another line of no particular meaning
There are Thoughts which come >>> And Thoughts which go >>>
And so ...
ARCHIVE 4 22nd December 2002 to 20th March 2003 |
The repetitive purple lines below, in my formatting of this page, are in Persian Cuneiform.
Thursday 20th March 2003ad
During the first few, rather uneventful hours of the latest war, the following lines appeared towards the bottom of my soundless television screen [a BBC feed on Australian SBS TV]: "President Bush warned the campaign could take longer and be more difficult than expected".*
But, if you were truly attentive, you read the idea here first. Please refer to yesterday's "Thought".
With the artificially induced rapidity of the so-called Modern World, this Phoney War should only last some hours, compared to the months of 1939 version of the Phoney War!
Be that as it may, today's Phoney War went thus:
[1] A Cruise Missile Strike on Baghdad. This was an accident. Bush's daughter, the one with the under-age drinking convictions, wandered into the White House War Room, thought she saw a computer game, and began to play. Indeed, it was a kind of computer game.
[2] Bush made a tedious speech.
[3] Saddam made a tedious speech.
[4] Blair called a War Cabinet meeting, to see how many Cabinet Ministers he had left.
[5] I switched the television off. This is the advantage of our age. If one saw a war in the "Good Old Days", you could not switch it off, try as you might!
*[Soundless, as instead of the newscast chatter, I was playing a CD: Beethoven's 5th Symphony, recorded by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with Karl Böhm conducting. Earlier, when the television's sound was on, there was a broadcast of Saddam's speech, sans sound, with every so often the anchor man's voice saying: "There's no sound."]
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Wednesday 19th March 2003ad
George Bush Senior is clearly much brighter than his son. When the father attacked Iraq, he said it would be difficult. The quick easy victory, with negligible coalition losses, was then a surprise and much to his credit. However, the son & his administration have implied that much the same will happen this time. So, if it does, that is merely the expectation; but a victory which is longer and/or has more American casualties, will be seen as a kind of defeat.
Has Saddam learnt anything from his previous humiliation? Perhaps not. After all, despots are well known for lacking a sense of reality; a touch of the Samuel Does.
Saddam may well be like the original Phantom of The Opera; whose character, the brilliant Lon Chaney Senior created. As Eric is cornered near the canal, he holds up a clenched fist, threatening the crowd. They cower back. Then he laughs and opens his fist, to show it is quite empty. The crowd surge forward & beat him to death.
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Tuesday 18th March 2003ad
In Waverton today, I saw a large butterfly, with green wings. This at 12.26pm, as I turned from Whatmore Street into King Street. It fluttered its way above the footpath, soon crossing into a garden and disappearing amongst the shrubbery.
This kind of butterfly, I see every so often; usually in Neutral Bay; and only in the warmer months. It is in the cusp, being neither common, nor rare.
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Monday 17th March 2003ad
My Eyes:
Feel My Tiredness First.
Are Wakeful Last.
Sometimes I Fear
I May Rub Them Quite
Out Of Existence!
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Sunday 16th March 2003ad
Just as I gave Lettuce to the Budgies, at about noon, I heard a voice on the television [ABC TV* - Landline] saying "stock weren't meant to eat grain or hay, they were meant to eat green feed".
Well, Budgies were meant to eat grain, especially millet sized seeds, but they like some green feed too. However, it has to be of a precise texture. Cos Lettuce or Endive is just right. But soft Lettuce makes them gastric; and Cabbage is too hard, giving them severe constipation.
The Cos Lettuce I gave them was certainly still living, as the centre of the crown, even though it was in the fridge, had grown upwards at almost a right angle to the bulk of the lettuce!
[* Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
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Saturday 15th March 2003ad
It seems I spent much of the day completing the moves for four 2002 & one 2003 Correspondence Chess games. Also I have the moves for two overseas games written down for checking. This adds to the six 2003 games which arrived last thursday & which I sent the same day.
I do sometimes wonder, as to why I input such time & effort, when a stray lax moment can wreck careful calculation spread over more than a year.
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Friday 14th March 2003ad
"Silent Witness" - Tonight in Sydney - ABC TV.
It says perhaps something about the British, that they have a fascination for television where the stars are human corpses; whether it be "Meet The Ancestors", where the remains of very old bodies are examined; or "Silent Witness", a drama about fresh bodies being examined.
It says perhaps something about me, that I can watch such programmes whilst eating, even though I nearly faint at the sight of fresh blood when seen in the real light of day.
