PDC International 2008 - final footage

Dear comrades

I have loaded the remainder of my PDC International video footage on YouTube for your viewing pleasure, rating and comment.

Footage includes:

Jeff hitting an absolute screamer on 12, followed by me with a solidly struck tug left. Slight lack of concentration - I was still in awe of myself (Shark style circa Open Championship 1993) for hitting the previous par 5 with driver, wedge. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it never lasts...

Schnapper going way long and way left on 16.

Craw, Steve and Chief teeing off on wonderful par 4, 3rd, day 2.

Craw on the superb 7th, followed by Steve and Chief.

Steve and John on 11. Steve's drive is a cracker, made all the more impressive because he had swallowed three flies by the time he got to the 11th tee!

And finally, one for the ages, and John hits one of the larger clubs in the bag on a 98m hole, and misses the green, by lots... But then, so did everyone, except Bellringer.

I have some other video but the wind noise is so loud they are just about unwatchable, and certainly cant hear voices, bummer...

Until next time.

PDC International 2008

The legs are still a bit sore from walking 54 holes, but the memories are strong of a fab weekend away with mates on an outstanding golf course. I have loaded up some video footage on YouTube including:

Jeff, myself, victorious team captain Wardy and Schnapper on the terrific par4, 3rd hole.

Footage of Jeff and Doc tonking off the 1st in the second round

Myself on the par 4, 4th hole in the breeze and Barnsey a bit blown off (the) course.

Sorry the sound quality is complete cr#p, the wind on the tiny camera really causes havoc!

If anyone prefers not to have footage of themselves on a public site please let me know and I will remove.

More to follow soon.

Mediocrity madness

This article from Newsweek is essential reading for anyone interested in the US election, especially the VP nomination of right wing religious mother of five, Sarah Palin. Should the US opt for a continuation of mediocrity (yes, it could actually get worse than George W Bush!) what would be the consequences for the rest of the world? Is it reasonable for our leaders to be so mediocre? And how many (more) bombs dropped in the name of (our) God?

Two years in the south...

Dear comrades, next week marks two years away from Brisneyland and the gradual embedding into all things Adelaide. I swung a golf club in the backyard yesterday as a reminder of golfing days past, watched the shoulder turn in the reflection of the back windows of the house and concluded I have been stretching a bit at the ball, stand taller, man. Could be a metaphor for life...

The Adelaide winter briskness yesterday afternoon reminded me of Saturday's in July at the 'pilly, final group, a titanic struggle underway, big bucks (?) on the line, holes closing in fast, light fading, a hooked drive (not from me, obviously), a mistimed approach, a putt that never broke, the cry of lost luck (actually, more like 'F*ck, I am the unluckiest golfer in the world...'). All the while a quiet word to a partner, 'We've got these pricks, Golly hasn't made par-par finish for a decade...". All this followed by a cool drink - winter was always characterised by a lazy post-match rum n coke. Delightful. Have just consumed one for old times sake.

Hope you are all well. News would be welcome on Chief's and Schnapp's career movements and Shirls' and Doc's wedding arrangements, plus sundry info about children etc.

Open starts next week. The website has a treasure trove of footage from years gone by, I think my fave is John Daly winning at St Andrews in 1995 and Constantino Rocca binning a 100 footer from off the 18th green, after flumming his pitch, to force a playoff. Superb.

Just got to survive some more late nights from the Tour de France... Bloody superb. Go Cadel!

Hugs
Lord

Easter aint just about religion...

...although I think I did hear Jesus' name sometimes on the golf course, generally followed by "...f*cking Christ, that's a bad swing". But why would one get upset by the occasional profanity between mates?!

It was a great pleasure catching up with the clan at Barnsey's on Good Friday followed by a wonderful tonk with Craw, Chief and John McG. I was especially impressed by the ease of consent from my opponents about a handicap of 7 following a 3 month+ sojourn from the game. They lost, by the way.

Thanks to all involved in the arrangements. I took quite a bit of footage using the phone vid but regrettably the quality is very poor and probably not worth posting. But I cant pass by an image of a silky smooth stroke with firm wrists from the Chief and an approach to the 3rd Blue.

I look forward to the next installment of spending many hours with you chatting about the big issues, hopefully before Barnbougle 08. Happy hitting.

Lord

Barnbougle 07 vid

Dear comrades
I have posted a few of Craw's masterful videos on YouTube for your entertainment, comment and general showing to friends and family (who wont for a minute believe the class of your swings!?).

