US Senate Offering Vigorous Debate, For a Change

The other day I found myself watching a TV channel that I used to regularly follow but had in recent years become accustomed to avoiding due to lack of stated content: C-Span2 (channel 81 on my local Cox cable lineup), which broadcasts live the floor proceedings of the United States Senate. Throughout the previous decade during the Bush administration, I enjoyed watching the debates on the various issues.  Sometimes the Democratic Party controlled the Senate and sometimes it was the Republicans, but things there seemed to hum along pretty smoothly, especially considering the partisan vitriol outside in the media.  However, ever since Obama was elected President, both sides have taken a strongly negative and, in my opinion, indecorous attitude toward each other in this body of Congress that has a longtime reputation for being polite and amicable in the midst of political disagreement.  Part of this problem rests with the Republicans' stated goal of bringing down Obama's legislative agenda by massively slowing down the Senate proceedings through technical objections... and part rests with the Democrats and their choice of contentious senator Harry Reid as majority leader.  So for the most part, whenever I did tune in to C-Span2 I would either see that the Senate had adjourned, had never met for that day, or was being indefinitely held up due to procedural wrangles.  This year, though, there seems, at least at the start, a change in how business is conducted that corresponds to a change in party control.  Now the Republican Party, under the leadership of formerly obstructionist Mitch McConnell, are running the show and, for now at least, have once again opened the floor for open debate with amendments for the various legislation.  Yes, I think it is a bit hypocritical for them to be touting their own openness now that THEY are in power...but I still welcome the change.  As a member of the voting public who actually consistently participates in this democracy during elections and is interested in the issues before us, watching such debates is both educational and fascinating.  For example, the first bill up for consideration this term is for the approval of the proposed Keystone XL [oil] Pipeline to extend through the country from the Canada-Montana border down to Port Arthur, Texas.  Hearing the two sides in this debate has helped me to come to my own conclusion on this issue.

Let's hope that the US Senate will continue to offer open debate on the various issues facing us.  One thing I noticed was that many of the senators I had been following before have either passed on, retired, resigned for various reasons, or been defeated in elections.  So there are many new faces for me to get to know and match with their names and states. Moreover, whichever senator happens to be sitting up front, presiding with the gavel as designated "president", is usually among the most junior,  newly elected senators of the majority party, and they are never identified on CSpan2.  No problem, Wikipedia offers a comprehensive list of the current senators, complete with all of the necessary information about each (including the crucial identifying pictures)...

Recently Saw The Theory of Everything

I don't know who directed or produced it, nor do I know almost all of the actors (one noted exception is the dude who played Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter movies), but I thought that movie The Theory of Everything, focusing on the life story of Stephen Hawking, was quite interesting. Hawking, as you may already know, is a renown theoretical physicist whose specialty has been cosmology...in particular, black holes.  He has expressed a strong desire to unify Einstein's General Theory Relativity with Quantum Mechanics to formulate a "theory of everything": hence the movie's title.  You may also be aware that during his early adulthood, while a graduate student at Cambridge, he became afflicted with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease), which almost completely incapacitated him and left him with a poor prognosis for survival.  But over the years he has endured and is a worldwide symbol of courage, determination, and scientific genius.

As for this movie, it didn't delve into the content of Hawking's scientific endeavors as much as it did his relationship with Jane Wilde, from their initial courtship through the traumatic diagnosis...and into their marriage.  She is portrayed as having sacrificed a lot in her devotion to him...yet they had three healthy children together and seemed to be doing well.  However, after Hawking's enormous success and celebrity following the publication of his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, he left her for another woman, with a divorce ensuing.  He and his ex-wife both remarried (others).

For those like me who had expected a personal angle given to Stephen Hawking's life but wanted more attention to his scientific exploits, there is bound to be a sense of letdown with this film, which in large part turns out more to be the story of his wife, from her perspective, as she goes through her trials with him and his illness. Still, I recommend The Theory of Everything, which did not sugarcoat his personal life but which did overlook some of the controversies surrounding him within the scientific community...

