MOST RECENT
1,000 Followers Later
Imagine if that 1,000 followers referred to this lonely website! Well it doesn't. It actually refers to my Instagram art ...
Gamers, Vampires, Volcanoes, Demons and A Superhero Kid
My reading for July 2024 was eclectic as always but with the usual break from reality and accompanied by a ...
Kamala Harris & The Democratic Convention
Apologies to Stephen King but as I read the title for this post I couldn't help thinking about his short ...
Memories….An Urban Myth
The prompt was - what was your earliest memory of being in danger? Well I can't tell you that but ...
The Artful Dodger
ENCOURAGEMENT Following a conversation late last year with Granddaughter #2 about her love of art and plans for the future, ...
The Great Blogger Abduction
To criminally paraphrase the Bonnie Tyler song: where have all the bloggers gone and where are all the blogs? A ...
But Is It Art?
When I added an 'Art' category to this website I was being hugely optimistic and fully intended getting deeper into ...
The God of Small Things
All my life I’ve had a problem finding value in the day-to-day actions of everyday life. It’s not that I ...
SOAPBOX
I'VE NEVER BEEN KNOWN NOT TO FORM AN OPINION AND WHAT'S THE POINT IN HAVING ONE IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO SHARE IT?
Kamala Harris & The Democratic Convention
Apologies to Stephen King but as I read the title for this post I couldn't help thinking about his short story - Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption - not ...
The God of Small Things
All my life I’ve had a problem finding value in the day-to-day actions of everyday life. It’s not that I craved constant drama or anything of that sort, in fact ...
Toxic Masculinity & The Emerging World Order
I have to admit I've always had a fear of the pendulum effect when it comes to societal developments. Like every other person who welcomes improvement in equality and the ...
Regrets & How To Fix Them
Lucky old Edith Piaf had none but, like Sinatra, I reckon when we reach our sixties we all have at least a few, regrets that is. Relax, my Irishness won’t ...
WHAT HAVE WE BECOME?
I heard two terrifying statistics today and they both incensed and saddened me at the same time. The first was the fact that in Ireland a family becomes homeless ...
THE FAILED GENERATION
PHOTO: Franklin / AP "I was a child in the sixties Dreams could be held through TV With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther Oh, I believed, I believed, I ...
6 THINGS I’D LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR MR.TRUMP
www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/11360949604 I was always told in polite company to steer clear of discussions about sex, religion and politics. Of all of these I can't seem to steer completely clear of ...
IT’S ALL PORK PIES…
You know the old joke: "How can you tell if a politician is lying? His lips are moving!". We're about to embark on three weeks of a general election campaign ...
MORE SOAP
BOOK REVIEWS
BOOK REVIEWS ARE BASED ON PERSONAL CHOICE WHETHER YOU WORK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES OR A BLOG THAT PRACTICALLY NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT. IT'S GOOD TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE OTHER OPINION, EVEN IF IT'S JUST SO WE CAN DISAGREE.
Gamers, Vampires, Volcanoes, Demons and A Superhero Kid
My reading for July 2024 was eclectic as always but with the usual break from reality and accompanied by a cast of memorable characters. These are just post-it notes style ...
Review: The HalfHero series by Ian W. Sainsbury
What if a super human turned out not to be so super...or even human? Britain's superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979, and disappeared two years later ...
Review: Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta
Kara Davis is a girl caught in the middle — of her Canadian nationality and her desire to be a “true” Jamaican, of her mother and grandmother’s rages and life ...
Armchair Traveler
"You can lead me all over Attica or anywhere else you like, simply waving in front of me the leaves of a book." ~ Socrates When the Covid lockdowns had ...
DRIVING OVER LEMONS
DRIVING OVER LEMONS by Chris Stewart No sooner had Chris Stewart set eyes on El Valero than he handed over a check. Now all he had to do was explain ...
NECROPOLIS
Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz Evil has been unleashed on the world and only five children – with special powers – can save it. Matt and the other three desperately need ...
MORE BOOK REVIEWS
MOVIE REVIEWS
IF YOU CAN FIND A PATTERN HERE YOU'RE A BETTER MAN OR WOMAN THAN ME HORATIO!
