Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[Conrad1953]

Wow, I didn't know the big lakes freeze like that. 15-20 feet high mounds.

I've never tried ice fishing cause I've never been where it's done when it's

done. I always thought it looked like a cool thing to do.

 

And ya, the sun reflecting off the ice and snow can burn you good. I've

been red faced and raccoon eyed many a time after a ski trip, lol. Early

in my ski life I was dumb enough to ski 3 straight days without eye

protection. I didn't go snow blind but my eyes hurt really bad for a few

days and I had to seek out dark places to get some relief. I learned

my lesson and never skied again without sunglasses or goggles on.

[tolmij]

How about this then Tol. To warm your cockles. IIRC, was about 94* (34* C) this day. Darn near to hot to play golf.

 

Tee shot to the fringe area green side front right. Safe. Then five strokes to get down from there. Bladed the ball across the green and down the hill on the far side. Lob pitch back over the green to the front fringe, three putts from there. Shoulda used the damn putter from 15' off the green to start with instead of getting fancy.

 

Golf. Is. Fun.

 

 

 

Edit Note: Shouldn't have complained about the heat. I'd gladly take that right now and moving forward.

 

 

That's more my temperature, did not play this week temp was around 110f, a bit too hot.

 

That's one good looking interesting hole, plenty of trouble for an off line stroke.?

[Fellaheen51]

they are good looking ads......but they never show the snow and ice ! Spent 4 winters in Duluth when i was young....hated the 1st winter....went to work...grocery shopping...home......

2nd winter i got out a little....took up snowmobiling.....even went ice fishing...on Lake Superior,in 20 degrees.....and got a sunburn....

when i left there a few years later....i was converted...snowmobile....ice fishing.....washing the car when the temp got above 20...shortsleeve shirts

as soon as 40 degrees....lol.....the winters in the northern states are different ! I never complain about southern Ohio...we normally have

very easy winters compared to the folks a bit north !

 

Yah! Youbetcha. Sounds like you went native, eh. Head over to da IGA, pickup a jumbo, then heads out onta da ice hoping to catch some fish, eh. Pre'ner perfect. As long as yah gotcha a good chuke and a pair of choppers, for the head and hands, eh. Even better if ya can drive da ol' snow boat out on da ice, so's yah's got someplace comfortable to set and listen to da Pack on the radio, eh! Once ya gets the coat hanger adjusted just right, eh. Coarse, being in Duluth , ya woulda been list'n to da Vikes, eh.

 

Da question yet to be fully resolved, ketchup or gravy on your pasties, eh? It's "catsup" if you're a native Yooper. Or wannabe.

 

The far north (northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and the UP) is hardcore winter. Snow and cold that lasts from mid-September till May. But its beautifully country when nice out. The swing around the western end of Gitchie Gumme, from Duluth on up into the Keweenaw is a part of the country that most folks never experience. Great place to visit, explore, wouldn't want to reside there. But if one does, learn to adapt, make the best of it, as you apparently did.

 

And yes, that first taste of warm weather after a long winter, 45* seems positively tropical.

[Fellaheen51]

How about this then Tol. To warm your cockles. IIRC, was about 94* (34* C) this day. Darn near to hot to play golf.

 

Tee shot to the fringe area green side front right. Safe. Then five strokes to get down from there. Bladed the ball across the green and down the hill on the far side. Lob pitch back over the green to the front fringe, three putts from there. Shoulda used the damn putter from 15' off the green to start with instead of getting fancy.

 

Golf. Is. Fun.

 

 

 

Edit Note: Shouldn't have complained about the heat. I'd gladly take that right now and moving forward.

 

Nice view and nice looking hole!

 

You know, we get a lot of those Michigan ads on TV at home. They make

them very enticing too........................

 

Interesting that ads for Michigan golf are running in AL. Depending on which statistics are the most current, Michigan ranks #1 - #3 in the number of public golf courses in the country. Kind of surprising given the length of the season. The availability and the competition keeps costs reasonable relative to what I see being mentioned elsewhere. Taking advantage of online discounts, stay and play, senior days, etc., one can play top tier courses with in-season rates that pale in comparison to what I see being paid in Florida, California, Carolinas.

 

Not wanting to sound to provincial as there are many excellent courses in other states. Stu has the MB area, you have the RTJ trail (that's very intriguing by the way), SSP in Ohio. WTS, there's a boatload of nice courses everywhere, especially in the northern lower peninsula. All price ranges, quality levels, degrees of difficulty, amenities. Full scale resorts offering multiple course options to a simple local public that's very user friendly for the Mrs. and I.

 

But I have one standout Not only for the quality of the course, but for the entire experience playing there. Arcadia Bluffs G. C. A links style course built high up on the sand dune bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. Just a stunner. So much fun to play. Not cheap, believe the rack rate is $180. But we play it on senior day when its half that amount. Three times now. Some pics (grabbed off the internets because the crappy cell phone pics don't do it justice):

 

 

 

There's a number of these, placed right where I drive the ball, that I've ended up in on occasion. Don't even bother. May end up hurting something trying. Toss the ball out, take my penalty stoke and play on. My dime, my rules.

 

 

 

Then when its nearing dusk, they have a lone bagpiper come out and play. Brings chills down your spine. Very cool.

