February 2012
4 posts
Caprese →
Well there is very little simple about today’s Capri which has a well deserved reputation as a pit stop for the jet set trying to recapture the Dolce Vita. Not the one from Rome in the early 60’s but the one from the Emperor Tiberius 2000 years earlier. Here are some simple recipes which are typical of Capri.
Ringo →
Ringo is just the loveliest, lively, affectionate, very trusting, well mannered and house trained cat. I just can’t believe we picked up such a nice cat in a rescue centre. He still scampers a bit and is not comfortable being picked up but he is settling in great and has given himself the run of the house.
Fred the Shredded →
Personally, I don’t give an aerodynamic fornication whether Fred is Sir Fred or No Fred. It is totally irrelevant and a distraction from reality deliberately engineered by PR Dave and the ConDems. What is relevant is the disabled, the poor and marginalised are having the costs of the Casino Banking Crisis imposed on them, UK Banks and Credit Card providers are margin widening to rip-off customers...
Gerard Cowan →
Gerard Cowan or “Bouncer” as he was nicknamed due to his exuberant character and physique was well liked amongst his friends in Dublin, in Scouting and in Traditional Music circles.
January 2012
11 posts
Bloody Sunday 40 years on →
History will record how the dual moral travesties of Bloody Sunday and Internment without Trial (and without intelligent intelligence) of 1,200 people created and empowered the Provisional IRA. The abandonment of moral authority by the British State to support the failed political entity of Northern Ireland created a poisonous moral equivalence to allow the IRA to justify its hijacking of the...
Barcelona →
My neighbourhood in Dublin was taken over every summer by Spanish language students who stayed in Irish homes and no doubt went back home speaking a strange form of English. My amigo was Ignacio Preciado whose parents ran a pharmacy on the Ramblas and as I learnt about Barcelona’s role in the Civil War and the suppression of Catalan culture under Franco I developed a fascination with the city...
Iran Amok? →
Leave the Iranian people to sort out the regime which is oppressing and failing to deliver for its people as they sorted out the American installed Shah who took power from Mohammed Mosaddeq who was removed in a coup on 19 August 1953, organised and carried out by the United States CIA at the request of the British MI6.
Liverpool, Paddy Hitler and Paddy Murphy →
But of all the stories of Liverpool immigrants the two strangest are probably those of Paddy Hitler and Paddy Murphy for interestingly Liverpool had a strange Axis link with both Adolph Hitler’s nephew and a relation of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito living in the city.
Knickers from New York →
However when it comes to the story of knickers not everything goes down well. For in the US of A they are called panties, not knickers. There you have it, Diedrich Knickerbocker, a fictional prophet not without honour, save in his own country.
Freedom loving democracies update →
Is this the same European Court of Justice they are talking about, set up by the victors (including Britain) in WW11 to stop the creation of Police States as happened under the fascists (low point Reinhard Heydrich, the NAZI’s poster boy and chair of the Wanesee Conference was the pre-war head of Interpol) and of kangaroo courts which sentenced resisters to death. You remember them,...
sopastrike.com →
No INTERNET Censorship by vested media interests!
The Great Conspiracy →
This Blog posting has been covertly sponsored by the Illuminati, that mysterious elite which set up and controls the United States, controls our minds through video games and caused the World Banking Crisis to allow them to control the world through the IMF / Kim Il Jung / Rothschild’s / Israel / Obama who isn’t even American / Wal Mart etc; If you have any mad theories of your own please throw...
Kos Yacht spotting →
Nowadays, with its harbour and modern marina it is a good a place to go yacht spotting as these beautiful Mediterranean waters attract ships to tour the Greek Islands and the historic Turkish coastline. Just as most editions of “Country Life” are bought by Londoner’s then most of the glossy yacht mags which proliferate in newsagents are bought by people who will never own a yacht. Is this “yacht...
Ruppie’s World →
Come’on Ruppie spice it up and get the cheap tabloid thrills going – nobody expects you as an Oxford Graduate to do it – ring your low life newshounds Rebecca and Andy for advice. No point in barking yourself when you keep several dogs?
