apparently after watching iron man in the theaters, my personal training duties were not completely finished yesterday.
my friend (hot amy) came over to finalize the grades for the class that her and karen were teaching. after grading, karen and hot amy went shopping to celebrate. i had arrived back from the movie just in time to celebrate the dinner aspect. shortly afterwards, we did a quick workout... we ran.
for any of you who are wondering, this running with hot amy yesterday did not come completely out of the blue. she had actually asked me about running some time ago. believe me, i was surprised when she had first asked because it was well known that hot amy does not like to sweat. naturally, i agreed to show her how to run.
i had envisioned hot amy to run like phoebe in that friends episode where phoebe and rachel begin running together in the park. thus, i pictured hot amy to run with her arms flailing. i was quite surprised to find out that she's not bad at running... apparently because she used to do quincy track club way back when. she even had some ribbons from races. who knew?
anyway, i think one of the reasons why hot amy wants to learn how to run is not necessarily the getting in shape aspect of it, but more of the competitiveness of it. awhile ago, i thought it would be interesting to see hot amy race against her bff (andrea) who also never ran before. thus, i had imagined two women sprinting down a race track with their arms flailing around. soon, that got the gears in my head turning and thinking about the possibility of having a race between karen, kerry, jen, hot amy, andrea, janine, terri, etc.
and with the olympics coming this year, i immediately thought of the 100 meter dash (because i associate that event with the olympics... which is also one of the reasons why i even began running track and field in high school. yes, i had such aspirations growing up.) anyway, as 100 meters would be too long for non-runners, i decided to shorten the possible race to 50 meters. thus, i proposed the idea to some friends and for the most part, all of them were on board.
so needless to say, i think hot amy is more concerned about winning this 50 meter race than actually running per se. (i was actually tempted to add a video clip of her running to this blog post to show how hot amy was actually a decent runner, but thought against doing so because i didn't want other competitors to get an edge... you know... level playing field.)
anyway, i hope hot amy enjoyed the quick running lesson. perhaps this will spark her interest to run more, in which case she can join the friday night running club (which has been on hiatus for a little while). just kidding. that may be too much to ask...
Monday, May 5, 2008
I Suck At Iron Man
yesterday after running my favorite sister-in-law through another bosu workout, i met up with my friends (marc and kelley). the geeks that we are, we went to see the movie "iron man" at randolph.
now, i suck at iron man. growing up, i always thought he was an okay superhero as far as comic books go. according to my friend wikipedia
"Iron Man (Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Tony Stark, after being gravely injured and forced to build a devastating weapon, instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor whose metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime."
for anyone curious, my favorite comic book superhero growing up was "hawkeye". hawkeye had no special powers, but he had a bow... and a funny sense of humor.
needless to say, the movie of iron man was done very well. i even liked it more than the spiderman movies. robert downey jr makes an awesome tony stark. and surprisingly enough, gwenyth paltrow was good in the supporting role of pepper potts.
anyway, the geek that i am... i loved the movie. it reminded me of my childhood where superheroes kicked butt.
now, i suck at iron man. growing up, i always thought he was an okay superhero as far as comic books go. according to my friend wikipedia
"Iron Man (Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Tony Stark, after being gravely injured and forced to build a devastating weapon, instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor whose metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime."
for anyone curious, my favorite comic book superhero growing up was "hawkeye". hawkeye had no special powers, but he had a bow... and a funny sense of humor.
needless to say, the movie of iron man was done very well. i even liked it more than the spiderman movies. robert downey jr makes an awesome tony stark. and surprisingly enough, gwenyth paltrow was good in the supporting role of pepper potts.
anyway, the geek that i am... i loved the movie. it reminded me of my childhood where superheroes kicked butt.
