IronWOMAN!

Huge shout out to my friend, Lesley Mettler, who ran in today's Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.  For those of you not familiar with what the Ironman is, let me explain.

You swim 2.4 miles in the ocean, then you bike 112 miles up and down some very steep hills, and as if you had not had enough, you run a FULL marathon (26.2 miles).  Fun, huh?  And remember there was an earthquake in Kona less than a week ago.  PLUS.... they had some record heat and humidity to contend with today.  So figure in the race and then the chaos of the earthquake and weather to boot.... no problem, right?

BACKGROUND: Lesley had to qualify to be insane enough for this event by doing the Ironman in Canada in August, 2006, and finishing in the top 4 in her age group (very competitive).  It was her first Ironman in August and it is pretty much unheard of to qualify got the Championships on a first try.  WOW.  Some people get in to Kona by luck of the lottery, but for those for qualified - right on!

Anyway, Lesley was supposed to compete in August, 2005 and had a horrific bike incident on her last training run for the race.  She broke her collarbone, and was obviously bummed out (understatement) about all of the training she had done.  Lesley was such a class act that she still went and cheered on her training partner, Mathias (a colleague of mine ironically), in the race they were supposed to do together.  She also graciously ate our homemade lasagna (she couldn't cook or do much with the immobilized arm/shoulder) and told us it was good - disclaimer: she was doped up on painkillers!  Hehe.

Lesley was due for some good luck and she did the race of her life this past August to qualify.  We have been watching the race online throughout the day to keep tabs and with less than 6 miles left in the run (11+ hours later), she is still chugging along.

We just watched her cross the finish line on the official website.  How cool is technology?!?!

Lesley - you [bleeping] rock!  We will celebrate when you get back to Seattle.  Marc and I are very proud of you and just so you know I was with you in spirit, I ran 6.2 miles around Green Lake today.  Really, I felt your pain.  :-)

YCMTSU - Part 2

YCMTSU = You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Sometimes there are stories you hear that you think, "no way someone can be that stupid".  And then you are proven wrong.  Over the past 2 days, I have had the distinct "pleasure" of reading 2 stories that fit into the "dumb and dumber" category.  I guess I shouldn't be so surprised based on a previous post of mine.

Yes, yes..... late Wednesday, "engadget" blogged about stupid burglars who accepted a texted ransom for a stolen cellphone.  Huh?  I'm sure this will be a candidate for the annual Darwin awards.  OK that was just dumb.  Then this morning I was on ESPN reading about a bomb threat made to most, if not all, of the NFL stadiums hosting games this weekend.  Made me think - huh... that's not good even if the threat was viewed by some authorities with skepticism from the start.  Then tonight, it came out that the threat was a hoax AND..... get this, it was inspired by a writing contest between two men in Brownsville, Texas and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Are you kidding me?!?  I can't wait for the guys from Deadspin to comment on this one.

I don't get it.  Anyone else get it?

Wednesday rhymes with [insert something here]....

I tried to come up with something funny here for the subject of today's entry, but to no avail.  That aside, Wednesday is not such a bad day of the week for me because it happens to be the day that both the NYT and Seattle Times publish their weekly Food and Wine sections.  Generally there are always a couple of articles that give us some cooking or beverage ideas, so it's fun to get some of the creative juices flowing for when one of us conjures up another creation in the kitchen.

Of particular interest today was an article about one of the pioneer's of cheesemaking in the U.S., goat cheese actually.  Laura Chenel decided to sell her business after 27 years of making some of the best goat cheese I have ever had.  Marc and I had the opportunity to learn a bit about goat cheese during a trip to France back in 2004 when we stayed at a B&B in Provence.  Good times.

Also in today's NYT was an article about the late night dining scene, which I found amusing and made me start to reminisce a bit about the good old days when we would actually be out that late and ravenous for something other than the McDonald's on Delancey Street on the Lower East Side.

