Curly's Capers

On  Wednesday 23rd May 2012, the Olympic Torch arrived in Cheltenham Promenade at about 18:40. The security troops lined the road, as the crowd waited patiently for signs of the runners. They were preceded by the sponsors: Samsung Comms, ( who provided no info regarding where the flame was,)  Coca Cola ( who gave no drinks,  vouchers; but just partied by) and Lloyds TSB ( who threw no money{a tad unlikely}, but drove by in an austere looking truck; a clear sign of recession perhaps.) Then, if you please walking by, came the  torch bearer and athletes. So the moment passed and we dutifully headed for the pub for a drink to wash the heat of the day away. -********************************                                          C onsuming our passions and imagination               ...

Well there we are:  The Boys ' did good. '  Last Saturday (12/5 )  the Robins beat Torquay 2 - 0 at Cheltenham and then in the second leg away   (17 /5 )  also won 2- 1; thus winning the tie 4 - 1 on aggregate.  Their prize another Wembley appearance, this time  against Crewe  on Sunday 27th May. The winning team to be promoted to League 1. A great end to a great season.  COYR &&&&&&& Tricky chap coincidence; you never know  the way things fit together; from unlikely circumstances. So it was that last weekend, after checking my diary for the week ahead; which normally makes a blank page look interesting; I discovered that I had some appointments to attend to, leaving  Wednesday as my free day. I decided to use the day to travel to travel to Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust; not having visited there for a couple of years. It was then that I discovered  Wednesday (16/5) m...

Many moons ago, I remember looking at my Late Father-in-Law's copies of the 'Reader's Digest' magazine. Inside each issue was a section entitled " Word Power." The idea was to guess from four possibilities the correct definition of a word given. In this way, so it was said, you would build up your vocabulary usage. However, I don't think they had this degree of difficulty: "Neither agomphious not arctoid , neither creodont nor czigany , Howard Bly knew himself a lonely, imperfect being ever scrambling to imitate the manners and habits of those he loved and admired, not to mention worshipped, as was the case with Spencer Mallon." P.53 From "A Dark Matter, " by Peter Straub ( 2010 ). In this story which I am presently reading, the character Howard 'Hootie' Bly has a photographic memory and can remember every word and definition from an unusual dictionary source. To confound his friends, he tends to utter them in ordinary...

This picture probably tells us all we want to know about last week. Yesterday (4/5 ) D. and I went down to the nearby Wetlands at Coombe Hill to see the state of the water. This is what we saw. As you can see the canal had flooded across the pathways and  the bottom right picture was taken at the water's edge on the starboard side. The nearby fields were also full of water. As you can see there was no walk to be had, so D.and I made our way back up the  lane to the main road and caught the bus to Tewkesbury. Glad to report no immediate flooding worries, given normal rain-fall, although the Ham, Tewkesbury's  council owned meadow of 177 acres lying  on the flood- plain,was under water and yielded these shots of the nearby Abbey. But enough of all this water; let's cheer ourselves up with this remarkable  goal  scored by P. Cisse for Newcastle against Chelsea earlier last week. Goal! Ho'way The Lads! ...