It's come to my attention that I've posted a video of another pup before I posted one of my beloved Jasmine (you probably didn't know she could talk). So here it is! Everyone that's met her knows that she is such a well-behaved dog, and also that she loves to play fetch. So much so that she enters a state of super-concentration. I could probably ask her to recite the Declaration of Independence and she'd do it so that I'd throw the ball. So asking her to perform a few simple tricks was no challenge whatsoever.

So last night I carried my golf clubs into the basement for the winter. This year is the least I've played golf since Steve convinced me to give it a try way back in 1990- I only played three times, for a total of 27 holes. And I didn't go to a driving range even once. Not a great debut season for my fancy new clubs, which I bought at the end of last year. Still, while it was a short season for me, it was not without its highlights. I managed to "win" the little tournament that was part of Adam's bachelor party, netting me some unexpected cash. And I managed to take possession of the "Kulla Golf Champion" trophy after defeating my brothers at our traditonal venue. It's kind of like The Masters - always at the same course. Well, except for the fact that none of us are good, there's no crowds or TV, the course is very short and the primary source of fun is ragging on each others' mistakes. This year, I benefitted from some controversy that sapped the concentration of Adam & Larry on the last hole, and my par 4 sealed the deal. As you can tell, the trophy presentation was an elaborate ceremony.

Well, I finally had my raquets restrung so that I could play tennis again. To prove it, my brother Adam took this short movie of my impressive ground strokes (notice how you only get to see the forehand side) after we played a match on Saturday. We split the first two sets (6-3, 3-6), and since we were already late for dinner we played a tiebreaker to determine a winner (there HAS to be a winner - he won the TB 8-6). It was very windy, which made lobbing on one side impossible and the other side very easy. I wish we could blame the wind for the camerawork on this clip, but I can't. :-)

Guest entry by Natalie

“All you need is love.”

This is the slogan for Sandals, an all-inclusive resort chain with multiple locations in the Carribean. After Tony and I had a wedding reception here in the ‘States, we decided to head to the Bahamas for a six night trip. So off to Sandals’ “Royal Bahamian” we went.

Sandals paints a picture of a romantic getaway, where your every whim is catered to, your surroundings are lush and relaxing, and you get to dine in fabulous restaurants that are included in the price of your trip. It’s all perfect, luxurious, heaven-on-earth. All YOU need to do, sayeth the Sandals ads, is bring yourselves and the fact that you love one another. Every other possible thing you could want awaits you.

Now, I remember from my college courses in marketing that with advertising it is acceptable to exaggerate the truth. There is a concept called “puffing” that means, in my recollection, that everyone expects an advertisement to stretch reality a bit. If puffing is acceptable, then Sandals’ version of its “resort” was more like a tornado-force wind.

Sandals’ website says things like:

“. . . you step from your chauffeur driven Mercedes-Benz and cross the threshold of the marble-clad lobby, you enter a world of unbelievable splendor. . . Your slightest whim is catered to with unstinting attention and warmth.”

“More than half the resort is comprised of lavish suites, each boasting the finest designer details and graciously accompanied by upgraded amenities . . . unequaled majesty . . . elegant suites that give a whole new meaning to the word perfection . . .”

“Dine in splendid style as you choose from eight gourmet restaurants— a dazzling lineup unheard of in an all-inclusive resort.”

Okay—you get the idea. But here’s the truth. As Tony remarked, this resort was likely in its heyday in about 1984. It hasn’t been remodeled since. The beach was really tiny, so you couldn’t walk along it for more than about 25 seconds. Of the restaurants, only two were
open each day for breakfast and lunch. And it was the same two restaurants for lunch and breakfast each day. One was a lame buffet and the other was like a cafeteria of fried foods under heat lamps and skinny hamburgers that had breadcrumbs in them to stretch their budget.

Our room hadn’t been updated or upgraded in a very, very long time. It smelled like smoke and mildew, and the tub and sink were stained. I don’t remember ever staying in a nice hotel where the tub or sink looked dirty. The king-sized bed had three tiny pillows on it, and the comforter was a flimsy, old-looking thing that we thought looked like it was bought at Zayre’s going out of business sale. The most updated thing in the room was the VCR, but even that didn’t look as new as the 8-year old VCR we just sold at our yard sale last weekend (for $1).

Sandals said it owned an island just half a mile from the resort, like two vacations in one they said! On the short boat ride there, we were told to stay on one small side of the island because the rest was for cruise ship passengers. They got to jet ski and do all sorts of things. I got to go out on the beach with Tony and get consumed by sand fleas in the middle of the afternoon! I was only out there for about five minutes and got dozens of bites. The bite marks lasted for days after we got home and I was convinced for a day that they had traveled back with us, or that the hotel had given us bed bugs.

Okay, I could go on and on, really! There was so much there to complain about or pick on. But Tony and I managed to laugh about almost all of it. The fact that they took thousands of dollars from us isn’t funny. But just about everything else about it was. We referred to the “conceirge”, who never had any answers and always just told us to go across the resort to the main hotel building, as a “noncierge.” We cracked up every time we said it. After a few days of the gross breakfast and lunch, we ate granola bars to hold us over until dinner, and they tasted really good. When we caught one day of rainy weather due to Hurricane Ernesto, we watched a bunch of “Everybody Loves Raymond” reruns in our room and laughed out loud.

So, there was just one part of Sandals’ ads that was true—the “all you need is love” slogan. But it wasn’t true the way Sandals intended.

Oh, I miss summer already. Today's a beautiful, warm day but there will be no swimming for me. I love to swim - and it's great exercise, especially if you have a good coach "barking" at you to pick up the pace. Molly, my parents' Westie, is clearly a natural at this.
Look for more video entries soon as I try to make up for my recent neglect of this site.