Bathstore's price specials!!

Still getting the regular emails from Bathstore and hopefully will have the opportunity to purchase my own mixer tap one day.

All credit to the store for their novel approach to the after-Christmas 'sale' -

Pictured: Blade mono basin mixer was £149 now £109 (left) Parador was £179 now £199 (centre) Barcelona 3 hole basin set was £179 now £299 (right).

Customer - Is that the Barcelona 3 hole basin set?
Bathstore salesperson - Correct, madam
Customer - I could have sworn I saw that at £179 in the run-up to Christmas.
Salesperson - That's right madam, it's now £299. That's in the 'sale'.
Customer - Oh right! I'll take two then!

Merry Christmas, everyone

Apologies to the great hordes whose experience of the internet has been diminished in recent weeks by the absence of regular updates of this blog. Don't know how it happened, December just disappeared, taking with it part of November.

So with very best wishes for a joyous Christmas for you and yours, and a great 2010, here's a story from the editor's in box today -

News Release
Date of issue: December 2009
http://www.pdsa.org.uk/

Christmas tree at ‘root’ of cat’s illness

A taste for Christmas proved too much for Middlesbrough cat Leah when she became seriously ill – after swallowing a miniature tree. The peckish puss’s sickness mystified PDSA vets until tests revealed a discarded Christmas tree decoration as the ‘root’ cause.

Leah’s owner Claire Smith (27) noticed the one­-year-old cat was losing weight, suffering from chronic sickness and looking poorly, but had no idea why. It was only when vets at Middlesbrough PDSA PetAid hospital investigated the problem that an x-ray revealed a perfectly formed miniature Christmas tree in her abdomen.

PDSA Head Nurse Stephanie Williams said: “Various conditions can cause chronic vomiting and weight loss in cats so there were several possibilities to explain Leah’s symptoms. However the last thing we expected to see was a Christmas tree staring back at us on the x-ray! Even small foreign bodies can cause so much trouble in pets.”

Leah underwent surgery to remove the tiny tree, which had actually split into two pieces, and was kept in overnight for observation before returning home.

Leah’s owner Claire Smith added: “It was fantastic to see Leah after the operation and to take her home, knowing that the cause of her illness had been treated and she could recover.
“I was very surprised when the vets told me that Leah had swallowed a Christmas tree. I can see the lighter side of it now but it was a very stressful period. Now I make sure that nothing is left lying around that Leah can get her paws on.”

PDSA Senior veterinary Surgeon Sean Wensley said: “We always see cases of swallowed ‘foreign objects’ around Christmas time. We urge all pet owners to look around their home, room by room, identifying any dangers to their pets. These can include decorations, toys, lighting, shiny objects and turkey bones.”

Meet the boss

Over the next two or three weeks I'm going to be meeting bosses of some of the bigger local employers. Anyone got any questions they'd like me to ask? I'm on martin.mcginley@derryjournal.com

Greetings from Japan (sorry, Nigeria)

You know, you can beaver away quite happily unnoticed, but it's still nice to get a bit of recognition from outside. And so this Saturday morning, quite out of the blue actually, a note comes in all the way from Japan -

Greetings,

I am sorry to encroach into your privacy in this manner, I found your name listed in the Trade Centre Chambers of Commerce directory here in Japan. I find it pleasurable to offer you my partnership in business. I only pray at this time that your address is still valid. I want to solicit your attention to receive money on my behalf. The purpose of my contacting you is because my status would not permit me to do this alone. When you reply to this message, I will send you the full details and more information about myself and the funds. If interested, please reply through my alternate Email:

hirokojiro1020@yahoo.co.jp

Mr.Hiroko Jiro (Head of Finance Dept,Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank Tokyo, Japan)

More evidence, if more were needed, that the world is indeed a small place.

I decided to seek a photograph of my new friend on Google Images. Imagine my reaction on discovering an instant hit on 'Anti-Fraud International' associated with a scam in relation to a supposed 'inheritance' of one Charles Russel (dec.), and that the IP address being used actually terminates in Nigeria, rather than Japan.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that, in the immortal words of Tom Jones, 'There's no place like home'.

Be careful out there!

Thought for the day

'Go placidly amidst the noise and haste . . .'

The setting - minimal furniture, white, clean lines, day light. The sound - a faint rustling of trees in the breeze along the airy corridor. It is comfortable. There is nothing to do. Just be. After sitting quietly in the peacefulness, it is time for tea

And that's where this morning's email comes in -

Dear Sir/Madam

Yes it’s true, something good and free that comes without obligation!
Simply log onto our website on http://shop.tea-charaku.com/index.php?main_page=login and join us as a member and we’ll happily send you samples of our Charaku Organic Sencha and Charaku Organic Gyokuro. Membership is free too without obligation; if you don’t want to receive our newsletters just let us know. On the other hand you may find our site informative and, sometimes, amusing.
Meanwhile we’re pleased to introduce our organic tea gift sets which may be a healthy, relaxing gift to your friends and relatives over the holiday season.
　　　
With kind regards

Derek & Ayano
Charaku Co.,Ltd8-17 Minamisawa 3-2, Minami-ku, Sapporo, 005-0823 Japan[Tel]+81 11 572 2411 [URL] http://www.tea-charaku.com/

"Ah ya will ya will . . ." - exclusive preview of 'Father Ted, the Re-make!'

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon . . .

A great man for the tea when he was out there in the Yukon beside the old campfire . . .

One of your five a day

You never really know what to expect in your emails. This pic arrived this morning -









Yes, some nice swedes. Seems that turnips are white, but Swedes have a purple top. Another little nugget . . .
[Your blogger] - Got some interesting information on swedes in the email today!
[Everybody else] - What about Pat McDaid and Derry City at the weekend?!!! Wheew

Derry City - what a mess. And it's getting worse. First you have the financial meltdown at the club, with various reports about how much they owe (and the amounts don't seem to be getting any smaller). Now they've been thrown out of football by the FAI and a bad situation's been made worse because the FAI and Derry City are at loggerheads and the legal eagles are getting involved. Whatever way it goes, it's not good for Derry City.

It seems to hinge around what was said at that getting-famouser meeting between the club and the FAI last Wednesday. The FAI Director Fran Gavin claims he and three other FAI reps were told by Derry City that they had a load of players on second contracts - ie probably getting more money than they were supposed to officially under FAI rules. But Derry City chairman Pat McDaid has flatly denied this.

Which begs the question - why did the FAI go into crisis mode and then thrown Derry out?

It seems that one of the questions our sports editor Arthur Duffy at the Derry City news conference yesterday was along the lines of - "What did the FAI hear at their meeting with the club last Wednesday that caused John Delaney to say on Thursday that they were 'gravely concerned'?"

I haven't heard the reply to that one yet.

Looking in from the outside, it's hard to avoid the impression that Fran Gavin is right to say that Derry City should take their oil and go into re-build mode in the First Division. But then you remember the elephant in the corner - the massive debt - and the fact that City are also being denied their prizemoney for finishing fourth.

There have been warnings about the financing of football on these islands, and Derry City is far from the only club in Ireland in diffs. At the McCloskey fight in Magherafelt on Friday night, I was told of a rumour that some bookies were no longer taking bets on the Dundalk v Derry City match. I assumed this was because people felt that Derry's players would be dispirited - to say the least - because of what's been happening, and wouldn't be in the form. It was only the next day that I heard the money was going on Derry because of what's been happening at Dundalk!

Sean Connor stepped down as manager there after the Derry defeat on Friday night.

Strange times . . .

Leading a sheltered life in the north-west corner of Ireland, it's easy to entirely unaware of significant trends. For instance, after an invigorating walk on Sunday in the pouring rain, one might have had a bath with Radox and thought oneself experiencing the acme of modern living.

