tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28589024741395525902011-07-30T09:58:50.148-07:00News, opinion and guff by Gerard Fitzgibbon of the Limerick Leader. Avert your eyes.Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.comBlogger1601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-35687012724879492542010-07-08T02:03:00.000-07:002010-07-08T03:58:50.590-07:00

Celebapalooza 2010 featuring The Limerick Leader continued this week with some maniacal golf, sunburnt colour writers and free chicken casserole at the JP McManus Pro-Am in Adare. The Board's take on it all centred on The Playboy of the Western World, Tiger Woods. From this week's Leader2: Lines of thousands ran up and down along the contours of the first fairway, waiting. The valley between

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-6274643011858079752010-07-07T01:03:00.000-07:002010-07-07T01:06:28.597-07:00

The octopus knows nothing. Germany are going to win.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-62797760080708777262010-07-01T01:27:00.000-07:002010-07-01T01:34:57.727-07:00

This is a Board's eye view of Dominic West's wedding in Glin last Saturday, which was devilishly snuck into the Limerick Leader this week, for some reason: There was an elegant bride and a hung over groom. There was an old carriage drawn by a mare named Bud, who they rode all they over from Tarbert “to take the spark out of her”. There was a style guide that mixed stovepipe hats with yellow

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-86601766868217215792010-06-22T01:43:00.000-07:002010-06-22T06:26:38.765-07:00

Some background: this city is called Limerick, and Limerick city has a Mayor. Not a Lord Mayor, now. That kind of genuine attainment never sat well here. Just a Mayor. At the moment, the Mayor is a man named Kevin Kiely. Next week, it will be someone else. Perhaps. The elected members of Limerick City Council, in the dark corners that they call home, decided way back when to carve up the

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-38604045649699592222010-06-17T08:23:00.000-07:002010-06-17T08:23:32.894-07:00

The Board is going to Jerusalem in September, and may accidentally bring peace in the Middle East and his awesome recipe for home-made Sangria with him. No, you can't have it.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-56873311785708871972010-06-15T04:05:00.000-07:002010-06-15T04:07:58.971-07:00

FINE GAEL MUTINY WATCH DAY TWO - In which our local heroes battle for relevance in the front bench fracas You can speak to a lot of people on the phone today, if you try hard enough. Buster Hannan, perhaps, as he bemoans the narcoleptic letterbox men of Garryowen. Or perhaps even Gary Brooks Faulkner, who was foiled while seeking to personally BRING THE PAIN to Osama Bin Laden. But three

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-65432698904458791302010-06-15T00:47:00.001-07:002010-06-15T00:47:51.007-07:00

The Board wants one.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-66556007614470052592010-06-14T01:49:00.000-07:002010-06-14T01:49:49.038-07:00

If Napoleon had a website, it would probably contain a tag line as forthright as richardbruton.net. Richard Bruton KNOWS WHAT MUST BE DONE, you see. He's obviously been planning this for a while. Fine Gael have never done the whole putsch thing with as much saucy endeavour as the soldiers of destiny. Back when Haughey and Reynolds were carving at each other with limp handshakes and character

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-55367109243095657982010-06-08T00:35:00.000-07:002010-06-08T00:35:15.978-07:00

After a weekend of getting changed in car parks, doing naked press ups in the street, being burned at every junction by Mr Pink's one-liners and drinking more rum than a pirate, The Board has found his new favourite place. Kilkenny. The Board has also discovered that he does a savage impression of Andy Parsons.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-64128762807715440042010-06-01T00:25:00.001-07:002010-06-01T01:51:14.173-07:00

Thanks to new media, death now only counts if it is caught on video. Israel cannot and will not find any tolerance for the murderous actions it inflicted upon a civilian vessel in international waters early on Monday morning. But what many are finding hard to stomach is the blatant hypocrisy of the international community's response. A tragedy? Yes. The provocative act of a pariah state with

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-35798456862926940882010-05-18T04:07:00.000-07:002010-05-18T04:28:50.422-07:00

Wayne was in the house last week. You may have heard. He's being mistreated and hassled, apparently. What do you think? Pah.Rather than come up with a fresh, pensive opinion piece on it, The Board is going to re-hash an editorial he wrote about it all for last week's Leader, which Wayne - being an aggreived customers of ours, natch - surely read 11 times."Both the cause and effect of violent

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-83161812451612430832010-05-18T03:46:00.000-07:002010-05-18T04:03:47.991-07:00

