ROCK HEADS OF THE WEEK

Not to be a regular feature, this blog today will devote itself to rock heads of the past week. This week there were several.

1. John Daly--gambling away $50-60 million dollars. (And not knowing whether it was closer to 50 or 60) Playing $5,000 slot machines. Getting dq-ed from a junior golf tournament for having booze in his golf bag. Going on a diet in college which consisted of whiskey, popcorn, and cigarettes.

2. Charles Barkley--gambling away $10 million dollars. Remorseful? No way. It's his money, he says, and he loves to beat the big casino owners. Also he trashes the Phoenix Suns. Where he earned most of that gambling money and, for reasons unknown to this blogger, he is still thought highly of.

3. NBA refs (see earlier blog) and David Stern--"the refs only miss about 5% of the calls." Not last Sunday when I thought a fix was in.

4. George Clooney and other Hollywood darlings--just stick to acting. We don't care what your politics is. (I know it doesn't sound right but politics is a collective singular noun which takes a singular verb.) Actually, we know your politics, don't understand why, but if you insist on sharing them, then pull an Arnold and run for office.

5. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)--can't anybody in that family drive? Ok, maybe that was a make up call for clooney and uncle teddy, but c'mon.

6. The orchestrators of Nuestro Himno, the hispanic National Anthem for the USA--no thanks. We already have one that a guy named Key penned awhile back. Not many know the words or can sing it well, but those that do know it to be beautiful. Did you know I sang the national anthem at the opening of the New Busch Stadium in St. Louis this year? Along with Scott, and Derek and Molly Harlan, and other Mt. Vernon people--Kevin Settle, Randy Knox, Celeste Hunt, William Zinke. There might have been more; I just didn't see them. Oh, yeah and about 43,000 other people. You see, in honor of baseball's best fans, the Cardinals allowed the fans the honor of singing The Star Spangled Banner. So you see, it would alter history if we added another anthem. Plus, it would take more time at ballgames.

Only 6? Yup. I know there were more rock heads this week. Like the refrigerator repair man that came and left me with a high pitched noise that wasn't there before he came, but this blog is getting too long. And besides, Saturday's not over yet.

THE BEST WINGS

Continuing in my food talk, I thought with the Suns playing the lala boys tomorrow night that wings might be in order. And no one, no one has better wings than Outback.

They call them kukaburrow wings, but by the picture above, you can tell that's a misnomer. Outbacks are big. They are also heavy with meat and not bone. My suggestion is medium hot sauce on them. Hot but not too hot. They are just the best.

Before I discovered Outback's wings, I would have said the Redbird Inn at old Busch Stadium. But they were hot. White hot. Those got your mouth hotter after you had eaten them. Even fifteen minutes later. They didn't have quite the chicken on them that Outback (I know, Outback's is kukaburrow) but they were good.

Tailgating before Rams' game always found me diving into some of Jeff Hacker's wings or fellow Gitto's lot partner Len's wings. Both very good with the edge to Hack.

I can't talk about wings with mentioning the great wings that my wife cooks up. But she's such a great fried chicken cook, that the whole bird becomes my preference when Caroline's around the stove. The only other yardbird that's close to hers is at the MTV Holiday Inn brunch. KFC take a huge back seat.

The Dandee Inn's wings in Belleville, IL gets honorable mention mainly for their size. But they are good and plenty.

If you have no Outback near you, nor known tailgating buddies, no ballpark near you, no MTV Holiday or Dandee, I'm sure you can find chicken wings served at many places. Unfortunately, they just won't be as good. But turn on the Suns' game anyway and see if they can beat the lakers 5 games to 2. And when they do, it won't matter that you missed some great wings. You'll still have a great aftertaste.

SOUP'S OFF

When we returned from San Diego on Monday, I noticed the difference. It was subtle. Some of the saguros were sprouting their nosegay flowers. People were out earlier taking their morning jogs or walks for their constitution as one of my wife's relatives used to say. Traffic was better. Well, a little.

When we first moved toScottsdale in 2001, there were four distinct periods to note a reduction in cars on the freeways. April 1, after taxes on April 16, May 1, and mid- May when Arizona State put the school year to bed. Now, five years later there's no noticeable difference. Just subtle.

But what I'll miss about Winter is soup. Man, you can't make a soup I don't like. Even the kids' story Stone Soup sounds good to me. But when it gets hot, I'm done. Well, maybe a bowl of clam chowder in a cooly refridgerated restaurant once or twice. But overall, I'm finished for the year.

But not before talking about homemade vegetable beef with plenty of beef in it. Topped off with garlic salt. And some homemade bread with butter. Two glasses of cold ice water to wash down all those tomatoes, okra, potatoes (what a great find when you spoon one up), beans, corn, carrots. Too much. And I gotta wait almost 6 months before I answer, "Soup," when asked what I'd like to eat for supper.

A SUMMER PLACE--THE BEST OF ALL THE BEACH MOVIES PLUS 2 MORE

Taking nothing away from Scott's 365 days/365 movies, I had to mention (read rave) one of my all-time favorites, starring Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. I still watch it when it shows up on movie channels.

It would also be my answer to best chick flick movie I like. That along with Dr. Zhivago and A Man and a Woman. But that's it--no more than three.