 

 

 

Man, can't wait till golf season to once again commence. Suspect swing and all.

[Wriggles]

That Arcadia place is really beautiful. At $90, I'd have to play it.

 

Winter has arrived in Western Pennsylvania. About 40 degrees yesterday, rainy, windy, and cold. If it gets into the 40's, sunny, and minimal wind, I'll play a few holes. My hip has been hurting for the last week and a half, went to the chiropractor yesterday, his adjustments didn't seem to help. He told me I'd feel better by Monday. We'll see.

 

The dusk playing bagpiper would give me the chills, too. Like the wake in "Bagger Vance." I remember an old episode of some English TV show, that came on before "Benny Hill" years ago. "Dave" something or other. Some skit, where a casket was carried to the grave site, I guess, and the pipers were playing and the mourners were crying. The guy sits up in the casket exclaiming, "That racket will wake the dead."

 

Keep warm guys!

[tolmij]

How about this then Tol. To warm your cockles. IIRC, was about 94* (34* C) this day. Darn near to hot to play golf.

 

Tee shot to the fringe area green side front right. Safe. Then five strokes to get down from there. Bladed the ball across the green and down the hill on the far side. Lob pitch back over the green to the front fringe, three putts from there. Shoulda used the damn putter from 15' off the green to start with instead of getting fancy.

 

Golf. Is. Fun.

 

 

 

Edit Note: Shouldn't have complained about the heat. I'd gladly take that right now and moving forward.

 

Nice view and nice looking hole!

 

You know, we get a lot of those Michigan ads on TV at home. They make

them very enticing too........................

 

Interesting that ads for Michigan golf are running in AL. Depending on which statistics are the most current, Michigan ranks #1 - #3 in the number of public golf courses in the country. Kind of surprising given the length of the season. The availability and the competition keeps costs reasonable relative to what I see being mentioned elsewhere. Taking advantage of online discounts, stay and play, senior days, etc., one can play top tier courses with in-season rates that pale in comparison to what I see being paid in Florida, California, Carolinas.

 

Not wanting to sound to provincial as there are many excellent courses in other states. Stu has the MB area, you have the RTJ trail (that's very intriguing by the way), SSP in Ohio. WTS, there's a boatload of nice courses everywhere, especially in the northern lower peninsula. All price ranges, quality levels, degrees of difficulty, amenities. Full scale resorts offering multiple course options to a simple local public that's very user friendly for the Mrs. and I.

 

But I have one standout Not only for the quality of the course, but for the entire experience playing there. Arcadia Bluffs G. C. A links style course built high up on the sand dune bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. Just a stunner. So much fun to play. Not cheap, believe the rack rate is $180. But we play it on senior day when its half that amount. Three times now. Some pics (grabbed off the internets because the crappy cell phone pics don't do it justice):

 

 

 

There's a number of these, placed right where I drive the ball, that I've ended up in on occasion. Don't even bother. May end up hurting something trying. Toss the ball out, take my penalty stoke and play on. My dime, my rules.

 

 

 

Then when its nearing dusk, they have a lone bagpiper come out and play. Brings chills down your spine. Very cool.

 

 

 

Man, can't wait till golf season to once again commence. Suspect swing and all.

 

Stunnng pics Fella, those bunkers are what nightmares are made of.

 

This is where membership of the OGA really pays off. My money, my ball, my rules.

[Fellaheen51]

LOL. You got that right Tol. Could see myself taking a whack, the ball bouncing off the wall of the bunker, hitting me in the noggin. Not worth the risk. Do not want to jeopardize sitting on the veranda, drinking adult beverages and eating whitefish pate, listening to the Piper as the sun goes down. One needs to keep priorities in their proper order.

[tolmij]

LOL. You got that right Tol. Could see myself taking a whack, the ball bouncing off the wall of the bunker, hitting me in the noggin. Not worth the risk. Do not want to jeopardize sitting on the veranda, drinking adult beverages and eating whitefish pate, listening to the Piper as the sun goes down. One needs to keep priorities in their proper order.

 

Fella, the beautiful pictures only have one problem, that is the new buzz word.

 

 

CULTURAL APROPRIATION.

 

 

 

Just in case you are not aware of the recent idiots new protests it is not good to show, wear, talk about or in any way use something that is not part of your racial group, therefore having deep bunkers, because the Scottish did it first, bagpipe Scottish or maybe Irish can not be used or in fact if we take this to its ultimate conclusion, golf, as this was a Scottish invention and I am quite sure no one asked them if they could copy it.

 

Two recent examples.

 

A university student was accused of cultural apropriation for wearing dreadlocks as he was not West Indian.

 

Victoria's Secret show was accused of cultural apropriation because it themed Chinese and Mexican style clothing that were modelled by western ladies. The fact is shortly if will be illegal to wear, eat, talk about or in any way refer to anything that was not originally part of your racial group.

 

THE WORLD HAS GONE BLOODY MAD.

 

Viva la revolution. (oops, sorry that is French)

[bscinstnct]

Im a tech dinosaur but

 

Anyone else out here a fan of google play music?

 

You just synch your phone/device bluetooth to whatever you have, bose sound, tv sound bar, etc. And you can get almost commercial free music in your genre of choice

 

Classic rock channel, zepp channel etc

Rat Pack, Sinatra channel

Clapton.

