Archive for July, 2007
Kreacher from Harry Potter - An Irish Icon?
I’ve just been to see the latest Harry Potter movie, and I spent most of the film trying to think who Kreacher reminded me of.
Then it dawned on me! Have a guess before you look… >>> (more…)
12 comments July 31, 2007
Second Prank Letter to Bishop Pat Buckley
On Wednesday I posted this reply from Bishop Pat Buckley to this prank letter that I sent to him a few years ago. Here’s my reply to his reply: >>> (more…)
Add comment July 30, 2007
Monday Quiz 6 - Cartoon TDs and Tax Avoiders
On this week last year (July 30 to August 5, 2006):
- Which TD said that Donald Duck could retain his Dáil seat?
- What desirable coastal property was Clare County Council planning to sell for up to €300,000?
- The Broadcasting Complaints Commission upheld a complaint against Eamon Dunphy, and rejected a complaint against Gerry Ryan. What were the complaints about?
- Why did an Irish equestrian team have its invite to a British dressage competition withdrawn?
- What major Irish business was reported as having moved to Amsterdam for tax reasons?
Click here for answers: >>> (more…)
Add comment July 30, 2007
Eddie Hobbs Hosts a Master Class in Eejitry
In this month’s You and Your Money, Eddie Hobbs surpasses even his own high standards of eejitry, combining prudent financial advice with very silly pictures of himself acting the eejit.
But it’s not just these memorable pictures that have made You and Your Money one of the five best-selling magazines in Ireland. >>> (more…)
1 comment July 29, 2007
Last of The Father Ted Mastermind Questions
Here are the last six questions about Father Ted that helped Patrick Gibson win Mastermind in 2005.
- In the episode Hell, Mrs Doyle said she had put cocaine in the cake but then realised she meant what?
- In the final episode of Series One how does an exasperated Ted suggest Dougal managed to get into the priesthood?
- In his escape from the airplane in Flight of Terror, Father Jack wants one parachute for himself and one for what?
- In the first episode of Father Jack’s Dream about taking a group of schoolgirls for volleyball practice, what is written on the blackboard behind him?
- In the beginning of New Jack City which horse is Ted cheering on in the race he is listening to on the radio?
- In Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading, what does Ted suggest that Dick Byrne should give up for Lent?
Answers just a click away. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 28, 2007
Prank Letter - Reply from Australian Museum
On Wednesday I posted this prank letter that I sent to the Australian Museum a few years ago. Here is how the Museum replied to my proposal for a very strange exhibition by an Irish performance artist. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 27, 2007
Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me
I have recently been ‘tagged’ by John Cav of the New(ish) Journalism, which means that I have to post eight random facts about myself and tag eight other bloggers and ask them to do likewise. This is a sufficiently childish challenge to warrant a considered response, so here we go. >>> (more…)
2 comments July 26, 2007
Prank Letter to Australian Museum
Here’s a prank letter that I sent to the Australian Museum a while ago, posing as an Irish performance artist and proposing a rather strange exhibition. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 25, 2007
If It Bleeds, It Leads - Is There Any Good News?
Is there anything good happening in the world? According to the RTE news editors, of the twenty five most important things for us to know about yesterday, only five were conveying good news. >>> (more…)
1 comment July 24, 2007
Prank Letter - Reply from Bishop Pat Buckley
On Friday I posted this prank letter that I sent a few years ago to Bishop Pat Buckley, the Larne-based ‘unofficial chaplain’ to disaffected and alienated Catholics. Here’s the reply that I got from Bishop Buckley: >>> (more…)
1 comment July 23, 2007
Monday Quiz 5 - Irish Taxes and Cromwell’s Council
On this week last year (July 23 to July 29, 2006):
- What prominent Irish priest was in custody in Germany on charges of incitement?
- What was a Garda talking about when he said: ‘That’s the benefit of this. It’s totally random and it’s totally merciless’?
- Why were some Irish speakers upset at a Revenue Commissioners leaflet about paying tax online?
- Why did an Athlone businessman tell An Bord Pleanála that Dublin City Council was ‘no different to Cromwell’?
- SIPTU called on an employer to pay the wages of a suspended worker until a Rights Commissioner could hear the case. But who was the ruthless employer, who SIPTU accused of ‘acting in a wholly unacceptable manner, completely outside due process and fair procedures’?
