Norway Shooting Andres Breivik The New Europe
July 25, 2011
What do you do when the lunatics have taken over the asylum? What do you do when it becomes crystal clear that any criticism of the EU is forbidden. What do you do when freedom of speech no longer exists ? What do you do when you see a European Superstate being created right before your eyes ? What do you do if , having voted NO you are told that you got it wrong ……? What do you do when millions of people simply don’t give a damn either way because they are doing quite well out of it all ? What do you do when you are condemned as racist because you oppose Islamic racism ?
What do you do when words like Racist or homophobic are used to kill even the possibility of political debate? What do you do when intolerance becomes the order of the day ….when the state and media conspire to kill off free speech ? What do you do when they take your vote away and tell you to shut up ?
The only thing left to do is kill. The young labour party members who were killed by Breivik were part of this thuggish intolerant Europe and no doubt would have been quick to tell anyone who did not share their Fascist world view that they were racist or stupid. Breivik is a strange man with some very odd political views but what he did is totally understandable ……People such as these young people have made it clear that democracy is dead and now they are dead. I for one will not shed tears for them.
RINGSEND GARDEN BIRDS CAMBRIDGE COURT IE
June 9, 2011
I have done nothing with my blog for some time. ……in fact I’ve done nothing period…So , for no paticular reason here are some photos of my ‘garden’ and some of the birds that keep me company as I sit here staring at the walls…..
I suppose I should get back into the habit of writing something on my blog at least once a week but to be honest I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness much of the time.
ADULT TRICYCE DUBLIN WANTED
September 22, 2010
A friend of mine here in Dublin is in need of an adult tricycle cheap or even free. If anyone out there knows of one please let me know. It’s a long shot but I figure there are probably quite a few out there rotting in garden sheds.
JOHN SAMUEL HUMBLE WEARSIDE JACK
August 21, 2010
It’s 12:00 at night and I’m sitting here listening to Nat King Cole on my record deck. I like old vinyl …even the feel of it. Today I bought an old Gene Vincent LP in town and that was my excitement for the day. I go into the record stores every day and wander around…… That’s about all I do. I often feel I should be ‘doing something’ – but what ? It’s strange really , the fact that I don’t know anybody. It is I suppose remarkable…. – It doesn’t bother me , at least no more than anything else but it is rather strange – sort of. But that’s neither here nor there. So what’s all this got to do with John Samuel Humble ? Well , nothing really ….nothing in particular.
He was on TV tonight , a programme about him that is and it got me thinking. He seems a rather tragic figure , a lonely man – a loser , to use a somewhat cruel phrase but for all that his hoax was a great success. If it wasn’t for DNA and modern science they never would have caught him. There was quite a lot of footage of him being interrogated and much of the time he did not look too well , his hands appeared to be shaking ….. His crime of course was serious but he looked more like a victim himself. I do like the man’s name ; John Samuel Humble has a certain ring to it - It would be a great name for a serial killer. He looked defeated , in fact every photo of the man I’ve seen reinforced the idea I have of him as a victim. But the actual hoax , the tape that is , sounded very convincing. Why he did it we just don’t know and it’s likely that he doesn’t know either. He was surprised and even frighted at the success of the whole thing and went so far as to phone the police to warn them that it was in fact a hoax. You could say he was a bit too clever for his own good.
But he’s famous now. He’s immortalised himself. He’s a celebrity of sorts. If he was a different kind of man he could ( when he get’s out of prison) probably make a good living out of being Wearside Jack. As it is a lot of other people will no doubt manage to capitalise on the whole thing. He seems to have had a sad and lonely life and there is no reason to belive that that will change when he gets out. He’ll go down in history as some sort of unfortunate / dimwit / fool …..or worse. There is a Wearside Jack on Facebook but it’s just some rock group ( they’re probably useless). Wearside Jack/ John S. Humble is famous. His name /names will outlive ours. He’s not quite ‘cool’ but he’s made his impression. So – so what. What’s the point ? What does all this prove ?
If all this had happened in the good old days Humble would have become a caution. Parents would be telling their children , ” If you don’t go asleep Wearside Jack will get you” or “If you don’t eat your greens I’ll have to tell Jack”. If it had occurred in the 30′s in the USA someone would probably have written a ballad about the man. Sonia Sutcliffe meanwhile has moved back into the home she shared with Peter Sutcliffe. She’s probably there right now all alone in one of the upstairs bedrooms looking out the window like some latter day Anthony Perkins. It’s strange that she should have become a stress councillor of all things, but there are a lot of strange people out there aren’t there.
