buddha's adventures

Thumbs Up In San Diego Bay!

2005-11-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

fish thumb
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Crazy wild bit this morning in San Diego Bay! Went fishing with my buddy Defjack and it was pretty wide open!! I caught between 35-40 fish and Jack did the same!

Interesting thing was that there were several times when I smaller fish would bite and get off and then an aggressive bigger fish would follow up and get hooked!

AA Lures were the hot ticket in chartreuse! Fire Tiger toward the end worked too.

They are chomping on clams now so brown, orange, charreuese, and white are the killer baits!

Another great day on the bay!

zoom!!! zoom!!! zoom!!!

2005-06-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

zoom zoom zoom
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Picked up this MINT 1992 Miata With Jackson Supercharger, Upgraded Ceramic Clutch, Front and Rear Sway Bars, Leather Seats, Speakers in the Headrests, Toyo Street Racing Tires........... ZOOM!!! ZOOM!!! ZOOM!!!

Car handles like a race car! Great on corners, Suspension is super solid!!! So far I LOVE the car!!!! Now I am beginning to understand why there are so many Miata fans out there and they actually name their cars too!!

Well....... see ya... go to go take a cruise in my little baby: Maricela...........

The Tide Turns!

2005-05-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yellow Fin Croaker
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Absolutely the best day EVER on the bay. Fished with Wes Boney in the South Bay area and launched out of Chula Vista at 5:00 AM. Fished over at Coronado first for the giant halibut but no dice......

Decided to go toward NASSCO near the bridge. A naval warning boat was nearby with a blinking light so we got close but he didnt do anything and actually moved. Within a half hour we saw birds working the surface and put on the kastmasters and it was GAME ON!!!!!

UNBELIEVABLE NON STOP ACTION FOR ABOUT 2 1/2 HOURS!!!!! JUST ABOUT EVERY CAST WAS A FISH!!!!! WIDE OPEN AND CRAZY!!!!!!!

SHORT FIN CORVINA, YELLOW FIN CROAKER, AND BONITO ALL MIXED IN!!!!!!

Absolutely the BEST day ever on the bay. Truly a remarkable day.... maybe you can get a day like this one every 15 YEARS!!!!

Amazing thing is that we were the ONLY boat there during most of the run!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slump's Over.... Let's Go Low!

2005-04-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have survived my golf slump. Ton of short game work. Great tip by Archie using the left arm dominating to get out of bunkers. Last two rounds have been 1 over and then 2 over.... Very good for me..... I need to work out a little more and also to get more flexible...... Losing a little distance..... The game is back though and my putting is much better......
My goal is to shoot at least 2 rounds under par this year........

We shall see....

One Little Tip.......

2005-04-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Amazing what one little part of my preshot routine can do if I perform it correctly. I have been on a massive slump for about 3 -4 months and was getting super frustrated with my golf game. Today it hit me...... I didnt envision the imaginary line backward from the ball..... I use to see the line about 3 feet straight back from the ball and had the clubhead go back on that line in the backswing......... Bingo.... my alignment was there, I could visualize the shot, the confidence was there again..... I struggled on the front nine with a 3 over par but parred the first 8 holes of the back until a bogey on the eighteenth. Not a bad 76 but I hope the start of my playing well again..........

Such a little tip but I think it will make all the difference in the world......

The Ultimate BBQ Challenge: Brisket

2005-03-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ask anyone what the toughest and most challenging piece of meat to bbq is and you will not get any arguments. It is definitely brisket. Toughest damn piece of meat to bbq. No doubts about it. It either comes out too dry or too tough or a mixture of both. Most places that sell it only have the flats which do not have a big enough fat cap so they dry out easily. Many places do not even sell it at all......

I bought a 12 lber at Smart and Final at a good price of 1.55lb. I started it at 6:30PM and cooked it between 225-250 degrees on an overnight cook fat side down. Internal temp reached 185 after about 14 hours. Not bad. I took it out of the smoker and wrapped it in foil and let it sit in the cooler for 3 hours for it to work its magic........

