run florist run

Since everyone seems to be talking about Ricky Williams lately, I figured I would link to the most insightful article I have read so far. Enjoy.

And speaking of lightning (see below), Jerry, Taylor, and I got chased off the golf course Sunday by it. It was looking pretty bad for a while but the kind of pretty bad that looks like it's going to stay away. All that change on the 8th tee box and in a hurry. Not long after we decided to head back to the club house, a nice bolt hit about a mile away, the ranger came out to get everyone, and the weather horn sounded. Definitely an experience, but I would have prefered an experience that involved actually playing 18 holes. Darn Mother Nature. At least the grass is watered now.

I'd like to give a shout out to my cousin Thomas Hymel. He keep a website updated during his family's month long trip across the Western US. Awesome.

Oh and here's a good take on the changes at Microsoft related to what to do with their huge stash of cash.

Roy Hobbs can bring those blue sparks.

I've watched a fair number of movies lately, some new and some old. Saturday night the Riche's came over after some Fran's and Sandy's goodness to watch Big Fish. All I was expecting was some Tim Burton weirdness and while it delivered that, I also experience a very touching movie. Makes me wish I had better documentation of Papa Chase and Granny's stories.

Melissa and I continued our Sunday matinee Alamo tradition and caught Fahrenheit 9/11. I wasn't overly thrilled about giving Michael Moore any money, so much so that I thought about buying a ticket to another movie and then sneaking in. Instead we went to a matinee and used a coupon. I found it very entertaining and at times funny in a SNL kind of way. Moore definitely knows how to voice over and edit well. I'll give him that. It's not my brand of politics, but I think its worth seeing no matter what your views. Some of you out there should not see it in front of the general public. Yes that means you Taylor.

Sunday night I was flipping channels looking for something to fill the void and stumbled on the opening credits of The Natural. Three hours later I saw the famous home run with sparks. Beyond that scene, it really is a good movie. Always makes me feel like I am reading a novel in English class and I mean that in a good way. Just don't forget to turn up the volume when you watch it since they obvious didn't know how to set a mike level during production.

Due to my weekend activities I have a longing to hear "Fire Water Burn" by the Bloodhound Gang and "Boyz In the Hood" by Dynamite Hack. Let me explain. During Fahrenheit, there were two scenes in the movie, one with the US troops and another with the Iraqi people, where pieces from the first song were used. As for the second, well it turns out I have a thing for late 60s Chevies, as in Impalas or Chevelles. You see I went with Jerry to this crazy Texas car show and amidst all the low rider trucks, which I did not like, I found I liked those cars. Weird I know. So I figured if I was a white boy riding around in one of those, the best song to play would be that second one. Oh yeah.

Punt, Bama, Punt

I was beginning to think Els was one of the greatest players of the game right now, but this SI article has a point. He certainly feel apart Sunday at the US Open, and his performance Sunday at the Open Championship,well, let's just say he had a few missed opportunities. Be sure to read the last part of the article where the writer has "1,000 pounds to punt on the action at Troon."

Bumper Sticker seen in Austin:
Knowledge is Power.
Power Corrupts.
Study Hard. Be Evil.

GolfTEC

So I had my golftec initial evaluation today. It is interesting to hit that many times off of a mat. What Aamir said is true, when you can't see where the ball goes, you pay a lot more attention to your swing. Also, being able to see yourself on the monitor, even just for the address, is very helpful.

Here are some of the things he pointed out on the video. At address all my body measurements were in the green. There were a few things to work on however my feet are a little too far apart and my hands are too far from my thighs. As I take the club back, I keep my head directly over the ball, which is actually not a good thing. The pros pull their head back just a bit and then keep in there for the rest of the swing. On the way back I bring the club much more over head than I should. With the pros the club stays on a parallel path to where it starts. It's easier to see on the video.

At the top of my swing, I don't have enough turn, both hips and shoulders. Part of this is my head getting in the way, and part of this is just me not turning. I kinda already knew this, but I just don't know how to correct it. On the way down I cast my hands, releasing my wrists way too early. Because of this I lose club head speed and force my body to stand up so as not to hit the ground. At impact I am standing up from my original position and have not turned through the swing enough.

After impact my arms have not turned over enough due mostly to my body not turning enough before impact. By the finish I finally turn my body around though like the backswing, the club is over my head as opposed to behind me.

After the evaluation we worked on the address position. I focused on bringing my feet closer together, getting my hands close to my thighs, and bringing my head back as I take the club away. Changing my address position felt very odd and will take some getting used to.

He also worked with me to turn my head a little more so that I was looking behind the ball instead of in front of it. Now, while he was telling me this I thought he was wacko. I mean I'm looking at the ball not in front of it. Then I remembered I use my right eye predominantly. When I line up my head over the ball, I tilt a little bit to get my right eye directly over the ball. This is giving my head more work to do to get behind the ball. I imagine for the next rounds I'll be blinking at a lot at address. Should be interesting to watch.

All in all a very interesting lesson and I think one of the best ways to get a lesson. I purchased one of the packages so I'll be going back for a few more half hour lessons before this is all said and done. It should be interesting to see the short term and long term effects on my game.

