In his never ending searching for embarrassing pictures of Hillary Clinton Drudge has found his Hope Diamond. I bet he cried when he found this photo.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Red Tail Hawk
Every year at the Festival in the Park the Raptor Center has on display a couple of birds they saved. This year they had a blind barred owl that had been hit by a car and a red tail hawk with a damaged wing. The hawk was beautiful and I am very happy with the picture below. The lady from the raptor center said the beak is especially yellow because of the color of the hawk's food, chicks.
Every year at the Festival in the Park the Raptor Center has on display a couple of birds they saved. This year they had a blind barred owl that had been hit by a car and a red tail hawk with a damaged wing. The hawk was beautiful and I am very happy with the picture below. The lady from the raptor center said the beak is especially yellow because of the color of the hawk's food, chicks.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Why there is Hope
According to sportswriter Darin Gantt the Carolina Panthers offensive numbers are in the toilet. They rank 31st in the NFL in total offense and 32nd in points scored. However, as he shows, they are ranked 15th in total defense and in points allowed they rank 21st. Not bad, really, when you consider how much time that unit has spent on the field in the first three games. On average this season we have had the ball for 25 minutes and our opponents average 33.
All the Panthers have needed to do in these games was generate some offense and score a few points and we would have a winning record. Games like yesterday were essentially won by our defense and the offense threw the game away. A rare fumble by Stewart in the middle of the 4th quarter took the team out of the game yesterday. I think they had the game won at that point. We were down 13-7 and they were moving the ball. Clausen was throwing strikes all over the field. Steve Smith caught a pass and was fired up and they were running the ball well. Stewart's fumble was not indicative of a failing team but just the result of a good hit.
You cannot have watched that drive and the rest of the fourth quarter and witnessed the composure and leadership of Jimmy Clausen and think that this season is lost. Our defense can hang with anybody and as Clausen gets comfortable as the starter this will be a team that can compete. Clausen is the best pure quarterback this team has ever had. We have not had a player at that position you could call a franchise player that you could build a team around until now. That is, to me, very exciting.
According to sportswriter Darin Gantt the Carolina Panthers offensive numbers are in the toilet. They rank 31st in the NFL in total offense and 32nd in points scored. However, as he shows, they are ranked 15th in total defense and in points allowed they rank 21st. Not bad, really, when you consider how much time that unit has spent on the field in the first three games. On average this season we have had the ball for 25 minutes and our opponents average 33.
All the Panthers have needed to do in these games was generate some offense and score a few points and we would have a winning record. Games like yesterday were essentially won by our defense and the offense threw the game away. A rare fumble by Stewart in the middle of the 4th quarter took the team out of the game yesterday. I think they had the game won at that point. We were down 13-7 and they were moving the ball. Clausen was throwing strikes all over the field. Steve Smith caught a pass and was fired up and they were running the ball well. Stewart's fumble was not indicative of a failing team but just the result of a good hit.
You cannot have watched that drive and the rest of the fourth quarter and witnessed the composure and leadership of Jimmy Clausen and think that this season is lost. Our defense can hang with anybody and as Clausen gets comfortable as the starter this will be a team that can compete. Clausen is the best pure quarterback this team has ever had. We have not had a player at that position you could call a franchise player that you could build a team around until now. That is, to me, very exciting.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
More Golf
Chris and I head out to Sunset Hills Golf Course yesterday afternoon to play 18. I played nine there a couple of weeks ago and wanted to give 18 a shot. Chis hadn't played and was reluctant because he had heard that it wasn't a very good golf course. I had found it to be rough at spots but overall in pretty good condition considering it's a county owned public course at the end of a very hot and dry summer. It's no Emerald Lake but I'll play at Sunset again and, after yesterday, so will Chris
What I really like about Sunset Hills is that it's a pretty easy course. There aren't that many hazards and the hazards you do encounter are more of a psychological threat rather than being in play. For example, on the 4th tee there is a pond right in front of you but in order for it to really be in play you have to essentially whiff on your drive and hit a dribbler into the water. It's the same with the bunkers. The bunker around the green at the 4th hole isn't really in the way. You can play around it pretty easily. It's a bad shot, not a risky shot that will get you in trouble there. Another good example is the par three you encounter on the back nine. You have to hit over another pond but it's not near the green and it's never in play. It's just there to mess with your head which is good enough to challenge my golf game.