Oooooooooooohhhhhhh gawwwwwddd dammmmn was it juicy and tender and flavorful........ ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh sooooooooo gooooodddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Without a doubt the best brisket I have ever cooked bar none. Cooking it fat side down and having a brisket with a lot of fat and an even thickness is a big plus. The 3 hours resting were key also.

End of story...... This can not be improved upon...............

How To Get Out Of A Damn Slump!!!!!!

2005-03-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well I aint totally out of it yet............... BUT I think I am on my way. Last year my scoring average was a little bit under 77. The last three months have been horrible with maybe 4-5 rounds in the 70s and a few mid 80s and mostly low 80s. I think what happens a lot is that we get a little lazy....... maybe we dont get aligned up perfectly, maybe our tempo is getting a little quick, maybe we arent visualizing our shot beforehand, maybe we arent really looking at our target well enough and managing our games......... A LITTLE of this becomes a LOT and soon we are in Golf HELL!!!!!! What seemed like a relatively easy game becomes a series of struggles and battles that seem UNCONTROLLABLE. We lost a LITTLE confidence and then....... we start to lose HOPE!!!!!!!!! The game becomes a chore and not enjoyable........

I am on my OUT of this SLUMP by going back to SQUARE ONE: THE BASICS.......... Hit balls before every round and make sure you lay a club down to get your alignment. On the course get your alignment PERFECT or ELSE!!!!! Swing WITHIN yourself and dont swing at EVEN ONE BALL TOO HARD............ Take EXTRA CLUB OFTEN especially into the wind........Get your BALL POSITION PERFECT.......PLAY CONSERVATIVELY and DONT GO for any hero shots until you are OUT of your SLUMP!!!! HIT CHIPS past the hole when you can...... short chips almost always lead to bogeys.......On fairway woods just try to get the ball close to your TARGET and swing SMOOTHLY..........Work on SPEED in your putts more than LINE....... Be AGGRESSIVE in the bunker.......

NUMBER ONE: WORK ON CHIPPING AND SHORT PITCHES AND PUTTING..............

NUMBER TWO; ALWAYS GET YOUR ALIGNMENT ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.............

NUMBER THREE; STAY SMOOTH AND DONT JUMP ON ANY SHOTS..............

I predict that in one month I will be BACK.................................................................

Epiphany: Backhand Swing=Golf Swing

2005-02-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

I went to the driving range yesterday and tried a little experiment. Why not imagine hitting a left handed, one handed backhand for my golf swing? Since I was an accomplished tennis player and taught the game for over 20 years I thought, why not?

Immediately, I took the golf club and had the left hand take over. The right hand was just going for the ride. I let the left side do all the work. Took a few swings and knew I had come home again! WOW!!!! Unbelievable and completely natural. No thinking necessary at all and i just ripped into the ball! Shot after shot straight and long and effortless!

The natural rhythm of the tennis swing makes your golf swing's tempo so much better in that the acceleration of the tennis swing MUST come in late toward the ball which creates a ton of lag for the golf swing. I was trying to kill the ball, yet when I asked by buddy on the range how my tempo was he said it was slower and better than ever!

The swing worked on everything from wedge to driver. In one session I was hitting my irons 10 yards further and my driver 20 yards!!!

Hmmm maybe it will work for putting too?

Duck If You Can!

2005-01-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Smoked Duck finished
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Here is a little smoked duck recipe of mine.

This is how I do it: it is like a peking duck in the beginning and a smoked duck in the end.

Big pot of water
1 cup of molasses
1 cup of vinegar
2 Long Island ducklings (4 to 5 pounds each)

Marinade:
soy sauce (get the good kind from the chinese store if you can)
minced garlic
minced ginger
2 tablespoons ground white pepper
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Take a wire clothes hanger and rig it so you can dip the duck.

