Birthday

Travelling from Scotland back to Portland is not the best way to spend your birthday. I began the day with a short run. I was very good about sticking to my running schedule when I was in Scotland. It is a great place to run. The weather is generally cool and the terrain is flat. There are also several good running paths along the golf courses or the beach, and for longer runs there is a path all the way to Leuchars (about 10 miles around). After the run I had a great Scottish breakfast: bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and toast, a great way to start the day.

The flight from Edinburgh to Newark was pretty non-eventful. The problem is you are only half way at this point. We had a couple of pints of Guiness at the Newark airport before we got on the flight to Seattle, which made the screaming kid a little more bearable. In Seattle, Barbara's sister picked us up and had birthday cake waiting back at the house. So, about 20 hours after my birthday breakfast, I was blowing out the candles on my cake and got to hear the Baugnon's sing happy birthday!

Last day in Scotland

Spent the day taking care of all the things you need to do on your last day on vacation. We helped clean up the house a little and did some shopping for gifts we wanted to take back with us. It was a really nice day weather wise, so we also went for a walk along the beach and took a spin around town.

That evening we had a special treat. The Crail Festival was celebrating it's 25th anniversary and managed to book a concert with Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham. These guys are the about as good as it gets in Scottish music. They have been playing together since 1986 and they put on a great show. Aly Bain is a fiddle player and Phil Cunningham plays the accordion. They write a lot of their own songs, but also play a lot of traditional tunes you'd hear Fiona Richie play if you are a fan of the Shamrock and Thistle show on NPR. The show was the second on their 42 date tour of Scotland. You have to admire guys who make a living playing to 200-300 seat halls. They also play bigger gigs and are often featured on Scottish TV, but this is their bread and butter. They played for about two hours and along with the music there are plenty of funny stories and corny jokes. It was a great way to spend our last night in Scotland.

Old Course Finale and dinner at the Glass House

Wednesday was our last round of the summer on the Old Course. I was really hoping to break 90, as I had been playing well all week. Unfortunately it was not to be. It was a day the golf gods were against me. A couple of great drives down the middle, took bad bounces and ended up in a bunker. A perfect put hit a pebble and veered left staying out of the hole. Then came another disaster on 17. I thought I put my first drive out of bounds, so I hit a second, which also went OB. Frustrated I walked up and found my first drive in the fairway. I then hit my second shot over the wall (behind the green) OB. At least I played 18 well and closed on a good note.

We had our last dinner out at the Glass House restaurant. It is the most upscale of three restaurants owned by the same people: the Dolls House, which serves fresh fish and modern Scottish fare, and the Grill House, which used to be Mexican, but they have expanded the menu lately. The Glass House has pizza and pasta dishes on the regular menu, and add more upscale dishes, like steak, sea bass and duck on the specials board. I stuck with the pasta, which was great, but Barbara was more adventuresome and enjoyed a great sirloin steak. The prices are very reasonable at the Glass House, and the service is usually good (we had a young waiter who was obviously brand new).

Balcomie Links

I have written about the Balcomie Links at Crail several times and also gave a short history last week when we played the Craighead course, so it is no secret that this is one of may favorite courses. At 5861 yards from the medal tees, a lot of people dismiss this course as short and easy. If the wind is up, it can be one of the most challenging courses around. The last time I played it, my brother and I could barely stand upright as we walked into the wind. We also had to lay our bags down flat so they wouldn't blow over in our backswings. Today was a little less intense. There was a fresh wind, but mild by Crail standards. I shot an 80, which is a new personal best for me. Barbara also played well, on the course where she got her first birdy a few years back.

Later that evening, we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant, the Balaka. I am happy to say the food was great, and I am still happy to recommend it as one of the better restaurant choices in town.

Kingsbarns

My grandfather and his brothers grew up playing golf on a nine hole course in Kingsbarnes, but unfortunately the coastline the course ran along was mined during the second World War, and the course fell into disrepair, and was never used again after the war. So, while there has been a Kingsbarnes Golf Club since 1793, there was no golf course from the 30's to the end of the century. Nearly 70 years after it's demise, a world class links course was built on the original ground. It is easily one of the best courses in Scotland. I don't get to play it very much as it costs 165 pounds (around $300) per round, but every now an then my dad can get me on at a discount as he is a member of the original Kingsbarnes Golf Club. Members are entitled to a dozen or so rounds a year on the course at 20 pounds a round. They also have a tournament they play there against the Crail Golfing Society. As a member of both clubs, my dad has often shown up thinking he was playing for one team, then substituted in for a missing member on the other team.

