Slippery Slope into Slime:

" Hope Glos. Rugby win the cup tonight; Manny P. wins the boxing; Newcastle gets some points against Leicester tomorrow (please ) and finally Ol' Man River wins the races at Newmarket. "

The above were my hopes from last week's blog.

And the results:

 Well, it all started so brightly, Gloucester Rugby did indeed win the European Challenge Cup Final against Edinburgh Rugby 19 - 13. They really worked as a team and showed commitment and dedication to the cause. The last ten minutes were particularly exciting as Glos  kept possession and steadfastly ran the clock down. A great boost to the club and a wonderful tonic  to the county.

Then it all went downhill. Newcastle lost abjectly to Leicester  1-3.

 Manny Pacquiao lost on points to Floyd Mayweather in a  three  world championship title fight in Las Vegas. Both boxers managed to look unscathed and fresh after twelve rounds in the ring.
If that result was not bad enough,  Manny may be sued for $5 million having an  undisclosed shoulder injury in the course of his  pre-fight training.

 To complete the misery, the three year old colt ' Ol' Man River ,' a £3 million  purchase finished last 18/18 beaten 47 lengths to his stable companion and favourite ' Gleneagles '  in the first classic of the year, the 2000 Guineas, run over a straight mile at Newmarket.
Clearly, something was badly amiss and one hopes not serious enough to end the colt's career. I expected the horse to finish in the first three and as a result be installed ante-post favourite for the Derby; a distance that the colt was bred  for.
 Oh well, as the punters' say 'always another day, money only lent.'

FfffffffffffffffffffffB.

                    Model View

A precise build of scaled precision,

Installed in a shop front installation

Engineered by model engineers

A railway railed inside glass.

Should we live our lives in the 

moment?

Or view from a distant viewpoint?

Sheltered from the reality of

Real events

Living  our lives  vicariously by being

Screened digitally through television

screens.

Information by the second, delivered

second hand.

Must we remain models in a model

Life?

Ck 7/5 / '15

My friend K. very kindly gave me Mark Forsyth's " The Elements Of Eloquence " as a present. It is an engaging and delightful book; dealing with some of the known and arcane  literary forms.

This brings me to Polyptotons  ( no I had never heard of it before either.). It is, in essence  the repeated use of one word in different parts of speech.

Mark gives as an example of the Beatles song " Please Please me. '  the first 'please ' being an interjection; the second 'please '  used as a verb.

Having spotted the above display of model railway engines  in a  Cheltenham shop; I have tried to concoct  a short poem using Polyptotons. So you have; precise, precision ;installed, installation  and railway, railed and so on.

hope this makes some sort of sense.

FfffffffffffffffffffffB.

Finally I would like to mention the two football clubs clubs that I support, Cheltenham Town and Newcastle United.

Cheltenham have completed their games for the season, ending up second from bottom and as a result relegated from the league into the Conference..

This is an unfortunate end, but at least they should be more comfortable with this new level of play and with a positive start next season they can regain some of the initiative and make progress towards an early league return

Newcastle are also on a downward curve, having lost their last eight consecutive games. Their worst run for many years and with only three games to go, from a position of reasonable security they find themselves needing  points to stem fears of premier league relegation.

What has brought on this malaise? Why do they seem unable to coordinate  plays as a team? It seems to the casual eye as if they have lost the desire to win.

Their caretaker manager has tried hard to instill spirit into the team, but has met with player resistance. It was therefore pleasing to read this open letter from the captain to the fans.

"

Hello to all Newcastle United fans, I don't usually speak publicly too often, but today I feel the responsibility to talk to all of you for several reasons in which you are involved every bit as much as we are as players, staff, directors and every person that works for the club. Firstly, on behalf of the squad we would like to apologise for the moment we are going through, needless to say that this is not anything intentional.  Neither players nor staff would like to be in the position that we are in at the moment.  This is something that has happened for many reasons and right now there is no time to look back and correct those mistakes. The time we have left to turn around this situation is short but after the end of the season we will try to learn from the mistakes we made so that we don't have to go through this again. This is as painful for us as it is for you, because when this team comes onto the pitch we do so with the intention of winning and to defend not just the colours of this club, not just our shirt, but also to represent thousands of fans, the whole city.   We do so understanding that a victory at the weekend means a week of joy for this city that breathes, lives and loves football like no other city in England.  Today we are in a delicate situation, one that we have been through before, and it is one of the most uncomfortable situations in the world of football.  Uncomfortable because this club doesn't deserve to be in this position, a position that puts its status at risk.  And this is what I want to highlight; this is the most important reason for my letter.  Players and staff have come together in order to leave all past problems aside and to focus one hundred percent on the three 'Cup Finals' that we have left. I would like to make a call to all fans today to also leave aside all differences, all different opinions, anything that divides us as people who love this club.  On Saturday please come to St James' Park, create a great atmosphere, support the team more than ever, because at the end of the day what matters the most here is Newcastle United football club.  Years will pass and so will players, directors, coaches and managers, but what is always going to be there is yourselves, your children, your grandchildren.  I am also a fan and I understand how badly you are hurting, but I think that the best fans are those who are there for their club in the worst of situations.  Today we need you more than ever.  In these three games we need to be together, we need to be united, to be a family - a family that fights together against adversity, a family that strives to achieve the success that you and this club deserve. The players are committed to this and if you stay with us, if you join us, we are going to fight together for our black and white family. Thank you from my heart, your captain Fabricio Coloccini ."   Let us hope this inspires fellow players to wear their pride on their shirts and ' get stuck in ' against West Brom. this Saturday ( 9 / 5 ).  Awa' The Lads ! FfffffffffffffffffffffB. Election after-thought: a few days' ago  I heard the front door bell sound and upon opening it I found the figure of our Cheltenham Liberal MP. ( MH.) Once I had got over the shock of seeing him there, I engaged in a conservation, at which time I assured him he would win the seat  and guess what; I got that wrong to ! Have a good week, warmer temps coming. Cheerio for now, Ck.