Mephistos

I am not sure how many other people are blogging about this, I am sure it numbers up there for subjects today. I am sitting and left just amazed that it has been seven years since the event. I recall the morning it happened. I was still in Virginia at the VaTech - which I still think should be called VPI personally. First heard of things happening as I was getting my coffee that morning and doing my usual checks of the news. It was numbness that we all tried to keep with things that were happening that morning, especially as the demands on the internet were pushed the limits. The deadlines Read more…

I had been thinking about writing this blog for some time now, but had just not really gotten around to it.  Last night though, a friend shared a few songs that are special to her with me for various reasons.  One of those songs was Johnny Cash covering the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt.  By the way, I do like the NIN version, but I think the pain and the hurt just come out in such a much deeper way, perhaps because of his deeper life experiences with such things, in the Cash version.  Anyway,  this has in turn put me in the mind to go ahead and write this very blog that I had been thinking about for sometime.

When I first started thinking about writing this I debated between the title as given and a title of Read more…

I know that this is sounding like a broken record, but I just can’t help being  totally amazed by it.  The other night after Thursday Live, I had dinner downtown.  After dinner, I stopped by my favorite place to see who was there before I headed home.  There were a few people I knew casually, but no one I really know well.   I was just about to head on out when in comes these three guys.  Not guys that I knew, generally in their 20’s, the oldest maybe pushing 30, they all looked in general just like they may have come straight from the barn or fields of a farm.  Given that we were right downtown, not even a full block from Main Street, in Lexington it was intriguing.  I figured for at least a polite hello if not some casual conversation.

They ordered a beer a piece and the older one started talking about having to have sheared a few sheep that afternoon.  Having helped Read more…

I am sure that her name has just started showing up in about 1G of places all across the network.  I just heard and have since read to verify that Sarah Palin is the presumptive nominee for Vice Presidential with John McCain.  I have to say this one shocked me a bit.  It is happy shock though, as I am more then sure I was not like the two front running possible selection very much and that was turning me further afield from McCain at all points.  Especially given his recent straying from the maverick positions he has held on issues in the past, I was actually hoping against all probability that McCain would choose Joe Liberman.

I do not think Liberman would have gone over well with the established republican Read more…

I lament that I did not get this post up here in a timely fashion.  A great horse passed from our midst last Monday, August 18th.  Genuine Risk passed away quietly in her old age out in her paddock at Newstead Farm near Upperville Virginia.  She was a true champion athlete, beating not only fillies, but famously beating the boys in the 106th running of the Kentucky Derby back in 1980.

She raced for three years, have a total of fifteen starts, Read more…

Ulrich von Liechtenstein has been a hero of mine for some time, ever since I first of heard of him and what he had done in his life.  I know some of you are thinking of the movie from a few years back by the the name of A Knight’s Tale, which starred the late Heath Ledger and somewhere in  the back of your mind you recall that was the assumed name the peasant turned jousting knight used.  Someone associated with the movie must have actually had a bit of medieval history in their background, for there was indeed a true knight from the 13th century by the name Ulrich von Liechtenstein.

The real Ulrich had a life that was probably just interesting, perhaps more so, and certainly as ruled by the notions of courtly love and how to win the favor of his this lady that inspired in him all things.  Further, the true Ulrich was not only a knight and jouster of some reknown during his lifetime, but he was further was educated and used his talents to write poetry describing his exploits pursuing the love that spurned him.  The title of the work the famed poet-jouster, as he is often called, wrote in the original Middle High German was Frauendienst. Translated to modern English, it reads as Read more…

This is not so much a blog as just a funny story.  I hope it comes out as funny here as it does in the telling of it.  I think one of these days I am going to have to get my act together and do a comedy routine at an open mic night or something.  So anyway, this story come up as the roommate and I were walking dogs and she was talking about mailmen and the dogs - how it is to be expected as dogs are territorial and the mailman is constantly warned and continues to invade.

Long long ago in a neighborhood right here in Lexington, I lived in a townhouse.  The townhouse was occupied  by several, including myself and my cat named Abraham.  There were others, both a two legged and a couple of other four legged ones, but they are not really part of the story.

For those very few who are reading here, that may recall Abraham you know his personality, but those that do not a brief history.  He was a humane society adoptee that I was given as a present.  He was mostly Read more…

Hopefully that one got your attention just a little bit.  It got mine when I heard it the other morning on NPR as I was heading into work.    Basically this a little tiny bit of the paperwork that a parent has to sign for a summer camp.  The paraphrasing of the release from my memory it said something like, “You acknowledge that your child could be seriously injured or even be killed at this camp.”  So goes one the pieces of paper that parents have to sign for the Tinker School:  Engineering Camp.

