Topic: Euroka's Tennis Journal

[euroka1]

Surely some 'discoveries' are based on connecting previous knowledge.
I would look to both sports and art for examples of creativity and originality.

I was going to say "all" but then thought back to the first time I touched a hot stove. 

[monstertruck]

Surely some 'discoveries' are based on connecting previous knowledge.
I would look to both sports and art for examples of creativity and originality.

I was going to say "all" but then thought back to the first time I touched a hot stove. 

Did you make the 'connection' in Schlomo?

[dmastous]

Surely some 'discoveries' are based on connecting previous knowledge.
I would look to both sports and art for examples of creativity and originality.

There is a guy named James Burke who produced and narrated a PBS show back in 1976 called Connections that made the ultimate case for this. He has since made two more series in the same vein where he connects inventions in from hundreds of years ago to modern inventions.
I never fails to be fascinating to watch history in this way.

[euroka1]

Surely some 'discoveries' are based on connecting previous knowledge.
I would look to both sports and art for examples of creativity and originality.

There is a guy named James Burke who produced and narrated a PBS show back in 1976 called Connections that made the ultimate case for this. He has since made two more series in the same vein where he connects inventions in from hundreds of years ago to modern inventions.
I never fails to be fascinating to watch history in this way.

Gosh, that dates us, dmast. I've always thought that James Burke's masterpiece was the (1985?) TV series "The Day the Universe Changed" and have been surprised that it never came out on VHS or DVD to my knowledge. I did get buy a couple of audio-cassettes of it a decade ot more ago that give the flavor and the companion book is also very good.  How do we relate this to tennis?  But that's OK, you're one of the mods so you can delete anyway.

Edit:  As I recall now, the text of the long sermon was "The universe is what we say it is." but this may be an oversimplification.

[dmastous]

Surely some 'discoveries' are based on connecting previous knowledge.
I would look to both sports and art for examples of creativity and originality.

There is a guy named James Burke who produced and narrated a PBS show back in 1976 called Connections that made the ultimate case for this. He has since made two more series in the same vein where he connects inventions in from hundreds of years ago to modern inventions.
I never fails to be fascinating to watch history in this way.

Gosh, that dates us, dmast. I've always thought that James Burke's masterpiece was the (1985?) TV series "The Day the Universe Changed" and have been surprised that it never came out on VHS or DVD to my knowledge. I did get buy a couple of audio-cassettes of it a decade ot more ago that give the flavor and the companion book is also very good.  How do we relate this to tennis?  But that's OK, you're one of the mods so you can delete anyway.

Edit:  As I recall now, the text of the long sermon was "The universe is what we say it is." but this may be an oversimplification.

That is an oversimplification, but valid. His thesis is the universe is how we perceive it is based on our level of knowledge at each point in history, and limitations of that knowledge. He uses many different periods of world history to demonstrate those conceptual changes. Like the discovery of America. It essentially proved to be a real dagger in Aristotelean thinking. There just wasn't supposed to be a land mass there, but there it was. The church had even allowed the idea of a round earth to be allowed in scientific theory, so the calender could be made to work (Mars just kept going backwards every once it awhile). But if anybody tried really say the earth was round they were heretics. But here was another unrecorded continent, when the church said the earth was flat and all the land is known land. It poked a giant hole in their hold on science. We have never looked back.
These are the kinds of stories that are told by Burke in the Day the Universe Changed. I have the book, and I have a copy of the show on DVD. I cheated. The program is still not out on VHS or DVD, but if you are a teacher you can purchase it for around $700. I bought it, copied it, and sent it back. then I burned DVDs from it.
I'm guessing one reason there are no DVD versions is the BBC regularly reused tapes back then. There are a lot of classic BBC programming lost forever because they didn't archive it. They just erased the tapes and used them for another program. The only reason Connections is available on DVD is probably because some PBS broadcaster in the US kept a high quality version of the program.

