Still Here

I know so many of you hang on every blog entry posted here. I've had a few things on my plate lately that take time. I'll be back.

Wisdom

A seven year old boy bought four playground rocks from a classmate with a crisp $100 bill. The money was recovered after some tussle with the parents of the other child. The father of the buyer, commenting on whether the money would be returned to the child or kept by his parents said,

"It would not be wise to give it to one who would spend it on four rocks."

!Xabbu

Sometimes a person must speak up. However, it is preferable to sit back and listen. It's taken me several weeks of on and off again study, but I finally narrowed my fantasy stable down to ten horse for the 2009 Run For the Roses Contest.

This year, I've chosen to call my stable "!Xabbu." That name may seem an odd choice for a stable, yet, in fact, it is a special name. !Xabbu is a major character in the Otherland series by Tad Williams. !Xabbu is a Bushman from South Africa and commands the Xhosa language. That language utilizes different clicks and gutteral sounds. In !Xabbu's case, the ! in front of his name represents a postalveolar click. Anyway, !Xabbu's greatest attribute in my estimation, is his ability to thoroughly study and discect a problem or situation. !Xabbu never panics and truly understands his position in the cosmos.

!Xabbu would enjoy studying horses. He wouldn't really understand the whole betting thing, but he would very much enjoy studying their nature. !Xabbu would say that he would not understand what makes them hurry so much. In fact, he would study that exact question until he felt sure that he had a plausible theory.

Unlike !Xabbu, I've been studying the horses that were nominated for this year's Kentucky Derby. From that pool, I've whittled my choices for a stable down to my Big Ten. Here's some of my reasoning for those new to the contest this year. Keep in mind though that others have much more knowledge and wisdom than and have studied the situation far longer.

My sister, The Annoyed Handicapper, believes in a regional strategy to play this game. I've taken her idea and look for horses that play in Florida, California, Louisana/Arkansas, Kentucky and North. If I can plug in some horses from each region, I'll have a balanced stable. I also look to score early. I figure that horses that run this weekend are generally (with one exception) going to be running in perhaps two to three races before the Kentucky Derby. Horse that run in late February or March will run at most twice. I also shy away from the biggest names. For example, Midshipman is on everyone's best horse lists this year. But Midshipman was shipped to Dubai and will evolve out of sight before he might be turned loose on the Derby. Midshipman, no matter how good, will earn few points in our contest.

With all of that in mind, here's my stable:

!Xabbu

1. Chocolate Candy: West Coast...will run our of Golden Gate Saturday/Favorite. They say he's a little slow, but he hasn't lost.

2. Old Fashioned: Arkansas...will most likely run in the Southwest Stakes on Monday...Probably the overall Derby favorite...if there is such a creature these days.

3. Silver City: Arkansas...will race against Old Fashioned Monday.

4. ThePamplemousse: In my estimation, has the coolest story of the horses this year. Named after a restaurant and owned by jockeys.

5. Friesan Fire: Another winner that doesn't look impressive. Likely going to The Fountain of Youth.

6. Pioneerof the Nile: Recent impressive winner. Came from the back on a funky synthetic track. How will he handle dirt?

7. Captain Candyman Can: I almost threw out this horse because of his Sammy Davis Jr. name. I disliked Sammy Davis, except when he played the calvary soldier in some western and got shot with a bunch of arrows. The horse, however, is good and is learning to relax. !Xabbu would approve.

8. Patena: Ran second to Friesan Fire in last race. On many sexy horse lists.

9. Free Country: Tampa Bay. !Xabbu would approve of his name; !Xabbu would reccognize no borders.

10. ThereGoesJoJo: McPeek has a lot of horses. This may be the best.

The horse I waivered on the most was Haynesfield. This horse has run in new York and has won impressively against no competition. I'm thinking he won't get graded earnings wins. I also left off Poltergeist, Danger to Society, Beethoven,Well Positioned, I Want Revenge, Flying Pegasus, Giant Oak, and Vinyard Haven (who lost Thursday in Dubai). Plus, I left off the wonder sprinters. I won't tell you their names in case their speed figures stand up in longer races.

For trainers, I went with a favorite and pure mass. Larry Jones and Kenny McPeek.

I never have any luck with jockeys (that didn't sound right). I've chosen Garrett Gomez again. Gomez completely burned me last year, but I've chosen him again. However, I decided on the wonder jockey Julien Leparoux.



Family and friends are welcome to join our fantasy league in The Run For the Roses 2009 contest. Here are the details you'll need after you choose your stable:

League Name: ARFTCHC
League Identifier: 257130210
Activation Code: 3051488628


!Xabbu would say that I've said too much. I should talk less and listen more.

Die Wörter mit Ihrem Namen (The Words With Your Name)

Note: I've become addicted to Facebook. What follows is one of the silly Facebook exercises that I complete from time to time.

Making words with your name

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people (including me). Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! I chose to add links to photographs to better entertain you. Such links are optional.

1. What is your name: Thomas
2. A four Letter Word: Tick Tock
3. A boy's Name: Tony
4. A girl's Name: Toni
5. An occupation: Taste Tester
6. A color:Teal
7. Something you wear: Tuxedo
8. A food: Tomato
9. Something found in the bathroom: Toothpaste
10. A place: Tehachapi
11. A reason for being late: Tussle
13. A movie title: The Thing
14. Something you drink: Tom Collins
15. A musical group:Toad the Wet Sprocket
16. An animal:Tamarin
17. A street name: Telegraph Road
18. A type of car: Thunderbird
19. Something scary: Taser
20. Something smelly: Toxic Waste

Have You Ever?

Glowing Lights

Have you ever seen something so beautiful that you wanted to record it and save it forever? That's what this Flickr Flash is all about.

Have you ever wanted to create a word processing document online? Well, Shutterborg lets you do that. It looks simple.

Have you ever wanted to make a list of something? Well here's a simple Printable Checklist with no bull.