Titus Quinctius Flaminius

Malta's General Visitors - Claudius, Napoleon, O'Leary and Ferguson!

2009-06-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Some very interesting people have visited this little island, called Malta, in the Mediterreanan, and I don't mean newly inducted BA students with (little) letters after their names!

During the period of the Punic Wars, many Roman generals would sojourn here on their way to confront Carthage including Claudius Maximus, and Scipio Africanius

........ and even I Titus Quinctius Flamininus
Actually that's Hannibal below!

Just down the road a bit, the 1st Punic War focused on Sicily and the Carthaginians with a little local help proved more than a bit awkward for the Romans. The famed Hannibal of course was domciled in southern Italy for a considerable period and quite possibly visited Maltese shores for a bit of R&R. Similar to another iconic figure in later European history, Napoleon. On his way to take Egypt in 1798, he decided Maltese hospitality was too good to resist and added it to dubious French imperial gains.

A curious little aside to history - if Theobald Wolfe Tone had presented his opinions more forcefully to the court of Napoleon, the Little General might have annexed another little catholic island on the edge of Western Europe, and changed the course of Irish/English history? He didn't have long to wait to meet his old cross channel enemy, as the intensely religious Maltese resented his attitude to the Church and called for help from that bastion of the Reformation, and Malta just swapped one Empire for another!

Sure after the Pheonicians, Arabs, Romans, Turks and the French, it was time to embrace Britannia.

Now in the 21st century a new Empire has the Maltese islands in its sights, the Ryanair revolution! The Irish are coming in droves, 3 flights a week from Baile Atha Cliath, all traumitised by O'Learyism, printed boarding passes in hand, carrying their 10 kilos, afraid to use the loo or buy 3 Euro tea on flight, they flock into this catholic hedonistic hotspot and take the old 47C bus into downtown Valetta where a bit of Rabbit and a bucket of red wine costs less than O'Leary's tea!! No wonder Scipio Africanius and old Bonaparte found it so appealing!

Now another famous 'general' of the modern era can be seen strutting his stuff around Club 22 in the Portamaso Tower in St Julians. The Scot with the Midas touch as regards Premier football, Alex Ferguson, has a soft spot for Malta and can be seen in the 'Scotsman' in St Julians on his regular visits. Apparently he didn't look too despondent at his niece's wedding in the Raddison on Friday in Golden Bay, despite the complete and total football annilation of ManU by the magnificent artisans from Catelonia in Rome the previous week. The latest incarnation of William Wallace, ironically fighting battles for the English, although didn't Robert the Bruce embrace the enemy to acquire the throne?

Yours till next time

Titus

Malta image sourced from HERE
Hannibal image sourced from HERE
Wolf Tone image sourced from HERE
Alex Ferguson image sourced HERE

Joyce, Maggie and O'Leary - that they may face the Stenna Line!

2009-06-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

I should probably be in the Capital! You know everything is better on the mainland, the provinces and colonies were ok for a bit of frolicking amidst the natives! (Must stop using exclamation mark, not conducive to good ENGLISH). Can't have letters after yer name and not speak the Queen's English proper like mate, know what i mean?

Didn't get a Maltese Sim, using street phone, 1021, and can also use it in apartment as my contacts person work picks up the tab for 1021 calls. Yes i think a wee bit of Joyce will always be with me, even some of Molly's 'Bloomers' - excuse the awful pun!

Reading McGahern's 'That they may face the Rising Sun' at the moment.

Also found the biography of that glorious wonderful specimen of feminity, the heroine of the Falklands, Miners, and Republicans, Maggie - the lady not for turning - pity .. pity...mmm!! That would have been worth an exclamation mark. Read several chapters, just confirmed that my feelings of 30 years ago, about her, weren't just petty vindictiveness. It explains everything. Our history with England, to paraphrase Joyce, she personifies the nightmare we were trying to escape from!

Now back to modern problems! I see your on/off love affair with O'Leary continues. I think you have grounds for anullment of the relationship, wouldn't put up with it anymore, use StennaLine!!

Will spend a few hours away from the hammock and pool to relate the academic experience and some stuff about this last outpost of Empire, although i think despite all our Good Fridays coming together, they haven't gone away you know?

