The usual irony deficit has been exposed once again in Norneverland . Of course the media should know better how to take a joke but then again I’ve come across the same problem while writing , myself .Sometimes a wee chuckle and a twinkle in the eye doesn’t translate down onto the written words on the page.Well..it does in my mind , but sometimes not in the reader’s. Take the “Game of Thrones” actor who has dissed and put-down Belfast live on American television . Actor Mr Kit Harington ,with a glint in his eye and a curl to his lip, implied that Belfast was a great place for say, three days …..but he’d been working here for five years! Well , you can see his point .It’s like going on holiday for a fortnight in some one-horse town somewhere in the back of beyond with just a sunny beach.Five days in, after doing the rounds and eating the same food, in the same restaurants …you might be ready to eat your own young or at least your own hand.
After spending some five years filming in the delightful , wondrous and magical place,that Belfast undoubtedly is, he upped and said that what the Norneverlanders obsess about and cast into boast , are three main things that delight them . They’ve obviously told him of these things with considerable pride on a variety of occasions over those five years.
They have, with the Europa Hotel ,possibly the most bombed hotel in Europe , if not the entire Planet Earth .You might think that this fact is a great selling -point but he doesn’t..He said that he has stayed there many times . It may have been bombed to near oblivion at one time , but when you get down to it …so what ? It’s only a bloody hotel ,folks. He has stayed in it many times ..and guess what …it’s still only a hotel! I suppose, being bombed, and that, doesn’t really improve the beds or the breakfast in any measurable way.
The second claim to fame that the native Norneverlanders peg their glory on and doff that metaphorical cap to, is “the Titanic”. Again , we’ve managed to build a cult on the back of a big boat that sank about a hundred years ago.We are seemingly very proud of the fact that we built this very nice boat only for it to hit an iceberg and sink beneath the waves. Indeed we are such an enterprising lot that we’re already building a tourist industry on the back of it too. Well , we’re nothing if not imaginative , right? The Irish are known for their great imaginations and storytelling .We could talk ourselves in and out of hell …and frequently do .
The third thing we are very proud of is that we are the setting for the very good, but possibly the most sexual, convoluted and blood-thirsty HBO television series ever conceived by the human mind. He , having a stake in the “Game of Thrones ” series himself, is probably equally proud, but he seems to have raised the ire and the eyebrows of some by pointing out this very salient point.We are so proud of a good old slaughterfest…..who knew? !! It’s a wonder our crazier denizens aren’t up at arms about all that naked, heathen ungodliness on show, of course . …. but the more publicity , the better ,I say.
I can’t wait for the new season.
If truth be told we are also very proud of our past ongoing conflict in Norneverland and of the fact that we can all argue and fight about just about anything . We’re never done talking , blowing and boasting about our crazy past. We’re very proud of what a twisty , conflicted lot we actually are. Without the ongoing madness of the thirty -odd years of conflict and daily televisual wrangling we’ve little left to talk about. , Indeed ,we almost missed it all when the troops went back home and the choppers stopped flying .It has to be said , there was an excitement in the daily air then ….that is missing now. In fact , I almost stopped watching the news at first, such was the shock,
Maybe we need another war to pep things up and elevate the excitement quota …bring in the tourists.
Anyway , apparently Mr Harington has offended some of the citizenry of Norneverland , so it’s possible that he might be next for the chop in “Game of Thrones”..no one knows the time nor the place in this series ..and the body count is extremely high….”…riding high in April….shot down in May….” as Frank sang.
…and there is apparently already a price on his head …..
Unfortunately it is the Bible Belt fraternity, Harry who keep this place lost in space. That’s what they want. The OO for instance fear tourism as they fear immigration. Outsiders getting to see what goes on here. Impartial people who might question how marching is still allowed through certain areas and tyre burning is not outlawed. The god fearing unionists are generally speaking xenophobic and unenlightened. Over zealous licensing coupled with their flat earth , anti gay, anti European outlook. What hope is there for a 21st century NI.
It is embarrassing the way the Titanic, built in a bigoted workplace by a bigoted workforce, driven into a huge iceberg by an incompetent captain is held up as some sort of icon. Actually, it is the perfect representation of the six county statelet, built by one part of the community at the expense of the other. The sooner the northern entity sinks into oblivion the better. As for the actor who dissed Belfast, do people think the Game Of Thrones people decided to make their nonsense here because they just love the place? Of course not, like De Lorean and all the other shysters they did it for purely fiscal reasons.
Spot on comments by Freddy & ANOTHER JUDE – and a most pertinent column by yourself there Harry (always Paddy, or ‘PK’ in my mind by now – hope you don’t mind when i reply to you as such, during correspondence!)
Hi John …no I’ll take a pat or a brickbat on either back!! Good to hear from you John .Hope you are well.