The Supreme Tradition of Spelling Bees

# 4138... Vinny... What?

See last paragraph of #4137, Loscar. Balmer - Baltimore, although I don't really hear a lot of people here say it like that.

I just saw El segreto de sus ojos, the Argentine thriller that won the Oscar for best foreign film. Very good although over two hours long. I was annoyed that among the dozen trailers that this theater showed was one for that film, the film that everyone had just paid to see.

And last weekend at the Maryland Film Festival I saw Music by Prudence, which won the Oscar for best short documentary. That is also worth seeing, as is another documentary I saw there, Freedom Riders, if you can find it.

The Tour of California bike race has come to town. The first stage starts Sunday in the mountains about an hour & half drive from here, at 3000 ft or so (1000 m), and ends here in Sacramento. But most teams and ancillary support and media are staying here because there is an airport and a lot more hotels. We also have a fabulous 32 mile/51 KM long bike trail that is perfect for training. Paved, no vehicles allowed, gentle slopes most of the way. It runs along a river and it's common to see deer or coyotes. In the middle of an urban area.

I was doing a stint at my history museum this afternoon & spotted a couple of teams on their way to the bike trail. Nobody famous though, as near as I could tell, but there is no question that those were big time athletes. Approximately 0% body fat.

Last year we got an unfortunate amount of fame when Lane Armstrong's bike was stolen from a van parked behind his hotel. (It was recovered.) This year Armstrong's arrival made front page news and the police are promising increased patrols.

Hi everyone. That's nice to hear about the Anna's baby, Nutrax.

It hailed here about an hour ago. I was driving home in grape-sized hail for a few minutes.

I'm not interested in cycling, but you can hardly avoid hearing about cycle races on the news here in France. I have always wondered how unpleasant it must be for the cyclists pedalling behind that car exhaust.

Now, not only does the Tour de France start in other countries (even in Ireland last year, wasn't it?), the other day the Giro d'Italia started somewhere in the north of Europe, like Belgium or somewhere. Oh well, the Paris-Dakar takes place in Argentina & Chile.

It's still rather cool here, but right now the sky is blue. I planted my tomatoes yesterday, now that the ice saints are finished.

Funny about Lance Armstrong's bike. Who would steal specifically that bike? It's just asking for the police to come after you.

the other day the Giro d'Italia started somewhere in the north of Europe, like Belgium or somewhere.

It was Amsterdam. People in NL like cycling a lot, too. (As a sport, I mean; it's obvious that they like it as a mode of transportation.) Some people take off an entire month to watch the Tour de France. Nuts.

I'm off to New England for a week later today.

Actually, the Giro d'Italia starting in Amsterdam is even more pointless than I thought.

Have a look at the route in its entirety. It makes no sense.

Funny about Lance Armstrong's bike. Who would steal specifically that bike?

The thief didn't. He just took the opportunity to break into a trailer and steak 3 bikes, one of which was Lance's. The guy who bought the bike from the thief pretty much knew he was buying stolen goods, but got nervous when his wife told him what he had & turned the bike (and himself) in. That led the cops to the thief. The thief got 3 years. The buyer got 90 days, which he could serve on a sheriff's work project. (That is he had to spend the equivalent of 90 days as part of a crew that does things like clean up roadsides or scrubbing graffiti off public buildings, under supervision of a sheriff. )

I wonder if the thief would have gotten 3 years if one of the bikes hadn't been Lance Armstrong's. Three years sounds like a long time to be in prison for 3 bikes.

He was a "a longtime thief with a 21-year criminal history," including priors for bike theft. It was a felony, given the value of the bikes. Lance's alone was worth US$10,000.

But, yeah, there was a lot of talk about would the police have given such a priority to the theft of Joe Blow's bike?

As a followup, last October, Armstrong auctioned off 7 bikes to benefit his foundation that supports cancer victims. One was the stolen bike. The 7 bikes raised US$1.3 million. The stolen bike went for $130,000.