As one of only three cities to get the double bill of Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we thought we were getting a great deal with two concerts for the price of one. We’ve seen Pearl Jam a number of times, but this was our first time seeing Petty. The Tuesday evening show was the second in a two-night stand and the newspaper reviews of the Monday concert were positive, so we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we left feeling a little cheated. (more…)

Today’s round started at 7:30am on the 18-hole course at Theodore Wirth Park outside of Minneapolis. The first four greens were horrible and should not have been open for play. The rest of the greens were better, but all played very slow. A storm front moved through when we were on the sixth hole, so we waited until it passed over. The back nine did not drain well, though, so it was a soggy round.

When I was at the Open, I spent a lot of time watching Ernie Els hit irons on the practice range and noticed a few things that I decided to try today. First, he really arches his left wrist outward and keeps his hands only slightly ahead of the ball at address (I have always had my club angle much farther forward). Second, his tempo was excellent–slow takeaway, slow start to the downswing, acceleration through the ball, then slow follow-through to the same slot every time. I had a lot of success with this today and I hope to learn more during my first lesson at the U of M this week.

Score today: out in 43, back in 47. Lots of shots left on the course due to poor short game chips, but that was to be expected after no rounds for more than two weeks. Nothing firm planned, either…DK

We really had a great time on the trip last week. Special thanks to Jim Reinhart, USGA Vice President, who donated the tickets to the Tapemark that I won in last year’s 1-in-5 raffle. Thanks to another nice USGA official named Jeff, we got to meet Jim on Friday (and again on Saturday) and he was very gracious.

A few other things:

• Spoke to Tom Lehman briefly during the practice round and thanked him for doing the video for the 35th anniversary of the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am. He asked how the tournament went and asked who won. After telling him Tentis beat Berry, he commented “Ah, good to see the big dogs battling it out.”
• Also asked Tim Herron if Gerald was there this week (Gerald McCullagh, his instructor, who currently teaches out of the University of Minnesota practice facility) and he said “No.”
• Lumpy was sometimes friendly and sometimes not. Mostly not as the weekend went on, but his 63rd place finish (last of those that made the cut and good for $15,836) explained a lot.
• Can’t decide which method I like best to spectate at a golf tournament: follow one group around or stay in one spot and watch all the groups. With multiple days, there was ample time to try both.
• I’m not a big Lefty fan, but the person I really felt bad for was Monty.

We left Sunday before the final group teed off so that we could get a jump on traffic and the trip back, but we listened to the drama on the radio (and saw the final round later on TV). Sunday was by far the hottest and most uncomfortable day, so I didn’t feel too bad about leaving early aand getting into an air conditioned car. We spent that morning following Lumpy to the 10th tee, then stayed there in the shade until Ernie Els’ group went through (he’s my current swing hero).

The hotel we stayed at in Milford, CT was fine, but it was just too far away. Traffic on I-95 always seemed horrible and the train system was OK, but it was expensive and complicated (no signs at the stations or on the trains, no clocks and difficult to tell which train was which). It was $18 roundtrip from Milford to Mamaroneck, but not all trains stopped at both stations, so you’d have to get off and wait again at an intermediate station.

Milford did have a number of good restaurants and a beautiful downtown seaside harbor area that we discovered on the second day. I had decent fish and chips at the Southport Brewing Company and the chicken wings at Archie Moore’s claimed to be the best in Connecticut. They were really good, once you covered them in sauce.

We drove through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and most of Ohio before stopping to rest on Monday night. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin followed the next day and we made it back to St. Paul before 5pm on Tuesday evening. The Mini did great and had better gas mileage than the ski trip earlier this year (around 32mpg). I’m done with driving trips for a bit, though…DK

The day before I left town for the Open, my wife and I saw Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. His new CD doesn’t hold a candle to the live show, which was truly amazing. The 16 member band had an energy level I haven’t seen since Lyle Lovett’s Large Band was in town. The brass section was a special standout–more bands could use a good brass section, methinks.

They played most of the songs from the new album during the 2 1/2-hour show (which started an hour late with no explanation), but for some reason they skipped Froggie Went A-Courtin’ and Shenandoah. There was an incredible version of When the Saints Go Marching In, though, and four re-works of previous Springsteen songs. The reviews in the local papers were both very positive and it was a show I would see again in a heartbeat…DK

Highlight of the trip so far–standing directly behind Peter Hedblom (Sweden) on the third tee when he aced the 243-yard hole with a 3-iron. We thought we’d be on TV, but all of the replays we’ve seen online so far just show the picture from the camera that was next to us. Today is the final round and then we head home…DK

Michael Bartosh, noted Macintosh author and consultant, died in a tragic accident last week in Tokyo. He was 28 and is survived by his wife Amber. Macworld Conference and Expo is establishing a scholarship in his name. Details are still being worked out, but you can sign up here to be notified when more information is available.

I only knew Michael online through mailing lists and email, but he was a true expert who was willing to share his knowledge to help others. His home was in Colorado and we had talked a few times about trying to get together to ski at Copper Mountain, where he had a season pass. Through his consulting and training contracts, he got to travel the world and it was also fun watching his iChat status in my buddy list to see where he was now. My thoughts go out to his family and friends in their time of mourning…DK