Filed May 1, 2010 at 9:40 am under Uncategorized by TJ
Growing up in Kentucky, Derby week is all about traditions. From drinking Mint Juleps to parties on the Belvedere; from singing “My Old Kentucky Home” to buying Derby Pins in search of a gold one; from the Garland of Roses to eating Derby Pie; Kentuckians hold their Derby traditions close to their heart. One such tradition I’ve always enjoyed seeing is the display of hats that week. Ladies in hats at the Kentucky Derby is a tradition that is probably as old as the Derby itself. From small and tasteful to large and frilly, you will see hats in all colors of the rainbow on women of all ages. Often they are together in groups and sometimes even the guys get into the act! Everyone enjoys the hat parade and the wearers are all glad to show them off.
Filed May 1, 2010 at 9:15 am under Uncategorized by TJ
Today, Saturday May 1th, 2010, is the first Saturday in May. As most of you know, I’m just some Hillbilly from a little town just east of Louisville, Ky called Crestwood, in Oldham County. Being from that little town, today has a BUNCH of special meaning to me. Today, at 6:24PM, the gates open “And their off” starts the Run for the Roses. For the next two minutes, you will see the most exciting racing event, as well as one of the longest running sporting traditions in the USA. For those of you with an IQ that challenges that of the sprig in my julep, it’s the Kentucky Derby.
What is the Derby?
The classic American horse race, the Kentucky Derby is the oldest consecutively held Thoroughbred race in America. It is run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Along with the Preakness in mid-May, and Belmont in early June, it is the first jewel of the coveted Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing, which has been won by only eleven horses since 1919. Triple Crown winners include memorable names such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Whirlaway, and Affirmed.
The first Kentucky Derby was held May 17, 1875, before a crowd of 10,000 from around the city, state and surrounding areas. In that race, a field of 15 three-year-olds ran a 1.5 mile course which was won by H.P. McGrath’s Aristides. Although the first Derby was held at 1.5 miles, the distance was changed to the current 1.25 miles in 1896.
The Derby field is limited to three-year-olds; fillies carry 121 pounds and colts 126 pounds. So far, only three fillies have won the Derby: Regret in 1915, Genuine Risk in 1980, and Winning Colors in 1988. The Kentucky Derby has also produced countless statistics and bits of trivia over the course of its history. The largest field was during the 100th running in 1974 when 23 horses ran. The smallest fields were in 1892 and 1905, with only three horses in each race.
The fastest Derby was run by the legendary Secretariat, who covered the 1 1/4 miles in 1:59 2/5, one of only two Derby winners to finish under two minutes.
Filed March 28, 2010 at 9:16 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
*Yawn*
Here’s a paper I needed to write for a classic political theory class. We just finished with Plato’s Republic. This is not as polished as my con law stuff, but it’s not too bad.
plato-republic.pdf
Filed August 21, 2009 at 1:34 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
This is a test, please ignore.
Filed September 26, 2007 at 9:51 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
I just got Vista installed on my laptop, and am playing around with a lot of the little "features" that I am finding that are available with Vista and possibly with XP. This post is being written in Windows Live Writer Beta, which apparently does a pretty kickass job of integrating into a Wordpress Blog, allowing for authoring a Wordpress, and from the looks of it, virtually any other blog, directly from a Windows app – and it looks kind of promising. I don’t know about advanced posting capabilities, such as sending an email on a new post, I guess we will just have to find out when I publish this.
So, if you have a blog, and are interested, be sure to check out Windows Live Writer, which can be downloaded at: http://get.live.com/WL/more
Again, I am just sorting through this stuff for my first time, so this is not an endorsement to use it, just a quick nod to check it out for yourself.
Filed August 21, 2006 at 10:53 pm under Family and Get Fit... and Uncategorized by TJ
Here are some pictures you ya from last Saturday’s race. Announcing below….
Team Thrown Together
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TJ returning from the swim     TJ Heading out for the bike ride         Andy in for the finish
I should have the professional pictures I will scan in so we can get rid of the “PROOF”, though for now, we can say it is for proof of finishing the triathlon.
If you are interested in purchasing pictures, they are on shutterfly. You can see the album for purchasing here. Alternatly, if you click on the pictures, you will be taken to the ordering page on shutterfly.
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Some important news for this week!!!!  I have a new triathlon to do next week, and I took on a new partner… I’ll give you a hint, the triathalon is in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and the new partner, when asked, said “That would be AWESMOE!” Yep, for those of you who have guessed it, Teressa and I are going to compete in the Old Hickory Triathlon next weekend. More on the specifics later, but for now, you can see about the event at: http://www.team-magic.com/tmtri/ohltri.htm
Filed July 25, 2006 at 10:12 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
I made it through “Hell Week” last week, which for those of you that don’t know is Days 8-14 for quitting smoking. In another hour, it’ll be about 16 days or so without any smokes. As far as that is concerned, I feel MUCH better (my herniated disks in my neck are acting up the last few days though…).
The cravings are less, I stopped taking the Zyban/Wellbutrin on Sunday (2 weeks after quitting) and am feeling pretty good about things all in all…
The lovely wife is doing pretty good as well, I think she has only had about 2 cigarettes over the last 3 weeks or so (July 5?), so things are going pretty good for her as well. This must be the summer for getting healthy, now if I can just get my neck to stop hurting…
Filed June 20, 2006 at 8:33 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
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Congratulation to my good friends Rich “ChiroMan” and Julie Mason on the birth of their first child Zachary George Mason. Mother and baby are doing great. Zachary was born at 5:30PM today (6/20/2006) at 21″ long weighing 7lb 6oz.
Hehe, pretty soon, Rich will get a chance to find out what a nuclear diaper is…
Filed April 14, 2006 at 3:44 pm under Uncategorized by TJ
2005 Mensa Invitational Finalists were recently posted, they were so funny, I had to give them a page of their own for now.  Page is here.Â
My favorite:Â Ignoranus: A person who’s both stupid and an a**hole.
