Rodeo, Ride, Rodeo

We went to the New Mexico Stampede rodeo Friday night. It's a PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned event so the caliber of contestants are pretty good. Last year's world champion steer wrestler, Stran Smith, was there and won the first round.

It was a lot of fun and no one got hurt which is always a good thing at a rodeo.

This morning, Betty and I took Sugar and Morgunn out for a ride. We rode them around our area on both paved and dirt roads. They both did very well. The morning was beautiful as the wind didn't pick up until lunch time. We had a great time.

Tonight I'm going back to the rodeo to shoot some pictures with a friend of mine, Steve Simmons. Steve is both an author and photographer. He has had stories and pictures printed in The New Mexico magazine and other publications. It should be a lot of fun.

(Later) It was great fun. I got in too late to add any rodeo pictures to this post, but I'll have some on Tuesday - after Sunday Reflections and Monday Video.

Super Bowl tomorrow - go Steelers!


Today is January 31 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with: Justin Timberlake (boy singer), Minnie Driver (actress, "Good Will Hunting"), Nolan Ryan (Hall of Fame pitcher), Suzanne Pleshette (actress, Emily Hartley on "The Bob Newhart Show"), James Franciscus (actor, "Mr. Novak"), Ernie Banks (Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs baseball player), Carol Channing (actress, "Hello Dolly"), Norman Mailer (author), Mario Lanza (opera singer), Jackie Robinson (first black baseball player in the major leagues), Thomas Merton (Catholic monk and author), Garry Moore (TV host), Eddie Cantor (1920's singer), and Zane Grey (Western author).

On this day in 1801 the sale of white bread was prohibited in London. In 1865 General Robert E. Lee was named General-in-Chief of all the Confederate armies and the House of Representatives approves a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. In 1929 the Soviet Union expelled communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky. He was later assassinated in Mexico. In 1936 the radio show, "The Green Hornet" was introduced by its famous theme song, "The Flight of the Bumble Bee". The show premiered on WXYZ radio, in Detroit, Michigan, and stayed on the air for 16 years. (As a kid I listened to "The Green Hornet" on the radio each week.) In 1940 the first Social Security check was issued, by the U.S. Government. The check was for $22.54 and was issued to Ida Fuller of Brattlesboro, Vermont. Her check number was 00-000-001. In 1958 the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, "Explorer One." And in 1985 the final Jeep, the workhorse vehicle that came home a hero from World War II, rolled off the assembly line at the AMC plant in Toledo, Ohio.