DISC GOLF in Tiffin

Just got back from playing my first round at the not-yet completed disc golf course at Hedges-Boyer Park, minutes away from chez Truffin.

The good news is that it's a very well executed course. We'll have to see how the course ages, but I think the designers did a good job of integrating the course with all of the other activities that go on at HBP. Hole 6 is a really nice; it's a downhill S-curve through the woods to a blind hole. What may keep it from becoming a genuine signature hole is that it's a tad bit short and an easy par 3. Hole 5 looked beatuiful this morning. Even though it's a basically open straight shot, the basket is set into a tree line; with the sun filtering through the morning haze, it looked great.
The bad news is that shoehorning the course into an already busy park did require some less than ideal hole placement. The result is that tee pads are not always intuitively placed from the last hole, and there are a few places that require a good walk between holes. A course map is a must for players unfamiliar. Thankfully, the kind folks over a MOODGGOLF have posted a nice map and overhead shot on their site. Also, here's the PDGA course listing.

The course hasn't been officially announced yet; I'm guessing they're waiting for the signs to be installed.

Oh, my performance of the day wasn't phenomenal. I shot a +6 and lost a Viper. But, I did bag two birdies including a 25' uphill through a hole in the foliage floater that would have Ken shaking his head.

Hopefully, I'll have pictures soon.

Schoolhouse Gothic in the news

Chicago Tribune news : News columnists: "He listed his serial murders and methods, not in the expected monotone, but enthusiastically, like some prideful junior college instructor in beard and suitcoat and tie. "

Sherry's dissertation had to do with what she calls "schoolhouse gothic." In it she writes about how the focal point of the gothic is no longer the Catholic church or aristocracy of gothic's origin but is now school, schoolteachers, and even students themselves. Scholar David Punter argues that the Gothic provides an image language for a culture to express its fears. What Sherry explores in her work is how and why we have shifted our focus from the fear of the "old country" to the educational process. John Kass's description of Dennis Rader's court appearance is an illustration of just how far this fear goes.

Twin Peaks: Season TWO

The Digital Bits - We Know DVD!: "Also today, consider this Rumor Mill worthy, but we've heard from industry sources that Paramount has finally begun preparing their long-awaited DVD release of David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Season Two. There's a LOT of work involved, however, so don't expect it to hit store shelves until sometime next year."

I missed TP when it was out on TV, but was intrigued by the film Firewalk With Me. When we caught season 1 on DVD, I was bowled over. I was also extremely disappointed that season two was apparently caught up in a morass so thick even $$ couldn't cut through it. While the DB haven't been able to make their announcement "official" yet, any news of forward progress on this front is welcome.

Eco: Name of the Rose 1

Whence it is clear that in Paris, too, there was a confusion of ideas or someone who wished to confuse them for his own purposes. And this is the evil
that heresy inflicts on the Christian people, obfuscating ideas and inciting all
to become inquisitors to their personal benefit. For what I saw at the abbey
then (and will now recount) caused me to think that often inquisitors repress
the heretical putrefaction so vehemently that many are driven to share in it, in
their hatred for the judges. Truly, a circle conceived by the Devil. God
preserve us. (50)

Umberto Eco. The Name of the Rose.

Hollywood's Bodacious Body Parts (spoilers)

The Summer of the Overwhelming Actors' Bodyparts continues this weekend. Jumping onstage with Haydn Christensen's eyebrows and Angelina Jolie's lips are Katie Holme's nipples and Christian Bale's mouth. Perhaps the Academy should create a new category for the Oscars this year: Best Performance by a Body Part. In all of these cases, the body parts in question either totally overwhelm the performance of the actor, or they are the means by which the actor works. In Star Wars III: Christensen's eyebrows crawl across his forehead like a marching band at half-time forming the words that his dialogue can't speak: don't make me angry; you won't like me when I'm angry. In Mr. & Mrs. Smith Angelina Jolie's lips reprise the action princess role they last performed in the Lara Croft films. Even though the rest of Jolie's body parts ham it up for whatever attention they can get, the camera just loves those lips. Even when not in close up, they draw the viewer's eye away from all of the action. It is no surprise that in all of the most heated fight scenes, the director chose to make sure that the Lips were always well hidden through choreography and flash cuts.

