At the Movies

Hadn't seen a movie in ages (at the theatre anyway) so went to see one recently. War of the Worlds was opening but figured it was going to be too packed so I saw Batman Begins.

I really enjoyed it. I've seen some of the previous Burton Batman films and thought they were good. I actually liked this one better. The same director who did Memento (which I loved) did this film and it plays much less 'cartoony' than the originals. The action is more 'realistic' if you can use that term to describe a comicbook character. The well known tale of an heir to millions watching his parents die is followed up with an explanation as to just how he gets the training that makes him so deadly. There are elements of Frank Miller's Batman nestled in the plot and some of the action. The fight scenes are marred by camera angles that are too tight and choppy for my taste-I like to see a well choreographed fight scene clearly played out, but it doesn't put a stop on the fun. The end left the door open for a sequel which I would see if it were done.

I guess the most telling thing was I would have watched Batman Begins again, but didn't feel the same urge to see Revenge of the Sith. In terms of the recent spate of comic heros turned feature films, I'd put this one up with the best of them, Spiderman 2 and X-men 2. They'd make the short-list of movies I'd pay to see again. I'll definitely be picking this up when it's released on DVD.

Pokah

It's been a while since I've commented on how my evening has gone at the poker table. Last night went very well, never having to buy in, winning the only time I went all in and catching good cards at the end of the night, which is far preferable to catching them early on. Finishing up with a K-10o that hit two pair on the flop then boated on the turn was a nice way to finish things. Having someone there calling it all down, and even raising into me, was even better. Went nicely with the nut flush draw I'd had the hand before that hit on the turn. All in all a good time was had by me. I left $70 in the black and shot a 71 at Birch Plains earlier in the evening. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Myrtle Beach ver.2005

Well, I arrived home late last night flying in from Charlotte, NC. I'd spent a week in beautiful Myrtle Beach playing golf and seeing the sights. It had been my second golf trip to that area this year and the second time proved to be more satisfying from a golfing perspective. We played five different courses, some of which I'd played last year, all of which were in great shape and beautifully laid out.




Sunday started at Farmstead Golf Club, which has the distinction of having the region's only par-6 (679 yards from the white tees) where you actually tee-off in North Carolina and putt out in South Carolina. The golfing vacation got off to an inauspicious start when my first drive went out of bounds into what I was to discover was impossible waist high rough. A drop later and my 160-yard approach to the first green goes left again for yet another drop. Not bad, two swings, two lost balls. Next hole, tee shot is fine, approach shot with a 5-wood goes right into the reeds guarding the hole. Two holes, three lost balls. I did manage to settle down a little after that but the afternoon wasn't great. By the end of the round I'd lost or had to drop ten balls, and ended up shooting a 106, could have been much worse under the circumstances. Still the course was in great shape and very challenging.




Next up was the Moorland course at Legends. A difficult course with lots of water, I played better on this one until I came to their signature 16th hole, a short 275 yard par-4, nicknamed "Hell's Half Acre" for the one-story bunkers that ring the green. Of course, I went for it and wound up with an 8. That'll teach me. Still, a score of 95 was far better than the 118 I'd shot earlier in the year.




We went from there to Aberdeen Golf Links, a course I'd never played. It was very hot that day with the heat index well into the 100's, but I liked the course and shot a 90, birdieing the last par five and parring the final hole. Still couldn't creep into the 80's though.




Thisle was the next course, one I'd played a year ago on my first trip to Myrtle Beach. I'd loved the layout and conditions then and it was just as nice this time around. The course played very tough with tons of sand and water protecting the greens. I once again managed a 90 by three-putting the last two holes. At this point I was wondering if I should be checking to see how close I was, perhaps knowing would cause me to play differently (better)? In any case, it was a marked improvement over how I shot last year and was great to play again.




My last shot was Brunswick Plantation. I started off with a lost ball so didn't think things would go well, but I settled down and came in with a 45 on the front nine, birdieing one par four. One shot lower on the back and I could come in with an 89. Coming into the last two holes, a par 4 & 5, I needed to shoot a combined ten to make 90, a nine to hit 89. I took too aggressive a line on my tee shot on 17, clipping a bunker and forcing me to layup. My approach shot made it to the green and I holed a miracle fifteen footer to keep it at a bogey, so I needed a birdie on the last hole to break 90. The final hole was bracketed by water on the right, and sand on the left. Figuring sand was safer than water, I took a line to the left and proceeded to rip a beautiful duck hook straight right directly into the lake. There went my ball and my shot at the 80's. I managed to lose two more ball on that final hole, closing out with an abysmal ten to finish at 95.

All in all a great week and something I'll look forward to doing next year.

Enough?

This past week those of us who follow golf watched the story of a legend come to an end as Jack Nicklaus played his last tournament in North America. When he plays St. Andrews later this summer it will mark the end of a long and illustrious career. Jack knew to hang it up when he could no longer compete. Do all competitors have that kind of self-knowledge?

Last night I saw something I never thought I'd see. I watched the Legend, the Vault, poker personified, complain that it's impossible to win at Monday's table. I watched him lower his self imposed cash limit mid-evening, then watched him slink off, a shadow of his former self, to play Halo while the rest of us divided the spoils.

What was it that started the descent? Was the first sign watching him shiver under a quilt in a warm room with a blazing fire burning three feet from him? Were the bones simply old and weary? A bad beat perhaps? A straight losing to a hidden boat? One too many draw outs? Was that the first time we heard the faint murmurings of the need to get 'fresh meat' and 'easier money' at the table? Is that what the Lion has been reduced to? Rolling drunks and stealing cookie money from Girl Scouts? Did someone hide his magic visor? His lucky pin? Did Patrick foresake him? Playing confused and bewildered, it looked to the table like he hardly knew where he was, let alone whose deal it was, whose blind it was and who the action was to. Was the Vault really drinking Iced Tea last night? His tequila bottle forgotten on the shelf, growing dusty? I don't have the answers, perhaps no one does.

Come back to us Vault. We know you have some game left. Don't hang it up. If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for all those poker rookies, picking up their first Sklansky book and dreaming of holding onto their 5c to make a straight flush. Do it for the children.