Geocaching: A Few More Degrees

I was looking at the West 76 Longitude Challenge Cache (of which I claimed 14 of the 60 required degrees covered), and I discovered a couple of things.

First of all, there is an automated checker available to tell you which of the minutes you haven't yet found caches in. I used it, and it told me I had 45 minutes left to go. Hmm. It took a while to track down the discrepancy, but it turns out I was the one who was correct. I attended an event cache in Minute 51, but that type of cache doesn't count in the challenge.

Secondly, the cache links to challenge caches for West 77 Longitude and North 39 Latitude. Of course! Latitude! Why didn't I look for this a while ago?

So, how am I doing? Well (assuming the checker is correct), I have found Minutes 0, 1, 2, 3, 9, 18, 22, 24, and 41 in West 77, for a total of 9 out of 60.

For North 39, I have found Minutes 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 16, 19, 22 and 24, for a total of 14 -- the same as West 76. Nope, wait, Minute 12 is that same event cache.

I actually live about an eight minute walk south of the 39th parallel. (Seriously, how did I never notice this before?) So North 38 Latitude seems like an equally good one to check. As it turns out, that cache is near Sacramento. Which makes sense.

For North 38, I have 19, 22, 33, 34, 42, 47, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58 and 59, for a total of 12.

What the heck, I might at well keep track of these, too. Any other degrees are going to be sufficiently far from home that it's unlikely I will make any substantial progress. Let's take a look at the new challenges, then. I'll note my first find of each minute, and which state it occurs in, if not Maryland.

West 77

1. Minute 0: Back to School III "Sports Zone"
2. Minute 1: The Original
3. Minute 2: Last stop for a weary traveler (DC)
4. Minute 3: Patriotic Wheaton
5. Minute 9: Jason Turns 30!
6. Minute 18: Blair Witch Project - Coffin Rock
7. Minute 22: Jug Bridge
8. Minute 24: Michaels Mill Cache
9. Minute 41: Berries and Bikes (Virginia)

North 39

1. Minute 0: Yowies
2. Minute 2: Patriotic Wheaton
3. Minute 3: I.C.C. ya Later - Rt 1 Brick House
4. Minute 4: Shallow Marsh
5. Minute 5: TimberHollow
6. Minute 6: Beachwood Park Travel Bug Hotel
7. Minute 7: Blair Witch Project - Coffin Rock
8. Minute 8: Berries and Bikes (Virginia)
9. Minute 11: Manta's Mystery Cache
10. Minute 16: Time Will Not Dim...
11. Minute 19: Michaels Mill Cache
12. Minute 22: Mount Airy Remembers
13. Minute 24: Jug Bridge

North 38

1. Minute 19: A Stroll Around Solomon's Island
2. Minute 22: All's Well in Greenwell
3. Minute 33: Back to School III "Sports Zone"
4. Minute 34: Birds Don't Have Pockets
5. Minute 42: Hutchins Hideaway
6. Minute 47: "Awakening"
7. Minute 51: Grab A Seat (DC)
8. Minute 53: The Lone Sailor (DC)
9. Minute 54: Church Ruins Park (DC)
10. Minute 57: Gallant Fox and Omaha
11. Minute 58: Jason Turns 30!
12. Minute 59: Maryland Marathon

Three New Geocaching Maps

As I mentioned yesterday, I am back to premium geocaching membership. That allows me to generate various fun maps. I'm going to include the ones that have changed since I last was able to do that. In 2011, I added Estonia to my caching countries. It shows up better on the European map than the world one, so that's what I've included here.

Last year, I added Baltimore City to the list of Maryland "counties" cached, so that map gets an update. (Baltimore City has the equivalent of county status in Maryland and is a separate entity from Baltimore County, in which I've not found a geocache.)

Finally, this year I've added Georgia and New Jersey to my list of states. So that map looks a little less lonely. (And I appreciate My Geocaching Profile acknowledging DC without pretending it's a state.)

Geocaching: Minute 52

I busted open a piggy bank I've had lying around for a few years, so I had a little extra money lying around. I used some of it on a year's premium geocaching membership. One of the results is that I'm now able to see member-only caches I visited when I was previously a member. So I can now update my very weak attempt to visit a cache in each minute of 76 degrees W longitude.
I.C.C. ya Later - Rt 1 Brick House, which I visited on my 36th birthday, is in minute 52.

I now have 14 of 60 minutes: 27, 31, 36, 37, 40, 44, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59.

Slightly more entertaining will be the maps I'll be able to update in a future post.

More trying to fix Scotland's UEFA coefficient

Earlier this week, I pondered how Scotland could get back to respectability (15th-18th place) in the rankings of European soccer leagues. The scenario I gave the most credence to for the four Scottish teams to behave as Celtic, one "half-Celtic" and two "non-Celtics".

Before addressing those scenarios more concretely, let me dismiss two other scenarios. One is that Celtic could just become a super-Celtic. Celtic's best run in recent years was in 2012 when they reached the round of 16 in the Champions League. That run netted them 19 points. A "non-Celtic" has typically produced 1 (let's round down from 1.077), so under the current system, a super-Celtic and three non-Celtics would get 22 points, which gives five-year coefficient of 27.5, which is in the range I identified. (Actually, Celtic would have to win one more round to make it to the sixteen based on current rankings, but we can ignore that for now.) Although Celtic has been very successful, expecting it to end up in the top 16 clubs in Europe every year to make up for the deficiencies of other Scottish clubs is just too much.

Another possibility that I identified would be Celtic, and three "mini-Celtics". Let's round Celtic's usual contribution to 12 (up from 11.875). Then if each other team contributes 3 points, we're at 21 points for the year, a five-year coefficient of 26.25, again in the 25-30 range. But since the birth of the Europa League, only two teams have managed 3 points. The 2010 Motherwell squad got 3.5, as did last year's Aberdeen side. Motherwell barely avoided relegation last year, so they are not in European play this year. Aberdeen...well, we'll get to them later. The point is that expecting to have a stable of three Scottish clubs that can each win two rounds of qualifying (as those two did) is a bit far-fetched.

