Month: June 2016

Sporting Scene

Town & Country has just thrown down the opera-length gauntlet before every Derby hat fan

The magazine says the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair celebrated its 120th year earlier this month, an annual event on Pennsylvania’s Main Line that draws equestrians and fans from across the country. Well and good, until the editors make the fatal mistake of gushing over the “marvelous millinery” during the annual Ladies Day Hat Contest — as if any of that could compare to what we enjoyed less than two months ago here in Louisville.

Which reminds us: There are now only 320 days, 10 hours, and 21 minutes until next year’s first Saturday in May, according to Boulevard’s exclusive 2017 Derby Countdown Clock™.

Photo, top: That’s Town & Country’s May issue, featuring top model Carolyn Murphy, wearing a Prada dress with appliqué and earrings by the same designer. Below: A guest at the iconic Churchill Downs track on May 7.
Embed from Getty Images

Latest Headlines

Chinese company said beating Amazon to be first delivering by drone; and Ford wins at Le Mans

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 1:06 p.m.

AMAZON: A Chinese company has reportedly beaten Amazon in the race to deliver online goods by unmanned drone, carrying loads of up to 33 lbs. with a top speed of 34 miles per hour. E-commerce giant Jingling has been deploying them in rural areas, with smaller populations and less demand for goods that would strain the fledgling service. Amazon is planning to introduce a similar service called Prime Air, but not until 2017 or 2018 (Mirror). At a minimum, Amazon says it must win regulatory approval from the FAA. In the meantime, it’s released an amusing video, top, about Prime Air (Amazon). The FAA on June 3 released an FAQ on the process for getting permission. Six myths about Prime Air.

FORD‘s No. 68 GT won the GTE Pro class at Le Mans today, beating long-time rival Ferrari in Ford’s first victory at the French endurance race since 1980. The No. 69 Ford GT finished third, and the No. 66 GT finished fourth (Detroit News and Motor Trend). The winning car is based on the $400,000 2017 GT supercar the company unveiled in January. Ford has received more than 7,000 applications from fans hoping to buy one, with just 500 planned for production. It’s been more than a decade since Ford last launched such a pricey vehicle. In Louisville, the automaker employs nearly 10,000 at its auto and truck factories.

TACO BELL: No injuries were reported when a pickup crashed into the front doors of a Taco Bell restaurant in Marion, Ind., yesterday afternoon; employees and several patrons reportedly were inside (Marion Star).

Food and Dining

Review: Texas Roadhouse in Florida ‘was hitting on all cylinders!’

An occasional look at reviews given to restaurants owned by Papa John’s, Texas Roadhouse, and Yum.

The location: 7973 W. Irio Bronson Memorial Drive in Kissimmee, Fla. The headline: “Just Awesome.” Number of stars: five out of five. The customer: TripAdvisor user Mike P.

Anton Ego
Critic Anton Ego.

The review: We arrived at the 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night and were lucky enough to get seated immediately (six of us)! Our waiter, Max, was prompt, quick and accurate. We never had to ask for a drink refill, he left us alone to enjoy our meal but made sure we were alright several times. Chefs were spot on. Everything was cooked perfectly. Manager must have been doing an excellent job as well, keeping everything running smooth on such a busy night. This place was hitting on all cylinders! My whole family made comments on how everything flowed well and tasted great. This should be a great place to train new employees on how the restaurant should be run. Great job to everyone there. I complimented the manager and I will call corporate to let them know how well everything went.

Latest Headlines

Raising pressure on UPS, analysts map Amazon’s own growing air delivery fleet
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Amazon has now leased 40 of these 767 wide-bodies.

After Amazon leased 40 Boeing 767 wide-body freighters in two separate deals in March and May, Pacific Crest analysts identified seven main airports the retail goliath is now using for its home-grown air shipping service — and then pinpointed some of the routes being flown, according to Business Insider.

Amazon logoThe airports include Covington; Allentown, Pa.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Phoenix; Ontario in Southern California and Stockton in Northern California; Tampa; and Wilmington, Ohio, 56 miles northeast of Cincinnati.

Many of those are within a 60-minute drive of Amazon distribution centers. But in Kentucky, there’s only: Hebron. Another four in the state are all closer to UPS’s mammoth Worldport hub at Louisville International Airport: Campbellsville, Lexington, Jeffersonville and Shepherdsville; those last two employ 6,000 workers. In total, those five centers make the commonwealth one of Amazon’s biggest overall distribution areas in the U.S.

The online retailer’s growing fleet saves the company an estimated $450 million a year, according to Pacific Crest. But it’s another sign one of UPS’ biggest customers could be a rival, even as the shipper expands Worldport, where it employs 22,000 workers — making it the city’s single-biggest private employer.

Outside the U.S., Amazon started competing head-on with UPS, plus FedEx and DHL this winter, after it bought the 75% of the French package-delivery company Colis Privé that it didn’t already own, according to the Seattle Times.

Jeff Bezos
Bezos

Even so, CEO Jeff Bezos told a high-profile technology conference three weeks ago that the retail giant isn’t aiming to compete head-on with UPS and other shippers it now partners with. Instead, Amazon wants to pick up the slack when delivery services can’t handle the final stretch.

The Jennifer Lawrence Diary™

Lawrence’s next movie on disgraced Silicon Valley executive Holmes is the ‘hottest package’ for weekend talks
Lawrence and Holmes
Dress for success, and failure: Lawrence (left) and Holmes.

Boulevard reviews the latest media coverage of the Oscar-winning Louisville native in our exclusive Jennifer Lawrence Diary™. Today’s news, rated on a scale of 1-5 stars:

Five starsMultiple offers are already on the table for the drama starring Jennifer Lawrence, about controversial Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes. And that’s even before a round of pitches Monday as director Adam McKay nears a final decision, according to Deadline.

The Hollywood trade publication revealed only last week that Lawrence and McKay would be teaming on the project, and a package of background materials was sent to numerous buyers just yesterday morning.

The sizzling competition among producers is hardly surprising. Lawrence, 25, is Hollywood’s most bankable star, and McKay won an Oscar this year for co-writing and directing another hot-button film, The Big Short.

Deadline’s got the background:

Holmes, 32, launched Theranos in 2003, with claims it could test blood with only a pinprick vs. the traditional method of drawing blood by injection. That pumped up the company’s valuation to $9 billion as recently as two years ago. The company has since come under investigation over claims of inaccurate testing. And Holmes’ own worth — at one point valued at $4.5 billion for her 50% stake — has fallen to a fraction of that.

Diversions

Today’s free admission promotion at the Louisville Zoo: coincidence, or wink-wink gay pride weekend joke?

Zoo admission is free today — if your name’s Dorothy — to celebrate its oldest resident, “Dot,” the Aldabra tortoise; she’s turning 80 today.

At least, that’s the official explanation, according to WDRB. But amid this weekend’s gay pride festivities, Boulevard observes that “friend of Dorothy” has long been playful code for being gay.

Photo, top: a still from the terrifying scene where the Wicked Witch uses her broom to skywrite a demand that Emerald City turn over a terrified Dorothy Gale in 1939’s classic Wizard of Oz.