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Thursday 13th March 2003ad
Ah! ... John Howard. John Howard.
George W. Bush gives you a phone call this morning, and in the early afternoon you regurgitate all the soft pap he fed you, during your National Press Club Address.
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Wednesday 12th March 2003ad
I heard it said on ABC* News Radio today, that the USA Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld was "thinking aloud". This was concerning his astonishing gaffe, in regard to the possibility of UK non-involvement in the foreshadowed USA-Iraqi war.
It was certainly "aloud", but there was no indication of any "thinking" involved.
[* Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
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Tuesday 11th March 2003ad
Coming back from the dentist in Chatswood, I alighted at the bus-stop at Neutral Bay. As I walked around the corner to the end of the shop awnings, it became clear to me that the torrent of rain which separated me from my home, was not likely to lessen appreciably in the close by future. So I bought a bottle of brandy, and placed with it, in the plastic carry-bag, my water sensitive library book [Froissart's "Chronicles"] & bus tickets; and then walked the ten minutes home.
It has been many months since I was this drenched by rain! Completely soaked! I would have described the downpour as tropical, except that it was anything but warm. - Up to this point, I had been enjoying the recent rain!
p.s. I did not have an umbrella with me, as this storm was quite unexpected. Australia is the kind of arid clime where storms are a novelty. The brandy certainly came in useful at home; and has continued to do so, in small, but very agreeable amounts!
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Monday 10th March 2003ad
When I discovered tonight that "South Park", on SBS TV¹, had finished its current season, I watched ABC TV's² "Four Corners". It was about the Neo-Conservatives who surround the American President.
They make the most misguided characters on South Park seem the paragon of common sense.
[¹ Special Broadcasting Service
(Australia)]
[² Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
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Sunday 9th March 2003ad
Pekka Kuusisto plays the violin with the body posture of a metal grinder. He is often in an odd, hunched over position, with knees bent & back curled, pushing his head quite low; yet the expression on his face is completely with the music he is playing; and that music has a breathtaking brilliance which quite swept me away!
Before booking the concert of this sunday matinee performance, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, I had never heard of this Finnish Violinist.
The concert was unusual, also, in that only one of the featured composers was dead: Jean Sibelius. Einojuhani Rautavaara, I had of previously, and I have a CD of his work. But Olli Mustonen & Aulis Sallinen were quite new to me. The final work was by the only non-Finnish composer on the programme: the Russian, Rodion Shchedrin. His 1997 composition, "Concerto cantabile" was performed, and it is excellent.
I was so taken by Pekka's performance, that I bought 2 CDs at half time; with him playing as part of the ensemble, performing works by Sibelius on one, and by Mustonen on the other. The latter's work is a real discovery for me! He was only born in 1967, and although he is a concert pianist, his compositions on this CD are all for string orchestra. Very beautiful they are too!
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Saturday 8th March 2003ad
Last night was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House. Friday nights are not easy for me to get out, but I force myself.
Vaughan Williams - "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - Astonishing work! The string orchestra here is a normal string orchestra, split in two by a string quartet, with a string octet positioned further back on the stage. The idea is to make the ensemble sound like a pipe organ in a cathedral. The sound was certainly interesting and inspiring.
Joseph Canteloube - "Songs of the Auvergne", with soprano, Yvonne Kenny. Wonderful voice. She is a favourite of mine.
Edward Elgar - "Enigma Variations". It is good; and some of the variations have a simple earnest grandeur.
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Friday 7th March 2003ad
At 12.15pm, I saw a Noisy Miner closely chasing a Magpie Currawong across McKye Street in Waverton. At one point, their manouvres were so closely & daringly convoluted that I heard the latter's wing tip brush a parked car; even though I was some twenty metres away. Then they both settled in a tree outside 10 McKye Street; the Noisy Miner taking a slightly higher branch, and keeping a close watch on its much larger opponent. After about half a minute, the Magpie Currawong flew off to the east along McKye Street, with the cacophoning Noisy Miner in close pursuit, for a short distance, before the "victor" returned to the tree.
The Magpie Currawong is a very dangerous bird, as it has a long sharp beak; nerves of steel; and while it prefers to live & let live, it can be aroused to fight in but an instant. People, especially children, have been known to lose eyes in such an attack. The Noisey Miner is only a fourth or a fifth as massive, and it is unpossessed of any dangerous natural weapons. However, they are very bold, and have an excellent line in bluff!
