The Viddesos Cycle

I've been re-reading a series of books I read back in the late eighties or early nineties by Harry Turtledove called The Videssos Cycle.  It's about a legion of Roman soldiers  and a single Gaul soldier flung into a fantasy world where magic exists while not being common place.  It's an interesting concept.  The story doesn't spend a lot of time exploring the hows of what brought the Romans to Videsso.  I like that on the one hand, I just let it go and accept the premise on face value.  On the other hand it leaves a lot of questions that I think would be interesting if they were more deeply explored.  Turtledove might go into it deeper later on but if it sticks to the style of the books so far I doubt it.  I'm half-way through the third book and it doesn't show any sign of becoming more than what it is.  I'll get to that in a minute.

I originally loved the first two books, for some reason I never got around to the last two.  Reading them now it's interesting to see how my reading sophistication has been refined.  Or maybe how I've grown more jaded.  The big thing I remember about these stories was the political intrigue.  The story is based on events taken from Rome's actual history, something Harry has been marketing for decades.  I remember thinking at the time how twisted and deep the plot line was and while it still is, it isn't what my memory had it built up as.

I would liken the book to a frozen lake, the thin sheet of ice being what we see and the water below being what we could have seen.  The characters are flat with not much personality.  Even the most colorful character (Viridovix, the Gaul) is only interesting because of his funny lines and behavior, it's a superficial type of interesting.  The people only seem to be there to further the plot, not to engage the reader.  This is fine for the most part, I like more character driven stories usually but this isn't a deal breaker.

The pacing of the stories is another troubled area.  At times it plods along with not much happening, at other times I can't stop reading.  The entire quality of these books could be described as very uneven.  Book two and three have two major battle scenes that are almost exactly the same scenario.  The army falls to defeat with the collapse of the left flank through an act of cowardice and an act of betrayal.  The Romans march back defeated looking for refuge and picking up remnants of the Emperor's crushed army.  I got very agitated by this point for several reasons.  The continual attempted over throws of the Emperor may be based on historic events but history doesn't always make for compelling story telling.  The writing in general tends to be repetitive but no more so than some lesser books I've read.  To me the third book didn't progress the plot from the second.

Don't misunderstand though.  While not the miraculous masterpiece of the written word I originally thought it was it is a very good piece of fiction.  The world Harry Turtledove builds is fascinating and fully realized.  I think I would recommend it to friends that enjoy fantasy.

Language Is A Funny Thing

I just read an "interesting" article this morning.  If you're one of those people that prefers his news from a more "neutral" source than "Faux News" here are the articles Fox got the story from; "'Brown bag' and 'citizen' too offensive for use in Seattle", and "City officials urge ban on 'potentionally offensive' language".  Sorry for all the quotation marks.  Anyway.  I see these stories so much I tend to get a little fit of righteous indignation and forget about it in ten minutes.  But think about it.  This is a ridiculous, time wasting effort by a group of people that should be managing this cities finances and attending to the running of utilities and maintenance of the city's roads.  This is a prime of example of government waste writ small.  They have created a rule for the employees to follow that is inconsequential to all but a hand full of people with nothing better to get worked up over than the term "brown bag".  I had never, ever heard of this as a racial term until this article (and I thought I knew them all).  If I didn't know better I would say a couple of smart-ass teens thought it up and tried to prank Seattle to see how far it would go.  Apparently it is a real concern to some, although I think I'm using the phrase loosely.  I will also confess that I can't eat a saltine without getting my feelings hurt.  So there we are, a city government will now have someone check every written document produced for the term "brown bag" and the word citizen.  Another confession, even though I read the article I'm kind of confused why citizen is taboo.  Oh, I think I just got it, the whole legal versus illegal thing.  Oh God, I'm tired.

