Newton's laws

December 1st is a BIG day

2011-12-01T00:43:00.002Z

White rabbits, it's December 1st, can't go into it now but it's a big day for me on several fronts.

I wish myself the best over the next 24 hours and hope a lot of good comes out of it.

Occupy Edinburgh

2011-11-29T09:37:00.010Z

Ah the last 6 weeks have been fascinating, being involved in the Occupy Edinburgh movement from the start, finally getting a group who understood the damage that banks and corporations have been inflicting on society since I was a teenager.

It's been my opinion for a long time, but all you got for holding these views was laughed at, but now that society is waking up...it's good to be involved...

Billy Bragg and Me

I have scribbled a Christmas story, which we distribute to the public, we have given out over 5000 of them so far... here's my best effort to upload that too

Finally.....

2011-11-29T09:36:00.002Z

It's been such a long time trying to get blogger sorted out and begin to write again..

So I'm just glad and relieved that it's finally worked out

The Free State

2010-08-12T23:17:00.001+01:00

This is intended to be a short history of the free state (Ireland) over the last century, where we go next is anyones guess, but let's hope it's not NAMA, which is intended to bail out the private companies and lay the bill at the door of me, my children, and my grandchildren over the next 20 years.

So this is a shot of what Ireland looked like in 1909

and even in 1919, the people were still in support.

but years later the nation looked like this

and then the Free State was taken over by the Catholic Church and in 1932 it looked like this

Which in the 30's controlled and brainwashed the country just like someone else did elsewhere in Europe.

The Nazi's lost control in 1945, but it took us another 40 years, and they both used similar cover up and propaganda strategies.

That worked, but so did this

But thankfully the country has overthrown the Roman straightjacket and now the churches look like this

So having thrown off the yokes of the British, and then the Church, our people just could not do without one, or were to gullible to see one being subtly prepared, so our power brokers decided it was time for the real USA (remember we were closer to Boston than Berlin)

And of course most of the Irish bought in, so our country went to this

and this

and of course the people queued for the new amazing houses like this

But our new masters ran out of steam, so they have abandoned Ireland and headed elsewhere, leaving us with this

This

So there's my short history of our nation, since the time of this

Has gone from this

To this

To this

To this

You know NAMA is primarily there to benefit the Irish tenants, that would be the 4 major tenants of the Ballybrit Tent

The Government
The Bankers
The Developers
The Media

They have left a huge tab, and now the taxpayers of the Irish nation are expected to pay it, and I'm just wondering, apart from sports occasions will my children and grandchildren ever get to be proud of this

Welcome Mr. keane.

2010-02-02T09:25:00.002Z

Good news, I was at the game in Hamilton last Saturday, and afterwards in the Toll Booth I met a few lads and we discussed if Robbie would come to paradise, I had a very strong feeling that he would, but his comment today lit up everything, in his interview Robbie said...

"I'm glad I'm coming here at the right age, I'm not coming here at 34 yrs of age, at the end of my career and struggling if you like"

Anyone who does not recognise that this is a cut at another Mr. Keane, the traitor who walked out on his country, treated Celtic Football club as a retirement home and contributed nothing except to get me to refuse to travel for the total of his time, well if you do not recognise that you don't know and love Glasgow Celtic... and so roll on tonight... I will be watching with hope in my heart, cos I'll never walk alone.

Is this True?

2010-01-16T22:15:00.003Z

I've always wondered if this is true, I often thought it is, now I know it is!

progress through pain.....

2010-01-08T08:29:00.003Z

Here's to the new decade, took us a while to get into the new millennium, but now perhaps we are beginning to understand the smoke and mirrors illusions we have been fooled by over the last few hundred years.

Politics is corrupt................................tick

Religion is a social control device........tick

Full honesty is an illusion....................tick

Union leaders dine with the bourgeoisie....tick

Human rights mean nothing..............tick

Selfish rights mean everything...........tick.

The corporates and media run all......tick

Moralists like Gerry Adams, Irish Robinson, John Charles McQuaid, or Bertie Ahern are simply liars in disguise.

WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD PEOPLE

Philosophy is the socially unregarded passion I shall continue to pursue.

oh we start again...

2010-01-04T09:03:00.002Z

Here we go, a new decade, when the millennium arrived I was 34, now I'm 44, and at the end of the next millennium I'll turn 54, wow, but sure I'll still be a young fella.

so onwards and upwards, a life to shape over the next 10 years, it's a bit like playing with marla, it's impossible to know the ending before the beginning, what ever shape it takes it takes, I'm looking forward to it, I'l enjoy it.

It's today.... all day.... maybe it will soon be tomorrow.

2009-12-21T22:46:00.000Z

Irish people to make you proud

2009-10-31T09:18:00.002Z

2 incidents from Irish people this week to make me very proud of them,

first the amazing Tressa Walsh, to hear this made me so happy, because last year I came under massive societal pressure to go after a young lad in Belfast, who did something which is regular and fairly normal on a Friday night, people tried to get me to work with the RUC / PSNI to go after this young lad, but I refused on the reason that he had no intention to do the damage that ensued, a Tressa's son actually did die afterwards, I'm just lucky to be able to write this. strange that Gearoid was also a serious Celtic supporter.

And then the wonderful Liam Meehan, who had this printed in the Irish Times

Madam, – I’m a little confused that the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, is discouraging people from gathering at Knock to witness apparitions which he believes “risk misleading God’s people and undermining faith”.

This is the the same “faith” that believes that a cosmic Jew who was his own father by a virgin can enable you to live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh, drink his blood and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from something invisible called your soul that is present because a woman made from a rib was convinced by a talking snake to eat an apple from a magical tree. – Yours, etc,

LIAM MEEHAN,

La Vista Avenue,

Killester, Dublin 5

Credit where it's due, in this case from Paul Newton's perspective, huge credit to both of them, I'm proud of them both.

and we wonder why?

2009-10-06T22:24:00.002+01:00

Just short note on a strange experience that reinforced big time my idea on why the country is fecked.

I'm in a hospital ward visiting my daughter and there are 3 groups of parents and 3 children in the ward, I'm having difficulty communicating with Joy because the TV is so loud, they are all watching a programme called "around the house" but I say nothing about turning down the telly because it's nearing nine and I'm looking forward to hearing the news.

As soon as the news comes on the sound is turned down to an unhearable volume, I'm watching quietly but still saying nothing, and then prime time comes on, and the telly is turned off.

What's important to most Irish people is obvious, feck the facts, we'd rather watch some gobshite called Duncan give his opinions on a house.

GRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr.

Still frustrated.......Grrr.

2009-09-24T10:22:00.003+01:00

I've created a visual to describe my frustration!

Like children we simply cannot take any pain.

NAMA is a soother for the whingers and moaners in the banking, development, financial services and construction industries.

The public service cannot take any pain... let's protect their interests, imagine of we had to take some of their permanent pensionable sweets off them? Out on the streets lads, let's throw a tantrum.

And now the bloody Taniste is crying that parts of the McCarthy report "make no sense", is she friggin serious, Mary maybe it's time for a little discipline and self sacrifice, you can't manage that?

This country has allowed itself to become spoilt bloody rotten, and now we are behaving like spoilt children, tantrums all over the place and can't take any possible pain.

It's easier to blame blame blame.."it wasn't me"..."Johnny did it"

we live in a blame anybody but me culture.... let's give them all soothers so we can postpose our pain and pass it over to our children and their children's children....

Grrrrrrr.

A wondering wondering star!

2009-09-23T20:32:00.003+01:00

Maybe I was born under a wondering star, but I just can't seem to stop wondering how selfishness has captured society, I mean it always did, there are many simple examples of people fighting selfish self centered groups who controlled society, the french bourgeoise, the british aristocracy, the irish catholic heirarchy, the ulster unionists, the american republican party, I could go on and on, but am starting to wonder "what's the point"?

I enjoyed watching the farmleigh economic forum stuff at the weekend, it was talking about energy, passion, relationships and the drive to move a society forward, but then after reading and researching a lot, I had a look at the new RTE programme "frontline" and was left wondering and wondering and wondering.

Can we as a society really economically crucify our children and our children's children to satisfy the selfish needs of the inhabitants of the tent at the Galway races, yes indeed if this legislation is enacted into law we will indeed appreciate the horse men, and indeed they are horsemen, the politicians, the bankers, the developers and the corrupt media will indeed become the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse, war (the rise and rise of the right wing) famine (socially and impoverishment), pestilence, (our vital health service will be cut cut cut) and death, or more likely DEBT.

The brilliance of Farmleigh last weekend was simple, and Einstein pointed it our 60 years ago.

I was brought up to believe that the four pillars of democracy were

Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Press

but a 5th pillar has been added to our understanding, and I'm wondering what we need to change that.

I am somewhat left thinking, a reader of Marx, and have largely been a supporter of social capitalism, we are all witnesses to what happened the ideological theory of communism under the stewardship of Stalin, but now I feel we have also reached an over the top position on Capitalism, it's unfair to bring individuals to take over this, but it's obvious that the politics of Thatcherism and Reaganism became stronger in the Galway Races tent.

There are new possibilities, new people to take the role of running the country, but just throwing a new party into the Dail is no step forward, perhaps trawling the Farmleigh invitees would give us a chance.

Slight guilt.

2009-09-13T13:11:00.003+01:00

Ok I have not managed to update this in over a month, I've been absorbed in a project that has taken me over, it's been a month or hopes and dreams, fear and doubt, happiness and serious frustration, but they are the times I enjoy most.

Here's a commercial that I like to think sums me up, I have no idea if my stuff becomes a success or not, but i do know that many people see it as mad and me as slightly crazy, but whatever happens I will not give up, so we'll see which route takes me all the way.

Such a day... Let's hope the delayed verdict goes the right way.

2009-08-08T16:20:00.003+01:00

It was fun, but important fun, and the effort put in for the ONE advocacy group was brilliant, so if you want to find out and sign up go to www.one.org

Paul

Understanding the "recession" from a political perspective.

2009-07-26T10:21:00.002+01:00

by NAOMI KLEIN

This article appeared in the February 18, 2008 edition of The Nation.
January 31, 2008

Remember the "ownership society," fixture of major George W. Bush addresses for the first four years of his presidency? "We're creating...an ownership society in this country, where more Americans than ever will be able to open up their door where they live and say, welcome to my house, welcome to my piece of property," Bush said in October 2004. Washington think-tanker Grover Norquist predicted that the ownership society would be Bush's greatest legacy, remembered "long after people can no longer pronounce or spell Fallujah." Yet in Bush's final State of the Union address, the once-ubiquitous phrase was conspicuously absent. And little wonder: rather than its proud father, Bush has turned out to be the ownership society's undertaker.

