Wow, I check up on LJ for the first time in weeks (this summer class I'm taking is kicking my ass) only to learn that my sister bought a condo! Go teleute00! Welcome to mortgage payments and condo associations! *g*

Tiznow had his first winner today!

::hastens to Tivo the Belmont Park replay show::

I'm trying not to be negative today. So I will not comment on NBC's telecast.

I used to have absolutely reliable Preakness mojo. For *years*, the horse I picked to win the Derby would, without fail, win the Preakness. This is not so true anymore, but just be advised that I had Afleet Alex in the Derby. It's become fashionable to downplay his race in the Derby because he supposedly got a perfect trip and still lost, but I think that's deceptive. Visually, it looks perfect, but he was one of the earliest to move, when the pace up front was still fast, and I think it's forgivable that he faded a little at the end. Of course, to my way of thinking, Closing Argument ran the most impressive race of anyone.

re: Giacomo: I think Steven Crist said it best in a DRF chat a few days ago. I can't find it now, but he said something like: "I don't understand why everyone seems to think Giacomo was the answer to a puzzle they failed to solve. The race fell apart in front of him, and he outclunked everyone else to the wire. There was no predicting it. End of story." Exactly. I don't think the Derby result means Giacomo is all that much better than we thought he was.

Thank goodness, the track seems to have dried out and isn't playing as dead slow as it was yesterday. (*sniffle* my poor Ashado...) I was starting to get paranoid that we'd see another clunk job from Giacomo if all the speed fell apart again.

I've seen quite a few people jumping on Greeley's Galaxy, but I still don't believe in him. I think that if a horse doesn't make his stakes debut until a race like the Illinois Derby or the Lexington, there's a reason for that, and that reason is he's not as good as the other horses. Not yet, anyway.

In what universe is Going Wild not the longest shot on the board? Any board? He's lost his last three races by a total of 86-1/4 lengths. But at least he'll be there to heat up the early pace. GEE, THANKS WAYNE!

Still figuring out how I'm going to bet. Everybody I'm at all interested in seems to be at pretty fair odds. I guess if you like High Limit, 18-1 is a pretty good price on him. The Derby was obviously too bad to be true, and at least he's shown talent in the past. I'll play Closing Argument a little because if you like Afleet Alex, you've got to use CA at more than twice the price. Of course I still like Alex, but at 3-1 I don't think I'll bet him.

We are not all like you.

Some of us have different natural clocks. This does not make us lazy. It does not make us morally inferior to you. It just makes us different. Tolerance of differences is a concept you have perhaps heard of before. (I realize some of you grasp this; could you please spread the word? The rest of the morning people don't listen to us.)

Making people who are naturally night owls live by your schedule is MEAN. We cannot get enough sleep that way. It is bad for our health. It is also just no fun.

When I rule the world, those of you who currently force us to live by your schedule will routinely be forced to stay up until 3 am.

In short, leave me alone and let me get some fucking sleep already.

No love,
Me



Really, there needs to be a nocturnal-acceptance movement. We could have Nightowl Pride! And we could have the parade at midnight -- we'd disrupt traffic less that way anyway. Who's with me?

Every single one of the, oh, five or six races I want to see this weekend is being held at either Gulfstream or Santa Anita, which means they won't be televised on TVG because Frank "Fuck the sport, it's all about my monopoly" Stronach wants everyone to pester their cable/satellite providers to pick up HRTV instead. Last time I checked, HRTV was available in a total of about a million households, most of them in Pennsylvania where it's on PUBLIC ACCESS[1]. Apparently, nobody's willing to actually pay for this channel, but the rest of us still have to go without the signal from the two premier winter tracks in a desperate attempt to prop it up. Fuck you very much, Frank.

There aren't even any Gulfstream or Santa Anita replay shows available on TVG. And, since I don't wager vast sums of money through my BrisBET[2] account, I can no longer watch live video on their site. If I want to see the races, I'm going to have to watch them at the OTB. Do I look like I have time to hang out at the OTB all weekend?

(The answer, in case you are confused, is "no".)

Oh, and by the way, I have a paper due on Monday and a midterm on the 11th, I'm pretesting for 1st Gup on Saturday at 10am (grr...) and testing on the 12th, we're in the middle of some not-overly-pleasant negotiations to sell our house, and I'm having eye surgery in two weeks. You can see why I would prefer to spend my energy worrying about the Santa Anita Handicap.


[1] I still can't quite believe that's legal.

[2] Don't worry. In this case, BRIS stands for Bloodstock Research Information Services. Nobody has started offering wagering opportunities on religious ceremonies involving circumcision. [3]

[3] Well, I can't prove that nobody has. But that's not what this is.

Go Antonin Scalia!

Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed an argument that the Ten Commandments provided the basis for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. "That's idiotic," he said. "You can't get the Declaration of Independence out of the Ten Commandments."

Look, when you can't even get Scalia behind your right-wing cause, just go home.

New squid!

Looks like I'm going to be at a wedding in Wisconsin on the day of the Belmont. So please, O Gods of Racing, I implore you, no Triple Crown shot this year, 'k? And not just because my nerves can't take it anymore (which they CAN'T), but because if, after 25 years of faithful fandom, there is a Triple Crown winner and I'm sitting in a church somewhere when it happens, I officially Quit. So just ... don't.

I've now watched the first six eps of Lost, on teleute00's advice, and I'm trying to decide whether to download the rest of it.

( Spoilers )

Why is it that when I post an entry in my own journal, it has the right time, but when I post a comment, it's in Perth Standard Time or something?

I can't wait to see the Daily Show tonight:

CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator

Mr. Klein specifically cited the criticism that the comedian Jon Stewart leveled at "Crossfire" when he was a guest on the program during the presidential campaign. Mr. Stewart said that ranting partisan political shows on cable were "hurting America."

Mr. Klein said last night, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise." He said he believed that especially after the terror attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion.

The file 'Microsoft Office 2000 Professional' is not a valid installation package for the product Microsoft Office 2000 Professional.

And they wonder why people flip out and go on shooting sprees.

I think I'm getting sick. I've been coughing all day, and water tastes funny. That can't be a good sign.

I briefly considered doing one of those year-in-review memes, but you know what? I really don't want to review this year. I don't want to think about it anymore. I want it gone.

Besides, it somehow doesn't really feel like New Year's Eve when I can go out running in shorts and a T-shirt.

Off to go re-kindle the New Year's spirit by drinking. Happy 2005, all!

God. I was just watching the news on PBS, and they were interviewing this English couple who had been in Indonesia (I think) when the tsunami hit. It was an older man and woman, and the man was recounting the experience in great detail while his wife just stood there tucked against his side, weeping. And I kept thinking, what is wrong with you? Forget about talking to the pretty TV camera, and go comfort your wife. But, you know, people behave in funny ways when they're still reeling from a disaster, so maybe that's understandable.

Then the reporter lowered the microphone, right down to the woman's face, so as to better capture the sound of her sobs. No lie. It was disgusting.

We'll miss her, but it was time:

Leading Female Earner, Horse of the Year Azeri Retired

Still not dead, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. And that's all I'm posting for right now.

(I had a fight with macaroni earlier tonight. It won. I'm a danger to myself and others.)

Happy Birthday teleute00!

You lose some...

Woo!!! If you round, I got the 5% I was shooting for! lol...it was actually 4.93%. However, here's the best part; I got exactly 666 votes...bwahaha...

...and you win some.

I'm informed that I won "Sexiest candidate in Calgary" honours in an informal poll of the Calgary Sun newsroom

Seriously, 5% is pretty good for a third party candidate. Yay sis!

grrr.