I Suppose There are Worse Ways to Spend a Saturday Afternoon …

This afternoon the Cheuk and Jenkins fams braved the crosstown traffic to attend the 2009 Mobile Chowdown near Interbay.

We should have stayed home.

The event held great promise. A collection of roach coaches selling good food at affordable prices — my kinda deal.

Well, the great food was there, but I’m not sure about the affordable prices. We heard about burgers going for $14. We had Thai phad for $8 — not bad, but not good, either.

Worse were the lines. There were only six roach coaches to serve roughly 1,000 people, so the whole event was six giant lines. We ended up waiting roughly an hour for our Thai food — not a wise investment of my time.

Roach Coaches R Us was an exercise in line standing.

Finding a seat was the highlight of the afternoon.

All in all, it was a nice thought, and it’s always fun to hang out with the Cheuks. But unless they get a few more than six coaches, you won’t see the Jenkins clan at Mobile Chowdown ‘10.

The Skoochies Reunion

Oh to be 15 again.

Actually I’m glad I’m not, but for one night it was pretty fun.

I attended the first-ever Skoochies reunion party last night at the ol’ Skoochies (our pics I everyone’s). The party was organized by a gal named Holly, who put the whole thing together through Facebook. At last count the Facebook Skoochies fan club was 2900 old new wavers strong. Lots of them were on hand.

The club’s West Seattle branch started with a pre-func at Jay Tando’s hotel room, about four blocks east of the crime scene and just a block south of Denny Park, where Ian Ross chipped my front tooth in 1985. Jay, Brad Miller, Brian Fischer, Leon Moody, Joel Aro, Thom DiMitriou and select significant others were among those on hand. We had wine coolers, Olde English, and a play list straight from KROQ circa 1982 — seriously 80’s stuff.

At Jay's pre-func before the main event.

Out on the balcony.

Part of the Kennedy crowd.

We made it over to the big Skooch by 10 pm and proceeded to dance the night away. We ran into Julie Ferkingstad, Brian Mahn and Brian Folino. Jay, Julie and I closed the place down around 2 am — three hours past my usual bedtime.

Joel, me, Julie and Brian.

The crime scene on Sunday morning.

Good fun was had by all. I haven’t danced that much in the last ten years combined. Nor have I stayed out that late since, well, since Mtv played music.

Overall verdict: it was great fun, but I’m sure glad I’m not in that scene anymore. Once a decade is probably fine.

I’m sure Reese, Finn and Ronnie agree.

POSTSCRIPT: Jay and I made it over to West Seattle to see our old buddy Gary Smith on Monday. Regrettably he did not make it to Skoochies night — didn’t feel well, he said. Seemed fine on Monday:

Jay, Gary and me.

Did the Seahawks Just Wear the Ugliest Uniforms in NFL History?

I just finished watching the Seahawks lose to the Bears 25-19, their second straight loss in what is increasingly looking like another wasted season. I blog on it only to memorialize the day as, quite possibly, the day the Seahawks wore the ugliest uniforms in NFL history:

Don’t get me wrong — the thought was okay. The execution, however, was not. Lime green with dark blue pants and dark blue sleeves? Way too cute by half. Had the jerseys been all green, and the pants been light gray, this might have worked. It didn’t. The ‘hawks belong on the next rendition of this page — and at the top.

(For the record, the Giants and Browns home uni’s are the NFL’s best uniforms right now. Both are simple and very classic. “Simple” and “classic” were not words that entered my mind watching the ‘hawks yesterday.)

Mariners 3, Angels 0

This afternoon Steven and I joined Roy, Katie and Claire Price for an afternoon out at Safeco Field. The M’s beat Mike Scioscia’s California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels 3-0. (More.) Felix Hernandez pitched eight innings of shutout ball to beat Scott Kazmir, who made his debut with the Angels after a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Regrettably the Prices had to leave after the fourth inning — Roy had a poorly-timed meeting — but we snapped a few pics beforehand:

A view from our seats.

Roy, Katie and Claire Price

Steven and I waiting for foul balls.

Steven with the foul ball he caught off the bat of Mike Saunders.

Group photo with too much light in the background.

Another Kitsap Trip, Another Seattle Team Loss

Yesterday Cheever, Norman, Benezra and I took the ferry out to Kingston to play Port Ludlow Golf Club. This was a follow-up trip to our White Horse trip last week. We wanted to play a decent course on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Different result, same result.

The Cheever/Cheuk defeated Benezra/Jenkins 1 up. We were four down through five, gladiated back to get to 1 up after 12, then lost three straight. We won 16 and I had two ten-foot birdie putts on 17 and 18, each of which would have won the hole. Missed ‘em both. (I seriously need a new putter and/or putting stroke.)

