*826LA MINI-GOLF FOR CHEATERS WRAP-UP...
Thank you, thank you, thank you all for coming through and contributing to Team: Dimpled Balls in the first annual Mini-Golf for Cheaters Tournament. We blew away the competition in the fundraising department.

As for the Tournament, that's a whole other story..

First off..I almost MISSED playing in the tournament. I was up in San Francisco the first part of the weekend for a coupla workshops set up by the T.V. show I narrate (Spark). I got to do a coupla lectures about using cartooning in the classroom. Thanks to Kristin for setting it up.

Being the high-flying, jet-setter that I am. I was scheduled to fly outta S.F. in the late afternoon, land at LAX, and be driven straight to the tournament where I would spank the competition silly.

Unfortunately, when I arrived at SFO, I discovered that my flight was delayed an hour. Meaning I wouldn't be on the course til 7:45pm. Players were supposed to report by 6:45, or be disqualified.

Anyhoo..I made as many calls and emails as I could to let folks know I was gonna be late. The real hero of the day was the cabdriver who took me from LAX to the Sherman Oaks Castle Mini-Golf. Usually cab drivers make me car-sick with the way they hit the gas and brake when they're speeding..But this dude could DRIVE. Made it look easy ... I snuck onto the course by 7:30pm!!

The teams had reached the 3rd hole by that time , and T:DB were already behind. It took me a few holes to get my groove on, but by the 7th, I was in deep.

Here's the problem: We had so much stuff to cheat with ( and so did the other team), that we bludgeoned each other on every hole. It was so bad that by the time every other team had finished the event, and we still had nine holes to go.

In fact, towards the end, we and our opponents agreed not to use the cheats for the rest of the round so we could finish before closing time. Turns out our opponents played worse WITHOUT the blindfolds we made them wear the earlier. It was neck-n-neck til the 17th, where I holed a critical 2nd shot on a par 3, narrowly avoiding a swinging pendulum.

The final hole was one of those things where you can only get a hole in one, a two, or a three, cuz it goes into a closed box so you cannot use the ball for another round. This dude on the enemy team knocked his ball off the ramp..TWICE!! So he ended up with a five.

We beat them by one stroke.

We were psyched until we saw every other team score. Turns out the team we beat came in dead last. Which won them a prize. All we got was embarrassed.

So, in the end, we learned a valuable lesson. If we had laid down our weapons and worked together early. Team:Dimpled Balls and the enemy would've played a much better and peaceful round. Instead, we struck back and forth at each other with pre-emptive strikes, and we both lost.

Hope the U.S. Government is still reading my blog.

Thanks for Rob and Georgene, our T:DB teammates..Amy, Mac and everyone at 826LA..All of you again for donating..And of course, my lovely spouse, who has the most unorthodox putting style every witnessed on these shores.

*NOW COME SEE MY ASS IN BOSTON THIS SATURDAY...
..Cuz it's my birthday! I'll be at Million Year Picnic (99 Mt. Auburn St. Harvard Square) on Sat. Aug. 25th at 11am-1pm. I'll be signing copies of my latest (th)ink book "Are We Feeling Safer Yet?" Plus I 'll have my new canvas bags, and the new 2008 Little Vics/Mega-Mix Monthly Calendar. (Ooh!!)

Labels: birthday, booksigning, boston, mini-golf for cheaters, Spark

 
*AHH..LATE WITH THE BLOG AGAIN...
That's cuz myself and the other members of Team: Dimpled Balls were out on the course putting in a practice round for this Saturday's Mini-Golf for Cheaters Tourney!! (the Wifey kicked all our asses!!)

Practice round? Yes, that's how serious this event is. We needed to discover the nuances of this particular course to figure out when to dole out the cheating tools. Should we use the water gun here? Or the brick over here? Or just give everybody wiggly balls?

Regardless of the tactics we use, we will crush our opponents, whose teams are made up of perverts, gamblers, circus clowns and beauty-school dropouts.

If you haven't yet, there's still time to donate some $$$ so we can have more tools to cheat with. Go here to sponsor me and Team: Dimpled Balls, and while you're there, you can peruse the 826LA website and see where the money's going (it's a damn good cause).

And if you want to come and watch, it's this Saturday, the 18th, 7pm at the Sherman Oaks Castle Mini-Golf park on Sepulveda near the 101 and 405. (Wow..I sound like I live in L.A. or somethin')

*OKAY..THE BOSTON SIGNING IS SET IN STONE..
I will be signing books at Million Year Picnic in Harvard Square on Saturday, August 25th at 11am-1pm. I know it's early, but you can see how I manage being hungover from the night before..Cuz Aug. 24th IS MY BIRTHDAY!! (If you had the 2007 Little Vics/Megamix calendar, you'd know that) So come by and give me some birthday money.

*WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON..
I'll be up in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday morning for some Spark workshops with High School teachers. I'm preparing to do the Small Press Expo in Bethesda in September. And expect a super gigantic huge announcement next month about the K Chronicles. Sure..Most of you know it already anyway...

Labels: 826la, birthday, boston, harvard square, million year picnic, mini-golf, San Francisco, spx 2007