Sharp Tech: Callaway uPro

by Peter on July 3rd, 2009

Golf, as all good golfers know, is as much about strategy as it is about athletic ability. If you want to compete like the pros, you need to be prepared. Unfortunately, the kind of GPS mapping equipment and course overviews Weir and Tiger use before matches doesn’t exist for your local course. Or does it?

The Callaway uPro purports to be the most powerful GPS in the world, which means it can provide high-resolution aerial imagery of almost any golf course in North America. The uPro, which is small enough to fit easily into your pocket, allows golfers to view the course from all angles and accurately measure driving distances and hazard locations. The biggest flaw of the uPro is that it might be too accurate, meaning the only thing you’ll have left to blame a poor outing on is your own swing.

uPro GPS, $399.99. See uprogps.ca for more information.   

Sharp Style: M0851 Hockey Bag

by Peter on July 2nd, 2009

Even if you can’t get away for the whole summer, a quick weekend jaunt to a cottage can be just the thing to cheer you up. For this, the right bag is essential, one that allows you to bring a bit of the city with you, at least when it comes to personal style.

The city we’re talking about is Montreal, of course, whose renowned M0851 offers some of the nicest leather bags we’ve seen. We know it’s summer, but any good Canadian off to the coasts or on the rocky shield knows the value of a hockey bag, the kind you use all winter and take up north all summer. This time, the hockey bag has grown up and sized down, and in M0851’s signature leather it’s the perfect accompaniment for any weekend excursion - even if you don’t pack anything resembling athletic equipment.

Small Hockey Bag, $445.00. See mo851.com for more information. 

Sharp at the (Home) Movies: Hung

by Peter on June 30th, 2009

If you weren’t convinced by the Washington Monument or the Chrysler Building, the story of America is one the carries with it serious phallic connotations. But while a country’s rise to greatness can be summed up by this symbol, so now can its inevitable fall. HBO’s new series, Hung, offers a glimpse of what happens with the American dream falls short.

Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) is a former high-school baseball star and current high-school basketball coach in today’s run-down Detroit. He’s tired, divorced (from Anne Heche), and uninsured when his house (his parent’s house) erupts in flames. Forced to supplement his schoolteacher’s income, he takes an entrepreneurship seminar and, with the help of his ex-flame Tanya (Jane Adams), discovers how to use his “greatest tool” to make money. Hung is a comedy, but its humour is subtle and pointed at a time when the phallic symbol of America may well be monumental, but decidedly less triumphant.

The first episode, which aired this Sunday on HBO Canada, was directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways), but allow the pilot to establish the premise and the subsequent episodes find more humour in Drecker’s but broken world. If anything, Hung is an anatomy lesson on a country in turmoil. It is funny, and it would be absurd if it didn’t hint at what was so real. And for that alone, it’s worth watching.

Hung airs Sundays at 10 EST on HBO Canada. See hbocanada.com for more information.

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