So we return to my scenario of Celtic, half-Celtic and two non-Celtics -- in other words, Celtic contributes 12 points, another club puts up 6, and two sides throw in 1 each. So far this year, St. Johnstone played its part, getting a point before exiting in the first round. Inverness CT may disappoint even low expectations. They dropped the first half of their tie with Astra Giurgiu 1-0 today, so they will need an away win (against a team they couldn't score on at home) to get a point. Celtic has 1 point, and seems likely to advance, so we hope they do their part. That leaves us with...Aberdeen.

Aberdeen now has 2 points after demolishing HNK Rijeka 3-0 in Croatia today. Unfortunately for fans of Scotland's UEFA coefficient (maybe that's just me), that will leave them with the temptation to "park the bus" next week and get a draw or a 1- or 2-goal loss, which will allow them to advance, but not get them another point towards this year's total. Nevertheless, let's take the long view. What does a team (in particular, one who enters in the first or second rounds of Europa League qualifying) need to do in order to get 6 points?

I only had the energy to look at last year's games. But the fact is, no team that missed the group stage got 6 points. The closest (Spartak Trnava) got 5.5. The average of those who entered in the first round and exited in the playoffs was 4.8, and second-round entrants who lost in the playoffs averaged 3.1.

So making it to the group stage is crucial. Four teams entered in the second round and made it to the group stage, averaging 9.4 points. Unhappily for Aberdeen, no team entering in the first round made it that far, and no club entering before the third round made it out of the group stage.

But, that tells me that if Aberdeen can turn itself into a side that makes the group stage half the time, and falls just short the other half, it would be the team that Scotland needs. Some other team could, of course, fill the void (as I said on Monday, keep an eye on Hearts), but that appears to be the basic formula.

I don't know why it interests me to work that out, but it does. I guess because there's math involved, but the coverage of it doesn't explain how "doing better in Europe" would translate into "getting a better ranking."

Geocaching Update: Two New States

In March 2008, I had been geocaching less than a year, and I posted a map showing that I had found caches in seven states...

Well, my geocaching really tailed off after then, because seven years later, I had found caches in seven states...and the District of Columbia (added in May 2008). I've geocached in ten countries, which isn't too bad, but the last of those was added in 2011.

So, with two recent trips to potentially new states, I decided to add to the list. I give you Bronzed Barker, a virtual geocache in Georgia, and 1938, a virtual in New Jersey.

To get a new map, I'll need to upgrade my geocaching membership again, but then it looks like My Geocaching Profile is a nice, free way of generating maps.

Who messed up Scotland's UEFA coefficient?

Last July, I puzzled over the weird way in which UEFA, the European soccer association, figures out which European club teams end up in which European competitions (namely, the Champions League and the Europa League).

One of the concerns in Scottish soccer over the past few years has been the dip in Scotland's coefficient. The Scottish ranking used to be enough to send two teams to the Champions League; now it's only one (always Celtic). An opinion piece in today's Daily Record summarizes the distress nicely.

The article assigns blame to three parties:

• Celtic has not been doing as well as Scots feel it should. Since Celtic tends to earn the majority of points that count towards the coefficient, that hurts.
• The non-Celtic teams don't contribute much.
• Rangers, which traditionally could be counted on to contribute significant points most years, hasn't been part of the picture since their departure from the top flight.

I've been puzzling over the numbers, as I like to do, and I'd like to nominate a fourth culprit:

• The Europa League, for existing.

UEFA posts season-by-season rankings for Scotland going back to 2004. The actual UEFA coefficient is aggregated over five years, but the reasons for a particular ranking are clearer in the yearly statistics. One thing that jumps out at me is that from 2004-2007, Scottish football was anywhere from 5th to 17th, while since then, it has been no higher than 19th. The 2008 season seems to be somewhat of a fluke; I can't figure out why only two teams are counted. But from 2009 on, the number of teams involved never drops below four, while it was never more than three prior. This matters because your one good team gets its results divided by four (or five or six) after being added to the pittance the rest of the league produces.

Usually that team has been Celtic, but as recently as 2010, it was Rangers, who produced 12 of Scotland's 18 points. The average, across five teams, was 3.6, good enough for 21st. If Rangers and Celtic were the only two teams, their combined 14 would have given an average of 7.0, good enough for 11th. Perhaps more fair would have been to say what had happened if you paired Rangers and Celtic (the top two league finishers) with Dundee United, the Scottish Cup winners. Well, then you would have 14.5 points, divided by 3, so at 4.833, Scotland would be a still-respectable 14th.

With the Europa League here to stay, what does Scotland have to do to climb back up to its previous heights of at-least-we're-not-Sweden? For the current season, Scotland is ranked 23rd with a coefficient (five year total) of 16.566. That earns them one berth in the Champions League, entering in the second round, two first-round entries into the Europa League, and a second-round entry into the Europa League.

Nothing would change for Scottish Champions League entry unless it rose to 15th, at which it would get two berths, both entering in the third round. Since that's what Celtic has been complaining about, it's worth keeping that in mind as a goal. Nothing would change in the Europa League until they rose to 18th, which would boost the second-round entry to the third round. 17th place (or 16th) would promote one of the first-round entries to the second round. 15th place would mean two second-round entries and one third-round (in addition to the two Champions League spots).

So it seems like 15th place is the goal for real change in Scotland's fortune, with some consolation prizes at 16 through 18. This year, the Czech Republic took 15 place, which a coefficient of 29.350, almost twice that of Scotland. Next year is already set, with Romania at 26.299. Looking back in time doesn't help too much, since it includes pre-Europa League years. So somewhere in the 25-30 point range should be Scotland's goal -- in other words, 5-6 points a year.

But that's a per-team average, so 20-24 points spread across 4 teams (for the forseeable future). Over the past four seasons, the average Celtic team has contributed 11.875, while the average non-Celtic team has kicked in 1.077. That projects out to 18.882 for a five-year total with Celtic and three non-Celtics. If Scotland could field two Celtics and two non-Celtics, the resulting 32.38 coefficient would be more than enough. In fact, one-and-half Celtics and two-and-half non-Celtics projects out to 25.631, at the lower end of the range I identified above.

So one path to regaining European respectability is the emergence of a club with decent, but not Celtic-caliber results. I have three nominees for this position.

• Aberdeen. They seem to be well-run, and finished second to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League last year. On the other hand, they barely squeaked into the second round of the Europa League this month, and it looks like they can only afford a payroll about 6-7 smaller than Celtic.
• Hearts. Despite being only promoted this year, they seem to have emerged from bankruptcy as a well-run club, dominating the second-tier without living beyond their means. As an Edinburgh-based club, they have the potential to increase revenues more than some of the other clubs from smaller areas.
• Rangers. Despite living in the second-tier for another year, they will eventually get back up. When they do, they are the only side positioned to challenge Celtic.

