I don't often post personal golf related content but things have been going well lately.

I recently shot my best ever stroke play score of 82 at Patterson River.

I've really been loving my new Callaway Elyte X Hybrid which I can hit about ~180 metres and find a lot of fairways. Being in play off the tee more means lower scores even if I'm sacrificing a bit of distance not hitting 3 wood or driver.

I took some photos of my new hybrid before we got married but I never posted them.

The reality of posting a good score like 82 is that you can always get better.

My new goal is to break 80 which given recent form seems possible especially if the putter gets hot.

I haven't paid enough attention to the NBA this year but the Timberwolves are looking really solid.

They're into the conference finals with a 4-1 win in the conference semi and they'll face either OKC or Denver who will likely need to play a 7 game series.

Having a bit of extra rest should bode well.

The eastern conference looks wide open as well with the Knicks looking like they'll knock off the Celtics.

If the Timberwolves can make the NBA Finals they'll have a very good chance of going all the way especially if Ant fires.

This was super cool to see.

When you watch ex AFL players go up against amateurs it's just such a jump in skill, speed and strength.

Even at 44 Fev is still way better than everyone at this level.

Always love Theo's tech stack comparisons. It's something I think about a lot and I just find the topic interesting.

Looks like this course has some teeth. There's a 530 yard (484 metres) par 4. That's nuts. There's also a bunch of difficult par 3's and thick rough.

For comparison the longest par 4 at Patterson River is 423 metres and that tee box is only played a handful of times a month.

Since his battle with cancer began in 2023 and initially being given only a few months to live, Walls displayed his renowned courage and determination to fight the disease bravely before finally succumbing on May 15, 2025, aged 74.

This makes me sad. I always enjoyed his commentary on channel 10.

His move into coaching seemed a natural progression and he took the reins at Fitzroy in 1981.

A strict disciplinarian and a fine tactician, Walls was innovative and often a step ahead of the opposition.

In the early 1980s he invented 'The Huddle', which revolutionised how teams moved the ball from kick-outs.

The tactic, which had several variations, created space for the Lions' skilful running players out of defence and enabled them to move the ball efficiently into the forward half.

The huddle is a classic tactic that I remember fondly from junior footy.

Ted Lasso will go down as one of my favourite TV shows ever.

It was perfect. The way all the character arcs concluded. The music. The whole vibe of the show is chefs kiss.

There are a lot of rumors flying around about a big iOS and macOS redesign coming this year, perhaps as a distraction to the continued issues around Apple Intelligence. And while I’m game for a fresh coat of paint across the software I use every single day, I have one plea while Apple’s at it: Please, for the love of god, make the Notes app render the letter “a” properly.

This is one of those things where once you see it you can't un-see it. At least the notes app I use on my Mac and iPhone (Tot) renders the letter a correctly.

The whole situation is scary. Hopefully everyone gets home safe. The players are well paid but they shouldn't be putting their own safety at risk even if it means burning bridges with their Indian teams.

We took Boots to the vet and it seems like he has something called bicipital tendinopathy.

Sometimes dogs develop a foreleg lameness without any witnessed injury. Initially, you may note only stiffness or limping when rising or after heavy play. Over time, the limping becomes consistent. One of the possible reasons for these subtle changes progressing to a lameness is tendon damage, which can range from uncomfortable to painful.

We just need to rest him and give him some anti inflammatory drugs.

Boots has a new name: Limpy. He's had something wrong with his front left leg for a while but on Friday he seems to have hurt it more. Now he's limping around 24/7 whereas previously he'd recover after limping for a bit on walks. The names list has been updated.

Awesome to see Rick play some great golf with help from a course management specialist.

Some things I found interesting:

• Never being too aggressive with your putting especially when its downhill, I like the idea of picking a spot where you know if you get it to that spot the downhill will take it somewhere near the hole, long downhill putts are probably not going in so if you can get it within tap in range that's a win, the worst thing is knocking it miles past and 3 putting
• The mental game is so key when it comes to golf, positive mind sets and mentally handling a couple of bad shots per round is critical

Bobby Lee is cringy but this interview with Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone is great.

Some points:

• Bobby Lee is a maniac when it comes to Stardew, his farms are 100x more complex that anything I was ever able to do
• I love how deep they get into gift giving and relationships between all the different characters
• The therapeutic aspect of Stardew is 100% true, it was therapeutic for me too, there was a quote from Bobby which describes the feeling of the game being this idea of feeling safe, he reflects on how the vibe and environment of the game is the same environment he'd like to provide for his family if he ever had kids, this really stuck with me, I'd like to provide a safe environment for my family in the same way
• This whole interview just makes me want to play Haunted Chocolatier more, it's probably years off though sadly, I have no idea why he did the launch video in 2021

The game looks incredible. Now for a year of hype.

The ABCs web development team have been doing a great job with some of these visualisations this election. Another excellent piece.

I watched this episode of Ted Lasso last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of those TV episodes that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. So good.

I said a couple of days ago that I needed to up my AI game.

I haven't done anything yet but codex might be the answer I'm looking for.

Running it from the command line and allowing it to have context over a full project seems too good to be true.

From Bailey Smith

"It's beautiful ... I'm not getting that at Ballarat," Smith told Fox Footy after Geelong's nail-biting 13.12 (90) to 12.15 (87) triumph.

and then from Bont

"Very interesting by Bailey ... it's nice to know we're still on Bailey's mind. He's still thinking about us, even at another team," Bontempelli told Channel 7.

Bring on May 22nd. I wish it was at Marvel because the spite from the Dogs fans would be nuts.

I haven't paid enough attention to how good Yamal is. His skills are insane.

I also learnt today about La Masia and the Barcelona youth academy. It has produced a long list of world class footballers.

An incredible election result for Labor.

I'm excited to see what this means given that such a strong mandate has been given.

I've been watching more friendlyjordies lately and he's been talking up the Future Made Australia bill. Hopefully there is progress in this area over the next few years. It seems like battery manufacturing and the processing of minerals to facilitate this (lithium, cobalt) is where jobs will be created. If we can form stronger ties with China (who need the batteries) this will be a very good thing for the Australian economy.

Some more thoughts:

• Dutton losing his seat was something I almost couldn't believe
• My seat (Dunkley) remains strongly Labor (currently 57.2%), given how many of the people I speak to at my local golf club despise Labor (especially the state government) this is a surprising result
• It's good to see that the independents in inner city Melbourne retain their seats (Goldstein, Kooyong)