Diary Legend / Real Name - Sim Alias

Geoff - Galileo or Silver Charm
Dan - Given or Rockwell
Ryan - Lenny
Todd - War Emblem
Brian - PadreBri or Peeps
Phil - Tremendous Machine or RVD
Tori - Jessimare
Chandra - Nemesis
Dan - Epic
Tyler - Teejay
Dave - Deadnthelane
Willyam - Willyam
Raymond - Reman
Laura - Topicount
Tracy - Squirrel
Ryan B - In Denial
Stephen - Tonno
Joey - Migman
Carlos - Carlos
Andy - Pilgrim

Part One - Horse Latitudes
By Todd Davis (War Emblem)

"Who is going to be the torch bearer?" Geoff, the GR Simsters president asked the assembled group of members. Who I guess have been hanging out in Athens for the last 16 months.

"I don't know, it's a long way to Mordor and it seems that inexplicably, no one know has a map of how to get there." I said.

"That's the ring bearer." Sighed Dan.

"The ring bearer? Like in a wedding?" I asked.

"No, as in Sauron's One Ring of power". Dan said as Ryan and Brian nodded solemnly.

"Yah, I was never so sure about that. If Sauron lost his ring, why didn't he just make another? Heck, when you win a Super Bowl they give rings to everyone. Equipment boy? Give 'em a ring! Cheerleader's younger sister? Give her a ring! They even give a ring to the guy from the NFL apparel commercials that is hiding in a tackling dummy trying to steal the real Roy Williams' jersey." Of course I was just being difficult, but don't you agree? Whenever someone talks about the 'One Ring' it just is dripping with pseudo-gravitas. Come on, if a couple stupid fat hobbits can lead to your downfall, am I really supposed to respect you as an Evil warlord/king/deity? And if the ONLY way to destroy the ONLY source of your power is Mt. Doom, and if you have legions of goblinoid armies, along with a set of admittedly cool Nasguls, don't you think you would station some troops at the foot of the Volcano to intercept all hairy midgets with bad intentions? No?? Really? That's about as smart as every villain in 95% of the movies. Hmm…I have you in my clutches, all my megalomaniac plans are about to be realized and I'd like to take these next five minutes to talk about whatever happens to be flowing through my malevolent mind. As Tuco said, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."

Oh, there is a conversation going on, and apparently Ryan has been chosen to be the torchbearer. I think it's because he lives in Vegas and is used to the glam and glitz, and I must admit this torch is pretty nice looking. Not at all your standard Dungeons and Dragons variety, but real silver-like Clash of the Titans looking stuff. I would definitely pawn that at the bazaar at the foot of the Acropolis and spend the week with Greek girls, gyros and ouzo at the Pink Palace on Corfu. Oops, I wasn't supposed to think that, this is a serious event.

"Todder, you're in charge of getting the Simsters from Athens to North America. We have to hand the torch off to North American Racing. Rockwell, you need to prepare the path for the torch to be passed. Ryan, you can't let the flame go out. Kind of like Elton John. Brian, glad to see you have your Silent Bob look going, you're in charge of refreshments." I had the vague notion that by giving those three or four sentence commands Geoff was more or less saying that his responsibility was confined to drinking beer and talking to girls. Hey, command has its privileges doesn't it?

We all set off about our assigned tasks, like kindergartners furiously trying to be the first to complete their Harry Potter coloring book. I asked Rockwell, who is Dan, where in the heck we were supposed to go in North America.

"It's kind of a big place you know, with those 48 states and all, along with 6 or so Canadian provinces and Tijuana." I just tacked Tijuana on there because I wasn't really sure if Mexico was in North America or not. Was it in Central America? Was it next to Mordor? OK, that will be my last Lord of the Rings reference, but what do you want from me when looking for common references on movies everyone has seen? Lucas so utterly ruined Star Wars that I don't think it's possible to screw up a trilogy any more. Oh wait…yes it is, up next, destroying the coolest movie in a decade with two absurd sequels is… the Wachowski Brothers!! Thanks guys, just wanted to give you a shout out for that.

"Let's just get there, and we'll figure something out. I'm sure we'll get more information on where North American Racing is located when we get stateside." Dan said.

