‘It’s not easy to be a jockey’:Through highs and lows, Victor Espinoza keeps on winning - WRBL

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SAN DIEGO (Fox 5) – Jockey Victor Espinoza has ridden thoroughbreds for 35 years and experienced the highest highs, like winning horse racing’s Triple Crown. He’s also had low lows, like a scary fall in 2018 which left him with a broken neck.

Jockey Victor Espinoza

Through it all, he has kept his smile and positive attitude as he continues a ride on a rather unexpected journey.

“How I got to be a jockey was just by mistake,” Espinoza said. “Because I never even thought of being a jockey.”

Espinoza, 48, said he had no plans of riding thoroughbreds over the ground. Instead, he’d planned to fly high above them.

“I always had big dreams when I was a kid,” he said. “I wanted to be a pilot. I was studying so hard in kindergarten because I wanted to be a pilot.”

Growing up on a farm outside of Cancun, he said his brother took him to the track when he was 13-years-old. There he recalls drawing attention from others because of his small stature.

“I was in the grandstand walking around and everyone asked, ‘Are you a jockey? You’re so small and skinny.'” he said. “And I thought, ‘Hmm, interesting.'”

A thought quickly turned into a trial.

“When I started riding, I was only going to ride for two years,” he said. “Just do my best and ride for two years and than I would quit and I would go back to school. But it never happened.”

Instead, Espinoza spent the next 35 years racing all over the world on the backs of some of the best horses in the sport. He’s won the famed Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes three times each. In 2015, he rode American Pharoah to a Triple Crown victory, becoming the oldest jockey — and the first Hispanic jockey — to accomplish the feat.

“I worked so many years for that and I was not going to give up until I had done it,” he said. “I was there twice and I was so close the last time. I always have to think positive. I never think negative.

“Things that have not been done for many years, sooner or later, it’s going to happen.”

Three years after reaching the pinnacle of his career, he came crashing down. In July 2018 at Del Mar, he broke a vertebra during a training accident, which left him wondering if he’d ever ride again.

But he got back up on a horse the following January.

“After the accident, I appreciate it more and I enjoy it more,” Espinoza said. “Horse racing and people, too.”

Espinoza has never married and has no children, but he has donated 10% of earnings to support pediatric cancer research. He’s also embraced a role as a mentor to younger jockeys.

“It’s not easy to be a jockey,” Espinoza said. “It looks easy, but there’s a lot of small details and tricks that I can share with new jockeys that they would probably never know unless I share with them, so in those moments, I am proud of myself.”

The Link Lonk


October 05, 2020 at 07:27PM
https://www.wrbl.com/sports/its-not-easy-to-be-a-jockeythrough-highs-and-lows-victor-espinoza-keeps-on-winning/

‘It’s not easy to be a jockey’:Through highs and lows, Victor Espinoza keeps on winning - WRBL

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Al Joseph: "It’s easy to learn techniques – it’s harder to make the guitar sing" - Guitar World

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Over the past several years, virtuosic seven-stringer Al Joseph has made a name for himself churning out aggressive guitar jams as the leader of HYVMINE. 

But while that outfit saw Joseph, a Berklee-educated player, tempering his leads in favor of keeping the attention equally focused on his band mates and his own vocals, his newest record, Labyrinth, released under his own name, is an unabashedly guitar-centric endeavor. Which is exactly as he wants it.

"I’ve been doing the whole HYVMINE thing for the last couple years," Joseph says, "and I started to think, Okay, let me get back to my roots. Let me get back to what makes me 'me,' and what put me on the map in the first place. And that’s guitar and guitar music."

Without a doubt, Labyrinth is first and foremost a guitar lover’s record, boasting nine instrumental tunes that are jam-packed with Joseph’s churning, chunky riffing and dizzying, technically stunning leads. 

What’s more, it’s a solo album in the truest sense: In addition to playing all the guitars (save for one or two guest solos) using his Kiesel Theos 7-string guitars through a HeadRush pedalboard, Joseph also handled the bass parts and programmed the drums, as well as recorded, mixed and mastered the entire affair.

"I wanted to create something new and fresh that represented how I’ve grown as a guitar player between my last record and now, and really showed people what I can do," he tells us.

What Joseph does, as demonstrated on Labyrinth, is create instrumental music that is designed to dazzle, but never at the expense of songcraft or melody. 

From the stomping, groove-heavy opener All the Rage to the grunting Moonlight Man, the anthemic, synth-specked Inner Secrets to the epic Theatre of Dreams (which, in title and tone, nods to one of Joseph’s primary inspirations, John Petrucci), the record explores a wide range of his own sounds and styles, all of it shot through with Joseph’s dense, complex guitar work, that often comes off as almost vocal in nature.

