tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45552364212366865502024-03-12T17:18:50.286-07:00My StoriesA small collection of my work and thoughts.John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-73075672861272474312021-09-19T05:23:00.005-07:002021-11-26T03:58:12.432-08:00A ramble through space?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">As I ramble through the space called ‘My mind’ I am amazed
at the unknowns I find in these dark caves. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">To give you an example; on one occasion i was fighting to
defend the world from an invasion, on one side from Americans and on the other
side Russians. My heart kept telling me the Americans were right but something deep
within that heart told me it was the Russians. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">A dilemma if ever there was one. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This mind space I am travelling through is complex and not
always rational. As I turned one corner it was full of Americans eating burgers
and moms apple pie. Around the another corner were Russians drinking vodka and
dancing the <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“</span></span><span style="background: white;">Hopak,"</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> or the
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background: white;">"gopak".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;"> It might surprise you
but these are the same dance, where the Russian soldiers kick their legs into
the air.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Imagine me telling these they should go home quietly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Can you see the Russians handing up their vodka or the
Americans surrendering their burgers, I don’t think so.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">In this piece my mind is saying little, leaving it all to my
heart, but believe me, my mind can talk when it wants to. I often wonder which is
worse, my mind or heart talking. I just wish they would shut up and leave me
alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Is there an author out there who could write me a new heart
and while they are at it, a new mind with less lip.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">My mind space is a challenge, full of riots and I often wish
I could leave it at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">My heart caught me off guard here, talking me into entering
‘my mind space’ at a time when this was going on. I would prefer to stay at
home vegetating. My heart doesn’t seem to understand that I can’t change the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Does it really want me to walk up to the Americans or the
Russians and say, look lads the others are right, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">I am not the hero my mind seems to think I am, will it ever
cop on and let me live a peaceful existence, alone without any heroic thoughts
or dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">JC-Dublin-A City with space to ramble</span></p>John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-18125377358660320852021-07-15T04:26:00.002-07:002021-07-16T09:19:38.872-07:00Today, tomorrow and?<p> <span style="text-align: center;">The
purpose of yesterday is to learn</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB">Today
is to do</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB">Tomorrow
is to dream and hope</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">JC-Dublin-A City of true equality</span></p>John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-17363470093912650972018-11-10T03:27:00.002-08:002022-08-29T06:23:13.896-07:0022nd<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today
Ireland matured<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Became a
true republic<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rights for
all<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Free to
marry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No one knows<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet everyone
does<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Living a lie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Ireland’s secret<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No more
hiding<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rainbows
flutter everywhere<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No rain,
just warmth <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the sun shines
proudly<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">High in the
sky<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Smiling<o:p></o:p></span></p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Ireland voted to allow Gay marriage on the 22nd of May 2015)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JC-Dublin-A City of true equality</div>
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-52015154770698763102018-10-20T07:41:00.001-07:002018-10-20T07:41:37.203-07:00I often wonder<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We had a
big hose and used it to pour all the water of the oceans in a volcano, would it
put out the flame at the earth’s core<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We had
springs instead of feet, how far could we hop?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There were
no pens would there be poets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We were all
equal, who would lead?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We were all
writers, who would print the books?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Our
memories lasted forever would we ever forget?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We lived
forever, how far could we look back?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There were
no lies, would there be peace in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">JC-DUBLIN-A City of wonders that wonders</span></div>
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-28829709956060239452018-05-19T02:42:00.000-07:002019-01-11T07:50:23.592-08:00Recipe For Disaster<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This cake needs to be made in as random a manner as possible, in fact it needs to be baked as if you don’t care. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ingredients;<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Add lots of American republican attitude <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mix with Russian power and greed <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some ISIS narrow-mindedness, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Throw in some western religion and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A large helping of Trump<o:p></o:p><br />
A Mexican wall</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There needs to be a lack of any thought other than how you can bake it as quickly, as feasible and if possible, make as much money as you can. There should be no emotion or thought of those who share the cake, even if they are paying for it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Smile at all times, look positive while constantly reiterating there is nothing to worry about. Keep claiming it’s a bargain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is useful to convince the consumer that this is what they really need. The Ryanair of cakes, cheap, make some people sick but what do you expect for the price. A picture of Michael O’Leary or Trump on the box would be nice. In fact forget the box, it’s too expensive, just sell the recipe online and they can bake it themselves, the pictures can accompany this. Charges for using credit cards will apply.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Baking;<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This cake is best baked in an open field with a wild wind blowing across it, while young children run around unsupervised. If the wind is blowing in different directions and there is no shelter, all the better. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More ingredients;<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A large slice of Negativity<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Generous helpings of Alcohol<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some pessimism<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A Lack of self-worth, add depending on your taste.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A large helping of politicians, a mix of all persuasions will add flavour.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lots of false promise<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A blast of lies, multiplied by as many as you can muster.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A wide smirk<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Generous sprinkling of guns, loaded with irresponsibility.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lack of respect<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A selection of recreational stimulants, then add some more<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stir well while mixing with a</span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Sour disposition<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Add lots of capitalist delusional optimism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Add more promise, needs to be convincing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some more alcohol<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Plenty of religion, a mix of opposing views will stir nicely.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As much greed as you can stomach and a little more<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another dash of false promise, you shouldn’t be able to detect when baked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hot air<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dark cold weather sprinkled and mixed well<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More stimulants<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Make sure you don’t go near any cook books or online facility to check weights or values.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A sprinkling of happy mushrooms<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Smile<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Oven level;<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bake at level ‘Random’ in an oven with loose electric wiring and unclean for as long as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pretend to check at regular intervals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be nosy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Use rudeness with lots of arrogance to prod and make sure sentimentality is not allowed near it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leave in oven until ready or burns badly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This cake is best mixed by those who couldn’t care less, but make sure to keep telling purchasers that it was baked on time and if you can whistle an aggravating tune while doing so, all the better or should that be worse, </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">who cares.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">JC-Dublin-A City that loves it's cakes</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-70434556939733510552017-12-02T08:18:00.001-08:002017-12-17T09:16:38.959-08:00DIVERSIONS<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Life is full of diversions, accompanied by an invitation to explore
them. So! Why not accept and see what’s on offer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As children we like things to be the same, toys, books and the same television programmes,
over and over and over again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Repetition is the safety platform of children and the civil
servant. It is the tool of those learning new skills.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Diversions present themselves unexpectantly, as options for
the brave and those who are not afraid to experiment and explore. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, as adults we develop fears that control our
lives ensuring we accept the safe option.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Football players, swimmers, runners, writers, actors,
singers as well as dancers ETC will practice the same techniques over and over
again, until they become second nature, but they will still be ordinary.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The difference between good and great is between those who
explore one or more diversions, as many as possible. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Exploring diversions doesn’t guarantee greatness but it
offers the opportunity, possibilities beyond the norm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I talk about greatness, I don’t mean fame and fortune.