Finally apparently Seattle is going to be on the cutting edge of a new type of luxury hotel.  That's right, real estate concern Starwood Capital Global Group LLC will launch a new luxury hotel that will aim to combine chic accomodations with an environmentally friendly stance.  The first hotel of the chain will be based in downtown Seattle on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Pine Street, with other locations planned for Paris, Scottsdale (Arizona) and Mammoth Lakes (California).  Target for opening in Seattle is 2008.

Late breaking news: According to today's NYT, Brownie the Cow has some parents alleging an unfair test.  This probably falls into the 'you can't make this stuff up category', but it was too amusing to hold on to.  To quote Cindy Adams of Page Six fame, "only in New York, kids, only in New York."

Monday rhymes with 'Fun Day'.

At least that is what the suits at ESPN want you to think as they now host Monday Night Football.  OK, next...

In today's NYT, I was sad to read about the closing of one of NYC's most venerable live music venues - CBGB's.  I know I have been there on multiple occasions and have always enjoyed the vibe there when I was looking for some good live music that was a bit off the beaten track.  The people who ran CBGB's unfortunately could not pay the escalating rent.

Since today is Monday and it rhymes with 'Fun Day' (can you tell I am struggling with this?), I'll switch to a more positive topic.  Eric Asimov, beverage critic for the NYT, blogged on Friday about the lack of good beer available at Shea Stadium (where the New York Mets play), and while he didn't mention it - the Yankees have the same problem.  Fortunately we do not have the same problem in Seattle where microbrews get equal footing to Budweiser.

Mr. Asimov actually blogged about his recent trip to the Pacific NW and talked about some of the great beers he had on his trip.  He also mentioned a restaurant in Portland, OR that Marc and I went to called Paley's Place.  What a great meal - great service, awesome food, excellent location, etc.  If you head to Portland, check it out.

You can't make this stuff up.... (part 1)

Lots of times you may hear me say, "you can't make this stuff up."  Well I've come across a story where once again you just can't make up what took place. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers (football team for the non-sports fans) have lost a starter for tomorrow's game because the guy suffered a frostbite injury due to too much treatment on his left foot.  Apparently Kendall Simmons fell asleep with a cooling device on his foot as he attempted to treat a heel injury.  Not sure if he will be out for more than a week.  Stay tuned.

This incident made me think of some other entertaining injuries suffered by professional athletes, like John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves burning his own chest while ironing a shirt he was wearing.  I'm telling you - I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.  I could give you more examples, but you would think a professional baseball player could afford to send their shirts to a dry cleaner?

In a less humorous version of "you can't make this stuff up", I read in the New York Times this morning about two art students who decided to create fake bombs in art class and then eave them on the NYC subway for a college class project.  I'm all for artistic expression, but potentially diverting city resources from a real tragedy to investigate the validity of these students' "art work" is asinine.

Lark (A Restaurant)

Jill closed on her condo this week (the money arrived today) so she wanted to know where I wanted to celebrate for dinner. I told her to pick from the 3 Star or Better review list of the Seattle Times. She used the Food & Wine Seattle restaurant list instead - although they both have Lark listed which is where we ended up.

They have small dishes meant to be shared and everything we got was really good (although I didn't eat the seafood). I really enjoyed the House made malt ice cream on the dessert menu - I saw it online before we went and was looking forward to it all night.

We brought a bottle of 1999 Matrix from Mazzocco which is located just outside of Healdsburg, CA near where we got married. They make some really nice wine and it went well with the whole meal.

Some interesting things I read today...

I am one of the fortunate people at Microsoft who actually live in Seattle and work in Redmond, and can take mass transit to work with basically no hassle. This gives me about 2 hours/day to read, sleep, catch up on e-mail, etc.

I keep current on a wide variety of topics, which is a great thing, but it sometimes precludes me from picking up a book and reading it when I have time. I seem to get caught up in keeping current and with the advent of blogs, RSS readers and technology in general, it is getting tougher and tougher. I am testing out a new tool in beta from Microsoft called Windows Live Writer. If you are writing a blog, try it out and give us feedback.

That being said, I wanted to share some of the better articles I have read over the past couple of days. Probably one of the funnier ones was from this morning's WSJ talking about the new focus on the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. My favorite statement is about the Home Depot sponsoring a Sukkah building workshop for its customers in Oklahoma. No, that is not a typo.

