Signs of Spring

Yes, you can choose to determine how close spring (and by extension, summer) are by paying attention to the weather. I choose to do so by the sports calendar. And, according to said calendar...spring is pretty much here. March Madness has begun (rather dully thus far it must be said). NBA playoffs are near. The NFL draft is around the corner. Baseball is about to begin. Now, baseball may not be my favorite sport(it ranks about 4th or 5th) but I love Opening Day. Maybe it's the air of hope that surrounds every team. Maybe it's because it does signify a quasi-official end to winter. Whatever it is, it's addictive. So, I'll watch as much as I can. Once again, I'm ready to follow my Red Sox all the way to another championship.

The Madness

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time for March Madness. Even if you're not a sports fan or basketball in particular it is likely you know what I am referring to. It is time for the NCAA's annual college basketball tournament. As far as yearly sporting events go, this is by far my favorite (soccer's World Cup-my favorite sporting event of all-only occurs once every four years). To me, the tournament is better than the Super Bowl or World Series or NBA playoffs. The Super Bowl is just one game and if it's bad then too bad for the viewer. I really only care about the World Series if my Red Sox are in it. The NBA playoffs can be fun but they drag them out sooooo looooong (they start in April and end in June). No, for my money the Madness is by far the best. You get three weekends of high drama, last second shots, and big upsets. The first weekend is by far the best. And that is this coming weekend. Starting Thursday, actually. Four days of madness. It just doesn't get any better than that. For the record, my Final Four consists of North Carolina, UCLA, Texas and Georgetown with North Carolina winning it all. You know what that means... if you're betting and rely on me put your money on someone other than one of these teams.

Erickson's Greatness

Sorry it's been awhile. I've been very busy at work and by the time I get home I'm so wiped I really don't feel like getting on line and posting anything new. One thing I have been keeping up on though is Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Those of you who have been reading my blog regularly know how highly I think of this series. With each book my admiration grows. Last week I finished reading Midnight Tides, the fifth book in the series. I am currently reading The Bonehunters, the sixth. Both books continue to confirm Erikson's storytelling ability and world building genius. I am about a third of the way through The Bonehunters and it already puts me in mind of Memories of Ice (the third in the series and my personal favorite thus far).
So what is it about this series that has drawn in myself and so many others? At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I believe it is because Erikson is the closest thing to Tolkien since Tolkien. How so? Before Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy there had been fantasy but nothing on that scale with that depth. Tolkein created a world that was so rich and deep you could almost believe it existed. He created characters that you truly cared about. I have read a lot of fantasy over the years and enjoyed alot of it but, ultimately, it is all derivative of Tolkien. Until I "discovered" Erikson. He has done the same thing that Tolkien did only he did it without using Tolkien's template. There is almost nothing here that is reminiscent of Tolkien (outside of the existence of magic in both worlds although in very different aspects). My guess is that the next twenty to thirty years will see an abundance of writers seeking to re-create what Erikson has done much in the way that all the years since Tolkien have seen writers trying to emulate Tolkien.
Erikson and Tolkien also share another trait. They are unforgiving to "casual" readers. Theirs are not books that you can read and then just forget. At least, not if you intend to continue with the rest of their respective series. Everything leads somewhere and sometimes seemingly obscure events have unexpected ramifications later in the series. This is especially true concerning Erikson. There have been times I find myself lost for awhile because I have forgotten events being referred to. Ultimately, when the series is complete, I look forward to going back and reading the entire series consecutively and realizing all that I missed the first time. In the final evaluation that may be what puts Erikson in Tolkein's solitary company-the fact that you can re-read both and always discover something new.

