Realmscapes

Beckham's Future

Given David Beckham's frustrations in football outside of his native England--and being well aware that he doesn't intend to return to England--this EuroFootball fan hopes that Beckham will indeed return to his native soil. Although he may be under scrutiny by the relentless English media, at least he'll be appreciated and playing (hence the heckling English media).

More importantly, it will put the ball on McClaren's side as to whether it is finally time to invite the Englander back to the national squad. Beckham's non-English peers have already spoken that England is a much more dangerous side when Beckham's name is on the active roster.

Conservatives (Not) Voting in 06

Rush dedicated a good portion of his show today to the attitude some conservatives are showing towards the current Republican administration, specifically Congress (since the Bush Admin is not up for re-election).

It seems that some conservatives are intending to sit this election out in protest to the Republicans who walk too far from the conservative values. I am as conservative as the next guy, and I am also somewhat frustrated with the spineless-ness of many member of the Republican party. But is it really all that smart for conservatives to not vote and thus allow the Democrats to possibly take control?

According to one conservative caller, he was sitting out the election because he feels that America needs to learn a hard lesson. Now, there are times when "all or nothing" is a good route to take. However I cannot see this as one of them. Politics is sometimes about giving the enemy one battle so you can win another, more strategic one. And as any military general will tell you, a battleground doesn't stop being a battleground after one battle. It can be fought on again and again.

What I'm saying is that where the illegal immigration is most certainly a vital issue that needs to be addressed, it's not worth getting in a tizzy over to the point that the liberals get control and pull the troops out of Iraq--that is just as much a security issue and with more global implications. Besides, do you really think a D-controlled Congress will even look at immigration? Don't you think there's a much higher chance that the issue will be re-addressed in a new Republican-controlled Congress?

On Election Day, vote and give the country a chance to continue its work at trying to make this world a better and safer place for everyone.

Fan Fiction

Check out this very interesting article from The Wall Street Journal re: fan fiction's increasin role in publishing.

Tightly Wound Society--Example #924.4b

FOX fired colourful baseball broadcaster, Steve Lyons, for what was interpreted by the FOX suits as an inappopriate racial comment towards Lou's Latino heritage.

Part of this (and left out by the AP report) is that Lou's analogy included finding a stolen wallet on the street and keeping it. Now I have not yet seen a report that Lou was reprimanded for his lack of values in returning said wallet... nor should I expect to see one because I took it as the funny joke/analogy it was intended to be.

Now imagine if Piniella had made the comment that Oakland wasn't winning because of a lack of latino and black players. What do you think the response would have been?

Steve was replaced by Jose Mota, whose commentary eventually caused this baseball fan to mute his TV until the Ninth Inning.

Anti-Semitism

You know, this whole anti-Semitic thing has always puzzled me. First there are seemingly two definitions: one political and one religious.

The political one pretty much comprises the debate on Israel's "right to exist". In the opinion of many nations in the Middle East (and of the UN based on the rivalry of the two entities), Israel's claim to the land (formerly known as Canaan) based soley on divine guidance is BS. Yet at the same time the Palenstinians and Muslims claim that Israel is theirs for much the same reason. The Arabs, who often trace their lineage back to the same Canaanites of "the Walls of Jericho" fame, are obviouslly still bitter at being thrown out of their land by God. I can imagine they feel like Esau felt when Isaac chose Jacob as his favorite son.. or Cain when God chose Abel.

The religious version of this is basically the Jews v the Christians--or at least the Christians that blame the Jews for killing Christ. I've already stated on this weblog that any Christian who believes this way is in need of studying his or her Bible. But what I don't get is why Jews get offended when Christians do blame them. The Jewish faith clearly rejects Christ's claim to be the promised Messiah. A lot of Jews give Jesus credit for being a great teacher who was unfortunately caught up in the revolutionary politics of the day. But there has never been any love lost between Jesus and the his religious culture. In fact, at the time, the Jewish leaders believed they were doing the people of Israel a big favor by handing Jesus over to Rome. Okay.. so if the Jewish people thought they were doing the right thing at the time, why don't they just come out and state that as their position? Done and done. It doesn't affect the Christian faith one way or the other.

Not Enough

Mel Gibson conducted an interview with Diane Sawyer with the intent to repair what he believes to be a damaged reputation after his drunken arrest incident. We all know what he said, and we know even more how much he has apologized. But the critics and Jewish community continue to say "It's not enough".

Not enough. When did humans decide it was their right to decide what is enough and what isn't. When is it enough to accept an apology and move on? When our tattered prides are mended? When the offender has sunk his reputation into depths he cannot escape? Maybe after the situation is large enough so that all the talking heads can have their gospel say ala the parable of the pharisee and the sinner (Luke 18:9)?

I always told people that the God of the Christians and Jews is the same God. After reading the article about Gibson's interview. I officially recant this belief. Apparently the god of Jewish faith teaches that we each have the right to decide when we think someone is sorry enough to be worthy of our forgiveness. But the Word of God (aka The Bible) is rife with examples of God telling us to forgive our brothers and let it go. I should not have to remind the Jews how many time their Biblical ancestors said stupid things to God and about God. And how many apologies did it take for the nation to receive God's forgiveness?

"The blame was cast on the drinking and not really what he thinks and feels," says Rabbi Mark Diamond. "I think he has a long way to go in accepting responsibility and confronting the disease of alcoholism." Seems to me that it's not Gibson who needs to come to grips with what he thinks and feels, it's everyone else. It also seems to me that the Jewish community ought to be focusing on real anti-Semitic problems e.g. the United Nations and Iran.