Another scenario would be Celtic and three "mini-Celtics"  -- perhaps the three sides I mentioned above. If Celtic can continue to earn more than 10 points per season, and the other three Scottish teams chip in between a third and a quarter that number, Scotland's coefficient would be in the 25-30 range. It seems less likely that smaller clubs that get hot and enjoy one year near the top of the league or hoisting the Scottish Cup will do anything other than what they do now -- go out after a round or two.

World Heritage Update: Three "New" Sites

My quest to visit World Heritage Sites has slowed down. I travel less these days, and I tend to travel to places I've already been. For the first time in years, I have been able to take advantage of another way of adding sites to my visited list.

Earlier this month, UNESCO added 27 new sites to the list. I've visited 3 of them! That's a pretty good hit rate.

The three are:

• San Antonio Missions: Ben and I visited The Alamo on a cross-country drive in August 1993.
• The Forth Bridge: A Scotland tour my parents and I took in September 1994 visited this bridge.
• Singapore Botanical Gardens: I visited them in December 2007.

So I'm now at 60 out of 1031, or 5.8%, which is the same (up to rounding) as my all-time high.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (85) First Watch

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

First Watch,
15471 Excelsior Dr.,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 2/21/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 3
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

First Watch proves that a chain can do a good job of providing healthy food in a pleasing environment. I think it's my nominee for the "Best Breakfast" category (assuming that there is, in fact, a place to nominate Bowie restaurants for such things).

It's sort of hard to describe the restaurant concept succinctly, but it's basically breakfast/brunch/lunch with fresh ingredients.

All three of my visits have produced tasty meals. The only glitch I really had was one time, I brought two hungry four-year-olds, and the meals took much longer than they should have. That would not have been a problem with patient adults with fully-formed digestive systems, but hungry crankiness led to some embarrassing misbehavior. So, if you have hungry kids, IHOP is probably a better choice. But if you want adult food for adults, you should come here.

Besides my three visits, one time a co-worker arranged a catering order through them (something I've done very successfully at Lima's). It was great!

Bowie Restaurant News

I haven't posted a restaurant update since January, so there must be some news. Let's see.

• Glory Days has been reduced to rubble with the rest of the Marketplace. It will not be returning.
• Wingstop is now open in the former Quizno's location at Bowie Town Center.
• Yamon Island Grill is now open in the Bowie Town Center food court.
• Simply Southern American Grille is now open next to Chesapeake Grille in Hilltop.
• Chuck's Wagon BBQ is open in Bowie Plaza
• Free State is getting "America's Best Wings".

Last time I had three left to go, and I reviewed one, but four have opened, so I have six to go. Three of those have been visited twice, as my standards require, so I just need to write those up. And move faster, apparently.

Coming to Bowie at some point in the future:

• America's Best Wings
• another Taco Bell
• Whatever the new Marketplace brings (Chipotle and Firehouse?)
• Samosa Supreme (Their website now sounds like less of a restaurant, though).

Pony Rides and an Unexpected Geocache

When Christina's cousin visited in February, we took the boys to the Belair Stable Museum. There wasn't much there for a couple of 4-year-olds, but the docent told us that on May 17th, the museum would be offering free pony rides for Bowie Heritage Day. Ever since, the boys have been reminding me of this date.

They got their pony rides, of course, which was very exciting. And they got to see how butter was made, which they found less exciting.

Jack takes the lead!

Salem lines up

Then the museum organized a race among the kids in attendance. There were two heats, and the Grantham boys made a clean sweep. They got their winner's medals. (Everyone got medals.)

Afterwards, while Christina was listening to the bluegrass band, the boys got antsy and went outside. Salem attempting to climb the wall despite my requests to the contrary. He grabbed a rock as a handhold, and was surprised as it came off the wall in his hand. I was surprised to realize that it was a geocache! We weren't even looking, and I found my 89th geocache, and 1st of 2015.

My 2015 Hugo Nominations

As a member of last year's Worldcon, I'm eligible to nominate for this year's Hugo awards. I will probably become a member of this year's Worldcon in order to vote on the nominees, but we're not there yet, are we?

I am happy with the criteria I used last year -- was it a four-star work? Although there are probably better works than the ones I nominated, they probably won't get nominated anyway. So I'd rather see stuff I liked nominated than other stuff, which I probably won't like.

Best Novel

• Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
• World of Trouble, Ben H. Winters
• V-S Day, Allen Steele
• Coming Home, Jack McDevitt
• Ancillary Sword, Anne Leckie

Best Novelette

• There Was No Sound of Thunder, David Erik Nelson

Best Related Work

• World of Fire & Ice, George R.R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr., Linda Antonsson

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Captain America: Winter Soldier
• Game of Thrones (Season 4)

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

• "Turn, Turn, Turn," Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• "The Lion and the Rose," Game of Thrones

Best Fancast

• Sword & Laser, Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt

Comments: World of Trouble was the only five-star novel in the bunch; definitely my favorite. Neither of the first two books in the trilogy made it into even the long version of the Hugo list, so I don't have much hope there. Both Coming Home and Ancillary Sword were nominated for Nebulas, so I think they have shots at the Hugo, though McDevitt has much more luck with Nebula nominations than Hugo ones. I am not actually finished with Words of Radiance, and I was planning to drop it until I figured out that another book that I wanted to nominate wasn't published in 2014. I have been having trouble figuring out which category Game of Thrones belongs in (they only get to be in one), so I figured I'd try both and let them choose. I have just been making my way through season one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I thought I'd nominate the best one I've see so far. Sadly, it doesn't contain the best dialogue from the series so far.

Maria Hill: What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, Agent Ward?

Grant Ward: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Maria Hill: And what does that mean to you?

Grant Ward: It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out "shield." 

And with Sword & Laser, I'm not convinced they're eligible, but they seem to think they are, so I'd rather nominate and let it get sorted out later. (They're not "professional," but I think they are "semi-professional," in which case there should be a separate "semiprocast" category.)

