Countries Visited: In Pictures

I was thinking about my 31 countries visited, and I got the idea to create a collage of pictures of me in these countries. Without too much trouble, I came up with pictures in 23 of them.

Australia

Belgium

Austria

Bahamas

Canada

China

England

France

Estonia

Germany

Japan

Mexico

Jeju

Korea

Netherlands

Puerto Rico

Russia

Sarawak

Spain

Switzerland

Turkey

United States

Wales

Bowie Restaurant Project: (94) Auntie Anne's

Auntie Anne's, circa 2011

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



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

Auntie Anne's,
15606 Emerald Way,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/14/2016
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 4 (2 for a "meal")
Pre-Foursquare Visits: Not sure
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

There was a time when this was the best thing about the food court. But with the opening of Yamon!, Wesley's, and maybe Tamo Smoothies, that's not true any more. But I never considered it a place to get meals...until Christina let me know that they serve pretzel dogs. Hot dogs are meals (barely), pretzel dogs are hot dogs, ergo Auntie Anne's serves meals. If it serves meals and it has seating, it's a restaurant. Not much of a restaurant, but on the same level as the late, not-so-great Dairy Queen/Orange Julius combo across the food court.

Anyway, I don't think you should get pretzel dogs here. Get hot dogs at Five Guys or get something else at Yamon! or Wesley's.

Two restaurants to go!

Books: 2014 in Review

When I went over the books I read in 2015, I noticed that I had forgotten to review 2014. But it's a review, so it's not too late!

Looking back, it was a pretty good year -- 4 5-star novels! -- but a lot of tiresome short fiction. Maybe I should stay out of the Hugo voting business.

Anne Leckie (4)

• Ancillary Justice 5 stars "A cleanly-written story that was a pleasure to read." 
• Ancillary Sword 4 stars 
• Night's Slow Poison 3 stars
• She Commands Me and I Obey 3 stars

Brandon Sanderson (3)

• Steelheart 5 stars "The characters are interesting, and while the prose doesn't always sparkle, it serves the needs of the book."
• Mitosis 2 stars "The story itself seemed like a lot of nothing"
• The Way of Kings 4 stars

Aliette de Bodard (2)

• The Waiting Stars 2 stars
• Shipbirth 2 stars "It's just not to my taste."

Steven Brust (2)

• Fireworks in the Rain 3 stars
• The Incrementalists 2 stars "I wanted the Incrementalists, but I feel like I got the Mentalists."

Lester del Rey (2)

• Helen O'Loy 2 stars "The story lacked any oomph, emotional or otherwise."
• The Faithful 4 stars "Sometimes an old story provides an unexpected delight."

Max Gladstone (2)

• Three Parts Dead 4 stars
• Two Serpents Rise 4 stars

Benjanun Sriduangkaew (2)

• Fade to Gold 2 stars
• The Bees Her Heart, The Hive Her Belly 3 stars "I didn't love it, but at times it brought a smile to my face."

Saladin Ahmed (1)

• Engraved on the Eye 3 stars

 Louis Bates Ames (1)

• Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful 3 stars "This is a very good book for giving you [an idea of] what is "normal" in a 4-year-old."

 Ray Bradbury (1)

• Hellerbochen's Dilemma 1 star "It made no sense, and seemed to be Bradbury writing down a half-remembered dream."

 Lois McMaster Bujold (1)

• Diplomatic Immunity 4 stars

Ted Chiang (1)

• The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling 4 stars "The future story is really affecting, and the past story is thought-provoking."

John Chu (1)

• The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere 3 stars "It was a well-written story about a man trying to come out to his family."

Vox Day (1)

• Opera Vita Aeterna 2 stars "I found nothing egregious about the story, but it repeatedly put me to sleep. Literally."

L. Sprauge De Camp (1)

• Hyperpilosity 2 stars "It tried to be funny and clever, but fell flat."

Samuel R. Delaney (1)

• The Einstein Intersection 2 stars "The plot wasn't completely incomprehensible."

Andy Duncan (1)

• Wakulla Springs 4 stars "A well-written and enjoyable story."

Adele Faber (1)

• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk 4 stars

Neil Gaiman (1)

• The Ocean at the End of the Lane 3 stars "Oh, that was nice enough."

Daniel Gray (1)

• Stramash: Tackling Scotland's Towns and Teams 4 stars "This book had some great insights, and some fun details, but it meandered in places."

