Wie shares Open Lead with 1 round to Go

If you get the chance, tune in to the final round of the Women's Open tomorrow at 3 pm on NBC. Michelle Wie shares the lead with a few others at +1. Rather amazing when you consider she is 15 years old and an amateur. She is 6'3" tall though and has a gorgeous swing, in fact Johnny Miller commented that it is one of the 5 best swings in golf today amongst all men and women golfers and I wouldn't dispute that after watching her.

It's a Sports Day

If you're a sports nut, then today is your day. Wimbledon going on right now - Annika trying to put a 3rd notch in her belt in chasing 4 Gland Slam titles in a single year(NBC - 3 p.m Eastern), the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships (4 p.m. eastern on ESPN), Indy car racing with Danica Patrick at 7 pm. Eastern. I watched some of the women's golf tournament yesterday - is going to get interesting since the course favors "short play" vs the long hitter. Annika loses her edge there and going into today is some 6 strokes behind, so will be interesting to see if she can catch up. I like golf but am no expert. I find it interesting that the women seem to lack the ability to put a lot of spin on the ball , so they lose the ability to hit past the pin and have the ball spin backwards to the hole. Instead they have to hit it short onto the green and run it to the hole, which often they failed to do or hit over the hole and watched the ball just keeping running. Perhaps an avid golfer could fill me in on why we see the women do this less than the men. I can't believe it is a power issue, as some of the women can hit driver further than the men. There are a lot of teenagers at the top of the leaderboard, so will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of a big event (15 yr old Michelle Wie is only 2 strokes behind the leader).

I saw in the paper where Marion Jones withdrew from the Outdoor championships as did her husband, Tim Montgomery. Probably didn't want to be embarassed. Hate to say it, but I'm inclined to think their success came from steroids.

In a bizarre moment in Sports, I happened to read in USA Today where a volunteer official (and one with a number of years volunteering) at a Track meet was struck by a 16lb shotput in the head and killed. I've never heard of such a thing happening.

TV
Coming up in July (July 27th at 10 p.m Eastern), Steven Boccho who brought us NYPD Blue amongst other fine TV drama, will bring the Iraq war into our homes on the FX channel, as he follows a band of young soldiers into action in the new series "Over There". It supposedly will have the "real-life" aspects of war that "Band of Brothers" and "Saving Private Ryan" brought to the scene. If that is true, be prepared for some gripping television. So put July 27th on your calendar

A busy few days

If you've wondered where I've disappeared to, it was 30th wedding anniversary time, so the wife and I headed for Asheville, NC for a stay at a nice lodge and a few days touring old familiar sites and enjoying a few nice restaurants. Janet spied a 50% off deal on a $40 book ath the Visitors Center that got you 2 for 1 meals at many restaurants and some of the very nicest restaurants in Asheville. This slick move on her part saved us a lot of money over a few days - made it affordable to eat at some of the nice restaurants. Had a very nice dinner at the Boathouse on Lake Julian .

Took in a German movie at the Fine Arts Theater (english subtitles) called "The Downfall" (der Untergang in German), which outlined the final days in Hitler's bunker. Nominated for an Academy Award, it is an awesome portrayal of the final days in the Bunker, and in particular an incredible portray of Hitler himself by Bruno Ganz. (Goebbel's wife was one steely-eyed tough number, herself). I can't imagine anyone looking more like Hitler who could have played the part better. If you get the chance, see this movie. Up there with "Das Boot" and "Saving Private Ryan". You may have to look for it in the "fine arts" movie theaters.

On a brighter note, made our usual pilgramage to one of Asheville's finest arts and crafts gallery, the New Morning Gallery . They have added on additional rooms that display some incredible interior design talent. If you ever wanted a living room or bedroom decked out in an artistic manner, then you should come and look at these displays. Blew us away. Some great talent and artisanship on display here. Better have a fat wallet when you utilize one of these design themes.

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