Well before the ownership society had a neat label, its creation was central to the success of the right-wing economic revolution around the world. The idea was simple: if working-class people owned a small piece of the market--a home mortgage, a stock portfolio, a private pension--they would cease to identify as workers and start to see themselves as owners, with the same interests as their bosses. That meant they could vote for politicians promising to improve stock performance rather than job conditions. Class consciousness would be a relic.
It was always tempting to dismiss the ownership society as an empty slogan--"hokum" as former Labor Secretary Robert Reich put it. But the ownership society was quite real. It was the answer to a roadblock long faced by politicians favoring policies to benefit the wealthy. The problem boiled down to this: people tend to vote their economic interests. Even in the wealthy United States, most people earn less than the average income. That means it is in the interest of the majority to vote for politicians promising to redistribute wealth from the top down.
So what to do? It was Margaret Thatcher who pioneered a solution. The effort centered on Britain's public housing, or council estates, which were filled with die-hard Labour Party supporters. In a bold move, Thatcher offered strong incentives to residents to buy their council estate flats at reduced rates (much as Bush did decades later by promoting subprime mortgages). Those who could afford it became homeowners while those who couldn't faced rents almost twice as high as before, leading to an explosion of homelessness.
As a political strategy, it worked: the renters continued to oppose Thatcher, but polls showed that more than half of the newly minted owners did indeed switch their party affiliation to the Tories. The key was a psychological shift: they now thought like owners, and owners tend to vote Tory. The ownership society as a political project was born.
Across the Atlantic, Reagan ushered in a range of policies that similarly convinced the public that class divisions no longer existed. In 1988 only 26 percent of Americans told pollsters that they lived in a society bifurcated into "haves" and "have-nots"--71 percent rejected the whole idea of class. The real breakthrough, however, came in the 1990s, with the "democratization" of stock ownership, eventually leading to nearly half of American households owning stock. Stock watching became a national pastime, with tickers on TV screens becoming more common than weather forecasts. Main Street, we were told, had stormed the elite enclaves of Wall Street.
Once again, the shift was psychological. Stock ownership made up a relatively minor part of the average American's earnings, but in the era of frenetic downsizing and offshoring, this new class of amateur investor had a distinct shift in consciousness. Whenever a new round of layoffs was announced, sending another stock price soaring, many responded not by identifying with those who had lost their jobs, or by protesting the policies that had led to the layoffs, but by calling their brokers with instructions to buy.
Bush came to office determined to take these trends even further, to deliver Social Security accounts to Wall Street and target minority communities--traditionally out of the Republican Party's reach--for easy homeownership. "Under 50 percent of African Americans and Hispanic Americans own a home," Bush observed in 2002. "That's just too few." He called on Fannie Mae and the private sector "to unlock millions of dollars, to make it available for the purchase of a home"--an important reminder that subprime lenders were taking their cue straight from the top.
Today, the basic promises of the ownership society have been broken. First the dot-com bubble burst; then employees watched their stock-heavy pensions melt away with Enron and WorldCom. Now we have the subprime mortgage crisis, with more than 2 million homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes. Many are raiding their 401(k)s--their piece of the stock market--to pay their mortgage. Wall Street, meanwhile, has fallen out of love with Main Street. To avoid regulatory scrutiny, the new trend is away from publicly traded stocks and toward private equity. In November Nasdaq joined forces with several private banks, including Goldman Sachs, to form Portal Alliance, a private equity stock market open only to investors with assets upward of $100 million. In short order yesterday's ownership society has morphed into today's members-only society.
The mass eviction from the ownership society has profound political implications. According to a September Pew Research poll, 48 percent of Americans say they live in a society carved into haves and have-nots--nearly twice the number of 1988. Only 45 percent see themselves as part of the haves. In other words, we are seeing a return of the very class consciousness that the ownership society was supposed to erase. The free-market ideologues have lost an extremely potent psychological tool--and progressives have gained one. Now that John Edwards is out of the presidential race, the question is, will anyone dare to use it?

Totally believable!

2009-07-09T23:58:00.006+01:00

This is our new pride and joy in Limerick, you gotta hand it to the people behind Knock, Lourdes and Medjourdwhateveryacallit.

This stuff is as good for business as a beach full of Pamela Anderson's in red swimsuits, I'm just a little disappointed that Michael O'Leary has not figured out how to put one close to the funny airports an hour from every European city.

Now here's a few you may not have seen
.

.
The Nun bun.
.

Oh and I can't find the cheese on toast one... I know I left it somewhere.

And the images won't go up right, it must be a sign...... lol

Magnificent Lily!

2009-07-06T09:18:00.003+01:00

.
oh pure credit to Lily, I'd love to be seeing her at Oxygen this weekend, but Roscommon are playing and hey... needs must.

This is a brilliant take on all the world had become pre recession, she produced it in April 2008, Lots of interesting things happened that month, but to write and produce this work of art was totally fabulous, she explains how the "fear" had worked and what people wanted in modern society, and how simply fucked up and ridiculous it all was.

So Hat's off to Lily Allen, she was the first artist to explain the consumption bullshit that had taken over society, I was amazed when one day my daughter had 2 friends in the car and I played the song, and the other girls did not know Lily was takin the piss, they thought she really did want those things... I wish people would just pay attention to the lyrics, which is why I've printed them here.

I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny
I want loads of clothes and i want fuckloads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

And i’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless
Cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous
I’ll look at the sun and I’ll look in the mirror
I’m on the right track yeah I’m on to a winner

[Chorus]
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear

Life’s about film stars and less about mothers -
It’s all about fast cars concussing each other
But it doesn’t matter cause I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so fucking fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption
And its not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function
I’ll look at the sun and I’ll look in the mirror
I’m on the right track yeah we're on to a winner

Chorus
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cuz I’m being taken over by The Fear

[Bridge]
Forget about guns and forget ammunition
Cause I’m killing them all on my own little mission
Now I’m not a saint but I’m not a sinner
Now everything's cool as long as I’m gettin thinner

[Chorus]
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?
‘Cause I’m being taken over by fear

Brilliant!!!!

I really did LOL

2009-07-01T12:13:00.002+01:00

It's not often I crack up at a joke, but this one I loved, maybe Einstein's theory of Relativity did have common practical applications after all

A pure favourite.

2009-06-28T10:43:00.002+01:00

Those who know me fairly well will know that I have far too many interests in life, too many hobbies, one the tricks in life is to spend time doing things you love, and you have to eat too.

So this winter I'm going to combine many interests in a fun way, philosophy, psychology, comedy and magic should be fun together, it's doubtful if I can be within an asses roar of Steve Martin, but sure you never know

The only real failure in life is the failure to get back up.

2009-06-25T13:22:00.001+01:00

I love this video, it hurts me to think of the way people get treated by society, the lack of understanding that people have for setbacks and dilemmas.

It hurts me because I have experienced setbacks in the last 14 months, I was fortunate enough to be able to get back up, I also had friends who did not get the opportunity to get back up, they had real difficulties which ended in death, mine did not, not because of me, but because fortune shone on me and allowed me to do what was needed to get back on my feet.

It was challenging because I was taken away for a while, my survival was assisted by machines, by the medics, but they also drugged me to the extent that I temporarily ceased to exist, and as Rene Descartes would say, “I think, therefore I am”

In my life for a short while I was not allowed to think. In subsequent setbacks there have been further attempts to “control” my life, inferring that I am not capable of thinking and others should do the thinking for me, perhaps I have interpreted Descartes to mean “I drink, therefore I am”. I don’t think so, but others limited opinions on my life seem to be more important than mine, inferring that the dilemmas were all my fault, and that their opinions can protect me from any sort of setback in the future,

Perhaps we should pay more attention to the philosophy of Winston Churchill.

“When you are going through hell - Keep going”

Social armour can be important, it can protect us from genuine dangers and threats, but society nowadays has embraced fear, control, health and safety to the extent that social armour has grown so cumbersome that it is restrictive, people are not allowed to live their own lives outside the social norms, and are not acceptable unless they don the required social armour. (first time I ever felt the need to adapt a post, but apologies to all concerned)

Well I am not buying it, and I sure as hell am not wearing it.

A happy happy Sunday!

2009-06-21T19:44:00.005+01:00

Brilliant day, an achievement which has been worked towards for a long time, and by a lot of people, to see the happiness on children's faces is well worth all the time and effort.

But nothing is never totally finished or complete in life, as the Beautiful South so wonderfully explain in this video, and the amazing thing is that the beautiful vocalist Jacqui Abbot was stacking shelves in supermarket in the north of England until Paul Heaton heard her doing Karaoke in a pub and asked her to join up, that was 15 years ago.

She stayed until 2000, and then departed, maybe she did find a man who was not happy to stay married to whoever and wanted to "cluck her"

Feck Fridays

2009-06-19T15:34:00.002+01:00

I have an old habit of posting quotes and amusing (to me anyway) stuff on a Friday, but today I just don't feel like it, so instead you get something which to me is really bloody important.... so watch this and maybe you can re-evaluate the rubbish that commonly passes for "happiness' in modern society.

Paul

Isn't life interesting?

2009-06-12T07:28:00.002+01:00

Life is interesting alright!

A "slight" interest in sport?

2009-05-26T02:34:00.010+01:00

What a brilliant day in Edinburgh, Leinster win and it was unbelievable to be in the in Murrayfield at the finish to savour the moment. There are so many swept up in sport for entertainment, but thanks to my late father I have a huge appreciation for sport as a very important way of life. My dad did not really have a preference for one sport over any other, he was there working with children and adults, at training, at matches, at celebrations and post mortems regardless of whether it was athletics, boxing, rugby, soccer, gaelic, basketball, darts or anything else.

So many people ask for your background in their particular sport, if they are Sligo rovers fans, Munster rugby fans, English cricket fans or many more, but thanks to my father and many experiences in life I'm fortunate to have a background in many sports, my lack of deciding to concentrate on one possibly cost me fame for any of them, so i did not make myself exclusive to athletics, darts, gaelic football, rugby, soccer, basketball or cricket, but what i did get was an enjoyment from them all, and an appreciation of them all, a huge appreciation of them all as part of life.

