S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 76

What's at Stake Today

Today is for University of Washington Husky fans probably the second biggest game of the year, after last week's defeat of Stanford. Why is this game so important? Because it's against hated rival Oregon Ducks.

Oregon has beaten the Huskies in the past twelve (!) times these teams have met. That means the Huskies haven't won since 2003.

Time was when the Ducks were a team you played (and always beat) before the Huskies went on to play the tougher California teams (Stanford, Cal, USC, and UCLA). Then Nike founder Phil Knight started pouring money into his alma mater's football program. And the Ducks got better. For about a decade they've dominated the Pac-10/12. They've even played in at least one national championship game (and lost). They are also known for having a different uniform for every game, usually something florescent green or yellow (their school colors).

And Husky fans hate them and hate losing to them. Here's a blog post from 2011 explaining part of that hate.

But this year is different. The Huskies are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference coming off that big win against Stanford. They are in first place in the Pac-12 North division. The Ducks are 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference and in fifth place in the Pac-12 North (which has six teams). And the Huskies are nine-point favorates.

But this is the Oregon game and it's going to be played on Oregon's turf in Autzen Stadium. Emotions run high. The crowd will be ready to help their Ducks beat the Huskies.

It all probably comes down to Husky head coach Chris Petersen getting his team ready and not letting them believe the hype and get over-confident. But that's hard when your team is #5 in the AP poll.

The game is at 4:30 Pacific Time on Fox.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Carlo Kennedy and Ted D. Berner

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Carlo Kennedy and Ted D. Berner.
Carlo KennedyCarlo Kennedy

Carlo Kennedy is an Irish-Italian-American author.

Carlo's Books:

Time Signature 

Time Signature II: The Regrets of Our Past

"The Test" (free short story)

Carlo's Links:

Website
Twitter
YouTube
Goodreads
Amazon

Ted D. BernerTed D. Berner

Ted Berner grew up in the Mountains of Montana and has lived on a ranch for half of his life. He’s blessed to live with a wonderful wife and several four-legged furry friends. Much of his time is spent in the air as an airline pilot and when on the ground, ranch work occupies several hours each week, but his fascination for the lost wisdom of the ancients is a craving he just can’t hide from. Although his first love is spending time at home with his family, Berner’s passion for the unknown will undoubtedly be the driving force for another novel.

Ted's Book:

Proof the Novel

Ted's Links:

Website
Website Store
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest
Google+
Goodreads

From Today's Show: Water-Powered Cubesat.


Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Birthdays

And it's back to the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing over 30 or so weeks. Today's prompt is "The night of your 21st birthday."

Hell, I'm 56, I don't remember my 21st birthday. And it's not because I drank so much, it's because it apparently wasn't very memorable. Or was that the birthday with the wine? If so, that's a story I don't want to tell.

Okay, I'll tell the story. This is a tale my wife and I have kept secret for thirty-five years. The minister of the church we went to was on vacation. He and his wife had someone house sitting. My then-fiancee conned him into letting us use the house for a nice dinner. I brought a bottle of red wine. Sometime during the course of the dinner we spilled a bunch of wine on the dark oak table. My fiance ran to get a towel but, to our horror, the wine almost immediately soaked into the wood, leaving no mark or stain. I looked under the table, expecting to see wine dripping out of the bottom of the table, but there wasn't.  It was as if the wood simply absorbed it like a sponge. We never told anyone, until now. Sorry Dick and Betsy.

One recent birthday (within the past five years) was when my wife made a cake with bacon. She made a three-layer white cake with caramel frosting, which I thought would go good with the bacon. She layered the bacon between the layers of cake and then on the outside of the cake and covered it all in caramel frosting. It was delicious but very rich.

What's your favorite birthday memory?

Do you Believe?

Yesterday was a very good day in the world of sports. Well, it actually started on Friday.

Friday night on ESPN in front of a nation-wide audience the #7 Stanford Cardinal played the #10 Washington Huskies. I was expecting a close game, hard fought, with several lead changes and it might come down to who has the ball last. And if the Huskies lost, it would be close and not drop them too far in the AP rankings.

But it was nothing like that. From the beginning the UW Huskies dominated Stanford. They shut down their star player McCafferty (he had only one good play the entire game), they sacked the quarterback six time (or was it seven, I kind of lost count in all the excitement), and routed Stanford 6 - 44. Stanford made one touch down in the third quarter, went for the 2-point conversion instead of the PAT, and didn't get is. Interestingly, Washington's first PAT attempt was tipped by Stanford and missed. I remember thinking "I hope we don't lose by one point."

Stanford never led, had trouble converting on third downs, and was basically beaten by the Huskies in every way possible.

Then on Saturday, Arizona State and Utah both lost leaving the Huskies the only team in the Pac-12 that is undefeated at 5-0 (2-0 in conference). The Huskies now lead the Pac-12 North. This is the first time they have been 5-0 since 1992 (when they went 7-0). They have won their last eight games going back into last season.

