support a rebel group called the Varden, which is fighting to overthrow brutal King Galbatorix.  Eragon loves an elf woman named Arya who does not return his affections.  He also has a cousin named Roran, whose story stands as an interesting subplot.  Also, an enigmatic young man named Murtagh looks to be a "wild-card" character whose actions may ultimately determine the outcome of the struggle.  Is he on the enemy's side or is he with Eragon?  I'm sure the next book will tell all...I just wish it wouldn't beat around the bush in the process...

World Cup Getting More Interesting

A few days ago I remarked in an article that watching soccer on television wasn't very interesting.  But some of the recent games in the FIFA World Cup group stage have been exciting to behold.  That 2-1 American victory over Ghana on Monday was high drama, as well as the 0-0 defensive draw between Brazil and Mexico.  But I just finished watching what may have been the best match so far, as Uruguay scored a breakaway late goal to edge England 2-1.  Also interesting is that Luis Suarez, who scored both of Uruguay's goals,  has played on Liverpool in England's Barclay's Premier League.  Now it looks unlikely that England will advance and is destined, like Spain and Australia, to make an early exit from the World Cup. 

The United States will better learn whether or not it has a good chance to continue beyond the round-robin group stage when it plays Portugal this Sunday.  But although I naturally pull for the Americans, I am more interested in following the tournament and getting to know the sport better.  So even if the U.S. doesn't manage to advance, I'm still watching...

Sticking With Treadmill Running for Now

My running has remained indoors and probably will be for some time to come.  I have gotten myself into the routine of stopping by my local gym (Gainesville Health and Fitness) in the evening before going in to work my late night/early morning graveyard shift.  Perhaps the treadmill running isn't quite the same thing as pounding the pavement around my neighborhood, but at least for the time being, I have a couple of reasons of my own as to why sticking to the indoor treadmill is a better choice.  I am glad to have a place like this to go to, as it is usually open 24x7 (with some schedule adjustments for some major holidays), the treadmills are in great abundance with some available even during the busiest times, and unlike the previous gym I frequented, there is no time limit for use.  A bonus to this is that I can watch television while I run...usually a sporting event, like baseball, is on one of the channels.  Also, I have noticed that I generally tend to feel better reporting for work after a good treadmill run an hour or two beforehand...

Spurs Convincingly Beat Heat for NBA Title

The Miami Heat, in the just-finished National Basketball Association Championship Series against the San Antonio Spurs, were going for their third straight title and second straight series win against the Spurs.  But after the first two games, which the teams split and both of which were highly competitive, San Antonio shifted into a higher gear and routed Miami in the next three games, winning the series four games to one.  I was hoping that, in the last contest, the Heat would rise up to the occasion and would turn the series around.  It certainly started that way, with Miami, behind the efforts of their standout Lebron James, built up an impressive early 22-6 lead.  I watched that part of the game and then switched over to baseball on ESPN.  But at the bottom of the screen were game updates...which showed a strong Spurs comeback and, then, lead.  In the final three games, Miami seemed tired out by the speedy passing attack of San Antonio and too many times were just a step behind their opponents.  Dwyane Wade, one of Miami's "big three", seemed tired for much of the series.  Maybe he needs to examine where he's at after this season with his future.  I appreciate the three titles he helped bring to Miami, especially that exciting series in 2006 against Dallas in the pre-Lebron era.  There is a lot of speculation floating around as well as to whether James or Chris Bosh will remain on the team or try out their talents elsewhere.  But anyway I look at it, it's been a great run.  Speaking of great runs, the San Antonio Spurs have been incredible over the past several years, consistently winning at least 50 games every season and winning five titles.  Names like Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli now have a new addition: Kawhi Leonard, who sparked the Spurs series victory over the Heat...

Just Finished Reading Robert Jordan's The Shadow Rising

The other day I finally got around to completing my reading journey through Robert Jordan's long fantasy novel The Shadow Rising, which constitutes book four in his fourteen-volume The Wheel of Time series.  The Shadow Rising, as I had written a few days ago here, is a mix of interesting plot narrative and mired-down magical/historical/prophetic dogma, with different characters bringing out one emphasis over the other.  The main characters are divided into four different stories: the White Tower, where there is division about the Aes Sedai leadership (this is basically Min's story), the journey by Rand, Mat, Egwene, Moiraine, and company to the Aiel Wasteland to firmly establish Rand's status as the Dragon Reborn, the clandestine trip of Aes Sedai members Elayne and Nynaeve to a city where they suspect traitors within their sect to be active, and the attempt by Perrin and his love Faile to return to Perrin's original homeland of the Two Rivers to save the area from devastation by dark forces and a group calling itself Children of the Light.  For the most part, it was easy reading until I got to sections about Rand's adventures...I wonder how much more arcane information I'm going to be expected to ingest!  My favorite subplot was the one with Perrin and Faile, and how they relate to each other and eventually fall in love.

Originally pitting main hero Rand against main bad guy Ba'alzamon in the first couple of books, Jordan has introduced a layer of antagonists called the Forsaken, each of whom, although originally squarely on the Dark One's side, has his or her own individual agenda...and some even come to Rand's aid.  This naturally confuses the situation for Rand and his allies, for it's hard to discern where these people truly stand on things.  And it also, I'm beginning to suspect, conveniently enables Jordan to prolong his series by a few more books!

