More Books and an Exciting Match-Up

A Dark Tower Update

On May 4, I ordered Volumes V-VII of the Dark Tower Series (in Mass Market Paper Back edition, of course) from Amazon.com. Just days prior to placing this order, I made the antecdent commitment to read the aformentiond volumes I already owned and figured I might as well add the concluding books to my collection. With each of the three books priced at $9.99, my order qualified for the much appreciated Super Saver Shipping. My confirmation e-mail from Amazon advised me to expect my purchase to arrive between May 14th and 16th.

What my friends and family may or may not know about me is that I am fairly obsessive when it comes to tracking an expected package. If the online resources to do so were not so conveniently available, I doubt I'd give a rip and would be content to received my purchase whenever it happened to show up at my doorstep. But Amazon is definitely one online vender that allows you to track your package, so I was keeping a close eye on where the box containing my books was located on any given day.

Frustratingly, said box didn't even ship until May 9th. However, the USPS tracking sytem informed me that the package was successfully delivered on the 12th, two whole days ahead of schedule. Ordinarily such news would have prodded my peculiar nature into being estastic, but not this time. Why was my joy held in check, you may ask? Because I did not have the supposedly delivered books in my possession, that's why.

The root of my problem is that I didn't check my personal information closely enough when I confirmed my order with Amazon. I had sent my desirable booty of books to my old apartment address in Decatur, Georgia! It seems I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon in well over a year and thus had an outdated address in my default shipping information.

To make a potentially long story short, I spoke with someone in the leasing office of my former aparrment complex on Monday the 14th about my screw up. In a Near Eastern accent, he told me that his office would return the package to the U.S. Postal Service who, in turn, would return it to Amazon as "undeliverable." That same day I sent an e-mail to Amazon customer service informing them of the situation and what was being done about it. The represtentative that replied told me that they could not forward the package to my Indianapolis address but they would refund my account once the returned items had been processed by their return center. If I still desired to own what I had bought, I would need to make a second order.

Last Friday, the 18th, I did precisely that (checking my personal info meticulously this time) and, on Wednesday, I received the my very own copies of The Wolves of Calla, Song of Susannah, and the appropriately named final volume, The Dark Tower. As of this moment, I've yet to receive a refund for my first order. Postively though, I don't think any negligence on the part of my old leasing office or the postal service can screw me out of thirty bucks because I have interpreted something the Amazon representative wrote to me as saying that my money will be refunded to my by June 13 whether their system confirms the return of the package or not. The moral of the story, kiddies, is always check your online orders closely before you click "Confirm."

For those who may be curious, I finished Wizard and Glass Wednesday evening. Thus I officially read four novels in two weeks and put about half the total page count of the series under my belt. It's only half because Volumes V and VII are both whoppers, clocking in at 950 and 1,050 pages repsectively. Volume VI, thankfully, is a manageable 560 pages. I've decided to take an open-ended break between the fourth and fifth books. I'd hate to burn myself out unnecessarily, you know.


UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson, This Saturday Night

I don't have as much to say about this fight I have other fights in the recent past. Both fighters are atheletes I greatly respect and enjoy watching compete. Neither of them, however, are a combatant I would classify as a "personal favorite," although Jackson comes pretty darn close to qualifying.

Irrespective of my personal allegiances, this match-up of the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and the deserving challenger Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is the most solid main event the UFC has booked thus far in '07. Of all the 205-pounders who were contractually available to face Chuck at the time this match was made, Jackson was truly the best fighter to award the status of No. 1 Contender. After seeing the UFC brass feed Chuck challengers who were not ready (Renato "Babalu" Sobral) or not deserving (Tito Ortiz), and then fail to secure the fight between Liddel and (now former) Pride champion Wanderlei Silva, it's thoroughly refreshing to see president Dana White and match maker Joe Silva (no relation) give us the best title fight they were capable of securing.

There has been suprisingly little hype surrounding such a quality pairing of top fighters- a pairing bolstered by several newsworthy subplots, at that. The story the UFC has understandably chosen to push is the fact that Rampage is the last person to defeat Chuck (nearly four years ago in Pride FC), and this defeat is the only one that the Iceman has yet to avenge. What they have inexplicably not chosen to push is the fact that a Liddell victory gives him 5 consecutive title defenses, which is a UFC record (presently co-held by Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz). Such an accomplishment, combined with a stellar record and no unavenged losses, would cement him as the top Light Heavyweight in UFC history if not the world, and puts him in solid contention for the greatest MMA fighter of all-time.

A Rampage victory, on the other hand, would give the UFC a dymanic and charasmatic new champion whose versatile skill set would guarantee a compelling title fight with any number of potential challengers. Even though Chuck is presently the face of MMA in America, the man himself is relatively soft spoken and not nearly as colorful a personality as his mohawk would suggest. If Jackson is anything, he's marketable and entertaining on the microphone.

Adding to the interest of this fight is the UFC's rumored acquistion of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.


The Brazilian Shogun has established himself as the No. 2 205-lb fighter in the world (behind only Liddell) during his time in Pride FC, where his most notable achievement is having won the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Many journalists and fans believe Shogun would have been the Pride 205-lb champion over a year ago if his mentor and stablemate Wanderlei Silva had not been the man already holding that title. Rua never wanted to fight his close friend and so remained content to wait for his time in the championship spotlight.

The American branch of Rua's training camp, Chute Boxe Academy, reported on its website earlier this week that Shogun was now officially under contract to the UFC. Dana White indirectly corroborated this report on Thursday when he told reporters that the challenger to the winner of Liddell-Jackson would be an imported fighter. Hardcore followers of the sport are now salivating over the seemingly high possibility of seeing Mauricio "Shogun" Rua make an appearance in the Octogon tonight and be declared the next contender to the Light Heavyweight throne. If Chuck wins tomorrow night, Liddell vs. Rua will pit the best two fighters in the world in their weight class against one another with gold on the line. If Rampage prevails, a high profile confrontation with Shogun is easily marketable because Shogun defeated Rampage convincingly on his way to securing his Grand Prix title. And it should now be clear to even the most casual UFC fan that the UFC brass looooooove a rematch.

If there was ever a night to tune into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Saturday night is it. Whether Liddell vs. Sobral lasts 2 minutes or 5 full rounds, it's bound to be an exciting and important fight. Plus, the undercard is loaded with competitive match-ups, even if it is lacking in other big names or further championship implications. I, for one, will be pulling for Rampage. As I said, I like both fighters, and I wouldn't mind seeing Chuck having his hand raised. But my stronger allegience is with Quinton and I will be unabashedly rooting for him once the action is underway.