bluesmandan76

If i can piggyback on your “alienation and helplessness” line, the movie also serves as an interesting critique of existentialism and existential nihilism. The way he transitions from not being sure he even existed and not knowing who he was to finding his purpose and “real” identity — as a murderer... the world was harsh and didn’t make sense so he just followed his heart and did what made him happy, defining his own life, despite what others thought. Good advice, right?! Oops. But isn’t that what everyone says today? [stands up and gets on soapbox]: I despise existentialism and nihilism and am glad when anything critiques these horrible worldviews. Every idiot college philosophy professor seems to think these empty evil philosophies are wonderful, even though it is the proliferation of these views that has led to many of our current societal problems. They claim these views are liberating, but they only “work” if everyone around you is still living with a somewhat unified worldview and morality. When everyone around you turns existential & nihilistic too then chaos ensues, society falls apart and institutions crumble because everyone is subjectively defining their own purpose & reality - and that is philosophical, religious, and moral anarchy. [Gets off soapbox] I appreciate movies that have an intentional philosophical purpose... something deeper to say about the way people think or the way our culture understands (or misunderstands) things. Sadly most movies unintentionally (and some very intentionally) promote bad philosophies instead of critiquing them. I think many people find Joker too dark in part because they themselves have adopted an existential & nihilistic worldview and the movie dethrones that view as empty and absurd without supplying a better alternative worldview to replace what it has so harshly criticized. Not that people intellectually grasp this when they watch a movie; they just feel the darkness of the way the character is thinking and changing. But the fact that they were able to sympathize with the character means they were at some level thinking and feeling like him, and that is disturbing to them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. I came to the opposite conclusion. The movie explains specifically how he became a murder loving psychopath who kills for fun — that’s the main thrust of the plot— and did it in a way that seemed somewhat real/plausible/current by placing him in the current climate of insane mass shootings. He wasn’t “passed off” as a man with undefined mental illnesses; that’s a core part of the Joker character! Frequent stays at Arkham Asylum as criminally insane is kind of a big part of the Joker story. Even Ledger’s Joker had undefined mental illness—if you’ll recall when he is first identified it’s noted that he had previously been in Arkham but it doesn’t say why, which is... the plot relying on undefined mental illness. I kinda knew from the get-go that this was going to be a Talented Mr. Ripley take on the Joker, getting you to sympathize with the main character before he really twists off into evil, so I was prepared for the darkness of the film. That is, I knew the trick already so I didn’t get tricked! I think that’s what people find so dark and disturbing about the film more than anything else: the fact that they emotionally invested their sympathy in the character... who turns out to be EVIL. You root for the poor underdog to succeed and then he does but... “oh crap I was rooting for evil!” It’s a great plot device. Used in classic flicks like The Shining. The Godfather. Citizen Kane. Anyway it’s the opposite of redemption, where you start with a bad character who becomes good (like the original Star Wars trilogy). Though in the Joker he doesn’t “become” crazy and evil, but finds out this is what he really was all along. And the fact that you follow only the main character for the whole movie—there’s no side characters or side plots to follow, you’re always with Joaquin— that is a movie making challenge and it is really pulled off well. Kudos to the director. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. Ask them what kind of ball they are playing; don’t tell them what kind of ball you found. Gotta do what you can to keep the cheaters honest! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In the video I notice that your left foot is a bit open, and that your putter path follows your left foot’s alignment. Your foot is open so you slightly cut across it. Try bringing your left foot back to square. That might correct your pull. I myself pull it because I get my right foot too far forward, which also creates an open stance. I have to setup and then pull my right foot back an inch or two or I’ll pull putts (especially the short ones!) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I knew a guy who got mad and threw his hole bag of clubs into a lake. Later he went swimming. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Worst round in a long while today! I hurt my back about a month or so ago and as it has healed it has really tightened up. Experiencing a lot of lower back pain, tightness that just won’t let up. I’ve been stretching a lot to try to help and it does alleviate the pain for a bit. But today when I tried to play I could just not get loosened up. So stiff. Couldn’t sequence. I duffed 2 shots on the first hole. Opened with 5 bogeys in a row. But I still had fun! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, having a floppy shaft will make you spray them. Sounds like the stiff works better for you. How far do you hit a 7 iron? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m not sure what to think... it’s a heavy practice shaft. For $200. I think I’d just take a cheap shaft and add lead tape to it if I wanted to simulate a heavy feel for practice. I could see it being used by a teaching pro, though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I used to get that sense after a long practice putting session, an hour or so, like the hole just looked bigger. I’d sit out at 10 feet and could put it at will into the left edge, right edge, middle, fast or slow. It was a neat feeling. It’s been a while... