Disjecta

Red Hand is the only shared symbol we have. And the roundabout would be great for handbrake turns One of my abiding memories from childhood is sitting in the back of my parents' Renault 5 in the 1970s, in the height of the Troubles, while my Nationalist Mum and Dad had a long and sincereContinue reading "Venn Land"

16 Oct 2021 update: Good BBC programme on The Northern Fiddler (also being shown on TG4 Sunday 17 Oct 2021) - check it out by clicking on the image below and hitting play on the BBC page when it opens up (photo below is of the late John Loughran from Pomeroy; I remember him playingContinue reading "Donegal"

Often, for the crack, I like to ask the “privatise everything” brigade why don’t countries privatise their publicly-funded armies, navies and air forces?  Wouldn’t privatisation make them even better?  See how that worked out. Of the 3 broad ways to structure an economy (and the services within it) – (i) state-owned for the public good, (ii)Continue reading "Asset-stripping the NHS"

In its first ever <report> on global trends for adolescent physical activity, the UN health agency stressed that urgent action was needed to get teens off their screens and moving more. "We absolutely need to do more or we will be looking at a very bleak health picture for these adolescents," study co-author Leanne RileyContinue reading "Through a glass darkly"

In my lifetime, I suspect there's never been a decade that marked such a break with the past than the 1970s. Sure, the 50s (rock n roll, the invention of the teenage consumer) and the 60s (hippies, counterculture) started the ball rolling; but it was the 1970s when modernity / change went mainstream. The paceContinue reading "The Shock of the ’70s"

Walter Röhrl  In the '80s, I was confident that our local back roads would sort out Röhrl.  As a wide-eyed teenager, I was privileged to hear and see the rallies down the narrow back roads near our house in rural Co. Tyrone in the 1980s. One of the advantages (for people like me) of growing up livingContinue reading "The Sound and the Fury"

R.I.P. Charlie Watts 1941 - 2021. Watts was an understated guy and an understated drummer. When the Stones played Slane Castle in Ireland in 1982, onlookers were amused to note that Charlie's drum kit was smaller and less elaborate than that of the support act! Of course, a flamboyant drummer would have ruined the StonesContinue reading "The Stones"

Belated recognition that one-size-fits-all music festivals suck.  However, bloke in this article is having a moan: “Festivals and weddings used to be one of the few places where different generations and different types of people came together. “I don’t think it’s like that any more and it’s a shame really. You go somewhere now and it’s specifically aimed at you andContinue reading "A Festival of Squares"

Did you ever: 1. climb onto a roof of a farm building; and 2. tie car springs to your feet with baler twine; and 3. open an umbrella; and 4. wobble over to the edge of the roof (the car springs made walking difficult); and then - 5. jump? You didn't? Ha! Easy knowing youContinue reading "The Comics"