Today...and the Days Before and Daily Double

Hello all (and Dad),

So sorry for being a tad bid absent from the whole blogging thing, but I was bogged down by schoolwork, sickness, and laziness, all of which are probably interconnected. As usual, I'm just going to rant about books I've read (Daily Double), movies, sports, etc.

Double book review! Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is undoubtedly the best book I've read - ever. It feels strange to say that about a novel that was 500+ pages of depression, insanity, and loathing. All of these things can describe the main character, Rodion Raskolkinov, a self-hating ex-student living in the slums of St. Petersburg. So as not to ruin any of the plot, that is as far as I will describe (plot-wise) Raskolkinov. On a personal level, he is a dark character who not only hates himself, but really just despises everyone and everything around him. He fashions himself a new-age, progress-loving intellectual, but time and time again proves that he is nothing but an absolute lunatic. Herein lies Dostoevsky's genius. His depiction of Raskolkinov is at the same time enthralling fiction as well as a scarily accurate comment on humanity and the insane. Reader be warned: if you plan on reading this (unfortunately I didn't really heed this advice), be prepared to spend many a day dressed in all black, curled up underneath a blanket or two, contemplating life and death. Not your prototypical beach read.

The other story I read was The Overcoat, a short story by Russian literature giant Nikolai Gogol. The story, which follows Average Joe government clerk Akaky Akakievich, is both humorous and a parable which (semi-spoiler) warns the reader of the vices of greed and envy. No more plot details shall be spared. Over all, it was a pretty good story that actually resembled Dostoevsky's writing "style," although not nearly as dark or introspective. Maybe the same translator? I don't know. A recommended quick read. 

In the sports world, among the notable events since I last posted are the election of two new members to baseball's Hall of Fame, the continuing saga of the NFL playoffs...and that's pretty much it. Rickey Henderson (with like 95% of the vote) easily paved the way for what has got to be one of the more anticipated HoF induction speeches ever ("Rickey would like to thank..."). Also, legendary Red Sock Jim Rice finally made it on his 15th and final ballot. In other words, the voters who hadn't previously seen his 8 All-Star appearances, 5 top-5 MVP finishes (including a #1 finish) and general dominance of the game of baseball tried on glasses for the first time. However, this nomination gives hope to Astros fans everywhere, who now have a little more hope that Jeff Bagwell, slugging first baseman of the '90s, will make it, considering his stats (in one fewer season) are superior to Rice's. In the NFL, the Conference championships have been determined, and the Steelers are pitted against the Ravens, while the Cardinals and Eagles will square off. Yes, the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers (my Super Bowl prediction from the day the regular season ended) must be licking their chops. After they dispatch the Ravens (I hope), neither the Cardinals nor the Eagles have what it takes to shut them down - or more accurately, score points against their ridiculous defense. Should be fun.

Yesterday, the Golden Globes, Hollywood's #2 awards show, happened. Among the major awards were 30 Rock winning everything TV related in sight, Mickey Rourke stumbling through an acceptance speech, Heath Ledger posthumously winning for his super-creepy role as the Joker, and Kate Winslet faking humility as she received her 2nd Golden Globe of the night. Good stuff. I haven't seen any of the nominees for the Best Picture, but I've heard that Slumdog Millionaire, the winner, is a really unbelievable movie and so I'll probably see it...eventually. 

Anyways, that was a long post so now I'm going to say g'night mates. 

 

It's Been Such a Long Time

Hey y'all!

Sorry for the extremely long delay. I really just took this winter break off and relaxed/didn't do anything for a few weeks. And now I'm back, and do I have things to talk about!

Baseball: Today, Roy Oswalt agreed to ace the USA World Baseball Classic team in a few months, which scares me. The last WBC just added more innings to a pitcher's season, and when a guy like Oswalt is being relied on heavily to throw 200+ innings of top-notch ball, those extra innings count. The last time you want your ace to be fatigued is in the final months of the season and the postseason. Oy. For example, ex-Astro Brad Lidge threw this awful season the season following his WBC performance. While the season has also been blamed on residual effects of Albert Pujols' moonshot in Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS, its hard not to see the correlation between the extra innings and Lidge's performance.

Literature: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is undoubtedly the best book I've ever read. And I'm not even done yet. Dostoevsky is a master, producing a work that is scarily transcendent of time and place, which is especially powerful considering the novel was published in 1866, almost 150 years ago. While I can't say that I can personally relate to any of the characters (is it possible to relate to the mind-blowingly insane yet unusually wise Raskolkinov?), I feel as though I've been sucked into the world of Raskolkinov and the gang. More on that to come.