[Pacer]

Hi Pacer,
In case you ever move here, you'll find there are lots of public and semi-public (i.e. school) courts in the area buried in odd corners of the landscape. Like everything else, one gets to know. My weekend group plays on one public court maintained by the county. We rarely have to wait and if it looks like being more than 20 minutes we move off to another.
I guess this is what one does do for the tennnis fix!

P.S. Was reading about Freud's stuff the other night and was struck how much of it is getting reinvented and reclothed these days, without much acknowledgement.

Oh yes, I know what you mean about getting your tennis fix. What we are willing to do just to hit a fuzzy yellow ball. Your public courts sound pretty ideal. The best thing about public courts is that there is no time limit, you can play as long as you like.

Yes, I know what you mean about Freud. I notice that even other disciplines take his theories, reword them, come up with a new name and act is if they've discovered something new. I guess there is only so much one can discover. I suppose there has to be a point when everything is recycled and nothing is truly original. I don't mind borrowing, but don't act as if you've made some novel discovery.

  I don't know much about Freud and I certainly don't understand that statement.
Sounds sort of fatalistic....

I guess what I meant, is that most recent theories outside of a few disciplines have evolved out of existing ones(recycled). This is why I'm so interested in neuroscience, there is still so much we don’t know about the brain.

[euroka1]

Feeling somewhat miserable after having a tooth pulled out yesterday  . Scott says  I'm a tooth lighter but I'd still rather have it and lose weight otherwise.

Cancelled Wednesday hit with the instructor but that's probably just as well as it apparently is 12 degrees F outside  . He might still have wanted to do it  .

[monstertruck]

Feeling somewhat miserable after having a tooth pulled out yesterday  . Scott says  I'm a tooth lighter but I'd still rather have it and lose weight otherwise.

Cancelled Wednesday hit with the instructor but that's probably just as well as it apparently is 12 degrees F outside  . He might still have wanted to do it   .

I bet you look cute with your long johns on under your shorts!

I have a hard time finding warm boots with non-marking soles.....

[euroka1]

Feeling somewhat miserable after having a tooth pulled out yesterday  . Scott says  I'm a tooth lighter but I'd still rather have it and lose weight otherwise.

Cancelled Wednesday hit with the instructor but that's probably just as well as it apparently is 12 degrees F outside  . He might still have wanted to do it   .

I bet you look cute with your long johns on under your shorts!

I have a hard time finding warm boots with non-marking soles.....

He goes in for layers.
Some days it feels like the dance of the seven veils  but it never goes as far as that one!

  suffering from cabin fever, too.

[jeffrx]

I can't wait for summer.....I'm sick of tight indoor schedules! 

[euroka1]

Spring is in the air    and the temperature in the 70s and all the tennis friends are coming out of the woodwork wanting to play outside.

Social, low pressure, mixed doubles yesterday 6-3, 4-6 and today 6-2, 7-5. I was very rusty yesterday but played a lot better today  .

My Monday mens group is also coming to life  and we are planning to play early tomorrow morning.

Onward and upward (despite the economy!) 

[monstertruck]

Less work means more time for tennis, etc.

[euroka1]

Monday's tennis did not turn out well. The fourth did not turn up  . Canadian/Australian doubles is fine for an hour, maybe  , but I find it irritating to go on for longer as I never seem to get in to a rhythm with different permutations of partners and opponents.

Hit with the instructor this morning. He made the remark that when working on a new serve motion, one should get into it a little at a time as prolonged practice can put a big strain on little used muscles and joints.  Any comment?

[Jamesdster]

Monday's tennis did not turn out well. The fourth did not turn up  . Canadian/Australian doubles is fine for an hour, maybe  , but I find it irritating to go on for longer as I never seem to get in to a rhythm with different permutations of partners and opponents.

Hit with the instructor this morning. He made the remark that when working on a new serve motion, one should get into it a little at a time as prolonged practice can put a big strain on little used muscles and joints.  Any comment?