I Still Suck At Personal Training
yesterday, my favorite sister-in-law (janine) came over to do a workout.
since she started the "mad dash" (which is the ymca's version of the biggest loser) she has lost some considerable weight. her weight loss and muscle gain is quite noticeable. i'm very happy that she has been able to see the results of all of her hard work.
apparently, janine told karen and i a story about how there were a pair of clothes she had bought prior to the mad dash that she wore the other day. as it turns out, the clothes were now huge on her, so she looked silly wearing the outfit that night. i wish she could have taken a picture of it, just so i could see it.
anyway, janine wanted to do yet another bosu workout. because i still suck at personal training, i obliged and ran her through the bosu workout. (pictured below is janine doing a workout. although not pictured, she is actually standing on the bosu ball.)
janine did an awesome job on the workout. the awful brother-in-law that i am, i worked her until she could not do any more pushups. (yes, i do derive some pleasure in making people workout until their muscles totally fail.) but, she did it, which is an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed. in fact, it even looked like she was not even challenged during some of the exercises... so i'll have to make things a little harder for next time. (perhaps i'll have her flip tires like in the biggest loser... now that i know where there are some...)
anyway, i'm quite proud of janine. she is doing a fabulous job... now if only she'd listen to me and change her strength training regimen and forget the ymca's "standard training" protocol in favor a more intense strength training workout... but that can come later. she's doing amazing regardless.
since she started the "mad dash" (which is the ymca's version of the biggest loser) she has lost some considerable weight. her weight loss and muscle gain is quite noticeable. i'm very happy that she has been able to see the results of all of her hard work.
apparently, janine told karen and i a story about how there were a pair of clothes she had bought prior to the mad dash that she wore the other day. as it turns out, the clothes were now huge on her, so she looked silly wearing the outfit that night. i wish she could have taken a picture of it, just so i could see it.
anyway, janine wanted to do yet another bosu workout. because i still suck at personal training, i obliged and ran her through the bosu workout. (pictured below is janine doing a workout. although not pictured, she is actually standing on the bosu ball.)
janine did an awesome job on the workout. the awful brother-in-law that i am, i worked her until she could not do any more pushups. (yes, i do derive some pleasure in making people workout until their muscles totally fail.) but, she did it, which is an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed. in fact, it even looked like she was not even challenged during some of the exercises... so i'll have to make things a little harder for next time. (perhaps i'll have her flip tires like in the biggest loser... now that i know where there are some...)
anyway, i'm quite proud of janine. she is doing a fabulous job... now if only she'd listen to me and change her strength training regimen and forget the ymca's "standard training" protocol in favor a more intense strength training workout... but that can come later. she's doing amazing regardless.
I Suck At Celebrating Terri's Birthday
saturday, a bunch of friends and i celebrated a birthday. the birthday plans were first proposed by my friends (bill and jen). from there, my other friend (hot amy) flushed out the details for the rest of the plan.
anyway, the person's birthday that we were celebrating is hot amy's sister (terri). naturally, i suck at celebrating terri's birthday. the plans were as thus: to have dinner at blue-22, which is a restaurant located in quincy by the quincy center mbta subway train station. the restaurant is partly owned by my friend (garv), who incidentally is considered an intellectual genius by hot amy. blue-22 was supposedly chosen for dinner because terri likes blue drinks, and blue-22 features a blue martini. (sure that was the reason...) (pictured below are terri and hot amy.)
i had visions of this dinner celebration going all awry because it was a hodge podge of different people (terri, her husband dave, bill, hot amy, jen, carlos, kerry, karen and i) and usually with large groups, it's always tough to please everyone. plus, we were seated at a rectangular table... and for anyone who knows me... i hate eating at rectangular tables when there are large parties. the reason i dislike them so much (curse you rectangular tables!) is that people will get segregated by where they sit such that one end of the table will be having a separate conversation as opposed to the other end of the table... and the people in the middle have the option of floating between both. thus, i prefer circular tables because the design makes it such that everyone is involved.
needless to say, i got to sit at the end or the rectangular table. it was actually quite fun because it gave me the opportunity to chat with garv (who was working that night) and his brother (kevin) who i have not seen in ages. it was fun and it made the night fun. plus, i got to chat with my bff (kerry) and karen who were also by my end of the table.
of course, it could have been the alcohol talking. prior to the dinner celebration, karen and i went to jen and bill's place. jen and bill had found this drink called absente, absinthe refined, which apparently according to their website:
"Absinthe was the trademark drink during the heady days of 19th century Paris. Famous artists, writers and poets like Picasso, Baudelaire, Hemingway, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Oscar Wilde all heavily indulged in it. Maybe it was the mystical allure of "The Green Fairy," or maybe it helped inspire their creativity.
