Category Archives: Rockall

Familiar Tim Hortons menu shrinking

Had the 2020 CFL season not been cancelled, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats would have had a remarkable 10, arguably 11, players on the roster most of them starters who had been with the team since its new stadium opened on Labour Day, 2014. Well always call them the Tim Hortons Generation. Inarguably era-defining.

On offence; Jeremiah Masoli, Brandon Banks, Mike Filer and possibly, at some point, Luke Tasker. On special teams; long snapper Aaron Crawford. On defence; Simoni Lawrence, Ted Laurent and Mike Daly, plus Cats-to-the-bone Courtney Stephen, Rico Murray and Delvin Breaux who had returned although they each spent a year or two elsewhere.

In recent days, that group has been pared by probably four: Crawford went to Calgary via free agency, immensely popular Filer wont be resigned, Tasker hasnt been made an offer and, this week, versatile Rico Murray, who was the 2019 wide side linebacker, announced his retirement.

Rico Murray, who was the 2019 Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide side linebacker, announced his retirement this week. Teammate Courtney Stephen sends a message of congrats.

Winning followed Murray around in his eight-year CFL career, which began and ended with the Ticats. He arrived here for the Guelph season in 2013, made the East all-stars at halfback for each of the thee Ontario teams and five times in his eight CFL years, he went to the Grey Cup. He won it with, oh geez, Toronto in 2017 and three of his six Ticats squads made it to the Cup final.

Although he made it public Thursday, several weeks earlier Murray took the classy and respectful route of privately informing the Ticats of his pending retirement so football operations could go into free agency pre-armed with that knowledge.

Foul shooting and foul mouthing?

As he watched the Toronto Raptors, Spectator reader Jeff Witt noticed that with no distracting fans, players seemed to have better focus at the foul line. So, he summoned up NBA stats for the last four seasons and found that in 2020 and 21, when a lot of games have been played with few or no fans, indeed foul shooting success had risen over the two previous full-fan years.

Well supplement that reasoning with: all teams have obsessed over pure shooting skills in practice and roster construction since the Warriors moved the three-pointer from the accessories drawer to the main wardrobe closet.

But it also got us to wondering about something else the naked eye suggests: that maybe mounting time in cooped-up mode has stoked frustration in players and officials.

Its by no means an empirical study, but heading into Thursdays night slate 11 players were averaging at least .20 technical fouls per game so far in the compacted 2021 season. Over the past 15 years, only twice has a season ended with more than seven .20-plus-per-game players, and never reached double figures. And no one has come remotely at those seasons ends to the .47 T-ups per game the combatively-talented Russell Westbrook currently averages.

Beam us in Scotties

Every time theres a gap in live-event scheduling which has been a whole bunch over the past year along comes the curling broadcast replays to plug the hole. So, its energizing to the see the real, live, thing return this week with most of the games top Canadian women athletes at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The Scotties is always big deal spiel and this will be one of the toughest to win, ever, with the one-time expansion of playoffs and teams (18). Itll be mentally draining with no fans to invigorate the long days, very strict quarantine restrictions inside the Calgary bubble, and the inevitable procedural adjustments on the fly during this first of four major national championships to be held in the venue this winter/spring. Plus, many teams havent had much game or even practice experience this season and theres a berth in the Olympic trials on the line.

It should be great to finally watch curling drama again without actually knowing the script.

DeNobile shepherded Hall in roughest times

Back to the 110-yard game, we cant let February end without noting that late last month executive-director Mark DeNobile left the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, just shy of his bakers dozen anniversary.

It was a really enjoyable 13 years and we went through a lot of changes, says the 62-year-old Hamilton native. I wish the Hall absolutely nothing but the best.

DeNobiles late father, Geno, won the 1957 and 63 Grey Cups during his nine seasons as a Ticat guard, and his son lived and breathed the Hall of Fame during his stewardship. Plagued by lack of money, minuscule attendance and other issues, the Hall closed its downtown location, near City Hall in 2015. Ownership passed, by agreement with the city, to a non-profit board of directors at arms length from, but controlled by, the CFL head office.

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DeNobile doggedly and tirelessly promoted its artifacts and displays, escorting them around the country for big CFL promotions and Grey Cup week. But, there was no rooted physical location until June 2018, when the Hall was rebooted on the imaginatively reconfigured fourth floor at Tim Hortons Field, with additional displays in the west entrance lobby and the seventh floor media zone.

Greg Dick, the leagues CFO and director of football operations, is also chair of the Halls board and says the league has several plans to upgrade the in-house experience over time. Dick will run operations until a new executive-director is in place.

End Offs

He missed a week with an injury and more with the COVID-19 restrictions which shut down the Wild, but Caledonias Cam Talbot is doing exactly what he was brought to Minnesota to do: stabilize the goaltending and defensive confidence. Talbot came off the NHLs pandemic protocol list Thursday and didnt play that night against the Ducks but might get in Saturdays second game Anaheim. Hes 3-2 with a .920 save percentage but those positive numbers understate his calming steadiness hes brought ... In Calgary, critics have been slamming the core players after a ragged three games. Some called for the re-promotion of Hamiltons Zac Rinaldo from the taxi squad to add a little edge to the seemingly listless team in a weekend home-and-home with Edmonton. Rinaldo has played just one game with just three shifts and two minutes of ice time two weeks ago, but it was a Flames win over the Oilers ... Nick Caamano of Ancaster played the Dallas Stars first nine games but was returned to the taxi squad last weekend ... Earlier this week, legendary St. Johns sports writer Robin Short detailed The Rocks all-time NHL scorers and Michael Ryder was No. 1 followed by Dan Cleary, the first Newfoundlander to win a Stanley Cup. Both played for the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs ... RIP longtime friend and former Torstar colleague Frank Orr, who made heavy days on the road lighter with incisive humour and uncanny knowledge of some of the worlds funkiest restaurants.

