I got an awful fright in September; it was all over the Irish news that Clery’s department store in Dublin was going into receivership and part of the company’s holdings, Guineys on Talbot Street, was closing down.   Originally … Continue reading →

Their head bones connected to their iPhones Their ear phones connected to their iPhones, Their neck bones connected to their iPhones Their shoulder bones connected to their iPhones Their arm bones connected to their iPhones Their hand bones connected to … Continue reading →

Annecy is the capital of the Haute Savoie, in the Department of the Rhone Alps. With the new motorway, it is less than an hour from Geneva. It is a small city – in Irish terms, about the size of … Continue reading →

It was like being in a scene from M*A*S*H. Lying on a gurney in the hall of the hospital, my arm aching in fresh plaster, I tried to relax, but helicopters kept coming close, hovering,whirleygig rumbling, taking off, their sound … Continue reading →

Woody Guthrie’s centenary, steel guitars and talking blues, freedom and freight train whistles and the Dust Bowl mentality which has replaced Ireland’s Celtic Tiger bravado lead this restless mind to John T Davis and frocks.   Its called polygenesis. Himself … Continue reading →

Under the old Soviet regime not many ordinary folk got the better of the system in the USSR. If one was a high-up member of The Party of course, things were different. However, as a bourgeoise citizen of a democratic … Continue reading →

I had forgotten to bring my passport when we boogied off down to Spain from Beziers in the south of France last week.  Turned around after lunch in Figures and drove straight back up to the Swiss border to change … Continue reading →

                    For St Valentine’s Day I got a Titian, Holbein, Cezanne and a Renoir, several Rembrants, Monets, El Grecos and Dagaseses and Van Gough’s “Irises.”    I also got a signed card … Continue reading →

When we were secondary school students, girls who were not especially academic did Domestic Science, the boys Technical Drawing. In America, it was more or less the same except that they had more facilities; girls did Home Economics, boys did Shop. … Continue reading →

                                          We were wild.  We had long hair we wore long skirts and embroidered waistcoats and carried big bags we’d … Continue reading →