S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 22

The Huskies' Season is Over

The University of Washington Huskies' football season is over. Thankfully. 

In 2008, the Huskies went 0-12, the only team in Pac-12 history to never win a football game in one season. This season they went 4-12. They lost their last four games to Oregon Nike, Arizona State, Colorado, and Washington State. We knew this season was going to be bad when they lost to Montana in their season opener.

Their head coach was fired. Their Offensive Coordinator was fired. The Defensive Coordinator became the interim head coach and went 0-3.

Years ago (probably about 2009) I said I would be happy if the Huskies:

1) Won at least 8 games

2) Beat Oregon Nike

3) Beat Washington State

4) Won their bowl game.

They didn't do 1-3 and they won't be going to a bowl this year. 

Our only consolation is that they aren't the last-place team in the Pac-12 North. The Stanford Cardinal is.

Now a search for a new head coach is on. Hoping for a Petersen, but probably will get a Sarkisian.

I stuck with the Huskies through 2008. I'll stick with them now. I bleed purple. 

Black Friday and Podcast

It's Black Friday and I have a lot going on!

First of all, I and other authors are having a multi-genre 99 (or lower) Black Friday Sale. You can learn about it here. For me, Smugglers of Mars is on sale for 99 cents!

Also on the The Fantasy and Sci-Fi Fanatic's Podcast today. I talk about writing, my writing journey, books, and other fun things. So give it a listen. 

And I ate too much yesterday, so I'm going to go have a nap. Just kidding, I'll be watching college football. GoDawgs!

Welcome to My Brain

Happy Thanksgiving (in the US)!

Now on with the blog.

Recently I was doing freelance work and I saw something (too complicated to explain here) that had to do with ABC Healthcare company (obviously, I've changed the name). But for some reason, I read it as "XYZ Healthcare" and kept reading it as that until my editor pointed out I was wrong. I have no idea why I did that. Just my brain being weird.

I used to be (and sometimes am) a very literal thinker. When I was a kid I'd see signs along the road that say "Do Not Pass." And I'd think "everyone is passing that sign. Why? It must not mean what I think it to mean, i.e., don't go past this sign. Then latter I'd see a sign that said "Pass With Care and I thought "Yes, you should pass this sign with care because you should always be careful when driving. Later, when I was learning to driver, I learned that the sign meant "Do not pass other cars." 

And when I was a kid, they would say to ride your bicycle on the "right side of the road." And I was confused, because I didn't know which side was right and which side was wrong. Finally, I don't remember how, I realized they meant "right" as in "right or left." 

So welcome to my brain. It misfires sometimes.

How does your brain work? Does it work like mine or can you actually figure things out? Let me know in the comments below.

Paper Straws are Improving... in Some Cases

Paper StrawA while back I wrote about how much I hate paper straws. That was September, 2018. I hated how they got mushy in your mouth and felt gross and the end in the liquid would collapse if you sucked too hard and would bend if you tried to poke it through the ice. I remember as a kid (before plastic straws) that it was nearly impossible to drink something thick such as a milkshake through them.

Well, things are getting better. When I went to the Chicago concert in Walla Walla, I had dinner at a steak house. And they brought me a drink with a paper straw. And I was disappointed.

Until I used it. It never got mushy in my mouth and it didn't collapse in the drink. It had some sort of black coating that prevented these things. I could tell it was paper by the way it had spirals on the inside. I'm assuming the coating will eventually break down and allow the paper straw to be composted or disintegrated in water or in a land fill.

Then, when I went to Husky Stadium to watch the a football game, I got a straw that looked like clear plastic. The paper cover said it was made from plants and was compostable. But it worked just like a plastic straw. I was impressed.

Then recently I got a paper straw while visiting Oregon and, just like before, it sucked. Or rather didn't suck because it bent and felt yucky in my mouth. And because it's weak, you can't stab it through the ice  in the bottom to get to the liquid at the bottom of the cup. So useless.

So, innovation once again comes to the rescue with two solutions for plastic straws that don't involve giving up what we all like about plastic straws.

How do you feel about paper straws? Have you seen any innovation to make them better? Let me know in the comments below.

Movie Databases

Today is Veterans' Day, to honor those who have served our country.
Now on with the show:
We all know (or at least should know) about the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). I've used it since the early 1990s for learning about movies and television shows. It was bought by Amazon in 1998 (for $55 million) and has only gotten better (except for all the ads).

The IMDb is great for figuring out who actors are and learning more about movies. I'll be watching a movie and an actor will look familiar, so using the IMDb I can figure out where I've seen them before.

But there are more movie databases out there than IMDb to enhance your viewing pleasure.