Thomas Olde Heuvelt (1)

• The Ink Readers of Doi Saket 2 stars

Iain Hyslop (1)

• Is the Baw Burst? Rangers Special: A Long Suffering Supporter Continues His Search for the Soul of Scottish Football 4 stars "I liked this book because it gave a real feel for what it is like to be a Scottish football fan more than anything else I've read."

Mary Robinette Kowal (1)

• The Lady Astronaut of Mars 3 stars "I kind of enjoyed it." 

Ursula K. Le Guin (1)

• A Wizard of Earthsea 4 stars "It's pretty good."

Michael Lewis (1)

• Flash Boys 4 stars "A well-written and interesting book." 

George R.R. Martin (1)

• The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones 4 stars

Jack McDevitt (1)

• Coming Home 4 stars "Another very enjoyable entry in the Alex Benedict series." 

Richard K. Morgan (1)

• Altered Carbon 3 stars "Well-written and compelling with interesting characters, but the level of remorseless violence turned me off."

Sofia Samatar (1)

• A Stranger in Olondria 3 stars

Veronica Schanoes (1)

• Burning Girls 3 stars "I found the story quite well-written but not compelling."

Kenneth Schneyer (1)

• Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer 3 stars "It was interesting, but it didn't click with me." 

Lawrence M. Schoen (1)

• Trial of the Century 3 stars "I didn't laugh at the jokes, and I found the aliens too one-dimensional." 

Ellen Shaw (1)

• Keep Kids Safe: A Parent's Guide to Child Safety

Allen Steele (1)

• V-S Day: A Novel of Alternate History 4 stars

Charles Stross (1)

• Equoid 3 stars "This is well-written, but it's not horror for people who don't like horror."

Brad R. Torgerson (1)

• The Chaplain's Legacy 2 stars

Catherynne M. Valente (1)

• Six-Gun Snow White 2 stars

David Weber (1)

• On Basilisk Station 2 stars "A mix of interesting plotting and not-very-good writing."

Andy Weir (1)

• The Martian 5 stars

Dan Wells (1)

• The Butcher of Khardov 2 stars 

Ben H. Winters (1)

• World of Trouble 5 stars

Bowie Restaurant Project: (93) Tamo Smoothies

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



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

Tamo Smoothies,
3878 Town Center Blvd.,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/12/2016
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

My review is based on the food here, not the smoothies. Which is good, because I don't know how to review smoothies. They taste really good, and they are really expensive. But that's true of all smoothies as far as I can tell. Also, they give me an ice cream headache, but I don't think that belongs in my review.

So the food is fairly minimal -- tuna salad, chicken salad or shrimp salad, with the option to get each on a croissant (which I did). It's pretty good, and the serving size is generous. But, honestly, this is barely a restaurant, and the 2.5 stars reflects that.

Three restaurants left to go!

2015 Stay-At-Home Bowl Update: And Then There Were Five

After last weekend's Wild Card action, there are five teams alive in the 2015 Stay-At-Home Bowl. With four teams left alive in each conference, there are sixteen possible Super Bowl matchups. Only four give us a Stay-At-Home Bowl winner, but one would give us our first triple winner, and another the rare double winner.

• Chicago wins with a Kansas City-Green Bay Super Bowl.
• Cincinnati wins with either Kansas City-Seattle or Pittsburgh-Seattle.
• Denver wins with either Kansas City-Green Bay or New England-Green Bay.
• Green Bay wins with Kansas City-Seattle.
• Minnesota wins with Kansas City-Green Bay.

Geocaching: Two More Minutes, One More County

This past weekend, I had an errand in Baltimore County, and I realized I had a chance to add it to my list of Maryland counties in which I've cached. I was meeting Ben, who agreed to join me for the nearby excursion to an Earthcache. This particular Earthcache was at Greenspring Quarry, which I learned is the deepest body of water in Maryland. Cool. So that's my 11th county. The other counties are a bit farther, though honestly the Eastern Shore is closer than I think.

It's also at Minute 41 of 76 degrees West, so that's my 15th minute of that challenge. And it's Minute 23 of 39 North, so that's my 14th minute for that degree.

It's my first find of 2016. How did 2015 turn out? Well, just like the previous six years, I found between one and three caches. Not exactly burning up the trails, but at least it isn't zero.