For your further reading enjoyment here is a list of things that will soon need to be renamed so as to avoid hurting Spike Lee's feelings - Brown Bag

A Night Out & More Motorcycle Contemplations

Yesterday I rode the bike up to Denver to meet Lisa for a night out at Cirque De Soleil Amaluna.  It's a touring show with a big tent set up in the Pepsi Center parking lot.  The show was good.  I know that's not a ringing endorsement and I feel like I should be more enthusiastic than I am.  There were some moments of stunning amazement.  There were moments that I couldn't believe a human being could do what I was seeing.  Two girls did stuff on a unicycle I couldn't do on foot.  One guy climbed what was probably a 20 foot pole with nothing more than his hands, while holding himself at arm's length from the pole.  It was astonishing.  It was like watching that old Spiderman T.V. show from the seventies except this guy didn't have a line around his waist pulling him up.  The music was a rock concert and every bit as entertaining as the acrobatics, kind of loud for this old guy at first but I got use to it.  The music was so good I actually decided to find out who the composer/s is/are.  It is two guys who go by the name Bob and Bill.  An odd coincidence, they composed the sound track to one of my favorite video games, Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow.  Lisa and I spent a while deciding if we wanted to go or not, she had to work early the next day and I was dreading the drive up to Denver.  I'm glad we decided to go, she got the tickets for free through work and a co-worker told her they were $100.00 tickets.  I almost did a spit take when I heard that.  We didn't get much sleep but I don't think either of us cared.

Like I said earlier  I was not thrilled to have to drive up to Denver.  The truck was almost on empty and construction on I-25 in northern Colorado Springs has made what is generally a terrible drive into a teeth gnashing nightmare.  My reservations were soothed a little bit when I decided to ride the bike up.  Riding in traffic is always better than driving.  That's especially true on I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.  The road is mostly two lane and even more than most places I've been, drivers get in the left lane and stay there.  Most times travel is easier in the right lane because there isn't anyone in it.  It's even easier on a bike because with a little twist to the throttle I can slip right in where the Tundra wouldn't fit.  The ride up was pretty uneventful.  I got to Denver and played a game I call "Guess the Lane".  This is easier on a bike to.  You know what I'm talking about.  It's stop and go traffic and you try to figure out which lane will move and for how long.  People play it all the time, usually to no good effect.  In the truck I can't get over fast enough to make my move and it usually turns out like it does for all the other poor saps.  I watch helplessly as a car I passed five minutes ago cruises by in the lane I just vacated.  Last night's game of Guess the Lane was a successful one for the most part.  The only problem is it doesn't work if none of the lanes is moving which was the case for most of the last part of the trip.

I finally got parked at the Pepsi Center lot ($10.00, no discount for motorcycles) and made my way to Brooklyn's to meet Lisa for dinner.  Brooklyn's is a two restaurant/bar chain in Denver.  One is right in front of the Pepsi Center, the other is just down the street from Sports Authority at Mile High Feild or as I like to call it a mouth full.  The food was okay.  I ordered while waiting on Lisa to arrive.  Due to the diet we're on it was Cesar salad with no Parmesan cheese or croutons.  The salads arrived with Parmesan cheese and croutons.  It wasn't that bad though.  I forgot to order the salmon on Lisa's salad well done so the waiter gave us a discount even though it was my fault.  I think it was because we were nice when asking to have it cooked longer.

While the waiter was a delight the boor next to us was not.  She was talking to an older gentleman who she obviously thought was deaf.  If talking at the top of her lungs wasn't bad enough her conversation was also just the worst kind of pretentious (not that there is a best kind).

All in all the night was a mixed bag but we were definitely glad we decided to make the effort to go.

Vacation

I took a week off to get some things done around the house.  So far I performed a half ass clean up of the garage.  Mostly I've enjoyed going to Starbucks in the morning and reading for an hour.  I'm reading The Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove.  I read it years (actually a decade) ago and loved it.  It's as good as I remember.  I know the sitting and reading at Starbucks is cliched, please don't bother pointing out Starbucks is a big heartless chain.  Lisa and I like to go to small coffee places too but let's face it a soy latte tastes pretty much the same the world 'round, at least to my untrained palate.  I figured I would have the place to myself on a week day morning, turns out the place is even busier in during the weekdays than when Lisa and I go on the weekend.  Apparently people that telecommute like to do it from Starbucks.  I haven't seen that many laptops since...well, nothing clever comes to mind.