Another one that made me smile was a tribute to R.J. Apple, Jr, a longtime correspondant with the New York Times. He loved food, he loved wine, he loved travel and he loved what he did for a living. Some people are good about sharing their tips, some not so much. While Mr. Apple was generous with his knowledge, the author of this article managed to come up with a creative way of tapping into Mr. Apple's rolodex without actually having to bother him.

Another interesting story that I came across was about a couple of inner city girls participating in the World Chess Championships in the Republic of Georgia (former Soviet Union) next week. The focus of it happens to be they not are just girls (a minority amongst kids who play chess), but also African American. I personally did not grow up playing chess, but I can see that it does a lot of good in the development of strategic thinking for kids. Best of luck to them!

I would be remiss if I did not mention the horrific plane crash in New York yesterday. No, the plane crash was not horrific because one of the people killed was on my beloved New York Yankees. Until the news came out that the pilot of the plane was Cory Lidle, I'm sure many NY'ers were concerned that 9/11 was happening again. And since there was lots of conflicting info coming out, it was hard to get at what the truth was which can be pretty unnerving after what happened 5+ years ago. Anyway thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the 2 men who were killed yesterday.

To end on a positive note, my sister and her husband found out that they are having a baby boy in late April/early May. Another Gators/NY Giants fan in the making at the Behar house - I can feel it. Lisa, see what you can do about the Yankees making it in there - would you? :-)

OK, OK - I surrender!

Before I address Marc's post, I just want to congratulate the Tigers and the A's for basically telling all of the baseball experts to shove their opinions up their [blank]. Both teams played great baseball and simply outplayed their more favored opponents. I'll probably cheer for Barry Zito and the A's only because he spent some time with my cousin, Bobby, at a JDRF event a couple of years ago.

A week ago, I thought the A-Rod Curse (Marc calls it a curse, not karma as he mentions below) was a bunch of bunk. Now I am a believer, so Marc, I surrender. I think the Red Sox will be cursed for another 86 years by letting Johnny Damon go and I think any team with A-Rod will be cursed as long as he is on their roster. Please Brian Cashman - axe him! We all know that performance in October is all that matters.

My off-season predictions for the Yankees:
  1. A-Rod is traded to the Angels for some pitching. The Yanks have trouble beating the Angels anyway so it really is a win-win for everyone given some of the logic mentioned earlier.
  2. Joe Torre decides "not to come back" (aka he is axed).
  3. Barry Zito comes to the Yankees as a free agent. He has a terrible record against them, so being a part of the team eliminates him having to face them.
  4. Bernie Williams does not come back.

I'm still soliciting donations for Team Bobby for JDRF. If you would like to donate for the upcoming walk, please click here before October 31st. This is my pet charity so any and all donations are appreciated.

Had a great dinner with Maureen, Rebecca and Michael last night. We got to hear all about their latest travels to Hawaii and Paris, plus consumed some excellent food and wine. I think the standout wine of the evening was Isenhower Wild Alfalfa Syrah from 2003, as it paired really well with the Lamb Shanks Braised with Cinammon and Red Wine from Tyler Florence's Eat This Book.

At least Big Blue beat the Washington Redskins today.

A-Rod Karma

A-Rod (Alexander Emmanual Rodriguez -- baseball player, not Andy Roddick -- tennis star) seems to be struggling and I call it A-Rod Karma.

This isn't necessarily accurate as who knows what A-Rod did in his past incarnations to suffer in the playoffs in this incarnation. Plus, he's one of the most gifted athletes alive. Still, maybe it could be considered "instant single-life Karma". Let's review.

A-Rod had a great career in Seattle. He was a rising star and beloved by fans in Seattle. He played 15 postseason games here with decent stats - but if you look at the postseason numbers closely, he really one had one great postseason series - his FINAL one - the 2000 ALCS against the Yankees. 9-22, 4 runs, 5 rbi, 2 hr, .773 slugging %.