Some Thoughts on Football

At this moment I am right between what has just happened in the National Football League divisional playoffs this past weekend and tonight's college football championship game between Oregon and Ohio State.  With the NFL playoffs, I was generally pleased, especially in the National Conference with Seattle and Green Bay winning over Carolina and Dallas, respectively.  I was disappointed, though, that Baltimore couldn't hang on against New England.  And for once I was rooting for Denver, whose offense sputtered against Indianapolis in their loss.  However, between the Broncos and Colts I want the stronger team to go up against the Patriots...and Andrew Luck & Co. seem to be the outfit best suited for this.  Next week's matchups will see me rooting for Seattle against Green Bay and Indianapolis against New England.  Best ultimate outcome? Seahawks win the Super Bowl.  Worst? Pats!

In the college championship contest, which I'll miss completely because I now have to report to work an hour and a half earlier on my shift, I will be pulling for Urban Meyer's Ohio State team against Oregon.  I'm happy that Meyer, who brought two national championships to Gainesville while at Florida, is enjoying his success with the Buckeyes and don't at all begrudge him the opportunity to continue on in Columbus.  And as for the Ducks, I don't especially like that hurry-up offense of theirs: if anyone should be able to figure out a way to shut it down, Meyer's the man...

Melissa Off to India

India definitely ranks as one of the most important countries in the world.  Close to China in population, it is now also booming economically...although the benefits of that upsurge have yet to touch upon the population at-large enough to eliminate its problems of poverty and disease.  My wife Melissa is going there today for a two-week class with her seminary.  Being the first time for her out of the country, this is sure to be a great adventure for her...beginning with the multi-stage airplane flights hopping from one location to the next halfway around the world.  My hopes and prayers are with her, along with her teachers and fellow students.

Just Finished Reading Sue Grafton's "I" is for Innocent

For a long time I have been a fan of mystery writer Sue Grafton's "alphabet" series of novels featuring Californian private detective Kinsey Millhone.  starting with "A" is for Alibi and proceeding down the alphabet. Grafton is approaching the end: I thinks she's gotten past "V" at last check.  And I haven't read most of them.  The problem, though, is that I have trouble remembering which books I've already read and which ones I haven't.  This is especially true with the titles at the head of the alphabet.  I checked out "I" is for Innocent because I thought it was an unfamiliar title...turns out I was right, so I proceeded to enjoy a fresh mystery story.  Grafton's heroine Millhone is a very compelling protagonist with whom I feel no difficulty establishing strong empathy...there are definitely some personality similarities here between her and me (I'm probably closer to where she's at than you know, even if you think that you know me).  This story I just finished was one of those whodunnit murder mysteries with various characters presented at stages as possible suspects.  The "innocent" angle concerns a man, David Barney,who received a not-guilty verdict after being accused of murdering his wife...a verdict that many around him believe was erroneous.  Now, much like what happened with O.J. Simpson in the mid-1990's, he is having to undergo a wrongful death civil lawsuit trial. The plaintiff is the victim's earlier husband...as well as Kinsey Millhone's client.  The story develops as doubts about her case against Barney keep piling up and others start to look awfully suspicious.  Grafton's story, looking back on it, is pretty complicated.  But she is masterful at telling it (always in the first person from Millhone's point of view) in such a way as not to overburden me, the reader, with information overload.

Now I just have to remember that I read Sue Grafton's "I" book.  I'm thinking, though, of going back to "A" and reading each book in order...even if I already read it before.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time I reread well-written fiction.  Besides, there is, from book to book, a development of Kinsey Millhone's character with changes in her personal life and relationships...changes that make more sense if they are read in chronological (i.e. "alphabetic") order...