Titus

The Opinium of the People of the Green!

2009-04-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jesus, Terry you just hit it right on the nail, while the old relaxation stimulant might help keep the Yanks at bay in Afghanistan, for the rest of us, our little fix of sport is really what life is all about!

See the Terry Eagleton quote from his recent book 'The Meaning of Life' that I posted earlier and his views on Sport - HERE.

Recession, what recession? Budgetary measures to get us out of the mess the Bankers got us into to? Education of course is the way out of doom and gloom, or is it? Last week 2 Leaving Cert students were interviewed on Sky leaving the stadium in Bari after Ireland secured a fantastic result. The two 17 year olds had gone to Italy with parental money given to them to buy Books to study for the Leaving Cert!!! Who really cared about budget deficits when the Rugby team won the Grand Slam? Was the economic crisis on the mind of many as Bernard Dunne claimed the World Title in an epic encounter? Will trade imbalance and negative equity stop us touring Soweto if ‘Il Trap’ takes us to South Africa? Who will give a toss about Fingleton and Fitzpatrick if Harrington is fitted out for the green jacket at Augusta this week? The Celtic Tiger was fine while it lasted, but financing the lifestyles of the corporate sector just doesn’t do it for the plebes, but sport does!

3 years ago the biggest sporting event in the world was held in this little corner of Western Europe, and to cap it all, one quarter of the 12 man team were from Ireland, boy do we punch above our weight when it comes to sport. We might be minnows in political terms world-wide, no Imperial past to merit a place on the G20, a dot on the world map geographically, although we did spar on equal terms financially with our own ‘Tiger’; but in the sporting world we are up there with the best: Italia ’90, Stephen Roche, Geordie Best, Barry McGuigan, Hurricane Higgins, Ronnie Delaney and many others including the triumphant triumvirate of Harrington, Clarke and McGinley from the K Club! To have three Irishmen on the winning Ryder Cup team was nothing short of sensational and they followed in a long list after Christy O; Connor, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy and indeed Paul Mc Ginley at the Belfry who have contributed so much to Ryder Cup history.

Golf has come a long way from the stuffy image of the better off in society having a bit of fun ‘with the chaps!’ and then closing the business deal at the 19th! The 19th, thankfully still does good business, but the funny jumpers, even funnier trousers and the stiff upper lip has been replaced by the masses who have taken up golf in the past 25 years. Once the preserve of an elite in society, the game has opened up and become a game enjoyed by everyone. 420 courses in Ireland and 18 in Donegal alone, the natural and rugged landscape has blessed us with the majority of Links courses out of a total of 400 worldwide! [The only disappointment with the Ryder Cup was that it wasn’t played on a Links course!]. It’s great when you watch one of the 3 boys adapting shots to suit the moment, knowing they have perfected them on home links. When the Sky commentator is perplexed as to how they played ‘that’ shot, you can smile and just visualise the shot from Royal Portrush, Portmarnock, or Dunfanaghy!

Strolling around the K Club was akin to watching the great and the good parade along the red carpet at the Oscars! What an array of talent – and that was only the WAGS! On the 10th fairway, leaning against a tree, smoking a massive cigar, was the 6’5” frame of the 6-time NBA champion and twice Olympic Gold winner, Michael Jordan. Once the richest sportsman in the world, he was in the entourage following his inheritor, the Tiger. Two legends of world sport, walking in the footsteps of Mohammed Ali, Michael Shumacher, Diego Maradona and Edson Arantes de Naisimento-the incomparable Pele! There’s a glow about these men, albeit mere mortals like ourselves, but who have achieved greatness, which puts them on a special place, we reserve for only a select few. Around the 7th, a nice little Par 3, strolling along quietly appears Ray Houghton. Nobody paying any attention to him, but maybe in his own thoughts he remembered the adulation of the mass crowds at Stuttgart when he ‘put the ball in the English net!’ Funny enough further down the course, working for BBC, was an old adversary from that famous day in 1988, Gary Lineker. Possibly Ray’s thoughts might have drifted to the Giant’s Stadium, New York in ’94, when he chipped the Italian keeper, a sublime chip that the Tiger would appreciate! The magic of sport, the opium of the masses, that magical moment that makes people work all week in a shit-boring job to participate or watch their heroes at the weekend. They used to say in Glasgow in the economically depressed days of the 1930’s, that ‘when we had nothing, we had Celtic!’ Sport can have that effect, as they say ‘a bad day on the golf course is still better than a good day at work!’