Bowie Restaurant Project: (84) Jimmy John's

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

Jimmy John's,
15411 Excelsior Dr.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/22/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 1
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

It's a Jimmy John's. To me, that means that it falls into the category of "slightly nicer than Subway" sandwich joints. I like Subway well enough (even if Bowie has more than it needs), and I like "upscale" sandwich restaurants (Jimmy John's, Firehouse, Potbelly, etc.) slightly better. It's not too exciting, but a sub's a good meal.

The Jimmy John's in Bowie Town Center opened about a week ago, and they seem to be doing a fine job. The on-line ordering works well. I think telling someone your sandwich order is tiresome, so on-line is the way to go. I appreciated that I was able to do it from the web without downloading an app I would never use again. I was somewhat irritated that they wanted 30 minutes to have my order ready, but in fact it was ready in less than 15.

Apparently I used their on-line ordering in 2011 at the Jimmy John's in College Park, and I was irritated when they only gave me one bag of chips. This time, they showed me where to get the chips myself, so it wasn't a problem.

Jimmy John's "replaces" the Quizno's around the corner that just closed, along with the Subway in the food court. All in all, an upgrade in your Bowie Town Center sandwich choices, but one I have a hard time getting excited about.

---

Bowie Restaurant News

Well, last time, I had two reviews left to go, and I reviewed one, which leaves me...three?

Yep. In the past week, Jimmy John's and First Watch have opened around the corner from each other in Bowie Town Center. I can still see the finish line, though!

Grace's Fortune, long my go-to place for taking interview candidates at work, is closing in February. Golden Pavilion has been my go-to Chinese place, mainly because I couldn't justify Grace's higher dinner prices, but I'm looking for a new Chinese place to recommend. I think interview candidates may end up at some place outside Bowie; Thai at Waugh Chapel and Namaste are probably good choices.

Stay-At-Home Bowl 2015 Winners: KC Chiefs

View image | gettyimages.com

One of this blog's (few remaining) running features is noting the winners of what I have dubbed the "Stay at Home Bowl" -- the teams to defeat both Super Bowl participants. Last year's winner, the Indianapolis Colts made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game, demonstrating the obvious: if you can beat both Super Bowl participants, you're probably good. Of the 17 teams to have won this honor, 7 have made it to the conference championship game, and 10 have made the playoffs.

This year's winner is the Chiefs, who beat the Seahawks 24-20 and the Patriots 41-14.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (83) Anthony's NY Pizza & Pasta House

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

Anthony's NY Pizza & Pasta House,
15480 Annapolis Rd, Suite 217,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/8/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 9
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Anthony's has been open for a few months now. I like it pretty well, as evidenced by the nine check-ins I've logged there. That's helped by the fact that it partway between work and home for me. The thing keeping it from four stars is that, well, when a convenient location is one of your major selling points, I can't justify that fourth star.

I have had pretty good pasta here, I have had pretty good pizza here (it's about equal with Cetrone's, but Cetrone's gets a leg up for delivering), and I particularly enjoy the meatball parmesan sub. The interior is nothing special, but the service has been friendly, if a bit less-than-careful. (One time they couldn't remember what toppings I ordered on my takeout pizza, so they waited until I showed up to cook it.)

I'm happy for it to be there, and I hope it stays. I will patronize it, but now that I'm done evaluating it, I will probably move much of my pizza business back to Cetrone's.

Bowie Restaurant Update

Two restaurants to go!

Of course, Bowie keeps adding and subtracting restaurants, so I'll never be finally done.

In addition to the four that I mentioned in November (and the Chipotle and Firehouse that might show up at The Marketplace in 2016), we have more coming soon.

 The Quizno's in Bowie Town Center is being replaced by a Wingstop, and the Irie Cafe is now gone, soon to be "Simply Southern American Grille."

I can't say that either departure surprises me, but I hope their replacements have more luck.

There is also a proposal to put Bowie's second Taco Bell into the "Bowie Gateway Center" (near the Lowe's).

Bowie Restaurant Project: (82) 19th Hole Bar & Grill

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

19th Hole Bar & Grill,
7420 Laurel-Bowie Road,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 11/25/2014
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: Don't think so
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bowie has a golf course! With a snack bar. If the snack bar at the skating rink counts as a restaurant, so does this. And guess what? It's a heck of a lot better than the Penalty Box Cafe.

The first time I went here, I felt compelled to participate in some actual golf activity first, so I dropped off the kids at school on Columbus Day and headed over to the course to hit a bucket of balls off the driving range (bring your irons; it's a short range). Then I found the snack bar, where I had a breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg & cheese). It was good; better than what you could expect at Dunkin' Donuts.

The next time, I realized that nobody would actually care if I played golf first, so I just went in and ordered a burger and fries. Again, pretty good for a snack bar. Not up to what you'd get at, say, the Chesapeake Grille, but I left feeling satisfied.

If you don't play golf, I can't really recommend making this place a regular dining stop. But even if you don't, it's not a bad option if you're driving down 197 and have time for something better than Burger King. While you're at it, grab those old golf clubs from the garage, dust them off, and hit a bucket of balls. It's even more fun that you remember.

Bowie Restaurant News

Jimmy John's is still not open at the Bowie Town Center, although I drove past after going to the 19th Hole and saw a lot of work going on.

That means I have three restaurants left to review. Another review should be coming up in a week or so, then I'll have two of the pricier restaurants in Bowie left, so I'll have to find some special occasions (and possibly a babysitter).

The Marketplace shopping center is scheduled to be redeveloped by 2016 (though I don't think it's a completely done deal). Restaurant options will include another Chipotle, Firehouse Subs, and the existing Glory Days Grill. Let's see...one of the reasons I started this project is I got sick of people visiting us at work saying, "We're in Bowie; I guess we'll eat at Chipotle." I don't love Glory Days, and the Firehouse at Waugh Chapel is OK, I guess. So while I'd like to see the place redeveloped (mostly for the Harris Teeter), I'm not excited about its effect on the dining scene.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (81) Texas Roadhouse

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

Texas Roadhouse,
6011 High Bridge Road
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 11/9/2014
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Texas Roadhouse is possibly the most kid-friendly restaurant in Bowie; if I liked the food, I'd give it 4 stars.

Kid-friendly things about the restaurant:

The customer loyalty form also amused.