Guess what? He was up for a new contract immediately following the TEAM loss in that series. He really wasn't playing for Seattle then, but for his next contract - adding a few extra millions ($) by peaking before negotiations. He was telling Seattle he wanted to stay as his teammates rolled their eyes in disbelief because they knew better. He proceeded to sign the richest baseball contract in history which STILL hasn't been surpassed 6 full years later. Usually record contracts are broken by some other player within a season, maybe two.

This is when the instant Karma began. Texas never made the playoffs, and they tricked the Yankees into taking him (although they still pay a good chunk of his salary). A-Rod has not helped the Yankees win in the postseason and he hasn't even helped his own stats either. I think he had this coming to him. He may never recover until he apologizes to Seattle for lying about wanting to stay. He wanted the biggest contract (Seattle's offer was not chump change) AND secretly he knew that Safeco Field was too big to break career batting records. And that is truly what he wants - personal statistics. He plays for himself, not his team.

"Chicken Make It Up As You Go Along"

Marc forgot to mention that the reason we were at Spitfire is that we wanted to watch the Ohio State – Iowa game while grabbing a bite. We had a long day after dealing with some unexpected things at the condo, so we opted not to cook at home and head out. We were cheering for Iowa for 2 reasons:

1. They were the clear underdog to #1 ranked Ohio State.
2. One of our friends is a huge Hawkeye fan, and since we are not heavily into college football, we tend to cheer for Florida (JB) and Iowa (Matt). If UW is having a good season, it generally means good times for all in Seattle, so sometimes we cheer them on as well.

Unfortunately Iowa got smoked in the game, but at least Marc and I found a new place to watch a game and have a decent meal.

Given the amount of time spent at the condo on both days this weekend, my plans for cooking up one of the great dishes in the cookbook kind of went awry. So I decided to do something along the lines of “chicken make it up as you go along”, which basically consisted of:

Slicing up some garlic and onions, and then throwing it in the Everyday Pan. Then throwing in some thyme and bay leaves for a few minutes to get some heat. Seared some chicken thighs, and then added some white wine. Brought to a boil and then let it simmer while the oven was heating up. Threw the pan in oven and cooked it for an hour at 375. Warmed up some potatoes from the night before and some green beans.

Actually all came out ok and it’s always good to have leftovers since Marc and I are busy with some big projects at work. At least he gets to work from home. Lucky him.

It’s October and the Yanks have secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Now all they have to do is win 11 games between now and the end of the month. The downside of the Yanks being in the playoffs is having to listen to the AWFUL and overly sanctimonious Joe Buck call the playoff games on FOX (Marc, you work for those guys – can’t you do something about him?).

Go Yanks!

For you sport fans, I found a sports blog that seems to be pretty entertaining - Deadspin.com. Check it out.

Sports Bar in Seattle

There isn't the greatest selection of sports bars in Seattle. Not when you want a good number of TVs, high definition screens on most if not all of them, and food that isn't pub grub. Tonight, we found a decent place in Belltown called Spitfire that has a menu with a Latin influence (for lack of any better description). They have a good number of flat screen TVs with huge artwork on the walls (we're talking 5'x5' minimum each on the artwork - the TVs are much smaller, but big enough).

I had an enchilada with a fried egg on top. The sauce was SPICY, but the waitress did warn me when I ordered it. I enjoyed it. My side was spitfire potatoes that were ok - good enough to bring the leftovers home for tomorrow's dinner. Jill had a rib eye with rice and beans on the side. Apparently the rice/beans were also on the spicy side.

They have a 10PM-midnight happy hour going on that is 50% off of everything. Might be a great place for a late meal or drinks.

TGIF.

It has been pretty crazy for me (Jill) since returning from New York. Fortunately Marc is the type of guy who goes with the flow and is as low maintenance as they come. With Windows Vista getting ready to launch and me having a larger role in making that happen, plus running our group's 2nd annual partner conference this week, it has been fairly insane on the work front. Fortunately the partner conference went really well and we received lots of kudos both for the content and logistics, so that is a nice feeling. Windows Vista continues to plug along and we are shipping the enterprise version in about a month's time.

