I Take You To Art - The Highbrow...

Want to do some art...?

I'll take you there. You have to dress up for it. It's a big show. For luminaries only. 

There's food and drink for women:

Cranberry cocktail - you'll still
get very drunk on it 

Why 'art?' What is 'art' and why do we have it?

Well I'll tell you what it is and why we have it...

You don't know what these are - these are
'top hats.'

"We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art. In such miraculous harmony, we should learn to love each other so much to live outside of time... ...detached." Federico Fellini.

Now I want you to listen to this piece of 'art music,' and to realize that it is a modern art montage, isn't it? The words are all there, but they have been cut and spliced in - or, not so much cut exactly, but drifted in and out through volume control and by the deliberate vocal delivery of the singer herself.

So listen, and then you can read the actual lyrics below...

This is the fastest way I know Alley trees were grown again I cut across the city's backyards And every blade of grass would make me sneeze This is the fastest way I know Alley trees were grown again I cut across the city's backyards And every blade of grass would make me sneeze Oh I swear Surrounded? The sun will set for you The sun will set for you The sun will set for you The sun will set for you (Will set for you) Caught a glimpse of her grace (Will set for you) Caught a glimpse of her grace (Will set for you) Caught a glimpse of her grace (Will set for you) Caught a glimpse of her grace Caught a glimpse of her grace Caught a glimpse of her grace But just now we’re separated – wait up

The Angel Gabriel

"And they beheld a stranger in their midst; for he had the appearance of a strong man, dressed in white and with a powerful and confident demeanor, though not attired as one who is of the local custom."

The great Muslim scholars say this saying is one 'of the strongest hadiths,' - which means that its narration is sure, and with many unbroken chains of narration from the time of those who were present at the occurrence.

And the man came and went of his own accord, and no one had seen from whence or to where he goes, but that he goes and comes swiftly.

A messenger from God

From the clouds he comes, down through dark skies, deep in the night, to the predesignated place of meeting, there to give increase to the needy, and resolution to the afflicted.

You will have by now, heard about the 'air-droppable missile system,' developed by Russia and tested on the border between Syria and Turkey.

Of course, like all little stories in the press, you have to draw on a few strands of twine to tease out the fuller picture. And the fuller picture here is that what may be air-dropped at night, through cloudy skies, and reach its GPS location target spot of a few square feet, may be a lot smaller than a missile system.

'Air-droppable' air defense system

The noose is closing around the neck of the King of Saudi Arabia. Not only are the Russians on to him, but so are the Americans. There are sayings that abound in the intelligence operative circles: 'limited hangouts' (Lionel Nation loves that one), 'hunting dogs,' 'bird dogs,' 'the eagle flies on Monday,' and this one: 'if a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?'

No, nobody hears, because nobody is listening.

That recent Panama limited hangout has nothing to do with revenue services closing down tax havens for individuals or rich people - it has to do, as all CIA matters have, with sovereign interests. Some people, say that it was to give the alert to those who funded and used Panamanian channels to carry out 9/11. And some say, it is to actually catch and block Saudi money being used for nefarious purposes around the world.

I cannot say. LOL. But what I do know is that if Donald Trump ever gets in you will see a lot of rats jumping ship. Except the ship ain't going down.

There is likely to be a lot of 'plank walking' though, if they don't all jump first.

I mean it's not all private money in those Panama accounts, is it. You see, it's easy for the US to find out who's moving money through any US-permit holding banks - HSBC, Wells Fargo, Chase, anyone. Not so easy if it is the State Bank of Saudi Arabia. And the cash was going through 'out of town,' let's say, in Panama for instance. Panama, as you know, doesn't have its own currency and uses the US Dollar. A very very dangerous state of affairs unless you have a grip on things over there.  

 Song and Music by Uppermost - 'Passion.'

The Fall-Back Position

Believe me, this is the calm before the storm.

Will they let the cat out of the bag or will they let le Donald steamroll forward, threatening everyone who has been preventing America from 'being great,' in a great big fog of disinformation regardless of how hard he presses.

This is not a clue, it is just an expensive Guinness;
unless you think being Irish is a clue about something
important to do with the President of the USA. In that case then
it is a clue. I wasn't really planning to give any clues.

He's not stupid though and he's well enough advised and informed. He'll have to make up his own mind about how to deal with what he learns once that file called 'if a tree falls in a forest' is opened on his Presidential desk.