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Opinion | 1-Offs Tiger-Cats Tim Hortons Generation has another bite taken out of it with Rico Murray retirement - TheSpec.com

The Governments soft-touch approach on access to Rockalls fishing waters for Irish boats is totally unacceptable, a former state marine scientist has said.

As Times.ie reports today, Dr Peter Tyndall has also called on the government to push for a renationalisation of European waters to allow coastal states greater access to their own fish stocks.

He said the EU could still handle the management of shared and migratory stocks under a more honest Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

Dr Tyndall, formerly a BIM gear technologist, was commenting after last months warning by Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue of increased risk of enforcement action by Scottish authorities around Rockall while engagement continues.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney

Their joint statement was issued four days after Donegal vessel Northern Celt was boarded by a Marine Scotland fisheries patrol while fishing within 12 miles of Rockall.

Ireland has never made any claims to Rockall, located some 230 nautical miles off north-west Donegal, nor has it recognised British sovereignty claims or a 12 nautical mile territorial sea limit.

Ireland is due to bear the brunt of a return of EU quotas to Britain, at a 15 per cent overall reduction in Irish quotas.

Tyndall said that the CFP, which is due for review in 2023, is clearly a failure.

He said he Irish government should now engage the best legal minds before 2023 to challenge a management system which is in breach of the Treaties of Europe on the rights of fishing communities to an income.

The CFP is rife with injustices and the British Tory party actively worked this emotive subject to influence votes in the Leave campaign, he said.

The effect that the CFP has had in Europe is totally disproportionate to its economic contribution. Norway rejected EU membership on two occasions while Iceland decided not to join. Greenland, a home rule dependency of Denmark, pulled away, Tyndall recalled.

Even with the new agenda of reducing carbon emissions there is a strong argument that those closest to the resource should access them proportionately, he said.

Irelands leaders should have the courage to initiate this conversation with our European partners in the knowledge that it can lead to a fairer system and healthier stocks which would be more in keeping with the stated aspirations of European partnership, Tyndall said.

Asked to comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs referred to Mr Coveneys Dil response on February 3rd

Read more in Times.ie here

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Government Former State Scientist Calls on Ireland to Push for Renationalisation of EU Waters - Afloat

Winchester is likely to get more snow in the coming days with another 'Beast from the East' style weather-front moving in.

Residents will remember when the first Beast from the East hit the town in February-March 2018 as it caused havoc across the UK and travel disruption in Winchester.

Click on our picture gallery above to relieve some of the moments from 2018.

For two days it caused chaos on the roads, events were cancelled, schools and libraries were closed, offices, shops and restaurants were empty, diggers stood unused and waste collections postponed.

Hospital chiefs were forced to pleading with any staff who could make it in to come to Winchesters Hospital to help ease the pressure caused by the snow.

For some it meant unexpected journeys to hospital. Actress Sarah Parish, 49, who lives near Alresford, was hospitalised after breaking a leg in a sledging accident. She fell badly after standing on a sledge as if it was a snowboard in her garden.

She posted from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital: Day 2 in Winchester Hospital. Looks like Ill be operated on today, she told fans.

Theyre putting a great big pin right through my shin!! No sleep last night, was on enough Morphine to knock the Navy out but still in pain. Note to self: cheap plastic sledges are for sitting in and gently trundling down primary slopes NOT a substitute for a stand up snowboard.

The owners of one of Winchesters oldest buildings had a nasty shock when a car slid into it. The car was spotted by a passer-by who said it had skidded down Blue Ball Hill and crashed into the corner of The Old Blue Boar. The witness added that the corner of the inn, which is on the junction with St Johns Street, was completely caved in.

Hampshires 5,000 miles of road took a severe beating from the weather - but council leader Roy Perry said the well-honed machine sprung into action with good partnership working.

Including 100 farmers kept on a retainer and paid an hourly rate to help out, as well as 400 4x4 volunteers driving key workers to work, Cllr Perry said the 1m spent in 2011 on salt and grit boxes for residential streets had been used properly for the first time.

But one Hampshire hero disagreed - and criticised police, the council highways as well as drivers. Peter Rockall, from Cheriton, said he spent 12 hours battling six-foot snow drifts to help cars stuck in the snow. The pre-school teacher said he was awake at 3am when he realised the severity of the situation . He and friend Peter Sharp spent the rest of Friday towing cars in really dangerous conditions along the A272 up from Cheriton to Cheesefoot Head, the 600-foot high hill near Winchester.

He said: There was a sign to say road closed but people had just pushed it over and were ignoring it. We pulled an elderly womans car up to the top of the hill but when I asked her if she was going for a hospital appointment or something but she said she was going for a massage. There were people saying they were going in shopping in Winchester.