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Won a scramble today. My back healed up just enough so I could play and we did alright. -14. We parred a par three and par 4 on the front, and a par 4 and par 5 on the back. All with 10-15 ft putts that we just couldn’t get to go in! Birdied everything else with tight wedges and tight approaches, except for one par 3 where we made a long putt. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sadly they don’t make a slant neck blade... yet anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if one could use a groove sharpener to widen the grooves in the middle to resemble an Evnroll face... the aluminum should scrape off easily I’d think... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely! And you can learn it. Here’s what you do. Guess your yardage first, then use your rangefinder to check your guess. You’ll get better and better. I started doing that 2-3 years ago, and at first I was pretty bad. Now I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Usually within a few yards. Sometimes a little off, and sometimes spot on. Hills and valleys in between make it more difficult, but not impossible. First step to learning it is getting real comfortable with what 10 yards looks like so you can add it up from a distance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I saw them several years ago in their tour for Storm the Gates of Hell. Maylene & tsod was with them. Great show. I wonder if they play golf? Alice Cooper does. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Elsewhere Moe says the swing is all knees. I wonder if he has something in common with Melhorn here; Wild Bill wanted the hips and shoulders to stay in line with each other (opposite of the X Factor stuff)— not that he actually did that but that was his feeling—but lots of knee action and footwork to make his swing work. Swing with the knees. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Leaving everything short, yep. I had an Odyssey tank rossie that was like that. Just a mushy face. It was fine on short putts but the farther i got from the hole the shorter it left them. I like my chipping feel and putting feel to be similar, so it just didn’t work for me. I could use an insert if it were a little bit firmer though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edel has some good theories on lines vs dots. Some people are better at the perpendicular view and need dots or nothing at all, others need lines. Just noticed your handle and avatar. One of my favorite albums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s not a new concept. Every few years one of these will hit the market. Recently Bridgestone had one out... about 4 years ago. And I remember infomercials for one when I was a kid... maybe around 1990? A guy in the group my dad played with got one. I think it would be useful as a training aid. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Worked on grip, tempo, sequencing, lag, release, alignment. Just hitting 60-70 yard wedges. Mostly focused on using a half or 2/3 backswing and a very full follow through, which when put together help you to really delay your release so you get that sidearm skipping stone throw feeling. When I get it right it feels like Freddy Couples looks, like I’m just throwing the club to the target and oh there the ball goes too! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha! I think I’ll stick with North Carolina, but I would love to visit Scotland! Golf, scotch, and I’m scotch Presbyterian too! Whenever it gets rainy here and I’m playing golf, I say “It’s a beautiful scottish day.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Where do you live perseveringgolfer? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A putter fitting should determine several things: Length: the putter shaft needs to be in line with your forearms (as viewed from behind the line) and allow your eyes to over the ball or just barely inside the ball (up to about an inch) while you are in a comfortable posture. Loft: enough loft to get the ball airborne for several inches on a 20 foot putt. The fitter should have a little velvet board you putt on to determine loft. Airborne with minimal backspin is the goal. Arc: This determines how much toe hang or face balancing you need. Headweight: This will help you find balance between distance control and face stability. Lighter headweight is better for lag distance control especially on slower greens. Heavier headweight helps you feel the clubhead and have better control on short putts and faster greens. Swingweight: This figures in the weight of the grip (and shaft) too. With putters it’s also called counterbalancing. It can help smooth out your tempo and help your distance control. Imagine putting with a sledge hammer for high swingweight. Too much gripweight (low swingweight or high counterbalance) and you lose face control. Too little gripweight combined with a heavy headweight and your swing will get weird and you’ll lose distance control. Grip style and size: Should help you grip it so the shaft is in line with forearms and strike a balance between face control and distance control. Small grips are potentially better for face control, since you can feel the headweight better and it gets your sensitive fingers more in touch with the shaft. But larger grips take out wristiness, which can help with distance control and general stroke stability since it helps get larger muscles in control of powering the stroke. I would say use the smallest grip that doesn’t promote wristiness for you, but that’s just me. Others would say use the largest grip with which you can still feel the face and headweight well. Find a balance. Head style: blade vs mallet helps with forgiveness issues. Color, sight lines, other variables can affect your visual alignment. Did I forget something? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Played 18 today and messed around with the loft&spin settings on my old M1 to see if I had it right. Been playing it 9.5 high spin. Tried it at 10.2 and 10.9 but nope, too high, they ballooned a bit. Even 10.2 low spin (how i used to play it) though it didn’t balloon snd launched okay it just felt dead. So went back to the way it was. Gotta check it every once in a while! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

38/36=74. A strange round. Had an eagle, and two triple bogeys! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A light grip slows and evens out your tempo. Can’t get fast and jerky with a light grip. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk