Happy Birthday, David McCallum!

It's currently in the mid-60s, and it's gloriously clear outside.  For the first time in almost a week, I can see the Indian Peaks - and they have added some snow to their crests since I last saw them.  I'm back at home until October, unless someone has an emergency; it's nice to be able to relax.  Lovey is stretched out in her chair; Mocha is on the sofa; and Nedi is laying in the open patio doorway.  I have my Pandora country station playing on the PC and I feel pretty good.  ....  The Tebow fan contingent of the Broncos got to see Tim play yesterday afternoon; not as quarterback, but as a wide receiver.  The Broncos are being decimated by injuries in both the offense and defense - and folks watching the pre-game warm ups thought that Tebow was out on the field as a lark, running patterns and receiving passes from both Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn.  Coach Fox had to put him in as a wide receiver in the second quarter.  Orton never threw a pass to Tebow during the game, but Tebow ran his routes and did his blocking jobs.  (I had fun watching it....)  And the Broncos managed to hang on for a win against Cincinnati.

I had a wide-ranging variety of crushes on TV and movie stars as I was growing up.  But I generally liked the quiet, understated character actor - and not the really flamboyant guy.  When The Man from U.N.C.L.E. appeared on TV, I fell for David McCallum, not Robert Vaughn (who always seemed too slick and snide for my tastes).  I saw every movie that he was in, and tried to see every TV appearance.  I still do that, today.  But, of course, I get to see him almost weekly on NCIS now.  Today is his 78th birthday, according to his biography, although I've also seen a date that says he's 86 today.  I honestly don't care how old the man is.  I just know that I have enjoyed watching him act for almost 50 years - and I raise my glass to him in a toast, for the years of enjoyment he has brought me.  And I still snicker every time I think of a few lines from an NCIS episode:  Abby, the forensics specialist, says to Gibbs, "I wonder what Ducky [McCallum's character] looked like when he was younger...", and Gibbs says, "Illya Kuryakin."

Mother Nature still seems to be somewhat upset.  Besides the flooding in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and the drought and wildfires in Texas, Montana, Wyoming, and Michigan, she's kicking up her heels with earthquakes in Japan, Nepal, India, and a few tremblors along the New Mexico and Colorado border, as well as volcanic eruptions in Indonesia - Mount Tambora.  I think she needs a giant Alka-Seltzer...  or maybe a few maidens thrown into one of the calderas around the world.  

PETA has now delivered a list of complaints to Ocala Breeders Sales, Keeneland, and Fasig-Tipton regarding the sales of two-year-olds in training.  The young horses are shown under saddle, on the track, "working"  a short distance at high speed.  The times that the youngsters run are posted, so the possible buyers can see what the horse is capable of at that time.  This year, a horse broke down on the track at Keeneland, and, at OBS, another had a fatal heart attack (the aorta burst).  The people at PETA are saying that the running under saddle, in a timed event is detrimental to young horses, and they wish to have it eliminated from Sales meetings.  -  If you know me, you know that I am of two minds about horse racing.  I thoroughly enjoy seeing horses race - there's no question of that.  But...  A horse does not reach physical maturity until it is between 5 and 8 years of age.  I am still with the old school thinking that a horse shouldn't be ridden until it's at least three (or until it's knees have closed), and it shouldn't be raced until the age of four or five.  What "old school?"  The thinking of the original breeders of the thoroughbred race horse - back in the late 1600s - that old school.  I know that today's economics, and racing systems around the world, do not allow for that.  Younger horses have less bulk, and can move faster.  Breeders/owners are looking for track records and for big prize money.  It's a circular argument, and there is no end.  If racing were done just for the horses' benefit - there would be none.  But humans put their noses in it, and their money in it, and created the racing industry.  I do like the thrill of the races - but I wish the horses would be allowed to mature prior to their undergoing such strenuous regimens and actual racing.