Today was a beautiful day in Kingsbarnes, the sun was out and the wind was mild. This lead to a very satisfying 85 for me, the only blemish was a blow up on the 18th hole that left me a little disappointed. However, I soon got over it with a beer at the Barnes pub in town. In the past we have highly recommended this pub as a place to eat. Unfortunately, this great little pub looks like it has lost some of it's sheen. I would say you can grab a beer on the way back into St. Andrews, but I would not make a special trip out there to eat.

Jubilee and the Highland Games

The weather turned bad again on Sunday morning. My colleague Spence Kramer and I played the Jubilee Course this morning in a constant drizzle. We were hoping to play the New Course, but there was a tournament this morning. The Jubilee is probably a more challenging course as there is no bail out space on either side. Spence was playing well, but he struggled a little with his driver. I poked along to an 85 which I am pretty happy with, as this is my lowest score on this course.

The rain kept up through lunch when my cousins Gregor and Sara showed up from Edinburgh. Greg was just back from a bachelor party in England, but looked good. His wife Danella is pregnant with their third child and the other two kids were great. Sara was in good form too. After lunch, the sun came out and we all went over to the St. Andrews Highland Games. It is a little small time, but they have all the traditional sports, including the caber toss. There were rides for the kids as well as lots of junk food and crap to buy. The Highland Games in Portland is ten times bigger and has a lot more stuff, but it still feels more fun to go to one in Scotland.

Perfect Scottish Day

My W+K colleague Spence Kramer came up to Scotland today. He was able to take the weekend off in between a trip to the London office and the Amsterdam office. Unfortunately he could not get on the Old Course due to a tournament, so he headed out Kingsbarnes. I passed on playing, as it costs around $300 a round. I think he had fun, but unfortunately he got stuck with a couple of crappy golfers and endured a five and a half hour round. We are planning to hook up and play the New Course tomorrow morning.

I spent the morning walking around town with Barbara looking at the shops and trying to find her a waterproof golf jacket. We stopped for lunch at my favorite pub, the Central. I had the "pie of the day" the Steak and Ale pie; Barbara had the antipasti plate, and as usual the food was great. Still the best pub in St. Andrews.

We spent the afternoon out at Creighton Park. I had not been there since I was a small kid. It was amazing, they have added a lot of great new stuff to play on and kept all the cool old stuff: the paddle boats, the putting green, the trampolines and most importantly the train. Unfortunately the park had been vandalized the night before we went and the admission office was broken into and all the windows smashed. The train was pushed off the tracks, but luckily it was fixed by the time we got there. The kids had a great time and it was a bummer to leave. The last time I was there, bell bottom pants were high fashion.

So how can you have the perfect Scottish day without golf? Easy, when it's sunny, it is great here, no matter what you do.

Old Course and The Vine Leaf

The day started out rainy with an 8 AM tee time on the Old Course. I played with my brother, my Dad and one of his friends, Morris. I was playing pretty well until I put my drive out of bounds on 16 and 17, which lead to a 92. I am still yet to break 90 on the Old Course this trip. The good news is my brother and I won the match on the 18th. Stephen's second shot hit the pin and fell to within seven feet, but unfortunately he missed the put. However, we only needed the half to close them out.

Friday night we had dinner at a great local restaurant called the Vine Leaf. The owner is a friend of my Dad's and the food is always great. I was disappointed to see that they did not have haggis on the menu this time, but the Terrine of Wild Game and the steak were excellent. The Vine Leaf has a large menu, with several great vegetarian dishes, great local fare and an extensive wine list. I always look forward to eating here as the atmosphere and service is as good as the food.

Craighead Links at Crail

There has been a golf club at Crail almost as long as the United States has been a country. Founded in 1786, The Crail Golfing Society originally played on a nine hole course in town, then in 1895, Tom Morris designed the Balcomie Links which is one of my favorite course in Scotland. In 1998 a second course, Craighead Links, designed by Gil Hanse, was added. It is a longer, harder course than the original, but it is not as picturesque. I bumbled along to a mediocre 94, but Barbara broke 100 for the first time. She has great memories of Crail as this is where she also got her first birdie.

New Course

Barbara played her first round on the New Course and it started out poorly. There was a light shower when we started, but then the rain got a lot harder as we played the front nine. We both struggled along, not playing the best golf of the week. I shot a 48 on the front. Then the sun came out and everything changed. We both started playing a lot better and despite not being able to make a put, I shot a 39 on the back nine, which is the first time I can remember breaking 40. The Old Course is a great course and while it doesn't have the history of the Old, it is more challenging.

Castle Course and The Grange Inn

Today I played one of the wettest rounds of golf I have ever played, and it didn't help that it was on one of the hardest courses in Scotland. The morning started out sunny and beautiful at around 75 degrees. By the time we got out on the course for our 1 PM tee time it had clouded over and it looked like it was about to rain. Luckily I had put on a wind shirt, but unluckily it was not very waterproof, as it started raining heavily on the fourth hole. This probably would have been OK if we were not playing the Castle Course which is very hard even on a nice day. With wet grips and dampened spirits, it was a tough day. In fact two of our foursome dropped out after nine. However my brother and I soldiered on and finished the 18 in a little over four hours. As much as you would like to speed up in bad weather, it always seems to take longer to play. On one long up-hill par four, into the wind, we took four shots to get to the green. When we were finished everything was wet. I wrung my socks out three times on the course, but was still able to form a small pool of water when I took them off for good. This and the day we played Crail in hurricane winds are now my most crazy days of golf.

After that round of golf we were richly rewarded with dinner at the Grange Inn. It is one of the best restaurants in Scotland and serves consistently great fare. I had an excellent steak with the mushroom soup as a starter. The duck and the sea bass were also excellent, with the lobster being the only entree that was fair. The dinner was topped with some delicious deserts, I had the chocolate moose, and the cheese plate and the strawberry's were also great. As a bonus, there is a also a great view from the dinning room and on a clear summer night you will see an amazing sunset.

Barbara's First Round on the Old Course

Barbara and my sister Fiona both played their first rounds on the Old Course today. I think they were a little nervous about it, but they did well despite the strong winds, which were gusting around 30 mph. I was not a very good example as I hit my second shot out-of-bounds onto the putting green on the first hole and it didn't get much better after that. Fiona got to experience the shell bunker, one of the two giant bunkers on the course, the other is called the hell bunker. They actually should both be called hell, as they are almost impossible to get out of moving forward. I found a half dozen bunkers myself and all of the fairway bunkers served as a one shot penalty as I was barely able to progress the ball. The good news is we all hit fairly decent drives off the first tee and did not embarrass ourselves in front of the large crowd that was watching on the 18th green.

Travel Day

We left the house at 8 AM on Friday morning and ended up in St. Andrews at 1 PM on Saturday. It was a case of planes, trains, buses and automobiles. The trip began with a three hour drive up to Seattle to Tish's house where we left the car and got a ride to the airport. Then we had a very pleasant 10 hour flight on Air France from Seattle to Paris. The service was great and the American airlines could learn a lot from the French. We also watched five movies to pass the time. In case you have not seen them, I can recommend: Monsters vs. Aliens, Revolution Road, Sunshine Cleaning and I Love You Man, I was less enthusiastic about Quantum of Solace. In Paris we took a train to another terminal, then rode a bus all the way back to where we came from to take an 30 minute flight from Paris to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh my aunt picked us up and we had an hour drive to St. Andrews. Needless to say we slept well that night.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

Like guitar heroes and rock stars of the era that Stevie Ray Vaughan reminded us of, he left us too young. Fortunately, he left us some great music with his band Double Trouble and his brother, Jimmie Vaughan of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. SRV as he coined himself on his hand made guitars, single handedly brought the blues back to popularity with the release of Texas Flood in 1983. The record was a top 40 hit, which was unheard of for blues players at the time. Along with In Step, they make up the majority of the greatest hits records, which you should pass up if you can resist it.

Paley's Place

We have not been to Paley's Place for a while and it was a nice return visit for Barbara's birthday last night. Paley's Place is a great place to celebrate a special occasion. They are a intimate (50 seat) place specializing in local, sustainable ingredients in a classical French style. Speaking of France, it was also Bastille Day, so they were featuring some great French wines at amazing prices. We opened with all asparagus appetizers, I had the Puree soup and Barbara had the Grilled Asparagus, Soft Duck Egg, Heirloom Prosciutto, Spicy Greens and Mustard Vinaigrette, both were delicious. For entrees we had the Pork Shoulder and the Steak special, these were both good, but not the strongest part of the meal. The great thing about the entrees is they offer half portions which can fill you up, but also leave room for the amazing deserts. We had the Lemon Tart and the Goat Cheese Cheesecake which were as good as any desert I can remember eating in a long time.

Hours: Monday-Thursday 5:30pm to 10:00pm, Friday-Saturday 5:30pm to 11:00pm, Sunday 5:00pm to 10:00pm

Paley's Place

1204 NW 21st Ave

Portland, OR 97209

(503) 243-2403

www.paleysplace.net

Barbara's Birthday

Today is Bastille Day and more importantly Barbara's birthday. We are celebrating with a little champagne and then we are heading out to dinner at one of Portland's best restaurants, Paley's Place. As I said earlier, Barbara got a MacBook Pro as her big present, which she has been enjoying for some time now. She also got a great new picture of Finlay to go with her pictures of Brodie, and Binkey and Bongo. And finally, she will be picking out a rain suit to pay golf in, in Scotland next week.

Portland's Living Room

They call Pioneer Square, Portland's living room, because on sunny days everyone hangs out there eating lunch, reading, watching the performers, or just doing what you do in a nice public space. It seems like this guy wanted to expand the concept and decided that a bus stop outside a homeless shelter on Burnside could also be Portland's living room. In fact, he is so comfortable there he thought it was fine to just take of his shirt and lay around reading the paper. At least he kept his shorts on.

Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris

Bang the Drum Slowly is Mark Harris' follow up to his first baseball novel, The Southpaw. In the second book we follow Harris's narrator Henry "Author" Wiggen, a star pitcher, through a baseball season with the New York Mammoths (a fictional team based on the New York Yankees). Like all great sports stories this book is more about life than sports. The Mammoths are having a good season but they have not come together as a team, they are bickering and playing just well enough to hold off an inferior Washington team in the penant chase. In the begining Wiggen is trying to conceal his friend, and catcher, Bruce Pearson's Hodgkin's Disease so he doesn't get kicked off the team. Ironically, as more and more people find out about his illness and iminant death, the team begins to rally aound Pearson and they finally come together as a team.

Bang the Drum Slowly is writen in the venacular of ball players in the 1950's, which makes it even richer. It also offers a great look into life as a baseball player in a more innocent time, when the star pitcher has an off season job as an insurance agent selling all his teammates annuities so they don't end up like the broken down players bumming a few bucks around the ball park. While it was written almost 50 years ago this book still holds up well.

Queen - A Night at the Opera

A Night at the Opera is the quintessential Queen record. Jazz and News of the World have a few great singles (We will Rock You, Fat Bottom Girls), but Opera beats it for singles (Bohemian Rhapsody) and capturing the excess that is Queen and most notably Freddie Mercury. Part of the exercise here is rebelling against the iTunes generation who just buy the singles and uncovering the great records that you can listen to start to finish. This is one of those records. It is a lush musical journey with songs as diverse as the piano based, "You're My Best Friend" and the hard rocking, "I am in Love with My Car." So go ahead and download Queen's Greatest Hits, but make sure you add Opera, when you are ready to go a little deeper.

Por Que No?

One of my favorite restaurants that I never go to recently opened a second location closer to home, which makes me very happy. I love chain restaurants as long as they are good, local chains. Por Que No? started out on Mississippi Ave. making great tacos and Mexican inspired drinks. The new location on Hawthorne Blvd. is equally funky (if not more so) and a little bigger than the original. They still have the amazing tacos and drinks, but the menu seems to have expanded a little too. We enjoyed the Porque Plate, which is your choice of nine different meats or veggies, rice, beans, salad, salsa, guacamole and three corn tortillas. This is a great choice if you are really hungry, but if not, I would recommend going with a few tacos ala cart. As I said they have nine great choices including carnitas (shredded pork, my favorite), carne asada, pollo (chicken) verde, shrimp, fish and calamari. The chips and salsa and guacamole is also a great starter. Next time we are going add the ceviche.