Anyway, I've got to get going, I've got a whining dog that needs to be let out and some chores to do.

First Ride Of 2013

My God, July 15th and I'm just getting the bike out.  What's happened to me?  The last couple of years I've not been riding much.  I blamed the new job, new house and other things for being too busy but I think part of it is I got fat.  I was kind of embarrassed to be seen on my little sporty motorcycle.  I've seen other fat guys on FZ1s also and they aren't doing themselves any favors.  Being seen fat on a bike shouldn't and really isn't reason enough to keep me from riding.  The truth is it was uncomfortable as hell.

Well yesterday was the first ride since I've lost 50 pounds (I'm still loosing too).  I felt considerably better than I have in years on the bike.  I still got the same stiffness in the back and aches in the wrists but it took longer.  I actually lost feeling in my throttle hand which is odd but I write that off as too much Play Station.

So some sights from the ride;

I stopped at a pull off on a long straight stretch of road to put my rain gear on.  An older man on a three wheeled Honda Goldwing pulled off at the same spot.  I looked over to see an old dachshund with a sweet grey face in a carrier.  She was riding in the passenger seat, looking for a way to get off and explore.  The rider said she loves to ride but every time they stop she wants to wander.  It made me wish I could take Ruby, our chihuahua, with me.  I think two hours a night laying on me while we watch T.V. is probably sufficient bonding time and she would be dead of fright in about a mile.

It started raining on me in Hartsel, it wasn't as unpleasant as it could have been.  I love riding in the rain almost everywhere but the interstate.  I used to be petrified of it when I first started riding.  My fear of it made me much more dangerous to myself than the actual act of riding in the rain.

So I got to Fairplay and met up with my brother-in-law on his Aprillia.  It's a beautiful bike with a custom paint job he did himself.  We took off across CO 285 for Denver and again it started pouring on us.  This is one of the few times I didn't mind being stuck behind the endless string of fifth wheel campers and 4x4s with ATV trailers.  Traffic was going a decent speed and I felt safer going 55mph in the rain.  Plus it's so gorgeous on 285 I had time to look around.  For some reason I haven't learned the trick of slowing down and enjoying the ride by myself.  Maybe I should get a Harley so I have to go slow.

After my brother-in-law and I split up in Morrison (he lives in Silverthorne) I headed home the back way.  One thing I don't like about Colorado is there aren't many alternative routes, it's pretty much I-25 or CO 85 or 83 south from Denver.  The worst part of the trip was at a stop light in Castle Rock.  I wasn't paying attention when the light changed and got on the throttle.  Nothing extreme, just a normal take and the back tire started spinning and heading to the right.  I let off the throttle and looked back to see that I had been sitting in what looked like a little puddle of motor oil.  That could have been ugly and I was reminded again that riding a bike is nothing like driving a car.

I got home and the trip meter read 230 miles even.  The bike also turned over 30,000 miles on the odometer.  It should have passed that years ago were it not for my fat lazy ass.  I plan on making up the mileage form now on.

Books

I've been reading a lot lately.  I got a Nook last year.  That model is mine by the way.  Nothing fancy, no apps or movie capabilities, just a small device that's easy to carry.  I used it for awhile then it set collecting dust for another while.  I picked up a book I had been wanting to read for a some time now and started it.  Turns out it was a terrible, terrible book.  The Ghosts of Manhattan.  I do not recommend it.  So even though I never finished the book, I decided to start reading some more.  I had a few books on the Nook and viola I was hooked (again).  I used to be one of those people that wanted to hold a book in my hand, smell it, thumb through the pages and gaze at the cover art.  For the longest time I was against eReaders.  Boy was I silly.  As much as I love to collect my favorite books and look at them I realized I was turning into a hoarder.  I would read a book but couldn't bring myself to get rid of it when I was done..  My wife has been mocking me for years about the boxes full of books I have been dragging around the country.  The Nook is great because I can store hundreds of books in a tiny package.

