No, but depending on what you do with it, you might piss somebody off. You seem like you have a good barometer of what's over the line though, so I'm sure you'll be fine.
Yeah.... go ahead.... you won't get in trouble.... everybody here has a sense of humor you wouldn't believe.... we'll be watching...
Joe Nation wrote:Yeah.... go ahead.... you won't get in trouble.... everybody here has a sense of humor you wouldn't believe.... we'll be watching...
You forgot to sign your post Joe. I'll do it for you:
Joe( "You Go First" ) Nation
Oh, I hope so.
You know what a strawman is, right? Because...
dangling bunny ears.
Maybe I didn't WANT to sign that post.
Has he done it yet?
Joe(this is going to be good) Nation
the upside blinking is interesting
Odd and interesting, who else does that sound like?
Joe( um. Nope, can't think of anybody.) Nation
Craven? Beth? Set? Monger? Just about anyone here, except the average and boring?
Who were YOU thinking?
Dlowan.
If you weren't interesting, I wouldn't pick on you. You're rather odd for a bunny, considering you don't like carrots, and you have wings.
Holy crap, I just saw the best frickin' movie! Anybody else see Seabiscuit? I loved it! I actually jumped off the couch at one point! People told me it was good, but I was like, naaah, horses...racing horses...boring. But I was soooo wrong! Damn, that was good.
Yup, I saw it on a plane. Best flight ever. Especially since I raced horses for awhile. Not for real though, I was a kid, had to give it up at 14. But still love horses and horseracing.
I'll have to see the movie, the book was so frustrating because the goddam horse kept getting pulled from races, or matchs that were set up, didn't come off, and then the good jockey gets himself almost killed.
Real life is like that, no narrative flow.
In the early sixties, there was a horse named Needles that ran at the tracks on the East Coast. My dad and I happened to hear a race on the radio one Saturday and it was amazing. The horse was running dead last until just before the far turn then, with the annoucer's voice pounding, he caught up to each other horse and passed them.
The next Saturday we were at home in the kitchen and we put on the radio, sure enough here comes Needles in the second race and he does the same thing again. Dead last till just about the far turn and then incredbly passes everyone for the win. Now, I should add here that we had never listened to a horse race before all this, but here we were, swept away by the drama and the unbelievable come from behind wins.
"This is just like Seabiscuit." my dad chuckled. "Oh, that horse." my mother chimed in, "Drove everybody crazy, your uncle Jim drove eight hours down to some place in New Jersey or New York to see him."
I was thunderstruck, I had no idea that my parents, great huge dullards that they were, had ever heard of racehorses and now I find out that not only had they heard of racehorses, they had stories to tell about them.
"What happened?"
"When?"
"To Uncle Jim, when he went to see Seabiscuit."
"Oh, I don't know. My father said he could go but he was against gambling so he told Jim not to bet any money."
"He drove eight hours and didn't bet any money?"
My father made a sound like a whinney.
My mother, sensing an opportunity to reveal the superior nature of adults, said, "We did what we were told to do when we were told to do it."
My father, standing at the sink with his empty coffee cup, rolled his eyes.
"Horseshit."
My mother turned the radio off.
It was my first real experience of seeing the difference between what people say and horseshit.
A couple of years went by and all of us were in the car late one Saturday coming back from Rocky Neck State Park. All of us, my two sisters, my two brothers and Mom and Dad. Mike's up front and the four of us are crammed into the back seat of the Dodge. Mike, fiddling with the radio, rolls by the sound of a horse race.
"Hold it. Go back. It could be Needles."
He re-tunes the radio and folks, I know you're thinking I'm just saying this for the narrative flow, but it was Needles in the race and running last.
"Just wait!" I yelped, "He's going to catch up."
It was already at the mid-point of the race with the announcer droning on about the horses, Middlegate and Harvey's Own, when he said "and now making a move on the outside is Needles and he's moving up." My sister AnnLouise punched me. "They're making the far turn and out front is Harvey's Own, close behind is Middlegate, PayMe Tuesday and the rest of the field and........ on the far outside rail is Needles.... as they head down the back stretch for home......"
We lugged the big cooler and the beach umbrella down to the cellar after we got home. My sisters shook the sand out of the blankets and hung them on the line to shake out more. Mom made cheese dreams for dinner and we each got a soda left over from the beach picnic food.
My reputation as some kind of wizard was made, for Needles had run down the far rail passing Middlegate with inches to go. It lasted until I made my next prediction, something regarding the Red Sox and the World Series, but for that Saturday night the world was in perfect balance. Losers could come from behind, there was certainty and clear paths and full throated joy to be had, you could just pick it up off the radio.
Joe (Stay tuned.) Nation
Which prompts me to ask a question I was gonna save til April, but what the heck ... any good race tracks in/NYC these days? I like to go out to the track occasionally and watch the ponies - thought it might make a fun part of my NYC excursion.
Awesome story, Joe. That point you made about losers being able to come from behind was exactly why I loved that movie too. It was like Rocky with horses. Don't mind me, I'm italian. I compare every movie with Rocky.
ehbeth, I don't know much about horseracing, but I've been to Belmont, which is probably the easiest track to get to from the city.
I love the ponies.......I live about 25 miles or so from OakLawn Horse Racing......
Holy crap, you guys almost let my thread die! What the hell were you all thinking?! It's just a damn lucky thing I had a nighmare while taking my afternoon nap today!
In my dream, I was standing naked in a field of green, helplessly watching my thread becoming smaller and smaller, while you all stood around me laughing and pointing...<shudder>...it was horrible!
Now come on people, git yer damn priorities in order!!!
