HOBBYHORSING AROUND, THE GREATEST GENERATION, DRUNK DRIVING AND MORE: #23

 

THE GREATEST GENERATION

Friends were taking the ferry from the UK to  France and came across these gents headed for D Day ceremonies. They represent the best of us. If there is such a thing as valor in the ugliness that is war, they are the case study. There's nothing more that needs to be said.

DRUNK DRIVING

I would guess that not many of the boys in that photo are still driving. Certainly not driving and drinking. But consider the case of Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton. Drivers for Jaguar at Le Mass in the 50s, their car was disqualified the day before the race on a technicality. Both men spent the entire night drowning their sorrows in traditional alcohol-fueled fashion only to discover as they greeted the dawn that Jaguar had successfully appealed and their car was ready to go, almost as well-oiled as they were. Twenty-four hours of racing with no sleep and with a raging buzz on lay ahead. As they got ready, they realized that the traditional hangover remedies weren't working. So they tried the last one, hair of the dog. They downed a bottle of brandy and went racing.

They won, I suppose that it proves that there are times when a lack of inhibitions is essential to victory. True story. Google 'Drunk Le Mans' and learn more.

COMPETITIVE HOBBYHORSING

No foolin'. It's a thing. Associations. Governing bodies. Rules. Judging for style and creativity. National championships in several countries. 

They jump fences, they trot and they prance. They push to make hobbyhorsing an Olympic sport. And yes, it's not just kids. The most serious ones are adults.

I have said it before and I will say it again. You can't make shit like that up.

CAITLIN CLARK

Yes. I'm paying a bit of attention to the WNBA because I do love basketball. It's an interesting moment in their sport - maybe the Bird/Magic moment.  I remember how Bill Russel, Bob Cousy and John Havlicek sucked me into men's basketball in the 1960s. We'll see if Caitlin and Angel Reese and the rest of the league can suck in today's generation. 

If I had to guess, I would guess that no matter how good Clark or Reese or any other WNBA player becomes, attendance at WNBA games will diminish over time but settle at better than pre-Clark levels. Think of women's soccer. Even after winning World Cups with some highly visible and compelling athletes to market, league attendance increases over the past decade were driven almost entirely by opening new franchises in more soccer-friendly locales. 

There just are not enough eyes on the WNBA to lift it to major league status. 

CLICKBAIT ABOUT FOOD IN PARIS 

I thought that I saw an interesting article to read in BBC's Good Food newsletter. I was wrong. 

The article was titled Top 20 Foods to Try in Paris. The subtitle was 20 Local Food (sic) to Eat in Paris. 14 of the 20 were generic dishes that are available to me in our little village of 1,750 souls, 800 kilometers from Paris. Baguettes? Eclairs? Steak/frites? Duck confit? Really? Those are not local to Paris. They are foods that are French. Period. Most of the rest of the list had at least some merit - a particular chocolatier, a particular pâtissier, a particular cocktail in a particular bar.

 

Content. Websites need content. Any content will do. The internet has become a dumping ground for lousy writing about inane subjects as vehicles for eyes on advertising. Please. More cat videos. Less crap.

MUSLIM DEATHS AND DISPLACEMENTS

Do you know how many Muslims have been killed, how many Muslim children have starved, how many refugees have been displaced, during the civil war in Syria? 600,000 dead. 80,000 children starved to death, 5,000,000 refugees. Now you know.

Pakistan is preparing send back nearly 1,000,000 refugees from Afghanistan. What do you suppose that the Taliban will do to those folks? Did you even know that many refugees had fled the Taliban into Pakistan in the first place?

Is Sudan on track to become another Somalia? Both countries are Islamic states. Both countries are failed states, tens of thousands dead, millions displaced. 

Who marches against Muslim on Muslim violence? Apparently, violence against Muslims is only worth notice if there are Jews involved.