Bon Voyage, Sam

We've known it was coming for a while, but Sam is officially moving to Dubai today. Now I checked, and Dubai is one of the seven United Arab Emirates. It has a really cool hotel. And it is very, very hot.

The photo above is of Sam, myself, and Shane. It was taken at Sam's going-away party last night. The three of us have hit a lot of range balls and drank a lot of beer together on some cold Friday nights. This is probably the last photo we will all take together.

I've known Sam for the last 2 years that I've been in DC. I've golfed with him, been to many of his BBQs, and hunted flocks of wild geese with him.

So Sam, safe travels and good luck at your new job.

The 2007 Annual BAC Classic

Coworkers: Jamie, Travis, myself, and Billy...

I played in my first golf tournament this weekend. Granted, it was not the most serious of competitions. The rules of the tournament were as follows...

1. All players compete against each other in four-man scrambles. So, my team was composed of Tanner (roommate), Jay (our couch guy), Jamie (coworker, pictured above, far left), and myself. We hit each shot separately, and we played the best of the four balls for each shot: including tee-shots, fairway shots, and putts. Each team recorded one score for the group, and that score is compared to the scores of all the other groups.
2. On the 16th hole (par 3, 186 yds) each player must take a shot of liquor within 30 seconds before making their tee shot.
3. Each player is encouraged to consume enough alcohol over the course of play to pass a breathalyzer over a certain BAC (Blood Alcohol Content); hence the name of the tournament. The top three BAC's from each foursome are averaged, and up to six strokes are deducted from that team's score accordingly.

We played well overall, scoring an honest 73 (one over par) prior to being breathalyzed. I didn't drink much because I was feeling a little under the weather, and I was a designated driver. As a result, I ended up scoring the lowest BAC from my foursome. However, our average BAC was somewhere in the .30 range, so we had the maximum number of strokes (6) deducted from our score. We placed somewhere in the middle, but were too tired to really care by that point. (Not to mention, I think we may have been the only team keeping honest score. What drunken amateur scores an 8 under par?)

Here's a pic of my textbook drive swing. Also notice the bright pink and white striped seersucker shorts. (Very nice!)...

I don't think I've ever been so focused and relaxed on the course before. Now, you all know how humble and reserved I am, but I feel the need to tell you that I was absolutely stroking the ball that day. There were several times when even the foursome ahead of us (who we were competing against) cheered after my shots. Unfortunately, I didn't hear them, because I was listening to Alexi Murdoch on my iPod the whole time. (It's great golf music.)

Before a crucial approach shot with a 9 iron. I'm so focused :)

I've never had more fun playing this silly game.

In a footnote to the whole event, after the round we all got on the charter bus to head back into the city. Somehow, on the bus Jay managed to start gambling with another golfer on what was drunkenly referred to as "toin coss". He won $600 dollars off the poor guy on heads vs. tails. I couldn't believe it. Here is a pic of Jay blowing into the breathalyzer before getting onto the bus. Clearly, the gentleman gambler...

Gliding Video

Sobek brought his video camera with him, and I shot this video from the cockpit. I'm feeling pretty cool, pretending I'm a fighter pilot or something.

Losing Gravity & Other Recent Developments

This Saturday I decided to give gliding another shot. I met Sobek at the airfield at 11:30am, and the skies looked like they were about to open up on us. I thought I would be foiled by foul weather yet again. But we were the last flight to make it up, and our flight lasted about a half hour. The photo above was taken in the cockpit of the glider during the tow.

This photo was taken of the tow plane during our ascent...

I sat in the front of the glider, and Sobek sat in the back. Each of us had our own set of controls. The tow plane pulled us off the runway and took us up to 3000 feet, where Sobek released the chord attaching us to the plane. From there, he performed several aerial maneuvers including sharp dives, stalls, and zero gravity descents. At certain points I thought I would lose my breakfast. Sobek let me pilot the glider for a portion of the flight, but he always kept his hands and feet close to the controls in case I slipped up.

As we were making our descent toward the runway, Sobek heard over the radio that an airplane was going to be taking off while we were making our approach. So he was forced to land in the grassy field next to the runway. It was a smooth landing, all things considered. But I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of closing in on a field at 50-60 mph from a 30 degree angle-- especially for the first time. All the thoughts that have lately been running through my mind instantly gained a new sense of clarity.

This was decidedly one of the coolest experiences I've ever had.

In other news, I am blogging this from my new MacBook. A good friend of mine has a Mac, and after playing with hers for a few months I decided to get one. I'm amazed at what this thing is capable of. One of the coolest applications is a program where I can record myself playing guitar and then loop other tracks on top of it. I can even play over myself. I've been playing around with it a little bit, and I've been able to export the tracks I've recorded to iTunes and share them with my friends and family. It will be the ultimate exercise in narcissism to have my recordings on other people's iPods.

Next weekend... The Annual BAC Classic Golf Tournament.