Fuck Yeah Horseracing
I recently read a proposal that had been submitted for acquisition about the science of tracking. Turns out that there is a large segment of the population who keep detailed “tracking” notes on everything in their lives; what they eat, physical activity, moods… Scientists, psychologist, doctors and more find these concentrated groupings of “things” and events can predict much about the future, whether it be one’s health, prosperity, mental stability.
I don’t think we got that book, and I wasn’t really blown away by the concept. It just didn’t really seem NEW. But since reading it, I’ve been thinking a lot about the music I listen to from day to day, and how those on-the-fly choices seem to augur what kind of day (or night) I’ll have.
Thus begins my misuc-forecasting project. I’ll try and record each day what I listen to during my morning commute and my return home. If I put something on once home, I’ll list that. And weekends! Aaah that will be a more robust listing. I want to see if I can come up with some hypotheses, maybe “80’s alternative gets me down” or “Sic Alps make me better in meetings…”
Whatever, should be fun. For me, at least.
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Have you Drowned yet? It’s the only way to go. Click here for a chance to win a copy of WE, THE DROWNED by Carsten Jensen, the best seafaring novel since Moby Dick. Please reblog!
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Preliminary Breeder’s Cup thoughts
I have lots of work to do, but as always my early thoughts will in all likelihood remain on my pick 3’s and 4’s.
Marathon- seriously? A G1? (Aaah I take it back, it’s a G3. I still don’t really care.)
Juvie fillies Turf- Think I can beat Winter Memories here. Interested in all the Euros and even a little Wyomia.
F&M Sprint- Champagne D’oro, Evening Jewel, and a little Informed Decision for protection.
Juvie Fillies- No real idea yet, though a tad interested in Awesome Feather.
F&M Turf- Allain Wertheimer is a client of my dad’s, so must include Plumania. otherwise it’s pretty obvious- Red Desire and Midday. And for sentiment’s sake, Forever Together.
F&M- Blind Luck, with a little Havre de Grace and maybe Unrivalled Belle… I do think Milwaukee Appeal will be a HUGE price and might very well get into the tri.
Juvie Turf- No idea. Have not even peeked.
Sprint- also a lot of work to do. Was all-in on Riley Tucker in his last. Warrior’s Reward will win if I leave him out, will fail if I press him.
Turf Sprint- Right now? Silver Timber, Rose Catherine… interested to see Bridgetown’s last couple of replays.
Juvenile- Seems like it has to be Uncle Mo or Boys at Tosconova, doesn’t it? Will dig deeper.
Mile- Most exciting race all weekend. Goldikova. Gio Ponti. Paco Boy.
Dirt Mile- I am very intrigued by Thiskyhasnolimit. Not so sure that it’s Tizway’s race to lose, as some have said, and Crown of Thorns will be tough. Hurricane Ike could show up too.
Turf- Am all over Dangerous Midge.
Classic- All I know is that if Zenyatta wins, I’ll need to disconnect myself from all racing coverage until she is safely in the breeding shed. To me she is a coddled, indulged mare who’s had everything served to her on a silver platter, and though competitive on synthetic surfaces, doesn’t come close to the levels of greatness bestowed upon her. Yeah, it’s not her fault, it’s her connections- but the way people applaud her pre-race antics as some sort of “dance” just makes me laugh. It’s annoyingly bad behavior. That said- will try very hard to beat her using all the obvious ones- Blame, Quality Road, and Lookin at Lucky, but will also lean quite hard on Fly Down who I think will benefit most from a fast early pace. Zenyatta, IMO, needs a moderate to slow pace- if they go all out early, she’s likely to be so far back that even if she “sprouts wings” she ain’t going to catch them. CD is not SA.
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”Just as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life, deserving of being called human, begins with irony… it is not the truth, but the way.
Søren Kierkegaard, On the Concept of Irony (via pyrrhosrepublic) (via fuckyeahexistentialism)
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Yay yay yay! This book is PHENOMENAL. Machart’s prose are like, dare I say it?, poetry! Woop! Ah the connections…
Also, for anyone in Boston, Bruce will be at Porter Square Books on Monday at 7 pm!
Out today: THE WAKE OF FORGIVENESS, Bruce Machart’s debut novel!
On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of “the only woman he’s ever been fond of” when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple’s fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horseraces against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father’s eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse “wants the whip the same way he wants his pop’s strap … the closest he ever gets to his father’s touch.” In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father’s fortune, his brother’s futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of the race still driven hard between him and his brothers, Karel is finally forced to dress the wounds of his past and to salvage the tattered fabric of his family. Reminiscent of Kent Haruf’s portrayals of hope amidst human heartbreak and Cormac McCarthy’s finely hewn evocations of the American Southwest, Bruce Machart’s striking debut is as well wrought as it is riveting. It compels us to consider the inescapable connections between sons and their mothers, between landscape and family, and between remembrance and redemption.
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