The post Sucess depends on managing the course and yourself – Jack Nicklaus #golf appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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Friday, March 31, 2017
Sucess depends on managing the course and yourself – Jack Nicklaus #golf
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Ann Arbor’s Leslie Park To Host LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier
LESLIE PARK TO HOST LPGA VOLVIK CHAMPIONSHIP AMATEUR PRE-QUALIFIER
ANN ARBOR–It is a classic nothing to lose and everything to gain sports drama.
The LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier on Thursday, May 18 at Ann Arbor’s Leslie Park Golf Course will give female golfers a chance to swing with the pros.
“The LPGA pre-qualifying event is an excellent competition giving amateur golfers an opportunity to showcase their skills,” said LPGA Volvik Championship Tournament Director Keith Karbo. “We have the unique opportunity to allow amateur golfers a chance to qualify for a professional event.”
The two amateurs who card the lowest scores during the Pre-Qualifier will receive an automatic exemption directly into the Official LPGA Local Qualifier to be held at the Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti on Monday, May 22. From the official qualifier, the top two finishers will join the 144 field for the second annual LPGA Volvik Championship at Travis Pointe Country Club, May 25-28.
All participants MUST hold amateur status. As defined by the USGA: an amateur golfer, whether she plays competitively or recreationally, is one who plays golf for the challenge it presents, not as a profession and not for financial gain.
The Amateur Pre-Qualifying competition is scheduled to begin at 10:30am on Thursday, May 18. Starting times will be sent to players via email by 5:00pm on Tuesday, May 16.
For more information on the Pre-Qualifier go to http://ift.tt/2nIdMdG pre-qualifier/
For Pro-Am, Sponsorship and Ticket information call 734.707.0789 or go to www.volviklpga.com.
The post Ann Arbor’s Leslie Park To Host LPGA Volvik Championship Amateur Pre-Qualifier appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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BSNYC Friday No Quiz Just Despair!
I wear many hats (not helmets) as a semi-professional bike blogger and world-tolerated authority on nothing in particular, one of which is the editor-in-chief, curator, and chef de cuisine of the Daily Bike Forecast:
Which, as I mentioned yesterday, received a nice little mention in what our toddler-in-chief calls the "Failing New York Times." Anyway, some of the Times's failing commenters left the typical comments we've all come to expect from any mention of bikes in the mainstream press, and while it would be indecorous of me to reply to them in that august venue I'm inclined to reply to them here on my own blog where I have free reign to go "full douche."
Here are the comments first, with my replies below:
KL: It did, you putz. Go call 1010 WINS and make them tell motorists to stop driving like assholes and killing people. Once you've done that then come back and break my balls.
NYC Taxpayer: Even if were true there are well over 4 million people in Brooklyn and Manhattan, many of whom pay taxes (with certain exceptions such as Donald Trump), so seems pretty fair to me. If one were as big a dipshit as you one could also argue that with a population of under 500,000 maintaining any sort of roads for Staten Islanders is also a waste. But I wouldn't do that, since people who couldn't get it together to move all the way to Jersey deserve infrastructure too.
Thanks for singlehandedly bankrolling the city with your massive tax outlay though.
Peggy: And I would add: Stop driving cars on the sidewalks. Stay off paths in the Parks that are off-limits to cars -- for very good reasons: toddlers and the physically impaired, and dogs, like people, out for a walk.
Drivers who drive like maniacs, who drive on the sidewalks, who drive through red lights, who turn the corner (even on a green light) without looking at the cross walk, who drive on off-limits paths in the parks -- are a menace. And here's to the drivers who don't do those things -- but I would say your less-lawful fellow drivers are giving you all a bad name.
Also, shut up, Peggy.
Oh, there was also a supportive one:
Email is indeed always welcome, though they can also just fuck off if that's easier for them.
It certainly is for me.
It's amazing to consider how many people wake up early in the morning, perform their daily ablutions, pull up a comfy chair, and proceed to write the dumbest shit you've ever read.
Then again, I suppose that's what I do as a blogger.
Holy crap, I just blew my own mind.
Speaking of comments, I was dismayed to read this one on yesterday's post:
Aussie Arsehole said...
FYI, For the past week there has been a bicycle race across Australia, 5500kms from Perth to Sydney. And today - a fucking Australian motorist killed Mike Hall. A man who was an inspiration to many, a man who had ridden 10,000s of kms in endurance races around the world. And he dies on a fucking Australian road. A country with a well earned reputation as the worst place in the world to ride a bicycle. Will the fucking Australian police send his estate a few fucking $500 traffic fines - I'm sure they can find something - they do whenever I ride in that god forsaken country.
RIP Mike Hall.
Here's more about Mike Hall:
Hall was a towering figure in the world of ultracycling, not just for his riding, but also for the events he organised – this year sees the fifth edition of the Transcontinental Race, which he founded in 2013 – and the inspiration and encouragement he gave to others.
He won the TransAm Race twice and the Tour Divide, and holds the records for completing both events in the shortest time. In 2012, he won the World Cycle Race in 91 days, 18 hours, faster than the then Guinness World Record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle.
And about the Indian Pacific Wheel Race:
Which has now been cancelled.
And with the weekend coming we might as well keep it morbid and move on to the driver who killed five cyclists in Kalamazoo, who will now stand trial for second-degree murder:
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A motorist accused of killing five bicyclists and injuring four others in southwestern Michigan will stand trial on second-degree murder charges.
A Kalamazoo County Circuit judge has denied Charles Pickett Jr.’s motion to reverse an earlier ruling that allowed the murder charges.
The judge also denied Pickett’s efforts to suppress statements he made to police about the crash.
He should have committed his crime in New York City, because if he had he'd now be free on $15,000 bail:
According to the Post, Pelaez told police that his car had been stolen and that he wasn't driving the car during the hit-and-run. However, detectives saw Palaez driving his BMW on August 10, and also had cell phone records that showed he was near the scene of the fatal collision when it happened. The paper reported that Nin's relatives were upset that a judge set Palaez's bail at $15,000 (though the News reported the number at $25,000). "It’s ridiculous . . . It’s outrageous," Nin's uncle Alcides Urena told the paper.
