Friday Follies: Congressional Condemnation, Israel, Race Demonstrations, etc.

Items of Note as I Peruse the News

-Senate roundly condemns anti war group for ad wondering if president's man is being fully truthful in testimony to congress. Brought to my mind the Terry Shiavo brouhaha of a few years ago, much ado about nothing. The group, MoveOn.org, expected to have a surge in donations for its cause with all the free air time.
-Israel takes out a nuclear site in Syria?! Holy Cow! That one went way under the radar.
-Race demonstrations and marches in a southern state? The Jena 6 trial taking us all back to the '60's. Wow...
-Here's a surprise: Baghdad housing market going low. What surprises me is that the sellers' are getting even half the appraised value, at least sometimes. Lots of movement in Iraq with all the sectarian violence and the war.

Other stuff:

-Weather continuing to be warm and dry.
-Diane off to play golf with Wilma.

Reminder:

Saturday's Manager's Scramble will start at 8am.

Okay. Time to hie myself away from the cyber world and go see about the goings on down the road and around the corner.

Wanders and Wonders

Wander and Wonder

WAPO's lead story this morning is telling us that the DOJ is investigating whether or not AG Gonzales lied. Hmmm, we are spending good money on something we already know? What was that Wisconsin senator's name who used to pass out awards for really bonehead grants made by the Federal Government, like a million dollar grant to determine if day follows night or night follows day. (I googled it: the Golden Fleece Award; follow the link for the name of the senator...)

More later...

More Wanders

Parents and offspring: Kevin Johnson at #6 with Pops Curt; Sydney Sherer finishing her tee shot at #1 with good old Dad, Mark.




FedEx continues in Boston with Tiger, Phil and Vijay in the same group. I think Phil is going to have a hard time finding someone to talk with. Oh oh. Vijay started with a double bogie. A couple of pars for the other two.

At home now. Pam and Eric at the golf course where it is lovely. Could use a little rain to green things up a tad.

Reminder: Manager's Scramble and Skins start at 8am tomorrow. Should be fine golfing plus a few out of towners joining the fray, like for instance Ralph O'Malley who's in for the Fields-Wininger Scramble on Sunday morning.

More Hot and Hotter

Weather

A little bit of hot during the summer months is to be expected. But don't you think we're almost to the point of excess here this August? Need an extended break from the hot, humid days which have been followed by hot, humid nights.

War

Respected Republican Senator John Warner calls for the start of draw down of troops by Christmas. Wavering Republicans given cover? Might follow? Can now find spine and gumption to do what is right? Hardly likely. Would be nice to hear again from our own senator, Richard Lugar.

Gotta get to the golf course. More later.

Friday Wrap

This and That

-Cool night. Dinner at Red Bones with Dan and Nancy.

-Michelle Wie misses cut at Canadian Open. Come on, Michelle; get thee game in order.

-Junior Byron goes low this evening, firing a 33. Playing partners Pam and Kevin got their money's worth.

Friday Follies

At the golf course early and even had a chance to walk around and help Eric. Our little wind and rain yesterday afternoon has done wonders at getting the grass started again and adding a little green to the prevalent fairway brown of the last several days. The temperatures a little cooler but still plenty humid.

At the course this morning:
-Dale and Richard Woodruff who I haven't seen in forever. dale, from Ohio, has been busy building homes with his son. Says those hammer muscles being used during that time frame played havoc with this golfing muscles.
-Ed and Maggie Schnarr. Haven't seen Maggie much this year; she says very busy. Ed, of course, has been out with Dustin several times on those occasions when Dustin is back in town.
-Charlie Sheetz, of course.

Around the world:

-The Gonzo man is back in the news (via dKos) with the release of heavily redacted notes of the head of the FBI describing Ashcroft's condition in that hospital room just after his surgery. Guess what... Varies considerably from what Gonzo said. How come we are not surprised? Impeach this guy. Now.

