23.06.12 Royal Ascot - "Diamond Jubilee Stakes"

The world's fastest mare Black Caviar ( AUS, left ) is entered in this race. She is unbeaten in twentyone races at the highest level and for Australians defeat  is out of the question since their money pushed the odds down to 1.24 in a fifteen runner field. Usually with that kind of odds i would say "Ok, let her win "and stay away, but i found a horse named  THE CHEKA, which could figure at odds of 34 and is worth a dabble.*** Black Caviar won it, but only just. Her jockey misjudged the finish line, dropped his arms prematurely and nearly got pipped. Many millions were bet on her and had she lost that jockey would be immortal for the bookies and chased through town by punters.

Another great man passed away

The legendary EARL SCRUGGS died March, 28. 2012. He developed the driving banjo picking style that influenced countless people, myself included ( right ). This video shows him with Doc Watson playing the classic song "John Hardy ". Both gentlemen are sorely missed.

29.5.2012 Arthel "Doc" Watson died ...

... age 89 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Blind from early childhood he was an outstanding musician and personality, oozing class through and through and is also one of my main musical influences. I have fond memories listening to him live and visiting his hometown of  Deep Gap, NC ( right ). RIP Doc.
Check him out here

Football EURO 2012

The Euro crash looming ...+++ Neo-nazis and leftists turning the district of Hamburg-Wandsbek into a battlefield with 38 policemen injured ...+++ German subsidised submarine sales to Israel ... . Who cares,  for three weeks bad news have to take a backseat , 'cause  the football EURO is up and the principle of bread and games always works. Spain and Germany are obvious contenders to lift the trophy, but @ odds of 13 the value pick has to be FRANCE. Under new coach Laurent Blanc they are a tight unit and meanwhile unbeaten in 19 games. Further bets are - Spain, Germany, France and Russia to reach the semis @ 61 and Miroslav Klose to become topscorer @ 17.

Been there, done that - My trip to New Zealand

Upon arrival in Auckland immigration detained me for two hours. I was told my presence was of some concern , so they interrogated me and thoroughly searched my belongings. I have gone places, but  i never experienced something like this before. Flying down under only to be treated as an miserable crook- ridiculous and let me put it straight right here: Never in my life i cared about drugs and touched a fuckin' joint !!! A fellow traveller didn't declare an forgotten apple in the luggage and had to reach in his pocket to dish out 400 NZ$, a little less than 400 US$. I eventually left the airport and stood in heavy rain. Weather rarely got much better after that. NZ is a expensive country for low-budget travellers, for starters a pack of ciggies sells around 20 NZ$, and that brings me to the next bugger - I moved in a backpacker hostels dorm. Socializing with people half my age and the smell of some deodorants is nothing i appreciate. Regular New Zealandians treated me very nice, albeit the majority of the Maoris seem to be natural born bouncers. Auckland is a slick city, surrounded by water with a subtropical feel. However the downtown area has to be avoided on a saturday night when the youth goes completely bonkers. The beer is excellent ( "Mac's Hop Rocker") and drinking a pint at 6.45 in the morning watching the Champions-League final was a highlight. I marked off the usual touristic attractions and also ventured out to the countryside. I can confirm, all very beautiful. Heading back home i handed over my passport at immigrations to a grumpy woman and all of a sudden red alert was triggered. She jumped out of her booth and ordered me in a rude manner to come with her to a room, where it all happened again. When i finally got off the hook i sprinted to the gate to catch my flight. Luckily i am still in good shape and EMIRATES airlines were waiting for me. My thanks go out to them - fantastic airline. So all-in-all was it worth it ? For personal reasons yes, for the country itself no. Drinking beer in a wooden shack in a so called third world country is more to my liking.

Final seasonal football bet

Bettingwise it wasn't a great season and sometimes it seemed a horse race with class six plodders on heavy ground is more predictable than the beautiful game. One standout bet however is Robin van Persie ( left ) to become  Premier-League topscorer at odds of 10. With two games to play he is two goals ahead of Wayne Rooney and i expect him to wrap up my bet on Saturday against Norwich City, which lost the plot after being saved from the relegation zone. In the German Bundesleague Mario Gomez meanwhile lost his top position to Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Bayern Munich plays now Cologne, which have a defense hardly deserving that name and i suppose Gomez will be eager enough to regain the top spot. My bet is a double with van Persie scoring twice and Gomez scoring anytime at combined odds of 3.8. Off to Auckland next Sunday.*** Lost

New Zealand

Always had sympathy for low key countries like Australia, New Zealand or Canada, but never  any interest traveling to them. This has changed now and i am heading to New Zealand next week. Seeing my favourite little lady there is another incentive for going the distance.

Aintree follow-up with a view on experts

Before the race experts let me know - don't bet on a French horse, they are not bred for
 a distance that long - don't bet on a grey, they didn't win since '61 - don't bet on a horse carrying more than 11 stone 5.Would be too much for the grueling distance - don't bet on a horse trained by Paul Nicholls. Yes,a champion trainer, but never won the race.
                                 

