S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 135

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The Pac-12

When people talk about college football conferences, often they think of the Big-10 and the SEC.  But the Pac-12 (formerly known as the Pac-10) seems to labor on in obscurity caused by the Rocky Mountains or something (it's no secret, most of the U.S. media comes out of the East).  But right now fully 50% of the teams in the Pac-12 are BCS ranked, including #2 Oregon.  Even the vaunted SEC can't claim that (full disclosure: The SEC has six ranked teams, but that's out of 14 teams).

I just noticed that because I was checking the standings in the Pac-12 after the weekend's football games to see where my beloved University of Washington Huskies stood, and noticed the Huskies are now ranked (albeit at #25).  That means the Pac-12 North Division has four ranked teams (out of six).  Not too shabby.

I'm pretty confident that the Huskies or going to go 8-4 (two of their losses to teams ranked #2 and #3 when they played them).  They are currently bowl eligible at 6-4 after they beat Utah this weekend.  With Oregon probably going to the BCS, that means the Huskies could get a pretty good bowl slot, even though they are #4 in their very tough division (Pac-12 North).

And since they are a very young team, next year they should look even better.

P.S.: The sports/Huskies posts should end when the Huskies' season ends.  Just FYI.

Sunday Six: The Cop

Today's Sunday Six from Chapter Four of Book of Death :

A motorcycle cop I hadn't noticed jumped off his bike, pulled his service revolver, and shot it into the Indian with six cracks of bullets being fired.  It had no effect other than sending burning splinters of wood flying.  The cop suddenly looked frightened, and was gripping his billy club but taking no further action.

People were screaming loudly now.  I looked around, looking for an escape.  If I could teleport away I might escape, but I could see no clear place to teleport to. 

What is it?

My friend, Sare, blogged about this iPhone app called MarbleCam.  It takes pictures and manipulates them.  Here's one I took (and had manipulated).  What do you think it is?

Text Silliness

The other day (okay, Wednesday) I drove to a town about 100 miles away to interview a guy for a freelance writing assignment.  I stopped at a fast food restaurant to use their bathroom and get something to drink.  And I saw a casual dining restaurant across the street that my wife likes.  So I texted her:

Snow, Again?

They (the National Weather Service) is once again predicting snow for our area tomorrow.  However, temps will be above freezing so it will no doubt melt pretty quickly and just make things wet and muddy.  Winter is upon us and the real snow will come soon.  I think I'll put my snow tires on next week.

It's Over!

The election is finally over.  I don't live in a swing state and I was sick of the ads.  I can't imagine living in Ohio.  I often wish there was a way to limit the campaigns to six weeks or something.  But that gives huge advantages to incumbents who always have the ear of the media.  I'm afraid there are no perfect solutions other than avoid media completely every four years.

So it's over.  At least until the run up to the midterms in 2014.

Sunday Six: Skin

Today's six sentence Sunday from Chapter Three of Book of Death :

Skin was against mine as I woke: warm, soft, skin that pulsated with life pressed against my body.  I realized Ernestine was cuddling with me as I dozed.  I smiled and turned to face her.
"Good morning," she said with a smile, those brown eyes seeming to sparkle.
"Good morning," I said, grinning.  I had no idea what time it was, but I knew we hadn't slept much after she dropped her towel.

The Origins of The Adept Series

Today I stop by Speculative Friction to discuss the origins of the Adept Series ( Hammer of Thor , Agent of Artifice , and of course, Book of Death ).  Check it out (the blogger just happens to live in the same town I do, too!).

Nine Movies

My friend Sare does a lot of blog memes such as Sunday Stealing.  She's doing something in October which has her stating a certain number of things (such as "10 people I couldn't live without"; I was #10).  Yesterday she did nine movies.  Which inspired me to do nine movies.  I've avoided repeating any of her movies:

The Lord of the Rings. Technically three movies, but didn't want to use up all my choices. These moves are damn near perfect. The production values, the music, the settings, the acting, the direction, the special effects. Yes, those 6,000 horses are CGI but you don't care because the horses are the forces of good and you want good to win. Occasionally the writers strayed from Tolkien and that's when the movies are at their worst but their worst is better then most movies' best. Just amazing movies.

Star Wars. Okay, technically I'm talking about Star War IV: A New Hope, but when it was released and I first saw it, it was called "Star Wars" and that's it. It was an amazing break-through movie for the times. The special effects were like nothing seen before and here was a science fiction movie that wasn't a glum, depressing, or disturbing movie (viz Silent Running). This changed movies forever as Hollywood learned they could make money making fun movies. It also led to the revitalization of "Star Trek" which led to . . .

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Made cheap and fast (parts of its special effects are clipped right out of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) the writing saves this movie. The clever dialogue between Kirk and Bones and Spock and of course, the nemesis, Khan. Also the only Star Trek movie where they actually fire phasers! Not deep entertainment, but fun.

Talk to Her. A film made in Spain (subtitled) with complex relationships and perhaps a rapist as an unlikely hero (it's never answered, never resolved). Two women are in comas and each one has a man who is in love with them. Something that has to be seen to understand.  For some reason for days I couldn't stop thinking about this movie.

The Empire Strikes Back. A lot of times a director will make a great movie on a shoestring budget, have a hit, then have all the money he needs to make that "movie I've always wanted to make" and ends up making some self-indulgent drivel (viz: Heaven's Gate). George Lucas managed to avoid this trap in making Empire (he waited until the Star Wars prequels). Just a great, fun movie. The asteroid sequence is amazing for pre-CGI special effects and this was when Lucas knew to leave the audience wanting more, not less. (Or he couldn't afford to run the sequence into the ground like he did so often in the prequels.)

Forrest Gump. There's something about this story that profoundly affects me. Maybe I've known too many Jennys in my life. First time I saw it I cried. Bawled. Could not stop. Luckily I was home.

House of Flying Daggers. Basically the director's excuse to film beautiful sequences with almost no plot. But you don't care because they are breathtakingly beautiful.  Made in China with subtitles.

Twelve O'clock High. One of the first post-World War II movies to show the horror of combat (albeit, very subtly). Story of a "bad luck" bomber squadron that gets turned around by a hard-nosed commander. Not very sentimental nor maudlin, more of a "war is hell and if you don't run your unit right, it's even worse hell." Lessons can be applied to business and life. Worst part of the movie is the sequence with actual battle footage.

Toy Story 2. In the first Toy Story, Pixar made an amazing film. Not only a technological achievement but a touching, humorous, amazingly written warm story. In Toy Story 2, they took everything they'd learned up until then and made an even better movie. Bigger in scope and wider in narrative, has moments you want to cry and moments you want to cheer and moments that are so funny you have to stop the Blu-Ray and giggle for five minutes.

What are your favorite movies?