The fairways are wide open also. It's a course that allows you to really take a healthy hack with your driver knowing that it takes a shot that is so bad it might possibly kill another golfer for it to really penalize you. Both Chris and I hit a couple of monster drives yesterday because we didn't have to worry too much about where the drives landed. It's freeing. There are even a couple of holes, holes seven and nine come to mind, that seem to be designed to encourage you to hit an iron or a fairway wood off the tee. Hole 7 doglegs to the right and I drove my drive off the fairway into the woods because I got greedy. I didn't mind too much because I smoked that drive.
Not all holes are a gimme with the driver. There are two that are especially challenging. Both #9 and #18 offer you options at the tee. Nine offers you a fairly wide fairway that gives you nice landing area for a conservative tee shot that will give you a fairly easy shot to the green. But if you are a gambling man both fairways are long and tapered and bordered by thick rough that will reward a long straight drive with a very easy shot to the green but will penalize any drive that is not perfect. It's simple but effective design.
I am looking forward to another trip to Sunset Hills. There's something to be said for a course that allows a duffer like me to feel like he has a chance at a par at each hole.
Chris taking his approach shot on 18. I forgot my camera so I took this one shot with my communicator.
Chris and I head out to Sunset Hills Golf Course yesterday afternoon to play 18. I played nine there a couple of weeks ago and wanted to give 18 a shot. Chis hadn't played and was reluctant because he had heard that it wasn't a very good golf course. I had found it to be rough at spots but overall in pretty good condition considering it's a county owned public course at the end of a very hot and dry summer. It's no Emerald Lake but I'll play at Sunset again and, after yesterday, so will Chris
What I really like about Sunset Hills is that it's a pretty easy course. There aren't that many hazards and the hazards you do encounter are more of a psychological threat rather than being in play. For example, on the 4th tee there is a pond right in front of you but in order for it to really be in play you have to essentially whiff on your drive and hit a dribbler into the water. It's the same with the bunkers. The bunker around the green at the 4th hole isn't really in the way. You can play around it pretty easily. It's a bad shot, not a risky shot that will get you in trouble there. Another good example is the par three you encounter on the back nine. You have to hit over another pond but it's not near the green and it's never in play. It's just there to mess with your head which is good enough to challenge my golf game.
The fairways are wide open also. It's a course that allows you to really take a healthy hack with your driver knowing that it takes a shot that is so bad it might possibly kill another golfer for it to really penalize you. Both Chris and I hit a couple of monster drives yesterday because we didn't have to worry too much about where the drives landed. It's freeing. There are even a couple of holes, holes seven and nine come to mind, that seem to be designed to encourage you to hit an iron or a fairway wood off the tee. Hole 7 doglegs to the right and I drove my drive off the fairway into the woods because I got greedy. I didn't mind too much because I smoked that drive.
Not all holes are a gimme with the driver. There are two that are especially challenging. Both #9 and #18 offer you options at the tee. Nine offers you a fairly wide fairway that gives you nice landing area for a conservative tee shot that will give you a fairly easy shot to the green. But if you are a gambling man both fairways are long and tapered and bordered by thick rough that will reward a long straight drive with a very easy shot to the green but will penalize any drive that is not perfect. It's simple but effective design.
I am looking forward to another trip to Sunset Hills. There's something to be said for a course that allows a duffer like me to feel like he has a chance at a par at each hole.
Chris taking his approach shot on 18. I forgot my camera so I took this one shot with my communicator.
Why I am a Liberal
You can see why when you compare the philosophy of Justice Scalia and Justice Breyer. One is thoughtful and true to his ideals and the other is full of shit and does not believe what he publicly claims as his ideals. I'll let you decide which is which.
You can see why when you compare the philosophy of Justice Scalia and Justice Breyer. One is thoughtful and true to his ideals and the other is full of shit and does not believe what he publicly claims as his ideals. I'll let you decide which is which.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Jupiter Sure is Bright
Because Jupiter will be closer this week than it has and will be for a while I went out with my camera tonight to see what I could see.
