Tuesday - Sunday, April 11 - 15 2012 (diary)

We had our last bit of rumbling thunder a few nights ago, and a few brief splashes of rain, but it looks like we are now well into the dry season. Blue skies, non stop sun and on the farm everything is fresh and green.

The most favourite spots to retire to for our two dogs used to be underneath Rick and Renee's caravan and underneath my cabin (built on steel beams resting on bricks). The earth is always cool there. Since Rick and Renee have returned to the UK and the caravan is gone, literally right underneath my feet is now the dog's permanent residence, every night and most of the day.
I find it a pleasant idea, and usually fall asleep amongst the occasional noises : the odd snore of Roxy or a yelp from young Chase when he is dreaming.

I am very busy with bridge, getting people organized to help out with scoring and running the Beginners group while I am away. Also making various preparations for my upcoming trip to Europe. I have printed out the time schedules for all my train travel in France, Spain, Holland and Germany. Deutsche Bahn has an excellent website for train time tables throughout Europe. I use it a lot. I have also made most of my accommodation reservations.

Monday - Friday, April 16 - 20 2012 (diary)

I wrote earlier about my expertise in descriptive geometry at high school and a strong "geometric awareness" in general has always been an important (often subconscious) analytical element in the way my mind works. Naturally I am especially attracted to activities which require this awareness.

Those who have little knowledge of music tend to say that it is closely connected to mathematics. But it is not the mathematics of numbers and formulas that are an integral part of music. It is the geometry of intervals, patterns and symmetries in space and time which underly the structure of music.

Card games too, especially contract bridge, are underlain by the geometry of card distributions and (in bridge) the spacings of individual bids during the auction.   I believe that players with (what is referred to as) a good "card sense", posses this skill because of the geometric awareness of their brain.
I am looking for the best way to express this in words : it is more than just "awareness", it is also an intimate affinity to geometry.

I started thinking about this after watching the two UEFA Champions League semifinals (at 4am in the morning) on television the past two days. It was an absolute feast for lovers of football. Pinpoint accuracy, superb ball handling skills and truly creative passing patterns, which brought my mind back to the superb geometrical combinations of the Czech ice hockey teams of the early 1960s. They were really something to watch in those days.   Now in the modern game of football geometrical skills are improving everywhere, even in the Australian A-League which still is a relative minnow compared to the rest of the world.

The two most favoured clubs to reach the final, Real Madrid and Barcelona, visited resp. Bayern Münich and Chelsea this week, both returning home defeated (1-2 and 0-1). So the return matches in Spain next week will be two nail biting events. I am very much looking forward to it.