Going through another Hip-Hop stage

So after getting a little bored of my regular rotation of Ben Harper, John Butler, Marley, and G-Love, i dove into the old cd books looking for some new tunes. After flipping through the books for awhile I decided to pump it up a bit and loaded up the classic hip-hop. None of that new crunk shit, or a bunch of guys yelling "what, what". Started off the Redman's second album "The Bricks". A classic from 1996. Redman has always been a favourite of mine. Smooth ryhmes, solid beats, and hard lyrics. The classic on this album which most people probably have heard is "Who's in love with Maryjane". I think the title speaks for itself as to what the songs about. Probably my favourite of the album is "Pick it up".

Second disk I chose was Method Man, the preqeul. This was Methods latest album that came out about 5 years ago. Method Man is one of the premiere artists that didn't go completely mainstream. Although he reached huge popularity, he maintained his hardcore lyrics and beats from the days of The Wu-Tang Clan. He never sold out to the pop rap you hear now a days. He also has the most unique voice out of every rapper, very contagious you could say. It's raspy but smooth, with a slight NY accent. Love the Method Man, perfect compliment to Redman.

Lastly I inserted probably the best Album of all time. Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die. In my mind there is no doubt this is the best album of all time, although some would argue one of Tupacs album is better. I'm not a Tupac fan, but I love Biggie. No one ever has rapped like he did. Every single line, verse, word just seemed to fit perfectly togeather. He always sounds like he is telling a story and you can understand every word, hear every ryhme. Pure genious.

Needless to say I'm loving the new rotation for now. Sometimes I find myself having to turn down the volume when I pull up to stop lights for fear of looking like a loser. Not to many White kids in Denalis rolling down the street blasting "The Ten Crack Commandments". But is does bring me back to the good old days of cruising with my friends, Murray, Mike, Erik, Boss, you know the regulars. Just loving life.

Also thinking of picking up the Kris Kross album. Love how the break down.

I really sucked this weekend

Wow, was i absolutly horrible on the links this weekend. Not sure what to credit it to, but I think it had a little to do with being over tired. I didn't really have the energy to play both days.

Saturday was a train wreck. I think i was in the mid 90's, which is totally offsides for me. I won't bore you with all the details of how bad it was except to mention one hole. #16 basically sums up the whole round. Off the tee I hit the large headge (for the first time ever) that runs alongside the tee box. It bounced over the hedge and into this stupid long grass, much worse then fescue. It took me 3 shots to advance the ball 3 feet out of it. Then I hit a 5 iron to the top of the dog leg. 5 shots to get past the white tees (maybe 15 yards). Made a 11 on the hole and basically wanted to give up golf.

Sunday wasn't much better. I truly hacked my way around the course to another 83. My putting was almost good yesterday, rimming out quite a few putts. I was 41 on the front, and with 3 doubles and a boogie, with 1 birdie, i was 42 on the back. My driver was good most of the time. Now that i think of it, i reverted back to my old self on sunday. I was hitting the wrong irons all day. Instead of getting aggressive with one less club and swining through the ball, i was trying to guide in full iron shots leaving me right on almost every shot. It's to bad, cause I was finally starting to play well last weekend and on tuesday at Firerock.

My sister, who just happenned to start her own blog, told me to start actually talking about entertainment stuff sometimes. So starting tomorrow I am going to make a concentrated effort to bring up some t.v., movies, or music that i'm into and see how i do as a reviewer.

Check out her blog - http://funfashionfood.blogspot.com/. So far it only has some recipes and a brief introduction. Her page will be written far better then mine (shes in PR) and anything she has to say about food is worth while. She's a great cook and loves all types of food. For the ladies, i'm sure she'll have some great stuff about shopping and fashion, she's a perennial all-star when it comes to that.

Wooden Sticks was the big winner

After an early morning rise (4:00 Am), Toast, Matt and I were off to play what turned out to be one of the most enjoyable courses ever. Wooden Sticks in North Toronto. Just standing on the first tee before breakfast looking out at the Church Peu (SP?) Bunkers I knew we were in for a special round. We could hardly wait to get this round under way.

After some breakfast, a few practice shots at the range, and some warm up putting we were on our way to the 5th hole for the shotgun start. There was a tourny in the afternoon, so to provide the most amount of public play there was a full 144 golfer shotgun. No big deal, but it did cause a 6 hour round. But the excitement of playing this course was to much for me and I didn't really care about the wait. Even driving out to the 5th hole I was amazed by the beauty of the hole we drove by, especially te augusta replicas, I recognized these ones instantly.