So let's see:
--He "allegedly" (ahem) killed somebody with his car;
--He fled the scene;
--He lied to the police.
Nah, doesn't seem like a flight risk to me.
But Patrick George of Jalopnik is right, cyclists really should have more of a sense of humor about this sort of thing.
That's not to say the police and the justice system won't come down hard on you in the name of #VisionZero, it's just that for that to happen you need to be riding a bike:
It was then that McLeish informed them that he had been following them for blocks and had seen them run four red lights. He returned to his car to finish up the paperwork, and that's when reality set in.
"At that point we realized that we'd gotten ticketed for four different red lights," Frey said. "We were kind of stunned."
As the couple would learn shortly, not only were they getting four tickets for running red lights, but because of rules meant to apply to drivers who commit repeat offenses within the course of 18 months, the fines would increase for each successive one. The first red light was to cost them $150 each. The second: $350. The last two: $900.
Many years ago I got dinged for rolling through two red lights at a pair of "T" intersections, and if I remember correctly it was "these ones," as we used to say:
It was a hell of a fine, and my boss at the time berated me when I told him I needed to go out to traffic court on Coney Island, though ultimately he allowed it. (I was fortunate enough to have the kind of job where missing a day didn't also mean missing a day's pay.) Alas, I didn't get anywhere with the judge, and ultimately had to fork over the money.
There's a naive part of me that thinks, instead of applying the same penalties to cyclists and drivers, there's probably a way to discourage cyclists from running red lights and to even penalize them for it in proportion to the danger this behavior actually represents. (Which really isn't very much.) But of course this would involve moving past the American approach to "equality" (fucking everybody equally hard no matter how big or how small) and treating different people and different situations in a way that actually makes sense.
In other words it'll never happen.
from Bike Snob NYC http://ift.tt/2opyfCs
Which, as I mentioned yesterday, received a nice little mention in what our toddler-in-chief calls the "Failing New York Times." Anyway, some of the Times's failing commenters left the typical comments we've all come to expect from any mention of bikes in the mainstream press, and while it would be indecorous of me to reply to them in that august venue I'm inclined to reply to them here on my own blog where I have free reign to go "full douche."
Here are the comments first, with my replies below:
NYC Taxpayer: Even if were true there are well over 4 million people in Brooklyn and Manhattan, many of whom pay taxes (with certain exceptions such as Donald Trump), so seems pretty fair to me. If one were as big a dipshit as you one could also argue that with a population of under 500,000 maintaining any sort of roads for Staten Islanders is also a waste. But I wouldn't do that, since people who couldn't get it together to move all the way to Jersey deserve infrastructure too.
Thanks for singlehandedly bankrolling the city with your massive tax outlay though.
Peggy: And I would add: Stop driving cars on the sidewalks. Stay off paths in the Parks that are off-limits to cars -- for very good reasons: toddlers and the physically impaired, and dogs, like people, out for a walk.
Drivers who drive like maniacs, who drive on the sidewalks, who drive through red lights, who turn the corner (even on a green light) without looking at the cross walk, who drive on off-limits paths in the parks -- are a menace. And here's to the drivers who don't do those things -- but I would say your less-lawful fellow drivers are giving you all a bad name.
Also, shut up, Peggy.
Oh, there was also a supportive one:
It certainly is for me.
It's amazing to consider how many people wake up early in the morning, perform their daily ablutions, pull up a comfy chair, and proceed to write the dumbest shit you've ever read.
Then again, I suppose that's what I do as a blogger.
Holy crap, I just blew my own mind.
Speaking of comments, I was dismayed to read this one on yesterday's post:
Aussie Arsehole said...
FYI, For the past week there has been a bicycle race across Australia, 5500kms from Perth to Sydney. And today - a fucking Australian motorist killed Mike Hall. A man who was an inspiration to many, a man who had ridden 10,000s of kms in endurance races around the world. And he dies on a fucking Australian road. A country with a well earned reputation as the worst place in the world to ride a bicycle. Will the fucking Australian police send his estate a few fucking $500 traffic fines - I'm sure they can find something - they do whenever I ride in that god forsaken country.
RIP Mike Hall.
Here's more about Mike Hall:
Hall was a towering figure in the world of ultracycling, not just for his riding, but also for the events he organised – this year sees the fifth edition of the Transcontinental Race, which he founded in 2013 – and the inspiration and encouragement he gave to others.
He won the TransAm Race twice and the Tour Divide, and holds the records for completing both events in the shortest time. In 2012, he won the World Cycle Race in 91 days, 18 hours, faster than the then Guinness World Record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle.
And about the Indian Pacific Wheel Race:
Which has now been cancelled.
And with the weekend coming we might as well keep it morbid and move on to the driver who killed five cyclists in Kalamazoo, who will now stand trial for second-degree murder:
A Kalamazoo County Circuit judge has denied Charles Pickett Jr.’s motion to reverse an earlier ruling that allowed the murder charges.
The judge also denied Pickett’s efforts to suppress statements he made to police about the crash.
He should have committed his crime in New York City, because if he had he'd now be free on $15,000 bail:
According to the Post, Pelaez told police that his car had been stolen and that he wasn't driving the car during the hit-and-run. However, detectives saw Palaez driving his BMW on August 10, and also had cell phone records that showed he was near the scene of the fatal collision when it happened. The paper reported that Nin's relatives were upset that a judge set Palaez's bail at $15,000 (though the News reported the number at $25,000). "It’s ridiculous . . . It’s outrageous," Nin's uncle Alcides Urena told the paper.
So let's see:
--He "allegedly" (ahem) killed somebody with his car;
--He fled the scene;
--He lied to the police.
Nah, doesn't seem like a flight risk to me.
But Patrick George of Jalopnik is right, cyclists really should have more of a sense of humor about this sort of thing.
That's not to say the police and the justice system won't come down hard on you in the name of #VisionZero, it's just that for that to happen you need to be riding a bike:
It was then that McLeish informed them that he had been following them for blocks and had seen them run four red lights. He returned to his car to finish up the paperwork, and that's when reality set in.