Plague Stricken

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present...a literature review! Today's lucky contestant is Albert Camus' The Plague. The fictional novel, presented by a seemingly omniscient narrator (a person you later learn the identity of), tells of the months under which the city North African city of Oran was besieged by the bubonic plague through individuals, namely Dr. Bernard Rieux, journalist Raymond Rambert, and others. To be honest, the first half of the book or so was quite dull, loaded with the existentialist double meanings the novel has become known for. However, as someone reading the book for pleasure and not to derive a philosophical manifesto, I found this to be extremely boring. However, around page 160 or so, the tide turns, and while the novel doesn't become action-packed, it does start to move a lot faster. Still, I felt like the plot was not very distinguishable and that it wasn't nearly as frightening or impacting as it might've been, especially considering the topic, although apparently meant to be superfluous. So, my advice is, unless you really desire to learn some unique philosophical ideas (and don't be fooled, the existentialist metaphors are fascinating, but just make for a sloooow read), don't read this book.

On the Astros front, nothing is happening. Which is good. And bad. Good because they haven't done any dumb...stuff but bad bad because they desperately need to bolster their starting rotation. Alas. 

I have seen THREE movies in the last week or so: Gran Torino, Yes Man, and Frost/Nixon. Gran Torino, a Clint Eastwood film about a grumpy old Korea vet stuck in a neighborhood full of Asians, is a long, stretched-out way of instructing the viewers to be tolerant. While Eastwood was good, the Oscar talks are really overdone considering this movie just wasn't all that special. Yes Man, starring Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel, was a (romantic)-comedy about Carl Allen (Carrey) who, because of a self-help program, says 'yes' to everything, eventually leading him to love-of-his-life Allison (Deschanel). Parts of it were very funny, especially those with Allen's boss, played by Rhys Darby (of Flight of the Conchords fame). However, most of the movie lacked plot. All in all, an entertaining movie that passed the time. Frost/Nixon was by far the best movie I saw in the last week. Frank Langella was amazing as devilish Richard Nixon, purveying the exact characteristics that caused there to be so much animosity towards the ex-President. His counterpart, Michael Sheen, was decent as talk-show host and protagonist David Frost, but it was really Langella who stole the show and made the movie great.

Song of the Day: Peach, Plum, Pear by Joanna Newsom

Vids:

Andy Samberg (who is dating Joanna Newsom) SNL Digital Short Special!

The Mirror

Andy Punches

Dick in a Box

End of Finals

Today is a great day. I had my last mid-term exam today (Algebra II) and only have a brief holiday convocation tomorrow morning until I am free for a few weeks. Chances are I'll have a lengthy layover in the airport tomorrow night (I'm going to Houston) due to supposedly inclement weather coming to the area, so maybe by the next time I post I will have one, if not two, literature reports to relay.

Anyways, baseball news. The Astros signed two players this past week, outfielder Jason Michaels and corner infielder Aaron Boone. Michaels will supposedly be the 5th outfielder and Boone will start at third against lefties. I have to say that the Michaels signing makes zero sense to me. For a team that is supposedly trying to be fiscally responsible, signing a FIFTH outfielder for $750,000 seems irresponsible - why not give the opportunity to somebody like Ray Sadler, who, while by no means a star (but then again, neither is Michaels) brings a fresh face and a league-minimum salary for probably the same amount of production as Michaels, albeit less Major League experience. The Boone signing, however, I really like. He had pretty decent splits against lefties and is a pretty notorious pull hitter, which could work well at MMP. Also, there's this. 

Also, I showed my documentary at school today (a celebrity was in the audience). I will try and put that up as soon as I can.

In the world...not much is happening. President-Elect Obama continues to name cabinet members left-and-right, but none are really of note.

Because this a boring blog post, I will spice it up with some good videos.

This is my reason for not wanting to go to Africa.

Fast forward to about 2:40. It's worth it.

What would my blog be without a shameless plug?

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon

Mid-Terms, Hippos, and Not Much More

Sorry faithful readers! I know it's been a week (or so) since I last jotted something down, but its been a hectic one, full of studying (I had my first mid-term, English, yesterday), studying, and more studying. 

Anyways, nothing is happening on the literature front. Reading has become a secondary activity behind my scholarly activities, so The Plague is still waiting for me to re-crack it open on my bedside table. I hope to read that, Crime and Punishment, and finish Hamlet by the second week of January, but we'll see. Crime and Punishment should be quite the adventure...

Hippos. Well, not really. More like Ty Wigginton, who has a pretty clear resemblance to one of the most, if not the single most, deadly animals in Africa. The relevance of Ty Wigginton is that the Astros, in a move that defies all common sense, decided to not tender (offer) the apparently not-so-deadly third baseman a contract. The mysterious and, frankly, incomprehensible move is even more perplexing because Wigginton received plenty of attention on the trade market, even though teams knew that he would be commanding a higher salary. I guess the Astros didn't want to risk the possibility of giving him a $4 million raise? Maybe? I really don't know. All I know is that if this is the way that Drayton McLane insists on running his circ- er, baseball team, then attaining a championship will be very difficult. I mean, when you're worth $1.6 billion, how much could he possibly have lost in this economic crisis? Anyways (and this a completely unfair and incomplete comparison), the guy is worth 4/10 of a billion dollars more than George Steinbrenner, who's throwing cash at pitchers like they're favored thoroughbreds at the Kentucky Derby. I shouldn't tell people how to spend their money, but as a ridiculously dedicated Astros fan, I find it very disheartening that my owner is willing to spend money on journeyman reliever LaTroy Hawkins than a third baseman who would have easily reached 30 home runs last year had he not been injured - a rare occurrence for him. Explain? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I think that's it for the day.

