Bookshelf:

Recently Read & Reviewed:

• Joan D. Vinge, World's End

Currently Reading:

• Daniel Keys Moran, Emerald Eyes

Next Up:

1. Alastair Reynolds, Absolution Gap
2. Margery Allingham, Flowers For The Judge
3. Ken MacLeod, Engine City
4. Julian May, The Many-Colored Land
5. Julian May, The Golden Torc

Two for the Pats

Well, I don't think we could have wished for a better Super Bowl (putting aside team loyalties, that is). The Patriots win their second championship in three years, beating the Panthers 32-29 (boy is that a wacky football score!). Excellent defense in the first half, plenty of offense, big plays, mistakes and successes, and redemption for Adam Vinatieri with the game-winning field goal. And of course it was close down to the final seconds of the game.

Others can analyze it more fully than I care to, but it was tense and fun, and both teams showed up with their A games (unlike, say, the Raiders last year), and both were admirable teams deserving of winning. It's what any sports championship game or series should be, and it even surprised many of the analysts and fans by not being a low-scoring defensive game.

Subrata came over for the afternoon to watch the game. I cooked an Indian lamb dish, which be pronounced "yummy" (which I take as high praise since I know I'm going up against his mom's cooking here!). Debbi made some dip, Subrata brought drinks, and I also made chocolate chip ice cream. A good time was had, and many snarky comments were made. And the cats got lots of attention.

(Plus, Subrata and I played many hours of an ultimate frisbee tournament yesterday, so we could afford to consume some calories. Especially since we play again on Tuesday!)

Now: Only three weeks 'til spring training!

Best Super Bowl commercial: The Subway commercial right after the game, because they had at least four different jokes that made us all laugh. Otherwise, it was a weak year for commercials.

(Oh, and I thought I noticed Janet Jackson accidentally flash the camera at the end of halftime. Good to know the ol' eyesight's not going. Plus there was a streaker, whom of course I didn't get to see, because TV networks are smart about that stuff.)

Busy week for receiving mail-order stuph: I received Alastair Reynolds' new novel Absolution Gap from Amazon UK. I'm looking forward to that one, as it supposedly completes his Revelation Space sequence.

Plus, three new prog CDs from The Laser's Edge: The Sun Also Rises by Knight Area, The Music That Died Alone by The Tangent (featuring members of The Flower Kings and Van der Graaf Generator), and I Move by Izz. I like all three, although none of them have blown my socks off. The Sun Also Rises is in the tradition of "symphonic prog" (Yes, et. al.), while I Move mixes in a lot of contemporary alternative-pop influences (yes, there's even a song with something of a hip-hop beat and prog melodies on top of it). Nifty.

Gosh, I love prog.

The weird thing about winter in the Bay Area is that it's really just three months of fall: It turns colder in late October, and trees drop their leaves at different times over the next two months or so. Then a month of chilly temperatures and rain, until late January sees the first blooms (such as of the trees outside my house), and spring is suddenly here (and lasts until early April or so).

So that's where we are here: It's getting warmer, the days are getting a bit longer, and things are starting to grow and bloom. Bet my friends in Wisconsin don't have it so easy!