"At that point we realized that we'd gotten ticketed for four different red lights," Frey said. "We were kind of stunned."
As the couple would learn shortly, not only were they getting four tickets for running red lights, but because of rules meant to apply to drivers who commit repeat offenses within the course of 18 months, the fines would increase for each successive one. The first red light was to cost them $150 each. The second: $350. The last two: $900.
Many years ago I got dinged for rolling through two red lights at a pair of "T" intersections, and if I remember correctly it was "these ones," as we used to say:
It was a hell of a fine, and my boss at the time berated me when I told him I needed to go out to traffic court on Coney Island, though ultimately he allowed it. (I was fortunate enough to have the kind of job where missing a day didn't also mean missing a day's pay.) Alas, I didn't get anywhere with the judge, and ultimately had to fork over the money.
There's a naive part of me that thinks, instead of applying the same penalties to cyclists and drivers, there's probably a way to discourage cyclists from running red lights and to even penalize them for it in proportion to the danger this behavior actually represents. (Which really isn't very much.) But of course this would involve moving past the American approach to "equality" (fucking everybody equally hard no matter how big or how small) and treating different people and different situations in a way that actually makes sense.
In other words it'll never happen.
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Golf Tea Kettle
Ridiculous Golf Item of the Week
The post Golf Tea Kettle appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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Thursday, March 30, 2017
That’s My Ultimate. To Have Control – Nick Faldo #golf
The post That’s My Ultimate. To Have Control – Nick Faldo #golf appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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How to Spend a Layover in Paris
Is it worth going into Paris for an eight-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport? A friend of mine recently asked me this question, so I thought I’d turn it into a post for all of you!
The short answer? Hell yes! Eight hours is enough time to get a brief taste of Paris before you catch your flight to your next destination. But you need to plan it carefully — this is not a time to just wing it.
Do You Have Enough Time?
I wouldn’t attempt going into Paris unless you had a minimum of a five-hour layover, and even then your time in Paris would be very brief. Don’t attempt a trip into Paris if you have less than that.
So, Kate, my layover is four and a half hours — would that be okay?
No! I meant what I said! I wouldn’t attempt it on less than five hours.
A five-hour layover doesn’t mean that you’ll have five hours to explore Paris — it means you have five hours minus the time it takes to go through immigration, possibly check your luggage into storage, wait for a train, take the train into Paris, take the train back to the airport, and go through security again for your next flight. And even then, it could mean you’d be spending less time in Paris than at the airport.
Things to Consider
1) What’s your luggage situation? If you booked a single flight that routed you through Paris (say, if you booked an Air France flight from Boston to Rome via Paris), you don’t have to retrieve your checked luggage. It will be checked all the way through to your final destination.
If you booked two flights separately, though — say, an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Paris and an EasyJet flight from Paris to Prague, and you booked them in two separate transactions, you will have to retrieve your luggage in between and check it in once again
Whatever luggage you are taking as carry-on, whether it’s just a small bag or all of your luggage, will stay with you for the duration of your layover in Paris.
However, there is luggage storage at Charles de Gaulle Airport. It’s located in Terminal 2, across from the RER station. It’s open from 6:00 AM until 9:30 PM. Each piece of luggage is six euros ($6.50) for up to six hours and 10 euros ($11) for up to 12 hours.
2) Where are you flying to and from? If you’re flying from outside Europe, it’s obviously an international flight, and if you’re flying on to Nice, it’s obviously a domestic flight — but some flights within Europe are treated like domestic flights due to the Schengen Area.
Most countries in Western Europe (Ireland and the UK excluded) are part of the Schengen Area, which has open borders. This means that flights from Paris to cities like Stockholm, Warsaw, Florence, Barcelona, and Munich are treated like domestic flights, not international flights. You will go through security, of course, but there is no immigration between Schengen countries.
The blue countries are part of the Schengen area:
Why do I mention this? Because it can save you a bit of time. You don’t need to allow time to get through immigration if you are flying from Paris to somewhere in Italy, for example. Security, yes, but not immigration. This could save you around 30 minutes or so.
3) Which terminals do your flights arrive to and leave from? There are three terminals at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Terminals 1 and 3 are close together and share an RER train station; Terminal 2 is further away and has its own RER train station.
Write down the terminals from which your first flight arrives and your second flight leaves — this will make your life so much easier.
4) Are you arriving on a red eye? If you don’t sleep well on planes, you may be exhausted when you arrive. My advice? Have some coffee and get out there! You’re in Paris, darling! (Ask for un café for an espresso, un café crème for a latte, or un café americain for a regular coffee.
5) Do you have euros? If not, no problem — just go to one of the many ATMs at the airport and make a withdrawal. Don’t exchange money at the airport, you’ll pay terrible rates compared to what the ATM will give you.
Just be sure that you call your bank before your trip and let them know where you’ll be traveling so they don’t flag your card for fraud. Also, double-check how much you’re charged for ATM transactions and whether you’re charged a foreign transaction fee for credit card purchases.
(If you’re American and travel often, I highly recommend banking with Charles Schwab. They refund all of your ATM fees at the end of the month, even foreign ATM fees (!), and they don’t charge foreign transaction fees.)
6) Finally, how much time do you really have? Add in the time expected to go through immigration (30 minutes is a good estimate but it could be longer or shorter), walk to the train, take the train, take the train back, and go through security and/or immigration again. This will help you plan your day.
How to Get Into Paris
The easiest way to get into Paris from Charles de Gaulle Airport is to take the RER B train, which goes straight into the heart of Paris.
There are both express and local trains on the RER B. I recommend taking the express; it doesn’t cost extra. It’s about 35 minutes to the Châtelet stop, which is close to the geographical center of Paris. One-way tickets cost 10 euros ($11) per adult and 7 euros ($7.50) per child.
Alternatively, you could take a taxi from the airport, which costs 50-60 euros ($54-65) and takes 35 minutes to an hour depending on traffic.
Personally, I recommend the RER B train. It takes roughly the same amount of time, it’s cheaper, and it’s more reliable.
(It’s very unusual to have a layover at Orly Airport, as most long-haul flights are via Charles de Gaulle, so I won’t be covering it here — but there are RER trains from Orly that will take you into the heart of Paris as well.)
