I'm still choking!

Today was my annual trip to Finkbine Golf Course with a group of golf friends.  Finkbine is the golf course for the University of Iowa, and is one of my favorite courses.  Playing at Indian Creek Country Club this year, I haven't gotten to play golf at many courses besides my club, which is ok.  But, my club is unique...it's short with very small greens, so going to a place like Finkbine which is longer and has huge, sloping greens, can be a bit of a shock.

Today was a beautiful day...85 degrees, light humidity and not much wind.  We tee'd off at 8:10 am, and finished around 12:10, so a perfect golf day...except for my game.  I started out really well...in fact, I shot 35 (1 under) on the front 9.  How I shot that score was a little weird though.  I made 4 birdies, including a chip-in and a 50 foot bomb that would have run 10 feet by if it would have missed the hole.  Really, all the breaks went my way on the front nine.

Now, I've been playing pretty solid golf lately, but I haven't shot a real low score all year.  My best 18 holes this golf season is +2, which I've done 3 times.  So, here I was today, going to the more difficult of the two nine's at Finkbine 1 under par.  I striped my drive at 10, and that's when my brain shut off.  I screwed up my approach into 10 and made bogey.  Then I doubled 11, before righting the ship a bit at 12 with a par.  But, then I made 3 more double bogeys, 2 bogeys and 1 birdie over the final 6 holes to shoot a 46 on the back nine, for a very mediocre 81.  I really choked away a great chance for a good round.

I'm really not sure why I'm struggling to shoot low scores this season.  Last year, I shot under par a couple of times, and even par a couple more times.  I know I'm capable, but I seem to be getting in my own way too often this season.  I know that great round is out there, and hopefully I can figure out a way to quit choking long enough to allow it to happen.

It's a Trap!

That title contains the famous words uttered by Admiral Ackbar when the Rebel Fleet gets ambushed by a fully functional Death Star at the conclusion of "Return of the Jedi."  Why is that my title?  Well, it's because I believe we all have an Inner Admiral Ackbar.  We all know when we are heading for trouble, and we need to listen to our Inner Admiral Ackbar prior to engaging in that trouble.

Some examples of when we should listen to our Inner Admiral Ackbar:

1 - When a politician tells us they will do what we want them to do if elected...all we have to do is vote for them.  It's a trap!  They never do what they say they are going to do.

2 - When someone asks for you to come over and help them move a few things.  It's a trap!  You're going to be moving their whole house!

3 - When your kid offers to do any chore.  It's a trap!  They want something. 

So, listen to your Inner Admiral Ackbar and everything will go more smoothly for you. 

My Happy Place

I've had a good couple of weeks at my new Happy Place...Indian Creek Country Club, where I've been playing my golf this summer.  I realized this was my happy place about 10 days ago.  I was playing golf on Men's night with a group of great guys.  The weather was hot, but not raining, and I was playing pretty good.  My family was at the pool, swimming and eating supper.  I knew they were having fun, and I was having fun, and I realized that I was a happy camper. 

We've really enjoyed belonging to this little 9 hole country club here in town.  We've enjoyed the pool immensely, and both boys have exponentially increased their swimming ability.  I think we've made some good family memories around that pool.

I've really enjoyed the golf as well.  At first, I was struggling with my golf game as I adjusted to a shorter, tighter golf course with small greens.  But, I've made some strides and seem to be playing pretty good now.  I've also met some really nice people...in fact, everyone has been super nice. 

And, I've managed to do fairly well in some golf events.  I finished 6th in the Club Championship, which is pretty good given that I played pretty poorly the first day.  Last Sunday, my friend Jared and I finished 2nd in the "Ryder Cup" format tournament.  We played 9 holes of best shot, 9 holes of best ball and 9 holes of alternate shot.  We shot -3 in the best shot, -1 in the best ball and +2 in the alternate shot to finish 1 shot behind the winners.  Jared blames himself for us not winning...I blame him too...lol.  No, not really...we both missed a few putts we should have made, but overall, we played very well, and we lost to 2 really good golfers.

Today was another great day.  I have been busy at work lately and feeling somewhat stressed out.  I left early today and planned to play 18 holes if I could.  I had about 3 and a half hours, which is doable if it's not busy.  Well, I got to the course, and it was not busy...in fact, it was slow.  I finished the first 9 holes in about an hour, so I played a second 9, and finished with 1 hour and 20 minutes before I had to be anywhere.  So, I went around again...I walked 27 holes and had some good company from some of my fellow members along the way.  Just a great way to let my stress out and relax.

I am so glad that we chose to join Indian Creek Country Club.  It's a great place for the family and for my golf game...it's a win-win!

Worth the Wait!

My children have been waiting all summer for the Disney Channel premiere of "Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension".  Well, it premiered last night, and as of 15 minutes ago, they've watched it 3 times.  Thank goodness we have that DVR.

What starts out like any other day for Phineas and Ferb gets complicated when they accidentally smash Dr. Doofenschmirtz's latest invention, the Other Dimension-inator.  So, being the charitable boys they are, Phineas and Ferb help Dr. D fix his invention, much to the chagrin of Agent P (Perry the Platypus).  In the other dimension, the boys find that the other Dr. Doofenschmirtz has taken over the tri-state area.  What follows is an adventure to save Perry, get back home and save their own tri-state area. 