For example, there's the Internet Movie Car Database (IMCDb).  I like cars (obviously) so when I see a car I don't recognize in a movie, or I'm curious about, I consult the IMCDb. It works a lot like the IMDb does for actors, except for cars. It's fun to learn about cars I don't recognize (which aren't a lot).

Then there's the Internet Movie Plane Database (IMPDb). This works more like a wiki than a database. But you can still find the movie you're looking for and the plane you're interested in. I am, of course, interested in airplanes, so I find this database useful to identify planes I don't recognize.

Finally, there's the Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb). It, too, is more like a wiki than a database. I used it recently to determine what shotgun Arnold Schwarzenegger was firing in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. It was a modified Winchester 1887. It's the only lever-action shotgun I've ever seen.

There's even an Internet Movie Boat Database (IMBDb) but it's not very comprehensive and again, is more like a Wiki than a database.

These last databases someone must be pouring their heart and soul into to keep running. And I appreciate their efforts. 

Do you know of any other movie databases. Have you used any of these? Let me know in the comments below.

Huskies are 4-5

Last week, the University or Oregon Nike Ducks beat the University of Colorado Buffaloes 52-29. That would be classified as a "Blow out."

This week, the University of Washington Huskies played the Oregon Nike Ducks in Husky Stadium in the rain. The Ducks won by 26-16. That is not a blow out.

The game started on hopeful note, as a Husky interception was ran back to about the 4 yard line and that let to a Husky touchdown. The Dawgs were in the lead against the #4 team in the nation.

Later, an amazing punt put the Ducks on the one-yard line. Their running back was tackled in the end zone, making it a safety and two more points for the Huskies. The score was 0-9. At halftime, the score was 10-9. I was cautiously optimistic.

But the Ducks got better while the Huskies got worse. A wet ball didn't help Husky quarterback Dylan Morris connect with his receivers, and he as a hard time doing that anyway. The Huskies did managed another touchdown, but the Ducks won the game. A punt snap that went over the head of the punter and out the end of the end zone, resulting in a safety, didn't help.

So the Ducks will probably still be #4 when the CFP rankings come out on Tuesday. In fact, because #2 Michigan State lost to Perdue, the Ducks might move up! I hate the Ducks.

The Huskies still need to win two more games to be bowl eligible. They have three regular season games left.

Next week, the Arizona State Sun Devils travel to Husky Stadium. ASU is 6-3 so far so they are beatable. That game is at 4pm on FS1.

The week after that, on the 20th, the Huskies play Colorado in Boulder. And then on November 25th, they play the Apple Cup cross-state rivalry game against the WSU Cougars in Husky Stadium.

Just Pass Me

When I'm passing someone on the interstate who is going just a little bit slower than I, I speed up a bit to get around them. I don't like tying up a lane and being beside someone for a long time. The speed limit in most of Washington on interstates is 70 mph. I'll speed up to around 80 to get past someone quickly. I know I'm risking a ticket, but I believe this is safer than creeping by someone. If they make a mistake while I'm passing them, we're both going to be in trouble.

However, some folks don't feel that way apparently. For some reason, people will pull up on me when I'm in the right lane, and sit there off my rear left fender. I don't understand why and it's particularly annoying at night with their headlights reflecting in my outside mirror. I've been known to slow down in the hopes they'll go around me. But sometimes they just slowly pass me. It makes me nervous because if they make a mistake, we're both going to be in trouble.

Sometimes I wonder if I unknowingly wander in my lane (I've seen people do this) making drivers nervous to pass me. But not everyone hovers behind me. So I think it's the individual drivers, not me.

The lesson here is, if you're passing someone on the interstate, get off the cruise control and pass the person, don't creep around them. Same for big trucks. But that could be a whole 'nother blog entry.

Huskies are 4-4

Last night the University of Washington Huskies played the Stanford Cardinal (it's a color) at Stanford's home field and won. That is the first time since 2007 the Huskies have won at Stanford.

For the first half it was a defensive battle as each team only scored field goals. They would do fine once they got to the red zone, then they ran out of Gatorade or something and never make a touch down. Going into the half, the score was 9-3 Huskies. 

In the second half, both teams played better, but UW Quarterback Dylan Morris couldn't seem to hit the wide side of a receiver for most of the game. Still, the only score in the third quarter was a Husky field goal. 

In the fourth quarter, the Cardinal got a touchdown and a field goal to put them up by one point (13 to 12). The Huskies answered, though, and Morris managed to connect with Sean McGrew in the end zone in the last moments of the game for a touchdown. Then they got the two point conversion making the score 20 to 13, meaning Stanford could only tie it with a touchdown and a PAT. But that became moot with a Husky interception in the last moments of the game.

