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Showing posts from February, 2009

Slumdogs and Glumdogs

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Just having a lunch time drink at one of the county's finest, to celebrate the Oscars won by Slumdog - a good result. As for glumdogs ; I give you Mowbray and Allen ( WBA and Cheltenham Town ,respectively ) who should form a duo and record " The Impossible Dream" ; ' cus that is what it's going to take as they guide their clubs towards the northern rocks and icy wastes of the lower leagues. Life for us toons is pretty good ; we've sorted the ' moyes boys ' and are  sailing in calmer water  ; not quite the gulf stream , but away from the ice burgs of  ' boro ' country. So another libation is called for -  Cheers everybody ! P.S. comments have been liberated , so feel free to throw us a verbal morsel or pasty . Ciao4now Ck.

Biomimicry, treehugging and Wisconsin

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This is the plate on the Tortworth fence, guarding that remarkable Chestnut Tree. In the previous post , I posed the question: What is the connection between the boxfish and Mercedes-Benz ? The answer in a word - biomimicry. This is the new science of copying , but not taking  from nature ( discussed on Treehugger Radio) , whereby direct observation of the biosphere leads to ideas in design , in building structures ( imagine architects taking biology lessons - it's happening folks) and in the case of the boxfish a concept hybrid car. Yes , Mercedes have produced a concept car based on  shape factors seen in a boxfish ( pictures up on the web) and here's the really neat idea ; if  this concept car ever goes into actual production , a small percentage of the sales will go to support coral reefs , the natural habitat of the boxfish. So nothing gets damaged in the process - a win-win situation. ciao4now Ck. NP  "Re: stocks " by Bon Iver from the excellent album " For

Tortworth and the Treehuggers

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Tortworth is a small village near Thornbury , close to the M5 and in South Gloucestershire. It is noted for its huge and ancient chestnut tree believed to be between 600 and 1000 years old. The tree is in a small protected site near St. Leonard's churchyard , just off the main village road. It struck me as a wonderfully English trait , that such a mighty tree should be stuck away in a field , with no visible directions to it or information , until you find an inscription on the fence surrounding the tree. I learned about this tree , through reading " Meetings with Remarkable Trees " by Thomas Pakenham , the 8th Earl of Longford , who is chair of the Irish Tree Society. Naturally I borrowed this book from the library. Before I finish , a big up to Treehugger radio , a weekly  podcast from Nashville Tenn. ; introduced by Jacob Gordon . Our cousins from " the other side of the pond" oftentimes get a bad press , as gas-guzzling , energy spending and carbon footprint

Drops in the snow

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 I thought that the white stuff had all gone ; but on the top of the escarpment , the snow lay on the ground . So post- valentine here are some 'drops amongst the snow. Meanwhile yesterday  Hereford DID the double over Cheltenham , winning  2- 3 ; the rose - coloured spectacles which manager Martin Allen continues to wear " we've 18 games left with 54 points to win " are surely fogging up - enough is enough , we are going down ; end of. Ciao4now   Ck.

More Bollybronx than Bollywood !

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Just seen "Slumdog Millionaire " at the local cinema. What a rush ! It really is a life-affirming parable ; directed with a real sense of pace and gusto . The sound quality is excellent and the musical score by A.R. Rahman , complements the energy of the film. It is tough and uncompromising , but throughly engrossing ; but certainly more bollybronx than bollywood- go see this year's oscar winner at your cinema. Moving  To football , today (14/2) Cheltenham Town play in the local derby against Hereford . In my view ,  anything less than a win will not do . If they lose they're  going down ! But today I want to point to the mighty Fort William AFC . This is the team that does a service to the rest of the clubs . It "proudly" sits at the bottom of the teletext league tables; It has occupied this spot for many years , at the end of the Highland League. Here is their current state of play : Played  12 Won  0 Drawn 1 (a statistical blip) Lost  11 Goals scored 6 Go

Footy update

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Well I managed to get to a football match last Saturday (31/01/'09). It was Cheltenham Town v. M.K. Dons . The result was 5 - 3 to the Dons ; but that really doesn't tell the full story. Up-to  30 mins we ( Cheltenham) were 1 nil down ; then we let in two soft goals , the first a palm back from our goalkeeper to an unmarked Don , who duly found the back of the net , the second , a cross from the by-line which our ' keeper allowed to slip through his fingers into the net. Thus the score at half - time was 0 -  3 .  The second half started  with Damian Spencer  coming off the substitute bench . He soon made his presence felt  and  eventually ended up scoring three goals , which included a penalty. Having achieved this , he made a reckless tackle and was given a straight red card . So he joins ,  a very small group , I would imagine , of players who :  1 - scored a hat-trick for his side.  2 - was awarded a red card.  3 -  was not on the winning side . This result leaves Chelt