July 17, 2008

An atypical day.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in the comments today and helped keep this thing alive. I was up before 5 a.m. to drive 88 miles to the Brown Deer golf course outside of Milwaukee for the U.S. Bank Open, a PGA golf tournament. My nephew, Cliff Kresge, had a 7:10 tee time, and so we had to get started way too early. We gamely walked the course, Cliff shot -4, the golfers wore long pants, and the caddies wore shorts. After all that sun and a Cheesecake Factory lunch, I had to slap myself in the face repeatedly to keep from dozing off during the 88 mile drive back to Madison. We made it home, went to a butterfly exhibit, accomplished a garden walk, had a dinner of pizza and mojitos, bought shoes, and stumbled into a movie — "The Children of Huang Shih" — which, of course, I slept through part of. An atypical day. If anything happened in the news today, I didn't see it.

37 comments:

Meade said...

Some of the other commenters like Trooper York and Bissage were very naughty but I behaved myself.

Meade said...

Predictably, RHHardin was the worst.

Anonymous said...

But meade, what did Trooper York do, other than start a discussion of gallstones on the abortion thread? What would we have done without it?

But the only news that was interesting to me today is that there's a new opera being written:  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Presents: Safe Handling of Acids and Other Corrosive Agents. I don't know who's going to play Hydrochloric Acid, but I hear Complex Organic Acids are being sung by the Children's Chorus at the Met.

Also, you might be interested to note that I proposed Scarlett Johansson play you in Althouse: the Musical that was being planned back on the other thread. Someone else wanted Merrill Streep. See what happens when you go away?

Ralph L said...

Quitting is too hard!
Keep smoking, and in 20 years, you won't be. Too hard.

Anonymous said...

meade--RHHardin stands in a class by himself, so there's no point in invidious rankings. We also took count of all the commenters. Some think there are 12 regulars, others have counted 67 or 90 or whatever.

Speaking of sui generis, there's montana urban legend, who, last I looked, had moved into the abortion thread. My snark last night set him or her off, so that he or she has been writing long, polysyllabic, increasingly incoherent posts for the past 24 hours or so. You better get hold of Sir Archy, because if you ever needed a Surveyor of Lunaticks, it's now. I used to think mul was Amanda Marcotte, but if she is, poor Amanda is a goner.

Well, that's all the news I've got. How was golf?

Simon said...

An atypical day but hopefully a fun day.

Palladian said...

I discovered my deep love for Zachary Paul Sire.

Chip Ahoy said...

I never drank a mojito but it sounds good.

Anonymous said...

I need to get new clubs.

Ron said...

I would sell these commenters to a stud farm in Kentucky for a pizza and a pitcher of mojitos about now...

Maybe Johannson first and then Streep in "Citizen Althouse", where the reporter throws the sled with the two squirrels on it into the fire at the end... No Dakota Fanning as Child Althouse though, I'll spare you that one!

vbspurs said...

OMG! Now I get the Chris Kresge mention by one of the commenters here.

Wow, Ann, congrats to your family. Truly, what a great honour it is to be leading that field.

BTW, me and Beth were talking about guys in shorts. Neither she nor I get your dislike of the whole shorts-wearing thing, but then I posted a photo of President Clinton wearing shorts just this Monday.

For your delectation, here's another shot.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I totally get what you mean.

Cheers,
Victoria

Chris Althouse Cohen said...

Mojitos! Where'd you get that idea?

Meade said...

How'd he get so fat again? What happened to the Carrot Stick Diet? Oh well, maybe he'll have a lethal heart attack now and Hillary will finally be free to be her own roaring embryo with numbers even Barako can't ignore.

vbspurs said...

How'd he get so fat again? What happened to the Carrot Stick Diet?

I'm guessing there are Mickey Dees even in Chappaquidick (err, that's not right, but you know what I mean).

See, if he lived in South Central LA, he would have government fighting his obesity for him!

Extract:

LOS ANGELES, July 12 -- Citing alarming rates of childhood obesity and a poverty of healthful eating choices, a city councilwoman is pushing for a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South-Central Los Angeles.

"Some people will say, 'Well, people just don't have to eat it,' " said Jan Perry, the Democrat who represents the city's overwhelmingly African American and Latino District 9. "But the fact of the matter is, what if you have no other choices?""


Serious question: Why do Democrats delight in telling people what to do with their lives? Distributing condoms to little girls in schools and legalise marijuana, but don't you DARE eat that french fry!

Just wtf.

Oh well, maybe he'll have a lethal heart attack now

I struck up a totally random conversation today with a Southern lady, who turned out to be a huge Hillary supporter.

(I love keeping my ear close to the ground, that way you know. Blogs are great, and you can meet people with all different opinions -- but I find people who don't even know about blogs the most refreshing, because these things can sometimes be an echo chamber -- not Althouse though)

She said it was her considered opinion that Bill was the main reason Hillary lost the fight to Obama. Had he died during his open-heart surgery, she would've won a big sympathy vote and she would've been freed of all his legacy.

(Ouch. And no, to repeat, she wasn't a Republican)

BTW, she and I got to chatting about Michelle Obama.

And I thought I had heard her being ripped on these blogs. Boy, has Obama got a Michelle problem, big time.

Cheers,
Victoria

Zachary Sire said...

I joined the big thread late and am joining this one even later (I just got back from seeing Wall-E for the second time), but I loved being wooed by Palladian and hope the next time I'm in NY he will take me down to his wine cellar.

Kev said...