We've been through this before.Like some Youtubed charlatan, The Board had his moment of electronic fame but disappeared into ignominy when he realised he could not type more than 400 words per day.The hole in the internet was sharp and juicy as bloggers everywhere wondered aloud where their bi-weekly quotient of toilet jokes had gone.Askeaton, Glin, Newcastle West and a dirty isolated forest

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-2622072855768185342010-03-19T02:18:00.000-07:002010-03-19T02:28:50.013-07:00

Tiger Woods really does have a dirty mouth.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-76569862143395174552010-03-18T07:37:00.000-07:002010-03-18T08:23:33.740-07:00

The Board hates St Patrick's Day parades. Honestly. I would rather have my face tarred whilst being serenaded by Don Henley than endure one.Chicken scratch banners. Vintage tractors with with motor skitters spewing diesel in your face. The blinding hue of false smiles. The rain. The inevitable hangover.If the new Limerick Leader/UL poll had decided to include The Board in its testing sample and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-90948566564615897782010-02-05T04:52:00.000-08:002010-02-05T05:41:19.402-08:00

The Board loves slow news weeks. Honest.True, they often turn him greener than Ed Begley Jr at a climate camp, but they provide wonderful proof of how obsessive and easily distracted the media can be.Take the recent hokum over the new president's residence in UL, and how it is a religious disgrace that about €2 million snots can be spent on such a frivolous, horribly angular building in this time

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-29383491455515562812010-01-11T04:30:00.000-08:002010-01-11T06:49:30.700-08:00

Yes, it is still cold. Yes, The Board is still complaining about it. But as we have ascertained in the year-or-so since this blog first sauntered, stumbled and hit its head off the internet, The Board rather enjoys complaining.But seriously, walking on ice lakes? In this country? Have we all gone collectively mad?As you can see from the above picture (ithankyou, Dave Gaynor), skidding across

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-37788462315551921752010-01-07T05:04:00.000-08:002010-01-07T05:06:39.020-08:00

The Board is now obsessed with American football, and is delighted that his beloved Detroit Lions are probably going to get Nebraska's defensive beast Ndamukong Suh in the draft.Yes, I know. The Board is a weird sports nerd.D-FENSE!

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-6209928013718668302010-01-07T01:47:00.001-08:002010-01-11T06:55:16.857-08:00

*The Board stumbles forward and reaches for his desk, like a beached whale clawing for the sweet gravy of sea water. He trips, clatters into a stack of papers and carrot hand cream, and falls face first into the picture on his wall of Erica Salmon, Miss Limerick 2007*Happy New Year, Indeed.Who among you has resolved to better yourselves in 2010? Get fit, maybe? Or stop swearing? Maybe there's an

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-39034188879406535492009-12-21T01:35:00.000-08:002010-01-07T05:20:27.784-08:00

The Board greeted the sight of snow this morning with all the passion of a eunuch librarian at Spring Break.In fact if it wasn't for the Caribbean juice waiting for me in my car, the Limerick Leader newsroom would be without my pithy wit this morning.Havana Cultura - New Cuba Sound, the latest collection from BBC Radio One's Gilles Peterson, finally arrived in the post yesterday evening and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-28715355791714272152009-12-17T08:11:00.000-08:002009-12-17T08:13:16.846-08:00

From The Rut. Brilliant stuff.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-33659690436750658982009-12-17T07:05:00.000-08:002009-12-17T07:18:50.699-08:00

I expected to write something harsh; something bitter. But for better or worse, that's not how today was. This piece is from tonight's Leader city edition:After his speech, the Bishop turned and lit three candles on an advent wreath to remember the pain of the children who suffered. When it was done, he lowered the lit taper and glanced into the flame. At that moment, the world seemed to stop and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-59766228899171675842009-12-17T06:56:00.000-08:002009-12-17T07:01:07.972-08:00

The Board discovered this Thursday that not only has Facebook devoured his life, it has kept a tidy record of the process.I share with you all, therefore, the highlights of my status updates in this year of years.It's a depressing notion to realise that life is never as witty or exciting as we make it sound on social networking sites.Alas, we all have crosses to bear.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-24997985331111138232009-12-10T07:35:00.000-08:002009-12-10T07:36:45.744-08:00

Emily Blunt is beyond wonderful and proof, once again, that Michael Buble is a twat.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-43535456056133823182009-12-10T01:46:00.000-08:002009-12-10T02:30:08.032-08:00

This time last year The Board sent himself into a state of purple apoplexy when he found himself, against every fibre of his being, agreeing with the Government and their Hamburglar budget."Fine. Take my cheese slice and limited edition Ben 10 figurine, Lenihan. Just get capital spending under control" - The Chalkboard, circa 2009.Here we are 12 months later, balder, wiser and with torn ligaments