Of course, had one read today's email from Bathstore in London (rather difficult unless the bathroom came fitted with a Tardis, probably an option in some of our leading outlets), an inner voice might have remarked - "Sitting there soaking yourself - sure you're only in the ha'penny place!" -

Bathstore On Trend
New Trend Bath from Bathstore

Trend 1500 freestanding bath with surround panel £599

The new Trend bath from Bathstore is their most luxurious bath yet, boasting clean, contemporary lines, with simple tapered sides, this freestanding bath will complement any existing bathware. Available in two sizes the 1500 has ample space for one, while the 1800 is designed for two. The deep sided bath provides an idilic setting to relax and unwind, with its lavish wide flat top rim – an ideal place for a glass of wine!

- Darling I'm going for a 'bath'

- [away at work] Eh? Didn't you have a shower earlier on?

Christmas charity

A little mention of a favourite charity -

Breast Cancer Campaign Christmas gift guide
Whether you want to be the belle of the ball at your office Christmas party or you’re hunting down the perfect present for a loved one, Breast Cancer Campaign’s fantastic range of products has got all your festive needs covered.

Download Breast Cancer Campaign’s Christmas gift guide now

For more information please call Campaign’s Press Office on 020 7749 4115 or email press@breastcancercampaign.org

Strange San Francisco connection

Buncrana and San Francisco should be twin towns, with the number of people from Budgin that have lived there over the years or that are still there. Good few Derry wans as well, I'd say.
But while putting together tomorrow's entertainment pages I've just come across another connection I was unaware of in a Wikipedia entry -

Dan White Suicide

Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage by running a garden hose from the exhaust pipe to the inside of his car. "The Town I Loved So Well" was found playing on a continual loop on the car's cassette player, an apparent reference to the city of San Francisco and White's Irish heritage.

Now why didn't I think of that??

Just in by email -

O darling! An ice bandage!

Derry, City of Culture

Time to find out something about Derry's bid to become City of Culture.

'Cheltenham and Gloucester' are among the 30 bids in for the 2013 UK City of Culture title, and of course council officials are 'excited' about the development, as is revealed on the 'This is Gloucestershire' website http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/gloucestershireheadlines/Gloucester-Cheltenham-launch-culture-bid/article-1435683-detail/article.html

Problem is harnessing the enthusiasm of those members of the public posting on the subject, like Mr/Ms A, Gloucester -

I agree that Gloucester should be the next City of Culture - they can put visitors up at our brand spanking (pun intended) new sex hotel, feed them in the downstairs restaurant, ferry them around the new Docks development (mostly composed of hideous retro 60's architecture IMO), show them where the Queen stepped ashore to wave at the populace before leaving as quickly as possible and then ship them back out again via our state of the art railway station with its plastic flowers.

Somehow can't see that contribution making the final bid document.

Wonder what's on the Derry City Council website . . .

Gloucester docks by night - looks quite nice really . . (not a patch on ours, obviously)

The post

Yes, some things still come by post, as many people will no doubt be reminded if all the postal workers go on strike in coming days.

Today, for instance, arrived this letter -

As you can see, it says 'What Historical Records Reveal', and 'See back for details'.

Inside is the torn out front page from the Daily Telegraph of Friday Oct 2. However, in spite of evident abundance of highlighters, there's no indication of which article is of interest. Could it be 'Action Man back from dead' or, from the inside page, 'Lollipop lady foils bald avenger'? Or even 'A problem with wind? You need a digester'.

Sadly the answer will probably never been known, and may have been quite elusive in the first place . . . (however I do now notice some strange marks on the paper which are probably left unmentioned and in the bin).

Also in the post is a book which could be of interest to two boys I know - 'The Lightning Key' by Jon Berkeley, 'the witty finale to this magical trilogy' for children aged eight and upwards.

A letter from a regular correspondent from the city, Neil O'Donnell, disapproves of the views of another reader on the city's famous Halloween celebrations -

" . . the fireworks display she talks about is part of a festival that, not too many years ago, and even today, was and is still celebrated by witches and Satanists . . "

The DPP news, the quarterly magazine of NI's District Policing Partnership, has a screamer 'Introducing the New Chief Constable'. Sadly a gripping personal portrait of Matt Baggott is missing from the pages inside. However by way of compensation we do get the shocking tale, 'New Chief Constable Commends Work of DPPs'.

The best laugh comes from a letter from the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys which is headed - "What's in a name? - Find out in Londonderry on Thursday 5th November 2009."

There are other letters, but perhaps we'll finish with a startling revelation - another regular correspondent has moved on to yellow paper.

Some would say - 'Roll on the postal strike'. Here, of course, we wouldn't miss the post for all the world . . .

Back from Canada to find . . .

Catching up on what's been happening here during the week and a half I've been away in Canada and more particularly Cape Breton, where the Celtic Colours festival was a major success. The festival focused this year on the Irish links, and the contingent from the North West included Jimmy McBride and Keenan Barrett from Buncrana (Jimmy's originally from Gweedore and Keenan from Derry) as well as Mairead Mooney from Altan, Manus Lunny, the lads from Fidil and more.





The first person I met when we arrived for the first concert in the big ice hockey venue in Port Hawkesbury was a Derry man born in Letterkenny, Declan O'Doherty. He's been living in Canada for the past 30 years and is a well-known musician and producer. He was stage-managing this big production, which played to more than 1,500 people including the Canadian Minister for Defence. I see from his MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/declanod that he's worked as an engineer, arranger or producer with the likes of Paul McCartney & Wings, Cat Stevens and Gerry Rafferty.





He was one of a number of people with North West connections encountered on the trip, including a Strabane-born MC who's had a radio show in Canada for almost 30 years and the Derry-born wife of another Celtic music radio DJ.





The redoubtable Joella Foulds, who heads up the pretty massive operation that is the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton these days. She visited Buncrana's Dr Liz Doherty and the North West a few months back.

Cape Breton has the same population as County Donegal, around 147k, but is about twice the size and seems to be coming down with fiddlers, piano players and dancers. Remarkably there are still a few elderly people whose first language is Scots Gaelic. The Scots in particular have had a major impact on the culture of the island, arising mostly from the arrival of tens of thousands of them on Cape Breton at the time of the Highland Clearances from the 1750s to the 1850s (estimates seem to vary from 25,000 to 50,000).





The Irish also had an impact, as you might expect, and a trip around the graveyard at Port Hawkesbury saw a good few Irish names come into view. Some villages are known as 'Irish' areas.





We weren't long on Canadian soil before Cape Breton's major story came up - the local Catholic bishop has been charged with having images of child porn after being stopped at an airport. You can imagine the sensation that has caused on the island.





Back in Derry it's been sad to hear of the death of local girl Orla O'Kane from complications arising from swine flu, and of the controversy surrounding the fact that her family weren't told she had the condition until last Friday, two days after her funeral. The health minister Michael McGimpsey has apologised to the family, and said Orla's death has also highlight the particular vulnerability of children in special schools to the complications of swine flu.





Our Sunday Journal team was first to cover this story.





Anyway, must go - a mountain of emails awaiting discovery!

Anderson in career move shocker!

- That will be £129,99 please madam
- For one?!!

Marcia Cross - career breakthrough!

Yes, news that Marcia Cross is enhancing the brand - the 'Desperate Housewives' star has secured a contract to promote Rooster potatoes.

Cue some desperate PR just in -

Rooster rubs shoulders with the A-List:

Hollywood: the land of the ultra glamorous, super famous and totally perfect – no place for a humble little British potato then? Think again. Hollywood is exactly where the UK’s most perfect potato, the Rooster, went to seek its fortune and guess what, it got the part!

Starring opposite screen queen, Marcia Cross, the versatile Rooster will appear in a brand new ad to air from October onwards. Just in time to herald the arrival of delicious, warming autumn menus, packed with crunchy roast potatoes and creamy mash!