This movie was surprisingly good.  It wasn't just a longer version of the TV show, but actually had a "movie" feel to it.  I rate it 4 stars, and my kids rate it the best movie ever.  Of course, they are prone to exaggeration.  Hopefully "Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension" will be available on DVD or Blu-ray soon.  Otherwise, I'll never be able to delete it from the DVR.

Some Book Reviews

Well, it's not quite Nuke with 600 book reviews in one post, but I have 3 to review in this post.

Gregor the Overlander  (Underland Chronicles Series #1):  This Suzanne Collins book is one my kids and my wife really wanted me to read.  They have listened to the first 2 books on CD, and are planning to listen to/read the other 3.  So, last week we got book #1 on the Nook and I set to reading it.

Overall, this isn't a bad book.  It's probably a 3.5 star book.  Gregor is 11 years old, and he lives with his mother, grandmother and 2 sisters.  His father has been missing for 2 years, 7 months and some days.  While caring for his 2 year old sister Boots, Gregor and Boots fall into The Underland, a world underground where humans, giant bats, giant cockroaches and giant rats live and not in peace.  When the humans find Gregor, they tell him he is a prophesied warrior, and he sets out on a mysterious quest.  Along the way, there are betrayals, some action, new friendships and a reunion. 

Like I said, not a bad book, and since it reads fast, I was glad I read it.

True (...Sort Of):  This book was one my wife chose to do as a read aloud to the kids on a recent trip we made.  As I was driving, and almost all the reading was done in the car, I got to listen too.  Author Katherine Hannigan spins a really good tale of friendship, of overcoming perceptions and of learning how to do what's right. 

The story centers mostly around Delly Pattison, a 5th grader who likes surpresents (surprise presents).  But, her surpresents tend to get her in trouble.  In fact, she is in trouble so often, that most of her family and friends have given up on her.  That all changes when Delly meets Ferris Boyd, the new kid in town who is like no one Delly has ever met before.  Ferris comes with her own set of troubles though.  Can Delly overcome her troubles and help Ferris? 

There is a side story involving another kid's (Brud Kinney) interaction with Ferris as well, but I think the Delly/Ferris story is definitely the main theme.  I really enjoyed this book, and my wife read it so well.  This story is funny at times, sad at others, and heartwarming at others.  A great choice for a read aloud book with kids.  There are some tough themes at times, so I'd suggest kids 8 or older. 

The Warlock (Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series #5):  This book actually made me want to read the 6th and final book in this series by Michael Scott.  Everything that happens in book #5 happens in a 24 hour span, which makes for fast paced action.  Where book #4 seemed predictable and frayed, this book starts to bring things back together.  I'm glad I stuck with this series.  Here's hoping the final book brings it home. 

It's Over

Last night I went to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II", which will be known as HP7p2 for the rest of this blog.  The Deathly Hallows was my favorite book, and I thought HP7p2 would be my favorite movie, but I don't know if it was as good as the fourth movie.

Don't get my wrong, I liked HP7p2, but since I knew what was in the book, I was a bit disappointed with the few things that were left out of the movie.  Overall, the movie was true to the book, but where it deviated was a bit disappointing.  I give the movie a 4 star rating, trending towards 4.5.

If you think about it, the 8 movies in the Harry Potter series is really pretty amazing.  So often, these great books get screwed up when converted to movies.  As examples, see "Eragon" or "The Lightning Thief".  The fact that the producers, directors and cast were able to stay relatively true to J.K. Rowling's vision is pretty remarkable, and that has to count for something.  And, if you have never read the books, the movies do a really great job telling the story, but once you read the books, you'll miss what was left out of the movies.

I never wanted to be one of those "the book was better" type of people, but...the book was better.

Monday Night Madness

The SyFy Channel has gone too far.  Many networks do onr good show in an evening.  Occasionally, we even get 2 good shows in an evening.  But SyFy has dared to put 3 good shows all on Monday night.

Starting at 7 pm, we have Eureka, which is in season 5.  This continues to be one of the better shows on TV, even as the cast continues to evolve.  I'm not sure how season 5 is going to go based on the first 3 episodes, but given the pattern of past seasons, I expect great things.

Then at 8 pm, Warehouse 13 comes on my screen.  This is one that my wife and I both really like.  We laugh a lot while we watch it, but it has enough suspense and action to keep me interested.  Pete Lattimer, played by Eddie McClintock, cracks me up.  This is just a fun show.

Finally, at 9 pm, SyFy unveiled Alphas.  As my wife said, it's like someone took the concept of NBC's Heroes, and made it good.  The concept is similar to Heroes and/or X-Men.  Some people have special abilities, and these people have been nicknamed, Alphas.  A small team of Alphas, led by Dr. Rosen, help the government solve Alpha related crimes.  We're only 3 episodes in, but it seems like SyFy might have hit on another winner.

Add in the fact that TNT has put out a winner in Falling Skies, and I've spent way too much time watching TV over the last month.  Luckily I have a DVR...I really don't know how I ever lived without it.