What To Do on a Paris Layover
With only a few hours in Paris, you can’t do a lot — but if you concentrate on one small area with several attractions, you can feel like you’ve seen a lot of Paris.
My recommendation: take the RER B to the “St. Michel/Notre Dame” stop, which is right by Notre Dame and some of the prettiest neighborhoods in Paris. This journey will take roughly 40 minutes on the express train. Once you arrive in the station, follow the signs for Notre-Dame.
Visit the cathedral of Notre-Dame. This gothic cathedral is one of the most recognizable symbols of Paris — and it’s a solemn, overwhelming place, even without the presence of Quasimodo.
The views from the towers are spectacular, with the gargoyles looking over the city and the Eiffel Tower, but the lines can be very long. Find out how long the line is before you commit to waiting. Notre-Dame is free to visit but going into the towers costs 10 euros ($11).
Check out the kiosks on the left bank of the Seine. These iconic green kiosks sell books, art, and souvenirs. It feels so Parisian to peruse them!
Walk over to Ile St-Louis and have ice cream at Berthillon. There are two small islands in the Seine: Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis. Notre-Dame is on Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis is directly to the east. I love Ile St-Louis because there are far fewer tourists and it feels like a village in the heart of the city. Rue St-Louis, the main street, is filled with lots of cool shops.
Berthillon is famous for having some of the best ice cream in Paris with many unusual flavors that you won’t find at home.
Browse books at Shakespeare and Company. It may seem strange to browse an English-language bookstore in Paris, but trust me — Shakespeare and Company is a legendary business and one of my favorite bookstores in the world. It has a rich history, writers still live in the shop, and there are some cute cats. Have them stamp your book at checkout.
Walk over to Rue de Buci in St. Germain-des-Pres. This is one of my favorite areas in Paris, with lots of cool shops and cafes. From here on, just wander the streets at your leisure. One of the true pleasures of Paris is strolling aimlessly and seeing what you find.
Spend time in at least one cafe. It’s the most Parisian thing to do at all. Cafes are perfect for whatever you’re in the mood for. A coffee? A glass of wine or champagne? Some French onion soup dripping with cheese? A crepe? A salad with roasted duck? (One very notable exception: working on a laptop. Not like I found out about that the hard way or anything.)
Sit outside if the weather is nice. Even in the winter, most cafes have heating lamps.
If You Have More Time…
I didn’t want to plan an overly ambitious itinerary because it’s easy to end up miserable if you rush your trip too much. But if you have some extra time, you could add a few of these (not all of these!) if they catch your interest.
Visit Sainte-Chappelle. This cathedral is home to some of the most intricate stained glass designs in Europe. It’s located close to Notre-Dame on Ile de la Cité.
Visit the Pont des Arts. This is the bridge that began the love locks trend around the world. These days the locks are removed regularly, but there are nice views from the bridge.
Visit St. Etienne du Mont. This is better known as the Midnight in Paris church! If you love the movie, it’s great for photos.
Have a coffee or meal at Les Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore. These two cafes, close to each other on Boulevard St. Germain, were the hangouts of Hemingway, Sartre, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and all those
Visit the Luxembourg Gardens. Head further south into St. Germain-des-Pres and you’ll end up in these are some of the most beautiful and famous gardens in Paris. Stroll around, watch the kids with boats in the fountains, and pretend you’re in a movie.
Note: if you finish your visit here, you’ll be closer to the Luxembourg stop, which is also on the RER B line back to the airport.
What Not to Do
Please, please, please don’t try to pack too much in. I know how tempting it is to see everything — but you can’t see the best of Paris in just a few hours. Hell, you can’t see the best of Paris in two weeks.
I’m fairly certain that one of the secrets to travel happiness is making peace with the fact that you won’t see everything you want to see.
Don’t go to Disneyland Paris or Versailles. Both are outside the city — I’m sorry, but there’s just no time to visit on a brief layover.
Tips for a Paris Layover
Bring an umbrella. Paris doesn’t have great weather; it often rains. Or choose to risk it — you can always buy one in a shop.
Don’t dress like a slob. You may have flown overnight, but don’t schlep around Paris in yoga pants and a hoodie — you will stick out like a sore thumb in a city where locals look neat and put together. Trade your leggings for slim jeans, your sweatshirt for a nice sweater, jacket and scarf.
Wear comfortable flats. Sneakers immediately label you as a tourist. Literally all the shoes I own come from The Walking Company — their Abeo flats have FANTASTIC arch support, which I need for my bad feet, and they’re chic enough for Paris.
Download a Paris map app to your phone. It’s the easiest way to keep track of where you are, rather than using a paper map. If you plan on taking the metro, there are lots of free metro apps as well.
Be conscious of pickpockets. Pickpockets target tourists in Paris. To minimize your risk, I recommend using a crossbody purse that zips shut and you hold in front of you, or a backpack that locks like my Pacsafe backpack. Consider getting a Speakeasy Travel Scarf — they have a secret zippered pocket no pickpocket can get into.
Make sure you have travel insurance for your whole trip. If the worst happens — if you’re pickpocketed, or if you trip and break your ankle and need to visit a hospital, travel insurance will protect your finances and reimburse you. I never travel without it. I use and recommend World Nomads.
GET BACK IN TIME FOR YOUR FLIGHT!!!!
The most important tip of all. Everything here is meaningless if you end up missing your flight to your next destination!
I like to give myself a nice, comfy cushion of time so I won’t be stressed. (Ask anyone who has ever traveled with me and has seen me freak out when we’ve cut a deadline too close.)
Get back to Charles de Gaulle at least two hours before your onward flight departs. I like to give myself two and a half. It may seem a bit excessive, but when you consider the alternative — missing your flight, being stranded, possibly fucking up your return flight as well — this is one place where caution reigns supreme.
Save This Map For Your Trip
Here are all the locations mentioned. As you can see, they’re all close together!
Have a fabulous trip!
READ NEXT: 100 Travel Tips for Paris
Have you been to Paris? What would you recommend doing on a short layover?
