capnamerca

I'll just chip in here and mention all the badass women that are Austin Firefighters, too. One of whom left my house to go visit him in the hospital, too - they were classmates in academy. Agree that recent news is promising. (that's not snarky although I know it can read that way ... I share your admiration for all of our fire brethren.)

Fuck you for hating my proper following distance.

Goddamn I loved everything about Streamsong. HouTex's review is pretty spot on. The Black wasn't open when I played last August, so I can't comment there. I found the Blue to be hard, and somewhat goofy. Green set at weird angles, overly-sloped sections of greens for no good reason, strange visuals off of some teeboxes. That's not to say there aren't AMAZING holes out there - #3 sticks with me, as does the great par-3 over the water (signature hole). I found the Red to have the same links quirkiness as the Blue but played more fairly. Good shots were rewarded, bad shots were punished. Birdies were available, but not a given, even on the 5's. There's so much shot value out there it makes my head spin. Let's take 7, mid-length par5 back up the hill. Tee ball down the left shortens the hole considerably, but brings some bunkers and a long, dark, deep hazard (ie lake) into play. But it leaves you a straight away long iron into the green. Drive it out right a bit and you're still in the fairway, but playing over cross bunkers to get to the pin, and a back-left pin is completely hidden from you behind a big hill in the middle of the green. Lay up shots need to be precise due to that same hill (depending on hole location). Green is TINY, but lots and lots of flat putts mean you can make birdie with two (or three) good shots on the hole. Miss left, double Miss long, double. Miss short to a long pin, bogey. Just a fantastic fucking hole. They're all like that. Go play. Stay out there at least one night, preferably two. Play in the morning, go take a dip in the pool and shower, get a beer or two. Go out in the late afternoon and bang some balls (you'll probably be the only one on the range, but they'll keep it open for you), then hit chips and pitches on the short game area. Wrap up the night with a bourbon or five. Get up early and do it again. Heaven.

Where did you find it?!?! I had some for the first time a few weeks ago in Vegas, and was blown away. It's now on my "buy if you ever see it" list ...

There's no accounting for taste, I guess. It's a damn fine track and they don't charge you an arm and a leg. Add in consistently good-to-great conditions and you've got a winner.

This thread is way too low on the page. Headed to Vegas for our yearly customer conference. Hosted at the Aria which means I get to spend lots of time at the Sage Bar. Best bourbon location in Vegas.

You're just a few years younger than me if I remember right. I coached Jordan Danks after I graduated from college (just a tiny bit, he wouldn't remember), but that dude was unreal. I never had to hit off of John in high school, but there's a good reason he had a long MLB career. Kelly Johnson was a Freshman at Westwood the year after I graduated. He played varsity all four years (naturally), and I went back to watch them play several times. Kid was crazy good.

Baseball, not football. Played against Ryan Langerhans when he was at RRHS. Incredible player, as you would imagine. Ontiveros was on that team, too. I think the '97 and '98 RRHS senior classes sent 8-9 guys to D1 schools (something like that ... good lord they were good).

You use your tongue prettier than a $2 whore.

SWAY would like a seat at this discussion table, please.

MLB player rockets a ball off the middle of the L-screen and Maddux doesn't even blink, much less flinch. Hilarious.

My experience is by no means unique, and I don't really have insight into retail markets or other market forces; it was, however, eye-opening. On a business-school trip to Hong Kong, we had the chance to visit the "fake markets." After that day, I'm now convinced that a material portion of the real product that ends up on shelves in the US and UK is fake, especially when you're buying from second-hand distributors (like, say, every seller on Amazon). The last straw for me was the Hermes tie I bought. I'm sure some sort of high-fashion expert could tell the difference, but I sure as shit couldn't. Here's the thing - Hermes doesn't manufacture in China. They don't source from China. They don't design in China. WTF?

I don't know about future seasons, but I really like this show. CAme to it late, so was able to binge S1-3. Working my way through 4 now. LOVED Hated in the Nation, USS Callister, San Junipero, Men Against Fire, White Christmas. Wasn't fond of Crocodile, Arkangel, or the pilot, but I'll take their hit rate for sure.

Baseball is interesting (and different from every other sport with 'lines', I'm pretty sure) in that the foul lines only explicitly determine whether a ball is fair or foul. They do NOT determine the path on which a runner must run, or serve as any sort of a boundary for a defensive player to engage with an offensive player or runner. I didn't look up the exact wording, but the 'baseline' a runner must follow is determined by where the runner is when he's engaged by the defense (ever seen a guy round 1st base and end up almost in right field before hitting second base?), and in some situations it's defined by intent, rather than position on the field. The latter is what you saw with Ellis. The "run past 1st base rule" says (paraphrasing) that if a runner is past 1st base, and makes an effort or signals intent to go to second base, then he's in play. His location on the field has zero bearing on that intent (i.e. the foul line is meaningless). The umpire ruled that Ellis had signaled his intent to go to second, and was then as such in play, and the tag out was valid. It's exactly equivalent to a runner tagging up on a long fly ball, deciding NOT to try and advance, and being tagged out trying to return to the original base. I think the umpire mis-judged Ellis' intent, but it was a close enough play that I wouldn't have gotten myself ejected while I argued it. Looked like Pierce had the same read.

Metallica might make me rethink my "don't care" attitude. Muse would go a long way, too.

Seconded.

We can share. I'll take Tuesdays, you take Fridays.

Don't let it go to your head.

The one-club open is alive and well, fear not.

FINALLY had a victory at Specs. My lack of luck at that store is well known (well, it WAS well known ... at the other place). Was in the Hill Country Galleria Specs on 71. I'd read about Total Wine getting their W12 allocation, so I asked the lady in the bourbon section if they had any. She happened to be the manager, and also happened to have one left un-reserved. For $22. They also had a blue corn bourbon in the case for $69, and EHTaylor Straight Rye on the shelf ($69 is a little stout but it's my favorite rye). Add in a Jefferson's small batch as a mixer, and I walked out with four awesome bottles for <$200. She also said she'd start holding Blantons, Eagle Rare, and W12 for me whenever they got some, and put me on the Pappy list. I'll never get a crack at the Pappy, but they can't tell you no if you don't ask. I guess I'm going to start driving out there for bourbon, to make sure she knows my face.