TRADITIONAL DUTCH TILE DESIGN FREE IMAGES
September 12, 2010
Today I wandered into the National Gallery of Ireland which I do on a regular basis and while rooting around their bookshop I came across this wonderful catalogue of Dutch Tile Design.
There are over 400 images in the catalogue and there is also a cdrom of all these images.
The book is called Traditional Dutch Tile Design and is published by Pepin Press.
The images on the cdrom can be copied quite legally on to your blog or web page.
By the way , the pictures look far better in the book which is beautifully illustrated.
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.
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 ?
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….
LISBON EUROPE NAZI CONNECTION HOLOCAUST DENIAL
September 30, 2009
I was born in 1946 and started studying European History at the age on 9. Even at that early age it was clear to me that the then proposed Steel and Coal Community ( forerunner of the EU) was simply a means of building up those industries and private interests that had been the financial base/backbone of Nazi Germany. In my early teens I found myself reading of the men who were creating this New Europe but I was perplexed by the fact that I already knew (through the exact same media) that many of these men were in fact war criminals. I would find myself staring at photographs of Albert Speer surrounded by men who now ( late 50′s) were being paraded as the ‘light of Europe’. These men who , with Speer , plotted to turn the entire population of the Soviet Union into slave labour were literally a few years later being held up as Messiahs of a new peaceful and prosperous Europe. All of this is recorded historical fact. It’s in the history books for all to see.
The European Union is the spiritual and political heir to Hitlers Third Reich. The European Union has for 50 years now been working towards the building of a New Europe identical to the Europe that Adolph Hitler attempted to build. No matter how ‘extreme’ such a statement may appear the facts , the recorded historical facts cannot be denied. The New Europe has brought with it great wealth. Most Irish people have prospered economically from Irish membership of the EU but this is a side effect of the European Union and not it’s purpose. The long term purpose of the EU is no different from that of the Nazi invasion of Russia - the creation of a huge gigantic market with a huge workforce to service it. In order to achieve all this it was necessary for the EU to convince otherwise good and even liberal people that censorship is necessary and good. Race laws were introduced all across Europe and Ireland to stifle any attempt to criticise an economy built on mass immigration and cheap foreign labour. In those few European countries where the people were permitted to vote on the various stages of this new Europe the population , having voted NO were informed that they had made a ‘mistake’ or just didn’t understand the issues. Even Hitler could never have gotten away with this.
War and holocausts do not just happen to other people. You , you , the person reading this right now are no different to any of the millions and millions that died in the last war. You are no more intelligent than any of those millions. You have no more insight or foresight than any one of those millions. You may think that you somehow know better than those who made mistakes before you but if you believe that then you are an even greater fool than the most foolish of the dead millions. Life is not just some story in a book. Life is real and can , with luck , health and hard work be good. But life can be bad also. Things can and do go wrong in this world with horrific consequence and millions and millions die – and sometimes they ( the dead ) are the lucky ones.
The Rath Health Foundation received the “Relay of light” award from survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp in recognition of it’s exposure of the criminal past of German oil/ drug cartels and you can read it’s insightful investigation into the history of the EU and the criminals and mass murders behind it. The Rath Foundation has documented the history of the EU and it’s criminal beginnings. Study this website , take time out and read all it says and then think about what you have read. Don’t just accept what it says or just reject it all out of hand. If it’s all lies then you will be a wiser man/women for knowing this ……but if it’s true , if it’s even half true it should change your life. - Unless of course you just don’t care.
