myweekandwelcometoit

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Hello World, Happy Memorial Day weekend! I do hope that your holiday weekend is memorable in every way, and includes plenty of the old red-white-and-blue hoopla and fanfare, of whatever type would most warm the cockles of your heart, so that your la is suitably hooped, your fare is aptly fanned, and your cockles as warm as the proverbial rocket's red glare, by jingo. It's true that the weather has been having its ups and downs in the region lately, but hopefully it will cooperate for a few days with sunny skies and warmer temperatures, to give the unofficial start of the summer season just the balmy kick-off that it deserves, especially after The Winter of our Discontent cast its frigid pall over us for way too long. Now that people have reason to smile again, we might all be forgiven for getting a little bit giddy, and I admit that I'm easily amused, which might account for the following. Obviously, it wouldn't be a holiday weekend, without a newspaper stuffed to the gills with shiny circulars all touting the latest and greatest bargains from retailers of all stripes, from the most humongous international conglomerates, all the way down to the teeniest shoe-string enterprise operating out of the trunk of a car. By far and away, my favorite was from a local automotive dealer, caught up in the spirit of the festivities, who was eager to invite us to their SUMMER CAR-B-CUE Event, where presumably their sale prices would be hot off the grill, the vehicles would be delectable, and the discounts would make our mouths water. Anyway, I thought that was pretty funny, especially for a car dealer. Also cropping up in time for the big weekend blast-off, the creamy spirea has burst into bloom along the rock wall, the Star of Bethlehem popped up in bright patches throughout the yard, and hard on the heels of the creeping phlox already putting on a show of its own, the wild phlox has just launched its lavender glory along the driveway, with its heavenly fragrance that can't be beat, much less duplicated in a laboratory, try as they might. It can't be denied that things are looking pretty darned sharp around the old homestead these days, as Bill just bought a new lawnmower, which did admirable job with the over-grown landscape, and really cut the runaway vegetation down to size, so that even the most pestilent weeds are afraid to show their face. Just about nothing is left now but the usual rampant alien mutant poison ivy, which will long outlast human life and the demise of the sun, and still be whooping it up with the cockroaches when everything else is long gone, mark my words. Also around the property, it occurred to me only much later that our previous discussions about the variety of transient interlopers at the bird feeders somehow neglected to mention the most egregious example, that was spotted last week, big as life and twice as unwelcome, I dare say. There's been a solid gray stray cat hanging around our front porch and chowing down on hand-outs over the cold hard winter, and we call him/her Scooter, because of a decided tendency to scoot away from us down the steps whenever we show up. Mind you, this is after months of feeding this cat, which under the circumstances, you would think would have made us a whole lot more popular, but apparently not, and Scooter has steadfastly resisted any thoughts of warming up to us, from the very beginning and all the way up to the present. But whenever I put food out, I always call out in a friendly manner, to let Scooter know there's something to eat, hoping to forge that positive connection in the feral brain between us and food, and hopefully tip the balance in our favor. On this particular occasion, I looked up to see Scooter lounging contentedly on top of the pans of sunflower seeds that we put out for the birds - as an alternative to the hanging feeders where they may be crowded out by their more assertive brethren, however in their opinion, I'm sure that Scooter was even less of an appealing substitute, no doubt. Of course, everyone knows that I have a long-standing policy against trying to use logic with irrational people, and taking into account that Scooter may have been abandoned by his or her mother at an early age, I nonetheless did my best to explain to the wayward feline the inescapable reality of being a cat and not a bird, and should not be in the bird feeders at any time for any reason. This sobering insight seemed to fall on deaf ears, and far from causing the offending party to vacate the premises, was instead greeted with the pointed indifference usually reserved for cats who already live inside our house. I was resigned to the protest marches and petitions by our feathered friends at my lack of success in this endeavor, but frankly, I thought the press conferences were just way too much. In sports news, the Rangers actually managed to win two games against