A few photos:

Proof we were there.

Norman and Cheever looking for Norman's game.

Me and Benezra, the latter in his hunting shirt.

My new Etonics were, aside from Benezra's shirt, the bright spot of my day.

These Guys Are Still Good

Yesterday Steven, Norman and I headed east to the Boeing Classic. It was the first tournament I’d been to live in roughly seven years and the first senior event I’d been to in probably twenty.

Steven and I at the range. That's Bernhard Langer in the background.

These guys are still very, very, very good. To say they stripe it is a serious understatement. Even guys who aren’t known for their length — guys like John Cook or Nick Price, for example — bomb it by me a good forty yards.

Me and Steven by the 14th tee. That's Dan Forsman in the background, next to Mark O'Meara.

We spent a good deal of time following Messrs. Price and Cook, who were paired with John Jacobs. We also followed Mark O’Meara around. I spoke briefly with Hal Sutton — “hey Hal, how far is to carry over to that bunker?,” and he responded with an analysis of the hole.)

Mark O'Meara strutting down the 14th fairway -- tough life.

Maybe the coolest point was when we were leaving. We get in the car and who’s getting out of the car in front of us but John Cook himself. So I rolled down the window and asked him how it is that Tour players get all their free clothes. It turns out the companies (in his case, Nike) send big boxes of clothes to them at home about 3-4 times a year. From there, they actually have to pack their own bags.

Norman behind the 18th green. A few minutes after this, Loren Roberts got up and down to take a one-shot win over Mark O'Meara.

Sounds tough, I know.

John Cook is officially my favorite Champions Tour player.

Our Day Out to White Horse: The Trip Was Worth It, But Not the Destination

Today Norman Cheuk, Greg Cheever, Jeff Benezra and I took the Edmonds ferry out to Kingston to play White Horse, just outside of Kingston.

It did not go well.

The ferry ride, as always, was pleasurable. I think it was my fifth Kingston ferry rider of the summer (Port Gamble for reenacting, LaPush for surfing, White Horse for golf, Forks for the Twilight “tour”).

The golf, however, was a different story.

I shot a cool 93 to follow up the 92 I shot there a month ago. Benezra, Cheever and Norman shot 94, 91, and 96, respectively (off 7, 6 and 9 handicaps). The World Team beat us 3&2. I lost $15.

Suffice it to say, White Horse will not have to worry about seeing any of us again. Not a level lie on the property, greens like trampolines, some sort of gravel in the bunkers.

Fortunately, we caught some good grub on the way back at a cool little pub in downtown Kingston:

Next up — Port Ludlow. And a little payback time.

The Jenkins Fam Discovers ZooTunes

Yesterday the Jenkins Fam hooked up with Team Tamir (aka the Richardsons) for a ZooTunes concert at Woodland Park. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the band (more). Tom’s parents and sisters were there — so were Alan, Kimberly and Sophia (I think Sophia likes Finn.) Me thinks there can’t be anything much better than having a large and loving family around.

Good times (and great Ethiopian food) were had by all. Unfortunately the iPhone camera sat mostly in my pocket. My pics:

Waiting for Ethiopian food.

Apparently this ZooTunes is quite the big deal. Earlier this summer they had the B-52’s, and the Indigo Girls are supposed to be there next months. (Hot chicks, anyone? Not.) Yesterday was the first I’d heard of it.

Perhaps I need to get out more.

Hawaiian Day, Squared

Today the Jenkins family attended dose Hawaiian-themed parties. The first was Grant “Smith’s” first birthday party up at Jane and Marc’s in Edmonds (pics).

Grant hits the big Numero Uno.

Another shirt that doesn't get a lot of action.

The second was a soiree thrown by Roy and Grace Price down at the beach club. We didn’t take the camera to Grace and Roy’s so we didn’t get pics, but Norman did take this one of yours truly:

That's thirty feet if you're measuring.

It was a fun day for the Jenkins family but one overcome by sadness. Uncle Cole went back to Phoenix.

We’ll miss him, but he knows he’s welcome back any time.

The Family Hits Port Gamble

This weekend Cole, Rhonda, Reese and Finn joined me for some Civil War re-enacting at Port Gamble on the south end of the Kitsap Peninsula. Never been there (or even heard of it) but it was a pretty cool place I gotta say. I really can’t see any reason why it couldn’t be a destination along the lines of a Friday Harbor. It’s certainly a lot closer to Seattle.

Anyway, we got lots of pics from the re-enactment. Among them:

I followed it up with a Father’s Day round of golf at Washington National on Sunday morning . . .

What a difference eighteen hours makes.