Pilot's Log

A journalist dared composer John Cage to "summarize himself in a nutshell." Cage said, "Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in." He might have added, "Avoid the nutshells that anyone tries to put you in." This is always fun work to attend to, of course, but I especially recommend it to you Sagittarians right now. You're in the time of year that's close to the moment when you first barged out of your mom's womb, where you had been housed for months. The coming weeks will be an excellent phase to attempt a similar if somewhat less extravagant trick.

The problem is I want to go but can't.  At least, not to any place I feel the need that is beyond my usual circles.

With the climax of the World Cup behind us, and the new Sevens season about a month and a half away, I crunched some useless ranking numbers and came up with this.  It is completely unscientific and should not be used as a basis for any kind of wagering.  This is based on the outcomes of the World Cup and the Sevens season.

1) New Zealand
2) South Africa
3) Australia
4 [tie]) Argentina and Scotland
6) England
7) Fiji
8) Wales
9 [tie]) France and Samoa
11 [tie]) Ireland, Japan and the U.S.A.
14) Canada
15) Italy
16) Georgian Republic
17) Tonga
18 [tie]) Kenya and Romania
20) Portugal
21) Namibia
22 [tie]) Brazil and Uruguay
24 [tie]) American Samoa, Belgium, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Russia and Zimbabwe