Heard about this on NPR (of course) the other morning on the way to the office.  I was intrigued a bit and turned it up.  Turns out the basic idea is that kids should have fun and get to be kids.  However, at the same Read more…

I am sure that everyone who was almost anywhere back on that first Saturday in May of the Kentucky Derby (or indeed, anywhere near a news cast on television for the week or two that followed) at least has an inkling of what happened to Eight Belles immediately following the conclusion of the race.  For those that don’t know, a little bit of quick background.  She was a filly running against the boys in a race that in 138 attempts only three other fillies have bested the boys.  She ran a tough race and come in second, besting 18 boys and losing only the winner, Big Brown.  Shortly after the race she faltered, breaking both front legs and was immediately and humanely put down.  The two leg breaks, a bit rare, but having to put down a horse occurs probably to often.  The scene of these one on national television brought out everyone.

There are more then enough of the fair share of folks out there who want to ban horse racing all together, elminate the use of whips completely, probably even a few that want to eliminate the jockeys.   Anyway, in a quick move of self regulation, actually started almost immediately and had proposals made prior to several testify before congress, The Jockey Club set up a Thoroughbred Safety Committee.  The committee made public three major recommendations/proposed rule changes on June 17th.

In summary the proposal focuses on elmination of the use of all but a couple of steriods in the usage of horses in the United States.  This makes sense, brings us in line with most of Europe, and given the outrage of their usage in baseball and other sports, it falls in line to ban them in horse racing as well.  It would seem to indicate that perhaps Big Brown may have been in trouble in the Derby as well if this rule had been in force, given his performance at the Belmont after having been off steriods for approximately five weeks.  It is important to note that just as humans have sought every edge in the past, so to have horse trainers/owners.  For instance, in the early 1900’s horses were regular and legally ran “juiced” - which was high on cocaine.  They were also ran on mixtures of coffee and whiskey.  I know the first was made illegal but was at least hinted at having occured as late as the 1940’s or possibly early 1950’s.  Regardless, this indicates a change toward the betterment of the equality of the racing horses and a purity in the natural atheletic ability of the horses.

The second recommendation is the limited use and out right banning of certain kinds of horse shoes, especially in regards to the front feet.  The shoes in question are those that have toe grabs or caulks at the heels along with a few variations thereof.  The basic idea of said shoes are extra traction and hence in theory better tranfer of the horses effort into forward motion.  However, the suggestion is at least that such shoes on the front feet likely interfers with the natural motion of the thoroughbred horse and especially at high speeds may have to much grab on a perfectly set fast (dry) track.  It is also likely that such extra grab and interference could contribute to such injuries as was suffered by Eight Belles, though not conclusive by any means.

The last one is a bit more vague and is applies to usage of the whip by the jockey on the horse.  There are certain kinds of strikes that will be legal and certains kinds that will not.  I do not think the light use of the whip is a bad thing but I do think the limits of the motion of the arc of the whip are not necessarily a bad thing either.  Further, as a horse rider, I can tell you (and as jockeys are professionals) they know, when a tap or two of the whip gives them something or not.  One last thing on this - a lot of the truly great horses rarely had a race where the whip was required and when it was it was usually only a tap or two - sometimes just seeing it was enough.  A bit more probablematic and a certain amount of judgement to decide when this rule applies and not - but I am sure it come about - just as jockeys stopped trying to knock one another off and play rough and dirty when the camera in the late 1940’s started capturing the action for review.

A couple of things I am glad The Jockey Club did not consider.  Obviously they did not consider seriously the demise and death of all thoroughbred racing in the United States - to think they (or anyone else would pursue such a thing) is inane.  A big emphasis was put on the Triple Crown races being so close together - however I would argue that the distances involved and closeness of the races is part of the true measure of being a champion.  Also keep in mind, that horses were historically raced much more often then they are today, sometimes champions like Man-O-War raced upwards of three times inside of well less then four weeks if memory serves me.  The Triple Crown itself, prior to really having achieved that title and even in the early years as it did garner that, was often held on floating days - where if I recall correctly again, the Preakness actually fell the week prior to the Kentucky Derby.  Where upon completion of th Derby, horses were loaded on a train to ship from Maryland to Kentucky - often paraded in route to and from the train in front of adoring fans.

A couple of things that The Jockey Club still needs to push forward with are the young age that horses are typically started at and breeding practices in general.  Both of the above I think contribute to possible break downs of the horses like what happened to Eight Belles.  The horsemen have over the years put a LOT of emphasis on the three year old year of the racing horse.  I don’t have so much a problem with that as with the training and hard campiagn that a lot two year olds are pushed toward.  I would prefer to see much less stake racing (if any at all) for two year olds - and a push toward bigger stakes at four year olds to encourage more development there.  The same is true of the breeding - as we have long legged spindly frail horses that are built for sprinting more then the the true classic distances of a mile and more that we so associate with the thoroughbred racing horse.  This obviously goes back a number of years, but a little selective breeding (especially horses aimed more at four year olds and still being fit to race there) it would slowly begin to take hold and eventually become the norm.