I can't say too much about this, but there are secrets - you all already realize this. But I can say this: a friend of mine remarked on the subject of this recent Panama tax haven and money-laundering thing and I just had to suggest that organisations such as the CIA do not care about little people or small things, they play at the level of sovereign interests and I added that I did not consider anyone like China or Russia or even North Korea had any bearing on what happened with the release of information, regardless of what Fox News believed.

Sometimes it is those things we just plain don't see, or perhaps they are so close to our noses - even closer than well, my god, even closer than Israel - that it escapes our grasp unless we are really led to it. But I have always said that I won't fail to alert readers if I knew of something genuinely imminent. You have to understand something about the nuclear threat however - the cat is already out of the bag and the USA did not prevent that wrong country from acquiring nuclear devices which work. 

And so we are certainly in for interesting times.

A man's order - beef and Guinness pie

That friend also mentioned something about using those times when there is a slow down in cash flow or a temporary failure in liquidity to plan, for when you have money! An amazing insight, I said. And yes, I agreed. For instance, just look - I said - at our mutual super-wealthy friend Andrew, every day at lunchtime he just suddenly, out of the blue, without planning blurts out: 'hey let's go to lunch.' By which he means somewhere they serve Lamb Korma and Kingfisher beers.

Well - I said to my friend - you are so right; even now I'm planning for when I have a lot of extra money, and then lunchtime rolls around... ...I shall certainly be different in my approach. I'll shout out: 'hey let's go to lunch!' 

And my friend said, but what's the difference?

Well I'll have planned to do that. Of course! SMH... (Shake My Head).

Have you ever noticed that when a male orders lunch or dinner it's mostly never what a woman would order? And then have you ever noticed they steal stuff off your plate??!

Better Stop Doin' This

Oh gawd...

Talk about putting the pressure on myself.

If you've been reading this blog from the start a few years ago now, you'll know that the racehorse previews here have been on the money A LOT. 

It's hard to do this because, the real theory behind handicapping is something along the lines of 'a high percentage' of results, if you ran the same race over and over ten times, or a hundred times - a high percentage will have the same horses in the top places if you've calculated the weights and times correctly.

These are staggeringly good musicians and I
shouldn't make fun of them which I'm not and anyway -
anyway it was NYQUIST, wasn't it, not NYQUIL.
But there's a sick joke about: 'Nyquil, the reason why
Doves Cry...' (That's Prince's 'Wendy &Lisa' above)

The fact is though, there are a lot factors involved - and they are quite complex; for instance, some experts feel conditions such as the light level or even presence of birds (this is a fact, by the way, that is, a fact that experts take bird flocks into consideration...) have a bearing on the possible outcomes or on how the race is run.

Anyway let's put up for you the results of the just-run 2016 Kentucky Derby:

1st     Nyquist

2nd    Exaggerator

3rd     Gun Runner

So, let's all realize that despite any amount of 'successful' predictions on these pages, horse racing is still a risky business, and there is a lot of stakes' managing that goes into what it takes to be a long-term successful professional gambler.

Sydney horse racing expert,
typical dress code...

Madras Jackets, And Real Style

Of course you know that Madras Jackets are one of the traditional style favourites for men who are going to the Kentucky Derby.

Perfect style form for the
Kentucky Derby

They're fun more that 'just brash,' and they do have that outlandish 'sporting' flair that goes very well with an insane event like the Kentucky Derby. This is a touch race for tough horses. This year's field consists mainly of horses who sit and the rear of the field and flood home at the end. That is, all except for the 3/1 favourite Nyquist who races close to the lead or even in the front. 

The top five horses for me are, in order: Gunrunner, Exaggerator, Creator, Nyquist, Brody's Cause.

But if you don't want to focus too much on the race, there is always the fashion. And by the time you've mixed a few Mint Juleps, not a lot will really matter.

I make it a rule never to mix alcohol with horse racing - or any sort of gambling - with the exception of the Kentucky Derby. This is a race with too big a field of starters, and too much atmosphere, and too much colour and excitement going on all around to worry too much about the horses.

I mean to say, horses are part of a very hot-blooded 'composition.' Dueling, hussars, women... ...all that kind of irrational stuff. That's what horses are all about. And money too, certainly. That's a heady mix!