-Mine Disaster guy: via firedoglake, news that the guy responsible for government oversight of mine safety happens to be a recess appointment, that meaning he got in through the back door since they wouldn't let him him in through the front door (the Republican Senate refused to confirm the nomination because of safety issues). Do we have another Katrina style screw-up happening in Utah as we speak? Jeesh...

-The Golf Pros are going low: eleven under leads the PGA's Wyndham event; eight under is the leading score at the LPGA's Canadian Women's Open.

-Tiger says no to first of four FedEx Cup tournaments. Big advantage to his fellow competitors? Will he play in each of the other three? This is the first year of the playoff and I don't know what to make of it. Other major sports have made the playoff system work so well that we yearn for the playoffs to start, we sit on the edge of our seats and hold our breath. I'm particularly thinking of the NFL where playoff time has always been increased excitement time. Will the same kind of excitement follow with a golfing playoff? Don't know. Golfing is so different than the other major sports: every week is a new week - you show up on Thursday and you have to be on top on Sunday to be declared the winner. No carry overs, no points for having won the week before, no nothing. Works so far. Guess we'll see what turns up in these next several weeks and if it adds anything to the world of golf.

At the golf course tomorrow: Manager's Scramble and Skins.

More Friday Follies

Picture: Erin and Colin helping Grandpa at the clubhouse this morning...

-Tiger just bogied #7, for the second day in a row, after getting three birdies in his first six holes.
-Big John opens with two bogies and four pars.

Reminder: Saturday Manager's Scramble is back on track and will start at 8am tomorrow. Skins will follow.

Friday Follies

Sports

The Bigs

-Down in Tulsa, Big John Daly having fun. Loved his warm up routine for the tournament: go down to the casino; and his prescription for beating the heat? light up another cigarette and drink another Diet Pepsi. Whatever he did, it worked for him yesterday. Does Big John continue his fine play? A lot of people would just love that, me included. How about a Big John/Tiger showdown on Sunday afternoon? Well, best get John through today first. And Tiger? Five back but hitting the ball well.
-Wonder if anyone running these tournaments thought about starting play a couple of hours earlier to beat the heat? And just why is this major being played in Tulsa in August? It's as bad as the NFL having playoff games in frigid climates where weather conditions are more of the story than the skills and abilities and strategies of the athletes. (More domed stadiums will take the weather out of the equation... That would be hard to do in the golf world.)

-Cubbies win, stop skid. The up and down world of the boys from the north side of Chicago. BTW, it's time for the Cubbies to win a world series.

Around the World

-Bush and other politicians taking a break. Suggest they all go play golf. In Tulsa? the Middle East? My vote goes to the Middle East.
-via TPM, Idaho rep concerned about Hindu prayer in the Senate chambers and also about the recent election of a Muslim to the House. Oh boy; golf goddess would not be happy with this guy. And yes I think he would definitely benefit from several weeks in India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines.

Down the street and around the corner

-Jim and Eric and Lucas running the golf course.
-Diane heading out to play golf (Oma and Lucas Community League round)
-teachers and school administrators gathering to get the school year started and that would be next Monday for most of this area.
-a tiny break in the weather; hurry, go golf...

More Friday Follies

Ladies Golf - the British Open

Lorena still in the lead but only by a stroke; Annika in contention; Michelle going home after missing the cut by two.

Mens Golf - WGC Bridgestone Invitational

Rory has the lead at 6 under; Tiger currently in a tie for third at two under.

Movies

Watched the last two parts of a three episode movie this afternoon and it is a honey. Tipping of the Velvet, a story of adventure and love (of course) set in London in the 1890's. Music and dance and laughter and broken hearts and a tear or two. Wonderfully done; fine entertainment. Gets a five star rating from me (Diane watching the rest of it probably right now).

