Monthly Archives: March 2023

The last state will be worse than the first

I do not smoke. I have never smoked. I accept that smoking is not good for one’s health, But, then, there are many things that are not good for one’s health, including being constantly fixated on all the things that … Continue reading

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Causing harm

In his frustration with Padhraic, Colm cuts off each of the fingers of his left hand. The Banshees of Inisherin is a profound psychological insight. Colm wishes to leave a cultural legacy, to create something that will outlive him, and … Continue reading

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Tobacco hierarchy

Drinking tea with a colleague each morning, conversations are nothing, if not eclectic. Today’s meander began with a recollection of an old priest my colleague had known, a Benedictine who had the title ‘Dom.’ ‘I knew a Dom Paul,’ I … Continue reading

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The efficacy of nonsense

Each summer, we would go to the Stade Dauger in Bayonne to watch Aviron Bayonnais, the local rugby club, play a match. Not once did we manage to find the way to the ground without getting lost. Each time we … Continue reading

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Sixty years in a wig

The photograph is my favourite from my childhood. It dates from perhaps the spring or summer of 1963. It is taken beside the corrugated iron door of the shed that was used as a garage for cars on the home … Continue reading

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