Just Finished Reading Stephen King's Revival

I just finished reading Stephen King's latest novel, titled Revival.  Opening with a short excerpt from classic horror fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft, this book definitely goes down the same path he went in so many of his stories.  This, however, isn't so obvious at the beginning...Jamie Morton, a six-year old boy living in Maine (ah, another Stephen King novel set there) who just so happens to be my age, is in the first grade around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis (I remember what I was doing then, too...although I wasn't aware of why we were led out of our South Florida classroom by our teacher one afternoon to line up crouched against the hallway wall with our heads down and our hands covering them).  A new young pastor, Charles Jacobs, has just started work at the family's church and strikes up a friendship with the boy...a friendship that will transform itself in the ensuing years into a curious relationship combining enmity and salvation.  Jacobs is also an amateur tinkerer in electricity, in fact an Edison-like genius in the field, and has discovered a "secret" form of it that has miraculous healing properties...as one of the Jamie's older brothers discovers when he loses his voice from an accident and is taken to him.  But is there a price to be paid for this kind of healing, and where does it lead?  Well, if you've been paying attention, you know that this novel has a lot in common with Lovecraft's horror stories, so you just might guess that there's something or someone "behind the door" and that this isn't going to remain a sentimental, nostalgic tale for very long.  Still, the full impact isn't realized until the end of the novel, an impact that can hit the reader with its force and brutality.  So I guess I'm saying that if you are faint of heart or tend to have nightmares after reading scary stories (and this eventually turns into a very, very scary story), then please avoid Revival.  Still, it is masterfully written and, to me, is one of King's best works...probably his best since his 11/22/63 story a few years ago.  But if you do happen to pick up a copy and start to read it, don't say I didn't warn you...

Ran at the Gym This Morning, Upcoming Races

This morning I went with Melissa to my local gym, which is Gainesville Health and Fitness (the facility at the 4800 block of Newberry Road).  It had been a while since I've gone there...all the way back to October 23rd last year, as a matter of fact.  But this morning, Melissa was going to one of the water aerobics classes there (the eight o'clock one) and I decided to come along and run on the treadmill while she worked out.  I was curious how I would handle running on the treadmill after avoiding it for so many weeks.  It was no problem finding one of the more preferable treadmills on the second floor: the University of Florida is still "off" for the holidays (but not for long) and many of the students who usually would be using the gym were still out of town.  Anyway, I set the machine at my usual 6.7 mph pace and started it up.  To my horror I felt it very difficult to keep up with it and could tell, after running for a little while, that it would be quite a chore to run much longer.  Could there be that much difference between the treadmill and running on the ground/road that a few weeks away from it would cause that effect?  Then it hit me: the incline setting was at "3"...once I lowered it I suddenly felt as if I were running downhill!  The rest of the run went flawlessly while I listened to music on my MP3 player.  I did have to stop after 7.5 miles, though...I ran out of time and didn't want to keep Melissa waiting!  My running for the day continues, though...so far I've amassed a total of 12 miles, with more to come...

The next race for me will be the Ocala Half-Marathon later this month on Sunday, the 25th.  Then in February, depending on how how things go for me and my running in the next few weeks, I'll either do the half-marathon or take a stab at the 26.2 mile marathon in the Five Points races here in Gainesville...

Just Finished Reading Robert Jordan's A Crown of Swords

A few days ago, I ranked the various fantasy series I have read over the years (or am still in process of reading).  Robert Jordan's extremely long The Wheel of Time series was my least favorite, not only because of its length (fourteen volumes), but also for the overly complicated story lines that have developed.  I simply cannot keep up with each character, always seemingly on a trip from one city to another for various arcane reasons...and the cities keep changing hands with their leaders.  I just finished his seventh book, titled A Crown of Swords, and the confusion continues unabated. However...

With The Wheel of Time, I am beginning to learn how to better like this series by not getting myself overwrought about trying to perform the near-impossible task of keeping abreast of everything going on.  Instead, I just sit back and enjoy how each character, with his or her special personality and outlook, experiences and reacts to the proceedings.  This ability for deeply developed characterization is, to me, Jordan's strong point with his writing.  I especially like following the character of Mat Cauthon, one of the main protagonist Rand al'Thor's best friends and someone who isn't caught up with how important he sees himself (unlike many of the other characters).  Since A Crown of Swords features him a lot, that contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the book.

There is a Wheel of Time Wikia on the Internet, but if you haven't yet completed the series, you are susceptible to plot spoilers should you frequent it.  That happened to me when I got on it and did a search on one of the characters...and then suddenly found out about her demise  in a later book and at whose hands...

