Watching golf this weekend. It's the Memorial Tournament hosted by one of my least favorite golfing personalities, Jack Nicholas, in one of my least favorite states, Ohio. Tiger is in contention, so, I'm rooting for him to win. I just want to see him break all of Jack's records. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I would be just thrilled if Jim Nantz never hosted another golf event as a commentator. In fact, I'd just prefer to hear the European announcers do all the comments. With the exception of Gary McCord, no more Americans please! I'd rather hear Ian Baker Finch, Sir Nick Faldo and David Feherty describe the action by themselves. The rest of those guys (and their over-dramatic gravitas) can all go hang at the 19th hole.
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During a poker game this past week we had the TV on in the background showing a preview of the upcoming NFL season. My English friend, Andi, looked at the preview and said, "You know what I don't understand about American football? Why all the pads?" Spoken like a true rugby fan. I thought about it a little and I actually think that pads in football increase the violence of the game.
I don't know much about rugby, but, it appears to me that if you are carrying the ball when you are about to get tackled by an opponent you get rid of it so that the other players chase someone else down. Also, I was informed that in rugby, it's against the rules to tackle high. You are supposed to go low. Further, even the scrums that start plays in rugby begin with players already "tied up" so to speak.
In American football, players wear helmets, face masks, and pads which I think lead to a feeling of invincibility when tackling. Plus, the play is over only when the person carrying the ball has been tackled to the ground. Laterals in football are reserved for special occasions. Finally, every American football play begins with 300 pounders smashing into each other at top speed. Well, almost every play. On kickoffs, the 300 pounders get a running start before smashing headlong into each other at terminal velocity.
This is why I'm in favor of removing face masks from football helmets to help cut down on helmet to helmet contact. It sounds extreme, but, I think it would work. Without the protection of a face mask, a player might think twice about leading with their head when tackling an opponent.
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I've been eating very clean for about a month now. Also been exercising consistently four days a week for the last two weeks and it's showing. Down to 248 pounds at last check (264 when I signed on in early March). If I continue on this pace I'm going to be completely jacked when I get off the ship in September.
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I rediscovered fried ice cream in Key West last week. I always get an ice cream in Key West. Thursday is my day to not work out and eat whatever I want (free day) and I've been getting chocolate ice cream cones for weeks now. However, I was eating in a mexican restaurant and decided to check out the desert menu. It's basically a scoop of vanilla ice cream rolled in frosted flakes and covered with cinnamon, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Awesome. And the best part? Guilt free dessert!
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Blair (the saxophone player) and the cast (singers and dancers) sign off at the end of this week. It's part of ship life. People coming and going all the time. I've only been here 2.5 months or so, but, I've known this particular group of people the longest on the ship. Bittersweet for them to be leaving. Happy for them because they are all excited to go home. Sad, of course, to see friends leave. The upside is meeting new people as the new sign ons replace Blair and the cast.
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Busy couple of weeks coming up. New cast install, entertainer that uses the orchestra, new saxophone player, extra gigs with a private group on for the next cruise. Probably won't get off the ship much for the next few weeks like I have in the past few months. Not a big deal, but, blog posts should be a little more sparse. These extra rehearsals also are taking a toll on my golf watching. At the time of this writing, Tiger is 1 shot off the lead with 3 holes to play at the Memorial and I have to miss it to do a rehearsal. This qualifies as an annoyance with ship life…how lucky am I right now?
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I miss Ted. He officially finished 1st grade last week. Now that he's on summer vacation, I'm looking forward to possibly using Skype to communicate with him. We've stayed in touch pretty well with pictures, postcards, and telephone. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing him while we talk over the summer months. He'll be my first stop when I get off the ship in the Fall.
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Bit of excitement during lifeboat drill this morning in Nassau. Every week the lifeboats are launched and tested in the harbor. There was (apparently) a lot of current in the harbor where we were docked and the commander of our lifeboat had trouble getting the craft back next to the ship for re-docking. It was so bad that we actually collided with another ship that was docked in the harbor. Majesty lifeboats are tough though. She may be 20 years old, but, they built 'em solid in those days. So we exchange a little paint with the H.M.B.S. Bahamas? No biggie. Takes a licking and keep on ticking! Also, if we ever have to use the lifeboats in a real emergency, the most important skill we need to have is getting the lifeboat AWAY from the ship. I think we're okay here. If we're actually struggling to get into the lifeboats, chances are we won't be trying to get back onboard afterwards.
