Curly's Capers

mpi This old chap was seen in a field today. It stood imperiously  in a field near Sudeley Castle , having watched many seasons pass it by. You need things to fix onto  things which give you a feeling of permanence and nothing is better for this purpose than trees. On the first of January this year ,  I made some sporting predictions , with reference to horse - racing. I suggested that Binocular would win the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival , in March.  I can now  reveal that he just lost , by a neck to his stable companion (oh dear ) Punjabi , who won at the rewarding odds of 22/1. I further , went on to say that this Saturday's Grand National (4/4) would be won from Alan King's selected horses. However this cannot happen , because he does not have a single runner in the big race. Therefore I am going to nominate four against the field and hope that luck is on our side. 1- Black Apalachi ( Irish  horse , a course winner , especially trained for this race ) 2 -

Whilst walking the other day , I espied this interesting breed of cows in their own pen on the summit of  a local hill; they looked so incongruous in this setting , that I felt a picture was required. Changing  the subject , I noticed how we were rushing through March and as I am some what fascinated with numbers , I thought that I would pass on two' special'  dates that have  occurred recently.  A: Tuesday 3rd March 2009 ; which can be written as 03/03/'09 , or in mathematical terms as a square root  of nine  3x3 =9. B: Saturday 14th March 2009 ; which some Americans saw as 'pi ' (pie) day. This , of course requires their way of writing the date , namely 03/14/09 which reverts to 3.141 , which I guess pushes the ' geek button ' a tad. The date I'm looking forward to (D.V.)  Sunday 10th October 2010 , which I'm claiming as Digital Day ---   10/10/10  ciao4now Ck.

Last week I went on a circular walk, from Barnsley to Ampney Crucis ; following a walk written by Christopher Knowles. He was obviously in a good mood , leaving the reader with two memorable images.  The first one concerned the above picture of a barn , which he described as " swaying like a moribund spider" and later in his directions he says " continue forward with a hedge on the right , whilst a strange burrow on the left cuts into the field for a short distance , as if made by a mole with ambition ."  I really enjoyed this and it greatly added to the value of the walk. NP " The lark Ascending " - a beautiful ode to a spring morning by Ralph Vaughan Williams and played by Nigel Kennedy. Ciao4now Ck

 The stage is set in the grassy  bowl of hope.  The benign face of Cleeve Hill smiles down from afar, while we  wait with currency expectant promise, as horses and jockeys canter away to the start. A sense of calm descends  upon the crowd ; for bets have been laid and we are all potential winners , at this birth of the contest. We are  ready. Tension.   A guinness roar erupts as a trilby clad midwife sets the hoofs in motion . Never have colours seemed so important ,  as we watch   the fences galloping up to upset our stride  and bring life's misfortune . Dare we watch , this  flash of horse and human , interlocked in purpose , forward against the fates,reaching that final hurdle in an epic uphill  journey  to the lollypop buoy. The end is in sight. A strain of Dylan , comes to mind: " There's no success like failure and failure is no success at all "  For defeat is but a computational error and victory  a momentary alignment of the wallet's resources. Ple

This picture was taken last Sunday (8/10) , at a rainy , cold racecourse , but even so  ,  there was a building sense of excitement in the air - we go to war tomorrow and await victory at the 'Lollypop Sign " Good Luck to all punters ! Ciao4now Ck. NP "Woods" by Bon Iver ( multi- tracking  that Brian Wilson would be proud of ).

Walking along a Devon beach the other day , when I saw this little chap there. I give you the Devon Dino. By coincidence the book that I am currently reading " The Revenge of Gaia " By James Lovelock ; writes about this coastline , reminding readers that the section of path between Poole and Lyme Regis was chosen as a World Heritage Site and so named because the cliffs are sections through rocks that once formed the surface at the time of the great lizards. I am largely convinced by Lovelock's Gaia theory : being and here I quote "A view of the Earth that sees it as a self-regulating system made up from the totality of organisms , the surface rocks , the ocean and the atmosphere tightly coupled as an evolving system ." I also believe that his suggestion that nuclear power is the best fit to solve our energy crisis. It is clean , reliable and very efficient in energy output; very different from those windfarms , which are noisy , harmful to birds , expensive t