 

 

You guys prolly use it or something similar but Im just catching up ; )

[scomac2002]

A few of you will know that I'm a curler. Golf and curling are a natural one-two combination up here in the great white north as the seasons more-or-less dovetail together nicely. Played today in my first open bonspiel of the season and our team manged to win the darned thing! This event is affectionately known as the Turkeyspiel as the prizes for the various flight winners are....

 

 

....turkeys!

 

They also fed us a full course turkey dinner when we were done!

 

Christmas dinner is now covered with a prime 20# bird now in the freezer! A pretty good way to spend an early December Saturday. A certain measure of satisfaction was had in that a team of seniors managed to get the better of a couple of ringer teams and a bunch of young guys! Kind of in that theme of it ain't how far, but how many.

[Reasonability]

Howdy buds!

 

Lots of catching up to do here. Will go back and catch up some more tomorrow. Some more great pics and cool comments (as usual) based on a quick scan.

 

Radro, thank you for the kindnesses extended to your old buddy Judge Reason back there a page or two ago. You're a good man, sir.

 

As to the finger pulling, if I had teeth down there I could sing Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog in three part harmony. (I think I just smashed two Three Dog Night songs together.).

 

For grins:

 

[BIG STU]

How about this then Tol. To warm your cockles. IIRC, was about 94* (34* C) this day. Darn near to hot to play golf.

 

Tee shot to the fringe area green side front right. Safe. Then five strokes to get down from there. Bladed the ball across the green and down the hill on the far side. Lob pitch back over the green to the front fringe, three putts from there. Shoulda used the damn putter from 15' off the green to start with instead of getting fancy.

 

Golf. Is. Fun.

 

 

 

Edit Note: Shouldn't have complained about the heat. I'd gladly take that right now and moving forward.

 

Nice view and nice looking hole!

 

You know, we get a lot of those Michigan ads on TV at home. They make

them very enticing too........................

 

Interesting that ads for Michigan golf are running in AL. Depending on which statistics are the most current, Michigan ranks #1 - #3 in the number of public golf courses in the country. Kind of surprising given the length of the season. The availability and the competition keeps costs reasonable relative to what I see being mentioned elsewhere. Taking advantage of online discounts, stay and play, senior days, etc., one can play top tier courses with in-season rates that pale in comparison to what I see being paid in Florida, California, Carolinas.

 

Not wanting to sound to provincial as there are many excellent courses in other states. Stu has the MB area, you have the RTJ trail (that's very intriguing by the way), SSP in Ohio. WTS, there's a boatload of nice courses everywhere, especially in the northern lower peninsula. All price ranges, quality levels, degrees of difficulty, amenities. Full scale resorts offering multiple course options to a simple local public that's very user friendly for the Mrs. and I.

 

But I have one standout Not only for the quality of the course, but for the entire experience playing there. Arcadia Bluffs G. C. A links style course built high up on the sand dune bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. Just a stunner. So much fun to play. Not cheap, believe the rack rate is $180. But we play it on senior day when its half that amount. Three times now. Some pics (grabbed off the internets because the crappy cell phone pics don't do it justice):

 

 

 

There's a number of these, placed right where I drive the ball, that I've ended up in on occasion. Don't even bother. May end up hurting something trying. Toss the ball out, take my penalty stoke and play on. My dime, my rules.

 

 

 

Then when its nearing dusk, they have a lone bagpiper come out and play. Brings chills down your spine. Very cool.

 

 

 

Man, can't wait till golf season to once again commence. Suspect swing and all.

 

Stunnng pics Fella, those bunkers are what nightmares are made of.

 

This is where membership of the OGA really pays off. My money, my ball, my rules.

That course is the exact type that I would drag out the 1940 Armours on with the old old nylon Sun Mountain bag and of course some type of blade 1 iron. Would not give two hoots about the score would just enjoy the basic back to roots bare bones golf

[BIG STU]

Im a tech dinosaur but

 

Anyone else out here a fan of google play music?

 

You just synch your phone/device bluetooth to whatever you have, bose sound, tv sound bar, etc. And you can get almost commercial free music in your genre of choice

 

Classic rock channel, zepp channel etc

Rat Pack, Sinatra channel

Clapton.

 

 

You guys prolly use it or something similar but Im just catching up ; )

I can really go for 1 and 3 on that list in fact I do just that. That new Mack truck I drive at work has all the gizmos for Bluetooth on the stereo and my buddy got them hooked up for me. Also it has an awesome factory Dolby Stereo in it stock from the factory. One of the reasons I call it the Cadillac Mack. Yep it has a plug and I hook that to my smart phone and away I go jamming and hauling arse

[BIG STU]

Howdy buds!

 

Lots of catching up to do here. Will go back and catch up some more tomorrow. Some more great pics and cool comments (as usual) based on a quick scan.

 

Radro, thank you for the kindnesses extended to your old buddy Judge Reason back there a page or two ago. You're a good man, sir.

 

As to the finger pulling, if I had teeth down there I could sing Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog in three part harmony. (I think I just smashed two Three Dog Night songs together.).