XMEN – APOCALYPSE
DIRECTOR: BRYAN SINGER MAIN CAST: MICHAEL FASSBENDER, JAMES McAVOY AND JENNIFER LAWRENCE IN A SENTENCE: The re-emerging Xmen must do battle with an all-powerful mutant to save the world and themselves (and ...
PAY THE GHOST
TITLE: Pay the Ghost DIRECTOR: Uli Edel STARRING: Nicholas Cage BLURB: A professor frantically searches for his son who was abducted during a Halloween parade. IMDB There's nothing new here - a couple, ...
THE BLING RING
TITLE: The Bling Ring DIRECTOR: Sofia Coppola STARRING: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson BLURB: Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts ...
MOVIE SEASON
I'm of a vintage that makes me old enough to remember a time when one of the most exciting things about Christmas was the fact that almost every channel (there ...
MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOST
DIRECTOR: Andrew Niccol STARRING: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel BLURB: When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie will risk everything ...
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
TV REVIEWS
OF COURSE I'M AS ADDICTED AS THE NEXT GUY BUT LIVING VICARIOUSLY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE ACTIVITIES AND TV IS THE BEST WAY TO DO IT.
Review: Joe Pickett
The series follows the life of Joe Pickett, a Wyoming-based game warden, and his family in the small town of Saddlestring and the surrounding wilderness of Yellowstone National Park. What did you like ...
BLACK SPOT
A police chief and an eccentric new prosecutor investigate a string of grisly crimes and eerie phenomena in an isolated town at the edge of a forest I don't know ...
THE SOCIETY
A group of teenagers struggles to survive after they're mysteriously transported to a replica of their wealthy town with no trace of their parents. The new Netflix YA drama puts ...
ONE MILLION DUBLINERS
I had the occasion to visit Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin the other day and took my camera along with me. Strolling around I watched people visit the museum, take part in ...
TV OR NOT TV? THAT’S THE QUESTION…
I'm not going to lie to you I watch way too much TV and none, or at least very little of it would be seen as genuinely intellectually stimulating. After ...
OLD DOG:NEW TRICKS
Having been abandoned by the Ban Chéile while she took on a week long tour of conference engagements (or gigs as I like to call them) in Poland, I sat last ...
MORE TV REVIEWS
THE REST
A ROUND UP OF ALL THE OTHER CATEGORIES - IN OTHER WORDS "MISCELLANEOUS"
1,000 Followers Later
Imagine if that 1,000 followers referred to this lonely website! Well it doesn't. It actually refers to my Instagram art account (link is in the right hand side panel). I ...
Memories….An Urban Myth
The prompt was - what was your earliest memory of being in danger? Well I can't tell you that but I will tell you about the time I was nearly ...
The Artful Dodger
ENCOURAGEMENT Following a conversation late last year with Granddaughter #2 about her love of art and plans for the future, I was a little surprised at her reticence to show ...
But Is It Art?
When I added an 'Art' category to this website I was being hugely optimistic and fully intended getting deeper into art. I've been making 'art' ever since I could hold ...
The God of Small Things
All my life I’ve had a problem finding value in the day-to-day actions of everyday life. It’s not that I craved constant drama or anything of that sort, in fact ...
MEANWHILE…#5
This is what I'm getting up to lately... Reading: Just finished "The Half Heroes" series by Ian W. Sainsbury. Loved it but couldn't help feeling the third book was a ...
My Signature: A Moviestar Moment
When I was promoted to what was to become my final role before retirement I had a momentary realisation that would make a small, but legally important, change in my ...
MY REDBUBBLE REVOLUTION
Okay I realise everybody at some stage looks at other peoples art and says to themselves "I could do that". Sometimes we're so off track that as soon as we ...
THE KILLUMNEY INN
A quick call to the Killumney Inn on a Saturday evening in July to make sure there would be a table available and we were off and seated by 8pm ...
MEANWHILE…#4
This is what I'm getting up to lately... Reading: Not reading anything like the volume of books I should be reading since I'm in holiday mode for the past couple ...
100 DAYS: DAY 1 to 10
I knew it would be a challenge more than a project doing the #100DayProject but I didn't realise how much I would get caught up in the "must do" rather ...
MEANWHILE…#3
This is what I'm getting up to lately... Reading: I'm reading two books at the moment. The first is the latest from John Connolly Game of Ghosts and the other is for ...