Kentucky Derby News - Man o' War Centennial

.

Observing Man o’ War centennial at Kentucky Derby 143

May 2, 2017 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

It’s a curious fact of American racing history that its greatest Thoroughbred legend, Man o’ War, didn’t contest the nation’s most celebrated race, the Kentucky Derby (G1). But in 2017, as we celebrate the centennial of Man o’ War’s birth, the blood of “Big Red” pulses through the veins, however distantly, of every single horse in Derby 143.

All but one descend from Man o’ War through the circuitous routes of the pedigree, via his daughters, his sons’ daughters, or even grandsons’ daughters, nestled deep inside the family tree. In this way such key influences as Raise a Native (sire of Mr. Prospector), Storm Cat, Danzig, Buckpasser, and Seattle Slew (who boasts several crosses of Man o’ War between his sire and dam) receive their portion.

Man o’ War’s male line still exists, although relying on a single chain that has yet to have a link weak enough to break. It appears to be forged solidly at present, its strength reinforced by a Hall of Famer still standing stud today – Tiznow, the sire of Irap, who would put an unexpected garland on the Man o’ War centenary if he can win the Derby.

Born on March 29, 1917, at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, August Belmont II’s chestnut son of Fair Play and Mahubah arrived just before the United States entered World War I.

As historian Kent Hollingsworth described it in The Kentucky Thoroughbred, the colt “was recognized as something apart from the start, for he had uncommonly long legs, a fiery red coat, and a presumption the world was his.”

The war altered forever the history of the globe, and the foal’s trajectory as well. In 1918, owing in part to his wartime responsibilities, Belmont dispersed nearly all his yearlings. He entertained the idea of keeping that promising chestnut, the one his wife, Eleanor Robson Belmont, had named Man o’ War in his honor. Yet he too went under the auctioneer’s hammer at Saratoga, ultimately bringing $5,000 from Samuel Riddle.

His trainer, Louis Feustel, later commented that he didn’t fill the eye at that tender stage. Hollingsworth records Feustel’s honest assessment for posterity:

“Very tall and gangling, he was thin and so on the leg as to give the same ungainly impression one gets in seeing a week-old foal.”

Man o’ War later developed into the compelling presence that elicited marvels from observers. 

In his magisterial Sire Lines, Abram S. Hewitt recalled seeing the mighty champion in the Belmont Park paddock, ahead of the Futurity S. The passage of time couldn’t dim Hewitt’s memory, still conveying a sense of immediacy, a freshness:

“a magnificent, copper-colored chestnut colt, with ears pricked. He radiated majesty, energy, and power – a veritable Alexander – awaiting the moment for new worlds to conquer. It was 55 years ago, and we never saw such a sight again.”

And that was Man o’ War as a two-year-old, not even at peak maturity! The handy winner of nine of 10 starts in his 1919 juvenile campaign, while carrying 130 pounds on several occasions, he suffered his lone career defeat in the Sanford Memorial S. at Saratoga. The problematic start of the Sanford, Man o’ War’s traffic trouble on the inside, and his furious finish that fell a half-length short at the wire, contributed to the Spa’s reputation as a “graveyard” of champions. And the name of the horse who beat him passed into the sports lexicon – Upset. Man o’ War had no trouble dusting Upset in all their other meetings, past and future.

Man o’ War, who went off as the heavy odds-on favorite in each of his 21 career races, would have been the bettors’ overwhelming choice for the 1920 Kentucky Derby. But Riddle was never interested in shipping his prized colt out “west,” as the Eastern establishment viewed Kentucky. His oft-cited reason was the concern about a three-year-old having to tote 126 pounds, over 1 1/4 miles, in early May.

“How Man o’ War would have laughed had he known of his owner’s solicitude for him,” Hewitt commented.

In his absence at Churchill Downs, Paul Jones, whom Man o’ War had drubbed at two, scored a front-running 16-1 upset in the May 8 Kentucky Derby. Old foe Upset, part of the entry favored at 8-5, was beaten a head after a prolonged duel.  

Kentucky Derby News - The Greatest Bluegrass Thoroughbred to Never Win the Kentucky Derby - Man o' War

.

If the millions and millions of fans around the world think they have it bad trying to pick the winner of the Derby and then sweating out the fastest two minutes in sports as the horses pound around the track tomorrow, just think what the horses went through to get on the track.