Whatever the reason, experience Absente, Absinthe Refined, and recall the glamour of nineteenth century Paris.
We know what you're thinking. Absinthe has been banned in the United States since 1915 because people were hallucinating and having way too much fun, how did you bring Absinthe back?
Absente, Absinthe Refined, is a modern version of the original Absinthe recipe. It's still the same aromatic, dazzling emerald green liqueur made from a combination of exotic botanicals.
The only difference is we replaced Wormwood, the botanical that caused the initial ban, with a less bitter cousin called Southern-Wormwood, also known as "Petite Absinthe," which allows us to offer Absente in the United States.
Absente, Absinthe Refined , is best defined as a modern Absinthe."
the drink is 55% alcohol by volume... very nice. jen, bill and i indulged in drinking it. it was very nice.
anyway after blue-22, a few of us ended up at bad abbots, which is a pub also in quincy. that was an interesting experience to say the least. there were two married men who were trying to pick up women (karen and hot amy being two of them). apparently, hot amy's eyes melted one of them. (and you sometimes wonder how hot amy got the "moniker" of hot.) but the good news from bad abbots is that kerry now has a glass from the place. she wanted a particular glass that had a shamrock on it. being a bff, i could not disappoint her.
regardless, the birthday celebration was a good time. happy birthday terri!
anyway, the person's birthday that we were celebrating is hot amy's sister (terri). naturally, i suck at celebrating terri's birthday. the plans were as thus: to have dinner at blue-22, which is a restaurant located in quincy by the quincy center mbta subway train station. the restaurant is partly owned by my friend (garv), who incidentally is considered an intellectual genius by hot amy. blue-22 was supposedly chosen for dinner because terri likes blue drinks, and blue-22 features a blue martini. (sure that was the reason...) (pictured below are terri and hot amy.)
i had visions of this dinner celebration going all awry because it was a hodge podge of different people (terri, her husband dave, bill, hot amy, jen, carlos, kerry, karen and i) and usually with large groups, it's always tough to please everyone. plus, we were seated at a rectangular table... and for anyone who knows me... i hate eating at rectangular tables when there are large parties. the reason i dislike them so much (curse you rectangular tables!) is that people will get segregated by where they sit such that one end of the table will be having a separate conversation as opposed to the other end of the table... and the people in the middle have the option of floating between both. thus, i prefer circular tables because the design makes it such that everyone is involved.
needless to say, i got to sit at the end or the rectangular table. it was actually quite fun because it gave me the opportunity to chat with garv (who was working that night) and his brother (kevin) who i have not seen in ages. it was fun and it made the night fun. plus, i got to chat with my bff (kerry) and karen who were also by my end of the table.
of course, it could have been the alcohol talking. prior to the dinner celebration, karen and i went to jen and bill's place. jen and bill had found this drink called absente, absinthe refined, which apparently according to their website:
"Absinthe was the trademark drink during the heady days of 19th century Paris. Famous artists, writers and poets like Picasso, Baudelaire, Hemingway, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Oscar Wilde all heavily indulged in it. Maybe it was the mystical allure of "The Green Fairy," or maybe it helped inspire their creativity.
Whatever the reason, experience Absente, Absinthe Refined, and recall the glamour of nineteenth century Paris.
We know what you're thinking. Absinthe has been banned in the United States since 1915 because people were hallucinating and having way too much fun, how did you bring Absinthe back?
Absente, Absinthe Refined, is a modern version of the original Absinthe recipe. It's still the same aromatic, dazzling emerald green liqueur made from a combination of exotic botanicals.
The only difference is we replaced Wormwood, the botanical that caused the initial ban, with a less bitter cousin called Southern-Wormwood, also known as "Petite Absinthe," which allows us to offer Absente in the United States.
