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Friday, July 31, 2009

Farewell Old Soldiers


Armistice Day London 2008

I am hardly a supporter of British Militarism or military adventurism which the Red Tops treat as some jolly jape under the heading of “supporting our boys” or “finishing the job.” This begs the questions, too rarely asked in the same Red Tops, of what are we supporting and what is the job? Indeed I’ve pointed out elsewhere that Britain’s colonial history contains many disgraceful episodes when it acted as the Great Imperial Bully and we have also decidedly mixed feelings in Ireland on this count.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/britain-in-iraq.html

But none of this is in any way to detract from the personal heroism or sacrifice of soldiers in battle and it is right that their bravery is commemorated each year on Armistice Sunday, the service held on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the fighting in World War 1 at 11.00 am on the 11th November 1918. Indeed when you read the obituaries of those who served in the wars and the enormous responsibilities and decisions they had to undertake at a tender age you somehow feel that those of us whose lives have not been tempered by war have somehow led shallow lives by contrast. However we largely read about those who survive, not those who perished.

Few can have been unmoved by the poignant sight at the last commemoration at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London of three of the last surviving veterans of the First World War joining serving soldiers in current conflicts to mark the 90th anniversary of the day peace returned to Europe. Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108, led the nation as it remembered the sacrifices made by the 1914-1918 generation. They each represented the armed service they belonged to - for Mr Allingham the Royal Air Force, Mr Patch the Army and Mr Stone the Royal Navy. All three men laid wreaths at the Cenotaph in central London to commemorate Armistice Day. Sadly, but not too surprisingly, all have now died since that ceremony.



Henry Allingham, who was in the Royal Naval Air Service in the war and later with the RAF, was the world's oldest man when he died 12 days ago aged 113. Since his death, the last WWI veteran in Britain, Harry Patch, has also died. Mr Patch was conscripted into the Army aged 18 and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele at Ypres in 1917 in which more than 70,000 British soldiers died. At the end of the service the bells of St Nicholas's tolled 113 times, once for each year of his life, and five replica World War One planes - Mr Allingham was the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service and a founder member of the Royal Air Force - performed a flypast.


Henry Allingham, 1896 - 2009



The veteran was being buried with full military honours. Guests included the Duchess of Gloucester; the veterans minister Kevan Jones and senior figures from the Royal Navy and the Air Force. Henry Allingham was, at the age of 113, the world's oldest man when he died on July 18 and, with Harry Patch, one of Britain's last two survivors from the Great War. Harry Patch died exactly week later, making Claude Choules, 108, who lives in Australia, the last living British veteran of the war.

Mr Allingham's medals were carried by two of his 16 great-grandchildren who are both currently serving in the US Navy, his late daughter Jean had gone to America after WW2 as a GI Bride. Outside, a crowd of hundreds watched as the service was relayed on a big screen. Among them was Dennis Goodwin, founder and chair of the First World War Veterans' Association, who said he would never forget Mr Allingham. "I have been to many veterans' funerals but this is most special because it coincides with the end of an era." There are now only three surviving veterans of the First World War, none of them living in the UK.

John Babcock, who turned 109 on 23 July, was with Canada's Boys Battalion in England but the war ended before he turned 18 and could go to the front.

Frank Buckles, 108, joined the American army aged just 16 and was held in reserve in England from December 1917. After six months he was sent to France but never saw action on the frontline.

Claude Choules, 108, served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Originally from Worcestershire, he now lives in Perth, Australia.




The First World War and the Flu Epidemic of 1918/19 produced a death toll of unimaginable proportion and we should not forget the callousness with which lives were thrown away. Indeed, in a telling indication of the attitude among the General Staff to casualties there were more allied deaths on the morning of 11th November 1918 alone than there were on D-Day in 1944. The respected American author Joseph E Persico has calculated a shocking figure that the final day of WWI would produce nearly 11,000 casualties, more than those killed, wounded or missing on D-Day, when Allied forces landed en masse on the shores of occupied France almost 27 years later. What is worse is that hundreds of these soldiers would lose their lives thrown into action by generals who knew that the Armistice had already been signed. The recklessness of General Wright, of the 89th American Division, is a case in point. Seeing his troops were exhausted and dirty, and hearing there were bathing facilities available in the nearby town of Stenay, he decided to take the town so his men could refresh themselves. "That lunatic decision cost something like 300 casualties, many of them battle deaths, for an inconceivable reason," says Mr Persico.


Bill Stone, 1900 - 2009

It was with this in mind that I made a personal journey to the battle fields for there were deaths on both sides of my family in that war. Edward Kenny who died with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and my Great Uncle, James McMahon who died with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Beaurevoir in the Ainse 5 weeks before the end of the war in 1918. When I visited James McMahon’s grave I wasn’t expecting to feel a great deal of connection with somebody who died so many years before I was born but being there amongst the graves of so many young Irish soldiers who all died on the 8th October 1918 was surprisingly moving.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/towards-somme-personal-journey.html


Grave of my Great Uncle, James McMahon,1898 - 1918, Beaurevoir, France.