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-8630373096772074302009-12-08T01:32:00.000-08:002009-12-08T02:01:52.397-08:00

They're starting to put the tree back in the river this morning. It'll be in Ballysteen by six o'clock.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-44541327003979523412009-12-07T04:26:00.000-08:002009-12-18T02:33:05.861-08:00

Who here remembers going to see Lost in Space?Don't you dare lie. Don't pretend that you had anything better to do in 1998 than go see Joey shoot some intergalactic crabs. It was a riot; a feast of blunt science fiction metaphors that required that Gary Oldman turn into a space mutant.Anyway, it's easy to forget that the point of all that was the premise that Earth was dying from pollution and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-67512656843619808322009-12-07T01:31:00.000-08:002009-12-07T01:36:46.858-08:00

If you have half an hour to burn, as The Board inevitably does on a Monday morning as he dusts the lethargy of a weekend off of his head, then read this fascinating insight into how President Obama considered, challenged and counselled before making that decision on Afghanistan.Brilliant stuff from the New York Times, as ever.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-44346167281830535262009-12-03T04:26:00.000-08:002009-12-03T04:28:07.449-08:00

George Lee is turning on the Christmas lights in Newcastle West tomorrow. The Board is looking forward to finding out how tall he really is.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-73458879031031511912009-12-03T01:50:00.000-08:002009-12-03T02:00:25.893-08:00

History, as always, holds the keys to the future. Two days after President Obama announced that he was sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, Tony Horwitz draws a fascinating parallel in the New York Times between Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11 (and as such, one of the instigators of this war) and John Brown, the American anti-slavery terrorist who was hanged on this day in

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-18703368984013447702009-12-02T06:57:00.000-08:002009-12-02T07:26:26.818-08:00

David Simon's magnificent series 'The Wire' is many things to many people. But to Simon, a former Baltimore Sun reporter who had seen the rotten underbelly of urban America, it was about institutions.Institutions take good men and bad men and destroy them both in turn. Humans are honest and decent, but there is nothing human in the institutions they build.Simon's wisdom resonates stronger than

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-26669330953728891202009-11-30T00:35:00.000-08:002009-11-30T00:52:38.114-08:00

So, how was it for you? The floods didn't eat too much of The Board's week, thank Zeus.Unlike last August, when floods ripped through Newcastle West in the night quicker and more destructively than Pete Doherty through Carl Barat's apartment, the water kept its filthy hands off west Limerick this time.West Limerick is, for all of you suburbanites, where The Board now lays his journalistic

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-11251225418430359842009-11-19T01:20:00.000-08:002009-11-19T01:30:46.685-08:00

I'm getting my longbow and going to Agincourt. Those French need to pay.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-83151622497736648692009-11-18T04:46:00.001-08:002009-11-18T04:50:28.239-08:00

The Board's new favourite radio show is The Block.The last three albums he's bought have come off the back of pc and his soundtrack to Saturday night. Highly recommended.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-62516230483222091222009-11-18T04:02:00.000-08:002009-11-18T04:33:04.252-08:00

It is often very, very hard to get excited by football.True, The Board is as loyal as a Templar in his support of Manchester United, but even this can't hide the fact that 90 minutes of football, very often, is a more numbing exercise than beating one's thigh with a hurley.Yes, Ireland are playing in Paris tonight and yes, the nation is scavenging for straws to clutch ahead of our gallant,

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-4236232398597860392009-11-17T07:28:00.000-08:002009-11-17T07:32:48.975-08:00

The Board is in love with Kate Beckinsale.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-21076974924245583372009-11-17T01:43:00.000-08:002009-11-17T02:58:34.320-08:00

Finally, someone whose opinions people take seriously (i.e. not The Board) has fired a shot at the marketing jizz that would have us think that all there is to do in Limerick is play rugby.Harry Fehily, he of Limerick Chamber of Commerce fame, has said that the campaign to portray Limerick as a rugby capital doesn't have any resonance in the US - where all the money is, natch - as they don't play

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-21880554942738574282009-11-16T04:48:00.000-08:002009-11-16T04:51:00.777-08:00

Captain Morgan and fanta is the finest combination of anything since Gareth Edwards played alongside Phil Bennett.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-29458467291006628442009-11-16T00:57:00.000-08:002009-11-16T01:34:30.774-08:00

Has it been two months already? Bugger.You just get used to hunting wild bison in Yellowstone in November, skinning your prize using only otter teeth and a lot of determination, and suddenly here you are, back at your desk again.Life is not without a sense of perspective.What could draw a person back from seclusion like that? The Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Kevin Kiely, had a few things to say about