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Golf Is Everywhere: Taboo Edition
The FX series Taboo has a scene in which St. Stuart Strange, played by Jonathan Pryce, is playing a solo round of golf. The “course” is really primitive — a cow pasture, really. In a nice touch, the uniformed cadddie holds the clubs in his hands.
I’m catching up on Taboo by streaming the episodes from FX. It is a dark story about the mysterious events surrounding the return of James Kexziah Delaney to London in 1814, following a ten year absence in Africa. His father has left him a piece of land near modern Vancouver called Nootka Sound, which is coveted by both Britain and the fledgling United States.
The post Golf Is Everywhere: Taboo Edition appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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All the News That's Fit to Print, and All the Blogging That's Fit to Bin
Hey, look at that, I got an "And Finally..." in the Times!
The Daily Bike Forecast, which began in January and posts on weekday mornings by 5 a.m., shares information like bridge and path conditions; travel advisories; clothing-musts based on the weather; and Citi Bike updates from across the five boroughs.
Today's entry is especially indispensable, since not only does it include the lowdown on an NYPD ticket sting, but it also blows the lid off the correlation between hating bike lanes and having an insatiable appetite for human testicles.
Now that's hard-hitting news you can ewes.
Congratulations to me. And TransAlt, of course, who will never recover from their association with me.
Oh, and the Times mention is even getting great comments:
In other news, a blogger over at Jalopnik attempted to make fun of that dumb $39,000 Bugatti bicycle:
This sort of thing should be like shooting fish in a cliché, and the bike is undeniably moronic, but still the author managed to miss the mark:
Boats and yachts I get, because you could theoretically include the car’s engine to power the thing. This is a bicycle. A fucking “special urban” bicycle WHICH! I might add, is not even intended to be used on public roads, reads the website. Well, then, what the fuck good is it?
Firstly, what does the lack of a motor have to do with anything? She mentions boats, but I'm pretty sure you could pay a fuckload of money for a sailboat. Guaranteed some Wind Fred is tearing it up out there on a crazily expensive America's Cup replica even as I type this.
Secondly, making stupid bikes is just what car companies do. Remember BMW's hybrid for example?
You know, the one with beefy disc brakes that weighed as much as a baby?
It's not just car companies, either. Putting out an overpriced bike with their name on it is pretty much de rigueur for all luxury brands:
Not only do they get some instant press, but a few high-net worth individuals for whom decimal places are totally meaningless might see one on display while on a shopping spree and buy one, and the rest of us get to laugh.
Most importantly, why is the Bugatti bike and dumber than, say, a Bugatti Chiron, which costs three million dollars?
It has 1500hp and a top speed of 261mph, which no billionaire douchebag could possibly attain and live. In that respect I suppose it's a subversive machine designed to kill off the global elite one by one.
Anyway, none of this would even be noteworthy if the car blogger didn't finish up her wet noodle smackdown with this nugget:
Wait, what?
"Laugh at your tiny genitals," "Put paprika in your chamois cream," "Smash it to pieces while you're chipping golf balls at the servants..." Any of these would have been not only acceptable but at least marginally more clever. But this kind of crap coming from a car blogger?
Regarding the headline, I do (or at least the bank does) and it isn't, I promise--and I don't even have to deal with alternate-side parking, let alone keep my car in a garage:
I live in Brooklyn now, just across the water from New York City’s densest traffic. My annual garage fee is what some Americans would call a year’s worth of rent. The garage is down the street, but I need to call at least one day in advance if I want my car. That really takes the spontaneity out of a drive.
Sounds great. So what is this car?
I daily a 2002 Mercedes-Benz C32 AMG, and, charmingly, this is the car that got me into cars when I was a kid. You know, the weird C-Class AMG. The one with the supercharged 349 horsepower V6 instead of a V8.
Wait, you "daily" it? Not if you have to call a day in advance to use it you don't. At best you every-other-daily it.
So how is all of this possibly worth it? Well, I guess it helps when your father gave you the car:
This little sedan used to belong to my dad and we had great talks about what made it special, why he chose this over the E46 BMW M3. I grew up watching him. I watched him park in the spots as far away from the grocery carts as possible. I watched him go on Sunday morning drives when nobody else was awake. I watched him wash it in the dead of night in the garage after the state issued water regulations in the face of a drought.
Ah yes, a hand-me-down Mercedes. It all makes sense now. Not only does it explain how a blogger can justify the expense of garaging a car in the most transit-rich city in the country, but it also explains the joke about hitting people, since finding that sort of thing funny is usually born of a sense of entitlement. Not that I think she would actually go hitting people with her Mercedes (I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here), but you can be damn sure that she's emanating contempt in your direction from the safety of her hand-me-down luxury car and nodding her head approvingly at every anti-bike tabloid screed.
Anyway, naturally a Twitter discussion about this shitty joke ensued, which predictably prompted the editor-in-chief of Jalopnik to accuse the over-sensitive cyclists of not understanding their sophisticated humor sensibility:
Hey, I know it's tough to make the monthly payments on that Kia Sportage, but maybe squeeze a few more bucks out of the budget to hire some slightly better writers.
As for the Bugatti, rest assured a request is pending:
I'll let you know as soon as I receive it.
from Bike Snob NYC http://ift.tt/2oC331Y
The Daily Bike Forecast, which began in January and posts on weekday mornings by 5 a.m., shares information like bridge and path conditions; travel advisories; clothing-musts based on the weather; and Citi Bike updates from across the five boroughs.
Today's entry is especially indispensable, since not only does it include the lowdown on an NYPD ticket sting, but it also blows the lid off the correlation between hating bike lanes and having an insatiable appetite for human testicles.
Now that's hard-hitting news you can ewes.
Congratulations to me. And TransAlt, of course, who will never recover from their association with me.
Oh, and the Times mention is even getting great comments:
So there you go.Reminder to the doofuses (doofi?) of the world to read before commenting.https://t.co/RezPQtoowg http://pic.twitter.com/uxTwRSLjV3— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) March 30, 2017
In other news, a blogger over at Jalopnik attempted to make fun of that dumb $39,000 Bugatti bicycle:
Boats and yachts I get, because you could theoretically include the car’s engine to power the thing. This is a bicycle. A fucking “special urban” bicycle WHICH! I might add, is not even intended to be used on public roads, reads the website. Well, then, what the fuck good is it?
