Topics

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/hoverboard-duru-1.3270569

Ok Andrei, first you do good job in Derry City, then I fire Maureen. Simples!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/americans-go-crazy-after-a-segment-on-hurling-is-aired-on-60-minutes-sports-31590959.html

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can access some of the Seanchas Ardmacha volumes, either online or in person? I am particularly interested in the The Diamond Flight.

JSTOR has it but there is a €20/month or €180/annum subscription. Is that the only option?

Cheers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33896292

Any GAA supporter who has been to a game in Castlebar will know Mick Byrne. A really great character.

http://www.castlebar.ie/Community_Groups/Are-You-Right-There-Michael-Are-You-Right.shtml

Are You Right There Michael, Are You Right?
By Michael Baynes
14, Apr 2015 - 06:44

Are You Right There Michael, Are You Right?

A very unique fundraiser in aid of Mayo/Roscommon Hospice and Western Care will take place on Sat. 18th of July in Castlebar. The idea which was suggested by Michael O'Connor from Parke to local publican and well known "aul stock", Mick Byrne, is a 5km charity walk on the newly opened Greenway to Turlough but there is a catch: you can only partake if your name is Michael, Michelle, Micheala, Mickey, Mike, Miquel etc!! Even if your second name or Confirmation name is one of these, you're eligible. However, in the interest of charity (and for a small extra fee!), you can become an honorary Michael/Michelle for the day!

This super novel idea has certainly caught the attention of people already. Michael Ring was the first to sign up and he has agreed to be a leader of the walk. Mick Byrne said, "I came up with the idea two years ago and wondered if it would catch on but as soon as I contacted the various Michaels/Michelle and told them what I had in mind and the charities involved, every one of them immediately agreed to come on board so I decided that this is the year". Mick also added that he had a three year plan for the event: "year one will be the walk on the Greenway, year two will be a world record attempt to gather the greatest number of Micks in one place at one time and year three will be a world record attempt to have the greatest number of Michelles in one place at one time. I will be personally inviting Michelle Obama to lead the walk in 2017 but if she can't make I hope she will still make the €20 donation!!".

At the launch, Lauritta Blewitt from Mayo/Roscommon Hospice said they were delighted to be part of this event as every house in community has at some stage been affected by cancer and with them opening a new 14 bed facility in Castlebar, all funds are greatly appreciated". Joe Brett from Western Care echoed Laura's words and said "next year is the 50th anniversary of Western Care so this world record attempt will be a flagship event in their calendar".

After the walk is over the music will start in Hoban's car park with newly formed band (for one night only), Micks' Emotions featuring, Mick Buckton, Mick Baynes, Mick Staunton and Mick Mulhearne!!! They will be playing a great "MIX" of music on the night and if any Mick want to join in for a song, they will be more than welcome!! The music and fun will continue throughout the evening and the only question is, do you think we'll make it home before the night!!

Details can be found at https://www.facebook.com/areyourighttheremichaelareyouright

Pictured at the launch at Mick Byrnes.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/athletics/2015/0609/706832-mo-farahs-medical-data-to-be-analysed/

Is the Farah story simply going to run dry or will it lift the lid on something a lot more sinister in UK sports?

Whatever about Farah there have been a couple of performances from athletes across the water over the years that raised the eyebrows, one in particular that I can think of. It will be interesting to watch the handwringing if systematic doping is proved.

(with apologies to Dixie..)

In the post GFA world and with SF looking a strong possibility of being in Government in the 26 next time out, should they re-consider their abstentionism, especially as they could have the swing votes in a very tight vote in the House of Commons?

There is the possibility the SF abstention could allow the Unionists to get a Tory Government over the line, with the inevitable political favours returned to Unionists. Would the political fallout be worth it to stop that happening and, better still, direct the favours in their direction?

Politics.ie seems to be full of extremists these days. On the one hand they all want to burn the Baltimore rioters, on the other they wanted those twats on the street last week to attack Brian Cowen. But there is the odd good poster.

http://www.politics.ie/forum/history/237270-politics-ie-story-deserves-read.html

A very good couple of posts by an Irish guy who was in Mississippi for Hurricane Catriona. Well worth a read.

Looks like an engine fire with complications. There seems to be some upper wing damage before the touchdown which looks pretty smooth. If so the aircraft would have been difficult to control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEkKmzdiNfs&feature=youtu.be

Better view of the damage to the upper wing on this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy-UtJG3uLU&feature=youtu.be

Edit: Amazingly this accident has already has its own wiki page.

This suggests the damage happened on landing, which is contradicted by the video above, unless there was an earlier attempt to land which caused some or all of the damage and we only see the subsequent successful landing.

Well?

[The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham?']

Sorry lads I think this deserves its own thread.

Shocking stuff it there is even a hint of truth to it:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/15/the-story-of-the-bradford-fire-book-extract

The Story of the Bradford Fire: 'could any man really be as unlucky as Stafford Heginbotham?'

I knew the scale of this task. I'd have to get to the British Library Newspapers archive for 9am each morning, fill in the slips for the maximum number of items I could order – usually four bound volumes of the Bradford Telegraph & Argus, dating from January 1965 onwards, the year Stafford Heginbotham became involved with Bradford City – and sit at a desk, scanning each article until I'd covered 20 years' worth of newspapers. The whole process took two months, during which time I discovered there was a pattern to Stafford Heginbotham's fires. In a nutshell, they all spread incredibly quickly, produced an unbelievable amount of toxic smoke and devastation, and they all caught the firefighters unawares. But even more staggering was the sheer number of them.

I read how on a Sunday afternoon, 21 May 1967, fire engulfed a three-storey factory and its two-storey loading bay as a 200ft pall of toxic smoke temporarily overcame two firemen in Cutler Heights Lane, near Bradford city centre. Fifty firemen in all, deploying 14 jets, eight pumps and a turntable, were needed to bring it under control.


Revealed: former Bradford chairman linked to at least eight fires before Valley Parade disaster
Read more
The young Bradford City chairman was surrounded by scores of boys watching the inferno and the police, mystified as to how a fire might have started in the factory, with no employees at work and no sign of a forced entry, announced their inquiries would continue with the children who were playing outside. At a time when the average national UK house price was £3,700, the fire caused £25,000 of damage, with a stock loss of £10,000 (the equivalent, in terms of house-price inflation today, of £1.6m and £600,000 respectively).

Then, on Good Friday 1968, overtime staff at Tebro Toys looked out of their windows as an "awfully black" pall of smoke drifted towards their premises from a three-storey factory at the opposite end of the industrial estate. When the managing director went to investigate he found what he described as a "fire going like a bomb" in the neighbouring building, also occupied by Tebro Toys and, the Argus stated, "Genefoam (Bradford Ltd) rubber manufacturers whose managing director is Mr Stafford Heginbotham, the Bradford City chairman".

By the time the fire brigade arrived a 500-gallon fuel tank had exploded, bringing down the factory's 40-foot walls and roof. Again, 50 firemen and 11 appliances were needed to bring the blaze – visible for miles around – under control.

I thumbed through another decade's worth of newspaper archives before I found another fire involving a firm owned by Stafford Heginbotham. On Tuesday 8 November 1977, the front page of the Telegraph & Argus reported that Heginbotham was still at his desk around six the previous evening when he heard the sound of breaking glass. Thinking his car was being vandalised he ran out, presumably to confront the vandals, only to find glass falling from the top two floors of the three-storey Douglas Mills, when he reportedly raised the alarm and called the fire brigade. The fumes breathed in by the first four firemen to arrive at his blazing toy firm were so toxic they were violently sick and required hospital treatment. In the end, 40 firemen were needed to control the blaze.