Animal Kingdom, winner of the 2011 Kentucky Derby, is stopping by Ascot on his way home from winning the Dubai Cup, horse racing’s richest race. He will attempt to add a little more class to all that money with a victory in the Queen Anne Stakes, won last year by all-world Frankel. A shorter distance, a turf track, and up-and-down sections make it a tough proposition for him.
Photo - Kamran Jebreili
And when I die…
Some days, mostly week-ends, I don’t get around to blogging. No, I’m not getting lazy or losing interest, it’s just a matter of balancing life’s other priorities like…oh, having a life. But there will come a day when this place goes dark for good. The internet lasts forever, but not so little boys (to butcher Peter, Paul & Mary’s poignant song).
I talked a bit before about what happens to your internet presence when you die…who gets my iTunes account with the 10GB of songs, who can access my Gmail, how do my kids get to transfer online the last $12 in my bank account. We’re just now experiencing the first wave of boomers dying who had a big on-line profile. There will be war as beneficiaries and survivors fight over the e-estates.
One woman’s experience led her to start http://getyourshittogether.org/, a soup-to-nuts guide for um, …getting your shit together. I am guilty of much of the procrastination she highlights, but then, my worldly possessions would likely now fit in the the proverbial matchbox of song.
I am blessed that I can never lose the experiences I’ve had, sleeping under so many strange skies.
The things you learn — the French are the world’s biggest scotch drinkers? The US only leads in per-capita drinking in tequila?
Bet You Didn’t Know™ (The History Channel)
During the Civil War, one Union regiment (the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry) included not one but two future U.S. presidents (Rutherford Hayes and William McKinley).
Hortensia - Berthe Morisot
Quote of the Day
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
- Winston Churchill
Today’s music video
You Really Got Me - The Kinks (Live 1965)
The Kinks were so, so close to the big-time but apparently Ray Davies’ megalomania held them back. I may be wrong on that but what else could explain it?
Dave Davies launches one of the all-time best punk/rock lead guitars solos at 1:20. Epic in its simplicity.
I have no idea what the last 30 seconds of this video are all about.
On this date…
362 - Emperor Julian issued an edict banning Christians from teaching in Syria.
1579 - Sir Francis Drake claimed San Francisco Bay for England.
1965 - The Kinks arrived in New York City to start their first U.S. tour.
The Devil’s Dictionary - Ambrose Bierce
NON-COMBATANT, n. A dead Quaker.
You can run, but you can’t hide
“British spies have reportedly succeeded in cracking the security of BlackBerrys, taking the surveillance controversy to a new level.”
This can’t be good news for Research in Motion
(Source: The Globe and Mail)
