Playing catch-up and not making progress...

Hey everybody... this one will be brief. I have been slammed with little time lately and have neglected pretty much everything that doesn't figure in to my day to day existence. Sorry.

So what have the Binion's been up to lately? Well, we have certainly been busy but as I sit here thinking it all over... I cant figure out what has filled up all the time in recent weeks.

Karah and I have been to the Frisco Superdrome for some bicycle racing, track style. If you have never heard of track cycling, don't worry, you are not alone. The brief history is that bicycling used to be a much bigger sport here in the US than it is now. Lets just say that the automobile (slowly dying as we currently know it) and the motorcycle probably put paid to the bicycle in a lot of ways, popularity included. It is a shame because it was widely accepted here in the US and was probably the main reason for Madison Square Garden. Didn't know that did you? The original Madison Square Garden was originally conceived and built because of "6 Day" track cycling. It housed a velodrome which is a banked track on which you can race a bicycle with no brakes. Yes, no brakes... I know, its crazy. The sport was hugely popular leading up to the turn of the 19th century. Betting usually went hand in hand with it and still carries on to this day in Belgium and other parts of Europe.

Enough of the history lesson... we happen to have a velodrome right here in Frisco. When I am bored on a Friday night I will head over and see some local track racing. Its never that crowded and always free. Its kind of fun to watch cycling in such an intimate way. Its close by, it is fast paced, there are people of all ages racing, its free to watch unless its a regional championship (rare) and watching little kids (like 4-5 year olds) race around while the crowd cheers them on is always worth the price of admission. Did I mention it was usually free? What can I say, I do not lead the most exciting life. I can usually talk Max or Karah into going with me. Well, always Karah. She is my girl lately.

Speaking of, she and I attended the Bombardier Learjet 550 last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Pretty cool. I have been several times and its always fun to see Indy cars race at warp speed inches away from each other. Its not my preferred version of open wheel racing but its not bad. Formula One will always be my favorite (and its been a helluva season so far). I took a few shots, nothing great. The crowd and having a young pre-teen kept me sufficiently busy enough to preclude most picture taking plans. That girl is always hungry. I don't know how many times we were up and down but I know that the couple in back of us definitely thought it was amusing. I would catch a glimpse every time we sat back down... they definitely found us amusing. They were young, they will understand one day.

One time I got scared because I let Karah go off on her own for a funnel cake... don't get in between her and a funnel cake, let me just say that. Anyway, I was nervous about it and definitely regretted it the moment she went out of view but I tried to tell myself, she is growing up and that my parents would have let us go do things on our own. I guess that is the difference with boys and girls... because I didn't wait it out. I panicked, then set off after her. She was taking too long... I found her pretty quickly but not without a moment or two's worth of panic. Mental note, I am not ready for her to be out of my sight. She may be, but I am not. I don't know why I am writing all this out... I guess it was just on my mind and once I started in on what happened at the race, it was the memory that came flooding back. Lucky you.

Anyway, the race was pretty uneventful past the 2nd lap. Karah picked the McDonald's car because it was a logo she recognized... (thanks Max) and I picked Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe for my guys to win. She picked by car, I picked by skill. Neither of us picked the winner but I think I was robbed by a case of team orders. The winner was Helio ahead of his teammate Briscoe who led for more than 160 laps before suddenly having a "slower" pit stop than his recent Indy 500 winner teammate. I hate team orders. Oh well, I am not the owner, Penske is. I wonder if those cars will be badged as Saturn's in the near future... could be a funny situation being powered by Honda motors.

Dropping offline for a week and a half or so... Luc and I are going to UTAH to go hiking. We are camping out at Zion National Park and hitting all kinds of things on the way out and back. I will definitely have the camera handy and promise to show what I get when we get back. Talk to you all soon.

Sorry this entry was so blah... I will do better next time. ;]