----------------

Strangely, there isn't a sign of the humble potato in the PR shot, although the caption may well be on the lines of -

Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross can't wait for her serving of Rooster potatoes in this top Hollywood restaurant. And yes, that hand could well belong to Leonardo DiCaprio!!

Can't wait to see the tv ads - 'Hi Marcia Cross here, you may know me from Desperate Housewives. Did I ever mention how much I like potatoes? And can I let you into a secret? There's a truly great British potato which simply everyone here in Hollywood is talking about. It's called the Rooster. You know, as in 'hen'. Buy it today - you won't regret it!!'

The editor's upside . . .

Nice surprise on getting to the office this morning - two books from Gill & Macmillan. 'Irish Railways - a new history' by Tom Ferris and 'Weather Eye - the final year' by the late Brendan McWilliams, whose Irish Times columns were much-loved.

Did you know that during the second and third weeks of September, the evenings shorten more rapidly than at any other time throughout the autumn? Or that the shortest day of the year is on or about September 17th, when it is 23 hours and 28 seconds long?

There's an entry in the 'Weather Eye' book for tomorrow, September 3rd, from 2007, and it's certainly upbeat - "it will become increasingly obvious tha thte year is on the turn, and that the slow and sad decline into the aches and pains of winter has begun." Yes, batten down the hatches . . .

The blurb for the 'Irish Railways' book is positive on the outlook for the railways in recent years, saying that towards the end of the 20th century investors were turning their attention to the tracks with "passenger numbers in turn rising with frenzied enthusiasm". Must have missed that bit at Waterside railway station, although to be fair numbers on the Belfast line have been growing well despite the fact that the journey seems to take a wet week. More work is needed on the route.

I see it's still 2 hours and 20 minutes to Belfast by rail, although the benefits of the recent upgrading between Coleraine and Ballymena should see faster times soon.

This year marks the 175th anniversary of what Tom Ferris calls the real beginning of the railway age in Ireland, the opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway.

In his conclusion to the book, first published in hard cover last year, Tom, an Omagh man, seems to almost lose it eventually when he comments:

"At the time of writing (autumn 2007), the line to Londonderry north of Ballymena is peppered with speed restrictions which add to journey times and make the railway uncompetitive against road transport, and again Translink has the begging bowl out looking for funding with the threat of closure always in the background if this fails to materialise. This is no way to run a railway system in the twenty-first century when almost every sentient being knows that railways are the only viable green alternative if car culture is ever to be controlled."

UFO alert! UFO alert!!

In case you didn't hear, UFO alert!

We love it. Yes, the acronym that really drives traffic to your website (http://www.derryjournal.com/, in case you're interested) or indeed your blog (well, you're here, aren't you?) is back.

UFO's have been spotted at Culmore in Derry ('What?! Again?!' I hear you cry). See http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Is-Culmore-Road-a-UFO.5597998.jp

Got an email from a correspondent in that area this morning -

Hey there,

Hope all's well. Great story in today's paper about the aliens. Where in Culmore was the guy from? Should we reinforce the house in ---- Park against alien attack? Strange how the aliens picked the more upmarket end of town to appear eh? Perhaps fearful they'd get their hubcaps nicked if they parked in, say, Ballymagroarty. . . I kid.

I'm sure aliens are seen just as frequently in Ballymagroarty. Anyway, the idea of UFOs getting their hubcabs nicked . . .

My reply -

Hi,

Talked to our reporter and the man wants to remain anonymous but she's seen the video and her comment - "It's mad, mad, like. People are saying, could it be Chinese lanterns? but there's no way."
Could it be planes? "No way, there's about twenty of them. It's mad!"
So sounds like it's mad . . .

UFOs have been spotted quite a bit but it's hard to point to anything really useful that all this alien activity has done for mankind. Until now - the Journal's web traffic went through the roof when we posted our famous 'tax disc' UFO (again in Culmore, as I recall . . .)

The aliens over Culmore in a rather fetching 'V' formation . . .

An aid to inspiration

Here's something we're going to encounter more and more. My blog now appears to have taken on a life of its own. I logged in and came directly to this 'new entry'. Not a home button in sight, and all I wanted to do was to add Leona O'Neill's blog to my 'Blogs I'm following' category (actually I find it hard enough to follow my own blog - we're all time poor these days).

The point is, it's the blog that's doing this. It's taking the decisions - I have the illusion of free will. It's like the friendly woman in Starbucks who immediately starts the Venti Cappuchino. Soon my car will be heading straight for the Journal office, even on my day off (what's that? - ed. (had to put that in)). The porridge will be on first thing in the morning, though I feel like LIDL's fruit and nut muesli. We already have 'predictive text'. When I go up the town later, the staff at Next will already have the 6 months - 9 months boy's babygro at the checkout (scary). Staff at the Green Oaks retirement home have me pencilled in for 2035 (hopefully). The funeral oration is already prepared ('But perhaps his most glorious moment came when he rescued the Observer . . '). 'God' has the hairs on my head counted (or have I read that somewhere before?) The computer will automatically put every second part of the sentence in brackets (like this).

Anyway, what was I talking about . .

A real test for Google Images - what you get if you put in 'Martin McGinley at 80, still harbouring [or rather, 'harboring'] the illusion of 'free will''

Magical Glenlough

Frank McNally of the Irish Times must be on his holidays in Donegal. And clearly he's had a look at a copy of US painter Rockwell Kent's excellent book, to be found, among other places, in the library in Letterkenny. Kent spent time in remote and magical Glenlough, a valley near Glencolumbkille.

Or, since Frank's featuring Glencolumbkille a lot (it was Fr McDyer and the composer Arnold Bax in another column) it might be that excellent local guidebook he's using for ideas. Anyway, it's all good stuff. See
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0827/1224253337118.html


Latest on Rockwell Kent includes a three-hour documentary. John Cunningham at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny is the man to talk to. Incidentally a local historian in south-west Donegal, Christy Gillespie, reckons, after intensive research, that the case backing up local legend about Bonny Prince Charlie being in Donegal (as well as being in Glenlough, he left his razor in a house in Ramelton, it seems) is looking a strong one.

And when we talk of Glenlough, we remember the great fiddler from Meenacross, James Byrne, whose life was cut short last year. His solo album was called 'The Road to Glenlough' after a waltz of his.

I did a piece about a walk to Glenlough for the Irish Times. Haven't got it to hand, but you can read the highly impressive first paragraph at -

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2004/0827/1091051900256.html

Home ideas

Lot of wasted space in your hall? Why look further than the new 'Euro Trio' from Bathstore?! -

Is nothing sacred?

Startling news just in by email -


Press Release

Churchill - The Greatest Briton Unmasked
Nigel Knight

"I have not always been wrong. History will bear me out, particularly as I will write that history myself”
Winston Spencer Churchill
"Nigel Knight lays siege with well-informed gusto to the legend of Winston Churchill” - Martin Bell

3rd September 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the British declaration of war against Germany and it comes at the time of a startling re-assessment of Winston Churchill’s role.

In the popular imagination, Churchill is the greatest Briton but in his compelling appraisal of Winston Churchill’s political career, Nigel Knight reveals in his book ‘Churchill – the Greatest Briton Unmasked’ that not only is there little truth in this picture of his wartime premiership, Churchill’s strategy was in fact disastrous both in peace and war.

Such is the interest in this reassessment that Intelligence Squared has organized an event on 3rd September when Nigel Knight will debate this issue with –
Professor Norman Stone
Pat Buchanan Senior advisor to three US Presidents and
two-time candidate for the Republican presidential nomination
Professor Richard Overy
Antony Beevor, historian
Andrew Roberts, historian

From the debacle of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War when he was First Lord of the Admiralty, to his contradictory economic policies as Chancellor; from his wartime blunders, and to the post-war period when he was marginalized by world leaders, this provocative new book shows how history has conveniently forgiven Churchill for momentous mistakes.