No! fame and fortune can be achieved by those who fulfil a need of the world
media and can be tossed aside as soon as someone fulfils that need cheaper or more grossly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While greatness can be achieved by taking these diversions
and being open to new experiences, it may not be recognised until after death. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It can be the fate of the great that their creativity and
brilliance will be ignored by those less willing to explore. In fact by those travelling through their own
diversions and blinded by the possibilities and their own shortcomings. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Change is often slow, real lasting change that is, and often
the key to this is so well hidden behind the dearth of sameness, safeness and
copying, that finding it is often mistaken for creativity and excellence. The
key only opens the door, allowing you to enter into possibilities, the beginning
of the road.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact there is no such thing as excellence, just stepping
stones to more questions. A mean’s of creating different experiences and
answers to the unanswerable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course as soon as the unanswerable is answered, new
questions present themselves, looking for answers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is why answers are important, because they are the
chests or goldmines that hold the future of mankind. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There will always be questions, answers and more questions
as well as discoveries that provide the answers and encourage more searches for
those who dare, digging deeper without receiving acknowledgement. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The poet never writes the perfect poem, the painter never
paints the perfect picture, the runner never runs the perfect race, but they
all have one thing in common. A curiosity that pushes them along the road that
is a ‘Diversion’.<br />
<br />
JC-Dublin-A city crammed with diversion</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-60864241337087137912017-06-03T13:24:00.000-07:002018-04-26T08:07:42.665-07:00Does 'Fiction’ exist?<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fiction has a value in a world where news is neither true or false. Events in soaps on tele are reported as news, why?<br />
Often authors will write true stories, change the names to avoid
court appearances and publish as fiction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Does fiction really exist? After all it’s the by-product of
ideas fermented in the minds of humans, however erratic, based on
factual experience and lives often lived to the limit. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can fantasize until the cows come home but all your fantasies
are based on real experience, whether lived, read or seen on the screen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve often heard it said that ‘there are no boundaries to
what the mind can do’ or conjure up. This hypothesise is untrue, even if we can
come up with new ideas or thoughts every minute of every day, for the rest of
our lives. Ideas, thoughts, creativity, inventiveness
are all limited by our experience or influences of those we come in contact
with. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not to say we are ‘limited’ in what we can achieve
during our lifetime, though how long we live will of course do this. There are
so many corridors in the mind, all full of our adventures, explorations, dreams
and ambitions, that our creativity is limited only by our life experiences and
what we place in these corridors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This multiplied by the various permutations within, leave us
with enough fertile imagination for a life of creativity, if we use it and
regularly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fiction is really life dressed up, allowing us to lose
ourselves in worlds where we wouldn’t normally enter by choice or order. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is nothing more bizarre than reality, nothing more
unbelievable. Reality was once: ‘the earth is flat’,- ‘Man can’t fly’- ‘We
couldn’t live beyond a hundred’- ‘go to the bottom of the sea’- ‘Land on the
moon’. All these ‘couldn’ts’ are now ‘Fiction’, cast into the bargain basement
of ‘The impossible’. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of recent times we couldn’t see Trump in the ‘white house’ -‘A
woman president (We’ve had two in Ireland)’- A gay Taoiseach’ and peace in
Northern Ireland. All ‘Couldn’ts’ now seen as unthinkable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fiction and reality are interchangeable, connected in a way
that makes life colourful and challenging, with lots of room for questions,
sometimes without answers, though not always, at the moment anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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JC-DUBLIN A City that believes 'Fiction is Fact'</div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-24234158240582594872017-01-21T09:15:00.005-08:002021-09-25T02:06:38.129-07:00Capturing imagination?<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
Capturing a child’s imagination’ is a contradiction in terms, just think about
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Imagination, by its nature needs to be free, untroubled, like a
wild horse on the prairie. To capture this implies that you intend to stifle it
rather than free it with stimulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Imagination needs to be fed by randomness, adventure, space, openness
and freedom, not captured and incarcerated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I’m sure the intentions of people who use this phrase (Capturing a
child’s imagination) intend to free the mind of our young people through books
and other stimulations, but we need to be careful with language and how we use
it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Show them the potential of the mind is limitless, if we allow it
to be, and this should apply to adults as much as children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">One of my hero’s Spike Milligan wrote his first novel, ‘Puckoon’,