Bring the pot to a boil and dip the duck in for 1 minute. Take out and let water come to a boil again. Dip the duck for 1 minute again. Repeat one more time for a total of three dippings.

Take duck out and let hang some place to dry completely up to 12 hours; under a fan is good.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and rub all over the duck as it is drying. Just take a brush and keep doing it every once in a while. Poke holes all over before you put in frig. Let the duck dry and then put into the frig uncovered to dry up to 2 days.

Poke holes all over the duck before you put it in the smoker, I use a very light wood like apple or alder or no wood at all.

Smoke at 300-350 degrees until 150 deg. internal.

if you want the skin really crispy, get about 6 cups of oil in a large wok and cook until the skin is crisp.

Serve with a sweet peach or plum sauce.

Here are the links to the pics. http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2zlu1atmjFOA

Enjoy.

3-1-1

2005-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

I have resisted foiling my ribs for many years and particularly have resisted this method also. I finally tried it to the letter after some prodding from my bbq guru. I took st. louis ribs and put them in the WSM dusted with my special pork rub heavily and cooked them for 3 hours. Looking at the carmelization is the key here. A nicely browned bark is what you are looking for.

Then I wrapped them in foil tightly with NO liquid at all. Most use some sort of juice, sugar, honey, etc. combination). I think that braises them too much and you get a rib that is too soft. I then left them in for about an hour and checked with a toothpick to check for that buttery feel. BBQ is an art not a science so they could be ready at 35 minutes up to more than an hour. Best to check them at 30, 40, 50 min levels etc.

When the toothpick goes in buttery easy take them out of the foil and glaze those babies with BBQ sauce or a mixture of sauce, honey, hot sauce or any combination thereof. Finish them on the wsm or grill until the glaze sets. 30 minutes to an hour.

Results were some of the best ribs I have made and it is a consistent method if you watch your temps, and test for doneness while it is in the foil.

St Louis is the way to go as they will cook evenly. Full spares will work too but take longer.

Getting closer still to consistency.....

More experiments to come.......

Master Cleanse Oh My!!!

2004-12-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

I started the Master Cleanse today from the book written by Stanley Burroughs. Organic lemonade made with organic maple syrup and a little cayenne pepper. I will go at least 10 days to clean the system out. A laxative tea in the evening and at night. Supposedly there may be a rude awakening on the third day which means your body is really flushing out the toxins and you feel like crapola. The next day you feel great after the gunk is flushed out and you are downhill from there. The third day is my golf day..... Hmmm we shall see..... FORE!!!!!!!!!!

Day One: Drank about 2 quarts of the lemonade today. Felt pretty good... hungry just a little bit. At the end of the day all of a sudden my lower lip got swollen so that I looked like Julia Roberts. First time for the herbal tea laxative. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Hit the bed early and may go kayaking tomorrow.

Day 2 and 3: Nothing unusual really as I practiced golf and then played on Sunday. Thought about food a lot but will trudge on with the process.

Day 4: Weird day. Felt a little weak and didnt drink much lemonade today. My body felt cold at night and I took the new herbal tea. Will see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully it will take effect.

Day 5 (morning): All HELL broke loose!!! I took the laxative tea the night before and started to feel my kidneys shake in the morning but couldnt take a BM. Then I took the salt water flush and damnnnnn that was nasty as hell!! In about 1 hour I was flushing that stuff through my system and got nauseous and threw up!!! Got a headache a little while after. Will see how I feel later. I may bolt this cleanse and shut it down.

Ended the cleanse and am now on orange juice for 2 straight days then on the next day will have juice, then fresh fruit then salad. Will be able to eat in time for Christmas.

Update: 2nd day on the orange juice but I got tired of the whole thing and had a smoothie. Then had my first real food for dinner a basic seafood soup with just chicken broth and shrimp, fish, few greens and scallops. Feel pretty weird and a little unsettled. Tomorrow brings another day......

