My "official" picks for BC Saturday

DISTAFF:
Sightseek
Got Koko
Take Charge Lady

JUVENILE FILLIES
Halfbridled
Forest Music (which would be a major fluke)
Class Above

MILE
Six Perfections
Designed For Luck
Oasis Dream

SPRINT
Shake You Down
Aldebaran
Ethan Man

FILLY & MARE TURF
Islington
Tates Creek
Mezzo Soprano

JUVENILE
Cuvee
Tiger Hunt
Race For Glory

TURF
High Chaparral
Storming Home
Sulamani

CLASSIC
Perfect Drift
Medaglia d'Oro
Dynever

I'm not attempting the Pick Six, but will give a couple of rolling Pick Threes a try. I think the DISTAFF/JUVENILE winners will be easy to box, and maybe toss in a couple of longer odds horses I like out of the MILE to round that one out. I think that it'll probably be productive to play Cuvee and Tiger Hunt together out of the JUVENILE, paired with the top three out of both the TURF and the CLASSIC to try to hit the board.

Should be a fun day of betting!

CNN.com - Lightning strikes Gibson's Christ - Oct. 24, 2003

This is a little weird. Two lightning strikes on cast and crew of a controversial movie about religion? Hmm...

Restaurant DB | Mountain Jack's | Profile

Fall 1992 to Spring 1997 was probably the most carefree time of my adult life. College at Michigan State, and living and learning the restaurant business at a couple of different places.

First up, Lafayette Square. Back, of course, when it was a student-run restaurant on Michigan State's campus. I remember a few things about my tenure there:

- I got hired on in my first week of school as a line/prep cook by Chris and Lemke, two heavily stoned TKE upperclassmen who were running the kitchen. Actually, it was Chris' kitchen, but Lemke was the guy that made things move. He was a terrific line cook, always keeping saute or grill moving along at a brisk pace. But he was always baked. Always. With a crew of ebullient freshmen underneath these guys, it was up to Chris to rein us in while Lemke just shut up and did his thing. I think he was too baked to do anything else.

- I was quickly elected - OK, more like chosen - as the "soup guy." No one wanted the soup guy job, as the cream and chowder soups for the weekend were always made in a huge 50 gallon steam drum kettle, which took thirty minutes to scrape and clean on a daily basis. So, I thought it was a shit job and didn't want to do it. But I'm glad I did. I was given a couple weekends of instruction, and then turned to my own devices. It was during this time that I really learned how to cook by feel, and not by recipe. I made cream of mushroom soups that I never tasted, never used a measuring spoon or recipe on, but got rave reviews. I got to "invent" a potato sausage chowder (before ever trying that Toscana soup at Olive Garden, thankyouverymuch) that was amazingly good (wish I woulda thought to put kale in it like OG). And to this day I've never had a clam chowder that I think compares to mine. So I turned into the soup and sauce guy, and acquitted myself quite nicely in that regard.

- It was through some of the friendships I made here that I found myself a place to live for my first senior year, and by association, Stinky found himself a wife. All because I was good at making soup.

- The people I remember most from this period are my cook friends Paul, Lemke, Chris, Alan, Eric, and Jay. And the hot waitresses including Missy, Kay (whose friendship made it possible for Stinky to marry a great girl), Genie, Mandy (uber-sexy, but built broadly, as she had professional athletes in her family, and just too big for me at that time, as I was about a buck fifty), the chick who married that guy in Hawaii whose name I'm blanking on, and Thaler, who I dug initially before she drove everyone nuts with her neuroses.

- By the end of my second year there I had applied for and received one of two Assistant Manager positions at the restaurant. However, over the summer a couple of things happened. First, our adult advisor and ally either quit or was moved and replaced by Lary, who was fucking worthless and had no idea what was going on. Second, during the summer the student manager quit, which was OK because we still had one more experienced Asst. Manager who knew what was going on. Well, within the first few weeks of the school year, she quit too, and basically it was Alan (the kitchen manager - great guy who got to bang Genie that fucker) and I doing the hiring and running the joint. We had no idea what we were doing. We hired waitresses because they were hot, not because they were smart or good at what they did (I'm looking in your general direction Genie, but that's OK, you were really sexy). We had no idea what systems were in place for anything from inventory to cleaning up at night. Neither did Lary. We ran the place by the seat of our pants, Lary was no help, and it took nearly six months for the administration to figure out that we were bleeding money like we never had before. So they replaced Lary with this iron fisted bitch whose name I can't remember. We immediately started butting heads. I remember what cinched it for me was when we fought over putting salad dressings on the salad bar in black cambro containers as opposed to beige. I just wasn't feeling it anymore, so I quit. So did my boy Paul (who could drink more than anyone I've ever seen before in my life ever and since). We needed jobs, and found them, at the same place.

