Lamest derby party *ever*
So I was raised in Louisville, Kentucky, most well known for the Kentucky Derby (for those of you who don't know, it's a horse race, run the first Saturday in May). I decided to try to throw a derby party here in Pakistan this year, but a variety of factors interfered with my plans.
First, I don't have television at my house. I asked some friends with cable if they could host it, but they declined. So, I decided that I could probably find a web-stream of the derby and watch it over the internet. Besides, the most important thing about the derby party is not the derby, but the large numbers of mint juleps. I have previously run into trouble buying booze when I forgot about Juma and tried to buy it on Friday. This time, I thought, I'll go early on Thursday and grab the whiskey.
*sigh*
Unfortunately, Thursday was May 1, Labor Day, and everything was closed.
I was left with half a bottle of Pakistani-whiskey-of-dubious-quality.
Add to this the fact that some of my friends were too busy to come, and those who said they would come canceled.... and you have the recipe for a disastrous party.
The only advantage of having no one show up is that I had enough whiskey to make drinks. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I can't make a mint julep to save my life. As you can see from the expression on Lukas' face:
Oh yeah, and the power was out for a couple of hours, hence the candle.
I couldn't find a stream of the race until the next day, so I taught Lukas how to read the past performances. I must be a poor teacher because he bet on the horse that came in last.
We did watch the triple-crown victories of Secretariat, which I had actually never seen. The 1973 Belmont Stakes is truly incredible to watch (even if you're not a fan of horse racing):
In any event, I thought that my friends in the 'ville would be happy to know that I was raising a glass to the derby on the other side of the world.
First, I don't have television at my house. I asked some friends with cable if they could host it, but they declined. So, I decided that I could probably find a web-stream of the derby and watch it over the internet. Besides, the most important thing about the derby party is not the derby, but the large numbers of mint juleps. I have previously run into trouble buying booze when I forgot about Juma and tried to buy it on Friday. This time, I thought, I'll go early on Thursday and grab the whiskey.
*sigh*
Unfortunately, Thursday was May 1, Labor Day, and everything was closed.
I was left with half a bottle of Pakistani-whiskey-of-dubious-quality.
Add to this the fact that some of my friends were too busy to come, and those who said they would come canceled.... and you have the recipe for a disastrous party.
The only advantage of having no one show up is that I had enough whiskey to make drinks. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I can't make a mint julep to save my life. As you can see from the expression on Lukas' face:
Oh yeah, and the power was out for a couple of hours, hence the candle.
I couldn't find a stream of the race until the next day, so I taught Lukas how to read the past performances. I must be a poor teacher because he bet on the horse that came in last.
We did watch the triple-crown victories of Secretariat, which I had actually never seen. The 1973 Belmont Stakes is truly incredible to watch (even if you're not a fan of horse racing):
Click to viewIn any event, I thought that my friends in the 'ville would be happy to know that I was raising a glass to the derby on the other side of the world.