One primary school stayed open on the coldest March day on record and despite chaos on the roads. Children at St Anthonys in Fareham said theyd had the best day ever while hundreds of other schools were shut due to heavy snowfall. Several events at the weekend fell victim before the thaw set in.

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PICTURES: Look back at how the Beast from the East hit Winchester in 2018 - Hampshire Chronicle

HBO's 30 Coins just brought back a key relic, and in the process, it brutally destroys Elena and Paco's lives -- most likely forever.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for 30 Coins Episode 6, "Holy War," now airing on HBO.

HBO's 30 Coins has truly done a number on Elena and Paco as they try to protect their small Spanish town of Pedraza. Thanks to Father Vergara's carelessness with the Judas coin, evil forces have descended as the cult known as the Cainites wants the relic to bring about the apocalypse and reshape the world.

Still, Elena soldiered on as a vet who really wanted to save her people, while Paco, as mayor, also tried to help the priest ward off the malevolent spirits. But with Vergara missing in action and their domestic problems coming home to roost, both Elena and Paco have now been brutally destroyed by the pain and tragedy surrounding them.

RELATED:HBO's 30 Coins Reunited Father Vergara With His Most Sinister Enemy

Elenahas nightmares about spirits coming for her and as it turns out, she's in Paris with Roque. She left town and a potential relationship with Paco to start a new life after an evil double of her husband, Mario, tried to kill her. Now, she's hellbent on a fresh start with the playboy. However, at a romantic dinner, Roque presents the coin thinking she lost it.

He found it in a restaurant a few days ago,after she threw it into a dam and it was eaten by a cod. He thinks it'll be a nice gesture, but Elena's horrified as she was warned that the coin would return to bring her more anguish. And the warning comes to pass as she calls Paco in the washroom, one of the Vatican's demonic agents enters and starts shooting up the place to get the coin. Sadly, despite the agent being killed, Roque gets hit in the chest and dies.

RELATED:HBO's 30 Coins Unleashes Father Vergara's Dark Side, Literally

Paco hears Elena over the phone crying out, and he also breaks down as he really does love her and just wanted her to be happy. He's majorly suffering as he's finally left Merche, wanting to leave the meat business and politics behind too. Paco can't cope with losing Elena and now, seeing as she went to Roque after "Mario" and lost yet another man in her life, he can't fathom how to work his way up in her eyes and prove that he can be her rock. All she knows is loss and given that she's chosen other guys repeatedly over him granted he's married it just feels like their romance will forever be doomed.

Merche's also pretty pissed and could be set to ruin Paco as she's always hated Elena, which means when they reunite in Pedraza, she'll come with a vengeance. And she'll have that moment sooner rather than later, because amidthe fracas in Paris, Elena finds the coin on the restaurant floor.

The coin is drawn to her like a magnet and she knows she has to return home to deal with it. She's been having nightmares with Vergara as well, so she thinks he's there to help her out, not realizing she's going to be taking the coin back to the enemy that's now infiltrated the town. And seeing as both her and Paco are desperate, broken and at their lowest point, the cult may not find resistance as strong as before.

Starring Eduard Fernndez, Megan Montaner, Miguel ngel Silvestre, Macarena Gmez, Pepn Nieto and Manolo Solo, 30 Coins airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and is also streaming on HBO Max.

KEEP READING:HBO's 30 Coins Just Killed off a Major Hero With Its Most Disgusting Monster

WandaVision: Hayward Could Bring Back the MCU's Most Sinister Villain

I'm a former Chemical Engineer. It was boring so I decided to write about things I love. On the geek side of things, I write about comics, cartoons, video games, television, movies and basically, all things nerdy. I also write about music in terms of punk, indie, hardcore and emo because well, they rock! If you're bored by now, then you also don't want to hear that I write for ESPN on the PR side of things. And yes, I've written sports for them too! Not bad for someone from the Caribbean, eh? To top all this off, I've scribed short films and documentaries, conceptualizing stories and scripts from a human interest and social justice perspective. Business-wise, I make big cheddar (not really) as a copywriter and digital strategist working with some of the top brands in the Latin America region. In closing, let me remind you that the geek shall inherit the Earth. Oh, FYI, I'd love to write the Gargoyles movie for Disney. YOLO.

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HBO's 30 Coins Destroys Elena and Paco's Lives With the Return of the Coin - CBR - Comic Book Resources

While travel in 2021 might be slightly curtailed we can still plan and dream for our next Irish vacation and there's nowhere better to immerse yourself in the "real Ireland" than in Galway city and its surrounding areas. Take it all in.

* This article was originally published in IrishCentral's sister publication, Ireland of the Welcomes. Subscribe to this bi-monthly print magazine here *

It has sometimes been said that Ireland is a country with a southern European sensibility trapped in a northern European climate in other words, its predominantly Catholic, big on family, and more rustic than industrial, but without the good weather.

Like many observations, it is only partly true and already out of date, but when you stroll through Galway city on a summers day, from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch, down Shop Street then Quay Street, positively bustling as they are with buskers, flamenco dancers, magicians, musicians, face painters, hair-braiders, body sculptures, and caricaturists, you could be forgiven for imagining yourself in Barcelona, walking down a rather rainier Ramblas.

