The Urethane Blog
September 10, 2020
‘Caddyshack’ star Michael O’Keefe will caddie at 2020 US Open
September 9, 2020 | 7:54pm
Danny Noonan is going to caddie at the U.S. Open next week.
Well, kind of.
Michael O’Keefe — the actor who played Danny Noonan, the young, impressionable caddie in “Caddyshack’’ — will carry a bag on Monday and Tuesday in practice rounds at the U.S. Open, The Post has learned.
He won’t be on the bag for Ty Webb — aka Chevy Chase. Danny Balin will have to do.
And it won’t be at Bushwood Country Club. Winged Foot will have to do.
Danny will be caddying for Danny — Danny Balin, a 17-year Westchester resident who’s the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island.
“Whenever I would meet someone and say, ‘I’m Danny,’ they’d go, ‘Danny, do you do drugs?’ ’’ Balin told The Post on Wednesday, mimicking one of the most iconic lines in the movie.
So, Danny Noonan, on the 40th anniversary of “Caddyshack,’’ has a loop at the U.S. Open. Wouldn’t Judge Smails be proud?
The whole thing began when O’Keefe, now 65 and living in Ulster County, penned a tongue-in-cheek piece for golf.com soliciting any player playing in the U.S. Open to hire him to caddie.
O’Keefe, who grew up in Larchmont, caddied at Winged Foot in 1971 and 1972, right before he went west to pursue his acting career. His brother Bill has been a longtime Winged Foot member and is a past president of the club.
“I thought, ‘What if there’ a golfer out there who’s willing to give me a shot to carry their bag?’ ’’ O’Keefe told The Post. “It’s not like I’m going to mess anybody up. I do know the course. It could be fun.’’
O’Keefe’s initial motivation in trying to land a loop was to be able to initiate a donation fund for caddie relief to aid the caddies who were out of work during the pandemic.
When asked how realistic he thought his chances were of getting a bag for the Open, O’Keefe said, “I think it’s absolutely as big a long shot as Carl Spackler winning the Masters,’’ referring to the Bill Murray character who was the mentally unstable groundskeeper in the movie.
Well, next week, O’Keefe will be on the grounds with a golf bag over his shoulder, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.
“In my opinion, Michael O’Keefe is not going to be able to carry a staff bag around Winged Foot,’’ Balin said with a laugh.
Asked if he plans to bring a lighter carry bag for O’Keefe next week, Balin said, “No, he’ll be carrying the full tour bag. I’m going to put him to work.’’
Balin said he DVRed “Caddyshack’’ on Tuesday night even though he estimated he’s watched the movie “15 or 20 times.’’
“I’m going to have to watch it to get the one-liners down so I can give it to him,’’ Balin said. “Because I’m going to be all over him during this whole … stunt.’’
Michael Breed, the former Golf Channel instructional personality who now teaches at Trump Ferry Point, was the middle man to this transaction, reaching out to Balin, his fellow Met Area pro, and pitching the idea of O’Keefe caddying for him.
“I try to take this somewhat serious, so I would never do this during a tournament round,’’ Balin said. “But I was like, ‘Yeah this will be cool. Danny Noonan. Monday and Tuesday.’ It’ll be a fun couple of days. It’ll lighten the mood up.’’
The USGA plans to have some fun with this, making it a social media event on its platforms.
O’Keefe revealed that he didn’t even play golf as a kid, that he “lied at the Caddyshack audition when they asked if I could play and I said, ‘Yeah.’ ’’
As soon as he got the gig, O’Keefe said he went back to Winged Woot and, with help of then head pro, Tom Nieporte, got lessons “so when I got there [to film the movie] I at least had something that resembled a golf swing.’’
Now he comes full circle, minus the powerhouse movie cast.
“I was lucky to be in the same movie with Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight, because those guys are comic legends,’’ he said. “They were just geniuses and they were at the height of their power — all four of them. Anybody can see that all I did was just grab onto their coattails and hang on.’’
O’Keefe, though, has gone on to have an accomplished acting career, which continues today — despite the fact that he’ll forever be known as Danny Noonan.