about a mythical village in Ireland, without having ever paid us a visit. Using
his vast imagination he got it right in a zany sort of way and then maybe not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The great revelation in this book, for me, was how the main
character argued with the author. The best part, to me, is where Dan Milligan
complains about his legs and demands a better pair be written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To a child everything is possible including what society considers
as ‘Normal’. Unfortunately in ‘Capturing a child’s imagination’ we guarantee
they will be ‘normal’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Society needs to be challenged, the ‘Trumps’ ‘Kenny’s’ ‘Merkel's’
of this world need to see a new way, a road where everyone is seen as equal,
yet different at the same time. We need the wider society to respect this
difference and allow it to develop for the benefit of all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We should all be equal in our difference but respected for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Just look at the people who have helped society most, Martin
Luther King, The Wright brothers, Marconi, Edison, Graham Bell, Einstein
amongst others. They were all strange in their own way but free thinkers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">These are some of the well-known ones but what about those who are less known who dare to think of a cure for cancer, dementia and other diseases, are they not free thinkers, they
need to be if they are to succeed and enable change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">These diseases and others will eventually be cured and we will
travel around the world a quickly as a bus can bring us into town but not if we
fail and ‘Capture Imagination’. we need to allow free thinking in our children, keeping
it free all through life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><i>A genius is a child who keeps learning but never grows up (Anon)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Grab a thought<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mull it over<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Play with it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Change it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Turn it into an idea<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">A possible solution<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To a real problem<o:p></o:p></span></p></div>
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JC-Dublin-A City that allows 'Imagination' to roam free</div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-24849284371723954832017-01-08T08:15:00.002-08:002017-01-08T08:16:53.907-08:00Reading my poetry in Clondalkin library December 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HDq5f6nQbgs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HDq5f6nQbgs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-38136447738386421992016-12-07T10:57:00.001-08:002016-12-07T10:57:06.548-08:00The History of Dublin's Fruit and Vegetable Market<iframe width="459" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vxgtYXcHJBc" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen=""></iframe>John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-20406138989959302142016-10-08T06:36:00.000-07:002016-10-08T06:36:08.631-07:00Imperfect is Perfect enough?<div class="MsoNormal">
Is there such a thing as perfection, if so, why isn’t it on
sale in one of our supermarkets. The
simple answer to this question is ‘Perfection’ doesn’t exist except as an
aspiration, dream, hope, or ambition. It has no value in itself but as an
aspiration it is ‘Perfect’. <o:p></o:p></div>
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No matter how good something is, it can be improved and will
be, in time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What it does as an aspiration is gives us focus and the
dream of doing the impossible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How often have I written the ultimate perfect story or poem
and the next day finding glaring faults that need immediate correction. More
times than any self-respecting male should ever admit.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now imperfection, that’s a different story, a useful tool in
many respects. <o:p></o:p></div>
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First-Its there in front of me, smiling like a friend.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Two-It and me have become pals, mates, because we keep
coming into touch with each other regularly. I have developed a deep respect
for it and its abilities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Three-It is one of the stepping stones to success.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Four-A great teacher and mentor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is of course a road to perfection but unfortunately or
maybe fortunately, it has no ending. A road that goes on and on and on to whom
knows where. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have heard a quote ‘When you reach perfection it is time
to crawl into bed and die’. A bit stark and I don’t know where it came from but it tells
us that there is nothing in life beyond perfection, so if you achieve it, there
is nothing left in life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have also heard it said that if you strive for perfection
you will achieve excellence but I am not so sure of that as I would treat
excellence the same as perfection and it is an aspiration unless you see
excellence as the best you can achieve at the moment but then you could say the
same about perfection. The tutor
‘imperfection’ shows us how to change, often, amend, start again, use your
mistakes as the beginning of a journey. You can’t take too many journeys in
life, if you can fit them in, please do, you’ll reap the benefits. <o:p></o:p></div>
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These journeys from imperfection, along hope, trials,
tribulation, frustration, anger, joy and more anger, are the seeds of progress.
