Is it me?

Quoted from an article in the NYTimes:

Are we really that close to a world in which food functions as a nutrient delivery system

Um... isn't that what food is anyway?

Godspeed to the Timob!

A friend is starting a big trip today. He's hitting 48 states in an '84 Scirocco. Supposed to take 2 months. Wish I had the time to do that, but I'll have to be happy with a couple of cross country jaunts from the past. I'm making a donation to the trip fund and have tagged 96 $1 bills with my website and another. Maybe I'll get some hits. I'm hoping he can spend 2 in each state, but it seems he's hit Delaware before stopping by my office* in Baltimore, so DE might miss out on my money.

At any rate, it looks to be a cool trip. He's got a laptop with a Verizon wireless device, so he's posting from the road. Some updates can be seen here on the vortex.

Drive safe, Timbo!

*speaking of "my office," I have a new one! I'm no longer working part-time through Kelly Services for Jhpiego. I'm now employeed full-time at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as a "Web Specialist." This means I get paid to play with HTML and CSS. I love it when that happens! If I persue my bachelor's at JHU part-time, I go for free! ;D While I enjoyed working at Jhpiego, I love full-time much more. :) And JHSPH looks very nice on the resume!

Patapsco: Snakes ho!

Hey, I remember this blog!

I played Patapsco today. First time out there in a couple of weeks. Just been too busy during the week and playing elsewhere on the weekends. Nomads and tournaments abound!

Today, though, I shot a 68 from the Reds. One of my best rounds there. Got 2 deuces (5 and 12). But also got a few 5s, so that kind of messed things up. What I really need to do is work on my putting as missing easy putts kind of screws up the score.

After finishing 3, I was walking along the path to 4 and heard a rustle in the leaves. I turned around and saw this guy sitting there looking a little miffed that I interrupted what ever he was doing. I whipped out the cell phone and snapped a pic, him hissing and snapping at me all the while.

Didn't find Mr. Turtle, but haven't really been looking for him. Playing solo, I tend to stay in the game and not sight-see. The only reason I saw the snake is because he drew my attention by lunging at me as I went by and made a noise.

I also think my drive might be coming back as I threw some real nice ones. Now I must work on putting (natch) and shake off the stress of competition as I seem to lose it in tourneys. Last weekend at the Seneca Screamer, I played poorly. Two weekends previous to that I played rather well at the course, so you can see my dilemma. Hopefully, I can get my act together for the Rockville Rumble on the 17th.

Until next time...

ABPT concert photo

When I saw the trio, I forgot to mention that one of the CGT took a picture from the stage. It can be found here and I can be found in the Floyd shirt. My wife is on the left of me.

The Adrian Belew Power Trio

Years ago, a friend and I were discussing the concept of Power Trios. At the time, Rush was the only band which we felt embodied this concept. This was long before I listened to Primus or any other trios that I would consider in this light. Friday night, the wife and I went to see the Adrian Belew Power Trio. Let me tell you, the name fits! Even though I have listened to Side Four many times over (mine's autographed :P ) and heard a couple of bootlegs of last year's tour, hearing it all again live with almost the exact same set-list (the only change being the addition of a new song: "E") was a joy to behold. I highly recommend one pick up the CD at Adrian's website. For that matter, you should pick up all the Sides: Side One, Side Two, Side Three, and Side Four. One and Three feature Les Claypool on bass and Danny Carey on drums, Two is all Belew (and my favorite of the Sides), and Four is a Live show with the Power Trio. You can't go wrong with any of them.

On to the show! As I said, my wife went with me. This was more from guilt than anything else, I think, as she said she felt bad for not joining me for RF and the LOCG. I had no problem with that as I knew that music wasn't her cup of tea and while hoping she would enjoy the ABPT show, I was still a bit weary that she might not. My fears were unfounded and she had a great time. So much so, that she asked when they would be returning to our area while on the way home. Yay! Score one for Ade and the Slick kids.