To that end, Joseph says, "It’s easy to learn techniques – it’s harder to make the guitar sing. But when it comes to putting together a record, that’s my priority – coming up with something where people can walk away humming the melody. It’s not just about showing how much I can shred or how badass a guitar player I can be. It’s about the music."

It’s not just about showing how much I can shred or how badass a guitar player I can be. It’s about the music

As far as the music is concerned, Joseph is perpetually in a state of playing and creating. 

"The work never stops, man," he says with a laugh. And indeed, even as he unleashes Labyrinth, he’s already deep in the writing and recording stage of another record, this one with his brother Chris, who also played bass in Hyvmine. 

Additionally, Joseph continues to keep busy with JTCGuitar.com, where he has served as an instructor for the past eight years and is involved in a new boot camp online course. The educational side of the guitar, he says, "is something that I pride myself on, and that’s definitely going to continue for me."

In the end, he says, "you’ve got to be happy with your music and with yourself. And I feel very fortunate I get to do what I do. I’m just trying to create a body of work that I can be truly proud of, regardless of how well it does or any of that kind of stuff."

With Labyrinth, Joseph adds, "I wasn’t trying to prove anything as a player. The inspiration was about drawing from within – it’s music that’s pure and in alignment with who I am."

Al Joseph's new album Labyrinth is out now via District Loft Records.

The Link Lonk


October 05, 2020 at 05:20PM
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/al-joseph-its-easy-to-learn-techniques-its-harder-to-make-the-guitar-sing

Al Joseph: "It’s easy to learn techniques – it’s harder to make the guitar sing" - Guitar World

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

'We don't give up really easy': Navajo ranchers battle climate change - WTVB News

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By Stephanie Keith and Andrew Hay

CEDAR RIDGE, Ariz. (Reuters) - Two decades into a severe drought on the Navajo reservation, the open range around Maybelle Sloan's sheep farm stretches out in a brown expanse of earth and sagebrush.

A dry wind blows dust across the high-desert plateau, smoke from wildfires in Arizona and California shrouding the nearby rim of the Grand Canyon.

The summer monsoon rains have failed again, and stock ponds meant to collect rainwater for the hot summer months are dry.

With no ground water for her animals, Sloan, 59, fills an animal trough with water from a 1,200-gallon white plastic tank. She and her husband, Leonard, have to pay up to $300 to have the tank filled as her pickup truck has broken down. When it's working, she hauls water herself every two days, spending $80 a week on fuel.

The cost of hauling water has made their ranch unprofitable.

The Navajo Nation - covering a 27,000 square mile area straddling the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah -- competes with growing cities including Phoenix and Los Angeles for its water supply.

And as climate change dries out the U.S. West, that supply is becoming increasingly precarious.

In decades past, "we got rain every year around June, July, August," said Leonard Sloan. The 64-year-old rancher pointed toward the dry ponds in the ground near a local butte named Missing Tooth Rock. "When we had that storm, there would be water and they would be full. And now due to global warming, we don't get no rain, just a little."

To keep their ranch alive the Sloans have to get water, which is free, from the sole livestock well in the area some 15 miles to the east.

They spend between $3,000 and $4,000 a year on hay to supplement their animals' feed as the open range no longer produces enough grass to sustain them.

Maybelle has cut her sheep herd down to 24 head, and Leonard tells her to get rid of them and her 18 goats to focus on their 42 cattle, which bring more money at market.

But Maybelle bristles at the thought of giving up sheep herding learned from her mother, and grandmother before her. Maybelle's mother, father and sister all died in April from coronavirus.

"I'm doing it for my parents," Maybelle said, wiping tears away as she sat on the metal railing of a corral while her cattle licked salt blocks and drank water.

GRADUAL DISASTER

The Sloans remember grass growing as high as the belly of a horse as recently as the 1980s.

But drought conditions on the reservation have become largely relentless since the mid-1990s.

Annual average temperatures rose by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the reservation's Navajo County area over the 100 years to 2019, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.

The months of June to August this year were the driest on record in the area for the three-month period, according to drought monitoring data studied by climate scientist David Simeral of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada. Three of the five driest July-August rainy seasons in the area have occurred since the late 1990s.

The warming trend has prompted desertification, with sand dunes now covering about a third of the reservation, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

All but one of the reservation's rivers have stopped running year-round, said Margaret Redsteer, a scientist at the University of Washington in Bothell.

