The Olympic Club Defeats the Equipment

This week the U.S. Olympic Club in San Francisco hosted the U.S. Open.

In recent years, the venues have been structured to allow the advances in golf equipment to dominate scores. Last year at the Congressional, the winning score bested par by 12 strokes. Not so in San Francisco this year.

This hundred year course carved out of a gigantic sand dune extracted its revenge on the tour pros. In my opinion its about time. Even though they fade cut the semi rough around the holes, it was not enough when many shots ended up in the trees and into the 7-8 inch rough. The winner on Sunday will score close to par. That is how it should be. A major tournament is not like just any other stop on the tour. At least 6 months of course preparation goes into the hosting of this event. This is one tough course.

In another sport the same event disparity exists. Baseball home runs in Denver despite its huge middle outfields are frequent. San Francisco sports a "pitchers" park with heavy air and strange right field sight lines. Very few home runs are made.  New parks take on a concept of being hitters parks or pitchers parks. This has not happening  in the world of professional golf. New courses are made to be successes for their members. When the pros hit it.... its mincemeat. It takes an old time golf course to remind the faithful that golf is game of toughness.

A true golf champion will come out of the U.S. Open this year The winner will have to stay concentrated as 35,000 adoring fans will fan across the fog banked hills. They will watch their favorite golf struggle. The golfers will have to use their heads and plan each shot. The holes are terraced and narrow. The greens are hard and tricky. The fairways have always been narrow. The elevation changes are tremendous. Many of  holes are blind. They cannot see from the Tee box where the ball needs to end up. Physically this course is demanding.  It takes it out even the spectator to walk from the bottom of the golf course as it parallels the road that encircles Lake Merced to the club house on top of the hill.

As for Lake Merced, after sailing this wonderful lake for 5 years in our little 14 foot sloop I can tell you first hand that the wind never comes exactly from the same place in any consecutive hour. The golfers will have to figure this wind vulnerability into their game right off.

It is by far the most complicated golf course to have a US Open held in many years. I am happy that it is held there this year. It was the first place that I learned to follow golf. I covered it in 1998 with my friend Tom Olson, and my father, Ken Brown. We had some of the first digital cameras on the course. It is fun to see the coverage and see that the trees have grown and the course is a tough as it was when Jensen won. Tiger was a sensation on the course and in the final rounds failed again.

:) Pat

A No HItter!

Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants three a no no last night.

As I went about my evening life, I had one eye on the TV. Matt Cain, the main man pitcher for the Giants was running through the order of the Houston Astros in prime shape. There didn't seem to be anyone reaching first base. The score was 10 zip. Half way through the game, things got tense. Not that Houston was going to score a huge number of runs, but rather was he going to make the no hitter stick. Just an errant fly ball dropped by an infielder or a ball that falls in could be the end of the perfect game.

As the innings added up the tension grew. The pitcher and dugout did not reflect the great job being done so as not to influence the chance that the perfect game could be made. The collective heart of the sellout crowd skipped a beat more than once as balls were hit into the outfield and plays were made within the very young infield.

The ninth inning the Houston Astros sent to the plate a Bay area boy to wreck the perfect game. Throughout the plate appearance, the  crowd as on its feet and some said the noise has greater than the final game of the World Series the giants won just two years ago.

The final play of the day was a hot ball sent to the newly acquired third basemen or before coming to the Giants had only played second base just two times before. The ball was hit sharply, and the Arias grabbed the ball deep in the third baseman's infield's place. The batter ran to first and almost beat the throw.

The celebration that ensued will probably keep the Giants from winning the next day. It was the first recorded no hitter in all of the Giant's franchise history.

What a marvel to behold.

: )  Pat

Artichoke Chicken

This dish was a featured Marie Calendar's entree that my wife could not resist when we used to have a Marie Calendar's in town.

I have modified this dish so that it can be made easily for two at home without left overs. Also some additions that we favor have been added.

Noodles
Egg Noodles (The original had used rice)
1/2 bag of Egg Noodles, added to 2 Cups of boiling water.

Sauce
Cream Sauce for Two (my spell checker isn't fond of my spelling of Beshemel)
2Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablesppoons of flour
One thin slice of onion chopped very fine or one clove of garlic pressed
Medium heat and whisked until smooth and a little brown in a skillet.
add a half a Cup of milk and wisk
add a scant pinch of pepper flakes, a scant pinch of salt 
Heat over medium heat to get a thick spoon coated consistency

Meat and Vegetables
 As the cream sauce reaches its consistency, add the following ingredients:
1 Cup of chicken from a rotisserie chicken (left over) chopped into "pulled chicken" like consisency.
1/2 Cup of bottled artichoke hearts drained and chopeed in rough consistency
1/2 Cup of sliced olives
 1/4 Cup of chopped almonds

Topping
Drain the noodles and spoon the cream sauce with the chicken and artichokes over the top and serve. I also enjoy a sprinkle of dried cheese of the works.

