random thoughts and thoroughbred selections

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Various Things

If you read this space enough, you know how I feel already about �celebrity journalism.� I read today where tabloid journalists, having obviously staked out a doctor�s office where Nicole Kidman had a checkup, are now claiming they got her medical records and are reporting she has cancer (let the Google searchers find me on this one, I don�t care: �Nicole Kidman� and breast cancer).

How low will the media stoop? Shouldn�t there be some modicum of decency extended to at least doctor�s appointments?

I saw a bumper sticker on the way in to work today that said, �We Vote Pro-Life.� Well, congratulations to you. Way to pick your leaders based on a single issue. There�s little that�s more distressing to me than people who are so myopic that they can�t see the forest but for the one single tree that commands their attention. I hope you�ve adopted multiple kids, because that�s the only scenario under which you get the pro-life pass from me.

There�s someone with whom I�ve been in contact with over the phone here at work that I got to meet in person on Friday. After a couple months of hearing his voice on the phone, which had an accent that could have been Asian, and knowing his first name was �Tendo,� with a last name that I totally thought was Japanese (�a� is the only vowel, it�s in there four times, and it really looked Japanese), I figured this guy would be Japanese.

It was a heck of a surprise to meet Tendo, who looks a lot like the bald black guy (Steve something?) from �The Practice.�

It was definitely one of those circumstances where you really want to ask him where he�s from, or what his ethnicity is, but there�s no real comfortable way to do that with someone who you�ve just met. It�s one of those conversations that could either turn into a positive because the person is pleased you�re interested enough to find out about them, or it could be a negative like asking a woman who�s just plain fat when she�s due.

Did you see that everyone�s hero, Dr. Freaking Atkins, was listed as �obese� on his autopsy? Hey, those who can�t do, teach. Right?

I had a good run at the track this weekend. I�m really beginning to like playing some of the small crappy tracks like Portland Meadows. PM has to be about the absolute bottom of the barrel for thoroughbred racing, with GLD circling the drain right behind. I played the first six races on the card at PM, hitting a $90 trifecta in the first, finding a horse at 8-1 that won ($4WPS) in the second for $46, and cashing tickets (but losing money ultimately) on ever race I played thereafter.

It�s funny to check out the program for PM, as the last five races for any one of the horses on there were run on Gd/Fst/Slp/Slp/Gd tracks. Think it rains up there or something? I also like playing PM for two other reasons. First, instead of saying �this horse is better than that one� at a better track, when you�re betting on terrible horses I believe anything can happen. Therefore, you find a reason to like a horse and get behind it. That�s how I found the 8-1 winner in the second. It was no worse than the others, looked to be rounding into shape, and I would have guessed (looking at the form) odds should have been around 4-1 instead of 8-1. So I pegged it as an overlay and won. Second reason I like PM is just that. I can make a case for overlays quite a bit easier than I can with tough money being wagered at Aqueduct or Santa Anita. One of these days a 50-1 horse that should only be 6-1 will cross first, and I�ll be holding the ticket. I can�t wait.

So I ended up +$55 for the gambling, including buying a few beers and programs. That financed my poker for the weekend (-$30), and part of my dad�s birthday gift.

Speaking of, my dad turned 56 this weekend. Bob and I copped out hard on his birthday gift. We wanted to get wine, but our county is dry on Sunday, and our Saturday visit to a store to get a bottle or three didn�t produce any winners. So Sunday morning featured a last minute grocery store visit, random selection of cheeses and crackers thrown into a gift bag, and a $30 �use this for wine� gift certificate. Nice effort, huh? I�m a dick.

[>>]posted at 5:49 PM by BG - click to email
-----------