My relationship with Facebook is love/hate, with most of the emphasis on hate. It can be pretty cool sometimes, but it comes with a lot of baggage.

I share only a very limited amount of my personal information on the site. It just doesn't seem safe at all. And now I think I have proof that Facebook gathers, receives, and shares
plenty of my personal information. Not that I really needed proof, since it's not really a secret, but still.

Anyway, here's the deal. The little spot on the side of the page that shows friend suggestions keeps offering Lena as a possible friend. I thought this was usually a result of having mutual 'friends.' But I ran through her list of Facebook friends and we don't appear to have a single Facebook friend in common.
So why the friend suggestion? I have to believe the only possible reason is all of our shared mutual history- addresses, credit info, names on bills, etc. None of that info is on Facebook, but I have to believe it's been assimilated somewhere and somehow for Facebook to use.
There is only one logical explanation: the Facebook corporate devils are planning to take over the world. Thus, I must enter virtual Facebook and defeat my profile at a game of Yahtzee.
(that's a South Park reference, so if you haven't seen the episode don't strain yourself trying to figure out the nonsense.)

Derby handicapping update

I switched horses. Again. My Derby favorites this year have been plentiful, even though my top choices haven't really been getting beat. I've gone from Mucho Macho Man to Dialed In to Archarcharch to Dialed In again to Archarcharch again to Stay Thirsty to.... Soldat.

If you're looking for a winner, I'd advise either Mucho Macho Man or Dialed In. The reason is simple; I put a $2 win bet on the each of the other 3 horses I've liked, but not Mucho Macho Man and Dialed In. So one of them will probably win.

I didn't like seeing Uncle Mo scratched because I've never been impressed with that horse. I wanted him in the race at about 5 to 1, driving up the odds on whoever I liked.

I finally settled on Soldat for my traditional $2 WPS wager on my official, braggers' rights Derby bet because he's one of the few who's been consistently excellent (minus FL), because he'll be up front and likely out of traffic and probably not have a breakneck pace, and because he appears set to go off at odds in the neighborhood of 20-1. That's good odds for a horse when the best he's shown so far is at least as good as or better than all the others.

In what is becoming a Derby Eve tradition, I made Derby bets, including exacta and trifecta, and bets on the first 4 races since I have to work for a while tomorrow. Rotten timing for our busiest time of year.

In what is becoming a Derby Day tradition, I'll bring my racing form and program to work to check out races 5, 6, and 7, so I should be very productive.

Rather than wait until the last minute...

I'll let you know early. After running over 27 million race simulations on my computer program ( that was a lie), crunching all the numbers ( a few of the numbers, and not really understanding them), doing hours of painstaking research (actually, just browsing Bloodhorse.com a couple of times to see what Steve Haskins thought), and consulting countless experts (I asked a guy at work "Who do you like?"), I am prepared to reveal the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner.


and the winner is... "Stay Thirsty, my friends"

Why? Couple of reasons.
First, I do like the way he runs. I've watched all the Derby preps on youtube and Stay Thirsty seems to be able to shift gears pretty well and really turn on the speed. I like that in a crowded Derby field, and of the several horses who I think can do it he is likely to have the best odds.
Second, and most important, by selecting Stay Thirsty I could make a reference to the Dos Equis guy, otherwise known as The Most Interesting Man in the World. "Sharks have a week devoted to him." Also, "he can speak French, in Russian."

There are several other horses I like. Archarcharch, Mucho Macho Man, Midnight Interlude, and Pants On Fire, and probably about five more. In fact, I almost went with Mucho Macho Man, and if the name I keep mistakenly calling him- Super Macho Man- were in fact his correct name, I might have selected him instead so I could have used this Punchout picture.



Speaking of names, I was looking at the Oaks draw and thinking I really didn't like the name St. Johns River. A few minutes later I realized it was because St. John Rivers is the name of the dull and (to me) very unlikeable missionary cousin of Jane Eyre. Then, a few minutes after that, I realized that having favorite and least favorite characters in Jane eyre probably means I'm a nerd. Oh well.
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Favorite? Rochester, of course. Though that creepy Grace Pool rocks, too.