We were third row center for this awesome event. Notice in this first pic (sorry for the crappy cell phone pic) that there are only 2 heads between me and the stage. My ass didn't like it (we were in temporary chairs as opposed to the cushy theater seats) and it let me know, but the rest of me was very happy with our location.

The show opened with the California Guitar Trio. I was excited to hear them and didn't even know they were going to be there until the day before the show. They were awesome and their cover of Echoes by Pink Floyd was spot on. As soon as I heard the first "ping" I thought "Are they going to play Echoes?" Seconds later I knew for sure and enjoyed every second of it for PF was my first love in music. While not 22 minutes long like the original, they still nailed the seagulls in the middle and just sounded awesome. They also did a nice cover of Tubular Bells and towards the end of the song, their soundman jumped onstage to accompany on a melodica. Very cool. The wife wasn't as impressed with these guys as she was with ADPT, but as I said, that's not really her cup of tea.

Soon after the CGT left the stage, the ABPT came on. No introduction, no pomp and circumstance, just the three of them walking on with Adrian bouncing into his "guitar center" taking a quick bow and then jumping right into "Writing on the Wall." This was followed by "Dinosaur" which had a wee comedic moment during the dinosaur sounds: Adrian looks over at Eric (Slick on drums) and says "a baby dinosaur" and then proceeds to make a wee dinosaur sound. They laughed, we laughed, and then they were back in the groove. At one point during the show, I looked over at my wife and said "She's phenomenal!" in reference to Julie (Slick on bass). My wife agreed whole-heartedly. This made me feel good as it was then that I knew she really was enjoying herself and could appreciate the level of musicianship that was involved here.

The other thing I'd like to point out was the level of happiness on stage. It was so refreshing to see a band on stage having the time of their lives doing what they loved to do. All three smiled at one time or another, Adrian being guilty of this on multiple accounts. At one point during a few of his jams, he would be sitting on his stool doing incredible things on his Parker Fly, and he would suddenly look up at the audience and smile a smile that would belie the fact that he was "at work." Simple grins that said "I'm having a blast doing this, I hope you are, too, and by the way, listen to these funny sounds." It was almost a 4 piece when you consider how much a role Humor played. I can't wait to see them again and hope I'm able to.

My only complaint: the ass who sat in the row behind us and was constantly yelling "Woooo" at full volume. During Beat Box Guitar, he must of yelled at least 15 times. It got annoying very fast and at one point it looked as though Adrian was getting tired of it. About halfway through the show I looked over at the ass and he was telling his friend something to the effect of "I don't care if people don't like it, I'm having fun so fuck 'em." One other offense: speaking loudly during the CGT set. Obviously not one who was familiar with the KC style of listening. When you're at a show where everyone is acting like that, I can understand people doing it. However, at this event, everyone stayed in their seats and gave their full attention to the people on stage. Except for this guy. The only sour note on an otherwise wonderful night.

Well played, Ade, et al.

Patapsco and Heritage Farm Park

Yesterday, it was so nice I decided to play 2 rounds of golf: one at Patapsco around noon and the other at Heritage Farm Park (Walkersville) around 3:30. While I didn't throw my best, I certainly didn't throw my worst either.

At Patapsco, I ended up shooting 84 from the longs. Had I known before hand that I would be shooting both rounds of the Patapsco Punisher from the shorts (I'm in the bronze category), I would have played from those. I need the practice from them as I usually play the longs. I think I'll try to get a short round in tomorrow. Highlights? Nothing spectacular. I had an awesome drive on 13 that would have made for a nice approach, but since I went wide of the mando, I couldn't use it. I didn't even get a 3 on any holes: nine 4s, seven 5s (one was OB: on 13), one 6 and one 7. I really need to improve my game on this course if I plan to finish decently at the Punisher on the 30th. Looks like I have 2 weeks to try to accomplish this. I'm going to try for at least 2 rounds each week from the shorts, if not more.

