Book Log 2008 #44: A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis

I was somewhat disposed to dislike this book due to some loyalty towards Just Kick It, where another aging soccer player becomes a football kicker. I enjoyed that book quite a bit, and as it takes place locally I was a little miffed (irrationally so) that a better-known author would get more publicity for kicking for a better-known team (even if, unlike St. Amant, he didn't get to kick in live games).

What I should have been thinking is that there was a chance that there'd be two highly enjoyable books that use a similar premise to tell very different stories. That's the reality of the situation, as this book is as entertaining in its depiction of life in the NFL's least-secure position as Just Kick It is in telling the story of players looking for another season doing what they most enjoy.

Fatsis is skilled at getting into subcultures - if you've not read Word Freak, do so at your earliest convenience - and kickers may comprise the NFL's ultimate subculture. Granted, he gets access other kickers don't (he speaks with Mike Shanahan and team execs quite a bit), but he also gets into the minds of established guys like Jason Elam and fringe guys whose names I can't even remember. He's also there during Todd Sauerbrun's drug suspension, which helps to add some color to the narrative.

So, your two conclusions: one, I'm an idiot, and two, read both of these scribe-turned-kicker books.

Book Log 2008 #43: The Bluest State by Jon Keller

Keller, who has spent his career as a local political journalist, seems like just the right person to write a critique of the one-party, hack-heavy Massachusetts political system. And in places the fit between subject and author is just right, with Keller skewering the way folks like Tom Finneran played power games while not addressing state-wide economic issues like job growth and a lack of affordable housing.

But things don't work so well in most of the book, in which Keller blames pretty much everything on the outdated policies and values of the "boomer liberals," which in most cases is a Kennedy or John Kerry. And, of course, these folks hate America, don't give to charity, think religion is bunk and are to blame for the whole PC thing (seriously, there's a whole chapter on PC language and thinking that would have made some sense if the book was written ten years earlier).

I think my issue with this book is similar to the one I had with Thomas Frank's What's the Matter With Kansas? (which is mentioned a few times in the book as well). Both have an interesting premise and the material to really support it, but things drift as the book goes on. Maybe I'm just fated to be disappointed in contemporary political writing.

Book Log #42: 1434 by Gavin Menzies

I started this book thinking it was related to 1491, Charles Mann's book that uses a variety of new research and methodologies to paint a very different picture of the pre-Columbian Western Hemisphere than that which has been typically presented. Instead, it's the follow up to 1421, in which Menzies theorizes a Chinese discovery of America.

Suffice it to say that I was sadly mistaken. Where Mann makes his argument based on published research and interviews with people in the field, most of Menzies' ideas seem to have sprung from his head while on vacations with his wife. In fact, both he and his wife are mentioned more often then any Chinese admiral in the parts of the book I could get through. Needless to say I didn't make it through the entire work, and while it may have taken a turn for the better, I'm doubting it did.

Even so, I am interested in a suggested third book in the series, where Menzies will apparently argue that legendary admiral Zheng He is buried somewhere around Asheville, North Carolina. I'm looking forward to an Al Capone's vault-style TV special for if and when he finds Zheng's tomb.

Book Log 2008 #40 and 41: Service of All the Dead and The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter

Two more in the Morse series, the first revolving around deaths at a local church, the latter on two killings on a small street in the titular Oxford neighborhood. Both are good, and have some similarities where the victims are concerned. More development in the Morse-Lewis relationship, which is pretty much where it'll be for the rest of the series, I think.

The Blogalicious College Football Games of the Week

Tuesday - Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee. I like football, obviously, or I wouldn't waste my time doing this sort of thing. But I can't think of what would lead me to watch this game, outside of a large cash payment or Erin Andrews playing real-time strip ratings. All I know of FAU is Howard Schnellenberger, which seems like enough. Score: FAU 33, MTSU 7

Wednesday - Louisiana Tech at Boise State. See above, replace "FAU" and "Howard Schnellenberger" with "BSU" and "Ian Johnson." Throw in a reference to Smurf Turf if you'd like. Score: Boise State 33, Louisiana Tech 7

Thursday - Oregon State at Utah. The letdown commences. Score: Utah 41, Oregon State 3

Friday - BYU at Utah State. There actually is a trophy given to the best team out of BYU, Utah, and Utah State, called the Beehive Boot. The Aggies will officialy be eliminated from contention after this game, as they've already been thrashed by Utah. Mark your calendars for November 22, when the Cougars and Utes will play for the book (and, most likely, the Mountain West title). Score: BYU85, Utah State 2