They are the result of generations of breeding and bloodlines.  Of the two greatest horses in thoroughbred racing history, Lexington, Kentucky bred Man o' War set the standard for all time to come.

The other greatest thoroughbred of all time was Secretariat (March 30, 1970 - October 4, 1989), an American Thoroughbred racehorse that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years.  He set records in all three events in the series - the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), the Preakness Stakes (1:53), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24) - records that still stand today, 41 years later.

He is considered to be one of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time. In 1999, ESPN ranked Secretariat the 35th best athlete of the 20th century, the highest ranking racehorse on the list. He ranked second behind Man o' Was in The Blood-Horse's List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

But a lot less is known about Man o' War, the greatest Kentucky horse to never run in the Kentucky Derby, so here is his story.

Man o' War came close to perfection

By Larry Schwartz

Special to ESPN

When thoroughbred racing needed a boost, Man o' War unleashed his blazing speed and came to the rescue.  Though he competed for only two years, he energized a reeling sport.

   

Let's look at the world of racing that Man o' War entered in 1919: Racing in New York had been eliminated in 1911 and 1912 because of anti-gambling legislation led by Gov. Charles Hughes. Other states had taken up Hughes' crusade. Many stables had folded and some of the bigger ones had moved to Europe.

While racing was legalized again in 1913, World War I soon dominated the public's attention. Attendance and pursues were at record lows when Man o' War made his debut on June 6, 1919.

By the time he retired 16 months later, he was a national hero, joining Babe Ruth as the first shining stars of the Roaring Twenties.  The charismatic horse's popularity had brought fans back to the race track.

Man o' War went to the post 21 times and won 20 races. He won one race by an incredible 100 lengths and triumphed in another carrying 138 pounds. He whipped a Triple Crown champion by seven lengths in a match race.

He brought international recognition to Kentucky breeders and made the United States the racing center of the world. When he retired, he held five American records at different distances and had earned more money than any thoroughbred.

In a mid-century Associated Press poll, he was overwhelmingly voted the greatest thoroughbred of the first half of the 20th century.

Not only did Man o' War perform like a superstar on the track, the chestnut-colored horse (though he was nicknamed "Big Red") looked like one. At 3, he was a strapping 16.2 hands (about 5-foot-6) and weighed about 1,125 pounds with a 72-inch girth. His appetite also was huge, as he ate 12 quarts of oats every day, or about three quarts more than the average racehorse. He ran in big bounds as well, with his stride measuring an incredible 25 to 28 feet.

Bred by August Belmont II, son of the founder of Belmont Park and for whom the Belmont Stakes was named, the future champion was foaled on March 29, 1917 at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Ky. His sire was Fair Play and his dam was Mahubah, the daughter of Rock Sand, the 1903 winner of Britain's version of the Triple Crown (the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger). He was 15 generations removed from the Godolphin Arabia, one of three Arab and Barb stallions considered to be the founders of the thoroughbred line.

Originally, Belmont's wife named the horse My Man o' War, after her soldiering husband, who was stationed in France during World War I, but the "My" was later dropped.

Belmont's military involvement prompted him to sell his entire 1917 yearling crop. Sportsman Samuel Riddle, owner of the Glen Riddle Farm, was the beneficiary of this decision. Accepting the judgment of trainer Louis Feustel, Riddle purchased the rangy colt, who seemed too large for a yearling, for $5,000 at the Saratoga yearlings' sales. "As soon as I saw him, he simply bowled me over," Riddle said.

At the beginning, Man o' War's aversion to the bridle and saddle caused problems. "He's nice and he's smart, but don't ever try to force him or you'll come out second best every time," a stable boy said. "Ask him and he'll do what you want. Push him and it's all off."

Under Feustel's training, patience paid off, and the energy of Man o' War was harnessed. His debut, in a five-furlough maiden race against six other 2-year-olds at Belmont, was no contest. The fans reportedly screamed and pounded the rail as jockey Johnny Loftus tightened the reins at the stretch, slowing Man o' War to a virtual canter. But the horse still won by six lengths.

"He made half-a-dozen high-class youngsters look like $200 horses," wrote the turf editor of the New York Morning Telegraph.

Following his smashing debut, Man o' War won three stakes races, at three different New York tracks, in the next 17 days.

His winning streak was at six when Man o' War raced in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 13. It is Man O' War's most remembered race -- because it is the only one he would lose.