"If we get through customs," Brian chimed in.

"Rock and roll then," I said and went to work. But first I'm going to take this moment to stare into camera one and tell my audience why Dan is Rockwell. Much like a Norman Rockwell painting, Dan has an idyllic view of the SIM. He sees it terms of boys playing stickball in the street while lovely red trolley cars motor by. The SIM is all benevolent, and even when his horses don't run well, they get a pat on the back from Ward Cleaver when they return to the stable. Somehow this thinking led to a Breeders Bowl winner, in Casterly Rock. You mean positive thinking leads to success? Naahhhhh…. I can't stop cursing my horses when they come back to my stables with the 'What? I tried my best look' on their faces. And besides, he still can't breed a router.

Last year, I watched Miracle to get inspired for the organization of the GR Simsters Equinics activities, which were dumped at my doorstep. I did my best to throw an inaugural party, which went off well. We then proceeded to compete in the races like they were throwaway games in Rochester. That wasn't quite the plan, but what the heck did we know? We were like a bunch of rookie receivers trying to make it in the NFL. Maybe our horses had heart, maybe they didn't. It's always difficult to tell when you're beat down that badly. It's hard to get off the jam, to get separation, to go over the middle with 54 from the Bears taking a bead at your chest. Intimidation? Lack of talent? Who knows, but it amounted to one third-place finish. One horse hit the board. One. Not a good thing unless you're Bono. Ziklag, our sole chevalier worth his armor was like some pioneering explorer, a Lewis or Clark opening up the Northwest Passage for our residency. The GR Simsters retreated, went off to get more powder, like Hawkeye in Last of the Mohicans. Because you can't take on Magua without powder. We're locked and loaded now. We have the roadblock set up and are waiting for the Devil's Rejects. We're no longer out gunned. Let's cue up Freebird and get ready for the fireworks.

But first things first, we have to find NA Racing, and the first step in reaching that destination is introducing the honorary Captain of the HMS Afleet Alex, which has been commissioned to take the Simsters from Athens to America, the lovely Miss Kristin Kreuk.

"Why Kristin, how nice of you to join us on this trip," I said.

"Thanks Todd, I just love being here. This is the highlight of my year, and I would really like it if you wrote me some really cheesy dialog. I'm virtually being ignored on Smallville these days and would really like a chance to shine. How am I ever going to move from being a C level actress to a B level actress if I don't get more dialogue?"

"Good point Kristin, I'll see what I can do. Do you mind if we just call you Lana for the rest of the trip?

"Not at all Todd. I really just love it when people call me Lana Lang. There is nothing an actor likes more than being called by the name of one character they once played. I hope they are still calling me Lana when I'm 35"

"Well, it would be more fun to call you Lana in the morning over breakfast"

Lana/Kristin giggles. "You're so witty Todd. But I only have eyes for Clark, and even if I did have eyes for you, it would end badly for you. You would inevitably turn evil and get killed off, because this is what happens to all my boyfriends."

"Mmmm…yes. Well back to your career Lana, I think the sure fire way to get up to a B level actress is to do a horror film. You recently played a vampire on Smallville, with that sort of experience on your resume; you should have no problem landing a feature role in a fright flick. In fact, I hear they are re-doing Lost Boys, would you be interested in the Jami Gertz role of Star?"

"I would be very interested in that role. Of course I don't know who they would find to play the irreplaceable Corey Feldman and Corey Haim."

"Lost Boys certainly was Corey Haim's finest moment. Some think it was License to Drive, with a young Heather Graham as Mercedes. I'll let that joke play itself out in your imagination. Clearly though, Corey Haim had his 'A' game going in Lost Boys."

"Oh definitely Todd, Corey was so hot in that movie. I would have dated him had I not been five years old at the time. Then again, it would have ended badly for him, he would have either turned evil or gotten addicted to drugs, gained 80 pounds and declared bankruptcy"

"Yah, he wouldn't want that happen."

