Wayward Turtle

Chili and I saw something unusual on our walk this morning - a turtle. Chili, at first, was taken aback, but she was still curious enough to take a good long look, and sniff, at this shell that was lying on the sidewalk. A young girl and her sister were also checking out the turtle and they quickly decided to take it to the lake and release it near the water's edge. We watched as they carried the turtle a block or so to the lake. Chili wanted to venture all the way up to the water, but I vetoed that plan - it was too muddy for her to be traipsing around in all that mud and gunk. I would of had to hose her down when we got back home, if she went down to the lake.

The girls said the turtle's release went fine and the turtle is now back in it's own habitat. As it turned out, the Wayward Turtle make for a rather interesting morning walk! Something different!

Belmont Time

We're only a week away from the last leg of the Triple Crown. I've made my choice for this lengthy race - it's Nehro. I'm certain he has the stamina to go the mile and a half distance. He also has great ears, and that makes for an unbeatable combination. Fast feet and great ears. Just like my Chili Dog! Remember my motto - 'BET THE FARM' (*).

* Note - occasionally stuff happens and other horses in the field will run faster than my pick. If that should happen (again), just say - "Oh Well" - a couple of times - and you should feel better in nothing flat. Oh, and sorry about any farms that you may have lost from my previous handicapping, but farming is a rather overrated profession, don't you think? Anyway, this pick is a sure thing.! However, just to be on the ultra safe side, bet Nehro to show. That's right - to show - not to win. This way, you can't lose. Remember, it's a sure thing! So, go ahead,"Bet The Farm"!

And The Winner Of The Preakness Is...

OK, let's keep it simple. No long explanation for why you'll want to bet this particular horse in the Preakness race coming up Saturday - just the facts, mam! So, go ahead and bet whatever might be left of your farm on - "Dance City". A very fast horse with great looking ears - kinda like my Chili Dog's (see photo)! Plain and simple. This one was so easy to pick!*


*caveats and disclaimers, stated in previous blog posts, do apply to any and all selections made by this expert handicapper

Remember my motto - "BET THE FARM'

Stuff Happens - Dialed In Sorta Dialed Out!

There was a slight glitch in my pick (Dialed In) to win the Kentucky Derby. My horse just couldn't run fast enough to beat the other horses. I'm sure glad I added a caveat to my blog post, prior to the running of the race. You saw it, didn't you? At least I think I made the posting of the disclaimer? As you probably know, I'm getting a little bit old, and at times forgetful. Oh well, anyway... as you may recall, I believe I did make the following statement sometime last week: "if the other horses run faster than my horse, the outcome of the race could be considerably different from my original prediction". Hopefully you paid attention to that warning, before you bet the farm on Dialed In. As mentioned in the title of today's post: Stuff Happens - Dialed In Sorta Dialed Out!

As a matter of fact, I found this year's race to be very difficult to choose a favorite, because there was no standout horse in the field. Even Uncle Mo, who was scratched one day before the race, was not a sure thing, as he had a less than stellar race just a few weeks before the Derby. As a result, this Derby provided one of the several unproven horses a chance to shine. And that is just what happened! Animal Kingdom ran a great race, but you couldn't readily ascertain the likelihood of that happening from his past performance.

Not to worry! We'll get back on track (no pun intended) - with our winning way - by picking the winner of the next leg of the Triple Crown. We'll just use the Charlie Sheen approach - WINNING!!! So... stay tuned for my next big pick and don't worry if you lost your Derby bet. We'll get it all back and more when they run the Preakness. I'm almost pretty sure of it. WINNING!

Easter Greeting

Nancy, Chili and I, along with our bunny friends, want to wish you a very happy Easter. Hope you like our video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5y6vXvoF-w

iPad 2 Arrives

After a three week and two day wait, not that I was counting the days, of course, the Fed Ex truck finally arrived at my doorstep. Apple estimated that it would be a three to four week time span from the time I ordered the iPad to the time of delivery, so they were actually within the range that was stated from the onset. It was kind of neat to track my order over the last three days - first from where it was manufactured in China, then on to Hong Kong, then to Memphis TN and finally on to Rancho Cordova and then to my house in Elk Grove. Fed Ex made the delivery within an hour of their estimated arrival time. So all in all, not too bad!

I had already prepared my desktop PC computer prior to the arrival of my tablet. You have to sync the iPad with iTunes and you need the latest version of iTunes (10.2.2) to make it all work. So, I updated my iTunes and backed up the iTunes folder last night. The sync went without a glitch and I was up and running in minutes. The iPad 2 is a very good tablet, even with the lack of Adobe Flash and no wide screen. It has it's faults, as do all tablets, but some of those faults can be addressed via apps and software updates. Although the built-in camera has been criticized for it's lack of resolution, I'm satisfied with the first picture I took using the camera function (see blog post of Edward Hopper's painting - Chop Suey). The lighting was poor at the location where I took the shot and there was glass covering the photo I used to take the blog picture. Yet, the camera captured a decent enough shot for posting to the web. No complaints at this point. An aside, as you may know - Edward Hopper is one of my favorite artist. I have posted Hopper pictures on this blog from time-to-time. I remember from an art appreciation class I took in college that Chop Suey, showing two women in conversation at a restaurant, may depict a Doppelganger (a German word for look-alike or double). I noticed that Wikipedia also mentions this phenomenon when describing the picture. I've never been able to find out what Hopper said in regards to the possibility.

Regarding my first impressions of tho iPad 2. Web surfing is great on the device; it formats sites accurately and it is plenty fast over Wi Fi. It is also very light-weight and exceptionally compact. I bought the basic model. It only has Wi Fi and 16GB - no 3G - the $499 model, in white. For my purpose it should do just fine. I'll post an update after I download some apps and check out the video capability. More to come...

Dick Dale

Dick Dale gets down with his rockin version of Bony Moronie. Watch Dick, who is left-handed, reach over the fretboard to play his guitar. Amazing! Check it out -


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzfNETjxdQs&feature=related


Dick Dale's Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Dale