Curly's Capers

The English Football Season (2018/9) has virtually limped to a finish, saving a few playoff finals. The Premier League's top four are the following: Manchester City   98  points Liverpool              97 points. Chelsea                 72 points Tottenham             71 points. My predictions  were as follows: Manchester City Liverpool Manchester United Chelsea. As you can see I was completely wrong about United, who  only finished the season in 6th place with 66 points; a full 32 points behind Man. City ! Indeed the most notable  feature of the season was the eclipsing of the others, by the top two clubs, who fought to the end, with Liverpool going under by a mere point. The Premier League said goodbye to Huddersfield; Fulham and Cardiff City. In their place we welcomed Norwich City and Sheffield United and either Aston...

Rising and Falling. The Rise of the Ones and Noughts. Stop and Go hide and seek up and down on and off  binary choices recorded and filmed  heard and seen, often   unknowingly in our collective digital print. Snap is an ungrateful word. Like slap it stops your actions, freezing you for a second. To pose is also to impose upon you. Where is the soul and inner spirit in a photograph ? A mere passing reality. Whereas The painter and sculptor look inward  teasing out  a lasting essence  of the subject. The chosen media imprints a personalised appreciation. It lives on. 💁💁💁💁💁💁 Death Mask. Unlike Dante, I'll not be requiring a death mask. All that oil and plaster. No thanks. Such vanity. And, if I asked for one to be  made , where would it lie? As a bookend for my Game of Thrones books;   in a box with my Beefheart disks or Iionically, ...

REBARBATIVE - Repelled by Mankind’s treatment of - Earth, our liveable home which  - By our nature and greedy consumption   - Across our planet we - Readily commit to global warming - Bringing temperature extremes  - And raising our ocean’s levels bringing - Territory flooding, land and species loss.  - Instruct our leader’s to heed scientists - Very seriously, helping  next generations - Embrace and protect our only world. rebarbative | r ɪˈ b ɑː bət ɪ v | adjective formal unattractive and objectionable: rebarbative modern buildings . ORIGIN late 19th century: from French rébarbatif , -ive , from Old French se rebarber ‘face each other ‘beard to beard’ aggressively’, from barbe ‘beard’. I was given the word  above. ' Rebarbative ' from a friend, who heard it during a lecture, where clearly the speaker had swallowed a lexicon. No I did not  know this word either, so I have included the definition a...

Highs and Lows With the start of the grass flat season today (30/03/'19 ) some words about National Hunt Racing. Inwardly we feel excitement but in life the  pulse is retrained Emotions trapped in our bodies. mostly we cope with existence - It will do for now. So at times  we visit a theatre of dreams to witness equine heroes in action. All is a dance,  a choreography of moment  the parade;  the selection;  the speculation  anticipation,  greed;   joining a tribal affair. All eyes, binoculars, glasses on the start. (to be read in a gallop ) “ Their off!” And so are we,  straining; peering  watching  voices released  groaning  encouraging It’s the final lap. anxious  crowd pulsing,  willing their mount or not. The final phase . Crowd find their voices crescendo building  tension release yelling ...

A short while ago I showed you a photo of the giant wheel in Cheltenham Imperial Gardens. This was part of the festival of lights.  Last night ( 22/02/'19 ) I ventured forth in the evening and took some photos of  those  magical lights: here are my best shots. The Queen's Hotel at the top of the Promenade. The wheel looking down from the Queen's. Cheltenham Muncipal Building. The Fountains in Blue. Promenade views. I hope very much  that this, very successful venture becomes an annual festival; switching the lights on before the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival in March. 👌👌👌👌 With the football season well past the halfway stage, it's about time I looked back at my league predictions and checked out the winners and losers. Premier League My placing                   Actual placing. 1st Manch...

It is hard to believe that I am typing this on February 15th 2019 ; so warm (15C), has it been.  Indeed, as the bottom right photograph shows, crocuses have come out to play in time for Valentines Day. Normally,  in the past with half-term coming next week, I would be concerned with the freezing nightly conditions and even the appearance of the treacherous black ice. It is ironic with the recent outbreak of equine 'flu in some stables, there has been some cancellations of horse-race meetings and although this matter has hopefully been curtailed , with the big Cheltenham Festival, only a few weeks away and the prospect of good fast ground, nerves in some places,  are a little taut. 🌇🌇🌇🌇🌇🌇 The Mount Rising up on a mound at the end of the Gloucestershire village of Stanton, ( which is itself near the town of Broadway,)  is the delightful village public house, " The Mount." On the aforementioned day...