A Muslim at Yad Vashem - Selahattin Ülkümen →
Ülkümen’s bold personal action is credited with saving 42 families. But his bluff didn’t go unanswered. In September 1943, the German army occupied the island of Rhodes and moved to close the Turkish consulate, the last remaining Turkish consulate in Axis-controlled territory. When Turkey protested, German planes bombed the building, seriously injuring Ülkümen’s wife, Mihrinisa, who later...
December 2011
24 posts
The Gaza Massacre →
The Gaza Massacre →
The Gaza Massacre →
A coward’s war if ever there was one. Free Gaza, Free Palestine, Free the Palestinians.
My favourite Christmas Carols →
My favourite Christmas Carols →
One of my favourite carols in the plainsong tradition is Gaudete (“rejoice” in Latin), a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.
Xmas is Coming to Oxford →
These shots of Xmas characters were taken in Cornmarket which is the hub of Oxford. Cornmarket was originally the Oxford street where corn was bought and sold, but increasing traffic caused this trade moved to the covered market in the eighteenth century.
A White Xmas in the Chilterns →
The village of Stoke Mandeville today is largely a commuter town with a railway station for London, three pubs and numerous thatched cottages. Like all the fertile Vale of Aylesbury it is overlooked by the Chiltern Hills and was formerly an important market gardening centre. Indeed the Sage’s Castle is built on old plum and greengage orchards. The first part of the name Stoke Mandeville derives...
Boris’s Flying Circus →
Boris’s Flying Circus →
The question that probably everyone asked was how did an estimate of £25 million end up at a final project cost of £65 million. That’s quite an overspend! When finally completed, the most striking aspect of Boris’s latest folly/innovative public transport service (delete depending on political preference) will be the three tall pylons that carry the cables over the Thames.
The Euro - OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT FOR BRITAIN ? →
A single currency for the European Community was at the heart of the Maastricht Treaty for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) signed in 1991. The then twelve EC members set a 1999 deadline for introducing the currency but only in those countries meeting economic criteria laid down in the Treaty. However, it is clear now that most EC economies are unlikely to pass the Maastricht tests, threatening...
Nobel Peace Prize 2011 →
Nobel Peace Prize 2011 →
Congratulations and respect to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman. Congratulations and respect to Liu Xiaobo still fighting against the “Great Dictatorship” which continues to imprison him for peacefully expressing an opinion. What is right will win out.
Bozza’s Bus for London →
However for all Bozza the Buses excitement at his new Boy Toy there are some significant drawbacks. First there is the small matter of costs and revenue. Five buses are being built by Wrightbus at £7.8 million or £1.56 M a copy.
Symi, Greece →
Symi, Greece →
Before leaving go onto the terrace for the classic view of the harbour of Symi down below. Going back down to get the mobile pig sty bus back to Gialos you’ll find a couple of cafes aimed firmly at the locals and patronised by economically under utilised young men of the island who firmly laugh in the face of the alleged smoking ban. As with using seat belts and crash helmets this is seemingly a...
KOF is a contender! →
Apart from, of course, Adele, there are not enough musicians out there who can really touch your inner self like the greats, such as Aretha Franklin, could many years ago. Obviously, these artists are plying their trade in the UK, but KOF, however, is getting the recognition he deserves quicker than most.
Xmas is Coming to Dublin →
Probably the most famous Irish Xmas Carol is The Wexford Carol (Irish: Carúl Loch Garman). This is a traditional religious Irish Christmas carol originating from County Wexford, and specifically, Enniscorthy (whence its name), and dating to the 12th century. The subject of the song is that of the nativity of Jesus Christ.
The Great New Year Transport Robbery →
Please click on the link above and fill in the box that appears to let the government know that you object to any change to Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement because stakeholder (public) consultation must be kept. It is a form of democracy that the government wants to remove but why should they?
