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May 14, 2008
Anniversary
Today marks the 30th anniversary
of my graduation from the Washington
College of Law at American University.
I'm thankful that earning my J.D.
gave me the opportunity to have a rewarding professional career in my home
state, almost all of which has been in the public service.
With the steep rise in
law school tuition
in the years since I finished, however, I have to wonder how many current AU
law grads will have a similar option available to them.
May 12, 2008
A Late Nor'Easter?
Last night a storm blew into
Delaware and most of the rest of the Mid-Atlantic states. The howling noise
kept us up most of the night, accompanied by a whimpering dog who is no fan
of high winds and pelting rain against the house.
This afternoon younger daughter
and I took a short ride down to the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk to see the
ocean under the continuing storm conditions.
It was wilder than it was during
Hurricane Isabel in
2003:

One brave soul took a very short walk to the edge of
the boardwalk, at one of the fenced entrances to the water-covered beach,
and turned immediately back.

We walked to the edge of the boardwalk and saw why he
turned around. There was no place to go at the end of the beach entrance.
With the wind blowing off the tops of the 15-20 foot breakers, we were also
being pelted pretty hard.

Certainly not a day to think about surfing, except as
part of a suicide pact.
We're not interested,
thankewverymuch.
May 12, 2008
Break Time
Apparently I needed a break from
blogging again.
Thank you for your patience.
My regular work's been a little
busy lately, and it doesn't look like it will calm down very much any time
soon.
In the meantime, of course, golf
columns were required and written. Here are the links to those items, if
you'd like:
Cape wins two, loses one with two to go
May 9, 2008
The Cape Henlopen High School golf team appears to
be determined to eliminate what few dark hairs may remain on the head of
Coach Claudio Smarrelli.
More..
Cape golf team has nice little streak going
May 2, 2008
The Cape Henlopen High School golf team continues
to improve its match-play record, as the 2008 season wends its way toward
the conference and state championships later this month.
More..
Return to Myrtle Beach
April 25, 2008
There are a few benefits to being a middle-aged
golfer who has played in Myrtle Beach several times.
More..
Cape golf team bounces back with two wins
April 18, 2008
The Cape Henlopen Viking golf team started off slowly this season, with
a 1-3 record in its first four matches.
More..
Cape golf team stumbles after first win
April 11, 2008
After dropping their first match of the 2008 season, the Cape Henlopen
High School golf team bounced back with their first win on April 3.
More..
Caesar Rodney and Wind blow away Cape golf team
April 4, 2008
The Cape Henlopen High School golf team traveled to Wild Quail Golf &
Country Club April 1 for its traditional opening season match against the
Riders of Caesar Rodney High School.
More..
Preparing for the season
March 28, 2008
The bulletin board just outside Shawnee Country Club’s pro shop had two
bits of startling news posted on it on March 24.
More..
I'll be posting some photos from the
Myrtle Beach trip here, in a
little while.
As for golf books, here are the links to the last three reviews:
First Sunday in
April: The Masters
is a well-done compilation of newspaper articles, magazine pieces, and
book segments about the first men's major golf tournament of the year.
Just Hit It:
Our Equipment and Our
Game, by Frank Thomas with Jeff Neuman, is a thoughtful rumination on
what the recent improvements in golf club and ball design really mean for
regular players--not as much as you've been told, but more than you might
think.
Golf: The Mental
Game, by Tom Dorsel, Ph.D. recycles fifty columns of this
Golf Illustrated
columnist/sports psychologist. It should be a good resource for serious
golfers.
So, it's not like I wasn't doing anything else, while I wasn't writing
for this blog.
March 31, 2008
Feats are just fine with me
Tim Conlon, a good buddy of mine,
has a longstanding radio show at the University of Virginia.
For tomorrow's segment, he's
running a special two-hour set of live recordings of
Little Feat, one of my favorite
bands, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT.
To hear the show on the web, go
to the WTJU website
and click on option #3 under Windows Media.
Should be a lot of fun.
March 31, 2008
Adventures in Card Culture
Last Wednesday my wife and I
traveled to Philadelphia to see the
Baseball As America exhibit at the
National Constitution Center.
We highly recommend it.
Most of the exhibit items, and
there are hundreds if not thousands, are from the Baseball Hall of Fame in
Cooperstown.
My personal favorite was a small
container of highly valuable trading cards. The label for this container
says simply, "Box of Trading Cards Thrown Out by Your Mother."
Grins all around.
My mother was an avid baseball
fan herself. She would not have thrown out the card collections of any of
her four sons (my sister didn't waste her allowance on baseball stuff). She
would have loved this exhibit, especially the special segments on the
Phillies.
Seeing these cards brought back
some nice memories. Trading cards were a major betting commodity on the
parish parking lot that doubled as the lunchtime recess playground at St.
John the Beloved, about 45 years ago. Some of the kids were remarkably good
at flipping their cards to cover several others, leading to easy
acquisitions of hotly desired cards, such as Juan Marichal or Johnny
Callison.
When used with a clothes pin, the
cards were also a great way to convert your bike into a motorcycle--by sound
effects, if not otherwise.
The exhibit stays in Philadelphia
until May 11. See what kind of memories it will trigger for you.
March 26, 2008
Been a while
I had to take a break from
blogging here for a while. Sorry about that.
I had a fast-paced bit of
litigation in Chancery Court that began with the original complaint filed on
February 22, and concluded with a final decision from Vice Chancellor Noble,
issued this week. That was, of course, in addition to the usual day-to-day
stuff, so something had to give.
In the meantime, however, I kept
up with my golf writing.
Here are the links for those
offerings, if you'd like:
Hogan's Real Swing Secret?
March 21, 2008
Ten years ago I posted a short review of
Five Lessons, Ben
Hogan’s classic golf instruction book, at my then-new golf web site.
The book first appeared in 1957, but remarkably remains in print even
today, with millions of copies sold.
More..
Cape golf team begins spring practice--in winter
March 14, 2008
Sometimes I’ll stop by to visit the Cape Henlopen High School golf
team, and become a little jealous.
More..
Local Clubs Seek Members for 2008 Season
March 7, 2008
The new golf season is about to begin, and Cape Region country clubs
are seeking new members.
That’s an old story line, but it’s true again this year.
More..
New Hacker mystery a Masterwork
February 29, 2008
Not long from now, I will receive an annual invitation I have always
been unable to accept.
More..
Short Subjects
February 22, 2008
This winter’s
surprisingly warm weather in the Cape Region has been an unexpected boost
to local golf courses, even when the occasional snowstorm reminds us that
it’s not yet spring.
More..
Blogging here will soon return to its regular semi-erratic schedule.
Thanks for visiting!
February 27, 2008
Three Claudes for hiding behind an attribution
Sometimes headline writers try to disguise the banality
of their work with the magic of attribution.
There's a good example today in
the
News-Journal, leading a story about a police raid on an upstate suburban
home that was allegedly the scene for high-dollar poker games, complete with
barely clad ladies:
High stakes, nudity were draws for gamblers, police
say
And I thought it all about the
camaraderie and good sportsmanship.
The other good thing about this
story is that it helps fight against that old stereotype of boring suburban
living--not on that little cul-de-sac, at least.
John Cheever would
have been delighted.
The headline earns three
Claudes, and
would have earned more without the lame attribution.
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Now Showing at
The Art House Theater
Smart People
May 9 - 22, 2008
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Rehoboth Beach, DE
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Read Sally's Speech