Euro2008: Oct 06 Qualifiers PT II

Group A: Poland v Portugal
Portugal has an excellent oppurtunity to take move up several places in their group, perhaps even knocking Serbia out of the "b" place in the group. Poland will provide the largest hurdle and is one of those teams inspired by Scotland's defeat of France. But Portugal's rare away unbeaten streak of early thirty games is even more inspiring.
My Pick: POR 2-0

Group B: Ukraine v Scotland
This is a chance for Scotland to build on their excellent qualifying performance thus far. What makes this game even more of a pressure situation for the Scots is that group favourites France and Italy are both playing teams at the bottom of European football. And oh yeah, Shevchenko will be back.
My Pick: TIE 1-1

Group D: Slovakia v Germany
The DFB has got to be looking for some payback after the last time these two teams met. It turned into an emotional match then, and I expect another hard-fought match this time as well. The question: is Germany back in top form after more than a month since their last "vacation match" against San Marino?
My Pick: GER 2-0

Group E: Croatia v England
Another team in a must-win to stop a tailspin. Unlike fellow football powerhouses on this day, the Three Lions don't have a gift match like the others. And on top of that, England won't be playing another qualifying match until early next spring. Rooney shouldn't be starting yet, but he undoubtedly will. perhaps Mclaren will at least pull him at the 60' for Defoe this time. If England doesn't come out of this match with a win and/or mutiple goals, Mclaren has got to seriouslly think about sending Beckham a Christmas card. Having Beckham on the team for at least morale is better than nothing.
My Pick: TIE 1-1

There's no justice in baseball

I am not a fan of the New York Yankees, but I am a fan of Joe Torre. And what he is about to endure this Baseball Winter is going to as unfair as any other time a manager or coach is blamed for the stupidity of his bosses. Fans and critics say its part of the job to take the symbolic heat, and sometimes the manager is the problem. But not this time.

Compare the Yankee teams that Torre took to World Series bliss with the failures he's had to manage for the last half-decade. Joe Torre is most dangerous when his teams have team chemistry combined with leadership and passion. But dump a bunch of egos and megastars on him... and well, you see the results. ARod--Sheffield--Johnson--Damon: none of them should have been brought to Bronx.

If Torre was taking the hit for anyone but Steinbrenner, I'd feel better. Steinbrenner is the Yankees problem. And Steinbrenner is a perfect of example of the kind of winning attitude and bad sportsmanship that ultimately hurts teams and fires a Joe Torre.

Euro2008: Oct 06 Qualifiers PT I

Here are my picks on select game of interest this month:

Group B: Scotland v France
With both teams fielding several injuries to the starting eleven, this matchup becomes pretty even in what is a tough group for anyone who isn't on les Bleus or the Azzurri. I think the Scots know that this is a golden oppurtunity for them to capitalize on one of football's juggernauts--in this case, even a tie against the World Cup runners-up is still a victory (especially if Ukraine can manage to take points away from Italy).
My Pick: TIE 2-2

Group C: Greece v Norway
Which Greek team is going to show up in these qualifiers? If the Greeks expect to go anywhere in this Euro2008 qualifying competition, they are going to have to have an excellent showing against the group leaders. Norway is also looking establish their persona after inconsistent play on the international stage over the last half-decade.
My Pick: NOR 2-1

Group E: Russia v Israel
The Russians are another difficult team to try and take a win from in their country. But Russia should have been able to score against Croatia, especially at home... Meanwhile Israel is looking stronger than ever, especially after such an excellent performance in their WC2006 qualifying group (undefeated with six wins out of ten games).
My Pick: ISR 1-0

Group F: Sweden v Spain
La Furia Roja are needing to bounce back from their upset defeat at the hands of Northern Ireland. This match is the time and place to do so, especially with Sweden losing key players to injuries (GK Isaksson), retirement (FW Larsson) and inter-team problems (FW Ibrahimovic). Spain is also without veteran striker and leading goalscorer, Raul--left off the team in the hopes of letting the younger talen pave a way for itself.
My Pick: ESP 3-1

Speaking to characters

A question that I often get from readers is how I interact with my characters. Every writer talks to their characters different from the next. The best way I can describe my experience with my characters is similar to the relationship of Sam and Al in Quantum Leap. In my writing world, I am Al. My characters jump back and forth between their world and this one in my mind. Nothing I tell them returns with them.

For instance, Markus; he is a Templar in the novel I am currently working on. When I'm working on this story, Markus tells me about his 12th century world and I tell him what the 21st century believes about his, or that the Temlars are wiped out. But anything I tell him disappears from his mind when he goes back to the 12th century.

Anyway, I am not so much a writer that writes down dictation from my characters. I often will go back with them and "live" their life or "see" the action unfold as though I am watching a movie. I can pause and rewind, but I rarely see the whole mive at once. I may have a feeling where the story is going to go, but I don't see any of the details. I guess this part of my storytelling is like a Jedi vision of the future: always in motion, and something I feel more than see. And this is a good thing because certain characters (Markus being one) are especially hard when it comes to me putting elements or personal views into their stories. The cool thing is that characters know where I stand on a whole range of personal and religious views, so I am never in danger of getting a main character (on the hero side anyway) that goes against my core values.

Villains on the other hand are a totally different story...