Click here for answers: >>> (more…)
Add comment July 23, 2007
Michael D Higgins is Very Direct With Us
Here’s my favourite piece of direct speaking by an Irish politician. When Michael D Higgins became a Government Minister in 1993, he had to defend government censorship of broadcasting, which he had always opposed. When he was asked on RTE to clarify his position, this is what he replied: >>> (more…)
Add comment July 22, 2007
Harry Potter and the Queue of Obsession
As Deathly Hallows is the last Harry Potter book, and as my partner Anne has read all of them so far, I decided last night to allow myself to be ruthlessly exploited by the Harry Potter industry. So we spent from midnight until 2 a.m. queuing in the rain outside Easons in Dublin. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 21, 2007
More of Those Father Ted Mastermind Questions
Here are the second six questions about Father Ted that helped Patrick Gibson win Mastermind in 2005.
- In Competition Times Ted is seen reading which glossy magazine which has a picture of The Pope on the front?
- During the protest over the banned film The Passion of Saint Tibulus, Father Ted has a placard with ‘Down with this sort of thing’. What’s on Dougal’s?
- In Tentacles Of Doom, what does Father Dougal think bishops do until Father Ted puts him right?
- When the parochial house is infested with rabbits Father Ted says he won’t rest until there is only one rabbit left. Which one?
- What make of ear clamps for stopping crows from pinching glasses are advertised in opticians on the mainland?
- According to Ted in Entertaining Father Stone, what was the only side-effect of Dougal being struck by lightning?
Answers just a click away, and the last of the questions tomorrow. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 20, 2007
Prank Letter to Bishop Pat Buckley
Here’s a prank letter that I sent to Bishop Pat Buckley, the Larne-based ‘unofficial chaplain’ to disaffected and alienated Catholics. The letter was sent just after the Bishop Casey scandal in the 1990s. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 20, 2007
The Colombia Three
I was on holiday in South America a few months ago, and I’m just getting around to sorting out my snaps. When we were in Colombia, I was obviously conscious of the proud Republican tradition of Irish visitors bird-watching there. So I took this picture, which I have named The Colombia Three.
1 comment July 19, 2007
Prank Letter - Reply from Dana
On Monday I posted this prank letter that I sent a few years ago to Dana, enclosing a song about all that is wrong with Ireland, to the tune of All Kinds of Everything. Here’s the reply that I got from Dana: >>> (more…)
1 comment July 18, 2007
Fishy Claims of Slimming Pills that Soak up Fat
Update: This advert for Plavsa has now been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland. For more details please click here or else read comment number 120 at the end of this post.
According to a full page ad in this Sunday’s Irish Mail magazine, a ‘Dr. Slausberg from the University of Gotenberg (Sweden)’ has discovered ‘Plavsa, the slimming capsule that soaks up fat’. I have asked the Advertising Authority of Ireland to investigate the claims made for this and related products.
According to the hard-to-find Dr. Slausberg, Plavsa occurs naturally in fish, ‘which is why you never see a fat sea animal.’ I assume the good doctor has never seen a whale. Or a walrus. Or a seal. The ad also says that Plavsa ‘stimulates your digestive system by rapidly eliminating the binded fat molecules’, which sounds to me like a fancy way of saying that it makes you shit a lot more quickly than normal. So, more like a laxative than a slimming pill, perhaps?
The ad then points us to a website, health2udirect.com, where the claims get even fishier. >>> (more…)
141 comments July 17, 2007
Monday Quiz 4 - Binge Drinkers and Tab Dodgers
On this week last year (July 16 to July 22, 2006):
- What unusual event did several Limerick businessmen host at Burns Cove in Kilkee Bay?
- A Dublin man took his employers to court after he was fired. He had told his former boss at a gala dinner: ‘I want to get this off my chest. You’re a little bollox.’ What excuse did his barrister give to the court for his client saying this?
- A report was published on the drinking habits of patients in James Connolly hospital in Dublin. How many of them were found to be binge drinkers, and how old was the average binge drinker?
- Which well-known bar let it be known that some of its customers were slow in paying off their tab?
- What endangered species was Green Party leader Trevor Sargent talking about when he said that it was ‘like a wild salmon swimming upriver against the odds’?
Click here for answers: >>> (more…)
Add comment July 16, 2007
Prank Letter to Dana
Here’s a prank letter that I sent to Dana a few years ago. It is a song about all that is wrong with Ireland, to the tune of All Kinds of Everything. >>> (more…)
Add comment July 16, 2007
