Mmm, mmm good in the neighborhood!

What do Campbell's and Applebee's have in common? Not only are they both purveyors of fine cuisine, the former from a can and the latter from a butter soaked, wood paneled restaurant with crazy crap on the walls, but they are both owned and operated by world class golfers!

For those of you who are poor and therefore do not follow golf, this week is the US Open. And it is being played right in our own back yard at Torrey Pines Golf Course! I, of course, was among the privileged to be let in to grace that sacred grass with my footsteps. Among the giants I saw play were none other than Michael Campbell and Stuart Appleby. Campbell won the US Open a few years ago and Appleby was leading this year, last time I checked. Both gentlemen, gourmands, gastrologists, and golfers extraordinaire! [For those of you who believe I made a typo with gastrologist, I can assure you I did not. Def: gastrologist (g-strl-jst) - n. a gastronomist who can predict the future of deliciousness.] I do love Campbell's Chicken and Stars and the buffalo chicken sandwich invented by Appleby has no equal.

I am truly grateful for the game of golf, not only for creating a recreational water hazard between us well-to-do and the great unwashed, but also for bringing us such culinary greats as these two, ironic though it may be that golf originated in Scotland, home of the world's worst cuisine.

"Mmmmm. Open faced club sand wedge."


P.S. Neither of these two made it to the final playoffs today. That was reserved for Tiger, ranked 1st in the pro tour, and Rocco, ranked 158th. I spent most of the morning glued to the streaming 18 hole playoffs that ended in a tie and then went to sudden death! It was riveting. Even though sudden death is a misnomer and not quite as exciting as it sounds. Golf. Who knew?

The Kessel run in 11.99 parsecs

The engineering school had a 'Junkyard Derby' and we won! We built a working landspeeder out of a pile of junk and managed to make the Kessel run in 11.99 parsecs, just eeking out a victory over Solo for the record. Things to note: we had to reconfigure the engine pods to fit in the track but we did have firing engines as evidenced by the smoke issuing from the pods in the beginning of the race vid. Also, we didn't win fastest racer but 'most unusual' or 'most mechanical ingenuity', depending on which official you ask. All those years of engineering school must account for something.