Last Friday Melissa and I were able to check off another of our must-do Austin items, a concert at Stubb's. Jerry came with us to see They Might Be Giants and we even had dinner there before hand. The show was a bit bizarre, but that's pretty much what I expected. The crazy accordion player opening act, Corn Mo, was unexpected, and yet entertaining. Is it wrong that I may have been inspired by a crazy man?

My main accomplishment of the weekend was watching the Open Championship. Saturday I got up around 9 and watched till the round was over, but that was nothing compared to the next day. Sunday I got up at 7AM to watch the whole day's coverage. Taylor, another trooper, showed up at 7:30 with Krispy Kreme. Most memorable moments: the string of chip-ins and eagles, Ernie and the bush, and, of course, the four hole playoff. I love golf.

Let's see. What else? I played in the sprinklers on Saturday afternoon. I mean really I was adjusting them, but its hard not to just run through the water like you're 5 years old again, especially after you're already soaked.

Had dinner with Melissa at P.F.Changs. It had been a while since we had a nice full dinner out and since they take reservations now, it just worked out. Thank you Mary for the dessert suggestions.

We watched TNT's The Goodbye Girl after dinner which I thoroughly enjoyed, mostly because of Patricia Heaton. Makes me want to see the original though. It really did seem as if Jeff Daniels was channeling Richard Dreyfuss. Sunday we went with Jerry to Spider-Man 2 at Alamo. It was as good as any review I have seen said it would be. I was kinda surprised at how much older Tobey Maguire looked. And finally, Sunday night Melissa and I played another chapter of Eternal Darkness. The insanity effect about the sequel got me good.

What are you?

I have greatly enjoyed reading many blogs lately including Claudia's, Jon's, and Claire's, but I'll be honest with you. It's a little weird. I mean these are people I have never met and only know of through other people. It's one thing to read something written by a total stranger a make a comment, slashdot for instance, but this knowing of a person but never having actually met the person is somehow weirder. I mean at least with Stephen and Brian I have actually hung out with them. Just felt I had to share.

Rock!

Jack Black would be proud. It seems there is such a thing as a "School of Rock."

laying down a monster

DeBeers fascinates me and I know Taylor never passes up a chance to say cartel so I thought other people might be interested to know DeBeers may be headed back to the US.

Is it wrong that I walked out of my Friday department meeting singing "I gotta get out of this place?" Is it funny that my dad always says "LSU" at the end of the chorus instead of "me and you?"

The guys had dinner at Bone Daddy's House of Smoke on Thursday. Imagine Hooter's with barbecue and flirting. Made me very uncomfortable. Sad thing is, and I know this is going to sound like the hot wings defense but, the food was actually damn tasty. Funny, funny, world.

After dinner the four of us played Mario Kart Double Dash till way too late in the morning. I really have to give it to Nintendo for taking their games and giving you a goal other than just playing the game. We really got into getting first place and getting that next secret item/character/course. Looking forward to my next Nintendo experience.

Want to know what one of the saddest things in the world is? A color blind husband picking out clothes without his wife.

I've been listening to FM 94/9 a lot lately and sometime last week I heard Clumsy by Our Lady Peace. It's weird how music can really take you back. I guess now I understand all those far off looks my parents get when listening to the oldies channel. If my memory is correct I saw them at House of Blues at some free show in college. Seems like forever ago ...

Just in case anyone wonders why it took so long to charge Ken Lay.

Quick, how much did you pay for gas the last time you filled up? What about your last physical? Was that an interesting mental exercise or do I seem to be going deep on the cheap?

Random quote after catching up on Motley Fool Takes: "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." -- Leo Tolstoy

Well Aamir it seems like other people have thought of this quarter life crisis thing. For you the answer may be grad school. For me, well ... maybe an Alamo?

I was in New Orleans, and Waveland to be fair, for only a few days and still I felt slapped in the face by race. What do I mean by that? Well I guess its just that I can go months here in Austin and not really think about race, but in New Orleans ... man ... it came up all the damn time. Read an interesting article in Gambit on a related topic. One of the last quotes of the article is "I think indifference to the public education of African-American youth is a moral crime." That line has had me thinking for days.

Sometimes I feel like Austin is my gated community. It's the place a lot of people have run to when their city wasn't working for them. Sure it's easy to run away to another place rather than stay in your town and fix things, but is that better in the long run? Everything around here is new. Even the old stuff is kinda new. I drive around New Orleans and I see run down shopping areas right next to nice new buildings and now that looks so odd to me. It's not like that here in Austin. Once I think about it I realize those parts of New Orleans are over 50 years old and the parts of Austin I am thinking of are lucky to be 30 years old, some maybe 10. I mean think about that aread by I-35 and Parmer. Sure its looks nice, it's brand spanking new. Why don't we have that in New Orleans? We ran out of land like 40 years ago. Arg. No doubt it's easier to keep building on the next ranch than it is to keep things going well. How do you keep things looking nice once you run out of land? ... I think I'll end this slight incoherent rant now.

One last thing. I read an article on CNN right after Kerry had picked Edwards. Kerry is quoted as saying Edwards "understands and defends the values of America." The RNC is quoted as saying "Who is John Edwards? A disingenuous, unaccomplished liberal and friend to personal injury trial lawyers." God do I hate political rhetoric.

(12:15 AM) I lied. Pictures from the 4th of July trip and the Alamo Road Rally are now up on imagestation.