CAMBRIDGE COURT DIARY RINGSEND
August 17, 2010
I have been sitting here wondering what I should blog about today but cannot think of a thing. Things are quiet in Cambridge Court. Things are always quite in Cambridge Court. I would go for a cycle but I too damned tired. So here is I am…….
I have nothing in particular to read and am listened to Trapattoni talking about Robbie Keane on my little valve radio in the kitchen. It’s one of those days…….I feel I should be doing something but just can’t think what. Perhaps I’ll go on Twitter and listen in to Steve Brookstein. I usually go for a cycle up by Sandymount Strand but like I’ve said I’m just too tired today. I think I’ll have a cup of coffee and a slice of cake – then I’ll look at the four walls. But never mind , tomorrow is another day…..
STEVE BROOKSTEIN STAR MAN X FACTOR TWITTER
August 16, 2010
Steve Brookstein has given yet another interview this time to the Star. I mentioned Steve’s habit of giving the wrong kind of interviews in my blog a while back but he obviously does not read it…….It ( the Star article) is a short and badly edited thing which serves no purpose other than to remind everyone yet again that Steve is an X Factor has-been. Personally I don’t think he is a has-been or anything like it but interviews like this just make Brookstein come across as some kind of celebrity freak. It’s bad enough that he keeps giving these interviews but the only reason I heard about it in the first place is that he’s tweeting about it on his Twitter page.
And just in case you didn’t know it…..Rowetta has been sending him nasty messages..!!!!! Of course the only reason I know this is that he also mentions this on his Twitter page. I don’t understand all this….Brookstein seems intent on perpetuating this image of himself as some kind of odd ball or malcontent…..or something. The man is incorrigible ….I think his fans may have to take a contract out on him to save him from himself. Just a few weeks ago he was in trouble for something he said about the Jedward twins on his Twitter page. Now that a new season of the X Factor is due to hit our screens there will be no stopping the man….
Mind you , he seems happy enough – and none of us are perfect……But happiness is a transitory thing. A man might smile today and cry tomorrow. He’s married to the jazz singer Eileen Hunter and has a son ……but one of these days he’ll mention the name Simon Cowell once too often and she’ll stand up , give him a venomous glare and say , ” Right ! , Right I have enough……” . She’ll kick the dog , grab the child , slam the door and go to her sisters …… Steve will be left , on his own looking at the walls wondering where it all went wrong – asking himself over and over , ” Was it something I said “? He’ll sit there all alone wondering what to do. He’ll wear the carpet out and give himself a headache going over and over those last few fateful moments — …….he may even shed a tear or two. He’s not made of stone after all. He might take to the drink ! But whatever happens he will cope after a fashion as we all do. Life will go on as it does……He will , in the fullness of time , pull himself together ……
………..and taking the bull by the horns he will do what he does best . He’ll go out and give another interview. Oh yes I can see it all. But God help us it might even be worse than that. She may not leave him at all , instead she might be driven to murder…….She might end up standing in the dock , throwing herself at the mercy of the court while child services drag the poor child to the orphanage….I can see it all….. The papers of course will have a field day and Steve ( good old Steve) will give a few more interviews. Like I said I can see it all.
Life is funny. One thing follows another and before we know where we are we’re lying on our backs wondering where it all went wrong. We all lose in the end. Happiness comes and happiness goes. Time passes. Sometimes we learn from life and sometimes we don’t and sometimes it doesn’t matter either way. Some take the high road and some take the low road…..and others get lost along the way. ( I should have been a philosopher). Little is constant in this life. There are no guarantees. We can be sure of nothing. We cannot tell the future but the future will happen and somewhere in that future there there will be many more Steve Brookstein interviews. He’ll probably give an interview on his death-bed.
Steve is being air brushed out of X Factor history though they claim it’s just a technical issue. No doubt he will explain it all to us in some forthcoming interview ( he he he). HIs activity on Twitter is causing quite a stir but to be honest I find it very hard to figure out the whole twitter thing. All those private/public conversations where everyone seems to know what’s going on except me……But by all accounts there’s great fights going on over there. ‘Better than East Enders so they say. Beer bottles and curses flying all over the place. Great fodder for the tabloids. A bitter old man , that’s what some are calling him. But Steve knows how to handle such people……and we can all follow the drama on Twitter. It’s great , isn’t it. Where would you get it ? – there are people out there who would pay good money for a ringside seat to all this but they’re getting it all for free on Twitter……”You tell ‘em Steve , tell them all to go and have a good f***…..we’ll shout support from the cheap seats. ” Kick their heads in Steve” , “Rip their hearts out” , “yeah , you show ‘em Steve”.
