Hopping has its ups and downs.Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard If there's one story we didn't want to keep in the hopper A tray, or chute, that accepts input to a mechanical device, such as a disk duplicator or printer. In the days of punch cards, millions of cards were numerically or alphabetically organized by placing them into the hopper of a card sorter, taking them out of all the stackers and putting this week, it's this one. After all, today is Easter, the day Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, and children hope for a visit from the Easter Bunny bunny delivers chocolates, etc., to children. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 487] See : Easter , that annual symbol of fertility and renewal. So here's some twivia, you silly wabbit wabbit - /wab'it/ [almost certainly from Elmer Fudd's immortal line "You wascawwy wabbit!"] 1. A legendary early hack reported on a System/360 at RPI and elsewhere around 1978; this may have descended (if only by inspiration) from hack called RABBITS reported from 1969 on a : What American city is home to the Rabbit Hopping Organization of America? Quick. Hop to it. Answer: Eugene. Who knew? Only problem is, no one is exactly jumping up and down about it - especially bunnies. Linda Hoover of Eugene launched the organization about six years ago after reading online about rabbit hopping, also known as bunny show jumping show jumping Competitive riding of horses through an obstacle course. Horses run the course one at a time, and the winner is judged according to jumping ability and speed. Individual and team jumping events have been part of the Olympic Games since 1912. . Apparently, it's quite popular in Scandinavia and got its start in Sweden in about 1980. After developing some rules and guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. , Hoover tried to get the Oregon State Univer- sity/Lane County Extension Service's 4-H program excited about it, and has tried at the state level. But it hasn't really taken off. "The feeling about rabbit hopping on a state level is that it really doesn't have an educational component," says Sherry Newcomer, small animals superintendent for Lane County Extension's 4-H program. Hoover and other rabbit hopping enthusiasts say it's a way to get pet bunnies out of their cages, and it's fun for kids. "I see a lot of waste and noncompassion for the species, and I would like to turn that around to a better way of thinking about rabbits in general," Hoover told National Geographic News for a 2002 story about rabbit hopping. That article said many rabbits spend 90 percent of their lives locked up. It's enough to make the Easter Bunny shudder. "These kids can get out and interact with these rabbits instead of having them sit in a cage," says Carey Silbaugh of Bend, who's got about 15 kids in Deschutes County's 4-H program participating in rabbit hopping year-round. But what, you ask, is it? Think horse show jumping. Only no one rides the poor little bunny's back. Instead, a leash and harness are attached to the rabbit and its trainer runs alongside as the rabbit hops over obstacles. Rabbits are graded on how "clean" they jump, not necessarily on how fast they complete the course. At least that's how it's supposed to work. "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if you know much about rabbits," says Silbaugh, "but they can be kind of aloof." In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , they don't always follow the course. Or they'll hop a few obstacles, and then stop in front of the last one and just sniff it. Silbaugh, who discovered rabbit hopping when she met Hoover putting on a rabbit show in a Eugene park, got her son and daughter into it - pretty much against their will, she says. "I actually had to bribe BRIBE, crim. law. The gift or promise, which is accepted, of some advantage, as the inducement for some illegal act or omission; or of some illegal emolument, as a consideration, for preferring one person to another, in the performance of a legal act. him," she says of her son, who was a bit embarrassed to be leading a rabbit on Verb 1. rabbit on - talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner jabber, mouth off, rant, rave, spout mouth, speak, talk, verbalise, verbalize, utter - express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize" a leash as a senior in high school. "And my daughter told me she just flat out wouldn't do it." Hoover says she's too busy with other things right now and will push again later to get Lane County and the state interested in rabbit hopping. As for Silbaugh, she'll be at Crater High School Crater High School is a secondary school located at 655 North Third Street in Central Point, Oregon. It is a part of the Jackson County School District It hosts students that have come from either Scenic Middle School, in Central Point, or Hanby Middle School, in Gold Hill. in Central Point Saturday as part of a 4-H rabbit hopping event. And she'll keep practicing with her 4-H troops in her Bend driveway. She tells the kids it's just like training for track and field. "It takes a lot of training," she says. "The rabbit is an athlete, and you're training the rabbit." But folks in the neighborhood aren't so sure when they glance over at Silbaugh's driveway during a training session. "My neighbors think I'm officially nuts," she says. |
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