A few pics from the past will show how many sports and clubs I've fallen for over the years, due to a variety of factors and I have gained so many friends from each one that I consider myself a very fortunate boy.

I have many pics that still need to be scanned in, we had no digital stuff back then except a company in Galway that went bust.

1976, an 11 year old get a national athletics award from Leinster's sponsors.

1981, a fifteen year old (white shirt, no bird) has had a coaching session with his friends and Ollie Campbell and Mike Gibson, organised from our club East Connacht.

1991. A newly married man, now 26, standing in the old paradise, I was there yesterday too, some traditions never leave ya.

1996. a 31 year old and now a dad of 2 beauts (Maggie and baby Cathy are behind the posts) scores for St. Mary's on the way to a county championship, and people wonder why Mary's is so important to me?

I am happy to try to replicate my dad's input by passing on my love of sport, it's brilliant that my gorgeous wife is the manager of the girls under 12 team, that one of the beauts (Joy) is a coach, and the other (Cathy) is a player but is also in the county community games final as a shot putter, which I was in the first picture, some traditions never end.

and it's not just Susan Boyle....

2009-05-09T11:18:00.005+01:00

Oh I often wonder why sport releases emotions in me that are largely absent most of the time.

There are several causes of nervousness at the moment, first today is a vital day for my club St. Mary's, it's celebrating 125 years of the GAA, but more importantly it gives us a chance to connect those who have played and worked for the club with those younger ones who have never heard of them never mind know them, it's a huge chance to celebrate community which is vital to me, so let's hope it goes well.

Then it's may 9th 2009, the 11th anniversary of the day Celtic stopped the rot and overcame an arrogant and wealthy Rangers to put us back after 9 seasons of being nearly men, and of course today I will often think of my friend Ger, he has now passed on, but our conversations and passion coming up to the day I celebrated in paradise will always be with me.

and I really hope Hull win today, my friend of 32 years was always a bit weird in the 70's by being a Hull City supporter, and for him I hope their win today will avoid a trip away from the arrogant and wealthy Drogba's Renaldo's and Ferguson's of the premiership.

And finally.... Cetic's year will be largely decided by 90 minutes at Ibrox today, so nervousness has been going on all morning, no more than many peoples doubt over Liam supporting Hull all those years ago, I constantly have to put up with ill informed and under educated people who tell me that Scottish football is dire, rank, and a few more adjectives, so let's show them as we did to Leeds Utd, Man United, Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool FC over the years, hey Scotland's got talent.

So brilliant to see.......

2009-04-30T07:05:00.005+01:00

So many young people enjoying themselves and being magic at whatever they choose to do, last night was my daughter Joy's first big night on the stage, and herself, her friends and her classmates put on a great night of entertainment, singing, dancing, acting and generally showing the enthusiasm that I often only experience on the sports field. Maggie was brilliant at this too, and Cathy plays the piano and is starting to write songs.

I'd be proud of them all, with so much moaning in the world, last night I did not hear a word from two hundred people except admiration and encouragement for the efforts of the brilliant next generation.

My daughters tell me I'm too old to use the word, but this was MINT!

So long

2009-04-24T21:50:00.002+01:00

Typical of me when life gets really interesting and really busy, have not blogged for weeks and have let the 5th anniversary of this blog pass by without a mention, and still to busy to write anything decent, simple to say a friend of mine, told me about a piece another friend had done for the RTE news, so I watched it and thought..... bloody brilliant Eileen, I always knew you were a serious professional on the broadcast journalism end.... just never realised you were this bloody funny.

so here it is

Another brilliant cat... there are almost too many of them

It's my 5th birthday.......

2009-04-16T22:33:00.002+01:00

Strangely Saturday will be my 5th blogging birthday, and I will mark the occasion in Paradise, that's Celtic Park to the uninitiated.

So here's a photo of Maggie and Charlie Nicholas from 1991, Ok I'd been traveling over for 10 years before that, but what type of a man ends up in Paradise on his honeymoon, Ok maybe most do, but not the real paradise!

C'mon the hoops.

Cold feet

2009-03-29T23:57:00.003+01:00

It's strange how life evolves and changes, I used to love this programme on the telly as it seemed to give an interesting insight into how life could be, the ups and downs.

Today I went to Cavan to see Roscommon (the first chance I've had in ages) and in truth they were well beaten, it was just interesting to listen to peoples views afterwards and realise the people are either supportive or dismissive of something that is ongoing and important. It was strange how much i actually enjoyed being there, if all you get are the good moments, then you take them for granted and it means little really, sometimes you have to go through the bad times in order to appreciate the good times.

In Cardiff last week it was lovely to remember all the games I'd been to where we lost, even the half time cigarette with John O'Shea and Gerry Thornley at the New Zealand game last November, when they were giving out about this and that (Gerry some players and John the referee) because days like that made the final grand slam day special. I'm niot great at taking photographs, but this is where I watched the game from.... special....as Radiohead put it in "creep" so fuckin special.

Ok, can't get the photo, this new 17" macbook pro is beautiful, but like all new stuff it will take a bit of getting used too.

oh here we go.....

2009-03-19T22:48:00.003Z

Typical me, I just don't like hotel's much, so when I decided it might be the biggest day in Rugby sporting history I looked around and found a lighthouse, it's only a small one, but it has a hot tub, where i can while away five minutes on the roof......

My other problem was the Welsh National Anthem, which is always sung in welsh, and to me it's a lovely but largely undecipherable language, so my research threw up an english version written by a Swansea poet years ago, it's largely taking the mick, but it sounds just the same and if you can sing it with a straight face they'll think it's in Welsh, so my bluffing party piece is ready for the weekend.

Here is a video and the words, try them out and see if they work for you.

My hen laid a haddock, one hand oiled a flea,
Glad farts and centurions threw dogs in the sea,
I could stew a hare here and brandish Dan's flan,
Don's ruddy bog's blocked up with sand.
Dad! Dad! Why don't you oil Auntie Glad?
Can whores appear in beer bottle pies,
O butter the hens as they fly!

Enjoy the weekend, I'm sure Maggie and I will.

Oh my, the penny is finally dropping!

2009-03-18T16:58:00.007Z

Oh look, people may be finally getting the connection between Chelsea & Glasgow Rangers!

Nothing to do with myself and Maurice having to run like hell from our hotel 10 years ago because some of the Chelsea "firms" were in town for the Scottish cup final, and they did not sing too many Celtic songs, mostly stuff to do with Fenian Ssum and Irish bastards if i remember.

Oh how surprising that some Chelsea "fans" were in Manchester for the UEFA cup final, it's a good job it was before the Champions League final or Moscow would have had to handle busloads of Rangers "fans".

Those two clubs have a tighter connection that Celtic and Liverpool, we like to sing "you'll never walk alone" together, but Chelsea & Rangers fans prefer to sing "you'll never walk again".

Hail Hail

Oh my god...... unbelievable.......

2009-03-12T00:17:00.003Z

I literally could not believe finding this tonight, it's truly amazing, on facebook a friend called Barry Guckian had posted a 9 minute video of footage shot by a leaving cert student in 1978, and although I was only a first year that time, and 13 years old, I can still remember most of the faces in this low quality video... totally amazing..although it's all senior's sport and I was in first year so I'm not in any of the sporting footage, but was still amazed to spot myself briefly at the same age my youngest daughter is now... you'll spot me from 5.00 to 5.03 I'm the guy in the Arsenal scarf who even then did not like the media and turns away from the camera... wow... but before that I spotted my father, my God... almost 30 years before he died, he's the big guy you'll spot from 4.52 to 4.56 and finally you may recognise the best teacher I've ever encountered in my whole life.. Her name was Frankie Watson, and she was my english teacher, and was so interesting she managed to give me a love of reading and writing that has stayed with me ever since.... you'll see Frankie from 5.37 to 5.40 (and of course I had a crush on her), but then she introduced me to McGahern, and I got thrown out of school for sneaking "The Barracks" into geography class and reading it while pretending to read geography....

God and why do I wonder why I'm really only interested in Interesting people...

I love it when people make the best of themselves!

2009-03-11T23:00:00.004Z

Don't you just love it to see people doing different things and doing them with loads of energy and enthusiasm, these are 4 of the lad's I enjoy coaching in gaelic football, and we have more who do brilliantly at different things, like today some of our lads were unlucky to lose the Connacht schools final in rugby with Sligo Grammar School, I have such an interest in these lads doing their best than of course I was at the talent show and drove to Galway today to watch the rugby, it's not that important what code people excel at, but it is so important that they are open to new and bigger experiences.

SO of course I'd love to see BLTN going from strength to strength, we do have a bit of tradition as most of westlife played underage for clubs in Sligo including Cian Egan who played for our club St. Mary's and we now have his younger brother Colm as a super member of our squad.

I do have a problem with ageism, i encounter it myself because people think I'm too old to be going to nightclubs and playing competitive gaelic, soccer or basketball (cricket too in the summer) and some people also think these guys are too young to be great at football, singing or rugby. enough with the ageism, it's not about whether you're old enough or young enough, it's about whether you're good enough or courageous enough to give things a go.

Oh and if you do watch the video, have a listen to what Tabby Callaghan (another of X Factor fame) who was a judge on the night, says at the end, when talking about the recession and the economic situation he says "

"We could do with a bit of that energy in the country right now, there might not be many jobs, but there's plenty of talent"

Hat's off Tabby, and hats off to all the young people in our club who make us proud as hell to know them.

Slumdog Millionaire maybe!

2009-03-11T11:09:00.004Z

Hugely enjoyable movie, but the lesson for me is how people are shaped by their circumstances and experiences and the impact of co-incidence or chance in the lives of human beings, you might be married and have a family with someone because they happened to be at the next desk at work or in the next seat during a lecture once, but for me it's not about IQ or physical beauty, it has more to do with how we are shaped rather than how we are created.

I often get into trouble for what people consider my strange political views, and I am simply letting people know how I became shaped by circumstances to form those views, even though I am somewhat disillusioned by politics these days because I find the party I always supported now stand for nothing, I thought they stood for civil rights and social equality but now they are against Lisbon and appear to stand for nothing at all except whinging and complaining about everything.

I was 6 years old when I saw a NEWSFLASH on BBC ran out to get my mum and dad, they came indoors and I will always remember my mother in tears as she watched people she lived close to (and knew some) carried away wrapped in sheets with blood pouring from their bodies.

I was 15 and laid up for 4 months with a fractured femur (football surprisingly enough) when Bobby Sands and his 9 comrades died at the intransigent hands of Margaret Thatcher.