Three Big College Football Bowl Games Today

There are three college football games that interest me on this New Year's Day, 2015.  One is the Birmingham Bowl featuring Florida against East Carolina.  The other two are obviously the championship playoff games: the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Florida State and the Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Ohio State.  The action begins with the Gators at 1 PM and continues on into the evening with the Sugar Bowl closing it.  I'm sure there are other games as well, but these three actually mean something (at least to me).  Not that I'm going to be sitting in front of the TV transfixed by football all day, mind you...I've got other things to do with my life as well today...

It would be sweet to see the Gators go out on a winning note and finish with a winning 7-5 record.  East Carolina has an incredibly explosive offense, though, and it should be interesting to see how they match up against Florida's good defense.  I'm finally done rooting against FSU this year, meaning that they'll probably lose this game against Oregon!  They just keep winning their games and extending their winning streak and the bigshot talking heads in the sports media keep degrading them and placing them below other teams.  I think their quarterback Jameis Winston has a professional's look about him when he stands behind the center before the snap and scans the defense...reminds me a bit of the Patriot's Tom Brady.  As for the Sugar Bowl game, I instinctively root against Nick Saban, the Alabama coach, anyway, and Ohio State's coach Urban Meyer is coaching the other side.  I'm siding with Meyer and his Buckeyes, largely out of appreciation for what he did when he was at Florida (two national championships)...

CORRECTION: OOOPS, the Birmingham Bowl is set for Saturday, not today...but except for that, the article stands...

My Personal December 2014 Running Report

In December I continued with more extensive running, amassing a total for the month of 315 miles.  My longest single run was the 13.1 miles I covered in the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast on the evening of December 20...half of it in total darkness (only aided by a flashlight).  Unlike the previous two months, I tended to be consistent from day to day with my daily running mileage, so my one-day high mileage, spread out over several runs, was only 14.4 miles.  I ran on every day of the month.

I feel that my endurance level has markedly improved over the past few months, and I had energy to spare at the end of the half-marathon race.  That's good news, for next month will be the time for the Ocala Half-Marathon on the 25th.  I'm not sure I'll be running in any other races in January, but I definitely want to return to the rolling hills south of Ocala's Paddock Mall for the third time in five years...

Personal Top Ten Favorite Songs of 2014

Well, another year has gone by and it's time for me to review my favorite songs of 2014.  Being an enthusiast for alternative rock music, it came as a very pleasant surprise a few months ago to discover that two local stations, Gainesville's WHHZ/100. 5 ("The Buzz") and Jacksonville's WXXJ/102.9 have changed their programming format to feature "my" kind of music.  Since then I've been accumulating a few personal favorites that they play periodically.  Most of these are current hits, but a few, like Florence + the Machine's Dog Days Are Over, have been around a few years.  But you'll notice that this song is still on my list of favorites from 2014.  Earlier this year I purchased Beck's latest CD Morning Phase and discovered a track, titled Blackbird Chain, which I regarded as my favorite song of 2014 for the first half of the year.  But when those two radio stations kicked in, a flood of other songs joined it on the "list".  Ultimately, it came down to five songs I liked the most...each of which has a distinctive sound, style and message from the others.  After giving it all due consideration, though, I have to pick the Foo Fighters' new hit Something From Nothing as my "song of the year" for 2014.  It reminds me a lot of the style of my favorite grunge band, Soundgarden, while at the same time gradually builds up in intensity and complexity much the same way that Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven did.  But the other tunes on the list are great, too.

