Morning Ramble for March 7th, 2017

Here is my Morning Ramble for March 7th, 2017 in which I look at the Mammal March Madness 2017 and see my bracket start to fall apart before the tournament even begins; I read a bit more in Queen of the Tearling and am intrigued by some interesting questions that are raised; and I watch the first few episodes of Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix to see how well Drew Barrymore portrays a zombie.

Mammal March Madness 2017

If you’ve been reading any of my previous posts about Mammal March Madness 2017, you’ll see I haven’t come up with a consistent way of naming the event. For some reason I can’t seem to either remember or find a stable name for the event but I’m not really sure it matters. It’s mammals, it’s March, it’s madness, and it’s fun to watch.

Holy upsets Batman! Or should I say SquirrelGirl!

Last night we had the Wildcard battle and I am surely surprised at the outcome. The Rhesus Macaque, Fisher, Snow Leopard, and Red Giant Flying Squirrel all showed up in the arena of battle which turned out to be the Tropical Rain Forest. This may have proven to be a handicap for the Snow Leopard but I thought she’d make quick work of the others and wouldn’t have to stay in the heat too long. That prediction turned out to be incorrect. After the Macaque and Fisher battled to essentially a tie and quiting the field, the Flying Squirrel leaped at the Leopard and managed to keep fighting long enough for the environment to take it’s toll. In any case, my first choice in the Mammal March Madness 2017 tournament went out before the round of 64 even began.

For a really interesting look at the battle, take a watch of this video that reenacts the life and death struggle…

As I mentioned last time, you can follow the battles on Twitter with the hashtag #2017MMM or @2017MMMLetsgo and be sure to check out the official site at Mammals suck…Milk.

Queen of the Tearling

I’ve got through a few more chapters and things are starting to flesh out. Last time, I mentioned that the Regent was a jerk and it turns out he’s kinda in league with the Red Queen who runs a country called Mortmesne. She’s some kind of witch and her country dominates it’s neighbors because it has one of the few sources of iron and steel in the area. Fighting villagers armed with wooden clubs is pretty easy when you’ve got swords and armor. And apparently that’s exactly what happened before Kelsea’s mother crafted a treaty with Mortmesne.

In the hundred or so pages I’ve read, the layout of the world has begun to be revealed and it’s interesting to note that this seems to be some time in the future. There’s talk about the Americans and British traveling to found the Tearling as a utopia but since they lack raw materials, they couldn’t keep that utopia pure. And having to deal with an aggressive neighbor ruled by the Red Queen made things even worse.

So far, the story has laid out a number of interesting questions that are slowly being answered…No one seems to want to tell Kelsea about her mother and no one wants to talk about this treaty made with the Red Queen. Even further wide ranging, with the fact that this is set in the future and the quickest travel method described so far is a horse, I suppose there was some sort of event that resulted in the end of technology, but nothing is mentioned so far. There is a tale of medicine and lifesaving medical equipment as being one of the few technologies the Tearling founder, William Tear, allowed to be brought over in “The Crossing”, but it seems there’s none of that knowledge remaining. There’s even a comment that there is no actual science in the country…not sure how that can lead to a utopia.

In all, the story is pretty interesting and is building up a world and characters that have me wanting to find out more.

Santa Clarita Diet

Last week I heard a few things about Santa Clarita Diet on a couple of podcasts I listen to, and I decided to give it a try. The series on Netflix sounded like something I might be interested in since it combined zombies and Los Angeles suburban family life, but I was a bit skeptical since I hate laugh track comedies. My parents can’t understand why I don’t watch Big Bang Theory because I’m such a geek, but I just can’t stand laugh tracks – if I’m not laughing myself – please don’t think your silly fake laughter is going to tell me something is funny. And if I am laughing, I feel insulted you think you had to tell me it was time to laugh.

Fortunately, the couple of episodes I watched didn’t offend me with a laugh track so I gave it a chance…and I enjoyed it. There’s not a lot of foreplay in the series – basically within the first 5 minutes Drew Barrymore barfs up an organ and becomes a zombie. From there, its a matter of figuring out what’s going on, what does she eat, and how’s the family going to keep things a secret. I loved one part where they’re establishing the neighborhood and we find out they live between a Santa Monica cop and a LAPD officer who hate each other – that made me laugh. On the whole, I found it a light, entertaining half hour that’s a welcome break from the intense Legion and the dark Taboo that I’m currently watching. I’d definitely recommend you give it a try.