• They brought bread when they seated us at the table. Anyone who has tried to keep ravenous kids from losing it while waiting for food would appreciate this.
• They brought peanuts in the shell, which fascinated and amused my kids.
• The coloring pages they offered with crayons was more than just a two-sided thing. I didn't get a good look because they were busy being entertained by everything else.
• The kids got two mini-cheesburgers, a side and a drink for $3.99 each.

I got the unfortunately-named "Road Kill" steak and two sides for $9.99 (I think). Even though it wasn't their best cut of beef, it was nicely prepared...except for the seasoning. We experienced something similar when we got takeout two years ago, but the best way I can describe it is as if someone snuck in and re-labeled all of their spices. It just tasted off.

So, it was very kid-friendly, and I was prepared to love it...but I didn't.

Comings and Goings

The Bowie Town Center Food Court lost both Dairy Queen/Orange Julius and Carolyn Quinn's. Waugh Chapel lost Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill, which featured in my "Beyond Bowie" series of nearby places to get food you can't get in Bowie. Now you have to go to Annapolis for the closest Mediterranean food.

Anthony's N.Y. Pizza and Pasta House is now open. Their web site is hard to find, so there's a link. I've been there six times, so obviously I don't hate it, but I am still mulling over my rating.

Bowie is awaiting the opening of:

• Chuck's Wagon BBQ
• First Watch
• Jimmy John's
• Samosa Supreme

Other than that, four restaurants to go. I am making progress; the end is in sight!

My 2014 Hugo Votes: Best Fan Writer

After voting for Best Novella, I wrote, "This will be the last category I'm voting." I was wrong. I thought about the fact that I had nominated Kameron Hurley for Best Fan Writer, and I decided I should probably vote in the category if possible.

As it turned out, each of the nominees submitted a fairly short collection of writing, so it was pretty easy to evaluate each of them on that basis.

The writing seemed to divide into two categories: writing about issues in the SF community and reviewing works of SF. There was certainly some overlap; in particular reviews often veered into "issues" territory. That's OK; I liked pretty much all of it. In fact, this is the first category I've voted in where I would be happy with pretty much any of the nominees. Thus, my ballot:

1. Kameron Hurley. I still think she has written some really incisive stuff, such as her post on the SFWA Bulletin controversy. Unfortunately, one of the pieces she chose to include was about health insurance. While a good piece, it didn't feel particularly fannish. Fortunately, as a regular reader of her blog, I don't have to rely on that piece to form much of my opinion.
2. Abagail Nussbaum. The included material was essays on two books, a TV show and a movie. It helped that I had seen the movie and read one of the books, but I found the writing helpful in guiding my thoughts on the material.
3. Liz Bourke. Some good reviews, and an interesting essay about writing a column on female authors. I didn't engage with the writing as much as Nussbaum's, perhaps because I was less familiar with the material.
4. Foz Meadows. In many ways, she covers much the same territory of pointing out what it wrong in the SF community as Hurley does. I found it a little more in the rant direction. I think the behavior she writes about deserves ranting, and she writes about it well -- I'm just not voting it as high because it comes across as slightly less thoughtful.
5. Mark Oshiro. As far as I can tell, his schtick is writing about works of fiction in the recap style that is very popular now for TV shows. Included in the packet were writeups of 3 book chapters and 1 TV show episode. I had read one of the books. The writing quickly went into personal reflection, which lost my interest. I thought the format was interesting, and I might enjoy it for some books I've read...but probably recaps by a different author.
6. No Award. It's a favorite of mine; it rarely ends up in last place.

I was really up in the air about positions 2-4.

Longest Bike Ride Yet (Maybe)

Mile 18.6

On Sunday, I biked in the Firefighter 50 in Carroll County. Despite the name, I was able to choose the 30-mile course. About 5 miles in, I realized that I should not be riding this far without training first. In between this ride and the last 25+ mile ride I did, I only biked once. That's not really a good idea, especially for an out-of-shape guy in his 40s.

Starting at the fire house

Other than the moments where I didn't know if I could finish (I pushed the bike up most of the hills in the last 5 miles), I enjoyed the ride. I prefer the rural cycling to the urban rides I've done the past two times. There's a lot less traffic and traffic signals. On the other hand, there are fewer rest stops and convenience stores, so I will have to remember to pack more water next time.

Mile 23.4, the rest stop

Was this my longest bike ride yet? Last month, I listed my longest five, the longest of which was a 33-mile ride last year. According to MapMyRide, Sunday's ride was 33.09 miles. For last year's ride, I used EveryTrail, which rounds off to the nearest mile once you pass a certain distance. In an attempt to resolve this, I downloaded the GPX file and uploaded it to two different sites that allow you to visualize your tracks. One of them said 30.43 miles; the other said 33.5 miles. I guess it depends on how you interpolate between the waypoints. Let's call it a tie.


The picture above is next to a Maryland Historical Marker. Of the 379 waymarks in that category, I have visited 47, or a little over 12%. That seems like a lot, but it's a little bit skewed by the 14 I've posted myself. (There are certainly more than 379 markers across the state.)

Let's Move the World Cup! (Again)

2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the only (men's soccer) World Cup to be held in the United States, (not) coincidentally the only one I've ever attended. The U.S. might bid for the 2026 World Cup. But could the Cup come back to the States sooner than that?

Well, with Russia currently in the international doghouse, there are calls to strip Russia of the 2018 hosting duties. And Qatar is such a mess on the heat/bribery/human rights angles that moving the 2022 Cup to the U.S. is now a perennial story.

So that got me thinking: how would that work. Well, one answer is about as well as plans to move the 2010 Cup to the U.S...

Fifa executives have voiced "serious" doubts about whether South Africa will be able to host the next World Cup in 2010 and have discussed a radical contingency plan that would see the United States stage the tournament instead...

or the 2014 Cup

...some members of Brazil's Football Confederation fear the [World] Cup will be transferred to the USA due to the protests...

So these rumors come up every few years (and it's an indication of how badly FIFA has done with the selection process that it has come up four Cups in a row), and often for the Olympics as well. Nothing ever seems to come of it. So I thought I'd try to find as many examples as possible of major international sporting events being moved.

I came up with four. I suspect I've missed a few, depending on your definition of "major". But here goes.

