Star Trek As Gaeilge!

It doesn't get better than this. Maith sibh, a bhuacaillí! Go h'iontach! Agus an-greannmhar. I just heard it on Radio na Gaeltachta and couldn't believe my pointy ears. The young captain does a lovely Ulster accent. Oddly enough, so does the young Mr Spock on the extra features of the first DVD (when he is being quite bold, I might add.)

I LOVE THE BATTLESHIP MOVIE!

As with books, I tend to find great films long after everyone else. Hey, I march to my own drummer. Just watched this one last week and kept texting Finn with "omigod I love this movie." Of course it got panned by the critics. (So did The Bodyguard when it first came out, though everybody seems to have forgotten that. I remember because I loved it from the get-go and couldn't believe the negative reaction to it.) Now I'm not saying that my naval background didn't have some influence on my utter enjoyment of it. Men do look so good in uniform, especially dress whites. Rihanna was also cute as a button and downplayed her role beautifully for a big star. Couldn't understand what the leading man was saying half the time in his sexy gravelly voice but who cares. Is his name really 'Kitsch'? (you couldn't make this stuff up). But BEST OF ALL were the real-life  war veterans. I thought I was going to cry. They looked so proud of themselves and they walked so proudly right into that film, it was great. As far as I can tell, each wore a cap naming the ship he served on and the war he survived. Kudos to the director for such inspired and inspiring film-making in the middle of pure entertainment. And all the visual references to the game, including the weapons the aliens used, were absolutely hilarious as well as ingenious.If you can make a blockbuster from a Las Vegas attraction - Pirates of the Carribean - why not a classic board game? God, the poh-faced critics ... Drop some lead on them, Skipper!

International Day of Forgiveness?

I was thinking this morning about how I like to hold on to a grudge or a resentment, even a jolly good hate. It takes a huge amount of effort to change my mind, to stop demonising the other person, to try and understand why they are like they are or just to let them be that way and move on. It always strikes me that while I am refusing to change, at the same time I wonder why the world is such a mess and why our leaders have to react, retaliate, invade and war. But how can I expect others to change when I won't? Is it possible that the amount of aggression each of us individually nurses in our heart is adding to and even feeding the amount of aggression on our planet? Is it possible that by resenting our parents or children, keeping that grudge against ex-friends and ex-partners, holding that resentment against neighbours, employers or employees, colleagues, the unhelpful guy at the counter ... we are actually aiding and abetting the massacres, the bombings, the genocide, the wars?

Rodriguez

I don't usually jump on bandwaggons but I'm happily clambering onto this one. Firstly I saw the film. Absolutely brilliant piece of work. Deserved the Oscar it won this year. The graphics are exquisite, the true story is inspiring, and most of all the man himself is a joy to meet. A gentle soul, a boddhisattva. Those scenes of him walking through the snow in Detroit ... And then there's the music. I've bought both albums Cold Fact and Coming From Reality and I listen to them compulsively. Caught myself singing "I Wonder" a few times. He's the real McCoy. Unlike so many 'of the people' folk-singers who were really middle-class kids who never did a hard day's work in their life (Bob Dylan comes to mind), Rodriguez worked at hard labour for most of his life. Aside from America's failure to recognise his talent - I put it down to his Latino name, he wouldn't have been considered 'a true American' at the time - there's also the question of where his money went given that he was a major star in South Africa and very big in Australia as well (unbeknownst to himself!)That's the music industry for you. Like the publishing industry these days, they eat their young.If you haven't seen the film or heard the music, you are missing something wonderful!

My Sister's Art and Art Gallery

One of my darling sisters - I have seven, plus two darling brothers! - has opened her own art gallery in Toronto. As well as being a well-known artist (she was listed among the top ten best upcoming young artists in Canada), she has curated exhibitions and directed galleries before starting up her own just last month. This is one of her works and here is her gallery website: www.yumart.ca. Do drop by! Btw some of you may recognise her as one of Dana's mad artistic aunties in The Book of Dreams.

Jampa Ling as Gaeilge

The Tibetan Buddhist Centre where I am working at present - helping to run the place! - has been featured on TG4, the Irish language television station here. The programme is about WWOOFers, which meant "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" in my day (I worked on a goat farm in County Clare, my experience ending up in The Hunter's Moon) and now means "World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms" as the whole set-up has expanded. Here's the link: http://www.tg4.ie/en/player/tg4-player.html?id=2260441086001&title=Wwoof%C3%A1il. It's only good for 30 days, I believe. I was away in Canada at the time, so I missed the shooting of it. But the place looks great and you will see the wonderful lama who is our spiritual director: Panchen Otrul Rinpoche.

St. Patrick's Day Parade - Ballinamore

Well, it all started with an invitation to go down to the Cultural Quarters in Ballinamore and put on fancy dress and join the St Patrick's Day Parade. The Cultural Quarters or CQ for short is the old police barracks turned into a nexus of alternative art and culture by an amazing Glaswegian woman, Tracey, who is a tiny bundle of power and energy. There's a vintage clothes and knick knack shop, theatre space upstairs for comedy, concerts and plays, rooms for yoga and tai chi and dance and music lessons and whatever you're having yourself. Tracey also runs the Ballinamore Fringe Festival out of the CQ. So off I went and dressed up as a pirate - HAR - and got in line in the parade. We were behind the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) float which was making a historic first appearance in a provincial town. But our signs were apparently out of date showing the wrong website, so we ended up helping to carry the rainbow flags instead and next minute I'm marching down the main street of Ballinamore in the St Patrick's Day parade with the LGBT group! (I'm having a very interesting 60th year, ending up in the oddest of places.) Generally speaking it was hilarious. We got a lot of cheers and laughs, but there were also some seriously scary looks: I can't really describe them, but they leave you feeling cold and dead inside, like you're not a human being, or your existence is wiped out in that gaze. The great news is that we got a prize - for being the most colourful and humourous group! A benign act of good will, I felt, on the part of the Ballinamore committee. Here's a pic of some of us looking daft as a brush.