Bellringer and Lord on the 4th, on different days, I think we both got on or near the green, a sensational hole.
Craw (he hauls off and whacks one...) somewhere on the back nine, cant place it though.
Doc approaching the 9th and putting on 13th, a mere 20 feet of break.

Happy new year to you all
Lord

Barnbougle 07 pics

Dear comrades, a selection of Craw's pics from Barnbougle are available on picasa

Movie footage available soon, fingers crossed.

Hope you all had a bonza xmas. Been great listening to the cricket the last couple of days.

Lord

Barnbougle 07

To say the inaugural PDC International at Barnbougle was anything but a stunning success would be a fair dinkum bollocks! For those not present, the weekend included a 3 round Presidents Cup style tourney with Craw's team (Doc, Shilrs and Barnsey), flogging the hapless Lord team (Bellringer, John McG and ring-in Shaun) 10 points to 2. The few days overflowed with many laughs, many beers and many very ordinary shots. Teams, match format and rules were quickly organised on Friday evening (err, well, actually, for some reason it took over 2 hours!?). Tiredness must have set in about 1.00 a.m. as there was an obvious omission - what happens if there is a tie in the key singles tournament? So, Craw and John share that one for 2007 with something like best two rounds stabelford average of 34 (please correct me here if wrong).

Anyhoo, for the record here is pic from the walk between 4th and 5th (my only one of the course!) and a couple from the drive in the NE of Tassie - a superb state. More to be circulated in coming

weeks (months) I hope. Well done Doc on the organisation - outstanding work. Count me in for 2008. F

He might be a rampant loony Christian...

...but he is OUR rampant loony Christian!. I say go Badds! Comrades, is this wrong? Should we just fully support Tiger, or another? Perhaps by the time most of you read this (Monday) the trophy will be lofted high, by someone with God on their side (which kind of assumes he [this God bloke/shiela] was 'against' all of the others, doesn't it? That doesn't seem very charitable, 'my faith is stronger than yours, so I win, you lose'. Very George Bush attitude, but let's not go there again) or without.
Was I dreaming this morning when I saw Badds hit an iron into a 600+yd par 5?? What sort of technology allows this? Actually, the more I think about it, perhaps I think it would be better if he came second. Or third. Or was struck by lightning putting for birdie to win on the last.
Best dash, kids gagging to get to the playground, into the cold I depart dear friends.
F

All hail the champion!

Great news about Muz and victory in the Australian PGA Club Pros Championship! Nice pic too, champ! Happy tonking.
Lord

light from the darkness...

The commentary on baggygreen from the WC final is really worth reading, they take the piss completely, inc "The scoreboard and the match referee don't agree on the run rate. Give us an F... give us an A... give us an R... give us a C...etc. And of course that wicket will cause the rate to be adjusted again." Gilly completely brilliant.
Lions good too, 'cept didnt see any of in Oddelaide! Grrr.
Lord

confess your sin...

Morning comrades, I was cleaning out the shed yesterday and came across Harvey Pennick's little red book which, as you will probably recall, goes to the last place in the PDC. Is anyone prepared to 'fess up to coming last in the 2006 tourney? Let me know and I will bang it in the post to you.
Cheers
Lord

how often do the helicopters go over?

... so often you wont even notice.

A slightly bastardised line from the Blues Brothers, certainly relevant for this weekend in Adelaide. F*ck me! It has been non-stop noise from the air and the track as the Clipsal 500 invades the parklands near my sleepy suburb (even sleepy by Adelaide standards, which is close to comatose). The cars are a low din. The helicopters every 2 minutes of the day (i am not kidding) are a pain. The F-18 is just stupidly noisy, but quite awesome - draw a straight line from the start / finish straight, which is what the planes follow, and there is our house. Well, actually, that's a lie. It's the neighbours house. Cant imagine you would have much chance getting out of the way of a bomb dropped from 300ft or so - they are out of sight before you know what's happened. It came over 3 times on the weekend smack bang in the middle of the kids' sleep, although somehow didn't wake them up!?
Of course, dear comrades, it wasn't always that I was aghast at the stupidity of motor racing. My trip to the San Marino GP in 1988 (eek!) was a long held dream come true. The great Ayrton Senna won in a McLaren, but died at the same track 6 years later. My most vivid memory was crowd favourite Michele Alboreto stalling his Ferrari before the race started and was relegated to last place. The collective groan (and screams of distress) from 120,000 or so Ferrari-mad Italians might have even drowned the sounds of the Adelaide airshow? And weren't the fashions just so fab!?!