• The 2003 Women's World Cup was moved in May 2003 from China to the U.S. because of SARS fears. This was really a last-minute move. How major was the tournament? At over 600,000 total attendance, it ranks below all but the first 3 men's World Cups. But the 1999 and 2007 WWCs each topped a million, indicating that the short lead time could have depressed turnout.
• The 1986 (men's) World Cup was moved in 1982 from Colombia to Mexico, since Colombia didn't feel it was financially prepared to host. Colombia had been awarded the hosting rights in 1974. I thought awarding the 2022 Cup in 2010 was ridiculous, but apparently it wasn't unprecedented.
• The 1908 Olympics were originally awarded to Rome, but when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 1906, Italy didn't feel like it could afford to rebuild Naples and host the Olympics, so the games went to London.
• The 1904 Olympics were originally awarded to Chicago, but St. Louis was having the World's Fair, and threatened to overshadow it with their own games, so the Olympics were moved. This seems like the least relevant example.

So, anyway, it has happened before, but very, very rarely. So I guess I'll greet any future "maybe they'll move the World Cup" stories with skepticism, but I can't say it's impossible.

Top Ten Authors

Goodreads compiles a list of your most-read authors. Of course, this list only counts the books I've entered into Goodreads. So I'm sure Isaac Asimov or Franklin W. Dixon would make a lifetime list. But these capture the books I've read in the past four years since I've joined Goodreads, plus the ones from the past I've cared enough to list, so I thought it would be mildly interesting to discuss who is on the list and why.

• Jack McDevitt. He has written quite a number of very good books, and one great one. A Talent for War was the first book I ever read by him (in 2008), and it is brilliant. Other than that, he writes one book a year, usually gets nominated for a Nebula Award (but rarely wins). I always look forward to his books in the fall (especially the sequels to A Talent for War, though none has lived up to it.)
• Lois McMaster Bujold. All but three of these 16 I've read since May of last year, which is a testament to how good they are. I've mostly read her Vorkosigan novels, which are always very good, but sometimes are amazing commentaries on social structures and personal relationships.
• Douglas Coupland. I read his first novel, Generation X, in college and was awe-struck. Some of his later work has been disappointing, but he still has the ability to capture an idea so profoundly that it will burrow into my head and stay there for decades.
• Michael Lewis. I got hooked on his writing when he was with The New Republic in the 1990s. Though justly praised for his financial (Liar's Poker, Flash Boys) and sports (Moneyball, The Blind Side) writing, don't overlook his writing about politics (Trail Fever) or family (Home Game).
• Naomi Novik. Her Temeraire series starts off with His Majesty's Dragon, which is a really fresh alternate-history fantasy. Later works are uneven, but the series as a whole is strong. The 10 books represent the 8 novels and 2 short stories in the Temeraire universe. I am looking forward to the series conclusion next year.
• Kim Stanley Robinson. The only author from this list I've actually met; he's a really nice guy. His Mars trilogy is probably his best work, but I've enjoyed most of the books of his that I've read (although I couldn't finish a couple). He sometimes lets his eagerness to explore ideas harm the style of the books.
• Robert Silverberg. The Majipoor series instilled such a sense of wonder in me when I read it growing up, and it's still magical to return to as an adult. The original trilogy is the rare set of books I am happy to re-read.
• Ursula K. LeGuin. A fantastic writer, whose work I've mostly come to through my quest to read award-winning fiction. She has written both young adult novels with tremendous depth and adult novels with tremendous depth, and she's done it over a span of half of a century.
• George R.R. Martin. Aside from the five most-famous books of his (which I love and are the rare books I'll re-read), I have read a couple of anthologies which he co-edited, about 20 years apart. If I could remember what I read in the 1990s better, he might move up the list, though anthologies probably shouldn't count. I have no plans to read any more of his anthologies, though the one stand-alone novel he co-authored, Windhaven, was pretty good.

My 2014 Hugo Votes: Best Novella

This will be the last category I'm voting. As previously discussed, I'm not going to make it through the Best Novel category. The Retro-Hugos are neat, but I don't have time to track down anything other than the Short Story category (which was only missing one story). I started on the Campbell Best New Writer Award, but four of the five nominees submitted novels (one of them, two novels), and I'm not going to get to read all of them. I appreciate the opportunity to read the work, and I hope to have the time next year to vote in this category, but not this year.

So, on to the novellas. I rated one of them with four stars, one of them with three stars, and three of them with two stars. I ranked them in a different order, however.

1. Equoid: "This is well-written, but it's not horror for people who don't like horror. (It's probably actually more creepy fantasy than horror, but I really don't like horror.)" 3 stars.
2. Six-Gun Snow White: 2 stars. Some nice language, but the attempt to re-tell (sort of) the Snow White story in the Wild West did not work for me. Neither the plot nor the character held my interest.
3. No Award.
4. Wakulla Springs: "It was a well-written and enjoyable story....but...why, why, why do people keep nominating works that aren't SF/fantasy for SF/fantasy awards?" 4 stars.
5. The Chaplain's Legacy: 2 stars. Too many cliches: aliens who marvel at the notion of religion and ordinary guy who becomes a hero by sticking to his principles, to name two.
6. The Butcher of Khardov: 2 stars. I suppose it's possible to write a fantastic work based on a miniatures game, but this really felt like it was set in the universe of a miniatures game.

Bike Ride: Minute 44

Yesterday I signed up for a 30-mile bike ride, which takes places next weekend. Since I hadn't been on my bike since my last long-distance ride, I decided I needed to practice. I went out for an hour, but only managed 5.6 miles. That was partially because I motivated my ride by finding a geocache, which entailed a lot of riding around slowly trying to figure out where I should be. (I am trying to embed the map above, which should show the part where I was spinning my wheels.) The cache I found is named McCrory's, after a store that was in this shopping center many years ago.

The shopping center has become very dilapidated -- there is a rumor that Harris Teeter is in negotiations to come in -- so there weren't a lot of people hanging around, which is good for cache stealth. One of the problems I have with geocaching, though, is that I'm not thrilled with either caches like McCrory's, which are in perfectly icky parking lot settings, or deep-woods caches that require you to bushwhack for half a mile to find them. There are a few that are "just off the beaten path," but they require me to choose carefully.

Still, I was happy to log this one, since it put me one cache closer to my "goal" of finding one in each minute of the 76th degree west of longitude. (I put "goal" in quotation marks, since I find it unlikely I'll ever finish this.) This is my 13th minute.

