Has it been that long?

Okay, so I admit I’m not that good at keeping a blog up to date, but it has been a busy few months since my last post. I still keep up with the CSI’s and Shark, though the latter may be dropped if I get to a point where there are too many shows to keep up with. I’m trying to catch up on 24 and Battlestar Galactica but my DVR erased a few of them so it’s going to take a little more time on them. American Idol is another current favorite. There are no clear favorites this year, but this week the girls blew the guys out of the water. Lakisha’s performance was by far the strongest, however, and if she can keep it up she’ll be a major contender for the final prize.

Another contest that has no clear favorites for me is the 2008 presidential race. The Democrats seem so desperate to claim the White House again that they couldn’t give us a break after the ‘06 election finished. The Republicans had no choice but to respond in kind and now there are so many candidates that 2008 promises to be a very messy race. It’s probably best to save any further thoughts on that until the crowd of candidates thins out a little bit and we know where things are headed. I’ll just say I’m definitely not for Hillary or Obama, and not for any prejudicial reasons. Margaret Thatcher proved a woman is more than capable of leading a superpower nation, and there’s no valid reason to claim a person of any minority would be any less fit because of ethnicity. Seriously, if the Democrats can find a good candidate with moral values that match mine, I will absolutely consider voting for them.

Of course, my novels are the main reason I have this blog in the first place, so I should probably update you on that, too. Fallen Sparrows is not finished, but as of today I am one or two sections away from being finished. It’ll probably be just one, as I think I can wrap what’s left up in one section, so hopefully I can knock that out really, really soon. After that, I think I’m way overdue for a main site redesign that will tie into this blog and my Flickr account. Ideas are still shaping up very nicely for the next story, which I’ve now titled Knights of the Blood. I’ve even got a great logo designed for it, but haven’t had time to scan it into Paint Shop Pro and touch it up. Once I do, you can be assured I’ll share it as I don’t put that kind of work into something that only I’ll ever see.

On the gaming front, I just picked up Crackdown a few days ago and have been having fun with that. I got a Wii for Christmas and sunk about 60 hours into the new Legend of Zelda game and loved every minute of it. In my opinion, anyone who has an Xbox 360 and a Wii simply doesn’t need a PS3. Blu-Ray may be ahead in the format war, but it’s still better to wait for the price of regular players to come down. I’m still waiting to see which format gets Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

The story grows

I have finally written a few more paragraphs for Fallen Sparrows, and hope to finish the scene soon. One more scene after this one should finish the chapter, followed by one more to tie up the loose ends.

As I hoped, Shark starring James Woods did indeed get better. Some of the supporting cast needs to do better at standing out, but the story was better by far. Sebastian Stark is a very flawed protagonist, which heightens the conflicts already inherent in the story. What I thought was the best guest actor of the episode is apparently going to be a series regular. Another for the plus column. CSI had more than a few interesting twists which will be affecting future episodes. The unresolved murder harkens back to the Paul Milander storyline from the first couple seasons, which I welcome. Murders don’t get solved in an hour, and stories like this one deserve to have more time devoted to them. The Sam Braun twist was one I did not see coming, but fits extremely well. All in all, a good week of crime show TV.

What a weekend

Who dey? Not Pittsburgh. Justice was served in the nail-biting rematch of the Bengals-Steelers playoff game from last season when the Bengals managed to hold on to their 28-20 lead. Counting the preseason, this is seven straight wins for Cincinnati. Our offense needs some work, as pass protection on Carson Palmer was severely lacking, but the defense was patient and got the job done. Poor Ben should have waited til after their bye week to start. At least he kept his helmet on…

The CSI’s got themselves off to a good start. CSI:Miami was more of a cap on last season’s cliffhanger ending than it was a premiere for this season. Last night’s was a much better episode, though the premiere did set it up for Yelena to come back, and that’s not a bad thing. NY started reliably, but the Vegas edition showed why it has always will be the best of the bunch. Shark was okay, but suffered from usual pilot problems in that it had to spend so much time setting things up to give its story enough attention. It still has a lot of potential, though, and James Woods is showing pretty decent range in his acting abilities. Without a Trace started off good. Not a standout episode, though that’s hardly a knock for this series.

Sunday morning was a blessing at my church. We had Robert Rogers as a guest speaker. He lost his wife and 4 children in a flash flood in Kansas a few years ago, and his testimony is extremely touching. After listening to him, I couldn’t help but think how good God has been to me and how little reason I have to complain about anything. One of my brothers went through a divorce a few years ago. The other had to pull his fellow soldiers’ bodies out of the water after a helicopter accident. My grandfather was squeezed out of business by streamlined franchises like Lenscrafters. The worst thing that ever happened to me was a broken engagement. I’ve seen God work through all of these situations, and awesome is too understated a word to describe Him.

Nothing new on the novel front, for now.

CSI Season Premiere

I’ve been waiting for this one all summer. CSI’s seventh season starts tonight and my DVR is all set to record it. Brass is back in action and we’ll finally be able to see how well Grissom and Sara can keep their relationship a secret. Personally, I think Grissom and Katherine was a better match, but the attraction between her and Warrick is interesting, too. Looks like that’ll be popping up again this season.

After CSI, there’s a new show starring James Woods called Shark. The previews look great and seems tailor-made for Woods. Woods is a Republican actor and it will be interesting to see if any of that plays into his characterization, too. The premise is solid, and as I writer I look forward to the many great stories this series has the potential to tell.