Monthly Archives: May 2009

Golfist Cinema, Golfist Wintertime Diversions, Video , , , , , , Leave a comment

New Star Trek Movie bootlegged preview -revised -no longer bootlegged -official HD trailer -updated

by

There is no golf in science fiction that I know of. This doesn’t keep me from enjoying science fiction immensely. The new Star Trek movie is coming out and looks to be a huge bangup. Among Star Trek fans, there are two factions. Those who prefer Big Action are offered up episodes and movies involving wars with Klingons, Borgs, and Khan, and even thrown a planet eating monster that looks like a giant doobie. Those who prefer Big Ideas are given time travel stories (including one involving a sarcastic, cloacal time portal), moral dilemma recapitulating the issues of the 20th century, and anything involving empaths (people who can sense the emotional state of others -WTF!???!?!?). Then you have tribbles and fembots.

JJ Adams takes a turn at the old wheel, coming off his Cloverfield and Lost successes, and the preview shows a definite red state Big Action tilt. You see a mavericky kid and young adult Kirk speeding along in various fossil-fueled vehicles. The bi-specied Spock is seen trying to bludgeon a crewmate in this preview. (J’ever notice that Obama may actually have some Vulcan in him as well?). And that’s the thing, when the quintessential blue stater Spock is kii-yaa-ing and hacking at people, you know where the movie is going.

The Star Trek vehicle needs reinvigoration after spending many years in the Big Idea doldrums. I triedimg_26771 watching the first season of Enterprise but just couldn’t get over the show being stupefyingly boring. Reimaginations of “classic” shows inevitably have to incorporate the mood and tempo of the contemporary audiences.The remade Battlestar Galactica is the greatest television show ever, and you should have heard the shrieking about Starbuck being a girl in certain geek quarters. The best science fiction balances the Big Ideas with Big Action. Ridley Scott is a master of this with Blade Runner and Alien.

There are elements of homage in the preview. There is a Dreadnought class starship getting blown up -this is a reference from the Star Fleet technical manual. This kind of detail shows that JJ Adams and the writers are shockingly incredible Trek geeks. This would seem to me that they took their custodial duties with regard to the Star Trek canon seriously. Or it may just be a random teaser designed to draw in the middle aged Trekkies along with all the teens and twenty somethings who know nothing about Trek. I’m holding judgement and praying it’s not Star Trek Kids.

The missing Dreadnought, inspiration for many pages of spiral notebook art

The missing Dreadnought, inspiration for many pages of spiral notebook art

Addendum: The ship in the HD preview (much clearer) is clearly not a Dreadnought, but rather a some kind of modification of either the Scout or Destroyer Class starship called the USS Kelvin with a topside crew/engineering pod in the picture shown from the back below:

Warp Nacelle on Bottom?

Warp Nacelle on Bottom? or Blinding LED Rear Light

This addresses a serious problem I had with Technical Manual where there was no differentiation between the Scouts and the Destroyers (identical) and all you had was the saucer section. The topside main section appears to have the sensor array in the appropriate place.
usskelvin
The USS Kelvin does not show up in the Star Trek Technical Manual, which means that this production deviates from the canon by a large degree. I do know this will greatly bother many serious Trekkies who have nothing better to do than dissect blurry Youtube videos.
Interesting for local readers, Kirk (young adult) zips alongside cornfields to end up in some kind of future alien cityscape. Kirk’s backstory is that he was born and raised in Iowa  (Riverside, Iowa -see below). Problem is, I don’t see a Kum & Go anywhere, which shows again how little attention to detail was given by Team JJ Adams.
Riverside, Iowa

Riverside, Iowa

Addendum: Prequel is available on iTunes as an iPhone App. Engaging comic book about the Romulan Apocalypse and time travel. Time travel is the sci fi equivalent of the dream sequence -it’s usually a sign of unimaginative thinking. It does allow for drastic changes to canon -after all -we are on another time line. The linearity of the timeline is something established by HG Wells, who avoided the going back in time to blow up your parents conundrum. The Planet of the Apes movies dealt with a non-linear timeline, and most recently, The Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles basically acknowledges that there is a fifth dimension -a history of time -meaning that linear views of history and causality can change so that the totality and end results are different over time. Kind of like seeing a full circle on the kaleidoscope rather than just a ray on the kaleidoscope. In this kind of world, there is no canon and JJ Adams can do what he wants. This is far more pleasing than the stupid negative universe where everything is opposite.

Addendum 5/14/2009: I saw it last weekend, took my seven year old and wife on Mother’s Day. The movie knocked my socks off. Everything makes intrinsic sense now. They needed to fluff up the old shaggy franchise, and they hit it out of the park. It was very entertaining. Iowa is elevated to the status of planet with cut scenes between Vulcan and Iowa. Also, it is clear to me that the canyon seen in the trailer is in fact a quarry used to deliver matter to be transformed Trek-style into starship plating. The Enterprise is made of Iowa dirt! Watching the movie in a theater in Des Moines was very special. My son who had been watching classic trek on the iPod Touch now thinks Star Trek is almost as good as his Clone Wars.

