Sunday, May 21, 2006
As Mayor of the Chocolate City.................
With Ray Nagin securing victory in the New Orleans mayoral election and given his pledge to rebuild it as a "chocolate city" as the Katrina cleanup continues, one wonders if an influx of Oompah-Loompahs can be far off. And would anyone in the French Quarter even bat an eye?
I always thought the Mississippi looked a little chocolatey where it flows past the Crescent City. And try to tell me you wouldn't love to see Nagin in this.................... Surely George W. would.
A Horse is a Horse.............
I didn't see the Preakness live, but the clips of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro from yesterday's race brought back some memories - bad ones, truth be told. If you missed it, the Associated Press put it this way:
Barbaro breaks down as Bernardini wins Preakness
BALTIMORE -- Barbaro was rarin' to go. The unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner gave jockey Edgar Prado every indication he was set for the race of his life.
The strapping bay colt was bucking in the starting gate at Pimlico Race Course and actually broke through early. All seemed well after Prado reined him in and returned to the No. 6 gate for a second start.
About 12 seconds later, the question was no longer whether Barbaro would win the Triple Crown but whether he would survive at all.
After galloping only a few hundred yards in the Preakness, Barbaro's right rear leg flared out and he veered sideways while eight rivals passed him.
The record crowd of 118,402 watched in shock as Prado pulled the powerful horse to a stop and jumped off. With Barbaro still on the track and running on three legs, there wasn't much enthusiasm for the finish, especially with many of the fans in tears.
Bernardini won the $1-million US race, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1/4 lengths.
The story reminded me of one from around 1975 or so, when a horse named Ruffian went down in a match race with Foolish Pleasure.As if the sight of a horse hobbling along the track wasn't enough, I was shocked to find out that horses often didn't, ahem, recover from injuries like Ruffian's.
Equinenet has an excellent account of Ruffian's breakdown. Check it out; the similarities are striking: http://www.equinenet.org/heroes/ruffian.html
UPDATE: Barbaro in surgery today. The Daily Racing Form reports:
Surgery for Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who was seriously injured in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico, began shortly after 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa.
Barbaro updates: http://www.drf.com/
Thursday, May 11, 2006
"Gray is the New Black" and Adventures in Neckwear
It didn't take American Idol's Taylor Hicks' newfound fame to bring the issue to the minds of SOME of us, but in case you haven't heard "Gray is the New Black."
At least in the Indy Star it is. The local paper here picked up the story, which posits the idea that, in short, it's OK to be gray. (Did I mention that George Clooney dropped out the college -- Northern Kentucky University -- from which I obtained my B.A.? Also sold women's shoes at the local mall.)
It's not just me! Read for yourself:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060507/LIVING/605070320
Alas, for every George and Taylor there's a tool like Anderson Cooper.
----------------------
The yin to George's yang (I hear you out there: "Leave George Clooney's yang out of this!") came today when I chose to wear a bowtie to the high school where I teach. Unlike the time I did it several months ago, when nary a student had anything to say about it one way or the other, today it was a dog-eat-dog world and I was wearing Milk-Bone underwear.
Trying to steal their thunder in my first class, I switched on a stopwatch and told my first students, "OK, who knows any good bowtie jokes? You've got 2 minutes. GO." The room fell silent for a second and one voice said, "I don't think 2 minutes will be enough."
He wasn't kidding. I had a whole day's worth of abuse. One student told me I looked like an ice cream man. Another asked me where he could get one, laughing and poking his friends in the ribs as he did so. The best part came late in the day when another teacher told me a student we have in common told him I was trying to look "like a white Muslim."
OK, my cover's blown. Guess it's time to quit the teaching gig and start selling "The Call" down on the boulevard.
Until next time, as sala'amu alaikum .
Sunday, May 07, 2006
An Introduction
Am I interesting enough to have a blog?
That's the question I'm asking myself as I stare down at my computer, waiting, praying for divine inspiration to move and inform all. Problem is, my hobbies are pretty mundane. The books I put down as favorites were nothing to write home about (note to self: Start reading more, you laggard!). At the moment, I can't think of any top-shelf "favorite" movies...pretty much, I can find redeeming value in just about any film I've ever seen. Even "The Highlander," which I saw this weekend on AMC, is good by virtue of being truly, truly bad. And I hardly ever speak ill any film with Sean Connery in it (Still replaying dialogue in my head right now to see if there are any Connery lines I can incorporate into my repertoir...Current favorite: From "Finding Forrester," "The key to a womansh heart ish an unexshpected gift at an unexshpected time." But even the odd Connery impression is pretty easy...just change every "S" sound into an "SH" and you're set. Check Youtube.com sometime and see how many people think they can do it. After checking it myself, I may never do mine again.
But I guess it's beside the point whether anything I write here is unique. What is mundane or commonplace to one person might be unusual to another. And I'm not the best judge, I've discovered. There is infinite variety out there in every aspect of human life and that's what makes blogging great. Heck, that's what makes life interesting. Everyone has a story. Writing is reaching out, after all, and I'm writing to reach...
you.
Here goes....