MW Mobile Blog

For friends, family and the random search engine visitor. This blog started as an experiment in mobile blogging from my Palm TREO 600, 700, Prē, HTC Evo, Samsung 5, Pixel 3, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL. Now it serves as a simple repository of favorite activities. Expect bad golf, good fishing, great sailing, eating, drinking, adventure travel, occasional politics and anything else I find interesting along the way including, but not limited to, any of the labels listed here...

Thursday, January 23, 2014

At City Hall for another skirmish in the Sharp Park Golf War.
Latest dispatch from the front line.


 Back at City Hall for round 2 of 3 in the latest skirmish of the EssEff Golf War.

Bo Links represents SF Public Golf Alliance before Rec & Park Commission
 Another good day. Like the Planning Commission last week, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission voted unanimously to finally proceed with the first small step in the Sharp Park Safety Infrastructure Improvements and Habitat Enhancement Plan. This being San Francisco, we're not there yet. The WEBLEEDU's will be appealing the RECPARK decision, which means the next step is before the Board of Supervisors. This is where it gets dicey. We know there are at least a couple of Supervisors on the board who have in the past voted to give away control of this civic treasure to the Feds, and will do so again.

The Supes represent the WEBLEEDU Axis best chance to prevail and no doubt they will send in the "A Team" for a hearing before the board. They didn't do that today. Today we just saw volunteers who responded to a WEI e-mail blast. There was one interesting and unexpected fallout from that strategy - I'll get to that later when I update this post with more verbiage. Stand by...

Ex-mayor Julie Lancelle of Pacifica speaks in support of the Sharp Park plan

 UPDATE: Watching Julie Lancelle at the dais, I had a sense of deja vu. Checked back on my blog and sure enough - it was December 16, 2009 -  Julie and some of the very same Sharp Park supporters  in the room were offering their support for the Sharp Park habitat improvement plan before the Rec and Park Commission. Then as now, the commission voted unanimously to implement the plan. It was the same fucking plan. Four years later and we are in exactly the place trying to implement a small subset of the same plan which will now be appealed before the Board of Supervisors.

Four years of delay and obstruction from the WEBLEEDUs are stopping the City from implementing needed habitat improvements for the California Red Legged Frog at Sharp Park. In those four year the habitat for the frog continued to degrade.  Laguna Salada and Horse Stable Pond has been a managed habitat since the construction of the golf course made it a viable habitat for the frog decades ago. It needs to be continually managed to permit the frog to continue to flourish there. But the WEBLEEDU Axis is trying to prevent that from happening. That should tell you everything you need to know about the Wild Equity Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity.  They do not have the interest of the Red Legged Frog at heart. For them, the endangered frog and snake are a means to an end.  Their objective is to force the City to give up control of Sharp Park to the Federal Government, they are not willing to accept anything else and they are willing to let the frog habitat at Sharp Park degrade to make that happen. That's fucked up.  That's why we need to continue to fight them.

One more thing - I think they call this the "buried lede"

This happened. A local woman who spoke at last week's planning commission was also present today and spoke before the RECPARK commission. She was brief and basically just hit on some of the e-mailed WEI talking points. She sat back down and listened to the Sharp Park supporters speak. At the end the secretary asked if anyone else wanted to speak during public comment. She raised her hand and indicated she had something else to say.  The secretary told her that she only gets one turn.  I assumed she wanted to rebut some of our comments. I was wrong. 

After the meeting a few of us were in the hall discussing the meeting. She walked up to us and said: " I just wanted you to know that I only came here because I am on the WEI mailing list and they said we should come here to speak. After listening I realized that this situation is not at all like what they said. Rec and Park are trying to improve the habitat for the frog. I feel like I was bamboozled."

She was. Hearing her acknowledge that fact was the best thing that happened all day.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone and later updated and reformatted.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

19th Hole


Hope that things are getting back to normal in my golf game.  Today I posted my first round breaking 100 since returning to the game.

BP 86
MW 95

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Our drives on 18


Bob and I hit our drives 230 yards to within six inches of each other. Of course, my drive kicked his ass. And I believe if you look closely, you might see an asterisk on his drive.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Bob on 17th tee


Even though I am not live blogging today's round, I had to post at least one shot on 17.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Report from Lincoln at the turn


No live blog today due to the unfortunate absence of half of our foursome, a last minute cancellation of pair of unreliable golfers who will not be named.  Bob and  I were instead paired with Frank and Matt, who are giving a very good impression of being real golfers. Decided not to burden them with my live blogging fetish, even though they did seem to enjoy the Zwicker beers. Besides no one wants to see that many pictures of Bob.