Absente, Absinthe Refined , is best defined as a modern Absinthe."
the drink is 55% alcohol by volume... very nice. jen, bill and i indulged in drinking it. it was very nice.
anyway after blue-22, a few of us ended up at bad abbots, which is a pub also in quincy. that was an interesting experience to say the least. there were two married men who were trying to pick up women (karen and hot amy being two of them). apparently, hot amy's eyes melted one of them. (and you sometimes wonder how hot amy got the "moniker" of hot.) but the good news from bad abbots is that kerry now has a glass from the place. she wanted a particular glass that had a shamrock on it. being a bff, i could not disappoint her.
regardless, the birthday celebration was a good time. happy birthday terri!
Friday, May 2, 2008
I Suck At Cleaning Cars
today has been a hectic and frustrating day at work. so it goes without saying that once it was time to leave work for the day, i was actually looking forward to taking the mbta subway home. (you know it's a bad day at work when i look forward to an mbta subway train ride home.)
anyway, one reason i was looking forward to the mbta train ride home was the fact that karen was going to be there to meet me. as it turned out, my friends (hot amy and carlos) were also available to take the train. well, it was an interesting ride home to say the least.
as there was a little drizzle coming down, i managed to twist hot amy's arm to give all of us a ride home. (i suspect that i really didn't have to twist her arm too much considering the company that was present.) the only condition for getting chauffeur service, however, was that i had to clean the inside of her car.
now, i have no problem cleaning cars. unfortunately, i suck at cleaning cars. apparently, the inside of hot amy's car is full of lint. aside from the blood splatter stains on the passenger side of car, there is lint all over the fabric of the seats in the front of the car, on the back of the front seats, and that arm rest separating the two front seats. hot amy claims that the lint is a result of her black sweater. personally, i am curious as to what she is doing with this sweater. i have this vision in my head that she is swinging her sweater around like it were a rally towel because there is just lint everywhere. i cannot imagine how else she would be able to get lint everywhere in that car. (well, i suppose i can imagine other ways she would be getting lint everywhere in her car... but that may be too risque to write and it's something i don't want to think about my friends doing.)
anyway, hot amy's niece usually picks the lint off the seats for her. due to child labor laws and the agreed conditions to receive a ride home, i had to remove the lint from the seats with the provided lint brush (which just so happened to be in the car). and again, i didn't mind doing it. i figured it was the only way hot amy would ever get me to clean her car because lord knows... she'll never beat me in any challenge or wager to even warrant a car cleaning. (pictured below is carlos with the lint brush. yes, he's in the back seat behind hot amy... also lint cleaning. i guess you could say he's been in the back seat of hot amy's car... hello... just kidding.)
needless to say, it was an interesting ride to my parents' house. i think karen, carlos, and i managed to clean up most of the lint in the car.
anyway, one reason i was looking forward to the mbta train ride home was the fact that karen was going to be there to meet me. as it turned out, my friends (hot amy and carlos) were also available to take the train. well, it was an interesting ride home to say the least.
as there was a little drizzle coming down, i managed to twist hot amy's arm to give all of us a ride home. (i suspect that i really didn't have to twist her arm too much considering the company that was present.) the only condition for getting chauffeur service, however, was that i had to clean the inside of her car.
now, i have no problem cleaning cars. unfortunately, i suck at cleaning cars. apparently, the inside of hot amy's car is full of lint. aside from the blood splatter stains on the passenger side of car, there is lint all over the fabric of the seats in the front of the car, on the back of the front seats, and that arm rest separating the two front seats. hot amy claims that the lint is a result of her black sweater. personally, i am curious as to what she is doing with this sweater. i have this vision in my head that she is swinging her sweater around like it were a rally towel because there is just lint everywhere. i cannot imagine how else she would be able to get lint everywhere in that car. (well, i suppose i can imagine other ways she would be getting lint everywhere in her car... but that may be too risque to write and it's something i don't want to think about my friends doing.)