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Thursday 6th March 2003ad
What is the difference between Joseph
Stalin
& George W. Bush Junior?
Stalin was Georgian, whereas Bush is Texan.
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Wednesday 5th March 2003ad
I have been reading the "Chronicles" of Jean Froissart of Hainault. Well, actually the book is copious extracts from the Chronicles, in an English translation of the original Middle French. This is a 1968 Penguin edition, with the translation & editing by Geoffrey Brereton.
These Chronicles cover essentially, the reigns of the English Kings: Edward Plantagenet the Third & Richard Plantagenet the Second; and French Vallois Kings: Phillip the Sixth, John the Second, Charles the Fifth & Charles the Sixth.
Brereton warns that there are inaccuracies in Froissart's work, especially regarding specific dates, and there are also problems with his geography. However, it is a very rich source of detail about the 1300s. In the earlier years, this is mostly copied from the Chronicles of another Hainaulter, Jean Le Bel; but it soon turns to eyewitness accounts gathered by Froissart, plus his own personal experiences.
The narrative is compelling; whether it be the chaotic deportment of the French forces at Crécy, which lead them to charge to death in staggering numbers, under the relentless rain of the English massed arrows; or the strange story of the Count of Foix and the death of his son & heir.
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Tuesday 4th March 2003ad
I am not sure quite as to why, but I have come over extremely tired today. Shortly after arriving home, I lay down on the floor & slept for 3 hours. This ensures, unfortunately, that I will not see tonight's final performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, of works by Mahler & Wagner.
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Monday 3rd March 2003ad
My head feels alright, despite a day on my feet; but then I have imbibed through various means, significant salt. Still, my shins are recurring sore; & it seems as if some heavy plug is plunged into my motivation.
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Sunday 2nd March 2003ad
A day of small inspiration & monotonous housework.
But I did spy, as I returned from shopping, the graceful looping of a solitary Leaden Flycatcher, in pusuit of insects quite invisible to my eye.
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Saturday 1st March 2003ad
I have been playing many of the Symphonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This morning, it was numbers 22; 23; 24; 25; 27; 35; 36; 38; 39; 40 & 41. This evening, it has been numbers 13; 14; 15; 16 & 18. The Final Movement of the last mentioned is playing as I key these words!.
Yesterday afternoon, after work, I played some other Symphonies of the said Mozart; to wit, the numbers 31; 32; 33; 34; 26; 28; 29 & 30.
Every single Symphony above, is as recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the late Karl Böhm.
That is my entire Mozart Symphony collection, apart from another version of number 29, by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Richard Tognetti. This last, I may just play later tonight.
In case you are wondering, I did not find this Mozartian exercise repetitive in the least. Mozart was able to inject considerable variety into a musically consistent form. And the warbling of the Budgies along with the music suggests that they were likewise unperturbed! -- Of course, in his all too brief life, Mozart composed much more besides his 41 Symphonies.
[Monday 3rd March Update: The Australian
Chamber Orchestra
version of the Mozart's 29th Symphony played this afternoon.]
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Friday 28th February 2003ad
Tomorrow is the Matronalia.
New Years Day for the original Rome.
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Thursday 27th February 2003ad
This was the date on which Ancient Rome celebrated a Festival called the Equirria. Rites were performed to purify the Army. -- And if any Human Creation is in need of a thoroughly good purification, it is an Army! -- With the Equirria, the Romans mixed the purifications of February, with the coming month of the God of War.
The Equirria also had "famous horse races in the Campus Martius". But personally, I think that all horse races are merely infamous!
[I am indebted to the Roman Calendar
website.]
[ www.clubs.psu.edu/aegsa/rome/romecal.html ]
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Wednesday 26th February 2003ad
My work becomes more & more
difficult,
as senior management scrap
for every last dollar
from everyone;
except themselves.
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Tuesday 25th February 2003ad
One of my opponents in the 2003 CCLA Candidates' Tournament has surprised me with his 3rd move with the black pieces. It is the Albin Counter Gambit, which I have never before encountered, in hundreds & hundreds of Correspondence and Crossboard Tournament Chess Games. If I have ever came across it in thousands of Skittles and Blitz Chess Games, then it has passed from my memory!
The Albin Counter Gambit is a recognised Chess Opening, which some Grandmasters have played in Tournaments recently; albeit it is clearly not the most recommended nor popular of openings.
Chess has that sort of complexity!
Understandably, I was not prepared for Albin's little number, so my 4th move will definitely not be the same day return of my usual early moves!
