a small dose of reality

You just gotta love that Wanda Sykes.  Sure this was a relatively shallow movie.  Wanda's off the cuff commentary added a few good laughs.  All in all, this is a nice light movie worth seeing.

I recently played or rather hacked through this course in aromatic southern Chester County.  The course conditions were not the best.  The grass off the fairways (where I mostly play) was long, rough and extremely uneven.  The same is true even right around the greens.  The course has a nice variety of holes, sand and water, all of which my balls found.  Our round was delayed by a somewhat rotund chatterbox out of state physican who was slowly puttering his way through the course as a single.  Although it was tempting, no balls were deliberately aimed his way nor was his Mercedes defaced in the parking lot.  I would love to play the course if and when I actually have a game and my shots behave in even a marginally predictable fashion.

It's hard to believe that cnbc could no longer find room for this classic amidst its stellar programming schedule.  Shocking.  To think it was cancelled before I could even get tickets for the studio audience.  I think what killed the show was Miller's refusal to use the canned laughter that the likes of Leno, Letterman, Conan or even Dave Chappelle use.   Miller is a riot. He has a facile very funny mind.  Of course some times he can be a little hard to follow if you are not paying close attention.  The man is simply a genius.  He is politically one of the few real independent minds who looks at each issue in isolation rather that simply putting a liberal or conversation stamp on an issue.  Personally I will miss the opportunity to see him on a daily basis.  Hopefully he will surface in another venue.  Good for him immediately pulling the plug when he was informed by the bozos in power that the show was not going to be renewed.

I have played this course several times before and played what was my first round of the year there yesterday.  Every time I go there, I think what a wonderful course.  There is a little bit of everything.  Good scenery, tough pin placements, great conditions, a couple of ponds that affect several holes, long par threes, short par threes, tricky short par fours, an excellent long par four over water and well you get the picture.  You also get to see authentic amish people working their adjacent fields and can even buy used golf balls sold in egg boxes from amish kids.  This course is highly recommended.

So far this season, we have witnessed apparent apathy.  There is nothing appealing about this team or anyone to get behind.  The Phillies shot themselves in the foot with their handling of the Chase Utley situation.  Going into the season he was the one player that had the potential to be a fan favorite.  What do the Phillies do?  They decide to platoon him because Placido Polanco complained.  Polanco should have taken his 4 plus million, hung in there until he was traded and been a team player.  But no.  He had to whine to Charlie Manuel.  Does Manuel tell Polanco to go to hell?  No.  Manuel puts Polanco is the lineup.  It seemed right from day one that this move deflated the players and the fans.

Republican strategists are mulling over the possibility of Rice's candidacy for the White House in 2008.  Karl Rove is analyzing the possibilities for defeating an anticipated Hillary Clinton nomination.  Said Rove, "By 2008 Condie will be able to handle anything after dealing with all the jackasses she will face as secretary of state".  "I could not possibly think of an individual better qualified to complete the vital hard work I have begun.", said President Bush.  This news raises doubt about a possible run by Dick Cheney, health permitting of course.

Whatever will we do when this extremely small dose of reality goes off the air.  Why is it the most television shows and commercials do their best to make men look dumb and women look smart?  This show is a prime example.  Mrs. Raymond is simply not wrong.  Other than Robert's wife and Mrs. Raymond all the other characters are made to look like fools.  That being said, this has been a show worth watching.  When other shows I have enjoyed watching go off the air....Seinfeld for example, they are rarely replaced with anything worthwhile which I guess leaves more time for reading, internet surfing and blogging for example.

 

We dined at Gilmore's the weekend before last at the 8.30 pm seating.  Probably in the future, if I return, I would prefer the 6.00 pm seating.  The place is a little cramped and that is probably an understatement. First of all, I was amazed that such a delicious chocolate souffle could be produced in a scant eight minutes.  The salad that came with the entrees was marginal.  The entrees were good although at least half of our party of four would probably not order the same thing again.  The owner chef came out to personally discuss our dining experience with us which was a nice touch.  The parking especially on a rainy evening was horrendous due to the fact that there is none and you are on your own to find a place in town.  I eventually parked in a pay lot.

 

I had my first dining experience there over the weekend.  That chopped salad was fantastic.  The entree and pasta were average at best and contained a funny tasting unidentifed herb.  The grated cheese tasted like it was out of a Kraft can.  The pound cake with ice cream, hot fudge and bananas carmelized was outstanding.  The bar area and main dining room were very loud.  Fortunately we were in the back room where the decibel level was substantially lower.

How about those Sixers anyway?  What an amazing feat it would have been to even the series with the almighty Pistons at 2 games each.  Unfortunately they came up a little short in overtime.  They did not play smart in the last ninety seconds of overtime, thats for sure.  They did come up with the right answer as far as a gut check was concerned.  It will be interesting to see if they come up tough again Tuesday night in Detroit or whether they fold like a house of cards. 

How about that runaway bride?  Do you think the guy will be willing to set another wedding date with her?  I guess one thought would be that she was doing it for attention.  Another thought would be that there was another guy in the picture....a possibility is that after guy number two reflected on the situation he figured...."hey wait...if she did this to guy number one....maybe she will do it to me too".  What about that deer in the headlights photo they have of her.  Maybe she showed up again just to complain about that picture.  It will be interesting to hear what her spin on the situation is.