THE MOUNTAIN JACK'S YEARS

- I was hired on as a server, which was a good change for me, getting me out of the kitchen and in front of people for some good income potential. I think I was pretty damn talented as a server. Mountain Jack's was a tougher than average place to wait tables, mainly because of a time investment that was required at each table, making salads from a lazy susan for each table individually. My best days on the floor there were the following:

- My first New Year's Eve on the floor, I got stuck as an afterthought in the bar area. That was a tough place to be, as it was narrow, there were only four tables, and with a bar close by and a TV right there, there was no guarantee that I could turn these tables quickly. What I ended up doing was going up to my favorite busser, a hardworking highschool kid, giving him $20 (bussers would get tipped out usually a max of $5 per server, even on a busy night), and told him "you help me more than anyone else tonight get these tables turned and there's another $20 for you at the end of the night." Sure enough, he was clearing tables for me quickly, running food, doing a little of everything, and was at my beck and call all night. The other servers were bitching a bit, but I didn't tell them I paid him off until later. I ended up making $200 that night (huge night), paid him the other $20, and probably served more people than anyone else did all night long. It was beautiful.

- I actually got my post-college job by waiting tables. True story. I had just done my first on-campus interview with a big regional bank that day for a manager training program, and had bombed it big time. I go to work that night and find that I've been assigned with another server to a party of 25. I check the booking, and it's a manager's meeting from that bank's mortgage company. I told the other server, "relax, let me do this one by myself, and I'll give you half the money." No one's arguing that logic, so I went in there solo, sucked major ass, and collected a lot of fans and business cards out of that room that night. I faxed thank you notes and resumes to each that night, and within two weeks had secured a job offer from them.

- Sunday mornings in this restaurant were usually a bitch. Normally not too busy, and you get a lot of old people ("are we in time for the early bird" is my least favorite customer quote to this day) who eat cheap and suck down coffee (or worse, hot water with lemon, which is free), and don't tip worth a shit. There were usually two of us opening those Sundays, and normally it was myself and Mary (one of the most lovely women I've ever known. Elegant, smart, beautiful, amazing long legs, and I thought way out of my league - although now I don't know that's the case in retrospect, as I think she may have been intrigued by me a bit, I could be wrong but it's what I want to think). So anyway, we set up for and expect no more than a couple dozen diners in the first couple hours. No biggie. Well, one Sunday, with only two of us on staff, I landed twelve tables (mostly twos, some threes, one four) in the first 30 minutes of my shift. Somehow, amazingly, I not only got through them without fucking anything up, but I also gave great service, kept coffee mugs filled, and turned the tables over quickly. Mary and I, after getting through this rush, both gave each other a "what the hell just happened here" look, and pretty much spent the rest of our day twiddling our thumbs like normal on a Sunday. It was the most tables I've ever had to deal with at once, and it never happened again. Strange, but profitable.

- One thing about working in a restaurant (for real, not on campus) is there's a strange division between front-of-the-house (waiters, bartenders, hostesses) and back-of-the-house (kitchen staff, dishwashers, prep). Normally, the cooks think the waitstaff is too demanding, have their heads up their asses, and don't appreciate the pressure and capacity they have in the kitchen. I was in a real good spot though, as not only did I have my boy Paul in the kitchen who knew me coming in, but between his help, and my work, all the kitchen staff grew to really appreciate me in the front of the house because I had been in their spot, and knew when you could ask for something special and when it was unrealistic. Plus, I took care of those guys. Filled their sodas, got them juice, ran their messages to the front, whatever. They knew they could count on me. I would sit and drink with them at the end of shifts, wasn't above acting like a jackass with them, and hung out with them in our spare time. I used to watch the big fights (well, the ones with a Latino fighter at least) at some Mexican guy I didn't know's house, as a guest of an Hispanic dishwasher. I used to buy my pot (back when such things were socially acceptable) not from some frat boy on campus, but in the hood in Lansing. I used to listen to one of these cooks/dealers from the hood play his rap music for me, which never in a million years would get him a contract, but we used to get blunted together and talk about his future in music (on a side note, I gave him a gift of a "baby bong," a small test vial sized bong with a rubber stopper on top and a small tube out. He thought it was the "white boy" way to smoke, but after I turned him on to it, he used it all the time). I used to hang out a bit with Big S, who was just out of prison, wore an ankle bracelet (not the platinum style, the "making sure you're at home or at work" kind), and was once offered his "girlfriend" if I wanted her (I'll get to that). In other words, I was really exposed to a lot that Salt Lake City and West Michigan didn't offer me, and had a lot of fun going between the worlds.

