ARTICLES
The Grand National the History and the Legacy
The Grand National is the Super bowl of horse racing, well sort of. It is one of the most esteemed races in the world; it is steeped in rich history, and you have to be the best to compete. Only the best horses ages 6 years and up are allowed to participate. It is held at the same time each year, in early April, and it is what all horse owners and jockeys train for. This race has been held since 1939 on the record some say 1937; that is up for debate by those who know.
The horses have been well trained for years to be entered into this race. The age for a horse to run in this race is 6 years and over. It is one of the most difficult races to run for both horse and jockey. There have been 62 horses that have lost their lives and one jockey who lost his life during the running of this race since 1939. There are 16 fences and two other jumps that the horse must jump. The race is done in a two set series so all but two of the jumps must be...Read more
The History of Boxer Dogs Playing Poker
Cassius Marcellus Clay, the wry commercial artist who gave the world dogs playing poker, was born in upstate New York in 1844. He was named after the abolitionist Quaker,Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, one of the most eloquent anti-slavery politicians of the antebellum South, Kentucky Sen.
Cash, as his friends and family would call him, had never received any formal art training. Though, by the time he was 20, he was a draftsman and frequently had his sketches featured in the local newspaper. A short time later, he had one of his drawings published in Harpers Weekly and subsequently came to be the inventor of "comic foregrounds", where tourists place their head through a hole in a painting, appearing to have a comical muscular body for photographs. Coolidge caught the attention of the Brown & Bigelow Company in 1903. The commisioned him to create a series of comical paintings for their advertisin calendars. Dogs being one of his favorite subjects, Coolidge decided to create paintings of Mastiffs, Collies, Boxers, Great Danes, etc. participating in human activities. Dogs would smoke cigars, drink whiskey, and, most famously, sit around the table for a game of five-card draw. To a dog,...Read more