I'm not going to try and make a huge desctription of this course, see Now On the Tee for that, Matt did a great job, worthy of a Golf Digest.

Heres how my round went. I started off very poorly. Dropping a triple boogie on the first and a double boogie on the second hole. But then I started to turn it around. Made a few pars in a row. There was a 230 yard par 3 where I really started to turn things around. Being the first off the tee, I hit a perfect 3 iron that bounced just on front of the green and rolled almost all the way to the back of this massive green. I hit a nice lag putt to about 3 feet and drained the second for a solid par.

I think i had one more boogie on the next hole and pared out the rest of the front.

Starting on the 10th tee I actually started to play much better. The 10th had a fairway that had to be atleast 150 yards wide, no joke. On the tee we were joking what a loser you would have to be to miss this fairway. Cal, oops I mean Toast and Matt both hit very safe shots, which i commented on. Then I stepped up and managed to hit my ball even further left and long to miss the fairway, yes, I'm a loser. I ended up 3 putting for a boogie.

The 11th was a tough par 3, the Postage Stamp at troon. I hit a beautiful 3/4 PW to about 15 feet left of the pin and procedeed to drain the putt for birdie, first of the day for me. On the next holoe i boogied and followed that up with a birdie on the long 508 yard par 5. I hit a monster drive on this hole leaving myself only 187 yards to the pin.

The next hole I remember was the #17 from St. Andrews, the Road hole. I hit one of my best shots of the day on this hole. I think this hole was 480 down wind par 4. Very tough. I blasted a huge drive to 200 yards, but I was way left in the short fescue. Luckly my ball was sitting up a little so I was able to still attack the pin. From my angle the pin was sitting right behind a trecherous pot bunker, I decided to attack anyways. With a 5 iron in hand i put a perfect swing on it. While in the air I yell "Whatch how freaking good this is gonna be." To the laughter of Toast and Cal, the ball soared just over the bunker landing on the green, but rolling just off. I hit a touch chip to about 2 feet and drained the putt for par. One of the best pars of my life.

Of course I have to mention #17 which was a replica from the TPC Sawgrass. Very intimidating, but actually not that hard. Funny thing is, everyone in our group hit the green and made par. I was the closest to going in the water. I really attacked the pin and went slightly long stopping the ball about a foot away from going over the back. Made a very nice chip to a foot and tapped in for par.

The 18th was a replica of 18 at St. Andrews. Again faced with the largest fairway ever (joined with number 10) I blast a deep long drive, way left. From here I hit a 9 iron from 147 to about 8 feet. Just missed the birdie putt, made par, and I was in with 39. Extremely happy with this.

The next best hightlight was playing #12 and #13 from augusta as our last holes of the. The three of us were all playing matches and just happened to work out that I was 2 up on matt and 2 down to toast going into these holes. The par 185 yard #3 (12 augusta) was a very difficult shot. I was hitting my irons perfectly so I actually thought I could get a nice one in there. Hit a beautiful 6 iron to about 8 feet just right of the pin. Matt had missed his par putt leaving me 2 putts to close him out. Cal missed his birdie putt giving me a chance to extend the match. I read the line perfectly, hit a nice putt, and just missed leaving the ball leaning on the edge of the cup. Oh well, atleast I beat Matt.

The last hole was a beauty. It looked exactly like the #13 at augusta, scoreboard and all. I tried to cream a drive and hit it out of bounds left. After Matt and Cal hit little baby drives, I stepped up to hit my third. I blasted this one for my longest of the day coming to rest only 57 yards infront of both of Matt and Cal, fuck, i mean toast. With a chance of still making par, i hit a safe 5 iron from 200, but found myself at the very back of the large green, neading to chip in for par. It wasn't meant to be, i hit a horrible chip and ended up 2 putting for a double bogey. That leaft me with a disapointing 44 on the front 9 to shoot 83 overall. Although this as a good score for never playing the course before and for the level of difficulty, I'm sure I could have easily been under 80, i was playing that well. Except for those first 2 holes, i was solid all day.

Anyways, the day was pefect, the golf was amazing, and I can't wait to go back again.

