Shannon's Honcho runs Thursday at Oaklawn

Race 4
Purse $17,800. (Includes $7,120 Instant Racing Purse Fund) For Arkansas Bred Maidens, Three, Four, and Five Years Old. Three Year Olds, 117 Lbs; Older, 123 Lbs Claiming Price $10,000. One Mile, MAIDEN CLAIMING

2:54PM

1
Shannon's Honcho
Jockey: Luis S. Quinonez
Trainer: Ray Shumake

2
Ten Commandments
Jockey: Alex Birzer
Trainer: Ralph D. Black

3
Humble Mike
Jockey: Dylan R. Williams
Trainer: Stanley W. Roberts

4
Go Faster Forest
Jockey: Jon Kenton Court
Trainer: Richard D. Jackson

5
By His Grace
Jockey: Calvin H. Borel
Trainer: William Hornsby

6
Tuffy Ward
Jockey: Joel Campbell
Trainer: Donald Caudill

7
Lucky Native
Jockey: M. Clifton Berry
Trainer: Leroy Hellman

8
Rinka's Cominatcha
Jockey: Quincy Hamilton
Trainer: Tim Dixon

9
Tinkerlane
Jockey: Eddie M. Martin, Jr.
Trainer: James H. Cook

10
My Magical Breeze
Jockey: Luis Espinosa
Trainer: Tony Rengstorf

11
L'As de Pique
Jockey: Jose Riquelme
Trainer: F. Dewaine Loy

12
Moon Bid
Jockey: Glen Murphy
Trainer: David Morris

Proof behind the pudding

Here's the Channel 12 representatives picking up our Eric Sevareid awards this past weekend:

Matt Laaksonen, John Jacobson, and Jennifer Anderson

(True Minnesota last names, youbetcha.)

Apparently Matt is quite the hockey player. Dave's been trying to recruit him for his team, the Has-beens.

The world's a-Twitter

Let me say one thing, I don't tweet.

But I do Twitter.

This month, Twitter has really exploded in the media. Sure, it's been around and it's been talked about, but this month I found it creeping into my world more and more. When a local city government started updating the media via Twitter, I thought I better jump on board. I'm the only one at my station that's on, and it's been a good thing. The process was easy, fast, and painless. Within a few days only following media, policy, and government websites (and Dave), I picked up a few stories that related to our viewing area--and ideas that we didn't have before.

And this past Friday, when a press release fell into my hands from a citizen that was actually dated for Monday (today)... meaning I got it through the back door three days before it was supposed to be public, which in news is a beautiful thing...it was all I could do not to Twitter it out to the world. I actually typed the message a few times before deleting it... after all, at this point my tweets would only go out to my competition and then they would've had the story as well....which is no fun. So I can see directly how this ups the ante in the competitive news biz.

So, I'm not tweeting yet, even though I somehow now have followers. Somehow, I think blogging, email, Facebook, and texting are plenty to keep me technologically connected in my personal life. I have no desire to add anything to that mix right now. I do have a life outside of technology.... but on a professional level, it sure is tempting.... I just have to bide my time until I can convince my bosses it's worthwhile to tweet.

What people are talking about

Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible by David Plotz

If you haven't heard about this book, you will. I've seen it mentioned several places this week, and it sounds like an interesting read in a noncontroversial sort of way. This totally sounds like something that would've sparked a good debate between my comrades on the debate team in college. We loved this kind of stuff.

David Plotz claims to be an agnostic jew who attended Hebrew School and an Episcopalian high school but reads like an evangelical christian. Confused now? Plotz is the editor of the online magazine Slate. He supposedly got bored at a cousin's bar mitzvah, picked up a torah, and started reading the story of Dinah's brothers avenging their sister's rape. This stuff is in the bible? He figured it would surprise most people, and he started blogging his way through the Old Testament in a few different versions.

Some interesting tidbits in his book (taken from a few online sources):

*The Bible is the fundamental work of western civilization. To be educated, one must read the bible to understand culture and perspective. He says it should be taught in school for that reason alone.

*The Old Testament doesn't paint a pretty picture of God. Christians have the New Testament to finish the story, which is a very comforting continuation of the story. He says much of the New Testament brings order to the Old.

*There's much more there than a source of morality. There's shocking consequences and justification in Judges, a poignant short story in Ruth, and a erotic tale in Song of Solomon.

*People don't talk about the questionable parts: "The world is messy. People do immoral things. In Joshua, we see the slaughter of innocent people. Why isn't that the subject of the discussion rather than the celebration of the land?"

* The joy and the richness of the Book come from fighting with it, and we should look at people like Abraham, Gideon, Job, and Jonah. Their questioning, difficulty, contentiousness, and argumentation are the moments that should inspire.

