President's day weekend came not a William Henry Harrison's term too soon. The terrible weather cancelled our camping trip and in a horrific twist of fate, I actually had to take the quantum mechanics midterm AGAIN. Apparently when everyone fails a test because there wasn't nearly enough time to complete it, the correct response is to force everyone to re-do the entire test over the period several days. It's almost like it should have been assigned that way in the first place...

But while it was a trying week, not all was bad. Sushi was delicious as usual and I got a new computer for a birthday/graduation present! I also got the desk pictured below, since desktops, by their very nature, require a surface upon which to rest.

The long president's day weekend was quite relaxing, and I spent a lot of it in that very chair playing through the Starcraft II campaign, which I found to be very enjoyable. I would say that the story was a bit weaker than that of the original (it could be the nostalgia factor though), but the interesting choices available to the player in terms of which units to upgrade and which research paths to pursue easily make up for it.  You are really able to customize the units and their abilities to fit your playstyle (for example, I focused on tanks, goliaths, and the other Terran mechanized units for the most part). These choices, combined with the multitude of achievements and difficultly options, make the replay value seem quite significant. Of course, most people play Starcraft for the player vs. player gameplay, which I will have to try out with some of my friends pretty soon.

So far this week has been spent on homework for the most part, but I did find some time to watch the hilariously over the top Kung Fu Hustle with some friends. The same director also made Shaolin Soccer, a movie we will also have to view before we play IM soccer next quarter (I think our team name might be Rube Goal-berg Machine).

On that note today's villain will be The Beast!

The world's number one killer in Kung Fu Hustle despite his rather unintimidating visage, the Beast was so devoted to the martial arts that it drove him insane. He was committed to a mental asylum which he decided not to break out of because there was no one in the outside would who could challenge his unstoppable Kung Fu prowess. In battle, the Beast relies mainly on his unmatched speed to defeat his opponents; his hands are actually able to move at a pace that allows him to stop bullets. Yet he is not above trickery and deceit, and when threatened he will utilize hidden weapons or worse deploy the dreaded Toad Technique of the Kwan Lon style! 

I begin with Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. In short, it is a good series; if you wish for a more thorough description than delve into the next paragraph. First though, despite the often-horrendous cover art the adorns books of the fantasy genre, I provide you with an image anyway, mainly to break the monotony that text can bring (a good way to remember how to spell "monotony" is that it gets rather monotonous typing all those "o"s).

Without spoiling any of the extremely compelling and often surprising plot, I shall try to give a decent and fair review. Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is set in a vivid and interesting world full of intrigue and magic. Much of the first book is spent fleshing out the magic system (eating metals!?), which I think is one of the series' strongest points, the other being the aforementioned excellent setting that the author has provided. The weakest part of the series is that many of its characters are forgettable fellows that cling to a single attribute in hopes of being remembered or impactful in that one way; only three or so of the cast have any real depth. Luckily the main character, Vin, is one of these. She's extremely interesting as a protagonist and is at once exotic and believable. I think I've mentioned before that Sanderson is really good at endings. This is due mainly to his ability to combine mental and emotional catharsis with a thrilling climax to the story; the mental component comes from the sudden comprehension of all the subtle hints he loves to drop in the course of his narrative (he does this in every single book of his I've read, and yet still manages to surprise me) and the emotional of course steams from ties that the reader has developed with his characters. The first and third books showcase this talent especially; in each case I forwent sleep in favor of finishing the particular volume. I can't say the same for the second iteration, which I found a mediocre prelude that was necessary to set up the far superior third. To summarize, I recommend the series to fans of fantasy.

My next fantasy novel will be Patrick Rothfuss's Wise Man's Fear, the second in his own proclaimed trilogy. It is set to be released on the first of March.

The 61st One Piece volume was released in Japan last week to ludicrous sales and acclaim. What caught my eye though was the cover; the nostalgia brings a tear to my eye.