Mind you , I’ve got no interest in such venial stuff …..I’m just remarking on the state of the world , Steve Brookstein’s world that is. Personally I find it all a little uncouth. I have to practically force myself to check his Twitter page. And all this is taking its toll - I’m an emotional wreck ……I might end up back on the Valium. But does Steve care about any of this ? Not on your proverbial Nelly. Is he worried about me and my palpitations ? Not a bit of it. Meanwhile here I am sitting in my gloomy little flat listening to , “40,000 things’ —” It’s all turned out nice again just the way we planned / it’s all good / it worked out in the end” — Indeed ! But who am I to decide what’s the right and wrong in all of this. I am , as they say, a person of no consequence. Some regard me as no better than a common fool but most are indifferent to any opinion I might have about anything. Oh yes , it’s a hard life. I would give a few interviews myself if anyone asked …..but no one is asking. Oh dear , oh dear. Where did I go wrong ?
SANDYMOUNT STRAND SCULPTURE
August 13, 2010
I’ve no idea what this sculpture on Sandymount Strand is supposed to represent or who for that matter produced it.
BLUE TITS PROSTITUTES MOONEY GOES WILD RTE RADIO
May 31, 2010
Last year I posted a short piece about the podcast on the Mooney Show on RTE Radio of blue tits nesting. It’s that time of year again and the whole exercise is being repeated – so what’s it all about ? . apparently the birds are in the private grounds of the home of the Irish President , Mary McAleese. McAleese is Ireland’s most famous whore . This woman sold herself and the people of Ireland cheap and all for the glory of the new European Superstate. If we lived in a better society she might be put up against a wall. An apologist for the European Race laws that have outlawed free speech she is a president for Landlords. She might have made a good Vice Regent. This is the slut who stood by when the entire political class in Ireland told the people , ” Your stupid , you got it wrong , go back and do it again”. A common thief ……and a good European.
Blu tits and whores in a banana republic landlord state. Put them up against a wall. I’ll shed no tears for them. A gombeen men’s whore and well paid for it. A landlord state built on cheap imported labour , a four-wheel drive and a rent book with some poor Malayan woman to look after the kids for $100 a week. Gangsters and their bitches. Thugs and thieves. A new Europe that Hitler would have been proud of.
TWITTER TWEET STEVE BROOKSTEIN SIMON COWELL
May 28, 2010
Just a few hours ago I put up a post about Steve Brookstein of X Factor fame/infamy. Having nothing to do I then decided to check if there was anything on his Twitter page. Just killing time ….’you know. Anyway , what did I see but a tweet from Simon Cowell. Well , it was from SimonPCowell and it looked real enought. It was actually on Steve Brookstein’s page , I think , I’m not very literate when it comes to the new communications stuff. What the tweet said was that Brookstein wanted the 5000,000 that Cowell owed him or it might have been that Simon Cowell wanted the 500,000 sterling that Brookstein ‘owed’ him – I’m not sure. Is this stuff real ?
I don’t use Twitter. I leave a tweet most times I post something on my blog but apart from that I just don’t GET the whole thing and don’t quite see the point. But I do wonder if all these people are who they say they are. I try now and again to follow some of the conversations but the text like short hand gets me quite confused – mind you , I’m easily confused. Now , let me think – is there anyone out there who ‘owes’ me a few quid….
STEVE BROOKSTEIN FAILURE X FACTOR SIMON COWELL
May 27, 2010
Steve Brookstein is now officially a failure. But Brookstein is no common failure , he is a total failure. He’s famous for it. He’s turned failure into an art form. Brookstein ( better know as , “Steve who?) has failed at just about everything he has put his hand to. Long before we knew there was an X Factor Brookstein was failing. If they gave PHD’s in failure he’d be the best educated man in Britain. Brookstein , who has been described by Louis Walsh as , ‘ looking like a serial killer’ must , at some time in the past , have committed some terrible crime for which God is now punishing him.”" Mr Slick Vegas” , that’s what Sharon Osbourne called him. He’s made enemies , and who needs enemies ?. – not Brookstein for sure , he’s got enough troubles.