- It was here, by the way, that a young Hispanic hostess with juicy lips, a sexy smile, and big tits flirted with me mercilessly, faked a lockout of her house, and spent a night with me that I have mentioned a few times in this column. Best sex I've ever had, and regardless of how my brother thinks, sexiest girl (just in the way she carried herself, plus she was more curvy than big at the time, but wasn't exactly "petite") I've ever been with. When I remember past experience, this girl is the one I always remember first.

- I promised I'd mention Big S "offering his girlfriend" to me. Here's the basics. The hottest girl I've ever known is JP, who was my age, had a four year old son, and landed a job as a waitress at the restaurant. Sometime before Big S joined the kitchen staff, JP needed a place to live (well, a place to spend three or four nights a week), and I had an extra room. She was not only paying her rent by waiting tables, but she was driving to Flint to strip a few nights a week as well. We had a nice friendship, which I really enjoyed, and liked having her live with me as she paid on time and wasn't there that often. I didn't really have any illusions that she and I would hook up, as she seemingly was way out of my league, and I didn't think she was attracted to me in that way.

Well, Big S joined the staff (I accidentally typed "jointed" instead of "joined," and frankly, he did that too), and started working on JP. I'm trying to figure out a good way to say "she wasn't smart enough to know what was good for her" without sounding really deprecating. I don't mean she was "dumb," although she was no Rhodes Scholar. I think that she was pretty burned in her previous relationships, and I think from her small town she ran from boy to boy that just shit on her emotionally, and couldn't find a great guy if she tried. Just my impressions. Anyway, Big S was a big guy. Huge is more like it. Pretty good looking too, I would think. Probably 6'2", probably close to 225, mostly muscle. He worked his game on JP, and did a good job of it. They started sleeping together consistently. She thought they were dating, he was still fucking a couple other girls at the time. He'd tell me this, knowing that I wouldn't tell JP, as it wasn't my business. He did tell me "I know you're living with her, and if you want to fuck her, go right ahead, I don't mind."

Still, somewhere in my head, I didn't think fucking Big S' girl was a great idea. He was a good friend, and regardless of how many other girls he was nailing, what's his is his. Also, I'm nowhere near his size, which either (or both) means that he could kick my ass if I tried, or that subconsciously (or consciously) I didn't want to fuck the same girl he was, as I was guaranteed to be way smaller than he is. You know what I mean.

There was one night where it probably could have happened had I taken some fucking initiative. I'm still replaying this scene in my head from time to time, as it's one of those "missed opportunities" that I really regret. I mean, what are the chances that I meet a sexier girl than JP, let alone have a shot at her when she's willing? Slim, my friends, slim. Anyway, the restaurant is still open, but winding down the day on an average Wednesday or Thursday night. I'm the night manager, which means that after everyone leaves, I've got an hour or so of work I have to do alone in the building before I can leave. And we're still at least an hour from closing. I'm sitting in the bar in a booth with a few waitstaff and JP comes in, if not drunk, really tipsy. She sits down next to me, and gets REALLY close. That alone was unusual, but then her hand starts stroking my thigh, she whispers something about the fact that she had been drinking for awhile, and she is still stroking my thigh. Getting close to me was enough for the insta-erection, but this is almost unbearable. I told her that I was closing and hoped to see her at home.

