We had storms overnight but the sun emerged from misty cloud late morning, leaving the air humid and full of insects. On my daily ride I encountered thousands of white butterflies that were out and enjoying their brief sojourn on the planet. Everything seasonal is out of kilter this year, so their appearance in November and in such vast numbers surprised me. I was wondering what the collective noun for these insects was, but there were so many and in such darting and weaving forms that I thought 'flurry' was the best. They did indeed put one in mind of snow flurries.

Congratulations are in order to rank-and-filer Abi who won the Emporers Cup yesterday in Fukuoka. The tourney came down to a rare three-way contest between Abi, Ozeki Takakeisho and fellow Maegashira Takayasu, the latter being the sentimental favourite. But the long, long arms of Abi prevailed against his worthy opponents. It is interesting to note that the last three bashou have all been won by rank and file wrestlers, which may well speak to the dearth of talent at the top. In this tournament alone, the ranks of ozeki have thinned to but one wrestler only. And there is only one yokozuna and he, injured.

The World Cup in Qatar has been a wealth of surprises and upsets with only a few top nations performing as expected. This opens up the field considerably and makes the tournament unpredictable, though I do expect to see the likes of Spain or Brazil in the finals. By there are several dark horses who might go far. Many smaller football powers have little to lose. The oddness of the venue tends to play into their hands somewhat. I'd love to see Australia get to the round of 16 as in 2006 but if we fall short, may we fall short gloriously. 

I started reading Dickens Little Dorrit about 18 months ago and got about half way through it before something took me away, though I cannot remember what. Then I began listening to an audio recording, picking up from where I left off. That also fell into abeyance so today I opened my kindle edition again, only to be placed right back where I left off in the first place. It doesn't hurt at all to reread sections, so that is the plan, and to be finished by Christmas, I hope.

Dickens is full of characters that we might regard as 'types', caricatures, and Little Dorrit is no different. Impossibly noble men and women, moustache-twirling villains, pompous matrons, and fly-by-the seat merchants of all kinds are but a few of the colourful array. Most people reading Dickens suspend their disbelief in the reality of such types in the cause of a good story.

But truthfully, if he were writing in the present day, how would he render the current crop of celebrities, sports stars, ego-driven politicians and those who dwell in the slums of social media? They lend themselves readily to caricature. Very little work is needed to transform them into characters that one might reasonably have to suspend disbelief over to get on with the narrative.

One critic of Little Dorrit noted how so many of Dickens middle-class characters, epitomised in this novel by the ghastly Mrs General, seek out 'a cultivation of surfaces.' Everything is in the sheen and nothing runs deep. We could never level such a charge at folks today, could we?

Australia's 4-1 drubbing at the hands of France speaks volumes on the state of things football, particularly if you compare the result with the 2-1 loss 4 years ago. The latter was a tough, competitive and close match in which the French had to work hard to win. Yesterdays result, with the exception of the first 20 minutes, seemed like a bit of a stroll for the world champions.

By comparison, Saudi Arabia's astonishing 2-1 defeat of Argentina, and Germany's loss this morning to Japan (less of a surprise) are indicative of those nation's progress. If we don't want to fall further back, then action is required to reform the game locally and make it easier for talented young players to progress. Otherwise we will not see the likes of a Viduka, a Kewell, a Bresciano etc again.

I did not wake up to see England play last night but I was up for the Wales/USA clash. The latter was an interesting game of essentially two halves. The Americans dominated possession and won the midfield in the first 45 minutes, while the Welsh, obviously fired up by a half-time roasting, were in charge for much of the the second half. 1-1 seems like a very fair result, I would say.

I watched the highlights of the other two games that were played while I slept, with England battering a hapless Iran 6-2 and the Dutch getting two late goals to down Sengal. Iran is one the better teams in the Asian Confederation and are very hard to beat, so, either the standard in our region is dropping or the English played a blinder. Or both.

Australia gets started tomorrow morning against France. It is a big ask for the Socceroos - how to contain a team of world class players and make some meaningful impact. Football is a funny game and big teams do get knocked off from time to time by minnows. For Australia, even a draw will seem like a win.

May the legend and spirit of the 1974 World Cup side be on the pitch tomorrow!

On another completely different though still sports-related topic, maegashira wrestler Chiyotairyu has suddenly retired mid-tournament! It is customary, I think, for rikishi to hang up their mawashi after a tourney is finished. Chiyotairyu was not injured but apparently, at 34 years of age and down 2-5, had decided he didn't want to fight anymore. Well, so be it!

Apparently he wants to open and manage a yukiniku restaurant! Still hard work, but at least his body is not on the line. Good luck and thanks for all the bouts!

Today I became a member of the church community at St Finbars, Glenbrook. Yes, I am now a Roman Catholic. This meant I could participate in The Eucharist after months of watching others do so. But that was ultimately a good thing as it gave me the chance to contemplate what I was doing, often deeply. Matters of life and death should not be taken lightly and I have done a lot of thinking, a lot of reading and much praying. So here I am now and the Lord be praised!

I found this short poem by Christina Rosetti amongst her collected works. As I have said before, I tend to read her verse regularly and often as not, it has a devotional quality. This one is particularly apt today.

The Lowest Place

Give me the lowest place: not that I dare

Ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast died

That I might live and share

Thy glory by Thy side.

Give me the lowest place:or if for me

That lowest place too high, make one more low

Where I may sit and see

My God and love Thee so.