The question has often been asked , “How , how on God’s earth did the holocaust happen – how could such a nightmare be allowed to happen ?” Now you have the answer. Some will go to the trouble of reading this website and many , even most will continue in their own comfortable prejudice or indifference – and that’s how the holocaust happened. It happened because of people just like you. Holocaust denial comes in two forms , the lunatic fringe who simple deny by various means the recorded facts of history and those who engage in revisionism as to the architects of the holocaust . These latter would have you believe that those who financed Hitler and built the gas ovens and then went on after the Nuremberg Trials to create the EU were in no way responsible for the holocaust. They would like you to believe these financial backers / bankers of Hitler were somehow forced into doing what they did ….that they had no choice. But the historical record shows that far from being at the mercy of Hitler Hitler was totally at their mercy. The next time you watch some newsreel footage of Hitler’s mass rallies of the early 30′s just ask yourself , “Where did the money to pay all those thousands of SA men come from ?” And why was the company that made the gas ovens one of the first to be compensated after the war by the same people who were engaged in creating the new Europe. People like me were saying exactly what I’m say now about Hitler and his financial backers before WW2 but most Germans didn’t want to know. Most Germans said , “Hitler has been good for us , Hitler has brought jobs / prosperity for us and a future for our children” . People defended their support of Hitler with the same , the very same words as are used today by those who support the European Union. The parallels between Hitler’s Germany and the EU are striking. History repeats itself . Those who voted Hitler into power ( the middle class) condemned all who opposed Hitler as malcontents and agitators. The middle class today who have much to lose if Ireland pulled out of the EU say the same thing about those who are opposed to the EU. Indeed , history does repeat itself.
Those who brought Hitler to power were not , for the most part , bad people , nor were they stupid or blind or deaf or incompetent. They were middle class people just like you. They were decent moral people like most of you. Like many in Ireland today they were just one short step removed from poverty , they were the new middle class and they owed it all to Hitler. They were in fact very like the Irish today who owe their new good life to membership of the EU……They were no different from you …if you don’t understand that then you understand nothing. And at the end of they proverbial day they were wrong and they paid a dreadful price for being wrong….
Their sons and daughters died in their millions…..just like yours will if you get it wrong. – AND JUST LIKE YOU THE WERE TOLD WELL IN ADVANCE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN …..
FRANK CLARKE AN HONORABLE MAN ? LISBON TREATY REFERENDUM
September 28, 2009
Frank Clarke is a judge of the Irish High Court which only goes to prove that honor is not a prerequisite in that particular job. If we lived in a more just society Clarke might well be in jail or even dead. A decent , honorable man would , on being asked to legitimise another referendum , have refused on the basis that the people had given their verdict and that their vote should be respected. But Clarke is no decent man. He is , if the truth be known , no more than a common criminal ( and far less honest ). Clarke has played his part in robbing the Irish people of the franchise. He has done this (like all his fellow criminals ) from the safety of his powerful position /rank and in the full knowledge that people like you and I can do nothing about it. I once had a man shove a hatched into my face and take my money ( a very unpleasant experience ) but he , at least , was arrested – with Clarke the offence against me is even greater but no one will arrest him.
No doubt there are some who will say , “You can’t say things like that about a judge – “ A citizen can be condemned as racist if he opens his mouth to complain against mass immigration but a judge employed by a corrupt government is to be shown respect. We all know there is a double standard at work , a law for the rich – a law for the poor. We see corruption at state and semi state level every day of the week , the sweetheart deals and padded pensions but still we must refer to these gangsters as ‘public servants’. We are constantly reminded of the ’service’ they have given to the state. A thief is only a thief if he is poor. But a thug is a thug regardless of who is telling the story. Clarke is a thug ….he robbed me and you and did it for the money/power and from a safe distance – a coward and a thug. A thug in high places and with powerful friends but a thug nonetheless.
I’ve never met Frank Clarke. I don’t suppose I ever will but if I do meet you Frank , if we ever do meet face to face ( in private ) don’t expect mercy Frank because you won’t get it. I can’t afford mercy , I’ve been robbed too many times . I’ve been walked on too many times. I’ve been treated like a fool too many times. I can’t turn the other cheek Frank I’ve been smacked in the face too many times. If I had access to the courts I could trade more temperate language with Frank Clarke but I don’t have such access to the courts and so I’ll use the ‘language of the street’ and make no apology for that. You have done a bad days work Frank but like I say you have I’m sure been well paid for it. You are a disgrace Frank.
