Conan

On a lark, I took out a book from the library that has the first short stories of the fictional character Conan the Cimmerian (or Barbarian). I like to read fantasy, but I've been slowly getting through the Lord of the Rings books (finished Book III, which is the first half of the Two Towers, not long ago) and they just bore the shit out of me. I know that the LOTR saga has a HUUUUUUUGE fanbase, and there is endless discussion surrounding that universe, but to me, Tolkien's books are a cure for insomnia.

I'd seriously look forward to opening up LOTR, and listen to the audio recording (which is a very good reading, BTW), just because I knew it would put me to sleep. Maybe the movies are a lot better, I haven't seen them. But as someone who does like to read fantasy, and who had finally gotten around to reading Tolkien, and expecting the saga-to-end-all-sagas, I was terribly disappointed.

But upon reading the first few short stories in this book, my faith in fantasy is restored. It has everything I expect and want in fantasy literature: healthy doses of action, plenty of mysticism, taut, to-the-point dialogue and narration (one of the things I hate about Tolkien is his tendency to describe everything in mind-numbing detail, down to a small weed in a plain). On the front page of the book is a quip from Stephen King, and it describes Robert Howard's writing perfectly: "Howard's writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks." I really couldn't describe it better than that.

Anyway, I'm off. I get my 2nd test results back tomorrow, hopefully they'll be nearly as good as my first.

FreeRice

This is a really cool little Internet game that I found. In short, you're given a word, along with 4 other words. You have to look at the word, and figure out which of the 4 best describes that word. It's very challenging. I got many of them right, but trust me, it was simply luck.

The best part of this game is that for each answer you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations to lessen world hunger. How is this possible? As you're playing the game, there are advertisements on the bottom. Those companies participate in this important assistance. So by answering questions on what words mean and sharpening up your brain, you're doing some good too. It's hard to get more awesome than that.

Season 6 of 24 on Sale at Target

Season 6 of "24" came out last month but I just bought it today because it was on sale for 29.99. I got burned last year on Season 5 when I bought it on the day it came out, so I waited a little bit for Season 6. I'm still unhappy with the cover, but it's "24". Ironically, this new season was cheaper than the other seasons at Target. So buy the sixth season of "24" today, for the good of the country, of course.

It's All Over But the Crying

Upon getting home, and doing some surfing, I looked at the headlines on Yahoo (my default homepage) and saw the headline "Teary-eyed Clinton Vows to Fight On." I immediately thought of Edward Muskie, the Democratic frontrunner for the election of 1972, and how his Niagara Falls crying display hammered the nails in his presidential coffin.

It would appear that history's about to repeat itself. Crying? Seriously? But yeah, it's probably coming to a close for Hillary anyway. Coming behind Obama in Iowa, by itself, isn't fatal. But coming in third behind Edwards, whose prospects by most mainstreamers were all but nil, and losing to Barack in women is a potential deal-closer for Obama.

I'm relieved. Hillary, I'd say by far, is the most right-wing conservative of all the major candidates, maybe all the Democratic candidates in this primary. The right-wingers will scoff, but it's true. Iraq doubtlessly hurt her. Her arrogant ways toward Obama in terms of her experience versus his inexperience, I'm sure, also turned a lot of people off. Personally, "experience" in government is a huge detriment for a candidate. And exactly what experience did Hillary have? She served most of her career as a first lady for Bill, first when he was governor, and later as President. She played one pivotal role in his administration, as the head of his health care reform program, and we all know what happened there. After that, she was in charge of conducting Easter egg hunts and things like that. And finally, in a cynical move, she became a New York resident and ran for Senate here. I know I'm getting off-topic, but half the candidates shouldn't even be in this race. IMO, the first and only duty of a holder of an office, should be to his or her constituents. Hillary (and to be fair, Obama) talks about what she's going to do, and how much experience she has, but she isn't even tending to the needs of New Yorkers. She's too busy running for president in New Hampshire.

