Summit

There seem to a lot of anniversaries going around at the moment. I'm sure it's not usually like this. I know Google manage to find something to commemorate with a doodle every other day, but then they do plump for somewhat obscure things like the 173rd anniversary of the invention of the potato peeler. But in the last day or two there have been some interesting ones, such as the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Everest, and the centenary of the first performance of The Rite of Spring.

I'm not sure these events are necessarily related. Presumably not, as it's unlikely that Edmund Hillary or even Tenzing Norgay were so inspired by Stravinsky's iconoclastic ballet score that they timed the final stage of their ascent to coincide. You would have thought the prevailing weather conditions would have been more relevant. But who knows. There may be exciting new opportunities to be developed here: a novel art form, a fusion of classical ballet and extreme mountaineering. Let me work on it.

Duck. Pond. Could have been made for each other.