Do you believe in the Huskies now?

Another great thing that happened yesterday is the Seattle Mariners lost, eliminating them from any wildcard contention. They play today and then their year is over.

Finally, the AP rankings came out at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (11:00 AM Pacific Time). And the UW Huskies are #5 in the nation according to the AP poll. That has to be their highest ranking in a long long time.

Stanford dropped to #15 and Utah dropped to #24.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Adam Dreece and Kevin Coolidge

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome Adam Dreece and Kevin Coolidge.
Adam Dreece

In 2014, twenty-five years of doing nothing with his writing came to a screeching halt when Adam Dreece released his first book, Along Came a Wolf, as an indie author. Over the next two years he added three more books in that best-selling steampunk meets fairytale series, The Yellow Hoods.

This year, Adam set out to do something different. He put out his first post-apocalyptic fantasy book, The Wizard Killer Season One, which was an unexpected hit for him. Now, the once resident of Silicon Valley and former software developer has put out his first high-tech science fiction book, The Man of Cloud 9.

He lives in Calgary with his wife, three kids, and lots and lots of sticky notes.

Adam's Books:

Beauties of the Beast (The Yellow Hoods #4)
The Wizard Killer: Season One
The Man of Cloud 9
Adam's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter
Kevin CoolidgeKevin Coolidge
Kevin resides in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. When he's not writing, you can find him at From My Shelf Books & Gifts, an independent bookstore he runs with his lovely wife, several helpful employees, and two friendly cats, Huck & Finn.He's a Viking at heart, and when he's not sharpening his broadsword or mending his hauberk, he's writing more stories about intrepid gamers. Be sure to catch the next adventure, Codename Cthulhu. 
Kevin's Books:

Operation Ragnarok
The Totally Ninja Raccoons Meet the Thunderbird
The Totally Ninja Raccoons and the Secret of the Canyon
Kevin's Link:
Facebook
From today's show: Hibernating Astronauts May be Key to Colonizing Mars
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT on in archive here.

What's at Stake Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the biggest game in the Pac-12 this week if not the entire season. On Friday night at 6:00 PM PDT, The University of Washington Huskies take on the Stanford University Cardinal (it's a color). Here's a short list of why this game is important:

Both teams are undefeated this year, the Huskies are 4-0, the Cardinal 3-0. That will change for one of these teams.Both teams are in the top ten of the AP college poll, the Huskies at #10, the Cardinal at #7The teams are #1 (Cardinal) and #2 (Huskies) in the Pac-12 North. The winner of this game will be at #1. (Stanford is #1 because their conference record is 2-0 and the Huskies conference record is 1-0.)The overall series is tied at 41-41-4, so this game will break the tie.This is the Huskies' Pac-12 home opener. They don't want to lose in front of their home fans.The game will be aired nationally on ESPN. Since it's on a Friday, it will probably be watched by more college football fans than if it were on a Saturday while other games are being played.And, of course, I'm rooting for the Huskies. Go Dawgs!

It Seems I Use Some Words A Lot

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "What word/phrase do you use constantly?"

In my writing, I have a bad habit of using "seem" or "seems" a lot. It's to the point that when I finish a first draft, I do a search on "seem" and try to eliminate most if not all of them. It seems I like that word, a lot.

Sometimes I use "but" a lot, too. This seems to be when I'm not sure of myself, writing a synopsis, for example. A friend of mine who proofreads for me says I drive her crazy with my use of "but," often to start a paragraph or a sentence.

But I don't always do that.

Another Good Day

Yesterday was another good day for me in sports. First of all, the Seattle Mariners lost to the team with the worst record in Major League Baseball, the Minnesota Twins. This further diminishes the Mariners' hopes for a wildcard slot and their first visit to the post season since the Paleolithic Era. Okay, 2001.

Also yesterday the Nike Ducks (in uniforms to make them look like their duck mascot) lost to the Colorado Buffaloes. Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, the Buffs have been the doormat of the conference. So them beating Oregon is especially sweet (although it does take some of the joy out of the Huskies beating Oregon, which I'm sure they will this year).

Washington State Cougars had a bye this week, so no news there.

Finally, the best news of the day, the University of Washington Huskies beat Arizona for the first time in six years. It was a hard fought game. Arizona had two amazing players: their quarterback and a running back. The quarterback could not only scramble, but could run. On one play he ran 79 yards to make a touch down, as if he were a running back himself. The running back that was so good was, unfortunate, injured and had to leave the game. They guy could squirt through holes and make yards.

This was the first away game for the Huskies and the first against a good opponent. While they struggled at times, they never gave up. They faced adversity and kept playing hard.

The game actually went into overtime, but the Huskies made a touchdown and then stopped Arizona from reciprocating, ending overtime (college football overtime rules are weird). Huskies won the game 35-28.

So where do we stand? The Huskies are now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference. That puts them in second place in the Pac-12 North Division after Stanford (who are 3-0 and 2-0 in conference). The Oregon Ducks are tied for last place in the North Division with the California Golden Bears at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in conference.

