TGIF

Happy Friday to all. It's almost 7 pm Friday night, and I'm just leaving work. The good news is that my weekend includes a cricket-drowning ceremony, aka a fishing trip.

Quote of the Week

"There's more than one way to skin a cat."
--Unknown

Headlines I Hit Today

Oprah's Legends - Is there anyone not fascinated by Oprah?

Iraq Soldiers Battle for Fidelity - Christians, check this out.

Hummer H1 Discontinued - How about those rising gas prices?


Links on Ninetyandnine I Hit Today

The Intermission - Check out this UPCI site with great resources.

Art and Geography

Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?
Every so often someone releases one of those “only 1 in 24 11th graders could find New York on a map” reports to try to make us all feel stupid and pretty disappointed with ourselves. Last Tuesday was that day. But for once I am legitimately horrified because the state no one could identify was Louisiana.

How Much Did You Say?
A Picasso sold for $95 million recently. That would be a whole lot of bikes for missionaries. You have to wonder it there’s something ethically wrong with paying that much money for a canvas. But then you have to consider that percentage-wise, a billionaire dropping that is probably less of a stretch for him than buying my car was for me.

So how much is art worth? My Dad is a connoisseur of horses and an expert on matters of horse trading. He has always said that a horse is technically only worth 45 cents a pound but truly worth “whatever you can get somebody to pay for it.” Maybe art’s the same way.

Kentucky Derby Fallout

I usually try to follow the Kentucky Derby and all the strategies, personal interest stories, and the like that goes into the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. This year other things have captured my attention. But just so you know, Barbaro won the Derby. There’s talk of the Triple Crown, of course. But there always is.

Triple Crown?
I hate to be the naysayer in the group since Barbaro is undefeated and the experts feel the Crown is eminent. But there are just so many factors that come into play. So much pressure is put on these young horses. You wouldn’t believe how many million dollar yearlings are discarded each year because of tendon trouble, hock lesions, bone chips, and so on. I don’t think Barbaro can make the trip. I don’t think any horse can. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think we’ll see another Triple Crown winner. The physical pressure is too much and these young horses just can’t take it. Not that I don’t think the Barbaro is talented, but I think the Triple Crown is asking too much.

Lagniappe
I’m currently reading Horse of a Different Color: A Tale of Breeding Geniuses, Dominant Females, and the Fastest Derby Winner Since Secretariat by Jim Squires. Squires left a major newspaper and turned from editing to horse racing. He raised the 2001 Derby winner Monarchos. If you have ever had even the slightest interest in horse racing, you’d enjoy this book.

Chronicles of Commuters

Last week I shared the changes in my life since moving. One major point I've bemoaned is the commute in post-Katrina Baton Rouge traffic. I feel that 38 minutes is too long.

Northern Neighbor weighed in on the issue regarding my commute:

Sorry to hear that your commute has tripled in length. And indeed, left-lane bandits are annoying. But in reality you still have a very short commute.

Those of us who work in large cities often face considerably longer commutes. A cousin in Annapolis spends 90+ minutes travelling around D.C. via the Beltway, one-way. Most of my colleagues here in Toronto spend 1 hour plus, each way.

How Do You Do It?
So you tell me: what's a normal commute? I can't imagine anything over 30 minutes, but people do it everyday. How?

Lagniappe
+ Check out the fluid dynamics of traffic and become an amateur traffic dynamicist.

+ This month Newsweek reported that over 3.4 million Americans commute more than 90 minutes one way each day. Can you imagine?

+ I have to ask: are gas prices not going up where you live?

Girl Power

Just over a month ago when the Couric decision was still in the air, I heard an interesting broadcast on NPR about women’s role in journalism today. It questioned if America is ready for a female anchor. Apparently so.

And according to some, that’s not all. This article pulls various recent statistics and proclaims that it’s a woman’s World:

http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=008798.php

Let the comments fly.

Lagniappe
“What Women Really Want”: The Dark Side of Feminism (Independent Newspaper at Harvard Law School)