We now know that the war to end all wars did nothing of the sort and did little for “small nations” either. It is hard to explain the “Causes of the Great War.” In his weighty book of the same name the historian A.J.P. Taylor cannot come to a definitive conclusion but, as he observes, it was the first truly industrialised war and it was industrialisation which made possible the scale of the awful bloodbath as “Defence was mechanised but attack was not,” The aim of the domino effect of the alliances which clicked robot like into action after the assassinations in Sarajevo was to preserve the established order, “For King and Country” as it was expressed in Britain.

But after the dust had settled there were no more Hapsburgs, Romanoff’s, Hohenzollern’s or Ottomans and the Saxe-Coburg Gotha’s had become “Windsor’s”. The war and the humiliating peace left a legacy of instability both in Europe and in the former Ottoman territories only some of which has been resolved today. It removed a whole generation and those left behind bore deep scars. They included a French Captain, Charles De Gaulle, left for dead by his own side at Verdun in no-man’s land for two days before being taken prisoner by the Germans, an Austrian corporal Adolph Hitler who was gassed and wounded and unemployed after the war in a collapsed German economy who concluded his country was not defeated on the battlefield but by its own lack of willpower and subversive elements on the home front who were not “proper Germans” The novelist J.R. Tolkien was a survivor of the Somme and wrote a mythological parable of the horror and inhumanity of mechanised warfare and a plea for the decency of humanity, “The Lord of the Rings.”

The “Last Tommy” Harry Patch thought that his comrade’s sacrifice had been in vain because what the world achieved was not “Peace in our Time” but rather it set the scene for the conflict of WW11. He expressed himself movingly in interviews in 2004;

“I was taken back to England to convalesce. When the war ended, I don't know if I was more relieved that we'd won or that I didn't have to go back. Passchendaele was a disastrous battle — thousands and thousands of young lives were lost. It makes me angry. Earlier this year, I went back to Ypres to shake the hand of Herr Kuentz, Germany's only surviving veteran from the war. It was emotional. He is 107. We've had 87 years to think what war is. To me, it's a licence to go out and murder. Why should the British government call me up and take me out to a battlefield to shoot a man I never knew, whose language I couldn't speak? All those lives lost for a war finished over a table. Now what is the sense in that?"

......."It wasn’t worth it. No war is worth it. No war is worth the loss of a couple of lives let alone thousands. T’isn’t worth it … the First World War, if you boil it down, what was it? Nothing but a family row. That’s what caused it. The Second World War – Hitler wanted to govern Europe, nothing to it. I would have taken the Kaiser, his son, Hitler and the people on his side … and bloody shot them. Out the way and saved millions of lives. T’isn’t worth it."



Ypres

Harry Patch will be buried after a service at Wells Cathedral near Bath this coming Thursday 6th August. A quiet man who did not talk about the war in public until he was 100, he may have been surprised to see that his passing led television and radio bulletins and prompted banner headlines in the Sunday papers. "Too many died... war isn't news," he once said. When he is buried with him will go the last living connection to World War 1 and this cataclysmic event will finally be “History”.

No doubt his passing will be marked with full military honours and the greatest respect, as is only right. But, is this Irish Republican alone in thinking that on such a momentous occasion, as a token of respect to all who died, his passing should be marked with nothing less than a full State Funeral? And am I alone in feeling that the Queen should break with convention and attend this last opportunity to honour first hand all those who fought in her Grandfather’s name “For King and Country”? Even a non-royalist would be churlish to suggest she has not always shown good judgement and felt the pulse of the Nation. I cannot imagine that her sound instincts are saying anything to her other than “We shall be there” to say farewell to this remarkable old soldier.


Harry Patch 1898 - 2009

The tennis drop shot technique add on

There are other matters to take note when doing a drop shot after the forward swing and contact. The following will describe the follow through things to note:

1. Keep the follow through of drop shot has to be short, finishing at approximately waist level.

2. Another important thing is to ensure that you keep your head still and maintain the balance. On completion of the shot, follow the ball to the net so that you can reduce the angle of your opponent's return.

3. Usually, your opponent may also return with a drop shot so be in a flexible position to counter that.

It is important to get a feel for how much force to apply with the racket and for how to absorb the pace of the oncoming ball so that you can use a drop shot. Therefore sometimes it is useful to actually work on your drop shot early in the development of the game because it will develop your feel for the ball and how to control it. You will also become more aware of the touch and timing of the shots.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Elena Dementieva joining Maria Sharapova in third round

Photobucket
Elena Dementieva seems like she wants to play with fellow Russian Maria Sharapova.

Photobucket
Maria Kirilenko another fellow Russian who played with Elena Dementieva.

Elena Dementieva, the Olympic champion won Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-2 and will be joining Maria Sharapova in the third round. She mentioned that it was always great to come back and play with someone who is at the top of the game. She is always relish playing with top players and she said that she would love to play against Maria Sharapova. Both professional players seems to pretty good at the game and maybe they will have a chance to meet each other after all. Elena Dementieva seems to be the more experienced player and she will utilise her knowledge to come up with something or technique to counter against Maria Sharapova's on form skills.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Maria Sharapova is back with form

Maria Sharapova doing a throw for a serve. (Reuters)

The gesture of joy after winning a score. (Reuters)

Yes Maria is back in the games. Maria Sharapova has won her first round against Japanese Player Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 after some struggles but has managed to give plenty of strong shots at the last game to win. Now she has just won fifth seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-2 on Wednesday to move into the quarter-finals. She said against an opponent like Nadia Petrova, she has to play really well which she did as she gave huge returns and accurate servings to win her fello russian. Maria will be playing against the winner of the match between second seed Venus Williams and Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva in the next match. It seems that Maria has already recovered pretty much from her injury and she seems to be all ready to continue to march on to the finals.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Let it Grow! Let it Grow!