the mighty Canadiens, although there's a limit to how much more we can expect of that sort of thing, and the last two Cup-less decades have warned even the most die-hard fans not to get their hopes up too much. On the western front, the defending champion Blackhawks are all knotted up with the Kings at one game apiece, and if Los Angeles is eliminated, it will pave the way for a second "Original Six" match-up for Lord Stanley's Cup in two years, when before that, there hadn't been one since 1979, where New York and Montreal battled it out for all the marbles. (By golly, THERE'S an expression that's lost on young people nowadays, I shouldn't wonder.) So it should be interesting times ahead, and my only concern when all is said and done, is if they go to drink champagne out of the Cup, only to find Scooter already sound asleep in there, thanks not. Of course, the big news in sports was the 1-2 favorite California Chrome running away with the Preakness last weekend, and looking like the real deal all the way. It must be said that the race boasted a tiny field of only 10 horses, compared to the mob scene at the Kentucky Derby, and only 3 of the same horses in both races - the others were all "fresh legs" that had been brought in specially for the event, and which ended up not being a factor in the outcome after all. (Although one of the Derby hold-overs was notably not Commanding Curve, who I would have liked to see take another swipe at the favorite, if only for comparison sake.) This was no cake-walk or blow-out, as the pace was much faster than the Derby, and all of the jockeys had to carefully consider their strategy of when to make a move, or risk burning out the pony early and have nothing left for a late surge to the wire. Even the bettors' darling, California Chrome, had to turn on all the after-burners at the end, to hold off a hard-charging challenge down the stretch by Ride on Curlin, who was so impressive late in the Derby, and finished a very strong second at Pimlico. With this win, the big colt becomes just the 13th horse to take the first two legs of the Triple Crown, since Affirmed won all three races in 1978, and we all know how all of the other 12 have turned out since then, it goes without saying. The day was also noteworthy for featuring a female horse (Ria Antonia) female jockey (Rosie Napravnik aboard Bayern, who finished 9th) and female trainer (Linda Rice with Kid Cruz) all in the same race, a first in Preakness history, over its long and storied past. (Actually, the Preakness Stakes is older than its flashier counterpart at Churchill Downs, starting in 1873, while the Kentucky Derby followed in 1875, with the Belmont Stakes being the elder statesman of the group from 1869.) So from here, it's on to the final jewel in the crown, with the Belmont Stakes on June 7th and the eyes of the universe upon them, not to mention, space aliens from far distant galaxies to boot, unless I miss my guess. Once there's a potential Triple Crown in the offing, everyone is all agog and whipped up by a media frenzy like no other - or rather, exactly like it has been for the 13th time since 1978. It remains to be seen if the curse continues to hold up, or if history is made in two weeks, and of course, it behooves us to wish California Chrome well in his efforts, but there's no denying it will be an uphill battle, and at this point, the odds are not on his side, at least if history is any judge. After 36 years, I'm beginning to think that they could run nothing but a single horse all alone in the Belmont Stakes, and the evil spirit of Affirmed would still find a way to prevent it from winning the Triple Crown, one way or another. In other news, alert readers could not help but notice this startling headline in a recent newspaper: ============================== Police say no shots fired at N.J. mall ============================== By golly, the dinosaurs and I can remember a time (and I don't mind saying, not all that very long ago) when a lack of gunfire at a shopping mall would have been such a mundane occurrence as to excite no comment whatsoever, and certainly not a blaring headline in the newspaper, for heaven's sake. Of course, there's no denying that times have certainly changed, and not necessarily for the better, I can tell you that. Normally, this is where I'd be trying my level best to pin it on the evil spirit of Affirmed, weaving its dastardly spell from the great beyond, but frankly, with the Belmont Stakes coming up hard and fast in two weeks, I'm pretty sure that the phantom thoroughbred has bigger fish to fry, as it were. After all, these Triple Crown hopefuls aren't just going to sabotage themselves, heaven knows, and while the conventional wisdom may tell us that records are meant to be broken, personally I've long since learned not to bet against Affirmed, and that's not just a lot of horsefeathers, believe me. Elle

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