Starting gates were not yet used, and horses were led up a tape barrier. A fill-in starter had difficulty getting the horses ready and they milled around. While Man o' War apparently was backing up, the tape was sprung. Man o' War "was almost left at the post," the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

After a slow start, Man o' War was third as the field headed for home in the six-furlough race. Blocked by close quarters, he had to go to the outside in the final eighth. Though he gamely made up ground, he missed by a half-length of overtaking the winner, who at 115 pounds carried 15 fewer pounds than the 11-20 favorite. The winner was named, rather appropriately, Upset.

Big Red, who beat Upset in their six other meetings, finished the year with easy victories in the Hopeful and Futurity, giving him nine victories in 10 races.

In 1920, Man o' War won all 11 of his races, with Clarence Kummer aboard nine times. Big Red didn't race in the Kentucky Derby because Riddle believed that a soft-boned 3-year-old should not have to run 1¼ miles in early May. Instead, he set his sights on the Preakness (Man o' War held off an Upset charge to win) and Belmont (a 20-length victory in a two-horse field).

After winning the Travers against two horses at Saratoga, only one colt challenged Man o' War in his next race. Well, it wasn't exactly a challenge as Big Red, the 1-100 favorite, defeated Hoodwink by 100 lengths in the 1 5/8th-mile Lawrence Realization at BelmontPark.

He was 1-100 again in winning the Jockey Cup at Belmont Park, and then he was saddled with the excessively high weight of 138 pounds for the Potomac Handicap. After being a bit fractious at the post, he assumed command and won easily.

Man o' War's last race was against Sir Barton, who in 1919 had become the first to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Like most match races, it was hardly competitive. At Kenilworth Park, in Windsor, Ontario, Man o' War won the $75,000 purse and $5,000 Gold Cup by defeating the older Canadian-owned horse by seven lengths.

When Riddle was informed that Man o' War would have to carry even more than 138 pounds as a 4-year-old, he retired his horse to stud. Man o' War held American records for the fastest mile, 1 1/8 miles, 1 3/8 miles, 1½ miles and 1 5/8 miles. His total earnings were $249,465, a record at the time.

Don't feel sorry for Man o' War because he stopped racing so young. He proved to be quite a stud. In 1926, his issue won $408,137, breaking a 60-year-old record.

Following his undefeated season of 11 straight wins, Man o' War traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, to enter at stud at Elizabeth Daingerfield's Haylands and later moved to Riddle's Faraway Farm. Man o' War was a top sire who produced more than 64 stakes winners and various champions. Though many believe that Riddle did not breed the stallion to enough good mares after the first five seasons, he still sired many leading horses.

Man o' War sired American Flag and Crusader, who won successive Belmont Stakes in 1925 and 1926. Although there were no official champions in America at the time, both colts were generally considered the best three-year-old colts of their year, and Crusader was also largely accepted as the best racehorse of 1926.

Among Man o' War's other famous offspring were 1929 Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Dusen, Battleship (who won the 1938 English Grand National steeplechase), and War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner and the second official Horse of the Year. Another of his offspring, Hard Tack, sired Seabiscuit, who was Horse of the Year in 1938. Man o' War's most successful sons at stud were War Admiral and War Relic, and War Relic's branch of the male line survives today.

Tiznow, Honor and Glory, and Bertrando are also all sire-line descendants of Man o' War. According to Kent Hollingsworth, 37 per cent of all stakes winners in 1966 were descendants of Man o' War. Despite not covering more than 25 mares in any season, Man o' War sired 379 named foals during 22 seasons at stud. His daughters kept Man o' War listed in the 10 leading broodmare sires list for 22 years.

In 1921, a Texas oil millionaire, William Waggoner, offered $500,000 for Man o' War. Riddle turned him down, as he did when Waggoner increased his offer again, first to $1 million and then a blank check. "The colt is not for sale," he said.

Although Man o' War spent most of his life in Kentucky, he never raced there. He died there, though, at the age of 30 of a heart attack on Nov. 1, 1947 in Lexington.

.

Kentucky Derby News - Secretariat The Greatest Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

.



Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our first offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973

Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 44 Years Later

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-four years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.
Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

5. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.
As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

4. Secretariat was a media superstar.
Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.
Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.
Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.
.

CPT Twit - University of Iowa Scottish Highlanders - Childhood Memories Now Gone

.

Double click for full screen

Double click for full screen

.

.

