What Terry should do is convert to Islam , that way he could spout racist and homophobic filth to his heart’s content and no one would mind…..How long are british football fans going to tolerate this ?  For how long are they going to continue putting money in the pockets of those who obviously have a contempt for the working class ?

           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.

   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.

    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.

    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.

     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.

   Just the other day I placed an ad for a flat on Gumtree.  In spite of the fact that there are huge numbers of empty properties all over Dublin it’s virtually impossible for a working class person to find one.  You cannot discriminate against a foreigner or a fat person etc but discrimination on the grounds of class is rampant in Ireland , and quite blatant. Be that as it may , the fact is I need a small flat. I’m not particular as to location but it must MUST be quite. I won’t hold my breath while I’m waiting but I will leave the ad there permanently and hopefully in the fullness of time something will turn up.

           I pass Flat to Let signs every other day but most if not all of these will only rent to students or business people. In fact it’s noticeable that those who buy council flats don’t want to rent to folk who might live in council accommodation !!  A clear case of beggars on horseback. As I write this I can hear the noise of a TV coming through the walls in spite of the fact that the flat on my right has been empty for over a year and on my left the neighbours are not home…..It’s like a dripping tap….and from time to time that tap gets very loud. But that’s not the only reason I want to leave. This Cambridge Court  flat  that I live in is DARK , no daylight gets in at all….it’s like living in a cave and get’s very very depressing. That fact that there is no heating or no bedroom doesn’t help….

      But it could take a long time to find a flat. I could take a very long time , if that is , one turns up at all. The photo , by the way , is not of Cambridge Court but rather of a house just up the road that caught my eye.

  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 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 ?

    I am , at the moment , looking for a racing bike and while checking around the bike shops I bumped into a young guy who had a Rapparee bike which apparently was a custom-made job that  belonged to his Dad. I can find very little information on these irish made bikes but would like to buy one if anyone out there has one for sale. It would need to be appx. 52/54 inch frame ( I’m only 5’6”)   - condition is not too important , even a frame on its own would do.  I’m riding a Mezzo folding bike at the moment. It’s a  great bike but now I need something to do some touring/racing with.

    Anyone out there who has a classic racing bike ? A friend of mine has an old (60′s) British Eagle steel framed racer which I’d love to have myself… I considered saving up untill I could afford one of these new all carbon bikes but the more I read the less enthused I am about them. To be honest I consider most of them to be quite ugly looking beasts which are totally unsuitable for irish conditions. Apart from the Rapparee are there any other bike that you would recommend ?  Please feel free to leave a comment even if it’s just boasting about your own bike as I’m curious what readers of this blog may be riding. Any information at all about Rapparee bikes would be most welcome.