This find reminded me of why I usually prefer Earthcaches and other "virtual" caches. In gathering one piece of information, I noticed that there was a physical cache nearby. I thought it would be easy to add to my total, but there was a photographer camped out right on top of where it had to be. I really didn't want to bother him, so, well, at least I found the one I was looking for.

Books: 2015 in Review

I wrote a couple of years ago about the books I read in 2013. I liked it enough that I wanted to do it again. (Apparently, I didn't like it enough to remember to do it for 2014, though.)

For 2013, I said, "The total is more impressive than it should be, because Goodreads allows you to review many pieces of short fiction, especially those nominated for awards. Since I voted on the Hugo awards this year, I read a lot of that type of work." Well, in 2015, there was an annoying controversy that caused me to skip voting on the Hugo awards. Instead, my total was padded by starting to read graphic novels, which are quicker reads.

Again, I will list them by author and quote from/link to my Goodreads reviews, when I wrote them.

Brian Michael Bendis (7)

• Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Revival 4 stars "It's very confusing, and there's not a lot of hand-holding of the reader to explain what's going on...I enjoyed the story and characters more than I expected."
• Spider-Men 4 stars "Not a lot of depth...but Bendis makes it an exciting ride."
• Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 2: Revelations 4 stars "This comic really shows how fun things can be when Spider-Man can blend in with S.H.I.E.L.D., Kitty Pride and [spoiler]."
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers
• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 1 4 stars "This is the place to start reading the Miles Morales story."
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Angela
• All New X-Men, Vol. 1: Yesterday's X-Men 3 stars "Meh."
  

G. Willow Wilson (4)

• Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal 5 stars "This was awesome." 
• Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why 4 stars "Enjoyable but not quite up to the standards of volume 1."
• Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Crushed 5 stars 
• Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4: Last Days 4 stars "These issues are leading up to the Secret Wars...I thought volume 4 suffered a little bit from this focus."

Ursula K. Le Guin (3)

• The Tombs of Atuan 4 stars
• The Farthest Shore 3 stars
• Tehanu 3 stars "This book was an amazing meditation on age, gender and power. It was also kind of boring."

Lev Grossman (2)

• The Magicians 3 stars
• The Magician King 2 stars

Mark Millar (2)

• Superman: Red Son 4 stars
• Civil War 4 stars "Pretty enjoyable, but many of the characters seemed to go off the deep end pretty quickly."

Ryan North (2)

• The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power 3 stars 
• The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True 2 stars "After a while I get sick of the whimsy."

Brandon Sanderson (2)

• Words of Radiance 4 stars
• Firefight 4 stars "I definitely recommend it to anyone who liked the first book (and likes trilogies)."

Charles Soule (2)

• She-Hulk, Vol. 1: Law and Disorder 4 stars "It was enjoyable, without being spectacular."
• She-Hulk, Vol. 2: Disorderly Conduct 4 stars "Verdict: not tiresome!"

Jason Aaron (1) 

• Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder 3 stars

Katherine Addison (1)

• The Goblin Emperor 4 stars "I really liked this book. If I knew who everybody was instead of getting confused all the time, it would have been 5 stars." 

 Louis Ames Bates (1)

• Your Five-Year-Old: Sunny and Serene 3 stars

Katherine Mary Barrow (1)

• Three Years in Tristan da Cunha 3 stars On one level, it's a fascinating slice of history of one of the weirdest places on Earth (I like weird places). On the other hand, it could use more editing. 

 Robert Bennett Jackson (1)

• City of Stairs 4 stars "It was put together in an exciting way, and I would definitely be willing to read the sequel." 

Lois McMaster Bujold (1)

• Cryoburn 4 stars

Delilah S. Dawson (1)

• The Perfect Weapon 2 stars "The writing and characterization are wooden in a way that gives tie-in fiction a bad name."

Conrad Glass (1)

• Rockhopper Copper 3 stars "While it contains some genuinely fascinating information, it is also very boring in places."

Rachel Hartman (1)

• Shadow Scale 4 stars "It's mostly well done, but the climax falls flat." 

Kevin Hearne (1)

• Heir to the Jedi 3 stars "Meh."

Ann Leckie (1)

• Ancillary Mercy 3 stars

Laura Markham (1)

• Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting 4 stars

George R. R. Martin (1)

• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 5 stars

Jack McDevitt (1)

• The Hercules Text 3 stars

Naomi Novik (1)

• Uprooted 4 stars "The plot was good, and the characters were well-formed."

