"Fast is Fine, but Accuracy is Everything." -- Wyatt Earp

Hey, nice eclipse! By the way, I wonder what today's letter is..?

So tonight, I face the opposite of the problem I've had with the previous four posts... namely, I have next to nothing on my list under the letter E... so, tonight's post will be (mercifully?) brief. 2 things: a book and a skateboarder... I contemplated scraping the barrel for things that might qualify as worthy of mentioning to lengthen the post a bit more... but these are supposed to be my "favorite" things! Not my "sort of ok I guess" things!

Shall we?

Favorite Books (E):

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985): A (dare I say) brilliant sci-fi book by O.S. Card that won both the Hugo (Best Novel 1986) and Nebula (Best Novel 1985) awards. The protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is a precocious boy who is enrolled in a space-based military training program, in order to be groomed to fight against an emerging alien threat. The bulk of the story takes place at the training facility, where Ender distinguishes himself from the rest of the kid-warriors-in-training in a wonderful program that includes zero-G arena battles and an "unbeatable" adventure training game, among other things. There are many solid characters among the kids, those that like Ender and those that would like to destroy him - my favorite being a kid named Bean. There is a bomb-shell twist at the end that puts the whole thing into perspective.

Meanwhile, back on earth, Ender's genius older brother and sister, out of boredom more than anything, begin a campaign to see if they can change the world - maybe even take it over. Trust me, sounds odd, but it's quite cool.

Anyway, it's an easy (though surprisingly deep) read, and I've read it several times (and will read it more, I'm sure). Hey, it must be good if it's sci-fi and I'm reading it more than once.... plus, after an eternal, labyrinthine journey of legendary proportions, it is finally going to make it to the big screen in 2013, with Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley attached to it. Ender's Game has spawned a whole series of Ender-based books in the subsequent years, only one of which I've read - the immediate "sequel" called Speaker for the Dead (Also a Nebula and Hugo Award winner), but it is quite different.

Favorite Skateboarders (E):

Photo: Sam Muller

Pete Eldridge: OK, there are a few things I will address up front: I understand that to the uninitiated and/or non-skateboarder, all of these guys might as well be the same guy. They all basically dress and look the same, ride identical boards, and pretty much do the same tricks in the same spots. I get it. I also understand that I just described 99% of the people who may be reading this (although most of you have already skimmed past this, I'm sure). I respect that. Nevertheless I will go ahead and post this content because it is a legitimate entry on my list for E...

For me, Pete Eldridge distinguishes himself for two strong reasons. First and foremost, he is, without question, the smoooothest skateboarder I've ever seen. Into, during, and rolling away from any trick, the man is cool and solid as ice. Moreso than any other skater. You're not going to see him get all sketchy on a roll-away, like, ever. The second reason is that you cannot tell if he's regular or goofy footed at all, since he skates fast, hard and smooth regardless of the way he's facing. To be able to do the tricks he does, at the level of speed and difficulty he does, going "both ways" (if you will) is likely only impressive to those that know the sport.

If, by some chance, you want to watch these videos, be forewarned... Pete is a fan of rap music - you might want to mute the clips... unless you're OK with profuse spewing of the F-word...

Odds & Ends (E):

Favorite Bible Characters: Elijah/Elisha
Favorite Movie Characters: Eomer (Karl Urban, LOTR Trilogy)
Favorite YouTube Channels: Epic Meal Time (Barely made the list - used to be cool, has been getting lame the past few months. I won't link to it.)

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Well, that's that...

Adios for now.

Dave the Edgy, Effusive and Eclectic