Progress is not perfection, just a train station along the way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We need hope in life, dreams, aspirations and some joy, to
feed our souls, as humans. The belief that you have perfection starves us of
these nutrients.</div>
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JC-Dublin-A City full of imperfections. <o:p></o:p></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-67346245970695020952016-09-23T05:20:00.000-07:002016-10-01T16:01:21.600-07:00Red apple consequence<br />
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Red apples have played a part in life down through the ages. Im sure it was a red Cox’s pippin that Eve gave to Adam and look at the consequences, fish crawling out of the sea and turning into humans. Of course that still begs the question where did Adam and Eve come from but i don't have all the answers.</div>
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Sleeping beauty could have taken a bite and fallen asleep for a thousand years (Time depends on who you're talking to or who’s telling telling the story-She supposedly pricked her finger on a needle but this could be a simile for an apple ) and was only woken by a kiss from a handsome prince or was it a frog who turned into a handsome prince. This begs the question, what had the frog/handsome prince eaten. The other question i would ask is ‘Would the ugly frog know it’s a frog or does it see itself as a prince. Is it aware that it is ugly or presume it is a handsome prince. I suppose what i am getting at is, do we change or is it the frog. Suppose, by a princess eating a red apple, the whole world changed and we see things differently, except the princess of course. As i said, i don't have all the answers, just the questions. A good question, just like a red apple will lead to good outcomes, but you must find your own answers, red apples and good questions enable this.</div>
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The reason i’m exploring this, is to look at the consequences of biting one of these apples to-day and falling asleep for a thousand years. Would the world wide web still exist and if it did, how much information would be on it. How long would your beard be, could the pretty princess have a beard, if she did, would the frog kiss her?</div>
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Would you wake up in the same bed and have bed sores. If you had sores would you be able to sleep for a thousand years. It may seem that these questions are unimportant but if you have bed sores your priorities change.</div>
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Just imagine what the bed would be worth or would it have deteriorated. The antique’s road show may still be around, depending on the price of fuel or will their transport be driven by red apples, well! you never know? Mind you, it would be rational to call it the ‘antique road show’, if it’s still travelling.</div>
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What is it about red apples as opposed to green or yellow apples, could it be allure or to be more precise, ‘Lure’.</div>
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Life would be better if we asked more questions and ate more red apples?</div>
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Dublin-a City defined by it’s ‘Lure’</div>
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John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-65297461724604156222016-07-27T04:26:00.001-07:002018-05-19T02:42:47.388-07:00Modern Bubble Technology<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Bubbles are a transient film of
water with great strength and flexibility, slice one and hey Presto! You have
two.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They can entice you to follow and
then Pop! Their gone, invisible, leaving you stranded. They have no sense of responsibility
or conscience, totally immoral. They of course have their use when in Saunas or
soft drinks, they can massage your sore muscles or the deeper reaches of your
innards. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This doesn’t excuse the fact that
they are totally undependable and irresponsible, they think of no one but
themselves. They will let you down quicker than Irish Permanent will raise
mortgages. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There are of course different types
of bubbles, economic or price bubbles, which sometimes burst with unintended
consequences. Some of them appear with air in water, gas or other liquids like
Guinness and soft drinks. We can also have bubbles of emotion which sometimes
leads to people making rash promises or regrettable threats.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The ability to float is important,
as we don’t want them to float for a second or two, then! Plop. They burst and
disappear, leaving you and me, abandoned, isolated, alone. One way I’ve learned to overcome the burst
bubble is to wear gloves that are oil based, as bubbles don’t burst when they
land on oil.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A real bubble must be lighter than
air and the higher and longer it can float the better. It may in time prove
possible to clone a bubble, taking the best attributes and creating the perfect
one. A stem cell from the perfect bubble would create a lifetime supply of
‘Perfect Bubbles’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
There is a perception that bubbles
have to be round but is this really the case? I accept that they are more
aerodynamically suitable if they have a rotund shape. Could we have square one
or maybe rectangles in the future? The one I would like to see is the
triangular bubble, why not, watch this space, in fact any space. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We may in time find other uses for
bubbles, like floating opium dens, with the residue of the pipe held within the
bubble creating double the effect. There could be green and health benefits
from the reduced need for the poppy seed.
Of course people can and probably will abuse this and use more but you
can hardly blame the bubble. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While a floating bubble may benefit
from its circular shape, it would be easier to sit, lie down and relax if the
bubble had a different shape. In fact a triangular one could be quite
comfortable. There could be a compromise
by having a half round roof designed to act as a solar panel giving us water
and heat when needed. This could be tied
to the national grid, producing heat and electricity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In case you’re wondering where the
water would come from, apart from the bubble being itself water, there would be
water traps around the edge of the roof. This is where the stem cell and other
research come in, shaping bubbles to our needs. Some of us may need bubbles
that float long distance or reach great heights.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We may need one where we can sit,
have a few drinks, maybe barbeque a few steaks, watch television. You can see
how useful a bubble can be, if it is developed and I haven’t even broached the
idea of how to hang a plasma screen while touring.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I should point out at this time,
that all these ideas are possible without the use of fossil fuels and totally
green in essence and practice. A green
bubble would certainly appeal to the ‘Greens’ , if you pardon the pun. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On another occasion I will explore the
concept of ‘Pun’ free bubbles but for the moment we will stick to the issue at
hand, bubbles that have a practical application in a modern society. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We need to focus on ones that can
be controlled, at the moment they are like women, attractive but all over the
place. We need one that the we can sit on and impregnate their thin outer film
when its raining, for shelter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Imagine the consequences of sitting
on a bubble in a rain storm, not a pretty sight. Not harmful on the ground but
imagine if you were floating at one thousand feet, shudder! You could be let
down hard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We need strong ones, with strength
and accessibility along with green credentials, so we won’t be levied to the
hilt with travel taxes and fuel surcharges. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They could also be useful as restaurants,
well! The square and rectangular one’s could be, as they would be free from rates
and other charges imposed by councils for leaving seats and tables outside. On
the pavement. This may entail linking two or more together, with corridor access
between them, a bit like a train. Yes! A bubble train, what a good idea. The
more I think of this, bubbles could be the answer to a lot of the world’s
problems. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A bubble bar, shurly one wouldn’t
be expected to apply for a liquor licence to run a floating pub. They don’t
charge for boats on the canal or crossing the Irish sea.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Night clubs wouldn’t be expected to
close at two thirty am as at present, would they? We wouldn’t need taxi’s as we
would just hop off our floating club/pub/shopping centre as it passes our
house, which itself will probably be a bubble. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We could have a range of flat pack
bubbles from ‘Ikea’ which could be delivered in a square container type bubble.