M. Rickert (1)

• The Mothers of Voorhisville 3 stars

Kim Stanley Robinson (1)

• Aurora 4 stars "One of the year's better books, but once again I wish that Robinson were more a fan of making his points in the plot, or at least dialogue." 

John Scalzi (1)

• The Last Colony 3 stars "It was not bad, just kind of cheesy."

Neal Stephenson (1)

• Seveneves 2 stars 

Jeff VanderMeer (1)

• Annihilation 2 stars "I read the plots of the next two books on Wikipedia just to spoil them for myself in case I ever got tempted to read them."

Chuck Wendig (1)

• Aftermath 3 stars "This only had minor appearances by the characters from the original trilogy, and it wasn't interesting enough on its own."

Bowie Restaurant Project: (92) America's Best Wings (Collington Plaza)

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



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

America's Best Wings,
3440 Crain Hwy,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/4/2016
Total Foursquare Check-ins:1
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It's an America's Best Wings! Don't we already have one of those in Bowie? Yes, we do. And I've dubbed them "Bowie's Best Wings," so I don't know how to feel about the addition of a second location. On the one hand, more of a good thing is good. On the other, does it make the "original" location less exciting? I think "more of a good thing" is the correct reaction. And, hey, did I only give it 3.5 stars? That doesn't match up with how often I've been visiting it. Let's upgrade it to four!

So is this location more of the same? Yes and no. It's the same basic thing, but there were some menu differences. They don't have a "medium" wing flavor (they directed me to "mild" as the same thing). They don't charge 50 cents per refill on sodas (probably because they're not in walking distance from Bowie High). And they have a kids' menu. (My kids got along fine at the other location, however.) I'll declare it an upgrade.

The service, however, seemed more brusque. The servers at the other location had been very nice. Here, when I asked whether my wings came with blue cheese (I knew they did, but it wasn't offered to me), the guy said, "I give you one."

So...I think your choice of location is determined by where you are in Bowie, but I'll stick with the Free State location as my favorite.

Still four reviews to go!

Bowie Restaurant News

Uno Chicago Grill is now closed.

The Bowie Marketplace is coming along. I think the Firehouse Subs, Chick-fil-A and Chipotle had been announced, but this is the first I've heard of the MOD Pizza.

2015 Stay-At-Home Bowl Preview

Welcome to the Android's Dungeon first ever Stay-At-Home Bowl preview. Let me start by reminding you what the Stay-At-Home Bowl is. It's awarded to the team or teams who defeat both Super Bowl participants. Needless to say, some years the award is vacant.

• Here is the original 2003 post honoring the first 11 winners.
• Here is the 2011 update naming the next five.
• Here is the 2014 post honoring the Colts.
• Here is last year's post on the Chiefs.

The Chiefs rode a 10-game win streak to an 11-5 record and the playoffs, so we are now at 11 of 18 Stay-At-Home winners making it to the playoffs.

But before the playoffs start this year, which teams are eligible? And which teams should be considered favorites?

The way I am thinking about this is that there are 36 possible Super Bowl matchups at this point, since there are 6 teams left in each conference. Let's consider the total number of possible Super Bowl matchups that will make each team a "winner."

Under this scenario, Denver is the favorite, given that they are the only team to defeat multiple playoff teams from both conferences. They win the title if the Super Bowl matchup is Green Bay-Cincinnati, Green Bay-Kansas City, Green Bay-New England, Minnesota-Cincinnati, Minnesota-Kansas City or Minnesota-New England.

Three teams have three possibilities: Arizona, Carolina and New England.

Five teams have two possibilities: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Miami and Minnesota.

Three teams have one possibility: Chicago, the Jets and Seattle.

So only four out of the twelve teams in contention didn't make the playoffs: Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and the Jets.

Conversely, only four of the twelve playoff teams aren't in contention: Houston, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Washington. (Washington is the only playoff team not to have defeated any other playoff team.)

While on three previous occasions we have had double winners (1980, 2000, 2008), we have never had triple winners. A Washington-Houston Super Bowl would guarantee a quadruple winner, as both teams lost to Atlanta, Carolina, Miami and New England. A Kansas City-Green Bay Super Bowl would produce a triple winner, with Chicago, Denver and Minnesota sharing the title.

