Thoughts of being 50

Yep, i am half a century young now and at this age some people take a look back at their life and strike a balance only to get a grim reminder that they spent many years in a dull job, are divorced, have two Facebook junkies as kids and are sitting on a load of debts for house and car. I recently made my income tax declaration and was done after 10 minutes, because i could leave most of the spaces blank telling me my life is how it shall be - simple without worries and complications. Across the years i lived through different epochs and none of them feel as historically insignificant as the current one. In twenty years from now, what will be remembered ? Maybe the EU debt crisis, the intelligence service knowing you better than your wife does ( Still somebody believes Zuckerberg is the mastermind behind bloody Facebook ? ) or lethal plastic guns thanks to 3-D printers - Goodness gracious me !? Being in my twenties nowadays i perhaps could handle a smartphone with great virtuosity, but would be without orientation trying to get a well paid job in a rotten business culture. Being in my thirties i perhaps would be a paranoid sushi and latte macchiato consumer and had no idea who Mississippi John Hurt was. But as a fifty year old i am a witness of the late 60's, 70's and early 80's, times when things as music, cars, nightlife or fashion had a certain kind of magic, something that is completely gone in todays illusory world. I like my first car ( a Mercedes-Benz 200 D/8 ...mmmh) a lot better than cars built by now, in my favourite night club i met people as Prince or Metallica and danced to music from James Brown - nowadays a pale faced techno dj hammers monotonous rhythms in the ears from intoxicated juveniles, who are supposed to be our future. Charisma seems to be extinct. The German football national team looks like a  bunch of 6. graders on a class field trip crying more after a lost game than girls in a casting show and when i see the German minister of economic affairs Philip Rösler i spontaneously want to give him some sweets. Action movies starred Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson - nowadays heartthrob Brad Pitt. Women were classy, silicone free and without tattoos, intimate shaving, screeching voices and artificial tan and hair color - nowadays ... don't get me started ! So the bottom line is, that being fifty is completely alright and i am looking ahead to the next half century with a healthy life-work balance.

13.07.13 Darley July Cup in Newmarket

LETHAL FORCE carries my hopes in this 12 runner 6 furlong sprint. He already won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and usually that form bodes well for this contest. I grabbed ante post odds of 7 and meanwhile he is backed down to 5, so some market support is already there boosting my confidence he will run a good race.*** WON

Cuba II

Cuba has still something the modern world completely smothered with abundant money and plastic - and that is soul. While most inner cities by now look more or less the same with skyscrapers occupied by the usual suspects Havana has hardly changed, when i was there for the first time nearly a decade ago. Generally Cubans are a friendly lot though they have their share of touts and more than once a confidence trickster tried to get a quick peso out of my pocket. After some conversations with locals i got the impression they are doing relatively good despite the ongoing embargo, although some were moaning about their low wages or how little they receive with their food ration cards. The Buena Vista Social Club made their music quite famous, but to my ear the sound belongs in the "When you know one song, you know them all" category and sometimes i was relieved, when the bar band took a break. Cigars can be purchased for a fraction of the regular price from the "La Cooperativa" , located behind the Patargas factory. There are always dudes loitering around in the area willing to show you the way. To sum it up : Cigars, rum and slinky ladies - the trip panned out as expected and my advice would be to leave your better half at home and see for yourself.

6.07.2013 Coral-Eclipse (British Champions Series) (Group 1)

 A top class horse is required to win the race and AL KAZEEM fits the bill. He is the highest rated horse and unbeaten during the current season. Odds of 3 are acceptable and i get on.*** Won

29.6.2013 Greyhound Derby in Wimbledon

While a game with some white dressed tennis hunks can easily put me to sleep, the real action takes place next door. Derby fav is currently Droopys Jet and i will bet a few Euros on him, but my main money will be down for SIDAZ JACK (left). He is the youngest dog in the race and outsider @ odds of 7, but is a son of the legendary Westmead Hawk and trained by master trainer Charlie Lister. If he can put his blistering speed to good use from the inside trap he should have a decent chance to win this.*** WON

"GRANMA"...