I looked to see if I could add to my count on next week's bike ride, but it appears to take place entirely to the west of the 77th parallel.

The Goofiness of the "UEFA Coefficient"

On December 2, 2009, the Scottish club Celtic beat the Israel side Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2-0 in the group stage of the Europa League (Europe's second-tier club competition). Despite the victory, Celtic was eliminated and Hapoel moved on.

In the summer of 2015, the Scottish Cup champions will play a pair of second-round qualifying matches for the Europa League. They will be spared the indignity of entering in the first round. (If the Scottish Cup winners also qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League due to their placement in the league, this statement applies to some other club, but let's ignore that for now.)

How are these two things related? Well, Scotland is the 23rd-ranked European country in terms of club football for the purposes of the 2015/6 Europa League, and Sweden is the 24th. The 23rd-ranked program sends its cup champion to the second round, while the 24th-ranked nation's cup champion has to play an extra home-and-away series. The ranking is based on the 5-year span from 2009-2014, and (for reasons I'll explain later), the Celtic win contributed 0.333 to Scotland's coefficient for the year, which affected the next five years. Scotland's ranking for 2015/6 is 16.566, while Sweden's is 16.325. Without that "meaningless" Celtic victory back in 2009, Scotland's ranking would have dropped to 16.233 and Sweden's Cup winner is the one who would have the first-round bye. (Israel would have also leapfrogged Romania into 16th place had H. Tel-Aviv won, but the 16th and 17th placed nation's teams are treated equally in next season's European football.)

I started thinking about UEFA coefficients in detail after reading an article about Celtic's new manager, Ronny Delia, and his complaints about having to enter at the second round of Champions League qualifying.  "It is stupid the Scottish coefficient is not regarded as good enough," he said. "We maybe have one good team but the other ones are dragging that team down."

That got me to look at how Scotland's coefficient is calculated, and the extent to which other teams, are, in fact, dragging Celtic down. The specific complaint Delia had was about the 2014/5 season. For that season (the current one), the rankings are determined based on play from 2008-13. Scotland's ranking is 15.191, good enough for 24th. If I added correctly, Celtic produced 8.9 of those points, or more than half, even though they were one of as many of 6 teams whose performances were averaged together.

If you consider Celtic as its own nation, they would have had a UEFA coefficient of 43, good enough for 10th place on the list. The 10th-place nation's champion proceeds directly to the group stage, skipping the three qualifying rounds and the playoff round. I think Delia is arguing that would be a fairer fate for Celtic.

But, wait! How did Celtic acquire those (hypothetical) 42 points? In 2008-09, they picked up 7 points for their participation in the Champions League group stage, but failed to advance. In 2009-10, they were knocked out of the Champions League in the playoff stage (after advancing through one qualifying round), which bounced them into the Europa League, where they lost in the group stage. Despite not making it to the Champions League group stage, nor advancing in the Europa League, they got 7 points, the same as the previous year. In 2010-11, they were knocked out of both the Champions League third qualifying round and the Europa League playoff round, but picked up 2 points by winning one leg of each round. In 2011-12, they got 7 points for their performance, which saw them fail to advance past the Europa League group stage.  In 2012-13, their most glorious recent year, they got 20 points when they advanced to the round of 16 in the Champions League. Four of those points were for victories leading up to the group stage.

So despite the fact that those 42 points means Celtic "deserved" to be in the Champions League group stage, many of those points (19 of them) came from parts of the competition below the CL group stage. On the other hand, if we magically place Celtic in the CL group stage every year, and assume they lose every game in years where they didn't actually qualify, they still earn 4 points/year for CL group stage participation, which gives them a total of 31 points, good enough for becoming the 13th-ranked "nation," and yes, automatic entry in the group stage.

There are two kinds of feedback going on here. The positive is that being a highly-ranked nation makes it more likely that your teams will end up in the group stage, where they earn points for being in the group stage. The negative is that higher-ranked nations have teams play in fewer matches (by skipping qualifying), so they have fewer opportunities to get points. I'm curious how these feedbacks balance each other out. I suppose if they didn't, we would see a lot of oscillation in national rankings. I'm not sure if that happens or not.

I think there's an opportunity for an interesting mathematical analysis of the way in which the UEFA coefficient ranking differs from an ideal ranking. Assuming you want to stick with the UEFA rate-the-country approach, there's probably still a better way. Searching the mathematical literature, I found one 2005 paper on the UEFA coefficient. I will go read that paper, but there's probably room for further research.

My 1939 Retro-Hugo Votes: Best Short Story

I'm not going to be able to read the 2014 Hugo Best Novel nominees. One is the entire Wheel of Time series, which could take years to read. Three were not included in the Hugo voters packet, which means I would have to track them down if I were so inclined. (I have done so for Ancillary Justice, and started to do so for Neptune's Brood, but I lost interest.) The other one is included, but was nominated as part of a right-wing slate that hasn't held my interest so far.

So, on to other categories. The 75th anniversary of the first Worldcon is celebrating by voting on the Retro-Hugos, since no actual Hugos were awarded then. The Retro-Hugo voters packet is even more incomplete than the Hugo packet, but it had four of the five short story nominees, and I got the other one from the library.

1. The Faithful: "This one was not really dated after 75+ years. It tells a moving story of the extinction of mankind while the races we have attempted to uplift figure out both how to carry on without us and to honor us."
2. Hyperpilosity: "It was a cheesy story about a "future" episode during which everyone started getting very hairy. It tried to be funny and clever, but fell flat. It wasn't helped by the outdated portrayals of women and Mexicans."
3. Helen O'Loy: "It's a story about two men who build a robotic woman and the romance that develops thereafter. Helen O'Loy=Helen of Troy=Helen Alloy. Get it? If you don't, it's spelled out in the story."
4. No Award. This is my dividing line between "I didn't like it," and "It wasn't very good.
5. How We Went to Mars: One of Arthur C. Clarke's first stories. I'm glad he improved his craft, and stopped trying to write humor.
6. Hellerbochen's Dilemma: "What the heck was this? It made no sense, and seemed to be Bradbury writing down a half-remembered dream."

Quotes from my Goodreads reviews (How We Went to Mars is not on Goodreads). To give you a sense of how I felt, The Faithful got 4 stars, Hellerbochen's Dilemma 1 star and the rest 2 stars.