Sue said that she could eat this every day... even as I pointed out that it hit many of the spots that she didn't like:
Hot chicken
cream sauce

To me this wasn't that hard to make. It was tasty and not too high in calories.

: ) Pat

Standard Chinese Restaurant Fare

It was interesting to read my sister's blog and figure out the progression of common Chinese American food.

She writes: I ordered plum wine for everyone and we enjoyed it along with the classics:  Hot and Sour Soup, egg rolls, mu shu pork, sweet and sour chicken, spicy beef, mongolian noodles, chicken fried rice and the ubiquitous fortune cookie. From her Travel with the Rents blog.

Growing up in the 60's the fare was a little different than even this menu.

We started of with egg flour soup. This was bits of egg white drizzled into a chicken noodle broth. It was somewhat exotic to try hot an sour soup.

Almond chicken was an exotic dish. Imagine putting in nuts with your meat? Mushrooms were the exotic ingredient. It was often served on top of rice. 

Sweet and sour pork was fancy stuff. It had that ubiquitous red sauce and highlighted pineapple chunks (canned) and sauteed green peppers.

Egg foo Young was pretty cool then. It was a fried patty of bean sprouts and whole eggs.

It was true that with more people ordering the "combination," the more side dishes would be included at no cost. Chinese food was the original value added product. With four people ordering you could get egg rolls. With five people they added pork buns. The egg rolls were generally bean sprout infested, no meat. Not that I minded.. it was just all that we knew. 

Everyone ordered rice and tea. Dishes came in giant platters that were swirled around on lazy Susan turntables.  And yes there was the ubiquitous fortune cookie.

Since that time, the menu has evolved to the one noted above. I seem to remember eating at a Chinese restaurant in Morgan Hill with the parents before. it was behind the Monterey boulevard storefronts. We just had to try out the new "lemon chicken." It was a deep fried chicken filet that had a very sweet lemon sauce on it. It was the first lemon chicken that I had every eaten. It may have been the beginning of the famous "orange chicken" that the Panda restaurants are known for. When I eat at a Panda Express, it rare to hear a customer pass up the orange chicken.  Sadly, I am one of the orange chicken eaters too. 

At least we made it out of the chicken chow mein, chop souie era.  I still miss those crispy noodles in the food!

: ) Pat

Sweet Betsy from Pike

Our family traveled many miles during the Summer singing songs such as Sweet Betsy from Pike. Not all of our cars had great radio. Most of the stations that we would encounter along the roads were not very good. I started to learn the guitar in 1963. We always traveled with a guitar. Here are the lyrics to Sweet Betsy From Pile. Mom and Dad were big fans of Burl Ives. Burl Ives did a modified version of this song. I came across a modern interpretation of the song in Suzy Bogguss's American Folk Songbook. I think my next mix will be folk.


Sweet Betsy From Pike

Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike,

Who crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike,

Two yoke of cattle, a large yeller dog,

A tall Shanghai rooster, and a one-spotted hog.

Singing too-ra-li-oo-ra-li-oo-ra-li-ay.

They swam the wide rivers and crossed the tall peaks,

And camped on the prairie for weeks upon weeks.

Starvation and cholera, hard work and slaughter--

They reached California 'spite of hell and high water.

One evening quite early they camped on the Platte,

Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.

Betsy, sore-footed, lay down to repose--

With wonder Ike gazed on that Pike County rose.

The Injuns came down in a thundering horde,

And Betsy was scared they would scalp her adored.

So under the wagon-bed Betsy did crawl

And she fought off the Injuns with musket and ball.

The wagon broke down with a terrible crash,

And out on the prairie rolled all sorts of trash.

A few little baby-clothes, done up with care,

Looked rather suspicious, but all on the square.

They stopped at Salt Lake to inquire of the way,

When Brigham declared that Sweet Betsy should stay.

Betsy got frightened and ran like a deer,

While Brigham stood pawing the ground like a steer.

The alkali desert was burning and bare,

And Isaac's soul shrank from the death that lurked there.

"Dear old Pike County, I'll go back to you"--

Says Betsy, "You'll go by yourself if you do!"

They soon reached the desert, where Betsy gave out,

And down in the sand she lay rolling about.

Ike in great wonder looked on in surprise,

Saying, "Betsy, get up, you'll get sand in your eyes."

Sweet Betsy got up in a great deal of pain.

She declared she'd go back to Pike County again.

Ike gave a sigh, and they fondly embraced,

And they traveled along with his arm round her waist.

The Shanghai ran off, and the cattle all died,

That morning the last piece of bacon was fried.

Ike got discouraged, Betsy got mad,

The dog drooped his tail and looked wonderfully sad.

They suddenly stopped on a very high hill,

With wonder looked down upon old Placerville.