Just think what this could do for the housing crises at the moment. They could even be delivered to Calais or
Germany and relieve the immigration crisis. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We shouldn’t forget speech and
laughter bubbles, these are generally used in cartoons and can deliver very
strong messages, often political. They can and often do, deliver messages that
humans struggle with. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hurling in a bubble could be
interesting and exciting, once the outer film was strong enough to contain the
‘Sliothar’ as we all watch from our bubbles floating outside the arena bubble. (See below) Just imagine a sliothar travelling at speed, say one hundred miles an hour,
crossing the bar for a point, hitting a thin outer film as the crowd, ensconced
in the safety of their own bubbles, gasp as it hits the outer film, testing its
strength, creating a bulbous effect, for a brief moment, before the sliothar is
fired back, into play at a speed equal to a Boeing 207 at its best. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
This of course can be used to keep
the game flowing, even faster than it is at the moment, as the players would be
expected to resume play as soon as the sliothar re-entered the playing area.
The normal puck-out would be used where the Sliothar failed to come in contact
with the outer film. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the serious side, scientists at
Oxford University are trying to harness the energy released when bubbles
collapse as a way of killing cancerous cells. They have built a device to beam
ultrasounds into the body, generating bubbles at the site of the tumour. When
these bubbles pop, they release energy as heat, killing rogue cells. This of
course could be Cambridge or Trinity here in Ireland, as bubbles tend to move
around quickly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The future is bright, for ‘Bubbles<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Hurling is a very fast and dexterous Irish game played with a hurling stick and a ball-The ball is called a ‘Sliothar’ and the stick a 'Hurley'. Look it up an exciting game when you know the rules.</div>
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JC-Dublin-A City immersed in 'Bubble Thinking'?</div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-79362786542016752892016-07-16T02:24:00.001-07:002017-09-02T04:13:36.745-07:00A Cone<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It had some age and memories, well it looked old, older than
me and that’s saying something. A pine
cone with memories, well why not,? Why presume inanimate objects have no memories. As it lies here in my hand as i walk through Tymon park, i stare at it and how it had aged so in a park with so much fresh greenery and wildlife.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They may have seen early settlers to Ireland as they trudged
through our dense forests. The Partholonians may have passed this cone as they
reached Tallaght, if they ever did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are possibly cone trees blowing in the wind at the
moment , not three miles away from where i live, who are related to this aged one?<o:p></o:p></div>
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A question arises in my aged and challenged mind, ‘How old
is this cone and how long before they perish?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The answer is twofold-(1) How long is a piece of string<o:p></o:p></div>
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(2) I don’t know?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Authors note ; I need to research this, find the answer.
Mankind could really benefit from knowing the answer to this question.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This cone may know the answer to who killed JR and where the
battle of clontarf really took place in 1014. The residents and business people
of Clontarf would be happy if it could be confirmed that the battle did indeed
take place in their hinterland.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It may have lay along the pathway St Kevin supposedly walked
between Kilnamanagh and Glendalough. Would it confirm, if it could talk (come
to that in a minute), his saintliness or reveal how he cursed and swore at
being born too early for a bus or tram to take him there? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Could it have been in St Stephens Green on Saturday 21<sup>st</sup>
of august 1784 when Mary Fairfield was tortured to death for the murder of wet
nurse Mary Funt and later burned as were many others? As this was done after hanging was banned on
the green I presume it was seen as a less barbaric means of paying for your
crimes?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The knowledge held by a pine cone could match any encyclopaedia
in any library.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Going back to them talking, maybe they can but we can’t hear
them-humans are blind and deaf to so much in life. Maybe it’s better if we can’t and leave the past where it is?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course it could be a foreign cone, a refugee, that crossed
European borders before Brexit closes up shop. May have been intentionally left here to puzzle me and who knows who else, maybe you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JC-Dublin-A City that loves it's cones</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-27124366331042305292016-07-03T13:39:00.002-07:002019-11-14T05:10:31.685-08:00Poiesis Stew<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">I’m sitting alone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">At home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">Trying to find the words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">To write this poem</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A glass of wine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Would be divine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Help refine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Each and every line<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A pint of Guinness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Just like Kavanagh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Brendan Behan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Flann O’Brien<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">A mix of vowels<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">With consonants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">Image with simile<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">Sound with symbols<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It could be a Sonnet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A five beat ten syllable line<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Maybe I’ll just rhyme<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Every second line<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It could be an epic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Telling of deeds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Battles won<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">lost<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A limerick would be cool<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But, it needs five lines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Would have to be bawdy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Humour attached<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Comic verse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">To make me laugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Some intimate sniggers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With loud guffaw’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">My poem could be sad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A tale of woe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A perpetrator glad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With evil intent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A sexual tiger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">About to roar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hidden passions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Under a sensuous cloak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It may be a story of love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Happy or sad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Murder and mayhem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Deep desires<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It could be verse for children<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Something simple about suds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Stepping on the cat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Or daddy falling into a pond<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Evil dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Put to pen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A dose of cynicism<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Rhythmic coddle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN-GB">Paradise</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB"> lost<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Lament<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Ode <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Ballad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Rhyming schemes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Assonance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Poetic form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sub text<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I would be blessed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If I had the recipe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A map of dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Mixed with spice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Would be nice<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB">JC-Dublin-A City That Enjoys a Stew</span></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-90673740476839856532016-03-27T08:10:00.002-07:002016-03-27T08:10:24.730-07:00Early call<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