As the name Spanish Arch suggests, Galways continental connections are by no means fanciful. Its history as a trading port built up strong bonds between the citys merchant families and France and Spain, and today the city serves as something of a summer camp for Spanish teenagers, who migrate to the city to learn English while their Irish counterparts head just a few miles up the road to the Connemara Gaeltacht to improve their Irish.

Galway Arts Festival, one of the finest in the country, is in full swing during our visit, and Race Week and the Oyster Festival are waiting impatiently in line for their turn to shine, but Galway is one of those places young, vibrant, bohemian that always seems to be in the party spirit. Above a doorway I spy a stone plaque commemorating Johnny Massacre Doran, Professional Lunatic, 1975-2003 its that sort of place.

If you get the chance, visit on a Saturday, for there is a wonderful food market then in front of the 700-year-old St Nicholas Church (where Christopher Columbus reputedly heard Mass before discovering you know where). You are spoiled for choice between sweet and savory crepes, sushi, South African bockwurst, and the most wonderful vegetarian curries.

An aerial shot of Galway.

Afterward, wash it down with a beer or a coffee in Tigh Neachtains, a wonderfully atmospheric pub right on the main drag. If the weather is kind, by all means, sit outside and watch the world go by, but do take the time to have a prowl around in the half-light inside, for the walls are alive with festival posters and playbills from down the years, conveying a sense of the citys rich artistic past.

The citys culture is no less rich today. If you get the chance, and if you can get a ticket, take in a production by Garry Hyness Druid Theater Company, which has taken work by Synge, Martin McDonagh, and Tom Murphy not just to the Abbey in Dublin but Londons West End, Broadway and Sydney.

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In the evening, by all means, eat Ard Bia at Nimmos, overlooking the Claddagh behind the Spanish Arch and right beside the City Museum, is by common consent the critics choice but on no account pass up the chance to imbibe some traditional music. I recommend the Crane bar, where after dark the suns rays are somehow transformed into the energy of a different kind, sound waves generated by fiddlers and flutists.

One of the joys of Shop Street used to be Kennys Bookshop and art gallery, which I was devastated to discover has now shipped out to the suburbs, but as if to compensate, the city has the brand new Galway City Museum, a beautiful modern building in a historic setting, with spectacular views overlooking the ancient fishing village of the Claddagh (home of the Claddagh ring), River Corrib and Galway Bay.

Tradition does not mean preserving the ashes, but keeping the flame alight. This quotation from the French writer Jean Jaures is inscribed near the entrance to the museum, and it sums up the spirit of the place, and the city itself. There is loads to see and learn here about the city; for instance, how until the railway came in 1811, Galway time was eleven and a half minutes behind Dublin time. Some would say there is still a significantly different approach to time between the two cities.

On display is a fine selection of currachs, the distinctive local boat, and the citys medieval civic sword and mace once lost to the city but later bought and then bequeathed back to it by none other than William Randolph Hearst. The American connection doesnt stop there Cardinal Cushing of Boston consecrated Galway Cathedral, a handsomely successful cross of the traditional and modern. A temporary exhibition, Looking West From Galway Bay, celebrates John F. Kennedys visit to Galway on June 29, 1963, documenting this momentous occasion for the city using photographs, rare film footage, and personal memories.

If the day was clear enough, records a large panel bearing excerpts from JFKs speech in Eyre Square that day, and if you went down to the bay, and you looked west, and your sight was good enough, you would see Boston, Massachusetts. And if you did, you would see working on the docks there some Dohertys and Flahertys and Ryans and cousins of yours who had gone to Boston and made good.

And, of course, you think with sadness of what was to befall the president less than six months later and grieve for what might havebeen. A bust of the late president stands in Eyre Square today.

Galway is, of course, famous in song for its bay, but at its back is another body of water, Irelands second-largest lake, Lough Corrib, and on a beautiful summers day there is nothing more relaxing or delightful than to make yourself comfortable on the sundeck of the Corrib Princess and enjoy a 90-minute cruise up the river, around the lake and back, passing ivy-clad ruined castles and flotillas of swans en route, with an entertaining and informative commentary thrown in for good measure, not to mention a pint of Guinness and an Irish coffee.

A night or two later, enjoying a late-night drink with my uncle and his brothers in a bar near Moycullen, I was singing the cruises favors. Just as well, too, for who should be sitting next to me at the bar but the ships captain, who proceeded to buy me another drink as we put the world to rights, climaxing in a political wager written on a beer mat and reprinted here for good measure if George Lee succeeds Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader by July 18, 2010, I owe the good captain E50 (US$74).*

After a bracing walk along the promenade in Salthill, the citys seaside suburb, soaking up theglorious view of Galway Bay, and letting off some steam in the lovely playground next door, we visited Atlantaquaria, Irelands National Aquarium, another recent addition to the city and a welcome alternative to the more traditional amusement arcades.

Its an opportunity to reflect on an aspect of Irish life that is all too often overlooked. For instance, as I write this, I am looking at The Real Map of Ireland, a free handout from the aquarium which depicts the 220 million acres (89 million hectares) of Irelands marine territory. Irelands designated Continental Shelf includes such hidden gems as the Rockall Trough and Porcupine Seabight. Hidden depths indeed.

The fish are the main attraction, though, with over 150 species to gaze at, and its great fun to feed the sprats and mullets and stroke the starfish. A lot less alive, but equally impressive is the 60 ft (18 meters) skeleton of a fin whale, nicknamed Grainne Whale, a play on the name of Irelands pirate queen, Granuaile.