Not Quite Up to Speed Moving Around Facebook

Facebook is a very interesting application on my computer, without a doubt.  Different people have different uses for it, to be sure, but for most it is used as it was originally intended: a social network that allows friends from the present and past, as well as family, to keep in touch.  I haven't begun to explore all of the possible ways to use it, as others obviously have.  I know next to nothing about how others post videos or those "posters" with all the pithy sayings.  And all of the special little devices that Facebook provides its members to specialize in how they want to communicate...it's all beyond me.  Not that I won't eventually get around to knowing my way around Facebook, but for now I'm somewhat of a long-term novice.  And it doesn't get any better whenever I'm invited to play in one of the many games it features.

Maybe those games on Facebook are pretty fun to play, but I never got around to it.  The last time I tried to play one of them, which was yesterday, I must have pressed the wrong button and it went off my screen.  Oh well, better luck next time!  I'm curious, though...are these games of an interactive nature between the various participants or does each player just play independently and accumulate scores to later compare against other players?  I suppose that I can play one to find out, assuming I'm not so klutzy next time and wipe out the game again!

Right now, besides enjoying what others put out on Facebook, my main focus is to write daily blog articles and post links to them on Facebook.  You don't really need Facebook, though, to read it as it's published on Google's Blogger service.  But Facebook makes it much easier to access...

Soccer's World Cup Has Begun

The World Cup of soccer (for men), taking place every four years, started this past Thursday in Brazil, with matches in various stadiums across the country.  There are at this initial stage of the tournament 32 teams, distributed among eight four-team groups.  The United States made the field and shares a group with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana.  They will play their first game against Ghana on Monday.  Each team within the group will play the others, in round-robin fashion.  At the end of this, the top two in each group will advance in the Cup tournament to comprise the final 16.  Then, the winner of one group will be paired against the runner-up in another for the next round.  After that, the quarterfinals will narrow it down to four teams, the semi's down to two...and then the championship match will be held.

What I like about the World Cup's format...which distinguishes it, say, from our NCAA college basketball tournament, is that it doesn't have the "one-and-out" finality for teams suffering initial losses.  For example, the other day Spain suffered a very disappointing 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands.  But they're still in the running and can still advance if they play well in the remaining round-robin games.  I hear the U.S. is in a difficult group...but with this format they will at least get to play three games!

When I was a kid at school, we would have a time set aside each year in physical education class for playing soccer...although it was very loosely played.  It was my favorite sport in school, as I was pretty accurate with my kicking and could usually outrace the others to the goal.  I was a pretty decent goalie, too.  But then again, I never was involved in more organized soccer leagues that emphasized positions and enforced rules more strictly. 

As a spectator, though, I have to admit that I have trouble viewing soccer matches with anything resembling interest...and with more than a little confusion regarding some of the rules.  It looks to me as if the two teams just take turns kicking the ball back and forth down the field, with the very few goals that do occur looking almost accidental.  Of course, at the end of the day when they show the highlights of games, it looks like one endless stream of exciting goals, one after another...

About to Begin Reading Science Fiction Short Stories from 1961

I am about to start with another science fiction short story anthology, this one titled Isaac Asimov Presents: The Great SF Stories 23 (1961).  It is interesting that I drew this book at random out of my collection, for 1961 and the previous book's year, 1945, represent landmarks in recent history.  1961 was when President Eisenhower left office and John F. Kennedy began his term.  The very "hot" war, World War II, that was concluding in 1945 had transformed sixteen years later into an intense Cold War between the former allies, the US and USSR.  This competition extended into space, and the human presence out there began in 1961 with Alan B. Shepard and Yuri Gagarin from those respective countries.  President Kennedy then also proclaimed his famous goal of getting to the moon and back by the end of the decade.  It's too bad, but I can't see anything like this going on that could unite our country in these times.

With the different momentous news stories going on in 1961, it bears noting that I was thoroughly oblivious it all.  After all, I was only four years old when that year began...I didn't begin to become politically aware until JFK's assassination in November, 1963 (when I was at the ripe old age of seven).  At the start of 1961, my family (father, mother, my older sister Anita, and me) had just moved across the Dade/Broward county line from our former apartment in Opa-Locka (where my father worked as a letter carrier) to a modest little house in suburban West Hollywood, in a subdivision called Boulevard Heights.  Anita would attend Boulevard Heights Elementary School, which was only a couple of blocks from my house (both are still standing).  I had some friends around my block I would hang out with then, like Stevie and Jimmy and Danny (I was "Billy").  I didn't attend kindergarten and began the first grade in 1962, so in 1961 I stayed at home while Anita went to school.  I think during that time, if memory serves me correctly, my main fun activities were watching TV (especially game shows like Concentration), drawing on the walls with crayons, and leaving all of my toys lying around in disarray on the floor.  Good times, good times...

There are thirteen stories in The Great SF Stories 23 (1961); only one is written by an author from the 1945 edition: Isaac Asimov, who co-edited this series with Martin H. Greenberg.  However, I am familiar with some of the other authors, in particular Arthur C. Clarke of 2001: A Space Odyssey renown and Cordwainer Smith, who created what I regard as one of the most interesting and imaginative series of stories regarding future space exploration.  Also in the mix are familiar names like Poul Anderson, Anne McCaffrey, Frederick Pohl, and Cyril Kornbluth.  Kornbluth's, entry, a collaboration between him and Pohl, was published in 1961, three years after his death at the sadly young age of 35.  I have a collection of his short stories and may review it on this blog at a future date...