The Silver Screen Oasis

Dargo wrote: ↑February 7th, 2024, 7:30 pm Btw here James, I hope you know because of this lousy weather you Californians have been sendin' out this way this past week to the Grand Canyon State, I haven't been able to hit the tennis courts at all this week, and so I'm gettin' mighty bored around here lately!!!

(...why can't you guys keep those "Atmospheric Rivers" to yourself over there???!!!)

Not to put sunshine on the SoCal flooding as I'd already thought of you with following in advance of your tennis misstep, Dargo:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis ... r-BB1hLTDk

McEnroe, of course, was once Ryan O'Neal's son-in-law.

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 1:20 pm
Not to put sunshine on the SoCal flooding as I'd already thought of you with following in advance of your tennis misstep, Dargo:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis ... r-BB1hLTDk

McEnroe, of course, was once Ryan O'Neal's son-in-law.

Yeah, I caught this on TV this past weekend.

I have played Pickleball a couple of times. Fun little sport, but I'm presently of the mind that because I'm still pretty darn fast out there on the tennis court (for an old fart anyway) and so can still cover of lot of the court, I've told myself that I'll "resort" to playing Pickleball in earnest when I become too old and slow and can't run down shots anymore.

(...btw...one of the guys I've played tennis with for years now here in AZ is named Stan...Stan's a good ol' Hoosier farmboy who's presently 84 years old...you would not believe how fast HE still is out there on the tennis courts for his age and is still a very good player overall...I often tell Stan that he's my hero and hope to still be as good a player as he is when I get to his age...he's also one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet as well)

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 1:49 pm

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 1:20 pm
Not to put sunshine on the SoCal flooding as I'd already thought of you with following in advance of your tennis misstep, Dargo:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis ... r-BB1hLTDk

McEnroe, of course, was once Ryan O'Neal's son-in-law.

Yeah, I caught this on TV this past weekend.

I have played Pickleball a couple of times. Fun little sport, but I'm presently of the mind that because I'm still pretty darn fast out there on the tennis court (for an old fart anyway) and so can still cover of lot of the court, I've told myself that I'll "resort" to playing Pickleball in earnest when I become too old and slow and can't run down shots anymore.

(...btw...one of the guys I've played tennis with for years now here in AZ is named Stan...Stan's a good ol' Hoosier farmboy who's presently 84 years old...you would not believe how fast HE still is out there on the tennis courts for his age and is still a very good player overall...I often tell Stan that he's my hero and hope to still be as good a player as he is when I get to his age...he's also one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet as well)

That is incredible, Dargo: My mom, now in her eighties, disappointingly gets told to not play tennis.
Stan: That's a tennis name!!

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 2:06 pm That is incredible, Dargo: My mom, now in her eighties, disappointingly gets told to not play tennis.
Stan: That's a tennis name!!

Yep, the great Stan Smith...



THIS Stan is presently only 77 y/o, though.

(...so, did your mom once play a lot of tennis in her younger days?)

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 2:25 pm

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 2:06 pm That is incredible, Dargo: My mom, now in her eighties, disappointingly gets told to not play tennis.
Stan: That's a tennis name!!

Yep, the great Stan Smith...



THIS Stan is presently only 77 y/o, though.

(...so, did your mom once play a lot of tennis in her younger days?)

Yes, she did, Dargo...
She had this model of racquet in the Neolithic Age:

Yep, looks like the old Jack Kramer Wilson racquet that the young Chrissie is playin' with there, alright!

I think almost everyone played with one of those back then.

(...I did, anyway)

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 2:48 pm Yep, looks like the old Jack Kramer Wilson racquet that the young Chrissie is playin' with there, alright!

I think almost everyone played with one of those back then.

(...I did, anyway)

With your post here, thought of the old Wilson white tennis balls in a laundry basket combo which my father had around the house, Dargo.

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 2:54 pm
With your post here, thought of the old Wilson white tennis balls in a laundry basket combo which my father had around the house, Dargo.

And this now prompted me to internet search the answer to: What year did tennis balls become yellow?

As I only had a vague recollection of it being sometime in the early to mid-'70s, the answer I found was 1972.

