Brief Digressions

Prompted somewhat by reading Bill Bryson's quick and entertaining little Shakespeare biography, I've entered the DRF's Winter of Our Discontent Challenge. A small aside is in order here – the Shakespeare title is part of a series called Eminent Lives – something of a modern take on Aubrey's Brief Lives, which I naturally assume everyone has read, even if Aubrey really took 'brief' to an extreme for some entries. I have not compared it directly, but I suspect that Bill Bryson spent more time on Beaumont and Fletcher than Aubrey did, although perhaps without the same colorful turns of phrase – Aubrey points out that the playwrights had 'a wonderfull consimility of phansey' between each other and that they 'had one wench in the house between them, which they did so admire.' Speaking of John Aubrey, have I recommended his Monumenta Britannica here? It's one of the first vaguely-scholarly works on Avebury and Stonehenge...but I digress from my digression. So, without further ado, here are my rather ill-considered picks for this weekend's races: Sunny Issues Queen Joanne Tanguista Snow Cone LA Champions Sprint Tortuga Straits Captain Buddy The Q Club Hollywood Turf Cup Champs Elysees Obrigado Spring House I like Sunriver too; in real life, I'd probably bet him across the board just in case, although I don't think he's ever been quite as talented as his sister. Native Diver Ravel Arson Squad Buzzards Bay Now that I finally have TVG and HRTV, I'm hoping that some of the rather more interesting races from Hong Kong will be featured…I must consult with my TiVo…