October obambulation...

---

Weekend wandering. England, England, England. October 25th was - as you all know (ahem) - the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. The [in]famous two-fingered salute (V sign) is 'said' to have come from English longbowmen but according to Wiki "no written historical primary sources support this contention"...except (Wiki goes on...) "Medieval illustrations and tapestries, however, depict English archers giving the sign, as do tapestries hanging in Angers Castle, home of the Angevin (Plantagenet) dynasty." Hmmm, seems like there may be some 'primary sources'. That said, maybe it was just the V of Henry the Fifth (Henry V), what would have been had it not been for his 'unexpected' (convenient?) death...

Anyhoo...on to October 26th and the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand's outstanding All Blacks. The V sign makes its return (image)! Best England performance EVER...and that's in 50 years of watching although early on in the 1960s I could hardly understand what was going on.  Love this: “New Zealand lose occasionally but they are never crushed. So this was a glorious first. Forget the scoreboard. They scored one lucky try and for the rest of the evening, they looked like little boys being bullied outside the sweet shop. They were lucky not to lose players to the bin and there was a time when Marius Jonker, the TMO, was a far bigger danger to England than the opposition." Stephen Jones for The Times quoted in Rugbypass. [my emphasis]



And so onto today, 27th October: the 100th year anniversary of the first performance of Edward Elgar's last major work, the tear-jerking Cello Concerto in E minor. "Most concertos take a little time to come to their main point. if they don’t make you wait until the slow movement – and many do – for their crux, they at least keep the listener waiting through a short orchestral introduction. Elgar was having none of it." [sic] A bit like England XV yesterday. [edit] And another V image - obviously the player makes the difference!



Unfortunately we won't have an all BREXIT rugby World Cup final but if it were so who better than Elgar to provide some Pomp and Circumstance.

October obambulation...

---

Weekend wandering. England, England, England. October 25th was - as you all know (ahem) - the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. The [in]famous two-fingered salute (V sign) is 'said' to have come from English longbowmen but according to Wiki "no written historical primary sources support this contention"...except (Wiki goes on...) "Medieval illustrations and tapestries, however, depict English archers giving the sign, as do tapestries hanging in Angers Castle, home of the Angevin (Plantagenet) dynasty." Hmmm, seems like there may be some 'primary sources'. That said, maybe it was just the V of Henry the Fifth (Henry V), what would have been had it not been for his 'unexpected' (convenient?) death...

Anyhoo...on to October 26th and the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand's outstanding All Blacks. The V sign makes its return (image)! Best England performance EVER...and that's in 50 years of watching although early on in the 1960s I could hardly understand what was going on.  Love this: “New Zealand lose occasionally but they are never crushed. So this was a glorious first. Forget the scoreboard. They scored one lucky try and for the rest of the evening, they looked like little boys being bullied outside the sweet shop. They were lucky not to lose players to the bin and there was a time when Marius Jonker, the TMO, was a far bigger danger to England than the opposition." Stephen Jones for The Times quoted in Rugbypass. [my emphasis]

And so onto today, 27th October: the 100th year anniversary of the first performance of Edward Elgar's last major work, the tear-jerking Cello Concerto in E minor. "Most concertos take a little time to come to their main point. if they don’t make you wait until the slow movement – and many do – for their crux, they at least keep the listener waiting through a short orchestral introduction. Elgar was having none of it." [sic] A bit like England XV yesterday. [edit] And another V image - obviously the player makes the difference!

Unfortunately we won't have an all BREXIT rugby World Cup final but if it were so who better than Elgar to provide some Pomp and Circumstance.

Oval outstanding...

---

I very much doubt there is anyone in the whole world who bet on this? [BBC] "Their second try was an epic, a thing of rugby wonder" but a month ago not even Keita Inagaki's grandma would have put money on Japan winning their Rugby World Cup group: "Tears of joy for Japan, tears of despair for Scotland, tears of exhaustion for everybody else."

Oval outstanding...

---

I very much doubt there is anyone in the whole world who bet on this? [BBC] "Their second try was an epic, a thing of rugby wonder" but a month ago not even Keita Inagaki's grandma would have put money on Japan winning their Rugby World Cup group: "Tears of joy for Japan, tears of despair for Scotland, tears of exhaustion for everybody else."

Outstanding Olympics over III...

---

Ows's words from August 2012: "I don't want to end what has been a fantastic Olympics - especially for for Great Britain - on a sour note but...this is as good as it gets, as good as it will get: the Rio 2016 table may well have a similar top ten but we won't be third (and first or second is simply not going to happen)" [sic]. Well blow me...down with a feather. Great Britain and Northern Ireland came 2nd in the Olympic Games last month and the just completed Paralympics this month. A truly magnificent effort from everyone. Tokyo 2020...surely this is as good as it will get? :-)

Outstanding Olympics over III...