[Adolf Albin (1848-1920) was born in Romania, but mostly lived in Vienna. He learned the game at the late age of 22, and only became an International Chessplayer at the remarkably advanced age of 43, when his business faltered. He is best known for his interesting Gambit.]
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Monday 24th February 2003ad
Yesterday afternoon, I managed to purchase some 45 cent stamps at a mixed business in Spofforth Street. Then, on a whim, in the middle evening, I went across the Harbour to a Post Office in Pitt Street, which has a special machine. This device prints stamps of whatever face value you request.
But even as I received my 5 cent stamps & posted the letters, I knew my blood sugar was very low. So I had to buy lots of sugared things to eat. Considering what I had spent, including the bus fares each way; plus the trial of the half hour wait for the return bus, this was not at all a sensible exercise.
Sometimes I get irrationally stubborn.
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Sunday 23rd February 2003ad
I have laboured over four correspondence chess games today, and they are ready to post, if only I can find or purchase three more 50 cent stamps. I know I need these stamps, yet I am always allowing myself to run out of them, and especially on a sunday afternoon, when they are suprisingly difficult to obtain.
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Saturday 22nd February 2003ad
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra,
with Argentinian Soprano, Maria Kristina Kiehr,
tonight
at Angel Place performed works of:
Antonio Valente; Diego Ortiz; Andrea
Falconiero;
Claudio Monteverdi; Barbara Strozzi;
Tarquinio Merula; Archangelo Corelli;
and Antonio Vivaldi.
I was there and I loved it!
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Friday 21st February 2003ad
Tonight I went to to my first National League Soccer match in a decade or so.
Northern Spirit 2 v Adelaide City 3
[at North Sydney Oval].
The event was saddened by the news of Eddie Thomson's death the previous night, from cancer. There was a minute's silence before the game. But apart from that, the evening was most pleasant, with misty warm rain & a good entertaining game.
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Thursday 20th February 2003ad
My "Magic Liquid" seems to be working. The original mix has altered somewhat since I first concocted it last sunday night, but I feel I now have the recipe settled.
Current recipe: In a glass bowl, add 2 flat teaspoons of salt, 3 heaped teaspoons of organic raw sugar, plus a generous grating from a whole nutmeg. Pour over a litre of boiling water, and stir. Then add a healthy dash of concentrated natural vanilla escence, and stir in. When the mixture is beginning to cool, add half a nip of brandy and stir in. Pour into glass bottles and keep in the fridge. [It does not go off, but it tastes better when not hot!]
The essential ingredient is the salt, since I have chronic low blood pressure. The rest is to make the liquid palatable. And I have been able to stay on my feet most of the day, since consuming a litre of this each day.
Please note: This is just for me and my condition. I am not recommending it to anyone else.
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Wednesday 19th February 2003ad
Woden, Wotan or Odin, after whom this day is named, hung Himself from a branch of an Oak tree, to gain the gift of Poetry, of Prophecy, of the Runes.
The key to this Mythos is a Mushroom with a white spotted red cap, which sprouts near the trunks of Oaks. The Fungus, which produces this fruiting body, is symbiotic with the roots of the Oak. The English call this Mushroom "Fly Agaric". The Aryans called it "Soma". It is a powerful hallucogen, which is the Door¹ to the Spirit World; but it is a dangerous drug, as but a small miscalculation to the dose leaves one rapidly dead. This last property is why it fell out of use, despite it being the essential cornerstone in the Aryan conquest of most of Europe and much of Asia.
[¹ "Door" is from the ancient Germanic word meaning "Oak".]
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Tuesday 18th February 2003ad
Interesting it is how the foreign policies of New Zealand & Australia have diverged over the last decade.
This has occurred because New Zealand's leaders have the courage to give priority to their own country's strategic interests, while Australia's leaders prefer to grovel.
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Monday 17th February 2003ad
In Sydney, an astonishing amount of furniture is just thrown away. Items are left on the footpath, simply appearing at night, as an offering for the "needy".
Tonight, over an hour & a half period, I collected from a single "deposit": a black kitchen chair; a white "bauhaus" chair; a bar stool! All are in good condition, and all will prove useful. Still left on the kerb are a long cupboard unit, plus smaller items.
[Update, Tuesday 18th February 2003: The long unit was gone by late afternoon today. Only a heater and a small miscellaneous item are left.]