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-24379659861351201302009-09-22T02:02:00.000-07:002009-09-22T02:30:39.641-07:00

No, The Board hasn't been on a secret Mars penal colony.No, The Board didn't watch Pat Kenny's new show last night, perish the thought.No, The Board does not wish to listen to another round of public commentary on the NAMA debate by persons who don't understand what it is they're getting so truculent about.No, The Board is not happy with the way the Irish parliament has been reduced to a shouting

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-20815129570993269162009-09-07T04:37:00.000-07:002009-09-07T04:43:57.621-07:00

The Board has had a criminally sluggish two weeks on the blog front. For the six of you who were wondering, I've been writing about water flows, disappearing car parks and listening to Musiq Soulchild.Normal dispensing of horrible opinions shall resume this week. Honest.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-67688113628811513812009-08-24T07:54:00.000-07:002009-08-24T08:01:02.560-07:00

The Board is listening to The Temper Trap. More understated than Passion Pit, but still worth a rattle.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-7650751205283926382009-08-24T04:35:00.000-07:002009-08-24T05:06:59.776-07:00

Cardinal Sean Brady, speaking in St John's Cathedral at the weekend, attacked the Government's move to normalise same-sex civil partnership for tax and social welfare purposes.Well that's hardly a surprising statement, is it? After generations of moulding the shape of Irish society in its conservative image, one can hardly expect the Catholic Church to suddenly change tack on homosexuality, what

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-70810917863974203592009-08-14T02:43:00.000-07:002009-08-14T02:53:59.612-07:00

Were you at the match on Wednesday? The Board was, flicking his press badge round and round in a failed attempt to entertain himself while that exhibition of 'soccer' sucked the life out of 20,000 people.Still, he managed to gather himself and produce something barely legibile on what was a painful occasion, but an occasion nonetheless:HMMMM. Were it not for the purple sunshine and our love for

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-69582218904503219742009-08-11T07:45:00.000-07:002009-08-11T08:14:05.790-07:00

The Agitator and Leader of Men really boils The Board's blood sometimes. There's his encyclopedic knowledge of everything, his perma-cool wit that is as dry as a sandbox, and his ownership of at least two Tribe Called Quest albums that I don't.Like Piers Morgan and my housemate Padriag before him, The Agitator was always dangerously close to becoming the latest target of a Chalkboard jihad.Alas,

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-61047241425936310072009-08-07T03:55:00.000-07:002009-08-07T03:58:30.852-07:00

The Board is in talks to become Viceroy of the second British Raj, and intends to set up his capital in Shimla in the coming days.Incidentally, there are several openings in my new cabinet.The posts of Minister for Silly Walks, Minister of State with responsibility for Chicken Gravy and Attorney General are all available.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-40225822647762945452009-08-06T01:40:00.000-07:002009-08-07T02:23:48.143-07:00

So that's it. One of the most heartbreaking, bitter and divise chapters of recent Irish history ran its full course on Wednesday when 44-year-old Pearse McCauley and 52-year-old Kevin Walsh walked out of Castlerea prison in Roscommon.The last of the men convicted of the manslaughter of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996 have received their freedom. The rule of law has been served. But the

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-38148772931883397912009-08-04T10:04:00.000-07:002009-08-04T10:06:46.573-07:00

The Board is busy. To pass the time, read about Slick Willy's return to international diplomacy and the Orient here. Legend.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-12809894093488034992009-07-30T01:45:00.000-07:002009-07-30T01:51:54.912-07:00

There are many things The Board cannot do. Pay his car tax on time, for example. And function adequately in civil society.However, he was quite pleased with his most recent foray into the smouldering cess pool of music journalism through his review of Mos Def's very fulfilling new album 'The Ecstatic', featured in this week's Limerick Chronicle.On The Beat, so often maligned on these pages as a

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-42808257336280555212009-07-29T07:39:00.000-07:002009-07-29T07:40:40.702-07:00

The Supreme Leader of Iran has the best personal website of any world leader, elected or otherwise.Such colours! Such flagrant use of propaganda and the personality cult! I'm already a fan.Link

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-18944546383284507602009-07-29T06:58:00.000-07:002009-07-29T07:35:24.685-07:00

Despite his foppish, cowardly manner, The Board has flirted with trouble once or twice.Back in primary school he tripped up Daniel Power, black-hearted bully and fastest man on the playground, in the 1996 St Bede's One Lap Wobble-Off. Only a madman would do such a thing, of course, but I just let the moment take me.Likewise, this January he flirted with a small pickle when he seemingly encouraged

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-82669404301154757832009-07-28T00:51:00.001-07:002009-07-28T01:18:26.829-07:00