Let's turn away from this conversation and see what the rest of the HMS Afleet Alex is doing. And yes, I know I am switching between tenses and breaking all sorts of literary rules, but who are you Mrs. DeLong from 10th grade English? And look at it this way, you just read an entire imaginary conversation between Kristin Kreuk and myself, the genesis of which is a game consisting of imaginary pixel horses. Just about anything can happen at this point.

"Why did they name a British ship after an American horse?" Phil asked. Phil was seated at a table with Tori, Chandra and Epic Dan. Yes, we were making Epic Dan wear an 'Epic Dan' t-shirt so we could distinguish him from Rockwell Dan. This is what you get when parents name their kids the same name and then they join the same residency. Or what you get when you have a hack writer describing the story, and it's much easier to give someone an 'Epic Dan' t-shirt than to develop their characters. But then again, Jerry Bruckheimer has made enough money to buy Costa Rica, dinosaurs and all, making movies based on this premise, so who am I to mess with success?

"How do you know it's a British ship?" asked Tyler, our resident Aussie, who was leaning over the ship's rail lobbing M-80s into the Adriatic Sea. Australian - Fishing.

"HMS is her majesties service", replied Phil.

"What if they have a King?" KaBOOM.

"Her can equally be changed to His. This is one of those logical fallacies that Todd is known for. The British wouldn't name a ship after Afleet Alex," insisted Phil.

"What's wrong with Afleet Alex?" asked Tori.

"He's over-rated. Everyone was predicting he'd win 6 grade 1s before the year was over. Meanwhile, I was predicting a long time ago that he would be retired after his injury." Phil, being in college, tends to think he's right all the time.

"Alex is heroic," Epic Dan said, "like the White Sox".

"His performance in the Preakness was certainly what I would call great," Chandra stated, taking a drink from her Rolling Rock. Brian had broken out several coolers of beer and Rolling Rock is the official GR Simsters Equinics Beer.

"Without question," concurred Tori.

"How much further is it to America," asked Tyler, "are we there yet?"

"No. And it's pretty far to America," Phil said, annoyed because he was being interrupted from disputing Alex's heroism.
"Actually, it's probably not that much further Phil," opined Epic Dan. "After all, this is a story and it has to move along. It's not like we can carry on this conversation for a month, the actual sailing time from Athens to New York. But then again, we don't know where NA Racing is except in North America, so maybe we'll land in Miami instead."

"Oh I can talk about horses for a month if I have to," Phil said confidently.

"Of course you can darling," said Tori in her best Brett Ashley voice.

"Is it still Hurricane season? Miami might be a rather Titanic like destination if it is. What would happen to all our horses if the HMS Afleet Alex went down? Our whole residency would be wiped out." Chandra looked thoughtfully into her beer.

"Can you imagine the posts on the SIM forum if that were the case? The board might blow up from traffic with all the opinions on how to disperse the horses! Mike would probably have to rule that they went down with the ship." Epic Dan pondered. "I wonder what my good friend Stoners would think of that."

"People PLEASE! I was in the middle of a point about Afleet Alex," Phil started to say. Unfortunately, the rest of his rather dubious point was drown out by music as Geoff started playing 'Bad' on the bridge.

We interrupt this musical jam session to bring you this paid for advertisement:

GR Simsters, Unwavering at the Wire!!

We now resume our regularly scheduled story, which picks up with Dan checking out Ryan's torch.

"Ryan, February is a pretty awful time of year in North America, especially in Michigan. It's too cold to set up this Equinics celebration." Dan said. "In fact, (or is it more properly in point of fact Dan wondered, already having his mind was wandering. Brain cells numbed by sea wind and Kentucky whiskey, Makers Mark, on the rocks) how did we get conned into this again? And didn't this just take place last year?"

"We don't have to have it in Michigan, we can have it somewhere else." Ryan replied. "No one even knows where this NA Racing is. And it didn't actually take place last year…." Ryan proceeded to go on some long discourse concerning how there are Winter and Summer Equinics. This seemed all very complex to Dan, but then again he was never a big fan of synchronized swimming or curling so what did he know about something styled after the Olympics anyway?

"Right, we could try to find them at Epic Dan's - but that's in Chicago, which is even worse in February. Plus the South Side Busters just won a World Series, I am sure they are still celebrating."