I was 17 when I got my copy of U2's "war" album and heard a song about peace and how talk changes everything, but like Cork players, the British Govt and Paisley's DUP were simply interested in preserving the Status Quo (we have the power) and would talk to no one.. And the only way to get them to the table was through the means of bombs and guns... and it worked, ( if you don't believe me read the story of Nelson Mandela, or remember Gaza this Christmas) but it also explains why the Omagh and Antrim and Armagh occurances in the last few years are just WRONG, I have no idea what these blackguards and thugs are really trying to achieve, but I do know that when Hugh Orde invited the MI5 specialist surv unit of British soldiers back into this country, he legitimised the Real thugs and gave them an excuse to carry out acts that the majority of this country despise and thought were in our past, and yes it is in our past, and why Hugh Orde and the real thugs could not leave it there, and felt compelled to resurrect the troubles I have no idea, but hell it is frustrating, we all thought the nationalist community had achieved civil rights and social equality, but it's obvious that the Real IRA and the PSNI (via Hugh Orde) don't think that those 10 years of ceasefire and talks meant anything.

It's sad really, but hopefully the Martin McGuinness's and Peter Robinson's of this world will engage and help sort this out, it's only a small thing in history, but 3 lives are gone and many children will lack a fathers.......

Let's follow the words of Bono and the Edge..... listen up Real IRA and listen up Hugh Orde....... NO MORE!

Oh I like this a lot

2009-03-10T23:10:00.003Z

oh I'm sorry for boring you with two many video's, but I like this one so much.

Goes to show you a lot about how religion work's, and although it's about the Church of England, I wish they did one for the Catholic Church too.

Were you ever just "blown away"?

2009-03-09T17:19:00.002Z

I already told you about going to Scotland for football, but wow do I remember the first time I saw this movie, I was 20 years old and highly impressionable, and yes it did just "blow me away"

Set in Edinburgh which remains one of my favourite cities on the planet, it's brilliant about some ordinary guys with boring lives who chase a dream and become the Robin Hood bandits.

It just ticked all my boxes, you'll find it on DVD online, one of my top 5 movies ever and an amazing soundtrack by Big County.

This scene with the police chase is brilliant, but in fairness I did fancy the head off the guide on the tourist coaches, Teri Lally (I wonder where she is now?).

Nostalgia is becoming a big part of everyone's lives now that we appear to be economically returning to the 80's, but the Terri Lally's and Claire Grogan's of the world are still gorgeous in my head, dunno what Terri is up to now, but Claire is still a complete babe, she was the lovliest girl in the lovely girls episode where she played the (Sinead O"Connor piss take) Niamh Connolly, now you watch that here and try and tell me she's not still an actress and not still a walkin babe.

http://www.blinkx.com/video/father-ted-rock-a-hula-ted-aka-lovely-girls/jsfZeG4LOUuScaVDRKgOiQ

Back 400 years to 1609.

2009-03-06T10:33:00.002Z

Sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

I have heard of several suicides of the last number of weeks involving men who were "in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes"

it's so saddening that society has shaped itself to admire fortune and celebrity more than anything else, My hope is that thing's are going to change back to appreciation of what's really important, relationships, family, caring and service.

I'm just lucky that I have almost always "scorned to change my state with kings" and we know that society has new kings now, so "I scorn to change my state with" Renaldo, Gordon Ramsey or Will Smith either.

It would be wonderful if people returned to being their best selves, rather than trying to replicate flawed models.

Specially for Danielle

2009-03-02T13:29:00.003Z

Ok those who know me will understand my daft love of brilliant advertising, I do have an auld degree in it, and I'm currently doing a project which will bring the best stuff over the years to the world.

First, possibly the best piece of work ever, the world sexiest woman (that's just my opinion) takes on the world's most powerful ass, and you'll hear the brilliant Joy Division playing "she's lost control"

Well into the my top ten, slight "my fair lady" reference to the sloane rangers, brilliant!

The cleverest punchline of all (apart from Ronseal maybe) mind you this ad does do "exactly what it says on the tin... ask frank to try it out and see?

and finally, what a superb piece of work, those of you who are old enough will easily spot the princess Diana reference, wow if only everything was as dependable as a golf.

ing

"This is it boys, boot, bollock and bite"

2009-02-28T08:41:00.003Z

Massive sporting occasions are thin on the ground, but I have that amazing stomach feeling right now, after 25 years of going to internationals (not em all, I'm not an addict) Myself and Maggie are heading to croker in a wee while for the England game, I so hope we win, not because it's against the old Sassanach enemy, but because HISTORY may be set up today.

Ireland have taken a grand slam once in the long history of rugby, in 1948, after wins in paris and twickers the legendary team took in Wales in Ravenhill on March 13th 1948, captained by Karl Mullen who became famous for the "boot, bollock and bite" exhortation to his team before games, led by apparently the best Irish player of all time, the incredible Jackie Kyle, Ireland beat Wales 2 tries to 1 (that meant 6-3 in those days) and took the triple crown and the grand slam.

I have no connection with that team, except a brief little one, I did meet the amazing Corkonian Bertie O'Hanlon about 13 years ago in Strandhill where he was attending a retirement do for my brilliant boss Finbarr Hegarty, and I did speak with him and told him that the 1948 team would forever be legendary to Irish sportspeople.

It never occurred to me that this could be repeated until a night in Belfast before Christmas, I was in Belfast for the Ulster-Connacht league game, (I got home a lot quicker this time) and after the game I was introduced to a man called Declan whom I never spoke to before or since, and despite the fact that he was the Irish coach, and in modern sport with media influence such notables are usually hassled and keen to get away as quick as possible, this man stood chatting for 15 mins, despite the fact that I kept standing aside to let him pass, I discovered that whatever about his rugby knowledge or tactical genius (I'll leave that up to Gerry Thornley) that Ireland were being coached by a down to earth and very sound man who would connect with anyone, if he could connect with a tall, loud GAA man, then how could he not connect with the players.

So that evening it did cross my mind that Ireland could be awesome again, just like 61 years ago!

So I'm so looking forward to tonight's game, but a little nervous cos we have 3 huge hurdles to cross on the road to immortality and like all hurdles they need to be jumped one at a time.

I have such a gut feeling that I can't resist, so last night, knowing well that if we win a trip to cardiff will move out of the reach of the financially ordinary fan, I went online and booked my flights to Cardiff (and a beautiful lighthouse B&B in Newport with Maggie) so either way we'll be there for the match, no tickets yet, but i have not asked anyone and i am fortunate to have so many friends, todays tickets came because of a good friend Roisin Henry, She's getting confirmed today (have a great day Roisin) and that meant that her aunt Una who had 2 briefs had to go to Mayo rather than Croker.

Plus I've always been a lucky boy, let's hope Ireland are too.

Now............ shoulder to shoulder......... let's "boot, bollock and bite"

Do yourself a favour

2009-02-09T01:44:00.000Z

.

If you share my strange interest in philosophy, human lives and the importance of faustian or chaos theory, then please take 3 hours to see this, it's not that you'll find it the best entertainment, or even that you will enjoy it hugely, it's simply that you may question some of your ingrained beliefs and may even gain some insight into who I am and how i work.

The literature of philosophy is strange to some people and the work of Aristotle, Socretes, Plato, Jung, Kant, Russell and even Alan de Button is obscure to many, now there is some access to the mainstream through a medium people are comfortable with.

I hope people watch this on the premise of seeing a good movie, but leave as i did today, with so much internal conversation that they are unable to comment on Brad Pitt (who is wonderful in this) for a while.

It may be the most important use of 3 hours you will ever spend, so please give it a shot!

And remember "nothing is impossible" people count "just as you are" and as I have experienced myself "you never know what's coming for you" so if you really are interested in 3 hours of investment in yourself...... please go see this!

Paul.

Liked this!

2009-01-26T12:34:00.001Z

Saw this on Sean O'Dowd's site, liked it, maybe he's spot on about the massive benefits of globalisation.

Being Irish is all about driving to the pub in a foreign car, watching English football, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian or Chinese on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American TV shows on a Japanese TV.

And I thought it was all about the internet!

Have a wonderful day!

2009-01-20T08:34:00.000Z

Too much in one day!

2009-01-19T13:32:00.007Z

Can't seem to get the audio into this blog forum, it's only temporary as it may not be the best idea to put on my business blog, but if you click the business blog link on the left hand side you should get it.

Paul

oh God I'm so happy!

2009-01-19T12:42:00.003Z

Tomorrow will see the culmination of something I've controversially lived for over most of the last 40 years, I don't think €10,000,000 could possibly make me any happier, it would not even touch this... and to see 4 Irish guys involved is not only brilliant, but if you want to see something really special, forward the video to 3mins 35 secs and watch the next 30 secs.

Well done Bono, for almost the first time in my life I can genuinely say, " you are a brave and bloody wonderful man"

Thank you.

oh wow, here comes a ceasefire!

2009-01-16T12:29:00.003Z

Oh would you believe it, the Israeli's are now going to be happy with a ceasefire, largely on their terms and of course they will communicate to their cohorts in the media that Hamas are holding it up, and of course Hamas will be the first to break it in time too, let's make an enemy out of them cos guess what, Obama will be President next Tuesday, Jan 20th, and by that time the media will be waiting to nail him for trying to bring any human rights into the scene (cos of course Muslims are apparently not human, more sandniggers to the American establishment). They have already tried to nail him for having a smoke, so if you look at the last entry you will understand that the real purpose of the last 4 weeks of savagery was to tie Obama's hands, and now that this is achieved, at the cost of more than 1100 human lives, we'll suddenly transform into the good guys and the Arabs will be demonised further in the eyes of the World's public.

Yeah, the Zionist media moguls, the Wall St thieves and the right wing political establishment will have won.

Congratulations, but lets hope Article 242 of the United Nations which was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967 will finally be centre stage with Obama, but somehow I doubt he will be able to handle it, I mean what can you handle when the death of 400 children has tied your hands, so the 42 years of ignoring it will most likely stretch to another 8, which will make the 50th anniversary, not bad for a state which was brought into being in 1947, to ignore the United Nations for 50 out of the 70 years is not a bad record, but not a world record.

Sure the Afrikaners, the KKK and the Ulster Loyalists managed it for longer than that.

Don't know what to do?