Does anyone here remember Grease 2?The Board can appreciate if that question draws nothing but forlorn silence. It was, after all, a painful homage of the sort of 50s retro-camp that kept alive the abhorrent 'diner' culture of middle America, something which we Irish have come to know through expensive, poorly cleaned Eddie Rocket's outlets.*Shudder*I ask because one of the main story strands -

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-8471688270654796772009-07-07T04:33:00.000-07:002009-07-07T04:45:49.676-07:00

Rod Stewart was in Limerick last Saturday. Did you hear? The Board didn't, because he sits in the corner of the Limerick Leader newsroom, like an exiled harlot, and the cultural loop that you lot twirl around in doesn't swing that far.On The Beat claims it was a smashing concert, but his opinions on all such things were discredited a long time ago.But assuming that it was, it can be considered

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-69458094099274808962009-07-07T00:12:00.000-07:002009-07-07T00:15:31.762-07:00

Tony Benn is a legend.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-35561603969628943062009-07-06T08:18:00.000-07:002009-07-07T00:16:30.213-07:00

As anyone who knows me will attest, The Board has been in a state of quarter life crisis for about three years now.When I turned 21, I realised that my hair was thinning. That's when it started. I then graduated from college and lost my last tangible excuse for never taking life, or anything in it, seriously.We've been stuck in a delicate place since, with work and money and cars and girls simply

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-17523597574110882122009-07-02T05:39:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:23:00.667-07:00

Paul O'Connell is lucky that Tendai Mtawarira has a ridiculous nickname, that Andy Murray is moody and Michael Vaughan is quitting.Were it not for these distractions, you expect that O'Connell would be suffering a verbal beating from the English press at the moment.The 2009 Lions tour to South Africa should not and cannot be described as a failure. The 2005 tour was a failure - it was shallow,

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-26338028519347157342009-06-26T05:06:00.000-07:002009-06-26T05:09:05.535-07:00

A genius, a legend. We all have our favourites. This is The Board's.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-51585724460626827292009-06-26T04:15:00.000-07:002009-06-26T04:23:28.357-07:00

Funny how standards can slip so in the modern media. Once upon a time, when mobile phones ran on uranium, the Irish young journalist of the year award was given to people with talent, skill and what not.Today, they're giving it out to the likes of The Board, who spends his days trying to disguise how confused he is by work and life.The world is truly becoming a dark, strange place.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-81385937182433379852009-06-22T01:36:00.001-07:002009-06-22T02:28:55.231-07:00

Whenever there's a Terminator film in the cinemas, the discussion about how and when technology is going to murder us all becomes customary.This, not the sight of Leonardo DiCaprio freezing to death, will be James Cameron's despicable gift to the modern world.Tehran is tearing itself to pieces at the moment. Ayatollah Khamenei is trying (and failing, it seems) to quell the street battles by

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-38386441552371244822009-06-17T02:11:00.000-07:002009-06-17T02:13:18.730-07:00

The Hangover is the funniest film of our times. Finally, we have found the spiritual heir to Old School.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-73295658290322735772009-06-16T01:05:00.000-07:002009-06-16T03:16:45.225-07:00

"Everyone speaking of Ayatollah Khamenei tends to use the word 'cautious,' a man who never gambles. But he now faces a nearly impossible choice. If he lets the demonstrations swell, it could well change the system of clerical rule. If he uses violence to stamp them out, the myth of a popular mandate for the Islamic revolution will die."- Neil MacFarquhar, New York TimesIt has been a delicate

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-57922397841790913822009-06-11T07:25:00.000-07:002009-06-11T07:38:39.742-07:00

Pack his suitcase. Drive him to the airport. Take Madrid's shiny, ridiculously plump bag of ill-gotten pesetas. Send a bit of it to Wigan and fetch that tricky Valencia lad.Load up the transit, get the sea cat over to Calais and aim the van towards Lyon. Taste a bit of the Beaujolais region's best grape. Double back for the ferry, swing over the Stade de Gerland, pick up Karim Benzema and return

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-19921700463394449182009-06-09T09:09:00.000-07:002009-06-09T09:12:30.834-07:00

Passion Pit are cooler than a lizard's ass.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-30862744572131018652009-06-08T06:26:00.000-07:002009-06-09T04:38:05.797-07:00

"It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting" - Tom StoppardThe Board's first experience with a local election count at the weekend reminded him of the time he went to see Stargate at the Odeon in Gants Hill in Ilford back in the day.For the opening scenes, your senses are overwhelmed by the scale and sound and ambition of it all.By the mid point you're only there out of a sense of

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-91558193902970314982009-06-04T01:28:00.000-07:002009-06-04T04:27:07.909-07:00

Instant text messages. Second by second updates to an online audience of 20 million through Twitter and Facebook. Live broadcasts in four languages. President Obama is very intent on getting his message across today, it seems.Such is the nous of Obama's communications team, and the infatuation with his oratory, that we are expecting his speech in Cairo this afternoon to be all things to all

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-45567807330909765302009-05-28T06:39:00.001-07:002009-05-28T06:46:48.297-07:00

Good news.The powers that be in the Irish media haven't heard about The Board's tyre-iron wielding rampages through the wild streets of Ballycummin, and have chosen to nominate him in the 2009 National Media Awards.He's up against Miguel Delaney of the Sunday Tribune and Laura Noonan of the Irish Independent for the Young Journalist of the Year category.*Sickly self-promotion bit* He's also the

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-64464438198723650452009-05-28T01:35:00.000-07:002009-05-28T01:36:55.747-07:00

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-90104235191153303642009-05-27T02:12:00.000-07:002009-05-28T08:31:38.573-07:00

It's quite a humbling feeling, really. Despite all of his wit, height, rugby playing talent, rugged features and writing ability, The Board is as about as popular with Limerick's most beautiful women as a Taepodong-2 is with the boat people of the Japanese seas.But he's a recalcitrant sort. He continues on in blind hope.Miss Limerick 2009 was launched last night by local fashion and model

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-45361119998310852252009-05-26T07:18:00.000-07:002009-05-26T08:39:51.560-07:00

The Board knows that much of his election commentary has been based on historical analogies. With less than two weeks until voting day, he has no intention of stopping now. Deal with it.On June 23 1565, Fort St Elmo on Malta fell to the Ottoman Turks who had invaded the island. For weeks the starving, wretched garrison of 100 knights and 500 soldiers lived with horrific artillery shelling and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-35470098706148620122009-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:002009-05-26T07:07:24.870-07:00

A perfectly executed hit is heaven on earth. I defy anyone to watch Courtney Lawes detatch Morgan Parra from this world here and not feel all warm and fuzzy.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-40702229614073209292009-05-25T04:04:00.000-07:002009-05-25T04:47:44.348-07:00

Growing up in London gives a young boy a dangerously high sense of expectation.Every cinema has to have 54 screens; every ice cream van has to have eight kinds of green syrup; every McDonald's has to have a jungle jim the size of the international space station. The norms of the Quaint English Childhood become so assumed that when this infantile house of cards is knocked away, and a 13-year-old

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-41909921239727340782009-05-22T06:55:00.000-07:002009-05-22T06:58:25.471-07:00

The Board is going to die whilst go-karting in Cork tomorrow. Oh yes.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-2020555443535318852009-05-22T04:48:00.000-07:002009-05-22T08:39:24.655-07:00

This is St Joseph's Industrial School in Glin, where hundreds of boys were beaten and raped by Christian Brothers between 1928 and 1966.The heartbreaking details of Ryan Commission report, the exposure of the paltry settlement that Bertie Ahern and Michael Woods made with the religious orders in 2002, and the Government's almost apathetic stance on its possible renegotiation have left us all

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-10619262471178437972009-05-19T04:38:00.000-07:002009-05-19T04:42:40.702-07:00

Though he is the finest player this continent has ever produced, Johan Cruyff is a tit.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-38817421430338712072009-05-19T02:36:00.000-07:002009-05-19T06:30:02.402-07:00

Is there a finer position in American football than linebacker?These insanely aggressive men are the heartbeat of the game. They are brash and chatty. They find their serenity while flying through the air, parralel to the turf, moments before they wallop into a running back's spine and duck walk over his frail, twisted heap two yards back from the line of scrimmage.Basically, they don't take any

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-13792420233064500802009-05-18T07:34:00.000-07:002009-05-18T08:36:29.246-07:00

After Josef Stalin died in 1953, there was a power struggle to replace him. (Editor - Of course there was, you twat.)True to form for a people who make most important decisions at 5.30am over vodka and cold chicken and cheese served on a hunting knife, the men who wanted to replace Stalin got a bit mischievous.As we know, Nikita Khrushchev eventually won and was all the happier for it. One man

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-18295907987965352992009-05-18T03:36:00.000-07:002009-05-18T04:14:10.198-07:00

Working as a flippant, lazy and incongruous reporter isn't exactly a road map to cool.You're supposed to know things in this game - who said what in City Council, why are there breeze blocks where my tyres once were, why are you hitting me with a billy club. The modern newspaper is becoming as viral as Ben Chapman's re-election prospects, but you still have to keep up appearances.Information =

