I am pretty sure many of you have read Umberto Eco's Il Nome della Rosa.

Recall the reliquary, with  fragments of the bones of St "Something"
at the age of 34 and, in another reliquary, the fragments of the same Saint
at the age of 57.
Both set of fragments found in the place of his martyrdom.

A digression:
Viewing  the relics of a Saint always induces me
in a trance-like state; I feel like being seized by an
overwhelming loss of will.
Once, after a very decent and interesting three-days International congress
on  the Literature of Voyage in Southern Italy,
we all went to visit the local Cathedral,  in Ravello, where the relics of a
Saint (Saint Bartholomew's , if I remember well)
were kept - (yes, now I recall...St Bartholomew's blood yellowish and
clotted platelets where immaculately kept in sealed container made of gold
and glass) . Under the effect of that spell, while standing in the darkened
chapel in front of the reliquary, among the crowding group of colleagues - I
grasped the hand of one of the French academic (who had had a paper on
Wagner's Parsiphal in Ravello) and held it tightly against my stomach for
the entire 3 minutes visit of the Holy site, out of which , the French
Professor's eyes out were of the orbits.....Later on, solicited by his
pressuring courtship,  I resorted  to the excuse of a post-hypnotic amnesia,
saying that I was completely forgetful of what had taken place in the trance
under the effect of St Bartholomew's relics.



Erminia





----- Original Message -----
From: Hugh Tolhurst <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 11:16 PM
Subject: Dark Horses die a rough death


> Dear JVK
>
> Elwood poet writing to Director, AFL
> Umpiring Association....
>
> Hawkers brave, valiant even, coming home
> like a train, we were held up by ten points.
> Some young guys played magnificent (Piccione,
> Johnson, Thompson). Dutchy Holland got
> crunched earlyish, The Big Fish (Paul Salmon)
> has played his last game of long career
> (100 with Hawkers).
>
> Melissa Ryan's Age Piece continues below:-
>
> "the Hawks, having started its charge in the third term,
> exploded with six goals in the last term to resurrect its
> own fight time and again. And always when it seemed
> the Roos had safely tucked them away.
>
>
> But in the end, the final siren blew goodbye to a valiant
> Hawthorn, the Roos triumphing by 10 points.
>
>
> It was an intense close to what was a particularly
> demanding second half, Hawk defender Jade Rawlings
> snapping Hawthorn's sixth goal of the last term in the goal
> square to bring the Hawks within nine points, the smallest
> it had ground the margin down to, with less than three
> minutes remaining.
>
> And it seemed as if Hawthorn could have conjured something
> miraculous, as Joel Smith charged down the outer wing. But he
> was crunchingly halted by a desperate tackle from Corey McKernan,
> the Roos able to bottle up play.
>
>
> It was taken forward by Martin Pike, where Brent Harvey
> missed for a point, but used up another precious commodity, time.
>
> It was a dramatic term of run-ons, as aerialist Nick Holland
> reduced the last-change deficit from 22points to only 16 with
> the opening goal, signalling the fight was on. But when the Kangaroos
> piled on the next three goals - McKernan from a John Barker turnover,
> Shannon Grant for his fourth of the night, and Wayne Carey - the buffer
> was once again 35points, the match seemingly sewn up.
>
>
> Hawthorn, which had found it difficult to string successive goals
> in reply to the Roos, suddenly found the formula. Trent Croad
> had shifted forward for two quick goals, while captain Shane Crawford,
> waiting in the goal square added his second for the match.
>
> When Winston Abraham supplied the steadier, Daniel Chick
> attempted to win it off his own boot, first with a goal, then another
> devastatingly brushed aside by Jason McCartney for a rushed behind.
>
>
> The renewed vigor of the Hawks burst through in the third quarter,
> as the attempt to reel in the Roos' lead moved beyond blundering attacks
> to transform into real threat.
>
> While Holland continued his marking for his second goal to open the term,
> and Barker and Daniel Harford combined, the Roos had answered through
> Stuart Cochrane - from a Barry Young turnover - and Carey.
>
>
> The pounding run of Chick, who had used his body all night to win
> his possessions, along with Harford and Tony Woods, had kept the
> supply flowing, while Glen Bowyer continued with some sharp offerings.
>
>
> By half-time, the Kangaroos had rolled to an ominous 34-point lead,
> ending the first half with momentum, skill and luck clearly on their side,
> as the Hawks floundered haplessly.
>
> The Roos' intentions to overshadow the 125-point annihilation from
Essendon
> crystallised into action from the first bounce, as the pattern for the
night
> was
> quickly set when Peter Bell kicked the first goal, ultimately able to do
so
> from
> a shaky Croad handpass resulting in a turnover.
>
>
> Although the Hawks seemed to have the immediate reply when Harford
launched
> a booming kick, the body slam of Pike to touch the ball and render only a
> point.
>
>
> Luck simply was not on Hawthorn's side at the goalmouth as the Roo
defenders
> guarded it with a focus worthy of any soccer goalkeeper in the first
term -
> Chick's
> bomb bounced straight up instead of through the goals, while Ben Dixon's
> rakish snap
> was disallowed when a free was awarded to an opponent.
>
>
> Meanwhile, with Matthew Burton galloping about and turning an
> injury-hampered
> Paul Salmon inside out, Byron Pickett dancing out of defence with John
> Blakey
> ever reliable, and the opportunistic Shannon Grant capitalising in space
> left to him,
> the Roos had kicked the first five goals before Hawthorn could reply
through
> Salmon."
>
>
> LOOK OUT IN 2001,
> HAWKERS BACK IN TOWN!
>
>
> Hugh Tolhurst
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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