Backed up by rigorous research, Nigel Knight sheds startling new light on the life and career of Winston Churchill, shattering the sentimental myth of Churchill as ‘The Greatest Briton’ and forcing his legacy to be reappraised.

Nigel Knight is a lecturer in British Government at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He is the author of Governing Britain Since 1945.

Press enquiries please contact: Nigel Knight on 07771 530 829, nvk21@cam.ac.uk.
Or Sally Goodsell 07881 828 041, sg@international-marketing.co.uk
Intelligence Squared, www.intelligencesquared.com/events.php
David & Charles publishers, www.davidandcharles.co.uk

Obama's holiday reading - 3,000 pages

Reading 'Netherland' at the moment, by Corkman Joseph O'Neill (and it's really happening, it seems most novelists are younger than I am . . ) . Anyway, here are details from the London Independent of Obama's holiday reading in Martha's Vineyard this week -

On top of the pile stacked on Barack and Michelle's bedside table at the 28-acre estate they have rented for $35,000 (£21,000) on the western tip of the Massachusetts island is Hot, Flat and Crowded, the climate change polemic by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. Subtitled "why we need a green revolution", it makes a leftish call to arms regarding the future of the planet.

Mr Obama's second choice is historian David McCullough's magisterial biography of John Adams, the often underrated second US president, who was the subject of an award-winning HBO docu-drama last year.

The novels include two crime thrillers: Richard Price's Lush Life, and The Way Home, a novel by George Pelecanos set in Washington, DC – which, much like Obama's best-selling autobiography, explores the relationship between a father and his son.

Completing the set is the novel Plainsong, by a little-known writer called Kent Haruf. Set in a small town on the Colorado plains, its existence on the reading list may reassure voters that Middle America has not been ignored by their metropolitan commander-in-chief.

Publishers are keeping a beady eye on whether the famous "Obama bounce" – which has helped sales at the first family's favourite clothes stores, such as J Crew – will continue to apply to their troubled industry. The President's endorsement is said to have lifted sales of Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland about cricket in Holland and New York last year.

The books were unveiled to reporters on Monday afternoon, at an official press briefing. Although world leaders have in recent years become accustomed to leaking details of their holiday reading, cynics often wonder if the lists might actually be little more than the fictional concoction of spin-doctors.

George W Bush caused bemusement in 2006, when he attempted to bolster his academic credentials by alleging that he was reading L'Etranger, by French existentialist Albert Camus, in translation.

Imagine him having to read it in translation . . .



Came across what looks like an interesting link along the way (searching Google Images for 'George W. Bush looking brainy') if you're interested in photography - http://ldesign.wordpress.com/category/epa/

True Romance

A former Journal man is anxious to keep us up to date with events in Durham and forwards this report from PA -


DRUNK NEWLYWEDS SPENT WEDDING NIGHT IN CELLS
By Tom Wilkinson, Press Association
A couple spent their wedding night in the cells after they were arrested at a bus station for being drunk and disorderly, police said today.
Newlyweds Harry and Claire Arnold got into a row with a security guard who asked them to stop smoking as they waited to catch a bus home from Durham.
Police were called and they were arrested, but the custody sergeant took pity on the couple when he heard they had married that morning and gave them a caution rather than making them each pay an £80 fixed penalty.
The couple were married at Durham Register Office on August 10, with 40 guests, in a ceremony that had taken four years to plan.
Afterwards, their twins Thomas and David, aged two-and-a-half, were christened.
They celebrated at Coxhoe Workingmen’s Club, with friends and family, including daughters Claire, 15, Emma, 12, and Caitlyn, 10, and Mrs Forshaw-Arnold’s father, David Forshaw.
The couple then had a romantic dinner for two at the Water House, a Wetherspoons pub, in Durham.
It was on their way home that trouble flared.
The bride, who wore a garter bearing a plastic imitation gun, said later: "Both the ceremonies went really well.
"But it was a nightmare wedding night. I was crying my eyes out. I was devastated.
"The police said ’We’ve never had a bride and groom in before’."
She was allowed home in the early hours and was given a lift in a police car.
Her husband was released at 4.30am and had to walk five miles home to Coxhoe.
A Durham Police spokesman said: "The couple had been celebrating, having got married in the morning and having their children christened in the afternoon.
"They took exception to being asked by a security guard to refrain from smoking inside the bus station.
"Eventually police were called and they were arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
"They were taken to the city police station and admitted the offence.
"They could have been issued with £80 fixed penalty notices but because it was their wedding day, the custody sergeant decided they should both receive a caution."

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

It's our book club choice and we're meeting next week. Think there's another John Boyne novel on the agenda too but 'The Boy With The Striped Pyjamas' was the only one I could see in Eason's yesterday.

It's a short book so got it finished last night. A truly enjoyable and moving read, even though I'd already seen the film. Have to say that as adaptations go, the film is a very successful one.

In terms of other comments on the book, if you were being picky you might pick up on the POV - fairly rock-solid Bruno, which really works, but occasionally drifts off into other characters, not needed really. Last chapter could have been an epilogue. It's a funny book too. Certainly one of my memorable reads of the year (okay, I know everyone else probably read it last year . .)

Also finally got hold of Seamus Heaney and Dennis O'Driscoll in a second edition of the paperback. Pity I didn't have the spare cash when the first edition hardback was still about. Have read the intro and the chronology of significant events in Heaney's life - it's been a full one. As per the question he asks, probably more poetically - what did you do with your life?

Good to see he's recovered well from the stroke, which can have a catastrophic impact for some, subtle effects on others. There's the occasional mention of his good friend, the late David Hammond, a reminder of a fine character I used to enjoy getting the occasional postcard from. I also had the novel experience of hearing myself speaking Irish in a TG4 programme about him. Didn't realise Joan Newmann, denizen of Kilcar, was in the Belfast Group, as was the late Jimmy Simmons, who ended up having the Poet's House in Falcarragh with his wife Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons.

http://johnboyne.wordpress.com/

Book online - Seamus Heaney: the making of the poet, by Michael Parker

Yong on song

Yong Rubin gets in touch by email, intriguingly entitled 'Smiles of comfort and leave him' -

find out if she knew her; but not succeeding in this, she turned This led us to speak of Mr. Catlin's gallery, which he praised through the States, their general characteristics are easily

Looks like another one for the redoubtable secretary, Ms Doherty. . .

Things move fast in Senegal

Email just in -

Nice To Meet You.

How are you doing in life, I Want to introduce my self to you before i could go further, am a lady chisom. by name From the Continent of africa(Senegal) i came accross your profile which real spoke nfine of you so i decided to drop a note to let you know that i am intrested in you for friendship. Please i will like you to email me back in my email address so that i can send you my photos.(chisom.love@yahoo.com) This is my email i am waiting to get a reply from you.

THANKS. chisom. I Love you

----------

Dear Chisom,

I am replying on behalf of the editor, who is busy at the moment. He says he can't recall the circumstances of your meeting, although he does remember an Elvis impersonator Frank Chisum. As the name is spelt a little differently, perhaps Frank is not related. I include a photo from irishshowbands.com

Thank you for your email,

Ms Doherty

Signs of the times

Just through - bit sad to read this somehow . . .

CLASSROOM ANTICS

Traditional school pastimes like writing notes, birthday bumps and marbles are on the verge of dying out as kids ditch them in favour of gadgets, according to new research.

Other playground and classroom antics on the verge of extinction include making rubber band balls, collecting stickers and making daisy chains.

Researchers found children now prefer to text friends, listen to music or play games on their mobile phones.

The statistics emerged in a study of 2,000 parents and children by Stabilo, which produces handwriting instruments specially designed for children.