Dr Michael Smurfit came along, surveying all he had made, what delight he must have had, seeing the best players in the world at play in his ‘garden’! His vision had come to pass and only the torrential rain had made us wish it had been played on a true links as we ploughed through the muck! Suddenly a massive roar from a green up ahead as we huddle under trees and umbrellas, well stewarded by club players who had their few moments in the sun [and rain!]. Big Darren has just chipped in to win the hole, the roar as loud as the day Donegal beat the Dubs in 92; after Packie saved the penalty in Genoa; Loftus Road as Barry Mc Guigan defeated Pedroza or memories of Dennis Taylor or Sonia or Jack Kyle at Landsdowne, or Christy at the Belfry and all the memorable moments in Irish sport. As a people we are different, we live on the adrenaline fix, we live for the underdog to succeed, we suffer to achieve that magic moment, that’s what makes us different, we might be Europeans in the general sense but we have that magical Irish twist. Big Darren, off the green, rain dripping off him, no safety shot to scrape a half, but the magic of the unexpected, the delicate touch and feel of the wedge as he drops the ball perfectly and watch it roll beautifully into the hole. The gallery erupts, the crowds stretched right along the fairway join in appreciation, we might be soaked but who cares, it’s only rain, this was history in the making and we were part of it!

American Presidents, golfing legends, soccer giants and even bigger Basketball giants! This was the biggest show in town; the Superbowl, World Cup Final, Olympics, Wimbledon, The Ashes and the All Ireland Final rolled into one! To be present at the K Club was a moment in time to be savoured. It was a special place to be on a wet autumnal weekend in 2006. Tiger and the great ‘lefty’ Michelson might have been the media darlings, but McGinley, with the Donegal connections, and big Darren Clarke were our focus. The whole emotion of the occasion after the death of his wife made for tearful viewing. My thoughts, even 3 years later, are of the emotional outpouring of joy, as Clarke won his match with Zach Johnston on the 16th. Europe had retained Sam Ryder’s famous trophy, but the moment was surely Clarke’s. The big strong exterior of the cigar smoking Tyrone man gave way as he was swamped with support and comfort from his teammates and family, and the galleries. There wasn’t a dry eye on the course.

Bill Shankly once famously observed, ‘Football’s not about life and death, its more important’! Well in reality we know its not, but sometimes in the emotion of it all, sport transcends life, and aren’t we all the better for it?

Titus

The Meaning of Life

2009-03-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

"In our own time, one of the most popular, influential branches of the culture industry is unquestionably sport. If you were to
ask what provides some meaning in life nowadays for a great many people, especially men, you could do worse than reply
‘Football’. Not many of them, perhaps, would be willing to admit as much; but sport, and football in particular, stands in for all those noble causes – religious faith, national sovereignty, personal honour, ethnic identity – for which, over the centuries, people have been prepared to go to their deaths. Sport involves tribal loyalties and rivalries, symbolic rituals, fabulous legends, iconic heroes, epic battles, aesthetic beauty, physical fulfilment, intellectual satisfaction, sublime spectaculars, and a profound sense of belonging. It also provides the human solidarity and physical immediacy which television does not. Without these values, a good many lives would no doubt be pretty empty. It is sport, not religion, which is now the opium of the people. Indeed, in the world of Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, religion is less the opium of the people than the crack of the masses."

from 'The Meaning of Life by Terry Eagleton

Now that deserves a slow and considered riposte!
After all Bill Shankly once famously observed,
‘Football’s not about life and death, its more important’!

Titus

Martin Crimp's 'Advice to Iraqui Women!'

2009-03-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

'The protection of children is a priority.
Even a small child on a bike should wear a helmet. And a newborn baby on a plane must be strapped to its mother.
A child on roller-skates should wear kneepads.
And elbow pads.'

