ANNOUNCEMENT

It has happened sooned rather than later. The Grand View is now officially closed. BUT all that really has happened is it’s now found on it’s new URL:

http://www.ayewonder.com

Please adjust your bookmarks and links. But don’t adjust your expectations. Aye Wonder is exactly the same as The Grand View. I hope you will visit.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

There is no point ignoring it any longer. I have been writing down my random thoughts for awhile and it’s now time for them to become a regular feature of this blog. That means that until I ditch The Grand View, Tuesday is RTT, for better or worse. Or until I start sleeping better!

☞The keen-eyed among you undoubtedly noticed the changes in my blogroll. While it’s not complete, it now reflects most of the blogs I read on a regular basis. I didn’t list the ones where I lurk about inconspicuously. From time to time I will include them in my regular RTT posting (ah-ha, that sounded good).

Get Random with me after the jump…

This will Make You Scratch Your Head…

and other places if you were a participant.

9 Brit Hol Girls on Hooker Rap

That Daily Star sure can write a headline though this headline from Toronto’s CityNews is good too….

Nooky Know-How Contest Sees British Women Charged

Woot, Man.

I haven’t ever recommended a commercial website on this blog. But that is all about to change now. Drag your little fingers across your keyboard and go to Woot.com.  Woot is an online store selling that sells one item until it runs out. Today, it is selling a Kodak digital camera with 12 Megapixels and a 5 times zoom for $79.99. The Koday camera normally sells for between $160-$199. If you need a camera, head on over. When they are sold, Woot is off to another item.

The New Tourist Bureau

Every 3rd week in July, my favorite golf tournament is played somewhere in England or Scotland (once in Northern Ireland). The Open Championship (or The British Open as it is known in the U.S.), was played this past week for the 137th time. And to put that in perspective, the Championship was contested for the first time in the year before the start of the U.S. Civil War.

While open to interpretation, the Open Championship conjures up the best derring-do of all of the major tournaments. Included in this mix, is the Masters, the United States Open Championship and the PGA (Professional Golfers Association) Championship. The Open always has the best stories. Perhaps, it is its birthright as the oldest tournament. Last week story was no exception as Greg Norman tried valiantly for 3 rounds to give us guys over 50 a way to turn back the hands of time. Norman led after 54 holes and now he is the oldest golfer to ever lead a major tournament after 3 rounds.  While he faltered playing his fourth round in the wind off of the Irish Sea, even the winner, Irishman Padraig Harrington, has a great story. His win at Royal Birkdale was his second Open Championship in a row and Harrington was there against doctor’s advice.

The second story after the jump.

More on Sangria

This summer seems like the sangria summer. A couple of weeks ago, I shared a video of our friend Jessie making her Spanish Fly Sangria. It’s a delicious recipe and one that we wholeheartedly recommend. Since then, we have experimented with other types of sangria and I have to admit, I think we hit on a gold medal mixture. Sangria is an easy drink to make and even easier to enjoy. It quenches the thirst of large groups of people without costing a bloody fortune.

Here’s the new recipe.

2 bottles of White Rioja.  (Should cost about $9-10 per bottle)
1/2 cup of Simple Syrup
3 cups of OJ
3/4 cup of Grand Marnier
3/4 cup of Apple Brandy (I used Calvados)
3/4 cup of Pear Brandy (I used Poire William)
1/2 cup of Triple Sec
3 sliced oranges
2 sliced green apples
2 sliced lemons
1 cup of blackberries
8 passion fruit scooped and pureed (you can leave this out and add peaches instead)

Let this sit for at least 2 hours (better overnight). When ready, take a large glass, fill it with ice, add  about 2 shots of Fresca and then fill with sangria. You can experiment with the all of the ingredients until you find the mixture that suits your palette.
By the way, the picture shows whats left after about 2 repeats of the above recipe were drunk.

Photo Hunter #4 - What IS That?

This week’s theme is “What IS That?” While it’s pretty apparent, I think, that this is the top of a column, a Corinthian column in fact. The top part of the column is called the “capital.” Feel free to use this new found knowledge when you see your next column and exclaim to anyone who will listen, “The capital on this column is stunning.” Just as inevitably you will hear the reply, “What IS that?”

You can find out what building this column is connected  to after the jump…

Ruh-Roh George, He’s Thinking Again.

It’s Wednesday night and it’s man and his dog. Technically, Grover is as much mine as Chris’ but make no mistake, he is Chris’ little king.  But she is in New York and I will have to do. At the last moment today, I decided to go to the Cape and plot my next move. I like going somewhere where there is an abundance of great memories when I want to think. As a brief aside, I’ve told you about my non-sleep issues and now….I need to think? What goes on here. Nothing really, truth be told. I just enjoying thinking. It doesn’t scare me because of the million things I think about, 999,999 of them are good. I am lucky that way. So, where was I, oh yeah, Cape-last minute-thinking. I decided to drive down because, my friend Mattias from Sweden called me on Monday saying he was honeymooning on Cape Cod  with his new bride.

I thought my next comment seemed logical.

“What the hell are you calling me for. It’s your honeymoon. “
“I know, I know, I am exhausted” he ribbed right back.

Mattias and I met once for a week during the Open Championship exactly a year ago.  Since then, we have talked often.  And every conversation ends in a great laugh. I came to the Cape because he and his wonderful new wife are in the same area code. New friends with the same sense of humor are great. They haven’t heard all of the “A” material.

Tomorrow will be fun.

(By the way, here’s what I was thinking: if the going suddenly gets easy, it probably means you’re going downhill.)

The New Tuesday Random Thoughts Post is Right Here

If I rated my weekend’s sleep on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being sleeping like a baby and 1 being sleeping like a top, I was probably a 2. The bed linens on my side looked like a balled up load of laundry. What happens is when one thing is on my mind it drags me around in a never ending circle like a dog chasing its tail. This weekend I was thinking about a decision I was waiting to hear about and the cycle began. What follows is just some of the foolishness I thought about this weekend, generally between the hours of 1:30 AM and 5:00 AM.

☞Honor your commitments. I mentioned this in yesterday’s 5 x 5 but it’s worth repeating here. It’s also great advice for your kids. If you say you are going to do something or be somewhere, do it for god sakes. Honoring your commitments is one of the greatest statements you can make about yourself. Make the call. Keep the appointment. Just do it.

☞And in keeping with random thought #1 comes this week’s Grand View quote of the week:

You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.
~Henry Ford

It just keeps getting more and more random after you make the jump

Finally Gets the Message

Week 20 - 5 X 5

Yep, the 5 x 5 may be on life support but it’s back on today. How long it will be around for is another thing entirely.

5 Things that I Hope to Do Someday
Play the saxophone
Speak at least one foreign language fluently
Own a boutique hotel in St Andrews
Shoot par again
Visit all 7 continents

5 New Bands I am Listening to These Days
Noah & The Whale - Five Years Time

James Hunter - No Smoke without Fire

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Seabird - ’til We See the Shore

Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer

More 5 x 5 after the jump

USA - Scotland Police Exchange Program