---

Ows's words from August 2012: "I don't want to end what has been a fantastic Olympics - especially for for Great Britain - on a sour note but...this is as good as it gets, as good as it will get: the Rio 2016 table may well have a similar top ten but we won't be third (and first or second is simply not going to happen)" [sic]. Well blow me...down with a feather. Great Britain and Northern Ireland came 2nd in the Olympic Games last month and the just completed Paralympics this month. A truly magnificent effort from everyone. Tokyo 2020...surely this is as good as it will get? :-)

Olympic opening...

---

If someone were to ask what James Brendan Bennet Connolly and the small town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, UK had in common most would be stumped. Me too, until today: US athlete Connolly [Wiki] was the very first Olympic champion of the modern Olympic games (those games are 120 years old today) held in Athens in 1896) when he won gold in the Triple jump (he also got the silver medal High jump and bronze in the Long jump); Much Wenlock actually had hosted its own annual local 'Olympics' [The Olympian Class in 1850:

..."for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments"

"It was devised by local doctor William Penny Brookes and is still held to this day." [Indie] One of the Independent's "Five things you didn’t know about the first modern Olympic Games that took place 120 years ago" goe son to tell us that "Baron Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin visited the town in 1890 and was inspired by the townspeople participating in the Games so he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC)". Excellent, we can claim that too :-) ... as well as "Britain is one of 4 countries (including Australia) to have participated at every games since 1896, but is the only country to have won a gold medal at every games"...if Romacitizen's comments are more fact based than the Independent's 5 points (they got one wrong!).

Olympic opening...

---

If someone were to ask what James Brendan Bennet Connolly and the small town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, UK had in common most would be stumped. Me too, until today: US athlete Connolly [Wiki] was the very first Olympic champion of the modern Olympic games (those games are 120 years old today) held in Athens in 1896) when he won gold in the Triple jump (he also got the silver medal High jump and bronze in the Long jump); Much Wenlock actually had hosted its own annual local 'Olympics' [The Olympian Class in 1850:

..."for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments"

"It was devised by local doctor William Penny Brookes and is still held to this day." [Indie] One of the Independent's "Five things you didn’t know about the first modern Olympic Games that took place 120 years ago" goe son to tell us that "Baron Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin visited the town in 1890 and was inspired by the townspeople participating in the Games so he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC)". Excellent, we can claim that too :-) ... as well as "Britain is one of 4 countries (including Australia) to have participated at every games since 1896, but is the only country to have won a gold medal at every games"...if Romacitizen's comments are more fact based than the Independent's 5 points (they got one wrong!).

Often overlooked...

---

Oh well, springing to the defence of A.C.E. Wenger again: yesterday's 6-0 trouncing in AWs 1000th game as manager of Arsenal was a bitter pill and has brought out all the bile and shit again; amazingly - as any footy statistician now knows - 50 percent of the EPL goals Arsenal have conceded this season have been in just 3 away games; what's more, all 3 were early kick-offs, hmmm. However, as I have written before, Arsene Wenger has overseen a team that for 17 seasons has averaged better than 3rd position (2.65); for 17 seasons the club has had European football with only Real Madrid beating Arsenal for consecutive seasons reaching the 2nd stage of the Champions League ...and, the cherry on the top is the table below (obviously AF had more than 1000 games at Manure but the comparison is with the first thousand). [edited 23/03/14] These are all things a whinging Portuguese parvenu - at a club that has had 12 managers in the same time - whose minions cherry-pick clubs for him to move on to as he is too scared to hang around for too long at the same club for fear of failure, can only dream of...oh well, feeling better this morning..

Often overlooked...

---

Oh well, springing to the defence of A.C.E. Wenger again: yesterday's 6-0 trouncing in AWs 1000th game as manager of Arsenal was a bitter pill and has brought out all the bile and shit again; amazingly - as any footy statistician now knows - 50 percent of the EPL goals Arsenal have conceded this season have been in just 3 away games; what's more, all 3 were early kick-offs, hmmm. However, as I have written before, Arsene Wenger has overseen a team that for 17 seasons has averaged better than 3rd position (2.65); for 17 seasons the club has had European football with only Real Madrid beating Arsenal for consecutive seasons reaching the 2nd stage of the Champions League ...and, the cherry on the top is the table below (obviously AF had more than 1000 games at Manure but the comparison is with the first thousand). [edited 23/03/14] These are all things a whinging Portuguese parvenu - at a club that has had 12 managers in the same time - whose minions cherry-pick clubs for him to move on to as he is too scared to hang around for too long at the same club for fear of failure, can only dream of...oh well, feeling better this morning..

Opiparous ocular oblectation...

