Got Balls...

This is a picture of some balls. Nothing much. Didn't take long to model. Didn't take long to apply materials. This was an excercise in depth of field. I wanted the object to be in focus and everything else to progressivly blur. I think it worked alright.

Vacation: Approved...

San Diego, here I come. The only question is if my wife's vacation will be approved. Then we'll be heading down the week of August 17th.

My parents strong armed someone and now they have free use of a beach side condo. This is going to be great!

Another interesting opportunity has arisen. It seems that all three golfers who either hold or have held the Anchor Cup will be in San Diego at the same time. If you consider there are 90+ golf courses in the general area, this could end up being an epic battle for the Anchor Cup.

Tee time will be early Monday morning at a yet to be determined golf course.

The contestants:

Erick "Buster Douglas" Wales - Defending Champion and current holder of the Anchor Cup. What's with the nickname? Well, let's face it. It was complete luck that he ended up with the trophy to begin with. And like James "Buster" Douglas, it's likely he won't hold on to it for long.

Bill "George Foreman" Wales - His claim to fame is he started this whole tradition. He has been Sans-trophy for almost a year. It was last August (2008) when he was annihilated by me. What's with the nickname? Well, let's face it. He's a little too old for this game. And just like "George Foreman", he may have had a good run but his time is up. If he's lucky, I'll let him see his reflection in the Anchor Cup as I take it from Erick's hands.

Danny "Floyd Mayweather" Saiz - (Excuse me as I Ricky Henderson this part. It sounds better if I go 3rd person) One time Champion who lost the Cup on rented clubs and a hangover. Now he's got a killer driver and his own clubs. Can anyone stop him? I think not. What's with the nickname? Before he retired (stopped playing golf due to Daughter), he was considered the best pound for pound golfer in the world. Now he's coming back out of retirement to claim what is rightfully his. The Amateurs have had their fun.

Now that we have established that I am good at talking trash, we can get down to some real talk. In reality, the Anchor Cup can go home with just about any of us. Bill Wales has got the experience and consistency. Erick Wales has the youth, the ever-developing talent and nerves of steel (he sank a 10 foot putt to take the Cup from me). And myself? I've got waning distance and terrible inaccuracy with my irons. That should make it fair for the rest of them.

Disclaimer - of the three golfers in the promotional flyer, only Danny Saiz actually has a mustache. Bill Wales shaved his mustache in 1991 and Erick Wales can't grow any facial hair whatsoever to save his life. The mustaches appearing on their faces were photoshopped from material taken from the band "the Silent Comedy", used without permission. To make up for my complete lack of respect for trademarks and copyrights, I ask that anyone who reads this should immediately download all songs posted on iTunes written/performed by "the Silent Comedy".

Cobra - Speed LD-F Drivers 2008

I GOT A NEW DRIVER!!!

I used this driver when I rented it at Riverwalk in San Diego. I sliced every single shot about 90 degrees. So why did I buy it? Because I'm crazy!! Or not.

There are some important differences. The biggest is the flex. The San Diego driver, which was a 10.5 degree, had a regular flex. I'm used to driving with my tiny little Orlimar 9 degree. A regular flex is ok with the smaller driver head. This driver head is the full 460. The regular flex opens up the club face with my normal swing.

The driver I got, a 9.5 degree, came with a stiff shaft... uh... let's call it a stiff flex. With my normal grip (closed face) and a medium to fast downswing, the extra firmness of the shaft will keep the club face perpendicular to my target line.

I hit a couple of balls and so far, so good. The contact sounds a little different but it feels nice a solid. I'm guessing that I'm getting about 15 to 20 yards of extra distance against my old, beat up Orlimar. There is a little bit of a fade in the shot but it's definitely straighter than that rental I used at Riverwalk. I can't wait to play a full round with this. I'm hoping to shave at least 5 strokes off my game.

Working Vacation...

Considering all of my responsiblities (work, family, ect.), I have always thought of sleeping as a vacation. If you think about it, it's probably a vacation for you as well. It's a time to relax, stretch out, close your eyes, forget the world, and dream. When I wake up, I'm refreshed, I feel great, and I'm ready to face the real world with a little bit more energy and enthusiasm.

Sometimes my dreams are demanding. If I stay up too late playing a video game and I can't get past a certain level, I'll have a demanding dream; I'll dream about figuring a way out of the level. When I have a demanding dream, it's like taking a working vacation. I get a little less relaxed. My energy is only slighty recharged.

On a completely unrelated note (which is my sarcastic way of saying "related note"), I made this render today after dreaming of it last night. Two questions...

1 - What is it?
2 - What does it do?

BTW, this is exactly how I visualize this in my demanding dreams.

How Is This Fun?