I wish these tourists wouldn't stare at me!

The Television Gardener and raconteur, Alan Titchmarsh, once remarked that “They say gardening is the new sex. I preferred the old stuff.” I bore this thought in mind today when with the brief outburst of summer sunshine midst the rains of London it was time for me to womble into my favourite London Park, the Royal Park of St. James to record the summer bedding, the newly cleaned lake and the Royal allotment! It was also an opportunity to record the seasonal changes since my last visits in winter and in spring. The lake gets drained and cleaned about every 15 years and it is a major undertaking whilst ensuring the Pelicans and water fowl don’t go elsewhere so it is good that it is completed and the park is back to normal. The summer displays are always wonderful, particularly compared to my sad displays at home.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/06/blooming-june.html

How I admired the skill of the gardeners and cursed my green fingered mediocrity until one horrible morning when walking through the park I lost my innocence! For there in front of me were rows of trolleys with the summer bedding in peak condition ready to be planted and the spring bedding being dug out? Now that I knew their secret of how the beds always looked so wonderful I was reconciled to my own indolent efforts at home!



St. James’s Park is in fact one of 3 Royal Parks which provide the setting for Buckingham Palace, London’s great ceremonial avenue, The Mall, and the ceremonial parade ground of Horseguard’s Parade. The Green Park was originally a swampy burial ground for lepers; but by 1668, Charles II had enclosed it and stocked it with deer, again to indulge the regal passion for hunting. It was designed by the French landscape architect Le Notre and it is a “Green Park” as it has no flower beds. The third park is less well known; being the 32 acre enclosed walled garden of Buckingham Palace which contains another lake. We last visited St. James’s Park when it was covered in snow and then when it was in its spring glory where the flower beds tried to recreate the colourful displays of its designer John Nash.


Horseguard’s Parade from the park

Here is the park in winter;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/02/london-snow.html

Here is the park in spring;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/st-jamess-park-london.html

One excellent new summer feature for the past few years is the allotment to encourage people to renew their interests in allotments and grow their own vegetables and fruit and maybe even honey! The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in association with The Royal Parks ran a Dig for Victory allotment project in St James’s Park, London from May-September 2007. As many of you are aware, Dig for Victory was a WWII campaign to help combat food shortages by promoting the planting of allotments in gardens and on public land. The campaign reflected issues still relevant today, such as access to fresh healthy food, being active and living sustainably.




Dig for Victory!

You don't need a large garden to grow your own food. Lots of different fruit and veg will flourish in the smallest pots. So if you have a patio, balcony, window box or just a window sill you can enjoy the fun of producing healthy cheap food. The Royal Parks Allotment at St James's Park offers a wealth of inspiration for all the family. This year alongside the allotment and herb garden it will show you how to grow potatoes, salads, and greens in containers, raised beds and confined spaces. Experts are on hand to provide friendly advice and tips for the garden. It is good to see its progress and return again to observe the fascinating development during the season. Today it was certainly a popular attraction with the visitors book recording the “newly married” K. Patel’s from Leicester, Chelsea Pensioners and visitors from North Carolina and Malaysia. It is clear that many people are very suspicious of the food industry and want to take control of part of their own nutrition by growing their own food. As well as the nutritional benefits it is relaxing and saves money. Going back to its origins in the original “Dig for Victory” campaign it is worth noting that during WW11 when food was rationed and people eat less meat, sugars and fats nutritional health in the UK actually improved greatly – the moral here is “Less is more!”





With its royal, political and literary associations, St James's Park is at the very heart of London and covers 23 hectares (58 acres). With a lake harbouring ducks, geese and pelicans and in the centre of the lake is Duck Island is the home to many wild breeds of beautiful ducks and bird life.



There are many ducks; gulls; swans; geese; pelicans. Some rarer visitors are the golden eye, carrion crows, grey wagtail and shovelers. A popular spectacle for visitors is to watch the wildlife officers feeding the pelicans every day at 2:30pm. The stars of the feeding show are undoubtedly the gregarious pelicans who were introduced to the park as a gift by a Russian Ambassador in 1664.




Local inhabitants

St James's is also home to the Mall, the setting for many ceremonial parades and events of national celebration. St James's Park is the oldest Royal Park in London and is surrounded by three palaces. The most ancient is Westminster, which has now become the Houses of Parliament, St James's Palace and of course, the best known, Buckingham Palace.


Humans chillin...


Ducks chillin...


Pelicans chillin...