2009-01-15T21:25:00.004Z

I am really stuck, by allowing the savagery and lies to go unchallenged we are basically condoning it, People really have to do something, we do understand the Israeli and Zionist dominance of the financial, media and political areas in the USA, the problem is people are actually believing the claptrap which in my opinion can only really have 3 or 4 motivating factors.

1. To moderate and embolden the group who do not want to see the new American President make changes in middle eastern policy, and turn his slogan into "No we can't actually"

2. To deflect interest from the disgraceful behaviour of those who own and control Wall St.

3. To escalate Arab reaction which will be used to influence people's reaction to Anti-Arab sentiment making it easier to enforce anti human rights legislation as they succeeded in doing post 9/11.

4. To demonstrate Israeli (American backed) superiority over their neighbours and especially the United Nations which will continue and copperfasten the 42 year ignoring of article 242.

At this point all I feel I can do is refuse to purchase any product that has any trace of Israel on the packaging, it's like those brave girls from Dunne's Store who refused to handle oranges from South Africa many years ago, and which has helped to produce a nation of equality and some respect for basic human rights, to do so in an area like the middle east is a longer road while the respect for human rights and equality extends to strafing UN humanatrian depots and the slaughter of children in a UN school.

If you have any ideas on how we can affect Irish opinion and help our nation to influence the situation please let me know, we should be breaking trade links, expelling their Ambassador and refusing diplomatic relations which are currently extending our peoples approval of this travesty.

Thought I'd share some feelings!

2009-01-12T12:40:00.009Z

not sure if I should put this up, because I know people may read too much into it, but it's simply a reply I made to a man called Alun Rees whom I've never met but does interest me because of his blog (linked above) and his emails last year. He commented on the Christmas message on my business website where I used this quote to wish my friends and occasional readers a happy (or Hoopy being a Celtic fan) Christmas, The quote i used is one of my favourites which I think may have been used first by William Arthur Ward in the 50's the quote is

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

The reply was

Hi Alun, the reason this quote is not attributed is because I'm not sure who wrote it originally either, it tends to be attributed to Denis Waitley or even Zig Ziglar, but understanding this business you will know that many "guru's" approach marketing and recognition like Tony Robbins did with Bandler's NLP by stealing someone else's work, changing a word or two and pretending that it's their own invention (a bit like the music business where they change one note and pretend the same).

My best understanding is that the concept was first quoted by William Arthur Ward in the 50's but where his inspiration came from I have no idea.

And thanks for reading, have a happy new year, oh and on the injury issue, all is back to normal now which is good, I'm trying to draw a line under it and move on... from a media perspective I have turned down many offers to do a story for a variety of reasons, one is that I really don't want the publicity or to make more money or kudos from one persons mistake (I'm pleased he was never caught, he did not intend to do any of the temporary damage that accrued), but more importantly being the media they would have to find a coat hanger for the lucky escape, they would be either the exceptional health service, the prayers that were said, or worst of all I would be eulogised as some kind of positive "hero" who had such a fighting and positive spirit that I overcame the adversity, In the past 2 years I have lost 3 good friends to illness, all of them got the finest medical care, all of them were strongly prayed for, and all of them were brilliant positive fighters who were convinced that they could "beat" their adversity, and all of them are now dead and gone, so it does bother me when people have to find and credit specific reasons for everything, so that someone can take the credit or the blame.

It's was more an interesting year than a challenging year, I survived because I was "lucky" it's like when you were young and building a house of cards in a room when someone opened the door, sometimes the whoosh would collapse everything and sometimes the top layer would fall but the structure would stay up, if it fell when we were eight we would blame either the person who opened the door, the cards we used or the way we sloppily built the house, if it stayed up we would credit the amazing aptitude we had for card building, the quality of the cards we used, or credit God for keeping our house safe. I'm still around and back to normal which I do appreciate, but my friends are dead and gone despite the fact that they were all great fighters, got brilliant care and had heaven stormed, the factor to credit is both subtle and largely uncontrollable, I was lucky and my card house stayed up, they were not lucky, their cardhouse fell, there is nothing to credit or blame except the uncontrollable factor called luck, and I know their families are all doing brilliant and I know they are all missed terribly, but the people who try to put their bad luck down to something they did wrong or the people who put my recovery down to something I or others did right do fluster me somewhat, luck, accidents, or lottery wins are not something we can simply change, it's a bit like the weather or even your height, it's there, it's real, you have two choices, do your best with it or whinge, complain and try to change it until you are blue in the face, trying to change your luck, influence the weather, get taller or smaller or trying to transform your personality is a bit like trying to teach a pig to sing, your wasting your time.

As for the benefits that people expect from a near death experience, there are none really, but I did get an underlining of some concepts that I largely believed anyway, the main two being the factors of appreciation and involvement, appreciating the people around you and their lives is very important to me, and I continue in that vein but I was surprised at the scale of it and the wave of reaction from those I spend time with in all aspects of life, I knew I always appreciated and cared very much about them, but was very pleased and encouraged to know that they also appreciated and cared about me!

I do feel that involvement is vital for me and will continue to do that in my life, society had become too individualistic and self centered, and I do hope that the sense of community involvement, volunteering and awareness that others are just as important will return over the next few years as a platform for individuals in Irish and world society.

I also hope that the individualistic guru's who believe that the credit for every advancement and improvement is totally for them will fade into the background and that we recover a society where the best for us all is more important than what's best for an individual or an individuals family.

Finally if I had to pick out a person who's values and strength I admire it would be Fr. Peter McVerry who for 35 years has been putting his own accomplishments in the background and focusing on the homeless and hopeless and working to bring them hope in the future by providing the basics of life and restoring some confidence in themselves.

Sorry for going on so long but felt it was good to tell you my thoughts on the topic, thanks for reading again, and enjoy every hour and day where you still have the chance to make a contribution to other people's lives.

Paul.

If you feel I should take this down please let me know!

1986 ~ Different but still the same,

2008-10-06T22:36:00.003+01:00

I've heard so much on the news the last few weeks about recession etc and how the 80's was such a desperate time, that it put me thinking about what life was like back in 1986.

I must have thought things were a little gloomy back then but I'd have been as wrong as hell, just like now the eighties were great times, sure a lot of my friends had emigrated and were living abroad but in 1986 I was living in Sligo, had a full time job in the post office, got called into the Irish Basketball team, won a championship with Shannon Gaels, had my 21st with friends in Carrick, met the beautiful Maggie on March 1st that year and went to Ibrox for the first time when Celtic drew 4-4 with Rangers.

So if they were bad times then I'd be delighted to be heading back to them.

There is so much gloom on the telly these days that they really should kop themselves on.

The madness of King George

2008-09-16T22:12:00.003+01:00

It's really strange if you spend some time a bit mad, or under the influence of very strange medicines, you understand that you may be a bit mad but feel there is a very strong difference between being totally insane and being fairly straightforward.

When the madness passes you realise that the space between sense and madness is really a very very thing line indeed, in the last few years we've all been exposed to the likes of Barry Egan and Brendan O'Connor on one hand, George Lee and David McWilliams on the other and Simon Cowell and Kerry Katona on a weird one and they have all been lauded as icons of sanity in a mad mad world.

It's a thin line alright, the thing about all mad people including King George is that they will never feel mad, Brendan O'Connor feels he's a rock of sense, maybe them weird medicines had something going for them after all.

and that's it!

2008-09-08T13:52:00.003+01:00

It was interesting to watch Kilkenny obliterate Waterford yesterday, not interesting in a hurling sort of way but how it rewarded the Waterford players who shafted their manager Justin McCarthy back in June after refusing to try hard in their previous game against Clare.

It's also a credit to the Waterford county board who accepted this form of player power back in June and appointed the players nomination of Davy Fitzgerald and then took all the credit as they reached an All Ireland final, we now have an interesting situation, Cork will go on strike if they don't havbe a say in who the manager is, Waterford won't break a sweat unless they are happy with theirs, and this morning the Donegal footballers issued a statement about the county boards treatment of Brian McIvor and insisting that they should be involved in the selection of the new manager.

So the teams who are not screaming for their choice of a new manager would be the Kilkenny crew with Brian Cody and the Kerry lads with Pat O'Shea...... Interesting.

Full circle.

2008-09-05T13:07:00.002+01:00

Ah well, to pick up where I left off I'm now heading for another Connacht game, it's interesting cos they are playing Ospreys so we'll get to see Jones, Williams and captain Hook.

Looking forward to it, I enjoyed the Ulster game too even though it took me a long time to get home.

That last post!

2008-09-02T10:59:00.002+01:00

Holy God, the future is a strange thing!

I had little idea when writing the last post about leaving a philisophy to your kids, that little over a week later I'd be in a coma and having priests giving me the last rites.

Thankfully (I really mean that) I'm well on the road to normality and I don't appear to have anything ultrapermanent wrong, so my girls can feel the slight relief of having to put up with me for some years to come.

The philisophy is not as platitudinous as I would have feared, my current thoughts are

Appreciate things as much as possible, be careful what you take for granted.
Life is a combination of choices and chance, and we only have control over the choices.
The middle ground works a bit, overdoing something is not a good idea, but neither is neglecting it completely.

oh and pass no heed on those who are lifes "experts"

Moving it on.

2008-04-03T09:56:00.004+01:00

Imagine if you were forced to write a philisophy for your children!

If the deal was, write the philisophy and your chances of living will be proportional to your level of honesty, a kind of lie and die scenario. (this may have been brought on by a dream I had last night)

What sort of things would you put in, would you lose the platitudes like, the world is a lovely place darling, and keep smiling no matter what, or would you attempt to tell your children what you feel the world is really like.

Perhaps it would have to do with what day it was, how you were feeling or what side of the bed you got out of that day. Would there be any basic truths, are there any basic truths? The forcing od a deadline and the requirement to actually commit to a philisophy would be a most interesting exercise.

I wonder what i'd write, i'm not sure yet but I can feel a new blog coming on.

Regarding my last post, this grand bunch of lads did get the reward of their efforts as the last two games swung for them.

Coaching.

2008-03-27T16:21:00.002Z

sometimes it's not all about winning, the under 18 team I manage played earlier this week, and though they were brilliant, they still lost by a point, the strange thing was I did not feel at all bad about it, in fact i was very pleased with the performance, the skills they showed and the effort they put in.

Yes we made mistakes, and we'll make them the next time too, but we are looking for a reduction, not perfection.

And it was nice to know for once that winning is not everything.

In denial!