She went right over to Big S' house and spent the night. Fuck. I was hoping that she would be in my room, candles lit, sobered up a touch, and wearing a sexy lace teddy. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

On another note, a couple years after leaving the restaurant and working my job with the bank, I got a call from JP out of the blue. I hadn't heard from her in a couple years, and I don't know how she found me on the phone, but she did. I had JUST gotten engaged and had mentioned that when she asked "what's going on?" After I mentioned that, she cut the conversation short, and I didn't hear from her again. I really wonder if she was calling me to ask me out. I think the chances of that were better than 50/50, now that I think about it. "What if" indeed.

-----------------------

Just for Bob, who knew most if not all of these girls because he worked with me at both restaurants, I rank...

TOP FIVE SEXIEST GIRLS I WORKED WITH AT EITHER RESTAURANT

In order:

5. Mary's Sister. Man, did I have the hots for this girl. She was a year or two older than I was, not quite as good looking as Mary, but you could tell that she had a sexy/wild streak a mile long. She didn't work there long, but I was smitten.

5a. That girl from Texas at Mt. Jack's. She was going to law school, and when I asked her out (I've mentioned this), turned me down in a way that made me feel almost as good as if she had said yes. What a southern accent on this one. I was a big fan.

5b. Mandy, from Lafayette Square. As I mentioned, she had pro athletes (dad from football, uncle a WWF wrestler) in her family, but had a Minnie Driver look, but a linebacker bone structure. Amazingly deep and sexy eyes though, and was just flat beautiful.

5c. Kay, from Lafayette Square. Looked like a poor man's version of Yasmeen Ghauri. Beautiful girl that landed a great guy, and is populating the earth with more pretty people.

5d. Jen, the plus-sized model. Yeah, Bob, you know who I'm talking about. She was only "plus-sized" because she was probably a size 10 with solid D cup breasts. She had a little Christina Ricci thing going, which combined with her ghetto slang persona that really made her sexy.

5e. Marilyn, from Mt. Jack's. Way hot older girl that had this almost-white hair and grey (I swear) eyes. I think she was part, or fully, Native American. Wow.

4. Genie. Not a very smart or very talkative girl, but had this gorgeous olive skin, a petite and curvy body, and a sexy as hell mole on her face. Every single guy in that joint wanted to bang her. Alan got to, that bastard.

3. Mary. I mentioned her above. She was the type of girl you'd ask to go to a Republican Party fundraiser ball with you, but you probably wouldn't figure she'd be up for going with you to a strip club. I bet she looked even better when she dolled herself up and dressed fancy. She was amazingly beautiful, but far more beautiful than sexy.

2. The redhead. I completely and utterly forget her name, and that annoys me, but in my last few months at Mt. Jack's, there was this redheaded waitress that wasn't necessarily oozing that smoldering sexy thing, wasn't "hot" in a swimsuit model sort of way (flat as a board, actually), and wasn't tremendously feminine (big time "one of the guys" persona). But what she did have was that almost-crazy sort of "let's move to Boulder, Colorado right now and sell beads and necklaces to the hippies and fuck all day long" charisma. Seriously, I would have gone anywhere with this girl, even though we barely really even knew each other. Crazy/beautiful isn't just a bad movie, it's probably the adjective I'd use to best describe her. I can totally see her in my head, but can't fucking remember her name.

1. JP. Hands down. She modeled lingerie for me once at home ("look what I bought for the club!"). Good god, she was the best looking girl I've ever known. I woulda played Paul Snider to her Dorothy Stratten, minus of course the stalking and murder, had she wanted it. I'd love to catch up with her and see how she's doing.

Mayor's jersey becomes fashion

Now, this is cool. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's old Florida A&M football jersey is being replicated as a throwback and sold for charity. Not only do they look awfully cool (which they do), but it supports a great cause, and is more of a conversation piece than a Johnny Unitas or Deacon Jones jersey would ever be.

That being said, here is the list of jerseys I own, and my top ten list of jerseys I really want:

JERSEYS I OWN
- Randy Moss, purple Vikings, authentic
- Barry Sanders, blue Lions, authentic
- TJ Duckett, MSU green, replica
- TJ Duckett, MSU white, replica
- Donovan McNabb, Syracuse blue, replica
- Johnnie Morton, Detroit throwback blue, replica

TOP TEN JERSEYS I WOULD LIKE TO OWN, in no order - all authentic
1. Charles Rogers Lions jersey, home
2. 1990 Philadelphia Eagles Jerome Brown jersey, away
3. Charlie Joiner 1984 Chargers jersey, home
4. Bo Jackson 1987 Raiders, home
5. 1964 Jim Brown Cleveland jersey, home
6. 1968 Al Kaline Detroit Tigers, home
7. Barry Sanders 75th anniversary throwback jersey, home
8. 2003 Lions, Shaun Rogers, home
9. 2003 Tennessee Titans, Derrick Mason, home
10. 2003 Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis, away

An Open Letter to Miss Marla Gibbs:

Dear Ms. Gibbs,

There's an old axiom, a saying that inevitably becomes truth to those who believe. That would be "bad things happen in threes."

Ms. Gibbs, I know what you're thinking. "Old wives' tale," or worse, "what does this have to do with me?"

I'll tell you what it has to do with you. Yesterday, we lost Jack Elam, co-star of TV's "Easy Street" with Loni Anderson, and Fred "Re-Run" Berry, co-star of "What's Happening," and of course, "What's Happening Now?"

I'm not worried about the Sherman Helmsleys, Gary Colemans, and Ted Dansons of the world. They were the stars, the characters of focus on their respective shows.

It's you Ms. Gibbs, and people like you. The co-stars, just like Elam and Berry were. I'm worried for you. I'm worried for Jackee', for Dixie Carter, Katherine Helmond, the guy who played Bobby on "Taxi," and the English guy on "Mr. Belvedere."

I fear for your life right now Ms. Gibbs. Bad things happen in threes. I really don't want it to be you. Cockroach from "The Cosby Show," sure. I think Ken Osmond, TV's Eddie Haskell, has outlived his necessity. And don't get me started on that bitch Charlotte Rae.

Ms. Gibbs, or Marla, if I can call you Marla... please be careful. Chew your food in small bites. Wear your seatbelt. Look out for crossing traffic. And for the love of god don't step under any falling anvils.

You know I care Marla. Just be careful.

Bless you,

BG

CNN.com - Actor Fred 'Rerun' Berry dies - Oct. 22, 2003

Noooooooooooo!!!!!

The Onion | Generic Candy Corn Will Give You AIDS: "Once again, Halloween season is upon us, and with it, the wonderful anticipation of dressing up and trick-or-treating for delicious Brach's candy. With that in mind, it's important to remember all the ways that you can make your Halloween safer and more fun. It won't put a damper on anyone's holiday spirits to wear high-visibility costumes when going from house to house, to have kids trick-or-treat with an adult, and to inspect all candy for tampering. Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind that eating just a single kernel of candy corn manufactured by a company other than Brach's Confections will give you a deadly case of full-blown AIDS."

An important message this holiday season, brought to you by the good people at Brach's.

CNN.com - Wild-eyed movie villain Jack Elam dies - Oct. 22, 2003

I thought that guy was probably already dead...

I remember him as Loni Anderson's crazy uncle in some forgettable sitcom of the 80s. Dude had the craziest eyes this side of Marty Feldman. CNN's writeup says he "didn't always play the mean old hombre -- he also found himself cast as dirty old men and harmless drunks." He did the harmless drunk thing pretty well methinks.

ESPN.com - Breeders Cup 2003 - Horse-By-Horse Analysis

Etymology...

I named my blog "Random Thoughts and Thoroughbred Selections," but have gotten away from the latter part of that promise, that is, picking horses.

This Saturday at 12:30PM EST at Santa Anita's Oaktree track, we're going to be treated to the best day of horse racing of the year, Breeders' Cup Saturday. Eight races, each featuring (mainly) the top talent in the division. More than the Kentucky Derby or any of the Triple Crown races, this day of racing features more top horses on turf, on dirt, across routes, and at short sprints, than any other day of racing all year long.

While I reserve the right to go in and change my picks after I've had a chance to review (and agonize over) the charts for each race, here are my early picks for each race. Keep in mind post positions and final entries have yet to be absolutely finalized.