After Patapsco, I went home, saw the chilluns fresh from school and then headed to Walkersville. I shot a 65 there, but it should have been lower. If I hadn't gone OB on #4, gotten the 5 on #2, and knocked some 4s down to 3s, then it would have been a great round. As it stands, I finished 2 strokes higher than I did there last week. No Birdies either. I ended with ten 3s, six 4s, one 5 and one 6 (the OB on #4). E showed up while I was finishing #5 and by the time I was on 11, he was one hole behind me. He joined me on 13 and we finished our rounds together. Really nice guy and I hope I convinced him to give Patapsco a try as he hasn't played it yet.

So, as stated earlier, not my best day, but certainly not my worst. I will be posting more rounds in the future as I plan to play more and enter more tourneys.

Rockburn: First impressions

So, last Sunday, the day after my horrible round at Patapsco, I went out to Rockburn to get a round in before I play there this next Sunday in the MD Monthly for March. I met O and N there and they graciously let me tag along for a round. I got a nice tour of the course from O and got to see how it should be played. I can tell you it shouldn't be played like I played it as I finished the round with 80. Eesh. At least I won't be hitting it as a virgin this Sunday.

Also, I joined the PDGA as an Am. My first sanctioned tourney will be the Patapsco Punisher at the end of the month. Let's hope I finish better than I did when I played the Ice Bowl (96! ouch!!) and get a decent rating. But to do that, I'll have to avoid 7s and 11s, and I don't have a problem with that! The recent practice has helped though and I think I've found a friend with the Archangel. I've got 2 weeks or so before the PP, so I plan to get in at least 4 rounds at P-tap before I get Punished.

Heritage Farm Park

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a round, so I hit Heritage Farm Park or as I refer to it: Walkersville (well, that's where it is!). I'm liking this course more than I did when I first saw it last year (without playing it). I agree that the front 9 is more interesting and the back 9 more forgiving (wide open).

I didn't shoot anything spectacular, but finished at +9 (pro pars: all 3s) or -9 (AM pars). Either way, I was happy given that this was my second round there. The first was a best disc round with E (he lives there ) back in Feb for an Ice Bowl, so I really didn't get a chance to see what I could do on my own.

Highlight: Deuced 6 by going over the OB. Hit the ground to right of pin and the disc spun around it leaving me an easy 10' putt.

Anti-highlight: went waaayyy OB on 3. Still got a 4, tho.

I forget where I got what (scorecard is in the trunk of my car) but I ended up with one 2, ten 3s, four 4s, and three 5s. I could have avoided a lot of the higher numbers if I was better at putting. Damn my nice layups! They've ruined me for long putts. I also skipped 19 as it's still mostly under water/mud.

In conclusion, I think I've found an "easy" home course to balance the terror that is Patapsco. (They're about equidistant from me.) It's nice to have a local course to give me back some confidence after being Punished at Patapsco. I also found I like my new Archangel that I got at a recent tourney.

Speaking of Patapsco, I played a round with RR last Saturday. I was keeping track of my scores on my cell phone, but at some point I realized that I had forgotten to enter one of the holes. By this time, I had been throwing crap, so I gave up on keeping score for myself. RR threw better than I, but it's all about the practice. I think HFP will help me work on my drives as there aren't as many trees to foul things up ten feet from the tee, like P-tap does.

Middletown, Walkersville, and Druid Hill: Tournies!

So I played in 2 more tournaments last weekend, one of which was an Ice Bowl.

On Saturday, the 16th, I played in an Ice Bowl that took place on 2 different courses: Middletown and Walkersville. It was pairs, favorite disc, which is similar to best disc except that we could throw from the lie we liked best as opposed to picking the best lie and then both of us throwing from there. The first round was at Middletown and it was a nice course. Cold, but nice. My partner for this round designed the course at Walkersville, which was where the second round took place. For that round, I had a new partner (we all did). This guy's home course was Walkersville, so it helped to have him with me as I had never played it. For that matter, I hadn't played Middletown before either.

At any rate, at the end of the day I was tied for second to last. NOT LAST! The best part, besides the free lunch ;), was the last hole: I made an awesome putt for a birdie. Made me happy. I also picked up a Maryland Tag from Sharky: #92.

