Jenny is watching kids again

I think this will help her feel good about herself. It's only for the next couple of months, but she's having a blast watching our goddaughter and her sister while their mother is at work. The girls played in a kiddie pool in our front yard while Jenny tried to write an email. They were being totally wild, jumping into the pool from our deck (1 step, not much to speak of). I thought for sure they would be worn out from that, but someone turned their crank and they were far from out of energy. I'm fairly certain they'll calm down a bit once they're used to coming over.

Lance did it again

No suprise, right? I think this was the only wet day on this year's tour. Lance again managed to stay on his bike despite several teammates going down around him in a turn (unlike when US Postal went down in the team time trial a couple of years ago) and pedaled in for an unprcedented 7th maillot journe in Paris. Good god, the man looked strong this year. He's definitely retiring at the top of his sport. He may be 32, but if he wanted to keep riding I believe that he has at least 1 more victory in Le Tour tucked away, especially if he continued with as strong a team as Discovery was this year.

As far as Discovery, isn't Vinokourov going to be riding with them next year? That kid's got a bright future. Not knowing what their strategy is going to be next year, I think it would be nice if they can ride for Hincapie for a year or two while grooming a youngster for later greatness. He's earned it.

Also, it was nice to see Beloki finish this year. He hasn't been the same since the massive crash 2 years ago at the end of the Pyrenees. I'm glad that he recovered enough to earn a spot in the Tour.

Didn't sleep, took 4th in a freeroll

I didn't sleep last night because I didn't bust out of the freeroll I entered until about 6:30 this morning. Whoops. I am totally beat. Oh, well, I won a little (very little, actually) cash and an entry into the weekly $1k AP Challenge tournament this Sunday. Wish me luck.

The Tour de Lance

Whoops! I mean Tour de France. It looks to me like he's going to take home a record 7th win this year. I'm somewhat ambivalent about it - on one hand, the icon "Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and cycling badass" is very seductive, and I find myself pulling for him DESPITE the toothache inducing sugary sweet inspirational story that is his history. On the other, and speaking as a fan of the sport, a victory in the Tour without Armstrong present just seems a little hollow. Yes, it is an incredible achievement just to complete a 21 day race that takes place over a few thousand kilometers, and an even greater one to do it faster than the top competitors in the sport, but to win within the next couple of years will leave that person (I'm guessing Jan Ullrich for yellow next year, but he's getting kind of old) wondering whether or not they're the best, or just the best of those that chose to compete.

I dunno. Perhaps after a few years Armstrong will just be a hero from cycling's past (like Hinault and Merckx), not someone directly comparable to so-called "real life" athletes.

A couple of links

Doesn’t everyone keep theirs in the trunk?
“If you move again, I will shoot you!”

It's a world of laughter, a world...

...of tears.

Thank god Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has been shuttered. Imagine the carnage if that thing was still operational.

Boom!

I'm not even going to post a link, all y'all know what happened in London today. Reportedly 33 dead, 700+ wounded, and I'm sure the count will go up.

Anyhow, I'm posting about this because of my reaction. As the scope of what happened became clear to me, I was at first horrified, then deeply saddened, and then I started questioning my feelings and wondering why I didn't feel the same outrage and sorrow for Iraqi civilians who are dying in similar numbers every day. The conclusion I came to is that my feelings for Iraqis are muted in comparison to what I'm feeling for Londoners because the Iraqis are in a war zone. I do fear, however, that I am rationalizing, and that the real reason London has me so amped up is that I identify with Brits much more culturally and that they therefore count more in my eyes than an Iraqi.

I hope I'm not a pig.

I miss her already

Sandra Day O'Connor announced today that she is going to retire. How sad that this finds me pulling for a Gonzales nomination. It's scary to me that he is the most moderate of the likely nominations.

Hell in a handbasket, I tell ya.