Friday Follies

Friday Items of Note

On Golf

-Lorena still up by two at the British Open. She's through 7 and is 7 under. Annika at 3 under; Michelle at plus 3 through the first nine; Morgan at plus 10 (ouch).
-Rory Sabitini at 4 under is the leader at Firestone; Tiger hasn't started yet.
-Loogootee's Lakeview Golf Course loading up with early golfers. Eric ailing so I was out there early watering and mowing the greens (in the fog). Then went to the Cabin for breakfast with Diane. Catholics were just arriving as we were leaving.

On Politics

-From TPM: WH screaming at Congress to hurry and pass new "surveillance powers"; if not passed, Democrats responsible for any terrorist attack during recess. Democrats being asked to trust the gonzo man. Yeah, right; Democrats are going to do that. Maybe in a hundred years or so. Nah, not even then.
-From espn: Learn anything from the Tillman hearings? Apparently a lot of "I don't recall" responses from Pentagon personages including former head, Don Rumsfield. Of course that all came as a surprise to absolutely nobody. So why are we having these hearings? I guess to demonstrate once again that this administration knows how to scale rocky straight up obstacles, you know, to exercise the artful dodge of stonewalling. Delay, obfuscate, stonewall.

Suggestion for the Day

Get out in the sun for a little bit; drink lots of fluid; play golf.

Friday Follies

On Ladies Golf

At the Evian Masters, Lorena Ochoa shot a 72, Annika Sorenstam a 71, Michelle Wie a 73. The leaders are at 6 under having fired 66's. Dare we say that the Wie girl might be back in the saddle? Or at least somewhere in the vicinity of the stable?

On Butcher-Gee

The now annual event is bringing them in from all over, or at least from Minnesota and Arizona.. Playing tomorrow at Eagle View. Lakeview will be open for the spill over and all those choosing not to play in that charity event. The usual 8am Manager's Scramble followed by a skin match. BTW, the VFW is also having its annual golf outing at Eagle View and George Foster brought by a flyer earlier this week so you can sign up at our place. That event is scheduled for August 4th.

On The Mess

And that would be what's happening in our Nation's capital. And yes I have been keeping up on the latest developments. And yes I think maybe things are heating up especially in the Gonzo lets-tell-the-absolute-truth thingee. Truth will out.

On Diane

She was up way early and off to Indy where she meets up with Marty and they are then off to Colorado for a reunion. She will be back...

So it goes for now. I'm off to the golf course down the road and around the corner.

Traveling Man

In Kokomo and ready for golf in Logansport tomorrow morning. Dinner with George at the Texas Roadhouse just out the door and across the way about two minutes. Drive up was non eventful.

Did you get out and golf today? It was beautiful all day long and is even cool this evening - cool enough for me to wear a long sleeve jersey. September weather in July, a real treat.

Got my laptop into the frig here at the motel as soon as we arrived and it was ready to go by the time we finished dinner. Call it cyberspace on ice, or cooled cybering. And yes I did order a new cpu for it today. But the nicest thing is the speed, high speed internet connection, rapid. Verrrry nice.

Cubs win another, two and a half in back of 1st place Brewers. Cool.

Tomorrow Saturday Scramble at 8am. Guess one of the group will take charge and make up the teams. Expect Diane will be out there to help Sheryl get started and the scramblers if necessary. Have fun. Need a volunteer for a Saturday hole-in-one.

More Follies

On Broadband

As a country we are woefully behind some of the other countries in the world in providing inexpensive and fast access to the internet. Go here for an update and commentary on a promise made and a promise not achieved in any sense of the word. Frosts my gizzard (now where does that phrase come from?).

On the British Open

Sergio in at -6 after two days; K.J. Choi at -4; Tiger even with one to go for the day. Will an even par win? Just might; these bigguns have a way of getting a lot tougher on the weekend.

Friday Follies

Hey! It's a great day for almost anything. First thing, get your clubs and head out to the green place just north of town, take out a crooked stick and whack a white little sphere around for a couple of hours. Your whole day will be better for it.

