did you follow the Derby Day festivities at Churchill Downs? The race came and went, after lots of sludge and mud. Who won? And what happened to the Mint Juleps and lovely ladies promenading on the green?
Hmmmm.
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
I have this question about entertainments and people gathering in places to watch them, and developing crazy traditions about days and plans for days, and how rain and wind and accumulated water can emphasize the craziness of the tradition and the spectacle of the spectacle itself. Why do we do that?
I thought you might know, Lawrence. And I thought it might mean something in the bigger scheme of things.
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
hmmmmmmm. How to get this conversation going? Perhaps I should pontificate ... but the questions are so much more fluid ... for me.
The Run for the Roses is symbolic of many things, perhaps. It's a microcosm of faith and superstition and tradition and money and separation and hope and luck and ... magic.
I loved Sea Biscuit, btw.
quote:
In a fairy-tale world, of course, Smarty Jones would go on to be undefeated. He would be invited to Churchill Downs for the world-famous Run for the Roses ... And before the anxious horse could set foot in the gate, there would be rain and thunder from the sky. ... And he would run his heart out anyway. .... Win the greatest horse race of them all. Which is exactly what he did.
~Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune
quote:
The 130th Kentucky Derby was won by two rookies who watched it on television from their living rooms a year ago, and an undersizd colt whose hardscrabble past practically makes him their brother-in-arms. If it seems as if America fell in love with the Smarty Jones story, wait until it gets to know the people behind him.
~Jim Litke, The Associated Press
quote:
Upsy-daisy, and hallelujah! The gutsy grinder from the wrong state with the wrong pedigree stood orthodoxy on its ear in Saturday's muck, and was this a lick for the little guys, or what? Smarty Jones, of humble origiins both genetic and geographical, came galloping through the slop to win a Kentucky Derby for Pennsylvania. Maybe he wasn't exactly thinking of his emphysema-ridden owner, but some unseen force had to be at work in turning one of the bleakest-looking Derbies into one of the most uproarious.
~Edwin Pope, Miami Herald
quote:
The newest poster boy for horse racing has a snappy name, humble roots, and a jockey and a trainer who were not Kentucky Derby blue bred. Smarty Jones is more than the Derby Winner. He's this year's Funny Cide. With a touch of Seabiscuit and a $5 million bonus thrown in.
~John Row Bergen County, New Jersey Record
quote:
Somehwere down the middle of this stretch -- somehwere past the rain-drenched crowd and the slop-and-mud that fluttered in the air -- an improbable fairy tale came clearly into focus.
~Dave Joseph, South Flordia Sun-Sentinel
quote:
... and everyone who witnessed Saturday's 130th Kentucky Derby came away with the feeling of having touched something very special.
~Gary West, The Dallas Morning News
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
The Run for the Roses is symbolic of many things, perhaps. It's a microcosm of faith and superstition and tradition and money and separation and hope and luck and ... magic.
... Yes, I thought you might have been mining a little deeper than the simple 'surface excavation' I chose to respond with...
... This area of cultural, mythical, symbolism, is one that I have such a limited amount of experience in, I decided to 'default to humor,' for lack of a more intelligent reply...
... If we are all 'beings' made up of light, bound together so tightly, we take on the appearance of solidity, then it can be supposed that 'all reality' is truly that of some sort of 'symbolic nature'...
... In the time of the ancient Greeks, symbolism was interwoven with reality to such a degree that what we have come to know as 'mythology' may very well have been a more 'expressive' form of communication, before the battle between 'the True, and the Good' was waged, whereby one was relegated to the backburners of literature, and the other was given prominence over how we percieve/experience the world around us...
... Yes, 'the horse' is a most powerful metaphor in many cultures where the horse plays an important part of everyday life. We can only imagine what the symbolism for the horse might be, in our culture, where a horse is merely an antiquated symbol of an old, bygone era, no longer representitive of who we are today... ... And the 'rose,' what does that represent to us, to you, to a multi-cultural culture like America?... ... Not to mention these other symbols like 'mud, sweat, and tears?... Women... refined women... rich... poor... big dog... little dog...