2008-03-12T10:50:00.002Z

Powerful and disturbing documentary last night http://www.fairytaleofkathmandu.com/

I think the hysterical reaction has a lot to do with people's idealistic view of human nature, or even of nature itself, the abuse of power and money is as old as the world, and although many people will embrace power (social, political or financial) without allowing it to corrupt them. it's always highly likely that a significant nimber will see their powerful position as a justification for what they do. It's usually shrouded in a veil of benevolence, just as O"Searcaigh uses the guise of helping, Bush uses the term liberating, and the Christian brothers used to call it disciplining, as Haughey would have said, now lads it's for your own good.

O'Searcaigh has unwittingly, even willingly become evil personified, because we need someone to vent at, meanwhile there are many planes leaving Ireland today for Thailand, Vietnam and many other places where middle age men will use their economic supremacy to engage young women in catering to their sexual needs, in fact there's no need to go that far, the cancellation of the days racing in Cheltenham has already been described on the radio as a bonanza for the sex trade in the area.

So maybe we should think before climbing on our high horses and stoning O'Searcaigh to death. I think what he did / does is/ was despicable, but he used his power to exploit people so he could get what he wanted, you'll see that happening with individuals, countries and corporations everywhere. It's hardly a new discovery, put a hungry lion in a cage with a deer and then come back in the morning and see what's happened. Oh nasty nasty lion... get a grip.

What is unusual nay amazing about this docummentary is that O'Searchaigh allowed it to happen, allowed his ego to lead him into disaster, it did not begin as a trap but it slowely became one... and he walked right in believing his benelovence and intellect could somehow save him from the ire of a nation.

It's not shocking, it's sad. It's cetainly not surprising.

This docummentary will win many awards, not so much for the exposure of a moral issue, but more for the fact that one mans hubris enabled it to be made at all.

Love this

2008-03-10T20:12:00.001Z

Here, you gotta love this, a man who says what i usually think far brilliantly than i could dream of expressing it.

Bloody brilliant.

The images of my childhood.

2008-03-07T09:51:00.004Z

It's hard to get away from the images of your childhood, the six O'Clock news always had this man shouting over everyone else, in my head he was the bogeyman, the personification of evil, I used to think he would eat children alive, only catholic children of course, but he still would.

He was indirectly (and boy did he know it) responsible for the prolonging of inequality in the north for the last forty years, he was a fundie who earnestly believed in the superiority of the protestant people, he fought to preserve but ultimately only succeeded in prolonging the ethos of apartheid and supremacy that had existed for the previous centuries.

In his period of obstruction and "never never never", 3000 people died, sometimes we should trust our childhood intuitions.

Evil is Evil, but is most dangerous in the mask of righteousness.

Shame on those who now fawn over him and his legacy.

When you're just not good enough

2008-03-05T16:57:00.002Z

Well done to Celtic on at least being competitive in Barcalona last night, we were so outclassed by a team with better players and more money that it's very easy today to know what it feels like to be a Kilmarnock or Caley Thistle supporter.

Sometimes the best thing abouyt being a fan is just the relentless ploughing on, be it with Celtic or Roscommon, the keeping going in the faintest hope that someday there will be that special moment and thet we enjoy it all the more because of the famine before.

I've been lucky enough to experience those moments in Seville and Ennis, and to not plough on now would mean the next one - even though it may be 15 years away, would lose it's sweetness

Give your players the teambuilding experience they deserve.

2008-02-24T17:52:00.001Z

Prionnsias O Murchu
RUNAI
Cork County Board.
Pairc Ui Caoimhe
Cork.

Dear Frank,

My name is Paul Newton and I run a training company specialising in teamwork programmes,

I have developed a new programme that I’m sure your county board executive would be interested in running with both the Football and Hurling Squads.

This programme is designed to encourage teamwork, sharpness and co-operation and will ensure your teams get the sort of preparation that you and your colleagues know they deserve

Please take a quick look at the attached promotional video and reply to me if interested in discussing further

Kindest Regards

(Up the Rossies)

Paul.

Paul Newton

Paying Setanta to watch Sean Og.

2008-02-14T14:30:00.004Z

People have to decide now on what sort of GAA they wish to have in the future, those of us old enough to remember the set up of the premiership or the Kerry Packer rebel cricket will have no problems figuring out where it's currently heading, the real debate is about what our national games should look like in 10 years time, and we should all be smart enough to see the importance of the current Cork dispute in that context.

When I was a young player there was no money in the GAA, players were treated like crap, and the administrators were legendary, nothing unusual to see them dining out while the players ate sandwiches, there was no balance and the situation needed to be redressed.

Later on as a club chairman I witnessed the latter part of an era where players began to be appreciated, where Liam Mulvihill and others like Peter Quinn introduced a much more commercialised GAA, where sponsors were involved but did not necessarily call the shots, the establishment of the GPA which led us to small elite player payments, and a recognition that the players were as important as the administrators. The majority of income is still ploughed back into clubs, but the players are well looked after, you might call it balance.

You ask country players privately if they'd like a semi pro game, or even a professional one and they would take your hand off for it, the idea of playing and getting well paid for it is music to the ears of all these very dedicated lads, as it would be to any of us of we were 19 again and good enough, but is this really the way people think the GAA should go? We've seen the effect of professionalism in soccer and rugby over the last 15 years, thinking we are immune to this is ostrich strategy, the TV companies and sponsors call the shots now, the administrative bodies will do what they are told, and the players will benefit hugely, what's wrong with that you ask.

What's wrong is that the club scene will slowly die, as the funds are sluiced away to elite players who are no longer available to their clubs, the senior club scene will give way to underage and school competitions, which will be important as the breeding grounds for the next superstar, like the United States in baseball, you will have an elite professional scene, and a strong schools and college scene (as everyone wants to make the pro's)

Cork players expressed surprise that their respective Club delegates appear to be supporting the executive of the Cork county board in this dispute, but the truth is that there is now a considerable distance between the elite player and the average club delegate, in times past the selection of players on county squads was seen as a major benefit by clubs, they continued to represent their club in league games and often trained and socialised within the club structure.

Modern day country set ups demand that players rarely play with their clubs, are typical unavailable for almost all league games and don't socialise at all except with other elite players on "bonding" weekends in Malaga. The gap between the modern elite player and his club has widened considerably, it's little wonder that the Cork players are having trouble getting their views represented via their clubs.

Is this the future we want? A semi pro premiership of 10 - 12 elite county squads, with a fluid transfer market ensuring the weaker counties lose their finest players and never have a chance to break through, a club scene which will thrive at Bord na n'og level but will die at senior and intermediate level into Sunday league pub competitions. I don't propose to tell people what they should want, simply to point out the I believe this is the direction we are inevitably heading unless someone shouts stop.

It’s time for an extensive debate into the future structure of the GAA, this is an issue that is far bigger than either Donal Og Cusack or Frank Murphy, as GAA people we are arrogant beyond belief if we think that our organisation would be immune to what's happened in soccer and rugby, and if we decide this is the direction we want the organisation to go in, then fine, but to wake up one morning and see wealthy elite players, no volunteers bar selfish parents who want their kid to make it, TV companies and sponsors calling the shots and clubs reduced to soulless shells with liquor licences. With "free to air" a thing of the past we'll end up paying Setanta to watch Sean Og. That's hardly what the founding fathers envisaged, I wonder is it what Irish people want now.

The GAA has been a major force for good in modern Ireland, a major part of the social fabric, yes in the past it was unbalanced, these days we have a reasonable balance between the interests of clubs, sponsors, players, communities and county boards, if we are going to unbalance it lets be careful about where the end game is at, in ten years time we want a GAA that retains it's ideals.

Those marching on the streets of Cork in the last week would do well to remember that.

2008-02-09T00:19:00.000Z

2008-02-08T16:26:00.000Z

My favourite ten inspirational movies

2008-02-07T23:35:00.000Z

Led in by my favourite movie of all time - La vita e bella.

Happy Friday

1. Life is Beautiful

2. Billy Elliot.

3. Schindlers List

4. The Shawshank Redemption

5. Leon

6. A Beautiful Mind

7. Pay it Forward

8. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

9. The Green Mile.

10. Jean de Fleurette / Manon des Sources. (almost)

Honourable Mention.

The Boondock Saints

You'll never guess what happened my cat.

2008-01-22T10:32:00.000Z

This blog is going to the bad, it always suffers when i am a bit busier, in fact there is an inverse relationship between my business productivity and my blog productivity. The busier I am the less blogging i do, the stats at the side tell me that I wrote 67 posts in 05, and 69 posts in 06, but then rocketed to 83 last year, which means i was not as busy as i might have been, it's encouraging that I have only 4 for this year, but if you see a sudden rise in blogging please drop me a line and tell me to get cracking as it seems to mean that I'm writing too much here and not enough in places that are a bit more profitable.

Right, time to take my own medicine.

It just never leaves ya!

2008-01-10T09:15:00.000Z

What am I like? Playing Basketball game last night and I found myself going nose to nose with one of the opposition, in that "wonder will he hit me" kind of way. I'm almost 43 for fecks sake, mind you Tommy was in a few scrapes too, and he's bloody 54.

Starting to feel some benefit from the lack of cigarettes, I felt much better through the game last night, and I feel better overall, I've done the last 9 days without very much bother, and as long as I keep my head on my shoulders I think I'll be fine this time.

That storm knocked everything around the garden that was not nailed down, basketball hoop, patio heater, flowerpots all toppled over, only the heater sustained any real damage.

I never imagined my blog would turn into one of those incredibly boring "you'll never guess what happened my cat yesterday" kind of offerings, so I apologise for this one.

Now better do some work.

P

Fit to burst

2008-01-08T15:45:00.000Z

So much happening am almost fit to burst, good news on funding, off to UK next week, rebranding all 2007 brochures for 2008, trying to come up with a great angle for a personal development course for business, busy busy busy.

This year's business plan needs to be more varied than last year, not so much putting the eggs into one or two baskets, plus I need to be out of the office a whole lot more.

Am excited

Phil O'Donnell RIP

2008-01-02T12:56:00.001Z

Up in my attic I have several boxes full of magazines, for years in the 90's I bought the Celtic View every week, and several years ago i rounded them all up, but unable to actually chuck them out I ended up "storing" them all in the attic.

This Christmas I had a look through some of them, a mate called me the other night to tell me the Phil O'Donnell had collapsed and died while playing for Motherwell. The funny thing is that I never enjoyed supported celtic more than i did at that time, even while we were winning stuff since, and definately not the current stuff, I just can't seem to reconnect with the passion I felt from the early 90's right up to Seville, I had my mate Ger (who died last year) beside me most of the time, watching and screaming for the Celtic of Collins, McStay, Cadete, Di canio, Rieper and marvellous Moravcik.