An inspiring story if there ever was one is the story of Adam Shepard, $25 dollars and pursuit of the American Dream. So Adam, a young college educated gentlemen did an experiment. He left home with $25, a duffle bag of clothing, and basically set out to prove that one can still achieve the American Dream. He completely left his support structure, including family and friends and had nothing. He ended up living in a homeless shelter, finding a job with a moving company, and inside of 10 months - without using his networking or college education skills (after all, how much of a college education do you need to balance a small pay check and move furniture) he had bought himself a truck and saved $5000. You can read more details in this article.

I find such a deal of inspiration in this story that is hard to fathom it. Especially when I consider the job skill set that I have, the great job (and even 2nd job that I have had up until recently) and that I still on occasion find myself short heading into the stretch before pay-day. Now granted, I do have some expenses that are hard to get away from given that I own horses. However, I have a lot of expenses beyond those that I still spend that are small in their own right, but add them up over time and they start to be a big one. It is the little things though that one would have to be a lot more diligent about if one were forced (or chose to) live on a much more strict budget.

For instance, I think back to this past weekend and little expenses incurred:

• $16.00 bad Indian Jones movie for 2
• $8.00 coffee and snacks while driving here and there throughout the weekend
• $7.00 fast food dinner Friday evening
• $4.00 a guess here for gas, but 3 separate trips to grocery that was within an easy walking distance
• $20.00 lunch at a diner (I didn’t spend it, but would have if they hadn’t pick up the tab)
• $5.00 breakfast on Tuesday morning as I headed back

Ad all that up and it is $60.00 - which would go a long way toward any number of things for me as a single person. That is nearly what I spend on groceries for lunches for an entire month (granted I eat out 1 to 2 times a week - but that again would just add to the point I am making).

So, feeling inspired I am thinking of somethings I can do to check a bit of this and noting some things I am already doing. Maybe a few of these are helpful for you and maybe some are not. There are some added bonuses too to the green side of thinking as well, which I will try to note also.

1. Already keeping my movie viewing down to once a month or less of late. As it is now summer, maybe see some double features at the drive-in, where you get two movies for $5.00 instead of the $8-10.00 at theaters. Also, if I do see at the theater, it must be a matinee. Additionally, note the drive-in allows you to bring in your own food and such instead of buying $8.00 popcorn and $5.00 sodas. Good news here is that I have seen very little that I am interesting in seeing coming out soon, and Indiana Jones was, in my opinion, so bad as to turn me against movies for a while.
2. Well, I have never been a fan of Starbuck’s as a general rule, though I had did have a phase for a short while. I have liked other coffee shops and I am guilty of enjoying a $5-$6.00 super espresso latte full of extra unjustifiable calories and fat. Worse usually to go, which is a paper or styrofoam cup. No more of that though, not in a while of late. Instead, go to the coffee house and drink in the setting from a mug, regular or flavored coffee (which I personally enjoy just as much) which is usually all you can drink - even better) for a $1 or $2. Beyond that, when traveling - most of the time I try to make a pot of coffee before hand fill my thermos and use my own travel mug. No additional paper and no paying $1.29 - $2.00 for a large cup of Joe that maybe cost $.25 to make and is often time burnt or at least been around awhile.
3. As much as Bitzer is going to be dismayed about no longer getting double cheeseburgers, I have to cut out the fast food as much as possible. There really is no justification for it other then just quick and convenient and that is is not much. After all, $1.50 for a single flow on a the soda is just to much to bear for me the more I think about it. And I certainly do not need the extra fat and calories to be found in such things. I enjoy some healthy snack foods that I can for a much more reasonable price and have them around for a longer time most of the time - just requires a bit of fore thought and planning.
4. The grocery store trips were just a bit of poor planning about things and not really knowing for sure what was going to be happening over the weekend. However, all the things purchased on the various trips could have been done in one trip. Short of one trip that included purchase of a wheel barrow all the trips could have been walking trips too - especially given the laid back nature of the weekend. I certainly could have used the exercise too. I did make one walking trip to the farmers market, Bitzer enjoyed that and got petted by a few 100 people along the way to boot. Also, gas is going to go higher I am sure. I am looking for a bike for around home on the weekends. One last thought though - nearly $4.00 a gallon for gas (that is a bit over 30 miles for me in the car), $1.50 for 64 ounces of coke (syrup, water, carbonization, lots of calories if not diet and if diet well questionable chemicals), $1.29 for a 20 ounce cup of coffee, and $5.00 for a mocha latte grande (full of extra undesirable things) - which one are we paying to much for?

Thanks for the inspiration Adam Shepard!