January breeze
massages my skin<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
As a bumble bee
crawls along the path<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
People stepping
either side, </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Missing, </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not noticing<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
An early wake-up call<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
On this sun kissed
January afternoon<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
JC-Dublin a City defined by Dreamers</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-51071571628208136932016-01-14T01:52:00.001-08:002016-10-01T16:06:05.848-07:00Spike<a href="http://jcstorylibrary.blogspot.com/2011/09/spike.html?spref=bl">Spike</a>: <br />
(A Tribute to the late Spike Milligan by JC )<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Rilligan Dilligan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Silligal rhymitcal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Writical lyrical<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Spikical
Millican<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Write as you like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Poetical Bike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Symetrical Kite<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Rhymetical spike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Muckoon Puckoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Potholes caught holes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Mythical Dittical<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Crows analytical<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Adolf Bittler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hitler dittler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Partikil downfall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Humouresly writeilar <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Spikical writeakil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Milligan Bisekil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Lyrical wittical <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Poetical nonsenekil <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Dublin-A City defined by its Analytical Ditticals</div>
</div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-68532897493024333172016-01-14T01:51:00.001-08:002016-07-25T05:25:21.484-07:00 Story in a Box<a href="http://jcstorylibrary.blogspot.com/2011/12/story-in-box.html?spref=bl">Story in a Box</a>:<br />
Locked away<br />
Hidden from life<br />
Sleeping in the dark<br />
Waiting to be opened<br />
Revealed<br />
Shared amongst the world<br />
Secret no more ...<br />
<br />
JC-Dublin-A City that thinks outside the boxJohn Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-14962132799945886222016-01-14T01:50:00.001-08:002016-08-13T05:45:49.499-07:00My Stories: Ripple effect<a href="http://jcstorylibrary.blogspot.com/2012/03/ripple-effect.html?spref=bl">My Stories: </a><br />
<a href="http://jcstorylibrary.blogspot.com/2012/03/ripple-effect.html?spref=bl">Ripple effect</a>:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ripples in the water on a calm day ask me a question,
needing an answer. I’m talking about, well writing about, ripples created in
the water by ducks, swans, sea-gull and people who should be going to Specsaver
(*). These ripples can and do start out as small ripples, no bigger than the
duck, creeping out towards the bank, creating a wide significant ripple.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This disturbance of water, travels and in a sense, infects
the water all around it, upsetting the calm inherent in its nature.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I presume that as the duck moves on, the water settles,
finding its own level, returning to its calmness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is that the end of it or does this small impact on the
river, have a lasting and or longer effect?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have heard it proposed, that if every man woman and child,
in china, jumped up and down for a given period, this would de-stabilise the
world with the shock waves that would permeate the earth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: red;">Authors note</span></u><span style="color: red;">; </span>On recollection, I never heard the women and
children mentioned. That adds to the question, if they were included, would
this<span style="color: red;"> </span>increase the effect or is there a point
where shock waves are limited, I presume not?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: red;">Further authors note;</span></u><span style="color: red;"> </span>The amount of
Chinese, men women and children, in all the countries of the world, mass
immigration and mass emigration, is this a precautionary measure in case they
all start hopping up and down at the same time, giving balance to the shock
waves, negating the effect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: red;">Third Authors note</span></u>; It is hard, to sit at the computer, thinking
of ripples, without thinking of Ice cream ripple, if anyone has a spare ice
cream ripple, I’d be glad of it? End of mouth-watering, authors note.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take the Chinese analogy, if all the ducks, swans etc,
around the world, started to create ripples in all the waters of the world. At
the same time, civilised and otherwise, would it have the same disastrous
effect?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Come to think of it, ducks, just like Chinese, men women and
children, are spread very evenly around the world, across all continents,
creating stability, Whoo! (At this point author wiped sweat from forehead) What
a relief.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Specsavers are a brand of opticians that use a ripple
effect in a television add.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>JC-DUBLIN-A city defined by ripples</o:p></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-54970375544130615292015-08-15T02:47:00.000-07:002015-08-15T02:48:33.507-07:00The possibilities from 'Unusual Combinations'<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Take a chance and if you succeed
you’ll be happy, if you fail you’ll be wiser.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From time beginning innovators have taken chances and mixed
unusual combinations creating successes on top of lots of failures. It is not
the results that matter but the mind that is open to taking a chance and
looking at failure as a step towards success. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Motor cars are a mix of unusual material with horse for
power, rubber for tyres, metal for body, plastic for innards and hide from
animals for seating. Add sand to make glass and you have a wide variety of
unusual combinations that leave us with a vehicle that t travels at speeds that
couldn’t have been perceived a century ago. It may be normal combination today
but before its invention these weren’t normal combinations, some unknown.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If someone told you they were going to mix sand, rubber,
metal, horse, animal hide, plastic with some paint and this could travel at
speeds over 100 kilometres an hour they would be locked up and yet!.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just think of cakes and the various ingredients that go to
making these coronary challenges.
Somebody must have experimented with sugar, milk, butter, margarine,
flour, soda powder, eggs, currents and come up with the thousands of different
treats. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who would have thought that putting a piece of spring metal
on the legs of paraplegics would enable them to travel at speeds challenging
some of the fastest athletes in the world? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The earth which we know is round and was at one time
perceived to be flat but we know from space travel that the earth is round as
is a lot of the planets including the sun and moon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most writers know that if you want to write an interesting
story you will pick the most unlikely combination of characters to populate it.
