Logomachia

Logomachia.com has been renewed. Expect more soon.

And for those that still wonder about the name; Logomachy.

I’ve had so many topics that I’ve wanted to write about here, but just haven’t done so. Hopefully I can fix that since there still are many things that I’d like to say something about, but for now one thing is important.

Hopefully everyone has gone out to vote today! If not, there is still time so get out there!

I think it’s interesting how record numbers of people are going to vote and essentially our current infrastructure can’t handle it. Even without deliberate disenfranchisement issues, people can be turned away or turned off from voting because of extremely long lines, a complicated voting system, or simple lack of confidence in the system. The government really needs to work on this as the problem is only going to get worse in the future. We need a reliable electronic voting system, or a way to streamline the paper system. (Currently there is not much downside to a paper ballot in comparison to existing electronic systems.)

I casted my ballot today on a paper ballot. I know of several people that faced lines in the morning, but I waited two minutes or so. Overall the system of ensuring a voter only votes once is probably the longest procedure, and moreso than the voting system we need a reliable way to speed this up in future elections. As always, the poll workers deserve our thanks and respect for volunteering and doing their best. I haven’t seen many stories from elsewhere in the nation, but hopefully there isn’t voter fraud going on. The last thing we need is more distrust of the system.

Tonight should be pretty tense as people wait for the results of an historic presidential race. I’ll be waiting to see how Proposition 8 turns out. Either way, I’m glad I voted today!

Well I ended up being completely wrong about the Euro 2008 tournament. Overall though it was a great tournament and I am happy that Spain won as well as attacking football dominating the games. Turkey produced some of the most entertaining soccer games I think anyone has seen, and Holland ended up being disappointing again.

After watching so many games I had the soccer itch really bad, so I started organizing some pick-up games and they have been a success! At most we used to have 12 people show up, but we’ve had 18 or 19 show up sometimes. It’s wonderful to be playing again and hopefully people can keep showing up. Playing these games and going to the gym I’m slowly getting back into shape.

MotoGP this year was awesome. Didn’t have to worry about heat, though I almost froze my butt off, and the racing was spectacular. Valentino Rossi showed some of his old form and it was very exciting to watch. If you haven’t seen it yet you absolutely must watch it. I have pics of it on my flickr, as do Dram and grico (theirs are better.)

The following weekend was spent camping, drinking, celebrating, drinking, playing Rock Band, and more drinking. I was pretty tuckered out, but it was a really good weekend. Now I just someone to call me back about a job!

Well the group stage is over now and there have been a lot of surprises. Holland has kicked ass, and I only hope they can keep it up cause they’re not known for it. Germany, Italy, and France were all extremely disappointing. They lacked an attacking mindset and their defenses have been soft. Amazingly Germany and Italy have advanced though. It’s been very refreshing to see attacking teams actually do well. It’s against the trend of playing defense first which is so ugly and boring. Turkey has been amazing to win twice coming from behind. I’d like to see them go further, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Anyway, here’s how the rest of the tournament should shape up. (I was completely wrong that France might find their form again. Very disappointing.)

Quarter Finals
Portugal to beat Germany
Croatia to beat Turkey (I’d like to see Turkey advance though.)
Netherlands to beat Russia
Spain to beat Italy (This might be optimistic if Italy has their tails up.)

Semi Finals
Croatia to beat Portugal (It’s possible, and Portugal has been known to collapse.)
Netherlands beat Spain (If this game happens, it might be the game of the tourney.)

Final
Netherlands beat Croatia

Croatia loses their “dark horse” status, and Holland takes all the glory. Or at least I hope so, cause it’s been awesome to watch them play and they are my favorite team. Hopefully their form continues over the next week and a half.

In my Fantasy league I actually won my group with three wins, so I’m into the knockout quarterfinals. Hopefully, I can keep up the streak!

Well Euro 2008 starts later today basically, and a lot has happened since my preview. Most notably, Italy has lost their star central defender, Fabio Cannavaro. As much as I dislike Italy, Cannavaro is an amazing defender. Amazingly strong and a good reader of the game, this is a huge loss for Italy and I think it will mean they don’t get past the group stage anymore. Here are my revised predictions for the tournament. (Now less optimistic about Holland’s chances with Van Persie missing some games most likely.)

Group A
1. Portugal
2. Czech Republic
3. Switzerland
4. Turkey

Group B
1. Germany
2. Croatia
3. Poland
4. Austria

Group C
1. France
2. Netherlands
3. Italy
4. Romania

Group D
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. Sweden
4. Russia

Quarter Finals
Portugal to beat Croatia
Germany to beat Czech Republic
France to beat Greece
Netherlands to beat Spain

Semi Finals
Germany to beat Portugal
France to beat Netherlands

Final
France to beat Germany

In any event, it should be a good tournament and being a soccer nut I’ll probably be watching every minute of it.

The Pub is an amazing place. There has not been a place I know of before this where I have been as comfortable.

Now I know I’m not completely out of my mind.

Now I am so completely confuzzled.