Why?!?! I just cleaned up her toys when I received a call from my golf buddy. No golf tomorrow because of a surprise visit from his family. I immediately called the golf course to cancel my tee time. I was about to call my wife so she could celebrate when I noticed that Malia had just undone my cleanup. It probably took her 5 minutes because I know I wasn't on the phone that long. I can't wait until she's old enough to do chores.

SHARE WITH A SHIPMATE

The Navy is great! I know they make you work a crap-ton of hours. I know you hardly get any sleep, standing watch most of the night. I know they like to send you out to sea for months at a time, sometimes evading ports like the plague. All that aside, they have these book racks throughout the ship. Free Books!!! That more than makes up for everything else.

I guess I should incorporate the title of this blog post... each free book had a stamp on the side that said "SHARE WITH A SHIPMATE". Now that that's out of the way, here are a couple of books I found on the USS John C. Stennis.

This Alien Shore - C. S. Friedman

There are no aliens in this book unless you consider the hundreds of genetic mutations/mutilations that occurred to Mankind during the 1st space age.

In an attempt to relieve the strains of an overpopulated system, Earth sent out hundreds of ships to colonize far away systems. The ships used a brand new propulsion technology which allowed fast travel over great distances. The use of this technology caused disturbing transformations resulting in human "Variations". These Variants were not only drastically different that the Terrans of Earth, they were also different from each other - you might call them Alien.

The fear that resulted from these events forced Earth to cease all interstellar travel. A period of Isolation immediately followed. Earth did not attempt to contact the Variant colonies. The Variant colonies did not contact each other. Colonies that had just begun and still required assistance from Earth fell into dark ages.

Fast forward a bit into the future, a Variant race known as Guerans has discovered a new method of travel. This launches the 2nd space age. Contact is made and interstellar travels resumes. The Guerans protect the secret of this new method of space travel and form a Spacing Guild which is very similar to the Spacing Guild of the Dune universe.

Believe it or not, this marks the beginning of the story. The beginning of two story arcs.

1 - A virus surfaces which threatens this new method of space travel. The virus has the capability to send the Humans into a new era of Isolation. An extraordinary programmer is hired to hunt the creator and attempt to deactivate the virus before permanent damage results. The programmer fights his own fears of unfamiliar environments and enlists the help of a couple of hackers to get the job done.

2 - A beautiful 20 somethings woman flees an Earth space station after it comes under attack. She leaves Earth space and travels to Variant space, not knowing who is chasing her... or why.

Are the story arcs related or not? I'll leave that for you. It's a great story that explores some of the details that SciFi fans loves: Space travel, Alien races (Variants), Cyberspace battles, and an super inflated, out of control OuterNet.


A Deepness in the Sky - Vernor Vinge

This is the future of humanity. Well established colonies though out the galaxy rise and fall in a cycle of around 500 years. Fleets of trading vessels travels between these colonies, immune from the static conditions that would lead to a collapse of civilization. The human universe is large, but defined.

The primary motivation of these trading fleets is to trade technological advancements between the colonies. The secondary, and less profitable motivation is to search for Alien races. The search for Alien races has yet to yield anything.

Until now.

The story begins with the discovery of an anomaly. A star in some far off system that turns on and off over a 250 year cycle. The star is aptly named OnOff Star. Interest in the star is amplified with the discovery of radio frequency communications. The communications are alien. The world is not known to be human colonized. It must be another race.

Two fleets converge on the star system. The Queng Ho, a fleet of traders that have been around of 1000 years, and the Emergents, a strange civilization based on human slavery and dominance.

This book is my favorite of the two. It features a vast and believable universe with technological wonders that make you think, that could really exist. What really blows my mind is the authors achievement in making the Alien race feel real. About half of the book is written in their POVs.

Too be honest, I think both books are definitely worth picking up. After finishing them, I found myself wanting more from these universes. Fortunately, Vernor Vinge does have another title, "A Fire Upon the Deep", which takes place about 20,000 years in the future. There isn't anything is the works yet for a sequel to "The Alien Shore". Doesn't matter. These books are great. If you're a SciFi fan, pick them up.

The Gathering Storm...

Tor books has released the cover art for book 12 of the Wheel of Time series. Just like all previous cover art, this was done by Darryl K. Sweet. Just like all previous cover art, it sucks. But that's just my opinion.

What do you think?

My guess is if you're a fan, you are pretty disappointed with this highly anticipated book's cover art. But at the same time, you're not going to care much. Who cares what the cover looks like. All that's important to the average fan is how good the story is.

There is a good chance that if you are not a fan, you're probably not going to buy this book without reading the first 11 installments. However, if you're at the book store and you see this hardcover next to the paperback versions of all the previous books, I'm thinking you'll be put off from picking up book 1.

If I had never heard of the Wheel of Time and I saw this at Border's Books, I definitely wouldn't buy it. Who wants to read a story about a cross-dressing Bret Michaels who travels back in time to Little House on the Prairie and spends time with some firefighter with dragon tattoos who just lost his hand in a fire?