Perspectives on Rockets, Golf, Pottery and Politics

A few takes on current affairs and events local and national:

• Good story from Blake Giles in this week's Oconee Enterprise on the local economic impact of golf. His point about how golf helps raise funds for charity is certainly a good one -- while there can be too many golf charity events, the overall impact of the sport in the region is pretty amazing.
  
• Another neat golf tidbit -- UGA alum Brendon Todd, who led the Athens Regional Foundation Classic until a last round collapse, won last week's Nationwide Tour event and will likely be on the PGA tour next year. He has had a very successful first year on the Nationwide Tour. Brendon got his shot when the Athens Regional Foundation gave him a sponsor's exemption into their event, where he performed well and was able to secure entry into more Nationwide Tour events. Congrats to Brendon and kudos to the Athens Regional Foundation for helping this young man's dream come true. (Full disclosure -- my company does the PR for the ARFC).
  
• On a totally separate matter, the McCain campaign is getting dangerously close to overplaying its hand by limiting Sarah Palin's interaction with the media. I'm glad she's talking with Katie Couric next week. Her interview with Charles Gibson was not sterling -- it was solid in most places but not being able to articulate the Bush doctrine is pretty bad and her unqualified response inviting Ukraine and Georgia into NATO makes me nervous. Palin doesn't need to be something she isn't in these interviews (swing voters don't expect her to be an expert on foreign policy) -- she needs to be herself and be somewhat accessible to balanced reporters. And no, Sean Hannity doesn't count. Neither will Bill O'Reilly.
  
• Back to the local scene, I've gotta say last weekend's Friends of the Oconee County Library Book Sale was awesome. You could get a bag of used books for $3. They had rare books and first editions for incredibly low prices. Definitely something to put on your calendar for future years. Even Sunday afternoon, there were still huge crowds looking for books. Whoever says the printed book is in danger is dead wrong. Newspapers.... perhaps a different story.
  
• Also Sunday, I visited Perspectives. As always, the art was wonderful. Unlike past years, the prices weren't. WHOA! For some reason, it seemed like everything was 30-50% higher than in years past. I walked into Rocket Hall expecting Watkinsville art prices (maybe a slight premium) and felt like I had traveled to Atlanta. I was also suprised that top local potters like Jerry Chappelle and Rebecca Wood (R. Wood) apparently were not participating.
• Still, visiting Rocket Hall (known by us kids of the 80s as the Booster Club Gym) always evokes special memories -- I can still smell the popcorn, feel the stickiness of Skittles and Sprite spilled on the floor, and feel the cold temps in the gym as we stripped down to shorts for games and practice. Angry parents, tired refs, manual scorekeeping, no 3 point shot, creaky floors, and bad basketball made for some great times. I can also remember getting run out by the Watkinsville PD after "sneaking" in the gym during Christmas break (thanks for those keys, Donnie B.!). Good times.