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It was brought to my attention this week.

All of the other reindeer. Not reindeers. Also not Olive, the other reindeer.

A couple of things came back to me yesterday after I read an article in the Ireland's Own about old sayings.

Did anyone else's parents used to threaten you with sending you 'to the gypsies' if you were unruly?

"Catch a nigger by the toe" - it never occurred to me that was wrong. 'Darkies' was another innocent description.

Queers, gayboys etc  - we've come a long way.

I wonder was this ignorance universal or an Irish thing.

Football -
Hurling -

Was listening to yer man's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmSrQUG9HSE&feature=youtu.be

Any others? I'd play the odd Bergkamp one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZkCFoqSBs

Any that make yer remaining hair stand on end apart from Sidebottom?

Calling all Adobe experts or anyone who has dabbled with Adobe packages.

I have these installed on my laptop.

Adobe Contribute CS5
Adobe Device Central CS5
Adobe Fireworks CS5
Adobe Flash Builder 4
Adobe InDesign CS5
Adobe Media Encoder CS5
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Adobe Soundbooth CS5
Adobe After Effects CS5
Adobe Bridge CS5
Adobe Dreamweaver CS5
Adobe Encore CS5
Adobe Extension Manager CS5
Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5
Adobe Flash CS5
Adobe Illustrator CS5
Adobe Media Player
Adobe OnLocation CS5
Adobe Photoshop CS5

Apart from Photoshop and Dreamweaver, are any of them useful to mess around with/get to know?

[Declan Bogue: Kildare's less-than-Lilywhite spin shows one way to lose friends and influence]

I don't buy into the anti-Kildare feeling seeping through from various media outlets and even on here. However - there's no denying it's there.

From Tuesday's Belfast Telegraph:

Declan Bogue: Kildare's less-than-Lilywhite spin shows one way to lose friends and influence

Our perceptions of teams can cause a peculiar blindness.

Take Kildare for example. Before Sunday's Leinster semi-final, we were bludgeoned into believing that they were a fraction behind Dublin, Cork and Kerry as realistic All-Ireland contenders. While this message was continually being driven home by their spectacular training budgets, their earnestness in preparing the right way, the truth was harsh.

The truth is that they lost to Wicklow in the first year of the McGeeney reign. They also lost to Louth in 2010. Their only notable victories in Championship football have come against Meath.

A mythology around being on the wrong side of referee decisions also coloured perception.

They will point to Benny Coulter's illegal goal in 2010, without citing Graham Geraghty's disallowed goal last year. A sheen of victimhood has been added.

They are also flat-track bullies. Because they couldn't last the pace in Leinster, they were freakishly drawn against the losing county from the Ulster final for three years; Fermanagh, Monaghan and Derry.

Each time, the Ulster side had only six days to get over the pain of defeat. while the Lillywhites perfected their plan by coming through the qualifiers.

Last year, a story appeared, traced to the county, about Donegal's tendancy to foul in the opponents' half of the field.

Donegal, who had come from nowhere to win a provincial title, used it as all the motivation they needed to beat Kildare.

Now, Kildare play Cavan in Breffni Park. Although Cavan boss Terry Hyland has appealed to fans not to turn it into a cauldron of hate, it's a fact that Seanie Johnston is going to get a very hot reception from fans who only wanted to see him playing for Cavan, and playing well. They will come through that test, but they have brought on so much negative attention that a Cavan win would be cheered by the vast majority of GAA fans.

And that's what happens when you disrespect the game, the association and other counties.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/declan-bogue/declan-bogue-kildarersquos-lessthanlilywhite-spin-shows-one-way-to-lose-friends-and-influence-16180952.html#ixzz1zkKaovQi

Armagh - OUT
Derry - OUT
Fermanagh - OUT
Cavan - Only in it cos they bate another Ulster county
Antrim - Only in it cos they bate London
Donegal, Down, Tyrone and Monaghan - Still there because they haven't played a qualifier yet.

Where did it all go wrong? What did the Queen do to us?

The highlight of everything in the world is on this week.

Jedward qualifying on Tuesday night in semi-final 1. They're on last so hopefully the public will be delirious by then.

