A Day At The Races

I promised some pics from my day at the Oaklawn horse track in Hot Springs this past weekend so here are some misc ones. I did OK really that day, mainly because I bet on a horse whose name I really liked, Stout Hope. I thought, well I love stouts (beer) so there is hope I might win one. Anyway it did win and paid me back 3 to 1 so I got another Shiner Bock and corned beef sandwich and went back to trying to pick winners based on real evaluations. I should have stayed with just reading their names. Between the slots, blackjack and ponies I really didn't come out too bad though.

I've said it many times but I'll say it again... Oaklawn is a real jewel for this state. I've been to other horse tracks (2) and neither was anywhere near as nice and classy as Oaklawn. It's a great place to people watch, enjoy some races, gamble, have some beers and good food and when the weather is warm enough it's just a good place to enjoy that too.

Trav's Game Pics

Somehow I completely hosed my digital camera over the weekend. Well, I say somehow but I have a feeling it was the soaking it got thanks to a lake visit. Oopsie. Ah I was sort of looking for a new one anyways as mine had started to get a bit outdated, which actually they start doing about as soon as you open the box. It was "only" 8 megapixels, which is just unacceptable it seems now. So my new one is twice as good and I tried it out at Dickey-Stephens Park earlier this week during a game between the Travelers and Springfield Cardinals (hooray!).

This year our Travs are pretty loaded with talent really. There's 3B Luis Jimenez (.285 - 7 HR - 45 RBI), SS Darwin Perez (.296 - 1 HR - 27 RBI) and everybody's all-world Mike Trout (.330 - 8 HR - 22 RBI - 23 SB). Hell just come out and watch future MLB superstar Trout if for no other reason, as the kid delivers more often than a herd of mailmen. I've really enjoyed watching him lead-off every night and hope we get to keep him all season... but I wouldn't count on it, despite the fact that he doesn't even turn 20 until August.

For the visitors, former Arkansas Razorback Zack Cox has been in town playing 3b for the visiting Springfield club. He tore it up at A-ball (Palm Beach) hitting .335 in 42 games but has found the jump to AA a bit more difficult as he's only hitting .236 right now. He did have a recent 6-game hitting streak so hopefully he's showing some signs of getting it going. Plenty of time as this is his first full year in the minors.

Anyway... here's just a few pics from the evening at America's nicest minor league ballpark, starting with Zack Cox (#7) at the plate. Click 'em to blow 'em up:

25 Years

Ah 1985... the 49ers beat the Dolphins in the Super Bowl, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time hits record, my St Louis Cardinals were cheated out of a World Series win and the Lakers beat the Celtics for the NBA title. In the music world Tears For Fears were shouting, Foreigner wanted to know what love was and Madonna was getting into the groove. A little channel called VH1 launched and Elmo was introduced on Sesame Street. What was I doing? Well, I was beginning my hair metal obsession and trying to look cool in my Camaro.

Here's proof that I didn't achieve the latter:



Flash forward 25 years, remove some hair on top, add some on the chin, pack on some pounds, change vehicles and here's what's left:



Fun stuff! Then I was listening to Metallica and Ozzy, playing video games and going to concerts. Now I listen to Metallica and Ozzy, play better video games and go to concerts (with better seats). See how much things change?

Also of note, in 1985 actress Courteney Cox used the word "period" (in the physical sense) on U.S. television for the first time, in a commercial for Tampax brand tampons. Yes, some things change a lot.