Exciting weekend and a few days coming up

With the Mens Invitational at our golf club this weekend Cal, Matt, and I have decided to travel to a different course for the day. After some attempts to get on East Aurora in buffalo and Legends on the niagara in Fort Erie failed, I was able to convince the boys to look into paying to play at a nicer course to treat ourselves for the day. After much deliberation we settled on a course I've been looking to play for a few years. Wooden Sticks just outside toronto is our final destination. I believe this course opened up about 5 or 6 years ago. The deal with the course is all the holes are replicas of famous ones through-out North America, maybe some from around the world, not sure exactly. I don't know which holes are represented at the course other then the famous Island green at the TPC Sawgrass. With a 7:30 AM tee time we are getting started early at 4AM to make the 2 hour drive. I'll be tired as hell, but the round will be very much worth it.

Then on tuesday next week we head to St. Thomas Golf and Country Club. This is a round through our club that has a deal with other Stanley Thompson courses. I've been told this course ranks in the top 50 for Canada and should be another great day. I just hope I play well at both courses. It's always a shame to play such nice courses and come away wishing you had played better, or knowing that you could of.

Finally Played Well

This weekend in golf was actually pretty good. Well one day was good.

On saturday I woke up poised to play well. I thought my game was coming around and I was sure this day would be the day I finally break 80 this year. Starting on the back 9, I get off to a great start going birdie, birdie. As good as this was, it just wasn't meant to be from that point on. How bad is that? On the 3rd hole I already knew I was going to suck after a great start. I have some serious mental issues from playing so poorly this year. From this point I basically continued to hack around the course shooting 40 on the front, and 42 on the back (i think) for an 82. I might have been worse, i forgot to check the scorecard after the round.

Sunday was a day for improvement. Playing Cal in a casual match for 5 bucks I was going to play better. Low and behold I did play better sunday, much better. I used the R7 superquad demo to replace my broken driver. I was striping it all day right down the middle and long, and I mean Matt long. My wedges, mainly the gap wedge, were so on point it was once again, Matt on point. The only thing that hurt me was my putting, which yes, was matt putting.

On the front 9 (playing the back 9 first) I was 37 with 3 birdies and 4 boogies. The boogies were just some stupid short game mistakes. I could have easily been 1 or 2 under. Didin't matter, this was the best I came of the first 9 all year.

Still feeling good teeing off the back 9 I went par, birdie on the first 2 holes. I conservativly finished off the rest of the 9 with 3 more boogies to come in at 38, for a total 75. I was extremely happy with this. Finally playing well felt so good. It was one of those rounds that makes you love the game. Every shot just felt so natural. You know, that feeling where eveytime you swing the club you just know it's going to go where you want it. I think i under clubbed once all day, which is a huge deal for me. I only got myself into trouble when i got to aggressive on the greens trying to make birdie which lead to a few of the boogies. All in all, i was just happy to prove to myself I can be better then i've been all year. Hopefully I can build on this and get my handicapp back down to a 4 where I want it.

Oh ya, the match with Cal, if you can call it that. I whooped his ass 5 and 4. Wasn't even close. I think he won 1 hole, and really I should have finished him off with 6 holes to go but I duffed a chip to let him stay in the match. If i remember correctly from last year, I am undeafeted against Cal in match play. Funny thing, I think I am against Matt too, and thats with no strokes from either of them.

What a great day. Even if it was just one day, I truly felt like a great toilet paper salesman, i now know what it's like to be goooooood.


And the most classic thing of the weekend. That deuche bag Adam who was going out with the playboy halfway house chick from the golf club was making the whole thing up. Now thats fucking lame.

Weekend Update

Thanks to some great weather this weekend I was able to get in 3 rounds of golf. Although the golf didn't go so well, it was still nice to get back on the course after a 2 week layoff. The post is long and my spelling and grammer is probably worse then usual due to being to lazy to read it over.

On friday i took off from work at 3:00 to meet my buddy Tim and Bobby to play 18 at St. Catharines. Both are just average players who like to drink more then they like to play well so this was a very casual round. Without trying very hard at all i managed a 83. Basically the same score as when I do try, so doesn't say much for my game. Spent most of this round talking to Bobby about his job, a British Marine. That made for some really cool stories. Nothing really exciting here other then a relaxing afternoon on the course.

Saturday I joined up with the regulars. Playing with Matt and Gerry saturday morning I found myself playing poorly as usual. Except this had more to do with showing up to the tee still wasted from the night before. I think i shot another 83 or 82 on saturday. Very uneventful. Went through the motions and produced the same old B.S. score.