Brookstein’s long journey towards failure started well before 2004 when he won first place in the X Factor. It’s a long convoluted story half shrouded in myth and bordering on the absurd. At one point a producer friend of his decided to make a Northern Soul record – and why ? Well he did it just to prove it could still be done. Most people do it for the money but not this guy , HE was just trying to make a point. …..’getting confused ? Don’t let it bother you , I think Steve himself is still trying to figure it out. Let me explain……
The guy , this producer guy ( I can’t remember his name and I’m too lazy to start googling it just now) was, it seems ,a great Northern Soul fan. N.S. fan’s are for the most part sad little people who think that it all began and ended with the golden age of Northern Soul. That age is ended , they will tell you. Elvis is Dead and all that. It’s not that they don’t make records like that any more – they CAN’T make records like that any more. The book is closed , the seals have been sealed …..end of story. So far so good untill that is Steve’s producer friend comes along. He was a genuine lover of Northern Soul , a democratic sort of man who just loved the music and was not intimidated by the legend. He had been arguing for years that yes , yes you could have a NS record today and that it would be just as ‘real’ as ‘valid’ as anything from the golden age , provided the music was good. Like I say , a true democrat. So one day he’s sitting at home watching TV and who’s on the box but our Steve. He hears Steve singing and thinks , “This guy would make a great Norther Soul singer”. To make a long story short he gets Steve into the studio with a few backing singers , records a few track and calls the four man group The Four Vandals. They cut a 45 record and just to make it really ‘authentic’ they dated it 1971 and then aged the few copies (3) that were pressed so that the whole thing looked like a genuine old 70′s record. Part of the ageing process was to drop the disc in a bucket of water…….
By the way , I’m not making this up as I go along , you can check it all out yourself on the WWW. So , here’s this genuine fake and it’s put in the way of a few DJ’s and next thing it becomes a hit on the Norther Soul circuit. Everyone is raving about it. Urban legends start to form around the lead singer (Brookstein). The 45 meanwhile is taking on cult status and starts making it on to the collectors list and before you can say , ’Life is a bitch’ it’s selling for big bucks. Really BIG bucks. Steve is becoming famous in record circles but nobody knows it’s Steve. Norther Soul fanatics are mortgaging their homes to get their hands on a copy. This is record collector history in the making. But like I said , nobody knows it’s Steve and he’s not making a penny……His producer friend is happy , he’s proved everyone wrong but he can’t tell anyone. Meanwhile ……back on planet earth Steve makes a decision…….
He decided to audition for the X Factor. Unfortunately he wins so the whole story of the Four Vandals comes out and there are a lots of angry people who feel they have been had/conned and generally made to look like fools. Steve becomes famous as a fraud or worse still a dupe. While the vinyl experts of the world are trying to figure out what’s going on Steve decides he’s not going to sell his soul with another covers album for Simon Cowell so he becomes famous all over again as the man who walked away or was sacked by Cowell. He becomes , for all practical purposes , blacklisted. There’s no actual conspiracy , Cowell doesn’t start calling people and saying , “Don’t deal with Brookstein” he doesn’t have to. Nobody wants to rock Cowells boat and the rest of the gang don’t trust Brookstein …they’re not sure if he’s a fool or a bad guy and they don’t want to find out either.
Long , long before any of this happened Brookstein had actually made a record which got good reviews but the record was never released. (he’s actually made several record ) He also promoted/managed or produced two acts and even got them record contracts with , I think , Virgin and some other major label. There was a trip to the USA and a 1 million pound/dollar contract for one of the acts but after spending a fortune the acts were dropped. It goes on an on. There’s no end to it. I’ve only scratched the surface here but take it from me , when it come to Steve Brookstein , the truth is far weirder than the strangest of strange fiction. Brookstein is in a lose , lose situation. He’s become famous for being a failure – his last gig was a pub gig with a cover charge that wouldn’t buy a diet coke. In between songs he apparently spent much of the time rambling on about Simon Cowell….punters were wondering if they were witnessing a nervous breakdown live on stage. As one girl put it , ‘It was all very sad’. Like I’ve said , he’s in a lose ,lose situation. He’s so famous now as a failure that even a hint of success would ruin him. The whole thing is a joke. Brookstein is a joke. It’s all hysterically funny……
But the funniest bit of all is that Steve Brookstein is actually a very fine soul singer. He has a distinctive voice that many singers would be quite envious of. He’s good-looking in a ,’ I used to drink but now I’m sober ’, kind of way and has a cheeky chap grin that you love or hate but that you can’t really ignore. He has the good grace and intelligence to be able to laugh at some of the insanity of what he calls his life. He thinks/ knows that he’s good at what he does but understands that others might have a different point of view and is philosophical about it. He’s a good entertainer. He probably has more charisma and raw talent in his little finger than will ever emerge from the X Factor Hall of Fame. Above all Steve Brookstein is an interesting man. While some get paid to bawl out , “I did it my way” Steve has been busy actually doing it his way. He has recorded his own independent album , ’40,000 Things’ , which , while not THE great classic soul album does suggests that the classic album might not be too far down the line. He’s recorded bit’s and pieces in an anarchic fashion over the years and all of it is good , some very good indeed. He’s written/co written what I for one consider to be classic tracks ( a couple of which are on 40.000 Things). All things considered , in spite of all the failures , Brookstein might just be the best soul singer to come out of England. He’ll probably never sell the mega / platinum numbers that are obligatory today for anyone who want’s to be a star but what he does produce will certainly last a lot longer. Ironically , he is a legend and a failure at the same time.
