Latest scores: FBI 7 - FIFA 1

No sign today of manager Sepp
We have to make do with assistant Webb
Extra time could be on the cards

Electro Velvet Failed to Shock Vienna Favourite

   Bar managers at the Bier & Bratwurst style large-screen public viewing area outside the Rathaus (City Hall)  were hoping for sizzling weather and crowds of thirsty spectators. Spirits will be dampened if the current deluge continues for much longer. A few hardy souls huddling under umbrellas was not what the organizers were wishing for.

The best they can realistically hope for is that there will be a favourable break in the weather later this evening for those vital two or three hours. (Fortunately the weather improved and 25,000 fans joined the party).

Along with 200 million other TV viewers throughout the world, literally from Austria to Australia, I shall take pleasure in watching the performances and then enjoy the nail-biting suspense of the voting. 

It all begins at 21:00 in Austria. That's 20:00 in the UK. 

Austria's drag queen Conchita Wurst victorious in the 2014 Eurovision with Rise Like a Phoenix will give a repeat performance, this time supported by the Sängerknaben - the youngsters of the Vienna Boys Choir.

The home country's representatives The Makemakes are rank outsiders (100/1). Earlier there was a rumour that  they had something special up their sleeves.

Austrian press coverage has tended to focus on last year's winner Conchita, now known as the Queen of Austria. 

Electro Velvet's 'Still in Love With You' (50/1) is an upbeat and stylish number and may just be able to accumulate sufficient points to shock the critics, the experts, and all those confident punters shoveling their money onto Sweden's Heroes (11/8 Fav.). 

A sample selection of the odds on offer this morning at William Hill:

11/8 Sweden WINNER

11/4 Russia SECOND 

7/2 Italy THIRD 

7/1 Australia

8/1 Belgium

25/1 Estonia

25/1 Israel

50/1 United Kingdom NOWHERE 

50/1 Spain

100/1 Austria

100/1 Cyprus

100/1 Hungary

150/1 Montenegro

Touching on the Bermuda Triangle . . .

Free drink from the captain?

A 'Norwegian Dawn' 

        on the rocks? 


The cruise ship Norwegian Dawn ran aground near Bermuda but nevertheless was able to reach Boston safely. 

Alf Poier Kills a Computer Virus

This short video may be viewed in conjunction with the post below.

Alf Poier - a man for all seasons

I discovered Alf Poier in the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien in a dark room in the basement adjacent the toilets. Soon I realized that Alf's vivid imagination knows no bounds.

Is the above image a detail from the dark side of the moon? Or is it one of the mysterious bright spots on Ceres?

Q. What did Alf have to say?

A. "I am the neuro-dadist of cabaret. My messages are . . .  nonsense.  I say to you: Now I am known as an idiot, but one day . . . the stars will come by themselves to me."

I enjoyed Alf Poier's disrespectful off-the-wall humour. A link to Alf's world is attached HERE.

The quirky exhibition at Vienna's Kunstforum is packed with fun and surprises and runs until mid-July. And admission is free.

I leave you with Alf's iconic Donald Dark and one of his fine paintings Blood Oranges:

In the post immediately above this one Alf Poier deals with a computer virus.

blackbird's evening song

with blackbird's evening song
the neighbourhood birds fall silent
- faraway some ornery crows

today no haiku

police  with  small  arms 
in  the  range  by  the  woods 
today  no  haiku

Crow's Sunny Day

a sunny day  
and crow spied 
the snake 

sunning itself
on a path 
in the woods 

crow swooped low
and attacked -
stabbing and stabbing 

the reptile's head 
working away without mercy 
until he'd stabbed

the squirming serpent 
to death
and carried it away

with a victory roll 
gliding low through the outstretched branches 
of the trees  

- all that remained 
on the path 
was the stench 

  and  it was 
                     vile

haiku

the drone of an insect, 

      the song of a bird,  

the postman with a parcel.

Cuckoo duet

Another spring
And an unseen bird

Are in the woods
Of Exelberg.

I can hear
The two-note tone.

Deep in
The woods

Of Schwarzenberg
The same

Two notes
For talk.

"Look who!"
The metronome.

"Look who!"
The tuning-fork.

The clocks of spring
Run on.

500 year oak fallen

Only 10 days and 7 hours to go! 

-  Eurovision Song Contest Official Website 

 Anno 1529 

 imagine
 that was the year when it sprouted
 an acorn in the woods
 in Vienna

 that was the year

 Kara Mustapha 
 ordered the men
 encamped in these hills
 to mount 
and lay siege to the town 
of the apple of gold
as Vienna was called

 May 2015

today
 the Turks drive the taxis 
 and trams
 cook the kebabs
 and clear the snow off the roads

 the ancient oak falls

 no snarl-ups and jams 
 for Eurovision songsters
 in decorated taxis 
and trams

 in the woods 
 the oak trees 
 link arms

On the Beethoven Way near Mödling

Walking in the woods one day
I met a man upon the path 
A stranger coming up the hill,
We paused to talk of this and that,
And then we went our separate ways.

One of the many side paths.

A neglected sign. I did my best to clean it with hanky and spit.

- under the green stain Beethoven's fading words:
"Holy! holy! . . . sweet stillness of the woods!"

Election Night TV

After seeing a cartoon at Rachel's blog, I couldn't help but contribute something of my own to the election fever gripping Britain: 

Will EU still love me tomorrow? Only two days left to go.

Japanese International Haiku Contest

The annual Mainichi Daily News International Haiku Contest is now open for entries. Contestants are allowed a maximum of two attempts using a form on the competition website. Entry is free. But the standard is high.

To access the haiku page scroll to the Mainichi Daily News link in the A-Z list near the foot of this Poet-in-Residence blog and click. Once you are taken there simply follow the highlighted link to the competition form (not to be confused with the daily submission link). And good luck!

Strict classical form is not required for the international haiku competition and your submission may be in English or French. You can view winners from earlier years online.

Here's one I created for my own amusement earlier: 

after breakfast
a snail in the rhubarb
leaves

Man Arrested in England for quoting Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill is my hero. I have admired him ever since as a child I first heard the recordings of his inspirational and resonant wartime speeches. He led the defence of Britain against the Nazi terror. He also won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here you see a man quoting from one of Churchill's books. The man is arrested and taken into custody for quoting Churchill. It happened a year ago. But at the time I didn't hear about it. I just came across it now by chance. I feel as if the carpet has been pulled from under me. The values I always held to be true and noble have been suddenly swept away. I am sad, not for myself, but for my country which is no longer the country my ancestors risked their lives to protect. 

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last"

"Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."

One thought revolve_d

Semaphore signals 
 From long silent men 

Windmills in motion
 Today not in motion

Tall sentinel silence
 Below V-shaped skeins  

In the tilted blue heights  
 One thought revolve_d

But then settled down 

Hubert von Goisern: Snowdown - Live 2014

Der Boxer - Theater in der Josefstadt

Brutal. Hard. Magnificent. That's the short definition of this production. A mistake to miss it. See it if you possibly can. (European Cultural News)

Playwright Felix Mitterer  presents a strong script. Stephanie Mohr's direction is sensitive and intelligent .  In the lead role Gregor Bloeb literally fights for his life.  An unforgettable play. (ORF)

I went to see it last night. What can I say? I can only say I was completely knocked out by all aspects of the performance.

The boxer is a man called Johann 'Rukeli' Trollmann. Never heard of him? I regret to say I hadn't either. But now I have. And I won't forget him in a hurry.