It took me a while this time around, but that is to be expected with a project such as this, and better late than never, really!
So here it is, part 8 of the 'Horace of the Horizon' series, which continues to be a story I like well enough to wish it had an author with bot more refined and more robust talents than myself.  As it is I am doing my best to channel '10 year old Dave' and hope for the best.
Also, I promised more darts and I plan to deliver tomorrow! (I have a match tonight!).
In the meantime here is ..  Horace of the Horizon-Part 8
Enjoy! Thanks a lot for reading! 

My Brilliant wife's brilliant brother (who's Poetix blog I featured here) has (as you might have guessed) a brilliant girlfriend who has a blog which is, well quite sharp!
Check it out, it's even quite beautiful to look at so I post with a twinge of jealousy!
Enjoy!

The Red Deeps 

I am going to be putting up more on darts soon, but before then I just wanted to post this video of Lou Reed performing 'Junior Dad' in Dresden.  The song is often cited as being the gem of his much maligned collaboration with Metallica, and this I think is a very lovely version indeed and well worth sharing.  Lou always has maybe been more than the some of his parts, so sometimes hard to explain 'good Lou' over bad 'Lou', but this I think is very much good Lou.  Makes me think of the live version of Coney Island Baby.. just lovely really.  
Here it is ... enjoy!!  

This Tuesday coming up the summer dart league will be back in action and it looks like our opponents have had a fair bit more success than we have of late.  All reasonable expectation is that we will be beat, and most likely soundly. 
That being said, darts is that sort of game where your better than normal game can meet their worse than normal game and everything gets to be a lot more of an even keel.
I am also trying to focus on the right things now. As I play as much as I can, and I practice (a lot) my very poor skills are edging ever so slightly upward.  Facts being facts though, I am not putting up big numbers, at least not with consistency (yet!) but I do have my moments of focus where I can hit a shot that I need when I need it.  Very few people in the league are shooting 180s, and I have yet to shoot one in my lifetime, so really the game is won and lost over how much fumbling and faffing about is done from 170 down.  
To practice up I have been trying to check out from 170 as well as trying to work on my doubles.  For the doubles I am mostly playing a game called 27 which I originally learned from a 'how to' video Bob Anderson made for Unicorn.  It's good practice but bloody tough work for someone at my level.  I've maybe called Bob a name or two as I regularly get sent back to the beginning.

Does the team have any chance on Tuesday?  Of course we do, although we have a very difficult challenge.  I just hope that I can step up and contribute when called on.

I'll post up how things go good or bad!  

Here is a link to the Bob Anderson Darts Practice Video 

Well a little while ago I promised a follow up on the darts and so as advertised here it is!
My first ever game of darts in a dart league has come and gone.  It's as I have said, only a 'C' team and in a summer league at that, but still pretty exciting stuff, no?
OK and so how did it go?  Well after all my hard work and sweat and strain practicing up for 501 I show up to find out I'm slotted in for doubles cricket!  EEEK!
Rest assured the dart Gods were with me as we took the best of three 2-0 !!  It was, I was told after the teams first doubles cricket win and also set us on track for our best night ever! (9-3 yay!)
Ironically, I actually did end up playing 501 doubles...and lost.  I don't like to shirk responsibility, but suspect that an abundance of very affordable beer may have blurred my focus (if not my vision) a little.
All in all though, a good fun night and I am excited for more!

Before I go I should comment on my plan to try to hit a steady 60 points. (Isnt that everyone's plan?) well needless to say I was nowhere near doing that.  In fact in practice I am at a 40 point three dart average.
Not, by any stretch of the imagination thrilling numbers, but as very much a novice and someone who tends to be "not very good at this sort of thing" I feel no shame and think that not only will those numbers nudge up with practice, as I get better at closing out those  doubles I will become increasingly competitive.
If not with other players, than with myself.

No game this week, so let's see what I can get out of a team practice night!