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year/participant-profile/?song=27113

Sweden favourite in the bookies to win the thing.

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year/participant-profile/?song=26903

Any hoor here ever had it?

I know there's a similar one run here but this might ease the workload a bit.

www.allianzleaguespredictions.ie

I set up a gaaboard mini-league - 'gaaboard' and ID is 97SzcKhcww9C.

Warning - your name and club shows up - If you want to remain a muppet/minder etc use your board name.

Fellow Bushmen, we need to act. They don't like us and we don't care. But we do really. It's obvious that (from Kerry to Killybegs, Drumcondra to Dunmore) we're not liked.

We have 2 options

1) Develop a PR campaign to right the wrongs in terms of perception. We need to go around Mayo kissing babies, giving bread to the thousands of poverty stricken gaels in Meath and Dublin and teaching the Munster men how to make black pudding and St Bridget's crosses, for free.

2) Close ranks and hammer the haters.

There might be a third option.

We can draw comfort from Winston Churchill  who said, "We will fight them on the"  "The whole map of Europe has been changed ... but as the deluge subsides and the waters fall short we see the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again."

That was a speedy one.

http://www.hotpress.com/news/8608532.html?new_layout=1&page_no=1&show_comments=1

"I had for reasons u will all understand, wished to keep this private but have been told today it is to be leaked in the next few days despite my best efforts. So I must now leak it myself so as the record is straight. I won't under any circumstances ever have any further comments to make on this matter than those I write here this evening. Either privately or publicly.
"From the moment myself and my husband got together not long ago, there was intense pressure placed upon him by certain people in his life, not to be involved with me. These were people who had never met me but had formed opinions of me based on what they read about 'Sinead 'O'Connor' in the media etc. Entitled as they are to their opinions about me many perhaps well deserved, there was no righteousness on anyone's part to put my husband through what he was put through as a result of his desire to be with me and to marry me and as a result of his actually marrying me.

"Within 3 hours of the ceremony being over the marriage was kyboshed by the behaviour of certain people in my husband's life. And also by a bit of a wild ride i took us on looking for a bit of a smoke of weed for me wedding night as I don't drink. My husband was enormously wounded and very badly effected by that experience and also by the attitude of those close to him toward our marriage. It became apparent to me that if he were to stay with me he would be losing too much to bear. And that being with me was not going to serve him positively , career wise or any other wise. I saw his life leave him because of how people close to him reacted. And I can't take anyone's life. And a woman wants to be a joy to her husband. So.. U love someone? Set them free.

"He is a wonderful man. I love him very much. I'm sorry I'm not a more regular woman.

I truly believe though it is painful to admit, we made a mistake rushing into getting married, for altruistic reasons, and weren't aware or prepared for the consequences on my husband's life and the lives of those close to him. He has been terribly unhappy and I have therefore ended the marriage. I think he is too nice to do so. And too nice to trap.

"He is as I said, a wonderful man. We part amicably. I wish him to be free and happy and loved and supported and for him to have privacy as that is utmost important for his job and for the children he treats as a therapist so I plead on theirs and his behalf for media to please leave him and his family alone. I really beg this. His family have health issues also and they not need the stress. Please do not doorstep them. Please be considerate of their feelings and leave them and my husband alone. I repeat this is of UTMOST importance to the wonderful children my husband helps every day. his work is his life. Publicity over all this could jeopardise his job. Please, don't do that to him. or I will have that on my conscience as well. he is a private person. I'm fair game. He or his family are not.

"Meanwhile I intend to get on with being fully me. With never an apology for ANY part if being FULLY ME. No matter what. I am a 21st century full woman and proud of living it. I am in a very good and happy and strong place in life so I am doing fine. The marriage was 16 days. We lived together for 7 days only.. Until Xmas eve. And we haven't been awful to each other. So while I feel sad for my husband, and sad to be the cause of sorrow to yet another poor man, I'm also happy that I know we weren't horrible to each other and he is better off free. And that I can be me. And that's a freedom I can't give up for anyone or anything. Neither should my husband or anyone else.

"Please pray for my lovely husband to be ok and do not worry about me as I have had plenty of practice in these matters. I am in a good place in life. And happy. I believe in and am committed wholeheartedly to happiness. Nothing knocks that. My only concern is that my husband be happy.