In Crimp's drama each self is somebody else's character. Crimp's plays are driven by encounters between strangers. But when stranges meet, can danger be far away? Crimp is fascinated by characters who suddenly appear from around the corner.The interaction of strangers is inherently interesting because rival definitions of the self come into play - and dramatic conflict thrives on this difference' !! A Guardian interview with the man himself is available HERE.

There is an interesting chat on the Theatre Voice website amongst those who have worked with Crimp's drama. The interview series on the site is know as 'Reputations'

REPUTATIONS: MARTIN CRIMP (1/2) Lindsay Posner, Dan Rebellato, Auriol Smith and Anne Tipton begin their comprehensive survey of Crimp's formidable dramatic output. Aleks Sierz hosts. Recorded live.

Make sure you have your sound turned on!
There is a transcript of the talk available HERE

The Independent has an article in the Arts pages on it's site regarding the revival in 2007 of Crimp's play Attempts On Her Life. Read the article HERE. Also sourced a review of his play The Country and its available HERE.

Crimp's piece from 2003, quoted from above and which gave this post it's title - Advice to Iraqui Women!

'Even in water a child can burn. Even in spring it's still possible. In the time it takes you to cut the grass and trim the edges, a child might have burned, because of the very strong rays. Avoid sunlight, and in strong sunlight, when there are fierce rays, apply cream.'

Read the whole piece HERE
Is this drama!
Your thoughts and ideas welcome

Titus

Image sourced from HERE

Hunger! .... it was striking!

2009-03-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

".... disturbing, emotional, moving, most definitely riveting stuff, although certainly not for the faint hearted wanting to enjoy a Saturday night at the cinema. It was also for me, hauntingly familiar. Dark, grey, intimidating surroundings, hostile environment, a surreal experience, for many a defining moment in their young lives, and for some, their final experience of life, synonymous with a intense battle of wills, irresistible force pitted against the immovable object."

SIN, the Students Union here at NUIG sent me to see Hunger, the new film about hunger-striker Bobby Sands to see what I thought of it, and also to see what memories it brought of my own time as a prisoner in Long Kesh.

You can read my full review on the SIN website by clicking on HUNGER

Titus

Image sourced from HERE

'Art imitates life'

2009-03-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Wet morning here in Galway, just heading in to the College. Going to 'Importance of being Earnest' in Nun's Island tomorrow. Friel's 'Homeplace' was great, really enjoyed it. Krapp's Last tape on this week as well, pity all on in the one week, as 2 of them on this semester. Also, either feast or famine, Ibsen's 'Enemy of the People' is on the Black Box, with sub titles in Irish! Apparently first time something like this has been tried.

'Art imitates life' or does life imitate art? Whatever it is, its causing problems, 3 Assignments due in the next 2 weeks, Rome, Native Americans, & 'Norn Irn', and Wilde, Beckett, Friel & Ibsen are just being problematic at the moment!

Titus

image sourced from HERE

An Irish conundrum!

2008-08-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

If you set a Sat Nav to take you from Belfast to Carraroe how could
one end up in a field in Ballyhaunis! Strange but true (well except
the field bit). Friends did just that last night! And on the subject
of this little piece of invaluable (in some circles) modern
technology, did you read about the Kerry experience, i know they only
know about football and fleecing stupid yanks, but they also know a
thing or two about modern gadjets -- they are f-ing useless on the
ring of Kerry!!

Titus

Image sourced from HERE

Where have all the f>*^_s gone?

2008-05-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

.
Some years ago in our ancient land there was the Intermediate Cert. Some people I understand did great in all their subjects bar Irish! naturally curbing their creative instincts, especially at a time when one couldn't get a job as a kitchen porter unless you had the cupla focal! I was interested to hear all views regarding this. As for all the f*&^%s, drinkers, Sun readers (or maybe Sun worshippers), ManU fans et al, probably all gazing through Heaney's 'skylight' as he listened to Christy singing 'Back home in Derry', and both reminiced on the shape of Dana's posterior! The deadline as all good editors would say was yesterday, but if you hurry you might make the late edition!

Titus