Batman Begins claims to star Christian Bale and Katie Holmes, but it is really their significant body parts that do all the work. Granted, Holmes character is not given much to do in this comic book origin tale. Yet, in the few scenes where she does play a significant role, her nipples garner way more attention than her dialog. When she is lecturing Bruce about being a meaningless twit, we know that her words are "significant" because the nipples are in hiding behind a suit with a revealing neckline; even though we can't see the nipples, we know they're there, and so does Bruce. When DA Dawes is knocked unconscious by the Scarecrow's psycho gas, Holmes's nipples tell us all we need to know about the situation: the young, beautiful, and good heroine is vulnerable and desirable. At the end of the film when our vulnerable and desirable DA has been rescued by Batman Bruce, she appears in a clingy satin chemise that gives the nipples ample power to drown out her little speech about how the Bruce she knows is still missing with a screaming monologue that leaves little doubt that Miss Dawes is really quite content to let the Bruce she knows take up permanent residence on a milk carton just so long as Batman Bruce is around.

Meanwhile, the director has chosen to forego the fake codpieces and nipples that plagued the male participants in the previous Batman flicks and instead have cast a larger-than-life mouth to fill out the Dark Knight's mask. While Angelina Jolie's lips have no problem working alone, Bale's mouth is wonderful example of ensemble acting. When Bale needs to play a suave socialite--as he did in American Psycho--his dazzlingly white teeth have just the right amount of imperfection to lend a genuineness to his smile. The teeth are framed by highly expressive lips that can go from welcoming softness to menacing steel in a flash. The third member of the ensemble are the gums. Bale's gums have an amazing ability to bulge out from beneath his lips, giving an impression that he's got more mouth than his head can hold. Reign of Fire was a breakout film for the gums as Bale played a gritty Irishman (or lower-class Englishman) fighting both evil dragons and arrogant Americans. In Batman Returns, Bale's gums are highlighted by the cut-away mask. Whenever Bruce goes into Batman mode, his gums extrude like claws from a tiger's paw. There also seems to be some correlation between the gums going into action and Bale's voice dropping three octaves, but that's an observation for another day. On the whole, Bale's mouth is the window to Bruce Wayne's souls. As DA Dawes observes, the Bruce Wayne face is a mask for the Batman to wear. Whenever Wayne faces evil, his mouth is the first part to lose the mask; it is as though the Batman crawls out of Bruce Wayne through the mouth. Which, when you think about it, is somewhat fitting.

So, as the summer progresses and the body part parade continues, I'm wondering: which part of Tom Cruise will overwhelm War of the Worlds: his teeth? eyes? or, as in the MI films, will it be his hair? If it's the hair, will Jessica Alba's coiffure steal his thunder having already taken an impressive turn in Sin City and ramping up the energy for Fantastic Four. And can Nicole Kidman's nose in Bewitched trounce them all?

Chicago Tribune: "Wal-Mart PR Exec in Ad Flap Resigns"

Chicago Tribune news : Business:

What's scarier: that Wal-Mart ran an ad featuring "a picture that showed Nazi supporters throwing books onto a fire. The text under the photo read: "Should we let government tell us what we can read? Of course not." The ad continued, "So why should we allow local government to limit where we can shop?"

OR

that "Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore...would say only that the retailer approved the ad without realizing the photo's "historical context." ?

Dallas Willard on Morality in the University

tothesource: "Be encouraged, and encouraging about the fact that Jesus is present on the college campuses. Jesus is the smartest mind in any and every field, and in him are contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus, despite any voices to the contrary, is the 'Big Man On Campus'!"

Rather than run screaming in fear from the university, Willard tries to understand what has happened on today's university campuses. He doesn't seem to see the organized cabal against morality that many Christians do. Rather he sees a disconnect between the leadership and what is going on.

Spamalot: The Non-Musical variety

The castle of spam made an appearance at our Monty Python party on March 5. Jack Bates was the general contractor on the project.

The New Truffin.com

Welcome to the new (improved?) truffin.com. We're in the midst of the long-promised overhaul, so please excuse our dust.