And finally - tennis at Queens

Quite a story or two - Feliciano Lopez and Andy Murray won the men's doubles - Murray is looking pretty good after his hip problems.
I like the doubles format and the rules which differ from the old singles rules. It speeds the game up, and makes it more of a test of skill than a war of attrition.

Lopez played in all five of the last games on that court. Yesterday he played and won a singles semi-final, followed by a doubles quarter and then a semi. 

Today he won the singles final, and he and Murray won the doubles. Good stuff.

Roar emotion? Grrr.

Sport and emotion

I wish that I could ban the word emotion
from interviews with athletes on the box.
I like to watch them play with skill and vigour,
not hear each tick-tock of their inner clocks.

I’m sick of hearing – run us through your feelings
For heaven’s sake, what ever can they say?
Yeah, I was scared, or tense, or maybe joyful.
It doesn’t shed much light on how they play.

One day perhaps we’ll plant them with electrodes
and alongside all the stats and previous form
brain parts will light up clearly as they’re playing
so all of us can share the feeling-storm .

If all we ever do, is talk emotion,
it takes away the magic and the fun.
It feels as though we’re dripping vital fluids
and slashing mental veins to see them run.

Written rapidly after getting annoyed with Sue Barker's harping on emotions in her interview with Rafael Nadal after he won Wimbledon.

Wainwright and his Lakeland guides

We watched a TV programme about the legendary Alfred Wainwright, a man of mystery until very late in his life.

He worked as Kendal Borough Treasurer for years, but once he had decided to produce his guides he was a thoroughly methodical obsessive, and spent every weekend walking the Lakeland Fells, on his own, and every evening handwriting and illustrating his guidebooks.

Eventually he used the money he earned from the books to fund animal rescue centres.

TV without the sound

Yesterday I was at someone's house with the TV on, but the volume turned off - it was almost more interesting than having the full story. I guess it could be a way to kick-start the imagination. But it's amazing how that box in the corner of the room hogs everyone's atention. There was no way I couldn't watch.