The Park was once a marshy water meadow. In the thirteenth century a leper hospital was founded, and it is from this hospital that the Park took its name. In 1532 Henry VIII acquired the site as yet another deer park and built the Palace of St James's. When Elizabeth I came to the throne she indulged her love of pageantry and pomp, and fetes of all kinds were held in the park. Her successor, James I, improved the drainage and controlled the water supply. A road was created in front of St James's Palace, approximately where the Mall is today, but it was Charles II who made dramatic changes. The Park was redesigned, with avenues of trees planted and lawns laid. The King opened the park to the public and was a frequent visitor, feeding the ducks and mingling with his subjects.


Duck Island

During the Hanoverian period, Horse Guards Parade was created by filling in one end of the long canal and was used first as a mustering ground and later for parades. Horse Guards Parade is still part of St James's Park. The Park changed forever when John Nash redesigned it in a more romantic style. The canal was transformed into a natural-looking lake and in 1837 the Ornithological Society of London presented some birds to the Park and erected a cottage for a bird keeper. Both the cottage and the position of bird keeper remain to this day. Clarence House was designed for the Duke of Clarence, later to become William IV and was also the home of the late Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.





Outside Buckingham Palace is the Queen Victoria Memorial, which celebrates the days of the British Empire. The memorial includes not only the marble statue of Victoria and the glittering figures of Victory, Courage and Constancy, but also the ornamental gates given by the Dominions. These are the Australia Gate, South Africa Gate and Canada Gate.


Rear of Downing Street from the park

Another excellent feature of St. James’s Park is the restaurant run by Oliver Peyton and designed by Hopkins Architects (The Architects of a nearby Building of the Year – Westminster Tube Station) – the punningly named “Inn the Park” . Oliver is well known to the British Public as one of the judges on “The Great British Menu” programme on the telly but the lad actually hails from Sligo in the West of Ireland – as do Westlife but you can’t win them all! He owns several restaurants throughout London, which, over the years, have been as much applauded for their architectural achievements as their gastronomic standards.




Inn the Park

The Hopkins designed building is nestled in the 1828 Nash landscaped park, amongst the trees, on the edge of the lake. With such a beautiful and historic setting, Hopkins Architects set out to create a modern design that worked thoughtfully with the original intentions of Nash’s design and did not impose itself on the unspoiled urban oasis. The result is that from The Mall and most parts of the park the building blends invisibly into the rolling landscape. Whilst walking from Horse Guards Parade or Admiralty Arch it emerges; an elegant, wood-clad shelter with glazed frontage and roof top pathway looking across the lake to Duck Island and onwards as far as the London Eye.

Warm Austrian larch, contrasting with concrete and stainless steel, was chosen to reinforce the calm and timeless feeling of the historic park. The larch, from sustainably managed forests, forms the primary structure and envelope of the building and has been left untreated to gradually weather over time. Basically, the building is a one-story structure housing a restaurant and toilet facilities. A glass wall with sliding panels and a veranda overlook the adjacent lake. The whole of the project is beneath a grass roof that makes the building blend into the park.



Inside, the dining room is divided from the kitchen and take-away area by chunky white marble booths with black patterned leather banquettes. Chairs are constructed out of tubular polished stainless steel topped with patterned black or purple crocodile leather cushions, table tops are crafted out of burgundy stove enamel. The lighting is striking. The building design maximizes the use of natural light with three large holes bored through the roof flooding the back of the restaurant with daylight, whilst running the length of the room are suspended Tom Dixon’s impossible to miss mirrored lights. With the lights on, the larch wood floor and ceiling glows with a honeyed intensity.





Behind the marble partition, ‘grab & go’ food is displayed in elegant bronze refrigerators, whilst either side of a giant three-metre long grill, bountiful displays of freshly baked produce form impossibly precarious piles along a terrazzo counter.

Outside, the majority of the wooden terrace is covered and heated. Sturdy wire chairs replete with purple leather mock-croc cushions accompany marble topped tables. The far end of the terrace, open to the elements, looks up towards Buckingham Palace. A flight of steps at the end of the building leads to the grassed roof, where a wooden banquette follows the ‘swoop’ of the walkway, which extends Nash’s paths over the top of the building and down the other side. From here all visitors can enjoy the sublime views, the perfect vantage point for the daily Pelican feeding or a comfortable seat for reading a book and nibbling a sandwich. Overall the Inn the Park restaurant is a remarkable success and a most well mannered building but there again it is set in London’s most well mannered and loveliest park!


Swire Fountain

The tennis drop shot technique

The key to a successful drop shot is to relax the muscle tension in your forearm and hand at the point of contact. Here are some of the important things to note when doing a drop shot:

The grip

Continental grip for the drop shot is easier to use but if you can continue to play your normal forehand or backhand, you can actually surprise the opponent.

Preparation and backswing

Try and prepare as you would for your normal forehand and backhand so that you can disguise the shot. Use the same stance as when you use for forehand and backhand. Play the shot from inside the court so the ball has less far to travel as this will give your opponent less time to get the ball.