 

For grins:

 

Yep you did just that on the Three Dog songs very well I might add. You can paraphrase Jeremiah was tooting in three part harmony--- There I sorta fixed it for you

[Fellaheen51]

A few of you will know that I'm a curler. Golf and curling are a natural one-two combination up here in the great white north as the seasons more-or-less dovetail together nicely. Played today in my first open bonspiel of the season and our team manged to win the darned thing! This event is affectionately known as the Turkeyspiel as the prizes for the various flight winners are....

 

 

....turkeys!

 

They also fed us a full course turkey dinner when we were done!

 

Christmas dinner is now covered with a prime 20# bird now in the freezer! A pretty good way to spend an early December Saturday. A certain measure of satisfaction was had in that a team of seniors managed to get the better of a couple of ringer teams and a bunch of young guys! Kind of in that theme of it ain't how far, but how many.

 

Good show buddy!!! Congratulations. Your team was obviously "sliding the rock" in the bonspiel. (Had to use the goggle machine to learn what a bonspiel was.) Observing, seems like a sport where finesse and technique trumps (can I use that word given the new reality?) strength and power. In the case of battling the young'uns. As for the ringers, just have to slide your best and let the ice chips fall as they may. And being rewarded with hard goods is always better than a trophy that goes on the mantle for a couple of years until consigned to the basement.

 

What shaft material are you using for your brush (think that's the correct term)? Flex? Lead tape?

 

Always been fascinated watching curling. Get exposure to it on CBC Ch. 9 out of Windsor. Bump into it every now and then, always draws my interest. Seems like great fun, something that I would definitely enjoy participating in given the opportunity. The individual performance in conjunction with still needing the team in competition. And a sporting activity that an old guy can still do. And FWIW, my interest was renewed while watching the Russian women's curling team during the Sochi Olympics. With no slight intended towards the Canadian team. Had no vested interest one way or the other, was just being observational.

[SixtySomePing]

A few of you will know that I'm a curler. Golf and curling are a natural one-two combination up here in the great white north as the seasons more-or-less dovetail together nicely. Played today in my first open bonspiel of the season and our team manged to win the darned thing! This event is affectionately known as the Turkeyspiel as the prizes for the various flight winners are....

 

 

....turkeys!

 

They also fed us a full course turkey dinner when we were done!

 

Christmas dinner is now covered with a prime 20# bird now in the freezer! A pretty good way to spend an early December Saturday. A certain measure of satisfaction was had in that a team of seniors managed to get the better of a couple of ringer teams and a bunch of young guys! Kind of in that theme of it ain't how far, but how many.

 

Curling, we never get to see it around here except in the Olympics. Then we really like to watch it, it's fascinating. I'm sure it's fabulous actually getting to do it yourself. How long is the actual curling ice that you slide it on? Does everyone own their own stone? What kind of shoes do you wear so you don't slip on the ice?

[Fellaheen51]

Im a tech dinosaur but

 

Anyone else out here a fan of google play music?

 

You just synch your phone/device bluetooth to whatever you have, bose sound, tv sound bar, etc. And you can get almost commercial free music in your genre of choice

 

Classic rock channel, zepp channel etc

Rat Pack, Sinatra channel

Clapton.

 

 

You guys prolly use it or something similar but Im just catching up ; )

 

Use Spotify these days. Pay a $9.95 per month subscription for the service. The whole family can log in with my User/Pass to create their own playlists. Event the Mrs. has finally figured out how to use it. Kinda cool that I can find literally every old song and/or album from the past there. Keep trying to stump it, but seemingly always has what I'm looking for.

 

Stream content over to the Hi-Fi via Air Play. The receiver in the system is so equipped. My whip doesn't have bluetooth capabilities so I have to plug in the phone to a jack, no big deal. The whole process has eliminated the need to upload CD's to the phone. With one caveat, there is compression of the data stream involved that compromises the sound quality. Don't notice it in my vehicle. But when played through the stereo rig, can notice some dynamic range compression taking place. Particularly with orchestral music. Just seems to be lacking in depth when compared to a high quality CD recording. The Who turned up to 11, no issues.

 

Also use the TuneIn radio app. It's free. Something of a radio junkie, like listening to stations from literally everywhere in the world. They have "stations" that filter content to specific genres and eras. When I'm out and about and just wish to have something playing, will use TuneIn rather than Spotify. Where I go when I have need to get my Big Beat, Techno, House music groove going. Ibiza radio. Rave on.

[Fellaheen51]

 

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.

 

Just in case you are not aware of the recent idiots new protests it is not good to show, wear, talk about or in any way use something that is not part of your racial group, therefore having deep bunkers, because the Scottish did it first, bagpipe Scottish or maybe Irish can not be used or in fact if we take this to its ultimate conclusion, golf, as this was a Scottish invention and I am quite sure no one asked them if they could copy it.

 

Two recent examples.

 

A university student was accused of cultural apropriation for wearing dreadlocks as he was not West Indian.

 

Victoria's Secret show was accused of cultural apropriation because it themed Chinese and Mexican style clothing that were modelled by western ladies. The fact is shortly if will be illegal to wear, eat, talk about or in any way refer to anything that was not originally part of your racial group.

 

THE WORLD HAS GONE BLOODY MAD.

 

Viva la revolution. (oops, sorry that is French)

 

Jeez Louise!!!! Haven't heard of this before. Political Correctness taken to the extreme.