"How about Vegas?" Ryan asked.

Yaaaaah baby, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and since Ryan, of the Lennbrenner Empire, had moved out to Vegas in the past year, it seemed the perfect location for our Fountain of Youth like quest. Of course the Lennbrenner Empire has many outposts. Home of one hundred stables, multiple graded winners like Empire Reef, shareholder in Time-Warner, multi-million dollar benefactor of Notre Dame, not much isn't influenced by this Empire. If the Lennbrenner wanted to search Vegas for NA Racing, who was going to argue?



Part Two - Lost in La Mancha By Todd Davis (War Emblem)

The HMS Afleet Alex landed in Tom's River New Jersey, hometown of Piper Perabo; one hit wonder in Coyote Ugly, though she raged more well while being Lost and Delirious. Everyone piled out and got into a fleet of official GR Simster Equinics Escalades, spinners optional. How did the Escalades know to get there? How does a Lion and a Witch live in a wardrobe? Best not to ask these things. Traveled down to Atlantic City, which isn't Vegas but has a boardwalk even if it is covered by snow and the bodies from a couple extras from the Sopranos. Stopped at Bada Bing which was fun and a good way to blow a combined five thousand dollars, looks like A.P. Indy won't be going to a Simster this week. Went to the City, which also isn't Vegas, but does have Times Square which not every Simster has seen and they have to see it because all this America is evil and capitalism sucks thoughts coming out of the middle east would stop if you put all the dissidents in Times Square with $2000 in their pocket and suddenly sleeping in a burlap tent in the desert wouldn't seem like such a preferred life. Someone should shoot a movie in Times Square with Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing as a witty Ode to Capitalism, some say Piccadilly Circus is like Times Square but I've seen them both and while Piccadilly has more British babes with Lara Croft accents it is not Times Square. Next stop was DelPenn, not sure if we mistook them for NA Racing or just wanted to say one more time, SMACKDOWN. With that we left the Northeast, avoided Boston because their sports fans are so annoying and even though the White Sox are the World Champs we still didn't want to hear about how Josh Beckett is the key, the key to what? News flash you're just another version of the Yankees with a slightly less bloated payroll. Meandering along some blue highways, while reading Blue Highways, highly recommend the book try and find a four calendar restaurant, we passed Gettysburg where America was built by the sacrifice of a few for the future of many and we pause to give thanks to the soldiers in Iraq for keeping America free and allowing us to meander on our trip from sea to shining sea. We almost get stuck in the Appalachian mountains and for a moment I have visions of the Donner party but then again that was in the Rockies and every 12 year old has a cell phone these days so if you did get stuck wouldn't AAA be there in about 2 hours to bail you out? How can you make horror movies in an era of cell phones? You have to come up with gimmicks like in Jeepers Creepers or Wrong Turn to immobilize them but come on, if you're going to be traveling in Deliverance country are you really going to go in there with one bar on your battery? Besides this ignores the existence of phone chargers that plug into your car or the extra 6 hours you get with your blue tooth headset. Rob Zombie said the last creepy decade you can make a horror movie set in America was the 70s; I guess you could always situate it in Transylvania if the bell bottoms were too hard on your actors. Speaking of actors, Let's see what Geoff and Lana are up to in the lead Escalade.

And that paragraph was a whole lot better if you read it in Victor's zip through Europe tone in Rules of Attraction.

"I hope you don't mind getting pried away from Todd and his advice on your movie career" Geoff said while steering his Space Monolith black Escalade through 18 inches of snow covered Midwest roads.

"Oh no, and he understood he had to give you some screen time with me or face a suspension from the residency"

"Yah, kind of like T.O."

"Kind of, but not really. Have you seen the abs on T.O.? You really can't compare those to Todd. I don't follow football that much, being a foreigner and all, but I would say I'm a pretty die-hard Cowboys fan, when they are winning of course. Otherwise I like to pout and read Russian novels in my free time. What about you?

"You're from Kansas, you're not a foreigner!"

"Lana is from Kansas, I'm from Canada. Which is kind of like Kansas but without the Tornados or cornfields."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm something of a guitar hero, and I do like to complain about how Theatrical only stands for $40K and he's sired 20 Grade I winners while Ghostzapper walks into stud at $200K. I also see myself as a bit of a Lex Luthor."