NEXTEL BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF
Without reigning Horse of the Year Azeri, whose win streak was recently snapped, this is both a less interesting as well as less competitive race. Sightseek has put up huge numbers on dirt in this class, and looks to be the female to beat in this race. Got Koko is interesting as well, and ran a strong race beating Sightseek AND Azeri in her last race. I like Sightseek a bit better, she's a monster with Azeri out of the picture. I'm intrigued by the entry of Lady Tak, who is stretching out to a longer distance than her usual races. Sometimes, but not always, this is a sign that the trainers/owners know something about the horse the rest of us don't. They might see longer odds on this filly, with most of the betting going into Sightseek and Got Koko, and might realize a nice profit if they have this horse ready to run. Elloluv has a shot as well, and might be the third choice at the window.

BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES
This is probably the division, along with maybe the turf, which I know least about. There are some interesting entries, not from a betting perspective, but from a why-the-hell-are-you-in-this-race perspective. There's a maiden (Hollywood Story, hasn't won a race in her career), there's a horse that has only won one race (at four furlongs in April, Renaissance Lady), a sprinter from a lower tier track (Vino Tinto, shipped in from Louisiana Downs), and what ESPN refers to as the "obligatory Maktoum entry," (Zosima) which shows the Arab influence, or attempted influence, across each division on BC Saturday. The filly that promises to garner the most action at the window, and the one that will probably go off at tremendously short odds (less than 2/1) is Halfbridled. Juvenile, by definition, means a two year old filly, and for Halfbridled to claim four GI wins (highest level of stakes competition) in her career is a tremendous feather in her cap. Take Charge Lady should also see some money at the window, and is 3-3 in California this year. But this is more than a match race between these two fillies. Youngsters Be Gentle, Class Above, Forest Music, Society Selection, and Tarlow could all threaten here as well. For my Pick Six and/or Pick Eight tickets, this is the division I'm going to have to do the most handicapping work on.

NETJETS BREEDERS' CUP MILE
Eight furlongs on the turf for some of the most talented US and European horses in the world. A sentimental favorite of mine would be Peace Rules, a horse that showed some life in Triple Crown season. Peace Rules is a closer, a horse that got stronger seemingly as the race progressed towards the wire, and perhaps coming down off of the route distances to a less taxing mile might be a good way to get Peace Rules on the tote board. I'm not sure, however, if this horse has even run a race on the turf in his career, so I'm wary. There aren't many horses here that ESPN has a lot of nice things to say about. Six Perfections will have Jerry Bailey aboard, and is referred to as a "French super filly." Nice endorsement, and with Jerry Bailey aboard, even the longest longshot has a chance (see Arcangues in the BC Classic a few years back - won at 133/1 odds). Refuse To Bend, an English horse, has a trainer that knows how to get his horses ready after shipping long distances, and I think that's a solid endorsement as well.

BREEDERS' CUP FILLY & MARE TURF
This might be another division where the race is completely and utterly up for grabs. When handicapping, I'm probably going to be looking for a horse to take a flier on, because there's a lot of interesting females in this race, and a horse with a mid-price (8/1 or higher) could hit the board here. Tates Creek is a strong contender here, with two GI wins to her credit. I like Islington as well, as she's referred to as "Europe's top middle-distance filly." Here's my bet that in the Euro-heavy turf races such as these that a Euro horse will be the short price at the windows. Islington will be that horse in this race. Megahertz might be an interesting pick, because she's definitely a strong contender, especially at this distance, but might go off at more of a mid-price (5/1 or higher), as there are three in this race that have beaten her previously. I love closers, and Voodoo Dancer is a closer. But closers against big class may not mean a whole lot. I'll be looking at Voodoo Dancer closely when I get the PPs for this race, because she's a closer, she's young, and will probably go off north of 10/1.

BESSEMER TRUST BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE
The aforementioned Voodoo Dancer is also entered in this race, and I'll be interested to see if the trainer decides to run her on turf against the girls, or enters her here on dirt against (mainly) the boys. Two turns on this route, which is always a tough draw for some of these youngsters. One colt that might be able to handle it, as he's handled everything (albeit at shorter distances) thrown his way this year so far is Cuvee. I can't imagine I'll be betting against Cuvee in this draw, but he could go off really short (less than 2/1), which doesn't provide great value. Tiger Hunt has an endorsement that includes the phrase "juicy odds." I ALWAYS like juicy odds. I'll be looking closely at Tiger Hunt.