Tidelands BBQ Bash

2004-12-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

DSCN0986
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Made these ribs at the Tidelands Last BBQ Bash of 2004. They were smoked for 3 hours in the WSM and then foiled with no juice for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Left in the cooler for about 4 hours to be finished on the grill. Results were an extremely tender rib that everyone at the party enjoyed. They may have been a touch too tender but then again maybe not. I think 2 hours in the cooler is fine and then grilling with the glaze at the end may be the ticket. Stay tuned we are getting closer and closer to consistency.......

Foiled Again!

2004-11-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

An inspiration from Jim Minion lead me to try foiling again. He was a staunch anti-foiler before and lately has had good results with it. To say the least I was shocked.

I picked up 3 racks of St. Louis Ribs about 3 lbs. each and rubbed them with my special pork rub. Put them on the grill and the temperature was out of control! I had left the lid off too long as I was removing the membranes, trimming the flaps, etc. I pushed the hot coals to the side to make a hole in the middle and then added more charcoal to slow down the heat and closed all of the vents including the top one. Finally I got it to a reasonable temp.

After 3.5 hours I took them out and the bark did not look hard and dry at all actually a little wet and soft. I then added some apple juice and rub and wrapped tightly in foil and put them in for 45 minutes.

Took them out and then applied a finishing sauce and cooked the sauce on to the ribs for 40 minutes.

Results?

Like most experiments some great, some good, and nothing bad.

The smallest rack of ribs that were on the bottom rack came out the best by far. Quite juicy and very good. Could have been a touch more tender.

The top rack was slightly dry and the worst of the three.

Conclusions: The ribs that were on the lower rack had a lower temperature and did not dry out at all. The top ribs were cooked at too high a temp and also needed an hour foiled instead of the 45 minutes.

The ratios that are the best I think are the 3-1-1 or 3.5-45-1 for St Louis ribs. On these larger ones of 3 lbs I believe that 3.5-1-1 is good too. As always temperatures no higher than 240-250 on the top rack is essential.

What Did I Do Now?

2004-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

After talking with an old friend from NY we have decided to make a committment to running the NYC marathon in 2006. Two years to get the old body ready should do it. The only snag would be if we don't get selected for the available lottery spots to enter the race and that is a big possibility. We will then either find another marathon to run in that time frame or plot a course of our own in a nice spot. Can't back out now......... got to go get me some nice running shoes..........

100 Shades Of Red

2004-11-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

DSCN0917
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

Super Cocina
3627 University Avenue
(619) 584-6244

This is place is for real! Down home Mexican cooking that you can only find in a grandma's kitchen deep in the heartland of soul south of the border. Stews and soups rule here and all are prepared by home cooks hired by the owner not professional chefs. Rich, deep flavors that are stewed slowly... Que sabrosa!

Carnitas are slowly roasted with the fat rendered off but the intense flavor is out of this world. All kinds of different stew with many chili blends and even mole have all of the mexican brethren in central San Diego come a running here....

This place is a rare find, as a matter of fact I have NEVER experienced this kind of mexican cuisine anywhere!! Now please...... Stay in business!!!!

Bunker Blues

2004-11-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

I used to be pretty good out of the bunker but now...... just so so.....I went into the cave pit today and practiced for about 3 hours and tried to remember all of my great tips that I have accumulated over the years...
Splash the sand all the way to the hole....
Wider stance, spine angle forward, just slightly open......
Accelerate and finish high......
Blah, blah, blah, blah.......

Today I discovered something that may unlock the mystery of the sand.....
"On the downward blow the club has to accumulate sand that will go up the face much like a wave in the ocean, it is only after this has happened that the ball may be propelled forward properly." So this ensures that you must enter the sand at least a clubhead before the ball so it can generate the wave of sand necessary and create the momentum for the ball to be blasted forward. It doesnt need to go deep just slightly under the ball ex: the dollar bill image or clipping the tee under the ball ....as the wave of sand will give you the necessary cushion to launch it out..

The second theory is that "the sand is pushed FORWARD by the club...much like the wave as it folds to the shoreline"...... the sand does NOT get thrown UPWARD...