The next day, Sunday, I played in the second MD Monthly at Druid Hill. This was a singles event, so I had to carry my own ass: no partner to help. The first round was from the shorts (metals) and I didn't do too badly. Some pars, too many bogies, and one very nice birdie on #1. The second round was from the longs (woods) and I did worse: no birdies and one double bogey. Eeesh. In the end, though, I was not last, nor second from last. I finished 4th from last! Yay me. Moving on up. This was also a Tag Match, so I gave up my tag in hopes of getting a lower one. NOT! Ended up with #93. At least it was only one back.

This week, I think I'm going to blow $40 and join the PDGA as an AM. And there's a tourney at Seneca tomorrow, but the weather's been crap and things are slightly frozen over. I'm not sure if I'll play, but I want to. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Buh!

Patapsco and Burke: The Glutton is Back!

Hello to everyone who doesn't read this blog and I think that covers EVERYONE. :)

I'm back! I haven't posted much as this was mainly a blog about my adventures playing disc golf and I haven't played in a few months. Well, I played 2, yes 2!, rounds this last weekend. Not only that, but I also played in my first 2 tourneys evar!

The first one was on Saturday at Patapsco. It was their annual Ice-Bowl (winter DG to raise money for the Food Bank) and I had to play. I just had to. I'd been itching to play and to enjoy being Patapsco's bitch once again. I finished Dead Last. Woot! And for the record, Patapsco was in Full Punishment Mode: all pins in "C" position.

Wait, I can explain! Started on 13 (shotgun start) and got a 7. Not good, but it was the first hole and the first time I'd thrown a disc in 4 months or more. I figured things would get better as I warmed up. Things did not go that way initially. On 15, I got an 11. Yes, an 11! The pin was sitting at the top of a steep hill (I swear it was like a 45 angle) and my 4th or 5th shot (my putt) missed. Upon hitting the ground, the disc flipped on edge and took off down the hill. All the way to the bottom and almost in the river! 4 strokes later, I was back near the top. I think the worst part of this mini-adventure was that I could still see the pin from where the disc stopped but there was no way I'd be able to get it up there without eating some strokes.

Finally, on 7, whose C position is like 3 miles past the A position, I got an 8. If I had gotten 4's on those 3 holes, I would have ended up with an 80 instead of my 94. But on the plus side, I made a noob happy as I kept him from being last. ;) That won't happen again, E! I can promise that.

At the end of the day, I realized a couple things:

1. Being out of shape and practice does not help my game (d'uh!)
2. Holes 1 and 2 do not have it in for me. (More below on this one)
3. I was so sore it felt like I had been hit by a car. (Need to remedy this)

For holes 1 and 2 (I got a 4 and 3 respectively), I came to realize that they are indeed easier than I thought. The major factor in me sucking on those holes is that I'M NOT WARMED UP when I usually play them. Hence my horrible scores on the holes normally. I mean, I PARRED 2 in it's C position. That really told me something. So, I apologize to 1 and 2 for hating them when it was my fault all along.

The next day...
I drove down to Burke Lake and played in their Ice-Bowl with my buddy Alex. It was a "bring your own partner, best disc" match. We were to play 2 rounds: one from the longs and the second from the shorts.

The first round went OK. I think we played more of my throws than Alex's, but that's not the point. We (Team Boozer) had fun and we didn't come in last. :) Although I can't find the results online yet, I know this because we were 1 stroke ahead of one of the two teams we played with. I had a couple awesome drives, but still came to realize I need to get out more and practice a few things.

After lunch, we came back to the park and there were trees down and really bad winds. Due to this, the second round was canceled for safety concerns. No problem. The last place I want to be in high winds is in the woods with dead shit waiting to fall.

It was a good day, non the less, as we had a good time, and lots of money and food was raised for the food bank.

I also got 2 new discs (one from each IB).

So, that was the extent of my weekend and it's nice to know that playing in 40 degree weather ain't that bad. Just need to keep moving and stay warm.

Off topic, my brother was in the Letterman audience last Friday. Here he is: