Car Update

I haven't seen the car since June, so I thought I would go take a look. There has definitely been some progress. It is now prepped and ready to paint. All the dings I got on the hood in a 1984 hail storm have been popped out and sanded, as well as most of the other bad spots. Hopefully it will hit the paint shop this month and I'll be driving it before we run out of good weather.

36 Holes in Chicago

I played more golf on Friday than I have played in the last couple of months.

The day started with a round at Old Elm Golf Club in Highland Park, a suburb north of Chicago. This is a very old school place. It is a men only club with a couple hundred members, most are 70+, so it doesn't get a lot of play. It's a pretty short course measuring 6,465 yards from the longest tees for a par of 73 . The course rating is 70.7 and it has a slope rating of 123 on Bent grass.  Designed by one of the great American designers, Donald J. Ross, the Old Elm course opened in 1913. There are no golf carts or trollies here, you have to take a caddy.

There had been a torrential downpour the night before we played so the greens were playing slow, which is a shame as the small, fast greens are really this courses only defense. There are plenty of bunkers, but they were all casual water hazards due to the rain. Old Elm is a great walking course and fun to play. It would be great to play it again when the greens are in shape.

The second round of the day was on the tougher Onwentsia Golf Club course, in Lake Forest. Onwentsia celebrated its centennial in 1995, and is one of the oldest golf clubs in the country. The course was designed by one of America's most outstanding golf course architects, Charles Blair MacDonald in 1895, and was renovated in 1997 based on the design plan of Tom Doak. It was the home of the 1906 US Open and has hosted many prestigious events over the years. The course is 6,645 yards from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 71.9 and the slope rating is 127 on Bent grass.

Once again we were treated to caddies only and a guest locker with my name on it. The course had drained well and the greens were a lot faster than the morning round. It is a beautiful layout with an internal nine and a second nine running on the outside. It reminded me a lot of my home club CECC, with a much nicer clubhouse.

The Dark Knight Rises

I am sorry for the cliche, but The Dark Knight Rises is why movie theaters still exist. In a world of 60" TVs and surround sound, this is the kind of movie that is worth getting off the couch for.

Rises is the last in the trilogy of Batman films written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucias Fox and in the only misstep in this film, Anne Hathaway as a cat burglar.

The star of this film is the aptly named Bane, the scariest of Batman badmen so far. This is a guy you really believe could wipe out the world, never mind Batman.

The story is pretty simple, but it is well told and there is plenty of amazing action to keep you glued to your seat. Thank you summer blockbuster.

Fun Birthday

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. It was a great day filled with a lot of eating. I had a great lunch with the work folks at Corazon (1205 SW Washington St., Portland). The food is great, they have several different kinds of tacos as well as great guacamole, corn on the cob and spicy peppers. The location has not been successful in the past so I am a little worried for them, but hopefully they will survive.

 

Then it was home for a great dinner and my favorite cake, German chocolate from Helen Bernhard Bakery with some vanilla ice cream. It doesn't get any better.