Archive for the Strange phenomena Category

Trying a medium for sighs

Posted in Strange phenomena on April 4, 2013 by Johnnie

medium rare

I’m being menaced from the other side. Ghosts are haunting my inbox and after my money.

It’s my own fault. In my anxiety to win a silly online prize (the sort of thing Michael Parkinson sends you free if you subscribe to a 50+ life insurance plan), I stupidly said ‘yes’ when asked if I would like a ‘free’ horoscope. Where’s the harm, I thought? If it’s positive, it’ll put an optimistic bounce in my step; if it’s negative, I’ll dismiss it as the workings of a crank.

To be perfectly honest, I can’t remember what it was about, apart from the fact that she said she knew I’d had it tough lately but there was a pot of money around the corner for me. ‘Tara’ (for it was ‘she’, photo of the ‘model’ who represents her below) signed off as my ‘devoted friend’, asssuring me of her utmost attention at all times. Amazing, a ‘free’ fairy godmother, I thought. Then promptly forgot all about it.

But then the menacing started. Continue reading →

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Glory, glory! Red is the colour! Or maybe not.

Posted in Calcio, Strange phenomena, WhingeRantMoan on May 15, 2012 by Johnnie

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Just what is it about a red shirt that gets glory seeking fans of non-local teams in such a lather? I ask this as a somewhat bewildered Scots observer of English football from an Irish perspective – if that doesn’t sound like codswallop.

I’ll try to explain what I mean, but perhaps my point was illustrated by the recent, bizarre goings on at Cardiff City. You might recall that Cardiff’s Malaysian owners seriously proposed to change the club’s first team colours from their traditional blue to red, alter their club crest, and change their nickname from The Bluebirds to The Red Dragons. Officially, the reasons given were to “demonstrate the symbolic fusion of Welsh and Asian cultures” – but, more interestingly (or sadly), the move seemed to be more about foreign marketability.

It seems to come down to some kind of psychology. Tradition dictates that Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have been easier to sell overseas than blue counterparts Manchester City, Everton and Chelsea. Here in Ireland, I’ve come to describe this as the “Munsterpool United” mindset. Continue reading →

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Pointing the way to a Happy New Year

Posted in Disasters, Grave News, New Stuff, Strange phenomena, Unwanted Comebacks on January 1, 2012 by Johnnie

Dearie me, it’s 2012.

The world is in the grip of death, famine, financial collapse, and, despite the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, there are still a significant number of lunatics running the global asylum.  The New Year arrives with violent storms battering the coasts of Britain and Ireland.  Even David Bowie is about to turn 65.  All we can really do is hope for the best.

This year, I’m hoping to continue where 1997 left off, creatively-speaking.  Let’s call it a ‘creative spring’.  I wrote an awful more in 2011 than I even managed in 1997 (when I took a – ahem – ‘career break’ to write a novel), so here’s to new horizons, finding silver linings in the blanket of dark clouds and, like the Wombles always said, making good use of the things I find.

Continue reading →

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