Alex Cantatore Staff reporter

Hello, and welcome to my first column here with the Turlock Journal. My name is Alex Cantatore, and it is an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance.

I am a native of Stanislaus County, born and raised just a ways down Hwy. 99 in Riverbank. I went to Central Catholic High School where I got to know a good number of T-towners. I attended the University of California, Irvine, where I majored in English with a minor in Information and Computer Science. Yes, you read correctly, I studied both English and computers. My friends have always said that I have a bit of a split personality.

I love reading, so I suppose it’s good that I ended up as an English major. If you read one book this year, pick up “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s my favorite book I’ve read in the past few years. If you enjoy it and want other suggestions, shoot me an e-mail!

In terms of sports, I played rugby in college. I’m a proud member of the Raider Nation, even despite the fact that Janikowski missed three field goals last week. I avidly follow mixed martial arts and I also enjoy pro wrestling, but for very different reasons. I consider pro wrestling to be more like ballet, but with steel chairs and knife-edged chops.

I am a racing fanatic, and I make it a habit to watch Formula 1, Champ Car World Series, and Indy Car every week. I suppose that I’m going to have to start watching NASCAR more regularly now that my favorite driver, Jacques Villeneuve, is set to join the series next year. Is anyone else going to the Tulare Thunderbowl for World of Outlaws on Oct. 13?

I am also a “Lost” freak, and I am very unhappy that I have to wait until the new year to watch it again. I’m glad that I have “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (the funniest show on TV), “The Office” (Pam and Jim finally have a date!), and “Heroes” (Hiro’s in ancient Japan?) to tide me over until then.

I am a hardcore video gamer through and through, and I’ll talk video games all day with anyone who’ll listen. I was once one of the top-ranked players in the world in the game of Shadowbane. In my best Conan the Barbarian voice I might describe the goal of Shadowbane as, “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.” It was pretty a hardcore game, in short. I probably could have beaten up on Conan too, had he played.

My gaming predictions: BioShock will win Game of the Year, Halo 3 will be a disappointment, and Wii will have the best holiday season for gamers, bolstered by games such as Super Mario Universe, Battalion Wars II, and Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. I’m currently playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which I’d highly suggest to anyone who likes a little exploring in their games. Well, make that a lot of exploring.

So, that’s a brief introduction to your newest reporter here at The Turlock Journal. I always love feedback, good or bad, so if you care to chat or tell me how I’m doing please send me an e-mail. I won’t bite, I promise.

To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.

Originally published in the Turlock Journal 9/14/2007.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.