tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:33:20 +0000http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)Blogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-5661368143441834506Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:41:00 +00002009-12-06T16:18:44.782Z......when she cameAs briefly mentioned elsewhere on this blog, my paternal grandmother (dead, evangelical) would often speak in tongues to the family dog. (Sometimes the dog was the family, in fact, holding us together, giving us a point of reference, a distraction, a subject matter with which to fill the air – we heap a lot on these poor creatures, don’t we?) This caused delight and revulsion in unequal http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/12/she-was-loaded-with-bright-angels.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-4218237319887870080Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:24:00 +00002009-12-01T13:03:08.780Zhttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-8684182815401696390Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:30:00 +00002009-11-27T03:24:19.253ZBist du bei mirFour years, one month, twenty-seven days, eighteen hours, twenty-three minutes and twelve, thirteen, fourteen…..seconds. The counting never stops and I miss alcohol so very much that it sometimes leaves me winded and aching and five steps north of desolate. But can you imagine going to Alcoholics Anonymous (esp. the American version)? Oh dear, never. Well, maybe just to wind them up a little, Ihttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-too-sexy-for-my-hurt.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-6961400256568525814Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:17:00 +00002009-12-01T13:02:51.470Zhttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/11/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-5325425642483881288Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:03:00 +00002009-11-23T02:00:41.651ZI bore me - you bore me - he she it bores everyoneDo you like Bartók?Well no, not really, I find it’s often hard to make oneself heard over the jukebox. Why do you ask?What?Give it a minute. Are you there? Good. Hello. I also like to imagine an elderly gentleman going into a record shop in Glasgow and tentatively asking an assistant:Do you have any Bartók?Why yes, Sir, but not very much. Ahem....[clears throat]....."you spill ma pint, ya wee http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-days-like-these.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-4606345328201412594Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:44:00 +00002009-11-19T22:06:07.711Zhttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post_30.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-5159922003631271547Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:35:00 +00002009-09-26T11:27:06.718ZFrank-incensedPeople set up stalls to sell food at the various agricultural shows (here) in West Cork. And that’s fine. I’ve become irrationally addicted to agricultural shows this year (a welcome chance to stare at animals: cows, people, ducks – a wide variety, anyway) and it’s always nice to look at food. So this is a pleasing combination, nothing to worry about.However.At just about every show I’ve been http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/09/grace-sushi-zoo-surprisingly-famous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2376198563879919160Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:38:00 +00002009-11-20T22:53:17.602Zhttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2808126453632088611Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:03:00 +00002009-11-19T22:34:20.353ZAnd the villagers never liked youMy dad, an abysmal human being in almost every respect, once told me a magical tale which, for various reasons, was rapidly and permanently placed in the semi-sacred pile marked Do Not Touch. Sometimes you don’t feel inclined to look at a good story too closely, do you, lest the thing turns out to be untrue? It just feels better and easier to shut out the alternatives and keep faith in the http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/marbled-normality-confused.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-4599050691753717472Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:58:00 +00002009-11-20T00:31:01.386Zhttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_29.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-5229925856282760726Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:11:00 +00002009-08-30T02:57:55.452ZLockerbieOh dear. Scotland seems to have upset an awful lot of people with the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. According to the weight of news coverage, the general consensus appears to be that this action has brought great shame on Scotland - and that someone, somewhere, needs to apologise. I’ve even seen a few people take it upon themselves to apologise on behalf http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/rose-of-all-world-is-not-for-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-3368828681637428472Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:50:00 +00002009-08-10T04:55:14.321+01:00http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_09.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-3770304376340776338Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:24:00 +00002009-08-10T04:29:39.017+01:00That King of Epirus - he knewAccording to some recent outbreaks of opinion, haggis is English. Who knew? Cross-border sniping has been picking up pace since Catherine Brown (historian) revealed that she had found a reference to haggis in a book called The English Hus-Wife. This book was doing the rounds in 1615, apparently, a time when the letter E was still viewed with a certain suspicion and O had yet to be invented. Hahttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/08/blow-me-like-thistledown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2509918589831204001Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:39:00 +00002009-08-10T04:58:11.825+01:00http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post_20.