anyway, hot amy's niece usually picks the lint off the seats for her. due to child labor laws and the agreed conditions to receive a ride home, i had to remove the lint from the seats with the provided lint brush (which just so happened to be in the car). and again, i didn't mind doing it. i figured it was the only way hot amy would ever get me to clean her car because lord knows... she'll never beat me in any challenge or wager to even warrant a car cleaning. (pictured below is carlos with the lint brush. yes, he's in the back seat behind hot amy... also lint cleaning. i guess you could say he's been in the back seat of hot amy's car... hello... just kidding.)
needless to say, it was an interesting ride to my parents' house. i think karen, carlos, and i managed to clean up most of the lint in the car.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
I Still Suck At Hanging Out With Coworkers
tonight, my coworkers and i went out after work. my new boss (anthony) wanted to get the entire team together and hang out. the last time the team went out, one of the members (sean) was in china. so tonight, the entire team was present. apparently, anthony likes to have outings to bring the team together and boost morale and all that.
i'd say it's a good method to build teamwork because booze and food are involved. unfortunately, i still suck at hanging out with coworkers. we ended up going to the elephant and castle pub and restaurant (like last time).
it's funny because i have been to plenty of company outings during my six year tenure at work... and each time i have always dreaded going out with coworkers. and again, it's not that i dislike my coworkers. i like my coworkers. i think it's more of the fact that these company outings are like "forced" get togethers.
needless to say, the food was delicious at the restaurant. (i had grilled salmon... and naturally a few pints of guinness.) i'll have to admit, it was actually a good time. maybe i shouldn't dread these company outings so much because i have had a pretty good time the last times out. then again, it could be the beer talking. but yeah, we hung out, told stories, laughed. it was fun.
anyway, i got to ride the subway train home with anthony afterwards (he lives in braintree which happens to be the destination of the same train i take home.) as he would normally have walked from the station to his house, i offered him a ride because it was quite late... and dark out. so lucky for anthony, he got to meet my parents while i picked up the car.
incidentally, my parents were quite impressed that he knew chinese better than i did. (he's a "white devil" with "yellow fever" as he is married to a chinese woman. plus, he has lived in hong kong.) so needless to say, i got to spend some quality time with the new boss. it was actually quite nice. i got to learn more about my new boss. he seems like he really cares about the team... it's a nice feeling... hopefully, he'll stick around because i sure would like him to... but we'll see.
i'd say it's a good method to build teamwork because booze and food are involved. unfortunately, i still suck at hanging out with coworkers. we ended up going to the elephant and castle pub and restaurant (like last time).
it's funny because i have been to plenty of company outings during my six year tenure at work... and each time i have always dreaded going out with coworkers. and again, it's not that i dislike my coworkers. i like my coworkers. i think it's more of the fact that these company outings are like "forced" get togethers.
needless to say, the food was delicious at the restaurant. (i had grilled salmon... and naturally a few pints of guinness.) i'll have to admit, it was actually a good time. maybe i shouldn't dread these company outings so much because i have had a pretty good time the last times out. then again, it could be the beer talking. but yeah, we hung out, told stories, laughed. it was fun.
anyway, i got to ride the subway train home with anthony afterwards (he lives in braintree which happens to be the destination of the same train i take home.) as he would normally have walked from the station to his house, i offered him a ride because it was quite late... and dark out. so lucky for anthony, he got to meet my parents while i picked up the car.
incidentally, my parents were quite impressed that he knew chinese better than i did. (he's a "white devil" with "yellow fever" as he is married to a chinese woman. plus, he has lived in hong kong.) so needless to say, i got to spend some quality time with the new boss. it was actually quite nice. i got to learn more about my new boss. he seems like he really cares about the team... it's a nice feeling... hopefully, he'll stick around because i sure would like him to... but we'll see.
