01/11
“..and they’re off and racing !!!!”
At 3pm AEDT on Tuesday 5th, 24 starters at around 580kg each will leave the starting barrier for the 2019 Melbourne Cup
The 13.9-tonne pack will cover 3.2km in around 3min 20sec at an average speed of just under 60kmh!!
A.K.A., “The Race That Stops a Nation”.
This is arguably, more than can be said for any recent Federal Election,
And it’s no wonder.. This is one race that yields a clear winner..–BOOM!
A big plus; the off-field dance moves are truly mesmerising. If not for the stark, lack of coordination and choreography but for that strangely, captivating and fascinating “can’t look away” effect that arises from watching an old fashioned train-wreck movie unfolding in slow motion….
“A rose by any other name….”
If you’re faced with the dilemma of having to name a Thoroughbred -prepare to be enlightened..
One of the more common conventions has the foal’s name derived from the combination of the sire’s and dam’s names.
If you are still short on ideas, I have included some guidelines from the “Racing Australia Horse Naming Policy” to assist you with possible choices:
“Point 1 : General
- The maximum length of a name is 18 characters, including spaces and apostrophes.
- Could this be the antecedent to Microsoft NetBIOS character length constraints?
- Surprisingly, “Eighteencharacters” is acceptable (and is, in fact, a registered horse name) but “Eighteen Characters” is not.
- Punctuation marks other than apostrophes are not accepted.
- The use punctuation is rarely entertained by Gen-Z
- Names may be rejected if they are difficult to pronounce or read.
- (Especially when attempted while intoxicated)
- Names where the meaning or origin cannot be satisfactorily substantiated will not be accepted.
- Yoda, R2D2, Kor, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, etc.
- Any name, the use of which, would be contrary to law, will not be accepted.
- “Seniorconstable“, “Justice”, (likely to be encountered post cup-festivities) “smoketoomuch” (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x36cxnp) etc…
- The Registrar reserves the right to reduce, extend or add a naming restriction at any time.
- Bribery (or blackmail) present as interesting options….
- Names cannot be reserved.”
- Interestingly, winners of major events have their names retired permanently however, the rest can be re-used!
And if horse racing holds no interest for you, here’s a completely different pastime:
Our own AI Architect -Luke Housego posited thus, “Everyone should play this game. It will teach you everything you need to know about how AI can help make better paperclips. Stick with it. It is worth it”
Universal Paperclips https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html
Perhaps we could put AI to work on paperless clips?
“A horse walks into a bar.
The barman says, “Why the long face…?”
“The horse, (following up on a Seek ad), enters another bar and approaches the manager. “Excuse me, good sir,” the horse says, “are you hiring?”
The manager looks the horse up and down and says, “Sorry, mate!. Why don’t you try the circus?”
The horse, looking puzzled, asks, “Why would the circus need a bartender?”
Meanwhile, in the corner, one dog turns to the other and says,
“Fancy that!
..A talking horse!”’
Please spare a thought for these magnificent beasts and the arena in which, they find themselves…