Around the Horn

1. The 'glug, glug,' sound that was heard soon after the Supremes rendered
their verdict for Obama care was the not-so-good Repub presidential ship, all candidates ahoy (!), sinking like a stone, on November's political waters; not even the Hollywood mouse can save that baby as it plummets toward Davy Jones' locker.

2. Rupert Murdoch bought it from Castle &Cooke. Larry Ellison bought it from Murdoch. The island of Lanai, the former pineapple realm, with it's 3,200 residents was sold lock and barrel last week to a guy who needs an island like he needs another nickel. There is only one economy on Lanai: tourism. Murdoch alledgedly lost 20-30 million a year.  Can Ellison improve the infrastructure and bring stability to the anxious working class residents? Only if he thinks outside the box.

3. Nora Ephron. The only movies I ever saw that she directed or wrote were 'Julie and Julia,' and  'Silkwood.' The rest fell under 'chick flicks' and I passed them by. I read Ephron's 'Heartburn,' but never indulged in her blog. Who out there believed her when she publicaly named FBI agent,
Mark Felt as 'deepthroat?' Not me. But she was right. NPR as they often do, broadcast several interviews with Ephron. They were witty and charming and filled me with regret; how could I not have recognized skill and finesse? Nora Ephron. She said in 2009, that she was not looking ahead 10 years, but only thinking of today. And today meant carbs. The best bread in the history of civilization was being baked right now. Today was the moment. Tomorrow, Norah, I'm eating a donut in your memory.

Double dog Dares...

1. As a kid in parochial school, whenever the circus came to town, the nuns appropriating a stack of freebies escorted all the classes to an afternoon under the big top, which was frequently housed in a civic auditorium and not in some dusty field (which is always somehow) nostalgically depicted by H'wood film. Security wasn't very good because in those days you could wander from floor to floor (if you were a sharp kid) and one year my brother and I found ourselves in a remote hallway lined with the big cat cages; tigers, and lions paced lazily behind their bars as we ran gleefully past. I loved the trapeze acts, and was mesmerized as the chalk flew off the upside down catcher's hands. But the greatest act that ever held a spotlight under the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus top, was the Flying Wallendas. All eyes were riveted on the family members as they delivered the 7 chair pyramid, the crown jewel of their act, on the high wire, with no safety net beneath them! I could barely breathe as they crossed overhead. That memory still ranks as the pinnacle, the mother, of all high wire acts. Nik Wallenda's walk across Niagara Falls, last week, was as daring as one of his grandfather's, Karl, visions; he may indeed have one upped the pater familia. But, I couldn't help thinking as I watched Nik cross through the falls mist, that if Karl were still alive he would have thrown down the double dog dare.

2. The Pope. Vatican fantasy in hand, crushed the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represent most American nuns, stating that the US nuns defy not only conservative doctrines, but by their actions, the powerful Bishops too. Benedict wants the nuns to stop all political activity. And fall in. Uh, the time for the veil and the habits are gone, baby, gone. These are not your 'fathers' nuns.

3. Big day coming for El Presidente. The Supreme Court rendering verdict on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Stay tuned.

I'll have another and another...

When I was a lowly minion toiling away, sanding shelves, raising them onto metal brackets, hands encased in a sturdy pair of leather gloves, rubber hammer at my side, music blaring like cool waves through the cavernous warehouse which would become in future years a storage facility housing low circulation books from the great collections of the UC Northern campuses, I learned an invaluable life alerting lesson. The crew was a strange, eclectic, group. Some white collars who were tired of the
suits. A handful of high school grads who were on their first real gig. Some laid off dudes who had nicknames like 'Snake eyes,' and 'Red' who thought nothing of driving to LA for a 48 hour binge, wheeling back in time for the Monday shift stinking of alcohol and ready to bed down at the first opp
in the dark cold empty stacks. The place was filled with misfits. 'Snake eyes' was a pleasant enough fellow, and it was ol 'Snake eyes' who gave me my nickname, 'Lil Bit.'

It was during this strangely exhilarating grunt time (we were all free of admin responsibilities) that a guy named Donnie taught me how to read the Daily Racing Form. Golden Gate Fields was a heart beat away, and everyday coming and going to work I passed the racetrack. It was a glowing mystifying beacon. I had been to the races once, and  I wanted to know more. So Donnie, my work partner, taught me how to make sense of the figs. How to read between the lines.  How to choose a horse. Picking winners came later.

This Saturday, at the 144th running of the Belmont stakes in New York, a chestnut colt, 'I'll have Another' will attempt to win the triple crown of racing. It's been 34 years since the last horse, Affirmed swept the crown (Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont). No horse from Cali
has ever won. If young Mario Gutierrez wins aboard IAH he will become the first Mexican jockey to do so. How hard is it? It is so hard that only 11 horses have won the crown. There is a saying: it takes luck to win the Derby; speed to win the Preakness, and a race horse to win the Belmont. The racing gods are a prickly lot. I hope they let us all have a glimpse of thoroughbred greatness.