Golf politics, Liberty Leave a comment

The Lady Doth Protest Too Much

by

cheneyThis was my comment on William K. Wolfrum’s excellent political and occasionally golf oriented blog (link). 

regarding Cheney’s recent publicity campaign challenging the current sitting Presidents judgement and policies:

I think this is a campaign to shape public opinion, concentrate and shore up the base, to preempt some series of possible revelations coming down the pike. This is probably because they have nothing on Pres. Obama or his administration except for randoms bits. The revelation will do nothing less than result in the further marginalization of the GOP with a breakoff group of holdover moderates creating the seeds of viable opposition which we need in a democracy.

I used to track chatter on a great 9/11 conspiracy, and a good friend even divested in western civilization by selling out 401k’s, IRA’s, properties in San Francisco in 2002-2003 and put all of his money in oil and gold -now has built a beautiful house off the grid on a lake filled with trout in the pacific northwest -all based on the belief that there was a conspiracy.

I see now with Cheney’s ranting and the GOP’s loss that rather than conspiracy, it was opportunism and cronyism a la Teapot Dome. I used to vote GOP, was a big fan of Bush, Sr, but dropped out and voted for Gore in 2000 based on the treatment of McCain by GWB’s team and their appeal to the darker side of our natures. It’s the flight of moderates like me that have left the GOP in its current state.

We can’t print money fast enough to pay for this mess. It will be the duty of every citizen to hold, even cling, to the principles that created this country because we’re in for a long haul. Our minds aren’t geared to a ten year timeline but to the moods of our gut -and if we’re sated and typing away at the keyboard, it can’t be that bad, could it? Could it? &”(/.) -Mike Park

We’re in for interesting times. 

Golf and Religion, golf culture, golf mysticism, golf proverbs, HAC, my golf , , , , Leave a comment

High Expectations

by

IMG_0205There is a golfer who has written a book about breaking par (link) in the span of a year from a state of hack. I am a fan of windmill tilting, and I have preordered the book. The author is on Twitter probably by order of his publicist, but his genuine reticence to go full tilt shill convinced me of his genuine qualities.

I think for someone with a reasonable swing, going from bogey to par golf is an achievable goal if it is dissected as a process, much like making a good pot of coffee, a perfect pancake, or repairing a ruptured aneurysm. I fancy that I can make my swing work on occasion.

Of course, unlike the previously mentioned procedures, golf involves a great deal of emotional baggage. A round of golf can reveal emotional subtext like nothing else except for maybe Thanksgiving dinner with the family.

You see the flashes of perfection like the fluttering of angel wings at the periphery of your vision. The ball sometimes flies as if guided by Providence. These shots out of our dreams are glimpses of our better selves.

As much as I try to put bad shots out of my mind, I think the key to the next level is getting the good shots out of my mind -or at least the most recent good shot. I will concentrate on blocking out the past and on facing the present situation -it’s natural as breathing in my profession, so I must strive to apply it in my avocation.

If you double after a birdie, you’re still one over for two holes where typically you’d be two over, so what’s the problem? I think the birdie is as much the problem as the double bogey, and my goal for this year is to focus on the present -the address, the stance, the takeaway, the rhythm, the swing, the follow through, and keeping my head still. The cosmic injustice of double bogeys following birdies will have to be stowed away for discussion after the match.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” -Master Yoda.

Competition is an integral part of golf. Keeping an accurate handicap is the only honorable way to level the playing field. I proudly carry my most recent handicap card and keep a USGA Rules of Golf in my bag. It also means competing with my neighbors in our annual HAC series of tournaments, and entering in the tournaments in my club. Will keep you posted.

golf culture, Liberty, Naturalism , , , , Leave a comment

The Apocalypse Garden

by

IMG_0226Ever since I moved to Iowa, I’ve been practicing at gardening. It is one of the skills that came naturally to my grandparents who grew up and raised kids in the hardest of times. I have learned that pretty much anything temperate will grow well in Iowa whose growing season can be stretched with an early planting (risking frost), and a second one in July. The box garden above came about because the ground though once used as a corn field, was in fact fairly hard and difficult to manage, and the critters (deer and rabbits) were also very difficult to manage. It is basically pressure treated lumber, three 16x12x1.5 inch pieces, two cut in half, and one cut in fourths to create two adjoining boxes. The lengths were such that we could drive the pieces home from Home Depot in our Honda CRV. This creates 64 cubic feet of volume. The area was chosen because it was in the summer sun path between the homes -it gets full sun from daybreak to sunset. We’ll be getting unbelievable tomatoes this year (knock on wood), but also specialty Korean vegetables that are very difficult to get from the grocery. My goal is to eventually make kimchi from dirt.