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Sunday 16th February 2003ad
This morning I watered for the first time, the indoor cactus I was given some ten months ago. The first year it flourished green; but since then it has faded, up to the point of looking almost dead. Sydney's drought is mean, even for a cactus.
Albeit, it was only a moderate watering. But then, drought or no drought, it is still a cactus.
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Saturday 15th February 2003ad
Today, amongst the numerous spam, there was even a spam on getting rid of spam, or so the title ran.
Rather than opening & reading any of it, I was much better employed today, doing useful things, or resting; as I worked my way through all nine of Beethoven's Symphonies. Albeit, it was not in numerical order.
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Friday 14th February 2003ad
Saint Valentine's Day is, as is well known, derived from the ancient Roman festival, "Lupercalia". Curiously enough, Lupercalia is on 15th February, rather than 14th February. And Lupercalia is part of the greater festival of "Parentalia", which runs from 13th to 21st February, and this is when you honour your ancestors. I will allow the reader to make the link between love & ancestors.
[I am indebted to the Roman Calendar
website.]
[ www.clubs.psu.edu/aegsa/rome/romecal.html ]
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Thursday 13th February 2003ad
This afternoon I asked, of a friend I saw on the road, as to what the time was. He gave me his watch, as a gift.
A curious but true tale.
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Wednesday 12th February 2003ad
Eeny meany miney mo.
Which Dictator has to go?
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Tuesday 11th February 2003ad
When at home today, I heard the clear sound of Leaden Flycatcher song. It was seemingly very close. I soon realised it was very close indeed. It was at least one Budgie doing a very convincing imitation of the said Leaden Flycatcher. As to whom, I am not yet sure.
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Monday 10th February 2003ad
Most Iraqis may well be glad to be rid of their President. However, I am certain they have no wish to be carpet bombed out of existence, to achieve this end.
After all, what is the point of freedom achieved, if you are no longer alive to appreciate it?
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Sunday 9th February 2003ad
Heat + Humidity = Hell.
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Saturday 8th February 2003ad
Inevitable [noun] - Often used as a
cover
for the speaker's grovelling cowardice.
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Friday 7th February 2003ad
New South Wales is 99.6% Drought Declared.
I have no idea where the other 0.4%
is,
but I would not mind living there.
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Thursday 6th February 2003ad
One of the great mysteries of World War One occurred on 27th November 1916. A German Zeppelin dropped its entire bomb load on the North English seaside industrial town of Hartlepool; or to be more precise, on the Victoria Ground of the Hartlepools United Football Club, destroying the main stand. Later, a German naval bombardment damaged the pitch at the same venue.
Did the German High Command believe, that preventing the playing of home games by Hartlepools United FC, would critically diminish English morale?
Or was it simply revenge for 1909 tour of Germany by Hartlepools United FC?
["Hartlepools United FC" is now
called "Hartlepool United FC".
The exact significance of dropping the final "s"
escapes me.]
[I believe the pronunciation is "HART-lee-pool".]
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Wednesday 5th February 2003ad
Ultimately, Life is a Pointless Existence.
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Tuesday 4th February 2003ad
What point is there in having a
"Public",
and that "Public" having an "Opinion",
if the PM, who job it is to listen,
refuses to?
Sadly, he chooses to defer
to a "higher" authority:
the USA President.
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Monday 3rd February 2003ad
It has now become clear, that the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia, was due primarily to the parsimony of the USA Government. For many years, they have allowed much too little money, for what they requested of their space programme. The cost has been in lost space missions, and now, in lost lives.
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Sunday 2nd February 2003ad
Space Shuttle Columbia - 7 dead.
This certainly is a tragic incident,
but they knew they took a major risk.
On friday, 18 died near Kandahar.
They were merely crossing a bridge
which a terrorist blew up.
I would say that the latter incident
is more tragic still, as crossing
a bridge should be a safe activity,
even in Afghanistan.
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Saturday 1st February 2003ad
"Phantom Of The Opera" - the original movie, that is, with Lon Chaney Senior in the title role. At the Sydney Opera House, this movie was shown, as it was originally: as a square projection; at the correct speed; each scene with its own indicative monochromatic colour, rather than just in black & white; with the screen exploding to full colour, for the entrance of the red cloaked & death masked Phantom, in the ball scene; and with the organ playing - in this case, the Opera House Pipe Organ, with Dennis James at the keyboards.
I realised that this 1925 "silent" movie has a genuine cinematic quality; and it is very enjoyable, if shown as originally intended.
