Tennis anyone? Tennis... EVERYONE!

The weather has finally improved enough it start getting outdoors once in the while and smacking those fuzzy yellow spheres all over emerald concrete surfaces again!

Having played for a few years now as a middle aged person, that even at my age, I can still run, swing, hit, and score an ocassional point. It's healthy. Not too much wear and tear on the body. But the best part of all about tennis I have found is: Stress reduction!

Whacking those balls all over the court is a great relief. And a good way to work off all of those pent up frustrations. So give it a try.

McDoogle.

PS. Your challenge: Dig that dusty old racquet out of the closet and head for the court nearest to you today.

Review of 'Eldest'

Just finished reading 'Eldest' last night at 11:30 PM.


<* Spoiler Alert! Don't read if you plan on reading 'Eldest' in the future *>

My general opinion was that the book was a bit of a long and winding road. After some initial action packed storylines to start the novel, the plot really drags with descriptions galore as Eragon travels to the forest of Elves. It takes quite a while to arrive for Rider Training. I found the training intriguing and interesting however. And Eragon's affection for Ayra which always ends in frustration is also interesting. Why does she really spurn him? There's something more than age difference going on here. For a while I thought she was secretly related to Eragon perhaps. But we learn Eragon's ancestry later near the end.

I thought the introduction of the new Rider and new dragon Thorn interesting. But that Murtagh had switched allegiances and was now fighting for the Empire was disappointing and discouraging, and I felt, not true to the character. That he let Eragon go in the end does not make up for his betrayal to Empire when he was so set against the Empire in Book 1. Very poor.

I expected Eragon to fair better after all of that Rider training from the Elves also. Murtagh really handed it to him, with less time spent training and with less time with his dragon. The explanation that 'well Galbatorox is just such a skilled Rider - heads above everyone else in the land...' doesn't make up for how quickly Murtagh's skills could supercede Eragon's.

Still, looking forward to reading book III, 'Brisinger', which is scheduled for release Sept. 20, 2008. Hopefully Eragon will man up, and defeat the Empire in a courageous battle. Not some back handed default victory of some sort.

Grade: B-

McDoogle

~

PS. I thought the lines: "Barges? We don't need no stinkin' barges!" while slightly humorous were very unprofessional, as this was not a parody.

Start Up

Welcome to McDoogle's Doogles.

And may all your doogles be happy ones!

As you can immediately tell this blog will be a lot of random nonesense.

But that's OK - nobody's going to read this anyway!

Today is April 1st, and it is officially the first day of Spring! Today in Valley View we had our first sighting of... 'Sad Walking Man'. Last seen in December of '07. Although I heard a report of a sighting yesterday, it's not official until you see it for yourself. SWM is back! And better than ever! In a sad sort of way.

McDoogle.

PS. Your challenge: Write a short report on what you think of potato chips.