Well, the race was won by Neptune Collonge, a French bred, grey horse, carrying 11 stone 6 and is trained by
Paul Nicholls. Experts are pushing to the limelight in many areas trying to impose their opions on others, but  they get it wrong all the time. So the lesson is, never to forget about the own judgement and to be critical - paid me a nice dividend. Apart from that, riding such a magnificent animal and crossing the line first in such a big race must be one of the finest moments in sports. Unfortunately all i ride is a rusty bicycle.
                                                        
                                                                                                         

14.04.2012 Hamburger SV - Hannover 96

German Bundesliga - Matchday 31
Bookies still clueless about Hamburg  making them favs despite their dismal home form, which reads 2-6-7. Hamburg dwells in an dogfight against relegation and you want to see them fighting teeth and nails, but what did i see yesterday against modest Hoffenheim - zilch, zippo, nada. Hannover is no away force, but they need to win to qualify for the Euroleague and with Ya Konan and Diouf up front Hamburg defenders might quickly feel like whirligigs. Some already demand to stop this guy from singing before the game, because he puts everybody in a sluggish mood. Ladbrokes offers odds of 3 for the away win and this writer gladly accepts.*** 1:0

In times, when The Netherlands become baseball ...

... world champions it is obvious, that things are not, what they used to be. But what you still can count on are incomprehensible laws and rulings made by the German government on taxpayers expense. Talking about so called child care subsidy. In short every child in Germany up to three years was granted a kindergarten spot by law. But there are not enough  for everyone , so the government decided to pay their parents some money ( "oven premium" ) for forfeiting their rights. In other words  parents receive money for keeping their kids away fom the kindergarten and attend them at home, something you would expect every good father or mother to do. The price tag for that nonsense lies at 1.9 billion Euros annually and coinicidentally that law comes into effect in January 2013, a few months before general elections. Living in a democracy are they trying to buy votes ? If i vote at all i do so with my feet.

14.4.2012 Grand National Chase in Aintree

Finding a winner in this one is not an easy task considering the magnitude of the field and the number of obstacles. Ballabriggs ( left ) did me a favour winning it last year and i expect him to be a leading contender again this year, but my main money will be down for STATE OF PLAY. This horse is a brilliant jumper and stays longer than the mother-in-law, or so they say. He finished 4th last year and 3rd two years ago and has this year  less weight to carry. Odds of 33/1 show some lack of respect for his achievements and i will back him each way meaning he has to be among the first five for an excellent payout. But win or lose lets's hope all jockeys and horses make it home safe and sound.*** Incredible race with Ballabriggs sixth and State Of Play unseating his rider. My third selection won it though with the narrowest of all margins, by a nose, after 4.5 miles and thirty huge obstacles leaving me well in profit. But nothing to cheer about as the ugly side of racing was displayed in abundance with horses falling left, right and center. Only 15 of 40 made it to the finish line.

Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen

                             German Bundesleague Matchday 26
Dortmund is unbeaten in 19 league games and en route to their next championship as they encounter here a injury troubled Bremen side. Skipper Clemens Fritz is back for Bremen, but that doesn't help much, since goalie Wiese joined the disabled list yesterday. Bremen lost their last away game to bog awful Hertha Berlin and in my opinion they won't stand a chance against the speedy  football Dortmund plays. Bets as follows - Dortmund to win with 4+ goal difference @ 7 / 5:0 @ 41 / 6:0 @ 61 / 7:0 @ 151 / 8:0 @ 426 / 9:0 @ 501*** 1:0

Zapfenstreich

Huh ? What ? I hear you askin'. Well, that is the name for a farewell ritual conducted for high ranked German politicians leaving office. Soldiers, torches, big band, the whole enchilada. If i had behaved like the former federal president C. Wulff i would sneak out  through the backdoor, but he being himself wants the complete program and of course gets not just that, but on top an annual pension of 199000.- Euros for a tenure less than twenty months. And when i hear, that still many Germans support him i am ready once more to become despaired with my fellow countrymen.

Another shipload of money for Greece

This time we are looking at 130 bn Euros in return for saving measures. I am just a dropped out student of economics, but with saving you will never get an economy back on her feet, so much i know. So what is going on in reality ? If Greece goes into bankruptcy the five biggest US banks would have to pay out huge liabilities ( 518 bn Dollar ), because of so called Credit Default Swaps ( CDS ). Even President Obama called up Europe and demanded to cough up more money for Greece to prevent that and the Europeans duly oblige. Seems US banks are more important, than European tax payers. Probably Obama , not to mention German politicians, is just a pawn in a game, which is played on terms by Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs ? Right, the investment bank, that among other deeds speculates with food products, driving millions of people deeper into poverty. In the USA they are a long standing shadow government and now they openly implement their troops in Europe, EZB boss Dragi and IWF boss Lagarde for example to make shure the stream of money down south will not run dry, so Goldman Sachs can snap up their share. Who is going to stop them ?
In Germany Federal President Wulff relieved us, finally stepping down. He made some of his party friends, who defended him fiercely until a few days ago look like complete fools.

Arequipa

Had a lunch break on main square, when all of a sudden i became part of a demonstration. The theme was " Agua si - oro no ". I can get along with that. Arequipa itself has changed quite a bit from the last time i have been there, but remains a pleasant city.