“Actors are always pigeon-holed, and I didn’t ever have a grudge about it,’’ he said. “But there was a part of me that was like, ‘Man, I wish somebody would know me for the other work that I’ve done, too.’ ’’
September 10, 2020
‘Caddyshack’ star Michael O’Keefe will caddie at 2020 US Open
September 9, 2020 | 7:54pm
Danny Noonan is going to caddie at the U.S. Open next week.
Well, kind of.
Michael O’Keefe — the actor who played Danny Noonan, the young, impressionable caddie in “Caddyshack’’ — will carry a bag on Monday and Tuesday in practice rounds at the U.S. Open, The Post has learned.
He won’t be on the bag for Ty Webb — aka Chevy Chase. Danny Balin will have to do.
And it won’t be at Bushwood Country Club. Winged Foot will have to do.
Danny will be caddying for Danny — Danny Balin, a 17-year Westchester resident who’s the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island.
“Whenever I would meet someone and say, ‘I’m Danny,’ they’d go, ‘Danny, do you do drugs?’ ’’ Balin told The Post on Wednesday, mimicking one of the most iconic lines in the movie.
So, Danny Noonan, on the 40th anniversary of “Caddyshack,’’ has a loop at the U.S. Open. Wouldn’t Judge Smails be proud?
The whole thing began when O’Keefe, now 65 and living in Ulster County, penned a tongue-in-cheek piece for golf.com soliciting any player playing in the U.S. Open to hire him to caddie.
O’Keefe, who grew up in Larchmont, caddied at Winged Foot in 1971 and 1972, right before he went west to pursue his acting career. His brother Bill has been a longtime Winged Foot member and is a past president of the club.
“I thought, ‘What if there’ a golfer out there who’s willing to give me a shot to carry their bag?’ ’’ O’Keefe told The Post. “It’s not like I’m going to mess anybody up. I do know the course. It could be fun.’’
O’Keefe’s initial motivation in trying to land a loop was to be able to initiate a donation fund for caddie relief to aid the caddies who were out of work during the pandemic.
When asked how realistic he thought his chances were of getting a bag for the Open, O’Keefe said, “I think it’s absolutely as big a long shot as Carl Spackler winning the Masters,’’ referring to the Bill Murray character who was the mentally unstable groundskeeper in the movie.
Well, next week, O’Keefe will be on the grounds with a golf bag over his shoulder, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.
“In my opinion, Michael O’Keefe is not going to be able to carry a staff bag around Winged Foot,’’ Balin said with a laugh.
Asked if he plans to bring a lighter carry bag for O’Keefe next week, Balin said, “No, he’ll be carrying the full tour bag. I’m going to put him to work.’’
Balin said he DVRed “Caddyshack’’ on Tuesday night even though he estimated he’s watched the movie “15 or 20 times.’’
“I’m going to have to watch it to get the one-liners down so I can give it to him,’’ Balin said. “Because I’m going to be all over him during this whole … stunt.’’
Michael Breed, the former Golf Channel instructional personality who now teaches at Trump Ferry Point, was the middle man to this transaction, reaching out to Balin, his fellow Met Area pro, and pitching the idea of O’Keefe caddying for him.
“I try to take this somewhat serious, so I would never do this during a tournament round,’’ Balin said. “But I was like, ‘Yeah this will be cool. Danny Noonan. Monday and Tuesday.’ It’ll be a fun couple of days. It’ll lighten the mood up.’’
The USGA plans to have some fun with this, making it a social media event on its platforms.
O’Keefe revealed that he didn’t even play golf as a kid, that he “lied at the Caddyshack audition when they asked if I could play and I said, ‘Yeah.’ ’’
As soon as he got the gig, O’Keefe said he went back to Winged Woot and, with help of then head pro, Tom Nieporte, got lessons “so when I got there [to film the movie] I at least had something that resembled a golf swing.’’
Now he comes full circle, minus the powerhouse movie cast.
“I was lucky to be in the same movie with Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight, because those guys are comic legends,’’ he said. “They were just geniuses and they were at the height of their power — all four of them. Anybody can see that all I did was just grab onto their coattails and hang on.’’
