Reads Going Into the Weekend

 Obituary:  Prominent thoroughbred breeder Arthur B. Hancock III, owner of Stone Farm, which is adjacent to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, has died at the age of 83.

He owned and bred Gato Del Sol, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1982.  He became even more famous as the owner of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence.  He had been the owner of Sunday Silence's infamous sire, the ill-named Halo, who was anything but an angel.

His brother, Seth, ran Claiborne Farm for many years after their dad, Arthur "Bull" Hancock, Jr, died in 1972.  After Seth retired a few years ago, his son took over the reins of that farm.

Snip:

As his Racing Hall of Fame bio notes, Hancock certainly had the pedigree to become an influential figure in the game simply by following in the family footsteps, but circumstances dictated he journey down a different path. Hancock's grandfather, Arthur B. Hancock, founded Kentucky's legendary Claiborne Farm, while his father, Arthur B. "Bull" Hancock Jr., expanded the business to where it became arguably the most important breeding farm in the United States during the 20th century, and whose sales and influence also impacted European racing.

After graduating from Vanderbilt University, Hancock moved to the New York City area and worked for a year as an apprentice under future Hall of Fame trainer Edward A. Neloy. He then returned to Claiborne as the assistant broodmare and yearling manager under the tutelage of his father. However, after Bull Hancock's death, Claiborne's leadership wasn't passed to Arthur. Instead, those duties went to his brother, Seth.

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He was also known as a songwriter and musician.

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Some Reads for Thursday

 Obit:  Famed artists Peter Max, known for his iconic 1960s "Day-Glo" psychedelic and similar paintings, died at the age of 88.  He was a big part of 1960s pop culture with his poster designs and such.

You can't talk about the decade without including him.

Snip:

Max began his career in graphic design in the 1960s and his swirly, colorful, instantly recognizable designs epitomized the era’s “flower power” art. But thanks to his prolific output and fun, accessible style, Max’s work remained well known and popular well into the 21st century.

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But in his first flush of success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his mural-like tableaus of flowers, the cosmos and cartoonish figures – all in vivid colors such as turquoise, orange and neon green – seemed to be everywhere. Dorm room walls were plastered with his posters. Household furnishings such as clocks and bedspreads sported his designs.

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Another obit:  Former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, 84, has died.  The article notes he had a neurological disorder, and Kyl had announced last December he was leaving public life due to dementia.

Details:

 Kyl spent almost three decades in Congress, serving in both chambers, and watched his party undergo a drastic transformation, with his career spanning Ronald Reagan’s presidency to President Donald Trump’s first term. 

Former  Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who considered Kyl a mentor, described the former senator in a February 2025 interview with The Associated Press as a true statesman and a “workhorse” among Washington’s “show horses.

”If you saw him on the plane, he was sitting in the aisle, in coach, and he was reading,” Ducey said. “And he was reading potential bills or Senate business.”

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Kyl would never cut it in today's shitshow of a U.S. Congress, even more lazy under GOP rule than in his day.

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Women are ditching churches, especially right-wing ones, to escape the MAGA cancer,

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A Few Reads for Wednesday

 TPUSA must be on the skids financially for Erika to go the sue route:

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Obituary:  Sunny,  13, the Portuguese Water Dog owned by the Obamas, has died, the family announced.  Their other dog, Bo, died in 2021.

Snip:

Barack wrote alongside multiple photos of Sunny through the years, “Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family.  We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us – including our first dog, Bo – immediately fell in love.” 

“We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature. Athletic and full of boundless energy, she leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren’t even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved,” he continued. 

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Monday Reads

 Apparently Mitch McConnell rose from the dead to finally show up at the US Senate today after being out of circulation since June thanks to health issues.

Not that Mitch actually missed anything.  Congress hardly did a damned thing during the time he was away.

I am surprised he came back.  He is going to be gone in January since he will be retired.

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Even the USSC will surprise cynics like myself every now and then.  This time they handed a defeat to Donald Trump over the mail voting issue.

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Worthless piece of shit and natural idiot Mike Johnson has no intention of regulating AI.

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Obituary:  Noted designer Bob Mackie, 87, has died.  His peak years were in the 1970s, when he designed flamboyant fashions for the likes of Carol Burnett and especially Cher.

Snip:

Mackie got his start doing drawings for Golden Age costume designer Jean Louis, then worked as an assistant to Edith Head. He created designs that Carol Burnett wore on her eponymous sketch show — particularly the “curtain-rod” dress she wore in a “Gone With the Wind” spoof that, he admitted in a 2000 interview with the Archive of American Television, would be forever associated with his legacy — and “The Judy Garland Show.”

He would eventually become known for his over-the-top, figure-hugging creations such as the elaborate, sparkling, black, midriff-baring two-piece ensemble with matching Mohawk headpiece that he designed for Cher to wear to the 1986 Oscars. He also designed splashy gowns for her to wear on “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” “Cher,” “The Sonny and Cher Show.” Among the other stars for which he designed gowns were Whitney Houston, Barbara Eden, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Joan Rivers and Mitzi Gaynor. He also dressed men for extravagant stage looks, including Elton John, the Jackson Five and Robert Goulet.

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A Few Reads for Sunday

 This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy at India's Nanda Devi mountain where a woman with the same name and the daughter of famed mountaineer Willi Unsoeld collapsed and died of illness.  I just finished reading another book focusing primarily on this ill-fated climb, Fatal Mountaineer.  I also have read John Roskelley's book about the expedition as well as Lawrence Leamer's biography of Willi Unsoeld.  Willi died less than three years after his daughter in an avalanche at Mount Rainier.  He would have been 100 years old on October 5.  That only goes to show how quickly time goes by.  He was just 52 when he died in 1979.  If you don't mind a paywall, here is a 2023 article about Devi's (as she was known) fatal climb of her namesake mountain.

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A hood and robe on the statue would have been more in line with what Charlie Who really was.

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At Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

 Last month I went with a small group--just four people--on an organized hiking excursion to the California Redwoods at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park near Crescent City, California.  Here are a few pictures I took:

 

I went to Avenue of the Titans and then Stout Grove.  

Some Saturday Reads

 Eighty-year-old Trump is finally realizing he is not immortal, just immoral, and he can't face it.  His "Trump-a-Palooza" event in Dallas was a total flop.

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From a few years ago is this article about the mystery of why Frank Sinatra's grave marker was replaced.

Some pretty interesting stuff there.

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Complete effing hypocrite is what  "libertarian" Rand Paul truly is.

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Reads for Monday

 I for one don't expect this country to EVER elect a female president.  Sexism is just too ingrained.  It doesn't matter that women have headed countries and empires for literally thousands of years, if one includes monarchies in the mix.  American men especially are so fucked up, they can't stand it women are in any position of power.

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It can only be hoped the GOP suffers massive losses in November.

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