Here's my list of personal favorite songs of 2014, with the artist mentioned in brackets:

1 Something From Nothing..... [Foo Fighters]
2 Dog Days are Over..... [Florence + the Machine]
3 Take Me to Church...... [Hozier]
4 I Will Wait...... [Mumford and Sons]
5 Come With Me Now...... [The Kongos]
6 Dangerous..... [Big Data]
7 Train Wreck 1979...... [Death From Above 1979]
8 Come a Little Bit Closer..... [Cage the Elephant]
9 Blackbird Chain..... [Beck]
10 The Walker..... [Fitz and the Tantrums]

Narratives, Police, Michael Brown, Eric Garner

It's hard to contest the testimony of many African-American men who claim to be repeatedly profiled by the police because of the color of their skin...I tend to believe these accounts.  The problem with proving this is that, in the justice system, things are done on a case-by-case basis and each specific case can be depicted by law enforcement in some way to exonerate officers even when they do profile blacks.  Another contention is that police are more brutal and use more deadly force in their interactions with black suspects...once again when investigations follow the result is often a flood of mitigating evidence letting the officers off the hook (hence recent grand jury refusals to prosecute police).  But the police are there to protect people and have to go into areas when called to respond to crimes and complaints.  In such cases, the officer may be white and the suspect may be black,...that isn't profiling, the cop is just doing his or her job.  In the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson this past August, that is what happened when a response to a call about a convenience store robbery and the suspect's subsequent stroll down the center of a street led to a police-suspect confrontation that culminated in the suspect being shot down dead.  Many witnesses were there, and depending on which version you might choose to fit your own narrative about the police, Michael Brown was shot either while attacking or rushing the policeman or he had his hands up and was moving away when killed.  I have a couple of questions, though, for those subscribing to the two diametrically-opposed narratives about this tragic incident...

For those, like Al Sharpton, who have made this crime-response case a matter of race and Michael Brown some kind of civil rights hero, quick to insert this case into their narrative that blacks can't get a fair shake in the justice system,  I would like to ask why do this when the situation does not indicate profiling, but rather an officer doing his duty to protect the public from crime and criminals.  As for those who seem to think that the police are grand, unimpeachable  heroes themselves and subscribe to the narrative that they, like combat soldiers in occupied lands, are under continual attack and have to respond in self-defense, my response to this narrative is that yes, if the police see themselves like that, I can see how they would respond with larger than necessary force.  But they are NOT soldiers in enemy land.  This is America, and at last report, we're not a police state or occupied territory. I ask myself why is it so many times, with all of the arms training that the police are supposed to possess, that I keeping seeing reports of policemen gunning down suspects to death when they should have been perfectly capable of incapacitating them by shooting them in less vital areas?  There is another case recently of a boy playing with a harmless cap gun shot to death like this...

Lending more credence to the profiling narrative is the case of Eric Garner, a black man who was approached by a group of police in Staten Island, New York while standing unarmed in front of a shop on the sidewalk.  Accused of selling tax-free cigarettes, not exactly a felony, when he asked the police to leave him alone they jumped him, pulled him down to the ground by his neck and sat on his chest...he died soon thereafter of a heart attack.  This case tends to support another negative narrative about the police, which is that they tend to be more confrontational and treat civilians with more brutality when in groups than when alone.  That old video of the Rodney King beatings comes to mind. It seems that aggression begets more aggression.

We all have our own experiences dealing with the police.  For the most part, they have done well by me, although I believe I was treated unfairly in a couple of cases...one a speed trap situation and the other a setup by several police to ensnare drivers who didn't subscribe to their strict (and to me, extreme) interpretation of a recently-enacted state law about moving over a lane to accommodate roadside emergency vehicles.  But I realize, quite unlike a large segment of the population, that it pays to be polite and cooperative with them, even in situations where I feel persecuted.  There seems, in my opinion, to be a serious gulf between civilians and police, both in how civilians expect the police to act toward them and in how the police expect civilians to act toward them.  Both sides need a crash course in decorum, politeness, and restraint...on a mass scale.

I have seen few issues like this in which opinions are so polarized and impassioned.  Not being black myself, I am not free to agree or disagree with the claim of police profiling from personal experience.  But my personal concerns about the police are real, too.  Although I do appreciate their valor and the important role they play in protecting us, especially from criminals, at the same time I tend to be very wary of them, even when I'm around them in Starbucks (where they gather for the free coffee) and I need to oh-so slowly reach down into my pocket for something like a pen or cellphone...