"That's the really tricky thing about droughts, and climate change is like that too," Redsteer said. "It's a gradual disaster."

DETERMINED PEOPLE

On paper, the Navajo Nation has extensive water rights based on the federal "reserved rights" doctrine which holds that Native American nations have rights to land and resources in treaties they signed with the United States.

In practice, the Navajos and other tribes were left out of many 20th century negotiations divvying up the West's water.

There are signs some of the next generation are keeping up ranching traditions.

Some youths simply help their grandparents haul water each day from the sole well for livestock in the Bodaway-Gap area. Still others, including Maybelle's children, send money from their work off the reservation to help fund their families' ranches.

"Us Indians, we don't give up really easy," Maybelle said. "We're really determined people."

(Reporting by Stephanie Keith and Andrew Hay; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

The Link Lonk


October 05, 2020 at 08:57PM
https://wtvbam.com/2020/10/05/we-dont-give-up-really-easy-navajo-ranchers-battle-climate-change/

'We don't give up really easy': Navajo ranchers battle climate change - WTVB News

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Prince Harry 'adored' by 'easy to please' Americans, says cousin - Insider - INSIDER

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• Prince Harry's cousin Christina Oxenberg said he and Meghan Markle will be "adored" in the US because "Americans are easy to please."
• Oxenberg (daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, who is second cousin to Prince Charles) wrote about the couple's new life in California in British magazine Tatler. 
• "To be adored in America, all Harry and Meghan need to do is pick up a dog from a shelter," Oxenberg wrote.
• She added: "What draws scorn in England will be applauded in the States."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will find success in California because "what draws scorn in England will be applauded in the States," according to one of the duke's royal relatives.

Christina Oxenberg, a socialite and daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (a second cousin to Prince Charles), weighed in on the couple's move to Santa Barbara in an article for the British magazine Tatler. 

"Possibly too much is expected by the Brits from England's one-time most eligible bachelor and his actress wife," Oxenberg wrote in the magazine, according to the Daily Mail.

Christina Oxenberg's mother is a second cousin to Prince Harry's father, Prince Charles.

Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

"To be adored in America, all Harry and Meghan need to do is pick up a dog from a shelter," she added.

"Americans are easy to please. What draws scorn in England will be applauded in the States."

Oxenberg added that American journalists are likely to treat the couple "very well," which would be a stark contrast to the duke and duchess' relationship with the UK media. 

Harry and Markle have struggled with the press ever since their relationship went public in 2016, and the former actress even said friends warned her against dating the prince because of the tabloid intrusion.

"My British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great, but you shouldn't do it, because the British tabloids will destroy your life,'" Markle said in an ITV documentary last year.

Earlier this year, the couple cut off all contact with four major British tabloids: The Sun, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, and The Daily Mail.

In a letter sent to each publication, the duke and duchess said no longer want to "offer themselves up as currency for an economy of clickbait and distortion."

They relocated to Santa Barbara, California, earlier this year after previously spending time in Canada before they announced their departure from the royal family.

Read more:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have bought their first home in Santa Barbara

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are taking legal action against 4 different media outlets, but experts believe their efforts will backfire

Princess Eugenie will follow Meghan Markle's lead and raise her child without a royal title, according to experts

Our Royal Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and announcements about the British royal family, direct from Insider's royal reporters. Join here.

The Link Lonk


October 05, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://www.insider.com/prince-harry-meghan-markle-adored-americans-christina-oxenberg-tatler-2020-10

Prince Harry 'adored' by 'easy to please' Americans, says cousin - Insider - INSIDER

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Moving an aging parent into your home isn't easy - Chicago Daily Herald

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As people live longer, more adult children are left to assume responsibility for their elderly parents. Often, they decide the best option is to move Mom or Dad into their home.

While this may be the best course of action from a financial standpoint, it's easy to underestimate its logistical and emotional toll. This is not a decision to enter into lightly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

If you find yourself in this position, here are three key factors to consider first.

What kind of care does your parent need?

… versus what can you provide? Often, families don't reach this point until a parent's health problem has surfaced, such as an accident or memory loss. Whatever your parent's health limitations, do you have the time and fortitude to provide what they need, not just today but as their health declines? Are you comfortable, say, helping with bathing and bathroom activities? Can you enlist support from a spouse or sibling?

Sometimes, the answer is to offload some care to a part-time home health aide. Others, it's to make this a transitional move, knowing you'll move your parent to a nursing facility when things reach a certain point.

What are the financial implications?