 

"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing...." Thomas Jefferson (in a letter to James Madison, Jan. 30, 1787).

 

Don't know about all this business as it relates to my playing at golf or the sound of bagpipes. I have no Scottish heritage whatsoever. Just that the sound of pipes has a certain old world quality to them that I enjoy periodically. So if I have to don kilts to continue enjoying both, so be it. I can fake it.

 

Therefore, in full Cultural Appropriation mode, I found this while looking for the theme song from one of my favorite movies of all time. Local Hero. LOTS of pipes that I thought was pretty cool. I posted this elsewhere in WRX, a couple of weeks ago. But I'm feeling a bit of a ramble rouser and want to hear some pipes again this a.m. Changing my user name to McFellaheen to be PC:

 

[scomac2002]

A few of you will know that I'm a curler. Golf and curling are a natural one-two combination up here in the great white north as the seasons more-or-less dovetail together nicely. Played today in my first open bonspiel of the season and our team manged to win the darned thing! This event is affectionately known as the Turkeyspiel as the prizes for the various flight winners are....

 

 

....turkeys!

 

They also fed us a full course turkey dinner when we were done!

 

Christmas dinner is now covered with a prime 20# bird now in the freezer! A pretty good way to spend an early December Saturday. A certain measure of satisfaction was had in that a team of seniors managed to get the better of a couple of ringer teams and a bunch of young guys! Kind of in that theme of it ain't how far, but how many.

 

Good show buddy!!! Congratulations. Your team was obviously "sliding the rock" in the bonspiel. (Had to use the goggle machine to learn what a bonspiel was.) Observing, seems like a sport where finesse and technique trumps (can I use that word given the new reality?) strength and power. In the case of battling the young'uns. As for the ringers, just have to slide your best and let the ice chips fall as they may. And being rewarded with hard goods is always better than a trophy that goes on the mantle for a couple of years until consigned to the basement.

 

What shaft material are you using for your brush (think that's the correct term)? Flex? Lead tape?

 

Always been fascinated watching curling. Get exposure to it on CBC Ch. 9 out of Windsor. Bump into it every now and then, always draws my interest. Seems like great fun, something that I would definitely enjoy participating in given the opportunity. The individual performance in conjunction with still needing the team in competition. And a sporting activity that an old guy can still do. And FWIW, my interest was renewed while watching the Russian women's curling team during the Sochi Olympics. With no slight intended towards the Canadian team. Had no vested interest one way or the other, was just being observational.

 

Thanks Fella! Curling is indeed a game of finesse and technique. It has often been referred to chess on ice when the strategy is being played out as the game progresses. Strength and power are pretty important too when you get to the competitive levels as the brushing can have a big impact on how the rock reacts. The teams that play their trade on the pro circuit -- yes there is such a thing up here with international teams competing to boot -- are as fit as any other elite level athlete.

 

My brush has a composite shaft. It's not as light as a graphite shaft, but that fine with me. It is pretty stiff though as I don't like the sensation of the shaft flexing when I'm leaning on it with all I've got trying to bring the rock the last few feet. They came out with some new ultra light brooms last year touted as saving your brushing strength, but I'd have to lead tape that thing like crazy to get it to my preferred weight! ;)

 

The game is great fun! At the recreational or club level it's very social as a beverage is always part of the routine following the game; winner buys. I find that it's a great way to stay in shape in the winter without having to go out of doors to brave the weather. There are 90 guys in our day men's league and we play pick-up games three days a week. Everyone is retired so the average age on the ice is probably 75+ with lots of them over 80! It's great to see these guys out there still enjoying a game and staying active versus the alternative that so many older folks find themselves reduced to!

 

Funny that you should mention watching the Russian women's team at the Olympics. I have always thought that Anna Sidorova looked an awful lot like Bond villain Xenia Onotop; sultry, exotic and dangerous! ;)

[scomac2002]

A few of you will know that I'm a curler. Golf and curling are a natural one-two combination up here in the great white north as the seasons more-or-less dovetail together nicely. Played today in my first open bonspiel of the season and our team manged to win the darned thing! This event is affectionately known as the Turkeyspiel as the prizes for the various flight winners are....

 

 

....turkeys!

 

They also fed us a full course turkey dinner when we were done!

 

Christmas dinner is now covered with a prime 20# bird now in the freezer! A pretty good way to spend an early December Saturday. A certain measure of satisfaction was had in that a team of seniors managed to get the better of a couple of ringer teams and a bunch of young guys! Kind of in that theme of it ain't how far, but how many.

 

Curling, we never get to see it around here except in the Olympics. Then we really like to watch it, it's fascinating. I'm sure it's fabulous actually getting to do it yourself. How long is the actual curling ice that you slide it on? Does everyone own their own stone? What kind of shoes do you wear so you don't slip on the ice?

 

Here's a link to a curling sheet fact sheet. The ice varies a bit, but is between 146' and 150' in length and 14.2' to 15.7' wide. I belong to a small club with only three sheets, but the bigger clubs in the area will have six. Generally speaking, they can fit five sheets into an arena surface which is what the pros play on that you watch on TV.

 

 

 

Curling rocks are quite expensive. The clubs own the rocks. They weigh 44# each and are made of solid granite (with a handle attached). They are very durable. I believe that the rocks at our club are ~40 years old.