... is the Cuban newspaper. There is never a necktie behind it.

Cuba

I am off to Cuba next weekend and by writing Cuba i mean Havana and not some itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny tourist resort. I want to see it again as long as Fidel Castro presides over proceedings and capitalists can't get a hold of it to turn the city into another Miami Beach. Also the right place to have a drink on my 50th and reminiscent ...

1.06.2013 Investec Derby - Epsom Downs

Dawn Approach ( IRE ) is the the hot fav, but at skinny odds remains a risky betting proposition. Being a 3 year old colt the trip of 12 furlongs or 1.5 miles will stretch his stamina to the max, although his sire suggests he will stay. Also the undulating nature of the racecourse could be a problem so I will take him on with RULER OF THE WORLD ( IRE, left ), the only jolly in this 12 runner field, who won over this distance and @ odds of 9 looks a solid each-way bet.*** Won

25.05.13 Champions League Final

With  BAYERN MUNICH and BORUSSIA DORTMUND two German teams vie for the title. Bayern Munich is certainly the best team in Europe right now having played sparkling football all season long, but they are prone of losing finals, as they did last year on home turf. They are trying to make amendments now and look for redemption, though i believe they enter the game cautiously due to the respect they have for Dortmund's fast style of football and their modest h2h stats. Dortmund themselves have to cope with the absence of Mario Götze, so they will start the game more defensive minded as well. Bayern are clear favs, however i expect the match to be tight throughout. In charge of the game is the Italian Rizzoli, who is not shy of handing out cards and he is also someone Bayern had never any luck with. Bets as follows : Correct halftime score 0:0 @ 3.10 / Dortmund to win after penalties @ 13 /  Red card shown @ 3.80 *** 2:1 (0:0) Vaffanculo ! Two clear assaults, but Rizzoli didn't pull a red card.

Sports gone crazy

 Remarkable, what some folks do to get ahead of the competition in the world of sports. The capsized beast to the left was built to win the  America's Cup. When not upside down it is supposed to plow through the water with 80 km/h. Also it is loaded with state-of-the-art technology and came with a price tag of 10 million $, paid by software giant Oracle's CEO and multi billionaire Larry Ellison. Two days ago a similar constructed boat broke apart and killed a British sailor. Everybody is in shock now and sends out prayers, but of course the show goes on until the next tragedy happens - only for the sake of some polished metal. In Formula 1  Racing a team sponsored by that sticky brew producer Red Bull now exchanges four tires in 2 seconds !! and 18 men are deployed to achieve that. Meanwhile six lads died performing off-the-wall stunts Red Bull wanted to use for marketing purposes. Football is littered with shady characters investing exorbitant sums trying to win titles at any price. Usually you would think people turn away in disgust, but the opposite is right and more and more become crazy about it - the old principle of bread and games works better than ever. Personally i follow football for betting purposes, but vowed a long time ago, that i will never again support it directly with a single cent. I do have a affinity for horse racing though, obviously  a multi million Euro business too, but still somewhat  steeped in tradition. You cannot tinker around with a thoroughbred race horse, as they do with race cars and you will not find an Irish jockey with a fancy haircut.

1.05.2013 FC Barcelona - Bayern Munich

Champions - League : Semi final, second leg. Bayern is by far the superior side. They already won the first leg 4:0 and in my humble opinion will not lose this game either as long Barça fields players like Dani Alves, Bartra or Valdez - all average defenders at best. I guess the game will pan out like one of those old Bud Spencer ( left, left) movies.
 Some bloke tries to impress him with his far eastern fighting techniques and Bud just slaps him down to the ground. Barça will probably pass the ball  around without end, but instead of being impressed Bayern grabs the ball, starts a counterattack and scores. Bets as follows:  Correct score 1:1 @ 9 / Thomas Müller first goalscorer @ 9 / Bayern to win with ( -1 ) handicap @ 7.5*** 0:3

Funk Guitar

"Alternative für Deutschland"

