Turtle report

Barb and I saw 38 turtles come out of a nest and dash for the ocean last night.

From the first stirrings of the sand until the dash was about an hour. The nest was about 50 feet to the surf and once they got going it  took about 10 minutes for them get wet.

Lots of onlookers and volunteers to keep photographers, birds and the curious from disturbing the march to the sea.

It was like a horror movie as all the turtles came out of the hole at one time. The hole was about 4 inches across.

Turtles were about an inch and a half across, with one inch flippers.

There are over 130 nests on oak island this year, a bumper crop.

Next nest is two days later than this one.

A highlight of the trip so far.

A "Good" Study

And now for something entirely different!

I received this in an email today:

“...Here’s what to avoid: The study, which was published Monday by scientists at the University of Exeter and presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019 in Los Angeles, looked at four main signs of a healthy versus unhealthy lifestyle. Those who were more likely to develop dementia reported eating an unhealthier (do we know this, or is it speculation by the researchers?) diet higher in fat and sugar and salt, did not engage in regular physical activity, smoked cigarettes and consumed alcohol.

A 2017 study found a fifth item worth avoiding: Artificial sweeteners. “Drinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily was associated with almost three times the risk of developing stroke or dementia compared to those who drank artificially sweetened beverages less than once a week,” according to the study, published in the American Heart Association journal “Stroke.”

 

I've learned a bit about the scientific method over the past 10 years or so.  Using some of that knowledge, allow me to critique the above paragraphs.

Let's look at this line:  

 
"Those who were more likely to develop dementia reported eating an unhealthier diet higher in fat and sugar and salt, did not engage in regular physical activity, smoked cigarettes and consumed alcohol."

Note the "more likely to develop dementia,"  well, did they develop it or not?  And what is the meaning of "more likely?"  The general population develops at 1.0% and the studied group at 1.003%?  We don't know.  Maybe they know, but it's not clear in this paragraph above.  

Now, quiz, did the study actually measure the fat, sugar, salt in the diets?  Nope, self reported per the paragraph.  Do you think all the subjects (and how many were there?) accurately remembered what they ate and how much and when?  Remember these are dementia patients, so maybe memory might be an issue?

Even if all of this is true, we still have a problem of cause and effect.  Suppose that certain people who will develop dementia like to eat fat, salt, sugar, smoke and not exercise more than the general population?  Maybe they are just different people?  Basically this "good" study might be a starting point, but it is nowhere close to being evidence of anything.

In the next paragraph we have a report by another study that associates artificial sweeteners with a three times greater risk of all sorts of bad things.  Interestingly the first study cited didn't mention sweeteners!  Yipes!  And the second study didn't mention all the dietary things that the first study did.  Were they looked for?  Hard to tell.  We don't know what either study didn't find associations for.  But since both studies were looking at diet, so we might suspect that they looked at similar items, and if this stuff was true, wouldn't the studies provide the same answers?

Now we do have a number in the second paragraph, 3 times more likely to develop dementia.  What's the rate if you don't use these sweeteners?  Ok, I'll go look... According to the "Braintest" web site the rate is 6% plus or minus one percent for the US.  Are they really reporting that 18% of the sweetener eaters developed dementia?  They expect the number of cases to go up as the population increases and gets older.  We also learn there are a number of different types of dementia.  The best way to deal with this?  Of course, use the Brain Test software!  Just a click away!  (Of course dementia might be pretty normal and we are seeing more of it as the expected ages continue to increase.  If the life expectancy is 57, then you are not going to see a lot of 60 year olds with dementia!)

These studies are sure a lot of fun.  For people who have spent their entire lives engrossed in what a "healthy" diet is, they are candy for the soul and so easy to believe and propagate.  We may be surrounded by modern Frankenstein foods designed by "big food" to kill us all, but these studies don't provide any evidence of anything.

Driver Report

The on-running theme is the intense hatred my driver has for me.  I took it to the range a couple of times this weekend.  Even hit the big bucket, 150 balls, and almost all of those were with the driver.  Maybe if I cave in the face my problems will be over?  

 

It did go well at the range and I have a new 12 step process to hit the perfect drive.  I was excited to give it a go today.

 

 

"How did it go?" you ask.  Well there is kind of a funny story to that.  I pull out the driver for the 350 yard fifth hole, which is a problem child for me.  It's awfully easy to end up in the bunkers to the right if the tees are back and if the tees are up, the bunker on the left.  Today the tees were up and I'm determined to use the big club.  I take my time and get my ball position correct and then a bit of body tilt, the arms a bit forward.  I'm thinking of a nice turn around my body and then a nice, smooth rotation back while leaving the spine just where it is...  And, golly, it actually happens!  The drive is just a touch to the left, bounces over the toe of the left bunker.  It leaves me 90 to a front pin.  So it wasn't 250 or 240, but maybe 230 and in play and a lot better than 180 under a bush.  It even sounded good and was way up in the air.  My golf buddies were envious.