Having either Denver or Arizona in the Super Bowl would mean zero winners, since neither team lost to a team which also beat a playoff team from the other conference. In fact, no team beat top 2 seeds from both conferences, so one of the 3-6 seeds would need to make it through on at least one side to ensure a winner.

Winners are possible with 16 of the 36 potential Super Bowls. After this weekend, the number of possible Super Bowls will drop to 16, so the field will be narrowed considerably. I'll try to update you when that happens.

Travelers' Century Club: Not at this Rate

A little over five years ago, I noted that I had made it up to 31 countries visited. Here "country" is a very loose term, but I am using the list maintained by the Travelers' Century Club, an organization open to those who hit 100. Since then, I have visited...no more countries. So I'm still at 31. What to do? Maybe visit more countries, yes, but in the mean time, let's make some graphs.

Above you can see the rapid growth I had in countries visited in the last decade, and the leveling off since. Below, you can see my countries/year. I start just before I add my third country (Canada) in 1987, or else it would look pretty silly (my average of 2 countries/year for my first year was hard to keep up with).

Bowie Restaurant Project: (91) Wesley's Southern Cuisine

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



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

Wesley's Southern Cuisine,
15606 Emerald Way,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 12/15/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

They have the best barbecue I've had in this area. Let me say that up front. Based on the BBQ, I'd give it 4.5 stars. When I went back for my second visit, I worried that a review based on ordering BBQ every time wouldn't be informative. Then they told me they only have BBQ on the weekends. So I ordered the fish with mac & cheese and mashed potatoes. Then they told me they only have mashed potatoes in the evening. Wait, what?

My pique at their unadvertised menu limitations may be the only thing keeping them from hitting 4 stars. The fish was pretty good, but not fantastic, and the sides were very good both times. The food court is looking up again between this and Yamon!

Bowie Restaurant News

Well, it finally happened. A restaurant opened and closed before I got around to reviewing it. Simply Southern Grille is no more. They opened around February and closed recently. That's actually plenty of time for a review, but we visited in May and were not eager to return. The food was OK, but the service was really, really slow. The only time the waitress moved quickly was when my wife got up to go having left a lottery ticket on the table. She tried to scoop it up, but I was too quick. So I meant to get back there, but never did.

I have realized a couple of other places I need to visit, though. Auntie Anne's pretzels has been the highlight of the food court during some dark times, but I never considered it a restaurant...until I realized they sell pretzel dogs. So that deserves a visit.

When we were at Wesley's, Christina got a smoothie from Tamo Smoothies. She said they sold sandwiches. So that deserves a visit, too.

That leaves me with those two, Sakura and Jerry's Seafood.

World Heritage Update: Brussels

I was in Brussels last week, where I visited my 61st World Heritage Site, La Grande-Place. Brussels has two more sites, but my trip was short, and I was very sick, so I only visited the one. 61 out of 1031 is 5.92%, a new high percentage! (Sometimes the percentage goes down due to new sites being inscribed.)



To make sure that it really was a new high, I wrote a spreadsheet tracking number of sites visited as of a given year. (For simplicity's sake, I only considered year-end totals.) I had to track both the year I visited and the year the site was inscribed, so visits to sites that were later inscribed only show up after the inscription. Then I compare it against the number of total sites inscribed to see my percentage. Here's a graph (I smoothed it to make it look nicer):

So, yes, 5.92% is a new high for me, beating 2012's previous record of 5.82%. Unless they add more than 35 (which they haven't done since 2000), I won't need more than 3 new ones to break 6% for the first time. It looks like the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings will be inscribed, so that's one. I have no idea which ones the other two might be, but I will try to make it happen.

Nebula Update: Tehanu

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was an amazing meditation on age, gender and power. It was also kind of boring. The themes were fascinating, but even more than the first three Earthsea books, nothing much happened (until the very end).

I was disappointed, because I think Le Guin is one of the best science fiction authors ever, but I kept waiting for some wizarding to happen.

I now have seven Best Novel Nebula winners left to read. Since I last checked, The Falling Woman became available for Kindle. In fact, it was on sale for $1.99 a few weeks ago, so that will probably be the next one I read. It's getting to be a feeling of obligation to finish the last few, though, which is why it's taking so long to get around to them.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (90) America's Best Wings (Free State)

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



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

America's Best Wings,
15500 Annapolis Rd,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 10/22/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3.5 4 out of 5 stars

America's Best Wings? Or at least Bowie's best wings? Maybe. In my review of Wingstop a couple of months ago, I remarked that Bowie now seems to have too many wings places. For ill-defined reasons, however, America's Best Wings has become my favorite.