I will travel to Cuba in June and had the original plan to revitalize Fidel Castro and bring him over to Germany along with his iron broom to sweep politicians from the CDUSPDFDPGRÜNE block party out of the parliament. With the establishment of the "Alternative für Deutschland" (AfD) party that is not necessary anymore and i can concentrate on drinking rum and smoke cigars. The AfD staunchly opposes the Euro and that is just the right thing to do, because the Euro splits the EU, weakens the stronger countries and prevents a economic resurrection from weaker countries. The Dakota indians already knew it by saying " When you notice you are sitting on a dead horse, get off ". The Eurozone is dead as a dodo, but politicians from the above mentioned block party refuse to acknowledge it and  paid  last week another 10 bn Euros for Cyprus, a small island known for welcoming dirty money, and Slovenia waiting next in line. And what is that all about ? Here is my theory: Spineless politicians are playing in the hands of the high finance, who are trying to gain control about Europe by degrading Germany and make many other countries dependent from the European Central Bank (EZB). Besides that more and more competences from the national governments are shifted to Brussels, enhancing right wing tendencies. In the USA this scheme already worked very well with the Federal Reserve Bank. The Fed is by no means federal, but privately owned. It's absurd - the U.S. government borrows money from them and then some more to pay interest. The U.S. are in debt of many trillions of $ and in whose satchel belongs that money ? Rothschild's, Morgan's, Warburg's to name a few and to call Barack Obama the world's most powerful person is  a joke, these people just push him up front to execute their orders. I am afraid Europe goes the same route and hope the AfD gets in their way. I was determined to skip the elections, but will now cast my ballot for the AfD, period.

Bird flu crisis ? I smell a rat ...

Mainstream media just spread the news about an bird flu outbreak in China killing a couple of people. After i recently stumbled upon this video by Jesse Ventura i approach news like that with caution. Jesse has been a former Navy Seal, professional wrestler, governor of Minnesota and is an absolute no-nonsense guy, who conducted an investigation on a clandestine group of powerful people with sinister intentions, called the "Bilderberger". They try to establish a New World Order with a single regime that rules the world, but since there are meanwhile too many human beings inhabiting the planet they need methods to reduce their number. One could be that they stage a pandemic via their controlled media and when panic starts people rush to the medics to receive a flu shot . That is at least, what they believe when in reality they receive something making them unfertile or harm them in another way. Sounds sick ? There are some sick minds among us, damned !

Weekend Sports

German Bundesleague Matchday 28 : HAMBURGER SV - SC FREIBURG   Hamburg lost their last home game against lowly Augsburg and received a 2:9 drubbing against Munich afterwards, but instead of a more intense team drilling the club organized a barbecue to reconcile their fans - oh dear , oh dear ... . I supported Hamburg until around 1984, when i felt i reached an age where it is a bit ridiculous to cheer for overpaid brats running around in short pants. Meanwhile 30 years later they are overpaid and pampered to the max. For example during training camp in Dubai they are lodging in one of the most luxurious hotels or when a player needs someone to walk his dog or wants a new flat screen TV - no problem, the club takes care of it and i would say, that it is no wonder they play like sissies. Freiburg has won their last game against Gladbach and also their last two fixtures in Hamburg. They are a team with mediocre ability, but with a desire to play passionate football and have a great coach in C. Streich. I got Hamburg wrong before and maybe get them wrong again,  however facts are facts and they clearly speak for Freiburg, so my hard earned is down for the SC at very decent odds. Freiburg to win @ 3.35 ***0:1. Now over to the sport of kings. On Saturday the greatest event in horse racing takes place, the John Smith's GRAND NATIONAL CHASE(Grade 3) in Aintree.It is a hugely competitive affair wit 40 runners going to post and my two selections against the field are Across The Bay (IRE) @ 34 and Balthazar King (IRE) @ 21(above). Both have won a long distance chase during the current campaign, are sound jumpers, will act on the prevailing ground and that's is all i need to know.*** Both finished unplaced though gave me good runs for my money. You can watch the race here.