Firstly, what does the lack of a motor have to do with anything? She mentions boats, but I'm pretty sure you could pay a fuckload of money for a sailboat. Guaranteed some Wind Fred is tearing it up out there on a crazily expensive America's Cup replica even as I type this.
Secondly, making stupid bikes is just what car companies do. Remember BMW's hybrid for example?
You know, the one with beefy disc brakes that weighed as much as a baby?
It's not just car companies, either. Putting out an overpriced bike with their name on it is pretty much de rigueur for all luxury brands:
(This one's actually pretty sensible...but not at $11,000)
Not only do they get some instant press, but a few high-net worth individuals for whom decimal places are totally meaningless might see one on display while on a shopping spree and buy one, and the rest of us get to laugh.
Most importantly, why is the Bugatti bike and dumber than, say, a Bugatti Chiron, which costs three million dollars?
It has 1500hp and a top speed of 261mph, which no billionaire douchebag could possibly attain and live. In that respect I suppose it's a subversive machine designed to kill off the global elite one by one.
Anyway, none of this would even be noteworthy if the car blogger didn't finish up her wet noodle smackdown with this nugget:
"Laugh at your tiny genitals," "Put paprika in your chamois cream," "Smash it to pieces while you're chipping golf balls at the servants..." Any of these would have been not only acceptable but at least marginally more clever. But this kind of crap coming from a car blogger?
All else aside, I wanted to know what kind of car a blogger at Jalopnik might hit a cyclist with, as I was pretty sure it wasn't a $3 million supercar. It didn't take me long to find out:Hi @KristenLee agree Bugati bike is pretty damn dumb, but saying "If I see you on this bike, I may hit you with my car" isn't remotely funny— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) March 29, 2017
Regarding the headline, I do (or at least the bank does) and it isn't, I promise--and I don't even have to deal with alternate-side parking, let alone keep my car in a garage:
I live in Brooklyn now, just across the water from New York City’s densest traffic. My annual garage fee is what some Americans would call a year’s worth of rent. The garage is down the street, but I need to call at least one day in advance if I want my car. That really takes the spontaneity out of a drive.
Sounds great. So what is this car?
I daily a 2002 Mercedes-Benz C32 AMG, and, charmingly, this is the car that got me into cars when I was a kid. You know, the weird C-Class AMG. The one with the supercharged 349 horsepower V6 instead of a V8.
Wait, you "daily" it? Not if you have to call a day in advance to use it you don't. At best you every-other-daily it.
So how is all of this possibly worth it? Well, I guess it helps when your father gave you the car:
This little sedan used to belong to my dad and we had great talks about what made it special, why he chose this over the E46 BMW M3. I grew up watching him. I watched him park in the spots as far away from the grocery carts as possible. I watched him go on Sunday morning drives when nobody else was awake. I watched him wash it in the dead of night in the garage after the state issued water regulations in the face of a drought.
Ah yes, a hand-me-down Mercedes. It all makes sense now. Not only does it explain how a blogger can justify the expense of garaging a car in the most transit-rich city in the country, but it also explains the joke about hitting people, since finding that sort of thing funny is usually born of a sense of entitlement. Not that I think she would actually go hitting people with her Mercedes (I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here), but you can be damn sure that she's emanating contempt in your direction from the safety of her hand-me-down luxury car and nodding her head approvingly at every anti-bike tabloid screed.
Anyway, naturally a Twitter discussion about this shitty joke ensued, which predictably prompted the editor-in-chief of Jalopnik to accuse the over-sensitive cyclists of not understanding their sophisticated humor sensibility:
@bikesnobnyc @Courier429 I don't know how you can read that as anything but extreme sarcasm but OK, if you wanna be Important Twitter Men— Patrick George (@bypatrickgeorge) March 29, 2017
— Patrick George (@bypatrickgeorge) March 29, 2017Putz.
Hey, I know it's tough to make the monthly payments on that Kia Sportage, but maybe squeeze a few more bucks out of the budget to hire some slightly better writers.
As for the Bugatti, rest assured a request is pending:
I'll let you know as soon as I receive it.
from Bike Snob NYC http://ift.tt/2oC331Y
Masters – Augusta National Ball Marker
Masters – Augusta National Ball Marker
Masters souvenir ball markers change from year to year. I wonder what a complete set would be worth.
The post Masters – Augusta National Ball Marker appeared first on GolfBlogger Golf Blog.
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5 Truths You Should Know Before Traveling Alone
Thinking about taking your first solo trip? Awesome! Here’s what you need to know before traveling alone.
Traveling alone is an incredible and also challenging experience. With the highs come the lows. For the past three months, I’ve been living in London alone. I had lived by myself out of college for 7 months, but this is my first time living alone in England.
If you’re curious about my London trip I shared my thoughts here & here.
If you’ve been curious about traveling alone and whether it’s a good option for you, then buckle up because I’ve got lots of thoughts.
The Perks of Traveling Alone
You get to make the agenda… all the time
When you’re traveling alone you’re the boss. I know, obvious right? But seriously – if you’re super excited about a specific destination, solo travel is amazing.
Traveling is wonderful because the options are really limitless. Some people love short trips. They love hopping from city to city to get the feel for a country. Others, including myself, love to really immerse themselves in just one place for long period of time.
Not just that, but how much you like to plan is a huge variable in travel. Many travelers love having agenda’s and lists and they want to see specific sites. I’m more of the “find one spot and explore from there” kinda gal, and I totally get that’s not everyone’s jam.
That’s one of the biggest and best perks of solo travel. No compromise, just traveling in the style and speed that works for you.
You have plenty of time and space to really reflect on your experience… and pretty much everything
Another huge perk of solo travel, especially for introverts, is the ability to really soak in and reflect on the experience while it’s happening. I find when I’m in a big group, I can often end up absorbing too many different energies and a lot of my attention goes into the other people around me versus the place itself. This isn’t always a bad thing, it’s just a force to be aware of.