On sunday I played my first match for the Langly Cup. This is a match play tournament held at our club. This is my third year in the competition. First year I lost to the Club Champion in the second round on the 18th hole. Last year I got my ass kicked by one of the guys we play with. This year I got matched up with a younger guy named Adam R. Adam just started playing with our group this summer. I think the first day he played with us he was low 70's or something like that so I was expecting a tough match. We are both playing at a 6, so there was no shots either way. First hole I watched him shank one in the trees and I was left, on the side of a bunker. From 150 I hit 9 iron and came up short and to the right of the pin. I made a nice up and down for par and adam made 5 so I'm up 1.

Second hole I bomb a drive up the left side of the fairway. Adam hits left again and actually looses his ball. I made boogie and won the hole. Up 2.

Third hole I go right, almost into the 8th hole bunker. Adam goes left again but has an easy shot to the green. I have to hit 160 over the trees to a back pin. I hit a nice 8 iron to about 25 feet and make the 2 putt for par. Adam duffed his second and I'm up 3.

4th hole par 3 we both hit it just short and to the right. he made the up and down to win the hole. We tie the 5th hole. I'm still up 2

6th hole i drive to the bunker on the right. Adam drives way right into 15 fairway. I got some huge luck here hitting out of the sand. Somehow i hit on top of the lip of the bunker which kicked it up just in between 2 branches of a tree 15 yards away setting up an easy 125 yard shot to a back pin. Adam hits his second in the water basically eliminating himself from the hole again. I hit a nice PW to the back pin and easily 2 putt for par, back to up 3.

I hit a 6 iron from 175 on the 7th. I'm pin high about 15 feet to the right of the pin. Adam hit something, and it went right into the water, again. I make another 2 putt for par, up 4.

On number 8 I hit a tree about 150 yards off the tee and have a 180 shot just to get down the hill. I didn't use enough club, not believing gary about the distance, and find myself in the middle of the hill. I push my PW right with a tough chip over the trap to a tight pin. I ended up with a 6 to Adams par and i'm back to +3.

On number 9 I stripe my drive from the black tees to 150 yards. Thats HUGE. I put a bad swing on my second and ended up in the right bunker. Ended up making a very nice sand save to half the hole.

I bombed another huge drive on the 10th, leaving myself 205 into the wind. adam is off looking for his ball in the trees, after duffing one trying to get out of the trees. So a par is winning this hole. I go for the eagle anyways. I hit a great 3/4 3 iron to the back of the green. Missed the eagle by inches and tapped in for birdie. Up 4.

On 11 I hit a very modest 5 iron to 160 yards. Never really played the hole like that, but it was safe and I was actually trying to get a 9 iron or 8 iron in my hand. Adam hit right and out of bounds, so this was another win for me. I actually ended up hitting a very thin 7 iron that skidded to a stop about 8 feet from the pin. Again missing by inches for birdie, i tap in a par. I had a lot of these inches misses. I have to find a way to work on my putting.

12th I hit a 6 iron about 1 foot off the front of the green. Didn't matter, adam hit in the water again. I was 15 feet from the pin and still made a freaking boogie. But win the hole again and I'm up 6.

On my dreaded nemisis 13th hole i skied my 2 iron rescue and had to hit a gap wedge to get out from behind the trees to the right. Adam was left and managed to duff another shot. I hit another gap wedge from 115. Adam hit another duff before eventually getting to the back of the green. The pin was in the middle so his putt to extend the match was pretty much unmakable. I 2 putted for a boogie to win the match 7 and 5.

Although I'm happy to win the first round it wasn't exactly a tough match. I did play well though. I was only 5 over at this point. I felt good with my swing and everything so i pushed on trying to post a good score for the day. Maybe finally get under 80 for a round this year. Made boogie on 14, par on 15, par on 16, boogie on 17 and i'm standing on the 18th tee needing a par to shot 79. No problem you say. Not exactly. I get lazy on my drive and hook it over the fence on the highway. I get very angry and go to slam my driver but manage to stop myself and release the driver before i hit the ground. Unfortunetly that wasn't enough and i snapped my shaft. Heres the commentary from me just as i hit the ball, "FUCK THATS GONE, FUCK I BROKE MY FUCKING CLUB", all this was screamed while the ball was still in the air. Pissed off I blast a 2 iron rescue right down the middle, and go a little right with the 4th shot, make a 6 to shot 81. I was so pissed. Plus Adam was the big winner anyways yesterday. He got a date with the hottest halfway hut chick ever. I was told on friday she had a boyfriend, so i was pissed this happened. Doesn't matter, I'm cutting his grass for sure next week. He's got nothing on me. He's taking her to the Valley Inn for the first date. How fucking lame is that?