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2239664710418329453Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:18:00 +00002009-06-22T13:07:24.988+01:00hypocrite blogueur - mon semblable - mon frèreMost reasonably objective and well-dressed people will probably say something along the lines of “why?” or “make me” or “I just can’t see myself being interested enough to do so, I’m sorry” when confronted by one of those ubiquitous Follow Me On Twitter signs so very muchly favoured 'pon the Internettle. However, I recently watched myself write the following to an actual girl:“…..although some http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/06/nodding-under-paperweight.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-162291312387068624Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:31:00 +00002009-08-10T04:56:06.395+01:00http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-689502216365318871Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:47:00 +00002009-06-19T05:21:19.937+01:00gigantic flowers slowly advancingAIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals. (Jerry Falwell: 1933-2007)Catching up with the news is hard, limitlessly depressing work. I keep on opting-out, allowing myself to become distracted by things which have pleased me in the past. And one of those things was the news that 90% of the sexual relations enjoyed by malehttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/06/paradise-of-wildernesses.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2207455113455888566Fri, 29 May 2009 00:02:00 +00002009-06-20T04:46:39.541+01:00http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-9144277369913912476Thu, 28 May 2009 23:59:00 +00002009-05-29T05:43:42.497ZEdward Bernays - all is forgivenSo that was April. You know where you stand with an April, don't you? I was almost entirely isolated for the duration: no newspapers, no television, no phone calls, not one single sighting of another human being - except for my girlfriend, occasionally - no real sense of the world at large, no real sense of anything. Silence. Glorious.Glorie zij aan de Vader en aan de Zoon en aan de Heilige http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/05/i-need-to-warn-police-about-paul.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-5318205225607720621Sat, 14 Mar 2009 12:44:00 +00002009-06-19T14:52:00.313+01:00I'm thinking Modestine for the daughter (or son)Most of the crime round these parts is carried out by one particularly grouchy donkey. A section of fence is repeatedly vandalised, wing-mirrors are chewed, plant pots are scattered, trousers are taken from the line and meticulously destroyed overnight. That's okay. It's modestly funny (after two deep breaths) and I get on pretty well with the donkey in question.He's a grumpy rat, it's true, buthttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-moment-when-moon-was-blood.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-8253704450828864635Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:23:00 +00002009-06-20T04:48:31.695+01:00cacoethes scribendi - it's like totally never endySwirling just beneath the tightly controlled surface, making far more noise than the babble of socially acceptable mouth-woofs we are permitted to make in any given situation, a fractious army of disarrayed thoughts continually dares the face to say something catastrophically stupid. Every transaction is fraught.You may be gazing at a strong mechanic as he speaks, drifting in and out of his http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/02/life-is-but-dream.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-1065852094531720592Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:11:00 +00002009-02-03T16:04:50.260Zmuted concern is permissible and mineIt’s 2009 and people still drop litter. I’m no longer surprised. The proof? I saw a man drop a can in Skibbereen and found myself thinking: you know what? This doesn’t surprise me.Do you think that’s a reasonable response, this lack of surprise? I’m told that this response is a sign of real progress - but how can this possibly be? Why wouldn’t you be surprised by such a stabbingly http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-long-way-from-here-to-better.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-4919782871548122703Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:01:00 +00002009-04-09T15:44:20.113ZtaggedI’ve been tagged. This is a relief. Since settling down a few days ago to complete this year’s tax returns, I’ve been variously overwhelmed by a deep and wholly time-consuming interest in The Lindisfarne Gospels (and not just the pictures), the beautiful Georg Cantor, clever slime-ball Edward Bernays and the Moldovan pop outfit, O-zone. (They are not, as might reasonably have been expected http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/01/merrily-merrily-merrily-merrily.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2625516373379039295Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:22:00 +00002009-06-18T02:08:13.967+01:00somaliaIf you survived 2008, well done. Have a biscuit.Every once in a while you come across something that simply forces you to stop in your tracks. I’ve been erasing my unused written memories of 2008 – a necessary January custom – and here, pared down from a 4,000 word rant, is one of my least favourite stories from one of my least favourite years:A thirteen year old girl was raped by three men. Thehttp://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2009/01/gently-down-stream.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611034779954014288.post-2109071488159635894Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:10:00 +00002009-09-22T15:15:42.419ZSevilleSeville – although quite clearly Spanish – is absolutely wonderful. Who knew? I’ve never managed to feel properly comfortable in Spain, for some reason, and usually only ever concentrate on visiting Barcelona (glorious) or Cadaqués (the best). Madrid – and I set great store by capital cities, feeling that they give away a lot – has always left me perfectly cold. But Seville? Well, it feels http://cricketpage.blogspot.com/2008/12/oranges-are-only-fruit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Periodic Englishman)123