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Friday 31st January 2003ad
Beethoven > All the Generals.
Mozart > All the Generals.
Handel > All the Generals.
Vivaldi > All the Generals.
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Thursday 30th January 2003ad
Some small pleasure.
Middlesborough 2 v Aston Villa 5.
I have not completely forsaken sport.
It is much preferable to war.
[Explanation (4/02/2003) - This is Aston
Villa's first away win
and Middlesborough's first home loss for this season.
It was, for certain, most unexpected!]
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Wednesday 29th January 2003ad
Another year.
Another Bushling State Of Confusion
Address.
[My Thought on George Bush Junior's personal
courage - 4th October 2002ad.]
[Tony Sims -
Occasional Thought - For
The Day - Archive 3 .]
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Tuesday 28th January 2003ad
The Darling River is now but a series of green muddy waterholes. The colour is from a toxic blue-green algal bloom, which makes this last small lingering water, a fatal drink for people or stock.
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Monday 27th January 2003ad
Today, in an afternoon of rare persistence & motivation, I moved all the books off their bookshelves, dusted & flicked the pages of each book, dusted all the shelves & then put everything back in place.
Why can I not so succeed more often?
[As it was the Australia Day Holiday, I was not at work.]
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Sunday 26th January 2003ad
Australia Day.
Hmmm.
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Saturday 25th January 2003ad
A programme at the Opera House, which centred on the "Concerto for Group & Orchestra" by Jon Lord. The "Orchestra" was the "Sydney Symphony Orchestra" directed by Simon Kenway; the "Group" was "George", with Jon Lord assisting on Hammond Organ. The performance was good, albeit a bit loud after a full evening's programme, which included as supporting works, various songs by George, a piece by John Adams, and most notably:
"Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten" by Arvo Pärt.
Pärt's work was performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, unassisted by electrical amplification, and is a very moving short piece.
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Friday 24th January 2003ad
Ludwig van Beethoven - 9th Symphony.
This was tonight at the Sydney Opera House.
Most Excellent!!
The Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra was conducted by Simone Young. The support she received suggests most strongly, that the audience do not approve of her dismissal by the Opera Australia Board, effective at the end of 2003.
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Thursday 23rd January 2003ad
In Waverton, I saw this slight green smudge, a hand's length away from the tips of my right hand. That part of my mind, which works below the immediate self, had seen the direction of movement, and I instinctively looked up, to see a Rainbow Lorikeet heading into the west, at very high speed. My immediate thought was, that if the bird had miscalculated and hit my hand, it would surely have broken it!
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Wednesday 22nd January 2003ad
"Slowest Common Denominator"
[Mass Pedestrian Transit
- Technical Term]:
Defines the movement rate of any mass of people through a passage or corridor, whose breadth is up to five average people widths. Within a transit mass of fifty or more people, it will only take a clot of three ultra-slow individuals, to slow the movement of everyone else down to their negative terminal velocity. With very obese people, it only requires a clot of two such individuals, to effect the snailianation.
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Tuesday 21st January 2003ad
Smoke on the water, of Sydney Harbour, that is. But this is from bushfires & "burning off" on the Central Coast, to Sydney's north.
The effect of this smoke, on the temperature, was such, that in the CBD, at Observatory Hill, the maximum was 27ºC; whereas in Penrith in Sydney's west, which was beyond this smoke, the maximum was 41ºC!
The "Australian Alpine Ash", from the conflagration of Canberra, has been travelling southwards into Victoria.
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Monday 20th January 2003ad
On saturday pm & sunday, I heard no broadcast news, nor published news. At work this morning, there was mention of Canberra's fires, but I heard no detail of their extent. So today's Sydney Morning Herald, which I bought at 1pm, was a shock. Unbeknown to me, a bushfire-storm had hit Canberra. Four people were dead; hundreds of houses destroyed; the telescope mirrors at Mount Stromlo were all melted beyond use; and the Pine Forests, which skirt Canberra's west, were charred stumps.
The problems which consumed me on the weekend, suddenly seem very small indeed.
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Sunday 19th January 2003ad
The bright note in my weekend was last night.
Mozart's "Don Giovanni".
Opera Australia.
Sydney Opera House.
An excellent performance, well received. The audience clearly value conductor, Simone Young, even if the Opera Australia Board regard her as an undesired luxury.
A word too, for the excellent performances of Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the title role, and Jonathan Lemalu as his servant, Leporello.