On the Imperial Presidency:

White House claiming broader powers; Congress will not speak to anyone who might spill the beans. King George and his minions at it again, or still at it.

On the British Open

A guy named Boo is just one back of Sergio at the moment. Tiger yet to start his 2nd round.

On Laptops

My little buddy is acting up again. Guess I'll have to replace the CPU.

On the next hour or so

Taking the Jeep into Hoosier Auto and then stopping at The Cabin for breakfast. Will try to sit close enough to the liars table to catch some of the tall tales being passed around.

More Follies

Reminder: Saturday Scramble and Skins tomorrow starting at 8am. Time for several of you to shine in one fashion or another.

Oma and Lucas fired 51's in Community League play today. New low for Lucas, that's grandson Lucas, who parred #3 which made him very proud to the point of dancing. A lot of us feel just like that, Lucas, when we par #3, happy and proud, but just don't get around to doing the dance. Going for a 45 before the end of league play, or that's what Opa thinks he should aim at. Eric and Colleen out there playing over the noon hour; their 11th anniversary today.

Happy Anniversary to Eric and Colleen!

And that reminds me that Mike Albertson stuck his head in the clubhouse door just the other day and announced that he turned 60. He automatically becomes a member of the MDB Oldtimers Club.

Happy Birthday to Mike Albertson!

Tried to load pictures from new computer; problem in loading. Grrrrrr.

Time to head to the golf course. More later.

Friday Follies

Still finding my away around this new computer: big screen, big keyboard, mouse; reloading favorites and getting them organized in a better way this time.

Other News of Note:

-sales of day after pill doubles since authorized by feds. Are we surprised? Wonder if abortions have gone down?
-Se Ri Pak, the young lady who got the South Koreans interested in golf, leading at the Corning Classic.

At the Golf Course

Eric and Lucas out there now; Sheryl working the clubhouse this morning. And I'm heading out there to see what is going on. Should be good stuff going on what with the overcast and the cool temps. Then I'll come back and see about finding some pictures and posting them (along with working on the antenna).

More Follies

Pictures: Jack Lents at the Liars Table over 10th cup of coffee; Lucas at Hardees

This surprises me in that so many favor impeachment proceedings for Bush and Chaney:

"...The people are evenly divided on impeachment proceedings against the president, and a majority favor the House beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Cheney...."

Good for the People. I think they are way ahead of the media and the politicians. Power to the People.

Diane and I went down to Monte's Cabin for breakfast; had to settle for 2nd choice, they were out of pancake batter. Biscuits and gravy filled me up good. While there, we sat right next to the Liars Table and noted several golfers sitting there: Jack Lents, David Strange, Don Nolan. Joe Doyle and Shirley Jeffers were across the way.

Goflers are out having fun. I'll be over there directly. Remember tomorrow is scramble and skins with the skin pot being carried over from last week.

So it goes.

Friday Follies

Picture: The rest of the story: Shirley and Diane whose feet were profiled here earlier this week.

Fog, fog, it's everywhere or at least out here on the hill. Of course, many would insist that a similar fog has existed for a long time on another hill, that being the one spelled with a capital H, like in the Hill. You did note that another long time Republican senator is calling it quits on the Bush War: Pete Dominici of New Mexico, he of the dead phone line to the New Mexico United States Attorney when the latter told the senator that there was no justification to bring vote fraud charges against local Democrats. War remains stupid in all its manifestations.

Another foggy area:

The rationale for convicted felon Libby's prison term commutation, the 'get-out-of-jail-free card', from Josh Marshall:

"...Wipe all the chatter away and there's only one argument for what happened here.

He's our guy; we've got the power; so go f--k yourself.

That's the argument...."

Universal Health Care arguments making news again. Michael Moore has a movie about health care in America, Sicko, which is receiving much play in the progressive blogospere. My wee take on it all: Corporations will eventually provide the answer to the existing mess by abandoning health care as a corporate concern, which of course is already happening. The government will have to pick up the slack.

