New Life Master
Ellen Beltran, New LM Rosemary Herrick, Gerry and Rosalind Cunha
The Chris’s Birthday Regional is going full swing in Santa Clara, and we have our first new LM.
Rosemary Herrick, a Rossmoor resident, teamed up with Ellen Beltran, Gerry and Rosalind Cunha to win the KO’s and get the last of her gold points.
Congratulations!!!!!
Not all the stars play bridge
Our friend Larry Ledgerwood, husband to the beautimous BJ, is a star in his own right:
Sailor of the Week
Larry Ledgerwood
US SAILING’s National Sailing Program Symposium (NSPS) Chairman Larry Ledgerwood of Walnut Creek, Calif. was ecstatic with the turnout from last month’s NSPS in Clearwater Beach, Fla. Over 270 sailors attended the event. Larry has played a significant role in the growth and the direction of this signature US SAILING event for sailing education, and was honored at NSPS with US SAILING’s Ginny Award for service and support to sail training.Larry is a true believer of NSPS and the value it has as a catalyst for new programs and a support base for existing ones. “At this year’s NSPS, I was struck by how many people are touched by all the organizations that attend NSPS,” Larry said. “The fact that we have the reach that we do, and the talent, experience, and dedication that is represented by the attendees is nothing short of astounding.”
Besides being a world-class sailor, Larry is a dedicated amateur photographer and my bird-shooting (with a camera) buddy. I’ve never entirely figured out what he does for a living, but he gets to travel to France to do it, so I’m jealous.
Congratulations Larry.
Friday night at the club
Gayle and Gail and the crowd
Friday nights have been running 2 tables for years now, so last night when we h ad 7 tables was a 350% improvement—not too shabby for a first effort.
Of course, it’s easy to bribe bridge players with candy, cake and champagne, all of which were in abundant supply.
Marilyn Horan won for the second time yesterday–she won the afternoon game, too.
The next big Friday extravaganza will be on March 18. Corned beef and cabbage dinner. I’d have green beer if the state of California hadn’t decided that it was a crime to put a drop of green dye in beer, but the state is busy taking care of us all. More details to follow, but save March 18.
ATT wrap-up
Kate and her hat signed by Michael Bolton
We had a great time doing nothing, basking in the sun, scarfing hot dogs and watching a tiny amount of golf.
I’m not much for following the crowds and trying to see what is happening, so we went straight to the eighteenth green, grabbed the best seats and hung out. Groups of players would make their way up to our location, then drop a few balls in the sand trap to practice, then putt out four or five times, then leave to let the next group in.
Eventually, the celebrity challenge group came up–they didn’t play 18 holes, so it was about 1 1/2 after they teed off. A huge crowd came with them, but we already had the good seats—laziness pays off sometimes.
Michael Bolton and Clay Walker won the Celebrity Shoot Out, but the interesting thing was watching Kevin Costner.
Costner has 3 kids, maybe 2, 4 and 6 years old. After the Shootout ended, his kids got to playing in the sand traps and making a mess, as little kids will. He tried to get them to stop, but the littlest one especially was pretty wound up and just wanted to run through the sand.
Here’s the good part: after he got the kids corralled, Costner stopped and took the time to rake the traps out properly. He could easily have just left and the grounds crew would have made it right, but he was a responsible man about the whole thing and cleaned up his kids mess. My respect level for him grew quite a bit today.
Not close, no cigar
Part of the cigar menu here at the Lodge at Pebble Beach.
Another reason I’m glad I don’t smoke.
ATT Pro-Am
Sitting in the sun at the eighteenth hole at Pebble Beach, watching the practice round.
We’re here with Gail’s daughter and sweetie in law Brad, who is a major golf fan.
The weather is flawless. Sixty eight degrees, a light breeze and bright sun.
No competition today except the celebrity shoot-out. We tried to watch, but couldn’t see a thing through the crowds. I can tell my putative grandchildren I saw Kevin Costner’s club head on the backswing.
Mark Twain called golf “a good walk, spoiled”. Watching golf in Pebble is just a great way to spend the day.
Be my Valentine
Long ago and 4 miles from the current bridge club, I directed on Friday nights. Often, we would have 3 sections and 40 tables. I directed alone and we scored by hand on the blackboards while Don Harrison passed around his famous toasted mayonnaise bread.
While I hope to never try toasted mayonnaise bread again, I’d sure like to see a vibrant Friday night game, so Gail and I are going to have some special events to get people motivated to come out more often.
