I watched the Senate debate via C-SPAN2 to for a while. Senator Akaka presented his case clearly and respectfully, but I had to turn it off after a few minutes of listening to Senator Lamar Alexander building a wall of FUD over the issue. Senator, you simply can’t compare immigrants who arrived and the U.S. willfully and the indigenous peoples who had no say in their government being overthrow and land annexed against their will. Alexander harped on the term “sovereignty” so many times and in such a way as to suggest that that the bill would result in complete…
The Evil That is Coca-Cola
A well-intending colleague of mine posted this on our office’s internal discussion board today, along with another passage that espoused the value of drinking water. I know that some of these are urban myths, but it was an interesting read. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the “real…
Signs, signs, everywhere signs.
If this had happened tomorrow (St. Patrick’s Day), I probably would have fallen flat on my face… One of our Hawaiian Studies majors came into our office with a young part-Hawaiian woman, perhaps 20 years old. He introduced us, and she explained that she had lived in Cork off and on from when she was eight until she was about 16. Apparently her father is from Cork and she has many relatives still there. We talked about our experiences there, and her eyes grew large when I explained that I was considering pursuing a Ph.d. at either UC-Cork or QUB.…
Woman Gets Beer From Her Kitchen Faucet.
This is the kind of thing that you might expect to happen in Ireland, not Norway.
Ulster Irish study group at Yahoo Groups.
Go raibh míle maith agat a Chionaodh! While I’ve been working through Learning Irish with the gang on the Cois Fhairrge group, I didn’t realize that a similar group had just started working on Ulster Irish. As it seems that Queen’s University-Belfast is my most likely destination for Ph.d. work if I do indeed make it to Ireland next year, working on the Ulster dialect makes sense. Someone in the group located this great resource on the Cumman na Gaeilge site. The audio there sounds much more like the Donegal Irish I heard at Oideas Gael, though there still seem…
Signs pointing to Belfast?
I don’t consider myself a particularly superstitious person, but I do look for signs in my life that sometimes help guide me in one direction or another when making decisions. Of course I don’t feel compelled to take a particular path, but I have noticed that when I see these signs and ignore them, I later wish that I had paid them more attention. I’m faced with the decision of choosing the school that I will attend to pursue a Ph.d., and have made a commitment make a choice by the end of this semester. As I have mentioned (more…
Messing with Perfection?
[ From the Irish Times ] Diageo promises their new mid-strength stout will offer the same taste and the same colour as full-strength Guinness, along with the distinctive head. Drinkers of Limerick will decide whether this reduced-alcohol version of Guinness goes on sale across Ireland later this year.
West Belfast Gaeltacht Quarter has tremendous tourism potential.
An interesting development. I know there are people from Ireland who read this blog. One of the options I’m considering for my Ph.d. pursuit is the enthnomusicology program at Queen’s University-Belfast. I’ve had some very positive correspondence with the faculty there, and am considering applying for possible entry in fall, 2007. If there is anyone who can help me and provide some basic information on living in the area of the university (I’d like to avoid having to purchase a car), I’d be grateful. Please feel free to leave a comment to this message or send me and email. Of…
No to Indian mascots, yes to leprechauns?
NCAA president Myles Brand says that the ban of American Indian mascots and images in postseason competition will remain firm despite resistance from schools that would be affected. Asked why the nickname ‘Fighting Irish’ is acceptable at Notre Dame, Brand said, “We’ve never had any Irish people come to us and say we find that offensive… We have cases where real people are being offended, not make-believe leprechauns.”
Red Bull gives you wings… and a lead foot.
British drivers have been warned about caffeine excess after a man was jailed for leading police on a 50-mile car chase after drinking 20 cans of Red Bull.