"As my good friend said "well, at least you got married in Vegas in a pink Cadillac! Can't get more Rock n Roll than that".

"So now u can all go ahead and have a great laugh, media wise, and be horrid if u desire to. But that's my record set straight.


"Rock n Roll."

What would it be?

These lads and lassies might help - http://www.lastmealsproject.com/pages.html

I'd have a bowl of cabbage and bacon with a pint of milk.

I was discussing this topic with a fellow from another county - what did you make of Donegal this year? Our views were polar opposites.

What is your overriding memory of Donegal in 2011? Romantic or dastardly? Or nothing really atall?

Has anyone messed around with this?

This video explains it - http://www.ted.com/talks/what_we_learned_from_5_million_books.html

Glad to see Tyrone have finally overtaken Armagh - http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=Tyrone%2C+Armagh&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3

It's interesting to click on the years below which link to the books they're mentioned in.

[Demand for redheaded sperm in decline... except from Ireland]

Demand for redheaded sperm in decline... except from Ireland


THE WORLD'S LARGEST sperm bank is turning away donations from redheads saying supply is outstripping demand which is falling everywhere, except from Ireland.

The director of Cyros International Ole Schou has said that not enough people want ginger kids and that redheads are now being turned away from his sperm bank, the Australian Herald Sun reports him as telling Ekstra Bladet in Denmark.
Schou is quoted as saying: "There are too many redheads in relation to demand.

"I do not think you chose a redhead, unless the partner – for example, the sterile male – has red hair, or because the lone woman has a preference for redheads. And that's perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case."
However, the The Sun reports him as saying that demand for sperm from redheaded donors remains high from Ireland where apparently it sells "like hot cakes."

The sperm most in demand is that from men with brown hair and brown eyes because of the company's large customer base in Spain, Italy and Greece.

Guinness World Records says the Cyros sperm bank is the largest on the planet with 140,000 samples available, shipping to more than 65 countries and helping to impregnate as many as 2,000 a year, according to the Daily Mail.
Donors can make up to €365 from donating sperm but if you're ginger, you're out of luck.

http://www.thejournal.ie/redheaded-sperm-donors-turned-away-but-demand-still-high-from-ireland-230613-Sep2011/

http://lpsni.gov.uk/vListDCV/districts.asp

How accurate is this info?

Fighting on all fronts, in all codes - can the Jackeen Juggernaut be stopped? (Bearing in mind Tipp might chip a little bit off that later)

Hiya.

[Team of 1985-2005]

I came across this on the old board - we were asked to name our team of the last 20 years, 5 years ago.

A poster called Printiseach collated the stats and here was the result:

Team of 1985-2005

(the 2 numbers at the end are 'positional votes' and 'total votes'


1- John O'Leary ------ Dublin --- Leinster ---- 18 ---- 18
2- Robbie O'Malley ---- Meath -- Leinster ----- 8 ----- 8
3- Darren Fay -------- Meath -- Leinster ---- 19 ----- 19
4- Tony Scullion ------ Derry --- Ulster ------ 18 ---- 18
5- Seamus Moynihan -- Kerry --- Munster --- 15 ----- 17
6- Kieran McGeeney --- Armagh - Ulster ----- 13 ----- 15
7- Martin O'Connell ---- Meath -- Leinster --- 13 ----- 14
8- John McDermott ---- Meath -- Leinster --- 12 ----- 12
9- Anthony Tohill ------ Derry --- Ulster ----- 23 ----- 23
10- Maurice Fitzgerald - Kerry --- Munster --- 12 ----- 21
11- Larry Tompkins ---- Cork --- Munster --- 13 ------ 14
12- Trevor Giles ------- Meath - Leinster ----- 6 ------ 7
13- Colm O'Rourke ----- Meath - Leinster --- 14 ------ 18
14- Peter Canavan ---- Tyrone - Ulster ----- 16 ------ 21
15- Mickey Linden ----- Down -- Ulster ----- 16 ------ 17


Since then (2005), who has been displaced or added (if any) if we arrived at at team of the last 25 years (1986-2011)

Gooch?
Cavanagh?