"Let's not even go there with Lex."

The GR Simsters caravan is winding through the back roads of the country looking for NA Racing. Is this a quixotic quest? Are there any maps that lead to NA Racing HQ? Has the Lennbrenner stolen the Equinics torch and kept it as a keepsake for the Empire? Who will end up with Lana, get turned evil and killed off? Don't these Escalades get more than 9 miles to a gallon and exactly who is footing this travel bill? All I know, is if you hear 'Midnight Rider' floating through the winter air on a cold, bitter February evening, you know the GR Simster caravan is passing through a town near you. Lock the doors and run to the hills, we have a flaming torch in tow and are on a mission.



Part Three - Campfire Stories
By Dan Silver (Given)
And what a mission it is, trying to find the secret compound of the North American Residency while simultaneously attempting to keep all 21 GR Simsters under control. Ok, ok, somewhat under control! Thanks to Todd for keeping everyone updated on what the GR Simsters brass was up to for the first part of the trip. It certainly has been a long voyage to this point, and there still is a ways to go, especially since we have no idea where exactly we are going. But aren't those the most fun trips? The ones where you just up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T? And if you don't pick up that movie reference you probably need to watch more movies. But don't fret, I'm not one of those guys that quotes movies all the time, mainly because most of my memory is taken up with things having to do with the Sim. Back to that train of thought in a moment, but it looks like there's some action going on in the Western Pennsylvania steel mill in which the GR Simsters have set up shop for the evening.

A streaking form across the floor proved itself to be Dave, who is unmistakable in his Japanese-style tennis shoes that light up in dark. You see, Dave has taken a liking to using the once-Japanese sire Agnes World over and over and over again, and word of his love for the horse spread to the land of samurais and sushi. Shortly thereafter he received a package from the Japanese stud farm where his hero sire stood, and included therein were a pair of super expensive Japanese light-up tennis shoes, a camera for Dave to take a picture of himself and send it back to Japan, and 1,000 shares of stock in Sega, which went the same direction that Agnes World's stud career went….down.

Don't be fooled into thinking that Dave was just running for the fun of it, however, as chasing after him were Willyam and Ray in a heated game of Chase Someone Around the Steel Mill, a childhood favorite of many. Willyam has recently begun the transformation that many of the GR Simsters have undergone in their relatively short stints in the Sim. He went from owning a few stables and breeding a handful of horses a month, typically sired by mid-level sires like Spinning World and Aptitude, to singlehandedly wiping out all of the top sons of Mr. Prospector on a Sunday night. We're very proud of Willyam, and he is pegged to be on the December cover of GREsquire Monthly as an example of what every up-and-coming GR Simster aspires to be.

And Ray is about as old school as it comes. Despite the fact that he only runs two stables, he manages to win almost every GR Simster trainer contest that's out there. We think there's a rule that horses can't remain in his stable for more than one week at a time, but nothing has been confirmed. Whatever his secret is, there's no doubting that he is a master tactician on the level of famous Asian Master Hun Yuan.

Gathered around a fire in the corner is the female contingent of the GR Simsters, comprised of Chandra, Laura, Tori, and Tracy. While they don't garner (ie. hog) the public notoriety that Simsters such as Geoff, Ryan, Todd, Brian, Phil, Epic Dan, and myself do, there can be no question that without them the residency would collapse upon itself. However, there is the flip side to that, as half of the four lovely ladies of the GR Simsters masquerade as members in other residencies.

"I really don't understand how you ladies are able to keep up with everything that happens in all of the residencies to which you belong," Chandra said to Laura, a member of almost every residency in the Sim, and Tracy, a charter member of NWRC. "Isn't it tough to stay on top of things?"

A question to which both Tracy and Laura looked eager to respond, but having the common courtesy that most male GR Simsters lacked, both looked to the other to begin. Tracy was the first one to respond.