Jupiter on the left and the moon in the upper right
A little further down the street, Jupiter in the upper right corner
Jupiter and the Galilean Moons
Because Jupiter will be closer this week than it has and will be for a while I went out with my camera tonight to see what I could see.
Jupiter on the left and the moon in the upper right
A little further down the street, Jupiter in the upper right corner
Jupiter and the Galilean Moons
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Dan Fouts
I love this picture of Fouts with his bandaged broken nose and bloodied jersey. It looks like this happened in September of 1986.
I love this picture of Fouts with his bandaged broken nose and bloodied jersey. It looks like this happened in September of 1986.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Second Second Skin
Saturday night Wendell, Melanie and I went to a shop called Pura Vida on Central Avenue to see Deanna Lynn Campbell and Danna Pentes perform together for the first time in about ten years. Initially I thought this was going to be a solo show by Deanna which is exciting enough on its own and then I saw that Danna was going to be performing with her. Quick history (I apologize if I get some facts wrong): Deanna and Danna each spent time in two separate bands that are each now considered if not seminal then influential in Charlotte. Deanna was in the Blind Dates and Danna was in Fetchin' Bones. In the early 90s they teamed up as a duo called Second Skin. Deanna played acoustic and sang lead vocals and Danna played bass, various forms of homemade percussion, backing vocals and kick drum. They then hooked up with guitarist Jay Garrigan and drummer Clay Richardson (who was also in Fetchin' Bones) and recreated Second Skin as a rockin' four piece. Their shows at the Milestone in the early 90s are some of the best live music I have ever witnessed. Like a million other bands, some better and many worse they didn't reach that next level and they eventually disbanded. What made those few shows at the Milestone so special was that you knew that you were seeing something early that had the potential to be big. It was exciting because someday you might be able to sniff and say, "Second Skin? Yeah I saw them at the Milestone in Charlotte, NC in front 100 people back when they were nobody." Who knew that the one band I would actually be able to say that about would be Southern Culture on the Skids?
Before the band broke up they called themselves Violet Strange for a while and you can still purchase their album Stray on CD Baby. Well worth $10.
The venue Pura Vida is a clothing and art store on Central Avenue that I had never been to before. It will be moving to the NoDa area of Charlotte in October. It must be a nice place because Melanie was having a good time exploring the store while the Deanna and Danna were setting up. They played in the back room of the store. There were maybe thirty people there which was fine because this wasn't about attendance, it was about getting on stage and playing.
Those of us in attendance witnessed one of those musical events you hope for when you see a group perform together for the first time in ten years. It was intimate and a little awkward initially but as the hour-long set progressed it was obvious that the connection between the two ladies was still there. The set consisted of mostly older Campbell compositions but did include a few newer songs. They played Deanna's "Black Holes and Quasars" and her beautiful song about the 9/11 terrorist attacks called September Snow worked perfectly as Second Skin songs. "September Snow" is a unique song because, as she described it Saturday night, rather than try to capture the whole event she chose to share her small view of it. It's a view most of us had, through our televisions and that is the song's power.
It's still amazes me anytime I see two or more musicians that gel like Second Skin. I see it whenever Lenny and Michael Federal do an acoustic set together. I see it when the Drive By Truckers hit the middle of their second encore. I saw it in 1998 when Page and Plant played at the Old New Coliseum. I saw it again Saturday when Second Skin lost themselves in their music. That is what is special about them. They lose themselves in their music. They put on a show without showing off.
The video below is the last song of the night, "Walt Whitman," which is on the CD I mentioned above. As you can hear from the response of the crowd they had brought us all in to their personal space and for a little while we were all going for a ride. I'm still not sure if I should know who Phillip is or not.