Forward swing and contact

Use a similar forward swing as for forehand and backhand. Need a downward swing but reduce the speed of the racket head so you can control the ball. Keep wrist loose and bring racket face underneath the ball, putting spin on it. Contact the ball just before or when it reaches the highest point of its bounce.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Amnesty honours Burma's Suu Kyi


Aung San Suu Kyi, elected leader of the Burmese people

Aung San Suu Kyi was today awarded Amnesty International's highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience Award. The human rights group said it hoped this would help protect the Burmese pro-democracy leader as she faces a potential prison sentence. Amnesty secretary-general Irene Khan said the award coincided with the 20th anniversary of Ms Suu Kyi's initial arrest on 20 July 1989, as she led a campaign to oust Burma's military dictators.

Rock band U2 were due to announce the award tonight at a Dublin concert. U2, who won the honour in 2005 in recognition of singer Bono's humanitarian work, have been honouring Ms Suu Kyi at each performance of their European tour.


Bono

Closing arguments were heard today in the trial of Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, marking a transition into a crucial phase of her court case and her 20-year non-violent struggle against Myanmar's military junta. The court's verdict could come at any time.

Suu Kyi could spend as many as 5 years in Myanmar's notorious Insein Prison — which some have referred to as the "darkest hell-hole in Burma" — if she's convicted. Critics have condemned the regime's trumped-up charges as a flimsy pretext for keeping her in prison and out of the country's 2010 elections.

Meanwhile, Myanmar authorities have been cracking down on other democracy activists outside the courtroom. The military regime arrested at least 50 opposition party members on Sunday as they peacefully observed the anniversary of the death of Myanmar independence hero Gen. Aung San.

While the trial was initially open to journalists and diplomats, Myanmar authorities closed the courthouse doors, leaving the international community in the dark on the subsequent proceedings. The country's military junta is hoping that by the time the court reaches a verdict in Suu Kyi's case, the world will have long since forgotten about her.

Ms Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy, won national elections in 1990 but the military refused to relinquish power. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.
Ms Khan said: "In those long and often dark years, Suu Kyi has remained a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defence of human rights." Ms Suu Kyi, 64, is on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house-arrest: harbouring an American who swam to her Rangoon home uninvited. The offence can carry a five-year prison sentence. Foreign diplomats have been barred from key parts of her trial. Her supporters accuse Burma's junta of seeking to put her behind bars until after elections planned for next year.


Saffron Revolution crushed in 2007

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, a fellow Nobel Laureate and the first winner of the award in 2003, said foreign recognition probably has deterred Burma's rulers from imposing even harsher punishments on Ms Suu Kyi. "I know from my own experience that international attention can, to a certain extent, protect the unjustly persecuted from punishments that would otherwise be imposed. Goodness knows what would have happened if her fate had not been highlighted as it is again today," Mr Havel said in a statement.

Her trial has been adjourned until tomorrow. Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said he expected a verdict in two or three weeks. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (64) is a non-violent pro-democracy campaigner and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma). According to the New York Times she has been held under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years by the military junta. In 1991 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

The decision of the Nobel Committee mentions:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

...Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression...

...In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means."


Let us all condemn the self serving Burmese Junta who have imprisoned a whole Nation and cut shabby deals to enrich themselves and their families with the natural resources of what should be the richest nation in the region. What brave Generals they are who have only ever fought against their own people whilst running a kleptocracy. How they must fear the reckoning which is surely to come. Let us join Amnesty International in honouring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the democratically elected leader of Burma, daughter of the leader of its struggle for independence and a true daughter of Burma.

Free Aung San Suu Kyi and free the people of Burma from the military freeloaders who enslave them.

Here is Aung San Suu Kyi’s website;

http://www.dassk.com/index.php



Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the grounds of the Rangoon house where she has been imprisoned for most of the past 20 years

Sunday, July 26, 2009

[CARTOON] Teletubby Mood Chart


"A new cartoon in spite of putting in 17.5 hours at work this weekend for 'the man'





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A Tale of Three Restaurants and a Hotel



Dublin's Grafton Street



The recent weekend in the Fair City will sound like a Sybarite’s Progress but basing ourselves in the South City Centre in Buswell’s Hotel it afforded an opportunity, rare for a native of the auld place like myself, to enjoy the city without the need to “get home” and absorb the urban sights and sounds in a relaxed way without any need to hit the tourist trail. So over I went from lovely London Luton airport and for my Father’s 79th Birthday I set up camp at my favourite Dublin Hotel, Buswell’s in the city centre opposite the Irish Parliament and enjoyed an excellent Birthday dinner in the Saddle Room of the Shelbourne Hotel.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/dublins-fair-city.html



First up on the Friday we took the railway which is celebrating its 25th year, the DART or Dublin Area Rapid Transit from Pearse Station, formerly Westland Row. This in itself caused a slight outbreak of nostalgia on two counts. Westland Row was the terminus for the Boat Trains from the ferry at Dun Laoghaire and in its heyday was full of boarding houses, cafes and shops ministering to traveller’s needs. With the DART implementation 25 years ago and the traffic changing from passengers by rail to a Car Ferry the Boat Train (which used to go onto the pier beside the boat) stopped and Trinity College bought up the row of properties on the far side of the street so it has a somewhat sterile appearance these days compared to the hustle and bustle of yore. One of those shops was run by my Grand-Aunt Helena Nearey. When the young me was in town or going on the boat to Holyhead it was the first port of call and as she was a kindly lady I rarely came away empty handed.