But yeah. I don't mind having a woman run for president. Just not Hillary, and it's looking like many Americans agree with me. The Hillary Clinton candidacy was a media creation in which the public never got on board. And also, our spiraling cycle toward aristocracy will be broken, at least for awhile. I was dreading the 20-25 year period of a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton presidency, in which two families are throwing around the presidency like a hot potato (or a joint at a party, to quote Mos Def on Bill Maher's show).

But I digress. I doubt I'm going to vote next year. Obama's message of "hope" isn't a campaign platform. Hillary's a flake. Kucinich can't win. I do like Edwards' message, but the corporations have this country by its balls, so I'm sure he'd be neutralized if he became president.

To All You Students Out There

I don't know how many students read my blog, probably not very many, but those of you who do will be glad you did. Because I have a tip that will raise your grades and will make you a better all-around student. And it's something very easy, but which many people do not do for whatever reason. So take my advice: if your teacher or professor is open to having you take a recorder to class and record his lectures, than by all means, do it. I didn't get in the habit of doing this until very late in college. During the last few classes I was required to take before getting my degree, I was struggling badly, as those courses were math & science, which I never did well in. Anyway, after getting a 53 on my first meterology exam, someone suggested to me that I bring a tape recorder to class. At this point, I was willing to try anything, so I started bringing it to class, copying it later for notes, and on the exam after that, got an 85. I ended up getting an A- in the course.

Right now, I'm taking a Business Law course to start off my Paralegal Certification program. The other day, I took an exam and got a 94, the highest grade in the class. Again, I've been recording the lectures and listening to them at home, even while doing things like reading and going to sleep. Using a tape recorder will be of more value to you than the best notes in the world. I'm not a particularly good notetaker, so it's worth a lot to me. It'll turn potentially failing courses into passing courses, and in a course you're good at, it'll make you better.

Jumping Flash

I went browsing on Youtube earlier and found this video clip of one of the first Playstation games I played, and one of my favorites. I rented it a long time ago and have always meant to buy it. It's fairly easy (as well as its sequel) but stands out because it's so uniquely Japanese, like the Katamari games. I think stoners will get a kick out of it as well. And, IMO, it's aged very well. It came out in '95, I believe, and it still looks fresh. A lot of PS1 games have aged badly and look like crap if you play them now, but this is a notable exception. It sucks that I'm on a budget right now and have stopped buying games temporairily, so I'm just going through what I have.

Pakistan

As I'm sure you all know, Pakistan is in a pretty fucked-up state right now; well, yeah, it's always in a fucked-up state, but especially now. That was due, of course, to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last week. Besides losing one of the few women in world politics who were of MILF-status (sorry, I found Ms. Bhutto a very attractive woman, and am saddened at her passing for that alone), there are many who feel that Pakistan took a major blow in terms of moving forward to a democracy, from a dictatorship.

But I've been reading a few articles (this one, in particular from the Post, is very good and addresses some of my thoughts) and came away with one thing. As supportive of democracy as the Pakistan People's Party (Bhutto's party) allegedly is, is it really? The PPP was founded by Bhutto's father. He met a violent end, and that's when it was taken over by his daughter, Benazir. She won a few elections for prime minister, and her terms were fraught with reports of corruption. She also met a violent end, and once again, an heir (this time, her son) is taking over the party upon the completion of his studies at Oxford. In the meantime, his father and Benazir's husband (known as "Mr. Ten Percent" because of his skimming off the top of Pakistan government contracts) is the interim head of the PPP.

So for a party that espouses democracy (again, in contrast to the dictatorship of Musharraf), they're awfully keen in ensuring that one of their own runs things and that all with the Bhutto family name live comfortably. It's unnerving how similiar that is to our own country; recall that in prior blog posts, I pointed out the irony of a possible Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton 20-30 year span of holding the American presidency. One family has the power. Is that really that much better than a dictatorship? It certainly isn't democratic, at least not from where I sit.