Lisbon Treaty Referendum Vote For Sale Ireland
September 25, 2009
If you live outside Ireland and would like the opportunity to vote in an Irish referendum then here’s your chance. You may vote by proxy on the upcoming Lisbon Treaty Referendum on the 2 October 09 simply by popping over to Ebay. It has been made clear to me that the Irish State has no intention of respecting /honoring my vote so some Ebay bidder may as well have it.
By the way , does anyone out there know just exactly how much Frank Clarke gets paid for services rendered to the state ? I’m guessing he hasn’t sold himself cheap.
DAB RADIO IRELAND ROBERTS SOLAR DAB DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCASTING
August 10, 2009
A few days ago I went out and bought myself a Roberts DAB Solar radio. I already have two old valve radios and as I live in a one room flat that’s more than enough but I like radio and figured it was time for me to update to DAB. The fact that this model is solar powered was very much a plus. I handed over 130 euros in Peats and have been kicking myself ever since. The radio is fine , it’s the DAB (Ditital Audio Broadcasting ) bit that’s a problem. A problem in Ireland that is. There are four DAB stations along with RTE 1 RTE 2 RNG etc but there is nothing worth listening to beyond junk music. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that you couldn’t get BBC or any other station for that matter so I am stuck with pure dross.
The stations really are terrible. Bland. If your a fan of BBC World Service / Radio Four and that type of thing then keep your money in your pocket and don’t go for DAB because DAB in Ireland just means BAD. I am literally kicking myself. $130 spent and nothing to listen to apart from Joe Duffey.
CAMBRIDGE COURT RINGSEND NEW WEB SITE (WEBSITE)
July 30, 2009
A few weeks ago I wrote a short blog post about Cambridge Court Ringsend which is a small housing complex for senior citizens run by Dublin City Council. I had been a little critical of some of the living conditions there , the small (tiny) flats and the general noise level that one is subjected to. Since I wrote that piece there have been some developements that the you may be interested in.
I had not really given any thought to what other residents might or might not think of my comments and didn’t ( and still don’t ) care one way or the other but as it has transpired I seem to have hit a raw nerve or something like that. But whatever it was I ended up getting a bit of what the British I think call ‘ribbing’. It seems that everyone here had read my blog , including those who perhaps didn’t even know that such things as blogs existed prior to all this. The next thing was that someone had gone to the trouble of printing out a hard copy version of my blog and pined it up on the community hall notice board. Well , as the man said , “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” , so I’m quite happy about that. And last but not least , a Cambridge Court Website was launched on the WWW.
So there you are. The excitement here is terrific , up to now there was little to raise the pulse. If someone lost their house keys that was a talking point for the rest of the week but now …..God only know what might happen next. When I came here first I thought there would be wild parties and fornication all over the place , after all the tenants (inmates) are all within nodding distance of the grave- but no , Bingo is about as wild as it gets. Mind you , There may be things going on behind closed doors that I don’t know about.
Before now I don’t suppose anyone knew that Cambridge Court existed and now there’s two website spreading it fame to the four corners of the world. If there was only someone here who knew a bit about video broadcasting we could turn the whole place into a reality show. ….
Cambridge Court is situated about 3 minutes walk from The O2 in Dublin’s Docklands and within 10 minutes of Sandymount Strand. It’s in the heartland of Ringsend which ( if it wasn’t for the litter/dog dirt) is rather a nice place that retains the feeling of being an old Irish fishing village. It (Ringsend) boast one of the worst pieces of public sculpture in the country ( a monument to domestic violence ) which the local yobs have unfortunately not yet defaced. Public housing and Dockland “apartment’ sit side by side but that’s as far as it goes. The pubs in the village are exclusivly WORKING CLASS. It has one charity shop , Mrs Quinn’s which is always worth a visit. The whole place is , needless to say , a hotbed of blogging….OH , and if you happen to see a chap flying down the Ringsend Road on a Brompton bike thats me…….Since this last sentence was written my Brompton has been stolen so instead you’ll have to watch out for me riding my Mezzo through Ringsend. To read more news , moans about Cambridge Court just click on the Cambridge Court Tab on the right……
