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Strains and Other OuchiesI think I've managed to hurt myself in the past week. Two different ways, actually. The first I think happened last Tuesday playing Ultimate. I was running flat out trying to catch a disc in the end zone, didn't quite make it, and had to pull up before I hit the fence. I didn't completely stop before the fense, and stopped myself with my hands. My right palm smarted for about 20 minutes afterwards, but then felt better. But over the weekend I noticed that when I'm in bed and I put my right arm under my head, it feels a bit sore, especially the upper arm. Moreover, my hand feels a little sore when I'm squeezing something (such as my eye care solution bottles). My right arm did take the brunt of the impact, so I'm wondering if I strained something or - worse - tore or fractured something. But it seems like I'd be in a lot more pain and/or be actually physically impaired if so. So I'm a bit puzzled over that, and don't know if I should see a doctor or wait and see what happens. Second, yesterday morning I was doing some pectoral exercises, and for the last 24 hours I've had this occasional pain in my chest - or on my chest would be more accurate. I'm hoping I just strained something and that resting it will make it feel better. It's actually more annoying than my arm and hand issues. I wasn't doing heavier weights than normally (though I have been working on my form to try not to support the weights with my arms as much). I'm also still lagging behind on my sleep, which probably exacerbates all of this. Yes, just another sign that I am, indeed, over 30...
 I finished watching Ken Burns' Jazz documentary. I mostly wasn't very impressed. I'm not generally a big fan of jazz music from before about 1945 - bebop is really what I enjoy most. So the half or so of the series covering that era didn't grab me, especially the earliest, Dixieland stuff. (I also don't care for Billie Holiday in particular, and she's a big part of the 1930s episodes.) The 1945-1970 episodes are quite good, although they didn't tell me a whole lot that I didn't already know. But the last episode essentially skims the last 30 years of jazz music, only touching briefly on Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson, without even a brief nod to the Brecker Brothers or Weather Report. It's a little strange, especially because it seems like the 1970-1990 period is exactly the era that a documentary made today ought to put into some perspective. So, mildly diverting overall. Burns' Baseball series from 1994 is a much better documentary, though.
His Dark Materials has been compared by some to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, I think because they're contemporary childrens' stories, but they're really radically different. Harry Potter is clearly written for younger kids. It particularly struck me that much was made of the death of a supprting character in Goblet of Fire, but death in the Pullman series is handled more matter-of-factly and with less fanfare, which gives it more dramatic power. The most comparable story to the Pullman series that I've read is Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings, which is similarly epic in scope and also involves young protagonists being thrown from the environment they know into one of history's greatest battles. I think anyone who enjoyed Tolkein should enjoy this series. Onwards to the final volume...
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