90 yards is a nice smooth sandwedge and I pull it out and I'm still smooth and thinking good thoughts and I hit it.  A fairly good hit.  But, what's this?  It's gone over the green and over the green side trap, hits the bunker bank and then spins back into the bunker.  Now, I'm confused.  Do I need to recalibrate all the irons?  

I wander up with the wedge in hand.  Grab putter, leave bag and get into the bunker.  Now, I must mention that the last trip around Wente, I was in 4 green side bunkers and got it up and down every time.  So I'm not too worried about this bunker shot.  I get over it and for some reason decide to take a closer look at the club I've got.  Well, it's not a sandwedge, it's the pitching wedge.  Ooops, kind of explains the extra 20 yards on the last shot. I'm too lazy to go to the bag and get the right club.  So I splash it out, but it's long.  I chip back and sink the putt.  Well, I guess a good drive isn't everything!

Being a systems kind of guy, I'm thinking that marking the faces of the wedges might be a good idea...  Ah, well.

When the smoke cleared it was a 75 today, no birdies and 26 putts.  I was flopping like the best of them.  I hit a couple of good drives, but still a couple of duds.  But I think my approach is ok and will bear fruit as I repeat my changes.  Lunch at Costco to complete the morning.

An Old Joke

We were at As You Like It, aka Shakespeare in the park this weekend.  A guy seated behind us said that he had a Shakespeare joke.  I've done some editing and put it in play form for the amusement of my readers.

Scene: A small town in Oklahoma.  The gentle folk are a mixture of urban and rustic. 

Players: We have Tommy, eight years old and his mother. 

Tommy and his mother are walking down the sidewalk.

Tommy: Hey, ma, look at 'dem cowboys with their funny legs!

Mother: Tommy, we do not talk of other people like that.  This is the last straw, you are going east to learn some manners and culture!

Two years later Tommy has returned a new, cultured, young man.  He and his mother are once again walking the side walk.  As this is a joke, we find the same cowboys at their same place, still bowlegged and not too much worse or better from the passage of the years.  Tommy sees them...

Tommy: Behold Mama, what manner of men be these that wear their legs in parentheses!

End

I think my dad told me this joke a long time ago.  The punch line was bit naughtier, but it was the same joke.

"So, how was the play?"  I hear you ask.

As Shakespeare goes, I liked this one a lot.  I've grown weary of most of his stuff that I see.  It seems too simple and a bit of "one joke" problem to solve.  And this play had some of those elements in it, characters switching genders for example.  But they company that put on the play added 5 songs to the original.  They used more modern language while maintaining ties to the original songs.  It made it more entertaining for me. 

We had a nice time, wine, sandwiches, some hummus and carrots.  Probably could have used some warmer clothes as it was a sub sixty degree evening.

If I only Had a Hook

I was inspired to the following while playing with John and Rich II.  They both move it left to right as if it were the dominant religion.  However, I was somewhat dismayed to see Rich II hook a couple of shots - which caused a couple of  hesitations on my part.  But I dismissed those and took the plunge.  Structure stolen from the Wizard of Oz lyrics - If I only had a brain.

The Hook

Life is sad, believe me, Dear,
When you're born to be a slicer
Without the draw and swerve.
But I could change my stances, never more be scared of chances
If I only had a hook.

I'm afraid it's always frighty, It just goes left to righty,
A fate I don't deserve.
But I could show my prowess, make pars and not just messes
If I only had a hook

Oh I'd be in my stride, scratch down to the core
I would score the way I've never scored before
And then I'd rrrwoof! and roar some more
I would show all the senior players who's king around the courses
If I only had a hook

No fear of trees to the left, I'd find them just a jest

I'd move the ball so fine, make its path all be mine

The ball would learns its lesson, not to be with my mind a messin'

If I only had a hook

A Modest Review of Hamilton

Normally the tickets are $316 to see this musical adaptation of Alexander Hamilton's life.  But Barb and a number of the folks we talked to down in rows one and two, got tickets for $10 each.  They have a lottery every day for 44 tickets at the $10 rate.

