This is MPB, (Mr. Pinch Blogger), once again I am stepping in temporarily to help out Mr. P-man in his time of need. I have decided to continue with this ridiculous nom de guerre on this blog for a few reasons: 1. I have a complete and utter lack of creativity when it comes to these things. 2. I have a sad attachment to acronyms stemming from the symptoms detailed in reason #1. This weekend I went to the Kentucky Derby, which seemed post worthy, so now you are all subjected to associated musings on the topic. Part 1 of ?

Part #1 - Morning of the Derby

Backstory: My extended family is from Louisville, so the Derby is a big deal to them. I'd never been before, mainly because it always falls on the first Saturday in May, which for me is traditionally reserved for either cramming for finals, taking finals, or having just taken finals and erasing the memory of them in a local bar. Now that my long and illustrious college career has (sadly) come to an end, I can go to the Derby. So there I went.

One of the first things I noticed on approaching the Derby is that Churchhill Downs is not exactly in the nicest part of town. It was an interesting juxtaposition to see stretch limo after stretch limo roll through streets lined with falling-down houses, littered with trash. The occupants of the limo seemed indifferent (if not a little scared) by the locals, which isn't all that surprising. We parked and made our way to the entrance.

Since drinks at the Derby are famously expensive, we made arrangements to bring in our own liquor to save some $$$. We hid a fifth of Jim Beam in a "floppy flask" - its alot like a Camelback bladder with a waist belt - on my younger brother, who happens to be wearing a hard neck collar due to a broken neck sustained snowboarding (perhaps another post topic?). The plan worked, and we arrived on the grounds JB in tow.

Immediately after entering, it became apparent that Derby attendees fall into two categories - drunks in normal clothes, and drunks in fancy clothes. We were striving for the latter category, me in a suit and the wife in a silk dress & Derby hat. We made our way to our seats, and started drinking whiskey & cokes (me) and mint juleps (the wife) ASAP.

To be continued....