Next to the replica of Alvin, a life-size replica of the famous deep submergence vehicle, there is an exhibit dedicated to John Holland from nearby Liscannor, County Clare, inventor of the submarine who sold his device to the US Navy.

Going back in time a bit, there is also a Bearna dugout canoe, found nearby after a violent storm and dating back 5,500 years.

If Galway is a hedonists heaven, Connemara, its breathtakingly beautiful hinterland, is like a vast playground for the spirit. I first visited it as a teenager and have been returning all my life, drawn back to its endless vistas of soaring crags and shimmering lakes, its seemingly boundless miles of stunning scenery, and outposts of high civilization such as Ballynahinch Castle, near Recess (what an appropriate name for a place to enjoy a break), a great spot to have lunch.

Then there are the beaches. Among our favorites are Ballyconneely, roughly halfway between the two thriving towns of Clifden and Roundstone, both full of bars and shops that you itch to explore, and Tr Sailin, first left out of Spiddal as you head away from the city. Silver Strand, near Delphi, has countless colored seashells underfoot like a mosaic. It feels like a trick of the senses but these places seem to smell as good as they look, the air almost sweet, not salty.

Sky Road, Clifden, County Galway.

As if nature hasnt provided enough wonders, Connemara also has two hugely contrasting gardens that you must visit. Kylemore Abbey, between Clifden and Leenane, is Irelands oldest Benedictine abbey, originally founded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1665. The nuns moved to Kylemore in 1920, taking over a lakeside castle built by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy second-generation Irishman born in Manchester. Tragically, his wife died three years after it was completed in 1874 and so he built a neo-Gothic church, a cathedral in miniature, in the ground as a memorial, with a mausoleum nearby where she is buried.

You can tour most of the house and gardens, and enjoy a fine meal in the nearby restaurant and visitors center; but parts of the building are private, as not only is it a place of prayer and contemplation, but Kylemore has also served for several decades as an international girls boarding school.

However, with only 14 nuns left, the youngest in her 50s, its days are numbered, and it will shut this summer for good. Another aspect of Kylemore, however, has recently bloomed again. Its magnificent Victorian walled garden, six of whose 8.5 acres (3.5 hectares) are completely enclosed by a brick and limestone wall, has been in large part restored over the past 14 years to its original prime, and they are a marvel. Most of its 21 glasshouses have still to be rebuilt but the kitchen, flower and herb gardens, and herbaceous borders are a wonder.

Kylemore has long since been a must-see on the tourist trail but a more recent and less famous addition is Brigits Garden in Rooscahill, near Oughterard. If you love gardens and nature, or have a gr, or fondness, for Celtic mythology, this place will delight you; a not for profit project set in the middle of rolling countryside about a 20-minute drive from Galway city, just off the road to the lovely fishing village of Oughterard.

Incorporating contemporary garden design but inspired by the ancient wisdom of the Celts, the gardens are based aroundthe four Celtic seasons, so that a walk through them is a journey through the cycle of the year, which mirrors the circle of life.

Samhain or Halloween is a time of death and rebirth. Its garden is enclosed by a long grassy bank in the shape of a sleeping woman, representing the earth in its winter rest. The pool is enclosed by birch trees, reflecting the stark simplicity of the season.

Imbolc, or spring, the garden has a path through a wildflower meadow and fruit trees to a childrens glade with basket swings and a sunken garden with symbols linked to Brigit - both the Christian saint and the goddess of the land who predated her.

The gardens also offer a nature trail, a tranquil walk through woodlands, wildflower meadows, and along a lake, with a stone chamber, fairy fort, cranng, and calendar sundial to visit en route. The Garden Caf also serves very fine soups and sandwiches.

Another must in Connemara is a boat trip on Irelands only fjord, a nine-mile-long (15 km) inlet with some spectacular scenery which you may be familiar with if you ever saw the movie The Field, starring Richard Harris and John Hurt, which was shot here.

Killary Cruises (www.killarycruises.com) offers a money-back guarantee if you get seasick but wisely makes no promises about the weather. In fact, it boasts that it is the best rainy day experience in Connemara. Its funny, but even the landscape seems to be wearing weatherproof clothing. As the rain lashes down, the water seems to sheet off the steeply sloping sides of the valley with fast-flowing rivulets every few meters.

But the next day, on the drive to Louisburgh, I swear there are sheep sunbathing at the side of the lake as well as ambling along the road. I am fleetingly envious, till I remember the Connemara lamb on last nights menu. The drive from Delphi to Louisburgh along the side of Doolough lake is one of the most lovely in the land, but the Famine memorial by the roadside casts a somber shadow on even the sunniest day, reminding you that dozens died on this path less than 200 years ago, on a futile journey seeking respite from hunger.

* This article was originally published in IrishCentral's sister publication, Ireland of the Welcomes. Subscribe to this bi-monthly print magazine here *

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The best of the west of Ireland - exploring Galway and its Connemara hinterlands - IrishCentral

Neha Kakkar, Jonita Gandhi, and Akriti Kakar are the internets most loved sensations right now and people have been loving all three of them a lot.

Neha Kakkar, Jonita Gandhi, and Akriti Kakar are also the most fashionable singers and are truly loved by all.

