Curly's Capers

This above picture is a famous one  of the Late John Lennon, showing him enjoying some leisure time. On The wall is inscribed the legend " Safe As Milk. "  This is a  reference to   Captain Beefheart's first LP record release. Clearly proving John was listening to good stuff in those days ! JjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjL This year marks the 150th anniversary of Jean Sibelius's birthday on the 8th December 1865. Born in Finland, the composer's birthday is celebrated each year by a flag day known as ' The Day Of Finnish Music. ' There you see,  you feel better for knowing that don't you ? Sibelius's music bears marks of the sparse and cold landscape of his native Finland.  He tends to use all his orchestral instruments in short bursts of energy playing one off against the others. Thus, in the second  movement of  his second Symphony, double basses start followed by 'cellos then woodwind. This is repeated u...

By way of a change, I thought I would introduce every month or so, horses from the flat, that I have warmed to. We start with Giant's Causeway, who became known as the ' Iron Horse ' because in his five straight Group One wins in 2000, he showed a relentless tenacity to be first past the post. Very much a horse to have on your side. Here's a  video  of the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown racecourse, with a suitable driving finish. The Iron Horse. The icing on the cake was that he was ridden by the senior English jockey, George Duffield  then aged 53. The main difference between Flat and Jumping horses is their longevity in terms of racecourse appearances. Giant's Causeway , now aged 18, was only seen on a racecourse as a two  and three year old. He was then retired to an illustrious life at stud.  Jumpers, on the other hand, if they remain fit and healthy can often be seen in action as ten and eleven year olds. Flat horses, like athletes are therefore at thei...

train the Caboose its not Zen its Zrite znow when the ocean is wounded it takes the whole world to heal. Ah, Eden  [?]  is the thing that runs down the back of your leg that makes your foot work Cough it isn't worth getting into the bull's shit to find Out what the bull ate. ah joint is part of today's anatomy an artist is one Who kids him Self the most gracefully A psychiatrist is one who wishes to die in your other life Don Van Vliet '75 Found this poem from Don ( AKA Captain Beefheart ), whilst checking my Tumbir postings on Beefybits. This is a record of notable Beefheart videos and includes members of his backing group,  The Magic Band. Here it is for you: Beefstuff This particular poem was written by Don on a scrap of paper and contained a picture of a shoe with words- yep you guessed it,  a footnote! Although a special person, I don't want to lionise Don. As a former member of his band said " when you enter (his house ) you have ...

Captain Beefheart (A.K.A. Don Van Vliet ) was born January 15th, 1941 and died December 18th, 2010. Thus, had he lived he would have been 73 years old, this coming Thursday. As this blog has testified I am a great fan of all things 'Beefheart '; having many of his recordings; (with his Magic Band(s)) books about his life and lastly a member and sometime contributor to "FireParty, ' an online discussion group, which reflects the many aspects of the Captain's life. Captain Beefheart. The above link will take you to the wonderful ' Radar Station, ' which is an amazing repository  of the life of Don, his, music, poems  and art. A one-stop 'Captain Shop.' Don was master of the cryptic comment in his writing and conversation. Many of his song titles included puns and puzzles. Two examples: '  The Past Sure Is Tense'  ; '  Run Paint Run. ' Many of his sayings have been collected and all usually have some deeper meaning. "...

A very good 2015 to you all. It's going to be an interesting year with the bi-centenary of Waterloo and the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta; not to mention the General Election and The Rugby World Cup - ( which one of those last two has the most sport I wonder ?) The English football season has reached its half-way point. So what about my predictions? Premier League Arsenal  currently 6th 13 points from the lead. Will have to work hard to reach the top four. Championship  Norwich and Wolves. Currently 7th and 8th place respectively. 11 points adrift of leaders. Unlikely to get automatic promotion, but I am  confident one can  make the playoffs. League One Bristol CIty and Swindon. Currently 1st and 2nd.  City should win league. Swindon can get automatic promotion with only Preston  likely to spoil  this prediction. League 2 Luton and Portsmouth.  Currently 5th and 15th. Portsmouth have little or no chance of even making the ...