St. Andrews



Beside the station is one of Dublin’s finest churches, the Episcopal Church of St. Andrews. It is the Episcopal Church because it is the personal parish church of the Catholic (Cardinal) Archbishop of Dublin and its well mannered pedimented Doric front gives little hint of the massive scale of the interior modelled on the great basilicas of northern Italy. The first major Catholic Church on a main thoroughfare in Ireland after Catholic Emancipation (i.e.; the end of vindictive religious discrimination by the British colonial power in 1829) its interior with its side chapels and adjoining structures (originally a children and old folks home and accommodation for clergy) it has played an important role in city life. It is also famous because your correspondent was baptised there as the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street where I was born was close and babies in those days were baptised quickly as dodgy Catholic Doctrine held if they died first they ended up in “Limbo.” I used to think I was special being water boarded as a 2 day old in such splendid surroundings but it turns out from the church guide that over a half a million kids have been baptised there – obviously one way tickets to Limbo were to be avoided!



So, on the splendid DART on the scenic trip along the south coast of Dublin with splendid views of the bay through Dalkey where we alighted at the next stop at Killiney. There were met by my old friend who, it occurred to me, I had first met 30 years ago. He is a true altruist and has restored the Martello Tower along with the defensive glacis, artillery battery and in a true coup de theatre has had an authentic cannon fitted to the tower and fired over the nervous neighbours!



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/07/killiney-martello-tower-no-7.html



Guinea Pig







After viewing the Tower and the superb views up and down the bay we to Dalkey and Bray Head we headed past the homes of the likes of The Edge, Bono and Enya to the old Viking village of Dalkey, itself something of Celebrity Central and our destination was the Celebs cantina the long established Guinea Pig Restaurant. This is situated in Railway Avenue but visitors alighting at the DART Station notice that the adjoining road is called “Atmospheric Avenue.” This is not a reference to the salubrious surroundings; local roads are called Sorrento and Vico because the views have been compared to the Bay of Naples, but to the fact that the original railway was an “Atmospheric Railway” where the carriages were pumped up by air pressure from Dun Laoghaire.



Opened in 1957, The Guinea Pig has become an established haunt of Dalkey locals and stars of the stage and screen. What attracts them is the timeless atmosphere and consistent good food prepared by the staff and equally courteous service. The emphasis has always been on fresh fish, some caught locally, beef and lamb from the not so distant hills of Co. Wicklow. Only a short walk from Dalkey Dart station, and therefore a pleasant 20 minute ride from the centre of Dublin the Guinea Pig along with the many other good restaurants and pubs in this attractive seaside town should be a pit stop for visitors.







The rooms manage to capture the comfortable familiarity of an old friend’s house. Seats are squishy, table decoration is unfussy and the staff are friendly without being obtrusive. We had the Early Bird menu, which at €24.50 (excluding dessert) seems a bit pricey but this has never been a cheap restaurant. For a birthday or a special occasion however, it might be worth splashing out. Though it is primarily a fish restaurant, there is a wide selection on the Early Bird menu, with eight starters and twelve mains to choose from. Our table ordered the chicken liver pate and the seafood chowder. The chowder was the best I ever had, a more luxurious offering than the name suggests with fresh seafood in a broth which was unctuous with cream, sherry and paprika. The toast for the excellent homemade pate was cold but was replaced in nano seconds when this was mentioned to the waiter. For mains the Dalkey Crab Meat with cream and cheese was served in a scallop shell but I’m not sure that the richness of sauce helped the really excellent crab meat. The Grilled Fillets of Sole with Ginger and Spring Onion were pronounced the best ever, simply grilled allowing the wonderful quality of the fresh fish to speak for itself. There was an extra change of five euro for the duck and the steak.



The desserts are presented to you on a tray but here there is a catch as they are extra on the early bird menu at 6 euros each but we settled for the selection of Irish Cheeses and Crackers and received a selection of four excellent farmhouse cheeses served with celery and small grapes. The wine was an excellent Merlot at 32 euros – wines seem expensive in Irish restaurants compared to the UK.





Dalkey



The menu choice may seem familiar, but it is the execution of the dishes which sets this restaurant apart. Portions are generous but it is the quality of the ingredients which stands out and the confident cooking which allows them to speak for themselves. This is not haute cuisine but rather reminded me of French Bistro food, good quality artisan ingredients treated simply and with respect. I had last been here 25 years ago so seeing the place again was a great pleasure and I didn’t feel strange for little has changed – the rest of Ireland may have been “interior designed” but the Guinea Pig has remained immune to faddism. Another connection with the French Bistro tradition is that the Chef Patron for the past 32 years has been Mervyn Stewart and as I remember on my last visit 25 years ago he still appears out front and visits every table. He knows his market and this is an establishment which never patronises the customer. It was good to catch up with Mervyn and swap notes on Malta which he frequently visits. He is looking unseasonably well for such a hard working chef and the Guinea Pig is very much a family restaurant with his wife and daughter keeping front of house. I suspect it won’t take another quarter of a century before my next visit!



