- Amongst the Head Chef's many talents is her ability to spot celebrities on the street. This comes from years....oh, many, many years....spent in the West Village, home to the stars. She's actually cooked for some of them too - Rikki Lake, Donna Karan, and a guy from Depeche Mode to name a few. But her main talent is spotting them on the street. Some relatively recent sightings include: Kyra Sedgwick (today), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Peter Dinklage, Christy Turlington, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Calvin Klein, James Woods, John Krasinksi, Rachel Ray, Todd Oldham, Mark Wahlberg, Jimmy Fallon, Mary Louise-Parker, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman...the list goes on. Or so she says. "Just the tip of the iceberg," she claims. I spotted Tom Verlaine on Spring Street a few months ago; that's the best I can offer (though that was pretty cool).
She aptly demonstrated her skills on Sunday. We were walking up West 11th Street from the river, we had just crossed a street, and she goes: "Shhh....Pay attention!" It had to be a good halfway up the block, when I saw Julianne Moore with a kid and a dog in tow. We had just seen her in I'm Not There the day before. "How did you know?" I demanded. "I just know." She claims to be able to spot the celebrity glow without having to see their faces. I think it's the same sense she gets when she picks out horses from the paddock. She looks in their eyes and she knows that they know that they are something special. I think she employs the Vulcan Mind Meld, or something along those lines. Maybe she could use that to help me forget all my recent bad bets, like when Spock erased Kirk's memory of that robot he had the hots for. (A great episode, in which Spock also expertly plays a waltz on the piano, and is greatly surprised (for a Vulcan, at least), when he recognizes the waltz as an unknown work of Johannes Brahms written in his own hand.)
The Head Chef is not so good, however, at getting many names right when it comes to racing, and sports in general. The other day, I for some reason brought up the name Edgar Prado. And just to see if she's been paying attention for the last six years, I asked her who he is. "Baseball player! He's a baseball player, right?" Well, he does have the name for it, don't you think? I can hear Bob Shepard at Yankee Stadium (you mean, the Red Sox have a PA announcer?) going: "Leading off......the shortstop.....number twenty-four.......Edgah......Pra-dough."
So I thought I'd compile an all-star team of jockeys with good baseball names (since I, of course, have absolutely nothing more productive in my life I could possibly be doing right now). So here it is, position by position:
1B - Garrett Gomez
2B - Eusebio Razo, Jr.
SS - Edgar Prado
3B - Dale Beckner
C - Joe Talamo
LF - Corey Lanerie
CF - Elvis Trujillo
RF - Michael Baze
Top Starting Pitcher - Martin Garcia
Righty Setup Man - Calvin Borel
Lefty Setup Man - Jamie Theriot
Closer - Ramon Dominguez
11 Comments:
A Tom Verlaine spotting is very cool. A friend of mine once turned a corner in the village and waked smack dab into Dyan. Back in his Jesus period when a lot of people were not happy with him. Anyhow, taken aback, she blurted out: "Bob, You're great, I don't care what they say about you"
Dylan said (imagine Dylan singing Positivly 4th Street) "What are they saying about me?"
I know making light of a murder allegation is not a good thing, but why on earth is the DRF devoting so much coverage to Jose Santos's daughter's arrest? The latest headline on the DRF site: Sophia Santos gets public defender.
When Jerry Bailey's son has his first erection will the DRF also publish that?
Stick with those who race or are prime players in the game.
Batboy: Jeremy Rose (Pete's long-lost son)
Bullpen catcher: Victor Molina
Set=up man: Mario Pino
Highland Cat ran third in a $16,000 claimer at Calder on Monday. It was supposed to be on the turf but it may have been moved to the dirt track. He paid $3.60 to show after being 3 to 1 on the morning line. The winner was an AE named Kauffman.
You're admitting to being a Trekkie, isn't writing a blog about horse racing nerdy enough.
;)
mutaman - Great Dylan story, thanks for sharing. I'm imagining Positively 4th Street, but can't yet get the picture of Cate Blanchett as Dylan out of my mind.
There does seem to be a lot of coverage in DRF of the tragedy involving an ex-jockey's daughter and the victim of her alleged impaired driving. The latest story is really more about Santos himself though - the judge's initial ruling that he should appear with his financials, which was kind of incredulous and later rescinded; as well as his willingness - or not- to help provide an attorney.
My Hall of Fame closer is Angel Cordero Jr.
Bill Hartack and Early Fires are rotation worthy, and Jacinto Vasquez is a utility player.
Guess I have nothing better to do either.
Got a good laugh out of this post. Have you thought about signing up the Head Chef for the Paparazzi? She could turn those celeb sightings into tabloid cash-ola. You're right about Bob Shepard as the PA guy, Sox don't have one with a voice and delivery to match 'ol Bob's. Also Anon's pick of Angel Cordero as the Mariano Rivera of jocks is right on the money- Angel was/ is a gamer at the track and in everything he does, including softball games at the Spa. Anyway, today's post is a nice break from that string of near-misses and also rans! /S/Green Mtn Punter
Come on! There's no place for Jorge "Chop Chop" Chavez?
Would Chop Chop be a Wally Backman type? Batting 2nd, playing 2nd base. Always making contact.
Or would he be the Sultan of Swat?
I definitely saw Chop Chop as an infielder--reliable utility infielder, day in/day out player.
But that's just wishful thinking on my part.
Wally Backman!!
Chop Chop sounds more like hockey player to me, actually.
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