O’Keefe, though, has gone on to have an accomplished acting career, which continues today — despite the fact that he’ll forever be known as Danny Noonan.
“Actors are always pigeon-holed, and I didn’t ever have a grudge about it,’’ he said. “But there was a part of me that was like, ‘Man, I wish somebody would know me for the other work that I’ve done, too.’ ’’
September 9, 2020
Watch Computer Experts Discuss the Y2K Problem in 1999
BY Chris Higgins December 31, 2016
In the late 1990s, computer nerds (myself included) were up in arms about the Y2K problem. In brief, the issue was that many computer systems used six-digit dates (two digits each for day, month, and year), which meant that when the year 2000 hit, the system might read it as 1900. That could be a big problem.
Much money, time, and computer programming was necessary to fix the Y2K Problem, and for the most part, we survived just fine. But anyone using a computer in 1999 (especially for business) was pretty concerned about keeping things clean. In this 1999 episode of Computer Chronicles, host Stewart Cheifet goes deep on the Y2K bug. Exhibit A is Cheifet’s own credit card from Shell, which expires in the year “1000.” Oops.
In this episode, Cheifet and friends dig into a bunch of actual applications that are not Y2K-safe. Perhaps the biggest problem was with spreadsheets, which often included lots of dates and date math. In this episode, a Symantec rep comes along with a tool that reviews all your Windows apps for problems. A Microsoft rep shows some Wizards (oh, the 90s) to help with Excel problems.
Have a look, and think back to a time when we were thoroughly ready to flip out on New Year’s Eve:
There’s one other notable part of this episode—the demo of Audible (now Audible.com), around the 26-minute mark. At the time, Audible was a combination web service and hardware player (basically a proto-MP3 player with poor fidelity). The player cost $200, or $99 if you committed to buying a handful of books on tape, er, digital. Amazon eventually bought Audible in 2008.
September 9, 2020
Watch Computer Experts Discuss the Y2K Problem in 1999
BY Chris Higgins December 31, 2016
In the late 1990s, computer nerds (myself included) were up in arms about the Y2K problem. In brief, the issue was that many computer systems used six-digit dates (two digits each for day, month, and year), which meant that when the year 2000 hit, the system might read it as 1900. That could be a big problem.
Much money, time, and computer programming was necessary to fix the Y2K Problem, and for the most part, we survived just fine. But anyone using a computer in 1999 (especially for business) was pretty concerned about keeping things clean. In this 1999 episode of Computer Chronicles, host Stewart Cheifet goes deep on the Y2K bug. Exhibit A is Cheifet’s own credit card from Shell, which expires in the year “1000.” Oops.
In this episode, Cheifet and friends dig into a bunch of actual applications that are not Y2K-safe. Perhaps the biggest problem was with spreadsheets, which often included lots of dates and date math. In this episode, a Symantec rep comes along with a tool that reviews all your Windows apps for problems. A Microsoft rep shows some Wizards (oh, the 90s) to help with Excel problems.
Have a look, and think back to a time when we were thoroughly ready to flip out on New Year’s Eve:
There’s one other notable part of this episode—the demo of Audible (now Audible.com), around the 26-minute mark. At the time, Audible was a combination web service and hardware player (basically a proto-MP3 player with poor fidelity). The player cost $200, or $99 if you committed to buying a handful of books on tape, er, digital. Amazon eventually bought Audible in 2008.
September 8, 2020
Huntsman Updates Its Third Quarter 2020 Outlook
Download as PDF September 08, 2020 4:05pm EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) management will be participating in several investor meetings over the coming weeks including the UBS Virtual Global Chemicals Conference on September 9, 2020 and the RBC Capital Markets Global Industrials Virtual Conference on September 15, 2020. Huntsman management intends to communicate that its Polyurethanes segment third quarter 2020 adjusted EBITDA is expected to be at least 40% better than what it guided on its second quarter earnings call, or near the prior year third quarter period. This improved outlook is being driven by continued strength in construction related markets, better than expected improvement in automotive demand and higher overall margins. Huntsman’s other divisions, in total, are expected to be approximately in-line with the guidance that was previously communicated on its second quarter conference call on July 28, 2020.
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