Yamamori Noodles







Saturday night and we met up for drinks at Buswells with old buddies before heading over towards George’s Street for noodles. On the way we passed ample evidence of the nightlife which has made Dublin the 3rd most popular weekend destination in Europe with many roaming stag and Hen parties in evidence. Yamamori is a popular Japanese restaurant located a stone's throw from some of Dublin's trendier pubs such as the Globe and Hogan's. It's a bright, airy and well-decorated affair, with large windows looking out onto South Great Georges Street. The food is hardly adventurous given Japanese standards, but always reliable, and with sushi, teriyaki and a variety of Japanese beers on the menu, it's an ideal spot for an early dinner. Yamamori also has a lunch menu with a range of noodle dishes that are certainly good value for money.







Yamamori Noodles is one of the most established Japanese noodle restaurants in Dublin and South Great George’s Street has over the years transformed itself from a retail graveyard to a hopping restaurant and nightlife area. Experts in Japanese cuisine and sushi, this Dublin restaurant offers a thorough Japanese menu. The atmosphere is very authentic and service is always fast. Well-known to be one of Dublin's busiest restaurants, Yamamori Noodles popularity is due to the quality and selection of food available. The menu contains enormous variety from Sushi and Sashimi to Teppanyaki to Tempura and Ramen. The side dishes are include authentic popular Japanese snacks including delicious Ebi Gyoza which is a finely chopped king prawn dumpling combined with pak choi, leek, spring onion, garlic and ginger, oyster sauce, dipping sauce.







Lunch is served at Yamamori from 12.30am onwards seven days a week. Dinner begins at 5.30pm and runs through until 11.30pm. The restaurant is pleasantly decorated in traditional Japanese style. Hanging lanterns, white pillared walls and large solid tables inlaid with tiles enhance the authentic atmosphere.



We arrived late with one of our party having rejected Wagamama’s due to its clinical décor. As we needed a table for six we had to wait a while as this was full restaurant but we were quickly given drinks from the bar until a table was free. Food was slow coming and it occurred to me that this was very different from the normal UK Noodle Bar operation with a far longer menu incorporating Bento and Sushi dishes as well as the usual noodle and rice dishes. Whilst a commendable choice is offered the flip side is slow service when the kitchen is under pressure. However when the food came it was a cut above the usual with excellent ingredients and execution and generous portions. My vegan friend pronounced the tofu starter the best he has had for a long time and my Chilli Chicken really hit the spot. Yamamori also offers authentic Japanese deserts including green tea ice cream. There was no rush and it was over 1 O’clock in the morning when we left happily. For six people with deserts and several drinks the bill was 181 euros.



The Saddle Room at the Shelbourne Hotel







The resurgent and expensively refurbished Old Lady of St Stephen’s Green has got the restaurant it long deserved, serving modern 5 star hotel fare of the highest order. This historical hotel has been a landmark in Dublin city for generations, going back as far as 1824. History was made here when the Irish Constitution was drafted in 1922 under the chairmanship of Michael Collins. It has seen countless famous names from throughout the globe coming through its doors, and for Dubliners it has been their favourite hotel for decades. I used to meet friends in the popular Horseshoe Bar, and also enjoyed occasional afternoon tea in the Lord Mayor’s Lounge for a treat. We loved the new look Shelbourne Hotel – same address on St Stephen’s Green, but when you walk through the revolving door there is a new sense of space and light, sparkling chandeliers and decorative stained glass. Gone is the central elevator giving way to the original grand sweeping staircase, and The Horseshoe Bar, The Lord Mayor’s Lounge and The Constitution Room have all been restored while the new restaurant, The Saddle Room and No. 27 Bar & Lounge have been added.









Horseshoe Bar



Instead of being tucked away in a corner like its predecessor, the new Saddle Room is rightly given pride of place in the entrance foyer of the hotel, right opposite the front door. It presents a dramatic façade, as just beyond the entrance bar is a dramatic marbled Seafood Bar which leads to the dark-mahogany panelled main dining room with rows of lavishly furnished banquettes along the walls framing the open plan kitchen where you can watch Executive Chef and his team strutting their stuff as they prepare your meal. This was a special occasion being the other Mr. C’s 79th birthday and the saddle Room offers pizzazz by the bucket load for special occasions, and at an exceptionally reasonable price for the quality of the location, service and above all food.





Seafood Bar



The Saddle Room keeps the cooking simple, using only a handful of ingredients and relying on the freshness and quality of the raw materials to make the dishes sing. Beautifully cooked, tender and flavour-filled steaks and sparklingly fresh fish are staples here, and the service is expert and discreet. When full, the Saddle Room has the really buzzy atmosphere of a gentlemen’s club, but with Premier League food instead of the nursery pap usually favoured by clubbable gentlemen. As it was their 185th Birthday they were offering an Early Bird Menu of two courses for 18.50 euros and three courses for 24.50.





Happy 79th Birthday!



When I enquired earlier I was made very welcome and was booked into a luxurious banquette in gold leather which would be accessible to my parents. Unprompted they also said they would bring out a plate of homemade sweets after the meal to celebrate my Dad’s 79th. We were warmly welcomed when we arrived having first treated ourselves to a pre-prandial libation in the famous Horseshoe Bar. I can honestly say the service, presentation and food was of the highest order and more than met my special occasion expectations.