... it truly is a universal, and timeless story is it not?... the 'haves'... the 'have nots'...
... With regards to the 'Sea Biscuit' analogy, my political sensibilities were not lost on the symbology of the story of the plight and the conflict of the millionaire, going up against the ruthless billionaire, all the while, the symbolic story captured the hearts and minds of a population that was so far removed from either of these two protagonists, as to render the whole symbolic story, another symbolic statement, of a seemingly symbolic irony...
... symbolically speaking, of course...
________________________ "... He who is swimming against the stream comes to the Source..." -Gottfried Muller
Posts: 901 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 17 June 2003
Lawrence, there was no "intentionality" in my mining ... just serendipity, like the Magic thread that started with me getting a favorable review, from a Chinese fortune cookie.
I was figuring it out as it went along, ... really involving my DH is this avocation of mine. He interrupted my quiet space yesterday to turn on the television in search of the Kentucky Derby ... and, because it was delayed by rain and sludge, I had to endure lots of random sports information until the "blink of an eye" race was finally run.
Then, this morning, he was highly impressed with the collection of sportswriters and their work that appeared in our Sunday paper (the kind you hold in your hands and rustle as you turn the pages). Each of the sportswriters waxed philsophical about the Run for the Roses. So, in another effort to share my "other" life with someone who knows me well, I've played with the Kentucky Derby, in a way that bridges those realities that touch us, touch me, every day.
BTW, he was looking forward to your reply. I'm going to press "add reply" and then go back and read some good stuff from the man who swims upstream.
Thanks for playing, Lawrence.
-Kate
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
P.S., I left this thread up on the computer while we were eating dinner and cleaning up. My 9-year-old came in and started reading the thread, and then wanted me to read it out loud to him. He didn't want to hear the snippets from the sportswriters, but he was transfixed by the Lawrence contributions. Nice job on mythology and metaphor and spirituality and meaning, Lawrence. I see sweat on your brow after that effort. Wow.
Questions are so much easier to produce. Thanks.
My son said, "Mom, do you have a life here?" I said, "well, I have a personlity that people recognize ..." "So who do you talk to the most, and who do you like the best?" he says, and I realized that I had lots of people I like the best.
Anyway, thanks for the essay, Lawrence. Thanks for playing.
G'night.
-Kate
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
... Ahhh, serendipity, magic... Wonderful words, no?... Even "intentionality" has a certain poetic ring to it... And 'quiet space,' there is yet another...
... Speaking of which, All these synchronicities, along with a reply to Usha, regarding the 'Conversations with G-d' website, prompted me to recall an old post I wrote, about a funny story I made up -very much on the spot- as I responded to someone who made reference to 'Jesus' and a pair of shoes...
... I thought of your son -because I made up a joke- but after re-reading it, it might be more suitable to your DH instead...
... (btw, I mentioned 'the Gospel of Thomas' -in my story- because this young poster had refered to it on a number of occasions)
quote:
Josh wrote: ...when I read the bible (which I do from time to time) something often strikes me... John the Baptist said, heralding Jesus, that a man was coming whose shoes he was not fit to tie... Love, Josh
... (naturally, when I got this visualization with Jesus wearing a pair of oxfords -the following story was almost a foregone conclusion and it came to me, just as fast as I could type the words)...
quote:
... Did you ever hear the one, about the time when John the Baptist, tied Jesus' shoes together?...
... (I think it comes from 'the Book of Thomas,' or somthing)...
... Anyway, as the story goes, Jesus and John were in the market place one afternoon... Jesus decided to find a quiet corner, so he could close his eyes, and try to 'manifest' a little quick cash for some 'take out'... While he was going to his 'quiet place', John the Baptist 'tied' his shoes together... John then hollored out;
"Hey Jesus, come quick!!!"
