North Korea is Buggin'

Foreign Affairs is reporting on the increased tension between the Koreas.  

http://www.cfr.org/publication/23492/north_koreas_escalating_aggression.html?cid=rss-analysisbriefbackgroundersexp-north_korea_s_escalating_aggre-112310

Plenty of opportunity for trouble here.  The big question is China's motives.  China utilizes North Korea as a pawn in its relations with the U.S., trumpeting issues of sovereignty and non-interference in the affairs of another country as reasons for not pressuring North Korea to toe the line, when in fact North Korea is a useful balance to American might in Asia.    

How 'Bout Them Bears?

BIG win for the Monsters yesterday.  Not only did they beat a legitimate contender, they took over the division lead.  The defense did a great job containing Vick, and really put a pounding on him, without a lot of blitzing.  If they can continue to get pressure like that, their secondary is good enough.  The offense, at least through three quarters, finally looked like the Martz offense Bears fans were expecting -- Forte in particular did a nice imitation of Marshall Faulk yesterday, and Cutler had a tremendous game.  Signature win that stamps the Bears as a contender in the NFC.  Now let's hope they don't let down against Detroit next week...

Never Let Me Go

Just finished reading this great book by Kazuo Ishiguro.  It's a story set in an alternate reality UK that deals with loss -- the loss of innocence and the loss of those we love.  Ishiguro is consistently original, writes great dialogue and creates involving characters, flaws and all.  A worthwhile book from one from an overlooked (but extremely talented) writer.   

20 Mayoral Candidates?

There are 20 declared candidates for mayor of Chicago, now that Richie Daley is stepping down.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/ct-met-chicago-mayor-race-1123-20101122,0,7082375.story While it's still early and likely that many of these candidates won't be on the ballot on Election Day, the field is full of potentially viable candidates that have some serious flaws, such as:

Rahm Emanuel -- Obama's right hand man, and all that entails, with possible residency problems;
Carol Moseley Braun -- are you kidding me?  She's betting the electorate will forget her ethical foibles from her Senate days
Roland Burris -- again, is this a joke?  Blago won't be able to appoint you to the chair of Hizzoner
Gery Chico -- never had a problem with Daley while serving his administration, but is now the candidate of reform
Danny Davis -- not a bad choice, but seems to have a lack of support
Miguel del Valle  -- City Clerk, but name recognition?
James Meeks -- heart is in the right place, but inexperienced and untested
Rob Halpin -- inexperienced, untested and seems like a complete tool.

Good luck with this slate, Chicago...

Steps!

Along with jogging, I've been doing steps a couple of times a week.  It looks insane (I go up and down one step), but it is a killer cardio workout.  It's also fairly addictive -- I started at 300 and am up to 1,000 at a time, which takes about 30 minutes.  I also "run" about 30 stairs out of every 100.  Feels pretty darn good...

Early A.M. Jogging

Been running in the wee hours of the morning for about 2 months.  As tough as it sometimes is to get out of bed, it's pretty awesome once I'm up.  Not going real far, only about 2.25 miles, but I add a little extra distance each day, and  break it up with some sprints.  Feels great to do this in the a.m., and makes me feel like I accomplished something early on in the day.  Am also noticing a change in my conditioning for basketball.  Liking this a lot, even in the early morning chill.

Freedom

Just finished Jonathan Franzen's new book.  It's a pretty good read.  While some of the prose seems stilted, particularly the autobiography of one of the lead characters, the book weaves back and forth through modern like and much of what afflicts us in post 9/11 America.  While not as brilliant as "The Corrections", it's a great follow up.  The characters are presented warts and all, but they are essentially good at their core, and Franzen's satire is strong.  It's the type of book I'll pick up again in a few years.  

The More Things Change...

So I'm not quite sure what to make of the Ricketts' ownership of the Cubs. They seem to be pretty damn good at squeezing every dollar they can out of Wrigley Field, but it seemed McCaskeyian to propose a bond plan to renovate Wrigley without first running it by the governor. Add to that allowing Hendry to effectively tell Ryno to take a walk (I'm not a Quade-hater, and hope he does well) after all but giving him a road map to the manager position, and I'm starting to lean toward the let's not give them the benefit of the doubt camp. Maybe they'll allow Hendry to wow us in free agency, or maybe there are a few more young players who can come up and play, like Castro, Cashner and Colvin. Maybe, maybe not. I'm starting to think we're looking at the second coming of the Tribune Co. -- making $$ hand over fist, while flipping the bird to the fans...

Three Years?!

Been a wee bit of time since my last post. Unfortunately, we're now into a second century of futility. The aim of the blog remains the same -- to amuse myself, and possibly others. Reunited. And it feels so good!