One Piece Volume 1 juxtaposed with One Piece volume 61

And now dear readers saunter, jaunt or even promenade with me from the realm of fiction to wide world of sports. I haven't talked much about baseball here on the Blog of Many Things, but that has been due mainly in part to the entirety of its existence having been during the offseason. Since Spring Training has officially begun, so too will my commentary on the Orioles' season.

The O's have been quite busy during the Winter months trying to build a team around their young prospects. The main acquisitions have been infielder J.J. Hardy, slugger Mark Reynolds, veteran Derrek Lee and hitter of renown Vladimir Guerrero. Since they will be competing in the ever-excellent AL East, all I want to see is the team reach a .500 record for the first time since 1997. Of course given the vast improvement to their lineup, they could do more if the young pitching staff can throw as well as they did at the end of last season. If nothing else the season will certainly be interesting enough for me to get an MLB TV subscription.

Camping prospects seem bleak at the moment. The weather (everywhere on the West Coast) has suddenly taken a turn for the worse, and even in low-lying, land-locked Davis, rain and highs of 50 are expected for the weekend. Coastal and mountainous regions appear far worse. Alternatives are currently under discussion, but it looks like the outdoorsmanship will have to wait for another week. Luckily my new computer arrived today, so at least that will work out nicely.

I would love to use the Lord Ruler from the Mistborn series as today's villain, but basically anything I wrote about him would be rife with spoilers. So instead I'll introduce Count Cagliostro!

Villain of the great Hayao Miyazaki's Castle of Cagliostro, the Count is sly, fiendish and cruel to a fault. A classic antagonist to the end, the count runs an international forgery ring, has a secret ninja attack force at his disposal and best of all locks a princess in a tower to force her to marry him! And just look at that pompous smirk! It's actually quite unusual for Miyazaki to include such a straightforward villainous character in his work; usually some great force or idea is the enemy in his movies, if there is even a villain at all. Straying farther off-topic, I absolutely love the main theme of the movie. Anyway, in grandiose and climactically classic fashion, the Count is defeated in a thrilling swordfight with the protagonist atop a mysterious clocktower (where else?).

We have been to Sushi Nobu every single Monday night at about 8:00pm since the beginning of the year, and I only wish we went more often. The sushi-chefs know us now and whenever we order something they will ask if we would like three or perhaps five of that item (we invariably do). It's a great relationship: they provide us with succulent fishes and service and we reciprocate with a steady flow of business and generous tips.

The place that dreams are made of

My thankful regards to all those who wished me a happy birthday earlier this week. Although waylaid in the boggy mire of midterms, I still managed to enjoy the event due to the outpouring calls, cards and cakes I received. I'll continue speaking only briefly about those dread-tests. The Math Methods one was pretty straightforward, but Cheng dropped his Cheng-hammer as in quarters of old. The class average on this abomination of an examination (keep in mind this is was among a group of very intelligent physics graduate students who had studied exhaustively beforehand with the fearful anticipation of a man who knows his death awaits him) was a 32%! I meet the Electricity and Magnetism test on the field of battle next Wednesday.

Some progress has finally been made in the realm of camping preparation. Redwood National park is our tentative destination, and we have found a means by which to acquire the implements of an outdoorsman. Plans will be more fully laid by early next week.

Last Sunday was of course the Super Bowl (a pretty good game, by the way), but that means that it's time for:
THE BLOG OF MANY THINGS BIG 'OLE LIST #2:
THE GREATEST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS OF 2011

Coca-Cola's Siege Commercial

Certainly the most visually stunning of the commercials offered during the course of the big game, Coca Cola provided a beautiful CGI battle between an army of orcs (bolstered by a massive red dragon) and a seemingly peaceful city of innocent citizens. Of course, it is the mighty cola that saves the day, and in splendid fashion as well. The Reverse Trojan Horse has never seen such effective use. Anyway, here is a link to the commercial. 

Coca Cola's Border Commercial

Another offering from the beverage titan, and probably my personal favorite, this ad has more atmosphere and character than any I've seen in a long time. The ponderous music underscores the desolate life led by the two border guards, and their pained expressions as the plot develops are marvelous. Again, here is a link for your enjoyment.