I'll have to wait awhile before reading this one. I'm number 164 on the library list for it....if I don't buy it first.

All Minneapolis is a Stage

Minneapolis has the second largest theatre district in the country. Did you know that? I didn't when I moved here, but I have enjoyed the theatre culture more than I imagined.

There are big productions of the classics and off-productions similar to off-Broadway. I've been to three different theatres so far, and every production has been top notch. Great set, great lighting, good acting. It's not unusual to look at your playbill and see actors that list New York or Yale Rep in their biography. If you are going to act or be in theatre and you want to raise a family, this area is a good place for it.



That's the story behind Jessica and Ryan who moved from New York City to open up their own theatre in the small town of Osseo, which is a northwest suburb city of Minneapolis. For twenty dollars, you can see a quality production at the Yellow Tree Theatre. One of the gals I work with is like the Theatre Missionary for the group--she's always introducing us to good theatres or productions and trying to convert us to be all-out theatre goers. It hasn't been a hard sell. Last fall Jen led us reporters to see the romantic comedy, String, starring Jessica and Ryan.


If bigger theatre is more your style, downtown Minneapolis has alot to offer. The Guthrie theatre is an impressive building that overlooks the new I-35W bridge. The Guthrie stages classics as well as organic productions. Jen took me to see a Shakespere adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona, which was one of the most creative plays I've ever seen. The production kept all of Shakespere's lines--even the awkward ones--and turned the scene into a 1955 television production. They used old cameras (that worked), doo-wop, and creative tactics to make the story work in the days of full skirts, hair gel, and slumber parties. It's hard to describe, I left the theatre pondering the vast creativity of the production as well as the timelessness of Shakespere's work.



We returned to the Guthrie a few weeks ago to see Lorriane Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. I had to read this script in high school, so I knew the basics. The acting here was superb, and the house was full. I enjoy looking at set design alone and seeing how they manipulate lighting to emphasize roles or the time of day.



For my birthday in November, Dave took me to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. This is a tour bus stop, and a bit pricey. We saw The Producers, and it was good. Several big actors have come through here. A few years back, a Hollywood producer picked out Amy Adams from the cast and took her to California. She hasn't been back.

There are several good productions that we just couldn't afford... The Fiddler on the Roof, starring Chaim Topol... and of course, Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert as Ma. But of course, I'm not likely to drag Dave to that one.... This all proves there is more to see here than just the Mall of America!

What the X*&^$%?

How many curse words do you say in a day?

Several media outlets have published this week a link between how much people curse and the economy. Supposedly, people are cussing now more than they ever did, and it reflects a foul economy.

Seems like everything in news always comes back to the economy, doesn't it?

Here's a few quotes I found on Poynter:

Msnbc.com reports:
According to Los Angeles psychotherapist Nancy Irwin, a foul economy is prompting more outbursts of foul language. "There are a lot of elements that are out of our control right now and as a result, there's a lot more frustration, a lot more fear and anxiety," she says. "When people feel that, many cuss. Swearing is something that gives us an instantaneous release."

While not everyone swears, field studies indicate that those who do utter 80 to 90 taboo words per day, out of an average of 15,000 to 16,000 words we speak daily.While swearing has many uses, two-thirds of swearing is linked to anger and frustration, says Timothy Jay, professor of psychology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and author of a just-released survey of the "Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words."
During tough times, that number can go up.

We don't seem to have much will to clean up our language. Look at this 2006 story:
At this point, it's hard to find people working to stop swearing in everyday conversation. "There are so many other issues to deal with that people consider of a much more serious nature that they're not devoting time towards cleaning up language," said James O'Connor, author of "Cuss Control," a self-help book on how to curb swearing.Demand for O'Connor's book was initially high, and it sold through three printings in 2000 on an imprint of Random House. O'Connor has been mentioned in hundreds of newspaper articles and on dozens of television shows including "The Oprah Winfrey Show." But sales have since tapered off, and O'Connor is now self-publishing the book through iUniverse."For the enormous amount of publicity I got, I thought it would sell a lot better. It remains an extreme mystery to me, to my literary agent, why this didn't take off," O'Connor said.

You know, there really is nothing new about profanity. It is fairly safe to say that ever since we have had language, we have had ways to make it profane. Take for example, the "F" word. Historians have traced it back over the centuries; maybe as far back as 1475 it appeared in writing.

Of course, it was spoken before that.Shakespeare and even Scripture contain words that might not be spoken in decent company, as The New York Times noted in 2005.This piece (it contains some vulgar language, of course) describes how our concept of profanity evolves over time.

Stuck in the Mud

Ah, spring is here. Here in Minnesota, that means the ground is soft and soggy just about anywhere you step. You can imagine what a great day at work this was.