Saturday (early) - Alcorn State at New Mexico State. A couple of weeks ago I called UC0nn-Baylor the least essential game of the season. I stand corrected. This would make sense if this were the Aggies homecoming game, but it's not. For some reason they've scheduled Boise State for homecoming. Apparently they get more money from alumni who drink away the pain. Score: New Mexico State 23, Alcorn State 0

Saturday (mid-afternoon) - Florida State at Miami. This week's entry into the Remembrance of High-Quality Football Past, as this series that for years had national title implications now serves as the decided for who gets to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. On the other hand, you don't hear about as many players from either program going to prison as you did back in the day, so there's that. Score: Miami 17, Florida State 9, Florida Department of Corrections 0

Saturday (night) - Ohio State at Wisconsin. Please, Badgers, put an end to any possibility that we'll have to sit through another title game thrashing involving the Buckeyes. One loss may not do it this year, especially after USC tanked. A grateful nation thanks you in advance. Score: Wisconsin 20, Ohio State 18

Last week: 4-2
Season: 15-12

Virginia Vacation - Day 10

Not sure how much of a vacation day this was; I suppose it depends on how much you like being in the car. We spent the whole day driving back, leaving before 7 am and getting home around 5:30 pm. I worried about getting stuck in traffic around the Meadowlands as the Giants were home, but it was fine (even stopped at the Vince). The traffic hit once over the GWB and on to the New York Thruway, which was very slow. Another argument for taking the long way around.

The only notable part of the trip was on 128 coming up from the Pike to home, where we got to see a fully engaged car fire. Thankfully, it looked like everyone got out of the car before it went up.

All in all, a much better vacation than Indiana, which was only a vacation for one of us (and even then not much of a vacation, as there's only so long you can hang out by yourself before you start to go a little batty). Then again, vacationing with in-laws can often lead to the same thing.

Virginia Vacation - Day 9

We finally connected the Historic Triangle by going to Colonial Williamsburg. It was pretty interesting, though we'd have appreciated more clarity between what buildings were recreations and what ones were original. Guides would usually note this, but not always (the guide for the capitol building never mentioned that it was rebuilt), and if you didn't go into a building you really had no way of knowing.

Also interesting were the number of buildings on the site that were serving as private residences. You'd need a very high tolerance for strangers traipsing through your backyard, among other qualities. I don't think I could put up with it.

Consequently, you can just walk on to the site from the town. You'd not be able to enter buildings (the staff is very alert to people not wearing a ticket badge), but if all you wanted to do is nose around and see the performances (there's a drum and fife procession, and on the day we were there a number of street theater pieces telling the story of local reaction to independence), you certainly could. And for the money we paid, I almost think I'd have preferred to nose around for free.

And that wrapped up the actual vacation portion of things. All that was left was the drive home.

Virginia Vacation - Day 8

We put the history aside for the day and took up geography, so to speak, by going to Busch Gardens Europe.

For those not familiar with the park, it has nationally-themed sections whose rides and attractions theoretically tie in to the country. For example, in Scotland you'd find the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster, in New France the log flume ride, and in Poland the Escape from the CIA Secret Prison motion ride.

(OK, I'm kidding about the last one. Poland isn't represented in the park.)

One of the things I've noticed as I've aged is that I've become a bit of a wuss where roller coasters are concerned. For me to go on one I need to see it in operation, gauge the height of the initial hill, find out what sort of restraint system is used, and then take a few minutes to ponder if it's for me. The Griffon was clearly not a coaster I was going to ride, given the 90 degree drop after its initial hill (and the way that the riders are held at the top, over the edge of the drop, for a few seconds before plunging to, what I see in my mind's eye, as a splatterific death on the pavement below).

To that end, I wound up passing on the Loch Ness Monster, which the wife went on about five minutes after we entered the park. If she'd been willing to wait a few more minutes I may have joined her, multiple loops be damned.

I do not have this same problem with other rides, so I did go on the variety of motion rides, the log flume, and even the bumper cars (I love bumper cars, they were always the highlight of summer trips to Canobie Lake Park when I was a kid). I did squeeze in one coaster, the Big Bad Wolf, which isn't too bad (though it has its highest hill towards the end, which seems a little cruel).

We also took in a few of the shows, which was kind of disappointing as they had all been changed for Howl-O-Scream. Seemed to early for that to me, but as Halloween candy has been on sale in our supermarket for a month I suppose it's the way things are going. While I wasn't looking forward to the shows, I would have preferred step dancing and guys and liederhosen slapping their feet to vampires singing covers of '80s music.

I will say that Busch Gardens is marginally less of a gougetastic experience than the Disney parks, and going on a Friday in mid-September pretty much guarantees minimal lines. It wasn't a bad way to spend a day of the vacation, and I'd go back if I was in the area (and it was a day where it wouldn't be too crowded), but I'm not exactly plotting my return trip now.