Here be Dragons

Moving House...

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:42:00 +0100

I’m in the process of moving homes for the first time in about 7 years.. As a result I am find all sorts of crap I completely forgot about.. including my notebook of old poems.. I’ve had this notebook since I was a teenager.. And the first few poems are ones I’d painstakingly copied from an older notebook.

There are some gems I wrote when I must have been around ten. My current favourite is one about the Loch Ness Monster (written circa 1989)

*Ahem*

The Loch Ness Monster

People scream when they see the Monster

Day and night people flee in fright

I don’t’ see why people are afraid

Of a Monster on parade.

**side note.. this is where I get whimsical**

I’d love to see him,

free him from his lonely home

Set him free on land

Where he could wander and roam.

Ok, so biology, palaeontology, and well basic physics eluded me.. but y’know poems are metaphorical.. or something

#FlashFiction Moving On..

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:49:00 +0100

I moved the stone today. It had been staring at me.

The way stones do.

Accusing me of abandonment.

It’s not my fault a stone is hard to love.

I tried to reason with it first. I pointed out that I’d kept it safe these last 15 years. That’s quite a lifetime for a pet rock. Most of my friends lost theirs within the first few months.

It didn’t seem to matter. My stone just kept on staring.

I shouted it at it then. What did it expect. It’s not like it ever showed me affection. It just sat there all the time, expecting care and comfort but offering nothing in return. It didn’t even have a usb cable (being a younger model of pet rock. One I’d picked up in a field).

Still the stone stared.

It wasn’t fair, I moaned, I had to move on. I had to make space. There wasn’t room, I said, In my new life. There was too much history to carry with me.

The Stone was implacable.

I pointed out that it wasn’t the only thing being left behind. Teddies carried from childhood were being abandoned too (these teddies having long since learned their future was inevitable).

The Stone said nothing and merely looked at me.

I couldn’t take it. Didn’t it understand. There was no place for a piece of Tipperary stone with two marker spots for eyes in a grown up life.

One did not walk up the aisle with limestone in one’s bra.

The stone did not care about my tears. The stone just sat there, waiting.

It knew, the way that stones know, that I wouldn’t last against it’s stoicism.

Eventually I sighed and said, oh rock, you have too many memories.

The stone may have blinked.

Or there may have been tears.

So I moved the stone today.

But not into the goodbye box.

Somedays everything is black.

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:52:00 +0100

Somedays everything is black.

Lazy sunny afternoons

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:46:00 +0100

Lazy sunny afternoons

Fireflies

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:36:00 +0100

Fireflies

Desert nights

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:36:00 +0100

Desert nights

Swamp nights

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:13:00 +0100

Swamp nights

In case you hadn’t noticed I’ve been doing some...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:37:00 +0100

In case you hadn’t noticed I’ve been doing some phone art experimenting… More Wine?

OK so this is an experiment in drawing @wilw..

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:36:00 +0100

OK so this is an experiment in drawing @wilw..

Experiments in phone art: Almost There..

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:35:00 +0100

Experiments in phone art: Almost There..

Experiments in phone art: New Super in Town

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:34:00 +0100

Experiments in phone art: New Super in Town

Experiments in phone art: it’s a Snake!

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:31:00 +0100

Experiments in phone art: it’s a Snake!

Experiments in phone art: Season’s Greetings.

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:29:00 +0100

Experiments in phone art: Season’s Greetings.

Last night’s dinner at Rustic Stone on George’s...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:41:05 +0000

Last night’s dinner at Rustic Stone on George’s street… om nom

#QEDcon!!!

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:26:23 +0000

#QEDcon!!!:

I’m heading to my first sceptical conference tomorrow where I hope to Question, Explore & Discover lots of shiny new nuggets of information.

I am very excited… not least cause it’s in Manchester and I haven’t been to Manchester in yonks. I fully intend to get to the Aflecks Palace at some point.. and also there’s this one pub that does EPIC French onion soup..

But enough of my non QED plans..

I have had a perusal of the schedule and I am pretty sure that I’m for Team “International Suite” (not least cause I’m y’know, International).

Saturday Morning I’m planning on seeing the following panals:

- Deborah Hyde’s talk on Werewolves

- Steve Jones in Creationism vs reality

- David Aaronovitch’s Voodoo Histories (I have a voodoo magic bean somewhere that’s meant to bring me wealth.. clearly hasn’t worked.

After lunch I am switching to Team “British Humanist Association Room” for:

- Mediums v Psychics the cage match (or at least that’s how I imagine it)

- Skeptics beyond the pub

And then it’s a toss up between finding superman (is he as hard to find as jesus?) or the Pod Delusion.. ooh I don’t know!!

Then it’s primping myself for the GALA DINNER.. in which I shall dress posh like except with pirate boots.

Sunday will begin with mostly death.. I imagine there will have been wine consumed at the gala dinner and my poor newly grown liver is still a baby when it comes to dealing with alcohol (it’s only a year old bless it).

But after death I’ll be going to Edzard Ernst’s talk and theN Ian Ridpath’s thing about UFO’s.
After lunch I’ll be going to the SiTP forum & Maryam Namazie’s panal on Secularism and citizenship (is it worth pointing out that you can’t be a citizen in the UK? Hmmmm).

Other than that I will be joing my fellow skeptic in crime Rebecca in hunting down people to interview.. You have been warned.. we WILL vox pop you.

(Website for QED: )

having an “I wanna be in Italy” day.. In other...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:17:00 +0000

having an “I wanna be in Italy” day..