Sometimes , just sometimes when I’m on YouTube and come across Steve Brookstein I find myself wondering what is it that keeps drawing me back to these video clips ….even the X Factor one’s. There’s something about Brookstein , no matter how much I read of flops and failures, in spite of a paucity of albums or anything tangible by the man. In spite of it all I just keep feeling that this man might just be special. But I can’t figure him out……He bloggs , nothing wrong with that , he twitters/tweets too (quite a lot in fact) but no harm in that either. When he’s not on the internet he’s giving interviews , most of which reinforce the failure image…..he’s a busy man and seems easily distracted. He recently completed work on his wife’s album. He has a fixation with Cowell and the X Factor , even his tweets are dominated by it. He seems to spend his life having public conversations that all end up with the big X. He’s obviously has never heard the old adage about holes and digging. If news is slow and your short of copy don’t worry , old Brookstein is always good for a few column inches…He has some sort of amnesia where the word NO is concerned. Maybe it’s a religious thing. He needs a minder – as Simon said , ‘Your going to need a lot of work Steve’. He had no idea just how right he was but neither did Steve. Steve Brookstein would be doing just fine if it wasn’t for Steve Brookstein. And all the time time is moving on. He’s now 40 and according to himself he may have wasted 20 years of that. The butt end of jokes (Steve who?) ha ha ha he just smiles that cheeky smile and then gives another interview. But the joke is wearing thin. He’s turning into a parody of the failed reality star.
I like the old stuff , the good stuff. Charlie Parket , Ellington , Ella Fitzgerald – the classics. They don’t make artists like that any more with the possible exception of Amy Winehouse and Steve Brookstein but both of those seem hell bent on messing things up. He is seen by many as ‘a pub singer who got lucky’ but anyone who thinks that is a musical illiterate. He is his own worst enemy but I can think of a few of the greats who were much the same. A complex man , an insecure man who seems forever to be trying explain himself. Yesterday’s man who somewhere deep down knows he’s better than that but isn’t quite sure what to do about it. You could write a book about this man and some day someone probably will…..
A failure ? Yes , and let’s not get side tracked by empty politeness …..this is not what the man was aiming for when he first wrapped his fist around a microphone. He looks startled , uncertain when under the spotlite. He seems a little surprise to be there in the first place. An innocent abroad. He always wanted to be on the stage , “Look at me Ma , I’m top of the world“. – Ladies and gentleman , put you hands together. Ladies and gentlemen , let’s give him a warm welcome. Ladies and gentlemen , it’s …….MRRRR STEEEEEEVE BROOKSTEEEEEENNNNN.
If you want to see just how charming this man can be check out this interview he did with Paul Morley. If you should happen to meet him in the street give him a good clip around the ear and tell him to get back in the studio. He’s made a bit of money (more than I’ve ever made) and he’s done some interesting things ( far more than I’ve done). He’s had his 5 minutes of fame (several times). He’s has achieved more than many of his critics will ever achieve. He’s lived his dream which is something most of us just don’t have the wit , courage or ability to do. Let’s face it , the guy has been on the X Factor……! He is probably the best soul singer since Otis Redding and might be even better. But I can’t go into HMV and order his new cd because he hasn’t got around to recording it yet. Yesterday I bought an Amy Winehouse Blu Ray disc and would have bought the Steve Brookstein one but there IS no Brookstein Blu Ray disc. I would kill to get a copy of his Collected Songs but that doesn’t exist either. I’d crawl over dead bodies to lay my hands on a copy of his Unreleased Outtakes but there’s no such album. Meanwhile he’s off giving another interview about his life as a ( failed) reality star. As we say in Ireland , ” Your a terrible man Steve “. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’s bigger than me and living in another country I would give him a good wallop around the ear myself.