 

You have special shoes for curling. The foot opposite your throwing hand will have a teflon slider on the sole of the shoe that allows you to slide freely when delivering the rock. The other shoe will have a "gripper" sole that is made of textured rubber allowing you to get traction on the ice. When not throwing your rocks most players will pull a toe rubber style gripper over the slider sole so you don't slip when brushing the rock. The image below is of the sliding shoe.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, falls are a fairly common thing as would be the nature of playing a game on ice. There are probably two or three hospital visits a season at our club of 300 members due to falls where people hit their heads on the ice. Many people have chosen to wear some form of head protection when playing. These types of hats are popular. They look pretty normal, but they have a protective ring around the headband that will absorb the impact should you fall and hit your head. I have the ball cap style. One fall was more than enough to convince me. I was fortunate; no concussion, but it really does throw you for a loop and it takes quite a while to regain your confidence on the ice.

[Fellaheen51]

Good stuff Sco, TFP. Interesting about lids for the noggin. Never thought of that. Yeah, wouldn't want to slip and bang your head on the ice. Would take all the fun out of it. LOL. But, no mention of the sartorially correct apparel that one wears to the club. Am I to assume you having matching "uniforms"? Sorta like matching bowling shirts? Tucked or untucked?

 

Vintage rocks. Perfect. Of course, how do ever wear out a hunk of granite by sliding it on the ice. Sounds like your broom is in need of a reshaft.

[scomac2002]

We don't have any uniforms, although a couple of competitive women's teams that play out of our club do. They look pretty spiffy, but then again, you're more or less advertising that you're good, so the game had better match the gear. It's always better to take someone by surprise I find. I prefer the reputation of being sneaky good. ;)

 

My wardrobe does a lot of double duty. I bought several of these long sleeve dri fit base layers and several polar fleece type pullovers to wear while skiing under a ski jacket. Turns out they worked great to wear spring and fall with a wind proof shell when golfing. The same basic outfit works for curling too. Add a pair of curling trousers (with reinforced crotch and knees) and you're good to go. Every few years the club will place an order for club jackets, but I haven't been playing long enough to partake in that, but they're really not as good as modern athletic wear so I'm not sure that I would bother, especially if it's just going to come off anyway! As far as correct apparel, one of the young ladies that plays out of our club periodically wears a kilt and tam when she plays. She is a terrific curler with great form! It's quite a picture to see her gracefully sliding down the ice delivering the perfect weight rock. The only thing missing would be a corn broom, but they aren't used anymore.

 

My broom was new last year, so there's no need for a reshaft. I'll probably need a new pad by next season though as they can wear pretty quickly when you play a lot on "dirty" ice.

[SixtySomePing]

So which takes more finesse, the thrower or the sweepers? Have you ever in all your Curling experience seen a time when a thrown rock made it perfectly to the center of the target without any need of sweeping? (maybe like a hole in one?) :)

[BIG STU]

Im a tech dinosaur but

 

Anyone else out here a fan of google play music?

 

You just synch your phone/device bluetooth to whatever you have, bose sound, tv sound bar, etc. And you can get almost commercial free music in your genre of choice

 

Classic rock channel, zepp channel etc

Rat Pack, Sinatra channel

Clapton.

 

 

You guys prolly use it or something similar but Im just catching up ; )

 

Use Spotify these days. Pay a $9.95 per month subscription for the service. The whole family can log in with my User/Pass to create their own playlists. Event the Mrs. has finally figured out how to use it. Kinda cool that I can find literally every old song and/or album from the past there. Keep trying to stump it, but seemingly always has what I'm looking for.

 

Stream content over to the Hi-Fi via Air Play. The receiver in the system is so equipped. My whip doesn't have bluetooth capabilities so I have to plug in the phone to a jack, no big deal. The whole process has eliminated the need to upload CD's to the phone. With one caveat, there is compression of the data stream involved that compromises the sound quality. Don't notice it in my vehicle. But when played through the stereo rig, can notice some dynamic range compression taking place. Particularly with orchestral music. Just seems to be lacking in depth when compared to a high quality CD recording. The Who turned up to 11, no issues.

 

Also use the TuneIn radio app. It's free. Something of a radio junkie, like listening to stations from literally everywhere in the world. They have "stations" that filter content to specific genres and eras. When I'm out and about and just wish to have something playing, will use TuneIn rather than Spotify. Where I go when I have need to get my Big Beat, Techno, House music groove going. Ibiza radio. Rave on.