... As Jesus jumped into action, he quite predictably, fell flat on his face... John, naturally laughed his bloomin 'head off' (history tried to blame it on a little 'tart' -but now you know the real story)... ... Jesus was soooo pissed -according to the those present- he was reported to have practically destroyed the entire Market Place... ... Like any good spiritual avatar, he felt rather badly afterwords... As the two pals headed off into the sunset (without the 'take out' btw), John was quick to comfort his friend, by reminding him just exactly how far he really and truly had come, since his old days of, 'Sodom and Gomorrah'... _________________ Duality, is a 'Singular Sensation...'
... btw, thanks for the private dip into your real world... I know I'm quite 'real' on this end -but sometimes it's very easy to 'symbolize' our cyberpals, as twenty six very articulate letters, with a somewhat limited visual field of a handful of generic 'emoticons'...
________________________ "... He who is swimming against the stream comes to the Source..." -Gottfried Muller
Posts: 901 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 17 June 2003
I don't know about this next place we have gotten to this morning. Real world, eh? What would Jesus look like in our real world? Would he wear oxfords? Would he have bet on the long shot to win the Run for the Roses? Was he rooting there in the mud and sludge for the unlikely victory?
What is it about the long shot victory that resonates anyhow? Perhaps it fuels our sense of possibility, the Horatio Alger, Little Orphan Annie, Shirley Temple ... optimism, in the face of some very long odds.
(Lawrence, I'm going to change this thread title, now that I've got you "on the line" so it reflects the content a bit more accurately...)
-Kate
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
Smarty Jones wins Preakness, Triple Crown try up next BALTIMORE (AP) -- Smarty Jones blazed into the lead turning for home and won the Preakness by a record 111/2 lengths on Saturday, setting the stage for a dramatic Triple Crown try at the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.
The undefeated colt has a chance to become just the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont since Affirmed in 1978.
He would also claim another $5 million bonus and become racing's richest horse.
Kerry Chooses Smarty Jones As Running Mate by Josh Righter
Though there has been endless speculation over a wide variety of possible vice presidential candidates for John Kerry to select, ranging from feasible choices like John Edwards and Dick Gephardt to long-shot dreams like Bill Clinton and the resurrected body of Teddy Roosevelt, Kerry has finally settled on a candidate, and it's one that few would have anticipated: popular racing horse Smarty Jones.
"Mr. Jones has the charisma and success that makes him a perfect candidate for my running mate," Kerry beamed in a recent press conference, patting Jones on his hindquarters. "With him on my team, there is no way I can lose to Mr. George W. Bush now."
Smarty Jones loses Belmont, falls short in Triple Crown try Richard Rosenblatt, Associated Press June 6, 2004 RACE0606
NEW YORK - Belmont, you ol' heartbreaker, you did it again.
Smarty Jones lost his Triple Crown bid and his perfect record when Birdstone upset the popular 3-year-old in Saturday's Belmont Stakes and toppled his chances to end a record 26-year drought without a winner of thoroughbred racing's most coveted prize.
The little red chestnut was poised to become the 12th Triple Crown champion when he turned for home, but Birdstone came flying down the stretch and took the lead inside the 16th pole to win by a length.
That move dashed yet another Triple Crown hopeful's attempt to do what no horse has managed since Affirmed in 1978.
... since you started this thread, I have yet to read, or hear a journalistic refrence to 'Smarty Jones' without the name 'Kate' immediately associated with it... and I probably never will...
... Now if we could just 'mind control' -like that- the worlds concept of 'Good'... and ... evil...
... hey... even 'I' might be able to finally enjoy a 'nice' race or two, without looking over my shoulder at that damn lumbering locomotive racing at breakneck speed towards an unstoppable force -that few seem to be noticing...
... well...
... 'here's ta hopin'...
... hmmm...
... "Smarty Jones"...
... "Kate"...
... "Smarty Jones"...
... "Kate"...
... "Smarty Jones"...
... "Kate"...
... hmmm...