"Honestly it's not very difficult. I mean what really is involved with being in a residency? All there is to do is read the different threads on the message boards. And since all the threads invariably result in arguments featuring battles of testosterone, I really don't even read them. I guess once in a while I'll pop into a thread and make my presence known, but talking sense to some of these men is an exercise in futility. The only reason I have kept myself limited to only a few residencies is that there is only so much useless arguing that one can subject themselves to."

Laura took the pause in Tracy's train of thought to interject. "I completely agree with you. My thought is just to let the boys have their fun arguing with each other. It's funny seeing them give nicknames to their operations like the Lennbrenner Empire, Silver Stables, and Cobra Kai since my 750 stable conglomerate could wipe all of them off the face of the Sim in a matter of seconds.."

All four of them nodded in silent agreement, and continued their logical and cordial discussion.

In another corner of the mill…

"You're completely insane! Transylvania is a glorified allowance winner who wouldn't know what a graded victory was if it bit him in the arse!" I bellowed to Todd.

"Yeah well Balerion couldn't hold his saddle-cloth! You bet me in the Smackdown and correct me if I'm wrong but I won and you finished dead last!" Todd retorted.

This discussion, which has taken place 10,754 times since the beginning of 2005, caused Phil to pipe up.

"Aren't you guys forgetting that I am the owner of the RVD stable and its almighty champion Ziklag? He might only have one win in his most recent 20 starts, but he's running competitively in graded stakes competition!"

This was too much for Brian to take. "He's finished 6th, 9th, and 12th in his most recent three graded races. Maybe two years ago he was able to compete consistently in graded competition, but not anymore."

"Well," Phil said, "he'll be running in graded competition until I'm forced to retire him."

As Todd mentioned earlier, Ziklag holds a special heart in many of the hearts of the GR Simsters, as he was our lone points-getter in the 2004 Equinics. Perhaps the weight of being the only graded-worthy horse in the residency was too much weight for him to carry, as his gallant run in those 2004 games was one of his last moments of glory.

And while myself and Todd argued about who was better, my barely G3 winner or Todd's non-graded winner, Epic found silent comfort in the fact that his turf miler Echoes had just emerged victorious in the G1 KingAb Mile, solidifying himself as one of the top turf milers in the Sim.

Epic has always been a GR Simster at heart, but he only found his way home a few months ago as he was nomadically searching for a residency in which to house his horses. Just like the top college basketball teams woo the top prospects, the GR Simsters did the same for Epic. We took him on a whirlwind tour of our top-notch breeding facilities, comprised mainly of top-of-the-line Dell PC's with automated refresh buttons that allow for much quicker clicking of the "Submit" button than most run-of-the-mill computers. He was also offered a job with the same Sim-friendly company that employs Ryan, the head of the Lennbrenner Empire. You know, the type of company that gives their employees a monthly gas and food credit card and doesn't ask questions when the statement comes back with 75 transactions with the company Smartacre, LLC. Epic was sold immediately, and he has found a permanent home with the GR Simsters.

Speaking of the Lennbrenner Empire, just since our journey to find the North American Residency has started, Ryan has hired and fired 27 different stable managers. And judging by the look on his face at the moment as he stares at his 27th manager Phillipo, number 28 might be coming soon.

"What the hell do you mean you didn't set Empire Reef's training week within 2 minutes of the completion of the update!" screamed an irate Ryan. "You're completely incompetent, and I bet you also didn't select a jockey last week for Man on Fire you halfwit!"

Phillipo, who was just in his 2nd day on the job, cemented his fate when he responded, "Man on Fire? That horse isn't even a colt, it's a filly. What kind of moron names a filly Man on Fire? It's no surprise that all the other horses call her Butch behind her back."

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND NEVER COME BACK!"

That was the last we saw of Phillipo.

An awkward silence dwelt over the crew for a few moments until Ryan B, named so to distinguish him from Ryan of Lennbrenner fame (or infamy depending on how you look at it) came wandering near the fire with a notepad that had notes scribbled all over it.

"Umm Ryan B, what in the world are you scribbling about," said Stephen, with his British accent. Stephen, also known as Tonno, is currently a student at a prestigious university at Britain. Seeing as how he's on a student budget, he hasn't been able to fully flex his Sim muscle as of yet, but it shouldn't be too long before he's breeding a Giant's Causeway for every paper that he's written.