If you’ve been craving time and space away from your daily routine, solo travel is this beautiful breath of fresh air and reflection. Often, the highlight of my day is walking in a new neighborhood. Sometimes I have music or a podcast in my ear, other times I’m just soaking up all the sites and sounds around me. This silence and space leads to my best ideas, revelations and moments of peace.
One challenging aspect of travel is managing your expectations versus the reality of what’s happening. I’ve been guilty of dreaming up a “perfect trip” only to feel disappointment when things don’t go the way I hoped. Traveling solo allows you to check yourself in real time. It also helps not to have to worry about someone else’s experience or possible disappointment.
You can set your ideal travel pace
This one is similar to creating the agenda, but traveling alone means never having to compromise on timing. Whether it’s waking up early, spending hours in a cafe, preferring to be (really) early for flights or just how long you like to stay in a museum, timing can be a big source of tension. If you are traveling with someone, the timing conversation is one you want to have before it becomes an argument.
Traveling solo means being the master of your time. Ahh just writing that made me so happy. I’m in the camp of “it never hurts to be extra early” and I know that drives other people nuts, the same way cutting it close drives me nuts.
Solo travel can be amazing – here’s what you gotta know before you go
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The Challenges of Traveling Alone
I decided not to call this the “bad” because it’s not necessarily bad. All these things are challenges, but I’m a firm believer that even when you’re being challenged there are plenty of things you can gain and benefit from. Let’s be real, solo traveling can be quite hard sometimes. Here’s why:
When things go wrong – it’s all on you
Traveling alone can be a lot of pressure. With the good comes the hard: it’s all on you. While you’re in charge of the agenda, you’re also in charge of all the details. That means flights, where you’re staying, what to do, getting around. All of it is on you. Oh and when things go wrong? Also up to you to figure it out. When you’re with someone else, it can feel comforting to know even when all fails you have someone to lean on and commiserate with. Solo? You have to be your own bff.
the upside of being in charge when things go wrong:
On the flipside, you feel like a badass boss knowing that you can handle it, when everything falls apart.
For example, the first apartment I stayed in on this London trip had a shared bathroom. That meant I needed to bring my key card with me even to go pee. This made me SO anxious because I knew if I got locked out of my room, I’d be shit out of luck. But the crazy thing is, and I know it sounds cliche, what doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger. As someone who has dealt with some situational anxiety, especially around travel, I’ve found one of the best therapies has been facing fears head on. Missing a train, getting locked out, all of these things scare me a lot. But when they inevitably happen (or don’t) it actually feels great because the world doesn’t end.
It Can Be Lonely
This one is pretty obvious. The hardest thing about traveling by yourself is feeling lonely. I’m most definitely an introvert (someone who needs alone time to feel energized) and I still get lonely being on my own at times.
When I’m feeling lonely, I usually like to spend extra time either going out for lunch or coffee. I’ll try to chat up whoever I can. I’ve found asking people questions is a great way to start a conversation. You can quickly read if they’re friendly and interested in talking by the way they react. I like asking people to watch my things while I go to the bathroom, if I’m working at a coffee shop. Asking people to do little easy favors helps build a mini bond even if it’s just for the hour you’re there working.
If you’re in a place for more than a week, becoming a regular somewhere is a great way to feel less lonely. There are a couple coffee shops I frequent multiple times a week and it’s nice to recognize baristas and have people to make small talk with when you’re on your own.
the upside of feeling lonely:
I believe feeling lonely is a beautiful part of life. Not only does it help you get to know yourself, but it helps push you outside your comfort zone. Normally small talk is pretty annoying, but when you’re on your own for a while, it can actually be really nice and comforting. Getting used to feeling uncomfortable, whether it’s feeling lonely or feeling awkward trying to meet new people, is a huge sign there’s some major growth going on.
A note on safety:
As a woman traveling alone, I’m definitely aware of my limitations. I do a good amount of research without letting fear take over. Fortunately, in my years of traveling both alone and in groups, I’ve never felt truly unsafe. I think allowing too much fear in, can attract negative energy. I have a very optimistic (without being too naive) view on the world. I pay special attention to how my body feels when I’m out alone. I know this might sound a little out there, but I really trust my gut when I’m by myself. If I have that “funny feeling” I trust it 100%.
I think traveling alone is an incredible experience. If you’re curious about it, but not sure, you don’t have to leave the country for three months. You can book a weekend alone in a city you’ve wanted to explore and take it from there.
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting up with a friend from college who was spending a week alone in London. It was so nice to grab lunch and catch up. She shared that she’s taken a couple vacations in and out of the states by herself and loved them.
Happy solo travels!
Your Turn:
- Have you ever traveled alone? Would you?
The post 5 Truths You Should Know Before Traveling Alone appeared first on In it for the Long Run.
from In it for the Long Run http://ift.tt/2obtfEd
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Happy Wednesday!
In my capacity as a semi-professional bike blogger and social media influenza, from time to time I receive the sorts of glamorous invitations that you lowly professional types with real jobs would never dream of. For example, at this very moment, a quick glance in my inbox reveals that most recently I've been invited: to learn more about my Irish ancestry from Ancestry.com on the occasion of St. Patrick's day; save 20% when shopping at a popular online bicycle component retailer; and to use my $2 in Staples rewards before they expire.
Hey, what can I say, life is pretty heady up here at the top.
Anyway, in addition to these exciting opportunities I was also recently invited to join Paul Budnitz on something called "Wuu:"
So what is "Wuu?" Well, before we get into that I should remind you who Paul Budnitz is. He started out as a maker of toys for adults:
And while you may be mystified as to why any adult would want a toy that doesn't either have wheels and go fast or bring you to orgasm, apparently there are a lot of overgrown children out there, because he was able to parlay his fortune into an eponymous bike company:
Which sells bikes he once explains are inspired by a BSA bicycle from 1946:
People have been asking where we found original inspiration for our bicycles.
Above is the 1946 BSA Paratrooper folding bicycle — the twin-cantilever design we use has actually been around for almost 100 years.
