@siobhanmcandrew
Policy economist, here for methods/cultural updates Ex-Sheffield Methods Institute; U. Bristol; U. Manchester; HMT Former V. Prof, Policy Institute, KCL Honorary SL, U. Sheffield Maigh Eo Ag atosú
Congratulations!!!
A surprise and pleasure to hear the Sportsman's Hornpipe on Raidio na Gaeltachta right now
Delighted!
I so hope this is real
Oh god Spórt an tSathairn
Hours and hours of it
Far too fast for my Rang a Ceathair Irish, largely names & numbers at speed, and I have *no interest*
The RnaG equivalent of learning English from Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time, played at double speed
Related to my Possession-esque quest, I like this from today's Louis Theroux interview:
'"[Nietzsche] says, ‘Even when you lie, you nevertheless tell the truth with the shape your mouth makes when you’re doing so.’ There’s metadata that gives the game away".'
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Heather & grasses
Erris/Iorras
Erris/Iorras
Blown away by his wisdom and generosity and forgiveness
His wonderful grandmother protecting him from his father's rejection
Scouting has been salvation for my eldest daughter - what great good fortune he had to be invited in by the scoutmaster as a little six-year-old!
My heart broke when he said he wanted to teach the children about insects and they screamed
We used to call double-decker buses 'a bus on top of a bus'
We were two hours north of Galway. I was on the wait list for braces, which would have been monthly trips to Galway during the working day
Recognise so much of what Dwayne Fields is saying on Desert Island Discs - coming to England from a rural childhood
Just three more to go!
Not a euphemism! I started exactly a year ago, was just thinking about the anniversary 😊
Reflection day today on a year of adventures in stoicism 💪
Still learning!
Just found this old review by John Mullan - I read it differently!
www.theguardian.com/books/2002/n...
Really enjoyed it! Though read it a very long time ago
I was mildly obsessed with a real-life roman a clef last year & felt very much like Roland at the time
Have only just caught on with the Motte & Bailey wordplay so will need to read it again
A shame the film version is so poor
Standing room only, Birmingham-Manchester
Everything is like this now
Some people under the illusion it's the first day of spring, a month late
How delightful to have an impromptu hour at Birmingham New Street station, enjoying the views of the different zones
Not enough train drivers but lots of passengers - so couldn't get on the train following the cancelled train
Another day, another Delay Repay!
*SO* thrilled yesterday to see the first screening of An Irish Atlantic Rainforest, the film about my 17-year journey rewilding a West Cork farm.
It went far and away beyond my hopes: a mesmerisingly lovely, immersive piece of work, almost dreamlike in parts, but grounded in ecology and daily life.
GRMA
I changed at Birmingham & it's been fine since. But I can get to Dublin regularly for half the price - it's a shame
The 0827 smelled of McDonalds & beer
Of course it was beer, not wine, at 8.30 - because wine is for girls
This was clearly explained to us all: 'RED WINE?! RED?! WINE?!' in a Peter Kay Garlic Bread voice
I wasn't sure how wine is more feminine than the vodka one of them was drinking from a carton
Maybe one day they will - if a budget frozen food store called Greenland enters the market & joins the Love2shop voucher card scheme 😄
www.iceland.co.uk
I'm on a train full of football fans - 3 different teams!
I'm sure the train manager, when he does his ticket checks, will ask them to stop playing music through their phones
Surprised I haven't seen him come through yet
Other things to be pleased about - I've realised that one of my work benefits is the option buy a 7 percent off pre-paid voucher card for Iceland
The 7 percents add up!
I just found one of the fabled cheap Advance tickets for a morning trip to Bristol!
And not at 5am either. It feels as unlikely as Charlie Bucket
The tickets have become extraordinarily expensive since I stopped doing that journey regularly
Years ago I sat next to a someone on a long flight - she had grown up in Geneva and remembered Dame Rachel Crowdy!
A lovely surprise to hear Luke Daniels' Wounded Hussar on RnaG just now
An unaccompanied version was on his first album. I tried to learn some of the tunes - but they were all in crazy keys and so so fast
The Tragedy of Institutions:
When they work, they're largely invisible. When largely invisible, they're taken for granted. When taken for granted, they seem unnecessary. When they seem unnecessary, someone eliminates them. Then they need rebuilding. Rebuilt, they're often worse.