A small reminder to anyone who’s been living in a hole with the lid sealed: I’m running in the Waterside Half-Marathon in Derry to raise funds for Trocaire . Yes, Virginia, that’s exactly one week from now. And yes, Virginia, I will be running in the um, senior male category. My fund target is £1,000 and […]
September, 2014
It’s only a poll but why do I feel this cold sweat?
After one look at this morning’s poll headlines, the Scottish No-camp are in a red-alert panic. Emitting high-pitched noises, they’re galloping madly in six directions at once to tell the Scottish people that honest, hand on heart, we’ll give you everything you need AND the cover union with Britain offers if you’ll only say No on 18 […]
THE BREAD SONG by Randall Stephen Hall
THE BREAD SONG. (Materialism Blues). I wrote this song when I played in a group called “MUDSI MUNTU”. (MOODZI MOON TWO). These African words mean “Men of the Village”. You couldn’t call it work, really. We didn’t play anywhere. We just wrote and recorded songs (three albums worth), using very simple equipment and multi-tracking to […]
Thinking about Theresa
Sometimes what’s been staring you in the face for ages steps forward just that little bit and comes into sharp, silly focus. I’m thinking about this in relation to the British Secretary of State. Admittedly I’ve known about the position for longer than I care to remember. From Peter Brooke and his Darling Clementine to […]
WILDLIFE AND THE DEATH OF THE COUNTRYSIDE by Harry McAvinchey
Take a really good look around you the next time you go for a walk. How many flowers do you see blooming? When you walk through an estate of houses, how many of your neighbours grow a few flowers? How many wildflowers do you see at the side of the road?There’s a piece of common […]
Getting naked and getting justice
OK – I was all set to do a blog on the hardships faced by enormously-wealthy stars who like to take their clothes off and video themselves (and others, probably) and then get upset when someone hacks them. These stars do have a serious injustice to grapple with. But I think I’ll blog on something […]
Apologies
Sorry, people, if you’ve put up comments and they ain’t appeared. They should now be visible. If they’re not, let me know. I could blame the system but it’s probably some blooper on my part. Tábron orm – I’m sorry.
Dissolving Boundaries? Forget it
Name three good things the cross-border bodies which were set up through the Good Friday Agreement have done…No? Nothing springs to mind? Well, humble though it is, or was, I know of one you may not have heard of. It’s called Dissolving Boundaries. This was a project co-funded by the north and south of Ireland. […]
Child abuse? Try being old.
Some shocking facts coming out about child abuse. Rotherham, Nazareth Lodge, Saville, Rolf Harris, claims about Dave Lee Travis, Cliff Richard – on and on it goes, a grotesque parade. it seems that, after all, the word coming after ‘paedophile’ doesn’t have to be ‘priest’. But what about at the other end – what about […]
Cheering on Ireland
Internationals tomorrow. Even though Son No 2 tells me it’s partitionist of me, I’ll be cheering on the Republic of Ireland. God knows they need all the support they can get. That Martin O’Neill-Roy Keane management duo looks great on paper. Unfortunately, O’Neill shows every sign of a man being past his managerial peak and […]