So my main goal in my time off work, besides finding a new job, is to get other aspects of my life back on track. I’ve started the process of cleaning/clearing my room. Cosmetically, it’s a lot better, but I’m also going through and throwing out a lot of old clutter. I’ve already thrown out a good portion of old paperwork and broken toys. The next step is to go through my closet to throw out broken/old stuff, and get rid of old clothing. Hello Goodwill!

The other aspect I’ve been working on is my physical health. I had been aware of how out of shape I had been getting since quitting Babies R’ Us, but I’ve become disgusted with how bad it has been lately. So much of my muscle mass has gone away, and I’ve got a nice ring of fat around the midsection. I’ve almost always been a physically active person, but it’s pathetic how I get winded doing anything out of the ordinary now. Snowboarding I’m fine with, but running and biking take too large a toll on me.

It shouldn’t have taken me this long to be motivated about it, but so it goes. My current plan is to do a 30 minute workout every other night. The main target of this is about 5 sets of ten crunches, ten sit-ups, and 15 push-ups. These are done in fairly quick fashion and then interjected with various body exercises using 15 pound dumbbells; calf raises, lunges, bicep curls, back rows, shoulder lifts and presses, squats, and shoulder shrugs.  Along with a 1.5 mile run three to four times a week I’m hoping that I’ll at least get to the point where thinking about physical activity doesn’t tire me. I’ve also gained a small increase in flexibility from starting to stretch nightly.

I don’t expect this to get me in shape, but hopefully it gets me to the next stage quickly. What is the next stage? An extended version of that workout (hopefully at the gym), and more sports as well as mountain biking. Provided I get a job with a regular schedule none of this should be hard to keep up with either. If anyone is looking for a workout or track partner I’d be down for either. It’s hard to push myself when I’m by myself.

The UEFA Euro Cup 2008 starts on June 21 and should be a fairly interesting tournament. Two years ago Greece shocked everyone by winning, and look to be strong again coming out of the group stages with the most points. Though probably from one of the weakest qualifying groups. England performed horribly and didn’t even qualify, losing out to an impressive Russian side. Despite their recent coaching changes they should’ve been able to advance. Other than that the groups played out much as expected leaving a good draw for the final tournament. Special notice should be given to Scotland, barely losing to France for the last spot. Anyway, here are my predictions for the tournament.

Group A
Portugal and Czech Republic. Both are strong teams compared to the rest of the group and it will be a close race for top of the group, but I’m going with Portugal based on Christiano’s amazing form this season.

Group B
Croatia and Germany. Croatia are tops in this group with Germany coming through based only on their talent. They had a lacklustre run to the tournament.

Group C
Such a tough choice for this tourney’s “Group of Death”. Ideally I’d like Netherlands and France to advance, but Italy is the strongest side (especially having won the World Cup), and have a slightly easier schedule by getting to play Romania first. Romania will be the spoiler here. Holland is still young, and France barely made it through. I’ll have to go with Italy and Holland realistically.

Group D
Spain and Greece. I wanted to say Sweden originally, but they never seem to come good in international play despite having a lot of talent. Greece had a strong run and are looking to prove themselves better than just “lucky” from last time around.

Overall, things will probably play out different depending on first and second within the groups, even if all my picks do advance. We’ll see Germany vs. Portugal and Italy vs. Spain in the semi-finals. This is somewhat wishful thinking on my part as I would love to see Spain or Portugal win. Along with the Netherlands, they play a very attractive brand of football. Overall, somewhat realistic pick is Spain. The team I’m rooting for will be Holland, and the disappointing truth is that Italy might take it all again.

Lastly, there is a free fantasy league on the Euro Cup site. I’ve put in my selection of “Swing FC”. Anchoring the net I have Edwin Van Der Sar. Holding the middle back there is William Gallas and Fabio Cannavaro (I may hate Italy, but they do have some great players.) On their flanks are Per Mertesacker and Phillip Lahm. In the mid-field, Deco and Genaro Gattuso hold the middle with Christiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben on the wings. Up front I have Fernando Torres paired with Robin Van Persie, and an extra in Marcus Rosenberg. As a fantasy team there is a good holding mid-field and defense, with a ton of attacking power on the wings. The drawbacks are a young front line without much power in the air. The offensive minded wings could leave things open to the counter-attack, but for the league it’s all about minutes and goals!

Back in November I looked at my bank account and had a panic attack. I had taken nearly a year off from working, went on a vacation to Europe, and now was looking at being completely broke. Almost any criteria I had while job hunting was thrown out the window. Surfing Monster.com and clicking “Apply Now!” to anything remotely topical my body was tearing itself apart inside. Read the rest of this entry »

So after a hiatus totaling way too long, Logomachia is back up and running! All thanks to Logikal for hosting and setting WordPress up for me.

We’ll see how long I can keep this going, but overall I have both the urge and need to write on this site. Hopefully it won’t be just pointless drivel, but that’s always an option with me. It will be good to have a personal blog to link to as far as having experience goes though. I’m hoping to design my own site soon, or just find a better looking theme since that’s easier. OSWD has some good designs as well so I may steal something from there. For now, just stay tuned!