Top 20 antics from 25 years ago -

1. Pass notes around class
2. Write on desks
3. Marbles
4. Collect stickers
5. Make daisy chains
6. Skip
7. Hopscotch
8. Bumps on birthdays
9. Write lines as punishment
10. British Bulldog
11. Paper, Scissors, Stone
12. Swap things with friends
13. Cat's Cradle
14. Kiss Chase
15. Make paper aeroplanes
16. Chinese whispers
17. Ring-a-ring of roses
18. Flick rubber bands
19. Arm wrestling
20. Make a rubber band ball

Top 20 antics kids do today -

1. Text friends
2. Surf the internet
3. Listen to music on an MP3 player
4. Pass notes around class
5. Make calls on a mobile phone
6. Play games on a mobile phone
7. Swap things
8. Play handheld video games
9. Collect stickers
10. Go on social networking sites such as Facebook/Myspace
11. Skip
12. Email friends
13. Paper, Scissors Stone,
14. Talk to friends on MSN
15. Make paper aeroplanes
16. Write or draw on desks
17. Hopscotch
18. Make daisy chains
19. Flick rubber bands
20. Thumb wars

Another life

As Christy Moore says, everybody needs a break. So myself and the SO are heading into the blue yonder for a bit . . .

Relax and Detox with the New Wellness Menu
At The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, in Sorrento

With an abundance of Mediterranean ingredients to hand Vinenzo Galano, the Head Chef at The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria has created an enticing new ‘Wellness Menu’ for guests this summer.

The ‘Wellness Menu’ is low calorie cuisine; dishes are created using specific cooking methods to maintain the nutritional value of the superb local ingredients. Indulge in a mouth-watering healthy menu of just 540 calories, including Pumpkin soup with goat's cheese and mint, Grilled hake hamburgers and refreshing homemade sorbets.

New smoothie drinks, made with organic fruit and vegetables that are high in antioxidants and with relaxing and regenerating virtues, will be offered at the pool bar. Try ‘The Sorrento’ made with celery and tomato juices, a concentrate of vitamins and mineral salts, with a calming and detoxifying effect.

At the end of the day, complete the wellbeing experience with one of the Wellness Programs at the Holistic Centre La Serra, the boutique spa of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria. For example - The Detox Program which includes a detoxifying and nourishing Detox Body Ritual and an Aromatic Envelopment Massage, to reduce stress and relieve water retention.

The 5 star Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria is set in stunning gardens alive with citrus and olive groves perched on cliff tops taking in panoramic views over the Bay of Naples. As well as discovering the healthy culinary delights of Sorrento you will have the opportunity to take advantage of the numerous outdoor activities such as exploring the Archaeological and naturalistic treasures of the surrounding area, with Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius just across the bay.

Citalia offers 3 nights at The Grand Hotel Excelsior from £805 per person
including half board accommodation, airport transfers and flights from London Gatwick.

For further information or booking, please contact Citalia on 0871 664 0253 or visit http://www.citalia.com/

For Hotel only bookings, please call the hotel on +39 081 807 1044 or visit the website at http://www.exvitt.it/

For further press information please contact Lucy at Ann Scott Associates on
020 7823 9988 or at Lucy@annscott.co.uk

Bye for now! Good luck with the weather!

Stephen King and Derry

As we know, everything in the world is linked to Derry, Donegal and the North West. Here, for instance, is the link with author Stephen King . . .

http://www.examiner.com/x-4886-Stephen-King-Examiner~y2009m8d12-Stephen-King-101-What-is-the-importance-of-Derry

I'm back!

Yes, back from holiday in deepest Donegal. And back here - kept getting directed to some other account. So, to celebrate, here's the latest from the blog that keeps you posted on important developments in the world of hair straightening . .

The ingenious PR firm for the makers of that fabulous invention, Gripeze, have a new release -

Get a grip on your fleeing offspring as the new college term starts

(yes, combining hair straighteners with college results - inspirational!)

It's that time of year when thousands of students across the country are preparing for their entry into university life, so why not give a tactful reminder to your excited offspring to think about their own safety.

A recent survey* revealed 85 per cent of women burn their carpets by hot hair tools and 43 per cent admitted they had forgotten to turn off their hair straighteners, leading to burn damage.

So why not give your son or daughter a hot new gift so there is no need for you to worry anymore.

("I just can't bear the thought of my son/daughter going to university! What if they leave the hair straightener on the carpet of their student flat??")

Gripeze is an innovative new product that every student should have. A heat resistant, non-slip silicone glitter mat designed for all hot hair tools. Gripeze helps protect surfaces from heat damage up to 250?C - perfect for a student's hectic lifestyle.

And much more besides. Just to jog your memory, here it is in pink -

For further information, images or a sample please (well, maybe not) contact Jennifer Pearce on 01962 893 893. *Sheila's Wheels

NEXT WEEK - Hair straighteners and the newly-developed bionic fish - EXCLUSIVE!

Today's big surprise!

Greeting from Dubai,



This brief introductory letter may come to you as a big surprise, but I believe it is only a day that people meet and become great friends and business partners.


I am Mr.Ali Hadaf, currently Head of Corporate affairs with a reputable bank here in U.A.E. And would like to enter into a confidential business deal with you upon your acceptance to co-operate with me I will let you know the details.


Thanking you in advance and waiting for your urgent reply.
Regards,
Mr. Ali Hadaf.

As you may well have guessed, this is not Mr Ali Hadaf, but Freda Hadaf, who is on Facebook and probably has little interest in confidential business deals in Derry . . .

A tree

TREES
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

"Trees" was originally published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914.

Getting stuff organised for an advertising feature is one of the less glamourous jobs in regional journalism (give me a mo on the glamourous ones) but occasionally there are compensations, like this pic for an 'Electrical Innovations' feature in tomorrow's paper.

And to go with it, a salutary tale from the poet with the unlikeliest name . . [sorry about the breaks - please create your own gaps . . .]


Lines Left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree
William Wordsworth (1795)
Lines Left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree which stands near the lake of Esthwaite, on a desolate part of the shore, commanding a beautiful prospect.

Nay, Traveller! rest. This lonely Yew-tree stands
Far from all human dwelling: what if here
No sparkling rivulet spread the verdant herb?
What if the bee love not these barren boughs?
Yet, if the wind breathe soft, the curling waves,That break against the shore, shall lull thy mindBy one soft impulse saved from vacancy.--------------------Who he wasThat piled these stones and with the mossy sodFirst covered, and here taught this aged TreeWith its dark arms to form a circling bower,I well remember.--He was one who ownedNo common soul. In youth by science nursed,And led by nature into a wild sceneOf lofty hopes, he to the world went forthA favoured Being, knowing no desireWhich genius did not hallow; ’gainst the taintOf dissolute tongues, and jealousy, and hate,And scorn,--against all enemies prepared,All but neglect. The world, for so it thought,Owed him no service; wherefore he at onceWith indignation turned himself away,And with the food of pride sustained his soulIn solitude.--Stranger! these gloomy boughsHad charms for him; and here he loved to sit,His only visitants a straggling sheep,The stone-chat, or the glancing sand-piper:And on these barren rocks, with fern and heath,And juniper and thistle, sprinkled o’er,Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hourA morbid pleasure nourished, tracing hereAn emblem of his own unfruitful life:And, lifting up his head, he then would gazeOn the more distant scene,--how lovely ’tisThou seest,--and he would gaze till it becameFar lovelier, and his heart could not sustainThe beauty, still more beauteous! Nor, that time,When nature had subdued him to herself,Would he forget those Beings to whose minds,Warm from the labours of benevolence,The world, and human life, appeared a sceneOf kindred loveliness: then he would sigh,Inly disturbed, to think that others feltWhat he must never feel: and so, lost Man!On visionary views would fancy feed,Till his eye streamed with tears. In this deep valeHe died,--this seat his only monument.If Thou be one whose heart the holy formsOf young imagination have kept pure,Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know that pride,Howe’er disguised in its own majesty,Is littleness; that he, who feels contemptFor any living thing, hath facultiesWhich he has never used; that thought with himIs in its infancy. The man whose eyeIs ever on himself doth look on one,The least of Nature’s works, one who might moveThe wise man to that scorn which wisdom holdsUnlawful, ever. O be wiser, Thou!Instructed that true knowledge leads to love;True dignity abides with him aloneWho, in the silent hour of inward thought,Can still suspect, and still revere himselfIn lowliness of heart.