Song of the Day: Around the Bend by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

It takes a lot of talent to lose, oh, I dunno, $50 billion

While the rest of the country worries about losing money, Hawaii just cares about jellyfish

If this guy can be mayor, I say O.J. for president!

I leave you with this unbelievably ironic article

Readers, readers, gimme a wave, readers gimme a wave!

Last night was my first of (hopefully) many experiences at Friday night Collegiate (my school) basketball games. Not only did the Dutchmen win (63-44), but the cheering from the overwhelming student section was both loud and hilarious. Chants included "COL-LEG-E!," mocking the supposed stupidity of students from Dwight, the opposing team, and "PUSSY..CATS!" to mock their mascot, who was dressed as an apparently harmless tiger. The same mascot was brutally attacked by about five Collegiate youngsters during a lame attempt at rallying the sizable but meek Dwight crowd.  Sitting on the sideline as the home-team scorekeeper, I found myself really into the game and wowed by the enthusiasm of the normally relatively benign kids from my school and can't wait until the next one! Tuesday the Dutch travel 12 blocks to face the Trinity Tigers (seems to be a theme with the mascot names...) which will become a major nemesis of mine next year when my best friend Brooks Allman becomes a Tiger. 

I've also begun to seek some sort of internship/volunteer/job opportunity over the summer and possibly for the rest of my high school life. I've contacted many different organizations (the State Department, New York Times, New York Post, United Nations, Houston Chronicle, and the New York Mets, to name a few) and have only heard back from the State Department, whose program sounded awesome but unfortunately does not provide housing for members of it. I might have a connection to the upper rungs of the New York Mets, so hopefully I can land something within that organization.

In other news...yeah. Finals starting next Friday should be fun. I guess. No baseball news to report. 

Song of the Day: "You Only Live Once" -- The Strokes

A Milwaukee Neighborhood Might Try to Print It's Own Money in the Face of the Economic Recession

Smelly Cows Might Actually Cost Something More Than Uncomfortableness

And You Thought Your School Had a Rivalry...

How Ironic Is This?

Who Would Go There Now? 

Welcome to December

It's December 1st!

I'm busy with school and all the complications that go with that, so all is quiet on the literature front. I'm on page 30 or so of Albert Camus' The Plague and will be 3 chapters into Hamlet by tomorrow morning...not by choice. However, the world still continues to spin. All sorts of interesting things happening with the Mumbai tragedy - apparently the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the two luxury hotels attacked, had a warning that attacks were possible, even likely. And apparently (the link has disappeared, so that could be the sign of a false source...) the U.S. warned India of an imminent terrorist attack on Mumbai weeks ago. Nonetheless, my condolences go out to the families of all those who were murdered in the attacks and to the citizens of Mumbai and India in general as well. 

In more news, Senator Hilary Clinton was named Secretary of State for the Obama administration today. I have to say, this is a shrewd political move by President-Elect Obama - should Clinton run for president in 2012 (which this appointment makes so much less likely), any criticism of President Obama will be negated by the fact that Hilary served in his cabinet. Nicely done, Barack + friends. Alongside that, I also think that the selection of Clinton was a good move for the country - appointing an extremely knowledgeable and world-savvy person (gender is really irrelevant in this case) to what has always been and will continue to be one of the most important positions in our unique government. In fact, early in our nation's history, Secretary of States often went on to become President. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan all used the S of S as a stepping stone to becoming El Presidente. 

In Sports news, today is a big day for Houston teams. The Houston Texans are due to appear (very soon actually) on Monday Night Football tonight for the first time in franchise history. The Astros signed Mike Hampton to a one year, $2 million deal pending a physical, which is more than just a casual oversight in the case of such an injury prone player such as Hampton. Nice to see Uncle Drayton and the rest of the 'Stros front office going after a (relatively) cheap, high-risk, possibly high-reward pitcher. I guess. Also, the New York Giants' Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg with an illegal concealed weapon. You'd think when you're getting paid megabucks that hiring a bodyguard for a night on the town might seem like a good idea rather than carrying your own weapon that is a) illegal, b) loaded, and c) not having the safety on? I guess not to Mr. Burress.

In Blog news, the Quote of the Day has finished its short-lived existence in favor of...nothing.

Song of the Day: Moving to New York by The Wombats

Great Sports Articles by Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice - thought I'd throw in a shout-out!