Quite an assortment, huh? This is what’s been keeping me occupied for the past few days. Oh, and the Badgers making it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tourney deserves mention, although in fairness I must admit I can’t watch an entire college basketball game to save my life.

Anyway, I was sorely disappointed by the US display in Mexico. Most of my bile this time around is reserved for coach Bruce Arena. I groaned when I saw the lineup. I did not like the pairing of Berhalter and Onyewu in the middle and thought Johnson would be out of his depth as the lone striker in the Azteca. My fears turned out to be well-founded, and I was also a little miffed that Arena played some guys who aren’t in peak condition. Claudio Reyna was clearly dragging ass throughout much of the game. Still, it’s not a disaster. You don’t go into Mexico looking for three points and a 2-1 loss isn’t shameful, although it could have been worse. A loss or even a draw against Guatemala Wednesday night, now that would be cause for concern.

Rented Kill Bill Vol. 2 the other night and it was pretty good although I thought KBVI was the stronger of the two, and I feel that this could have been a three+ hour epic rather than five or so hours split over two movies. Too much self-indulgent Quentin Tarantino and not enough movie over that length. Although I do have to say there were striking scenes in both movies. The Uma Thurman/Lucy Liu duel at the end of KBVI was great and one of my favorite scenes (even though it’s a small one) was in Vol 2, the conversation between Keith Carradine and Michael Madsen where Madsen concludes “She’s coming to kill us and we deserve to die.” That scene, less than a minute long, really struck a chord with me.

Deadwood’s first season reminded me of the early Sopranos. Deadwood’s season two still reminds me of the early Sopranos. What I mean by that is it has vivid characters, interesting plots, great dialogue, and each week I can’t wait for the next installment. The second episode this season had me a bit worried as it was mostly filler story to set up the various relationships for future drama to unfold, and it’s unfolding nicely thank you very much. I thought a lot of the show was riding on the back of Al Swearengen (played by the excellent Ian McShane) but I was wrong; gall stones practically wrote ol’ Al out of the last two episodes and they’ve been awesome even with his relative absence. The DVDs will be added to my collection someday in the near future.

Finally, I’m about 80% done with Grettir’s Saga. It’ s been a long one but it’s quite good. What’s so interesting is how Grettir (like Egil Skallagrimsson) is, for the most part, a very unlikeable character but his personality is so strong and he’s so unpredictable, you can’t help but root for him. He seems like the archetypal Icelandic hero since the coming of Christianity. Grettir, as an outlaw, quite literally has no place to live yet he manages to persevere, just like the Icelandic traditions and rituals slowly being lost to the Christians. Yet he overcomes supernatural foes and human foes with courage and brute strength summoned straight from Iceland’s pagan past. Time and time again Christian priests are timidly praying for help while Grettir is out cracking skulls and saving people from threats of all sorts by muscle alone. All the while, both the reader and Grettir know that he can’t win. He’s not going to survive twenty-odd years of outlawry, he’s never going to be accepted for his good qualities, and he’s never going to accept the Christian faith. I’ve got about fifteen chapters left (which isn’t much for a saga) and Grettir’s luck seems to be running out.

I’ve got a bunch of books coming in the next few weeks. I got my Clarion mate Marjorie Liu’s “Tiger Eye” (people are raving, check Amazon) and a bunch of others: The Gormenhast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake; The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams; Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson; and The Pure Product by John Kessel. Where to start reading next?