Ike said to Betsy, as he cast his eyes down,

"Sweet Betsy, my darling, we've got to Hangtown."

Long Ike and Sweet Betsy attended a dance.

Ike wore a pair of his Pike County pants.

Betsy was covered with ribbons and rings.

Says Ike, "You're an angel, but where is your wings?"

A miner said, "Betsy, will you dance with me?"

"I will that, old hoss, if you don't make too free.

Don't dance me hard, do you want to know why?

Doggone you, I'm chock-full of strong alkali."

This Pike County couple got married, of course,

But Ike became jealous, and obtained a divorce.

Betsy, well-satisfied, said with a shout,

"Goodby, you big lummox, I'm glad you backed out!"

Chaffee Zoo

Yesterday, Sue and I went to the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno.

It was a great time to try out the new Nikon 5100 and its super telephoto lens. It was a great time to go as the temperatures were in the 80s all day. Sometimes Fresno in the Summer roles up to some pretty high temperatures that make zoo exploration problematic.

What was really great was to see the young kids enjoying the field trip day. It was easy to see that many, even though they were from schools nearby had never been to the zoo. Some kids took off in a run and had to be admonished by their supervisors that it was not a place to run as supported by the orientation talk. They were all wearing "character counts" shirts. Character counts is a program that is partially funded state money that was earmarked in the early years for police presence on campuses. In elementary schools it becomes an integrated part of the curriculum and garners state grant money. It seemed obvious that this may be a source for these schools to get money for field trips to the zoo in years where money is being parsimoniously spent.

There were also students there in a small group with highly identifiable shirts that said, "I am home schooled."A small band of these students were headed to the gift shop just as we were headed out. Gift shops are difficult for all field trip participants. Some kids have saved their allowances for months for a special thing to buy on a school field trip while others have very little to spend and have to watch the others pull souvenirs off the shelf to buy.

A third population was there with their moms and dads. They were toddlers that were in awe of the little things in a zoo that might be missed by their older siblings. One girl and boy were having a great time climbing all over the Nosey the elephant sculpture. Mom and Dad for one toddler were happy to get their daughter to hold up a branch of green leaves so that the giraffe could swoop down with his blue tongue and scoop up this special treat. Zoo handlers were their to supervise, talk about the giraffes and collect the two dollars required. This also made for a great photo for me to add to the collection of point and shoot digital photography series I am doing in watercolor canvas. The photographer in this case had bright red fingernail polish. This ought to be fun.

This third group also included toddler member that were in total awe of seeing giraffes for the first time. The Chaffee Zoo was very proud of their newest member of the giraffe exhibit. A new giraffe was born in the zoo two months ago. This baby was not yet clued in to appeal to the crowd. The crowd was loving the chance to see it.

Seeing the kids in action in the zoo was really a treat. One of my best pictures came near the end of our trip. I happened to see a bright red dragoon fly land on the guard wire of the anteater enclosure. I took its photo and took another when it took off and landed back at its same spot. It might be the best photo of the trip... go figure..

: ) Pat
 

What is not important need not be defined

One art in photography and watercolor can both be impressionistic. Photography by its capture realistic until it hits a computer or a darkroom. Watercolor seems to be more dependent on the impressions of the artist rather than the detail since it starts with a blank page.  Great impressionistic photography transcends this detail limitation and becomes impressionistic through the vision of the photographic artist. Not all of a scene needs to be in sharp detail. Many photographic artists prefer to work in black and white for the purpose of making the work more impressionistic. The viewer must translate a black and white image away from its color heritage of our eyes.

Watercolor philosophy in the form that I am attempting may be approached up by stating that what is not important my be suggested not defined. A line, a wash, a suggested object my include a released blurry spot is acceptable and supported in watercolor. Its called an eye release.

As a beginner I wanted to capture the house, the tree, the rocks. An impressionistic artist looks at shape cohesion, value contrasts and rhythm. The subject that focuses the attention can be defined as recognizable detail, but that which is not to be focused upon, is less defined and requires less precision. This is what makes this media so interesting,

I am currently working on a new kind of media. The paper is hand made in India. It is thick and it has a wonderful rough texture. There is a sense of absorbancy that makes this media fun. Its almost impossible to "lift" or take pull pigment out of the paper. It will also soften any wet lines. It makes my work softer around the edges. It also takes to pen lines. In retrospect it is the reciprocal to the water media plastic paper called Yupo.

Yupo has little absorbancy. Paint sits right on top of it. While artists can layer with it, care must be taken as too much pressure releases the paint on top and gets you right down to the white in a hurry. Some artists my use tissue paper to pull layers of color off and to provide textures and contrasting stains over its extremely transparent base. Its certainly not your mother's Arches paper. Yupo is a difficult media to extract individual detail, as is my Indian media challenge.

Art is an adventure.

: ) Pat