March has arrived! In this most middling of months I hope to accomplish the following things: survive finals, camp it up during break, play Okamiden, read Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, read Gardens of the Moon, read Wise Man's Fear and enjoy more of Starcraft II. I suspect that one, maybe two of these things will actually pan out. But, like it or not (I do), I'm going to learn a lot of Physics.

I hope to get through this one this weekend!

A quick status update on where we stand in my Physics classes: In Quantum Mechanic we are studying Scattering theory, in Electricity and Magnetism we just started Magnetostatics, and in Math Methods we are working on some Group theory. To break it down, I am learning about how things bounce off other things, stationary magnets and collections of objects with a binary operation. Sounds simple, no? No indeed.

I've had little enough time for videogames of late, but the highlight of my Starcrafting so far was a game of I played on a team with a friend of mine. We played as the bug-like alien race christened the Zerg and other than resource gatherers we produced only the most rudimentary and peaceful unit that these intergalactic hellspawn have to offer: the Queen. A couple of notes: the Queen is not meant for attacking, does minimal damage, fares poorly in hordes and her speed maxes out at about .3 (repeating of course) miles per hour. And yet somehow, against two opponents trying with all the combined might of their ancient warrior races and high technologies, we emerged victorious. I quote one of our opponents when I say that it was "the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!"

Last week the First Year Physics Students Movies of Choice, or FYPSMC for short, were Amelie and Aliens; a stranger combination has yet to be found. This week it seems as though we may watch the legendary Akira Kurosawa's postwar Japan noir Stray Dog. I recommend it as I recommend all his movies--with great gusto! I'll have to do a list of my favorites at some point...

The weather is fine (60ish and sunny), and the sushi on Monday was finer. I just realized that our schedules might not align to allow for easy dining on the first day of the week next quarter...and that would be a true tragedy. It might be for the best though if we truly intend to be able to move up and down a soccer field in the Spring.

I've got another great manga villain for you: Yujiro Hanma!

Truly a ludicrously over-the-top character, he is known to most as "The Ogre", and in the world of Baki the Grappler he is considered the most powerful creature and the strongest force on earth. A martial arts genius, Yujiro was thrown into the Vietnamese jungles at the age of 16 with only his hands to keep himself alive. Fighting against the American military and the Vietcong at the same time he managed to survive the confrontation, but at a high cost to the world. At some point during the incessant fighting and bloodshed he stopped killing to survive and started to enjoy it. He now roams the world uncontested by any power, doing as he pleases, when he pleases. He's mastered every style of martial arts known to man, can run faster than any vehicle, can destroy buildings and tanks with his bare hands, has been struck by lightening multiple times, and his back muscles form the face of an enraged demon. Oh, and he also stopped an earthquake by punching it. Yeah. The Ogre's son, Baki is the main character of the series and for all his life he has been learning and training with the goal of defeating his father. Who will emerge victorious in this final confrontation: the vicious and diabolical Ogre or the only man who has even the slightest chance of standing against Yujiro, his son Baki?