Report from the turn.

BP 45
MW 49

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Birthday Report - Food, Drink, Politics, Sharp Park, Sushi

San Francisco Planning Commission Hearing on Sharp Park
On this, the first anniversary of my sixth decade wandering this earthly vale of tears, an eclectic and interesting day. Starting with a...

Gourmet Breakfast:

Birthday baked eggs
 Baked eggs, french style, prepared with butter, cream and herbes de provence prepared by my lovely wife. The eggs were themselves a birthday gift from golf buddy Rick, fresh from the free range chickens wandering in his back yard. A great start on the day.

Civic Duty:
Next up, a walk down to City Hall for a hearing of the Planning Commission on a long delayed, much needed Sharp Park Golf Course project.   On the walk down the hill, winding through EssEff neighborhood side streets and alleys, I passed by two young boys (3 and 5?) playing with a ball, supervised by their nanny.  The older boy looked at me as I walked by and announced "Old Man!" This actually happened. It's not a problem. I'm pretty sure no one will find the body.

Bo Links of SFPGA listening to Lisa Wayne of RecPark explain the project to the commission.
 The hearing was the latest skirmish in the on-going San Francisco Golf War. The WEBLEEDU Axis was well represented, but so were the good guys from the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance. I prepared some brief remarks, but they were not brief enough. At the 2 minute cutoff I was only about half way through what I wanted to say. Must talk faster.  Net net... a good day for the home team.  The commission voted unanimously to proceed with the project:
Sharp Park Golf Course project to move ahead
John Wildermuth
"San Francisco golfers won another round Thursday when the City Planning Commission agreed to move ahead with construction at the Sharp Park Golf Course, despite complaints from environmentalists. The commission rejected a call to require a full environmental impact report on the project, an expensive process that can take months to complete. Environmentalists contend the construction could harm the threatened California red-legged frogs and San Francisco garter snakes that live at the Pacifica golf course... The proposed work, however, is a limited and relatively simple project that affects less than one of Sharp Park's 417 acres, said Lisa Wayne, open space manager for the city's Recreation and Park Department, which runs the golf course. Much of the work, including clearing existing waterways and building a shallow, 1,600-square-foot pond, is designed to improve the habitat for the frogs. She also said no increase in pumping is planned. As part of a habitat improvement agreement with the federal government, "we're required to have that pond in by next year," she said. Building the pond and clearing brush and reeds that have grown up over the years will allow the frogs to get to the water to breed."
A small victory, but a victory nevertheless. And all victories should be celebrated:

Literary Lunch
:
 Our venue - Absinthe on Hayes, and by "lunch" I mean "lunch" in the grand tradition of the much maligned Carter era "Three Martini Lunch".

Celebrating with Bo and Brad
 I can highly recommend both their Martini and Manhattan. However, I felt quite the slacker in the company of my literary drinking buddies - Bo Links, author of Follow the Wind and photographer Brad Knipstein, author of the just published "Alister MacKenzie's Legacy of Public Golf at Sharp Park":

Had a chance to peruse the book over drinks. It's great. Can't wait to get my own copy.

Sushi Dinner:
 Stumbled home and recovered in time for a birthday dinner Sigrid arranged at Okina Sushi:


 A small Richmond district neighborhood gem. Great traditional sushi, fun sushi chef, it's a real find. Definitely recommended, but not sure we'd put it above our long time favorite - Shimo's on Clement.

A very good day. Even for an "Old Man".

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone and subsequently updated with more pics and links.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

19th Hole


Niners, Reuben, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It's all good.

MW 101
RZ 113

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

16th tee portrait.

Me, Brian and Rick. I think I may need to add Brian to the Bad Golfer distribution list.  He seems to take the live blogging in stride. Plus I hit him with my second shot on the third hole. He didn't mind that either. Our kind of golfer.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

My birdie putt on 15


For the second time in the last two outings at Sharp, I have a makeable birdie putt on 15.

And when I say "makeable", I mean makeable for me.

For the second time in the last two outings at Sharp, I miss the putt.

Rick out of the trap on 14...



...and over the green.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Off the 14th tee




Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Brian tees off on 12...