In the midst of all of this, Marc and I have been spending a fair amount of time at the condo getting it in tip-top shape for potential buyers and such. It's been great working with Rebecca and Michael, as they have been awesome about keeping me apprised on things as well as advising what makes a place sell quickly vs. not so quickly. Being a novice at this, their experience is key. It's a bit sad to sell the condo as it was my first residential purchase, but I know it is going to allow Marc and I to pursue some other interests.

NFL season has kicked off and Marc is not pleased at the Denver Broncos latest offensive efforts - no pun intended, eh? We'll see if they can right the ship. Harv's New York Giants make their way to Seattle and we'll have to see if Big Blue can avoid setting any records in false start penalties like they did last year.

The best part about football season for me is that I get to have one full day a week of experimenting in the kitchen. The last 2 creations that I tried came from Molto Mario, another book from Mario Batali. One was Short Ribs Braised in Barolo (Brasato al Barolo) and the other one was Chicken Cooked in Red Wine (Pollo al Vin Cotto). Both came out pretty good, but Marc's comment was that he thought the chicken dish tasted better as a leftover because the meat just fell off of the bone. We kept the chicken dish on a low flame while we were eating in case we wanted more, and I think that just ended up enhancing the dish. Next time, I'll try braising the chicken instead of doing it how it is outlined in the book.

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the Yankees clinching the AL East this week. Lots of injuries, but they managed to persevere (save the $200 million dollar payroll comments - Old George at least wants to win as much as us fans do and plays within the system created by MLB). Let's hope they are still playing in a month's time.

Go Yanks!

Wait - there's more birthWEEK?!

Well... uh, yeah!

Marc and I decided to head to New York to continue the celebrations of the birthWEEK. It was a fun, if not tiring, few days where we were able to catch up with Holly and Mark at Arturo's Pizzeria on Tuesday, and then catch a late drink with Sally and Dustin at Aix (Dustin is the sous chef there). It should be noted that Mark is a huge Mets fan, so he is plenty excited about their prospects in October.

On Wednesday, we went down memory lane and had lunch with my first boss at Morgan Stanley. In addition to seeing Mare, I was able to see some former colleagues from back in the early 90s. Crazy how things have changed over the years and then not so much - we went back to a place in Brooklyn Heights where we used to have lunch regularly and of course - picked the dishes that we used to eat back then. Then Marc and I met up with Sally for an early dinner at the Artisanal before heading out to the US Open to watch some tennis. The 1st match of the evening was great - Maria Sharapova vs. Tatiana Golovin. Golovin fought until the last point and even though it only lasted 2 sets, the length of the match was over 2 hours. The 2nd match of the evening - Lleyton Hewitt vs. Andy Roddick - we were definitely psyched about, but were disappointed. Roddick showed up and played some excellent tennis, but Hewitt clearly was not playing his best and was not doing his normal routine of yelling, screaming and pumping himself up. Over in 3 sets and under 2 hours.... kind of just a flat match.

For the big birthday, we had the pleasure of having lunch with Aunt Joyce at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. Spending time with her inspires you to do more with your life. She travels extensively, still does some work at Cosmo (worked there for many years), and does some opera singing... amongst other pursuits. We had a lot of laughs, for sure. Marc wanted some New York microbrew, so we used that opportunity to meet Chris W. at Heartland Brewery for a beverage. That night, another group I used to work with at Morgan Stanley (when it rains, it pours I guess) was having one of their reunion dinners, so Marc and I joined in the fun at L'Impero. This was the group that probably started my food and wine education, so it was great seeing everyone to catch up - including Ming, MaryBeth, John, Bill, Diane, Mark, Tomas and David. Marc was such a good sport listening to us reminisce about the good old days that we decided to hit ESPNZone after so he could catch the end of the Steelers - Dolphins game (NFL kickoff has arrived).

