Mystery in Sochi

They are about two inches wide,
squarish, and five inches tall.
They hail from the Toggenburg
Valley of northeast Switzerland,
and they are held in the highest
regard by experts around the world.
They are glass bottles used to hold
athletes’ urine samples.



From Mystery in Sochi Doping Case Lies With Tamper-Proof Bottle,Rebecca R. Ruiz, New York Times, 13 May 2016. Submitted by Evie Groch.

FIRE!

Look over there!...An antelope…

BANG…

Monkey!!

BANG…

Snakes!

BANG!

…stupid crocodiles?

BANG!

…a lion??

BANG!

…why not rabbits?

BANG!

…an elephant

BANG!

Come on if you dare, mighty buffalo!

BANG! BANG!

Grrr! That’s us. Bold as brass. Keen as mustard.



Lines from Tintin in the Congo, Hergé (1930). Submitted by Cathy Barber.

The Beautiful Game

Looking for a cross
But found
A corner

Clive Tyldesley, commentating on the England vs Uruguay World Cup match, 19th June 2014. Submitted by Ross McCleary.

News of the day

Shutdown ends
default dodged

Dodgers refuse
to go quietly



The front page and sports page headlines from the Times Herald-Record, 17th October 2013. Submitted by J R Solonche.

Watched the Tour de France then went for a walk on Cotswold Edge

Cinnabar Moths as
exuberantly coloured
as cycling jerseys.



From a Tweet by @DomForestry, 21 July 2013. Submitted by Ailsa Holland.

Advice from Metta World Peace to Jeremy Lin

Yeah, we talk
about him. We think
he needs a better
haircut. I don’t
like that style.
You’re in New
York, the fashion
capital. Change
your haircut, OK?
You’re a star now.
Wear some
shades. Shades,
OK? Put down
the nerdy Harvard
book glasses. Put on
some black shades,
OK? With some leather
pants. Change
your style.
Fashion.
You’re Jeremy Lin,
for godsakes…
You’re in New
York City. Put
your hat on
backwards. Come
to practice with
your pants sagging
and just tell
them, I don’t feel
like practicing. Practice?
You know? Practice?
And wear
an Iverson jersey.
Come to practice
with a cigar. Lit.
I’m Jeremy Lin.



From Metta to Lin: Get some swag, CBS Sports, 10 February 2012. Submitted by Brett Foster.

Hanging Lie

Looks at the ground
So little light left
No wind at all
It has to happen now

Avenue of humanity
Red, clamouring together

What have I done?




All words taken from commentary of the final day of the US Augusta Masters golf tournament. BBC Radio 5, 10.30–11.00pm BST, 14 April 2013. Submitted by Winston Plowes.

La vie aux bouts des doigts

Solo and ropeless
Edlinger climbs out
underneath an overhang,

hangs effortlessly off one arm
several hundred feet
off the ground while

dipping the other
into a bag of chalk,
utterly indifferent

to the danger,
before swinging his foot
into a crack above his head

and pulling himself up.



From the obituary of Patrick Edlinger, 15 June 1960 – 16 November 2012, in the Daily Telegraph. Submitted by Angi Holden.