The view out one of the front windows of my house taken 10 minutes ago, and the result of Pacific atmospheric rivers when they hit the higher elevations of northern Arizona, and why my tennis matches were once again cancelled today...WAAH!



(...yeah yeah, I know...what a crybaby, huh!)

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 6:26 pm The view out one of the front windows of my house taken 10 minutes ago, and the result of Pacific atmospheric rivers when they hit the higher elevations of northern Arizona, and why my tennis matches were once again cancelled today...WAAH!



(...yeah yeah, I know...what a crybaby, huh!)

Nice photo. My wife started playing tennis about 2 years ago. Thursday night is her weekly practice \ game sessions, and she is hoping the courts are dry, so they don't have to cancel.

Hey, don't you have access to any indoor courts? E.g. where do you play during those hot summer days?

The weather guy on KTVU in Oakland, CA. mentioned snow in Sedona this morning.

jamesjazzguitar wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 8:19 pm
Nice photo. My wife started playing tennis about 2 years ago. Thursday night is her weekly practice \ game sessions, and she is hoping the courts are dry, so they don't have to cancel.

Hey, don't you have access to any indoor courts? E.g. where do you play during those hot summer days?

Thanks. Yeah, not a bad view around these here parts, isn't it!

And, nice to hear someone is taking up tennis now days, as it sometimes seems the sport is dwindling in numbers as Pickleball is gaining so many new players, and besides the idea that I don't seem to see that many young people taking up tennis much anymore nor as much as they used to. The courts at the newby Cottonwood Rec Center, which is about half an hour's drive from my home here, is where I've primarily played for about a dozen years now, but a few years ago the rec center changed two of the four courts there into Pickleball configuations and considering how fast that sport has taken off recently.

And re the indoor courts, there's aren't any in the Verde Valley at all. I'd guess this might be because of the very temperate climate around here. Remember here, we're usually anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees cooler than they are down in the Phoenix area.

How we manage the variations in temps during the year is that during the late-spring, summer and early-fall months we begin playing at 8am and play until about 10:30am. By the time we're done it's usually hitting the high-80s or low-90s. And then and as the weather begins to cool throughout the year, by mid-winter we're starting at 1pm and when the usual temps tend to be in the low to mid-50s.

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 6:26 pm The view out one of the front windows of my house taken 10 minutes ago, and the result of Pacific atmospheric rivers when they hit the higher elevations of northern Arizona, and why my tennis matches were once again cancelled today...WAAH!



(...yeah yeah, I know...what a crybaby, huh!)

The proverbial breathtaking view without the need of faux desert landscaping: Must be heaven in your design's eye, Dargo!
May I suggest this stand-in for the neighbor's white car, though:

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 9:55 pm
The proverbial breathtaking view without the need of faux desert landscaping: Must be heaven in your design's eye, Dargo!
May I suggest this stand-in for the neighbor's white car, though:

s://cdn.elferspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1973-porsche-911s-sunroof-coupe-9-1024x683.jpeg[/img]

Yeah, the would be nice. Cool car.

Actually though, there is a guy who lives right down the road who's a big Porschephile. One of his cars is a classic old 911 similar to that one, but his is blue.

All this now reminds me of the yellow 911 that Redford drove in 'Downhill Racer' here...



(...bet you remember this too, don't ya NS)

Dargo wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 10:10 pm

NoShear wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 9:55 pm
The proverbial breathtaking view without the need of faux desert landscaping: Must be heaven in your design's eye, Dargo!
May I suggest this stand-in for the neighbor's white car, though:

s://cdn.elferspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1973-porsche-911s-sunroof-coupe-9-1024x683.jpeg[/img]

Yeah, the would be nice. Cool car.

Actually though, there is a guy who lives right down the road who's a big Porschephile. One of his cars is a classic old 911 similar to that one, but his is blue.

All this now reminds me of the yellow 911 that Redford drove in 'Downhill Racer' here...



(...bet you remember this too, don't ya NS)

Oh, yeah, Dargo: I actually considered sending it to you for a combo of film and the ski rack before going with the white one...

"To win is everything; to place is nothing.": Your on-court motto?