---

Indeed, what a sumptuous feast for the eyes and heart this weekend: two games, two codes, one country. After one of the most exciting games of Rugby League I have ever seen (England vs. New Zealand ended in such dramatic fashion: time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win a place in the World Cup final. Wonderful excitement with England 'seconds from victory' in a 'classic, absorbing match'; pipped at the post by the Kiwis [current World Champions]) I was relatively content. However, that was followed yesterday by an even more incredible and exciting game where the English didn't even have a dog in the fight yet what a fantastic, marvelous, brilliant game of Rugby Union: Ireland vs. New Zealand (a team who have never beaten the All Blacks versus a team unbeaten all year). The Irish built up a 19 - 0 lead, and although that lead lead dwindled they kept it right until the end, with the clock in the red, and guess what? Time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win! Such heart-wrenching and at the same time exhilarating stuff and for both games to end in the same amazing way: well worth watching (not the highlights, the whole two games).

Opiparous ocular oblectation...

---

Indeed, what a sumptuous feast for the eyes and heart this weekend: two games, two codes, one country. After one of the most exciting games of Rugby League I have ever seen (England vs. New Zealand ended in such dramatic fashion: time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win a place in the World Cup final. Wonderful excitement with England 'seconds from victory' in a 'classic, absorbing match'; pipped at the post by the Kiwis [current World Champions]) I was relatively content. However, that was followed yesterday by an even more incredible and exciting game where the English didn't even have a dog in the fight yet what a fantastic, marvelous, brilliant game of Rugby Union: Ireland vs. New Zealand (a team who have never beaten the All Blacks versus a team unbeaten all year). The Irish built up a 19 - 0 lead, and although that lead lead dwindled they kept it right until the end, with the clock in the red, and guess what? Time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win! Such heart-wrenching and at the same time exhilarating stuff and for both games to end in the same amazing way: well worth watching (not the highlights, the whole two games).

Outstanding ounces...

---

Saturday 7:30 p.m. BST: no, not ounces but Lions! Just seen the highlights: great win. A halfpenny: no, not the old 1/480th of a pound sterling but Leigh Halfpenny: 85Kg x 32.15 (troy ounces) = 2732.75 x USD1223.8  =  more or less US3,344,340 Dollars...yep, worth his weight in gold! And I doubt they'll be any arguments about him winning the Player-of-the-Series award either.

Outstanding ounces...

---

Saturday 7:30 p.m. BST: no, not ounces but Lions! Just seen the highlights: great win. A halfpenny: no, not the old 1/480th of a pound sterling but Leigh Halfpenny: 85Kg x 32.15 (troy ounces) = 2732.75 x USD1223.8  =  more or less US3,344,340 Dollars...yep, worth his weight in gold! And I doubt they'll be any arguments about him winning the Player-of-the-Series award either.

O'Driscoll out...

---

Obviously I'm a few days late with this but it's still hilarious: Hitler reacts to the news that Brian O'Driscoll has been dropped from the British Lions team for the 3rd test against the Aussies...

O'Driscoll out...

---

Obviously I'm a few days late with this but it's still hilarious: Hitler reacts to the news that Brian O'Driscoll has been dropped from the British Lions team for the 3rd test against the Aussies...

Olamic oblectation...

---

Eternal delight: forty years ago today we witnessed something wonderful. There were many before and after but this is regarded as among - if not the - best: that fellow Edwards; the Home Unions select side vs. New Zealand, or as we know it: the Barbarians vs. the All Blacks, January 27th, 1973, Cardiff Arms Park. In fact the whole match was fantastic; what you see in the video is in the first few minutes! Phil Bennett's agility, Edwards coming at pace from deep. All amateurs, all in heavy cotton kit (much heavier when wet, like the ball, like the boots!) no squad of trainers: look what happens after that try, a pat on the back if you're lucky. Rugby as it was, the greatest game ever invented. Some really good comments here.

Olamic oblectation...

---

Eternal delight: forty years ago today we witnessed something wonderful. There were many before and after but this is regarded as among - if not the - best: that fellow Edwards; the Home Unions select side vs. New Zealand, or as we know it: the Barbarians vs. the All Blacks, January 27th, 1973, Cardiff Arms Park. In fact the whole match was fantastic; what you see in the video is in the first few minutes! Phil Bennett's agility, Edwards coming at pace from deep. All amateurs, all in heavy cotton kit (much heavier when wet, like the ball, like the boots!) no squad of trainers: look what happens after that try, a pat on the back if you're lucky. Rugby as it was, the greatest game ever invented. Some really good comments here.

Our Olympians...

---

London 2012: every Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal winner. Images from Politimo.

P.S. Interesting to read a post I wrote in June 2007: Olympian obscenity; all's well that ends well?

Our Olympians...

---

London 2012: every Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal winner. Images from Politimo.

P.S. Interesting to read a post I wrote in June 2007: Olympian obscenity; all's well that ends well?