My Sunday

My Sunday started with a round of golf . The first two holes went triple bogey, triple bogey.  I then hit a couple of good pars and then a 9 on a par 5!  As my handicap is 6, I was out of contention big time, ten over after five!

My playing partners Joey and Pat were level par after 5 holes.  I was looking crap in comparison and not deserving of my low handicap.  I had the chipping and putting yips real bad.  Yet I managed to get going, hitting two great birdies at the end of the first nine, to leave me only eight over for the first nine.  Pat said, " Not bad a 44.  I thought you would have spat the dummy after that start.  Most other guys would have." Its funny while I do get worked up about things, I never swear or throw a tantrum when I'm playing golf.  I'm a real gent!

Joey was four over after nine and plays off five.  He's a light ammoured vehicle  commander trainer.  He was in Iraq patrolling the streets of Baghdad for six months and he is now looking forward to a stint in Afghanistan .. that's what he's trained for!  He got 220 dollars a day tax free on top of his normal salary.  For six weeks he was on leave getting pissed in London and Rome.  On duty he patrolled the streets in an open top armoured vehicle.  Bombs were going off all the time and he often exchanged fire.  One time they blasted 4000 bullets in less than 30 seconds at surrounding buildings.  

By the end of the round the previous night's drinking caught up to Joey and his score slumped to 88.

Pat is a self-employed courier around town with a couple of kids.  He's lived in Sydney but prefers Wagga because it's easier living.  There are no traffic jams here, no parking fees and nice wide easy driving.  One of his friends in Sydney drives three hours every day just for work.  I said I know all about commuter stress having lived in Tokyo and Yokohama for three years.  Pat told me he lived in Britain, a couple of months in London (Sidcup and Shepherds Bush) before moving up to near Perth in Scotland.  Him and his wife got jobs at a guest house (gardener and nanny) and spent their free time driving to places in Scotland.  

Pat finished with a respectable 79, 7 over, spot on his handicap.  Me a 85, seven over mine.

After golf I went down to the river (above) and met my family, ate lunch and played in the water.  The weather at the moment is perfect.  Everyday it is sunny with temps rising to the late 20s.  I've been trying to get down to the river most afternoons for a little swim.  At this time of year  it is the best weather you can imagine.  There are endless days of sunshine with no wind.  Nowhere on earth can be better than now by the Murrumbidgee.

After that well..  what does it matter, a read, a glass of wine, some tele and an early night.

Haiku-What's that?

Recently I was informed that Wikipedia could provided me with the answer to the above question.  So I looks it up and I read.  Then I read it again, and think about it.  Then I try it out, a few mental haikus and I think, 'Is that a hiaku?',  'Is it acceptable to be one?'  "Will that sexy cat accept it?"  "I almost had one last time .. why did I just miss out?'

After a while I think I better stop thinking about it and reread the description in Wikipedia again and try to explain it in my own words.  So that's what I did. 

It's a short poem thingy

Kind of profound

With a chocolate curly twist

Then there's the number of syllables:

Seventeen in all

Except in English

When there's only 10 to 14

You see in Japanese they count more sounds than what we regard as syllable sounds.  For instance, the word 'son' has only one syllable sound in English while in Japanese it has two, /so/ and /n/.

Here's some Haiku I did:

I walked up the river

Then floated

Down stream

With a cat

I played mental ping pong

And a light came on

The haiku was all in the imagination.  I was in the dark at the time (mentally and physically) and after we had finished (3 minutes it took), the minx shot one of her ping pong balls at the light switch and lit up.  Some time later:

In a catsuit

She stood astride

Purring her lovely smile

Don't ask me what any of these mean.  The way I see it, in haiku, it's all up to the reader to understand the author's meaning.  Feel free to comment, point out why they are (or not) haiku, and/ or take the piss.