This brought the Huskies to 4-4 on the season and 3-2 in conference. And maybe upped their confidence. 

Now, in NCAA Division I FBS football you have to win six games to be "bowl eligible." They say "eligible" because it's possible you could still win six games and not get to go to a bowl game. But I've never heard that happening. Since most teams play 12 regular season games, six games means you're record is .500. Yes, it's too easy to get into a bowl game and there are too damn many bowl games.

For the Huskies to be bowl eligible they have to win two more games. Next week they play the hated Oregon Nike Ducks at Husky Stadium. But the Ducks are good so they will be very hard to beat. However, Stanford beat them this year, and the Huskies beat Stanford, so you never know. That game is at 4:30 PM on ABC. The Ducks are 7-1.

Of their remaining schedule, they play Arizona State (at Husky Stadium), The Sun Devils are 5-3 on the season.  So another tough team but still beatable.

Then they play Colorado (2-6) in Boulder, so that's a winnable game.

Then comes the Apple Cup at Husky Stadium against the 5-4 Cougars of Washington State. The Apple Cup is always a wild time and making predictions is dangerous. 

But the Huskies might make bowl eligibility this year.

And to think, in 2016, we were in the CFP at #4 in the nation.

First Person versus Third Person Narrative.

I belong to a lot of book groups on Facebook, mostly to promote my books. In one group, someone asked what was better to write in: first person or third person. And that got me thinking. Which is better? Or are they the same?

Of my thirteen published novels, all but two are in first person. Of my three current WIPs, one is in first person and two are in third person.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

In first person, you're deep in the head of your narrator. So you (and your reader) are seeing the world and the story from his/hers/its/zers/etc. perspective. The narrator can comment on the situations and you know their reactions to things. I find writing in first person more fun than third person. The disadvantage is, you only get one person's perspective, the narrator's. If you want to know what someone else is thinking, they have to say it to your narrator. All the action of the book has to take place in front of and involving the narrator. And you can't kill your main character (unless they aren't the narrator). In my novel Book of Death, I did kill my first-person narrator. No spoilers about how I got out of that.

In third person you can write each scene in someone else's head. You can kill whomever you wish. You can have scenes wherever you wish. They could be lightyears and hundreds of years apart. You can see the world though more than one character's eyes (but not in the same scene, please). It's not as intimate as first person. But it's more versatile. You have to be careful not to "head hop" (tell the story from different points of view in one scene) or have one character know something they shouldn't that another character does know.

So which to use? Depends on what you want to write. 

How do you write? First or third person? Which do you prefer to read. Let me know in the comments below.

My first-person narrated books are:

Adept Series (urban fantasy):

Hammer of Thor

Agent of Artifice

Book of Death

Gods of Strife

The Terror of Tombstone

Treasures of Space Series (science fiction):

Treasure of the Black Hole

Treasure of the Pirate Planet

Treasure of the Rogue Moon

Chumba of the Intelligence Corps Series (science fiction):

Smugglers of Mars

The Three Species War

The Urlotian Spheres

My third person narrative books are (all science fiction):

Rock Killer

Forces

The Huskies are 3-4

 Last night (yes, on a Friday night), the University of Washington Huskies played the University of Arizona Wildcats in Tucson Arizona. More about that in a moment.

Last week the Huskies played UCLA at home. And they looked pretty good, better then they have lately. But they still lost 17-24. I would have blogged about that last week, but I was visiting my grandson and what would you rather do, spend time with your grandchild or write a blog post.

Going into last nights game against Arizona, I thought the Huskies had a chance to win. After all, the Wildcats have lost 18 games in a row. Last time they won was in 2019. They were 0-6 entering this game.

But the Huskies looked awful through the first half of the game. Quarterback Dylan Morris couldn't connect with his receivers and our running game was going nowhere. Meanwhile, Arizona was actually scoring points. At halftime, the score was 0-13 with Arizona in the lead.

Even at the end of the third quarter, the Huskies were trailing 7-16. Then something changed. Morris was hitting his targets. The running game was making yards. And by the end of the game, the Huskies were ahead, 21-16. 

If we had played like we did against UCLA, this game would have been a blowout for the Huskies. But they really didn't start to play until the 4th quarter.

I'm just glad they won.

Going forward things aren't great. Next week we play Stanford at Palo Alto. Stanford is 3-4 and has a bye this week. That's going to be a tough game. Then we play Oregon at home but Oregon is the best team in the Pac-12 right now. Then we play Arizona State at home but ASU is on in second place in the Pac-12 South. So a tough game and then two very tough games. 

I guess this is a rebuilding year. Maybe next year will be better. Maybe.