I've now started in on the nominees for the 2014 Campbell Award for Best New Writer. It looks like there's some interesting works submitted for consideration in this category.

My 2014 Hugo Votes: Best Novelette

Well, I knocked off another category. Quotes, as always, from my Goodreads reviews.

1. The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling: "It cuts between a future story where people can search video logs of their life as a virtual memory and a past story about a tribe which is learning writing. The future story is really affecting, and the past story is thought-provoking, but the juxtaposition of the two is a little too obvious for me to give it five stars."
2. Lady Astronaut of Mars: "This novella violates one of my principles of alternate history, which I am about to make up. Here goes. If you write alternate history, the what if parts of the story should be central...It distracts me from the rest of the story trying to figure out what's going on with the discrepancies, particularly in a work of short fiction. Other than that, I kind of enjoyed it."
3. The Waiting Stars: (from a review of another of the author's stories) "The ratings really reflect my enjoyment of the story rather than any judgment of the literary quality of de Bodard's work. It's just not to my taste."
4. The Exchange Officers: For some reason, this story is not on Goodreads. I found it to be a mundane story marred by a few inexcusable typos. It had sort of a retro feel to it, except the UAV-like remote operation of the spacesuits. A similar story would have not been out of place in the 1980s, but it would not have stood out then, either.
5. No Award: I really only felt that The Truth of Fact was award-worthy of the above stories. However, if you want to give the award to one of the others, I may disagree, but I won't object.
6. Opera Vita Aeterna: "I found nothing egregious about the story, but it repeatedly put me to sleep. Literally. It should have been a quick read, but it delayed my appraisal of the rest of the Hugo slate by boring me into unconsciousness when I tried to tackle it. Let's have an elf argue theology with an abbot... And the ending was very...well, boring, too."

My 2014 Hugo Votes: Best Short Story

Last year, I was so overwhelmed and dispirited by the process of voting for the Hugos that I never blogged about my votes. By the time the awards were announced, I forgot exactly what my ballot was.

This year, I am going to try blogging about one category at a time. Since I can submit partial ballots as I go, I'm going to try finishing a category, voting on it, then blogging about my votes. Quotes are from my Goodreads reviews.

1. Selkie Stories Are For Losers: "The most impressive thing, to me, about the story was that I started out thinking, "What the heck is a selkie," and ended the story feeling like I had a good grasp of the mythology. OK, I googled to find out that it's some sort of fey creature, but I'm not sure if the specifics are part of the folklore or were invented for this story. So the author very economically painted a picture of the fantasy background, in a story that mostly dealt with non-fantasy things."

2. If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love: "It's a quirky and ultimately very moving story, but it feels a little thin, especially as a work of fantasy."

3. The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere: "The fantasy premise was very thin (all of a sudden, people start getting soaked with water when they tell a lie), and it seemed like a mostly unnecessary embellishment on the story. Still, it was a well-written story about a man trying to come out to his family. It just felt like a story with a giant metaphor hanging over it."

4. The Ink Readers of Doi Saket: I didn't write a review of it. It just didn't click with me.

5. No Award: I did not dislike any of the stories enough to wish that the award be withheld rather than given to one of them.

Tour Dem Parks, Hon

After Sunday, here are my five longest bike rides:

1. 33 miles in 2013 in Chestertown, MD
2. 29 miles in 2009 in Switzerland
3. 28 miles in 2009 in Santa Barbara, CA
4. 27 miles in 2014 in Baltimore
5. 25 miles in 2013 in Baltimore

Tour Dem Parks, which I just biked, ended up being longer than last fall's Tour Du Port. Partially because I counted the ride from the car to the start point (and back), and partially because the 25-mile course I selected was actually more than 26 miles long (a fact I realized around Mile 21).

I didn't take any pictures along the route because while it was pleasant and enjoyable scenery much of the way, nothing was spectacular, and I just concentrated on enjoying the ride.

For this ride, I switched from Everytrail, which I had used for previous rides, to MapMyRide. Mainly because I'm participating with a team in the National Bike Challenge. The routes for Tour Dem Parks were posted on MapMyRide, and when I tried to copy it over to follow along, it got logged as participation in the National Bike Challenge, despite the fact that I deleted it (oops).

Anyway, I don't like the MapMyRide trip display as much as Everytrail, so see below a screenshot from the route. The green swaths on the left and right were the nicest parts; the city streets connecting the two were the least nice. I figure any part of the city where people feel the need to put up eight or so "No Ball Playing" signs on every block is kind of rough. (I never felt like there was a problem biking through there, though.)

I wore my Michigan cycling jersey for the first time on this trip. I in general don't feel the need for "gear" (I'm not particularly aerodynamic even with the jersey), but I love the colors. One thing I didn't anticipate was the number of responses it would get from my fellow riders -- probably around 50 shouts of "Go Blue" and similar. Cool. (I guess; as an introvert, I'm a bit ambivalent.)

Nebula Update: Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book in one sitting on a cross-country plane flight. It was the first time I had read a book in one sitting in several years, so I'm very glad I got to read such a good book.

Despite the good reviews this book has received, I had avoided it for a while. I had found the description a bit off-putting -- particularly the fact that the protagonist was formerly a starship AI. I find a lot of science fiction about non-human, meta-human or post-human beings fairly tiresome.

But since Ancillary Justice won the Nebula Award for Best Novel and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, I decided to give it a try. In the best of circumstances, when I read a book based on awards, it forces me to look beyond my first impressions and find an unexpected gem. This was the best of circumstances.

So what did I like? First of all, I thought the politics of the book's universe was really thought-provoking. The Radsch, the main political unit in the book, had built its structure around continual expansion and now has to confront the end of the expansion; I think there are interesting analogs to Earth, particularly in American history. Second, the way in which the AIs spin copies of themselves off (and other characters do too) raises interesting questions about the extent to which, say, we are the same person across time and experiences. Finally, all of the mind-shifting is done really cleanly without either boring exposition our annoying mumbo-jumbo, resulting in a cleanly-written story that was a pleasure to read.

This year, the only other Nebula Best Novel nominee I read was The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Ancillary Justice was better. I read it the day after it won the Nebula; I have now read 42 of 50 winners. I am now diving into the Hugo reading list. By the time I am done with that (or, more likely, the voting deadline has passed), I will have built up several other books I'm itching to read. So I probably won't get to any of my final eight until late this year.