Yes, these were the days of Senna v Prost with Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell mere alsorans. Cars still had clutches and gear sticks. McLaren won every race except for Gerhard Berger and Alboreto getting a 1-2 for Ferrari at the Italian GP at Monza. The crowd and nation went wild! Pathetic!

But perhaps not as pathetic as the Reds, it would seem. Dear me. Craw must be going spare and that TV be getting a right talking to, perhaps at a slightly lower volume so as not to wake the Benjamin?

Hope the weekend treated you all well and that any golf scores were worth talking about.
Til next time
Lord

media tart

It's official. Our dear ol' mate, John, has finally made the big time by scoring a page 58 scoop in the Courier-Mail. Well done! (although not sure about the black hair - did you get it dyed for the wedding, John?). And I hear he has a month off the piss as well. The world HAS gone mad! Looking forward a visit to Vegas this weekend.
Lord

Vote or Die

Not sure this policy direction will work, but this SouthPark creation is very good.
Lord
PS Doc, hear you disgraced yourself on the weekend with a C grade (what the f#ck?!?) victory. That is about as worthy as Dubya proclaiming the liberation and a new era of democracy for Iraq following the invasion (60,000 dead Iraqis later and still not much of either on the horizon...) Shame.

Ashes Taster

Dear comrades
Stumbled across this on the ABC site - really worth listening too. The audio from Steve Waugh's ton at the SCG brought a tear to my eye!
Looking forward to seeing you BrisVegas folk in a few weeks for the 1st Test.
F

Microsoft Office

From the creators of the Office - if you get a chance have a look, its a great laugh. Apparently Microsoft has started an investigation after videos, which were for internal training only, have been leaked. They have already been ripped from YouTube, so better be quick before they disappear for good.

Lord

It's a boy!

Great news from the Craw yesterday with the arrival of young Benjamin. I will let him fill in the details coming days and weeks. Congrats from all PDCers, Craw and Janelle. If the Chief is anything to go by Craw's months of crap golf will soon become a distant memory replaced by an inner peace and golfing nirvana. Or he could have heaps of sleepless nights and be up to his ears in baby shit and spew and never play golf again... Either way, the 2007 PDC will be one worth watching.
Well done.
Lord
PS. Shirls has provided some outstanding photos of Tiger's missus, although word elsewhere on the web is that there is some dispute about whether the said naked baby is in fact the real deal. Probably a bit blue for the blog and email feed, but if you want a look, let me know and I will forward.
And a belated thanks for Craw, Bellringer and PJ for the tonk last weekend in Vegas. Pity Craw and got flogged, but a great morning. Hope to be up in town again in October.

Craw's legacy

Noticed in the members section of the IGC website a pic of the proposed changes to the course. Am sure that the changes to 5 Gold, moving the green to the left to bring the hazard into play, were suggested to the Committee and designers by none other than the Craw. Is this correct, sport? Good to know your years of toil on the Committee made a difference. Of course, you will be cursed loudly everytime a PDCer doesnt par the hole, but that's better than being forgotten.
Lord

Different venue, same gags

Dear comrades
Just a short note to let you know my new golf career has commenced with a mighty victory against some of the local lads at the Grange. Played in the last group on Saturday 1.13 - finished in the dark. First tee introductions were brief and concluded with 'right, well we normally play skins, 50c each first 6, $1 next 6, then $2 for the rest, sandies, ferretts, ntp on all par 3s, 2 long drive holes and $5 for man of the match. You in or not?' 'Agh, well, ahem, sure, yes, oh yes, we do something similar at the 'pilly...' all the while wondering how much cash i had in my wallet. I have no idea how all the calculations worked but was looking a distant last place until a long drive win on 15 followed by a $40 5-footer on 16. You beauty! Was interested in the universality of golfers comments at young ladies who drive the drinks cart around the course. In addition to the usual 'When are the committee going to make topless drinks girls compulsory? to 'Jeez, the hole location looks promising over there' as she neared to 'Do you have anything hot for sale in the front there, luv?'. Just like being at the 'pilly really.

Congratulations Chief, great news on the plate and baby. Bad luck Bellringer.

BTW, i am in Vegas from next Thursay, 17th i think, flying back to SA on the Sunday morning. Let me know if anyone keen for a tonk on Friday arvo or maybe Saturday in the comp. Dont have wheels. Will also be shifting from ozemail to bigpond, hopefully on Friday - cant get broadband at the new address due to some Telstra quirk - will keep you posted on new email address
Lord