Time For Peace in Israel

Both Hamas and Israel have committed terrible atrocities against one another: all forms of violence must now stop.  Hamas and Israel  have killed men, women and children.  Trying to claim one is more guilty than the other is pointless, and leads to very biased reporting on both sides.  This killing must now stop and a way must be found that will allow both sides to peacefully co-exist.

Islam, Judaism, and Christainity are all religions of Abraham.  Islam was founded from the words of the prophet Mohammed, Christainity from the words and deeds of Jesus.  The main stem is the family of Abraham, and ultimately God.   The Holy Qur'an acknowledges that there are other messengers of God such as Moses and Jesus  (Surah 2 Al-Baqarah  Section 33).  

It was the angel Gabriel that revealed the words of Allah (God) to Mohammed.  It was the same angel Gabriel that is respected by Daniel (8:16-26) and Luke (1:11) in the Holy Bible.  The angel of Good News is the angel Gabriel.  

Islam is not a barrier to peace in the region: it is an olive branch that will bring forth peaceful prosperity to all people in the region.  It will allow all the people to sit by the rivers of Babylon in harmony, in Zion.

As the song goes:

By the rivers of Babylon

Where he sat

And there he went

When he remembered Zion.

For the wicked, carry us away

Capitivity require from us a song

How can we sing King Alphas song in a strange land?

So let the words of our mouth

And the meditations of our hearts

Be acceptable in thy sight

Over i ... ras .... ta...far... I...

Rasta.. far.. I

Trivandrum, India, 1986

He was desperate to enter a toilet.  His body had been pouring forth smelly ugly substances for days.  After some tablets the ameobic dysentry was in recession.  His stomach seemed to be holding  and he decided to leave his room and take a taxi into town with his friend Ted.  

Trivandrum, Kerela, South India is a great little town with a lot of really good restaurants.  Ted wanted to take him to his favourite restaurant, slightly upmarket, where they could eat a beautiful Masala Dosa in their own private room.  Ted hinted that they could also smoke a joint there and drink a cup of delicious Indian coffee.  He couldn't wait.

But as he was walking up the street to the heavenly restaurant...

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LAKE MUNGO, NSW, AUSTRALIA

If I had to choose one place in the world as the very best I would choose Lake Mungo.  

The lake is now dry.  The sand that one can see in the picture is quite hard and the weather has eroded the dunes into all sorts of wonderful shapes that you can explore for ages.

If you go walking you may see the occassional snake slithering across the sand, eagles soaring, kangaroos hopping and   gangs of wild goats as big as donkeys.  It's unlikely you'll see a person.

You will see stone tools used by aboriginals up to 40,000 years ago - they're just lying there.

We stayed in the old shearer's quarters which was really basic -  shared toilets and kitchen for about 15 people.  At night there was a bonfire and a few drinks and the clear starry silent sky. The place is miles away from any civilisation and you have to bring your own food and drive a couple of hours on dirt roads.

The left hand picture shows the Lake from the air- the half crescent white is the sand.  It's about 15-20 kilometres long and a kilometre wide.  

There is an information sign that shows a time line of 40,00 years ago, the birth of Christ, and the present time.  It shows just how insignificant the last 2,000 years really is.  You kind of imagine people on the foreshore cutting up and eating fish and kangaroos with the stone tools by your feet, and sheltering in bush tents way before Jesus was born.  Draw a line 40, 000 millimetres on your desk and mark off the 2,000- you'll see what I mean.

Doctor Dolittle Breaks Wind

Doctor Dolittle discusses with Mary Poppins on how he's going to break the bad news... to the Galapogi tortoises.

Ecological Hero Prince Charles

Prince Charles recently announced that the world has 100 months to turn itself around or there would be irreversible ecological damage.

Clarence House announces that the household has reduced its carbon footprint to only 3,425 tons of CO2 during the 2006 to 2007 financial year.  This amounted to a 12 percent reduction over the previous year.  The Household points out that this was the result of fewer journeys by plane and helicopter.  In addition the fleet's cars were converted to bio-diesel.

Prince Charles can only be described as an ecological hero.