A visit to the Hudson River Valley homestead of Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the recent televised debates among contenders for the presidential nomination of Roosevelt's Democratic Party was a reminder of the nation's great debt to the 32nd president of the United States. FDR's family home, in Hyde Park, NY, just north of Poughkeepsie,…Read more Can America Live up to FDR’s Legacy?
Joyce and the Hungarian connection
Sunday, 16 June 2019 Szombathely might seem an unlikely place to stage a Bloomsday celebration, but James Joyce was careful to weave the Magyar city into Ulysses’s narrative, writes Michael Roddy By Michael Roddy Jun 16, 2019 About a dozen of us, mostly Irish, mostly cold, stood on the wet and windswept main square of…Read more Joyce and the Hungarian connection
Lyin’ Rhymes for Lyin’ Times
Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one Except for February Which has none. (By Betsy de Vos) Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Sarah said it never happened. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…Read more Lyin’ Rhymes for Lyin’ Times
Weird Travel Tales: Octopeople
It was just after noon, the sun was getting hotter. A few hours earlier, the walk from the small seaside town to the ferry had been long but bearable. Not now. Walking back to the hotel in the broiling sunlight, after visiting the beach on the other side of the lagoon, promised to be hellish.…Read more Weird Travel Tales: Octopeople
En Route: A trip to the past on Ile d’Yeu, hidden gem off France’s west coast
I want to sing the praises of the little known (outside of France) island of Ile d'Yeu, off the coast of Vendee. But before getting to the usual trip bumph, a visit there in late July, early August was a chance to reconnect with a family I stayed with on the island...almost 50 years ago!…Read more En Route: A trip to the past on Ile d’Yeu, hidden gem off France’s west coast
Paul Simon, 51 years, 8 months and 22 days later…
There's nothing quite like seeing and hearing a singer you first heard half a century ago and finding out that, yes, he was pretty great then and maybe he's greater now. So it was for me attending, with my wife Patricia, Paul Simon's “Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour 2018” in Dublin at the RDS…Read more Paul Simon, 51 years, 8 months and 22 days later…
Joyce’s “The Dead” Lives On…
DUBLIN - One of my most daunting challenges of recent years has been preparing an introduction to James Joyce's famous short story "The Dead" for a 30-strong Irish Joyce reading group that meets at Tom Fitzgerald's pub in Glasthule of a Wednesday morning. This is the last of the 15 stories in Joyce's short-story…Read more Joyce’s “The Dead” Lives On…
After Brexit…Irexit?
DUBLIN - Brexit poses a huge threat to Ireland's economy, particularly with the potential for a hard border disrupting trade between the republic and Northern Ireland, so just about the last man you'd expect to be cheered by an Irish audience would be Mr. Brexit, Nigel Farage. Yet there was Farage, in the flesh…Read more After Brexit…Irexit?
Shane MacGowan’s Best Dub B’day Bash Ever
There were so many incredible moments during the three-hour-long 60th birthday tribute to Pogues songster Shane MacGowan in Dublin on Monday night that it's hard to pick the highlights, but here's a try: Sinead O'Connor walking onstage unannounced to kick off part two with a searing version of "You're the One" Lisa O'Neill and Glen…Read more Shane MacGowan’s Best Dub B’day Bash Ever
Verb: To Trump — Future Meanings
I really trumped that exam. Everything he said was a trump. The dealer said that car had only 50k on the odometer, but he trumped me big time. I just got back the results of my cat scan, and the doctor said that I'm trumped. David, could you please put this bag in the trump…Read more Verb: To Trump — Future Meanings