Beautiftul Day

We have had three days of absolutely gorgeous weather here in my little part of Tennessee. While I know tomorrow is predicted to be very cold again and winter has yet to completely relinquish its grip, it still gets me a little excited. It means spring will soon be officially here. Anyone who has read this blog before likely knows autumn is my favorite time of year. But spring has become a close second since I've relocated to Tennessee. Spending most of my life in New Orleans spring never really meant anything to me. After all, there really is no spring there. It's really cold one day and then suddenly it's summer. Being here though has reminded me of the springs vaguely remembered of my childhood in Iowa. Here you can see everything coming back to life and you can see the change in people as well. The winter can really bring you down after awhile but a change in the weather can be almost miraculous. So I will enjoy the weather as much as possible until spring is officially here and celebrate the fact that winter will soon be but a distant memory. And how best to celebrate? Why, to stay inside and read of course. But, hey, the windows are open at least.

Blame it on Disney

First, a disclaimer of sorts: I like animals and have no problem with pets (except cats). Having said that, I cannot tolerate people who believe animals are on an equal level with humans. They are not. Even the stupidest human alive is vastly more intelligent than the smartest animal. Animals may have some "human-like" characteristics but that does not make them human. I feel a mixture of sorrow and revulsion for people who treat their pets like they are equal parts of the family. Worse, by far, than these mostly harmless individuals are the members of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I am all for treating animals with respect and not abusing them. That is about as far as I'm willing to go. PETA though will, and often does, go to ridiculous extremes. These people seem to care more about animals than their fellow humans. Seriously, these individuals scare me. While I certainly wouldn't put them in the same category as terrorists, I am quite comfortable classifying them as extremists.
So who is to blame for this culture that sometimes places animals above humans? Why, Disney of course. It sounds funny but I am more than half serious. Most of these people are of a generation that grew up on Disney movies. What is the one common theme of Disney movies? Yep, animals with human characteristics (they even talk). I believe over the years these people's subconscious reinforced the idea of animals as humans so that as they grew up they believed real animals were the same way. Why else would some people be so fanatical about animal rights? I mean they have car insurance for your pet now! I'm not kidding. It's Geico I think and maybe others. This is ridiculous. It's only been maybe the last thirty years or so that people have been such strong animal activists. There has to be some underlying cause for that. I choose to blame it on Disney. They can take the hit.

Sport or not?

I don't know the "official" definition of sport and I am too lazy to look it up. I have a pretty good idea of what I consider a sport to be, though. Football, baseball, soccer, basketball...all sports. Boxing, skiing, track and field...also all sports. Pretty much anything that the average person could never hope to do on any sort of real competitive level is a sport in my book. What is not a sport, in my opinion, are any activities which can also be classified as leisure activities and to which almost anyone can aspire to be reasonably competitive in with some practice. At the top of the list for me is golf. Don't get me wrong, golf takes skill but that does not make it a sport. Darts, billiards and chess all take skill but none of those are sports either. These are things that most of us, with practice, can become good or even great at. We can not all throw a 60-yard bomb into double coverage or slam dunk a ball on a 7-foot, 300 pound man intent on stopping you from doing just that. You may delude yourself into thinking this but it is not true. And don't tell me it was your parents' fault for not involving you in said sport from an early age. I love sports and I enjoy watching shows and reading magazines that cover them. What I hate is having to sit through the non-sport crap they cover, i.e. golf, NASCAR, or the damn Bassmaster fishing garbage that is presently on ESPN. Look, I'm not saying these things don't take skill. I'm just saying these people are not elite athletes and their fields are not restricted to a minority of the population. I could drive a car really fast around a track and run into stuff just as much as these professionals do. I could catch fish if I had either the patience or hours of my life to waste. And given enough practice, I could learn to hit a little white ball all over what is essentially a beautiful waste of land and then follow it so I could hit it some more. (On a side note, why don't they just close down all the golf courses and use that land to build housing for the homeless?). All these leisure activities being passed off as sport are really starting to piss me off. Why can't they get their own channel and leave the sports channels alone?