Though one custom bike builder offers a different story:
Anyway, Budnitz launched with the premise that they'd offer an Apple-type shopping experience, meaning they'd sell something pretty and easy to use to people who don't want to be bothered with how they work in a transaction untainted by haggling or any technical details whatsoever.
Budnitz then gave me a bicycle to test:
Which I immediately customized:
It was basically a 29er but without the frame clearance or off-road capability, and it creaked like an old person's knees:
This offended me deeply, because: A) The whole point of the bike was to give you a trouble-free experience; and 2) As the world's greatest living bike blogger I resent being presented with a bicycle that's less than perfect.
Anyway, I decided it was indeed the perfect bike if you're looking for something like a Giant Cypress but you want to spend a lot more money and you've got a hearing impairment.
And that was that.
But Old Man Budnitz was not done, and having disrupted the bike industry with his revolutionary new concept of selling expensive bikes to people who don't know or want to know anything about bikes, he moved on to social media, bringing the world something called Ello:
If it were me I'd probably have curled into a ball and whimpered.
Here's the full story straight from the source:
Just one more thing to worry about.
from Bike Snob NYC http://ift.tt/2nw2ast
Hey, what can I say, life is pretty heady up here at the top.
Anyway, in addition to these exciting opportunities I was also recently invited to join Paul Budnitz on something called "Wuu:"
Which sells bikes he once explains are inspired by a BSA bicycle from 1946:
People have been asking where we found original inspiration for our bicycles.
Above is the 1946 BSA Paratrooper folding bicycle — the twin-cantilever design we use has actually been around for almost 100 years.
Though one custom bike builder offers a different story:
Anyway, Budnitz launched with the premise that they'd offer an Apple-type shopping experience, meaning they'd sell something pretty and easy to use to people who don't want to be bothered with how they work in a transaction untainted by haggling or any technical details whatsoever.
Budnitz then gave me a bicycle to test:
Which I immediately customized:
It was basically a 29er but without the frame clearance or off-road capability, and it creaked like an old person's knees:
This offended me deeply, because: A) The whole point of the bike was to give you a trouble-free experience; and 2) As the world's greatest living bike blogger I resent being presented with a bicycle that's less than perfect.
Anyway, I decided it was indeed the perfect bike if you're looking for something like a Giant Cypress but you want to spend a lot more money and you've got a hearing impairment.
And that was that.
But Old Man Budnitz was not done, and having disrupted the bike industry with his revolutionary new concept of selling expensive bikes to people who don't know or want to know anything about bikes, he moved on to social media, bringing the world something called Ello:
Which was basically a minimalist Facebook:
With help from a Denver consultancy, Mode Set, they built a service characterized by minimalist black-and-white graphics and no ads. Gradually, it became the social network that Budnitz and close to 100 of his artsy friends wanted to use. “It was totally private. The problem was that as we got toward the end of that year, there were thousands of our friends who wanted to get on Ello.”
So they raised $435,000 from a Vermont venture capital fund to create something that could grow. Budnitz says that the idea is not to take over the world, but to keep building something that he—and others—will want to use. That means it will remain a service with no ads. “People keep asking are we competing with Facebook?” Budnitz says. “And I actually believe that Facebook is not a social network at all. It’s an advertising platform. We are a social network. That’s all we do. Facebook is there for the advertisements.”
And while I have no idea of Ello still exists or not he's now introduced this Wuu thing, which is basically a minimalist Snapchat:
And that’s pretty much it. My colleague Dami and I spent the morning trying out the app, quickly filling the other’s feed with wacky filtered images and confused text messages. But Wuu’s interface is incredibly vague, putting even Snapchat to shame. Instead of any clear labels, you’re presented with a row featuring a square, a circle, and a triangle at the bottom of the main feed. Through trial and error, square lets you send a text post, circle a picture or video, and triangle an audio message, but there’s no clear way to figure that out. It took me almost an hour to figure out how to change the color of text (swipe right and left on the screen while the typing interface is active), and if there’s a way to zoom in with the camera or adjust text label sizes, I haven’t found it yet. The app is also fairly buggy — both Dami and I experienced crashes in our brief time with Wuu, and at one point it froze my entire iPhone.
Sounds awesome. I especially like the idea of buttons that make no sense, like you've been abducted by aliens and are trying to escape in their spaceship but you can't understand the controls.
Anyway, back to the email:
Wuu is beautiful, fun, and private. It's my daily dose of happiness — a safe place to share your life with people you love.
No Likes, no followers, and no ads. Everything deletes from Wuu's server in 24 hours. Lots of hidden features, and once you join you can invite people you love too.
I dunno, call me a retrogrouch, but when I want to enjoy private time with the people I love I generally use my living room. There are no ads there either, and nothing gets stored on any server. (Well sure, the TV is listening to me, and I've got Obama in the microwave in the kitchen, but that's something else.)
Still, you've got to hand it to Old Man Budnitz. Over the past 10 years he's basically copied and re-sold:
1) The Noid from those old Domino's commercials (Kidrobot toys);
2) The expensive swoopy-framed bicycle (Budnitz bikes);
3) Facebook (Ello);
4) Snapcha (Wuu).
Indeed, he hasn't so much copied them as Budnitzed them, which is to say he's basically taken the whole thing and then changed some superficial details to make them less functional and more expensive. (Or at least more "exclusive" in the case of the social networks.) And while there was a time in my blogging career when this might have irritated me, now that I'm getting older I only wish I'd been similarly canny, for it only becomes clearer as time goes on that to the grifter go the spoils.
In other news, Colorado runners are getting dangerous:
“He gets probably to this side of me almost completely past me and says, ‘I remember you.’ And before I know it he’s grabbing my throat. He basically shoved me over onto the boulder and I just went into total protection mode and tried to cover my head,” Andrew said. “After the two punches he stomped on my back kind of right around here,” Andrew said.
Then the runner allegedly threw Andrew’s bike 50 feet down the mountain off the trail.
“I’ve replayed the incident over in my head multiple times thinking what I could have done differently,” he said.
As far as what he might have done differently, apart from this I have no idea:
If it were me I'd probably have curled into a ball and whimpered.
Here's the full story straight from the source:
from Bike Snob NYC http://ift.tt/2nw2ast
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