The Nations National Health Service →
David Cameron promised to ‘protect the NHS’, to ‘give the NHS a real rise in funding’ and to ‘stop top-down NHS reorganisations’. He is breaking every one of those promises – you just can’t trust the Tories with the NHS. Join thousands of other people in sending ‘Health-Scrooge’ Cameron a Christmas message - all we want for Christmas is our NHS. Sign the card today:
Wenlock and Mandeville →
Wenlock and Mandeville →
The idealistic founder of the Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertain, spoke against ‘athletics as a show’, implying that commercially-based large-scale events would corrupt the amateur spirit: drawing upon promotional budgets and generating large crowds to justify the investment in the event, ‘these oversized showcases are the source of the corruption at the root of the evil’
An Effin Cheek →
“It will recognise Limerick but I’m not from Limerick city, I’m from Effin. I’m a proud Effin woman. And I always will be an Effin woman. It’s just a pet peeve,” Ms Kennedy - who lives in Banogue but hopes to return to Effin - said of her Facebook battle. “It’s not fair really. It will let you put it in but when you go to save it - nothing....
Crap Town UK →
Crap Town UK →
Objective evidence of Wolvies crap credentials and the vicious circle of crappiness its inhabitants cannot escape has been piling up for nigh on 37 years. In 2009 Wolverhampton was listed as one of the worst cities in the world on a travellers’ website. The West Midlands city was number five on a list compiled by Lonely Planet, based on feedback from its website users.
Inns of Court, London →
One of the hidden treasures of London which are largely unknown to visitors are the urban villages in the midst the bustling city known as the Inns of Court. Based, like the old universities on monastic foundations the have rooms, colleges, beautiful gardens, Halls, Chapels and Commons for Students, members and Benchers. Originally the law civil and cannon was the province of clergy and conducted...
November 2011
31 posts
George Harrison; Musician and Humanitarian →
10 years ago today the world lost a great musician, songwriter, film maker but above all a great humanitarian who’s Concert for Bangladesh started it all. Harrison’s songs, which included “Within You, Without You,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something,” were among the gentlest and most meditative of the Beatles’ output.
The Fall of Byzantium. →
And in 1678 Ferdinando Paleologus, a descendant of the Last Emperor of Byzantium, who perished at the Lion Gate in 1453, was buried in a Caribbean churchyard with his mortal remains pointed towards Constantinople and the greatness that once was Byzantium.
Xmas in London →
Christmas in London is a magical time and made more so by some of the best Christmas lights in the world. Most of them switch on in the middle of November and I recommend checking out Bond Street, Marylebone High Street, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and Covent Garden - and at the same time of course you can do your London Christmas shopping.
10th Longford Lecture on "Crime, Punishment and... →
Rihanna and O’Donoghue’s new opera →
While I say O’Donoghue’s is one of my fav. Dublin Pubs the last time I arranged to meet friends there it was full to the door and we had to decamp to Foleys across the road where we enjoyed some very happy hours. I don’t know what that other great O’Donoghue’s institution Con the Barman thought of RiRi and her entourage but as Con is very trend aware I’d imagine it would be ”Yo man! That girl iz...
10th Longford Lecture on "Crime, Punishment and... →
“The benefit of such a dual approach (punishment and rehabilitation) is that it delivers what society really wants – released in-mates who do not offend against the rest of us again. Instead what the present overcrowded, punishment-obsessed prison system turns out is 80 per cent of under-21 years who reoffend within two years of release and nigh on 70 per cent of over 21s. It is a pitiful result...
Great Train Fare Robbery →
Great Train Fare Robbery →
At a time when economic activity has slumped and the economy is flat lining these inflation busting increases on public transport are a tax on jobs and education. Many people are being forced to change jobs because they can’t afford the train fares. At a time of economic hardship public transport should be part of the plan to help people find work not a stealth tax hitting people already hurting....
Cliffs of Moher →
The Cliffs of Moher are dramatic and evocative but also speak to Irish people of the pain of emigration and the history of Ireland over the years as Clare is a county which experienced the extreme effects of the potato famine and depopulation and decline. Indeed the remains of whole “famine villages” which were depopulated en masse can still be seen. A part of the ashes of British pop singer Dusty...
Planxty - Cliffs of Dooneen (2004) →
The incomparable Christy Moore proving that there are people who sing folk songs and there are Folk Singers. Respect to a Folk Singer.