Now there's a challenge . . .

Bob Dennis occasionally gets in touch with vital pieces of information, as he did last night -

Mario's Cafe, Westhoughton, near Bolton, Lancs. do a Big Boy's Breakfast for £10.

Eat it all in 20 minutes with no drink to wash it down and it's FREE.

10 eggs, 10 sausages, 10 bacon, 10 toast, 5, Black Puddings, Tomatoes, Beans and Mushrooms...but NO CHIPS.

I wonder if Frankie Ramsey's might start doing this...

See the blur in that guy's left hand?! Impressive!!

The sights of Derry

City and county this, from ireland.com

1. Historic Walls of Derry
2. Tower Museum
3. Mussenden Temple
4. The Bogside Gallery of Murals
5. Museum of Free Derry
6. The Guildhall
7. Banagher Glen
8. The Amelia Earhart Centre
9. Benone Strand
10. The Millennium Sculpture (the one at the end of Craigavon bridge - the smell's at the other end in hot weather)

Donegal's Top 10

Wondered idly about this from time to time. Mine, without thinking about it, would be (at this moment) -

1. Beltony Stone Circle, Raphoe (personal one, this)
2. Sliabh Liag
3. Grianan of Aileach
4. Silver Strand in Glencolumbkille
5. The walk from Buncrana to Stragill
6. Tory Island
7. Malin Head
8. The walk from the old Crock of Gold at Glenree across the giant sand dunes to the beach (private land, I think)
9. Rosnowlagh beach
10. Fort Dunree, outside Buncrana
11. Waterfall and then the beach at Maghery, Ardara
12. Walk to the Tower at Glencolumbkille
13. Walk to Glen Lough near Glencolumbkille

Probably would put Tory further up and the Stragill walk down a bit but can't be bothering changing all those numbers again. Anyway, lists and rankings are invidious - it's what talks to you on the day. And probably haven't thought of half of the sights yet. Update later. What do you think?

Here's a few good pubs thrown in for good measure, and in no particular order -
Biddy's Glencolumbkille
The Olde Glen Bar, Glen, near Carrigart
Nancy's, Ardara
Conway's, Ramelton
Community Centre, Tory Island (late night)
Hotel, Tory Island (late night)
McGrory's, Culdaff
Drift Inn, Buncrana
Rusty Mackerel, Teelin, near Carrick
Iggy's, Kincasslagh
Hudai Beag's, Gweedore
Shamrock Lodge, Falcarragh
Martin Casey's Harbour Bar, Downings
Bridge Bar, Ramelton
James McDaid's Wine Bar, Ramelton
Rosato's, Moville
Sail Inn, Killybegs (in memoriam)
Glen Tavern near Glenties
And there's more . .

Donegal's Boy Racers

During the rally weekend there was a big crowd of cars at Newtowncunningham so I stopped for a gander, thinking there must be a stage on the way through.

Instead people were gathering outside a fence around a building, watching in the drizzle as one car or, even more scarily, two cars careered around inside, doing doughnuts, handbrake turns and all the rest. Engines roaring, steam and vaporised rubber rising in clouds.

From my vantage point, well away from the action but still close enough to experience the noise, it looked pretty skillful.

The problem comes in the practising stages, done on the public roads and at some risk to the drivers, their passengers and the unsuspecting (well, pretty suspecting at this stage) public.

Here's one of the writers in the motoring section of the 'Irish Times' on the phenomenon - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2009/0708/1224250223633.html?via=mr

Donegal's Top 10

Here's the top 10 attractions in Donegal according to ireland.com, the website linked with the Irish Times. Back with mine in a mo' - and let's have a look at Derry . . .

1. Slieve League Sea Cliffs
2. Grianán of Aileach
3. Malin Head
4. Flight of The Earls Heritage Centre
5. Glenveagh Castle Gardens
6. The Workhouse Famine & Heritage ...
7. Donegal Railway Heritage Centre
8. Kilclooney Dolmen
9. Tory Island
10. Donegal Tweed

Sun, sea and syrup

Okay, you can substitute the syrup, say, 'serious current affairs'.
It's rather busy here at the moment. The problem is other people enjoying all that sun and sea. An occasional email slips through the system to remind you of what you're missing.
Here's one today from an Menorcan property company (I have dealings with them all the time, well, at least until the National Asset Management Company was set up). You used to hear this pretty often, not so much now - Sure what can you get for half a million?
So as the day is rather grey at the moment, here's the deal -

Location: Binibeca Vell, Menorca

Details: An elevated villa of 142 metres squared with magnificent sea views from a huge terrace of 78 metres squared.

The property comprises three bedrooms, two bathrooms, lounge-dining room, kitchen and utility room.

Outside is a garden with sunbathing terraces and swimming pool with exterior shower. There is also a garage and parking.

Price: Was 560.000 euros, now 445.000 euros

Further property information: Contact Bonnin Sanso via www.bonninsanso.com





(Can I have my free week's holiday now??)

Scales salad shocker sensation Saturday (sorry, Thursday)

Got on the scales this morning and got a nasty shock. Yes, they were live.
No, that tightening of the shirt collar has a perfectly rational explanation - getting fatter.
What's surprising is the explanation. It's not that portion of french fried onions from the really good chipper run by the Derry woman in Falcarragh (probably the best fish and chips in the North West), the daily '99', the crisps or the occasional treat from the Journal vending machine.
Which? (aren't they a busy crew these days)has the explanation today -

Supermarket salads get a dressing down

If you think salad is always a healthy option, think again, says Which? as it found a salad sold at a supermarket containing more calories than a Big Mac and fries.

The consumer organisation bought a selection of 20 pre-packed salads on the high street.* It found Smedleys Atlantic Prawn Marie Rose Salad, £1.49 (300g), which was on sale at Morrisons, contained 855 calories and 66.3g fat, which is more than a McDonald’s Big Mac and medium fries and 70% of the fat a man should eat in a day.

Another unhealthy option was Asda Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, £2 (297g), which contained 43g of fat, nearly as much as six Cadbury’s Creme eggs. Almost a quarter of the salad is made up of high-calorie dressing (13% mayonnaise, 10% Caesar dressing).

Mayonnaise or creamy sauces were often the reason many of the salads were so surprisingly high in calories and fat. Mayonnaise dressing was the second highest ingredient (27%) in an M&S Pasta with Tomato & Basil Chicken salad, £3.20 (380g), which had 760 calories and 46g fat.

Sainsbury’s Tomato & Basil Chicken salad, £2.95 (350g), was also comparatively high in fat. The label specified that it had no mayo but the ingredients list revealed that it contained egg yolk, oil and white wine vinegar - the same ingredients as mayonnaise.

Another potentially confusing label was on a Tesco Tuna Layered Salad. At a glance, it seems the salad contains 275 calories and 20.5g fat - but this is for half the pack. If you eat the whole 350g pack (a reasonable amount for one person), you would consume 550 calories and 41g fat.

Which? wants food companies to adopt one label so that shoppers can see at a glance levels of fat, sugar and salt. Definitive research by the Food Standards Agency shows that a combined label including traffic light colours, guideline daily amounts, grams of nutrients per portion and the words ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’ works best for consumers.