Saturday night Wendell, Melanie and I went to a shop called Pura Vida on Central Avenue to see Deanna Lynn Campbell and Danna Pentes perform together for the first time in about ten years. Initially I thought this was going to be a solo show by Deanna which is exciting enough on its own and then I saw that Danna was going to be performing with her. Quick history (I apologize if I get some facts wrong): Deanna and Danna each spent time in two separate bands that are each now considered if not seminal then influential in Charlotte. Deanna was in the Blind Dates and Danna was in Fetchin' Bones. In the early 90s they teamed up as a duo called Second Skin. Deanna played acoustic and sang lead vocals and Danna played bass, various forms of homemade percussion, backing vocals and kick drum. They then hooked up with guitarist Jay Garrigan and drummer Clay Richardson (who was also in Fetchin' Bones) and recreated Second Skin as a rockin' four piece. Their shows at the Milestone in the early 90s are some of the best live music I have ever witnessed. Like a million other bands, some better and many worse they didn't reach that next level and they eventually disbanded. What made those few shows at the Milestone so special was that you knew that you were seeing something early that had the potential to be big. It was exciting because someday you might be able to sniff and say, "Second Skin? Yeah I saw them at the Milestone in Charlotte, NC in front 100 people back when they were nobody." Who knew that the one band I would actually be able to say that about would be Southern Culture on the Skids?
Before the band broke up they called themselves Violet Strange for a while and you can still purchase their album Stray on CD Baby. Well worth $10.
The venue Pura Vida is a clothing and art store on Central Avenue that I had never been to before. It will be moving to the NoDa area of Charlotte in October. It must be a nice place because Melanie was having a good time exploring the store while the Deanna and Danna were setting up. They played in the back room of the store. There were maybe thirty people there which was fine because this wasn't about attendance, it was about getting on stage and playing.
Those of us in attendance witnessed one of those musical events you hope for when you see a group perform together for the first time in ten years. It was intimate and a little awkward initially but as the hour-long set progressed it was obvious that the connection between the two ladies was still there. The set consisted of mostly older Campbell compositions but did include a few newer songs. They played Deanna's "Black Holes and Quasars" and her beautiful song about the 9/11 terrorist attacks called September Snow worked perfectly as Second Skin songs. "September Snow" is a unique song because, as she described it Saturday night, rather than try to capture the whole event she chose to share her small view of it. It's a view most of us had, through our televisions and that is the song's power.
It's still amazes me anytime I see two or more musicians that gel like Second Skin. I see it whenever Lenny and Michael Federal do an acoustic set together. I see it when the Drive By Truckers hit the middle of their second encore. I saw it in 1998 when Page and Plant played at the Old New Coliseum. I saw it again Saturday when Second Skin lost themselves in their music. That is what is special about them. They lose themselves in their music. They put on a show without showing off.
The video below is the last song of the night, "Walt Whitman," which is on the CD I mentioned above. As you can hear from the response of the crowd they had brought us all in to their personal space and for a little while we were all going for a ride. I'm still not sure if I should know who Phillip is or not.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Short Summary of the Panthers/Giants Game Yesterday
Giants: Here you go Panthers, why don't you go ahead and win this game?
Panthers: Thanks fellas, but we'd really rather not win today. Here, you can have the ball.
Giants: No really, we insist. You guys deserve a big win with your new quarterback after last year's tough season.
Panthers: That's mighty kind of you but we would rather see you have a win in your new stadium. Here, take the dang ball.
Giants: Look, we like you guys and we are going to give you one more chance to make a game of it. Go ahead, we want you to give us a good game.
Panthers: OK, we'll give it a shot. Look, we're moving the ball, we're gaining confidence. Never mind. Here take the ball.
Giants: Thanks. Tell you what, we're just going to kneel down and run out the clock so we can all get the hell out of here.
Giants: Here you go Panthers, why don't you go ahead and win this game?
Panthers: Thanks fellas, but we'd really rather not win today. Here, you can have the ball.
Giants: No really, we insist. You guys deserve a big win with your new quarterback after last year's tough season.
Panthers: That's mighty kind of you but we would rather see you have a win in your new stadium. Here, take the dang ball.
Giants: Look, we like you guys and we are going to give you one more chance to make a game of it. Go ahead, we want you to give us a good game.
Panthers: OK, we'll give it a shot. Look, we're moving the ball, we're gaining confidence. Never mind. Here take the ball.
Giants: Thanks. Tell you what, we're just going to kneel down and run out the clock so we can all get the hell out of here.
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