Volkswagen's The Force Commercial

The fan favorite, and an excellent commercial in my opinion as well, this instant classic shows us the struggles of a young dark-side Jedi coming into his powers. The dad's expressions are probably what seal the deal. Here's the link.

Audi's Rich People Prison Commercial

It's really the script that gets me in this one. Tapping daintily on champagne glasses to stir up trouble? Playing Kenny G to pacify the rich? Hilarious. The one-liners are great too: "Lancaster no! It's a trap!" and of course, "Release the hounds." Watch it here.

Chrysler's Imported From Detroit Commercial

Yes, another car commercial. But this one was a super-sleek ballad of silken elegance. It was long, but it kept me entertained for its entirety which is more than most commercials can do for even a few seconds. Feel you screen exude class and debonair as you check it out here.

That's it for my list and that's mostly it for this post. I'm my next installment I'll weigh in on Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and perhaps on mathematical matters, but for now I turn to the two movies watched by the midterm-weary first year physics graduate students last night. The first was the classic Jurassic Park and the second was the perhaps even more classic Die Hard. If you've seen the latter, than you know with certainly that I'm about to introduce the of the the greatest action hero villains of all time: Hans Gruber.

Leader of the mercenary band that takes over the Nakatomi building in the 1980's epic Die Hard, Hans Gruber is so many beautiful stereotypes rolled up into one. He has a diabolical scheme that relies on him predicting the actions of others, an evil German accent (this is different from a normal German accent), no patience for insolence and spouts one liners faster than you can say "villainous goatee." Unfortunately for Gruber, he find himself in the unfortunate position of being up against the unstoppable heroic force that is John McClane. Yet despite this insurmountable obstacle, he does pretty well for himself, managing to dupe the FBI, open a super-secured vault and kidnap the hero's wife before being shot and plummeting 30 stories to his doom. 

As of last week I had finally beaten every single level of Donkey Kong Country Returns and all it took was hundreds upon hundreds of deaths! Kongs toppled, burned and suffered, were crushed, smashed and blasted, but in the end I was victorious. And for those who care,  not once did I resort to cheap cops-outs like the Banana Juice--I slogged through those K-levels like a true man...er...gorilla. I started playing the original a few days back too, and will hop on over to the second one after the first finishes embarrassing me.

Do forgive the anachronism, but I forgot to include my Nutcracker armada during my many Christmas posts:

This XKCD comic referenced one of the internet's greatest and most legendary traditions, ZOMBOCOM. Hopefully the site is back up now, since the reference reminded everyone of the zombawesomeness and crashed it earlier.

Just watched a Town Called Panic and Kindergarten Cop with the Physics crew. The former was zanily excellent and the latter was horrendously entertaining (I'll let you puzzle out what that means exactly). You see, "Kindergarten is like the sea."

I'll hold off on doing anything else with math/physics here for now, but rest assured, I've been cultivating some new ideas and dear God are they horrific.

Continuing my string of non-sequiturs, I'd like to discuss the weather. So temperate is the current climate that the temptation to run outside and play with a soccer ball is nearly irresistible; in fact, I shall form an assembladge whose goal is just that. Midterms may have just peaked on the horizon (they cast a dark and grisly shadow over the coming week), but camping looms in the best of senses.

Today's villain comes from one of the greatest puzzle game series of all time and actually appeared in another guise entirely on this blog many, many weeks ago. Meet the master of Puyo Puyo, Satan!

Little can be said about Satan from the Puyo Puyo universe except that he chose a really great game to be the best at. He is the final boss of the first two games in the long-running series, but his motives remain shrouded in mystery due to me not knowing Japanese. Perhaps he wants to destroy/conquer the world, perhaps he wants to murder our hero, or maybe he simply craves a challenge to his Puyo Puyo might. Who knows? And did I mention that Satan also gave rise to one of the most glorious battle themes ever composed? Frankly, that theme alone is enough to have him featured here.