In the AP poll today, Stanford is still #7 (same place for three weeks) and the Huskies, perhaps due to the closeness of last night's game, dropped to #10 from #9 last week. But I saw a headline that they are 2.5 point favorites going into the Stanford game on Friday evening. That game is a home game for the Huskies so that will help.

The only other Pac-12 team in the top 25 AP poll are the Utah Utes (who lead the Pac-12 South Division) at #18.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Madeleine Holly-Rosing and Allie Potts

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome Madeleine Holly-Rosing and Allie Potts.
Madaleine Holly-RosingMadeleine Holly-Rosing

A TV, feature film and comic book writer, Madeleine is the writer/creator of Boston Metaphysical Society Comic and has won the Sloan Fellowship  for screenwriting, and the Gold Aurora and Bronze Telly for a PSA produced by Women In Film. She also won numerous awards while completing the UCLA MFA Program in Screenwriting. In addition, Madeleine teaches a Kickstarter class for independent creators at Pulp Fiction Books in Culver City and has published the book, Kickstarter for the Independent Creator.

BOSTON METAPHYSICAL SOCIETY webcomic is the recipient of an HONORABLE MENTION at the 2013 GEEKIE AWARDS and was nominated for BEST COMIC/GRAPHIC NOVEL at the 2014 GEEKIE AWARDS. The comic has also been nominated for a 2012 Airship Award as well as a 2013, 2014 and a 2015 Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award. Her novella, Steampunk Rat, was also nominated for a 2013 Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award.

Madeleine's Books
Boston Metaphysical Society Comic (print, digital)
Boston Metaphysical Society Prelude 
Kickstarter for the Independent Creator
Madeleine's Links:
Website/Blog Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest
Allie PottsAllie Potts
Allie Potts, born in Rochester Minnesota was moved to North Carolina at a very early age by parents eager to escape to a more forgiving climate. She has since continued to call North Carolina home, settling in Raleigh, halfway between the mountains and the sea, in 1998.
When not finding ways to squeeze in 72 hours into a 24 day or chasing after children determined to turn her hair gray before its time, Allie enjoys stories of all kinds. Her favorites, whether they are novels, film, or simply shared aloud with friends, are usually accompanied with a glass of wine or cup of coffee in hand.

Allie's Books:
The Fair and Foul 
An Uncertain Faith
Allie's Links:
Website/Blog Facebook Twiiter Goodreads
From Today's Show: Phobos Grooves Mystery Solved.
Listen to this show today at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Out of Control

A lot of newer cars are adding an auto-braking system where if the car scenes an imminent collision, it automatically slams on the brakes. As noted in this NPR article, most cars sold in the U.S. are going to have this by 2022. And "experts" say it could prevent 20% of collisions.

But I'm worried about the loss of driver control these systems represent.

I was driving over Snoqualmie Pass last year to go to an in-law holiday celebration that has been dubbed "Thanksmas." Snoqualmie Pass is known for its bad winter weather with heavy snows and sometimes icy conditions. And, it seems, Thanksmas always happens on one of the worst days for weather on the pass. And this year was no exception.

I was driving along at maybe 50 mph on packed snow on the road. I was in the right lane of the two-lane interstate highway. My wife gasped as she saw the problem first (I was concentrating on the road). There were multiple overturned cars along the side of the road. And, I realized, there was a semi truck stopped in my lane directly ahead. I put the brakes on, not hard but hard enough to, I hoped, stop in time. The car kept going as the ice I didn't realize was there and was providing no traction. I knew if I simply kept my foot on the brake I'd slide into the back of the semi truck. I also knew that in a slide, turning the wheel to steer the car is useless because you have no traction.

I couldn't go into the left lane because there was a car there. I looked and saw that the right shoulder was empty except for a man standing near it talking on his cell phone. I calculated there was enough room between him and the truck for my car.

I took my foot of the brake, which restored enough traction I could turn the car toward the shoulder. Once I was aimed at the shoulder and not the truck, I applied the brakes again, hard. The rumble strip helped, and the car stopped before hitting the snowbank. I missed the man standing there by maybe a foot. Maybe less. But no one was hurt and no vehicles were damaged. When the truck started moving again, I pulled in behind it, this time being more careful as I now knew how slick the road actually was.

But, here's my concern. If my car had automatic braking, would the car have, thinking I was about to hit the truck, slammed on the brakes when I stopped braking, leaving me out of control and sliding into the truck? Would the automatic braking caused an accident I was able to avoid? Would the loss of driver control because the car wouldn't know the road was icy, slam me into the back of that truck?

It's this loss of control that automatic braking systems cause that worries me. Maybe for the driver who doesn't pay attention, automatic braking is a good thing. But for a driver who knows what they are doing, it could cause an accident where the driver could have prevented it.

And as cars grow more and more autonomous, will they be able to handle adverse conditions such as snow, ice, or heavy rain?