Some days I am clutzier than others. Today was one of those days. I dropped a litre of milk (loose lid!) and spent some time on my hands and knees mopping up the shallow sea on the kitchen floor while my cup of tea went cold. Just now I fell from a chair as I was pruning a branch (the chair broke under me!) and came inside for detol and bandages. Nothing serious, just a tumble in the bushes and a few cuts. Something else happened too but I have forgotten what it was. Nevertheless I am claiming it for the round of three unlucky things that can go wrong in one day.

I realise that these are small beer compared to the many people going through very difficult challenges in their lives all over the planet. Even in my hometown of Sydney, I encounter at least a dozen homeless people sleeping rough or begging for a gold coin every time I go into the city. It is impossible to know what got them there - plain bad luck, mental illness or some combination of adverse events and conditions. But it is confronting as it should be.

On another note altogether, the November Grand Sumo Tourney began on Sunday evening, all the way from Fukuoka. Terunofuji is kyujo for the duration, having had knee surgery recently. That leaves a bevy of upstarts and also-rans to contest the Emporers Cup. One or other of the ozeki might decide its time to fire up and win the thing but competition is strong from a few of the younger wrestlers who see their chance to break through. I can't predict a winner at the moment and I think it will go right down to the proverbial. Watch his space!

I wrote about the sad demise of my 11 year old Kindle a few posts back. Nothing I tried could bring it back to life. Moreover, the fact that Amazon had ceased software support for that model meant that even sourcing a new battery, supposing that that was the problem, would be a false economy. So I have retired my dear friend after its wonderful service.

Very kindly, my wife stepped into the breach and bought me a new Kindle Paperwhite for an early Christmas present and I am here now to give a short review. It is different from my old Kindle in that it has no page buttons, is back-lit and has a white paper-style screen appearance, hence the name. The screen size is slightly bigger and the resolution of words is much clearer. All functions are controlled by the touch screen (a little slow to respond in my estimation) and the numerous easily and logically set out menu tabs make it a breeze to navigate.

So far there is nothing to dislike and much to commend it. I'll give an updated report further down the track. It will hard matching the longevity of the old model, but who knows. Much like my old analogue library, one becomes very attached to such a bearer of knowledge.

New on the left, old on the right.

memore

By the flimsiest thread,

Memories are tied

And cast across time,

They stretch to abide.

That reality shreds

And another begins

Renewed in its stead.

Is it just 

Carelessness,

The sun-hot moment

Incrementally dimmed,

That burns to bust and

Seems less urgent?

No, not by design

Cold filaments snap,

Rememberance chills.

A mere hundred years!

Maybe, time is a trap

(a balm to fears)

That does us in,

And all begins again.

Australia got into the World Cup Finals in Qatar through a playoff against Peru. The match went to a penalty shootout which could have gone either way. But we were off to the World Cup for the fifth time in a row, no matter what.

That's the good news. The downside is obvious to everyone. This is the weakest squad we have ever taken. In fact, every squad since 2006 has been weaker than the last. Many reasons are advanced for this apparent fall from grace, though chief among them is the setup for developing young talent since the inception of the A-League. That conversation is for another day.

The squad announced today by Graeme Arnold comprises a solid bunch of experienced footballers and a smaller group of younger players. Glaring omissions in my humble opinion include in-form keeper Mitch Langerak (Nagoya Grampus) and talented midfielder Tom Rogic (WBA). The latter, especially, can change the direction of a match with his deft skills and clever reading of the play.

We have France, Tunisia and Denmark in our group. It will be a very tough ask.

 I was most pleased to read that President Xi has rebuked the Russians over their loose talk about the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine conflict. Bluff or no bluff, threats of using any kind of nuclear device are grossly irresponsible. Apart from the disturbed rantings of the North Korean regime, no other country with nukes has ever suggested that they might be rolled out in a conventional war. Russia deserves the sternest and most universal condemnation in this regard. So well done President Xi.

On a related topic, I have been watching a PBS series on Youtube on American Presidents, specifically Harry Truman. Truman, apart from being one of the most accidental of Presidents, is also the man who authorized the use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More correctly, I should say, he told the US military that they should go ahead and use them, only withdrawing consent after the second blast. I can't blame Truman - anyone in the office would have done the same - but the awfulness of those two decisions reverberates to this day.

About 20 years ago I drove from Sanda to Hiroshima as part of our summer holiday trip. I still vividly recall the museum at Peace Park - the artifacts left over from the blast - burnt lunch boxes and school uniforms, horrible photos of burns, that shadow on a step of a real person who disintegrated at that moment. 

Truly, these dreadful weapons must be banned and removed from every arsenal, forever.

 I am highly skeptical about the UFO phenomena that has been an abiding craze since WW2. It strikes me that if intelligent beings went to the enormous trouble of travelling (at a very minimum) thousands of years to cross the galaxy to get here (and why here?), then they would have more to do and say than play a strange game of hide and seek. Ditto even if the craft are automated, without biological life forms present. Such a vessel would be programmed to do something other than make brief enigmatic appearances or abduct the locals to perform oddly primitive experiments.

But there is a possibility that intelligent species have evolved elsewhere in the galaxy or wider universe, either in the past or in our present. It is possible that many civilisations have come and gone. Equally, in my estimation, that we are alone. Completely.

Assuming that the former is true, it would also be reasonable to suppose that intelligent life forms who have come to master the resources of their planet would also have passed through similar technological and scientific pathways as we have. They would all, at some point, have learnt how to split the atom and manufacture nuclear weapons. Futurists posit nuclear war as one of the potential 'great filters' that civilisations must pass through to survive. Others include, for example, meteor strikes, gamma ray bursts, ageing stars and catastrophic climate change.

We are on the cusp of two of those filters it would seem. How humans handle these matters is critical to whether we continue as a species or hand on a dead planet for cosmic visitors to puzzle over.