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-81395259755127115022009-05-13T02:30:00.000-07:002009-05-13T03:54:57.861-07:00

As we've mentioned before, The Board pays for his playboy lifestyle of chocolate milkshakes and Jeff Koon baroque eggs by working as a junior reporter with the Limerick Leader.That's right. Junior.Anyway, amid the curdling stew of local democracy that currently has this city by the malleus, The Board has been tasked with covering what goes up, on, and sideways in the four-seat Limerick city east

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-57291120122117477502009-05-11T05:19:00.000-07:002009-05-11T05:20:38.235-07:00

The Board passed his driving test on Friday with only one tick, confirming his long held belief that he is the illegitimate love child of Juan Manuel Fangio (pictured) and Herbie the Beetle.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-52171671539020612752009-05-11T04:16:00.000-07:002009-05-12T09:40:33.268-07:00

We have to stay on message.It is easy for all of us to get lost in the condemnation and the squinting of eyes and the boiling anger. An innocent man is gunned down on the streets of our city and it sparks a tide of fury. That much we know.But like all tides it will roll back and everything will be as it was: the sand, the shells, the drugs and the blood. Five thousand people marched on Sunday to

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-2901160515356125712009-05-07T06:54:00.000-07:002009-05-07T06:56:25.312-07:00

The Board is aware that this feature is quickly becoming the 'New York Times article of the day' section, but he does not care.This article is too good to ignore.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-7306395056182526212009-05-06T04:42:00.000-07:002009-05-06T05:07:40.434-07:00

What a shitehawk of a match. I've been quiet for four days since because my head has been buried under a morose pile of pity. That and the fact that I've been getting in touch with my inner bogger while covering West Limerick for de Leader.Though that did mean I got to write a real column about the game this week, not just the usual pithy electronic rambling that is only read by six people and a

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-74281803654570479182009-05-01T00:56:00.000-07:002009-05-01T00:57:25.949-07:00

Raphael Saadiq has still got it.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-4543237782913978562009-04-30T01:22:00.000-07:002009-04-30T02:08:55.691-07:00

Roll up, one and all. It's May Eve, that wonderful day when greens in Rathbane, Garryowen and Prospect are lit up with the majestic sight of poor people burning all their crap.Apparently, the Oidhche Bealtaine bonfires have their origins in Celtic rituals. But today they're driven by more practical concerns. After all, those four years' worth of Argos catalogues aren't going to walk out of the

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-5468799004429737862009-04-29T06:26:00.000-07:002009-04-29T06:29:09.503-07:00

United v Arsenal? Magic.No clash of civilizations, no fighting for the soul of the game. Just great football.Dip your toes into the history of the true glamour tie of the English game with the Daily Telegraph here.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-90676907206766755592009-04-29T04:10:00.000-07:002009-04-30T02:07:55.071-07:00

Through a happy mix of diggers and petrol bombs, Donogh O'Malley Park is becoming a rural landscape again as houses fall one row at a time.The estate is still an abject sight of ruin and isolation. But there are shoots of ideas and creation under all that rubble.Mattie Gardiner, who's lived in the estate since the 1970s, has spent the last three years tending to an allotment on land cleared after

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-73541430914577442552009-04-29T04:07:00.000-07:002009-04-29T04:59:17.616-07:00

First 100 days down. Verdict?Feck off conservatives, he's doing fine.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-28962060659497460872009-04-28T00:59:00.000-07:002009-04-28T01:53:16.561-07:00

Loitering by the side of the pitch in Coonagh last Saturday while the rain stung my face into a perky shade of royal blue, The Board got to thinking.Nearly two years I've worked in this city, and I still don't have a rugby team. I've been to lots of club games, but the extent of my support is usually a haughty, preening salute to 'good play' that is every bit the burden of my London grammar

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-17492086347302668872009-04-23T00:56:00.000-07:002009-04-23T01:26:51.891-07:00

The lefties are in spasmic thrall this Thursday. No really, I had to step over two rolling around in road on Glentworth Street on the way to work this morning. They were sweating, eating their own fists and hurling curses at an invisible form of Ariel Sharon.Why?Their hero Robert Fisk is in town, and will be speaking at UL this evening.I've never really known what to make of Dear Robert. He's as

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-9310485733685623662009-04-20T07:35:00.000-07:002009-04-20T08:30:23.031-07:00

A fairly poorly kept secret will be revealed to the world at Heathrow tomorrow lunchtime when British and Irish Lions tour manager Gerald Davies sits down, strokes his perma-tache and announces that Paul O'Connell will lead the 2009 tour side into the South African bear pit.For the first time since the Battle of Actium, our Irish sense of collective grievance will be silenced. As many as eleven