I was in my late 20's and early 30's. Life was brilliant, nobody we knew died of "natural causes" and as long as we were careful what pubs we went into and where we wore our colours we felt indestructable.

Well Ger is dead, and now one of the young lads we used to watch playing is dead too, I certainly don't feel indestructable anymore, so I went up and had a flick through some of the magazines, through the time of Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen, Dr. Jo, John Bloody Barnes and finally Martin O'Neill (I stopped buying the magazine years ago) and I felt glad to have had all those experiences, glad to have lived through those times and in a strange way i felt that I had little choice back then, cos i had got myself into something i had to see through, and in a strange way Martin O'Neill helped deliver us from that, after Seville it became possible to follow Celtic as a pass time rather than as a compulsion.

It allowed us all to grow up a little.

The ten years before that had kept us as angry passionate teenagers from 1988 to 1998,

But we loved it.

Phil O'Donnell is the first Celtic player of that generation to move on.

RIP

Will I sue?

2007-12-20T12:51:00.000Z

I just found this image on Henrik Larsson's website, he definately never asked my permission to use it, plus i think he may have altered it to give the impression that he is a celtic legend too.

All I can say I my defence is that I was younger at the time and needed the money.

What I'm getting myself for Christmas.

2007-12-18T11:21:00.000Z

No not the full father ted collection on DVD. This year I'm getting myself a good kick up the arse.

It's been a while since i did anything that really challenged me or stretched me. and although things are grand I can feel them getting comfortable the last while, it's the watching eastenders and eating full bags of sensations (thai red chilli flavour) kind of comfortable and with Christmas coming up, that's really the wrong direction for me to be going.

When will the penny drop that I'm only really happy when I'm trying to climb a mountain, once i get there and sit on the top for a while I get bored, frustrated and have that sense that I should be doing something else.

So that's what I'm giving myself this Christmas, a good boot up the hole, the sort that gets me out exercising more, out working harder, reading writing and presenting more, playing a bit more sport, doing the christmas swim, enjoying life rather than sitting round staying warm.

I thought your man Kahlil Gibran put it fairly well.

"verily the lust for comfort murders the passion in the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral"

An after Christmas update, I did actually take my medicine on this one, and although i did manage a lot of sitting around, I also visited several people, had loads of visitors, did the christmas day swim, played 2 hours of basketball on boxing day, played a full gaelic football match on 27th, had a limited game of cricket several days and played the traditional new years day "american football game" now the trick is to keep it up cos Jan is often a month when it's hard to get really motivated

The ups and downs of life.

2007-12-11T11:10:00.000Z

Maybe it's too early to be doing a review of the year, but this has definately been a most interesting one.

The American poet Robert Frost (the road less travelled by fella) said

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life — It goes on"

It was Joy's birthday yesterday, she's 15 now, and she got out of hospital where she's been for the last week after getting a serious fright, so i'm in appreciative mode right now.

Christmas is coming, fast, there's a few balls to fall into place before that though, I'm never sure how they are going to fall, but I know there are going to be some predictable and some surprises, just like life itself

the only reason i put up that pic is because i like it, it was taken a few weeks ago at a friends wedding and i was obviously happy being the centre of attention.

My meme

2007-11-27T15:52:00.000Z

The word "meme" was introduced by Richard Dawkins in his book, the selfish gene in 1976.

A meme is an idea that spreads, like a virus, through a population which can change the way we think about things, An example of a meme might be that you can do all your Christmas shopping without leaving your house, unthinkable a few years ago, but the idea has now spread and in a few years many many more people will feel safe and confident doing their shopping online.

So what's my meme?

Real change is a adaptive process over time, it's neither impossible nor transformational, but evolutionary.

For coaches this means we should be encouraging small but significant changes rather than trying to change the world, in terms of managing expectations we should not be promising revolution, but rather helping people to move towards what they want a step at a time, change can only really occur when we get momentum, not the pretendy enthusiasm which follows a motivational event, but real momentum built on concrete personal evidence.

I badly ned to find simpler language to get this across, but that's basically the idea I want to propogate.

Everton 7 Sunderland 1

2007-11-25T22:55:00.001Z

This can't be right can it? i thought it was all about not failing to prepare, and being incredibly intense and not having any big egos in the dressing room.

And then getting stuffed 7-1, not by United, Liverpool, Arsenal or even Chelsea, but by Everton.

Frankly I'm appalled, I don't know what to think anymore.

Much better when it's busy.

2007-11-21T17:23:00.000Z

Life is just much better when it's busy, whenever I read through my insights personal profile, it strikes me how easy I get bored and how dissatisfied I get when I don't have lots to do.

Too much of a good thing!

2007-11-15T22:24:00.000Z

It's probably not a good idea to be blogging while watching TV.

I'm watching the mind blowing "high society", the RTE programme which makes me want to run out the front door and buy a gram from the first dealer I meet, It would certainly makes you think about the concept of addiction.

Cocaine looks to be great, the only reason people seem to stop using is that they get into financial trouble, lose a job, or get forced into rehab by somebody who really cares about them.

There is very little evidence that people ever go into rehab voluntarily, in fact the guy at the end made two very interesting statements.

1. I am certain that 95% of the best times in my entire life were when I was on a cocaine blast.
2. If i was 65 and diagnosed with a terminal illness would I go back using? You bet i would.

Now Brian Treacy "guru" used to have a goal setting exercise where he would ask what you would do if you were told you only had 6 months to live, I doubt he ever got "do as much coke as I can afford" as a response.

The problem in life is not drink or cocaine or sex or even scientology, the problem in life is that you can have too much of a good thing.

Irish people are just shite at moderation.

Absorbed!

2007-11-13T23:32:00.000Z

How does it feel to be in "the flow"?

Completely involved, focused, concentrating - with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training
Sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality
Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going
Knowing the activity is doable - that the skills are adequate, and neither anxious or bored
Sense of serenity - no worries about self, feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of ego - afterwards feeling of transcending ego in ways not thought possible
Timeliness - thoroughly focused on present, don't notice time passing
Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces "flow" becomes its own reward

it's just a lovely place to be, when high skills meets high challenge.

Capturing Mary.

2007-11-13T10:25:00.000Z

There's a massive amount happening in my life at the moment, it's not all positive and I find it hard to sit and simply focus on one thing for too long, there's also a great temptation for distraction from the difficulties I'm experiencing so it was in this light that I sat down last night to watch the new Stephen Poliakoff movie "Capturing Mary" on BBC.

After last week watching the Jimmy McGovern drama "The Street" all I can say is thank God for the BBC. They really do make the most wonderful pieces allowing one to forget all their worries and be transported to a different place for a little while. One of our greatest needs in modern society seems to be the need to be "distracted" from life by something else, TV, drugs, religion, something that will make us feel better about ourselves for a time. I usually think that this is taking refuge and failing to confront the issues in life, but I think I might be a little more conpassionate about it in the future.

There are some things in life that cannot be either controlled on wished away. There are difficulties that just are, things that can't be effectively confronted or run away from, perhaps these are the things that simply must be endured. Of course we are determined by our choices, but there are things in life we simply don't choose, illness, difficult relationships, and family are just 3 examples, we also have to expect that once you choose you can gain but you can also lose, so it's not just about choosing it's about trying to make the right choices.

This was intended to be about capturing mary, but as usual it's about me.

Births, Deaths and Marriages.

2007-11-10T10:40:00.000Z

I'm off to the wedding of my friend Brian, and while I'm at the wedding I'll be thinking about the breakup of another friends marriage. And then in the next 12 months someone will die, and new people and things will be born, some will fall in love and more will fall out of it and do you know what... that's just fucking life.

It's births, deaths, marriages, divorces, tax, christmases, sex, sickness, joy, holidays, hope, pain, victories and car accidents.

It's a bloody rollercoaster because it's supposed to be, it's either highs and lows, or it flatlines... at which point it's so beige that you might as well be bloody dead anyway.

You want a life without pain, try a lobotomy? cocaine? Jumping off a bridge?

Otherwise it's a marriage today and a divorce tomorrow, a birth sunday and a death monday.. that's life man. don't expect it any other way.

Saturday afternoon

2007-11-04T22:55:00.000Z

Spent a lovely few hours on Sat afternoon just going through and scanning some old pics, these are my maternal grandparents, taken in Glasgow in 1934

Where does it all go?

2007-11-02T15:37:00.000Z

Nothing like this time of year for concentrating the mind, October 31st is the tax deadline (us tech friendly online dudes get an extra few weeks) and I'm just about to sit with the accountant to sign off on 2006.

Fantastic year, fantastic revenues, excellent profits... I have only one question ... WHERE THE **** DOES IT ALL GO?

Sure i can see some of it, in and around the house, and we did a few things of note, but I am totally shocked as to how much it costs just to live a "normal" life in Ireland these days.

It's difficult for us fortysomethings, I remember my first job had a salary of less than ten grand a year, maybe i still kinda think like that.... that if you have forty or fifty you should be well off.... it certainly does not work like that anymore... there are only two cures, cut back on expenses or earn more revenue, I'll try a bit of both and see what happens.

Update.... Just back from the meeting, that's the revenue sorted for another 12 months, it's amazing how quick it all comes around.

Sometimes my head hurts!

2007-10-31T16:44:00.000Z

There are times I'm not sure if I'm heading in the right direction, if what i'm doing is actually making a difference.

At the weekend I got a lovely email from a client, and it reminded me of a story I heard from another guy on a course a few months ago who said.

"this young fella was walking along a beach when he came across hundreds and hundreds of stranded starfish, so he stopped and began throwing them back into the water, one by one, after a while a man comes along and while giving him a funny look asked him what he was doing?

The young fella said he was saving the starfish.

But the older man said... Look son, you're mad, there are thousands and thousands of starfish, you can't possibly make a difference.

At which point the young fella picked up another starfish, threw it back into the sea and replied.

Well I made a difference to that one.

Anvils around the corner!

2007-10-22T17:09:00.000+01:00

"Dont worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday"

Sunscreen - Baz Lurhmann

Amazing how we've all been kinda programmed to worry, but the man is spot on, it's the things we don't know that should be bothering us, not the things we do.

and here was I thinking that as I got older life would have fewer surprises.

