The overhead aerial shot that was used on the replay of the (80-1 longshot) Rich Strike’s run to win the Kentucky Derby was just incredible! Supposedly it was taken from a plane. I could watch it over and over again. In fact, I did watch it over and over again. The leader horses came out really fast. In fact, the opening quarter mile time of 21.78 seconds was the fastest ever recorded in Derby history. The first seven horses to hit the quarter-mile mark finished: 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th, and 20th. They were dead tired by the time Rich Strike tossed his cigarette butt, and huskily stated under his breath, “I can take this,” starting his charge from the end of a 20-horse pack, straight to the win. Rich Strike’s original owners sold him for just $30,000 back in September. He wasn’t even in the race until Friday about 30 seconds before the deadline, when another horse dropped out. Rich Strike earned $1.86 million for just his second career victory.
An Austin woman who has been reselling antiques for 11 years, got a pretty good deal on her purchase of a 52lb., $34.99 marble bust from a Goodwill thrift store in 2018. Years later, Sotheby’s eventually confirmed that the bust was estimated to be about 2,000 years old, came from ancient Rome, and likely belonged to Roman military leader Sextus Pompey. Pompey’s father was Pompey the Great, a political ally turned enemy of Julius Caesar. Germany technically still owns the bust and anticipates getting it back in May of next year and displaying it in the Pompejanum, a replica of a Roman house based on excavations, located in Bavaria, Germany.
“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” – Will Rogers
Today, someone posted a video of a dumpster outside Target ‘somewhere’ full of brand-new bikes. There were even unopened boxes of new bikes not yet put together. Their comment was “maddening, shameful and disgusting waste.” I would have to hear the rest of the story before I cast blame. Isn’t there a bike shortage right now? One article said it was because of tax reasons. Wasteful.
After just four minutes of bidding, one of Andy Warhol’s famed portraits of Marilyn Monroe sold for a record $195 million to an art dealer known as Go-Go. The pop art piece, “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” is now the most expensive 20th century artwork ever sold. Warhol painted the piece in 1964. The previous record for a 20th-century artwork was set in 2015, when Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d ‘Alger (Version O)” sold for $179.4 million. This is a perfect example of Blue Chip art, which is any art that’s expected to reliably increase in economic value regardless of the general economic conditions. Artists like Picasso, Warhol, Rothko and Pollock are Blue Chip. The article I read said that since 2000, the top of the art market has appreciated at an average annual rate of 8.9%, while the stock market has trailed it significantly, growing at a rate of 3.4% in the same time-frame.
“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.”- Billy Sunday
A couple of months ago I thought of something that I needed to ‘remember’ while I was in my bathroom at the office, so instead of walking to my desk and getting a pen, I took an eyebrow pencil and tried to write myself a message on the mirror. The only problem was the pencil didn’t want to mark on the slick mirror so there was quite a bit of skipping on the letters. Like a bunch of skipping. No problem. I told myself that it didn’t matter because there was just enough of the letters there to remind me of what I needed to do. Well, it’s been months and every single time I go into the bathroom, I look at the mirror and try to figure out what I wrote. I still don’t have a clue.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Buck Taylor is 84. He was gunsmith-turned-deputy Newly O’Brian in the CBS television series Gunsmoke. Actor Harvey Keitel is 83. Actor Frances Fisher is 70. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 72. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 69. Actor Debra Winger is 67. Singer Janet Jackson is 56. Actor Tracey Gold of Growing Pains is 53. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman of Yes is 73. Drummer Bill Bruford of Yes is 73. Singer Enya is 61. Singer Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block is 52. Country singer Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys is 74. Singer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo is 72. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 86.
Musician Pete Townshend of The Who is 77. Singer-actor Cher is 76. TV personality David Hartman is 87. Actor Nancy Kwan is 83. Singer-actor-model Grace Jones is 71. Drummer Phil Rudd of AC/DC is 68. Singer Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills is 63. Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 81. Keyboardist Bill Champlin of Chicago is 75. Singer Leo Sayer is 74. When I Need You. Comedian and former U.S. Senator Al Franken is 71. Actor Mr. T is 70. Country singer George Strait is 70. Comedian Stephen Colbert is 58.
Last week country music lost legends Mickey Gilley and Naomi Judd. Gilley died at 86 after being diagnosed with bone cancer. Gilley’s great career in country music included 39 Top-10 hits and 17 Number-1 songs. He was a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart and had survived car and plane crashes. His life and career changed in 1980 when he teamed with Johnny Lee to provide the music and setting for Urban Cowboy with John Travolta. The movie was partially filmed at Gilley’s famous nightclub in Pasadena, Texas, and started a new popularity for country music and bars that offered line dancing and mechanical bulls. Quite a change from disco balls and Saturday Night Fever, which was popular at the time. Gilley sold his namesake theater in Branson, Mo. a few years back, but was still scheduled to perform this past weekend with Johnny Lee for their Urban Cowboys Ride Again show.