Neha Kakkar, Jonita Gandhi, and Akriti Kakar pull off any piece of clothing they try and have always slain all of their everyday looks. They have the most amazing style, and their makeup is always flawless.

Neha Kakkar, Jonita Gandhi, and Akriti Kakar all have the most beautiful skin and every makeup look looks amazing on them. They always rock all of their everyday makeup looks and their glam looks are beyond words.

Their makeup looks are good but the lipsticks they wear stand out the most. They have lipstick shades that make their makeup look very natural and elegant at the same time. Its a good combination of glam and subtle.

Here are some of their best lipsticks that look amazing on them and that you could give a try.

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Neha Kakkar, Jonita Gandhi, And Akriti Kakars Top 5 Hottest Shades Of Lipstick That Are Simply Perfect - IWMBuzz

While CBS was hit with a $550,000 fine for the incidentthe largest ever of its kindby the FCC, the Third Circuit Court would rule in the network's favor in 2008, saying the FCC "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" by levying such a fine for what the Court deemed to be an accidental split-second of nudity. A year later, the Supreme Court would opt not to hear the case, sending it back to the Third Circuit for re-examination. By 2011, the Court had ruled again in CBS' favor.

In January 2014,Powell, who'd left his position as FCC chairman at this point,admitted that the committee acted "unfairly" toward Jackson, telling ESPN that the committee overreacted."I personally thought that was really unfair. It all turned into being about her," he said. "In reality, if you slow the thing down, it's Justin ripping off her breastplace."

While the incident wreaked havoc on Jackson's career for years, there was at least one positive residual development from the whole mess. In the immediate aftermath, a young software programmer at PayPal named Jawed Karim, frustrated over his inability to find any video of the performance on the internet, teamed up with some friends to create a venue where people can easily upload and share video. And in 2005, YouTube was born.

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Inside Janet Jackson's Infamous Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction and Its Even More Complicated Aftermath - E! Online

We Are The Union take aim at veteran punks who abandon their antiestablishment ethos with age on their Dead Kennedys-referencing new song, "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Punk Rock Stars." Vocalist/guitarist Reed Wolcott explains:

This song is probably going to get us into some trouble. Though its original title, Punk Rock is an Oligarchy, was swapped at the last minute in favor of the Dead-Kennedys-Retweeting-Mitt-Romney-inspired Fresh Fruit for Rotting Punk Rock Stars, the meaning of the song remains the same. For a community supposedly built on antiestablishment ethos, when it comes to the endless battle with white supremacy, abolishment of the police, trans rights, and, truthfully, most of the social issues facing us all today, I look around and see too many of my teenage heroes remaining quiet and unhelpful at best. At worst, I see them standing fully on the wrong side of history. If the words that shaped our worldview as young punks in the early 2000s ever meant anything, the time is now for the people who wrote them to show up, take accountability, and get to work. But from former Sex Pistols wearing MAGA shirts to overwhelmingly white male festival lineups, one cant help but wonder: was punk rock all just a way to sell us god damn t-shirts?

It's a message that resonates very strongly right now, and it comes through loud and clear in this catchy, anthemic, sarcastic punk rock song. The Chris Graue-directed video stars Reed in clown face paint with people throwing fruit and vegetables at him, and to match the $100 worth of food that was wasted in the video, the band will be donating $100 to Watts Powerhouse Food, which provides "access to medical and dental, food, and education to children and families in the Grape Street neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles."

The song hits streaming and Bandcamp on Friday (2/5) at midnight Eastern, and since this Friday is one of Bandcamp's monthly fundraisers, WATU will be donating 100% of Bandcamp proceeds on Friday to Mutual Aid Network Los Angeles, "a grassroots community initiative that is organizing and redistributing supplies, services, emergency cash assistance, and additional resources to the Los Angeles community."

UPDATE (2/5): The song is on Bandcamp now. Watch the video here:

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We Are The Union's Fresh Fruit for Rotting Punk Rock Stars takes aim at aging, once-political punks - Brooklyn Vegan

Meat and seafood has been left to rot in ports as shipments have been delayed by reams of paperwork. Supermarket shelves north and south of the border have been bare of certain products. Mechanics cant get car parts, and supplies of certain bikes to Irish cycle shops have stopped.

ven unionists who fought wholeheartedly for Brexit are now grumbling about its effects.

The only comfort for the politicians who planned Brexit is that it has been eclipsed by the greater crisis of Covid-19. And they can still cling to the hope that the problems will be ironed out.

British ministers put the early logjams down to teething problems. But as one commentator remarked that, for some, Brexit now feels more like having root canal surgery without the benefit of an anaesthetic.

There are fears that the troubles are only starting, because Britain does not impose many of its import controls until July 1.

Of course, it could have been a lot worse: a no-deal exit was avoided, and with it the prospect of economic paralysis. There is no hard border scarring the island with menacing customs posts.

Favourite biscuit brands, exotic fruits, vegetables and yoghurt may have been unavailable in some supermarkets, but it has hardly been a Brexit apocalypse. There are bound to be opportunities for businesses that adapt, although the departure of the UK from the EU is still causing severe headaches.

Duncan Graham, chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, told Review: People went into Christmas and breathed a huge sigh of relief that a deal had been done. It was not really until January 3 that reality began to dawn.

So what are the effects one month on?