This Friday, we’re having a Valentines’s Day party. There will be sweets and cake and Champagne. People will be nice to each other. We’ll all have a good time. Be there. 7:15 Friday night.
Worst Super Bowl ad
Every year, there is a major competition around the TV ads during the Super Bowl. Companies spend multiple millions of dollars to catch the eyes and imaginations of the viewers.
Some ads are winners, some are losers. I think this Pepsi ad is the big loser of the year, glorifying domestic violence..
Men are constantly demonized as being physically abusive to their mates, yet women are allowed and even encouraged to assault men. This ad is a prime example:
The woman in this ad is just plain violent and abusive. Her behavior is inexcusable on any level. I find nothing funny or amusing or instructive here, and do not feel in the least motivated to purchase any Pepsi products by her behavior.
Another Year, another great movie
Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent star in Another Year
It was like a cartoon stereotype–there I was, standing in line to buy movie tickets an hour before the Super Bowl kickoff, and I realized that I was the only man there. Looked like every football widow in the Diablo Valley was going to the movies this afternoon, and I was joining them. Which is fine with me, because the movie we saw was a damn sight better than the football game.
Another Year was written and directed by Mike Leigh, director of the Academy Award winning Secrets and Lies. His specialty is movies about the relationships between and among people–no car chases or fireworks here.
The movie stars Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen as Tom and Gerri, an absurdly happy couple living in London, tending their garden, enjoying their careers as geologist (Tom) and therapist (Gerri), and watching over their friends and relatives. Broadbent is a veteran of the screen, while Ruth Sheen has had a stage career–she may well be the least attractive leading lady of the year, yet she is perfectly cast and does a magnificent job.
The angst in the movie comes from Mary (Lesley Manville). A friend of Gerri’s from work, Mary is needy, whiny, irritating, compulsive and alcoholic. She’s a walking trainwreck, who makes herself the center of attention by being constantly miserable. I hated the character, loved the characterization. The final shot of the film is perhaps 30 seconds, wordless, just watching her project her pain. Manville was surprisingly overlooked in Academy Award nominations–she steals this movie completely.
This is an English movie–it’s slow. Nothing really happens, there are just people talking and interacting. There isn’t any particular plot–just a chronicle of a year in the life of a happy couple with unhappy friends. The magic is in the details, the long slow takes focusing on the minutia of daily life. You will get drawn in, though. You will care about the people, even the ones you don’t like.
The art of movie making is not dead–it still flourishes where marketing and demographics take second place to telling a story with truth and dignity. In order to distinguish branding vs marketing in every piece of art, consider the business consultation from adinfusion.com.
The Fighter
Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo tell a real life story
My friend Mike likes almost all sports–except boxing and car racing (which are the only sport I like). So I was pretty surprised when he called me and said he and Linda had just seen The Fighter and I should go see it too.
Gail and I saw it today, and Mike was right.
The Fighter tells the true story of Irish Micky Ward and his quest for a championship belt–but it is just as much about the story of his brother, Dick Eklund, himself a boxer, trying to overcome drug addiction.
Then there is their mother, Alice. A piece of work if ever there was one. With two sons and seven daughters, she rules everyone’s life like a tornado in a trailer park.
Dick is supposedly training Micky, but nothing is more important than his craving for crack. Momma Alice is managing the enterprise, and the seven sisters are a shrieking Greek chorus.
This situation can’t work, of course, and things fall apart. Micky takes on other management and training, Dick goes to prison and mom is furious. Micky is aided by the love of a new girlfriend, wonderfully portrayed by Amy Adams.
Of course, since this is a feel good movie, Dick gets clean in prison, the family reconciles and they all move forward to the championship fight.
Lisa Evans thinks Christian Bale is creepy, but his drug-wasted character is supposed to be creepy, so I guess he’s doing it right.
This is a really good movie–Ronn Owens on KGO radio says it is his favorite movie of the year. The acting is first rate, with Melissa Leo a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. I thought the big final fight was a little too reminiscent of Rocky, but I was cheering for the hero just the same.
Watching this, it’s difficult to remember that it is a true story–the characters are so broad, so Runyonesque, you don’t think that they could really exist. But I’ve watched Micky Ward in the ring, and he really is that tough and iron-willed, and capable of taking an astonishing amount of punishment and coming back to win.
Any sports movie that Mike and I both like must be good. Go see it.
Totally Unauthorized 