"What? Huh?" said Ryan B. "Oh, this. Yeah I'm just working on some good combos for Seeking the Gold. He's actually still available this week, if you can believe it!"

"Umm yeah duh Ryan B," Stephen retorted, "It's Sunday and breeding hasn't even started yet. All of the sires are available."

"Oh yeah, that's right, but trust me this combination will be incredible. If you thought my first 25 Seeking The Gold's were good, you haven't seen anything yet."

(Aside to the reader: While there are many exaggerations in this diary entry, Ryan B's 25 Seeking The Gold's is not, it's a true scoop)

"Really, this one will be better than Fitting Solution?" Stephen said.

"Oh yeah no question. Fitting Solution only ran 100+ speed figures in his first 14 starts. This one I'm going to breed today will top that number in at least its first 20 starts."

"Riiiigghhtt," Stephen said, while nodding and eventually burying his nose once again in one of his British text books. You know, the type that refers to the British Empire in the present tense.

Then, as if some sort of paranormal object that sensed the lull in the conversation, a fire alarm blared to life in the near distance.

"Uh oh," murmured Geoff, looking around the mill. "Has anyone seen those little rascals Joey and Tyler?""

"I haven't," Todd said, "and come to think of it I haven't seen Carlos and Andy either. Weren't they supposed to be keeping an eye on those two youngsters?"

On cue, four shapes, two smaller shapes being chased by two larger shapes, appeared through a door on the far end of the mill. And despite their distance from our group, we could hear the screaming loud and clear.

"Hahaha, you guys will never catch us!" shrieked Joey as he zoomed from one end of the mill to the other. "I've ridden on donkeys that ran faster than you!"

Tyler echoed, "This is so much fun, you guys are so slow! There are blind wombats in Australia that could spin circles around both of you!"

Panting, Andy and Carlos gave up the chase when they got close to us, and looked tired and exasperated.

"My kids have energy," Andy said, "But nothing like Joey and Tyler. I've never seen anything like it."

"Yeah," said an exhausted Carlos, "Joey pulled that fire alarm in the library across the street and then they just bolted. Sorry we couldn't prevent them from causing mayhem but I guess boys will be boys."
At that point everyone was getting a bit exhausted, and Geoff suggested that since we had a big day of traveling ahead, it was probably time to catch some sleep.

As I settled into my sleeping bag, it was a good time to reflect on the path we had taken to get to this point and the path that lay ahead. The GR Simsters started as a small residency in the early months of 2004, spearheaded by Geoff, who hadn't been in the Sim very long, and myself, a complete Sim newcomer. Most of our early members consisted of friends that we had made while playing an online Gallop Racer game associated with the ORLWorld, a massive online horse gaming world created by Jim Cougar, a pioneer in the business. While we took part in the 2004 Summer Equinics, I don't think that we really understood what a wonderful event it was and what a great opportunity it was. Well, perhaps we understood, but we weren't prepared to really compete in that event, as most of our members had been in the Sim for less than a year. As has been mentioned here several times, our only top three runner was Phil's Ziklag, who will always have a special place in the annals of our residency because of that feat.

But make no mistake, we're ready for the 2006 Winter Equinics. It's an absolute thrill and honor to take part in such an event, and we're fully capable of realizing that at this point in our existence. To compete with and spend time with all of the other great residencies in this wonderful game is an experience that all of us will remember, and we're all in it together. Thanks go out from our residency to everyone who makes the Equinics possible, you should be truly proud of what they have become. And with that thought in my head, I began nodding off to sleep, with a full day of travel, to who knows where, ahead…



Part Four - The Light Dawns
By Dan Silver (Given)

I awoke to the sound of hustle and bustle all around me, and as my eyes slowly were able to synthesize everything going on around me, I realized that the Escalades were about ready to roll. "Wake up sleepyhead," said Geoff, who was already in midday form. "We've got a long day of travel ahead, although since we don't really know where we're going perhaps it might not be that long after all." As he went to check that all of the Escalades were fully fueled and stocked, I started to shake off the grogginess that lingered and pull myself together for the upcoming trip. I gathered my few belongings and stumbled over to one of the Escalades. I had no idea who I was going to share the next part of the trip with, but as I was hoping for some peace and quiet, I was sorely disappointed when I entered the Escalade and saw that Phil, Todd, Tyler, and Brian were the other occupants.

