Monday, February 08, 2021

A spray of Art, a gaggle of Haiku, a wandering goat

  


 Today's haikus are from 2014:
Behold the image,
Flickering light projected;
The drive-in returns.

(Inspired by reports that the Elwick Drive-In may be re-opened after being closed for 29 years.)

The secret question
Between you and your data
A silent sentry.

(Inspired by watching Julie O'Brien
 trying to log-on with her smartphone.)


Haiku for a croquet ball [2014]:
Under a clear sky,
the mallet sees its target;
the hoop lies in wait.

[incorporating improvements suggested by the late John Bangsund]

24th January
After church, I went to the Sidney Nolan exhibition sponsored by MONA at the old Mercury building.  If you were expecting conventional portraits, you would have been very surprised.  In later life, Nolan experimented with spray paints and these are from that period.  Some of them (his early attempts?) look like random splodges of color, but some of them (his later work?) are recognizably depictions of individual human faces.  I didn't think I'd be allowed to take photos inside, but above I have a selfie of me at the entrance.
Reportedly the Nolan estate plans to put these pictures on the market for about $10,000 each.  That's cheap for a Nolan, but these are unique and nobody has any idea of their market value until they go 0n sale.

Haiku for Garrison Keillor:
Lanky. Laconic.
He speaks and millions listen.
Minnesota man.


27th January Wednesday
Discussion about Russia on the morning show on ABC radio today.  The Soviet security departments were never known for their subtlety, and they don't seem to have improved. They seem to have taken Red Grant in "From Russia With Love" as their role model.  l can't believe that they seem to have relied on Cold War nerve agents and rare radioactive elements as weapons of assassination.  What part of "make it look like an accident" don't they understand?

Two haiku for Carl Barks:
Coins fly above him.
Like a Wall Street dolphin
he dives through his cash.

In vibrant color,
the adventurers supreme:
those ducks are heroes!

27th January Wednesday
A quiet day at home until late afternoon when a trio of friends arrived. Afternoon tea, followed by an hour or two of yard work, finishing with a fish dinner in Derwent Park.  I notice that the half dozen hens in the goats' pen seem to have settled in there;  I think they could get out if they wanted to, but they seem content to share that part of the garden with Fluffy and Snuggles.  Peaceful co-existence in the livestock world.  Even the goose is calm about it all.

28th January Thursday
Yes, it is Thursday, despite the disorienting public holiday two days ago.  Wasn't too bad a day.  In the mail, received my bottle of Meso-Zeaxanthin and  the first issue of my NEW YORKER subscription  --  more of that anon.  I found the external hard drive I mislaid a couple of days ago, which was a relief.  The goats were still in their pen, looking forward to their breakfast.   I did a few chores then went out to the Bocce Club and got in two games -- tied one, lost the other.  Went to the supermarket on the way home, and scored the last issue they had of THE PHANTOM SPECIAL 2020.  

Out of curiosity, did a reading speed test on the Internet.  It said I had a speed of 198wpm.  I can't remember if that is better or worse than last century.


Fluffy (the white goat) is now an expert at getting out of the pen.  It's now routine for me to find him at the garden gate waiting for breakfast or dinner.  The only problem is that he is so eager he wants to jump up against me, looking for the food;  it's bad enough when a dog does that, but a half-grown goat with horns and cloven hooves is a bit much.
I was amused this week when he was in the pen one morning, then got out during the afternoon.  When I went out to feed them that evening, he was nowhere to be seen.  Because it was raining a little, he'd returned to the pen where he could shelter in the old hen house!

Cloven hooves approach,
the bleating intensifies.
A caprine breakfast!


Back in 2014 Richard Colom reported a startling piece of music history:  " I talked to the producer of Reader's Digest albums back in the early 90's, and he said that The Big Band Era was their biggest seller of all time (up to then). He said that they sold 15 million of them! It also was released on CD for a short time."
That is quite amazing - imagine a nostalgia album selling 15 million units today.  

A cup of evil,
steaming malevolently
reaching for your soul.

-- haiku for evil coffee

Collectors, hoarders and accumulators.  Which are we?
https://theconversation.com/digital-hoarders-weve-identified-four-types-which-are-you-153111?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en

2nd February Tuesday  
Tuesday had its ups and downs.  I felt a bit rocky this morning but by the time I got to the Croquet Club after lunch I had picked up sufficiently to win both games that afternoon.  When I got home I sat down and nodded off for a few minutes.
But when I went out to the Quiz Night in the evening, it wasn't quite so upbeat.  We had a few good rounds and notched up 72 points at the end  (why does the sheet automatically get passed to me when we get to the round titled Old Stuff??), however we finished fifth out of the 13 teams when the winners streaked ahead to score 88 points.

3rd Feb
Wednesday I decided to have a quiet day at home.  Tuesday and Thursday this week there was a lot on, so it seemed sensible to take a day off inbetween.  The goat has stayed in his pen today, so at least I was able to feed the poultry without him careering round the yard in excitement.  A lot of the "spare time" was used up trying to get the PC to do things;  took me three attempts to get a post uploaded to Facebook.  I really should get the new laptop out of its box and set it up.

4th Feb Thursday
Lunch with Friends Of Mission at the church hall.  One of my duties was to present the Assistant Minister with his birthday card.  Then called in to pick up some prescriptions from my GP.  I told him that the Luteine supplement I'd been taking seemed to improve my short term memory.   He replied "Maybe I should start taking it."

Called in at the newsagency to pick up my standing order for D.C. Thomson comics and magazines, then out to buy feed for the animals.  Heaven help me if I went home without more food for the goats!

Thursday morning it looked so wet and miserable outside that I didn't think we'd be playing at the Bocce Club in the evening.  But the weather steadily improved until we were playing in bright sunshine all evening.  It didn't improve my game though  --  half my shots were terrific, half were terrible.

5th Feb  Friday
Friday morning breakfast was trying.  The cat insisted on climbing all over me, meowing if I wanted him to get down.  Apparently he was trying to make up for lost time, because I was out for so much of yesterday.