Posts from — February 2016

Tony Angelo has been withdrawn by the Race Marshal. Tony didn’t break any rules, but the officials felt they were acting in the best interests of Tony and his puppies. While Tony is officially listed as a rookie, this is his third attempt to complete the race. Tony’s puppies are all AKC registered Siberians.

The leaders (Hugh, Brent & Allen) have arrived for an 8-hour mandatory rest stop at Braeburn before the dash to the finish tomorrow.

The Current Standings at 10:00PM CST (8:00PM PST):

At Braeburn
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Carmacks
4 Matt Hall (15)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
Beyond Dawson
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
14 Luc Tweddell (21)
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
19 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^R
20 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^R
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Why are you being hustled by street vendors to buy sad and drooping former roses, vegetative matter that missed the cut for bouquets, or were too late to the hospital?

Blame Esther A. Howland (1828 – 1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her guilt is writ large by the Greeting Card Association’s Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary. She imported the concept to the US from Britain to bolster her father’s stationery store in 1847.

Of course, it wasn’t long before the stationers had infiltrated school boards and imposed the now mandatory exchange in the classroom to push the low end product of Asian children and prisoners.
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Since it is the height of bad manners to speak ill of the dead, I won’t get into which Supreme Court Justice just died because all of the comments that come to mind are unkind, although factually true.

OTOH, the tradition, Supreme Court Justices aren’t appointed in Presidential election years, claimed to exist by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, Chuck Grassley is not supported by reality:

Kennedy 1988
Rehnquist 1972
Powell 1972
Brennan 1956
Murphy 1940
Cardoza 1932
Clarke 1916
Brandeis 1916
Pitney 1912

Update: The President announced he is going to make a nomination in due course as is his Constitutional duty.

Tony Angelo is the last team on the trail to Dawson. Ten teams have already left Dawson and ten are still resting there. Carmacks and Whitehorse are already in the 20s this morning which is warm for sleddogs.

Allen has about a hour lead on Brent which is not significant at this point in the race.

The Current Standings at 9:00PM CST (7:00PM PST):

Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
At Pelly Crossing
4 Matt Hall (15)
Beyond Dawson
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
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The is the birthday of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. It not a coincidence that the people now alive who hate/fear what these men accomplished tend to be in the same political party in the US. 😈

Yesterday was really annoying as my network was not playing well and M$ was patching all kinds things.

After a century there has been a direct observation of the last major element of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity – gravitational waves, a ripple in the space-time continuum. This is not the explanation for the existence of Donald Trump.

Badtux noted that Cliven Bundy got arrested at an Oregon airport. Meanwhile the last four holdouts at the Federal bird sanctuary have surrendered.

So far the Presidential primaries have consisted of caucuses in a conservative rural state and an open primary in a rural conservative state. Next will be caucuses in a different rural conservative state, followed by the first closed primary in a rural conservative state. All kinds of people have been dropping out before there is a contest in a state that actually reflects the demographics of the US.

The Yukon provided some snow for the teams to move over, although it wasn’t packed so it slowed things down. Mike Ellis runs a team of Siberian huskies that are always the best looking team on any course. Mike and Sue’s puppies win at dog shows as well as sleddog races.

Hank DeBruin (10) returned to Eagle and scratched with 9 puppies. He has been having problems since Central and was well behind the field, which was not normal for his team.

The Current Standings at 9:30PM CST (7:30PM PST):

Beyond Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
At Dawson
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
14 Luc Tweddell (21)
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
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Today will be a matter of everyone gathering at Dawson, while tomorrow they’ll dribble back on the trail. It will be a matter of getting a good night’s sleep, fixing equipment, eating a few hot meals, and having a beer or six.

Tony and Hank are the only teams still in Alaska, the other 20 teams are in the Yukon. Tomorrow times will be Central time for me and Pacific for the Yukon.

The Current Standings at 8:00PM CST (5:00PM AKST):

At Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
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Brent is about 3 hours from Dawson and an extended rest. He is getting ready to drop down into the valley, so it might not take the full 3 hours.

The Current Standings at 6:00AM CST (3:00AM AKST):

At Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
Beyond Eagle
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Mike Ellis (2)
12 Dave Dalton (8)
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The race took just over 2 days to find a winner, with 16 of 23 starters finishing. This the tougher of the two 300s because of the mountains, Rosebud & Eagle, so two-thirds of the field finishing is really good.

The finishing order was probably:

1 Jessie Holmes (62)
2 Aliy Zirkle (51)
3 Joanna Jagow (54)
4 Ryne Olson (58)
5 Josh Skerritt (72)
6 Shaynee Traska (65)
7 Melissa Stewart (66)
8 Benjamin Good (55)
9 Olaf Thurau (57)
10 Chase Tingle (53)
11 Dr. Joe Carson (60)
12 Tim Muto (67)
13 John Dixon (69)
14 Mary Helwig (59)
15 Maliko Ubl (63)
16 Otto Balogh (52)

No guarantees beyond 10th place.

Hank DeBruin is the only one left at Circle as Brent Sass pulled into Eagle this morning. Hank had a problem with a dog yesterday and it has really slowed him down.

The jumble ice is reported to be really fierce on the rivers this year. The winner may be the team with the strongest sled.

Brent Sass crossed the border into the Yukon just before 10PM CST [7PM AKST]

The Current Standings at 9:30PM CST (6:30PM AKST):

Beyond Eagle
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
Beyond Circle
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Mike Ellis (2)
13 Cody Strathe (14)
14 Paige Drobny (5)
15 Luc Tweddell (21)
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The last day before the beginning of Lent on the Gulf Coast that once belonged to France, it is Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday”: Laissez les bon temps rouler!

It was first celebrated in Mobile, Alabama, but the big show these days is in New Orleans, and it is a holiday in the state of Louisiana, because people wouldn’t show up for work anyway, so why fight it.

The tradition is to serve King cake, which is a circle of cinnamon bun dough with a white frosting on top sprinkled with sugar colored purple, gold, and green. If that weren’t bad enough, they put the figurine of a baby in the dough, and whoever finds it in their piece is supposed to be lucky. Actually if you find it and don’t choke on it, I guess you are lucky. You should use a small ceramic figurine, as some of the cheap plastic versions melt in the oven [yummy].

Jessie Holmes (62) has won the 300 with Aliy Zirkle (51) coming in second. The manner in which the 300 is reported makes it difficult to rank teams until they have finished.

Rookie Jay Levy scratched at Mile 101 for the well being of her dogs. She is from Durham, North Carolina.

The Current Standings at 7:30 CST (4:30PM AKST):

Beyond Circle
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Mike Ellis (2)
13 Cody Strathe (14)
14 Paige Drobny (5)
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