 ...to the fringe and a par.The way golf is supposed to be played.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Rick sinks his par putt on 10


 ... while Brian looks on. Brian had the unfortunate luck to be assigned to us by the starter. He continued to play with us despite my hitting him with a golf ball on the third hole. He may have a future on the Bad Golfer list.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Semi-Live Blogging Sharp Park


Just me and Rick today. Beautiful day on the course. We are competing with the Forty Niner game. Nobody is out here. It's like our private club. I wasn't going to live blog  the round, but we'll take a few shots as we make our way around.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Live Blogging Lincoln



On the second stop of my comeback tour. Bob and Rick on a beautiful morning at Lincoln Park.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

UPDATE/EDIT 1/6/14: Your loyal blogger suffered a catastrophic technical failure on the course yesterday. The HTC smartphone battery was depleted by the 3rd hole. We did take a few more pics, I thought they were posted, but they appear to have disappeared into the ether. At the turn, I replaced the battery with what I believed to be a fully charged replacement (and replenished the foursome spirits with the traditional beer waiting in the cooler). Alas, it also crapped out in a few holes.

At this point I cannot say what happened. I suspect that this was simply an act of god, telling me it is time to finally replace the HTC smartphone, and/or telling me to never reveal what transpired on the course.

The remaining pics are still in the phone, but I fear I will be tempting fate by trying to post them now. Best to let these sleeping stories lie.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Graduation Day & New Year Golfing Resolution

Dr. Bill explains my shoulder

"Congratulations!  You graduated."  Dr. Bill shook my hand.

He had just put me through the paces - reaching, stretching, pulling, pushing, testing the right shoulder he repaired last July.  

"You are doing great. The shoulder is healed. It's not quite back to 100% strength and range, but that takes a year after a massive tear like yours."

He wrote another scrip for continuing physical therapy and said we did not need to schedule any more appointments.

"That's great news." I said. "Thanks Doc. You did a great job. But I need to show you this..."

I pulled out the scorecard and handed it to him. As we had discussed before, I had three goals for my rehabilitation: One - fishing in Michigan in September; Two - abalone diving in November; Three - Golfing in the low 90's in January.  Two down, one to go.


The scorecard was from my round the day before at Sharp Park.  It was my first round since surgery. My score was 107.

"I am disappointed in your performance here." I said.  "I told you I expected to be shooting in the 90's and I shot a 107."

He studied the card. "Did you shoot in the 90's before the surgery?" He asked.


"Not often. But I expected this surgery to improve my game."

"I see." He nodded sagely.  "But you beat your playing partners. Steve had 110 and Roy had 113." He looked back at me. "I can't do any more for you." Then he studied the card and pointed.


"This guy. Roy. He really shot 3 eights in a row?" Concern was written all over Dr. Bill's face.

"Yes he did. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hole. Then two more 8's on the back."

He shook his head.

"Have him come see me. I think I can help him."

Postscript:
Before Sunday's round I'd not played since March. My NCGA handicap revision e-mail arrived.  It included the recent round. My Handicap Index increased to 30.2


I can't live with this humiliation anymore.

My 2014 New Year Golfing Resolution is to get my Index down to a 25 handle.

I did it before. I can do it again.

Yes I Can! Yes I Can! HOPE! CHANGE!

I mean, that hopey, changey thing worked out for the president, didn't it? 

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Team Erickson brings us home on 18



Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

On the 17th tee

I said I would only use irons for this outing, but pulled out the driver for 17. Couldn't resist.

Plus I was in a hurry. The Bear game starts in an hour.

A 235 yard calibrated slice into the middle of the fairway. 

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

On the 12th green...


Well, some of us are on the 12th green. You can see Roy on the 13th  tee in the far distance under the tree.

3 tee shots into the hazard was more than he could take. We have him on suicide watch for the remainder of the round.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Somewhere after the turn.



MW 52
SE 52
RE 58

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Steven showing great form on the 10th tee box...

... on his way to carding an 8.

 
Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Chris shows us how it's done



The starter put him in our group to fill in for our MIA unreliable golfer. Poor f*cker.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Roy in and out of another trap.



He likes the sand. He likes the pain.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

It's in the hole!



Making the putt on 3 for the second par in first three holes (the ball is in the can).

Followed immediately by a pair of snowmen on 4 & 5


Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Roy out of the trap on 3


 While I wait to sink my 2nd par putt in the first three holes.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Team Erickson tees off on 3


 After failing to document my par on two.

 
No. Really. I had a par on the 2nd hole.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Live Blogging Sharp Park


Playing with Roy and Steven for my inaugural return to an 18-hole course. The doc cleared me last month for swinging low irons, so that's the plan for today.

For those of you on my bad golfer distribution list and are wondering about the invite, it is not my fault.  Roy set this up, and an unreliable golfer bagged out at the last minute.

Gorgeous day at Sharp. Sunny, dry, fast... unheard of this time of year.

Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

He's Baaack (sort of)


I've been hitting the driving range for a couple of weeks. Thought it was time to get back on a course. Took my reconstructed shoulder out to Lincoln for an early back nine.