Por Que No? is open seven days a week from 11 AM to 9:30 PM. Tacos are $.50 off on week days from 3-6 PM and after 3 PM on Tuesday. They use all fresh ingredients and are committed to supporting the local economy.

Por Que No?

3524 N Mississippi

503-467-4149

4635 SE Hawthorne Blvd

503-954-3138

http://porquenotacos.com/

Livestrong Chalkbot

This is one of the coolest things I have seen W+K produce in a very long time. The video explains it much better than I can, but basically you can text a message of hope or support to anyone you want through Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation and they will print it in chalk along the Tour de France race route. We had to get approval from the French government and 13 different French provinces to make this happen, no small feat.

Bus Injury

If I were injured or venerable to injury I don't think I would ride the bus to work, especially at rush hour. This poor guy has a broken ankle (or worse) and has a cast on his leg, but his toes are sticking out. He was sitting comfortably in one of the seats reserved for old or handicapped people minding his own business when the bus starts to get really full. People were pushing by him to get to the back of the bus, when suddenly this huge guy trips and falls over the cast guy. Cast guys was screaming in pain. I had my headphones on and I clearly heard him yelling, so it was loud. For the rest of the trip the big guy kept apologizing and asking if cast guys was OK. He also kept insisting that he did not do it on purpose, which made me think, what kind of person would do something like that on purpose? You'd have to be a pretty cold hearted mother to do that, but then again bus people can be pretty mean.

Wimbeldon Gentleman's Finals

An amazing Wimbeldon final just ended with Roger Federer winning his 15th grand slam title. The fifth set was the longest in history with Federer finally winning 16-14. In case you didn't notice there were a couple of commercials that came on right after the win, congratulating Federer. The second one was kind of funny with Federer loading all his tropheys into a private jet, but the first one was real feat. It had several famous Nike athletes congratualting Federer, including Serena Williams, John McEnroe, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Pete Sampras. You can check it out on YouTube.

Flat Half on Sauvies Island

Per usual, it was hot out there today on Sauvies Island. This is the third time I have run the Flat Half and it is a great race. The half marathon is one loop around the island and the marathon sends you down a side street for another 6.5 miles, then you turn around and catch up with the halfers. It is pretty cool to see the really fast marathoners pass you on the final couple miles of the run. They start fifteen minutes before us, so there were at least five sub 2:30 marathoners who passed me. I finished in 2:42, which is a little slower than the 2:30 I was hoping for, but I never really got under a 12 minute mile pace and the last three miles were pretty hot, so I lost a bit of steam.

I have to thank Barbara for getting up at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday and coming out to the race with me. She rode her bike around and carried some extra water for me, which was much needed as I went through my first water bottle after seven miles. It was great to have the support and she also took some nice pictures along the way.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

OK, given the circumstances, I think I have to admit that I am a Michael Jackson fan.  I loved the Jackson 5... "ABC, simple as 123" how could you not love little Mike out there dancing and singing up a storm.  Then came Off the Wall, an amazing record with half a dozen great singles.  It was such a huge hit, I think everyone I knew had that record.  And then just when you didn't think he could get any bigger, we got Thriller.  Nine songs of which, six were top ten hits: PYT, Thriller, I Wanna be Starting Something, Billie Jean, Beat It, and The Girl is Mine.  When I was in college, everyone in our dorm gathered around the TV to see the world premier of the Thriller video.  It was amazing, still got to be one of the greatest videos of all time.  So, MJ, thanks for all the great music, you were one weird, but hugely talented guy.

July - Birth Month

And so begins the most important month of the year, July. It was named for Julius Caesar, who was born in this month. There are three other very special birthdays in July - Barbara, me and America. Barbara has already started celebrating by buying a new computer, America is taking it easy this year. July 1st is Canada Day and July 14th is Bastille Day, the days those countries united to become the modern countries they are now. About a dozen other countries celebrate their independence in July, including the Bahamas and Argentina. July is also vacation month, we are heading off to Scotland, which of course, is my favorite place to be, but it makes for a difficult month at work. No one is around, you can't have any meetings or get anything important done because someone on the team is out. So, enjoy the ruby birth stone month and don't forget my birthday on the 31st.