Then you will create unusual situations of conflict so as they can interact. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course taking a chance doesn’t guarantee success or the
desired outcomes. But this is not important.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Advances in society are dependent on minds that take chances
and advances come from the most unexpected places with the most obvious
outcomes. How often have we said “I could have done that” but could we, only if
we took the chances.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not all of us taking chances will achieve our desired
outcomes but if enough of us try some will succeed and life moves on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JC-Dublin-A city defined by it's ability to 'TAKE CHANCES'<o:p></o:p></div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-28132627443631809622015-07-04T03:59:00.000-07:002016-07-21T06:49:50.156-07:00The probability of 'DREAMS'Life, society,people and the way we live are different now to times past. As we move through the age's, we learn to adapt and change, as we will in the future.<br />
In the fifties, Polio was incurable and Scarlet fever a killer, now we hardly hear of them except in poorer regions.<br />
Things were different then, as they are now and will continue so.<br />
Icarus tried flying with wings made of wax and as we all know the sun melted them. At present, while i'm writing this a plane, sun powered, 'Solar impulse 2', <span style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-family: "cnn" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "utkal" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.9999198913574px;"> </span>has landed in Hawaii to great excitement. This will continue, later on another stage of thirteen, in a round the world trip. In the past, when Icarus was alive, this would have been scary, in the future this or something similar will be the norm. The impossible becoming possible, the dream becoming a reality.<br />
Beware of what people, particularly those with knowledge, say is impossible, as all dreams have the capacity to become reality.<br />
Three months journey to Van Dieman's land in Captain Cooks time can now be achieved in twenty hours and possibly less in the future.<br />
Our famine victims crossed the Atlantic to America in ten weeks, this can now be done in eight hours, an impossible dream becoming a reality.<br />
In the future it will be difficult to die as every physical part of the body will be replace as happens with cars at the moment. At present you can have your heart replaced, new valves fitted, legs replaced, hips, knees, a new nose built and kidneys replaced.<br />
It is only sixty years since the first heart transplant by Christiaan Bernard on the 3rd of December 1967 in Cape Town South Africa. Before this he had performed the second successful Kidney transplant in Africa the same year. This was an impossibility until he achieved it and look at what has happened in medicine during this short time-frame, many dreams turned into reality.<br />
Cancer once incurable can now be delayed or cured if caught in time. I have no doubt that there will eventually be a cure for this aggressive fatal condition.<br />
If man can dream it, man can build or resolve it but he must believe to dream.<br />
Life is full of opportunities, they lie in un-suspecting places, hidden, to be found by dreamers.<br />
Dreamers are more important than science, poetry, engineering, implementation of which are the outcomes of someone's dreams.<br />
Lets awake tomorrow with a dream, let it grow, evolve into a solution to a challenge.<br />
Only the brave can do this, are you one of us?<br />
<br />
JC-Dublin-A City defined by 'It's Dreamers and Doers'.<br />
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-84570412518686567382015-06-13T12:53:00.003-07:002016-05-14T06:18:30.662-07:00Funny?Funny is funny in a funny sort of way. It can be humorous, dark, uproarious, slick, jokey, hilarious, and much more, if it works. If this five letter word turns on you and doesn't work, it's like 'Death in a Moment'. <br />
We can of course be funny unintentionally which is referred to as 'People Laughing Against Us', not funny.<br />
What we need to be really funny is 'People laughing With Us' and some talent/ability. Not an easy task.<br />
Yet everybody tries to be funny at some time or other, with some succeeding and others falling flat on the proverbial. Often there are those who just seem FUNNY funny, not a nice place to be. You have of course heard people say 'She's funny that way' sympathetically.<br />
<br />
Jack Benny could be funny, hilariously so, by doing nothing, just standing on the stage, still. He is reputed to have done this for up to fifteen minutes. He had a reputation for being a 'Miser' and he certainly was, with jokes, based on the amount of time he stood still but audiences got value in laughs.<br />
On one occasion he was in a restaurant and the manager passed a comment him "Your daughter is a bigger tipper than you" to which he replied "We'll she has a rich father, I don't".<br />
He also played the Violin, of which he is reputed to be an excellent player but this is not what we saw on stage. When he removed the violin from his case it could be anything up to ten minutes before he hit the strings with his bow, before you heard a note. Usually bad ones which set the audience laughing, again mean with notes, at least good ones.<br />
<br />
Tommy Cooper often made us laugh by doing nothing or doing something badly, a magician who couldn't magician.(If you know what i mean)<br />
<br />
Les Dawson another English comedian, would stand there on the stage, cross his arms and twist his face or often just his lips and the audience would split their sides laughing. He also had some good monologues which were well written and ridicule his mother-in-law. "I have a soft spot for the mother in-law, its down the back garden".<br />
It's funny really how this can happen, be funny i mean, when some people do it and not for others.<br />
This is down to an undefined skill, 'TIMING' which takes years to practice and perfect. All of the above have this down to a 'T', T for timing.<br />
It's funny really, but funny is a very serious business, which takes a lot of hard work, practice, honing and trauma to make it work, funny that.<br />
You will notice that when a great comedian tells a story or joke he or she will not laugh at it but you will. The exception to this is Tommy Cooper who never stops laughing from the moment he steps onto the stage, but gets away with it.<br />
Norman Wisdom specialised in falling about in a manner that would be a credit to any world class gymnast. His eyes, body movement and general demeanor were funny.<br />
Funny how that works.<br />
What a funny old world,<br />
Life is funny, being funny but its also funny being funny, funny that?<br />
<br />
JC-Dublin-A city defined by its comics<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-72683345929600477872015-04-08T01:27:00.001-07:002018-05-10T02:52:46.575-07:00Fairy tree<div class="MsoNormal">
The tree was laden with soothers that one presumes was
sucked by children over the previous few years. This is the ‘Fairy Soother
Tree’ of Kilnamanagh* where local Fairies hang soothers celebrating, some
voluntarily, giving them up as a sign of growth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What the fairies do with these items is a mystery to most
but I have seen them sitting within the rings while watching a GAA match being
played on the nearby pitches. They have to be careful as birds have been known to