Mike Hagerty, the building superintendent Mr. Treeger on Friends and Seinfeld, died at 67.
It’s the largest single-day food drive in the nation. Every second Saturday in May (that’s this Saturday so don’t forget!), letter carriers collect goodness and compassion of their postal customers (that’s YOU), who simply leave non-perishable food items next to their mailbox before the delivery of the mail. Letter carriers will collect these food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes, and distribute them to local food banks, pantries, shelters, and churches. It’s so EASY. Go ahead and put your sack or box out so you don’t forget to fill it for Saturday morning.
It’s been so hot that the trees are bribing the dogs.
This is from an old post but since I had never thought about it, so maybe you need to know too… some parents woke when their young son came running in screaming that his 3-year-old sister had somehow locked herself inside their new front-loading washing machine, and it was filling up with water and tumbling. A sibling had turned on the washer after closing the door. I knew that abandoned refrigerators pose a risk, but front-loading washers, and especially dryers, also pose a safety risk for children due to the potential for accidental entrapment, which occurs when a small child climbs into an open washer or dryer and the door is closed. A sibling unaware of the hazard or even an unsuspecting adult may then turn on the appliance with the child inside. Yes, there are safety locks you can install. Sometimes when I am folding clothes, my most curious cat Sully, quietly jumps into the dryer. I never thought about the cat getting hurt.
In the middle of a funeral procession in Peru, mourners carrying a coffin heard a strange knocking sound from inside the coffin, which was placed on the ground and opened. The recent car-wreck victim was alive and gasping for air. She was rushed to the hospital, put on life support, but died a few hours later. Some family members believe a coma may have been improperly diagnosed as a death.
Actor Bill Murray said his behavior, “I did something I thought was funny,” but it “wasn’t taken that way,” on the set of a new film, which led to a film shoot shutdown. The comedian said his actions resulted in a complaint from an unnamed woman. Dave Chappelle says he refuses to let the onstage attack overshadow his comedy shows. Local sweetheart, talented singer, actor, dancer and very first winner of “Models of the Runway” Kalyn Hemphill, is expecting twins. Reese Witherspoon has written a children’s book based on her adventures from her childhood, about being a busy kid with a million ideas and lots of energy. The book, Busy Betty will be released in the fall. Dolly Parton stated earlier that she doesn’t feel she earned the right to be nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. BUT she has now reconsidered. “I am honored and humbled by the fact that I have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Parton wrote. “Of course, I will accept it gracefully. Thanks to everyone that voted for me and to everyone at the @rockhall. I will continue to work hard and try to live up to the honor.”
A Lubbock man was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which happened in 2021. The day it happened, the child’s mother called 911 saying she had just found her (29-year-old) boyfriend naked, in bed with her 7-year-old daughter, and that she needed an officer quickly because the man was running away. (I’m taking out the profanity, but the story is one that all parents will understand.) The dispatcher asked, “And he’s your boyfriend?” The mother responded, “He’s supposed to be, but you hurry up or I’m going to kill him. I’m going to ******* kill him. Please hurry, please hurry. I’m fixing to kill him, hurry please, please hurry, please ******* hurry. He’s jumping the fence. He’s ******* jumping the fence. Hurry.” Then 911 heard the woman tell the child to get in the car. The dispatcher asked if the child was ok. The mother said, “Yes, I got home just on time.” She continued following him in her car. There was a loud sound and 911 said, “Did you just hit him?” The woman said, “Yes, he jumped right in front of my car, he jumped right in front of my car, sir.” At this point, I was laughing so hard and rooting for that mom. The child was later able to give specific details about the assault which led to his arrest.
Still hard-working 100-year-old style maven, Iris Apfel, quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed, a woman who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades, is launching an H&M collection of playful, festive, and fun clothing. There is a 2014 documentary about this amazing and talented woman. It’s a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes if that’s any indication of the appeal, and well worth a watch. She has style and knows how to use it, dressing herself each day like she is painting a picture. Her costume jewelry collection is one of the best. “A woman is as old as she looks, but a man is never old until he stops looking.” A quote from Iris’s grandfather. So true.
This is just a little FYI for you. As you know, Connie and I have been delivering papers the past few months. It’s not a bad job, but sometimes it takes you away from something you really like, like going home or eating. During our travels, I discovered a little place called Gaspachos El Charro, located in the former French bakery building in Richwood. They have a fruit cup that is fantastic, finished off with a little salt and lime. I’ll miss picking up a cup while I’m delivering, BECAUSE someone else has taken over the route for now… I hope. Have a great weekend and thank you for reading us.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