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Saturday 18th January 2003ad
There was a curious co-incidence this afternoon: The time from start for my VCR, if one took it as pm, matched the actual time. This was purely an accident, and unlike the credulous, I ascribe no mystical meaning to it.
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Friday 17th January 2003ad
Today is the Festival of Felicitas, the Roman Goddess of Good Fortune & Happiness.
Yesterday was the Concordia, dedicated to the Roman Goddess of Harmony & Concord.
I cannot help but think, that their Religion was more immediate & useful in their daily lives, than those Monotheisms, which have so dominated Europe & West Asia since then. Monotheism is very prone to generate intense hatred & murder; such that I suspect the real name of Jehovah-Yahweh-Allah, is Disconcordia.
[I am indebted to the website, Roman Calendar, which provides detailed information of the Festivals, as well as the Legal & Political dates.]
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Thursday 16th January 2003ad
After the end-of-Cretaceous extinction of 65 million years ago, it was not the Mammals which "inherited the Earth", or at least its out-of-sea surface. Rather, it was the Lizards and Snakes. This is clearly shown in the Early Cainozoic deposits at Murgon [Queensland, Australia].
The Mammal fauna only gradually gained ascendency.
Our own Mammalian nature tends to blind our species to the rightful claims of the non-Mammalian Animals, which are in such abundance everywhere.
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Wednesday 15th January 2003ad
Populist [noun] - Euphemism for Fascist.
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Tuesday 14th January 2003ad
The secret of the "Cold Shower" - and I mean with absolutely no heated water - is quite simple, at least in the warmer months & places. ... You soap yourself thoroughly before going under the cold water; so, when you do go under the cold stream, it is not such a shock to the skin.
Why have a cold shower? ... It is very refreshing; and, if you put your head under the water, your mind, in all but an instant, works far more alertly! This is in moderation, of course. If you have your head under the water for too long, you may drown.
No doubt, Diogenes the Cynic would be disdainful of such a whimpish procedure; but then, we are not all made for living in barrels.
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Monday 13th January 2003ad
The trouble with growing tomatoes is that many creatures, large & small, develop a taste for them.
My single tomato fruit on a sickly little bush, was none-the-less ripening very nicely. But, today, I discovered it 75% consumed, with just a bit of reddening skin & flesh remaining. The foresenic evidence at the scene of the crime, strongly suggests a Fruit-Bat. So the incident would have happened last night.
Oh well! Fruit-Bats have to eat too; and they are somewhat rarer than we Humans.
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Sunday 12th January 2003ad
Today I found myself on a video, in a mid 1990s episode of the Australian series, "GP". It helped not to blink; as I was on screen for roughly one second.
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Saturday 11th January 2003ad
There is a deadness in my legs;
linked to numbness in my head.
Yet if I could find where I left
my supercharged willpower;
some achieving may happen.
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Friday 10th January 2003ad
Gentle rain, I have a fondness for.
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Thursday 9th January 2003ad
The sunlight went that oily yellow, this afternoon. And late in the day, the sun was a pallid red disc, which threw a feeble ruddy light across the room & against the far wall. Also, that curious air odour. ... The culprit was not ash, but rather dust tossed high, by yesternight's coastal storm.
Early in the afternoon, I was across the Harbour, buying tickets for the "Yes" concert, on 1st March*; and for Opera Australia's production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni", on 18th January. In both cases, I bought the least costly seats.
[* This concert was postponed in February, to 20th September 2003, as lead singer, Jon Anderson injured three neck vertebrae. I have kept the tickets & await the concert. - I wrote this note on 25th March 2003.]
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Wednesday 8th January 2003ad
The two modal points of depression:
The sharp savage despair,
which slices to the soul,
& may drive one to suicide;
The slow sliding decay,
which wilts the will,
shuffling one down to atrophy.
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Tuesday 7th January 2003ad
If USA President Bush scratched his
bum in public;
I am certain that Australian PM Howard would feel
the need to scratch his own bum, as soon as practical.
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Monday 6th January 2003ad
The most determined war-mongers
are often guaranteed non-combatants.
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Sunday 5th January 2003ad
I know how Sisyphus felt.
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Saturday 4th January 2003ad
I noticed today: my new crop of Onions [Hunter River Brown variety] have just broken the surface. However, two days earlier, the Carrot top [Chantenay variety] which I dug into the ground after the "harvest", has sprouted, uninvited. If it were a weed, I would just pull it up, but ...
