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How my week-end went

Pretty well, all things considered. My week ended on sort of a shitty note, one that I’d rather not talk about, but so far the week-end seems to be making out for it.

Yesterday, the Preakness Stakes, the second race of the Triple Crown, was run in Baltimore. I don’t make as big a fuss about the Preakness as I do about the Derby, which ran two weeks ago, but I do watch it almost every year, if only to see if there’s going to be a Triple Crown winner this year. And from what little I know about horseback racing, things are looking pretty good this year. The same horse won both the Derby and the Preakness, and he won them both by a fair margin, which means he just might have the stamina to run the mile and a half Belmont, the final race of the Triple Crown, three weeks from now. And on top of that, it was pouring rain in Maryland yesterday afternoon, and the horse still held his own.

(Unrelated, but still good news, I went to my parents’ house to watch the race, and my Montreal sibling had dropped off the cats, both the ‘street rescue’ one and the ‘wanted ads’ one, in preparation for moving back in town for the summer. I got to pet the kitties, and they are both so nice and so gorgeous. I think I’m more ready then I expected to get a new cat of my own. Don’t tell the Montreal sibling, though; I don’t want to be pushed. I’ll go to the SPCA in my own good time.)

This afternoon was CanGames, a local convention of tabletop and role-playing gamers in Ottawa. I was leading a play-test for A Match Made in Austen, the card game I designed and which is now being produced by Renaissance. It was a small play-test, only one person signed up for it, but that one person was very enthusiastic, and picked up some of our promo material to distribute to friends who might like the game as well. My friend Caroline Fréchette, the driving force behind Renaissance, was also there, and we had a good look around in the vendors room, browsing other card games, looking for some inspiration. (We bought a few, and are planning a board game day to test them out. We haven’t had one of those in ages, it’s going to be great!) That was a fun time.

Speaking of A Match Made in Austen: the Kickstarter is trucking along nicely. The game is now 36% funded with 31 days to go. I don’t want to jinx it, but we might just make it, and wouldn’t that be cool! Launching a finished product knowing that at least two dozen other people are as excited about it as we are.

And tomorrow is a day off, because it’s Victoria Day. I’ve talked about my feelings about three day week-ends before (in a gist, the two day week-ends suit me fine) but it has been a while since I spent a day in my jammies, watching movies or reading. I think I might be overdue.

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Posted by on May 17, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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What to do this week-end: Watch the Kentucky Derby

derby

The most exiting two minutes in sports. The run for the roses. The first jewel of the Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby is known by many names. I call it “The one sporting event I make a point to watch every year, because it’s the only one I care about.”

I first started watching the Derby in 2008. I don’t know what I was doing the other years, I’m not even sure why I started watching it. All I really remember is that the television was on NBC that afternoon, and I was in the dining room watching it, and there were celebrities on the screen talking about their picks for this horse race they paid a small fortune to come and watch. One of the celebrity, I think it was Jerry O’Connell, said that they was rooting for Eight Bells because having a filly in the Derby was (and still is) such a rare thing. That is what caught my attention. One girl against 19 boys? Count me in! You go, girl horse! So I watched the hours of footage and interviews and touching back-stories. I watched the race, where I favorite came in second place. I watched her fall down after the race was over, having broken both front ankles, and I heard the announcement that she had been euthanized. So… that was a memorable first experience.

I was a little anxious when I went to watch the next Derby, but I watched it anyway. I watched Calvin Borel win two Derbys in a row, and then lose the next one. I watched the rivalry between the scrappy underdog I’ll Have Another and grand favorite Bodemeister. I missed the 2013 Derby (I don’t remember why, maybe I was out of town, but that’s not a reason not to turn on the tv) but I went back on track last year, when “people’s horse”, California Chrome, took the race by 1 and 3/4 lenght. And I’m going to watch tomorrow.

Who do I pick to win? I don’t know! Every year I tell myself that I really should start following the racing world during the rest of the year, get more informed and make a more educated choice then “I like that horse’s name”, and every year May comes around and takes me by surprise. So I guess I’ll be looking out for the interviews, the expert opinion and the touching back-stories. So far, the names I like best are Frosted and Carpe Diem.

 
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Posted by on May 1, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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