This image became an epiphany for me as I was able to carve divots more consistently and control my distances better.....

Geez I hope it lasts longer than a week.........

Scrambled Eggs at Monte Vista on Halloween

2004-10-31T17:04:00.000-08:00

DSCN0910
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

10/31/04

The slow fairways and windy conditions and new swing thoughts led me to hit nearly every damn ball short to the green today.....Here are my scrambled egg holes that I salvaged par:

Number 1: Hit approach 15 yards short, pitched to left but it didn't break to the right, tough left o right putt from 6 feet.

Number 3: approach short and to the right, lob wedge to 1 foot.

Number 6: 40 yard pitch to 6 feet.

Number 7: 20 yard pitch on downslope to 3 feet.

Number 10: Pin High on left, blocked by tree and have to hit it low. 9 iron with spin to 5 feet. Tough right to left break.

Number 12: Took 3 extra clubs and still came up short. Pin was only 4 paces from the front. Lob wedge to a foot.

Number 18: Sweeping hook with 5 wood left a delicate lob wedge from about 15 yards hit it 2 inches from the hole.

These wishon irons are not as long as my dynacraft pc3s. I need length and badly...... This is too much work.......Time to get in the gym again........

Overnight Ribs

2004-10-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

October 29-30

Started these ribs on Friday night and ended Saturday morning 6 1/2 hours later. Used my cajun rub. Temp ranged from 221-249 when I awoke. Opened the WSM and did the tear test and voila these babies are done! Possibly went a little long as the edges were a little crispy. Nice bark though. More and more I am convinced that a lower temp on ribs is the way to go. Next time I dont open the vents a little when I hit the sack just leave it at 225-230.

LA Chowhound Fiesta Ribs

2004-10-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

LA Chowhound Fiesta Ribs
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

I cooked ribs and pulled pork at the LA Chowhound Fiesta. The ribs were approximately 4 lbs. and dry rubbed and cooked for 7.5 hours in a WSM at 200-225 degrees. Took them out which is how they look in this picture. They were not quite done so they were put in a 300 degree oven for 40 minutes foiled and then put in a cooler for one hour. They came out quite good and nearly falling off the bone. Everyone seemed to enjoy them. I may try this technique again and go 30-35 minutes in the oven.

Jeff's Corvina

2004-10-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Jeff's Corvina
Originally uploaded by jlbuddha.

This is a 4 lb corvina I caught last year at Bayside Park in Chula Vista using a Berkley Frenzy. It was one of the best days on the bay as it was non stop action with the spotties and this nice corvina.

Ordinary Golf Will Do Just Fine Thank You

2004-10-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

October 24, 2004

I went to Chula Vista Golf Course and played my Wishon 752 irons which I haven't played in over a month and was thinking of dumping them. First shot seemed to just push off to the right and jump off the face of the club. I took this as an omen for things to come. I make a poor chip and am left with a 10 footer for par which I drained luckily enough. Every approach shot on the front went right so I just played them that way. Skulled my third shot on the long par 4 6th, came up short on my third shot on the par 5 7th then hit my hybrid short in the apron onto the green, 8th hole hit my chip 6 feet past; all leading to 3 bogeys on the front.........

Back nine I parred the tough par 4 11th by hitting it in regulation. Birdied #13 hitting a sand wedge to 6 feet, par #14 with a tremendous chip, par #15 hitting the middle of the green, par #16 with an 8 iron into the wind, then #17 made a 35 foot snake for birdie to put me at 2 under for the back nine...... 18 I make a routine par to finish the day at 3 over on the front and 2 under on the back for 1 over par for the day.....

The lesson learned is that I actually played very average and not spectacular golf. The irons may have actually kept me out of trouble by going slightly right all day and taking the hook out of play. This round I didnt go for anything all day. Maybe I should just play ultra conservative one day and then super aggressive on another and compare notes......

Hmmm not a bad idea........