It was a few Sundays ago that some friends and I sat in our usual day of rest daze, blankly staring at whatever sporadically visible football game was on the tube. Frustrated with the crappy reception, I decided to spark some sort of change.

"Let's do something," I groaned.

After the expected five or six minute lag time, my ever-helpful compadre John Matson '01 said, "We could play frisbee golf."

Now, John comes from a wee-little town up north where this kind of activity is normal. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that he was raised by hippies, so I wasn't so surprised by his suggestion. I also wasn't so enamored with his suggestion, until he explained that it would be free, and that we could drink forties whilst playing. Booyah, thought I, boo, yah.

After picking up some Twisters at KFC, we were on our way to the Oak Grove Park frisbee golf course. Some of you might argue that I should refer to the sport as "disc golf" since frisbee is in fact a brand name. To you I say, piss off. Rollerblades aren't "in-line skates," kleenex aren't "facial tissues," band-aids aren't "adhesive bandages," and frisbees sure as hell aren't "discs." Thank you.

Located just west of Pasadena in La Ca-ada, the Oak Grove Park course is the oldest of the now 67 frisbee golf courses in the state of California. La Ca-ada is a really wealthy area, and if you take a left at the Berkshire exit of the 210 freeway you'll be treated to some of the best trimmed hedges in all of Southern Cali. Taking a right, however, will land you squarely in front of Oak Grove Park, the rough in the diamonds of La Ca-ada.

Before we hit the course we found ourselves a great liquor store that sold not only forties and those cool mini scooters (they're so hip!), but frisbees as well. John knows a thing or two about fris-golf, so when he pointed out the better frisbees behind the counter, I took notice. Once the clerk explained that the one I had my eye on was the "best disc you buy right there, best disc," I had to have it. Twelve bucks later I had a cold forty in a perfectly sized, discrete brown bag and a brand spankin' new Discraft XL.

The Oak Grove website (http://members.aol.com/throwgolf/) boasts that the "multi-terrained, tree infested park will eat you and your disc alive if you are not careful." I think we were all a little more afraid of the satanic cult that appeared to be having arts and crafts day at the park. The first tee had been moved to the outfield of the adjacent softball field to avoid the "artists," so when we started our round we had a clear look at the anagram some of the followers were drawing in the dirt infield. Needless to say, we didn't take our time pairing off into teams and getting started.

The first hole didn't go so well. John did pretty well on his drive, but the rest of us had difficulty controlling our frisbees. Mine narrowly missed a set of three nooses hanging from a nearby tree. You see, a golf frisbee isn't like a regular frisbee. It's flatter, harder, and the diameter is about half that of your standard Wham-O. This means that the frisbees fly really far, but they also have a tendency to fade to the right or left.

On the second hole we found a young man playing the tuba. He explained that the gathering was a free-form, post-modern music and art fair. I didn't ask him about the anagram or the nooses, but he said that it was "some pretty experimental stuff, man." Indeed. We also learned our second frisbee golf lesson of the day: when a frisbee gets stuck in a tree, don't throw another frisbee to try to knock it down. Trees, apparently, are the frisbee golfer's worst enemies, and should be avoided at all cost.

The going was a little tough at first, but as our forties found themselves less and less full, we all improved. Except for Jorah Dannenberg '01, a big, strong fella who thought he could muscle his way to the pin. Frisbee golf is a game of strategy and finesse. Trying to drive to the pin every time is going to win you nothing but frustration. Instead, you've got to feel the course, become one with the trees and dirt, and guide your frisbee to the hole. It's all very Eastern.

By the end of 18 holes, we had played through 3,886 feet of pure frisbee goodness. Dylan Nachand '01 and I did a little dance to celebrate the spanking of our competition by eight strokes. After that, we waved goodbye to the VW buses and devil worshipers and made our way back to school. We were tired, but it was a good, frisbee kind of tired.

The moral of the story is that frisbee golf at Oak Grove Park is a great way to blow a few hours, or even a whole afternoon. There are no tee times or green fees, so you can play as many holes as you want. Sometimes you'll have your odd satanic art cult here and there, but they're not out to hurt anyone.