The highlight of the week was meeting our little nephew - Harrison Reese - on Friday. Took the train to Gwen and Glenn's, and spent a few hours there. Harrison looks very handsome in his new Yankee attire, if I may say so myself. Gwen's doing well and we gave her some photo sharing tips, as is Glenn. Marc and I then tried a new restaurant - Cafe D'Alsace - with Jeanne, Jeanne's Mom, Sally and Dustin. Excellent food and great wine list. Nice catching up with Jeanne and her mom, and then Dustin was called in for a work emergency at his restaurant. We decided to offer moral support by drinking at the bar while he solved whatever problem presented itself, and then Dustin joined us for more wine.... we stopped by their place and they gave me a couple of their favorite cookbooks as gifts, plus some homework to read up on. :-) It was an exhausting but fun day and evening.

Finally on Saturday, we met up with Siu Yun and saw her new apartment, which is very cute, and then had brunch at Five Points. She was telling us all about her trip to South America, which sounded like a ton of fun. We then rushed up to midtown to see the Tony award winning play – “The History Boys". It was pretty enjoyable and my Mom scored us some great tickets, per usual. Then it was off to see Lisa, JB, Harv and Yvette for dinner at Babbo. Great food and lots of laughs. Unfortunately Lisa is still battling some morning sickness, so she probably could not enjoy the food as much. Then we got on the plane this morning to head back to Seattle so Marc could watch NFL from the couch. You tired, yet?

I know I am! And we didn’t even get to see everyone we wanted to see!

Agassi and more birthWEEK!

Andre Agassi lost his 3rd round match at the U.S. Open this afternoon, thus completing his professional tennis career. In looking at all of the montages that have been on TV showcasing his career, it amazes me how much he has changed his focus from the "Image is Everything" guy to all of his philanthropic works. Lindsey Davenport said Agassi made the sport cool and Andy Roddick said that we have not seen the best that he [Agassi] has to offer yet. He was in obvious pain during his match today and decided that he was going to finish no matter what. Classy and dignified - the way we should all end chapters in our lives. Way to go, Andre.

In other news, I finished Heat - the book recommended by my friend Sally that I mentioned in an earlier post. Pretty good, although the ending kind of left me somewhat lukewarm about the book. Get the book but the best parts of it are in the first 75% of it in my humble opinion.

Marc and I also continued the birthWEEK celebrations by him cooking an excellent rib-eye recipe from Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook. We matched it up with steamed broccoli (had to get some kind of green in there) and a bottle of syrah from Cayuse Vineyards from Walla Walla, WA - yes, Walla Walla actually exists and is not a made up name. :-) Fantastic. Then Marc topped it off with making a decadent chocolate cake and accesorizing with my favorite ice cream - mint chip. Not low cal, but hey - it's the birthWEEK.

Birthday really means birthWEEK.

Birthday - guess the name would indicate that the event should only last one day. I have never subscribed to that theory; I mean - what's the point?!?! I personally prefer the birthWEEK. So last night we kicked off my birthWEEK by having dinner at Oceanaire Seafood Room, one of our favorite places in Seattle to eat for a variety of reasons.
  • Great fresh seafood; the menu is updated at lunch and dinner daily.
  • Even though the non-seafood options are limited, Marc still loves going and devouring the roast chicken.
  • The wine list is not massive but has some good labels for us to try new things.
  • They have a great bar that allows you to order the full menu, which seems less cavernous than 2 people in a huge booth.
  • It has a dessert that Marc has tried to finish repeatedly and failed miserably. Anyone who has been with Marc at dessert time knows how rare that can be. The dessert in question is known as the Super Fudge Caramel Brownie and according to the wait staff, only one person has finished it after a full meal - Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs (notice Tim's height and weight).

So last night, we found a new bottle of wine to try a bottle of syrah called Tyrus Evan. We were attracted to it because the grapes came from a place in Oregon where we have found wines we have liked in the past - Del Rio Vineyards, which is in the Rogue Valley. The bottle was very nice and it went very well with the meal.

We sometimes get questions about wines in the Pacific NW. Tyrus Evan is actually based in Carlton, OR, which is in the Yamhill Valley just outside of Portland, OR. But Yamhill is actually part of the more better known Willamette Valley (say WILL-AM-IT, DAMN-IT not Will-um-et), very well known for Pinot Noir. If you look at a map of the world, you will notice that Portland, OR is roughly at the same latitude as Burgundy, France. Many of the wines have related characteristics because of the similar climates.