The first time, I split my order between their medium and hot wings. Memo to self: you're over forty now, skip the hot wings. The second time, I decided to branch out a bit. They advertise 30 flavors, so I went in planning to split between Old Bay wings and something else. But then, I saw something that's not on their web site (medium isn't on there either) -- crab-flavored wings, and suddenly Old Bay seemed like going halfway. I split those with some honey mustard wings, and enjoyed myself. Crab wings are ridiculous, so I probably won't have them again, but it was an entertaining experience.

I can muster no enthusiasm to try their non-wing based offerings.

So, maybe it's the fact that I can pick up wings on my way to work (if I'm headed to work after 11), or maybe it's the 30+ flavors, but I hereby decree America's Best Wings to be Bowie's best wings, and award them 3.5 stars.

Four restaurants to go...

Update 1/4/16: I like this place more and more each time; I'm upgrading them from 3.5 to 4 stars.

Scotland's UEFA coefficient still heading in the wrong direction

I posted this summer about hypothetical scenarios where Scottish club's European fortunes improve to the point where they get improved entry into the Champions League and the Europa League (as determined by the European coefficient).

Since then, uh, things have gone in the other direction. Everyone but Celtic has been bounced from the Europa League. Celtic has (have?) been bounced from the Champions League, into the Europa League. They have then proceeded to go 0-2-1 in their first three group matches, including a 3-1 loss last night. If they don't pick up any more points (a sadly realistic possibility!), Scotland will have its worst year (tied) since 2009.

So how much worse could things get for Scotland? Actually, not much worse. Scotland's ranking is 23rd for next year's competitions, and that should spare them first-round entry for the Scottish Cup winners. But Scotland is currently on target to drop to 25th the following year, which might make the Scottish Cup winners enter in the first round of the Europa League along with the second- and third-place Scottish Premiership teams. Beyond that, however, nothing much changes until around 47th place, which would make a nation's top team enter the Champions League in the first round. Scotland is in trouble, but it's unimaginable they'll get that bad. And the dip to 25th might allow the Scottish Cup champion to enter against easier competition, which wouldn't be so bad.

STV Sport observes that the drop in Scotland's coefficient is the second worst in Europe over the past decade. I would argue that the drop from 11th to 23rd is actually worse than the drop from 32nd to 46th that Latvia suffered.

Celtic has three more matches to turn things around this year, however. They are actually only two points out of second place in their Europa League group. The math isn't too friendly for moving up from 25th in the 2016 rankings (which will determine 2017 entry) -- Norway is currently in 24th, and they have two teams active, including Molde, which beat Celtic last night. Denmark is in 23rd, and their remaining team is in second place in their group. Overtaking Israel, in 22nd, would require more than just Celtic winning their remaining games (while Maccabi Tel-Aviv loses the rest of theirs); Celtic would actually have to pick up some points in the knock-out phase.

2017 (for 2018 entry) is a little more encouraging. Scotland sits solidly in 23rd place (with their bad 2011 performance aged off), and it wouldn't be impossible to move up a place or two in advance of next year's competitions.

Nebula Update: Annihilation

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So last year the Nebula went to a book some people didn't like because it left out gendered pronouns. Well, look out 2015, because this year's winner doesn't have any names. No place names ("Area X" doesn't count) and no names of characters.

I get that the author is trying to do something with this lack of naming, but he has to try to do something more interesting to get me to accept this. Everything is just confusing, deliberately so. The main character gets some fleshing out (and her dead husband, who we never meet), but nobody else in the book does. And the setting is limited to creepy things that happen in Area X, we don't really get any worldbuilding.

In fact, it's not entirely clear what sort of world this is set in. It's a world much like our own, but different...somehow? A way that's never explained, but this Area X doesn't fit into Earth, so that's why I can tell it's not quite Earth.

I guess what I'm looking for in my science fiction and fantasy is some sort of rationale behind what happens, a rationale that gets conveyed to the reader. This seems more like horror, where I guess you can just make creepy stuff happen to scare the reader.

