Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Avalanche nearly give up a 3-goal lead to the Columbus Blue Jackets (I didn't even know they were an NHL team) in the final two minutes of the game. I can't afford to go to pro sporting events, but when somebody offers me tickets, I accept.
My trip to the Pepsi center was courtesy of three-time Olympian and silver-medalist Bob Foth. He is now the director of youth program development for USA Shooting, which is housed at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
On the ride up to the game, Bob and Max Oliver (my friend whose wife was the USA Shooting Head Coach and is now the director of USA Shooting) and I talked a lot about shooting and shooting competitions.
I was particularly amazed at the recent accomplishment of Emily Caruso, only the third American woman to score a perfect 400 - a match of 40 rounds where each shot hits the ten-ring on the target. That might not sound too impressive if you're thinking about the 50-meter small-bore targets where the ten-ring is .4 inches. But I'm talking about the 10-meter air rifle target where the scoring area is about the size of a quarter and the ten-ring isn't really a ring at all. To score a ten in air rifle, you have to hit the .5mm center, and to do that 40 times in a row with open sights is incredibly. One-half a millimeter! Bob said it was about the size of the hole you could make with a ballpoint pen. You can't even see the ten-ring at 10 meters; you just know it's there.
I thought I was pretty good with my Daisy 880 air rifle, but that's amazing!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Curse like a scholar...
"Inside the Actor's Studio" is a great show on Bravo where host James Lipton interviews prominent actors about their influences, acting styles, recent films or shows, etc. I especially love the part of the show when Lipton asks the actor the famous "Pivot Questionnaire" (and if you think it's not famous, then maybe Al Gore shouldn't have won an Oscar).
Anyway, there are 10 set questions Lipton asks each guest, and my favorite question is "What is your favorite curse word?" Tom Hanks answered "Apesh*t." I think my dad's favorite is "horsesh*t." But mine is dumbass. It has a precise, concise meaning. No misunderstanding here.
Twice today, I had the pleasure of explaining the value of cursing like a scholar rather than a sailor. Sailors are notorious for cursing a blue streak - that is, without rhyme or reason (though rhymed swearing may not get you far unless you're a misogynistic rapper). No, I said to one individual who thought he was enlightened about his use of the F-word, its use as practically every part of speech actually makes it a less useful word. I don't think that the F-word is very handy as an expletive. While dexterous, it lacks the precision necessary to be effective.
Just like words in the thesaurus, if you don't actually know how to use them, they just make you sound like a dumbass.
Anyway, there are 10 set questions Lipton asks each guest, and my favorite question is "What is your favorite curse word?" Tom Hanks answered "Apesh*t." I think my dad's favorite is "horsesh*t." But mine is dumbass. It has a precise, concise meaning. No misunderstanding here.
Twice today, I had the pleasure of explaining the value of cursing like a scholar rather than a sailor. Sailors are notorious for cursing a blue streak - that is, without rhyme or reason (though rhymed swearing may not get you far unless you're a misogynistic rapper). No, I said to one individual who thought he was enlightened about his use of the F-word, its use as practically every part of speech actually makes it a less useful word. I don't think that the F-word is very handy as an expletive. While dexterous, it lacks the precision necessary to be effective.
Just like words in the thesaurus, if you don't actually know how to use them, they just make you sound like a dumbass.
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