I have no idea how Phil and Todd ended up in the same car, although it might have been Geoff's idea as he is big on group togetherness and all being mentally on the same wavelength. If Todd and Phil are on the same wavelength, it's a wavelength that could wrap around the universe three times and they're at separate ends.

"Afleet Alex is a hero," Todd said.

"No he's not." Phil responded.

"Yes he is," Todd countered.

"NO HE'S NOT," Phil blurted out.

"IS TOO," Todd screamed.

"Well I think that Lonhro's eleven grade one wins and 26 wins from 34 starts eclipses anything that Afleet Alex did," said Tyler, with a look of innocent confidence on his face that could only be produced by a pre-teen. "Listen, Tyler," Todd said, "Phil and I are having a very intellectual discussion about the merits of Afleet Alex. You probably can't understand all of the specifics, but be rest assured that he is much more of a Roman hero than your little Australian horse could ever be."

"Afleet Alex is Roman?" Tyler queried.

"Well no," Todd responded, "But he's akin to a Roman hero with the way that he won the Preakness."

"IS NOT!" Phil bellowed.

"IS TOO!" Todd yelled.

"Well Vindication would have crushed both of them if they had allowed him to run as a 3yo," Brian chimed in.

"What do you mean, allowed him to run?" Tyler asked.

"Well it's a commonly known fact by many people that Vindication could have run as a 3yo but people were afraid that he might have dominated his competition so much that it would have ruined the entire sport."

"Um Brian," Phil said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Meanwhile Todd was leaning over into the backseat and pointing at the empty six-pack of Sam Adams that was next to Brian.

The three of them continued to argue about various things, and on and on and on…

Their conversation got so repetitive that it actually served as a nice substitute for white noise, and I was able to get an hour or so of sleep before I was awakened to the sound of an megaphone from outside of the Escalade, which had stopped at a rest-stop somewhere in Ohio.

"GR SIMSTERS," came the voice of Geoff times ten. "WE'VE ARRIVED AT A REST STOP NAMED THE NA RACEWAY LUNCH EMPORIUM. WE BELIEVE THAT WE MIGHT BE GETTING CLOSE TO THE END OF OUR JOURNEY, SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT!"

Ryan hopped out of one of the Escalades, torch in tow, and joined up with the entire group of GR Simsters that had gathered near an opening in the forest just behind the restaurant at the rest stop.

Everyone stepped aside and let the flame go first, and it began to dance to and fro, as if under the control of some divine puppet-master from above. Everyone became silent as the torch led Ryan to a clearing about two miles into the forest. And in the middle of the clearing was a platform that had a circular podium that surrounded it. The podium had twenty demarcations that looked just wide enough for someone to stand.

No one had to be told what to do, as member by member, all of the GR Simsters encircled the podium. Geoff, myself, Brian, Ryan B, Todd, Willyam, Phil, Raymond, Carlos, Dave, Tyler, Tori, Andy, Stephen, Joey, Chandra, Laura, Tracy, and Dan silently took up spots around the podium. There was one spot left, and the only GR Simster that had not stepped up to the podium was Ryan, the torchbearer. He took a deep breath and brought himself onto the podium, as just as his second foot came to rest, the torch came alive and the flame shot up in the air to form a fiery shape that created one large circle above the heads of all the GR Simsters. Everyone was so enthralled with the flame circle that no one noticed the torch completely disappear from Ryan's hands, but everyone heard the explosion of sound that resulted when the torch re-appeared in the center of the GR Simsters circle. It began spinning faster and faster, and as it continued to spin the fire above our heads was pulled toward it. As the last bit of flame went from above Geoff's head to the torch, the light became so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes. And then, in a split-second, the torch was completely gone. We had taken it to the heart of North America, and apparently it had sensed that and was now on it's way to the North American Racing Residency.

And we were on our way to the Equinics.