The Cars - The Cars

With all due respect to Blondie and The Talking Heads, The Cars are the best new wave band ever (record sales will bear this out too). The group's self-named debut album came out in the summer of 1978 and is basically their greatest-hits record: "Just What I Needed" (number 27), "My Best Friend's Girl" (number 35), and "Good Times Roll" (number 41). The Cars stayed on the charts for over two and a half years, delaying the release of the group's second album, Candy-O by almost a year. Too bad no one buys albums any more, The Cars had some of the best cover art ever.

Awards Aplenty

I have never been one to get too excited about awards, but this has been a banner year for things I have worked on. Coraline won four Lions at Canne. Two for digital, one for promotion, and one for integrated campaign. I have to say this is the most integrated campaign I have ever worked on, so we deserved that one. We also won Best Multi Channel Interactive Digital Campaign from the Digital Movie Advertising Creative Showcase, which I have never heard of, but it got us some recognition in Variety Magazine.

The Book of Oregon book we made for Travel Oregon also won a Design Lion at Canne to go with the pencil we won at DA&D.

Bus is Full Again

You can tell winter is here as all the people that walked or rode their bike to work over the summer are starting to cram back on the bus, to avoid the rain. The half empty bus rides of the summer are over. Today the bus was full several stops before we got to the downtown, so I am sure the later buses will be passing lots of people up.

You also get to experience a lot more coughing and sneezing on the bus this time of year. If I catch the swine flu, I am sure it is going to be from a bus person. There are some pretty sick looking people and none of them were covering up when they sneezed. In fact it seems to be a competition to see how far you across the bus you can spray your spittle. As a first line defense, I like to keep my full rain gear on for the ride to stay dry. I am also thinking of investing in some of those surgical masks.

New York Times App

This is the one app I use everyday. There is nothing better than reading the NY Times on the bus every morning without having to spread out a big newspaper. The opening screen gives you all the top stories you'd get on the front page of the website. You can also get the same sections they have on the website: World, U.S., Politics, Business, technology, Science, Health, Arts, Books, Style, Fashion, Dining, Home, Weddings and my personal favorite the Obits. You can also search for stories you are interested in and save your favorites. All the stories provide links to more info if you want to go deeper. The one thing that bugs a little is the advertising at the bottom, but you get used to it after a while.

The Hardest Par Three in the World

Last year there was a small blurb in Golf World with an amazing picture of "the hardest par three in the world" at Anstruther Golf Course. When I saw it I sent it to my brother and my dad and said we should play it over the summer. Unfortunately, we got too busy and never did, but I finally got over there today.

We started the day with a round at the Balcomie Links and lunch at the Crail Golf Club. I did not play very well, so I was a little worried about playing another nine holes, never mind the hardest par three in teh world. My fears were allied when we drove the five miles down the coast to Anstruther. It is a great little fishing village with several good pubs and restaurants, adn the harbor is probably one of the most photographed places in the area.

The Anstruther Golf Course is only nine holes; a par 31 at 2252 yards from the middle tees. There is a clubhouse that overlooks the harbor, where you can get lunch or an after-round drink and there is a small starter's box where you can pay or put your money in an honor box if no one is around. The first hole is a very steep, uphill, 263 yard par four. My drive hit the top of the hill, then started to roll back down, leaving me with a 100 yard pitch, which I got on the green and two putted for par. I was two over for the next three holes which were pretty flat and uneventful. Then you come to number five, the hardest par three in the world. You have a totally blind tee shot, and the green is 247 yards out. There is a huge cliff on the right and the fairway banks steeply towards the rocks and the sea on the left, so it is almost impossible to keep the ball on the fairway. I hit a great three wood that landed on the right side of the fairway and bounded toward the left rough. After a long look, we were able to find it and I chipped it to within seven feet, unfortunately I yanked the put and had to settle for a bogey.

Number six is a great uphill 128 yard par 3. I hit it long, but it bounced off the hill and came back to within five feet; I made the put for birdie. Seven is a tricky 171 yard par three straight uphill, with the green on a ridge that you can't see from below. I hit my drive way too long and it cost me a bogey. I pared in on eight and nine, putting my chips close enough that I didn't have to put, which was a good thing. I ended up with a 34 for the nine holes. I have to say it was a great experience. I have played a lot of famous courses, but this was as fun as any of them. From now on, I am going to make an effort to seek out these little nine hole gems.

Dad's Birthday

I managed to sneak out a bottle of single malt whiskey from the Edradour tour for my dad's birthday. We also played Kingsbarns Links and had a nice dinner. It was a very slow round, over five hours, as there were several foursomes of tourists in front of us. We actually played better with the slow down. I had two bad holes at the turn, but otherwise I played well. I missed a ten foot put on the last for a 90. Dad had a good tune up for his tournament on Sunday. On the way back to St. Andrews, we stopped at the Barnes, which used to be a great old pub, but has gone down hill a little lately.

We had dad's birthday dinner at a one of the best restaurants in the area, the Grange. They always have several great Scottish inspired selections on the menu. I had the Aberdeen Angus sirloin steak, which was fabulous. The salmon and the duck were also very nice. The guys who were playing in front of us on the golf course were also at the restaurant which is a mixed blessing; it's great that they are getting the business, but I am sad the tourists have found out about it.

Edradour Distillery

We took the day off from golf today and drove up to Pitlochry, a beautiful town in the heart of Scotland that is a well travelled tourist destination in the summer. The drive was very nice as the leaves are starting to turn, so we got to see some amazing colors (or colours as they say in Scotland). There is a lot of great stuff to do in Pitlochry. They have some amazing sceenery, with many lochs, rivers and rugged hilltops. If you are into walking there are eight marked trails that are all very nice. There is a famous festival that runs six plays during the summer. It is also home to Blair Castle, one of the best known castles in Scotland, home to the Dukes and Earls of Atholl. It is also home to the Atholl Highlanders, the Duke’s private army, and the last private army in Scotland.




Pitlochry has three distilleries, Blair Atholl, Edradour (just outside of town), and Aberfeldy to the west. We took the tour of Edradour, the smallest distillery in Scotland. It is a great little place, where they still hand make scotch whiskey. There are only three people that actually make the whiskey and they use a lot of the old-fashioned equipment. Only 12 casks of whisky are produced a week, most of the big distilleries make that in a few hours. It is an amazingly simple process to make the whiskey, there are only three ingredients: barley, water and yeast. It is distilled twice and from beginning to end, the process only takes a week. Then the hard part, you have to wait at least three years for it to mature, and with many single malts 10 to 15 years. The tour is well worth your time and you also get a free taste. If you want to buy some, they have a nice store, at the end of the tour.