- Tiger
Woods isn't the only professional golfer turning in rounds that would embarrass
the average weekend hacker these days. Russian pro Andrey Pavlov had himself
quite a start at the Lyoness Open in Austria this weekend, kicking off his
second round with the sort of performance that is typically enough to cause a
golfer to either snap several of his clubs in half or deposit his entire golf
bag in the nearest water hazard. Pavlov shot a disastrous 17 on the par-five
first hole at the Diamond Country Club, tying for the second-worst score in
European Tour history. The jokes about it being a real-life instance of Kevin Costner’s
golf flick “Tin Cup” started flying on social media the instant Pavlov put it
in the water six times on the first hole, setting him up for a round that was
guaranteed to surpass the 85 Woods posted at The Memorial last week, a round
that left Woods so irate that he refused to speak to the media afterward.
Pavlov went double snowman plus one, yet somehow managed to right himself -
relatively speaking - enough to play one shot over par for the rest of the
round. He shot a 90 (18-over) for the round, which coupled with a one-under 71
the previous day, was not quite enough to make the cut. On the other hand, finishing
in the middle of the pack and taking home a small check for a so-so finish at a
run-of-the-mill European Tour event might put a few dollars in the bank
account, but turning in one of the worst holes ever on your tour will garner
you the sort of publicity that money simply cannot purchase………
- Suck
it, France. Belgium is issuing a new euro coin to commemorate the 200th
anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and your much smaller neighbors to the
northeast don’t give a damn whether you like it or not. For the historically
ignorant, Waterloo is one of the most painful defeats in a French military
history filled with painful defeats and as such, the French government is as
angry as a bunch of beret-wearing croissant eaters smoking a cigarette by the
Seine can be. Paris objected when
Belgium first unveiled its plan for a new 2 euro coin in February even though France
was reassured that the new coin will only be used in Belgium. The powers that
be in Paris felt that being reminded of the final defeat of Napoleon and the
end of 23 years of wars between France and the rest of Europe could "cause
an adverse reaction in France" at a time when the eurozone needs to stand
together. At first, Belgium seemed poised to abide by a policy stating that Eurozone
countries need the agreement of their partners to issue new coins, but after
Brussels set about destroying 180,000 coins it had already minted, a loophole
was found. Belgium invoked a little-known clause in European law that allows
countries to issue commemorative coins in non-standard values, allowing it to
mint a 2.50 euro coin commemorating the Battle of Waterloo in 1815."The
French protest led to the choice of a value that is not common in the
eurozone," the Belgian finance ministry said in a statement. "This is
the first Belgian coin with such a nominal value." Waterloo is
conveniently located a few miles south of the Belgian capital Brussels and
about 50 miles from the French border and now, anyone with 6 euros to spend can
buy a 2.50-euro coin depicting its most famous historical event……….
- Forty
years into their classic rock run, is the end near for Canadian rock icons
Rush? Hahahaha, of course not. Aged-out rock bands are nearly impossible to
kill, but Rush may truly be ready to call it quits on at least one part of its
repertoire. Guitarist Alex Lifeson has suggested that the band's current tour,
marking its 40th anniversary, could be its last. “This tour is the first tour
where we’re really looking at it that way,” Lifeson said. “It's a lot tougher
at 61 than it was at 21. And we’re all feeling the aches and pains of our
advancing years. I have had arthritis for a long time and it’s just a little
more in the forefront, in terms of my hands.” Man, there is nothing more
depressing than a once-great band of dudes who love the lifestyle of sex, drugs
and rock and roll aging out and whining about arthiritis and missing early bird
specials and needing to be in bed by 10 p.m. Lifeson went on to say that
drummer Neil Peart suffers from chronic tendonitis in his arm and shoulder
pains, necessitating Peart and the band’s other members start getting in better
shape merely to keep up with the demands of a tour. "We all go to the gym,
four or five times a week. It’s not just sitting around and eating chips and
smoking pot. I mean that’s fine but to prep for a tour, it’s a really serious
endeavor,” Lifeson added. Wait….there’s more to rock and roll than pot,
grubbing from the craft services table and sex with groupies? Thanks for
ruining that illusion, Lifeson. He tried to cushion the blow by suggesting that
Rush wouldn’t be "breaking up or hanging it up" and would consider
doing multiple night residencies. That’s fine, Al, but you doing a mini version
of what Britney Spears or Celine Dion do in Las Vegas is hardly what rock and
roll is all about………
- Ruh
ro, Waimanalo. The tiny Hawaiian village isn't a common tourist destination for
the millions who flock to the islands each year in search of sun, surf, leis,
butt-ugly Hawaiian shirts and overpriced everything. From the sound of it, the
locals would like to keep it that way and their task is about to become
infinitely tougher thanks to Stephen Leatherman, a professor at Florida
International University. Leatherman did what he probably thought was a good
idea when he ranked Waimanalo Bay Beach Park — with its powdery sand, turquoise
water, cleanliness and convenient amenities — as the best beach last month on his
annual top 10 list. So what does a list compiled by a coastal science professor
known as Dr. Beach have to do with wrecking the lives of locals? Well, being at
the top of this list has Waimanalo residents worried that now, flabby tourists
and their brat kids will start descending on their beloved beach in massive
numbers. "My first reaction was 'oh
no,'" said Dean Okimoto, founder of Nalo Farms. "It is beautiful and
everything, but yeah, I was thinking OK weekends — my goodness." Waimanalo
consists of just 4.35 square miles on Oahu's windward coast and about 65 percent of people there are Native
Hawaiian — the second-highest concentration on the island. It consists of a few
businesses, some horse stables and farms, one supermarket and a main highway
with one lane in each direction. Tourism has already been on the uptick in the
past decade, but with Dr. Beach’s list, that growth could accelerate.
Leatherman claimed that he’s receive more hate mail about this list than anything
else he’s ever done and given that beaches he ranks atop his list t typically
see tourism increase by 10 to 20 percent, this could get ugly in a hurry………
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