I had King Crab Risotto as a starter which was just right whilst her indoors enjoyed a well considered Parma Ham with fresh figs and a port sauce. The elder Mr. C ordered a warm salad of Chicken Liver with smoked bacon and a poached egg and the absence of left overs was most eloquent.







For mains my Confit of Duck on a Cassolette of white Coco Beans with garlic sausage was superb and her indoors pronounced the pan fried fillet of sea Bass on fettuccine with brown shrimp, cucumber and a white wine veloute was to die for. The elder lemons were equally happy with their mains of Seared Organic Salmon and Braised Irish Beef. When the elder Mrs. C saw her desert of Pavlova with Lime Mascarpone with balsamic and peppered strawberries her eyes lit up and for me the warm bread and butter pudding with pear puree and Crème Anglaise was just so! Then the coup de theatre as the plate of hand made sweets was served with coffees with “Happy 79th Birthday” piped in chocolate on the rim. Great venue, great service and top food at a reasonable price – With wine coffees and water the bill was a highly reasonable 137 euros for a five star experience for four people.





Buswell’s Hotel







Buswells has been operating since 1882 and is an elegant 3 star hotel with special character in the heart of Dublin 2. A charming 67-bedroom Georgian hotel, it is ideally located in the centre of Dublin city a short stroll from St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College, Grafton Street and many other visitor attractions and near to the DART at Westland Row and the LUAS (Tram) terminal at St. Stephen’s Green.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/07/tale-of-two-parks.html





Room



Strangely, whilst I have long recommended it to friends and whilst the present wife and her sister have stayed there this was my first time there as a resident. That is not to say that the place is unknown to me. The bar had Adam style plaster swags painted blue and white and used to be known as the “Wedgwood Bar.” Many years ago in the company of a leading Irish feminist I had bumped into the Northern Ireland poet Michael Longley and his poetess wife Edna who were staying in the hotel. Michael had just won the GPA poetry prize and with the winners cheque in his pocket was in expansive and generous form, from what I could vaguely recall the next day! The bar and restaurant are today called Truman’s after an adjoining print and drawing instrument shop which I was a customer of as a young architectural student. When it closed down in 1975 Buswell’s bought the property and incorporated it into the hotel and as Secretary of the Student Union at Bolton Street I bought most of their stock for our Student Shop.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/bob-geldof-and-me.html



Being across from the Irish Parliament it had an erstwhile reputation as a late night drinking den for politicos leading to the story about a conversation between a policeman who raided the premises at 3 in the morning and encountered the then Minister for Justice (and later Prime Minister) Charles J Haughey “What will it be for you Guard, a pint of Guinness or a transfer to Donegal?”





Truman's Bar



This is a good hotel in a great location, very close to Grafton Street, Trinity College and the National Museums. Our room was spacious with high ceilings and throughout the décor and furnishings were of a good quality and fresh. The Bathroom and shower were excellent if compact. The bar was good with helpful and obliging service but here and in the lounge you could just sit and relax with no pressure to order anything. We only had breakfast on the last morning (when my parents stayed and this is taken in the rather splendidly upholstered Truman’s Restaurant. It was as good as I’ve seen anywhere with a really excellent selection of juices, cereals, breads (including Irish soda bread) meats and cheeses from a buffet counter with the hot Irish Breakfast, toast and generous pots of tea and coffee served at the linen covered table.





Truman's Restaurant



Last year when my wife and sister in law wanted to stay Buswell’s quoted 245 euros a night. Well this is far too much (you could stay in the Shelbourne for this) but what a difference a year makes as I got the rooms on their site on the internet for 89 to 99 euros a night. Don’t pay extra when booking for breakfast because they price this separately at 20 euros a night (A Mercure Hotel in Paris charges 15 euros!) but we were offered “any breakfast” at the desk at a more reasonable 10 euros. The hotel needs to get its pricing realistic and consistent. The other thing to remember is that as this hotel incorporates four different Georgian buildings so room sizes vary and the dovetailing of bathrooms into the structure doesn’t always make for good sound insulation. Also, being in the centre street noise is unavoidable but we found by closing the windows, including the secondary glazing, the room was quiet. Also as these are Georgian buildings don’t expect aircon, but really you don’t need this in Dublin.









Lounge



This is a well managed property with well trained and friendly staff who really make a difference and I would single out Mary on reception and Clive the Concierge but most of the staff have been here a while and this continuity makes a difference. If you want a personal hotel with a country house athmosphere in a great location Buswell’s is a good deal. Or as the elder Mr C put it as he was reading the complimentary newspaper in his adopted armchair in the relaxing lounge “I could get used to this.”



Guinea Pig



17 Railway Road, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 285-9055



http://www.guineapig.dalkey.info



Yamamori Noodles



71/72, South Great George’s Street, Dublin, 2, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 475-5001



http://www.yamamorinoodles.ie/



The Saddle Room, The Shelbourne Hotel,



27, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, 2, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 663-4500



http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/dubbr-the-shelbourne-dublin-a-renaissance-hotel/



Buswell’s Hotel



26 Molesworth St, Dublin 2, Ireland Phone; +353 (0)1 614 6500



http://www.buswells.ie/





A scene in front of Buswell's
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