A Few For the Road

I am leaving for New Orleans so I thought I would post a few more reading suggestions/ratings before I go. I know everyone has been eagerly awaiting this...
Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon. For some reason, I really wanted to like this book. That usually means I end up disappointed but not this time. This is the story of a man who has returned from a hidden universe "next to" our own. He believes he has been gone 10 years but it has only been about six months in our universe. He doesn't remember much other than that his wife and daughter are still there. He ends up going back and that is really when the story gains momentum. My only two complaints about the book are enough to keep it from getting a perfect score. First, I think the author could have gone into much more detail. This is a rich, interesting world she has created and I would like to spend more time in it. My second complaint is that the point of view changes mid-paragraph. This is a major pet peeve of mine and I know it doesn't bother everyone. Still... There will be a sequel (or two) and I look forward to them eagerly. Score: 4 out of 5.
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I only picked this book up because Sanderson has been tapped to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Naturally, I wanted to get a feel for the author taking over one of my favorite series ever. And, honestly, at first I was a little worried. But things pick up quickly. It reminded me a lot of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch although the "long con" being undertaken here has much more vital repercussions than in Lynch's book. My biggest complaint here is the system of "magic" Sanderson has invented. That's not to say it is not well thought out because it certainly is. It's just that, to me, having to swallow a vial with metal shavings in it to access your powers seems kinda lame. Unfortunately, it reminded me of The Runelords by David Farland, a book I abhorred. But overall this really turned out to be an excellent book. I look forward to reading the sequel and, more importantly, the end of the Wheel of Time series. 4 out of 5.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. For some reason, this book has seemingly been reviewed by everyone on the Internet that reads fantasy. I'm not sure why but it is what first drew me to the book. And I'm glad it did. At it's heart, this is standard fantasy fare. But it's the unconventional characters that really make this tale stand out. I would say they are reminiscent of the characters in George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series but they aren't quite that dark. But if you've read the Martin series you kind of get an idea of what I mean. The story starts really slow but by the end I really wanted to read the sequel right away (which almost never happens). I give it a 4 out of 5 also.

Wrong Again

My inability to correctly predict the outcome of sporting events continues to astound me. As you may or may not have noticed, neither of my picks to make it to the NCAA championship game made it past Saturday night. Yes, Memphis beat UCLA and Kansas finished off North Carolina after having a 28 point lead at one juncture. You may remember I also missed mightily on the Super Bowl (both on winner and scoring output). So, I could bother to pick tonight's game but that would probably jinx the poor team. Instead, I'll go with my uncle's pick (which he called the first weekend of the tournament by the way) and go with Memphis. My uncle, unlike me, has an uncanny ability to properly predict the outcome of sporting events. Over the years I have lost many bets to him but luckily, being such a nice uncle, he never collects. It is firmly established then, do not go with my picks. In that light, I wish to heartily endorse the New York Yankees to win this year's World Series. Good luck, suckers.

I Wuz Robbed

Yesterday the price of unleaded gas at the station near my house was $3.08. Today it was $3.21. In less than 24 hours that means gas went up 13 cents. What the hell!? That's insane considering nothing drastic like the entire Middle East blowing up happened last night. That is an extreme spike for no apparent reason, especially considering it is not even the weekend yet. Whatever alternate fuel source they are working on they had better hurry up. This crap is ridiculous. Some people want to blame it on Bush. They say he and his cronies have conspired to make themselves more money by creating turmoil in the Middle East. That idea is almost too stupid to acknowledge. Is he above reproach? Of course not. But an individual does not get as far in life as Bush has by being either stupid or a sociopath, which would be the only explanations as to why he would start a war solely to make himself more money. Democrats will always be harsh of a Republican president and vice versa. Do you really believe that America would be so much better off if Al Gore had won the presidency in 2000? There's no guarantee but that's not really the point. Both parties are implicit. But nothing ever changes because people are too complacent. They will complain but they will never really do anything about it. So what is the solution? I don't claim to know but America as a whole is becoming too large and corrupt for the center to hold indefinitely (see: Roman Empire, Fall of). I didn't mean this to be a political diatribe but I'm really pissed to have to pay $3.21 for gas. That is more than half of what a person making minimum wage earns in an hour. Ridiculous.

Half Right Ain't Half Bad

The Final Four is set and my pick to win it all still remains as does my runner-up so, all things considered, I didn't do too bad. North Carolina and UCLA still can meet in the championship game. I missed on Texas and real big on Georgetown. But all four number 1 seeds have never made it to the Final Four before so I'm far from the only one who missed on this. Despite history being made I still feel that this year's tournament has been lacking much drama. I believe that the fact that chalk won out (i.e. all 4 top seeds won out) proves my point. The only truly dramatic upset was Davidson beating Georgetown. Ratings for the tournament as a whole seldom fluctuate much so the mediocrity of this year's version wouldn't be reflected there. It will be interesting to see how many people tune in for this weekend's games. They'll be hyped beyond belief by ESPN and other sports outlets, you can rest assured. Unfortunately, as with many things in our society, that is how people measure importance...by how much something is talked about. In this case, don't be fooled. The final games may be great but it won't hide the fact that the overall product has been bland.

Ramble On

Well, the Superiority Report is moving on. Or, rather, it's creator is. My wife and I are expecting a baby in September (a minority report, heh heh). Anyways, this is our first together but fourth overall. Since my two boys are still living in Louisiana we have decided to move back there so that they and the baby will not be strangers. We really like it here in our corner of Tennessee but believe this is best for our family. So I will probably be headed down to New Orleans in the next couple of weeks to find a job and place to live while my wife stays behind and gets the house sold. It's certainly going to be a hectic, stressful time so my blogs may not be as frequent as I would like. On the bright side (since this blog is ostensibly dedicated to battling stupidity in all its nefarious phases) I know, as a long time resident, that New Orleans has more stupidity per capita than perhaps anywhere else in the world. That should give me more to rail about in my blogs. So I will be moving on but hopefully the Superiority Report will not suffer. At least not enough so my 5 loyal readers abandon me.

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.