I am with you about Canadien dubs...hate it!  As for the new motion, I imagine any slight alteration would employ the use of new muscles, tendons, etc...so easing into it might be a good idea.

[monstertruck]

Monday's tennis did not turn out well. The fourth did not turn up  . Canadian/Australian doubles is fine for an hour, maybe  , but I find it irritating to go on for longer as I never seem to get in to a rhythm with different permutations of partners and opponents.

Hit with the instructor this morning. He made the remark that when working on a new serve motion, one should get into it a little at a time as prolonged practice can put a big strain on little used muscles and joints.  Any comment?

Canadian / Aussie dubs?  What a great way for the singles player to get a work out!!!  Does tend to disrupt the normal flow of regular tennis though.
Is it sacrilege for a fourth not to turn up?  Here the shame from a 'no call, no show' would be unbearable, it's a rough crew.

Good tip on the new serve motion!  I guess that should be applied to all strokes.

Anything in particular that you're trying to accomplish with the 'new serve'?

[euroka1]

Thursday night tennis:
One guy in our doubles 4 clobbered the rest of us. 
We rotated:   1-6 2-6 6-1 

But, our Thursday night tennis group looks like having indoor time next winter (no easy achievement over here).
...so on it goes 

[euroka1]

Hit with the instructor this morning. As usual, hit more balls in a hour than during the rest of the week. Good for the soul. 

Interesting situation at present reflecting the unfortunate state of the times. Previously, we hit at the local Y where I am a member and he was the head pro. However, as an economy measure (i.e. to get out of paying benefits), the Y effectively laid off its two pros and decided to contract out its tennis class instruction to a crowd on the other side of town who send over tennis instructors to meet ad hoc demands. That's no way to run a tennis program  .

Under the new arrangement, my instructor can't appear on their courts to give private lessons so we go off to one of the neighborhood courts which, early in the morning, are never being used. On the way, I drive past the 6 unoccupied Y courts  well maintained by cheap (and probably also contracted out) labor.  My impression, talking around, is that this is not working out well for anyone!  (e.g. people turn up for a class but an instructor doesn't).

I'm still hoping that something might be worked out between parties concerned.

[dmastous]

Hit with the instructor this morning. As usual, hit more balls in a hour than during the rest of the week. Good for the soul. 

Interesting situation at present reflecting the unfortunate state of the times. Previously, we hit at the local Y where I am a member and he was the head pro. However, as an economy measure (i.e. to get out of paying benefits), the Y effectively laid off its two pros and decided to contract out its tennis class instruction to a crowd on the other side of town who send over tennis instructors to meet ad hoc demands. That's no way to run a tennis program  .

Under the new arrangement, my instructor can't appear on their courts to give private lessons so we go off to one of the neighborhood courts which, early in the morning, are never being used. On the way, I drive past the 6 unoccupied Y courts  well maintained by cheap (and probably also contracted out) labor.  My impression, talking around, is that this is not working out well for anyone!  (e.g. people turn up for a class but an instructor doesn't).

I'm still hoping that something might be worked out between parties concerned.

No, it's just the clubs getting greedy I would guess. Only their instructors can teach on their courts. At $90 a lesson.
I had the same issue at the club I joined. I tried to go on the courts with a bucket of balls and they wouldn't let me take them in. Only 6 balls per court.

[OSU Buckeye]

That sucks E!  Hopefully the Y gets their s**te together.  Have you politely asked the Y about the change or their future intentions? 

[euroka1]

That sucks E!  Hopefully the Y gets their s**te together.  Have you politely asked the Y about the change or their future intentions? 

It's one of these situations where there may well be second side to the story but I'll probably probe a little if it doesn't get settled naturally.  No point in threating to quit because of the other things they offer like outdoor and indoor pools and exercise rooms and the like.

Played social mixed doubles yesterday and today. Yesterday was cloudy gloomy and cold and I could hardly do a thing right  but today the sun was out, my game better and the score at 7-5, 4-6 a lot more even. Temperature in the 60s! Spring is here at last  .