At Least the Ravens and Seahawks Made the NFL Playoffs This Year

After the failure of the teams I usually root for in the National Football League (Miami, New York Giants, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville) to make the playoffs this year, I was left with Seattle and Baltimore to cheer on.  Since the Seahawks had already made the playoffs and are playing for a good playoff position this weekend, this left the Ravens as the uncertain playoff possibility.  They had to beat Cleveland today, which they finally managed to do, coming from behind to win 20-10.  But the Ravens still depended on Kansas City beating San Diego, a game I watched this afternoon and which the Chiefs won 19-7.  So Baltimore is in as a wild-card team and Seattle, depending on how they do in their final regular season game, can run the range from home field throughout the playoffs to a wild card team playing an extra game, with all of them on the road.

As for the pitiful Dolphins, I predicted they would blow one of their last two games and finish another non-winning season at 8-8.  Sure enough, even playing at home against the cellar-dwelling Jets, Miami just couldn't hold on to a 24-14 lead and folded up (or choked, depending on what vocabulary you want to use), giving New York the last 23 points en route to a 37-24 drubbing.  Makes it awfully hard to want to follow a team lacking spirit like this year after year...

The News and Subjective Narratives

I've been a little remiss on this blog lately when it comes to commenting on the ongoing news stories.  Since I'm going to weigh in with my own opinion about each of them (but not today), most likely some of my readers will have a different point of view.  Some of the differences will be due to either my own ignorance regarding the objective facts or to that of the reader, but I imagine that most of the disagreement in analysis will come down to the differences in subjective narratives between us. So what exactly is a subjective narrative, anyway?

Before I get into subjective narratives, let's look at some of the ongoing news stories before us;

The police killing unarmed black people in Ferguson, Missouri and New York...and then getting exonerated by grand juries.

Sony hacked ostensibly for the current comedy film The Interview, apparently because it offended the North Korean leader.

The Democratic-controlled US Senate releases revealing documents about "enhanced" interrogation methods used on suspected terrorists.

The now-discredited story about rape at a University of Virginia fraternity.

Another fallen celebrity, this time Bill Cosby, and public reaction.

In each of the above examples, it is possible to take the "facts" revealed by the news outlets and selectively insert them into one's own narratives about an "umbrella" principle.

I have my own opinions and "narratives" about the above topics, and plan to lay them out in future blog entries.  The important thing to remember, though, is that as members of the public at-large, we are limited by the amount of accurate knowledge available to us concerning the above stories.  Instead, it is a much easier burden on our thinking to latch on to a narrative that we hear on TV or radio, or from a friend, co-worker, or family member.  As humans with a social nature built within us, it can be quite exhilarating to be united in a cause revolving around a narrative that tends to be passionate in its appeal and expression.  Sometimes, such narratives are justified when the underlying pertinent facts eventually come out.  But often, the opposite happens as well and there is something of a letdown, with many left with a "rush-to-judgment" feeling.  I'm not a news junkie who is glued to news sources and opinion pages.  Still, it's not difficult to come away with definite opinions about the stories before us.  And maybe, just maybe, some of these opinions of mine won't square with your own narratives.  A subjective narrative incorporates within it any "possible", even dubious, information that supports it while ignoring or dismissing any facts that would diminish or contradict it.  Let's see how this works regarding the current news. Stay tuned...

Gainesville's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon Proves Elusive

After my adventure in Palm Coast's Starlight Half-Marathon this past Saturday, I was looking forward to another edition of Gainesville's Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon, which had been scheduled (on the Florida Track Club website) for January 1, 2015.  Usually this race had been held in November, and I ran it in 2010 and 2011.  I liked the fact that in this race (and unlike much of the Starlight race) it would be in the daylight and I would be able to see where I'm going...and the paved Hawthorne Trail on which it is run stretches for miles in the woods southeast of Gainesville, far away from any traffic.  Tonight I was planning to register for it online, but unfortunately this race was removed from the Florida Track Club calendar.  I saw elsewhere that it had been scheduled for January 15, 2015 (as well as another site that had it scheduled for October 25, two months ago)...but when it came to discovering any solid information about the race, all I got was a brief mention in the FTC December newsletter exhorting us to look forward to this race "in the fall"...implying, it seems, that for this year we can just forget about it.  That's sad...but I can still run on my own and train for the next half-marathon, which for me is the Ocala Half-Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, January 25...

Christmas Greetings and Movies

Merry Christmas to everyone!  Last night we sat, after returning home from the Christmas Eve service at our church, and watched one of Melissa's favorite Christmas movies, the funny and sweet Elf. As for my own favorite Christmas movie, it's The Polar Express and although there have been a few showings already on TV, I've only managed to get in a few glimpses so far this season.  But they usually keep showing it from time to time in the days following Christmas, so I'm sure that I'll get to watch it again all the way through at some time.  And of course, there is A Christmas Story, being shown repeatedly on two stations this year: TNT and TBS.  As well as gazillions of other Christmas movies on many channels...

There are the movies about Christmas, and there are the movies that are released on Christmas, not necessarily with any other connection to the holiday season.  This year I see two standouts: The Imitation Game and Unbroken.  The Imitation Game concerns the breaking of the German Enigma code during World War II with the crucial help of mathematician AlanTuring, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Unbroken is a biographical account of American athlete and war hero Louis Zamperini, who after appearing in the Olympics endured brutal treatment as a prisoner of war under the Japanese following an ordeal of several weeks floating adrift in the Pacific after his plane was shot down, again during World War II.  I'd like to see both of these, especially The Imitation Game...

Ran Palm Coast's Starlight Half-Marathon Yesterday

Yesterday (Saturday) Melissa and I traveled eastward a few miles to Palm Coast to participate in our respective races...I ran the half-marathon and she walked the 5K event.  Anticipating a downtown setting with cheering onlookers, I was surprised by the race location, which was in an isolated area south of the main city by several miles.  Other than a movie theater and an adjacent Christmas park display (much like the duck pond at Gainesville's NFR Hospital), there were just open fields and many walkways...not exactly civilization as I was expecting it.  For the races, which were started five minutes apart, the website had originally stated that the half-marathon runners would go first, followed by the 5K five minutes later.  But the event organizers abruptly reversed the order before the race, causing a lot of confusion among the runner/walkers, including Melissa and me.  But the races got off all right in the end, and we were on our way...

The starting times were at 6 and 6:05 PM, and we were already cautioned to carry flashlights or headlights with us to light up the nighttime paths...which they warned had "spots" of darkness.  That had to be the understatement of the century, for fully half of my half-marathon race was spent in pitch blackness on an isolated paved trail with only my flashlight providing any visual aid.  On top of that, the humidity was awful (temperature was moderate in the 60's) with it starting to rain at various times in the race.  My throat/esophagus had been irritating me of late, and unfortunately whenever I downed some water or Gatorade it would send me into fits of coughing...so I dispensed with any rehydration for most of the run.  Also, at about the 4-mile mark I began to experience a light stomach ache...but fortunately, that let up after about a mile.  Then, toward the end of my journey through darkness, around the 9-mile mark, the arch in my left foot began to ache...making me wonder whether I'd even be able to finish the race.  However, after about a couple of miles of this, once I was back out "in the light" and could see where I was going, I was able to speed up and run like I was accustomed.  This made the foot-ache completely disappear and I haven't felt any pain since.  A little past the 12-mile mark, I had a big scare when I misjudged the distance between the curb I was running off of and the pavement, causing me to go several strides in a near-horizontal position while I desperately floundered with my arms to maintain my balance and avoid a bad fall.  When I was finally able to straighten back up, I marveled at my own sense of balance through the ordeal and finished the race without further mishap.

My final time for the 13.1 mile run was 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 30 seconds.  I finished 4th out of 8 in my age group (55-59).  Melissa also completed her walk and made me proud!   After it all, they provided some food and drink for all us participants.  Overall, it was a good experience...but I still think the organizers misled us about how overwhelmingly dark conditions would be as well as the fact that the race was far, far away from the business area of Palm Coast (we were actually running through a swamp at one point).  As for my own running, I was astonished with my time at the end, although I had finished several half-marathons in the past with better times. The reason I thought I had run slower than I did was that I had to be very careful with my footing for about half the race because of the darkness...I'm sure I would have broken 2 hours had I been able to better see where I was going...

Just Finished Reading Shadowplay by Tad Williams

Continuing along with Tad Williams' four-part fantasy series Shadowmarch, I just finished reading book #2, titled Shadowplay.  It continues the various narratives of its characters, focusing on twin teenage nobles Prince Barrick and Princess Briony as they struggle to survive and deal with their own personal trials.  The background story, that of a war between the gods reminiscent of Greek or Hindu mythology with accompanying conflicts between various races of people in the world, is gradually revealed through cryptic chapter-heading "quotes" from old religious scriptures.  With this Williams presents a two-fold mystery: one, what actually happens to the protagonists as the story unfolds, and, two, the ultimate explanation of all the weird manifestations plaguing the world and poor Barrick, who miserably suffers from terrible nightmares and seems to have had a mysterious quest implanted in his mind from the enemy Qar leader.  The author also widely spreads out the narrative, and there are many story lines going on at the same time...a little hard to keep up with them all, sad to say.

Shadowplay, unlike a lot of other books within series, has no noticeable ending and as such is hard for me to regard as a separate entity.  Instead, all of the various subplots just trail off, presumably to be resumed at the start of the third book.  By contrast, take a series like Harry Potter that, while moving to an eventual resolution that happens at the end of book #7, still has distinct stories for each memorable book.  Not with Shadowplay, though.  I think this works against the reader being able to remember the story when they finally do get around to starting the next book in the series.  Also, all of this arcane mythology from chapter to chapter doesn't help things, either.  Still, since one of the saving graces of this series is that it comprises only four books, I've already reached the halfway point and expect the author to begin to work to tie everything back together in the last two volumes...he has quite a task ahead of him if he wishes to be successful!

Signed Up to Run Saturday's Half-Marathon in Palm Coast

Well, I finally got around to registering for another half-marathon running race, this one for the Starlight Half-Marathon in Palm Coast, Florida (between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach).  Both this race and the accompanying 5K walk/run, in which Melissa will be participating, are to take place at 6 in the evening.  So it will all happen after sunset...but then again, I'm informed that Palm Coast will be very decorated for Christmas and that the course will be pretty interesting.  Still, since it will be nighttime, we as entrants are each required to carry either a headlight or flashlight...no problem.

I feel very confident about finishing this upcoming race, which with Melissa along reminds me a bit of that cool Orange Blossom Classic dual race we did in Tavares back in March, 2013.  Should be a great adventure...

Miami Dolphins Let Me Down Once Again With Year-End Choke

In the NFL, with today's 41-13 blowout loss to divisional rival New England, the Miami Dolphins, which I had been following and rooting for since 1968 (their third year in existence), have once again demonstrated that when the chips are down late in the season, they consistently opt for mediocrity.  Two weeks ago they were in the driver's seat for a wild card slot in the playoffs, but let themselves get beaten badly by Baltimore at home.  Now, with just two games left in the regular season, I'm seeing them again finishing at 8-8...certain that they'll blow at least one more game against their final two opponents Minnesota and the Jets.  Late in the 2013 regular season, the Dolphins were also in a a very advantageous position for the playoffs at 8-6, with them only having to win one out of their last two games (against inferior teams) to make the playoffs.  But they choked then, too, being beaten resoundingly in both games.  These past two years were supposed to be the start of a new, winning era in Miami Dolphins football, with them breaking through and making the playoffs...even possibly challenging to go to the Super Bowl.  Well, guess what?  They're not going anywhere for a while.  I probably should come to grips with the fact that this franchise simply does not have a winner's attitude and that I'm wasting my support for them...but most likely I'll foolishly go back to cheering them on next year in an unfounded hope for their improbable success.

Now that Miami is "out" for all practical purposes, I can go back to what I do around this time every year, which is look for other teams in the league to follow into the playoffs.  Let's see, the other two Florida teams are awful and the New York Giants are having a miserable season.  So of the teams who are in the playoff hunt right now, I'll probably stick with Seattle in the National Conference and pull for Baltimore in the American...