________________________ "... He who is swimming against the stream comes to the Source..." -Gottfried Muller
Posts: 901 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 17 June 2003
And that horse that took Shorty Small, just seemed to come from nowhere. I watched that race, and felt the thrill of hope that Shorty was going to take it. And the disappointment when he lost was just sort of, almost crushing (but not like those football fans who can't bear to read the sports page after the team has lost).
DH and I were disappointed by the sportscasters on the scene who brought their mikes and their pesky questions to the track, moments after the defeat ... "and how do you feel?"
Duh?
Elegance requires a certain ability to dissemble and deflect, ...
... and the upside of the defeat ... a new dream.
Happy Sunday, Lawrence.
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
I thought of you and your locomotive last night, when we took off to see the Harry Potter film, ... Prisoner of Azkaban. There's a scene early on when there are objects (not unlike locomotives) hurtling straight at each other. I don't know if it's about entropy, but it was an idea about collision, for sure.
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
... no wonder I keep having questions, ... I tend to forget some of the answers. About the *necessity* for the collision in that Lawrence spin, I had forgotten all about it. Indeed I had. And I went back to the idea of avoiding collisions, just like I'd never ever been slugging it out with you in the garden of good and evil.
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
... and maybe one of the reasons I forgot this particular answer is because I didn't/don't "believe" it ... whatdya thing of the possibility it's ... just not true! ?
"The hand that erases writes the true thing." ~Meister Eckhart
Posts: 8052 | Location: usa | Registered: 29 February 2004
... and maybe one of the reasons I forgot this particular answer is because I didn't/don't "believe" it ... whatdya thing of the possibility it's ... just not true! ?
... Well...
... That's probably what I think of, at least as much as the 'other' possibility...
... However, following the more 'magical of possiblity' that it 'might' be true -is much more fun, and light hearted, than the alternative -so I'll stay this course a little longer... ... Besides, it is 'my truth' and 'my experiences,' and if I abandon it now, all I'll be left to explore, will be the dry, stale, historical 'truths' of others... Personal, experiential experience, is much more preferable...
... But occasionaly we come across what appears to be a fellow traveler, who seems to have touched upon the same -or similar- experiences as our own, and we are given an opportunity to 'verify' -as much as it might be possible, with such things- long held theories, that are very hard to prove...
... Like Eckhart Tolle, for instance... Usha opened a thread on his book 'The Power of Now' which I responded to -but I feel as though I can draw a further parallel to your comment, regarding our shared experiences...
... Now, He does seem to have gone far deeper into a mystical experience than I ever did...
... What was so intriguing about his writng was it so closly paralleled my own writing, and experiences, without him ever having been aware of my experiences -or me, his...
... I talked -almost theoretically- about an 'immovable force meeting an unstoppable force' (with an obvious parallel to political realities) in order to arrive at a place I called a mystical experience... (which also seemed like a much more natural place, from which to experience 'physical reality')
... He talked about humankinds misperception -or pre-occupation- with the 'past' and the 'future' which kept our consciousness in an irratic state, bouncing from one to the other, without ever stopping long enough to rest, and reside, within the calm, quite, and most powerful center of the 'Now,' the 'Moment,' the 'Present,' or, what he calls the 'Presence'...
... I could be wrong, but it sounds an awful lot like we're talking about the same thing to me, only using slightly different metaphors...
... Is this 'proof?'... Maybe not for you, and maybe not even for me... But it 'is' slightly satisfying for me... However... the beat does go on, doesn't it?...
________________________ "... He who is swimming against the stream comes to the Source..." -Gottfried Muller
Posts: 901 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 17 June 2003
Discussion Community 
and it came to me, just as fast as I could type the words)...
... no wonder I keep having questions, ... I tend to forget some of the answers. About the *necessity* for the collision in that Lawrence spin, I had forgotten all about it. Indeed I had. And I went back to the idea of avoiding collisions, just like I'd never ever been slugging it out with you in the garden of good and evil.