I like it The Who cranked to 11 with no issues--- On the radio thing back in the day when I was a kid my Uncle was a radio whiz he had his Ham License etc He gave me an old Halicrafter tube short wave radio. They were considered very good they were made in Germany before and after WW-2. Big old tubes and big and heavy. He also put an antenna way up in a tree for me Man I remember that radio produced a lot of heat and drew a lot of power. Had to keep a fan on it in the summer. I could not broadcast this was receiver only. I remember he had to wire a seperate wire and fuse box for me to run the thing. I could pick up from everywhere depending on the skip. He always said if I had a power amp and power antenna I could always pick up more. Man used to listen to WLOS in Chicago and WOWO in Fort Wayne Indiana. My old man was all for it because he could pick up ball games he was betting on from distant stations. It was an amazing thing for a boy of 11 or 12 years old. In fact the old man used it while I was in the Navy. It finally fried one tube too many and the tubes were getting hard and impossible to get. I think he left it in the house when they moved because it did not work. Never knew or thought about what happened to it after that

 

Talk about high tech. that new Mack truck I drive has 7 different computers in it to run all of the systems. It also has an app called Bulldog Guard. They can check at any time to see where we are at and our speed even though they do not use it for that. they do not care about speed anyhow and my truck is goverened to 68 MPH. But if something goes wrong and it shows on my display it will show the same thing on either their smart phones or the computer at the office. I had a seperator fuel filter stop up one day and my display lit up. I was hunting a place to pull over to drain it and my phone rang. It was the owner of the company asking if I was ok and could I get in? I drained it and limped in. Come to find out our half a**ed mechanic had not changed that filter for 2 services because he had forgotten about it. What little butt he had got chewed off. Needless to say he has not forgot again. I actually jumped his case after it happened and told him if he ever did something like that again and it put me down on the side of the road he best not be in the yard when I got there because he and I would have a serious "Come To Jesus" meeting! The owner of the company was right there and told him to heed those words that he would not try to control me if I got loose. I am learning sometimes to embrace technology

[scomac2002]

So which takes more finesse, the thrower or the sweepers? Have you ever in all your Curling experience seen a time when a thrown rock made it perfectly to the center of the target without any need of sweeping? (maybe like a hole in one?) :)

 

The skip calls the line from the house (rings). It's up to the sweepers to call the weight to get the rock to the desired spot. Good sweeping can make a shot. It's a real talent to call weight right out of the hand. It takes a long time to get good at it.

 

That said, a great thrower is worth their weight in gold. Hit the broom and know your weight. I think that being a feel golfer has helped me a lot in curling as drawing the rock is my strength. I'm much more of a finesse player than a big weight hitter as I find those shots tougher to control. I can probably throw a shot dead weight to the button without sweeping once a game. It may sound impressive, but I think that happens quite a bit. It's not like a hole-in-one in that regard.

[Reasonability]

So which takes more finesse, the thrower or the sweepers? Have you ever in all your Curling experience seen a time when a thrown rock made it perfectly to the center of the target without any need of sweeping? (maybe like a hole in one?) :)

 

The skip calls the line from the house (rings). It's up to the sweepers to call the weight to get the rock to the desired spot. Good sweeping can make a shot. It's a real talent to call weight right out of the hand. It takes a long time to get good at it.

 

That said, a great thrower is worth their weight in gold. Hit the broom and know your weight. I think that being a feel golfer has helped me a lot in curling as drawing the rock is my strength. I'm much more of a finesse player than a big weight hitter as I find those shots tougher to control. I can probably throw a shot dead weight to the button without sweeping once a game. It may sound impressive, but I think that happens quite a bit. It's not like a hole-in-one in that regard.

 

What's a hole-in-one? LOL.

 

During the Olympics - the wife who is a teacher ends up doing some sort of "Olympic Sport Learning Opportunity" for her first grade class. Students are allowed to look at the list of all Olympic sports (in this case it was a winter Olympics) - And my wife would dedicate a few minutes of each day sharing with the kids tid-bits about that particular sport. Wouldn't you know they selected Curling! So - with that the wife gathers all sorts of resources about it. How to keep score, what those who play the sport often do for a living, where they live, the equipment, yadda yadda. Overflowing with her research, the wife would "school" me as we watched the sport together at home in the evenings. I recall one juicy tidbit being all about the granite a rock is made from. If I remember correctly - it comes from Scotland. Evidently everyone who's anyone in the sport would never settle for anything other than this one particular type of granite.

 

LMAO - I always thought granite is granite. Then again - I can recall thinking a golf shaft is a golf shaft.

 

Wonder if there's a quarry in Scotland the best shafts come from????

 

I've now officially and completely maxed out my entire know-how when it comes to curling - back to the resident expert!

[scomac2002]

Curling rocks are manufactured from granite that is quarried from Ailsa Craig, an uninhabited island that is part of the Orkney Island chain of Scotland. The curling rock is made up of a combination of grey granite and harder blue granite which forms the core.

 

Canada is now one of the leading manufacturers of curling rocks, but the stone is all imported from Scotland. This is most likely reflective of the high level of competitive play that takes place here as all the world's best teams come here to play on the Grand Slam circuit. We have the highest level of participation at the club level on a per capita basis of anywhere in the world.

[SixtySomePing]

So I watched a bunch of curling on YouTube today since there's never any on TV of course and the Winter Olympics is still a year away. Still fascinating and it would be a blast to get out there and try it. Wonder if there have been any statistical studies on how much temperature change you can make in the ice due to the sweeping. Sometimes it seems to get furious near the target area and appears to work. Sweeping I would think would call for someone to be in pretty good physical condition, plus have pretty good peripheral vision as not to run into other stones along the way. Seems like a lot of team work involved as well to be successful.

[SixtySomePing]

Im a tech dinosaur but

 

Anyone else out here a fan of google play music?

 

You just synch your phone/device bluetooth to whatever you have, bose sound, tv sound bar, etc. And you can get almost commercial free music in your genre of choice

 

Classic rock channel, zepp channel etc

Rat Pack, Sinatra channel

Clapton.