It’s not all bad news for salad lovers, though, as salads can contribute to their ‘five-a-day’. Sainsbury’s Rainbow Salad, £2.20 (215g), contains lots of vegetables and has soya beans and lentils, which are low in fat and a good source of protein. The dressing is on the side, so you can add as much or as little as you want. Another healthy option is Sainsbury’s Thai Chicken Noodle, £2.95 (260g), which also has the dressing in a separate container and is low in fat, salt and sat fat.

How to be good

Which? says -

Look for a salad with lots of different colours as it’s likely to have one or two of your ‘five a day’.
Look for salads that contain separate containers of dressing, as they allow you to add as much or as little as you want.
Salads that have a lot of cheese are often high in fat. Vegetarians looking for a lower fat option, go for something with pulses or beans.

And then have as many fish suppers and pints of Guinness as you like.

Every parent's worst nightmare

It's one of life's great mottos - Be prepared. And not one for that time-honoured Irish response - Observe in the breach.
How ready are you to deal with something untoward happening to your child? New research from Elastoplast (who else?) suggests that 1 in 4 parents in the north have been in an emergency situation when they did not know how to help their child.
And answer this question - is it necessary to cover a small cut with a plaster?
I would have said 'no', having a vague notion that it's 'good to let the air at it'. Around 69% of parents have the same idea, but it seems the advice from St John's Ambulance is always to cover a cut to help prevent infection.
Another fact from the Elastoplast research - More than 87% of parents have taken their young child to A & E or had to call an ambulance - another record figure for Northern Ireland.
Elastoplast has made availabe a first aid for children resource at www.elastoplast.co.uk
Good for them.
Might be an idea to do another first aid course . .

Now - perfect hair on the move

How did we ever survive without email? Just in -

Gripeze®… the hot new summer travel essential for 2009!

The summer season has arrived and you want to look good as you jet set off on holiday or socialise with work colleagues after a hard day in the office. Gripeze - the essential hot hair tools travel accessory allows you to straighten or curl wherever you go.

Gripeze is a heat resistant, non-slip silicone glitter mat. The mat allows you to straighten or curl your hair, then wrap the hair tool in the heat resistant mat, tie it with the band provided and put it straight into your bag or suitcase. You’ve no need to worry about causing heat damage to other items in the bag – perfect for travelling and when you’re on the go.



"People often ask me - how is your hair always so perfect despite your hectic lifestyle??" Mat yesterday

You could be a victim of ID fraud

Yes, it's out there. Someone got hold of a neighbour's card details and PIN number somehow (perhaps through using a machine in exotic Buncrana) and she only found out about it when she discovered withdrawals in Poland on her statement. And she seemed to be having a fairly good time in Poland . .

She was out quite a bit of money for a few weeks, and then got it back from her bank. But be careful out there. Personally I always shield the banklink keyboard with a 500 euro note to help make their day.

Always found Which? magazine really good value in terms of pointing you in the right direction for goods and services, but somehow it's gone off my radar in recent times. Seems to be getting more pro-active now in terms of news releases, like this one from Tuesday -

One in five ID fraud victims not reimbursed

Most victims of identity fraud get their money back, but new research from Which? has found that one in five victims has not got the full amount back and in some cases their bank has refused to reimburse them at all.

According to the Which? survey, one in four people in Britain has been a target of identity fraud. People who have their identity stolen should get their money back unless their bank can prove they acted fraudulently or without reasonable care**.

When Which? member Iain Richardson had more than £2,000 stolen within 20 minutes of having his debit card stolen, Natwest turned down his fraud claim because his Pin was used to withdraw the cash. It said he must have been negligent, and when he appealed to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) it also turned down his case***.

Chip and Pin is the most secure method of payment, but Which? says that a fraudster can discover and use someone’s Pin by looking over their shoulder at a cashpoint before stealing the card, and is calling on the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to provide more detailed guidance on the evidence banks have to give in card fraud cases****.

Earlier this month, a judge ruled against a Halifax customer who wanted compensation for money taken from his account, because his Pin number had been used.

Card fraud at cash machines increased by 31% between 2007 and 2008, and around £609.9m was lost through card fraud last year.

Martyn Hocking, Editor, Which?, says:
“Identity fraud is inconvenient and stressful, and can also be costly if you’re unable to recover your losses. Fraudsters can be extremely clever and may need just a few details to access your accounts, but you can significantly reduce the risk of fraud if you’re vigilant. Most of us know that we shouldn’t write down our Pin, but we should also shred bank statements, be cautious about the passwords we use and think twice before posting personal details online.”

Tips and a video guide to beating ID fraud are at www.which.co.uk/identityfraud.

----------

* Which? surveyed 1,038 members of the public, representative of the GB population, online in May 2009.

** Under clause 12.12 of the Banking Code. Not taking reasonable care might include writing down or disclosing your personal identification number (Pin).

*** People should make a formal complaint to their bank in the first instance. If they’re not happy with the bank’s response they can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)free of charge. If FOS rejects the complaint, they can take the matter to court but they may have to pay for this course of action so should seek advice first.

**** When the Financial Services Authority (FSA) takes over retail banking regulation this November, Which? expects it to provide more detailed guidance on the evidence that should be provided by banks in card fraud cases. Which? will be making representations to the FSA as it develops its new role in the coming months, ensuring that the process is both fair and fully transparent for consumers.

www.which.co.uk



A Witch? yesterday

Butter knife blues

Mark Mearns was obviously off helping an old lady across the road the day they did table manners at school. Here's how he handles his butter knife -



Unfortunately it isn't his own head, according to the ITV report on Yahoo this afternoon -

Polish national Michal Ciesla, 28, was stabbed last August in Aberdeen by Mark Mearns, 35, when attempting to retrieve his money back from the latter's prostitute girlfriend after she refused to have sex with him.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, the judge, Lord Uist, gave Mearns - who has 140 convictions - a minimum sentence of three years and three months and a lifetime restriction order - meaning he will be supervised after his release.

Mearns had admitted assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and the danger of life.

His solicitor advocate, Iain Paterson, claimed his client wanted to stop his girlfriend selling her body to feed her heroin addiction.

But Lord Uist said Mearns had "contributed nothing to society" and was a "burden" for most of his life.

Trivial Pursuits

Have to admit I'm one of those people who don't watch the soaps, which is just as well as when I recently caught ten minutes of some Australian one in George and Bernie's house, I was almost hooked. Then another time recently there was a bit of drama going on as one surgeon was working on someone's brain, and his ex-partner was dealing with a baby at the other end - riveting . .

This all comes to mind because of a rather worrying development in today's emails. Georgina Jaggs (a name to die for in PR) writes to me personally (can't recall the occasion, but I feel sure I would have remembered) -

Dear Martin,
We are publishing ‘The Reality Television Quiz Book’.
Please see below 100 sample questions from the book.
I was wondering if you would provide a short comment on the book to be printed on the back cover, e.g. ‘A must for any TV fan, etc, etc. The deadline for comments will be the end of September 2009, but the sooner the better.

Eh?! So write the review - without even getting a free book? What's the world coming to . . .



Georgina pictured later this week in Helmand province

At last!

Hello sunshine – and a safer tan!

Hurray the sun is out – but before you prepare to soak up the rays, why not consider a safer tanning alternative with Velvotan™?
Velvotan™ is an ingenious self-tanning mitt which ensures you avoid those tell tale fake tanning signs of streaky skin and orange stained hands.
The mitt has a velvety smooth applicator and lotion-proof barrier to protect the hands and can be used with any self tan cream, lotion, mousse, spray or tinted moisturiser.
And, when you have finished, just pop it in the washing machine ready for your next safe tanning experience.
Velvotan™ applicator mitt is £2.99 and available from Superdrug and Tesco.