According to Genworth's most recent Cost of Care survey for Illinois, nursing home care now costs more than $71,000 per year; assisted living costs in excess of $50,000. While you won't spend anything like that in your home, the AARP has found that caregivers spend more than $7,400 a year out of pocket caring for their loved one.

In addition, more than half of working caregivers will need to take time off, cutback on hours, or ultimately quit altogether. This translates to less income, less job security and fewer employee benefits -- not to mention lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. It's important to face this reality up front. Does your parent bring any assets to the equation? Are there siblings who are willing to pitch in financially? How can you make this most affordable?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

What are the emotional implications?

Caregiving can be exhausting and isolating. It can spark a range of difficult emotions -- from sadness at watching your parent decline to anger over long-unresolved family issues. Other relationships often suffer. Caregivers not only report increased anxiety, but are twice as likely to suffer from depression than the general population.

If you're going to take this on, it's important to line up your support team (aides, care managers, siblings and other family members) and create a plan for self-care and stress management.

In summary, moving your elderly parent into your home should not be a slam-dunk decision. Hold some family meetings and talk things out. Consider every option and possible outcome. In loving, healthy, cooperative families, it is possible to care for an aging parent without turning life upside down.

But even then, it isn't easy.

• Teri Dreher is a board-certified patient advocate. A critical care nurse for more than 30 years, she recently founded Seniors Alone Guardianship & Advocacy Services (SeniorsAlone.org), a not-for-profit organization that serves the area's senior orphans. She also is the founder of NShore Patient Advocates, www.northshorern.com.

The Link Lonk


October 04, 2020 at 07:02PM
https://www.dailyherald.com/entlife/20201004/moving-an-aging-parent-into-your-home-isnt-easy

Moving an aging parent into your home isn't easy - Chicago Daily Herald

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Create a Custom Business Website With This Easy-to-Use Builder - Entrepreneur

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Wire-framing is simplified with Blueprints Website Builder.

Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox

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October 4, 2020 2 min read

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These days, every business needs a web presence. But not everyone is so technical. For designers, that's great. They can earn a pretty penny by building websites for entrepreneurs on a freelance basis. However, that's expensive for entrepreneurs. Something has to give. Blueprints Website Builder by Bootstraptor solves problems for both entrepreneurs in need of a website and graphic designers who need an expedited workflow.

This seamless prototyping tool allows you to put together websites at warp speed, regardless of your coding expertise. With more than 500 ready-made blocks, 200 prototype starter templates, and 30 navigation panels, you can burn through wire-framing a website in absolutely no time. If you don't know any code, you can easily just drag-and-drop elements to build your website. If you do know code, you can easily add elements and improve website usability within the interface.

Every page is SEO-oriented and optimized using more than 96 Google PageSpeed Insights, plus they're automatically adapted to any device. Once you're done setting up your prototype, you can easily export an HTML file on native Bootstrap 4 code to get it ready for integration into your existing web platform. As such, setting up a brand new website can be done in as little as five minutes. Whether you're a web design pro looking to speed up your workflow or a novice who just wants to have a functional business website, Blueprints Website Builder has you covered.

Start building sites with ease. A lifetime subscription to Blueprints Website Builder is normally $149 but you can save 83 percent off when you get it for just $25 today for Mac or Windows.

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October 04, 2020 at 07:30PM
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/357065

Create a Custom Business Website With This Easy-to-Use Builder - Entrepreneur

https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

Grizzlies make it look easy again - PostBulletin.com

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ST. PETERS, Mo. — The Rochester Grizzlies are off to a perfect start.

One day after beginning their season with a one-sided win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues, the Grizzlies go the better of the Blues again on Friday, winning 3-1.

Rochester’s North American 3 League team scored twice in the opening period, then tacked on one more goal in the third frame to skate away winners. The Blues got their only goal in the third period.

The Grizzlies dominated throughout, outshooting the Blues 36-21.

Matthew DeRosa got Rochester going at 2:13 of the first period, connecting off an assist from Logan Kroyman. Nearly 10 minutes later, Hunter Wilmes made it 2-0 in favor of the Grizzlies. He was assisted by Tyler Huffer and Joey Fodstad.

Garrett Smith wrapped the scoring up for the Grizzlies at 19:12 of the final frame, unassisted.

Zach Wiese was in goal for Rochester.

The Grizzlies play again at 7:05 p.m. Friday, hosting the Blues at the Rochester Recreation Center in a two-game series.

The Link Lonk


October 04, 2020 at 08:26PM
https://www.postbulletin.com/sports/hockey/6695263-Grizzlies-make-it-look-easy-again

Grizzlies make it look easy again - PostBulletin.com

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