Not true - There's anvils around corners..

effin eddie

2007-10-16T23:25:00.000+01:00

I first heard effin eddie in 1994, and 13 years later it's still as funny as ever.... enjoy

The wedding.

2007-10-09T19:04:00.000+01:00

Such a good looking family....

We had a brilliant time at my brother's wedding in Kerry.

Simplify

2007-10-04T10:15:00.000+01:00

It's the start of October, the last quarter of the year.

The summer has been very busy and fairly stressful, and in the last week there has been my brother's wedding (which was brilliant) my sister coming home for good from the states, my fathers 1st anniversary and several other things that had to be done.

So when I sat down last night to write a bit, the only word that would come into my head was simplify. I really only want to achieve two things over the next 3 months.

1. To work hard, bring in lots of business and have a storming year end.
2. To work out, maintain and improve my shape and fitness from the summer.

It's that simple, most other invitations will be declined, I just want a nice quiet but busy life over the next few months with as little extraneous activity as possible.

I'm looking forward to it.

New irish rugby shirt.

2007-09-27T12:18:00.000+01:00

C'mon Ireland.... Wouldn't it be great to beat the Argies and stuff the bloody journalists.

Meaning V Happiness

2007-09-25T11:30:00.000+01:00

Read a blog yesterday that inspired me to get a book called the Interpretation of murder, the first couple of paragraphs read like this

"There is no mystery to happiness.
Unhappy men are all alike. Some wound they suffered long ago, some wish denied, some blow to pride, some kindling spark of love put out by scorn - or worse, indifference - cleaves to them, or they to it, and so they live each day within a shroud of yesterdays. The happy man does not look back. He doesn't look ahead. He lives in the present.

But there's the rub. The present can never deliver one thing: meaning. The ways of happiness and meaning are not the same. To find happiness, a man need only live in the moment; he need only live for the moment. But if he wants meaning - the meaning of his dreams, his secrets, his life - a man must reinhabit his past, however dark, and live for the future, however uncertain. Thus nature dangles happiness and meaning before us all, insisting only that we choose between them"

So if we must only choose between them, which should we choose?

There is a strong argument for happiness, the idea that we should live only in the present, but it's also a life without "WHY" and although I've never figured out why why is so important, I still have a feeling it is, there must be a purpose however simple, maybe that purpose is just to be happy, which makes a neat circular argument but brings me no satisfaction as to meaning.

There must be more to life than happiness...... it's the most lovely feeling, to be happy, but surely it's not possible to attain it as a constant state.

Mosre questions than answers again I'm afraid... I'll just read the book and see what happens.

Yuvraj Singh 6 sixes Twenty 20 Cricket 2007 England v India

2007-09-22T18:40:00.001+01:00

The bloody rugby has me mithered, so here's a real class sporting moment instead, and to think there are people who think cricket is boring. Have a look at the young fella celebrating after the second six.

Shameless

2007-09-19T23:29:00.000+01:00

I just found out that Fiona and Steve (Anne Marie Duff & James McAvoy) in Shameless are actually married in real life.

I'm as happy as Larry Gogan, It's like all the books I've ever read and all the movies I've ever watched might not be total fiction after all. Maybe Dorothy did get back to Kansas, Charlie really got to visit the chocolate factory and Tiny Tim had a happy Christmas after all.

The first two seasons of Shameless were totally brilliant, the helping with homework scene in series one and the steve and fiona stuff in series two were some of the best British TV ever made.

and now it might not all have been makey uppy.... i'm going to bed happy.

VW golf "changes" commercial

2007-09-17T16:30:00.001+01:00

Advertising has always been one of my interests, in fact I studied it in college in 1987/88. This was my favourite commercial at that time and still is, the actress is Paula Hamilton (specially done up to look like princess Diana) and the music is by Alan Price...and VW are still doing innovative stuff as their new passat campaign has the funniest site at http://www.midlife-crisis-retreat.co.uk/

Closer.

2007-09-17T10:16:00.000+01:00

Must be winter approaching, watching movies again and some of my favourites are popping up on the telly. Last week it was "Hitch" and last night "Closer"

What pops into a persons mind when they are watching a movie like "Closer". I have to admit the things which were flitting through my mind lst night were.

What's real and what's not?
Is winning important?
We all lose in the end anyway.

Actually having played a game on Saturday and lost, watched the rugby Saturday night, supported Cork in the All Ireland on Sunday and then watched Closer I went to bed with six million questions swirling in my head.

It's strange that the only certainty in our lives is that we'll die
If you play enough sport and continue to move up the levels it is inevitable that it will all end in defeat.
If you pursue happiness with enough vigour I've no doubt that it can only end in defeat too.

Happiness is a bit like time, you can't take it with you, you can't bank it, save it up or gaurantee it for the future.
All you can really do is enjoy it when it's there, like sport, time or love. The time to enjoy and appreciate sport is when you're in the middle of it. The only constant in the world is change, I woke up with a new determination to enjoy the day, to not waste what I've got, to enjoy those who are important to me and to appreciate what i've got.

Busy Busy Busy.

2007-09-14T17:19:00.000+01:00

My football season is over, it ended as most football seasons end for most teams, in defeat. http://www.sligoweekender.ie/news/story.asp?j=33674&cat=sport and I have to admit it's strange looking forward to evenings with no training and weekends with no games.

I'm not sure exactly what is going to replace it for me, i really want to stay in decent shape this year so I'll play a little basketball and maybe even get to the gym and lift a few weights, something I've always wanted to do but never really got into.

Work is going really well, it was a busy week and next week is even busier, there are a lot of balls in the air so I am feeling really confident about the next 6 months.

Lining out for Roscommon on Saturday, that will be fun and apart from that it's a very quiet weekend ahead. I'll use it to find some quiet space, reflect and make some decisions.

Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues - 1977

2007-09-14T17:03:00.001+01:00

I'll have this one too please. Tom Waits has been one of the constant things in my life for the last almost 30 years. This song is so beautiful.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2007-09-14T17:00:00.001+01:00

There are only two songs that i definately want played at my funeral service, this is one of them!

Plain White Ts - Hey There Delilah - Official (HQ)

2007-09-14T16:45:00.001+01:00

I just love this new (well I just found it) facility on youtube that allows me to post my favourite music direct to my blog. This is far and away my favourite tune of the moment.

The Sopranos finale (unedited)

2007-09-13T18:17:00.001+01:00

Even the most amazing things have to come to an end.... and I LOVED the Sopranos.. was really sad when it ended, but the fact that no ones ever knew what would happen next was just brilliant...i'm not sure whether i hope there a movie or maybe that's just it. Black screen.... as Tony says..."focus on the good times"

Roger Sanchez - Another chance - Original Mix (Music Video)

2007-09-13T17:57:00.001+01:00

Hitch is on.... Right now

2007-09-12T22:33:00.000+01:00

If you're a guy you gotta love this movie, it's where the loser gets the girl, as opposed to the girl getting the shining prince.

Can't stay to blog...gotta watch the movie, it's like dirty dancing for blokes.

UPDATE. Ok I watched the movie again and now it looks a little sloppy and soppy at the end, see it really is like dirty dancing for fellas, I just don't get this Eva Mendes thing, how did that girl make it in the movies? She is to acting what I am to ballet.

Two little girls.

2007-09-07T16:46:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure how to react to the latest news in the Madeline McCann case. I should feel vindicated a bit as I have long felt that the media shockingly misreported this story, using it to create a culture of fear of the unknown that of course suited the suits in BSkyB.

There would of course have been little interest if Kate McCann had been a black single mother, but no... an affluent white educated married middle class woman would immediately be assumed to be incapable of involvement.

It's the constant insinuation that we need to be very afraid of the unknown that gets me... it's the KNOWN we need to be concerned about, something like 93% of all child abuse, murder and abduction is carried out by people well known to the victim, in fact two weeks ago I watched the news in horror as details were revealed of the terrible torture and killing of a four year old by her mother and boyfriend in Huddersfield

Have you heard of Leticia Aaliyah Wright?

No i bet you haven't....

Deadly buzz!

2007-09-05T00:24:00.000+01:00

Brilliant weekend at my little brothers stag party in Edinburgh, really really enjoyed it, weather nice, lovely hotels (the Radisson is really lovely) fantastic company and one or two beers.

Arrived late friday night to Indigo Yard

where the champagne boys we're having one of those arguments to see who had the biggest credit card and thought "oh my god, what have i let myself in for here" but boy did it take off from there and I only saw one more bottle of champagne all weekend and that was my own fault.

We then proceeded to the very lovely Tigerlily,

where entertainment included the fabulous "VIP" room, which most of us we're allowed into but some had to pay a tenner, it was only when inside the "VIP" room that they discovered it was the smoking area, oh how we laughed, the night was rounded up at the nightclub with the worlds lowest ceiling, a strange place where Barry Manilow bought me a drink.... time for bed really.

An early start on Sat at 8.30, down town for breakfast and a recckie on auld reekie, I've been there many times before but I love the feel of Edinburgh, particularly during August when the festival is on, back to the hotel to meet my older brother Des (apparently I don't really know him) and then we wandered round for a while before a nap, there followed a brilliant afternoon at one of the scummiest pubs in the world, Biddy Mulligans in the Grassmarket, which was absolutely brilliant craic, I laughed so much i hurt myself and eventually had to go for another nap, followed by a fabulous meal in the beautiful maison Bleau

Back to Mulligans where we encountered class and sophistication beyond belief (not) and then on to my favourite pub in Edinburgh, the 3 sisters, it ain't classy but it's just the height of craic and I've never ever had a bad night in the place, the only word is mayhem, the floor was made of broken glass, lager and a sticky substance I really hope was red bull, the place was heaving, everyone was up for the craic, there were no slobberers and it was just mega

A quick visit to espionage nearly ended the night, but when i got back to the hotel and decided to have a late drink I discovered the maddest white rapper in the world who entertained the residents bar until the (very) early hours and was just amazing....

Sunday was a bit of a blur after all that, the Celtic match was an easy stroll and after watching the second half of the hurling it was time to head for the airport, a few delays meant I got home at 2am and monday was a very busy very tiring day.

3 things made this weekend for me.

My brother Des was a bloody revelation, such craic, I really enjoyed his company and stories most of which I'd never heard before.

The crew that travelled, as sound a bunch of lads as you'd meet in a ten mile walk

Enda's Michael Muirhertaigh / Seamus Duke megamix of the 91 Connaught final.

Jaysus I can't wait for the wedding now.