Thursday, April 29, 2010

I believe in second chances!!!

Photo by Tricia Booker
I have marvelled over this photo all week long. Under other circumstances, I would never be so enthralled with a picture of a dramatic crash at a cross-country fence, but that was then and this is now. I think these frangible jumps are, in any number of instances, the answer to many, many eventers' prayers. I find it heartening and joyful to know that -- what would very likely have been either a life-threatening or fatal accident for either or both this horse and rider -- turned into a mishap that necessitated nothing more than a regroup, a short walk about, a 2-minute repair of the obstacle, and then horse and rider reattempted (successfully!) the jump and happily went on their way to finish the course with no other incident. 

I would like to believe that this might mean the beginning of the end of horses and riders "paying the ultimate price" for errors or mistakes while riding cross-country in upper-level eventing. It certainly ended well for Geoff Curran and The Jump Jet at Rolex last weekend. I'm looking forward to meeting Safer Building Materials co-founder, Kyle Carter, this weekend in Alabama and I can't wait to hear more about what he might have in store for smarter, safer eventing!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Bright Star

I finally got around to watching this today. Very lovely and, yes, sad (as history would have it). I'm a huge fan of Ben Whishaw after seeing his recent portrayal of Sebastian Flyte. Fanny's wardrobe (as she was known to be a talented seamstress) is beautiful and just adds to the layers of "pretty" in this film. If you're a fan of literary biopics or British period pieces, then you must watch it!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Living in a Virtual World

I'm teaching a research and writing class for the next 6 weeks, starting tonight, and we are discussing this video this evening. My students have already posted some thoughts and comments in the forums on our class web site, so I'm really anxious to get started and take this topic further in the actual classroom. Lots of great stuff here!