 

 

You guys prolly use it or something similar but Im just catching up ; )

 

Use Spotify these days. Pay a $9.95 per month subscription for the service. The whole family can log in with my User/Pass to create their own playlists. Event the Mrs. has finally figured out how to use it. Kinda cool that I can find literally every old song and/or album from the past there. Keep trying to stump it, but seemingly always has what I'm looking for.

 

Stream content over to the Hi-Fi via Air Play. The receiver in the system is so equipped. My whip doesn't have bluetooth capabilities so I have to plug in the phone to a jack, no big deal. The whole process has eliminated the need to upload CD's to the phone. With one caveat, there is compression of the data stream involved that compromises the sound quality. Don't notice it in my vehicle. But when played through the stereo rig, can notice some dynamic range compression taking place. Particularly with orchestral music. Just seems to be lacking in depth when compared to a high quality CD recording. The Who turned up to 11, no issues.

 

Also use the TuneIn radio app. It's free. Something of a radio junkie, like listening to stations from literally everywhere in the world. They have "stations" that filter content to specific genres and eras. When I'm out and about and just wish to have something playing, will use TuneIn rather than Spotify. Where I go when I have need to get my Big Beat, Techno, House music groove going. Ibiza radio. Rave on.

I like it The Who cranked to 11 with no issues--- On the radio thing back in the day when I was a kid my Uncle was a radio whiz he had his Ham License etc He gave me an old Halicrafter tube short wave radio. They were considered very good they were made in Germany before and after WW-2. Big old tubes and big and heavy. He also put an antenna way up in a tree for me Man I remember that radio produced a lot of heat and drew a lot of power. Had to keep a fan on it in the summer. I could not broadcast this was receiver only. I remember he had to wire a seperate wire and fuse box for me to run the thing. I could pick up from everywhere depending on the skip. He always said if I had a power amp and power antenna I could always pick up more. Man used to listen to WLOS in Chicago and WOWO in Fort Wayne Indiana. My old man was all for it because he could pick up ball games he was betting on from distant stations. It was an amazing thing for a boy of 11 or 12 years old. In fact the old man used it while I was in the Navy. It finally fried one tube too many and the tubes were getting hard and impossible to get. I think he left it in the house when they moved because it did not work. Never knew or thought about what happened to it after that

 

Talk about high tech. that new Mack truck I drive has 7 different computers in it to run all of the systems. It also has an app called Bulldog Guard. They can check at any time to see where we are at and our speed even though they do not use it for that. they do not care about speed anyhow and my truck is goverened to 68 MPH. But if something goes wrong and it shows on my display it will show the same thing on either their smart phones or the computer at the office. I had a seperator fuel filter stop up one day and my display lit up. I was hunting a place to pull over to drain it and my phone rang. It was the owner of the company asking if I was ok and could I get in? I drained it and limped in. Come to find out our half a**ed mechanic had not changed that filter for 2 services because he had forgotten about it. What little butt he had got chewed off. Needless to say he has not forgot again. I actually jumped his case after it happened and told him if he ever did something like that again and it put me down on the side of the road he best not be in the yard when I got there because he and I would have a serious "Come To Jesus" meeting! The owner of the company was right there and told him to heed those words that he would not try to control me if I got loose. I am learning sometimes to embrace technology

 

When I was in bands back in the late 60's Stu I had a tube Fender Bandmaster amp like the one below, and when I had it at home, it would pick up short wave radio at night time. It was a monster, of course you couldn't tune in anything in particular, just whatever came in over it, usually late at night, the weirdest thing...

[scomac2002]

So I watched a bunch of curling on YouTube today since there's never any on TV of course and the Winter Olympics is still a year away. Still fascinating and it would be a blast to get out there and try it. Wonder if there have been any statistical studies on how much temperature change you can make in the ice due to the sweeping. Sometimes it seems to get furious near the target area and appears to work. Sweeping I would think would call for someone to be in pretty good physical condition, plus have pretty good peripheral vision as not to run into other stones along the way. Seems like a lot of team work involved as well to be successful.

 

The finals of the Canada Cup are being played today in Brandon Manitoba. Too bad that there weren't any channels in the States that picked up the feed from TSN. The Jennifer Jones rink out of Winnipeg defeated the Rachel Holman rink from Ottawa 9-5 in 9 ends. They are ranked number one and number two in the world right now. The men's final is set to go in a couple of hours (7:30 CST).

 

They say that aggressive sweeping can melt a small film on top of the pebble that allows the rock to travel further and straighter. Ice temperature is generally around 28° F at our club. The big enemy that sweeping helps with is frost. Frost can build up around the pebble and the really slows the rock down and cuts down on the amount of curl you get. The more curlers on the ice and the more spectators in the crowd the greater the humidity in the rink air that has to be dealt with. Dehumidifiers are a big part of the curling rink infrastructure along with ice making equipment.

 

Top teams have very high levels of physical fitness as sweeping is very demanding. I find that it is great cardio exercise much like interval training where you go max effort for 15-20 seconds. Trust me when I say that it seems like it's a lot longer than that! Team work and good communication is the key so that everyone is on the same page with what you're trying to do on any given shot.