The Running of "The Cup"

Grandson No. 1's birthday

Aidan, grandson No. 1 turns eight years old in two weeks so I've been out buying his 'Birthday Parcel'.  We tend not to buy much in the way of toys as he's spoilt rotten already with toys but I bought lots of colouring books, crayons, chalk, coloured pencils, a puzzle book, some plastic inflatable things for the pool (his other grand father has a pool of his own), some soft toys and, of course his plastic lizards and dinosaurs - he's absolutely taken with reptiles - and a barrel of toy soldiers.

He also got a tin of Dominos, as he liked playing us with our set when he was up at "The Camp" last.

Got it all into a box - about as big a cardboard post box as I could buy at Australia Post - but I will have to unpack it all when Rhonda gets home so she can see what I bought (and 'vet' the items!) I nearly bought a packet of 'party poppers' but relented at the last minute 'cos I knew the Hoo-Raa that the other grand parents would have raised to have a house full of streamers! LOL!

Didn't buy him any clothes as we'll get him some T-shirts and shorts for Christmas.

Sighhhh! Only a month until grandson No.2, James,  turns four. Just have to come down the list to similar items suitable for a four year old!

Vive Americain!

Well, it is 3.10pm here in Australia and the 150th Melbourne Cup has been run and won!

1st Americain - 6yo Horse by DYNAFORMER - AMERICA G & Mrs V Ryan, K & Mrs C Bamford, the Australian-owned, American bred, French trained horse ridden by Hong Kong based French jockey Gerald Mosse. A victory to the United nations of Racing! LOL!

2nd Maluckyday - 4yo Gelding by ZABEEL - NATALIE WOOD N Moraitis A M, ridden by Luke Nolen. A young stayer that will benefit from this years run and will be a force next year!

3rd So You think - 4yo Horse by HIGH CHAPARRAL - TRIASSIC Dato Tan Chin Nam & Tunku Ahmad Yahaya, Bart Cumming trained and ridden by Steven Arnold - run down at the finish by Americain, this young horse will be improved by this run and the experience.

Zipping was officially fourth!

Oh! Descarado failed to finish, so, as 4yo gelding that may be the last of its racing days!

Melbourne Cup Day

Well, the "First Tuesday in November" is here and its "Cup Day" in Australia and it is the 150th Running of this great race - 2 miles in the old measure - and a fine example of a staying race for gallopers.

 The full race meeting is dedicated by one TV broadcast channel and, of coursem we have Fox Sports Racing doing their regular meeting coverage.

The rain has held off at Flemington and all the ladies are out in their finery and 'fascinators' with Carla Zampatti designer fashion brand featuring well in the ladies choice of outfits but I did see a few Hugo Boss outfits.

A fascinator is a headpiece, a style of millenery. The word originally referred to a fine, lacy head covering akin to a shawl and made from wool or lace. The term had fallen almost into disuse by the 1970s. here are a few examples:

The rain has definitely effected the track to favour the horses who like the slow to heavy going. I've had three bets at the Tote - 3 separate 'boxed' trifectas (means my horses only need to finish 1, 2, or, 3 in any order):

Shocking,  Zipping, Maluckyday.
Zipping, Master O'Reilly, Maluckyday
Zipping, Descarado, Maluckyday

So now we wait for 3pm - race time!

Shocking

5yo Horse by STREET CRY - MARIA DI CASTIGLIA Eales Racing Pty Ltd

Zipping

9yo Gelding by DANEHILL - SOCIAL SCENE Mr & Mrs L J Williams

Maluckyday

4yo Gelding by ZABEEL - NATALIE WOOD N Moraitis A M

Master O'Reilly

8yo Gelding by O'REILLY - WITHOUT REMORSE W F Sutcliffe, Mrs D Sutcliffe, Ms J Mawer & S Duric

Descarado

4yo Gelding by HIGH CHAPARRAL - KAREMA LADY  D A & Mrs R J Henderson, Henderson Racing Synd

Great last minute

James O'Connor's great 'after-the-bell' try to give "The Wobblies" a victory over the "All Bleks"!

Halloween

Not a traditional Australian festival but rapidly making in-roads to our culture as we become more cosmoplitan through acculturation. While widely believed to be an 'American festival. Halloween has a longer history past the settlement of europeans in America. Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration. Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

A Jack-o'-lantern

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av).

Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.

Of course, in the southern hemisphere we are moving from winter into spring but that does not prevent some of our local young ladies from joining the fun of 'Trick or Treating':

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Up through the early 20th Century, the spelling "Hallowe'en" was frequently used, eliding the "v" and shortening the word. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.

Of course. we treateed, but Denny-the-Dog was on hand at the front door as our 'Trick'! LOL!

Off to the specialist .... again!

Have a post-op follow-up visit with the urology specialist in Sydney today, so when I can get Rhonda out of bed and moving we'll be driving up to Sydney this morning.

This time we could not get a room at the Sheraton on the Park, so we are slumming it a bit at Sheraton's Four Seasons at Darling Harbour, the entertainment Mecca of Sydney!

Sheraton Four Seasons, Darling Harbour for those who want a 'peek' at a Sydney hotel. Dining tonite in The Corn Exchange Brassiere.