Ends

For more information contact Rachel Meagher or Pippa Clark at Target Public Relations on 01242 633100 or rachel.meagher@targetgroup.co.uk

Exclusive! Iranian President - blog update

The weather in Russia's really nice

Blunkett attacked . . .

Not the most unusual headline for a politician, but this time the former Home Secretary was at the receiving end of the attentions of a large cow. It was attracted by his guide dog and ended up falling on his side, breaking a rib.

He told the 'Independent' - "I know that the public are furious with politicians but I didn't realise that anger has spread to Britain's cow population too. A few more inches and Labour would have been facing another unwelcome by-election in my Sheffield constituency."

Following on from Gordon Brown's remark about his wife's absence from an event in East London - "Don't worry she hasn't resigned" - Labour seems to have decided that humour could be the secret weapon to get them out of the hole ("Recession? We're on the session!!")

Out of it all, we have to thank Kevin Rawlinson at the Indo for unearthing the strange fact that cows are actually more dangerous than bulls - "Over the past eight years, 18 people have been killed and 481 injured by cows compared with 17 deaths by bulls and 123 injuries."

So if mad cow disease doesn't get you (or even swine flu), an actual mad cow might . . .





'So children remember - always take your sharpened knitting needle with you if you may encounter a cow'

The Wow! factor

Another PR department pulling out all the stops in an email this morning -

RTÉ Television to keep viewers entertained throughout the summer

Alchemy - turning digression into an artform

It's time to get worried when it doesn't matter where in the world it happens, it has something to do with Derry or Donegal. Or both. This phenomenon is known as local journalism.

For instance, the US painter James Fitzgerald, not particularly well-known but worthy of note, and the writer John Steinbeck used to meet up in Ed Rickett's wooden house in Monterey. Both were part of the famous circle of friends and characters used as a basis for Steinbeck's book 'Cannery Row'. (I think the character of Henri the painter may have been based partly on James but can't remember for sure.)

So what's that got to do with the price of ointment? Well, we recently carried an article in the Journal about John Steinbeck's visit to the Derry area and his family roots in Eglinton. These links seem to have been pretty special for him.(Was reminded of the comments of Jim McLaughlin, Moville geographer, in his excellent introduction to his anthology 'Donegal - The Making of a Northern County' - "Even today people and places in Donegal often acquire the characteristics of urban myths. They are talked about, often by outsiders, city-dwellers and 'compulsive weekenders', in terms than render them infinitely more magical, and attractive, than the county's 'real places' and 'real people' could ever possibly be." Sort of like the alternative society that Steinbeck creates through Mack and the boys in 'Cannery Row'. Of course, before leaving the subject, we all know just how special Donegal and Derry people really are . . )

Meantime the art of James Fitzgerald has been the subject of an exhibition at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny, and the Irish premiere of a documentary of his life was screened there on Sunday week in the presence of its director Frederick Lewis (thanks to the man himself, John Cunningham). And while it doesn't seem that James Fitzgerald had family connections with the North West, it did have a certain significance for him - he died of a heart attack on a visit to Arranmore Island in 1971. (He might have enjoyed the job description on the death cert - 'retired amateur artist'.) His expedition to Donegal may have come about through his friendship with the painter, traveller and writer Rockwell Kent, who loved his time staying in Glenlough near Glencolumbkille (then again, he managed to survive the experience).

So far, so local. But since there is a certain amount of time available, why not surf around the connection? And before long, you could be discussing the significance of the Tibetan Book of the Dead ("Of course we had the Dalai Lama here last year . .") in the life of the US mythologist Joseph Campbell.

First let's look briefly at a remarkable man who welcomed a remarkable set of individuals into that wooden house between two canneries on Ocean View Avenue (since renamed Cannery Row) in Monterey. He is now regarded as an eminent marine biologist, and in a book review online (http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/mavericks-on-cannery-row)
Bruce H. Robison, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California, writes -

Ricketts's lab on Cannery Row was a magnet for scientists, writers, prostitutes, musicians, artists, academics and bums. Gatherings there included discussions of the interplay of philosophy, science and art, and often evolved into raucous, happy parties that went on for days.

From http://www.amazon.com/Renaissance-Man-Cannery-Row-Ricketts/dp/0817311726 is the following -

Renaissance Man of Cannery Row: The Life and Letters of Edward F. Ricketts (Hardcover)

Marine biologist Edward F. Ricketts is perhaps best known as the inspiration for John Steinbeck's most empathic literary characters - "Doc" in Cannery Row, "Slim" in Of Mice and Men, Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, and Lee in East of Eden. The correspondence of this accomplished scientist, writer, and philosopher reveals the influential exchange of ideas he shared with such prominent thinkers and artists as Henry Miller, Joseph Campbell, Ellwood Graham, and James Fitzgerald, in addition to Steinbeck - all of whom were drawn to Ricketts's Monterey Bay laboratory, a haven of intellectual discourse and Bohemian culture in the 1930s and 1940s.

From http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1252560 -

Some of the most vivid fodder for the novel [Cannery Row] came from Ed Ricketts and his biology lab. In the weathered wooden building, squeezed between two enormous canneries, Ricketts stored the specimens he sold to school labs -- frogs and cats and the tiny marine creatures he collected during hours spent in the tide pools off Monterey.

"By the time John Steinbeck met him in 1930, Ricketts was more or less living in his lab and in the company of caged snakes. To the sounds of Leadbelly, or a Gregorian chant, one could enjoy jug wine, arty women, and -- most of all -- marathon sessions of philosophizing," Montagne says.

[ . . .] Rodger [Montagne] says it wasn't just John Steinbeck who appreciated Ricketts' mind. Those who partied and swapped ideas at the lab included the young composer John Cage, the budding mythologist Joseph Campbell and the writer Henry Miller.

Moving on, this is famously how Steinbeck started 'Cannery Row' -

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses. Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches," by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing.

At http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6096
Michael J. Meyer, DePaul University Chicago, has this to say, and refers to a philosophical approach shared by Steinbeck and Ricketts (and which has a certain attractiveness) -

In typical Steinbeck experimentation, the text of Cannery Row mixes Biblical language with the language of heroic myth (a return to the Arthurian imagery of Tortilla Flat), while also using the non-teleological principles that Steinbeck and Ricketts had speculated on during the voyage and that they believed were the essential tenets of universal existence.
Non-teleology or lack of causation was a philosophical theory which suggested that the questions of why and how a situation occurred were not really important, and that, as an observer of so-called “facts”, the user must be careful not to impose any value systems other than what “is”. In other words, Steinbeck and Ricketts espoused a philosophy according to which whatever “is” is right, thus hoping to eliminate the human guilt or regret.

The character Doc is certainly something of a philosopher, and some of his observations may ring true to those who've been puzzled during discussions on business ethics -

"It has always seemed strange to me," said Doc. "The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."

Joseph Campbell, one of the Cannery Row circle, was a fascinating man. For those philosophically or mythically inclined, his entry in Wikipedia seems a good starting point. Which eventually brings us to Bardo Thodol, tonight's bedtime reading . . .

And we haven't even got on to Martha Graham, Henry Miller or John Cage yet. Begin there with an interesting little article by Dave Brubeck (had no idea he is so old - the 'Take Five' man was born in 1920) - http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2006/2006-Sep-14/Article.cover_story_

Yes, back in the old days they used to talk about the microcosm of the macrocosm, or maybe it was the macrocosm of the microcosm. With Google, it all starts to make sense. The world is getting smaller, everything is local, and you don't have to be Benedict Kiely to summon up Kavanagh in an instant -

Epic

I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided, who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man's land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.
I heard the Duffys shouting "Damn your soul!"
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel -
"Here is the march along these iron stones."
That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was more important? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.

Patrick Kavanagh

The moral - Google is dangerous . . . and like so many things, in a beautiful sort of a way . . .