I Suck At The Kentucky Derby
my friend (andrea) contacted me this morning. as we are both currently addicted to the application known as "scramble" in facebook, we played a few rounds together. for those of you who are curious, scramble is basically boggle... only on the internet (or more accurately, on facebook).
andrea and i have played a few games together now and each time i have outscored her. apparently, being hot amy's bff has not been too good for her. hot amy's aversion to victory has rubbed off on andrea because she can't seem to win a game against me. not one to give up, andrea is determined to beat me. she is apparently a glutton for punishment. hopefully i can use this to my advantage to challenge her and possibly get her to wash my car... or something.
anyway, andrea had to cut one of her rounds short because her dad came to pick her up. i had almost forgotten that she was going on vacation today. andrea was going to be visting the state of kentucky. now normally, i would not want to go to kentucky... ever... because kentucky conjures images of the movie "deliverance" only in kentucky and not atlanta. plus, i would probably stick out a little if i were in kentucky. that said, andrea was going to attend the kentucky derby.
naturally, that got me thinking. i suck at the kentucky derby. i would actually like to attend it at some time. according to my friend wikipedia:
"The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg). The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans.
Kentucky has been a major center of horse breeding and racing since the late 18th century. From the time the region was settled, the fields of the Bluegrass region were noted for producing superior race horses. In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, traveled to England, visiting the Epsom Derby, a famous race that had been running annually since 1780. From there, Clark went on to Paris, France, where in 1863, a group of racing enthusiasts had formed the French Jockey Club and had organized the Grand Prix de Paris, which at the time was the greatest race in France.
Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club for the purpose of raising money to build quality racing facilities just outside of the city. The track would soon become known as Churchill Downs, named for Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.'s relatives, John and Henry Churchill, who had provided the land for the racetrack. Officially, the racetrack was incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937."
now, i'm not big into gambling or any of that. but i'd still love to attend the kentucky derby... if only to see the horses. (growing up, i used to love horses because they seemed so majestic. in fact, i still find them very majestic.) i'd also love to see what the whole atmosphere is like during the kentucky derby.
i hear there is a mint julip concoction that is the official drink of the derby. (a mint julip is an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and sugar syrup. yes, sounds very appetizing.) i'd love to try it just to see what it tastes like. i'd also love to try the burgoo, which is a traditional thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables.
maybe some day...
well, hopefully andrea will have a good time...
andrea and i have played a few games together now and each time i have outscored her. apparently, being hot amy's bff has not been too good for her. hot amy's aversion to victory has rubbed off on andrea because she can't seem to win a game against me. not one to give up, andrea is determined to beat me. she is apparently a glutton for punishment. hopefully i can use this to my advantage to challenge her and possibly get her to wash my car... or something.
anyway, andrea had to cut one of her rounds short because her dad came to pick her up. i had almost forgotten that she was going on vacation today. andrea was going to be visting the state of kentucky. now normally, i would not want to go to kentucky... ever... because kentucky conjures images of the movie "deliverance" only in kentucky and not atlanta. plus, i would probably stick out a little if i were in kentucky. that said, andrea was going to attend the kentucky derby.
naturally, that got me thinking. i suck at the kentucky derby. i would actually like to attend it at some time. according to my friend wikipedia:
"The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg). The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans.
Kentucky has been a major center of horse breeding and racing since the late 18th century. From the time the region was settled, the fields of the Bluegrass region were noted for producing superior race horses. In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, traveled to England, visiting the Epsom Derby, a famous race that had been running annually since 1780. From there, Clark went on to Paris, France, where in 1863, a group of racing enthusiasts had formed the French Jockey Club and had organized the Grand Prix de Paris, which at the time was the greatest race in France.
Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club for the purpose of raising money to build quality racing facilities just outside of the city. The track would soon become known as Churchill Downs, named for Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.'s relatives, John and Henry Churchill, who had provided the land for the racetrack. Officially, the racetrack was incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937."
now, i'm not big into gambling or any of that. but i'd still love to attend the kentucky derby... if only to see the horses. (growing up, i used to love horses because they seemed so majestic. in fact, i still find them very majestic.) i'd also love to see what the whole atmosphere is like during the kentucky derby.
i hear there is a mint julip concoction that is the official drink of the derby. (a mint julip is an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and sugar syrup. yes, sounds very appetizing.) i'd love to try it just to see what it tastes like. i'd also love to try the burgoo, which is a traditional thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables.
maybe some day...
well, hopefully andrea will have a good time...
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