White Room and Jungle Juice

Why would anyone put wall to wall carpeting in a bathroom? Why would they compound that idiocy by making it white carpet? Why am I asking? This morning as I drove home from work my mind wandered of its own accord (as it often does) to a party I attended while still a junior in high school. It wasn't one of my better moments but it is memorable for having introduced me to a wonderful concoction commonly known as "Jungle Juice". The ingredients for this delightful drink are simple: Hawaiian Punch and vodka (plus ice) mixed in a (presumably) clean ice chest. If mixed in proper proportions it tastes almost like straight Hawaiian Punch. And therein lies the problem, at least for me on that particular night. Since I have never liked beer I opted instead to drink liberally from a seemingly harmless ice chest of punch. So liberally, in fact, that I drank half the ice chest myself. Long story short, the vodka all kicked in at once and I soon found myself seeking the sanctuary of a toilet. That is when I first discovered the designing faux pas that is white carpet in a bathroom. Without being too graphic (I have a weak stomach myself) let me just say that the carpet was largely pink after I got finished emptying all my bodily fluids (or most, I did not urinate on the carpet after all). So the poor guy who had thrown this party while his parents were out of town had no hope of hiding his illegal little shindig thanks to me, a guy he had just met that night. For the rest of the time we were in school together he desperately wanted to kick my ass. Now why would this story come to mind some 17 years later? Furthermore, why would I share such random silliness? Obviously, if you are asking yourself that question right now you have not read the description of this blog. My mind wanders, I share, your life is enriched. It's been nearly six years since I've consumed alcohol of any type but damn if that story isn't funny. Serves people right for being designer retards.

Happily Lost

Two things have kept me happily distracted in the past week and they both involve being lost. Some would argue this is appropriate since at times it seems my mind is lost and wandering. But I digress. The first is the t.v. show Lost. I have watched since episode 1 and I feel that the three episodes that have aired thus far this year are some of the best. I never really felt that they would get off the island til the last episode but obviously the "flash-forwards" show that to not be the case. I worried that if they got off the island the show would lose it's air of mystery. Seeing Jack's future and who Sayeed will be working for dispels that notion in my mind. I read an article in the past week (in my local paper I believe) crowing that this season shows that the writers never really knew where they were going and are just making up things as they go along. The writer complained that questions are never answered and more mysteries are constantly revealed. To me, this does not show the writers are lost (forgive the pun) but rather have created a complex story with so many levels that they must slowly pull back each level like the layers of an onion. I still believe this show is the best on television. The people that complain about it either haven't watched all the way through or are just to stupid to follow what's going on.
The second thing keeping my attention recently is the video game "Lost Odyssey". As you all know from my previous post I was eagerly awaiting picking up my copy last Tuesday. Due to a series of events beyond my control (and instituted by both Microsoft and Best Buy) I was not able to acquire said game until Wednesday afternoon. Let me say, it was worth the wait. The graphics are beautiful, the story deep and at points moving, and the characters are interesting. Yes, there are load times at some strange points but they are never that long and most often give you a moment to rest before a battle (or after an intense one). It has one of the most difficult first boss battles I have ever encountered (it took me about 3 hours to finally get past it). If you are a fan of video games, and RPGs in general, I highly recommend you play this game.
So there you go. If you have been trying to get in touch with me lately and haven't been able to, this is probably why. Or else I don't like you. Can't you get the hint?

WTF?!?

Not really a legitimate post here. I just wanted to put something new out there and since I've been up since 4 freaking 30 in the morning (on my day off no less) I figured now would be a good time. I am looking forward to picking up my copy of Lost Odyssey today, though (it's a video game for them what don't know). I know most gamers think RPG's are over but I like them and this one looks really cool. So that is what I will be doing for my next couple days off. That and hopefully sleeping a little later.

Shout out

I would like to personally thank Stizz over at Elusive Twilight for adding the Superiority Report to his blogroll list. His site is pretty cool. You can check it out by clicking the link on this page.