BREEDERS' CUP SPRINT
I like to think that this would be the race where, really, anything can happen. It's a sprint (six furlongs), and there's some definite talent here. I'm figuring that a well put together trifecta wheel might be able to pay back a really nice price. I like Midas Eyes in this race. I've seen him run, and know he's capable in this class. Captain Squire and Ethan Man are two horses I know little to nothing about, but it looks like they might be right near the top of the list for options here. Valid Video is a "major threat (that) can stalk and fire late." I like that. Can't go for a deep closer, like Aldebaran, but a stalker in a sprint is my type of horse. Should be an interesting race.

JOHN DEERE BREEDERS' CUP TURF
Here's where the foreign horses always make their dent. Sulamani can't lose here. Never in a million years. This horse will be the lynchpin of my Pick Eight ticket. Toccet is making his grass debut here, and the ESPN crew wonders why. Again, another one of those circumstances where I'm hoping that the trainers and owners know something I don't. If I've got some cash left over from the first six races, I'll probably take a flier here. Deeliteful Irving is listed as a "reliable closer, big odds, may inflate tri and superfecta." With that quote, I will definitely give this horse a look. But Sulamani won't be beaten here.

BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC, POWERED BY DODGE
The crown jewel race of the afternoon. Funny Cide, the Derby and Preakness winner, is ambitiously entered here, will go off at probably shorter odds than he deserves, and will absolutely positively stand no chance of winning this race. That being said, I've been reading that Ten Most Wanted, another three year old, somehow stands more of a chance of winning. I don't know about that. I'm going to go with Medaglia d'Oro, who is a tremendously strong contender here. Congaree appears to be going at an uncomfortable distance, but I'm not going to hold that against him. He's got class coming out his ears. With no Mineshaft, who would have been the prohibitive favorite, and no Empire Maker, who would have been the three year old worth watching, I really like those two along with Hold That Tiger, simply due to a strong race against this year's strongest horse, Mineshaft.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend at the races!

sunspot.net - maryland news

An article about the danger posed by 12 year old boys in America today. Give it a read...

The New Republic Online: Gregg Easterbrook, Anti-Semitism, and the Question of Reputation: "To our readers:
We are sorry. Last week Gregg Easterbrook wrote an item in his blog for tnr.com about the moral culpability of Hollywood executives who profit handsomely from movies that glorify violence and depict it with pornographic vividness. In the course of his denunciation, Easterbrook referred to 'Jewish executives [who] worship money above all else.' Many readers found the remark offensive. They were right. The phrase was right out of the classical vocabulary of modern anti-Semitism. We make no defense of these words and we are mortified that they appeared under the auspices of a magazine that has for many decades been in the forefront of the campaign against anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds. Easterbrook's comment is false and ugly, and we do not wish in any way to make excuses for it. And neither does he, which is why he apologized for it, and made no extenuations for it. He candidly wrote on this Web site last Friday that '[w]hat I wrote here was simply wrong, and for being wrong, I apologize.'
We associate ourselves with Easterbrook's contrition. We, too, failed our readers. This is not the time or the place to reflect on the new and uncharted editorial requirements of blogs and the other instantaneous publications and postings on the Internet. However fast the medium or however slow, on paper and online, the editors of The New Republic are responsible for the 'content' that we put before the public; and in this instance we were delinquent in our responsibilities. "

Somehow, I knew there'd be consequences to Easterbrook's "Kill Bill" rant (see below). He possibly got fired from his TMQ column on ESPN.com, and this apology came as well. Just thought I'd pass it along.

On the job search...

I may have some positivity coming my way. I'm still a little pessimistic about my chances, but there's a slight possibility I might have news to report by mid week. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Welcome to Maury!

Goddamn sometimes I love daytime TV. Today's topic on Maury is the tried and true lie detector tests. Invariably, some corn fed trailer sow size 22 pregnant jive talking white woman is sobbing tears over her mulletheaded boyfriend's cheatin' ways.

This first one though, this dude has disappeared on his 18 year old preggo fiancee three times for a week at a time. His excuse? Three separate times, apparently, he had been kidnapped at knife point. Dumbass. And dumbass bitch for having to go on Maury to "find out" if this is in fact a lie.

Unbelieveable.

Oh, by the way, he's still in big time denial mode, but failed his lie detector tests big time. Heh heh heh... Idiot.