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Friday 3rd January 2003ad
Instead of just injecting still more insulin, I spent most of last night walking, which did indeed get my blood sugar down to respectable levels. Yet, as the last walk left me arriving home, a mere 3 minutes before my alarm was due to become noisy, this meant I was soon at work on all but no sleep. Fortunately, I am not an Air Traffic Controller! But in any case, nothing crashed. Not even me! The work was completed promptly & accurately.
I suppose such sleep deprived, yet efficiently achieved possiblities, make war a practical potential.
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Thursday 2nd January 2003ad
Post-Modernism [noun]: "complete & utter bulldust".
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Wednesday 1st January 2003ad
2003, so far, seems no different from 2002.
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This afternoon, I saw with Helen: "Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers". This I enjoyed very much; even the long Helm's Deep Battle Scene, towards the end - which Helen thought went on for too long - but clearly I have greater immaturity, & could most happily have sat through even more of this blade & spear wielding mayhem. I do so love an "Old English Style Epic", as this creation of Tolkein's assuredly is!
My bladder held out for the 3 hours, which was an Epic in itself. There are 2 minutes which I missed in the previous episode, "The Fellowship Of The Ring", due to a less resilient bladder on the day, and after a year, these are 2 minutes I still have not seen & which I may never see!
New Zealanders, following the release of the first two "Lord Of The Rings" Movies, which so dramatically showcase their country's splendid natural scenery, now seem to fancy themselves as some kind of latter-day Hobbits. However, their Rugby Forwards would seem, somewhat too tall to be Hobbits; albeit they well may have hairy feet & a penchant for Elf-Maidens.
But, if New Zealanders truly are Hobbits, I suppose that means Australians are Orcs.
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Tuesday 31st December 2002ad
I find it curious, that North Korea, with an erratic & devious government, which controls a small nuclear arsenal, is not considered a serious imminent threat; whereas Iraq, with an erratic & devious government, which has only vague future hopes of getting a small nuclear arsenal, is considered a serious imminent threat.
I guess that Bushed Logic is beyond me!
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Monday 30th December 2002ad
North Sydney CBD is so dead today.
And this is even before six post meridian.
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Sunday 29th December 2002ad
The problem with an agreeable stretch
of holidays
is the disagreeable end, to the said stretch.
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Saturday 28th December 2002ad
Went to Imax with Helen today, where I shouted her "Haunted Castle", which is a likeable Belgish movie.
It is good to see the 3D film concept, finally working as it should, after some four or five decades of attempts.
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Friday 27th December 2002ad
Australian Philosophical Axiom - # 234/3-2:
An isolated day, with a Public Holiday immediately before it, and a Saturday immediately following it, has every right to be a work-free day itself.
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Thursday 26th December 2002ad
"The Two Towers", the second part of "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy, opens everywhere in the Non-Muslim World, more or less now.
Depending on your point of view, this is either a moving-film adaption of J.R.R. Tolkein's mythological novel; or it is a dramatisation of the early history of New Zealand.
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Wednesday 25th December 2002ad
It is only proper, that of all the Earth's surface areas, Australasia celebrates Saturnalia first.
Our high level of Hedonism makes this so apt.
[The above comment is not intended as a
negative.]
[n.b. Australasia = Australia + New Zealand]
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Tuesday 24th December 2002ad
A Flemish performance of J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" on SBS TV tonight, ended at the exact point at which an Australian performance of Georg Handel's "Messiah" began on ABC TV; that is, if nearly two minutes of Station Promotions can be regarded as a Euclidean Point. Is this incident an astonishing concession to those who appreciate such? Or is it merely a Divinely caused accident? Whatever the case may be, I was impressed by this datum.
And even more impressed by the concerts. If God exists, then the path to the Divine Essence is through Music.
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Monday 23rd December 2002ad
I do so hope there is not a "War Election" for the Australian Commonwealth Parliament in 2003, as portended by some. I have no wish to see any more photographs of John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister "looking tough"; i.e. standing with both fists clenched, and an expression of extreme constipation on his face.
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Sunday 22nd December 2002ad
Today I selected my last Carrot and my third last Leek, from my front balcony. The former was good; whilst the latter was good when I ate some raw, it being young. Sadly, I cooked it not rightly. By now, I really should know how to apply heat, to this kind of vegetable!
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THE END IS NEAR
INDEED, IT IS HERE !!
©TONY SIMS, 2002 ad; 2003 ad - Text, Formatting & Ego.
22nd December 2002 to 2oth March 2003
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