All about Bosco from the Family Archives of Once Upon a Time

.
Excerpt from the book:

 Left Handed, Four Eyed, Small Town and Catholic

and they call me Lucky???

My kid brother Bosco found any grown up revolting who stood between him and his mission to burn down everything, the ultimate pyro.  While the archangel (Michael) was getting his pants pressed me and the pyro were outside blowing to smithereens with firecrackers every toy soldier we could find.

My arsonist days ended, however, not long after we threw a box of 22 shells into the incinerator and World War III broke out in the alley.  We had failed to blow them up slamming bricks on the shells.

I have to admit it, there were times my kid brother scared the Hell out of me.  He was reckless, probably possessed, and not at all interested in what was going on in the world.  But we had a bond, we were both motherless children, having lost our mother to the duties of rearing the archangel.

One day Bosco and I raced down the hallway by the archangel's room and noticed the massive American Flyer train set, one of our dad's prized possessions, was set up in the room.  Better yet, no one was around.

The layout was quite a work of art and engineering, qualities found in the Putnam DNA.  A board bigger than the bed folded up against the wall normally, but today it was down and all the trains, villages and mountains were in place.

Now Bosco and I had long debated what would happen if we started a train on top of the mountain and another at the bottom headed toward each other at full speed. How much damage could the two trains do to each other when they crashed?

Thanks to my mechanical skills we had everything working in seconds but when the trains smashed together nothing broke, they just flopped over sideways off the track.  It was nothing like the movies.  What a bummer.

So Bosco, having morphed into movie director Cecil B. DeMille, restaged the train wreck scene only this time, to make it seem more real, he loaded one of the train engines with fireworks.  I warned him the M-80s might be a bit too much but he insisted.  He lit the fuse and sent the train flying down the mountain leaving me seconds to launch the other one up the mountain.

The two trains weren't even close when the engine simply blew off the face of the earth, while the rest of the cars tumbled down the mountain with shrapnel flying all over the room.  As we dove under the bed the avalanche of debris crashed into the other train leaving a tangled mess.

When dad walked into the room, having heard the house shaking explosion, his stunned reaction was priceless.  His mouth opened to scream but no sound emerged.  The way he trembled and his veins popped up indicated a high degree of nerve instability so the vocal paralysis was probably a good thing,  It allowed him to calm down before he might have killed us.

We denied any knowledge of how an entire American Flyer train engine could possibly dematerialize and disappear, though we did acknowledge our role in the wreck and agreed to spend our allowances for the next 15 years replacing all the broken village and mountain pieces.

In hindsight I realized trusting Bosco's judgment was far too dangerous to risk in the future.

. 

Futurist Paolo Soleri from the Arizona Desert

.

The following is the obituary of Paolo Soleri, a brilliant human being and futurist who lived and worked in Paradise Valley, Arizona.  He died four years ago but his life and achievements will live forever.  When I went to school at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, several fraternity brothers were into architecture and encouraged me to travel to the Phoenix area to see this unusual Italian architect.

His studio and teaching areas were a series of pods spread across the desert and his designs for a future civilization were stunning.  I can remember the passion this man had for preparing for the future of mankind and his determination to establish a model in the Arizona High Desert.

A few years later my parents moved to Paradise Valley and every time I went to visit I went to the Paolo Soleri studio and was amazed at the many, many architectural students from around the world who journeyed to work with his on his amazing concepts.

To help raise money for his unique institute he also made the most complex and magical bells I ever saw and collecting the Soleri bells became a passion.  Mostly just watching the master at work was sheer fun as his relationship with students, his extraordinary designs, and his adaption to his adopted desert were a source of delight and inspiration.

Everyone should get a chance to experience the Soleri studio and his model of the cities of the future out in the desert, it will give you hope for mankind.  Soleri was one of a kind, and he influenced thousands with his genius.  Meeting him several times was one of the highlights of my life.

Arcosanti

IN MEMORIAM

REMEMBERING PAOLO SOLERI

June 21,1919 - April 9, 2013

Today the world has lost one of its great minds.  Paolo Soleri, architect, builder, artist, writer, theorist, husband, father, born on Summer Solstice, has died at age 93.  

Paolo Soleri spent a lifetime investigating how architecture, specifically the architecture of the city, could support the countless possibilities of human aspiration. The urban project he founded, Arcosanti, 65 miles north of Phoenix, was described by NEWSWEEK magazine as “…the most important urban experiment undertaken in our lifetimes.”