1 Prices are likely to rise

The fact that there are no tariffs on goods coming from the UK may have nurtured hopes that there would be few price rises. But the administrative costs to British exporters bringing goods to Ireland have soared, and that is bound to lead to an increase in Irish prices, according to Edgar Morgenroth, professor of economics at Dublin City University Business School.

With exporters from Britain strangled in red tape, he told Review: Non-tariff barriers such as the extra paperwork required to clear customs can be just as costly as the tariffs.

Non-perishable goods on sale now may have been stockpiled before January 1, so price rises have not yet kicked in.

Customs consultant Tony Buckley predicted prices will rise by 5pc this year once Brexit takes a full effect.

Vincent Jennings, chief executive of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, predicts significant increases across the food sector.

The industry body Food and Drink Ireland this week also predicted that bread prices could rise by 9pc because of likely tariffs on flour imported from Britain.

There are no commercial flour mills in the State, and we rely heavily on imports from Britain. Because the British millers rely on US or Canadian wheat, imported flour will now be targeted with tariffs when it enters Ireland.

2 Brexit is turning out to be fiendishly bureaucratic

It is ironic that Brexit was originally devised as a way of ridding Britain of a vast array of regulations and petty rules, imposed, according to the Tory press, by barmy Brussels bureaucrats.

In British newspapers in the 1990s, there were reams of euromyths about Brussels officials insisting that donkeys on beaches would have to wear nappies, bananas would have to be straight and lobsters on journeys would have to be given rest breaks. Some of these fictitious stories were written by Boris Johnson himself when he was a Brussels reporter.

Now that they are liberated from the EU, British exporters are now facing a vast array of complicated trading rules and customs regulations. It has been estimated that British companies will need to employ up to 50,000 customs agents and fill out an extra 215 million customs declaration forms each year to comply with new trading rules.

Some of the worst fears of the doomsayers have been fulfilled, as lorries full of goods were delayed for days because paperwork was not in order.

Part of the problem is that different products in mixed loads of goods on lorries require different customs declarations.

While there are in theory no tariffs on goods from the UK, many of them have ingredients or parts from other parts of the world, and these may incur charges.

3 Tonnes of food have gone to waste

Meat and seafood exporters in Britain have complained of lorry loads of fresh meat and fish rotting in ports as a result of administrative delays. Problems have arisen with food exported from Britain, including some imports of fruit and vegetables to Ireland.

The delays are increasing the levels of waste and that is morally reprehensible, said Vincent Jennings of the Convenience Store and Newsagents Association. When you have perishable goods, they should be allowed to come through on the promise that whatever paperwork is missing it will be sorted out within a set period of time.

Thats what they should do rather than holding stuff up, allowing the sell-by-date to come too close and then we end up having to dump it.

Jennings said he has heard reports of loads of fruit and vegetable being dumped.

The Grocer magazine reported this week on figures from the British government predicting that up to 142,000 tonnes of food and drink may be lost in waste in the next six months if the worst-case scenario at the ports occurs.

4 Ireland is facing a bike shortage

Cycle shops in Ireland complain that big producers of bicycles have stopped supplying them. Although many bikes are made in Asia, they are distributed through the UK, along with many other products such as car parts and accessories. Containers of bicycles that were supposed to arrive before Christmas were turned back, and some brands are unavailable.

Gary ODonoghue of the Dublin shop Cycle Zone said he had received an email from bicycle maker Giant that no bikes would be coming to Ireland until the Brexit problems are sorted out.

At a time of huge demand, bicycle supplies had already been affected by Covid-19 and increases in the cost of shipping from China.

5 Online orders from the UK make little sense

Consumers hoping to buy from UK-based sites like Amazon.co.uk are being hammered by extra charges. Some online shoppers are using Amazons German and French sites as an alternative.

Irish customers ordering from the UK face customs charges, increased VAT and additional delivery charges. These can make the cost prohibitive, and some online retailers have stopped supplying Ireland.

Many consumers buying from the UK have complained that they were hit by charges when parcels are delivered, but some simply refused to take the goods.

Adam Mansell, head of the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), told the BBC it was cheaper for retailers to write off the cost of the goods than dealing with it all, either abandoning or potentially burning them.

6 Irish online retailers can benefit

Irish shops can make the most of the Brexit shambles in the UK, as consumers turn away from British sites to shop local and shop Irish. Duncan Graham of Retail Excellence Ireland said many Irish shops have upgraded their websites or started new sites over the past year.

Since the start of the Covid crisis, theres been a surge in registrations of Irish .ie domain names, and these websites now have the chance to cash in. Theres definitely an opportunity to buy from Irish retailers again if its going to cost much more to buy from the UK, he says.

But Irish consumers have been warned to check that Irish domain names selling goods really are based in Ireland and not in the UK. Some buyers have visited sites that have .ie domain names, only to find that the goods come from the UK and they face import duties.

7 Scots seize Rockall

It may just be a forbidding hunk of granite that is only a suitable dwelling place for periwinkles and lost seagulls, but Ireland and Britain have periodically squabbled over Rockall over the decades.

Brexit seems to have brought matters to a head at the rock 400km off the north-east coast. This month a Scottish patrol boat was reported to have blocked a Donegal fishing vessel from entering the waters around Rockall.

The Northern Celt was boarded and its captain told that he can no longer fish within 12 nautical miles of the rock as a result of Brexit.