All in all, a great evening. On the work front, Microsoft released RC1 (Release Candidate 1) of Windows Vista - our new operating system. I've been using it full-time at work and it keeps getting better and better with each release. It's going to continue to be a tough slog from now until when we release, but things are looking good.

Anyway, we'll keep you posted on some other great wines and meals that I am sure we will have this week. Stay tuned!

South Pacific

Since we are going to Kauai in the future, we were told to rent "South Pacific" to see Mount Makana (a.k.a. Bali H'ai in the movie) so I added it to my Netflix queue. Let's just say this is NOT my type of movie and not Jill's type either.

Maybe halfway through I decided to look and see how long it was thinking it must almost be over (the plot was far too slow) only to realize it is 157 minutes. I declared right then we were not seeing the end. We didn't make and it wasn't because we were falling asleep but rather out of the humor of the musical songs, the cheesy dialog and plotlines to that point, and general boredom. The colored effects were slightly distracting as well. About all we learned is that line "I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair" came from one of the songs in this musical leading to the later commercial about washing the grey out of the hair.

M's Take The Series, BUT.....

Harv always taught me to try and look at the glass half full. Even though the last place Mariners finally showed some moxie and took 2 out of 3 from the Yankees, the Yanks are still 6 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. The reason: the aforementioned Mariners still had some gas in the tank to SWEEP the Red Sox right after the Yanks left Seattle. We got to watch Schilling get his tail kicked in on Friday night while making a horrific fielding play, so it was a very satisfying week from a baseball perspective when thinking about the bigger picture.

In other news, Marc and I spent a couple of days down in southern Washington State checking out some golf courses. It was sunny and hot. We played the Links on Saturday where I shot a pretty decent (for me) 117 - if only my putter decided to show up, it could have been easily under 110. Spent the night in Olympia (for those of you who don't know it is the capital of WA) and well... at least dinner was good at the Budd Bay Cafe. Pretty boring town. There was actually a high school reunion going on at the hotel we stayed at, so I wanted to crash it and pretend we went to the school.... Marc was pretty wiped from the round. Oh well.

Sunday we played the Woodlands, which was ok except the round was pretty long and it was fairly hot. I actually never asked Marc how I did, but that was probably a good thing as my game was not on as much as I would have liked. Oh well. We still had a good time anyway.

Also got to start a new book, which was recommended by my friend Sally - Heat, which was written by Bill Buford. So far it has been pretty entertaining - it's about the author getting a chance to work at Babbo under Mario Batali as well as under another famous chef named Marco Pierre White - both very eccentric in their own right. I'll let you know what my final opinion is of the book when I finish it. And Sally, no worries - I'll use tongs when I make the barolo short ribs. :-)

Tense times in the Beck household.

The Yankees are coming to Safeco Field, which only means one thing in the Beck household - TENSION. It's been a heck of a weekend for the Bombers after 4 HUGE wins against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. We'll be at the Yankees/M's games a couple of times this week where Safeco Field will actually have almost a packed house for a change. I'll have a lot of fun at work wearing Yankee attire and taking heat from my colleagues... but people here can't trash talk like my friends from the New England area. Listen for Marc on the telecast as he will be boo'ing A-Rod the loudest out of anyone. :-)

Summer Golf in the Desert

I survived! I drank soooo much water it wasn't even funny. I played 90 holes of golf in under 90 hours and most of it was outside of Palm Springs.

I played 18 with my dad the day before in Anaheim Hills. It was pretty decent and good practice for warming up to the heat (it was only 90) and for the bermuda grass which can be tough for those of us who never play on it.

We played the Stadium Course of PGA West which was in dis-repair. Sidewalks were torn up, the greens were SLOW with super long grass (for greens) and tractors tipped over in the waste areas (see photo). We also played Desert Willow Firecliff Course which was the nicest we played. And finally Silver Rock which was also a fine course and was certainly the hardest one of the group.

I've put a few photos up on Shutterfly for those who want to see the courses. It was a fun time, except maybe all the "del Taco" some of the guys wanted to eat.