I do still like to go to the book store a lot.  I go, browse, take a photo of a book that looks interesting then come home and buy it through the wi-fi.  My last trip to the store though I noticed some trends I hadn't before.  First I noticed the sad state of affairs for fantasy and science fiction (mainly fantasy).  There are dozens of sub-genres, most I don't know the name of.  Urban fantasy is one, post-apocalyptic and steam punk are a few more.  I think the reason this annoys me is it tells me there are so many of these types of stories being written that they have their own catagory.  That's a lot of unoriginality.  I suppose there are a lot of good stories being told but it's generally my experience that the bad out weigh the good and I'm too lazy to weed through them.  Steam punk in particular seems to be full of bad, cliche ridden titles.

There are also currently more books based on video games than there are video games.  If this isn't true it certainly seems true.  There is a paperback book for everything including strategy board games.  I'm sure some of these are probably good and I'm assuming there is a large fan base to make this lucrative.  If you've ever read a book based on a franchise you were unfamiliar with you know that they tend to be hard to follow.

My last word on fantasy is the womanizing of the genre.  I'm not talking in a Conan the Barbarian, drinking and wenching kind of way.  I'm talking about this...

Hi, I'm a frosty haired choade.

I think I'm going to puke.  Thanks Twilight, thanks a lot.  Something I found interesting was the number of middle-aged women browsing the fantasy section these days.  I eaves dropped on two a couple of months ago and boy they were into the series they were following.  It was cute.  I really missed Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard at that moment though.  This is how you end up with that guy in the picture above.

The womanizing of fantasy may have led to the increase in historical fiction, there seems to be a run on hairy chested Vikings and Gladiators these days.  No dudes named Tristan here.

I'm not a fan of an author that is bigger than his or her book either.

Both figuratively and literally.

I like Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club anyway), but come on.  I guess when there are people that read anything a favorite author puts out it makes it easy to find on the shelf but shouldn't you at least have the title of the book on the spine? Call me old fashioned.

Sure I'm bitching, what else is new, but really it's a great time to be a reader.  I've read quite a few good books the last couple of months, including the new adventures of my old favorite super hero from when I was a kid, Doc Savage.  I've also discovered the westerns of my favorite author Elmore Leonard, who also has a huge name on the cover.  And I've found a good political book from one of my favorite writers at the National Review, Jonah Goldberg.  So I'll do what I always advise others to do when they see something they don't like, I'll ignore the frosty haired choade.

And finally, one last image to leave you with...

In case you can't see because of the glare, that is 1000!

Soooo....

The election didn't really pan out as I was expecting.  Now I'm sitting here wondering how to perform my day to day functions with my head in the sand.  Turns out I'm not the only one.  Jonah Goldberg has written a pretty good op ed piece on National Review Online covering what a lot of us conservatives are feeling these days.  There are some pretty bitter op eds out too but this one kind of sums up how I feel about the whole thing.  I once felt passion and pride in the US voting process although I always knew that we were sliding to the left.  I guess the thing about Obama's second term victory is I was hoping it wouldn't have happened this fast.  I was kind of hoping I would have been dead.

So here we are heading to Europe.  I guess it's not all that bad, most Europeans I know are nice enough, I'm just not looking forward to the Greece phase.

At the end of this next four years I'm not going to be in much of a mood to say I told you so no matter how much you have it coming.

Trick Or Treat And The Electorial Process

So we're sitting around passing out candy and going over the mail in ballot.  I will never for the life of me understand why people are posting on Facebook that they'll be glad when the elections are over.  I love voting.  It's the greatest thing anyone (everyone) can do for their country.  I suppose you could be cynical and point out that special interests really decide the outcome of the elections and on any given 2nd Tuesday I would be inclined to agree but the best voting is local elections.  I love it.  It all may be an illusion to placate the peasants but I'm buying it.

Go vote!