The fisheries patrol vessel, the Jura, had arrived in the area to assert British sovereignty on January 1, the day after the UKs Brexit transition period ended.

Is there a danger that the Wolfe Tones might reprise their rabble-rousing anthem from the 1970s, Rock on Rockall: May the Seagulls rise and pluck your eyes, and the water crush your shell / And the natural gas will burn your ass, and blow you all to hell.

8 Roger Daltrey wont get fooled again

Spare a thought for the bevy of musical stars who have been caught up in the Brexit logjam along with the lorry loads of shellfish and rotting vegetables. Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, was reported to have joined a chorus of rock stars who complained that Brexit rules on freedom of movement have limited their prospects to go on tours in Europe.

That was after he supported Brexit during the 2016 referendum campaign. This month he joined other artists including Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Sting in signing a letter criticising the UK government for not securing paperwork-free travel for British artists and their equipment.

The prominent Brexiteer and singer of such hits as Wont Get Fooled Again has previously dismissed the impact that leaving the EU would have on the British music industry. He told a Sky News reporter in 2019: As if we didnt tour Europe before the f***ing EU. Oh give it up!

Perhaps its time for him to sing one of his other hits: I Cant Explain.

9 Unionists are grumbling as the deal is implemented

Back in 2016, DUP leader Arlene Foster urged Northern Irish voters on Brexit to grasp the opportunity of a generation and vote to leave.

Although the majority in the North voted against Brexit, Foster steadfastly stuck with it, cheering on Boris Johnson as he attended the DUP party conference.

Now, as they survey empty supermarket shelves, many unionists are beside themselves with fury about the Brexit deal that in effect leaves the six counties in the single market for goods. There is now a sea border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, with customs checks in ports such as Larne, Belfast and Warrenpoint.

Mark McEwan, PSNI assistant chief constable, was moved to say this week: We are starting to see graffiti, we are picking up social media sentiment of a growing discontent, particularly within the Protestant/loyalist/unionist community.

The DUP has been vociferous in opposition to the way the Brexit deal has been implemented.

Ian Paisley, one of its MPs, said there is anger and bitterness in the communities he represents. Some sections of the community are starting to sense that they are sitting on a powder keg, he said.

10 Boom in Brexit-busting boats to the continent

With freight transport through Britain hit by administrative delays, there has been a boom for ferries sailing directly from Ireland to the continent.

Eighteen months ago, Rosslare was in the doldrums, but now the Wexford port is enjoying a dramatic revival as transport companies try to avoid Britains Brexit troubles.

Freight traffic is reported to have increased by 500pc in the first half of January.

All five operators connecting Ireland to mainland Europe have increased ferry services in the past nine months. Stena Line, the largest Irish Sea operator, has doubled its services on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route, temporarily cancelling some sailings to Britain.

DFDS, a Danish operator, said the freight ferries on its new 23-hour crossing from Rosslare to Dunkirk six days a week were pretty much full.

There are also Brexit-busting services from Dublin to the continent that have started since the 2016 referendum.

The largest roll-on roll-off ferries operating out of the capital serve Zeebrugge in Belgium and Rotterdam in Holland.

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From red tape to Rockall: 10 effects of Brexit, one month on - Independent.ie

Stornoway sounds both stormy and cosy: exactly the place youd like to hide away in to avoid a hurricane. But for the survivors of the SS Norge disaster on 28 June 1904, the Hebridean town off the northwestern coast of Britain was salvation: their refuge after days, and in some cases a week, at sea in one of the few lifeboats available.

READ MORE: Watch out for the big rock: Remembering Denmarks greatest maritime disaster

Later this spring, the 5,000-plus residents of the capital of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Hebrides, will be treated to a display of around 20 panels documenting the fateful final voyage of the passenger ship that had disembarked from Copenhagen for New York six days earlier.

When you consider that the ship sank after running aground on the uninhabitable island reef of Rockall, which is 460 km off the west coast of Scotland, its a miracle than anyone survived whatsoever.

Denmarks worst maritime disasterThe exhibition will open a window into the history of a maritime disaster that was hugely overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic eight years later. Of the 727 passengers and 68 crew aboard the DFDS vessel, only 168 survived a death toll of 627.

Of the 75 Danish passengers and 54 crew onboard, only 21 and 16 survived a total death toll of 92, which is unsurpassed in Danish maritime history. A far heavier death toll was sustained by Norway, which had scheduled stops on the voyage at Oslo and Kristiansand. Out of 296 Norwegian passengers, 225 perished.

Most of the other victims were young Russians, Poles, Swedes and Finns, all travelling to America in search of relatives or a new life. Only seven people aboard were over the age of 60, according to the Bergen-based historian Per Kristian Sebak.

Important not to forgetThe exhibition Titanics Predecessor, A Catastrophe forgotten by History close to the Hebrides will consist of ten double-sided pull-up banners.

After its debut week in the centre of Stornoway, it will tour the village halls of the islands, including one in Butt, from where the last signal was sent to the ship.

The Western Isles Community Society, the organisers of the exhibition, explained to CPH POST that it is important not to forget this sad event and [that] we are happy to circulate this information to the countries from whom these passengers came.

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New exhibition to recall Denmark's worst ever maritime disaster - The Post - The Copenhagen Post - Danish news in english