Barb almost deleted the email, but paused and read it, revealing the prize.  So off we went via Bart down to Powell street, had an early dinner in the food court below the Westfield Center, then back to Bart for a one station hop to the Civic Center station.  That last Bart hop is not as easy as it sounds as the trains were full and we had to wait for a second train to squeeze in.  It was about 5:30 at that point and apparently a lot of folks are moving around, in, and out of the city.

The Orpheum theater is at the entrance to the Bart station.  We popped out and there we were.  There were people all dressed up for this event.  But it's California and just about everything goes.  One of the posters for the show was at street level and we got in line to take selfies in front of it.

The doors opened 15 minutes later and the actual show room opened soon after that.  Our seats were in the second row, center.  It was a neck cracking position to view a play.  Oh, sure you could see sweat and spit arch into the lights and the wrinkles on the actors, but you needed to lower the head on occasion.

The play has generated some controversy, probably more back east than in San Francisco.  I was a bit put off by the actors' antics and I was more than willing to avoid that show.  The cast was mostly black and a lot of the songs were somewhat in "rap" style.  Those items were fine, but it was hard for me to understand a lot of the lyrics.  The music was good and we had a close view of the director/keyboard player.  She was quite animated and banged away for a solid two hours.

The play covered Hamilton's brief life as he came to New York, met most of the principals of the revolution, fought the war, was Treasury Secretary under Washington and then fell from grace due to an old affair brought to light by his political opponents.  He lost his son to an honor duel in New Jersey ("Everything is legal in New Jersey."), then he endorsed Jefferson over Burr and that led to his own demise, also in NJ.

I think it would have been very interesting if the "book" had dealt with some of the policy issues that survive to this day.  The second amendment issues, the role of strong central government versus states' rights, etc.  Slavery got a brief mention.  But mostly it was a lot of long songs and dancing dealing with Hamilton's complicated life.  It portrayed him as a bit flaky, though bright, hard working and somewhat doomed by those traits.

We got home about midnight, very late for a golfer!   It left with an interest in doing some reading about Hamilton, which I see as a positive outcome. 

The Trials and Tribulations of Sonny

Sonny, a local pro and occasional golf partner, went down to Ojai to play in a senior US Open (golf) qualifier.  He went down a couple of times for practice rounds and brought his brother in for strategy planning.

Sonny felt that he could play the course with a score of 65 to 67.  As it turned out 67 was needed to get into the Open.  They were going to pass two players into the Open and provide two additional alternates.

The strengths of Sonny's game are his driving, mid irons, and his putting.  The course layout was not that long, so his driver length was long enough.  He doesn't hit it 300 normally, 265 or so is normal, but he seldom misses fairways.  Since the par fours were 420 and under, his driver length was more than enough.

But the big problem turned out to be the green speed.  It was slow.  Ok, it was very slow.  One of the requirements of an excellent player is the ability to alter one's play based on conditions.  Green speeds vary based on a lot of things, and it is not unusual to run into fast and slow conditions.   Different courses take care of the greens differently.  One of the strange things about this was that the practice green was fast and the course greens were slow.

Sonny had trouble adjusting to the speed and that generated some angst.  Angst, a borrowed German word, pronounced properly as "ahhngst," is used to denote to some degree an irrational fear when used in English.  In German it is just fear without any baggage attached to it.  But I digress.  Sonny's job was to adjust quickly and it trned out to be a problem.

Of course strange green speeds will alter more than putts.  Chips, pitches, and approach irons might all have to be adjusted based on how much roll out is expected.  And you have to believe and trust that you can, must, and want to make the changes.  Indecision is the killer and of course, you have to get it right.  But the putting was the big problem and Sonny wasn't happy and he describes headaches as he approached the putts.  He started to steer putts to the hole, rather than stroking the club and letting the ball find its path. 

Sonny put in a fair amount of effort into the tournament.  His dream is make it to the senior tour.  There is a Q-School in November.  He and I sat down over a delicious and economical Costco lunch and kicked around what lessons were learned from the experience.  We talked of the need for rapid adjustments and trusting them.  I was also tried to recall something that I had written about in a prior post and that was problem with thoughts of winning before you won or losing before you lost going through your head.  That experience is common to all humans and the solution is let them run, acknowledge them - you can't block them - but then return your full concentration on the next shot.  Maybe you have to get a bit mechanical in your thoughts, but you have to push the destructive win/lose thoughts out of the way for the moment, continue your work and at some point realize the contest is over and you've done your best.

Sonny realized from the greens that he wanted to create a preshot routine for his putting.  He thinks this will relieve some of angst, which gets swallowed by the routine.  The routine is the mind clearer; you've done it every putt and it's an old friend.

Ok, learn from this and on to the next contest!