I just noticed that all three have a great theme song with them, so maybe I'm attracted to the music. Naugh. Sandra Dee, Julie Christie, and Anouk Aimee were three beautiful gals: that's probably the answer.

But in Summer Place, what I like best is the classroom scene where the teacher asks Troy if he doesn't want to be an officer when the war breaks out. "I don't even know where I'm going. How could I lead others?" I love that part. In Zhivago, I really like the snow and the Russian palace in the bright sunlight, and Rod Steiger. In "A Man and a Woman," I love the car scenes and always want to drive fast after I watch it.

So there you have it. Three movies that are worth your time when you're trying to escape the Summer sun or a rainy day. Or in case you've watched all 365 of Scott's.

MY FAVORITE LPGA-er

I try to enjoy golf on tv, but I don't. I really don't even watch much of The Masters. I know that's sacreligious, but I don't think it's a sport that tv can do justice to. Most of the time they dedicate to putting. Why not just go televise Putt Putt's National Championship? How exciting is it to putt in the game anyway(s)?

Granted, it's the worst part of my game, but when I have putted well ( I actually rolled in two in a row on Wednesday from off the green--one a snake) it's not all that exciting. But a well struck drive with a little draw to it just to the left of center in the fairway--now you're talking. But even that isn't good tv coverage. And it's not all that exciting watching that drive at a tournament. Unless it's one of your favorite players.

The LPGA has one of the most exciting players in any sport--Natalie Gulbis. I know she has a calendar, her own tv show on the Golf Channel, and as my brother-in-law Dave says, "great posture." While I appreciate all that, it's her coolness that absolutely amazes me.

She never reacts to anything bad that happens to her. Bad breaks happen in golf. Watching her after one, you'd never know it. She's just so cool about it. I try to be. And it works for a few holes, sometimes a whole round, but when the bad breaks add up, as they did last Wednesday, I'm toast.

Coyote Lakes was the scene. A course I'd played a dozen times or so, and one of my favorites. Lots of desert and rocks that I had never encountered much. Until Wednesday. Granted the driver was not working as I hooked my first drive uncharacteristically out of bounds. Historically, my first drive is one of the best in my whole round. I added to that on at least three other drives, one with a three iron which spanked a garage door hard on a par three.

But others just barely found their way into the rough. Many behind trees. When the third or fourth one went three feet to the right of the cart path in a bush, I'd had enough. Rather than thinking it through--I could have received a free drop since my stance would have forced me to stand on the cart path, I took a penalty and slammed dunk my ball onto the concrete cart path and took my drop from that position. Would Natalie have done that? Never. How about other sane individuals? Probably not.

But an unfocused, frustrated golfer did. Afterwards, of course, I felt bad. But as they say, what's done is did. Well, maybe they don't say that. But most don't act as badly as I do sometimes on the golf course. I know Natalie never does.

Maybe that's why I don't have my own calendar.

JUST WHEN I WAS GETTING INTO THE NBA

A poorly officiated series of the lakers vs.the Suns broke out. Oh, man here he goes crying about the refs. Crying about the Suns.

You got that right. Was Nash mugged twice? Do you think Jones got pushed when taking a great pass for a lay up at the end of regulation?

"Oh, they're not going to make that call there. They'll let the players decide the outcome." Ok, then let's not call any fouls at anytime. Texas basketball, we called it in high school p.e.

"Nash, the reigning MVP didn't get the call." Why should he? Why should maddux and glavine and smoltz get a larger strike zone in baseball? Man, just call the game. That's why I left the NBA in the first place. Michael jordan and his baseline walks that were never called.

Officials are good. My goodness they are unbelievably good. Until they stop giving and not calling and utilizing make up calls. Just ref the game, fellas (and ladies, and some of them are fantastic, too.) Until they let up or let down.

At least Major League umps now get together to discuss controversial calls that an ump, even a great one can miss. Had they done that in 1995, the Cardinals would have one more World Series under their belt, and a good man, a great umpire, Mr. Denkinger would have had a better career and reputation.

C'mon refs: it may be too late for the Suns, but that will be a small price to pay, if you just respect the game and call it like you see it.

ANTHRO 101

I once went to class at 6:00 AM in college. We had to make up some time for some cancelled classes at Illinois State. Our regular class began early enough for me at 8:00, and in fact I missed it so often that I had to drop it. But I made it to the six o'clock before taking a hike. It wasn't archeology, but that was as close as I got.

This picture was taken in Ephesus, Turkey, in the summer of 2005. It was an amazing find that wasn't there when we visited in 2001. It was excavated at the side of a mountain, and it was fantastic.

It was a huge home, obviously from royalty of the day. Beautiful frescoes and marble and terazzo and all kinds of great walls constructed in the house that had lasted for a thousand years or so. Even in the children's bedrooms, there were drawings/carvings on the wall. Kinda of like graffiti.

When we were in Israel last month, we saw one site at Scythopolis where Jonathan and Saul were hanged by the Philistines. Archeologists had uncovered 20 civilizations built on top of each other on that strategic location. Amazing! Some frescoes there had survived and looked very similar to the ones at Ephesus.

I wish I had gotten up earlier in my college days. It would be no problem now. I might have advanced from Anthro to Archeo. No telling what you might unearth. The possibilities are limitless. It would be cool to go on digs and be able to get dirty. That's still fun.