I missed the other thread completely until now (busy day), and I'm just joining this one as well. But I'd like to point out that, while I didn't make john's list of commenters, but I'm not Maxine either.

And ZPS, I'm still waiting to see Wall-E for the first time. I haven't talked to anyone so far who didn't like it.

Kev said...

Also, a question for Althouse: Do you have any idea how many sets of golf clubs your nephew owns?

Why do I ask? Well, my parents used to have a next-door neighbor on the PGA Tour, and they would sometimes look after his house while he was away. One time, my dad told me to come into the garage over there and see all the clubs he had lying around, and I kid you not, they took up the entire perimeter of the place.

I was wondering if all PGA players were like that, or if my parents' ex-neighbor was just a pack rat of sorts (or had a ton of sponsors).

Zachary Sire said...

I was afraid Wall-E had been over-hyped (it's being talked about as Best Picture of the year), but it really wasn't over-hyped at all. I won't say anything else other than be prepared to enjoy a visual masterpiece and a story that perfectly touches on so many things, namely love and relationships.

vbspurs said...

And ZPS, I'm still waiting to see Wall-E for the first time. I haven't talked to anyone so far who didn't like it.

I loved it. Next to Hellboy II, it's the most artfully made film I've seen this summer. "Wanted" tried very hard to be Matrix Redux, but its Fascist undertone left me utterly cold.

And yes, unfortunately, I'm officially old because I cannot separate world view even from summer popcorn flicks.

With that in mind, Kev, enjoy the simple, nurturing love story that Zachary mentioned. But if you share my politics, just ignore the sledgehammer eco-hugger message.

Hey, our crowd were catered to in "The Incredibles", so fair's fair.

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...

Here's Cliff (who I typoed into Chris earlier) staring down the 13th green. The concentration!

P.S.: Would've been absolutely hilarious if he had been wearing shorts given Ann's distate, no? However, other than the Walrus, Craig Stadler, I don't recall seeing a professional golfer wearing shorts now for a while.

Cheers,
Victoria

amba said...

You do that too? Slap yourself in the face to keep from falling asleep at the wheel?

I also pinch my upper lip or snap a fingernail against either lip for a stinging pain that temporarily keeps me awake.

chuck b. said...

Just re-read my write up for PR in the other post, and, damn it's shitty. Really must commit to editing instead of doing it all on teh fly and hitting send, next cup of cofee, repeat.

I have feel kind of hungover after yesterday. A blog comments hangover.

chuck b. said...

Sometimes, I lick my index finger and rub it under my eye and roll down the back windows. Effective on cold nights.

bill said...

Victoria,

it's the Dress Code:

* Female participants must wear slacks, culottes, walking shorts, or golf skirts which constitute acceptable clothing worn by women in connection with participation in professional golf tournaments. Male participants must wear slacks and participants shall not wear shorts anywhere on club property. Jeans are not to be considered slacks.

Anonymous said...

I must be living in a parallel universe.

I got up early, rode my motorcycle 88 miles west to Madison, watched some guys wearing shorts play frisbee, ate some pie at a diner, rode 88 miles east back home, drank a couple of bottles of Guinness with a pizza for dinner and watched the American Splendor DVD.

No mojitos, though. Nor golfing relatives.

blake said...

I also pinch my upper lip or snap a fingernail against either lip for a stinging pain that temporarily keeps me awake.

You'd think cocaine had never been invented.

blake said...

I avoided "Children", toyed with seeing it but stayed away. Unfortunately Althouse's non-recommendation is not a recommendation at all. (Or something.)

MadisonMan said...

Why slap yourself? Isn't that what older sisters are for?

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Cool older sisters don't sully themselves...they get you to slap yourself and taunt you with, 'quit hittin' yourself!'

Meade said...

Wow! Leave a snarky comment. Go to bed. Wake up to discover that, over night, while asleep, you've been fisked by Victoria. Oooo! What a refreshing way to start the day!

Meade said...

btw, here's another shot of Cliff Kresge, more of an action shot:
http://snap.tbo.com/pages/big_photo.php?mm=1592398&gallery=311211

The Drill SGT said...

Theo said...But the only news that was interesting to me today is that there's a new opera being written: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Presents: Safe Handling of Acids and Other Corrosive Agents. I don't know who's going to play Hydrochloric Acid, but I hear Complex Organic Acids are being sung by the Children's Chorus at the Met.

Been a long time since I ws trying to be a Chem Engr (Nam got in the way), but don't those rules boil down (pun intended) to:

1. Wear safety glasses
2. use two hands
3. acid into water, not water into acid
4. Think before you act

oh, and when in doubt store acids low on the shelves :)

is there a book out on the topic?

Tibore said...

Jeez... I wish I could shoot +4 on a golf course. Hell, I wish I could shoot +4 on a single hole...

... not very good am I...

knox said...

I have feel kind of hungover after yesterday. A blog comments hangover.

Don't we all! Althouse goes away for one little day and we all overindulge. But, hey we kept it going and I'm thinking she needs to replace the blogroll with a commenter roll.

Ann Althouse said...

"Why slap yourself? Isn't that what older sisters are for?"

She professed nonviolence and refused.

kjbe said...

Good thing (for you) that you didn't have to sit through the awful British Open weather, yesterday. Though, between the two, it's the one he'd of preferred to have qualified for...(I was going to write: "he'd of given his right arm to be playing there," but...well...it doesn't quite work with the whole golf theme).

David said...

Nice round, Cliff! 14 pars, no bogies.

He's kind of a short hitter, though, Ann. Tied for 57th in the tournament in driving distance with a piddling 303 yard averge.