But this
one, bobbing around in my soup, was probably the weirdest.
You can’t stop staring at it right?
Actually, I
didn’t eat it. I stared at it for a while and lamely prodded it, curious what
the small black hairs were on the dark bit but not really wanting to ask.
I was in northern Peru for a few days: the port town of Bayovar, visiting a phosphate rock exploration project. We ate breakfast and dinner in the workers’ canteen at the port. The food wasn’t bad but let’s just say Chef’s Table won’t be profiling the place anytime soon.
This
particular day, the first course was soup. A luke-warm yellow, greasy soup with
chunks of.. of.. stuff.
I can say with 100% certainty that it was part of an animal. But exactly what part and what species the unfortunate animal was remains a mystery to me. My best guess is it might have been a snout, or maybe a well-boiled hoof, possibly piggy in origin.
In the end
I wasn’t brave enough to eat it. Call it a missed opportunity.
Every second Tuesday, starting in September, I
join a small group of elite singers… Look, can I be honest for a moment? We’re so
good we could all have successful music careers if we hadn’t decided to take
ordinary jobs, no really… sorry I digress.
Where was I? Oh yes… Every second Tuesday we
meet at a local church for an hour to practice Gregorian chant led by our
lovely choirmaster, Colleen. It’s a wonderful but short lived opportunity to
slip away from the shitness of the Trumpian world into a bygone era of Latin plainsong,
pillaging, gout and rampant Plague.
As elite a bunch of singers as you could hope to meet.
If you’ve never explored the world of monophonic music, I highly recommend dipping a toe or two in. The origins of so many modern hymns, film soundtracks and great classical pieces are hiding there in plain (sorry) sight. For the choral duffer, it’s an easy place to start your singing career because it uses simple-ish, unharmonised melodies sung in the same register by the whole choir. Although plain song structure is usually complicated by a lack of time signature so regular practice is needed to nail down the commonly used melodic / rhythmic patterns.
The Dies Irae (Day of
Rage) is one of the most famous themes. Well over a thousand years old, it’s
popped up all over the place down the centuries. In the 20th Century
it was written into Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, and some of the music from
the Star Wars movies. Genesis used it in Attack of the Giant Hogweed (yes that’s
a real song). Here’s
an interesting vignette from Canada’s CBC on how Dies Irae has influenced
modern and ancient music.
Despite the apparent simplicity of most plain
song, the more you work at it, the more you realise why only Monks have ever
really nailed it. They’re the only ones with enough time on their hands to put
in the hours needed to make it sound great. A typical day in the life of
Brother Francis …Wake up at 4am. Practice the liturgy in plain song. Fast. Bit
more practice from 8-10am. Confession. Practice liturgy. Fast again while
confessing. Practice. And so on, interspersed with some chicken feeding and
gardening till midnight when they wind up another hard day with more plain song
before bed washed down with an invigorating cup of hot water. Musical
perfection ensues.
Look, Gregory, I’m telling you there’s a pause at the end of Quod sum causa tuæ viæ
In today’s news, Bill Cosby was laughed at by world leaders during his speech to the UN general assembly. And Donald Trump was sentenced to 3-10 years for sexual assault and was forced to register for life as a dangerous sex offender.. Then I woke up and it was all a sad dream.
This glorious sample of Azurite on Malachite from the Millpillas mines in Mexico reinforces why Azurite, with its incredible deep blues, is one of my favourite minerals. Sadly it’s woefully under represented in my mineral collection. Photo courtesy of Geology Tweets. https://twitter.com/GeologyTime
It’s an old
cliché but very apropos at the moment. To put it in simple terms, the resource
sector is beyond crap and has been for a few years.
Investors
flit from one trendy idea to another gleefully proclaiming each to be the
future of equity investing until the bubble pops yet again. Lithium. Graphite. Rare
earths. Cannabis. Cryptocurrencies. Yadda yadda.
Sadly, they’ve
all but abandoned the mining and exploration sector. The TSX Global Gold Index
is sliding greasily down, inching its way inexorably to a 10 year low. The amount
of investment capital available to the sector has shrunk, and as a direct
result the pace of new mine discoveries has slowed to an historic low. We’re
not happy.
But, fear not kind reader. Here in the UrbanCrows nerve centre we endeavour every day to cheer people up. Part of our mission is to help you forget the day-to-day. So if you are actually thinking of investing in junior mining stocks; should you wake up tomorrow and find yourself overcome with the urgent desire to piss your money down a massive drain, here, courtesy of the IKN mining blog, is a flow chart to guide you through the process of shrinking your fortune. We wish you bon chance.
Wheaten
terriers aren’t the smartest of dogs. They fall about the middle of the pack
when it comes to canine intellect. No matter. They make up for it with their
looks, their unquestioning affection and their lack of aggression.
Ours failed
puppy training twice. Puppy training consists of learning a handful of basic
commands. Sit. Lie down. Walk. Nahhh… screw you. Meathead Doberman Pinchers
passed with flying colours while ours sat in the corner picking its nose.
The kids’ soccer season has officially started.
My last season coaching as my second son ages-out at the end of Grade 12.
Every season opener for the last 4-5 years has
been played in glorious sunshine so it was only reasonable to expect the same
this year. Alas, it wasn’t to be. It’s been raining for a couple of weeks so
the soccer gear is already perma-damp. Balls, pinnies, bags – the whole lot smells
mouldy and is stinking up the car. Nice.
Last night’s game was a typical North Shore outing. Pissing rain at the start. Heavy traffic on the Iron Workers’ Bridge and that “why the fuck am I doing this” feeling at 7pm on a Saturday night when I’d rather be sat at home drinking a nice glass of Merlot. Keep repeating the mantra “It’s for the kids”.
Anyway, the good guys won 4-2 after a physical
game complete with one red card (my centre back) and a psychotic player on the
other team who oozed barely-suppressed violence. The cream on the cake was the
ref: a pedantic disciplinarian from the military school of reffing.
A recent
scientific survey carried out in my back yard focused on Corvid food
preferences. What foods do crows find uber tasty? The carefully designed experiment
consisted of randomly throwing different foods onto our lawn and seeing what my
crow buddies went for first. Bottom of the list: peanuts. They eat them if they’re
there but given the choice between peanuts and dog kibble, the kibble goes
first. Close to the top of the pile is any form of meat protein or raw fat – chicken,
beef fat, bacon, chicken skin etc. But I suspect that what they really like best is a nice bit of
cheese. Rather than stuff it into their crops to stash away somewhere for later,
they’ll happily munch away on any cheese. No stashing that stuff.
In a recent survey, 9 out of 10 crows said they prefer cheese
Investor Relations is a necessary part of the mining business. The strict definition of IR is that it provides sufficient information about a company to allow an investor to accurately value that company. Er… right. Too many charlatans and promoters who know absolutely nothing about the business other than pumping a good story. And with that said, I love this video.
@LostFootballs is one of my favourite Twitter feeds. Photos of lost soccer balls set to song lyrics. Simplicity itself. “The saddest sight in the world – lost or discarded footballs. Honour them, send in photos. No rugby balls allowed. ” I’ve just received my copy of their 2019 calendar in the mail. Aiming to have one of my snaps in the 2020 version.
Lost, Forgotten. Unloved. Deflated. The saddest sight.