His own lifetime of work is represented in models, drawings, books, lectures and museum exhibits throughout the world. Soleri’s exhibition in 1970 at the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC – and the concurrent publication of his landmark book, CITY IN THE IMAGE OF MAN – changed forever the global conversation about urban planning on our living planet. His term, “Arcology” joining the words architecture and ecology to represent one whole system of understanding human life on the earth is meant to serve as the basis for that conversation.

Paolo Soleri’s ideas are embodied on the ground in the flowing forms of his architectural workshop Cosanti in Paradise Valley, (now an Arizona Historic Landmark) and in the continuing construction at Arcosanti, the urban laboratory on the high desert in central Arizona. There, to date over 7,000 students have participated in its construction. More than 50,000 architecture enthusiasts visit the site each year.

Over the years Soleri’s architectural commissions have included the Dome House in Cave Creek, Arizona, the astonishing Artistica Ceramica Solimene ceramics factory in Vietri, Italy,  the Indian Arts Cultural Center/ Theatre in Santa Fe, the Glendale Community College Theater, the University of Arizona College of Medicine chapel, the Scottsdale Pedestrian Bridge and Plaza; and his latest bas-relief murals part of the new I-17 Arcosanti/Cordes Junction Arizona traffic interchange. In an age of specialization Paolo Soleri showed architecture’s ability to influence and even lead the search for a new pattern of inhabiting the earth. The awards that resulted from this search included gold medals from the American Institute of Architects, the Union of International Architects, the Venice Biennale and the National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian Museum.

Soleri continued questioning and creating until his death. The theme of his last project, a series of collages entitled “Then and Now”, juxtaposed his own signature forms with illustrations of life from antiquity. In this project Paolo Soleri attempted to capture the critical notion that we are constantly building on the past, on the work of countless generations that have preceded us on the earth. Our own work - and Soleri’s work especially - put into this context, might be a seed that takes many more generations to mature and complete.

Paolo Soleri is survived by two daughters, Kristine Soleri Timm and Daniela Soleri, both of California, two grandchildren, and the famous urban research Foundation he began, Cosanti. A private burial took place at Arcosanti, the internationally – renowned urban laboratory he founded in 1970, whose construction continues. Soleri’s body was placed beside his wife Colly, who preceded him in death by 31 years.
.

A Little Steven Wright to make my Brother Bob Laugh

.

20 of Steven Wright's Funniest Jokes

Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole

(Double click for full screen)

Steven will be 62 this coming December.

Don't get too excited, but today is the deadpan comedian's unofficial birthday. To celebrate, here are 20 of his funniest jokes.

1. "It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."

2. "I almost broke both my arms trying to hold open a revolving door for a woman."

3. "I got a new dog. He’s a paranoid retriever. He brings back everything because he’s not sure what I threw him."

4. "Every morning I get up and make instant coffee and I drink it so I have the energy to make real coffee."

5. "Woke up this morning and folded my bed back into a couch. Almost broke both my arms cause it’s not that kind of bed."

6. "I’m going to get a tattoo over my whole body of me but taller."

7. "I went to a tourist information booth and said 'Tell me about some people who were here last year.'"

8. "I’ve been getting into astronomy so I installed a skylight. The people who live above me are furious."

9. "Why is it a penny for your thoughts but you have to put your two cents in? Somebody’s making a penny."

10. "I broke a mirror in my house and I’m supposed to get seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five."

11. "When I get real real bored I like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot then sit in my car and count how many people ask me if I’m leaving."

12. "I spilled spot remover on my dog and now he’s gone."

13. "I’m writing a book. I have the page numbers done; now I just have to fill in the rest."

14. "When we were driving over the border back into the United States, they asked me if I had any firearms. I said what do you need?"

15. "I've written several children's books ... Not on purpose."

16. "I called the wrong number today. I said 'Hello, is Joey there?' A woman answered and she said 'Yes he is.' And I said ‘Can I speak to him please?’ She said ‘No, he can’t talk right now, he’s only two months old.' I said 'Alright, I’ll wait.'"

17. "I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance."

18. "We lived in a house that ran on static electricity. If we wanted to cook something, we had to take a sweater off real quick. If we wanted to run a blender we had to rub balloons on our heads."

19. "I stayed up one night playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died."

20. "I was Caesarean born. Can’t really tell, although whenever I leave a house I go through the window."

Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy

(Double click for full screen)

.