Pomp & pride at Preakness
THE KENTUCKY DERBY has its mint juleps and the Belmont Stakes its white carnations. The Preakness Stakes has its signature drink and flower, too, but also a special weather vane and a trophy so valuable it had to be buried for safekeeping during the Civil War.
Several of the 133-year-old race’s traditions stem from its resurgence at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course in 1909, after the track had gone broke in 1899 and the Preakness was held in Morris Park in the Bronx and Gravesend in Brooklyn.
THE FOOD, THE DRINK
Wondering what goes best with crab cakes? Well, at Pimlico, it’s the black-eyed Susan cocktail. Joe Kelly, 90, a historian and consultant for the Maryland Jockey Club, said the drink is not a huge favorite with locals. “The glass is more important than the drink,” Kelly said. “A glass from Secretariat’s year [1973] is valued at $600.”
1 part citrus vodka
3 parts sweet and sour mix
1 part orange juice (garnish with orange slice and cocktail cherry)
“Maryland, My Maryland” is Preakness’ answer to the Kentucky Derby’s “My Old Kentucky Home” and Belmont’s more recent adoption of “New York New York. ” The third verse of the state song, which has the melody of the Christmas carol “O Tannenbaum,” is performed by the U.S. Naval Academy’s men’s glee club. “It’s very effective,” said race historian Joe Kelly. “There’s a pretty strong, proud feeling when it’s sung.”
The 148-year-old prize is the most valuable trophy in American sports. The 34-inch-tall silver vase, created by Tiffany & Co. in 1860, was assessed at $1 million 25 years ago. Each year, the trophy is brought under guard from The Baltimore Museum of Art for the winner’s circle ceremony. A smaller replica, valued at $30,000, is given to the winning thoroughbred’s owner.
The black-eyed Susan, Maryland’s state flower, also lends its name to the horseshoe blanket placed over the winning colt’s shoulders. Actually, according to the Preakness’ Web site, the arrangement is made up of 80 bunches of Viking daisies, whose centers are dabbed with black lacquer to resemble black-eyed Susans.
Tags: black, drink, eyed, susan
Sunday 18 May 2008 | Linsay | Uncategorized
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“that” being musical tesla coils, you mean?Looksie on reddit for Tesla Coils… do a search, there’ve been posts to vids with coils playing the Mario Brothers theme, vids with a huge huge coil (as in discharge terminal wider than a person is tall) playing bunches of vid game music, etc.Plenty of niftyness along those lines.
Okay, various insturments have been hooked up to modulated tesla coils.Someone really really needs to do a Theramin with Tesla Coil output.Still, this one’s neat.