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USA
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Where my golf column appears:
The Cape Gazette
Hole By Hole
"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how to answer everyone."
Paul,
Letter to the Colossians,
4:6 |
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"All things look yellow to the jaundiced eye."
Alexander Pope |
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"All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue,
and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter. ... Man acts
from motives relative to his interests; and not on metaphysical
speculations."
1770 - from On the Causes of the Present Discontents
"There is no
safety for honest men but by believing all possible evil of evil men."
1790 - from Reflections
on the Revolution in France
Edmund Burke
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| "In
politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious
error. Enjoy it."
Donald Rumsfeld,
Rumsfeld's
Rules
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"First, the role of the federal
government is limited to the powers given to it in the Constitution.
Second, a dollar belongs in the pocket of the person who earns it,
unless the government has a compelling reason why it can use it better.
Third, we don't spend money we don't have, or borrow money that our
children and grandchildren will have to pay back.
And the best way to avoid war is to be stronger than our enemies. But
if we’re caught in a fight, we need to win it because not doing so makes
us much more likely to be attacked in the future.
Also the federal judiciary is supposed to decide cases, not set social
policy -- and bad social policy at that.
And the bigger the government gets, the less competent it is to run our
lives."
ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF IOWA
Fred Thompson
"Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter
where you go, there you are."
Buckaroo Banzai
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Official small print disclaimer:
This is a personal web
site. Any opinions or comments I express here are my own, and don't
necessarily reflect the official position of my work as a government
attorney or any of my clients.
That fact may be obvious,
but it needs to be said here anyway.

This is a self-portrait by
Thomas Frye, an Irish artist (1710-1762). A copy of this print is on our
family room wall.
I am reliably informed that Frye's pose,
his features, and his apparent attitude as displayed in this drawing are
similar to mine--except for the wig.
© Frederick H.
Schranck 2002-2008
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