I read the plots of the next two books on Wikipedia just to spoil them for myself in case I ever got tempted to read them. It doesn't sound like it gets any better.


Well, this catches me up with this year's Nebula winner. I still have the same eight left to read that I did a year and a half ago. I am reading Tehanu, but rather slowly. I have been impressed with the increased collection of eBooks available through my local libraries, but I am somewhat at the mercy of the holds system. I actually bought Tehanu, so it gets set aside when another book (like Annihilation) becomes available.

Of this year's other Nebula nominees, I've read Coming Home and Ancillary Sword, and I'm partway through The Goblin Emperor. I would have preferred any of them to this book.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (89) Chuck's Wagon BBQ

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


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

Chuck's Wagon BBQ,
6946 Laurel Bowie Rd,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 9/14/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I wanted to like Chuck's Wagon more than I do. I like barbecue, I like local businesses, and goodness knows the area needs more barbecue.

But my reaction every time I've been here (I think I've forgotten a couple of times to check in on Foursquare) has been "meh". It's nice enough, but not exciting to taste like I expect from barbecue. I would attribute this to being "spoiled" from living in the South for four years, and enjoying barbecue on visits there since, but...I actually kind of like some of the chains, like Famous Dave's and Red, Hot & Blue.

So, two cheers (and three stars) for Chuck's Wagon, for introducing non-chain BBQ to Bowie. But I won't be hitting it up too often.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (88) Potbelly Sandwich Shop

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


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

Potbelly Sandwich Shop,
3900 Town Center Blvd.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 9/4/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins:1
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

It's a Potbelly. I like Potbelly. When the kids were 2 and 3, we had luck taking them to Potbelly (though not this one, which wasn't open yet). On the other hand, we have had a lot of luck taking them to Panera, and there's one of those right across the street.

They don't have on-line ordering, which was annoying, but I placed a phone order, walked in and picked it up okay. It was reasonably priced, tasty, and they didn't force chips on you. That's about it.

When I started this Project, your sandwich shop choices in BTC were Panera, Subway and Quizno's. Now there's Panera, Potbelly and Jimmy John's. That feels like an upgrade.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (87) Wingstop

Wingstop,
15477 Excelsior Dr.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 5/27/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I don't know, it's another wing place. We had Wing Zone, and that was OK. Both of Bowie's stand-alone Pizza Huts now offer Wingstreet wings (I have no interest in re-reviewing them, however). Free State Mall is getting an America's Best Wings (which I suspect may be carryout only). That seems like more wings than we need, especially without a Buffalo Wild Wings.

Anyway, both times I visited Wingstop I ordered on-line to save time. The first time, the time-saving went poorly, where they appeared to start my order when I arrived, then had to be reminded to give it to me when it was ready. The second time, things were much smoother. In both cases the wings were tasty enough. So I guess, if you want wings, I'd give this a slight edge over Wing Zone, unless you want your wings delivered.

Bowie Restaurant Update

I think I have six restaurants left:

1. Sakura
2. Jerry's Seafood
3. Simply Southern
4. Chuck's Wagon BBQ
5. Potbelly
6. Wesley's Southern
   

Bowie Restaurant Project: (86) Yamon! Island Grill

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


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

Yamon! Island Grill,
3872 Town Center Blvd.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 8/7/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins:2
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Jamaican food is back in Bowie after the departure of Irie Cafe. And I have to say, it's better than ever. Yamon! is at least as flavorful as Irie, and the prices are much more down-to-earth. Hopefully locating in the Bowie Town Center food court will allow them to turn a profit with those lower prices, because I'd like to see them stay in business. Bowie needs more independent restaurants and a greater variety of cuisines, and Yamon! provides both.

Bonus points for spelling "grill" correctly.

Bowie Restaurant News

It's been an annus horribilis for Bowie's restaurant scene. First we lost the best Chinese restaurant. Then we lost the best option for pizza delivery (Cetrone's). And now we're losing the only decent Mexican restaurant nearby (Mi Hacienda). This is not good!

Not everything is depressing. Bowie Town Center is getting a Potbelly. I have yet to be overly impressed by any of the "step up from Subway" chains, but...at least it's a step up from Subway!

The Bowie Town Center food court is also welcoming "Wesley's Southern Cuisine" "next week". Hopefully it can succeed where Carolyn Quinn's didn't.

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.