snap a fairy up and carry them away to their nest. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Fairies are generally very quick at disappearing so it takes
a very quick bird to grab one. Unfortunately if a fairy is stressed IE caught
in a beak, they find it hard to disappear.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is quite possible and believable that birds have some knowledge
unknown to us humans, that stop fairies using their magic powers as they can’t
disappear from a birds nest and find themselves sitting on an n egg for months
with only maggots and bird saliva for food. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I know they use these soothers for exercise, swinging from
one to another like monkeys use tree branches. It’s like a fairy gym and they
can be used a s swings when it’s breezy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course none of this happens when humans are about so they
pick a tree in a quiet area where people are less likely to be.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another benefit of a tree is humans tend to look down
instead of up, so even if they are playing when humans are around they are
unlikely to be noticed. Fairies can’t figure this out as there are far more
interesting sights in life if you look up rather than down. Fairies won’t
complain about this as it makes life easier for them. If only birds did the
same. Well! They do but from a different perspective. They look down from above
the tree if only they could also look up as well.<o:p></o:p><br />
Recently a door appeared at the bottom of the tree?</div>
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PS; It is worth nothing that Henry 111 (Of England) signed a law
decreeing the death penalty for anyone found killing, wounding or maiming
fairies. There is nothing in print to suggest this applied to Leprechauns? <o:p></o:p></div>
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* Kilnamanagh is a housing estate on the south side of Dublin city in the townland of 'Tallaght'.</div>
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JC-DUBLIN-A City defined by its love of the little people.<br />
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John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-78723411533652610372015-03-26T12:35:00.004-07:002017-06-03T13:04:22.129-07:00Watery World<div class="MsoNormal">
Reeds along the water bank hide a myriad of secrets known
only to the fish and other inhabitants of the water and its surrounds. They
present a magical enclosure where the dark forces of life reside.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fish with humps, ducks with walking sticks, swans in wheelchairs
amongst other unsightly and unpleasant residents.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Humans are advised to stay away or suffer the consequences.
What these consequences are I am not sure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have spoken to an old fish on the night the reeds are
tallest and he revealed some of the terrors that reside within. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He spoke about the dreaded Turret rat, so called because
their teeth resemble the turret of a castle. How he or any other fish know what
a castle looks like is beyond me but I didn't question him, decided to just
listen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am sworn to secrecy about the location of this meet or the
date on which it took place. The dark forces within the reeds are very
secretive. He tells me 'Turret' is always on the lookout for victims of the human
kind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He reminded me of the many missing people around the world
who after a night out, disappear without trace or explanation. This is the work
of Turret and his accomplices within the reeds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Their dark deeds are often disturbed when well minded
councils or conservation groups cut the reeds back. They look on this as time
out or rest time, knowing the reeds grow back quickly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Turret will often recruit a long slithery pike to use as a
whip around the ankles of unsteady humans. Particularly in the early hours of
the morning. They will be pulled into the water and mashed into a slime by
thousands of hammer head flies which is then used as a slush like drink for the
reeds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These hammerheads are very good at taking instructions from Turret and his cohorts in the dark army. They feel safe in the reeds because humans
look to the water for menace.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reeds can also talk to each other but refuse to converse
with other life forms. They won’t even talk to Turret or any of the other
residents of their enclosure. They see the human slush as part payment for the
protection life form receives in their space.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">JC-Dublin-A
City defined by its Whispering Reeds</span><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555236421236686550.post-76005379121122593392015-02-21T04:33:00.003-08:002015-03-05T01:49:21.162-08:00A bit of 'FUN'<div class="MsoNormal">
‘I forgot to remember to forget’ is a phrase that comes to
mind as I ponder a question posed in a local newspaper ‘Don’t forget to have
fun’. Ironically I have forgotten what fun is? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am having a flashback to Cyndi lauper’s 1984 hit song
‘Girls just wanna have fun’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is fun something you can remember to have, like remembering
to pay bills or or collect someone from the airport?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Surely having fun is a consequence rather than an
intentional act.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Could I possibly look at my watch, see its three o’clock “Oh!
Time to have fun” and off I go?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I suppose it depends on what one does for fun, as I read
recently in David Norris’s Autobiography ‘A kick against the
pricks’, about a family living close to him on North Great Georges Street in Dublin’s North City, who built a snow man and a snow seat on the street for all to
enjoy. People were having good fun with this until three teenage girls came
along and had fun knocking down the snowman. The act was fun for them (The girls) while the
consequence of the act was hurt and anger for the couple who built it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was also the group of Chelsea football fans who had
fun throwing a coloured man of the Metro in Paris. Hopefully the consequence of
this act of fun will be jail time or at least a hefty fine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some will have fun running a marathon which can be hard
work, painful and energy draining to say the least. Others enjoy playing rugby
as the Irish team did against France last week. It wasn’t a fun game as it
struggled to entertain but the outcome or consequence was fun for the Irish
team and supporters who revelled in the win.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For me! I have fun challenging perceptions or taking on the
impossible and making it possible. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I also have fun writing nonsense like this?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dublin-A City defined by its sense of fun</div>
John Conroyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896203498480582242noreply@blogger.com0