Beautiful morning. So far there is no evidence that my swing, score, or mental attitude toward game has improved in any discernible way.



Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Summit building cameo in "Cloud Atlas" + review

The Summit in Cloud Atlas

Underwhelmed by the book, I was not particularly interested in shelling out good money to see "Cloud Atlas" in the theaters. Now that it is available "On Demand" with our HBO subscription, I finally got around to it.

I had another reason for watching the movie. When I was serving on the homeowner association board, we  were contacted by the movie production company requesting permission to use an external "set up" shot of the building in the movie. We thought the request a bit odd, as anyone can photograph a building from the outside. Regardless, after reviewing the cast, we requested a direct negotiation with Halle Berry. Alas it was not to be.  We agreed to the shot and they paid the association a little money which we contributed to the Wounded Warrior project.

So... About 14 1/2 minutes into the movie our building makes a brief cameo appearance. I watched on the PC so I could do a screen capture and post it here (see top of page). The title on the screen is "San Francisco, 1973". For locals of a certain age, there is an obvious mistake in the shot. Yes, the Summit building was here (completed in '65), and yes the Transamerica building was here (completed in in '72). However, the Bay Bridge suspension cable lights featured in the shot were not installed until the bridge's 50 year anniversary in 1986.  There are surely more mistakes, I suspect the Embarcadero Freeway would have been visible in this shot in 1973.

Am I being overly picky for a 3 second shot in a 3 hour movie? Perhaps. For me, that shot was the highlight of the movie. As for the movie itself... well... here is the bloated, overlong, overwrought six minute trailer which, as it turns out, was a pretty good proxy for the bloated, overlong, overwrought movie itself:


The two words most frequently associated with this pretentious piece of crap during its theatrical release was "Oscar bait". At least, for once,  the Academy did not take the bait.

The funny thing is I like every actor in the movie. I mean - Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant.  What's not to like?  And I like almost everything the Wachowski's have ever done. And I enjoy epic science fiction with time/space bending narratives. So what went wrong? Two things.

First - Tom Hanks. Look. I hope Tom Hanks wins an Oscar for "Captain Phillips".   In that flick, the actor disappeared into the role. A great, believable performance. But in "Cloud Atlas" all I could see is Tom Hanks in bad makeup with laughably phony ridiculous accents. He was a continuous distraction.

Second - The book. Nothing can get past the source material here. The new age-ish, "we are all connected" , "reincarnation until you get it right" karmic mysticism was hard to swallow. This is a movie and book that demands you appreciate that it has something VERY IMPORTANT to say about the HUMAN CONDITION, LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, and EVERYTHING.  If instead it comes across as a load of pretentious horseshit, well - the movie is just not going to work for you. It didn't work for me.

On a positive note, the Wachowskis came through with a visually sumptuous CGI ride. And that, at least, gives the movie one unique distinction. It is the rare movie that is better than the book it is based on. The movie is bad. The book is worse.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Progress Report

Back to the salt mines
The Reader may recall I underwent shoulder surgery last July to repair a rotator cuff injury sustained in a sailing mishap. Five months of rehabilitation therapy later, I sent this e-mail to my surgeon and physical therapist regarding current status and expectations:
*****
Dr. Bill,

My next appointment is at the end of the year, but thought I'd provide an update between appointments. As you might recall, one of my objectives was to use my heretofore unused abalone fishing license before the season ended November 30. At my last (11/5) appointment, you suggested that it was still a little early to rope down the hill and get in the water. Well, I waited until the last possible minute in the season and ocean conditions were just too good to pass up. Besides, my Doctor of Physical Therapy (Sasha at Golden Gate PT - also cc'd) offered contradictory advice. Net net - limit out and no problems. Some pics and details linked here:

As you may recall, when we started the rehab after the shoulder surgery, I had three objectives.



1) Fishing in Michigan in October [CHECK].
2) Abalone diving before the Nov. season ends [CHECK]

So far so good, but now your greatest, most difficult objective lies ahead. I am about to embark on the most dangerous game for me physically and psychologically:

3) Golf & scoring in the low 90's in January. [TBD]

This is going to be very challenging for you, my medical support team, as I rarely broke 100 before the injury. However I distinctly recall you suggesting that I can expect my game to improve with my new slow careful swing immediately upon returning to the game.

Just sayin' - You have your work cut out for you.

Regards,
Mike Wallach
www.MikeWallach.com
 *****
 My surgeon replies:
Mike,
Great news. I would say with regards to January:
  • Golf - check
  • Low 90's - TBD
Dr. Bill 
*****

And so it begins...