In other words.. I need a holiday.. not in Ireland :)

Do you want to start a party?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:56:56 +0000

Yesterday I read the news that Sean Sherlock had sign into law the “not” Sopa Ireland law. Despite 80,000 people saying please don’t. Despite businesses in the tech industry saying it was a bad idea. At the same time he announced a public consultation on copyright law in Ireland… Why he had to bring in the law before the consultation is beyond me, but that’s politics in Ireland..

On the same day Éamon Ó Cuív listened to his conscience (or at least the bit of his conscience that wants him to be re-elected) and resigned his position as deputy leader of Fianna Fail… Leading to a multitude of jokes on twitter about it being 90 years on and once again an eamon and a micheal are splitting the party over a treaty.

Let’s not forget Inkgate.. where Sinn Fein’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh managed to consume over €50k in toner ink in just under 2 years.. maybe that’s a reasonable amount of ink.. who knows..

It seemed to me, reading these stories that politics is broken. Politicians complain that people don’t’ get involved, but when they do get involved they get ignored. I can guarantee you that we will not get a grown up debate on the EU referendum.. instead we’ll get threats and cajoling.

I’m an adult. Treat me like one. Give me the respect of engaging in a proper debate with facts, and not spun opinion!.

So I sent out a tweet in exasperation asking who I should vote for in the next election.. closely followed by a tweet wondering if anyone would be interested in forming a new party..

People were. I got suggestions of forming a Pirate party, a Crafters Party (which morphed into a makers party).. a party that wasn’t nominally “left” or “right”.

Here’s what I want:

A Party that treats me like a grownup. I understand that we’re in a bad place financially. The dog on the streets know we’re going to need a second bailout. If I know it, the markets do, and no amount of grinning and saying we’re on track is going to change it. Be honest with me. Trust me to make the right decision with all of the facts.
A party that gets the modern world. The internet is global. The future is global. We need a party that gets that.
I’m pro Europe. I think there’s a lot that needs to be done differently, but I think it’s generally a good thing. I’d like a party that’s not anti-europe.
I want a party that’s pro-education. There’s a level of short sightedness in cutting education funding. I know we have no money, but education, research and development is the future. If we could even introduce a class in critical thinking (and remove religion) then we could go a long way to increasing young people’s ability to adapt to new possibilities. I think space needs to be provided for user lead groups like coder dojo. We need to let kids enjoy knowledge.

What do you want from your government? What party would you vote for? Don’t let our generation and the one that’s coming up after us be written off as uninvolved.

I get that politics is ultimately about compromise. To get the least worst solution. And that it’s hard. But I think we owe it to ourselves to try and make it better.

Maybe this will go nowhere.. but maybe we’ll start something good, something that strikes a chord, something that works. Maybe I’m just naive.

still… how about it.. Want to start a party?

It’s a missing Paris kind of day.

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:43:14 +0000

It’s a missing Paris kind of day.

Seriously.. Is there is a war on women's rights?

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:42:45 +0000

Following on from my last blog..

Legislation that passed in Virginia:

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/15/government-sanctioned-rape-in-state-virginia-and-texas

What happened in the Senate Yesterday:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/contraception-hearing-house-democrats-walk-out_n_1281730.html

In Ireland.. that X case, and it’s lack of legislation:

http://feministire.wordpress.com/tag/x-case/

In the UK cuts to services have a very real affect on the safety of women (as eloquently put by Patrick Stewart)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/27/patrick-stewart-domestic-violence?INTCMP=SRCH

I am fed up with people saying we have equality.. we don’t..

And I have no idea how to get it.

A General News Rant Blog... or ARRGHRGRHGRHRGRHHH!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:21:46 +0000

A General News Rant Blog... or ARRGHRGRHGRHRGRHHH!:

I’m grumpy.. and tired.. but mostly grumpy.. I’ve been reading news feeds again. I really shouldn’t.. it’s bad for my mental health.

In America the ongoing war on women’s rights is ramping up. Not content with limiting access to abortions, the Grand Old Party has set their sites on reducing access to affordable contraception.

Women.. if you are pregnant, in a dire medical/social/financial/etc situation you have no choice but to carry that child to term and deal with the consequences of having THE S*X. (**regardless of whether or not you had a choice in having THE S*X)

Also.. Women, you are not allowed to have safe responsible healthy fun consentual S*X unless you are rich enough to afford the contraception yourself.

GOD has gifted you with a womb how dare you try to thwart his intentions by avoiding your biblical duty to remain barefoot, pregnant and chained to some form of kitchen sink!.

ARRRGRHRGRHGRHGRRHGRHRGHRGRHRHHHH!

In European News, the EU seems hell bent on destroying Greece.. I know Greece hasn’t been the responsible child of the European Union.. but what’s happening now is akin to the Treaty of Versailles. We may not see the immediate consequences.. but 20 years down the line we may suffer them.

What’s needed (I think) is a new form of Marshall Plan. And a properly federalised democratic Europe.. it’s not going to happen, but I can dream.

In The UK, the conservatives are busy dismantling the NHS.. for purely ideological rather than realistic reasons.. WHY? Seriously.. the NHS is ridiculously awesome. And trust me, when people have to pay £50 per doctor visit they will remember who paved the way for it.

The conservative party may destroy themselves along with the NHS.

And then there’s Ireland…

Where apparently some people are still bemoaning the loss of the embassy in the Vatican, we still haven’t legislated for the X case but we are legislating to criminalise filesharing, oh and Eamonn Gilmore is going to magic up 100,000 new jobs.

I love this country.. I really do.. but we have no hope of getting 100,000 new jobs… none whatsoever. It’s back to the heady days of emmigration and long term dole queues..

Still at least our jobless are not being forced to work the Tesco night shift for dole money…. Oh wait.. didn’t I see something like that on www.jobbridge.ie..

To sum up.

ARRGRHRGRHGRHGRHRGRHHHHHRHRGHRGRHRHHHH!