The idea that we need to live locally is one that is gaining favor. I just had a plate of blackberries shipped in from Chile and bought from Costco. Though convenient and delicious, it is also a bit unnatural. Out of season, people would eat canned fruit or preserves, not unripe fruit shipped from the antipodes and ripened in a box.

The boxes took about a total of a half hour to build with an electric drill and wood screws. Each 55quart back of gardening soil is 2.1 cubic feet, so we’ll need to get another 15 bags to fill the other box -we filled one with about 14 bags. This is costly, I know, but who has time to get dirt, lawn clippings, and shit in a bucket for  a year to make your own topsoil -it isn’t that bad yet. The skills are not lost -just ask anybody over 70, and they all know how to garden and can to stow food for the winter.

FL, Jacksonville, PGA, Ponte Vedra, Ruth's Chris, Spark's Steakhouse, The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass 1 Comment

The Players Championship is not a 5th Major

by
Castellanomug

Got whacked after a last meal in a real steak house

They were talking fifth major back in the early 80’s when talk about it seemed like pure marketing with the lifespan of Jerry Pate’s colored balls (I did like the optic yellow ones).

The problem is that even with some longevity, the whole tournament doesn’t have the sentimentality and frank full on schmaltz. The Ken Burns effect black and white photo drifts of Francis Ouimet, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and on and on doesn’t play well in the modernist course that is TPC Sawgrass which brings to mind monstrosities like 2 Columbus Circle pre-facelift.

They managed to soften the whole cheesy 70’s look by getting rid of the chariots of gods pyramid clubhouse for Mediterraneo Lite, a la Disney. My heart doesn’t weep thinking about Hal Sutton taking TPC while battling blond hair, or Calvin Peete marching down the fairway lined with National Guardsmen protecting him from protest against the diamond in his grill. I have no emotional connection to Pate jumping into the pesticide and alligator infested waters with Beaman and Dye. I do recall Fred Couples winning with the effortless swing -I was there, but try to hallow that!

It’s like the difference between a world class steak served at one of the classic NY steak houses versus one of the corporate cutouts that advertise in the airline magazines. It’s different knowing that you’re eating beef at the same place that Big Pauly got whacked. Steak tastes better, the wine bloodier.

Nope. Just a very fancy tournament held in a drained swamp. Don’t forget your Off.

This was a comment posted on my new favorite blog NiceBallz. Go check it out!
http://blog.niceballz.com/2009/05/07/the-fifth-major-f-that.aspx

Vascular Disease , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

My Other Blog -What I do when I’m Clark Kent

by

el-aneurismoWhen I am not thinking golfism and supporting husband rights (in this blog categorized as naturalism), I am a vascular surgeon in Des Moines. I realized that the way doctors get the word out about themselves is inefficient, stilted, and unapproachable. Also, there is no transparency about what we do and how we do things. Therefore, I decided to open my previously closed blog – http://web.me.com/docpark. Above is a painting I did last year titled El Aneurismo, meant to be a market sign for a vascular surgeon.

golf news, golf personalities, golf philosophy, Golf politics, Liberty , , , , , , 1 Comment

Cart Path of Destiny

by

img_0198Only 10 more days until they unleash the dogs onto Wakonda’s newly resurfaced fairways and greens. The loss of old growth oaks around the greens to ensure 8 hours of summer light may signify changes in the character of the course or just a hair cut. I favor the latter.

I recently started following Twitter and was amazed at the ability to narrowcast my interests to a likeminded group of people. The story of the week is Staff Sergeant William Vile’s disappearance -he is officially MIA (link). The action resulted in US casualties -follow it on http://www.milblogging.com and http://www.bouhammer.com. Political persuasion aside, you have to hear it from the people on the lines to make an informed opinion. As much as Huffingtonpost amuses me, to rely on any single news channel (includes you people tuning Fox in the doctors’ lounge) invites tunnel vision.

We’re on the 7th hole of 2009, and we’re going about 4 over. Hopefully, we’ll finish out this nine with a few birdies, including finding SSG W. Vile.

golf culture, golf history, my golf , , 3 Comments

It don’t mean a thing…

by

Last year I posted a video of myself swinging the club [link]. Its remarkable how little changes with one’s swing despite conscious effort. It also means that your best chance at a natural swing is to learn it as a child. Despite learning at 10, I never really tried to play golf well nor live well by golfism until now. The nice thing about those boring (to me) trips to the range with dad was I did learn to swing fully and not have any really funny looking loops, jags, or stops. The trick is to create a simple platform to base your entire game on. It starts with the grip and being loose. Having a good tempo helps. Beyond that, its the mysteries.