Down to Sultan's Run yesterday afternoon for a Mike Arvin outing, an 18 hole scramble. Played with Dan Steiner, Brent Courter and Dan Graber. Five or six other teams, at least one of which finished at -3. We made it through 12 holes before calling it quits with rain and darkness about to descend on us. Several teams ended up at -3, including us. Don't know how the prize money was distributed. Sultan's Run was soggy with early morning rain and cart path only was the rule of the day. Lovely course.

Weather: Sunny and hot today and over the weekend. Good golf weather and the course is greening up nicely with the rains we've had these last several days. Better head out to the place north of town where good golfing is going on all the time.

More Shanaginans

Pictures: a quiet corner on a Wednesday night and from #5 tee box earlier today.

Here's something that has surprised me these last few days: using borrowed clubs (from Dan Steiner and Derek Gilbertson), I've got an additional ten yards using their steel shafted 8 and 9 irons. Dan's clubs were Top Flite, Derek's King Cobra. That's a pleasant surprise - will have to see if that carries through to the other irons as well. Don't know the explanation, the physics, of it all.

On the Denson Outing at Country Oaks:

Played with Trenton Kidwell and Larry Hembree and we were joined by Steven Downey, Chris Bledsoe and Jeff Doyle. Each of us hit the ball both well and not so well, made some good decisions and some bad, got worn out with all the humidity, stopped play with the thunder and lightning and rain not once but twice and then finally called off the last part of the three part play, didn't win any money but did get a refund for the canceled part, went to Red Bones for pizza and found Michele Wie doing well on tv (but it was a tape of last year's ladies Open - which I didn't realize till much later that evening). For the Bird/Kidwell/Hembree team: Scramble 34 (30 was low score I believe); Alternate Shot 40 (34 was low score I believe). Did find out a little more about Trenton and Larry and Jeff when they are frustrated and tired, the three of them being a little bit better at letting their emotions show than the other three of us, or so it seemed to me.

So it goes...

Monday with the Birds

Mid afternoon and Sheryl is taking care of business. Brought the big mower home and mowed for the first time in weeks; one of the benefits of dry weather.

News on the laptop: I again stuck it in the refrigerator yesterday to get it started after it did its i-don't-want-to-start-thingee both up in Brownsburg and once home. I did one other thing when I put it to bed last night: I pulled the power plug. And I repeated that little operation this morning when I headed to the golf course; and also after my lunch session with cyberspace. And, guess what? My baby came to life when I pushed the power on button! My oh my, will wonders never cease. So, for now, me and my baby are on good talking terms.

Diane and Shirley, Wilma and Patty (please spell it with a 'y', Michael, somebody asked me this morning; not mentioning names or anything but she did have her best round ever this morning and was very pleased with herself; Wilma was too). Dear Shirley was ready to go when I pulled in just before 8 this morning and I knew that Diane was just getting started on the computer catching up on her mail and stuff and enjoying a second cup of coffee. So I asked Shirley if she had a date to play golf with her Community League partner. Yes. Hmmmm. Pulled out my high tech cell phone and immediately got the leave-me-a-message message. Oops, not good news, Diane didn't turn her cell phone on yet. And, being on the puter, the land line wasn't going to work either. I did try though. Busy, busy, busy. Told Shirley she best go over to Diane's place and have a cup of coffee while Diane got golf ready. No, no, no, you go. So, left the world with Shirley (she handled it very well) and scurried home and whispered through the den window to Diane that her date was waiting. OMG... Tell her I'll be there in ten minutes. Now guys, I am not telling lies, that is what she told me and that is what she did. Ten minutes. A mere ten minutes. From just out of bed and done with her first cup of coffee to golf ready. Fast woman, that Diane, very fast. At least for Shirley and a Monday morning golf outing.

Heading back to the course. It will be a good night to catch a little golf, me thinks.