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-82377289845177739592009-04-17T01:44:00.000-07:002009-04-17T01:54:11.885-07:00

Apologies for the lack of blogging this week. As you can appreciate, there's been a lot on with regards the murder of Roy Collins. Brutal, heartless, needless. No adjective does enough. Here's the editorial piece I wrote for the paper this week in lieu of a full blog post on the matter."There is a disturbing familiarity to the brutal and heartless murder of Roy Collins in the city last Thursday.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-25825151781297491422009-04-17T01:39:00.001-07:002009-04-17T01:40:46.729-07:00

The Board wholeheartedly believes that this article in the New York Time is one of the best pieces of journalism he's come across for a long, long time.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-61655279640508497852009-04-15T02:21:00.000-07:002009-04-15T04:15:04.245-07:00

No free chorizo. No explosive jerked chicken. No sweet scents of pineapple mixing with the tangy soot of charcoal. No juggling hot dogs while trying to pick that God Damn Fly out of your pint outside the Locke.No barbecue.The recession is taking our jobs and our sanity, but what of it. That's nothing a natural disaster or a Thatcher government hasn't done with equal abandon in days past.But when

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-60850873028057553412009-04-09T06:22:00.000-07:002009-04-09T08:24:52.037-07:00

Pics of the scene of the fatal shooting in Roxboro this afternoon. Man in his 30s is dead, two men arrested. Link here, full story in the Leader city edition this evening.Pics: Owen South/Limerick Leader

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-54047067004155014082009-04-08T07:20:00.000-07:002009-04-08T07:23:44.869-07:00

The Board was given a copy of The Juan MacLean's new album by On the Beat, and has no intention of giving it back.'The Future Will Come' is polished and funkalicious.Groovy, in fact.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-53063623700355853242009-04-08T06:12:00.000-07:002009-04-09T01:46:00.765-07:00

"Without the power of the Industrial Union behind it, Democracy can only enter the State as the victim enters the gullet of the Serpent" - James ConnollyIt's the ninetieth anniversary of the Limerick Soviet next week. If you don't know about it, you should. For ten days, a mass co-ordinated strike saw the Limerick Trades and Labour Council effectively seize control of the city in protest at

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-12821909836383064892009-04-08T04:01:00.000-07:002009-04-08T04:48:49.895-07:00

Hmmmmmm.Try as I might to dismiss the Minister for Finance, his brain and his Emergency Budget, I don't think I can.I think he's gotten it as right as he probably could.Let's get the inner lefty out of the way first - the poorest in our society are going to remain that way. That's no shock. No Fianna Fail government went near the poverty issue when it had money, never mind what it might do now

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-20066384026643277812009-04-06T10:28:00.001-07:002009-04-06T10:33:24.590-07:00

The Board thinks that Federico Macheda is Paolo Rossi re-born. Even if Rossi isn't quite dead.Sorry for the brevity today - I actually did some work for this first time this decade. A big budget extravaganza is coming your way tomorrow, sports fans. Tighten up those knuckles.

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-330895888618911292009-04-03T01:01:00.000-07:002009-04-03T14:43:01.272-07:00

It's Friday, so we all need a bit of a chuckle. As such, The Board recommends this pompous, ridiculous rant by county councillors Kevin Sheahan (above) and Richie Butler demanding that it be made illegal to abuse and misuse the national flag.Get ready to crack those diaphragms.Cllr Sheahan is calling for a national media campaign to lay out guidelines on how not to use the flag - it should not be

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-10414881817996811592009-04-03T00:53:00.000-07:002009-04-03T14:37:50.303-07:00

My Xbox 360 has had a massive heart attack and died.We had something special, so we did. Crapping my pants playing Bioshock; laughing hysterically at the ridiculous in-game dramatics in Lost Odyssey; ravaging my housemate Padraig over and over in Gears of War 2. Warm memories of a simpler time.Fear not, the nice German man on the phone said he'll have it back to me in three weeks, all shiny and

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858902474139552590.post-69322784189964496282009-04-02T06:11:00.000-07:002009-04-02T06:43:06.029-07:00

We start with The Economist:A general willingness to give Mr Obama the benefit of the doubt was palpable even among the exuberant anti-capitalist demonstrators jamming the streets of London’s financial district—a minority of whom turned violent and clashed with police as they attacked a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. “He’s got good morals,” conceded a graffiti artist called Monkey, while

Isambard Chalky Brunelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792516624098264175noreply@blogger.com0